#I have no problem remembering every detail of other books but when it’s my own

[plutosfallenangel]

Random Moon Sign Observations | pt.1

(*based on personal experiences and opinions. look at the whole natal chart to gain insight, just one placement isn't enough and some aspects/house placements can make contradictions to the below information*)

• Aries moon •

-makes more moves in the night (esp 12H)

-extremely protective over those they love

-when comfortable with someone they will make little noises and funny sounds, very animated beings

-feels emotions intensely, the most reactive to their own emotions and environment, in the physical body they feel every emotion deeply

-will jump head first into new passions or romances unless the chart indicates otherwise

-it's like pulling teeth to get their vulnerable side out, as time progresses they learn that they don't have to be the hard-shelled thing their early environments created and that being vulnerable is brave

-most will only have a few people reach their inner soft core in their lifetime

-artists in their own right, alone time is essential for the creative process

-inner competition with themselves, instead of seeing others as competition they will try to beat themselves and be a better version of yesterday

• Taurus moon •

-always around close friends, typically has 1 or 2 people they grew up with that they keep in their lives forever or atleast as long as humanely possible

-is it bad to say these people are pretty when they cry? I've never seen a Taurus moon ugly cry before

-extremely grounded, and extremely guarded

-have a hard time letting people into their innermost self or world, but once they do you won't be going anywhere anytime soon

-emotional support person for close friends/family

-has emotional support accessories

-bad smells can put them into a very bad mood, very sensitive nose

• Gemini moon •

-consistently stimulating themselves through conversations/books/video games/hobbies

-can struggle with consistent mood swings

-appreciates design and loves to build things/put things together

-can be the friend that knows everyone's behind-the-scenes drama

-witty and goofy people (my fav)

-they tend to bury themselves in a hobby when they're not feeling the best mentally (sometimes as a distraction without actually addressing what's wrong)

-asking questions can actually make them feel better, even if it's on random things, emotional support knowledge intake lol

-extremely good at problem-solving

• Cancer moon •

-the most emotionally guarded moon sign, and will guard their family/close friends emotions like their own

-sensitive yet sensual

-gives the warmest hugs

-remembers the smallest details for the longest amounts of time

-has to let their emotional body go with the flow and ride the "waves", once they feel an emotion come over they can't go around it.. they have to see it to the end

-if conjunct the asc their emotions are painted all over their face

-if you've ever made one mad, you know what those claws feel like... they are some of the most scary people to make angry.. imo

-sentimental daydreamers/ and dreamers

-most can't get over that one ex

-4 course meal @ 2am is to be expected, especially if liquor is involved

-one of the brightest imaginations next to Pisces, their memories are alive, well and extremely vivid

• Leo moon •

-once you get close to them, they can feel entitled to spending time with you (in my experience)

-can let things bottle up and EXPLODE

-I've noticed when they are passionate about someone they can keep a lot of those feelings inside and slowly reveal them overtime.. not as extravagant as some would think, but they will definitely make you feel like you're the only one in the world when they care about you

-spending time with them is so fun because they will make everything into a joke and silly

-the goofiest of the moon signs imo (they do it for the attention but I love it, give me more)

-can be very demanding emotionally from others, whether it's communicated or not

-expects the utmost loyalty and gives it back in return, even on small things.. these people are probably the most loyal

-will place people on a pedestal within their bright orbit, sometimes they can fall into people that give them a lot of attention, and not for the right reasons..

-the most generous (and they mean it)

-likes to do things that gets them recognized, even in a small town/group setting.. they want to play sports to get that trophy and team photo

• Virgo Moon •

-please for the love of god bring your own tums

-one of the biggest nurturers

-very specific style and aesthetic

-always on time, or at least their internal clock is

-the sleepiest employee

-out of all the mutable moons, I think virgo can sit and process their emotions the longest

-can also be the same moon sign to brush off emotional encounters until they've processed their end enough

-prone to addiction just like pisces/12H moons, using a substance as an escape, becoming an addiction most times because they strive for routine, and if something bad just happens to fall into that routine.. they can have a hard time removing it (emotional security in routines, even if the routine looks messy from an outsiders perspective)

-literal sweethearts (angels in their own right)

• Libra moon •

-the most loved in the room when they walk in, idk how to explain it

-can be a tad on the partner crazy side, hopeless romantic

-emotional support person for a lot of people but they do expect the same in return

-depending on what else is in the chart, they can become very codependent on another person and FAST.. they won't listen to anyone when it comes to their beloved

-similar to a gemini moon, they can struggle to find emotional balance, but this is mostly caused by allowing outside influences to effect their emotional body (ex: partners)

-when they're good, they're GOOD and when they're bad, they're BAD

-does the best when they're in a 1-1 setting bouncing feelings and ideas off another person, they tend to show up or call at the most random times to chat about something like their car insurance, almost like, can you listen to this idea and share what you think? (I love them for it)

-i know I said it before but, HOPELESS ROMANTICS 💔🔥

#astrology #astro community #astro observations #astrology observations #moon signs #astrology community #zodiac #astrology moon #astrology research

[slackerlifewhere]

What Kim Rok Soo probably thinks about Cale Henituse

Okay, so I mentioned that I'm rereading the first part now so I can finally read the second part of the novel.

While reading, I noticed how calm and normal Kim Rok Soo is about Cale. Like yeah, he finds him amusing and interesting, but coming from a man who has read five volumes and notices (and remembers) every little detail about it, it makes me wonder what he truly thinks about Cale Henituse.

[✋Possible SPOILERS for the first part of TCF ✋]

As I reread the story in the first few chapters, despite how little Cale Henituse's importance is in The Birth of a Hero or how few his appearances are since it focuses on Choi Han's adventure, Kim Rok Soo somehow describes moments that make Cale look like trash but it's like he understands why the noble was like that before they switched bodies (except for the Harris village since he didn't know about that until OG Cale mentions it).

Like think about it. We all know KRS grew up with his abusive uncle. He knows how bad it is to live with an alcoholic but he doesn't judge Cale's antics when he's "drunk". We also know that he's been alone most of his life so he probably thinks that Cale is just a lonely person because of his reputation.

Guessing that there are some assholes during the apocalypse (I haven't read the side stories yet but I can guess), he probably thinks that Cale is more complex than what he shows in the books because he has seen the worst kind of people that makes Cale look like a normal person. After switching bodies, Venion, White Star, Arm, and Adin are definitely 1000% worse than Cale.

Kim Rok Soo is very sharp when it comes to understanding people. He understands Choi Han and Alberu's problems and understands the trauma the kids went through. He also understands how corrupt nobles and priests are and doesn't judge Mary and the Dark Elves all because of a stupid religion. He understands how hard it was for Lock during the war and was comforting about it his own weird way.

He's a perceptive and understanding person.

Although he's incredibly bad at judging himself, he's good at judging a person through their motives and actions. It's why he somehow befriends Toonka and Bud. It's why he became allies with Hannah and Fredo. It's why he quietly listens to DHB later on. He understands people and it's why people like and trust him.

In short, he knows that there's something more than what the books say about Cale Henituse.

It's kind of the reason why it made me pause a bit when he finally meets OG Cale.

Their conversation was so calm, it's as if they knew each other for a very long time instead of just literally a few minutes ago. He easily accepted what OG Cale has to say about his mother and his new life as Kim Rok Soo and he trusts him with his former team. Like I've mentioned before in my other post, he's happy for both of them because they're both content with their new lives despite their regrets in their last lives.

Cale looked at Kim Rok Soo, who was laughing and making gestures that he would never have made, and nonchalantly added on.

“I guess you’ve really been happy.”

He recalled the moment he met with Lee Soo Hyuk and got the ‘Embrace’ ability.

Lee Soo Hyuk had handed Cale the ability and told him about the real Cale Henituse as he disappeared.

‘Oh, by the way, the original owner of your body is living well too. He’s happy. That is why Jung Soo, I, and everybody is happy.’

Kim Rok Soo had a bright smile that suited a twenty-year-old person and not someone in his mid-thirties.

- Chapter 656: Everything can be connected

I'm guessing that when he read the parts about Cale throwing bottles at a random asshole in the books, he probably thought that he might do the same thing. Remember how badly he reacted when he learned about the slaves being sent to the Empire? He basically used the same tactic but instead of throwing the bottle at someone, he drank a lot because of how pissed he was and made it look like the "trash" he is while waiting for everyone's signal.

He even has some thoughts about how annoyed he is whenever the knights or butlers would flinch away since he knows Cale never tried to actually harm them. And he knows about Cale's troubles with the staff back home in the Henituse territory.

So yeah, it's pretty sweet in a way that Cale Henituse has someone who kind of understands him and won't judge him for his actions even though Kim Rok Soo doesn't know everything about him because of the books (like his conversation with Basen).

“It looks like you will need to struggle a little longer, but anyway, live well. Please take care of my family.”

“Please take care of my team members.”

Both men let go of each other’s hand with a small amount of sorrow visible in their eyes.

- Chapter 657: Everything can be connected

#tcf #tcf cale #tcf manhwa #tcf novel #cale henituse #lcf cale #tcf cale henituse #lcf #lcf manhwa #lout of the count’s family #trash of the count's family #kim rok soo #kim roksu #lcf novel #tcf spoilers

[pledikman]

and so... what is securitytale yellow and what is it eaten with?

And so, as I said, this is AU, which was based on a comic book by one author on deviant art. I liked the concept of integrating monsters into human society and protecting these people and other things that are related to determination, but I didn't like the plot...And yes, the original name is SecuriTale, but, you know, copyrights and all that... that's why I changed the title, but I'm still referring to the original!!!

But there are changes too! And now I will tell you about everything in detail

I'll start with Clover's backstory. (I refer to Clover in he/his, as well as Frisk and Chara, because that's how it all works in my native language)

He was born into a fairly poor family consisting of parents and two older sisters. Clover's father was a drunkard and an aggressive man, while his mother was a very pious and timid woman who could not fight back. Clover's mother couldn't give birth to a boy for a long time, so her husband was very angry. And even when Clover was born, his father did not calm down and demanded a lot from his son. He wanted him to be someone successful, someone who could glorify their family. This attitude fostered hatred in Clover, and so he decided to climb the mountain and destroy all the monsters in order to become someone important

Clover initially did not have enough determination to manage the saving himself and remember something from other timelines, so Flowey helped him. But gradually Clover was able to cultivate his determination in such a way that he himself was able to manage preservation and be aware of his every death. The wounds that his opponents inflicted on him still left a scar even after restarts. A lot of pain, the source of which cannot be eliminated

The above shows the change in Clover's appearance during his stay in the Underground (by the way, he was about 16 years old at the time of the fall)

And you know... Destroying monster families, Clover began to feel.. guilt and regret? He saw the families and couldn't get rid of the feeling that everything was different in the Underground. That you can be happy here. That the monsters here are not fighting for honor, but to protect those they love. Clover repented. He restarted the timeline, but despite the fact that he did everything right (ended his story on the pacifist), the consequences left an imprint on Clover's mind and appearance

After Clover, Frisk falls, who also begins the path of genocide due to boredom and loneliness, but gives up before Chara and restarts, already beating everything well. The monsters are coming out. Frisk, with the help of Alphis, tries to resurrect some of the children who fell into the Underground, but except for Clover and two other people, no one gets up. Clover meets Martlet, Dalv, Starlo and Ceroba a few years later, and the latter two take Clover under their care while he studies law. Frisk also acts as an ambassador for monsters and is under the care of Toriel. Clover and Frisk communicate well, and Frisk also told him about Chara, although they do not try to solve anything with him, although it is clear that Chara is not just a ghost of Frisk's past and not just his guilt

In general, the story of securititale is about analyzing one's actions, fighting with oneself and one's other inner self, in this case it is the struggle of Clover and his previous version, as well as Frisk and Chara

Also, these are problems of society and laws, family and love. Staroba is the canon here. and here I also put in my own experiences. My aunt, after the death of her husband (my godfather), was able to move on and find a new love, but I did not. In the same way, two parts are fighting in Ceroba: the part that wants to move on and love Starlo, as well as the part that seems to betray the memory of her husband by loving another. in general, there are a lot of my personal traumas and experiences in this AU, which is why I love it

So... Clover in this AU may seem callous, cold and rude, but this is only because his mistakes affect him. But he doesn't like to hurt people. And he really loves his family, no matter how distant he may seem. He decided to turn back time and save his loved ones from himself. He's afraid to do something wrong, but he's not evil. He is just a teenager who is tormented by nightmares of his past lives and he is desperately trying to forget and move on.

#art #drawing #undertale yellow #digital art #uty #undertale #uty clover #undertale yellow clover #securitytale clover #clover art #clover undertale yellow #undertale au #undertale yellow au

[rubyarrows]

The Brain and The Writer

I leaned against the kitchen counter, watching my sister YN expertly chop vegetables for tonight's dinner. Cooking was something she enjoyed doing and if she was happy doing so, she could make dinner whenever she wanted, I would never try to stop her. The rhythmic sound of the knife hitting the cutting board filled the air, creating a familiar and comforting ambiance around us. 

"You know, YNN, I never get tired of this," I said, a small smile tugging at the corners of my lips. “The quiet and tranquility of being at home, both of us in our own little worlds but still in presence of each other. It’s quite... calming.” 

YN glanced up, her YEC eyes sparkling with a mixture of amusement and affection. "That it is. But knowing the chaos you and the rest of the BAU deal with on a regular basis, I try to keep the peace around the place. Besides, Spence, if our separate happy places are on totally different sides of the spectrum, then we have to meet in the middle somewhere." 

I chuckled softly, the sound echoing in the room. "Are we calling this the middle? I could have sworn it was the kitchen." 

She playfully nudged my arm. "Oh, so big brother is capable of having jokes of the normal perspective. This a new finding." YNN says with a grand smile placed upon her face. “I think I just might have to inform Derek of this newfound discovery within my own household.” 

We both laughed as she continued preparing dinner, the familiar scent of spices filled the room, intertwining with memories of our childhood. We had always been close, even when life threw its challenges our way. The mixture of scents from the sautéed vegetables and the chicken she had thrown together sent me back. 

"YNN, do you remember when we were kids and mom used to try to make dinner as well as help with our homework? How she would almost burn the food every time?" I asked, a hint of nostalgia in my voice. 

YN's laughter filled the room, bringing warmth to my heart. "Of course, I do! My stubborn ability to not do any kind of math was, I'm pretty sure, the bane of her existence. It’s why I got into the habit of asking you to do my math problems for me on the bus going home. It was so much simpler for you to do the work and me copy it down, learning it in the process, and having actual edible food than it was watching our mother walk in circles from the stove to the table and back." 

I smiled at the memory of it all as the words flowed from my little sister’s mouth. There were so many times the house almost went up in flames because mom had left the food in the oven far too long while YN was getting frustrated with her homework. The girl had never been good at math or science, but she could recite historical facts or any piece of literature just as well as I could. 

"You were always the brains, Spencer," she said, her voice brimming with pride. "Your mind was a puzzle-solving machine, even back then. I mean it still is. Look at you, Dr. FBI special agent Spencer Reid." 

I shook my head modestly. "It was nothing compared to the way you took on the ‘mom’ role like it was nothing or the way you lock on to something if you find it even the slightest bit fascinating." I wave my hand towards where she was standing at the counter with ingredients spread all over and her phone on its stand at the far end that played a history podcast in her earbud that, undoubtfully, had since been paused when I started speaking because she didn’t want to miss a detail. “Exhibit A. All of that and your ability to read people like it's nobody’s business are things that you can do. I’m great at multitasking. I’m a genius for crying out loud but all that you do without even trying dares to surpass my degrees and training. On top of that, let’s not forget that interminable book that you have been writing for almost 3 years.” 

YN paused her chopping, her gaze meeting mine. "It’s not that long, Spencer. I just can’t help but reread the work I have done on it and find something I need to tweak in some areas. It’s a lengthy process but the book itself is not all that long,” she explains and goes back to what she was doing beforehand. “Besides, I think we can both agree that though we are two totally different people, we understand each other more than anyone else will ever be able to. There are only a few people that can decipher your intelligent banter.” 

I felt a surge of love and gratitude for my sister, my best friend. We had shared so much together, both the good and the bad. From overcoming childhood bullies to navigating the turbulent waters of adulthood, we had always supported each other. I wouldn’t have ever asked for a better sister than her, never will either. 

#ruby arrows #ruby arrows imagines #criminal minds #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds imagines #criminal minds fanfiction #spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid imagines #spencer reid fanfiction

[morgana96]

Trying to Debunk Things the FFXIV Fandom Keeps Making Up About Lyse Hext

(Warning: Stormblood MSQ Spoilers Under the Cut)

I’ve been playing FFXIV for a few years now. It was my first time every playing a Final Fantasy game, and I was nervous I wouldn’t be any good at it. But FFXIV has been a huge comfort and highlight in my life. It’s gotten me through some very tough times and has really inspired me creatively. Not to mention I've met some really great people through the game, and that the community has so many nice and talented people.

But just like any other fandom, things are far from always perfect. There are fans who engage in offensive and gross behavior, fans who are toxic about how to best play - there are plenty of issues this fandom has that most of us are already aware of. But one thing that I think about a lot - although it's far from the only thing - is the strange amount of malice certain fans display when talking about the character Lyse Hext.

I couldn't understand for the longest time why some players hated Lyse so much. Personally, I enjoyed Stormblood, and I like her character. I enjoyed seeing her learn to step out of her sister's shadow and start to become her own person, and I consider her to be one of many characters who my WoL happily considers a good friend.

So it baffled me that people hated her so intensely. I get that not every character clicks with everyone, and that people have varied tastes. But the absolute vitriol some people treat her with has always confused me. That is, until I eventually realized what part of the problem is.

You see, I'm convinced that a good number of Lyse haters weren’t paying thorough attention to Stormblood’s plot. That, or they’ve simply forgotten certain details with time. Because most of the things they accuse her of or site as reasons for their hatred LITERALLY NEVER HAPPENED IN THE GAME.

There are so many accusations I've seen thrown around about her, and nearly all of them are something taken out of context, misremembered, or just straight up made up.

So what I want to do is go over some of the biggest accusations this fandom has perpetuated about Lyse and debunk those that are untrue or based on misunderstanding.

People who've followed me for a while probably know I used to do this all the time back in my Naruto fandom days. I’ve seen some really wild takes from that fandom, and still do occasionally even though the original manga ended nearly a decade ago.

But while I had to wade through a lot of nonsense back then, I really enjoy breaking down stories and characters in order to prove my perspectives. So I’d like to get back into it (especially since I’ve been struggling with focus issues, and this gives me interesting subjects to focus on!)

So let's get started:

“Yda was better than Lyse.”

Let's get something straight right of the bat. The “Yda” these players claim is “better”? That person's not real.

In the game’s timeline, the original 1.0 takes place in 1572, and the true Yda died in 1571. In other words, the “Yda” with Papalymo in 1.0 is Lyse. Apparently, legacy WoLs do encounter the real Yda via Echo visions from before 1.0, but the “Yda” they are with during 1.0 and beyond has always been Lyse. (I am not a legacy/1.0 player, so I'm using resources like the lore books and short stories to get this information.)

So what this means is that unless you are a legacy WoL, you never even knew or saw anything of the real Yda. It was always Lyse.

Everyone in the Circle of Knowing already knew this. Remember, it was Papalymo who asked them not to say anything; he recognized it as a coping mechanism for Yda's death, and he wanted Lyse to figure out for herself that she should not hide herself in her sister's shadow and legacy.

And deep down, Lyse had a feeling the others knew. She just didn't voice this, which is described as her “deciding not to know” that they knew. She even admits that she wasn't trying to truly “become” Yda, so it’s unlikely that she was really changing her personality all that much from what it usually is.

So I can't help but be annoyed when people insist they “liked Yda better”. Not only because I don't think Lyse's personality changed much from when she was “Yda”, but also because people who make this claim fail to see how ridiculous they sound.

The lie was a better character?

You see Lyse’s grief response to losing her older sister as a better character?

You hate that Lyse finally chose to let Yda go and try to become her own person? And preferred the lie?

What a weird hill to die on.

“Lyse didn’t do anything for the Resistance before my WoL showed up”

This is what I’m talking about when I say there are definitely players who just weren’t paying attention and instead make up whatever best fits their own biases.

Lyse and Papalymo were working with the Ala Mhigan Resistance since the end of A Realm Reborn. With a great deal of effort, Conrad managed to get them to Rhalgr’s Reach after the events of the Bloody Banquet, and the two of them pretty much spend the whole time after that working directly with Conrad’s faction of the Resistance until you finally manage to find them again towards the end of Heavensward and right before Stormblood begins

Lyse is not some stranger to them by the time your WoL crosses Baelsar’s Wall. By the time you get there, she’s already become close with Conrad, M’naago, and Meffrid. She’s already gone on countless dangerous missions with the Resistance and engaged directly in conflicts with imperials on their behalf. All of this is made clear in both the MSQ and the extra stories online.

I get so frustrated when blatant misinformation like this gets passed off as canon. How are you going to accurately criticize a character when you don’t even remember major parts of the story you’re criticizing? It makes no sense.

“Lyse stole the credit for saving Ala Mhigo from my WoL!!”

Yeah, no. She didn’t.

I’m not even going to pretend to humor this one. It doesn’t deserve it. It’s a lie. A straight up lie. It literally never happened.

But you know what the most annoying and sad thing about it is? This stupid claim is the exact opposite of how Lyse actually behaves throughout the game.

Lyse is seen regularly talking about how much she looks up to the WoL. She talks so much about how they inspire her, whether directly to them or to others when they’re not around. One of the biggest parts of her arc is getting over her fear of not living up to “true heroes”, including her family and the WoL. Hell, when people rightfully thank her for her efforts, she downplays it as simply doing the right thing and not something anyone needs to thank her for.

And when the WoL finally beats Zenos and Ala Mhigo finally becomes free, do you know what she says?

���You beat [Zenos], after all. You’re the real hero of this story. So run along and take your plaudits!”

How media illiterate does someone have to be to think that THIS is a character who’s “stealing credit”?

So no, Lyse Hext did not “steal credit” from your WoL. In fact, your WoL honestly just sounds like a delusional, self-important prick.

“Lyse didn't earn being the leader of Ala Mhigo/ the Resistance! It should have been Raubahn or M'naago!”

There are quite a few big issues with this one:

1 - Lyse is NOT the leader of Ala Mhigo, nor is she the leader of the entire Resistance.

Raubahn is.

Raubahn is Ala Mhigo's acting head of state. He's the one who is now the main head of the Resistance, which is the city-state's official military now that the Empire has lost control there.

I can’t even count how many people I’ve seen shouting about how “Raubahn should have been in charge!”, when he already IS in charge. And basically almost NO ONE ever fact checks anyone else on this.

These players are literally accusing Lyse of stealing a position she doesn’t have from a man who is, in fact, already in said position.

It’s wild.

2 - Lyse is currently the commander of the Resistance troops at Rhalgr’s Reach in the Fringes. That’s it.

The story makes it very clear that the Resistance was originally not headed by any one leader. There were multiple factions with different leaders, and they didn’t always get along and often had different perspectives on how best to free Ala Mhigo.

For instance, it was the Griffin specific faction of the Resistance, led by Ilberd, that attacked Baelsar's Wall. This branch of the Resistance was not affiliated with Conrad, and in fact, some of Conrad's group and fighters from other groups went to join the Griffin after being taken in by his words.

And because of the slaughter Ilberd purposely led those people into to summon Shinryu, many Ala Mhigans became wary of all factions of the Resistance for a time, even though they weren't necessarily affiliated with the Griffin’s faction.

The Resistance only recently began transitioning into an official military unit, rather that countless factions doing their own thing. Lyse is specifically in command of the group at Rhalgr’s Reach, because that was Conrad’s group. She’s NOT in charge of anyone else’s faction.

My guess as to the current chain of command is that the other factions are still being led by their respective leaders, and that since Raubahn now leads them as a whole, they (including Lyse) fall under his command and answer to him.

And as I said before, The Rhalgr’s Reach Resistance are not strangers to her, nor is she a stranger to them; she’s been working with and helping them since the end of ARR. It’s only because so many people refuse to acknowledge this that they’re convinced she’d done “nothing”, or that they somehow would see her as unfit.

3 - There are few things as universally annoying in fandom spaces than fans pitting women who are canon friends against each other. And unfortunately, this is exactly what I see happen most of the time with Lyse and M’naago.

Now unlike some of the other things I talk about in this post, I can at least understand some of the frustration regarding these two. After all, M’naago has been with the Resistance for a longer time.

But once again, this ends up tainted by people’s weird obsession with outright vilifying Lyse and everything she does. She’s not some evil schemer trying to usurp M’naago, and M’naago isn’t her bitter rival or victim. They are clearly very close - Lyse referring to her as “Naago” is a big deal in Seeker culture - and their stories on the lodestone makes it pretty clear to me that they care far more about each other and working to save their homeland than titles and mantles of leadership.

Honestly, I think a lot of people like to forget how much Lyse tried to reject becoming a leader. She was constantly comparing herself to others, and as a result, she considered herself unworthy of such a role and convinced herself it was something you needed a natural talent for. She was the one who insisted that being related to Curtis and Yda wasn’t enough to make her a good leader. It was only when she accepted her own limitations and imperfections that she finally accepted that role. She had to sort her own personal feelings out before she was ready to take on that responsibility.

One of the things I love about Lyse is that she’s a wonderfully flawed character; she has a lot of doubts, but she is trying her best to improve herself, instead of constantly wondering if she’s living up to someone else’s legacy. She’s not a Warrior of Light, or a decorated Archon. But she’s passionate, determined, and always willing to learn from others while she tries to become who she wants to be. In my eyes, that’s what Conrad’s talking about when he tells her she can become a leader. And regardless of what anyone else says, I enjoyed watching her start to come into her own.

“Lyse is a White Savior.”

This issue is much more complex than the other things I’ve brought up here. So I want to start out by making some things clear from the start.

As a black woman, I think one of the only well-founded criticisms regarding Lyse is her pale completion compared to her father Curtis, whose skin is much darker. Colorism is a serious and ongoing issue in entertainment media industries. It’s my belief that Lyse’s character design is a perfect example of that issue. And we as a fandom should absolutely acknowledge and criticize it.

However, I also disagree strongly with anyone who refers to Lyse as “a white savior”.

To provide some background information, “white savior” is a term connected to the long history of white people colonizing, oppressing, and denying agency to non-white people. Its concept originates from the racist ideology known as “The White Man's Burden” (named after a pro-imperialism poem), which falsely claims that white people are morally obligated to "save" people of color from themselves and their "savagery", thus justifying their colonization and cultural genocide. It’s also recognized as a common trope in media, where a white person - usually a white man displaced from white society - is made into the leader or liberator of a group of people of color, thus making said white person the focus of a story that doesn’t actually affect them the way it affects the marginalized.

There are two main reasons why I disagree with calling Lyse a white savior:

1 - Like I’ve already said, I 100% think Lyse’s character design is flawed. But something that’s very important to note here is that Ala Mhigo/Gyr Abania is not a homogeneous society some players seem to think it is.

Like a lot of the other regions in Eorzea, Gyr Abania has a diverse mixture of the world's fantasy races, including Hellsguard Roes, Seeker of the Sun Miqo'te, and both Highlander and Midlander Hyurs. But Gyr Abania is also not homogeneous when it comes to skin color. There are characters and NPCs throughout the Gyr Albania areas with varying skin tones. Some are fair, some are dark, and some are somewhere in between.

The problem with Lyse’s character design is that she’s suspiciously fair skinned despite being the daughter of a clearly dark-skinned man.

But what I tend to see people turn that into is “Lyse is too fair skinned to be Ala Mhigan”.

Fordola is fair skinned. M’hahtoa, M’naago’s mother, and several other members of the M Tribe are fair skinned. There are multiple NPCs across the Gyr Abanian maps that have fairer skin (some are named/can be spoken to, while others are unnamed/background NPCs).

I don’t think I’ve ever seen these characters brought up when people start talking about Ala Mhigan ethnicities. Maybe someone out there has and I simply missed it. But as far as I can remember, I’ve only seen Ala Mhigan skin tones brought up when someone is calling Lyse, and no one else, “too pale to be Ala Mhigan”. It doesn’t work to make this claim because Ala Mhigan is not a race; it's a nationality which is made up of multiple races, and those races seem to have varied skin tones based on what we see in the actual game.

Now remember, this is in no way a recant of my stance. I think Lyse should be closer in skin tone to her father. But the white savior label doesn’t work in this context because despite the problems with her design, Lyse is an Ala Mhigan refugee; not some random foreigner coming into Gyr Abania with no understanding of their history and plight. It’s not enough to claim she’s “too pale to be Ala Mhigan”, because Ala Mhigo/Gyr Abania isn’t homogeneous like that.

2 - When it comes to white saviorism, there’s a very specific privilege and ignorance that comes with it. The reason why it’s offensive is because it makes a white person the focus of a situation that they can’t and don’t truly understand. A story’s white savior - whether consciously or unconsciously - symbolizes white ego and narcissism. And frankly, I do not think that was ever the intention of Lyse’s story.

There’s a big difference between a white savior’s intrusion into a foreign country and a refugee returning to their homeland after many years. While only Lyse’s early years were spent in Ala Mhigo, she is not completely removed from it like people seem to think she is. It’s very clear she remembers her time there, and has clear memories of life with her father and sister.

She was only five when Yda got her out - right at the start of the Garlean occupation - and because of this, she initially doesn’t know how to convince other Ala Mhigans that the fight for their home is still worth it. Her love and hope for a better Ala Mhigo is mistaken for ignorance, because many have been so worn down by the loss and bloodshed that it’s considered suicide to fight back anymore.

Stormblood does a great job of showing how imperialism wears down its victims. The hopelessness felt by many in Ala Mhigo and Doma is the result of years of violence, abuse, and cruelty, and that’s exactly the imperials’ intention; an oppressor wants to break the will and spirit of the oppressed as much as they can, conditioning them to normalize their mistreatment in order to diminish threats to their control.

Characters like Fordola also help show how imperialists manipulate the oppressed to work against their own best interests. All of Fordola’s actions are driven by the misguided idea that working with the Empire would “free” Ala Mhigo. She was convinced that as long as she fought and killed for them, she’d eventually prove that Ala Mhigans are worthy of the Garleans’ respect. But that was never going to happen. It was a tactic to indoctrinate young Ala Mhigans and maintain the imperial status quo. And sadly, Fordola fell deep into that trap.

This is the real cause for Lyse’s initial disconnect. It’s not because of privilege or bias, or a lack of personal connection to Ala Mhigo. It’s founded on the fact that she simply hasn’t experienced the Empire’s relentless tyrannical tactics the same way those who remained in Gyr Abania have.

But this doesn’t mean she hasn’t dealt with loss and fear. Both her father and sister were killed by the Garleans. She’s experienced displacement and having to flee from your home to survive. She’s lost comrades and close friends while with the Scions. This isn’t some naive little girl who doesn’t know the pain that comes with battles and war.

The biggest challenge for the main cast of Stormblood wasn’t just physically fighting the Garleans. It was about a shared sense of pain and loss, and trying to break through the hopelessness the people of Ala Mhigo and Doma were feeling.

Lyse, the WoL, and the other characters aren’t doing what they do for glory. They’re not claiming to know better than the Ala Mhigans and Domans. They’re not trying to take their agency away. They’re trying to convince them to take back their own agency and futures from the Garleans. It’s about understanding their pain, their loss, and their fear, and trying to help them rediscover the strength to keep fighting for themselves. At least that’s what it was to me.

And speaking of the Garleans, it’s wild how I don’t see more people bring up their similarities to white saviorism.

So many Garleans refer to non-Garleans as “savages” and treat them as second class citizens in the provinces.

They insist that their societies and faiths are “primitive”, and that this justifies their invasions and conquests.

They outlaw cultural and religious practices and force their own practices in their place, all under the guise of “civilizing” conquered people and saving them from themselves.

They propagandize themselves as selfless heroes, and people like the WoL as the monstrous villains. “We’re simply trying to rescue these poor, deluded “savages” from themselves and their eikons. Why are you mad?”

And when people fight back and reject them, the Empire plays victim. Take Varis for instance; during that meeting with the Alliance, he targets the very valid issues the Eorzean nations have. But that’s not because he actually cares about fixing those problems; he’s literally just gaslighting them and trying to justify Garlemald’s false sense of supremacy.

It’s all right there. It’s literally a perfect fictional example of the racism, narcissism, and backwards logic of imperialism.

Yet somehow, I’ve see Lyse, an Ala Mhigan refugee, called a “white savior” more often than Garlean imperials.

It’s frustrating, to say the least.

~~~

Well, these are pretty much all the main accusations I’ve seen thrown at Lyse since I’ve started the game. If I think of anything else, or if someone gives me something else to look at, I will add on to this.

I don’t know if I’m changing any minds with this, or even if anyone even has the time or patience to read through this whole post. But it’s feels good to finally write out a lot of my thoughts on this subject after so long. I’d like to do this on more subjects relating to FFXIV, including ways I think certain parts of story could have been improved.

But that’s or another day. Thanks so much for reading ~

#Final Fantasy XIV #FFXIV #Lyse Hext #Character Discussion #Fandom Things #Long Post #like stupidly long lmao #if you make it through this congrats #this is the longest thing I've written in a long time #considering how much i struggle with focusing #this is a big achievement for me

[buttercuparry]

If your take on many of the characters in the asoiaf series is based on the metaphor of toilet cleaning, with a few jabs thrown in that does nothing but reinforce the same lame ass take that you and your fellow people in the fandom circle agree on, then that in fact is no more clever than a brick resting on a dirt mound.

Now this is a funny post I guess. A clever post, OP thinks for sure. They preface it by saying that the best metric to judge someone is by finding out how, they feel about toilet cleaning. And of course, they say, since Asoiaf is about a bunch of noble borns, their aversion to toilet cleaning shines through in immaculate detail. The few exceptions out of those nobles are included in op's post, but the final conclusion is that all but one of them is normal about toilet cleaning.

And I absolutely have no qualms with Op's conclusion. To each their own after all. But since, in their very own style, the post has the same old flavour of insinuating that Arya Stark only plays at being disadvantaged after Ned Stark's death, I felt like I should impart some more flavour to balance it out.

As we see in the above excerpt of Op's toilet cleaning adventures, it is implied that the problem Arya has is with the toilet cleaning in itself. For those who are still confused, the metaphor of toilet cleaning references the manual labor that goes in running a castle- scrubbing floors, fetching water, delivering messages etc. So the way of life a lowborn is forced to live in Westeros. I can't help but see how even when op uses the word "slave" in reference to Arya's position in Harrenhal, it never really got translated in their understanding of what slavery means. Being a slave/prisoner of war in Harrenhal meant that this wasn't an employment. This was the complete ownership of Arya by those who instructed her and thus by those, who had the command of the castle. Pretty sure that slavery which has been the running theme of Grrm's books is said to be unbearable even when the slave is wearing the golden collar in place of chains (remember Daenerys?). In my understanding, Arya hates herself and everyone involved less for the toilet cleaning and more for the fact that this toilet cleaning is forced on every single prisoner of war, and they can't say no because saying no leads to death. Like pretty sure she witnessed a girl getting raped every night and when the girl finally said no by attacking her rapist, she was promptly cut down. I also have this passage that details what led up to Arya's toilet cleaning slavery at Harrenhal. Let's have a look shall we?

Their captors permitted no chatter. A broken lip taught Arya to hold her tongue. Others never learned at all. One boy of three would not stop calling for his father, so they smashed his face in with a spiked mace. Then the boy's mother started screaming and Raff the Sweetling killed her as well.

Arya watched them die and did nothing. What good did it do you to be brave? One of the women picked for questioning had tried to be brave, but she had died screaming like all the rest. There were no brave people on that march, only scared and hungry ones. Most were women and children. The few men were very old or very young; the rest had been chained to that gibbet and left for the wolves and the crows. Gendry was only spared because he'd admitted to forging the horned helm himself; smiths, even apprentice smiths, were too valuable to kill.

They were being taken to serve Lord Tywin Lannister at Harrenhal, the Mountain told them. "You're traitors and rebels, so thank your gods that Lord Tywin's giving you this chance. It's more than you'd get from the outlaws. Obey, serve, and live

Obey, serve and live. That's the toilet cleaning op of the excerpt references to. And then there comes the topic of Arya mellowing out to the toilet cleaning (slavery) after her very own "murder-by-proxy spree". Now I don't mean to assume, but it feels like op has gone down the same drain of Arya the murder baby trope, where it is believed that murdering people is just another way for Arya Stark to decompress after a stressful week at work. When a slave is forced to slavery, and gets the means by which they can attack the slaver to strike down their chains- I am pretty sure it is natural that they would feel some type of way about it. They would feel that now they have some control and is no more the toilet cleaning mouse. The regaining of agency is the difference between the mouse and the wolf. It is less about toilet cleaning and more about agency since, Arya "the once toilet cleaning mouse" seemed to voluntarily want to be a part of the crew onboard of a ship. Now idk much about sailing, but this I can say, being on a ship earning your keep involves a looooot of toilet cleaning for sure.

I have no more energy to dissect the last throwaway statement but I am happy it is finally being recognized that the death cult is truly a way to cope, when half of your family is dead and you can't do anything about it because the people in power have caused that death. Hopefully it would soon translate into seeing the list as a coping mechanism too and no more bullshit about being a mindless murder baby

#arya stark #a song of ice and fire #valyrianscrolls

[writtenontheport]

Walk Me Home?

George Karim x (gn) Reader

Part 3: As the days go by (pt.1) (pt.2) (pt. 4)

Warnings/Tags: Reader is not an agent, Slow burn I think!!, Lucy and Lockwood being little shits my beloveds <3, Reader is an exchange student from abroad (vague), uhhhh I’m blanking but this is mostly fluff and self-indulgent, nerd Reader, Risking your life for the bit if the bit was knowledge

Notes: I CAVED. I could not go another day without writing an exchange student reader, physically hurt me not to 😔

Summary: George finds out that risking your life is a thing many people do; chief among them being the very people he cares about most. You’re no different, but at least you aren’t fighting ghosts. That’s a start.

Word count: 1.3k+

George settles into a schedule that slots you into his life with ease. You slide into the repertoire of his thoughts as if you’d always been there, waiting patiently to be noticed.

Every single thing in the world had a challenge, and yet the only thing you came with was a smile and a promise. Even Lockwood and Lucy had their own challenges; the challenge of keeping them alive chief among them. It was a challenge he understood and accepted with their line of work, but to finally meet someone mostly unattached to such a risk… It was strange.

You had come from abroad, far enough that news of the Problem was near non-existent and were not an agent. When visiting the British Isles for the first time, the Problem had barely been explained to you in anything other than harsh whispers and frustrated advice. This, you had told him, just a few weeks after you met.

“Everyone was so hurried all the time to get anywhere, and then, after curfew, London would be a ghost itself,” You told him once, sitting across from him at the same table you’d shared for months now. “When I had to go back home, I put in a request at my school to be part of an exchange programme. I can still remember how surprised the Dean looked when I told him I wanted to go to Britain.”

George understood why that was, shrugging lamely as he flipped to the next page of his book, “I wouldn’t send anybody here if where I lived didn’t have the threat of Visitors constantly over my head. I would send myself, but that’s out of scholarly interest.”

You chuckle lightly at the comment. “I ended up doing just that, so I can’t blame you.”

George hums in response, eyebrows lifting in the manner they do when he’s agreeable. “Must’ve been easy to find an exchange though…”

“Oh, very,” You say easily, “In fact some of the parents started sending me letters as soon as they found out someone was applying to exchange. Had very enticing terms they did— basically promised me a dowry, some of them. I didn’t even have to marry anyone.”

“Well I hope you took it,” he laughs, resting his cheek against his hand as he looks up at you, watching the light catch your eyes like a twinkling star, “Would be a pity if you didn’t.”

“I did,” you reply, mirroring him with your opposite hand as your sparkling gaze trails where your fingers nearly touch. His eyes drop to where you bump a knuckle into against his fist, and something curls in warm delight in his chest.

You don’t say anything more, and he’s too distracted to pick the conversation back up before you’re both packing to leave. Over the months, your visits to the library have gotten longer, and your walks take up enough time that he makes it back to Portland Row just as curfew’s setting in. Lucy and Lockwood always greet him like the cunning wolves they are, hungry for a scrap of gossip. Lockwood, he expected this from— the man reads gossip magazines as a hobby after all— but Lucy’s prodding seems to mostly come from a genuine interest in his life. For all their bickering, he knew Lockwood and Lucy truly just cared about his wellbeing.

So, a month or so into your… shared library visits, as he’d taken to calling them, he started to fill the two in on a few details. Sometimes they’re small things, like your favourite colour or the last fiction book you’d read, but other times he’d give a little more and tell them things like: ‘They’re from abroad’ or ‘They’re here, willingly, on an exchange program’. They wouldn’t get off his back for days when he told them the Problem was what kept you in Britain after your initial visit.

“You two are basically made for each other,” Lockwood coos, and George swats him on the chest for it. “Risking your lives for research and study and all that.”

“He’s right, if I hadn’t grown up with it, I certainly wouldn’t have sent myself into it,” Lucy adds, sitting far enough away that George can only glare at her. She holds up both hands in surrender, but looks at him intently.

George deflates a little against the table as he plops down, thinking over the fact you might just be as reckless as the two martyrs-in-the-making in front of him (as reckless as himself, though he would never admit it). It doesn’t genuinely disappoint him, but he likes to give Lockwood and Lucy the idea that recklessness is not a good trait by exaggerating his disapproval. Still, he preens at the thought that you really would fit right into their little home here in Portland Row.

“Where do they live for now, anyway?” Lucy asks around a mouthful of supper, doodling into the thinking cloth with every chew.

“Someplace North of the library, always took us 10 minutes to walk there.”

“You walk them home?” Lockwood asks, giddily smiling as if this was his library rendezvous they were talking about. George ignores him without so much as a glance.

“They’re living with an older couple raising their grandkid, who’s now been sent off to live elsewhere for the duration of the program,” he says instead.

“Now hold on—“

“George, you didn’t answer my—“

He tunes them out a little as he hides behind an old newspaper he’d brought to the table. It would be easy to just tune them out for the whole night (heavens know he’s done it more than once when their arguing got too loud), but something about you… always, always had him talking. It was as if the thought of you lit a fire in his lungs and he needed to talk about you to let the smoke clear, your smile a spark to light the flames.

“Yes, I walk them home,” He finally relents, dropping the newspaper to glare at them both. It doesn’t stop the twin grins from growing on their faces, but the admission makes something flare in the cavity of his chest. Smoke, fire, far-off stars, and peace from abroad; you really were giving him the world and more just by being in his.

“Would you fancy coming round one of these days?” he whispers to you, pinkie wrapped around yours. It’d been a week or two since you bumped a knuckle against his hand, and you had steadily built up to holding each other’s pinkies while reading across from each other.

You look up at him, and sparks fill his lungs with quick fire. “To your agency?”

“Yeah, Lucy and Lockwood have been bugging me to introduce you, but I’ve been putting them off because they can be… a lot.” He tugs on your pinkie absentmindedly, and your eyes flit at the motion. Something preens in his chest as you tug on his pinkie in return.

“If they’re anywhere as lovely as you, I’m sure we’d get on well. Intense or not.” Your smile catches in the light, popping against the bleak library walls and tall bookshelves. “Not today, but maybe we can set up a time when?”

George feels thankful you even said yes, with all that he’s told you about the two of them (he does not voice this). “Absolutely.”

When it’s time to walk home, you don’t ask anymore if he’d walk with you to avoid someone. Instead, you link pinkies, and walk the cobble streets back with the sun on the horizon. Unbeknownst to him, whose fires rage in the cavity of his lungs at your smile, your heart hammers against the bones of your ribs at his.

“Meet again tomorrow?” You ask, hopeful as ever with your glittering eyes.

“As long as you’ll be there,” he responds easily, a smile finding its way onto his lips.

A/N: I caved. I gave reader a lil bit of backstory. I hadn’t meant to, but UGH I just love exchange student au. Anyways, sorry this took so long, I was in the midst of a personal sweets shortage and lost the motivation to write (I am not joking 😭) hope you fellow George lovers sleep a good night with your pillow cold <333

#george karim x reader #george karim x you #lockwood and co x reader #portie writes fanfic

[battle-of-mid]

iwould like to hear your rant about lmk wukong's character assassination. In detail. if possible. please

(takes long drag of cigarette) it really did all start with the show itself coming out. see, after ROTTMNT came out, i don't think we could really expect flying bark to be "faithful" to its IPs and while whether that was a good thing for the TMNT franchise is absolutely something that can be discussed by people that aren't me, it's a whole lot more sensitive when you're handling a show based on a cultural treasure -

LEGO's line of toys dedicated to a sort of journey of the west spinoff is, in my opinion, an objectively good idea. other than boosting sales it feels kind of inevitable considering just how much LNY stuff they'd put out already, you know? to put it simply i don't have any problems with the lego monkie kid IP in concept, just with the way FB decided to run with its execution -- which ended up landing it squarely in "hot mess" territory.

basically - and i promise that this is relevant to wukong specifically, bear with me - i think that the first red flags were the fixation on their rendition of the six-eared macaque: a character that they've changed from being a single-use "evil twin" character that served the original Journey to the West's allegory for enlightenment (ie. that he was a manifestation of SWK's worst impulses) and then immediately fucking died when the situation called for it. he didn't show up for more than one storyline. they retcon a looooot of SWK's actual backstory as detailed by the book itself in order to make room for sadboy LEMH content so the writers could get their shipfix for him and SWK (which is annoying on more than one point, if you remember what I said about the evil twin thing. if you catch my drift. average flying bark moment)

but to put it simply i genuinely think they just made him... way too much of a lazy fucking self absorbed asshole? the beginning of the show has this which feels like a one-off gag but they double down on it later which makes they didn't write sun wukong -- this is after he's supposed to have ascended to victorious-in-strife buddha, mind you, and it ends up feeling less like sun wukong at any point in the storyline and more like... well, goku. from dragon ball super. which is its own, mostly unrelated can of worms in and of itself.

the thing is this is a character that's been used historically as an allegory, as representative of the people, objectively a cultural icon no matter where in china-influenced asia you find yourself (fantastic analysis of the problem with the way LMK pays homage to that allegory here), and also used in reference to, like, diaspora kids. this is a character that baaasically any chinese person with any kind of connection to the culture is going to see themselves in - especially in his reckless identity and subsequent ascension, you know?

and the main problem here is essentially that when you do this with a character that exsits as part of a media franchise... it's fine? it's whatever. people can just skip that. but when you are doing this as an attempt to adapt a piece of historically and culturally important literature - one that is made for children, one that is infinitely more accessible to diaspora children of that culture than any other adaptation that would be directed towards their age demographic, it feels like a punch in the gut. it's a level of disrespect that just really really hurts, all because the people in charge of it feel like they have to flanderize their characters for their fandom or they'll, like, die.

this isn't exactly organized nor is it every thought i have on the matter but basically tldr they forgot they were writing sun wukong and not their oc

[archduchessofnowhere]

The Accidental Empress Reading Blog III: Very Belated Final Thoughts

After I brought up Pataki again last night I realized that I never finished to give you my opinion of her Sisi novel, so let’s say goodbye to the year with a final review! I originally had planned to make a detailed commentary of parts two and three as I did with the first part (you can read it here and here), but ultimately I decided to just write my final thoughts without going too much into detail since firstly, I don’t remember every detail of the plot anymore, and secondly, my main problems with this book can actually be boiled down to only two points.

My first major issue was something that I already noted on my previous posts about the novel: the pacing. The book is divided in three parts, each which makes up of about a third of the total length. Part one is set during August of 1853, and covers about four? five? days. I personally don’t think the engagement deserves that many pages, specially when you’re planning to cover Elisabeth’s life up until the Hungarian coronation of 1867: the part dragged on for what seemed like an eternity, and soon I was very bored. We already know Sisi is going to marry Franz, why did we need over a hundred and twenty pages to tell that? Let’s get over it quickly and jump to her being empress please!

… Is what I thought while reading part one, but that ended up being a monkey-paw wish, because from part two onwards the painfully slow pacing turns into INCREDIBLY FAST. The second part covers from September of 1853 until sometime after Rudolf’s birth (the timeline becomes foggy at this point and it’s not really clear anymore in which year we are), each chapter covering about a year. The change is jarringly noticeable: we go from having a detailed day-by-day story to entire months being described in sentences.

And the pacing gets even WORSE in part three, which covers from August of 1862 until the Hungarian coronation. You may be wondering, didn’t the previous part end in 1858? What happened in-between? Well, guess what. WE DON’T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. Part two ends with Sisi’s “flight” from court, which in reality happened at the end of 1860, but in the Patakiverse after Rudolf’s birth. Part three starts with her returning to court after being away FOR FOUR UNINTERRUMPTED YEARS. I won’t go on details on how CRAZY this is: to summ it up, the real Elisabeth was away from court for two years, but she did came back to Vienna in-between her trips, and the last months of her “flight” she spent them within the borders of the empire. And she was always in contact with her husband and updated about her children! What annoys me so much of the four years off-page isn’t the inaccuracy however, but that Sisi comebacks with AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT PERSONALITY, because the years away hardened her and made her more aware of how she can use her beauty for her own ends. A change I would’ve love to see happening ON PAGE! But no, the only thing we learn of Sisi’s years away from court is this:

(Lobkowitz wasn’t even Elisabeth’s Oberhofmeister anymore at this point)

And to add insult to injury, this isn’t even the only time it happens! Because after we get two chapters set in 1862… WE HAVE ANOTHER FOUR YEARS TIMESKIP TO 1866 AAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

Sorry. I just didn’t like the pacing. Let’s move on to my second major issue: this is yet another Sisi story that revolves almost entirely around men.

I’ve complained about this before, but in general I don’t like how in fiction Elisabeth is often reduced to the relationships she had with the different men in her life. We know for a fact that she also had close relationships with many women: her mother, her sisters, her ladies-in-waiting, her daughter, other fellow royal women. So it’s deeply frustrating to me when these relationships are ignored in favor of, for exemple, a fictional affair with a man she was just friendly with. Which is exactly what this novel does.

In the first half of the book Sisi’s entire character revolves around Franz Josef: she starts out as a lovestruck teenager and as the story progresses she slowly falls out of love with him as she discovers that he won’t stand up to his mother for her and that he is cheating on her. During this part Sisi doesn’t have almost any positive relationship with a woman: her sister Helene completely disappears after part one. Her mother only returns a little before the end of the second part (in a very inaccurate scene that I still liked only because it redeemed Ludovika’s character). Archduchess Sophie is a stereotypical evil mother-in-law, Countess Esterhazy is the controlling “governess”, and her two ladies, Countesses Caroline Lamberg and Paula Bellegarde are depicted as scheming women who conspire against Sisi and try to seduce her husband (… what). Needless to say all these characters are incredibly shallow, because the only person that is given a somewhat more nuanced characterization is Franz Josef.

This trope of “every woman is out there to get our super special female protagonist” is already annoying on its own, but here is also accompanied by a lesser known trope that is equally annoying to me: “the only women who are good are the servant characters that have almost no character traits other than adoring our protagonist and serving her loyally”. Sisi has a (fictional) maid called Agata that accompanies her to Vienna, and is the only person who treats her well during the first half. But we know NOTHING of this maid other than she is Polish and she loves Sisi. She is a fictional character, you can give her a more important role if you want!

Meanwhile, the real life people that had important roles in Elisabeth’s life are also turned into this kind of character. Marie Festetics, who entered in service of the empress in 1872, was one of her closest ladies-in-waiting, and while we know that she did adore her mistress, she could also be very critical of her. In The Accidental Empress, Festetics is a lady-in-waiting since 1854, and her role is completely minimal. We are told (specially on the last part) that she is Sisi’s oldest and most faithful friend at court, but they interact so little on-page (and their moments together are always so bland) that it’s hard to buy. Worse of all, however, was the treatment of Ida Ferenczy: she only appears a couple of chapters before the book ends as a maid that Andrássy recommended. While Pataki keeps in her story that Ida was hired to help Sisi practice Hungarian, on page her only interactions with Sisi consist in fetching her things and receiving orders from her. In real life Ida was a gentry girl that amazingly managed to enter court despite her lack of noble ancestry (there is even a theory that she was actually infiltrated by Deák and Andrássy to influence the empress in favor of Hungary), and Elisabeth liked her so much that she CREATED a position for Ida (the reader of the empress) so she could stay in her staff. This is one of the cases in which the real Elisabeth asserted her agency and power in court, which the book completely takes away from her and by doing so destroys her special relationship with Ida!!!

So you remember how I said that in the first half of the book Sisi’s entire character revolves around Franz? Well that’s because in the second half her entire character revolves around Andrássy. Yep, this is one of those stories. I won’t go into details, but honestly it wasn’t even the made up affair what bothered me: it was the implication that Sisi only got involved with the Compromise because she got personally involved with Andrássy. Elisabeth isn’t allowed to have any sort of political ideas on he own, she must be guided, she must be told what to think by the men in her life. This role must always be fulfilled by a man, and that’s why we can’t have Ida Ferenczy or Marie Festetics discussing politics with Sisi, that’s why they are just background servants that only fetch her things and help her cover up an affair while Andrássy gets to be the dashing hero that saves Sisi for her trapping and passionless marriage.

And I’m just tired of this kind of narrative.

If you read until here, thank you! I’m incapable of writing short reviews. All this being say I do plan eventually read the sequel, solely out of an annoying completionist drive and because I’m curious if Pataki cared for and listened to any of the critics she received from people who like the real Elisabeth. Please let me know of you’d like another in-depth sort of commentary or prefer a general review!

#the accidental empress #author: allison pataki #reading blog #book review

[scarletwritesshit]

Kaveh x Reader ✦ Oh my God! Roommates! ✦ Epilogue

Nearly six years had passed since you, Kaveh, and Alhaitham had first met.  A little over two years ago, you had finished all of your studies under Alhaitham’s guidance, much to Kaveh’s dismay. As soon as he caught wind of your success, he was practically begging at your feet to stay just a little longer.

No one said that you were leaving, however.

Alhaitham had allowed you and Kaveh to remain at his residence, as he had gradually become adjusted to this way of life. It would almost not feel like a home anymore without the three of you relentlessly teasing each other in some way, shape, or form. It was a nice change of pace for Alhaitham, as having a little laugh relieved him from the stress of being Sumeru’s Grand Scribe.

Over time, Kaveh gradually got a better grip on himself as he recovered from his financial mistakes. Instead of allowing himself to be overtaken by his feelings at every turn, he learned to apply more logic to his planning, allowing him to make great strides in his architectural business. Now that he had gotten back onto his feet with a steady source of income, the time for him to leave Alhaitham’s residence was approaching quite soon.

However, he would not be making this journey into the future alone. Kaveh’s new studio (conveniently planned with room for two) was nearly complete after a significant amount of time he spent designing it from the ground up. However, one thing that Kaveh has been unable to accomplish after all of these years was to seal the fate of you two once and for all.

One evening, he lifted stacks of books and scrap paper that were used as a decoy to discourage you from curiously peeking into his plans. Underneath was a small but rather well-kept stack of papers he hid from you on purpose. He looked around his empty room to ease his mind, then pulled out the papers.

These papers detailed various doodles of rings that he had thought up over the years. Most of them were based upon the native flora of Sumeru, but he had a few attempts at designs resembling the creatures that roam the wilderness as well. For nearly six years, he had been doodling rings so that when the time finally came, his proposal would be absolutely perfect. However, he had been unable to settle on a design, and he had no almost no time left to decide.

He shuffled through all that he had, trying to figure out what you might like the most. Maybe you were fascinated with the fungi of Sumeru, and he wanted to show that he paid attention to a most curious interest of yours. Or perhaps, you were more of a flower type of person, always studying whatever pop of color caught your eye amongst the grass.

It was starting to get to him, but once he made it to the bottom of the stack, Kaveh came across the doodles that you had caught him working on quite literally the day you two started dating. Various designs inspired by Sumeru roses cluttered the page, something that you were well aware that he was quite fond of.

Maybe they would have forgotten this by now, he thought. I can still surprise them by using a six-year-old drawing that they had a chance at seeing at some point, right?

If you did remember it, then it would be a nice way to reminisce about how awkward you two were. Maybe.

Kaveh did eventually settle on one of the simpler rose ring designs. He didn’t want it to be an overwhelming show of material, but rather, an honest declaration of love from his heart.

The problem now was actually building up the courage to ask you, which was a lot more difficult than he anticipated. Why couldn’t his sleep deprived inner thoughts take over once again and shove the ring in your face in the middle of the night? It was a lot better than him cringing at his own predetermined monologue, which he would eventually end up scrapping regardless. Every time he reached to pull out the ring and present it to you, the anxiety would overcome him and he would back down.

He had nothing to fear, as you constantly reiterated your desire to spend the rest of your life with him. Whatever internal force was holding him back, he had to conquer once and for all. It was the only obstacle standing in between the two of you and a hopeful future together.

Forget planning it out. Kaveh was going to wing it. It was better for him to allow himself to embrace his emotions in the moment, not try to predetermine how he would feel.

You seemed awfully content lying against his shoulder while he was internally panicking, seeing the last six years of his life flash before him. It was quiet in the house, as Alhaitham was attending to his duties, leaving you two to an afternoon of tranquility. Your hand was gently resting by Kaveh’s leg, something he saw as a prime opportunity.

Kaveh lifted your hand and turned it palm up. He held onto your wrist gently as he placed his other hand on top. You felt him place something cold and metallic to the touch in it.

Once he removed his hand, you saw that a ring resembling a light purple flower was placed into your palm.

#genshin impact fluff #genshin impact kaveh #genshin impact #fanfiction #fanfic #fluff #kaveh x reader

[mariana-oconnor]

The Red-Headed League Pt 1

From the start I can say that I have read this one many, many times. Not my favourite, but it was in the book of Sherlock Holmes stories I had as a child. Although, once again I remember only the gist of the tale from the title, not the details. I may remember more as I go on.

found him in deep conversation with a very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair.

As someone from a family with many redheads, with several friends who are redheads, I can say that the idea of an 'elderly' person with red hair amuses me because without exception the more redheaded a person is in my experience, the sooner they go white. I had cousins who were significantly grey at 21. If this guy is considered elderly and still has his natural hair colour as a redhead, then he's got some impressive genes.

Also, I can already see the redheaded stereotypes circling.

With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door behind me.

Watson: trying to be polite. Holmes: YOINK!

The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small fat-encircled eyes.

Watson really doesn't like flattering descriptions, does he? 'Fat encircled eyes'? You've mentioned he's stout twice already, do we really need the extra? After the last story where he was very clear about how he thought Miss Mary Sutherland was unattractive, he's really on a roll.

You have shown your relish for it by the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own little adventures.

Doyle making a callout post for his own unreliable narrator.

"You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary Sutherland..."

Callback! Although I'm still a little angry at you about that one, Holmes. Not your finest hour.

As a rule, when I have heard some slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the facts are, to the best of my belief, unique.

Holmes is flummoxed. He is bamboozled. He is quite without context or precedent.

Our visitor bore every mark of being an average commonplace British tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow.

Watson, your classism, intellectualism, and fatphobia are showing. Wow, we're just getting back-to-back Watson being a judgy little bitch, aren't we? Once again I have to question what these people must have thought in-universe when reading his descriptions of them. I know, I know, they're not real, but it's a central conceit of the series that Watson is the author and publishes the tales, and looking at it from that perspective when he's so very disparaging of some of their clients.

"Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else."

OK, now Sherlock's talking about the guy like he's not there. They're quite a pair today.

But also, Sherlock showing off again, and this time the client takes the bait and asks about it. He must be so pleased.

"I have made a small study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter becomes even more simple."

I like how he starts with the more obscure one, then follows it up with the more obvious clue. Although he could have got the coin from somewhere else, so the tattoo colouring is confirmation that he actually went, and is not connected in another way.

Mr Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see that there was nothing in it, after all."

I like Mr Jabez Wilson. Ha! (Maybe this is why Watson is so bitchy about him, because he does not appreciate the true glory of Holmes' art).

TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 Pope's Court, Fleet Street.

Based on the Bank of England inflation calculator, this comes to roughly £400 a week in modern money. And given that last story we were told that a woman could comfortably live on £60 a year, while this is ~£200 a year. I would take that in a heartbeat and ask no questions. I'd be thinking a lot of questions, but I would not be asking them. Two words: Plausible deniability.

~*Oh no. I am but an innocent pawn in this terrible scheme! I knew nothing.*~

If only I were a man with red hair of sound mind and body.

"What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated

Obligatory ejaculation note.

Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when in high spirits.

Wiggly chair dance! I love it.

I would have a job to pay him but that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the business.

This guy is either the nicest guy in the world, or he has ulterior motives. Given the context, I'm going with door number 2.

I should not wish a smarter assistant, Mr Holmes; and I know very well that he could better himself and earn twice what I am able to give him.

Dooooooor number 2

There's no vice in him.

Mr Wilson, I know what I said before about plausible deniability, but you may in fact want to look that gift horse in the mouth and hire someone a little less qualified.

He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple cooking and keeps the place clean

Ah, Victorian labour laws.

"Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: "'I wish to the Lord, Mr Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' "'Why that?' I asks. "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what to do with the money. If my hair would only change color, here's a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.'

Victor Spaulding is not a very convincing con man - though, to be fair, I have the benefit of being genre savvy. But I can totally see Hardison playing this part in the Leverage version of this con and being over-the-top outraged about the injustice. (I think they did do a version of this con in Leverage at one time, but I can't remember when... or it might have been in Hustle. Or I might be imagining things.)

"Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an extra couple of hundred would have been very handy."

Almost like it was designed specifically for you! What a strange and fortuitous happenstance! What an utterly serendipitous and not at all suspicious coink-i-dink!

Vincent Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might prove useful

There is nothing to see here. Just an ordinary employee.

From north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court looked like a coster's orange barrow.

Why doesn't Watson know about this? You would have think it would have made the newspaper and we have established that Watson reads the news religiously.

I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which would disgust you with human nature.

Pretty sure I've read that one on AO3.

The fund was, of course, for the propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their maintenance.

Are they... plants? This reads more like gardening. Such weird word choice. Propagation and spread... so creeeeepy.

"'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a bachelor.'

Classic. The old 'take away the thing that you haven't given them yet to make them want it more'. This guy is more skilled than Spaulding, certainly. Make it seem like you're doing them a favour and they won't look into it too much.

'Oh, never mind about that, Mr Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. 'I should be able to look after that for you.'

Seriously, this guy needs to work on his technique. You can't be that eager, my friend. You've got to make them work with it. Make them think it's their idea, not yours. You should have been planting the seeds for this since before you even raised the idea of the League. You are a terrible grifter. Pah! I have 0 respect for you. You're getting by on luck, not skill.

Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole position forever.

Once again an extreme and unreasonable ultimatum, just like in the last story. This is a Bad Sign. No allowances for injury or emergency, just 'if you leave, that's it forever.' Bad sign.

OK, maybe I lied before. I would ask questions about this: 'But what if I fall over and bang my head? But what if the building is on fire? But what if I am kidnapped by enemies of the league?'

"'... copy out the Encyclopaedia Britannica."

Just copy out Wikipedia, longhand. OK. The real question is: what happens when my hand seizes up from writing for so long? What then?

Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Yep, yep, yep. All very valid and good points. Good for you, Mr Jabez Wilson. I knew I liked you.

Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr Duncan Ross was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off upon the letter A

A is for Alarming, which this is.

It's also for Augur, as in 'This augurs poorly.'

You were so close, Mr Wilson. So very close. I believed in you - well, I didn't, because there wouldn't have been a story otherwise. But I still believe you can pull this off. You've come to Holmes for a reason. Will you realise before it's too-

He held up a piece of white card-board about the size of a sheet of note-paper. It read in this fashion: THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE IS DISSOLVED October 9, 1890

Oh Mr Wilson. My belief was misplaced.

A is for Aim and A is for Accomplished and A is for Absconded. All very relevant words, one feels.

#Letters from Watson #The Red-Headed League #Sherlock Holmes #long post

[not-alien-girl-v]

Tate story I am sorry I don’t have a name for it yet

Warning: Language

Note: Hello! So this story is based off the concept of reality shifting, but I took some specifics on the basics of the concept from a oneshot series by @toomanyfandoms02 , so definitely go read that if you’re a fan of MGG, it’s called The Transporter. Also I kinda hate this chapter but it will get better I swear

I still remember the day things changed. I was in English class, 6th period, when Mr. Rove sat down at his desk, a bedazzled expression as he explained to us the news: traveling dimensions was now a possibility.

Students turned to each other, chatting about, every single detail of their ideal universe being put into words with each other, but I kept my ideas to myself. Not to say I didn’t have any, because I did. Sure, it was a very vague idea, but I set it aside in my mind, as I did to every unrealistic desire I’d accumulated over the years, like being a bestselling author.

I knew I certainly had the capability to write a story, maybe even a good one at that, but I’d never write something irresistibly readable. Something so interesting, so complex and beautiful that it could reach the minds of many.

“This is shit,” Mr. Rove confirmed my sneaking suspicion that day in his office. In his large hands, he held my submission for the school’s writing contest. The winner would receive a $10,000 scholarship to their college of choice, something I desperately needed.

It’s not that I didn’t have the money. In fact, my father was a world renowned scientist, making a fuckton of money and refusing to let me take advantage of that.

I get it, he came from the bottom and made it to the top with no help from a rich parent, and he wants me to be the same: a successful, self made individual, but I have to say, paying for your own dinners, clothes, electronics etc sucks when you are only old enough to make minimum wage.

All those daddy’s money girls I go to school with do annoy me, and for that, I get where he’s coming from. But I’m far from them.

As for what Mr. Rove said to me, it’s not something I didn’t already know. I could easily tell the story was no good. I felt like it was shit the whole writing it, it’s no big surprise that it wasn’t worthy of winning the contest.

“I know,” I spoke honestly. I wasn’t going to bullshit him about this, I sucked and I knew it.

He leaned back in exasperation, running a hand through his dark hair and sighing. Placing the paper back on his desk, “I mean, come on. The main girl is too dumb. Why does she keep going back to camp every year when someone always gets murdered? No one wants to read something so frustrating and predictable. Horror is about suspense, and there’s nothing in this. My 3 year old daughter probably could have written this thing as a shitty picture book.”

Harsh. He could have at least spared some feelings. “That was rude. I’m a child, you know. Your my teacher you’re supposed to be nice to me. What would the principal have to say about your awful bedside manner?”

“Okay, fine. Turn this in to the contest, see yourself lose the scholarship, and end up working 9 to 5 at McDonalds.”

I pursed my lips and stared him down in defeat. “That’s what I thought,” he continued.

That was a month ago, and the application deadline closes at the end of summer, giving me roughly 2 and a half months to write this story. No problem right?

Wrong. Big problem. Summer is finally here - as of today - and I still have little to no idea what I’m doing with this new story I was demanded to write by Mr. Rove.

Now here I am, one foot after another on the hot concrete, and I can tell it’s scalding because Chuck Taylor shoes do nothing to protect your feet from things like the burning pavement on a hot summer day.

My forehead is dripping and as is every part of my body I could possibly generate sweat from (which is everywhere, as I’m now learning) and it is no picnic. Days like this make me wish I hadn’t quit my job to ‘pursue writing’ or whatever stupid reason it was. I’m buying my own car, or at least I will be once I find the money for it.

The walk to my home, near excruciating, finally ends after I scramble around my purse for my house keys, entering the bliss of air conditioning. I close my eyes and slide down the wall, almost comedically and I nearly cry at the sensation.

Sweat in my eyes, my mouth, the tips of my fingers slowly drying cool, leaving me with a bitter stench left behind.

The house I live in is probably the only thing in my life that reflects my father’s success. It’s three stories, in a rich neighborhood and with an indoor pool. It would be nice if my father were every around to enjoy it.

The note on the fridge reads ‘big news, call me’. School is over, I have no homework and nothing to do but procrastinate with this story I’m writing, so I call him right away.

Two rings, “Hello?”

“Hey dad, it’s me, what’s the news?” I have now moved up to my room, climbing in the stairs not dissimilar to the trek up Mount Everest, and sink down into my desk chair.

“We did it! We figured it out!” He exclaims and I can swear I hear his happy dance over the phone.

“So it was you. I should have figured.” My father is a genius, a scientist, and as of today, one of the inventors of multi-universal travel.

“Yeah, boss put it on the news! But it doesn’t end there, not for you.”

“Oh?”

“Nope, you, my sweet daughter, are going to be one of the first test subjects!”

I am forcefully silenced. The air has permanently left my lungs and at the moment, I have no reason to believe it will ever return. I inhale, oh there it is again.

“Did you hear me? I volunteered you. This is going to be an amazing opportunity for you, you’ll get to experience what it’s like to live as an individual in the lower class. You know how important it is to hear every side of the economical story to be a true philanthropist-“

“Dad?” I interrupt.

“Yes?”

“You didn’t even ask me about this? You’re just deciding that I’m going to participate in leaving this dimension? All for what? To become a better person? To complete this narrative of a humble rich girl?”

Now he’s in silence.

“I gave you this opportunity because it’s a once in a lifetime event. You should be grateful for this, do you even know how many girls would kill to do what you’re about to?”

“What will I be getting from this? All I’m hearing is what you’re benefiting, but what would be in any of this for me?”

He pauses to think. “How about I make you a deal. If you agree to this under my terms, I’ll let you choose what reality you shift to. How about that?”

“And?”

Sighing, “and if you do this, I’ll… get you a car.”

I jump up out of my chair. “Seriously?”

“Yes. But only if you agree to it right now.”

“What would happen if I didn’t?”

“You’d still be doing this anyway, but I get to choose where you’re going. Plus no car.”

Grinning, I reply, “you’ve got yourself a deal! When do I leave?”

“Tomorrow morning. And try not to eat anything within the next 12 hours, most of the rats we tested on threw up a little during the shift. Love you, bye!”

“Wait what-“ But he’s already hung up on me. Well, there goes my summer. Or maybe time will just pause when I leave, I don’t know. But what I do know is that I need to talk about this.

___

“Have I mentioned how much I’m in love with Tate Langdon?” Del asks. She’s spread out on my bed, scrolling through my Tumblr, after making the executive decision to follow the Tate Langdon tag on my account.

“Maybe once or twice. One more time for good measure?” I joke from my floor where my existential crisis is occurring.

“He’s the love of my life!” She squeals. I don’t say anything. I love Del, but whenever she gets like this, I feel it best to let her get it all out.

“Can I ask you something?” I speak, nearly groaning my words out with a scratchy voice.

“Shoot.”

“You know how they figured out reality shifting?”

“Of course, it’s all over practically everything.”

“If you could go anywhere, where would you go?”

“American Horror Story, duh! Do you even have to ask me that, come on Clara, catch up,” she laughs. I hum.

“You’re just saying that because you want to fuck that Tate guy,” I accuse her with a giggle.

“It’s so much more than that. The storyline is so amazing, and the characters, so complex, as long as it would be assured I couldn’t die or get hurt, I’d love to live in a horror universe like that. You could probably do good there too. Maybe in a place like that, you could find some inspiration for your story.”

People should stop saying shocking things to me today, because I keep finding myself in an uncomfortable silence, mouth agape and mind exploded. I sit up.

“Del, I’m going on a trip this summer.”

“Wow a trip? Geez, Clara spare some details, would ya?” She jokes.

“It has something to do with my dad’s work. You know he has to keep it private, government classified and whatever the fuck. You just need to know that I’m leaving tomorrow morning, and I probably won’t be able to contact you for a good long while.”

“Is this your creative way of saying I need to go home now?” She is already up off my bed, not waiting for an answer and slipping on her shoes.

“Yes. I’m up early, so I need a good nights rest.”

“Alright, alright, I’m out, I’ll see you whenever your… trip… is over,” she cackles and I hear it travel down my staircase and out the front door.

___

I’m oh so delicately greeted with the most beautiful noise in the world: my alarm clock, blaring in my sleeping ear at 4am.

Since I spoke with my father, he miraculously suddenly became insanely busy, too busy to return any further calls or texts from me, so I’ve been exchanging words with his assistant, Laura.

Laura said not to dress up for the occasion, that I’ll have clothes of my own in whatever reality I choose, so there’s no need to be flashy or pack anything sentimental.

My stomach rumbles in my stomach and I sit at the kitchen table, staring down an apple in the fruit bowl like it owes me money. I can’t, I shan’t, I mustn’t. But fuck, I really want to. I stand up and leave the room, not needing to get overwhelmed just yet today. I’m sure I can find other reasons to freak out later, so I’m saving my energy.

I took Laura’s advice, so I’m wearing sweat pants and a band T-shirt. I hear a honk outside, signaling that the woman in question is now here to take me to a facility which will ultimately lead to the exit of this reality that I’ve called home my entire life. Big shit, don’t think about it.

I run outside, nothing but my phone and wallet in pocket, past the gate around the front yard, into the front seat of Laura’s car. “Good morning, Clara,” she cheerfully greets, too cheerfully for 4 in the morning, in my book.

“Mm,” I groan in response. Adding on, “Will I be able to die?”

“In the other reality?” She grips the steering wheel equally with both hands at 10 and 2, like a professional would.

“No, in Australia,” I deadpan.

“No, you won’t be able to die. You’ll be entering a version of your universe of choice where you can’t die, so you won’t be able to stay there for the rest of your life, of course. You can get hurt, however, so be weary, as always. And one more thing, you cannot let anyone know you’ve come from a different universe. They haven’t discovered this technology in that reality yet, so a lot of things will be incorrectly shifted if you let anyone know you’re not from there.”

She fits this all into one breath, not sounding winded in any way, she must talk a lot normally. “Just out of curiosity, what universe have you decided on?”

“You ever see American Horror Story?” I ask.

“I’ve heard of it. A fine choice, however you’ll need to be very careful you don’t get hurt. Don’t get on anyone’s bad side.”

“Isn’t that the truth in any universe?”

“What year would you be planning on shifting to?” She seems to be having none of my bullshit this morning.

“2009. LA. I want to live in the murder house.”

“Oh… are you sure?” I can tell she’s trying her hardest not to send me an odd look with how carefully she’s focusing on the road now.

“Completely.” I am stern and unmoving. I can’t die, what’s the harm? Del was probably right, as she often is, through all the madness she spews.

She inhales sharply and it almost sounds like it hurts, “well, alright. If that’s what you want.”

“It is.”

___

Now here I stand, in front of this machine that will supposedly allow me to shift realities. Of course I have full trust in my fathers technology, I have no reason not to, I just thinking the entire concept has yet to absorb in my mind.

I’m leaving this universe, and quite frankly, I have no say in it at all.

“Are you ready?” Laura is standing in a separate room, behind a protective glass window, like an X-Ray technician.

On the way in here, I was fortunate enough to meet some of the other test subjects. A young woman named Natalia, a man named Arthur, and a girl named Sophia. They were all around 18-20, making me wonder why young people are the only ones being selected for this experiment. Perhaps it has something to do with the toll on the body.

“Yes.”

“Al-“ I cut Laura off.

“Will it hurt?” I pick at my nails. I’m more nervous than I let on, and my stomach is burning and twisting inside my abdomen.

“It will be a little uncomfortable, but it won’t hurt, promise.”

Though she said she promised, it somehow brought me no relief at all. Either way, I was ready. I wish my dad were here right now. Seems like the type of thing to be present for.

I step into the machine, and it’s reminiscent to a cheesy time machine from an old Hollywood movie. A vivid image appears of the machine shaking, sputtering and smoking, before eventually comedically falling apart with me still in it.

I giggle at my own imagination, and get myself comfortable. I was informed of the specifics of my conditions once I shift. I will be an orphan (thanks a lot, dad) who lives with a foster family in the murder house. I will have two foster parents, and two foster brothers, aged 12 and 14.

I see Laura behind the glass typing something into a big board with a lot of buttons, like I’m in a recording studio and she’s my producer behind the glass. I close my eyes for a moment and begin to feel a terrible sick feeling in my stomach. Like when you go on those rollercoasters that bring you up super high then suddenly drop, and you feel like all your guts might just ooze out of your pores.

I keep my eyes closed and don’t dare to open them until the queasy feeling slowly fades, and I don’t hear the chatter of the other three test subjects from the next room. In fact, the air conditioning I was previously surrounded by in the lab has disappeared, and I feel hot sunlight beaming down on my skin.

“Clara! Get in here!”

I open my eyes now. Here I am, standing out front the house, exact to the TV show, and I would know, Del made me watch it roughly a thousand times.

I feel the sun on the tops of my arms, my legs, and it’s apparent that I’m not wearing the same outfit I left in. Now, I sport a tank top and dark jean shorts with sheer black tights underneath, and a number of bracelets trailing up both my arms.

I look up at the house, massive and astounding in front of me. There’s an open window on the second floor, and I see a glimpse of a young blond boy staring down at me, but he walks away before I can really see him.

#tate langdon #ahs #evan peters fanfiction #american horror story #evan peters x reader #tate langdon x reader #evan peters

[super-paper-swap]

Super Paper Swap: Introduction (OLD)

This is a post version of my 2017 Super Paper Mario AU Fanfiction, Super Paper Swap.

Word Count: 3,239 words

Chapter Summary: Even on his days off, Luigi can’t seem to catch a break as a new adventure begins to unfold.

Author’s Notes: As of this post, this chapter and all others to Chapter 3-4 are in heavy revision, however said revisions are not yet complete. The writing of this chapter is not fully reflective of my writing style as of 2024, as such grammatical errors and other issues are to be expected.

Countless centuries ago, legends foretold of a book of prophesies that revealed a number of tragic future event. These futures were so terrifying that the book came to be called The Dark Prognosticus and was sealed away for the protection of all that lived. This is the tale of this book's last owner it is a tale of-

Oh? You say you've heard this story before? A tale of four heroes, of tragedy, and of love? I assure you that you might find this version of the story a bit different from what you remember. Don't worry, it's not too different from what you remember, although the details might be a bit "scrambled". Have I caught your attention once more? Then let us continue.

This is the tale of the book's last owner; it is a tale of love.

————

Our story begins in the humble home of two brothers, twins in fact, although one was slightly older. Their names were Mario and Luigi. The older of the two, Mario, was a plumber, and a skilled one at that. The younger brother Luigi, while also a plumber, invested more of his time on a different job; he was the famous hero of the two main kingdoms of the land, the Mushroom Kingdom and Koopa Kingdom.

Luigi was well renowned for being noble, if a bit cocky, but always striving to follow the path of justice, so his heart was always in the right place. His social image depicted as a brave and sarcastic hero, but those that were close to Luigi recognized him as a normally gentle person who cherished the fruits of his labor by making the most of every day that goes by without mass chaos interrupting the peace; days such as those were quite rare since there was always something going wrong. Today happened to be one of those peaceful days...for a very brief while.

"Quite a peaceful day, isn't it brother?" asked Mario, who was enjoying a cup of morning tea. The older brother of the residence was wearing his usual attire of a blue shirt under his red overalls with a bright red plumber-cap, adorned with his first initial in a white circle on the front, on his head.

Luigi, whilst in the middle of his own cup of tea, nodded before gulping down what was left of his drink and responding verbally for his brother so he did not come off as rude. "Sure is bro, sure is." Luigi wore the same clothes as his brother, however, instead of red, the younger brother wore green overalls and a green cap, and instead of a "M" on his cap he wore a "L". Both brothers had short, somewhat curly brown hair, a black mustache, sapphire blue eyes, and pale skin that was typical of their Italian ancestors. The peculiar choice of overall color had been a choice made by the brothers' parents when they were little as a way of finding one another if they got lost, after all, no normal parent would buy overalls in a color other than blue. The blue shirts, on the other hand, were consistently bought because they were the cheapest color to buy, no special reason, they were just cheap.

Mario was the older sibling of the two brothers, yet for some reason he was shorter than Luigi, a fact that drove them crazy when people couldn't correctly identify which of them was the oldest. Regardless of the annoyances that came with being twins, the brothers loved each other very much, the real problems, however, arose when it came to personal interests.

"Heh, I almost wish something interesting would happen." Luigi added, "If it were something to unite the kingdoms, that'd be pretty nice."

"Maybe if the entire kingdom was this peaceful all the time," Mario mumbled to himself, "you'd act more like a plumber and less like a lunatic adventurer."

"What was that?" Luigi asked, having caught part of his sibling's response.

"Oh? Nothing little brother, nothing" Mario was hesitant to answer. Unlike everyone else in the land, he didn't approve of his sibling going out on dangerous journeys with such a slim chance of survival. It had been that way since they were babies, a mishap with a stork ended up separating the brothers while being delivered, and poor Luigi had been dropped by the stork. Mario had felt helpless in being able to protect his younger sibling and had taken it upon himself to protect his brother from any harm, a feat that became much more difficult when they grew up and Luigi decided he didn't want to take the family business, plumbing, as a full time job. So as an alternative he decided to keep these feelings to himself, not that it helped since Luigi could always see right through him. Every day Mario hoped that something would convince his brother to stop adventuring, it would at least make people stop asking about his own capabilities as a hero; a major problem with being biologically related to a well-known person was the fact that, once people knew you existed, they expected you to be at just as good at whatever your sibling did that made them famous, and if you were an older sibling you were expected to be greater than them, which wasn't the case for Mario. He wanted nothing to do with traveling to new places or gaining new skills, he was just too stubborn to be convinced of anything, he usually made up for this by making plans for things to do with his brother during off-days.

"Hey bro," Mario perked up after a moment of embarrassment, "how's about we go talk to Princess Peach? Maybe she'll be willing to make some negotiations today."

"If it makes both of our lives easier, sure. Why not?" Luigi replied with a good-humored tone, with both parties satisfied they put away their now empty cups and prepared to leave.

The princess Mario spoke of was the ruler of Mushroom Kingdom, a very bad ruler actually. She was, to put it lightly, a huge jerk to everyone that she didn't consider a citizen of her kingdom. This wouldn't be a problem if she wasn't responsible for removing a number of natural inhabitants of the land from their homes to create the kingdom, not only that, but she was always looking for an excuse to find more territory to conquer. She meant well, but only for the well-being of her people, everyone else was tantamount to a wild animal for all she cared. Luckily, Mario and Luigi were a special exception, if only for the fact that she and Mario were both romantically interested in one another.

The brothers were ready to set off until, "Hey, why're you bringing your hammer?" Mario asked in reference to the hammer his brother carried along as a weapon of choice.

"Just in case the princess decided to cause trouble. Why'd you bring yours?" Luigi retaliated, having noticed Mario brought his hammer as well.

"In case you decide to try something stupid." Mario returned his brother's smart alec remark with one of his own. The two of them laughed at their brotherly humor and left the house.

Not even a minute after leaving, they heard a loud scream and immediately followed the sound to its source.

————

The brothers approached the screaming to find one of the inhabitants of the mushroom kingdom, a short, humanoid being wearing a blue vest and a spotted mushroom for a cap, commonly referred to as a toad. The toads were Peach's loyal subjects and relied on her to keep them safe, otherwise they would be in too much constant panic to save themselves. The fact a member of this species was in panic was a bad sign.

"SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING! ANYTHING! HELP!" The mushroom man continued to shout until the two brothers were able to calm him down.

Mario was the first to step forward and speak with the still shaken toad, "Look at me bud," he stood in the toad's line of sight and clasped his hands around its head, "What's going on? What's with the calls for help? Talk to me." He spoke in a voice that was stern but also collected, it was his way of calming people down when they were anxious or scared and it seemed to work well on toads.

"You wouldn't b-b-believe it!" The toad began, stuttering occasionally," Our c-castle was raided, and the princess was-was-"

"Was what?"

"KIDNAPPED!"

"WHAT?!", both Mario and Luigi asked in shock.

"But how? Usually you guys are the ones causing such chaos, and most of the time you only go after koopas as opposed to princesses." Mario wasn't wrong, normally Peach would send her followers to capture members of the Koopa Kingdom for forced labor, their King would be captured a brainwashed to do her bidding until Luigi came in to fix everything. With this in mind, one would think the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom would be prepared in case someone tried to kidnap her in retaliation, but somehow her captor had gotten the upper hand on her.

"Sounds to me like the tables were completely turned on you guys." Luigi couldn't help but bring up the irony of the situation. Mario on the other hand was incredibly worried, he let go of the toad and paced around his brother to assess the situation.

"We should get as much help as possible. I'm sure our old turtle friends won't mind a visit if it means getting on the princess's good side." Mario was referring to the koopa troopas that inhabited the Koopa Kingdom who had the appearance of man-sized, bipedal turtles. The koopa race was quite peaceful and desperately wanted to make peace with the Mushroom Kingdom, so the brothers knew the likelihood of both kingdoms negotiating would increase if the koopas were able to help.

Luigi was surprised by his brother's automatic decision to ask the koopas for help since Mario wasn't very fond of them for being "troublemakers"; by troublemakers, he meant that their tendency to be captured was usually the main reason Luigi had to save their king.

It then dawned on the little brother that Mario must have been incredibly desperate to save the princess if his first instinct was to find help for people he normally disliked. With that in mind he was quick to agree with his brother before a second thought could be made. "Good idea bro! Let's go on ahead then, shall we?"

Mario didn't hesitate to follow his younger sibling as they moved onward towards the volcanic region of Koopa Kingdom. The toad, in shock from the events that had unfolded in about a minute, decided to only watch the brothers from afar and ponder as to wether or not asking two plumbers to save the kingdom's acclaimed princess was the best choice of action.

—————

In the heart of Darkland, the volcanic region of the Koopa Kingdom, was a castle made of grey brick and decorated in several places with black igneous rock, this castle was the home of Bowser, the Koopa King, and his supporters, with whom he was having a meeting with in the central room of the castle.

"Alright gang," said a deep and monstrous sounding voice, "today we will attempt to enact diplomacy between us and the Mushroom Kingdom!" This voice belonged to non-other than Bowser himself, who gave a tender smile to his allies which consisted of a variety koopa troopa and short, brown mushroom people known as goombas. Bowser himself was a much larger koopa with orange scales, a cream colored belly, a green face, red eyes, and red hair. The spike on his green shell, the horns on his head, and even the two spikes on his tail were neatly filed down to half their normal size to appear less threatening. He worn no clothes except for the thick, cuff-like bracelets on his wrists, upper arms, and around his neck; the cuffs had been around him since the day he was first manipulated by Peach, even now the princess was the only one that could remove them, and she always refused to do so, maybe today she would have a change of heart.

The crowd in front of Bowser roared with excitement, anticipating their adoring king's speech. Bowser smiled and spoke as calmly as his naturally booming voice could.

"Today, we will march onward to Mushroom Castle and negotiate a truce with Princess Peach; with the help of our friends, the plumbers Mario and Luigi, we will finally unite all species in this land for the betterment of everyone!" The crowd roared even louder than before, the winged parakoopas and paragoombas summersaulted in mid-air, hammer tossing Hammer Bros. noogied each other and linked arms, and hooded magikoopas swung their wands in a type of ceremonious dance. Very faintly, the word "guests" begin to pop up from the chatter between Bowser's supporters until it was audible to his non-existent ears.

"We have guests?", Bowser was a little surprised that anyone would visit him but was happy to welcome them inside anyway. "Hehe, why didn't anyone say something beforehand? Move aside gang, give our visitants some room to breathe." And so they did, revealing none other than Mario and Luigi as the King of Koopas approached the center of the room. The sight of the brothers brought a big, dumb smile on Bowser's face as he greeted the two of them.

"Well if it isn't my two good friends, how've you guys been?"

"Fine Koopa, fine." Mario muttered, just loud enough to be heard. Luigi stood and watched the exchange between his brother and his friend, having insisted that Mario talk to Bowser since he was the one that decided to ask for his help.

"That's good to know. What's brings you two here anyway?"

"You mean besides abusing the fact you always leave the front gate open?"

"I have a very good reason for that!"

"Princess Peach was kidnapped!" Luigi interjected, trying to avoid the start of an argument. "We thought you'd be willing to gather a search party to help us find her."

"Kidnapped?!" Bowser was in shock, "That's absolutely terrible, it's a good thing you came to us when you did we were-" his sentence was interrupted. A voice broke out.

"Release me! Release me at once!" The voice spoke, seemingly from nowhere.

Suddenly, a wave of energy coursed through everyone as a figure trapped in a magical barrier appeared, floating several feet above Mario, Luigi, and Bowser. Immediately, everyone recognized the figure as non-other than Princess Peach herself. She was between Luigi and Bowser's heights but had the same skin and eye color as the brothers; she was wearing a black dress with magenta below knee height, and an orange broach on her chest. She wore a pair of white gloves that went up to her elbows, a sash around her waist, colored magenta, and a golden crown lined with circular, orange and magenta gems placed on her seemingly delicate, blond hair. Everyone knew that Peach was not a force to be reckoned with, despite her dainty appearance, and if the incredibly unamused look on her face was an indication of anything, it was that the person responsible for containing was in for an unpleasant experience once she found a way out.

The barrier shifted to the right a few feet to make way for the next person that entered the room. This new arrival was somebody no one in the room had met before. It was a young woman of around the same height as Peach, if a little taller, wearing a long, sleeveless dress. The dress was white with a black sash around the neck and the waist and thin trims on the bottom of the dress in various shades of grey. The woman herself was slightly pale and had long, white hair with a rainbow bow, in the shape of a butterfly, tied into it. She floated in the air with her eyes closed and one hand clasping a black, heart-shaped locket that was around her neck.

The neutral expression on her face turned to that of malice as she opened her dark purple eyes and looked down upon her audience. "I'm afraid your dearest princess has been taken by no- other than me, Mistress Tempo." The evil woman introduced herself, her voice sounding like that of an angel that had recently fallen from the heavens.

"You kidnapped Peach?", Bowser asked, feeling a chill go down his spine as Tempo seemed to look through his very soul, "I can understand wanting her as a close ally, but I doubt she's going to be on good terms with you when she gets out of that barrier you've trapped her in."

She laughed at his response, "Hehehe, such a silly little turtle. You do not understand my reason for capturing the princess, I require this royal maiden for the destruction of all worlds." She spoke in a "matter-of-fact" sort of way.

"The destruction of all worlds?" Mario asked in the faintest of whispers, his eyes wide open in terror. He was about to pull out his hammer, but suddenly-

"Not on my watch lady!" Luigi jumped up to tackle Tempo to the ground, but was halted when a magic box trapped him in mid-air. He couldn't escape.

"What? How did you-" His was interrupted as the box exploded and dropped Luigi on the ground, unconscious and badly damaged. Mario immediately ran to Luigi's side, calling out his younger brother's name, but his words fell on deaf ears.

"I'm afraid petty fools cannot fair against our power." Said Mistress Tempo, she glanced at a corner of the room, as if someone else was there, and then down on Luigi with a saddened look in her eyes.

While everyone else was taken aback by the mistress's power, Bowser was quite upset by the events that had unfolded and decided to resolve the situation before more of his allies were harmed.

"Now you listen here Missy! You can come into my castle uninvited all you like, but when you kidnap and assault my friends, THAT'S WHEN YOU'VE GONE TOO FAR! THAT IS WHEN I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT ACCEPT YOUR COMPANY!" Bowser yelled at the top of his lungs, blood boiling like molten lava.

"GO GET HER TEAM!" The enraged Koopa King fiercely ordered, his followers obeyed and closed in on the mistress.

Tempo looked at the army around her, clearly annoyed. "Very well then, in that case, Bowser, King of the Koopas, I shall take you and your 'friends' as well."

"Wait, what?" asked a rather confused Bowser.

Mistress Tempo smirked as she materialized a baton in her hands and raised it into the air; from behind Tempo, a black vortex opened up and pulled almost everyone in room into itself. The various screams were heard until the vortex closed, leaving only Tempo herself and Luigi still visibly in the room.

"Hm hm hm," Mistress Tempo appeared to speak to herself, "preparations are finally in order, and I barely had to strain myself. Now all that remains is for the dimensional void to appear as foretold in the prophesy."

With that, she vanished as quickly as she appeared, leaving only Luigi. An unknown amount of time later, he began to hear a voice calling to him.

#super paper swap #super paper mario #super paper mario au #SPS Fanfiction

[sometimesraven]

any writing advice for someone writing their first novel? (*cough, cough, aka me*)

<3

Disclaimer: what works for me might not work for you, so feel free to take, twist and scrap whatever you need. I recommend asking/shopping around for ideas and other authors' processes, and it'll take some trial and error before you find what works best for you. But here's how I personally write.

Disclaimer disclaimer: this got real long while I was writing it and I realised how terrifying it must look to a first time writer. Take it step by step, at your own pace. It's not as scary as it looks xx

BEFORE YOU WRITE

(I'm going to be focusing on the story itself, but I'm sure it goes without saying that you should have your characters planned out first)

First things first: have a basic idea of the story beats. It doesn't have to be a Big Old Detailed Outline, just a basic compass to keep you going in the right direction so you're less likely to hit a roadblock. Personally I use the Plot Embryo! Here's my favourite video explaining it:

It's a nice simplified, easy to use tool for plotting. Here's a page from one of my journals breaking it down in a way I can personally come back to and understand:

hopefully you can read my shitty handwriting but I've put a little breakdown in the image description.

I then use these prompts to scribble down the basic idea of what journey I want my main character/s to go through, and use that as my blueprint for when I write.

WHILE WRITING

First things first: if you're like me, and seeing errors or plot holes in the stuff you've already written will bug you forever, do what I do and NEVER READ BACK OVER YOUR WORK WHILE IT'S STILL IN PROGRESS. Sometimes I have to skim back to remember where I am but as a rule, once something is written it's no longer my problem until the whole thing is done.

Don't worry about chapters and other such structure. I use the plot embryo to split things up so I know where I am, but otherwise chapters and scenes Do Not Exist until the editing process. Here's the "chapters" of a WIP as an example (this is a slightly different embryo adapted for romance but you get the idea)

Then just keep going until you're done. You don't even have to do it in order. If I'm stuck on a scene, I'll just put a big word in all caps that I can ctrl+f easily (usually either ELEPHANT or PENIS sklfsgskjf) and move on to the next bit I have ideas for, then come back to it later.

This first finished story will be bad. It'll be rough, patchy, full of holes. THAT'S OKAY. This is what we sometimes call the "Zero Draft". The draft that literally exists just to get the story out of your head to make the whole thing easier.

EDITING

Warning: editing is the longest, hardest part of writing a novel. Your book will go through several different versions, be scrapped and torn apart and put back together again. This is what makes the story great.

This is where every author differs, and there's a whole bunch of ways this can go. Personally, the first thing I do once the zero/first draft is done is put it down. Don't look at it, don't touch it, don't think about it. For at least a month. This allows you to come back to it with fresh eyes that haven't been staring at the same words for so long they just hate the whole thing regardless (and you WILL HATE IT. This is normal).

Then, the first thing I do is read back over the whole thing, adding notes and reactions as if I am a reader. If a part of what I've written makes me go 🥺🥺🥺, I'll write that down. If something could be worded better, I write that down. If you think a certain thing that you would put in the tags of a tumblr post, write it down. Treat it like you're someone else's beta reader, note down every negative, every positive, every ???? part. This will give you an idea of what is and isn't working. Here's some of my funniest notes from my zero draft of book 2 just to prove how literal I'm being here:

Then, and this is a controversial move that doesn't work for everyone but it works for my autistic adhd self-loathing brain: WRITE THE WHOLE THING AGAIN. FROM SCRATCH.

This sounds daunting and it is, but you've already written it once, so the second time is easier. Usually I don't worry about making this perfect because again, this is just another draft. I'll copy from my zero draft anything that I think is fine and write new bits or scrap bits as I go.

Sometimes, the story is fine. Sometimes this is an easy refining process. However, if you're anything like me, sometimes the whole thing is messy and you'll realise halfway through rewriting that the whole thing needs restructuring. Do not despair. This is normal.

I'm using book 2 of the Truth Saga as an example for this. I got 40k words into rewriting it before I realised that the reason it felt so 'off' was because the whole thing was sagging in the middle, characters were being left behind, and the whole thing needed restructuring.

It was a rough realisation, as Reckless Truth (book 1) was such a comparatively easy process. I only did three drafts and didn't have to restructure much. Book 2 is giving me so much grief and I'm gonna slap it when it's done.

If you hit this roadblock, it might be time to do what all mood writers hate. Detailed plotting. Go right back to basics. Write down every plot point in detail this time. Act like you're spoiling the whole entire story for someone. Have you ever watched a movie or book review where the reviewer does a full breakdown of the plot? Do that. In this you'll find out exactly where you're going wrong and be able to tweak and fix it. If you have more than one main character, I recommend doing a separate plot thing for each of them and one for the book as a whole so that you can make sure their emotional arc is getting the attention it deserves.

Then, when you're happy with the new plot you've written based on the draft of your story, go back and try to rewrite it again. If this sounds like a nightmare, it is. But it's worth the work, I promise.

From there it's a case of rinse and repeat, reread, rewrite, re-edit until you're mostly happy with what you've got. Then send it to beta readers and editors to tear apart even more and put it back together until you think it's ready! I also recommend joining some writing discords, watching streams or videos about writing, just research research research basically

Happy writing!

#writing advice #author advice #writeblr #authorblr #novel planning #writing process #authors of tumblr #answered #mine #writing #sagetheenbymage

[nilemar]

The Van Scene

Very detailed (And a little delulu xD)

I'm going to apologise in advance, my english it's not the best and i have difficulties to explain myself. But, I'm going to try to explain my analysis and why the van scene it's so important.

First things first, we have to understand that we can not trust what we see in S4. When Will is in any of the scenes, it's his POV. So, everything that we are seeing in S4 is through Will's eyes. (I don't think we are going to get anything from the script from Mike's POV, bc thats not what they want. I really think that Mike is going to be really important in S5, just bc we're going to finally know him).

For example, Will believes that Mike and Eleven are okay and they don't have any problems, that they are happy and in love. We can see this in Rink O Mania or when all of them are reunited again. But, we, as the viewer, know that is just not true. We have seen their fight and Mike's emotions when he reads Eleven's letter (the one that ends -From El).

So thats why I truly believe there are 3 POVs in the van scene. Will's, Mike's and Jonathan's. (I'm sorry, but i can't figure out how people make screenshots in netflix, so i don't have any photos)

With Will, it's just the current situation, Will talking about his own feelings that are covered by beeing Eleven's, and Mike's expressions. But at the same time, it's really confusing bc everytime Mike is on focus, only him, we don't see Will that crearly and he is, most of the time, looking in another direction, away from Mike's eyes. So Will's POV it's really uncertain.

Then we have Mike. Why, EVERY TIME, Will is on the screen, he has thIS BEAUTIFUL light, making the scene so bright and unreal? Will couldn't be looking at himself like that, is just, idk... But thinking that is how Mike sees Will, hits completely different. And also, it hints us more about Mike's character in the situation.

I truly believe the audience is Jonathan. Bc we are seeing the scene through the rearview mirror, not in the privacy of their conversation, and the scene it just fits... right. A clue may be the Pizza letters behind them, bc we can finally read them (but I'm not gonna go into that very much) and Mike's pocket points towards Will... something that is not happening in the other POVs. (And this is bc BOTH are clueless about the others feelings). I want to point out that Mike looks at Will, in this POV, really different than in the other POVs (this is more explained in another point).

Now, let's talk about the scenes.

First of all, we can not unnoticed that Mike has a Will voice. This has been analysed, so I'm not going saying much about it. But when his voice changes, it's bc he is really paying atention to Will and Will only. Then, Will talks about this (pretty smart) plan, saying:

``we can just play D&D and Nintendo for the rest of our lives´´

And Mike: ``Yeah. Totally´´

This sentences are actually really important to understand how their current situation is. Let's remember S3. Will was constantly asking if they could go and play D&D. And in their rain fight, Mike was hinting that playing was ``not maturing´´ (something that he thinks he needs to bc of the pressure of having a gf and the people around him). But Will really thought that they were going play together for the rest of their lives (Will basically saying that he pictured his future, all his life, with Mike it was just so cute omg). Then, we saw that in Luca's book, Mike was moping and he was all the time in the basement playing Nintendo, when El and Will moved out... In this scene we are basically seeing that Mike no longer thinks that playing was inmature and that maybe, just maybe, he really likes the idea of playing D&D for the rest of his life, with Will. (we can see that he smiles at the idea when the scene focus on Will ->Bc, Mike's POV).

Before going farder, i really want to point out how Mike ONLY trusts Will to open up, in all their scenes Mike talks about his toughts and feelings, bc 1.- he doesn't trust anyone that much and 2.- It's Will's POV (i'm going to point out the POVs a lot so it's easier to understand)

I want to point out too that when they are really talking about Eleven, and what she could be thinking or feeling, we don't have close ups of their faces. When Will's or Mike's feelings are involved, even if it stills being surrounded by El, is there when he can see their facial expressions. Bc it's really IMPORTANT to know how they feel, and them only.

Mike is afraid that Eleven wouldn't need him anymore, bc Mike likes to be needed, to help. Eleven only needed his help in S1, and when she started being herself, powerful and independent, we can see that their relationship started having problems. (But i don't really think this is really accurate, bc then he should have know how to help her when Vecna traped her, but he didn't to anything until Will encourage him. I have an explanation for this, but then i'll start with the speech analysis and that could be for another post)

Will is really speechless when Mike talks like that about El, refering to the dumb luck, bc he didn't know that Mike thought that way about El ( Will's POV.) He thought everthing was okay, but it wasn't. He was seeing that Mike had a lot of insecurities with his relationship AND himself. And this is what encourage him to give the canvas, he wanted Mike to see how Will sees him, how important he actually is.

My favorite character is Will, but omg, I'm a Mike apologist (i just don't like the hate he has over things that he can control on himself, and well, I see myself in him too much). I say this bc Mike, thinking about the situation, he backs up, and basically says that his insecurities don't matter, saying it's stupid, giving everything that was going on. And is just... sad, he doesn't want to worry anyone with something so ``stupid´´ as his feelings.

The Duffer brothers said that Mike wasn't all clueless about the van scene, that he got some of the parts. For me, that's a half lie. Bc right in the moment when Will says: ``You're scared of losing her´´, the next scene we have is Mike's face realizing where that sentence came from and where the conversation was going.( I really think Mike knows from the begining, he was just confused in some parts of Will's speech, and that is the clueless part that the Duffers talked.) And with that face there is the [tender, emotionial music playing], like omg.

I'm sorry, but why is Mike looking at Will when he's reaching for the canvas, instead of looking towards the thing Will is getting, like? (and then they call Mike straight when he is so obvius and the most queercoded...)

How happy both are when Mike sees the painting. Mike for the detail and Will bc Mike is happy and he likes it. Mike loves Will's art, he's being so suportive and proud of Will ( the book of drawings that he owns). He has more drawings than the rest of the Party, and he has a lot of them hanged on the walls. It's so funny (and sad Eleven u deserve the best) that Eleven's room is full of Mike's photos and cards, but Mike doesn't have anything from El (and we know that she sent him a lot of stuff) but he still has a lot of Will's drawings.

Then, it changes to Jonathan's POV (our's) and we see that Will is looking through the window, being uncomfortable by lying to Mike (and thinking about how to lie about the situation). Will doesn't like lying to Mike, and we know this from the first 10min of S1 ep1; And Mike is sad, dissapointed, bc he really wanted to be from Will's. He even looks again towards the painting, he is not truly believing him. (Idk if this is really accurate, i just like reading and investigating the body lenguage, but my resurces can be fake, so, I'm giving my thoughts in that, but don't relay on them too much)

The little and proud smile that Mike has when Will says: ``You're guiding the whole party, inspiring us. That's what you do´´ Mike feels valued. After long time not giving the Party what it needs, and stoped being the leader that he was, Mike really needed to hear Will's words. (Even bc he thought that he really was being an idiot for focusing ONLY in El. He apologized for that) Especially him bc he once said that Mike was ruining the party, and when Will moved out, Mike was afraid that Will would join another party.

Omg, I'm so sorry that i don't have any photos, but pls, stop the times that u need and focus on Mike's face when Will says: ``Even El. Especially El´´. Mike knows. He has this SO LITTLE smirk. (Finn's acting skills are fucking amazing...) Is really little, is so discreet, but is there. And Mike is not loosing eye contact, bc he is trying to look through him (the eyes are the window of the soul).

Then, at that moment, he looks again at the painting. I don't think he is truly believing that the paint (where Max and Eleven are missing) was commissioned by El.

``This past few months, she's been so lost without you´´ In Jonathan's POV, Mike is focus on Will, and he is smiling. Bc Mike and Will felt the same, they both felt like their were losing each other.

Mike right now is only focus on Will, like fully. The intensity of the stare, but we don't know what is he thinking, bc is Will's POV and he is looking away, so Mike is blurry. But we know he is there and he is LISTENING to every single word.

When you're different...´´ Mike looks away, for a second, I think is bc he knows how it feels to be different, and knows how ``El´´ (Will, just in case) is feeling.``...you feel like a mistake.´´ Mike swallows. Bc those are harsh words, and they're dificult to process.

The next moment it's just soo uuggghhh... ``If she was mean to you or she seemed like she was pushing you away, it's because she's scared of losing you , like you're scared of losing her¨ I think Will slip there that he was actually talking about himself and it's really big information. Will didn't know exactly where Mike's and Eleven's relationship currently was. Yes, he knew about the fight (only what Mike told him) but he didn't know what the fight was about. And then, Mike just told him that he was afraid that Eleven would never need him again. Not losing, need. Mike never told Will that Eleven was mean to him and their never talked about being afraid of losing each other. Those were Mike and Will. The miscommunication that they had, Mike trying to reach and talk to Will but the telephone line was always busy bc of Joyce's work, and Will didn't want to push to much so he didn't call. Both waited the other one to call. And they both now when they talked in Rink O Mania. Then, Mike was the one saying to Will that he was afraid of losing him, bc both were being pushed away.

``And if she was going to lose you, I...I think she'd rather just get it over with quick. Like ripping off a Band-Aid.´´ Eleven, when she felt like she was losing Mike, she tried to talk to him (Their Fight). She didn't want to just get it over with quick, bc se really wasn't afraid of losing Mike. She would have understood. Will is afraid of what Mike would think or say about him if he knows his true feelings. Will is saying that he prefers to know the answer so he can get over it and stop thinking about it.

Mike, after Will says that, he looks concern about how Will could be feeling and thinking that way, bc it's sad. (the eyebrows and those eyes are the hints. Then Mike swallowing dry it's just...he's overwhelmed)

And that ``Yeah?´´ from Mike is what made me believe that he knows that Will is talking about himself. How he says it, with that smile, with the Will voice, with those bright and watery eyes and not losing eye contact. Then, after Will answers, Mike still has this soft face, like really happy, smiling at Will.

Before getting into the cry scene, I really want to point out that the body lenguage for both parts indicates that they are talking about themselfs (Will AND Mike are using El to talk about their own feelings). I talked about this before, but i'm going to get detailed in here. When u are talking with someone about a situacion that u are not involved with, is rare to hold the eye contact with the person that u are talking with about that.

If your friend is telling u how they feel towards another person, and the one talking to is u, u are possibly going to look at another spot in the room where u are (or place) and try to think or feel what the other one is explaining. Bc there is no conection between u and the person u are talking to. Less if u can't relay in anything. U would be thinking and imagine.

If u are in some way in the situation, it would be putting less efort to try and understand the situation, bc u were there. You'll be still strying to understand bc those emotions weren't yours.

Okay, now think about a situation where both of u were talking about both of your feelings. U will try not to lose eye contact bc u want the other one to feel what u feel and to see you. There will be physical aproximity and the tension will be palpable. If you are attracted to each other, there will be physical contact and u will look at the others persons lips or any feature of their face.

Why I'm saying this? Bc Mike was ONLY looking at Will. Yeah, maybe he looked at the painting once or twice, but he was desperated to lock his eyes with Will's. He wasn't trying to think about El, bc he was IMMERSED in Will's words. He glanced at Will's lips a couple of times. Is the same as their heart to heart conversations that we have seen in S4. It was THEIR own bubble. Jonathan and Argyle disappear, and Eleven in that converstion too. It was just them. They had the conection bc they were talking (Mike more like thinking xD) about their own feelings towards each other. Not anyone else. Their feelings.

And that explains why Mike didn't do anything when Will cried. Their conection broke, but Mike noticed (he stared at Will more than 1s). There were two possible ways why Mike didn't do anything: 1.- There were more people in the van and he was used to have their own bubble alone, talking and helping each other alone. Or 2.- He knows Will, so maybe he thought that Will needed his space to break, to let the tears fall, bc, it will be stupid to be talking about someone with that intensity and nearly crying bc of other person's feelings. Mike comforming Will would have been a hint that Mike knew Will was talking about himself, and doing that, may could have been worst for Will.

So here I end. I know there more points to talk about, but right now i feel like a said everything i had to say. Idk if this has helped you, or if you enjoyed. I was really happy doing it bc i realized more things that i didn't know. Maybe all of this u already knew, and I'm sorry for that. I really wish that maybe there was information that is new for you.

If u want to ask me anything or to analyse other things, tell me, I enjoy writing and analysing this show haha. Thank u very much for reading thiiiis. Byeeee

#mike and will are endgame #stranger things #stranger things 4 #byler #will byers #mike wheeler #stranger things 5 #byler endgame #st v2 #byler is real #byler evidence #mike wheeler queercoded #mike wheeler is gay #byler is endgame #byler proof #will x mike #byler tumblr #mike x will #byler nation #byler hope #byler obsessed

[danmeiarchive]

Every Day the Protagonist Wants to Capture Me / EPWCM by Qing Duan -- a brief review (no spoilers)

Novel length: 80 chapters + 8 extras

My Rating: ★★★★★ / 5

This is another of the first few danmei I read -- After The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System I either read this or How to Survive as a Villain next and loved them both. I've read this one twice and it was still very enjoyable the second time around. If you liked SVSSS or HSAV I think you'll like this one!

Check for content warnings under the cut.

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What kind of story is Every Day the Protagonist Wants to Capture Me?

This story manages to keep a funny upbeat rhythm while also putting the characters into some serious situations. The MC is relatable, the ML charming, and the supporting cast are fleshed out with more canonical gay couples by the end of the book! There is unfortunately a lack of female characters but that's not wholly uncommon in danmei :/

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EPWCM is a story about growing up, taking responsibility, showing love through actions, and gay love saving the world. This is another story that (like SVSSS) due to the transmigrator (MC)'s actions the protagonist (ML) changes so completely that the plot of the original work goes off the rails.

(Note that the MC and ML are both cultivators under the same teacher and so call each other by "shixiong / da shixiong" [older / eldest martial brother] and "shidi" [younger martial brother] most of the time.)

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Like SVSSS this is a xianxia setting. Also of note is that for the most part the other characters don't have a problem with the main couple being gay. There is a scene where one character can't wrap his head around it and the MC and ML's teacher stands up and tells him to get over himself and support his them (the MC and ML).

The one who balks the most at the gay relationship is the MC and I believe this is due to his growing up in modern day china. There's brief mention of characters needing to do what's right and continue the family line but ultimately the characters follow their hearts in the end.

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Who are the main characters?

Without going into details here's a little bit about our main squad:

Chu Yu - the main character. He was a normal guy in the modern world when one day he wakes up in the webnovel he was reading as the protagonist's childhood bully and da-shixiong. He's committed to his new role and feels a bit guilty about taking the "original" Chu Yu's place.

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Xie Xi - the protagonist of the webnovel and the male lead. At the beginning of the novel he is very wary of his da-shixiong's sudden change of heart. After a while he learns to trust Chu Yu and then decides to protect Chu Yu. Due to Chu Yu's need to put himself in danger Xie Xi gets a bit of a yandere personality.

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Chu Sheng - Chu Yu's older brother. He loves his dear baby brother very much and is very protective of him. He does not approve of Chu Yu and Xie Xi's relationship mostly because he doesn't want anyone to take his brother away. He has a romance with a medical cultivator named Fu Chongyi.

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Lu Qingan - Chu Yu and Xie Xi's shizun [teacher]. A well known and badass cultivator in his own right, he is an aloof and peerless immortal. He has a romance in his past that he still can't let go of. (He and his love interest remind me of Lan Wanji and Wei Wuxian from MDZS.)

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Third Shidi - ...I can't remember his actual name because it was only mentioned in the extras. For the rest of the novel everyone just calls him third shidi. He's also Lu Qingan's student and shidi to Chu Yu and Xie Xi. He mostly plays the role of comedic relief but later proves to be quite adept at talisman crafting.

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What is the plot of Every Day the Protagonist Wants to Capture Me?

Chu Yu wakes up in the webnovel he had been reading and right away starts trying to prevent his character's tragic end by putting an stop to everyone bullying Xie Xi. After that he spends countless nights healing Xie Xi and strengthening his core while Xie Xi is asleep. Once Xie Xi learns what Chu Yu is doing his opinion of his da-shixiong changes and he vows to get stronger himself so that when he gets older he can protect Chu Yu.

There's tensions between the righteous and demonic cultivators which eventually lead to a war, a secret realm that can easily trap someone, a cult-like group of demonic cultivators who want to bring a demon lord back to life, and a strange cliffside that would just be perfect to fall or get pushed off of. There's also some in-sect disagreements and a cover-up that is unearthed as well as a glimpse into the Chu family's past as well as Lu Qingan's.

Overall I feel like this story has an interesting and interwoven plot that connects things in ways I hadn't anticipated during my first read. Reading it a second time there's some hints at things at the beginning that hit differently once you know what the connections are.

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Click 'keep reading' to see trigger warnings.

content warnings: genre typical gore and violence, bullying, torture, off screen sexual assault is mentioned in one of the extras -> for more about this please keep reading.

Please note that third shidi is sexually assaulted by someone drugged with aphrodisiacs -- I believe it's a fuck or die type situation. The assault is not described and takes place "off screen."

In the main text the assault is only hinted at -- there's a part where third shidi asks Xie Xi to go beat up the guy who attacked him. (I think it's even worded like that and the nature of the attack is not revealed until later). The person who attacked third shidi relentlessly continues to pester third shidi and wants to pursue him romantically.

In the extras about third shidi (BC Novels' translation chapters 85 and 86) the assault is not described in detail but iirc there's a brief mention of it -- this is where it's revealed that he was sexually assaulted.

If you would like to know what the third shidi extras are about please keep reading. I'll keep it somewhat vague that way you can still read them if you chose.

Third Shidi extras summary

Third shidi is taken captive and he is forced to spend time with his attacker. His attacker flirts with him but other than that wants to get to know third shidi. He also wants third shidi to give him a chance and get to know him in return. The extra ends with third shidi deciding maybe he's not so bad and giving him that chance.

#danmei recs #danmei reviews #danmei webnovels #danmei reading #ila reads #danmei #every day the protagonist wants to capture me #epwcm #qing duan #qing duan webnovels