#the art!!! the writing!!! the build-up!!! the mythology!!! the everything!!!

[umbrellajam]

caught up on Absolute WW #6-7 and I'm literally fucking. flailing and kicking and silently screaming "I can't wait I CAN'T WAAAAAIT TO OWN THIS AAAAAHHHHHH AUGUST TWEEEELVE???? why can't I kick in the door to my LCS and pick it up right NOW 😭"

[flowerandblood]

Ask Game for readers who would like to tell their favorite authors that they love them and their work

copy, paste and send to your favorite writers the phrases that you think best reflect their work and make them smile

👀 eagerly await updates from you every day ⏰ admire how fast you write and that you publish regularly 💀 your scenes of violence grab me by the throat 💌 love your answers to other people's asks about your stories 🤡 love the way your characters use irony 💖 adore literally everything you write 🥵 your smut scenes make me die of thirst 💔 your angst scenes ruins me every time 🍓 your fluff scenes always make me feel pleasantly blissful 🩸 living for your terrifying, disturbing psychos 🎀 you describe tender, soft intimacy wonderfully 🧠 love how your brain works and how you solve plots 🌺 you make me root for your heroes every time 🍄 love how crazy some of the scenes you write are 🩰 have been waiting for a writer like you all my life

🌞 reading your works cheers me up and makes me feel better ⭐️ everything you write draws me in immediately 🎨 Iove your references to art, history, mythology, culture 💡 your ideas are always fresh and surprising 🧸 often go back to your old stories to re-read them 🍀 you can describe emotions and feelings perfectly 📗 when I read your story I feel like I'm reading a book 🧩 adore how you connect different threads together 💐 love your female characters and what they are like 🧶 your dialogues are as if real people were talking to each other 🧊 the changes your characters make don't feel forced 💎 you perfectly portray the mind and thoughts of your characters 💧 there were times when I cried reading your stories 🌌 I love that your stories create whole additional universes 😱 your fics have amazing, unexpected plot twists 🎵 specific songs remind me of your stories 🍇 your intimate scenes are written with great taste 🍆 love the way you write male characters 🪀 your stories are very easy, quick and enjoyable to read 🔮 when I think that nothing will surprise me anymore, you do it 💣 you can build tension in your stories incredibly well 🎬 love to imagine your stories as if I was watching a movie 🎱 you write very satisfying, non-obvious endings 🎩 while waiting for your new chapters I read old ones 🧛‍♀️ crave your new stories like a vampire craves blood

[kendralynn03]

My Personal Astrology Observations :

8H Jupiter (Rx)

Probably super into astrology, mythology, or anything otherworldly.

That "everything just somehow works out" luck.

Not loud or flashy just slow, quiet blessings that stack up over time.

Moon in the 1st House

People love you, and you don't even have to try. You radiate a natural comfort

just have this kind energy to them

Even when you're in the wrong, people still focus on your heart it's that strong.

Super considerate.

Kids are obsessed with you. Always climbing on you, talking to you, wanting to play

Pisces: Please Stay Away from Capricorns.

I think they are too emotionally closed off for y'all

You need surprise dates, love letters, affection not someone who says "ok" when you spill your heart out

(Personal observation experience : My Capricorn sister & her Pisces baby daddy one too emotional one too emotionless.

My other Pisces sister is dating a Cap right now and it's. it's something.

In both relationships: emotional disconnect and D.V. patterns. Be careful.)

And also the way my two sisters butt heads is crazzzy if it wasn’t for me they fs would not speak to each other

Pisces + Gemini

I’ve noticed they Start off strong with their goofy friendship energy, but once the lights cut out and the way they express emotions comes out to play it's pure chaos if they are both unhealed.

Gemini will call you out. Pisces (especially unhealed ones) cannot handle the emotional bluntness. It blows up every time.

Two Capricorns in love? ( well depending other aspects and placements of course but In the case of sun signs they will occasionally but heads and suppress emotions so all that unsaid tension builds up slowly )

Like watching two bricks fight to the death.

Zero softness. All business. Good luck Imao.

Venus in the 10H

Talented af: hair, art, design

they've always had "the eye."

Constantly rearranging their room. Big interior design energy.

Venus in Sagittarius/ 2H

Gets bored so fast.

New hobby, new song, new celebrity crush every week.

Craves freedom: to speak, feel, and exist without being judged.

Super open-minded and always crafting

Saturn in the 1H

Patience of a saint. Like how are you not snapping rn???

Calm in chaos.

Very responsible & Helpful, You want them on your team.

Saturn in the 7H Retrograde

Either "what's a love life?" or "I've had the worst love life imaginable."

Tends to struggle with long-term friendships.

Always giving 200% in group projects or work even if nobody else is.

Mercury in Scorpio / 1H

Always trying to improve their vocabulary.

Insecure about the way they talk

might write a lot

Definitely a reader.

Moon in the 4H:

Mommy issues, Mommy ISSUESSS!!

Might have had a lot of female figures in their life who made them feel small, worthless, or like they were never enough.

Always on edge around them, walking on eggshells. was very intimidated by them or any adult figure.

Probably wasn't acknowledged much as a kid or picked on a lot by family.

were probably only noticed when they were in trouble or being judged.

You were either silenced or constantly criticized over looks or for being " too sensitive" Feels like you can never do anything right

You might've even felt like the emotional punching bag in the household.

You feel safest when you're alone, but deep down, all you wanted was to be seen and protected.

Could write poetry.

#takewhatisaywithagrainofsalt

[elexuscal]

Want to be a better writer? Read

Read Widely

An oft-repeated bit of advice for writers is "you gotta read". That said, I pretty often see people confused about what this means-- or arguing about a narrow set of what "counts" as reading for that advice.

This is my attempt to wrangle with my own perspective on how to execute on that advice, according to my own attempts over the last few years to live up to that. (And indeed, while this is primarily aimed at fiction writers, this'll probably be broadly applicable to writers across a wide variety of genres, formats, and even mediums. just move things a little to the left if they don't apply)

If you want to get better at writing, what should you read? More or less, everything. But to give some guidelines:

1. Read Widely Within Your Genre

Genres are more or less conversations composed of stories. They are built upon break out hits, popular tropes, emerging trends, current concerns, stylistic flourishes. You can't be part of the conversation if you don't know what's already been discussed. You don't want to bumble your way into a genre you barely know, talk a big game about "revolutionizing it", and end up writing a trite replication of a 50-year-old pillar of the genre.

2. Read Widely OUTSIDE Your Genre

At their best, genres are conversations. At their worst, they are the bland copying of other peoples' homework. You need to bring new conversational partners in (or, to mix metaphors, new DNA) to keep things fresh. I'm a spec fic person first and foremost, but I make sure I mix that diet up with other genres, from "literary" fiction, mysteries, romance, etc, because they'll teach you the elements your own preferred genre(s) might be missing.

3. Read Non-Fiction

Non-fiction are stories too, just stories about true facts. (Some of those stories are truer than others; some are more convincing; the two aren't necessarily the same). Learning how those narratives are built is vital. Not to mention, the information itself can inspire you— real life science, history, sociology, economics, etc, are fertile beds for world-building, characterization, and plot.

4. Read From Other Backgrounds and Cultures Besides Your Own

I'm hardly the first person to say that the publishing industry, like so many industries, primarily elevates certain voices— white, western, male, often privileged— over others. This is gonna give you a bit of a narrow perspective of how the world works. It is also likely to give you a narrow perspective of how stories are constructed. There are a LOT of pieces of writing advice that's treated like universal (the Three Act structure, the Hero's Journey, etc) that are really just extremely common in Western literature, and looking at pieces from outside it will expand your ideas of how to create stories.

5. Read From Other Time Periods

Honestly, this is sort of just a different take on the last one ('The Past Is A Different Country', or so they say), but it's different enough that I want to clarify it. Tropes and trends and story convention change over time. Read stories from 50 years ago; 200; 500; 2000. Plays, fairy tales, ballads, poems. Seriously, ancient mythological epics are SO cool to read because you truly feel connected to a storytelling tradition stretching back generations.

6. Read Books for Kids and Youth

The best kids books have stunning clarity of purpose. They have to be REALLY good at communicating their information. Learn from that.

7. Consume Other Mediums

I wish we had a better word for this, because 'consumption' does bring to mind someone just ploughing through food endlessly without thought or discernment, but we don't have another word for the breadth of ways we enjoy media. Watch television and movies and short films (and consider how those formats differ). Listen to podcasts and radio plays. Watch stage plays. Read the scripts of all the above. Read comics and graphic novels. Play video games. Watch the news. Listen to music. Go to art museums and galleries of all stripes. All of these have different strengths and weaknesses, different pacing, different styles. Learn from them.

8. Pay Attention to the Media You Might Not Even Think About As Media

Yes, we're taking the last one even further. I'm talking about the media often overlooked, either because it's often denigrated by society, or because frankly, it just blends in the background. In the first category, that's stuff like reality TV and social media posts and graffiti. In the second we have things like Facebook Marketplace posts or the backs of cereal boxes or the technical manual for your new air conditioner. (Advertisements live somewhere in the Venn diagram overlap between the two.) These all also have their own structure, styles, and merits.

9. Read Bad (and Simply Mediocre) Media

Recommendation lists will usually be filled with examples of good stories, because, well, they're good. But if you're reading in part to learn how to write, there's a lot to be gleamed by pieces that just... miss the mark. Whether it's clocks or cars or electronics, when things break you can gleam insights into how they're supposed to work; much is the same with the not-so-great media.

10. Read Indie Stuff

Pretty much every medium's industry has formal publishers who help distribute art, and in theory, vet for quality. They are, broadly, successful at that... but as I've discussed before, those same publishers can often act as gatekeepers, with an overly narrow view of what counts as "quality". Across mediums, the indie space is often where you'll find the most unique, experimental, and boundary-pushing art. It can be harder to navigate, but oh, is it worth it.

11. Read Fanfic

I'm sharing this on Tumblr, so I suspect I'm mostly preaching to the choir here, but nonetheless. In addition to the aforementioned benefits of indie media, fanfiction is capable of teaching you how to write transformative works. I'd argue transformative works have always been the bedrock of human storytelling, and that has not changed at all in the modern day. Mainstream media is choc-a-block with remakes, reboots, and adaptations, most of it bad. Why? Because they don't know what makes for a good transformative work. So open up AO3, my children, and read!

12. Read Other Writers' Thoughts About The Writing Process

Well, since you've gotten to the twelfth point, you've succeeded there.

Okay, but seriously, I put this so low on the list because I do think it can sometimes be overstated; it is very easy to get lost in the weeds of theory over simply just writing. But it is good to process and reflect on all the things you've been reading, and this is a good way to do so.

And above all else, as you explore the wide wealth of pieces people throughout time and cultures have created, to paraphrase my friend Artemis: be curious about it. Curiosity is where the cool things happen.

[madwomanxx]

Thoughts on Storie from Styx musical

I want to start this off with a disclaimer

I'm going to be mostly talking about Persephone, Hades, and Demeter

This is just Act 1, and these three will take up most of my discussion

Don't tell me this is just inspired by ____it doesn't need to be accurate, because I agree with you!

It doesn't mean I can't compare or explain my thoughts on what works or doesn't work for me in comparison to the original myths

I mean NO hate, nor do I want to shame people, and I'm not saying you have to write anything a certain way

I change many things in my own writing of the gods, which I know a lot of people would hate

I talk about art out love for it or the vision, not out of malice

I also need everyone to know I LOVE these gods and the relationship between Hades and Persphone, so I'm not biased against any of them

Thoughts:

Praise:

1- I'll admit, I was skeptical of Casper's singing prior to the musical. I just didn't like the covers I heard from him, but here? Gorgeous! Amazing vocals that complement the music very well

2- Everyone's vocals are amazing and filled with emotions, the music chosen matches the tone perfectly

3- Hera joining Zeus was good characterization of her, the fact they only duet with each other is a nice touch

These two have a complicated relationship in the myths, and I'm glad to see Casper didn't make them hostile from the start. It's such a simple decision that I adore!

4- I like using the Muses to tell the story, it reminds me of the Iliad beginning with a call for them to tell/sing the story of Achilles' rage

Again, very nice attention to detail!

5- The sound effect on the Muse's voice was explained to bridge between modern times and the mythic times- I believe Casper explained this previously??I love the idea!

I imagine the Muses in a pub singing this into a cheap mic to very lucky mortals

6- I'll get to Demeter later, but if you take her song without the Persephone verse and all the musical context, it's SO PERFECT

Like, I AGREE WITH YOU GIRL!! It just captures her and hell MY feelings too XD!

Everything else:

I'll get this out of the way before anyone comes at me—no, there's not a single version in myths, no Greek or Roman myth EVER says or even implies that Persephone went to Hades willingly, that she knew him in any capacity before he kidnapped her, or that there were any complications between her and Demeter

These are 100% fully modern changes with no basis in myths

Mythology is culture and history, our writings on it don't suddenly become mythology

It's literally a field of study, in college, do they study Madeline Miller's Circe? Or write academic papers on Circe as a source for that ancient civilization? No

The original myth is literally the most feminist thing a society that old ever made

I don't think people fully realize how empowering that myth is

Nor do they bother to think that many women in thirdworld countries still live that reality to an extent

In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Persephone is not feeling trapped or bothered by living on the surface with her mother

literally the opposite:

"She [Persephone] was having a good time, along with the daughters of Okeanos."

I FEEL LIKE I'M TRAPPED OH, I FEEL LIKE I'M FROZEN I FEEL LIKE I’LL NEVER BE THE CHOSEN I’LL NEVER BE THE ONE TO TAKE A STAND

More examples:

I’LL BE YOUR QUEEN, NOT SOME IDEAL FOR BEAUTY SHACKLED ME ABOVE, DOWN HERE, I’D LIKE TO BUILD A LOVE I’M ASKING YOU, DO YOU TRULY SEE ME?

"He seized her against her will, put her on his golden chariot And drove away as she wept. She cried with a piercing voice, calling upon her father [Zeus], the son of Kronos, the highest and the best. But not one of the immortal ones, or of human mortals, heard her voice."

The musical is slightly better than other adaptations of Demeter

she at least seems to be unaware of Persephone's unhappiness

Persephone even says:

MY INNOCENCE IS GUARDED YET MY DAD HAS ME DISCARDED THAT’S WHY A MOTHER’S LOVE’S MY SWORD AND SHIELD

The issue is that Demeter and Persephone don't have any of that. Persephone wasn't happy with Hades at first:

"He (Hermes) found the Lord inside his palace, seated on a funeral couch, along with his duly acquired bedmate, the one who was much under duress, yearning for her mother, and suffering from the unbearable things inflicted on her by the will of the blessed ones."

Then Hades gives a very sweet speech that he'll treat her well (recommend reading it), and you know what Persephone's reaction to it ?

"So he spoke. And high-minded Persephone rejoiced. Swiftly she set out, with joy, but he [Hādēs] gave her, stealthily, the honey-sweet berry of the pomegranate to eat, peering around him. He did not want her to stay for all time over there."

And this is Persephone retelling what happened herself to Demeter:

“So then, Mother, I shall tell you everything, without error. When the messenger came to me, the swift Argos-killer, with the news from my father, the son of Kronos, and from the other dwellers in the sky, that I should come from Erebos, so that you may see me with your own eyes and let go of your wrath and terrifying mēnis against the immortals, then I sprang up for joy, but he, stealthily, put into my hand the berry of the pomegranate, that honey-sweet food, and he compelled me by biē to eat of it."

I don't think I can make it clearer how close and loving they are, so instead :

Why it matters to keep their loving relationship and how it's empowering both

It is an arranged marriage, but both weren't made aware of it.

They were happy together

Persephone is taken

She screams for help

She screams so loud for her father or anyone to help

Nobody hears, and those who do, don't interfere

Her voice gets so loud her mom from far away finally hears

She comes running, Is her daughter going to get raped like she was?

Not many things can hurt gods, after all

She asks and walks the earth calling for Persephone, until finally, Hecate tells her she was taken, but she doesn't know who

They search together aimlessly until Helios, the sun itself, feels pity

He tells her who took Persephone, but he also tells her to give up... basically, suck it up.

Hades is powerful, and he makes for a far better husband than most others

Persephone could do worse

Worse could happen to Persephone

Really, this isn't that bad of an outcome

She won't accept it. The whole world will suffer the same grief the gods have caused her

If her daughter won't be free, then she'll hold the world hostage instead

And it works

Her daughter is back, safely in her arms again

Yet, she's bound to the Underworld for some time of the year

That's not so bad, is it? She won. THEY won

Persephone is free, even if it's only part of the year

But she's not fully trapped down there. She makes her own place. She embraces her darkness and title.

Hades treats her with respect and kindness

Sure, the marriage isn't ideal, but he doesn't just love her—he respects her

And maybe, she can learn to love him too

Gods have different standards, after all

One last thing

I didn't know where to add this so, here

in the musical, Persphone calls out Zeus for disregarding her before Hades even came to the picutre, I actually like this addition

It doesn't really have any basis in myths but it's a clever way of interpreting the lack of myths regarding her and Zeus ( or even her siblings you can argue )

That being why Demeter became her sword and shield

Everything about that verse's implications and set up I love and never saw anyone make something similar to it!

Which adds to my sadness that we're still painting Demeter as unreaonsable or at least doesn't hear her daughter out, Demeter seems like a none abusive version of Mother Gothel ?? this is best way I can describe my feelings

[dontmixpaintinyourcoffee]

A glimpse into my twisted mind

Head under the cut for close-ups and notes for this whole process because hoo boy this musical sure has eaten my brain

So first things first, I'm gonna write out the notes I have at the top down here because they're pretty foundational for all my designs going forward.

Historical accuracy is not a priority here. The story is primarily a fantasy based on the aesthetics of Mycenaean and Hellenic Greece. If the time period is more nebulous the anachronisms are less distracting.

This is more personal preference than anything. I love a good historically accurate piece, but I think I would find it more frustrating than satisfying in this case. If literally everything was accurate to the best of our knowledge except for the dialogue... it would drive me nuts. Plus, it's a reinterpretation and a fantasy story. When I look at it I don't want to think "Oh that's The Odyssey", I want to think "Oh that's THIS version of The Odyssey"

Also, to be frank, I'm being lazy here. I want to draw about this musical for fun, and I want any research I do to be for fun too.

From what I understand, we get most of our modern-day "common knowledge" of Greek mythology based on stories from the Hellenic/Hellenistic (still not sure which one is right) period, especially from Roman influences. However, The Odyssey takes place in The Bronze Age, around 1200 B.C.E. The Mycenaean period is something like 1600-1100 B.C.E. There's a solid 500 year distance MINIMUM between the two time periods. Hopefully I can take references from both, put my own spin on it, and make something that clearly calls back to "Ancient Greece" while still obviously existing in a world far outside our reality.

Now for God's Favorite Punching Bag!

This is a weird process, because there isn't a "canon" look for any of the characters, but I still wanted there to be a somewhat instinctual knowledge from the EPIC audience that the guy I was drawing was probably Odysseus. So I started with some of my favorite interpretations that I've seen. These Odys are brought to you by:

@gigizetz

Neal Illustrator on YouTube

@wolfythewitch

VirusAP on YouTube

They feature some crucial differences in build, shape, and style, but there are some interesting similarities across all of them. All of them share a heavy brow, some kind of facial hair, a prominent nose, and a crooked smile (not pictured in these doodles but it's there trust me.)

After that was figuring out the outfit(s). I took a LOT of inspiration from the Hades games, because I think they embody the kind of look I'm going for. Clearly based in history, but not beholden to it. So I took the designs of some of the important mortals that show up (Odysseus, Achilles, Patroclus, and Theseus) and laid them out next to designs of Odysseus and Eurylochus by Neal Illustrator and Gigi. Then for fun I added in one of the few pieces of pottery art I could find that didn't have Odysseus bare-ass naked.

I really like having some kind of cloak or wrap around his shoulders and neck, and I like the leather arm guards that pop up in quite a few of these designs, so that's probably going to be fairly consistent. I also really like the circlet shown in the Neal Illustrator and Hades II designs, it's a nice reminder that he is actually a king. With all that established, we finally move to my actual designs.

The man himself! Mid-Polyphemus encounter. I think this is the point in the story where he's the most put together. He just did the most heinous thing he's ever done*, but he's finally finished. He has 600 men to set an example for, and they're finally going home. He's trying to project confidence. He's well-groomed, he's got his circlet, he's got his comrades, he's not feeling good, but no one else needs to know that.

*up until that point anyways...

This guy is somewhere just before the Poseidon Incident. His beard is fuller and a bit scraggly, his hair is a bit longer and kinda tangled (the wind does not help), and those eye bags are a touch deeper. Losing those 12-ish people to Polyphemus hit him hard, and losing Polites especially took a toll.

Three guesses of when this takes place and the first two don't count. Those 7 years on Ogygia... They're rough. Physically he's the safest he's been since he left Ithaca, but just having to sit with all the horrors he's done and seen, alone with someone who is impossible to really talk to, achingly close to home... Yeah it's bad. I always pictured this scene happening in the middle of a roiling storm, when he realizes what he's considering doing and he calls out for the last person he knows can still hear him. (Also a little bit of lightning in the back to show Zeus being the one to trap both Odysseus and Calypso here)

IMPORTANT NOTE:

My interpretation of this Calypso is that she's very much manipulative and overbearing, but she won't remove his autonomy. She will provide him with food, but won't make him eat it. This is crucial to this version of the story, because EPIC wants you to sympathize with Calypso at least a little bit. If she was more like her original counterpart I trust that it would have been called out explicitly by the text, so I'm operating under the impression that while she's not a good person, she is at least not so malicious or selfish that she would take away Odysseus' choice in anything. More on her when I get to designing her. Just wanted to make my thoughts extremely clear.

Flashback! Baby Odysseus! Basic setup, circlet, chiton, youthful determination, you know the deal. He's probably about 12 here, which is about the age I picture him doing the boar trial. It was fun trying to hint at the shapes he would grow into in his adulthood. And of course a little bit of Athena influence in the back there. I don't know if a barn owl makes sense geographically, but honestly I just wanted to draw a barn owl. They're cute.

*Insert electric guitar riff*

Maybe my favorite Ody to draw??? He still wears those 7 years on him, but he's trimmed his beard and gotten himself some new clothes, and he's feeling murderously vengeful. Good for him. This is specifically his beggar disguise. I gave him a traveling cloak and some extra cloth to really wrap himself up with. The more he can hide himself, the better. He wants to be invisible, and if someone was to see him he doesn't want them to see any body language. This is just after he shoots Antinous though so... Jig's up :)

[joshym]

Le Morte d'Arthur: Chapter 1

Paring: Jake Kiszka x f!Reader

Summary: It all began with a passion for literature. What was once a dream to walk the halls of the University of Michigan is now a reality.

You thought you were prepared for everything.

A new town, a new school, a new way of life,

but what you were not prepared for…

was meeting the enigma that is Jake Kiszka.

Word Count: 8.8k+

Warnings: (for this chapter) mentions of stress & anxiety, mentions of a broken home, mentions of an ill, disabled parent, mentions of an oxygen tank & medications, jake is an asshole, (if I missed anything, please let me know)

a/n: it's here! i can't begin to express how excited i am to share this with everyone. this story has been in the works for quite some time now, & it's been such a joy to write. i sincerely hope you all love it. please don't be afraid to let me know what you think. 🤍

also, huge thank you to @jakeyt for being the best editor, & being my right hand in helping create this. i seriously couldn't have done it without you. love you SO much. you're the best sister i could ever ask for.

⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎

As you walk up the stone steps of Angell Hall, you feel as though you’re walking into a book filled with ancient Greek Mythology. The pillars that resemble the Parthenon temple, the delicate stone work motifs that portray Athena's owl and Pegasus; you’ve truly never felt more at home than you do at this very moment as you take your first steps inside the building that houses the English Literature courses. The inside is rich with artwork personifying poetry and myth. The intricate neoclassical design of the ceilings, complete with gold leafing and imperial medallions. The most incredible building you’ve ever seen, and one of the many reasons you decided to make the transfer to the University of Michigan.

It’s been no easy feat to get here. In fact, it’s been damn near impossible. It’s by the skin of your teeth that you’re here today, walking the very halls of your dream school.

The road to get here has been hell. Pure, unadulterated hell. You’ve saved every last penny to afford the move here, while trying to take care of your mom and her declining health. It didn’t help that your dad decided it was all too much for him and left a year ago, leaving the two of you alone with hardly the means to afford even the bare necessities. With two full time jobs, online classes at some bullshit university, and tending to your mom’s every need for the last year, it’s a fucking miracle you’re standing here today. 

It’s only been a month since you received your acceptance letter in the mail. You worked your ass off the last two years maintaining a 4.0 gpa to be sure you’d be accepted. You’d applied back in January and waited six excruciating months to hear back, obsessively checking the mail at least three times a day. 

One day, you noticed a rather large, crumpled envelope stuffed in your tiny mailbox. It was wet from a rainstorm that had hit earlier that day, but you could still make out the sender information. 

The University of Michigan

515 East Jefferson St. 

1220 Student Activities Building

Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1316

You knew that the contents of this envelope would seal your fate for the next two years. You were hesitant at first to open, scared of rejection. You let it sit for a few hours before finally ripping it open as quickly as your fingers would allow.

You pulled out the sopping piece of cardstock, stamped with a golden “M” at the top left corner.

Congratulations, y/n! 

You’re in! We are pleased to inform you that you are admitted to the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science and the Arts Junior class entering fall of 2023.

Within two weeks of receiving the letter, you and your mom packed up what little you had and left the sleepy town of Cherry Tree, Oklahoma. 

Up until now, you’d lived in this tiny town your entire life. You’ve been so ready to leave, to find adventure elsewhere that would allow you to spread your wings. You’d been held back there for so long. You knew it was time, and as much as she could, your mother supported your choice to leave and she was eager herself to get away.

You managed to secure a low income apartment in Ann Arbor that has accommodations for those with disabilities. It’s a shithole. But it’s your shithole. 

You’re solely responsible for any and all bills as your mom isn’t fit to work. You’ve got enough saved up to last about a month, so one of your first priorities is to find a job that will sustain you. 

Right now, though, your current goal is to find your first class in this massive building. It’s intimidating. Everyone here is walking past you in a hurry to get where they need to go as you’re stuck, still trying to figure out where room 3182 is. There aren’t signs anywhere to help guide you through the utter maze that is Angell Hall. You haven’t the slightest clue of where to start.

You try asking a few people, only to be met with vague points in general directions, or people simply telling you ‘up stairs.’

Where are the damn stairs? 

You start trekking along in an attempt to find them, when you see a large wooden door that’s cracked open just enough to see, finally, a staircase. 

Some progress.

Making your way to the third floor, you assume you’ve finally found where your class will be when you look at a room number… and it says ‘2548.’ 

Dammit. 

You head back to the stairs to make your way up to the next floor, and to your relief, the class numbers all begin with a three. 

You head down the long, dimly lit hallway in frantic search for room 3182, to no avail. The hallway has so many twists and turns with no guidance for direction. There may as well be a scarecrow with arms pointing in all directions saying ‘this way!’

You’re stuck yet again, unsure of where to go. You assume everyone is in their respective classes as the hall is barren, so there’s not a soul to ask. With only two minutes until class begins, you’re nearing the point of giving up. 

Anything is better than waltzing into class late on your first day, no less your first day at a university where no one knows you. What a fantastic first impression to make.

Suddenly, a man comes barging down the hall towards you. He looks a bit unapproachable, wearing a large brimmed black hat on top of his shoulder length hair, sunglasses that mimic ones worn by John Lennon in the seventies and a matching all black ensemble of linen pants and a button up, with only the last few buttons actually secured. He jingles as he moves due to an obnoxious number of necklaces sitting on his bare chest.

You’re not sure you want to bother him but desperate times call for asking strange men for directions.

“Hi, excuse me. Could you tell me where room-”

Without even acknowledging your basic existence, he seems to be in a hurry as he slams into you, knocking your brown canvas bag off your shoulder and effectively dumping everything out of it. 

“Sorry,” he mumbles as he quickly turns the corner, not even bothering to help you pick up the mess he’s created.

“John Lennon wannabe motherfucker,” you mutter under your breath as you bend down to gather your belongings. 

You hear footsteps coming closer to you, thinking just maybe he's decided to come back and make amends.

“Sorry about him, girl.” 

You glance up just as she’s kneeling down, offering to help with your scattered books.

“Don’t pay him any mind. He thinks he walks on water,” she says as she helps you shove the last of them in your bag, now all disheveled and out of your perfect order. 

“God, thank you so much. Would you happen to know where room 3182 is? I haven’t the slightest clue where I’m going.” 

“Just keep going down the hall until you reach the bathroom, take a left and it’s the second room on the right,” she says, with a warm smile.

You thank her again and quickly head in that direction.

At last, you breathe a sigh of relief as you approach room 3182.

With a deep breath, you open the door to the massive lecture hall that appears more like an auditorium with its pitched floor.  

All eyes are on you, the room dead silent as the professor glares at you. 

“I’m so sorry I’m late, I had the worst time-”

“No matter. Just take your seat and do it quickly,” he cuts you off.

You scan the room in search of an empty seat as everyone continues to silently stare at you, eyes burning holes in your soul.

This is exactly what you wanted to avoid.

Finally you spot one on the far right corner of the room. Swiftly heading towards it, you make a horrid discovery.

Mr. John Lennon wannabe is in the seat right next to the empty one. 

Of fucking course.

Grudgingly, you take your seat next to him. He shifts his body slightly away from you as you situate yourself, letting out a long, dramatic sigh once you're settled.

You decide to try and humble him with your southern hospitality, asking his name with a kind smile, to which he only responds by cocking his head in your general direction and not bothering to answer you.

What an ass.

“Now that it seems we finally have everyone here, let’s get things started. Welcome to English 450, The Quest for King Arthur. My name is Dr. Movack and I will be your instructor throughout the semester.” 

You start pulling out all of your books on King Arthur, annoyed that some of them now have bent pages thanks to the mysterious man wearing all black sitting to your left.

“One of the requirements to be accepted in this class, aside from the prerequisite courses, is to have more than just the basic knowledge of Arthurian lore.” Dr. Movack continues, “Taking that into account, there is no need to waste time in starting from the beginning. However, I would like to take a moment to test your knowledge. Each person who answers correctly will receive a point towards extra credit.” 

Dr. Movack begins going around the room, asking everyone basic questions and facts about King Arthur when he finally gets to you.

“I would like you to tell me which text offers the earliest reference to Arthur.” 

With booming confidence, you answer, “I believe it’s around the 7th century when he is briefly mentioned in the poem titled Y Gododdin.”

The John Lennon look alike on your left lets out an obnoxiously loud chuckle while shaking his head.

“Dr. Movack, it’s a well known fact that Arthur isn’t specifically mentioned until Historia Brittonum in the 9th century. She’s clearly wrong,” he blurts out. 

You know your stuff when it comes to this lore. You’ve studied it for the better part of your life and you’ll be damned if you let this man who, for whatever reason has developed a vendetta against you, try to outwit you.

“No, you are wrong. You obviously haven’t read the poem or you’d know he’s named when referencing the bravery of Gwawrddur.”

He waves his palm in your face in an attempt to silence you, the gesture causing your lip to curl in frustration. “Tell her, Dr. Movack. Tell her she’s wrong and has no idea what she’s talking about.” He asserts.

Talking about you instead of to you is a great way to piss you off and he’s on the right path towards it. His refusal to even look at you has you nearly in flames with rage.

“What’s your name, miss?” Dr. Movack asks.

“Y/n,” you respond.

Your heart is thumping out of your chest as you await the professor's response.

“It seems there may be someone here who knows even more than you, Kiszka.” Lennon’s jaw nearly hits the desk beneath him. “Y/n is absolutely right. Y Gododdin does, in fact, mention Arthur. The introduction is so slight that it’s often missed, but scholars argue that this piece does indeed contain the first true reference.” 

Even through his obnoxious sunglasses, you can see the frustration painted on his face. Proving him wrong in front of the whole class serves him right. 

Poetic justice at its finest.

You laugh through your nose and give yourself a metaphorical pat on the back, anticipating more praise from Dr. Movack when he says “However, miss, you will not receive your point for being late to my class.”

Lennon cackles at this, of course, feeling he’s somehow won this educational battle.

He answers his question correctly, receiving his point and commendation from Dr. Movack. 

He sits back in his chair, arms crossed with a smug face, wearing a ‘kiss my ass’ grin on his lips.

You just roll your eyes and look the other direction, envisioning yourself ripping those ridiculous sunglasses off his face. 

⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎

Something you’re not used to yet, and perhaps will never get used to, is the Detroit traffic. Stuck in your beat to hell ‘92 Firebird in bumper to bumper traffic, you’re at a near standstill as you’re desperate to get home after a long day of classes. What should only be a fifteen minute drive home has already lasted more than thirty, and you’ve hardly moved an inch.

You’re sitting in silence as you don’t even have the luxury of the radio to keep you company. You’re lucky enough that this car even runs with as much shit as it’s been through. A hand-me-down from a hand-me-down, losing parts and gusto after each set of hands it passes through. You figure you’ll be the last to drive it before it meets its timely end in the very near future.  

WIthout much else to preoccupy you at the moment, your mind is wandering with recollection of your first day at the school you’ve had your sights set on since your first comprehensible memory. Feeling like a fish out of water would be the most comfortable way to describe your day. It goes far beyond that. 

You know it’ll take some time to settle. But you’re afraid that time won’t fix the fact that you may not truly belong here. You’ve never really fit in anywhere, even in your tiny hometown that you’d lived in your whole life. You were never fully accepted there, so what makes you think you’d be accepted here? You’d always felt so isolated in Cherry Tree, too small of a town to feel such a way. Now, you have the intimidation of a rather large city to amplify your isolation.

Aside from the nightmare that was finding your first class and the man who made you late to it, your other classes went about as well as you could’ve hoped for. You’d still managed to get lost a fair amount, but on the brightside, you’d found the campus coffee shop so you had been able to stay there for a while this afternoon.

The man, who you can only refer to as Lennon given he so rudely refused to give you his first name, was also studying in the coffee shop today, much to your dismay. 

And the way he’d locked eyes with you for a brief moment before quickly looking away…

You were not sure why, but now, you can’t pry him from your ambulant mind. Something about him, aside from his insolent demeanor, is oddly enticing. He’s dark, almost mystifying. There are secrets in the air he breathes. Whether or not you want to know them, you can’t quite decide. Nonetheless, you’re intrigued.

Traffic finally begins to move at a steady pace, breaking your trance and causing your disoriented image of him to return to one filled with anger.  

Mystifying or not, he was an ass for absolutely no reason. You’ve made up your mind that you will never give him the time of day again. 

You pull into the parking lot of your apartment complex, your car sputtering its cry of exhaustion as you’ve put it to the ultimate test far too many times lately. 

“I need you to hang on just a little longer, old friend.” You say as you throw the gear shift in park. “Just a little longer, then we’ll lay your heaping metal bones to rest.” 

You trek up the stairs to your apartment, stopping at door 264. You smile as you look down to see “Don’t Knock Unless You Brought Wine” stitched on the doormat beneath your feet. Your mom insisted on it, and as ridiculous as you think it is, you’re grateful for the smile it’s brought to your tired face. 

You search through your disarranged canvas bag for your key, silently cursing the fact that it’s not in its designated spot.

Finally spotting the shining silver, you pull it out and twist it in the rusted bolt to open the door.

Your mom is sprawled out on the couch, her oxygen tank filling the quiet apartment with a subtle humming. The living room television is on some old sitcom she loves with the volume muted, as per usual for her.

You don’t want to wake her, as it’s imperative that she gets as much rest these days as she can. You keep as quiet as possible while heading to the kitchen to start dinner for the two of you.

You decide on something simple; bowtie pasta with alfredo and grilled chicken. 

Your mom always had a knack for all things culinary. Her skill remains unmatched, although it’s not as easy for her these days.

You sadly missed out on that trait from her. You’re lucky if you don’t burn the water. But, over the course of her illness becoming increasingly debilitating, you’ve taught yourself some easy and quick recipes to get by. 

You spoon a healthy amount of pasta on each of your plates, even garnishing them with a few basil leaves for a little aesthetic.

You pour yourself a much needed glass of merlot before taking your mom’s plate to her. 

You gently wake her by carefully nudging her hand. 

“Dinners ready, mom. I hope it’s okay.”

She slowly begins to stir awake, looking happy to see you as you sit next to her. “I’m sure it’ll be great. Thank you, sweetie.” You help her to sit up and get stabilized before handing her her plate. “How was your first day?” She tries not to wince as she takes her first bite. Her years of being a culinary expert have made her awfully picky when it comes to food, but she’s never once outwardly complained about your cooking. Although you can tell she’s less than impressed, she would never tell you that. She knows you’re trying your best and she’s so grateful for it, especially since your dad left.

“It was alright, I guess.” You take your first bite and instantly understand her initial aversion to it. Undercooked noodles and over cooked chicken. You’re glad it’s not the other way around this time.

“Just alright?” she asks.

You don’t have the heart to tell her how draining today truly was, so you just tell her that classes were a little stressful but that it really was a great day.

You switch the subject and talk about the beauty of the campus and how badly you wish she could see it. “Maybe someday,” she says.

You want nothing more than to get her out of this dingy apartment for a day and take her around, to show her the wonder of the city. It’s been incredibly difficult watching battle her illness. She seems to grow weaker with each passing day. Although she tries to conceal it from you, you know your mom, and you can see her deteriorate before your very eyes. It breaks your heart in a million pieces, but you still hold out  hope that she will get better someday. 

Hope is all you have.

Until then, you just try to enjoy each and every moment you share with her.

⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎

You’re situated outside of room 3182 nearly thirty minutes early this morning, drinking your steaming coffee and reading House of Leaves that was assigned to you yesterday in your Classic Horror course. 

The real inescapable horror, however, would be sitting next to him again, so you’re here early to avoid the unnecessary cruelty you faced the other day. 

Taking advantage of your extra time, you allow yourself to become immersed in the daunting novel. 

You read of a man on a slow descent to insanity, discovering a manuscript that details a home that transforms on the inside, yet stays the same on the outside.

Unlit hallways that continue for ages, doors appearing where they hadn’t been before. An architectural conundrum, this house.

The words in the book appear in strange prints, some pages with them upside down, placed in strange patterns; some pages with no words at all.

The word “House” is always in the color blue, even on the cover. 

The novel both fascinates you and terrifies you all at once, having read it twice before. You’ve yet to make your own interpretations on this book as they seem to change with each read. A bit of a mindfuck, as it were.

Just as you’re diving head first into the maddening depths of Danielewski's story, you hear keys jingling followed by the door to the classroom opening. 

You’d been so lost in your book you hadn’t even noticed that most of the students had joined you in the hall, waiting for class to begin.

You’re the first to head inside, much to Dr. Movack’s shock. You take your seat in the front row near the podium, the furthest one away from where you assume Lennon will sit.

The rest of the class piles in, taking their respective seats and gearing up for class. Here comes Lennon, clad in all black once again– sunglasses and all. He walks right past you, humoring you by ignoring your presence. 

Good. Keep walking. 

As more students pile in, you notice one mindlessly walking towards you before he abruptly stops and eyes you in your seat. You simply smile and nod as he stands there with a curious look about him. 

He slowly walks away, leaving you a bit puzzled but you choose to ignore it.

The hands on the antique brass wall clock strike 10:00 am, and you notice Dr. Movack is still out in the hall speaking with someone. Of whom, you can’t quite tell.

You and the rest of the class wait patiently, when finally Dr. Movack walks in, but he’s not alone. He’s with the student who glared strangely at you just moments ago. 

The student is standing near the professor, as if he has something to say, when Dr. Movack clears his throat and begins speaking. 

“I feel I needn't say this, but it’s clear some of you aren’t aware of how things are done around here, so I will say it this once so that we all understand. Once you choose your seat on the first day of class, that becomes your designated seat for the remainder of the semester. It is disruptive to your fellow classmates to decide to take the seat they specifically chose as their throne for learning.”

Your chest tightens and your face becomes flush with unease. 

You know instantly that he’s talking about you. 

“So, I will end this here: if you are not sitting in the spot you chose on the first day of class, I suggest you move to said spot immediately so we can get started with our business.”

Shit.

You’re utterly humiliated as you slowly stand up, you being the only one to stand up and making it abundantly clear to everyone in class that you were the cause of this.

You take your things and move to the spot you so desperately wanted to avoid, right next to Lennon who is covering his mouth with his hand, giggling at your shame.

The student standing by Dr. Movack takes his rightful seat as you take yours.

The class you had been most excited for this semester is quickly turning out to be the one you wished you had never signed up for.

You made a terrible impression on the first day by being late, and now on the second day of this class, you’ve broken an unspoken rule that you had no previous knowledge of. All of that topped off with the man sitting next to you who has made his distaste for you rather clear… the only thought tormenting your mind is how badly you wish you could crawl in a hole and never have to show your face in this class ever again.

“I have an important announcement,” declares Dr. Movack as he takes post behind his podium. “Through the entirety of this course, you will be working on a semester-long project relating to the appropriation of Arthurian legend. This project is fairly at your liberty, meaning there are very few stipulations for you to follow.”

Okay, this is something you can handle. Something to sink your teeth into, something you know you’ll excel at. 

“This will not be a solo project, however.”

Oh no.

“There are exactly fifty students in this class, so you will be paired in twos for a total of twenty five projects.”

Please no.

“As far as who you will be assigned with, that is very simple. The person seated next to you is who you will work with for the remainder of the semester.”

With Lennon being the very last seat in your row, and you being directly next to him, this means…he will  be your partner. For the entire semester. 

You were cursed from the first day you stepped foot in this room and had to sit next to him. Fate would have it so things would not work in your favor, it appears. 

“This project is not to be taken lightly as it is worth sixty percent of your final grade. Everything in this class will lead up to it, so I suggest you take your readings very seriously.”

He will ruin this for you, no fucking doubt. 

He won’t even give you the grace of telling you his first name, and now you have to work on a huge project with him for four months? A project worth more than half of your grade? 

That hole you debated on crawling in is sounding better and better by the minute.

“Well, guess that makes us partners.” To your disbelief, Lennon speaks his first words to you in lieu of his typical 'at you' approach. “The nice thing is that it guarantees me a good grade.” 

“Is that your way of admitting I know more about this than you do, Kiszka?” you snark. He cocks an eyebrow above his black lenses as you dare to utter his last name.  

“Not quite.” He snorts a condescending chuckle, “I can tell you’re the type to work towards the best grade possible, hence, ensuring my success in the process. Shall I thank you now or later?”

Lennon’s got you there.

You take projects like these rather seriously, and this one will be no exception. As much as you’d love to set him up for failure, that would warrant your failure right along with him. 

It’s the perfect scenario for him and a living nightmare for you.

Lovely.

⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎

You walk through the open doors of the lecture hall for your next class, spotting yet another familiar face amongst the students, only this one much more kind and welcoming. 

You recognize her as the kind soul who helped you the other day when your bag was senselessly knocked off your shoulder by your favorite Lennon impersonator. 

“Hey!” she says as she notices you, “Come sit next to me!”

You’re nearly taken away by her beauty as you sit beside her, finally able to get a better look at her this time.

Her glowing caramel skin, her eyes light and honest with a sepia tone, her dark brown curls that are unruly yet flawlessly styled, held perfectly on top of her head with the most beautiful satin scarf. 

“Thank you again for helping me the other day. You’re a saint for that.” You hang your book bag on the back of your chair, pulling out its contents for class. “You’ll never believe this, but that guy that slammed into me with no remorse, he’s in my class. The one that he made me so late for. And because of that, we’re partnered together for a semester-long project.” 

“Ah yes, Jake,” she says under a giggle, adjusting her dark green, slouchy sweater off her toned shoulder. “He’s something else, that’s for sure. He’s got a good heart but he covers it with that mysterious, dark facade that he thinks makes him look so cool.” 

Alas, Lennon does have a first name after all. Although, you prefer the nickname you’ve given him. 

“Well, Jake has made it rather clear that I am not his favorite person and I can’t for the life of me figure out why. I’m not sure how we’ll manage to make it through this semester together with his shitty attitude.”

She hums under her breath, slowly shaking her head as if to say ‘just you wait.’

“My name’s Natalia. Where’d you fly in from?”

The way her name rolls off her tongue with her slight accent is nothing short of beautiful.

“Just a miniscule town in Oklahoma. Is it really that obvious that I’m not from here?” you answer in a hushed tone, half embarrassed to admit such a thing.

She grins as she sings a few words from the title track from the beloved Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, showcasing her stark white teeth that compliment her glowing, tanned skin perfectly.

“I hate to tell you Ms. Oklahoma, but you do kind of stick out like a sore thumb,” she quips. 

Having gone from a small, southern town to the outskirts of Detroit, you’re bound to look like an outsider until the culture shock wears off, much to your discontent. 

As much as you wish you could quickly adapt and easily blend in, it’s just not possible. Your face twinges as you remember your first day, specifically that one class you’d care to not mention any further. 

“Welcome, students, to Women in Literature. My name is Dr. Lacey and I’ll be your instructor through the duration of this course.” 

Class begins and you both submerge yourself in a study that’s particularly important to each of you.

⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎

“I can’t call you Ms. Oklahoma forever, you know.” 

You and Natalia have the rest of the day free from classes, so you decided to walk with her to the Central Campus library to do some studying.

“I guess you’re right,” you say through a laugh. “My name is y/n.”

You walk across the large courtyard full of lush green grass, intricate steel benches and the most lovely hydrangeas colored a deep purple. 

The Michigan landscape is a far cry from anything you had ever seen in Oklahoma. Everything's so green and flourished, so full of life. Vibrant colors paint the scenery in the most beautiful vision. 

The weather is nearly perfect, with the temperatures never exceeding the mid seventies and the humidity far below the excruciating levels of the southern states. 

You’re in awe as you go day to day with the sheer beauty of the nature that surrounds you. 

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, your curiosity begins to take over your every thought. Jake Kiszka. Your semester-long partner. You need to know more about him, as much as you attempt to relinquish the desire.

You finally build up the courage to ask. “So, how do you know him?”

She looks at you upon your inquiry, squinting her eyes as she studies your face. “Who, Jake?” She says with a sinister grin about her. 

“Yes, Jake. What is it about him that he feels the need to treat people like they’re beneath him?”

“Ah, Sir Jacob,” she says. “He’s a bit of an enigma, I guess you could say. And yes, he is single.” She throws you a wink as you stare at her with utter disgust at her wisecrack.

“I do not care if he’s single,” you respond, causing her to snort a chuckle. 

“I’ve known the guy for years. We go all the way back to the golden days of our youth. He and his twin brother graduated high school a year before me, and their younger brother was a year below me.” A twin? There’s two of him? “I’ve known their family for the better part of my life. Good people, truly. I can’t begin to tell you how much they’ve helped my family and me.”

You’ve only just met him, but the words ‘good’ and ‘Jake’ don’t seem to belong in the same sentence. 

“Incidentally enough, his twin, Josh, and my brother, Malachi, have been partners since they graduated together. So, they’re kind of my family, too.” You walk up the steps to the library as she holds the large wooden door open for you.“I promise you, y/n. He’s not all bad. You’ve just seen what he projects to people he doesn’t know. Like I said, he thinks it makes him look cool.”

Your thoughts momentarily stop as you take your first steps into the library. You’re in shock. Though, you shouldn’t be. Every single building you’ve stepped foot into on this campus is absolutely immaculate, and the library is no exception.

It’s almost bewitching, with thousands of books lining the walls, reaching chandeliers that seem to hang from the clouds at their height. 

The alluring musty scent of aged novels fill your senses and take you back to a time long since forgotten. 

It’ll be far too tempting to spend all of your time here, getting lost in the pages that fill the space of grandeur.

You’ve been stuck in a near trance by the beauty surrounding you, you hadn’t even noticed that Natalia moved behind the circulation desk.

“It’s also his way of keeping his guard up. It’s rare that anyone gets to discover the true Jacob,” she says as she types away at the computer sitting at the desk.

“Um, Natalia?” You quietly ask. “Should you be back there?”

She laughs as she takes in your slightly terrified expression, “Well I would say so, ya know, since it’s the start of my shift.”

“You work here?” How could anyone be so lucky as to work in such an immaculate setting?

“It’s a pretty sweet gig. It’s not the most thrilling job but it’s nice and quiet. I get to spend my days among books, and the tuition break is a pretty nice incentive.” She secures her gold plated magnetic name badge to sweater, making her look rather official.

A job on campus would be utter perfection for you. You’ll be spending a vast majority of your time here anyways, and the tuition break would be a significant help in your situation. 

“Do you happen to know of any other jobs on campus that are hiring?” you ask, almost embarrassed, but you have a feeling you can trust her. “I’m kind of in a pinch to find something soon. Desperate, actually.”

She rests her chin between her index finger and thumb, seeming to ponder your question. “I know of a few,” she says. “One that just so happens to be in this very library, if you’re interested.” Her voice carries an almost sarcastic tone, she knows you’re interested. 

“Oh my god, are you serious? I would love to work here!” you say.

“I figured you would.” She rummages through the credenza and pulls out a sheet of paper entitled ‘Employment Application’ and sets it on the desk in front of you. 

“Go ahead and fill this out, and I’ll consider putting in a good word for you.” She winks at you as she hands you a pen. 

⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎

Classes have become increasingly difficult. It’s nothing you can’t handle, but you find it hard to make time for much of anything outside of work and school. 

You started your new job at the library one week ago today. You pick up as many shifts as possible, mostly evenings and nights as your days are taken up with your classes. The library stays open until ten o’clock, so most nights you don’t get home until at least ten thirty. 

You set aside a little time after class everyday to run home and take care of your mom before work, making her dinner and being sure her nightly medications are set out before you head back to campus.

As busy as you are, you truly love your job and you’re immensely excited about your studies.

Your friendship with Natalia has bloomed beautifully over the last week. 

You’re so grateful for her. She has been your saving grace lately as this last week has been a bit treacherous. Her companionship has been a major help in your adjustment to this new way of life and your somewhat rigorous schedule.

Jake, on the other hand–well, things are about the same. You’ve set aside your pride a few times this week in an attempt to get along with him for the sake of your project, but he just brushed you off, every single time. 

This project is massive, and not having it started yet, or even having a single idea about what you’ll do with it, is giving you serious anxiety. 

The tension with him seems to grow by the day and you’re almost at the end of your rope with it. You don’t know how to fix it, but you need to figure out something soon so you can bury this unnecessary hatchet and focus on your shared assignment.

–

After running home to make dinner for your mom and tend to a few chores, you make it back to campus just in time to begin your shift.

Tonight, you’re in charge of contacting students with missing books and tacking on late fees to their accounts if necessary. 

You’re sitting at the computer, scrolling through the seemingly endless list of students and calling them to let them know of the fees they’ve accrued. 

Most of them are rather displeased with you upon your notice, some of them even giving you a small piece of their mind before abruptly hanging up on you. 

You make phone call after phone call, trekking through the list organized alphabetically by last name.

At last, you’ve made it to the end of the J’s. Your task for the evening was to make it halfway through the list, and you’re nearly there as you begin contacting students whose last names begin with K. 

Upon reading the name of the next student, your heart sinks to the pit of your stomach.

Kiszka, Jacob T (1): Le Morte d’Arthur (Norton Critical Edition) - Mallory

“You can’t be serious,” you mumble.

You debate on ‘accidentally’ skipping him, but you don’t want anything to jeopardize your brand new job.

You have to call him, and you’re not looking forward to it.

You suddenly hear the voice of your boss in the back of your mind, “It’s proper etiquette to always state your name when calling students, so be sure to introduce yourself with each call you make.” 

You quickly make up your mind that you will not mention your name during your call to him. The last thing you need is any more awkward air between you two.

You dial his number and wait, listening to the ominous ringing from the other end. 

Your eyes are pinched shut, your palms sticky with sweat as you secretly hope he doesn’t answer. 

Then, the ringing comes to a stop, “Hello?”

Shit. 

“Is this Jacob?” You use your best professional tone, hoping to disguise your voice as much as you can.

“This is he,” he responds, the statement ending in more of a question.

“Hi, Jacob. This is y/n with the Central Campus Library.”

Fuck.

You throw your head in your hand, mentally cursing yourself for letting your name slip through. Maybe he didn’t notice, you think to yourself.

There’s an uncomfortable silence for a moment before you clear your throat and continue speaking.

“I’m calling about your overdue copy of Le Morte d’Arthur.”

“Y/n? Aren’t you in my class?” he asks.

So much for him not noticing. 

Ignoring his question, you proceed “It looks like you checked it out over the summer and it’s now twenty eight days overdue. Per policy, there has been a fee of seven dollars and fifty cents added to your account. If it is not returned by the thirty one day mark, you will receive anoth-” 

He patronizingly cuts you off before you can finish, “You’re in Movack’s class, huh? You sit right next to me.” 

With a sigh of frustration, you finish telling him that he must return it within three days or he’ll receive a much heftier fee.

“Yeah, okay. We’ll see about that,” he says before hanging up on you. His short tone has infuriated you beyond belief.

“Asshole,” you exclaim as you slam the phone down on the receiver causing a booming echo to erupt throughout the building. Luckily, the only other person here with you is Natalia. She’s been in the back sorting books while you’ve been dealing with overdue rentals.

Her boisterous laughter adds to the echoing bouncing off the walls. “I heard that,” she yells.

⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎

You’re especially dreading Dr. Movacks class today after your phone call with Jake last night. You know for a fact that things will be even more tense with him today, and you’re just not in the mood to deal with it.

The exhaustion from everything piled on your plate has really begun to set in. Jake is the last thing you want to worry about. With each unpleasant interaction with him, your impatience grows to new levels.

With the support of your large cold brew in hand, you gather the nerve to walk into class. 

“So you work at the library, huh?” Jake says as you take your seat. 

“Yep,” you say in response. You pull out your phone and scroll mindlessly, giving him the hint that you’re less than interested in talking with him.

Class begins, and Dr. Movack starts his lecture on Arthurian timelines. You’re trying to pay close attention, but you find yourself becoming increasingly distracted– by Jake. 

He smells so good– a mix of sandalwood and vanilla. You’ve noticed it before, but for some reason it’s particularly exhilarating today. 

You chalk it up to delusion from fatigue and force yourself to pay attention to the lecture. 

But fuck if it isn’t hard has hell to ignore. 

You reach for your coffee, glancing Jake's way when you make yet another intrusive realization.

The way he grips his pen so tightly– the veins in his hand and forearm protrude in the most captivating way. 

Your eyes slowly follow a trail to his pecks, the curve of them seen just beneath his partially open, black—of course—button down. You watch them tense slightly with each word he writes. 

Dr. Movack ends the lecture and you suddenly realize you’ve been staring far too long.  

“Can I help you?”  

You’re instantly mortified at him catching your stare. Desperate to find any excuse, you happen to see his copy of Le Morte d’Arthur sitting underneath his notebook. Thank god. 

“Your book,” you point to the novel. “You need to return it.” 

He huffs a laugh as he takes his sunglasses off, leaving you stunned. This is the first time you’ve seen his face without their obstruction—and the first time you’ve ever seen his eyes. 

His eyes are kind and warm. They glow amber brown like a glass of whiskey on the rocks, intoxicating you just as the smooth drink would.

“I still have two days, right?”

You saw his lips move, but the sound that came from them was muffled in your head as you’re entirely mesmerized by his eyes.

“Right?” he asserts, breaking you from your trance.

You blink your eyes a few times to bring yourself back to earth as your brain registers what he had said.

“What? Y– yes, you still have two days,” you say. “You know it’s not a required reading until later on in the semester, right? Why do you need it right now?”

“Maybe I wanted to get a head start,” he says while tossing it in his black leather satchel. “Maybe it’s not any of your business.” He swiftly gets up and walks away, leaving you completely frustrated yet again. 

Your journey to your next class feels more like a rigorous trudge. You’re walking fast and hard, stomping your feet with each step as your anger towards Jake exudes through your body. 

Not only are you pissed at his stupid fucking attitude, you’re pissed that you find him so damn attractive. 

How could you possibly find someone like him appealing? Appealing to the eye, yes, but that’s where it stops. He’s a walking rain cloud hovering over you, stealing all the sunshine from your day in only a matter of a single class period. 

You’re impatiently counting the days until this class– until this project– is over and done with so you can move on and live a peaceful existence. 

⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎ ⚔︎ ⛨ ⚔︎

It’s just about time to close the library and you could not be more ready. The last few days have been incredibly draining. With homework piling up in heaps, multiple tests to study for and working nearly every night, your stress is at an all time high. 

Thankfully, tomorrow is Saturday. This will be your first day off all week and you’re beyond ready for some much needed relaxation. You just need to get through these next five, excruciating minutes.

It’s been awfully quiet tonight and you’re grateful for it since you’re the only one working, but the lack of students has made the shift feel much longer than usual. 

You glance up at the clock that says it’s two minutes until ten. Given you haven’t seen any signs of a student in hours, you figure it would be okay to go ahead and lock up a few minutes early.

Just as you're about to twist the lock on the bolt, someone from the other end hastily turns the knob and pushes open the door with great force, causing you to stumble backwards.

Standing before you with their overdue book in hand, and to your utter disgust, is Jake. 

“We’re closed, Jake.”

He takes a few steps inside as he points behind you at the clock. “According to that, you’re still open for one more minute and I need to return my book.”

Of fucking course he waited until the literal last minute. 

You want nothing more than to turn him away and tell him he’s shit out of luck, but technically, he’s right. He’s entered the building before closing and according to policy, you have to serve him.

Son of a bitch. 

You bring your hand up to rub your forehead, trying to relieve some tension before you begin this process with him. “Follow me,” you say as you head back to the desk.

There’s an awkward silence lingering between you two as you sign into the computer, the only sound being his fingers tapping away at the desk as he impatiently waits for you.

“You could’ve just put it in the drop box outside, you know. They would’ve gotten it on Monday morning,” you tell him.

“Yeah, but then it would’ve been late. I’m not letting you all charge yet another absurd late fee,” he retorts.

“You should’ve turned it in on time, then.” 

You seem to have struck a nerve with him given the way his jaw clenched at your statement. You just can’t bring yourself to care– he’s the one forcing you to stay late when all you want to do is go home and go to bed. 

You go through the return process as quickly as you can. You finish, giving him his copy of the document that states he brought the book back. 

“Thanks,” he says. “Now I would like to check it back out, please.” 

Are you fucking kidding.

You know he’s doing this just to spite you.

You throw your hands down on the keyboard, “Seriously? Why can’t you just come back on Monday?” 

“Because I need it this weekend,” he claims.

“What could you possibly need it for?” Any semblance of patience you may have had left has officially walked out the door.

“Didn’t I tell you it was none of your business?” 

You take a deep breath and push it back out in a long sigh. You just don’t have it in you to argue anymore, so you accept defeat and begin checking it back out to him. 

You don’t say anything as you hand him a pen and the checkout slip for him to sign. He grabs the pen, looking at you with a slight guilt-ridden expression before giving his signature. 

“I’m working on a film with my brother, and I need the book to help him write the script.” This is the first time you’ve ever noted a hint of sincerity in his voice. The features of his face have softened– you can tell this is important to him. 

You flip delicately through the tattered and stained pages of the book. “I have my own copy of this out in my car,” you say. “I’ll just let you borrow mine. It’s in much better condition than this one, anyways.”

He agrees as you take the slip from under his fingers and crumple it, throwing it in the trash can under the desk. He waits a few minutes, letting you lock up. 

Then, he follows closely behind you to your car to retrieve the book.

You bend at the waist to dig for the book in the mess of your backseat. When you do so, you hear him take a deep inhale, and then blow it out in an exhale.

Is he annoyed with you having to dig? Because he can get the fuck over it. 

Just as you hear him clear his throat in impatience, you’ve found the book. You stand and hand him the book, annoyed with him and ready to leave. He thanks you, and you nod, bidding him a hasty ‘good night’… you’re just ready to get home. 

He begins to walk away, but stops and turns back around to face you.

Fuck. You’d been so close to being in the car, on your way home. Dammit.

“This film my brother’s doing,” he says. “Its focus surrounds the adultery of Arthur and Guinevere. He asked me to help him, and I was thinking…” You nod your head to let him know to keep going. “Well, if we both helped him, we could use it for our project.” 

Your interest is certainly piqued. “Yeah, that could work. I’ve written a few scripts and designed theoretical sets for a couple film electives before… so I could definitely do that.”

“He could use more help with all of that for sure, but what he really needs are actors, specifically ones to play Arthur and Guinevere. He’s been begging me to play Arthur and I agreed, but now he’s on my case about finding someone to play Guinevere and, well...” He gestures his arms towards you, signaling that he thinks you should play her. 

“Um…,” you take a minute to figure out how to politely turn him down as you feel a blush rise to your cheeks. You’d never admit it, but just the mere thought of interacting with him so intimately in those roles has your stomach doing weird flips. “Jake… I– I don’t know about that. I’m much better behind the camera, acting just isn’t really my thing.” 

“Just give it a try,” he insists. Why does he seem so adamant? Geez. “And if you hate it, you can do something else. But I think you’d be great at it, really.” He smiles at you, the first time you’ve seen a true, genuine smile from him.

Well, fuck.

You want to say no, you should say no. With how he’s treated you thus far, you don’t owe him anything. But– you can’t deny how it would help your project. And this project in Movack’s class… It's important to you. It would be fantastic to have it to back up your own project… 

And, aside from that, his smile is making it awfully hard to turn him down right now. 

If you were alone, you would have slapped your forehead at the utter chaos in your head, leading to your ultimate decision.

With a little hesitancy, you speak up, “I guess I could stop by. Feel out the role…”

His features seem to lift more at that. You pay it hardly any mind. 

And with his final reply, his velvet-toned voice has a brand new, excited, air to it. “It’ll be really amazing, I promise.” Then, he chuckles, almost to himself. “It’ll definitely be interesting,” he shakes his head, a grin still lifting his cheek. “But really… I think it’ll be great. I know my brother and you will get along. He’s also one hell of a director.” 

Minutes later, as you’re climbing into your driver's seat, you take a few minutes to sit in the silence of your car. 

Trying your damnedest to block out the obnoxious fluorescent lighting of the parking lot, you stare through your windshield into the black night sky. 

And when normally, the blanket of black would bring you a sense of peace and comfort, tonight it’s different. Tonight, you can’t help but feel a burgeoning sense of timidness as you fail to find answers to your new predicament in the night sky.

What in the hell had you just agreed to?

taglist:

@jakeyt @alwaysonthemend @sacredjake @jakesgrapejuice @misshunnybee @reesetrippingthelight @way-to-go-lad @iffypanic @sinarainbows @klarxtr @brinlygvf @stardustjake @gretavanbear @gvfmelbourne @sinsofstardust @literal-dead-leaf @livkiszka @gvf-ficreads @jaaakeeey @capturethechaos @neptune2324 @jaketlove @thetroublegetssoloud71 @myleftsock @sanguinebats @jakekiszkapunchmeintheface

a/n: let me know if you'd like to be tagged, or follow this link to be added. ���

love you all SO MUCH

Le Morte d’Arthur Masterlist

Masterlist

[insert-clever-username-1133]

*burns down building cutely* guys im literally just a girl!!!

welcome to my blog

hi guys!!! im loralai but you can call me lora. this post is a running collection of all my chaos

you guys like lists? good bc that's all ive got for you

~

stuff i do

art

i draw in ibis paint on my phone with a disc stylus and use capcut to edit animatics. most of my stuff is tagged with either #art or #doodles, rarely both. doodles is my old tag for sketches and... well, doodles. i put everything under the art tag now

writing

i have one published fic right now with another multi chapter on the way and some one shots im going to get to eventually! i update my main fic every Wednesday when I'm not on hiatus. im little1133 on ao3

music

if you have perfect pitch talk to me please i need someone who understands the feeling when you get a song stuck in your head and you can't remember what key it's in but all the keys you picture it in sound wrong so now it's in your head but it sounds WRONG

fandoms

epic has had a huge effect on my life, gotten me back into drawing and writing :) im always down to yap about the babies or read your fic or whatever

heathers (the musical, haven't seen the movie)

ohh man i love this musical so much. literally every aspect about it I could talk about for days I swear. jdronica is never leaving my head they're so toxic i love them. mcsawyer is adorbs, this is the fandom that definitively has turned me into a multi shipper. i listen to freeze your brain so much I've gotten tired of it

epic the musical

i love odypen so so much. also i heard someone use the ship name penelody and that's the prettiest ship name ive ever heard i think. platonic eurypoli is also one of my favs. im a eurylochus defender for life

if you follow me you are big time signing up for epic spam

kotlc

this is my longest-term fandom i think. i love this little fandom so much!! Katie (@ myfairkatiecat , very cool user) got me into it last summer (i know, not very long term for my longest term fandom. im young okay). im a keefe defender (sorry stria) and i love fintan pyren a normal amount. fav ships are sokeefe, dexiana, and fintante! i am a sucker for platonic sophitz. they go well together what can i say

iywalirayhtdwa > wiityispb

percy jackson / riordanverse

i love love love this series so much. leo is my baby. percabeth should be called smartwater for ever and ever. i don't participate in this fandom because i learned my lesson from kotlc about joining the fandom before you're done reading and ive already gotten spoiled enough just from random youtube comments. am i really going to abstain from this fandom until ive read all however many series there are? probably not

greek mythology in general

yeah... right above this is percy jackson and epic the musical. you knew this was coming. im rapidly turning into the greek mythology kid. it's bad.

hadestown

i listened to the soundtrack with animatics a bit ago and im planning on watching a recording of the actual show. this musical has already. made me. FEEL THINGS. A LOT. doubt comes in absolutely broke me which im sure isn't a surprise to anyone who's seen hadestown. just like in epic Hermes is a whole vibe and a half. living it up on top, chant, and why we build the wall have alternated being played on loop in my brain. this musical is literally so.

dnd

im currently playing in a dnd campaign (#ivanna) as an elven wizard named Ivanna and in the late planning stages of dming a campaign (#crossfire campaign) for me and my friends. im unwell about both of these things

mouthwashing

i... don't have much to say about this fandom. im not very active in it. love the fanart. love daisuke and anya ofc. we be taking responsibility with this one

elnea kingdom

i don't really post about this game on here because the fandom is mainly on Reddit. this is here purely for propaganda. look up this game and play it. you know you want toooo ohh you wanna play it soooo baaaad

posts i want you to see

too lazy to do this list rn. im gonna link the seaglass vacker eyes post, the Ody is the short one in odypen, and some of my top posts later

tags ig

#art - self explanatory.

#bookmark - things I'm saving to refer back to later.

#liveblog - ive been doing this less lately but it's always a tradition for me to do at least a few liveblogs whenever im consuming a new media. i love this tag because it contains my magnum opus: my huge reblog chains with every little thought i had while reading kotlc. all of them have like 40 self reblogs to just add to them. there's a chain for each book, and i did it for the first like 5 or 6 books. i highly recommend looking at those they're very funny.

userboxes + other

i don't have a dni. if i don't like you ill block you

im not donating to your gofundme

my interests are subject to change on a whim with zero warning

[indignantlemur]

How do you approach worldbuilding? Where do you start and how do you develop a culture/history/customs/ecc. from there?

Hello!

So, my approach to world-building is a little all over the place, upon reflection! 😅 I seem to take multiple approaches to the task.

What I generally lean towards is narrative-driven worldbuilding, for the most part, where the story itself drives the worldbuilding. There's a degree of constructive, top-down world-building involved as well, but that's more to provide a skeleton for a world that I can flesh out as I need to as I write (or as folks ask questions) rather than a step-by-step, minutiae-focused process for every little thing.

When the story itself isn't the driving force for my worldbuilding, I often find that I start with a question and work to create something that feels original, but also not completely unreasonable. It can be something like 'What kinds of foods do they eat, and how?' or it can be 'How does this society function in these conditions, and how have those adaptations affected how they see the rest of the world?'

Other times, ideas come to me after I've gotten distracted by something else - like learning about the dying traditions of fibre crafts and textile arts in the UK and the rest of Europe - and I decide to see if I can incorporate those ideas with the details I've already established. This is how the Artisan Guilds came to be, in part.

For things like culture and history... I don't believe that there's such a thing as a truly new and original story. All the stories that have ever and will ever be told already exist, in fractured bits, in history and in folklore and mythology. So, I turn to those things for inspiration. Often, real world history can serve as a useful framework for how a civilization might develop over time - positively and negatively.

Even just looking at a rough timeline of, say, Western civilization, you can start to modify it to your own writing purposes by asking yourself: what would I change? What would I add? What if X event never happened, or if Y event happened 200 years earlier? Even if you don't end up with anything really usable, it's a good exercise to get into the habit of!

Now, sometimes I draw more obviously on some aspects of real-world culture, such as the Bulreeng Taal festival and its very clear parallels to the Hindu holiday known as Holi, but whenever I do go that route I try to change it to fit my world and make it feel as properly alien as I can in whatever scene it features in. Am I always successful? Probably not - but it's still important to make the effort to make an idea your own rather than ripping it wholesale and just slapping a sticker on it.

To be perfectly honest, though? Sometimes I just go off of vibes. This isn't helpful for anyone hoping to learn from this, I know, but it's true! Sometimes, I'm writing and I'm in the groove. The words are spilling out onto the page, the story is flowing, everything is weaving together, and some random detail will get worked in that works really well with the scene - and suddenly I have a new thing to add to the lore.

It helps that I am, by nature, a lore hound. I love lore. I love learning about the lore behind a world or a character, be it a book or a movie or a game. I consume vast quantities of media in almost all formats and across genres, and my profound desire to learn more about some obscure apocryphal short novella vaguely related to something else I was learning about has led to me to places I wouldn't have gone with a taser, a Maglite, and a very large dog.

In consuming and absorbing so much lore, I think I've also managed to internalise some kind of... world-building wine barrel? Cheese cellar? It's not a perfect comparison, either way, but essentially raw, half-assed ideas go in, they sit and age, and I occasionally revisit them and turn them this way and that, and then I put them back in the barrel, maybe with something new thrown in. This can repeat a dozen times, easily. Vague notions and barely thought out plans slowly become more and more complex the longer I leave them, and then one day I check the barrel and there's a really good idea in there. (Give or take a few duds, but no one's perfect.)

And the thing is, my brain is always doing this. Always.

Regardless of how I come about an idea, I try to make sure all of my ideas are grounded in an imperfect reality, rather than creating something that requires an impossible utopia to exist. Universes like Star Trek tend to present this idealized future where all of humanity's problems are things of the past, even when they demonstrably aren't, and I actually find that distasteful as a writer. The world thrives on conflict. Societies and cultures grow in adversity. If you remove struggle, all you're left with is stagnation, and there's no place for a story in that kind of world.

I think that more or less covers it? Sorry if this got a bit rambling!

[ark-inkweaving]

Character File R019: Leo

"Don’t lose yourself into a loop of what ifs and could haves. It doesn’t work. It only hurts more."

Basics

Legal Name ✵ Leonardo Corvi

Age ✵ 35

Pronouns ✵ He/Him

Orientation ✵ Straight

Skin ✵ Light Tan

Build ✵ Spindly

Height ✵ 1.67 m / 5' 5''

Eye Color ✵ Black

Hair ✵ Dark Brown, Short, Slightly Curly

Occupation ✵ University Professor (Contemporary History)

Notable Features ✵ Glasses

Work Specific

Species ✵ Human

Elemental Resonance ✵ Flora

Citzenship ✵ Earthen (Italian)

Base Location ✵ Milan

Alias ✵ N/A

Allegiance ✵ N/A

Personality

while very calm and quiet, Leo is definitely his parents' son: curious and deeply kind, with a bad habit of trying to help everyone. he's not particularly confrontational, but he is very protective and willing to stand up for others

Likes ✵ history, old books, stargazing, mythology, art, taking care of the farm, loud places

Dislikes ✵ the silence, people who hold information over other's head, pointless secrecy, the smell of blood, arrogance

Speaking Style ✵ a full but quiet voice, and he speaks with varying pace. less so in his private life, but his teacher voice is very distinctive. doesn't swear much, but is a bit prone to using slang and dialect. nicknames are reserved for family tho

Clothing Style ✵ sleek and professional, but comfortable. prefers his clothes to be on the warmer side, so plenty of jumpers and cardigans. loves earthy warm tones, but is also partial to black and the occasional thick jacket. particularly well known for the large black umbrella he brings everywhere

[backstory and taglist under the cut] [TW: Death, (minor) Gore]

Backstory

Leo had a quite normal childhood. He grew up in the italian countryside with a deep love foe history and myths from all over the world, and was known in his neighborhood as the kid who would ask everyone questions about everything. his parents were very close to Aleji's parents, and so Leo was fairly close to Aleji when they were born and treated them like a baby sibling. when he was sixteen, the empty farmhouse at the end of the road became inhabited, much to the surprise of all the neighbors. of course it was the Corvis, curious as ever, who went to investigate. here they found Aira's mother, visibly pregnant and struggling to make do. Leo's family took her in and helped her get on her feet and take care of the twins once they were born. Leo became the designated babysitter for all three kids through his last years of highschool and the start of university, and often had an ear out for Aira's mother's stories of magic and faraway lands unfortunately, magic reared its head rather nastily. almost a year after Aleji and his mother had moved, Leo and the twins were attacked by what looked like wild boars while out in the forest. Leo cracked his head on an old altar and died. however the altar was to the goddess of Death, who rebuked his death and gave him another chance at life in exchange for a curse. this resulted in Leo gaining True Sight, and being able to gaze into and interact with the Realm of Death. he managed to save Aira, but her brother was lost. the whole event devastated him, and he poured himself into his studies and into taking care of Aira to cope. this also pushed him closer to Yume, his study partner who turned out to be a half-kitsune. Leo slowly integrated into the magical culture, doing his best alongside Yume (whom he later feel in love with and married) to make it so Aira's mother couldn't cut the girl completely away from her magic

❊

✵ Revolve Taglist ✵ @corinneglass @aalinaaaaaa @write-with-will @mymomsaysbobcipher @writeintrees @firesidefantasy

[myloveforhergoeson]

H, S, U, I for hisui :)

HISUI ASK AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the FIRST..... omg i can't contain my excitement hehehe. she's taken up all my thoughts these past few weeks....... idk how much everyone knows about dr stone so i tried to explain my best without giving too much away lol

so many of these games are super hard to answer for her since she's basically from the stone age but this game was perfect!!!!!!!

H - Something they're exceptionally good at

since the source material is a shounen anime, everyone's kinda got that oneeee thing, ya know? hisui is exceptionally good at pattern recognition! the best use of it is when she and her brother are foraging for materials - she's able to recognize signs that lead to the growth of certain plants, elements in a cave that lead to certain minerals, etc. it's also how she's able to piece the written language she "creates" back together. using the names written on the gravestones of her village and the town priestess' stories about their ancestors, she's able to use the names she knows for sure and use those to determine the rest. which isn't entirely feasible - japanese is a very nuanced and complicated language, like all languages - but. i mean. a teen scientist reviving humanity after a strange beam of light petrified them for 3,700 years doesn't seem too feasible either LOL! later on her pattern recognition comes in handy for strategic planning during the stone wars period and blueprint formation with senkuu, once his base ideas start to build off of each other more and more

S - Is there something in their life they regret?

yessss i fear. though she and her brother are members of ishigami village, they were driven off of the main two islands where the villagers reside - chrome because of his "sorcery" (we would call it science.....), and hisui because of her writings. chrome was getting a little funky with chemical mixing and scaring the others with what they perceived as "dark arts," while hisui was writing down everything about the villagers she could and coming up with her own stories to tell her fellow tribe members. they viewed that act as sacrilegious, because they already have the 100 tales as part of their village mythology. sooo long story short, hisui doesn't think she fought the chief hard enough for her brother's right to continue living inside the village and practicing his sorcery. she would've happily moved out on her own and never told a story again if it meant that he got to stay and live a more comfortable life.

U - Are they a morning or a night person?

she's definitely a morning person!! gotta chase that daylight as much as possible when you don't have anything but fire to keep the darkness away at night.....

I - 2 things they really enjoy

hisui LOVES to learn, it's part of the reason she's always writing stuff down. there is just so much knowledge in the world and she wants it all, from science, to history, to the arts - every. single. piece. she and chrome are doing great when it comes to the natural sciences, but when senkuu rolls around, he kinda blows all of that out of the water lol. hisui also lovessss organization. the materials in her and her brother's hut have been meticulously studied, organized, and placed in appropriate containers based on their properties. it's already sorted into rock-types, plant-types, and animal-types, but even within these sections, the gemstones and the non-gemstones (? idk anything about rocks) are placed on different shelves, plants that grow by the water versus on dry land are placed in different areas, animal material from birds versus mammals likeee you get the idea. come's back to that pattern recognition lollll

BWAAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! i love getting to yap about my gal. writing the next chapter of her story as we speak and i'm excited to get it out soon hehe <3333333

[theshoesofatiredman]

Just stopped being Christian after being “born again” for 2 years and I…feel so duped. I feel sad. Even tho I was “progressive” and believed in universalism and affirmed homosexuality, it ultimately didn’t make the religion less nonsensical.

I annotated the shit out of the New Testament and Mere Christianity by CS Lewis…I loved Jesus with all my heart. And now I know that everything is fake because my brain couldn’t handle the cognitive dissonance anymore. Like the fact that we have no idea what was actually said by anyone in the NT because random men were writing about it decades after the events. And that even though progressives can look at the OT as mostly being metaphorical, ultimately they would still believe the core messages are true because it’s divinely inspired. And idk, the writers being ‘inspired’ by God doesn’t make sense to me anymore.

Just constantly seeing 99% of christians be conservative or take the bible literally was so exhausting. Progressive christianity can be nice but it’s ultimately a walking contradiction, like you trying to make christianity all about Jesus and love and you have to ignore large chunks of everything else. 

It’s so sad. I loved Christian music. I had 50 Christian nonfiction books on my to-read list. And now that’s all gone. Buddhism and Islam and greek mythology and zorioastronism and all that…it’s all humans trying to make sense of spirituality. Christianity is no different. I cant believe I thought it was different. 

On the bright side it is such a relief to feel like I am not being watched anymore. Oh my goshhhhh. Even with my super soft imaginary Jesus that was basically a light of love, I still couldn’t stand the feeling of my thoughts always being watched. I thought about the fact that I was being watched while I pooped lmao 😭

Sorry 2 dump this on you <3 I’ll also be posting on Reddit. I guess I rlly feel the need to share all this because such a huge chunk of my life is now gone. It’s weird.

As a person who started a Tumblr solely so I could share my experience deconstructing, and eventually leaving, Christianity, I absolutely get the need to share this with people!! I'm sorry you're having to deal with the pain of losing your faith, but I do want to say that life gets better. It's possible to build a rich and beautiful life after leaving religion behind and I hope that you can look forward to having that, to building that.

I can imagine how frustrating it must've been and must be to constantly reckon with conservative christians' interpretations. My faith experience was inside conservative evangelicalism and one of the things I found myself mulling over as I was deconstructing was whether or not I could find a home inside a more progressive part of the faith. And one of the things I realized was that there would likely be no escaping the homophobic conservative Christians if I stayed inside the faith. And as a gay man, I was deeply tired of being in community with them.

Yes, you can go to an incredibly welcoming and affirming church. But what if you go to a Christian conference? Or a concert for a Christian artist? If I ever wanted to create religious art, my sexuality was going to be a ? for people and put a target on my back. You're in a fandom where power is concentrated in the hands of people with very bigoted views. You can carve out your own corner, but so long as bigotry is mainstream canon you're gonna struggle to avoid it entirely.

Ultimately, I left the faith because I stopped believing. I think I would've stayed long enough to test my theories on proximity to Biblical homophobia if I had been able to keep believing.

Most modern religions take only portions of an old sacred text and call it sacred. There are so many different versions of Christianity because everyone is focusing on different bits and adding in stuff to suit them. Sometimes that's cultural and sometimes that's one gross man fucking things up for everyone. Now as a non-religious person I don't think there's much wrong with that so long as you're honest about it.

Modern Christians should reject harmful past teachings and verses that contribute to toxic theology. Even if it's just "I don't agree with that so I don't believe it", that is less harmful for the world than someone saying "well I don't like it but it's god's word so guess I have to believe in eternal conscious torment hell." That dissonance can be a really really hard place to live though which is why most religions have social technology to resolve that "that's not what it really meant", "it was a different time", "thanks to progressive revelation we know that's not how God wants us to live anymore", etc etc. But often times those are only temporarily satisfying.

I'm glad you are enjoying some of these freedoms of apostasy already. No longer having an all seeing eye watching and judging you is a tremendous weight lifted. I hope that as your journey continues, you find yourself less and less burdened and more and more free. Thank you for sharing. Wish you the best!

[aingeal98]

Can you list down the orpheus and euridyce moments? :o and whether it's doksoo/ joongdok/ yoohankim related

OK so to preface I'm sure people out there have done much more coherent analysis than me who just finished the novel last week but I'm gonna throw together some of my thoughts anyways:

The whole final third of the novel is the Orpheus/Eurydice Moment to me. Either the build up, the event, or the aftermath. And they're ALL yoohankim related like it's the three of them or it's nothing. Everything from reincarnation island onwards feels like it's foreshadowing the ending, in big obvious ways but also in small subtler ways. Also given the amount of greek mythology present in the story I'm sure it's deliberate lol.

The story of Orpheus/Eurydice at it's simplest is a man who loves a woman so much he'll go to the Underworld and try to get her back. And he almost does, he just has to walk back to the surface without looking back to make sure she's following. But of course he looks back. Because he loves her. He needs to see her, he loves her too much to risk never seeing her again. Even if it dooms them. He already lost her once, and his grief won't allow him to move forward so easily.

When yoohan get off the train with Dokja, they look back. When I read it I was like holyyyy shit they're both Orpheus and seeing the official art confirmed it for me.

(Couldn't find the image without the text but anyways)

Dokja is their Eurydice. If they didn't look back, if they accepted 49% Dokja and kept moving forward... Well who knows for sure what would have happened but we do know that we wouldn't have gotten 49 Dokja swept up into 51 and then torn down until just a tiny version of himself remains, alive but comatose. We wouldn't have gotten the Dokkaebi King telling Han Sooyoung "You should have been content with 49% Kim Dokja."

But of course they would have never been content. The same way Orpheus could have never made it to the surface without looking back. They had to. Just like they have to keep trying, no matter what.

The thematic parallel to Orpheus for me is how they cannot let go of their grief. They love Dokja too much to settle for anything less than him being there with them in full. Orpheus was terrified on his way back up, convinced the Gods could be tricking him because he couldn't hear Eurydice's footsteps. What if she was just a shade? A shadow of the woman he originally loved?

He could never settle for that. They could never settle for that either. Only unlike Orpheus, who's solution was to die and see Eurydice again, these two go a little bit more bonkers with their grief filled reunion attempts. World line crossing, time travel, reality crossing, screaming and fighting your other Orpheus half because they're not playing along and pretending to heal from their grief, brainwashing authors from alternate universes into writing Dokja's story so they can bring him back...

I'm kind of curious what Orpheus in Orv's reaction would be to seeing those two repeat his story. Like is he happy or is he like wow those two do NOT know how to quit they're kind of embarrassing me right now.

But yeah if I'm yelling incoherently about yhk being Orpheus and Eurydice, this is the basics of what I'm talking about. Thanks for the ask!

[nczaversnick]

Writblr Interview

Thanks for the tag @willtheweaver

Short stories, novels or poems?

I’m definitely a novel guy, both for reading and writing.

What genre do you prefer reading?

Definitely fantasy and mythology. But I often cross into sci fi and dystopians

What genre do you prefer writing?

I am honestly not sure how to answer this, given that I’ve done almost nothing but work on one project for over a decade

Are you a planner or a write as I go kind of person?

I start out with an outline but when I get down to the scenes I like to wait and see what happens then adjust my plans accordingly

What music do you listen to while writing?

I have playlists for some characters but on the whole I pretty much just have one playlist with all of my music on it that I hit shuffle on every time.

Favorite books/movies?

Oh cmon we’ll be here all day. I grew up on pretty much everything made by Jim Henson or Mel Brooks and I listen to audiobooks 40 hours a week at my factory job. I burn through a lot of material XD8 to summarize my favorite movie is The Princess Bride, and my favorite book is The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Any current WIPs?

For the most part just Project Gemini.

Fandomverse is an rp chain, and I mostly do art for this not so much writing snippets

Elemental High is an idea I’ve been toying with. it’s basically Project Gemini, if it were a Disney Channel series. I think it’d be super interesting to see how I as a writer could tell the same story through a completely different lense/ how would the story change if I changed its intended audience?

If someone were to make a cartoon out of you what would your standard outfit be?

Lucky for all of you, I did make a cartoon me. The color would change based on what color my hair is

Create a character description of yourself:

If I thought anybody in an orthodontics factory was about to be isekaied or find a weird portal into another dimension it was this guy. He was at least 20 years younger than everyone else in the building and, in a lot of cases, twice that. But despite being super easy to spot in a crowd, he never really says much without prompting. Still, as loud as he is in a visual sense, he never seems entirely here. Like the voices in his head are more interesting than anything going on around him. Dude fucking lights up if you mention pizza though.

Do you like incorporating actual people you know into your writing?

Not consciously no. People will say Quinn is based off my enby stoner best friend but from my point of view, I don’t know many enby stoners who aren’t like Quinn. But as a whole I like to let the characters tell me who they are. Any resemblance to someone real or imagined is purely coincidental.

Are you kill happy with your characters?

Rachelle, my partner for Project Gemini, would say yes. I have elected not to comment

Coffee or Tea while writing?

Hate to be the odd one out here but an ice cold Dr. Pepper is what I go for

Slow or fast writer?

If I can get a glove going I can write badly pretty fast. But overall, I’m 13 years into the only real project I’ve ever had and I’m still not done with book 1

Where/who/what do you draw inspiration from?

It helps for me to keep consuming new stories but honestly, the best inspiration comes from the interactions about my work from all of you out there. Unmatched. (Shoutout to @honeybewrites @the-golden-comet and @the-letterbox-archives for giving me so much)

If you were in a fantasy world, what would you be?

Probably a librarian of some kind, just like I’m trying to do in real life. But I’m way to exhausted and disabled for that adventuring crap XD8

Most fav book cliche:

Oh I don’t know how to describe it. When the protagonist is a young boy without a father and they find a father figure/mentor/bodyguard. I eat that shit up and I don’t see it very often. [examples would be Sage and Mott from the Ascendance Trilogy/series by Jennifer A Nielsen and Matt and Tam Lin in The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

Least favorite cliche:

I really hate it when a main character (regardless of gender) is passive. It’s just so not fun to read about someone who never takes action in their situations.

Fav scene to write?

Almost any of Cas and Adrian’s interactions. I adore their dynamics

Reason for writing?

Because I’ve got shit inside my head and it’s not doing any good in there so I might as well get it out here.

Tagging: @honeybewrites @wyked-ao3 @kittrrrr @zackprincebooks @theverumproject @the-golden-comet @fractured-shield @poppycat-writes @illarian-rambling @finickyfelix @kuebiko-writing @yourpenpaldee @the-letterbox-archives @moltenwrites @davycoquette @drchenquill @leahnardo-da-veggie +open tag

[b-else-writes]

The Great CLAMP Re-Read Part 7: X/1999

Part 1 (RG Veda) | Part 2 (Man of Many Faces) | Part 3 (Tokyo Babylon) | Part 4 (Duklyon) | Part 5 (Clamp Detectives)| Part 6 (Shirahime)| Part 8 (Chunhyang) |Part 9 (Miyuki-chan)| Part 10 (Rayearth)| Part 11 (The One I Love)| Part 12 (Wish)

The magnum opus that never was. Spanning 18.5 volumes, with 3 volumes unpublished, X is the most notorious of CLAMP's unfinished works, stalled for over 20 years at a cliffhanger because they and their publishers allegedly lost their taste for its too-real destructive violence and ending. Both the 1996 film adaptation and 2001 film attempt to give the story an ending, and while I'll touch on them briefly, I'm trying not to allow speculation to influence my reading.

X (subtitled as X/1999 in its original USA run) ran from 1992 to 2003 and in many ways marks the end of CLAMP's 90s era, tying up and saying goodbye to the stories of Subaru, Hokuto, Seishiro, and the CLAMP School, for now. There's a stylistic and even tonal shift after X halted, ending a run of tragic, violent, interpersonal psychology that so characterized their early writing. Reading it was bittersweet in that regard, as going through CLAMP's early years has made these characters, ideas, and dynamics some of my all-time favourites. At turns frustrating and meandering, revelatory and awe-inspiring, a surreal mix of Western and Eastern mythologies, with some of their most beautiful art yet, let's bid farewell to Tokyo and the Earth with CLAMP's most ambitious work yet. Heavy spoilers!

Synopsis: In the year 1999, the esper Shirou returns to Tokyo to fulfill his mother's dying wish of changing the fate of Earth. Kamui is destined to save the world, or destroy it, but he only cares about the protecting his childhood friends, Kotori and Fuuma Monou. In his wake are drawn the Dragons of Heaven, who fight to preserve humanity and the Earth as is, and the Dragons of Earth, who seek to destroy humanity and renew the Earth from our corruption. As the promised day of destruction draws near, what does Kamui wish for? And who is the second Kamui, and how is he connected to Fuuma?

The Story: A Christ figure character having to save Earth? Everything being re-explained at least 3 times? Constant dream scenes? In every way, X seems poised to fail, but CLAMP succeeds in infusing a level of ambition and sweeping grandeur that lifts X up in spite of itself. What sells X is that it takes a story about the end of the world and tells it on an emotional, inner-world scale - dreams become entire volumes as characters puzzle out destiny and what makes life worth living. The entire first arc revolves around building the relationship between the main trio, and Kamui's character psychology, so that Kamui's choice actually resonates and emotionally and narratively destroys us. The entire sequence of Kamui and Subaru inside Kamui, and the end of Seishiro and Subaru's arc will haunt me FOREVER.

At the same time, it contains all the sweeping epicness of RG Veda (and shares many motifs and plot elements!), presenting the tales of god-like characters against the backdrop of emotional, homoerotic fights. We're dealing with fate and god-like power, but all of this is placed against the question of, "who are you? and what do you want? And is that the right choice for others and yourself?" Set against the fight between two homoerotic best friends - honestly this manga is so sexually charged, from the BDSM undertones to Satsuki's computer-sex. This god-scope conflict is reduced to our own base instincts for humanity and sensation and consumption and intimacy. There's highly compelling stuff in here. It's so shojo in the best way.

That's not to say X doesn't have structural issues. It has some severe pacing issues, mostly at the end as the Dragons of Heaven are stuck losing battles while Hinoto goes evil and Kamui can't make a kekkai, ad nauseam. It feels like trying to fit the Tarot card number to number of characters, bloated the story. Additionally, while I really love the Keiichi arc, I think X needs more grounding in characters not tied to the apocalypse. Destruction can often feel weightless, an issue for a story that trades on the idea of human connection vs. apathy. Gaia Theory (killing humans will save Earth) is also just bullshit, which can make the conflict frustrating because nobody questions its logic.

Still, despite all that, I can't argue that X is just compelling. It has SUCH a strong sense of millennium angst mood, such interesting character and thematic ideas, lays just enough narrative bread crumbs, that it's visceral enough to work despite itself.

The Themes: X is sooo crystallized RG Veda with the deeply psychological exploration of human loneliness of Tokyo Babylon, CLAMP once again returning to these core themes of their career at a new, fresh angle! X feels so thematically cohesive in what it's trying to do. It's the journey of The Fool across the tarot deck into Judgment and The World. X takes the notion of fate internally, beyond the will of the stars, to explore shadow selves and personal desire. I LOVE a mirror character and Greek tragedy; I ate up the dualism and fatal flaws. It's all very (attributed to) Carl Jung: Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate. Fuuma reads the deepest, most self-destructive wishes of others, and is himself the shadow self Kamui cannot accept: only by realising his true wish and self, can destiny be overturned!

People focus heavily on the apocalyptic conflict, but X is so meaty because it is fundamentally about our own sense of self-identity. X deconstructs RG Veda's thesis that holding onto your wish (CLAMP defines as love for one person), beyond reason, pity and rectitude, is NOT a moral high ground. It tracks Subaru's character to its logical end-point: The Dragons of Heaven subsume their love for one singular person into their only self-worth that they self-destruct without them. Conversely, the Dragons of Earth lack all connection to anyone. It's nature vs humanity, attachment vs detachment, desire vs freedom. For all its Christian trappings, X is deeply Buddhist: we escape samsara in a middle path of a stable self-identity, beyond apathy and desire. X uses the end of the world to position the singular truth that you have to want to live and be a person.

The Characters: Oh Kamui, Fuuma, Kotori, my bargain bin Subaru, Seishiro and Hokuto, who are bargain bin Yasha, Ashura, and uh, Gigei I guess (who are themselves bargain bin Jotaro, Kakyoin, and Girl. God, it's just endless games of telephone between masculine reserved seme and feminine emotional uke. I see you CLAMP).

Okay being serious, I do actually find Kamui interesting - and I think it's meant to be textually repetitive. It's refreshing to have a shojo man who is a violent unpleasant little asshole. And while narratively I understand Fuuma absorbing these traits when he becomes Kamui's shadow, I don't care for the uke-fication of Kamui. Still, Kamui's inner conflict and inability to figure out who he is beyond "the Kamui" works. Fuuma never quite grew on me, mainly because he is so blandly perfect at the start, but I think he's acceptably charismatic as a villain. And the concept of twin stars is undeniably compelling. Kotori fared the worst for me. The purehearted housewife shojo ingenue is so riddled with sexism and Kotori never becomes anything beyond a satellite character - her dream scenes are narratively compelling, but her character is lifeless (literally) and dull.

The supporting cast fares much better, though it's too large. Aoki and Saiki, for example, could have been merged. Still, I loved Arashi and Sorata, Karen, Yuzuriha, Kusanagi, and of course, the conclusion for Subaru and Seishiro. There's such interesting ideas woven into the cast, and I really enjoyed watching them wrestle with connection and self-identity. The Dragons of Earth aren't as individually interesting, but they're just cool enough that it wasn't too bothersome (except Yuto. I kept forgetting him). The main issue is that having so many perspectives meant character arcs had less room to breathe.

The Art: With one major caveat, this is probably THE most beautiful CLAMP manga, ever. Very few pages have a traditional grid layout, with incredibly beautiful and inventive panelwork that bursts out and follows characters' emotions and dreams into consecutive pages of gorgeous spreads. Panels are layered but never visually messy and only enhance visual storytelling and meaning. The constant use of motifs and visual metaphor is, while unsubtle, just gorgeous that we become swept away in the grandeur of a new myth with swirling dragons consuming Earth. Water, feathers, sakura, ticking clocks and glass Earths lead the eye through dreams and inner worlds and even characterize entire interactions and distract from sometimes painfully repetitive dialogue. And the colour spreads and tarot cards are insane maximalist works of art. The fight scenes are illegible, but I don't think CLAMP knows how to solve this.

The character design is mostly memorable, transforming undeveloped personalities into fully realised characters, like Satsuki's bio-tech room - though Aoki and Fuuma look too similar. My caveat is I don't like the cuter look we get in the later volumes when they were influenced by other series they were drawing, though it still reads (Vol 1-10ish are the peak). Still, the art grants the story a mythos greater frankly, than what it ever achieved in its writing.

Questionable Elements: I've alluded that many CLAMP manga have a baseline sprinkle of sexism - not anymore than a lot of shojo, but something I'm more able to spot now than when I was a teen. X is decidedly more sexist. FIVE separate women are fridged to either help a male character and/or cause a male character pain, with Hokuto's being the worst because X strips her of so much agency to turn her into Kakyou's lost love. Arashi loses her power because she is no longer a virgin. Yuzuriha and Satsuki's arcs revolve around their male love interests. Kotori's writing is terrible (bless the anime for making her a PERSON) and Kanoe can definitely veer into hyper-sexualized fanservice in a way male characters aren't. I don't love how Karen's emotional worth culminates in becoming a mother. And Nataku lacking a soul because they weren't "born from a mother" sits poorly (plus being genderless because they're literally from a lab). X is one of my favourite CLAMP works, but it has a sexism issue and I think dismissing it as "well, it's a tragedy", fails to see the differences in how women are written and treated by the story, vs. the men.

The Ending: So, the elephant in the room is X has no ending. The anime and movie attempt to conclude things, to mixed effect: the anime ignores that Kamui's true wish is NOT to bring Fuuma back, and while the movie ending ties us back to X's inspiration Devilman, it feels mostly for shock. Ultimately, it doesn't matter because, how do you assess a story that is only 6/7 way told? I'm trying not to heavily speculate on whether the ending would have elevated or diminished X. In the end, I think X is still worth the read despite the lack of ending. As Subaru says, nothing will change and nothing will get better if you don't, but you will walk away changed if you do try it.

Overall: I've seen people say X is a series more to be experienced than to be read, and I both agree and don't. X is a visual tour de force, probably one of the most beautiful manga I have ever read and lessens MANY of its flaws. And it's true it doesn't stick all its story beats or character writing and perhaps, in hindsight, they might have written it smaller and more cohesive. But there is something beautifully human and raw and ugly and intimate at the heart of X, of human connection and shadow selves and self-destruction and free will, that really haunted me afterwards.

'X, despite its edginess, stands out from the drecks of misanthropic, apocalyptic, violent tales of dueling best friends for centering its story at the heart of the human soul. It remains deeply resonant and influential more than 30 years after it was started, and 20 years after it halted, and for that I would count it amongst CLAMP's best. It's a fascinating deconstruction of heroic sacrifice and selfless love and in so doing reaffirms human connection, individuality, and hope in the face of the apocalypse. The future, after all, is not yet decided.

[lordofthestrix]

👀 eagerly await updates from you every day 💌 love your answers to other people's asks about your stories 💖 adore literally everything you write 💔 your angst scenes ruins me every time 🍓 your fluff scenes always make me feel pleasantly blissful 🧠 love how your brain works and how you solve plots 🩰 have been waiting for a writer like you all my life 🌞 reading your works cheers me up and makes me feel better 🎨 Iove your references to art, history, mythology, culture 💡 your ideas are always fresh and surprising 🧸 often go back to your old stories to re-read them 🍀 you can describe emotions and feelings perfectly 📗 when I read your story I feel like I'm reading a book 🧩 adore how you connect different threads together 🧶 your dialogues are as if real people were talking to each other 🧊 the changes your characters make don't feel forced 💎 you perfectly portray the mind and thoughts of your characters 🌌 I love that your stories create whole additional universes 🎵 specific songs remind me of your stories 🍆 love the way you write male characters 💣 you can build tension in your stories incredibly well 🎬 love to imagine your stories as if I was watching a movie 🎩 while waiting for your new chapters I read old ones 🧛‍♀️ crave your new stories like a vampire craves blood

Hopefully the fact that I have ooc icons reserved just for you is enough to make clear I consider most of these elements a team effort between the two? You are always brilliant beyond brilliant, 𝔍𝔲𝔩𝔢𝔰