#(not counting rereads)

[minnichan]

after AO3 was online again I decided to finally sort through my bookmarks and download almost everything I've read this year so far

of course I also had to list them in a spreadsheet because I was curious about the amount of words I've read

including July which I haven't added up the total yet (only halfway through the month) I'm at 220 fics and 1.8 kk words?? a third of that wordcount in march alone (I read through most of tehfanglyfish's guardian works in march amounting to 200k) despite the longest fic I read that month being 40k words max.

this year so far it's all been guardian or weilan derivatives or dmbj or guardian rpf except for one single guardian/tgcf crossover and one single hq!! kagehina camboy fic lmao

[neutral-towards-mindmaps]

can't stop thinking about tamsyn muir's choice to present her deep, morally and politically complex science fantasy world with a central web of magic, secrets and lies reaching back ten thousand years through the eyes of three characters who:

1. tune out and start thinking about hot women whenever the magic system or worldbuilding are being explained

2. experience hallucinations on a daily basis, have brain damage and are being deceived and misled by their peers, authority figures, themselves and God

3. don't know who they are, have spent their entire life in one place and are, on all levels but physical, six months old

[rabbit-hearted-girl]

I remember being a kid and having my mom see my love for books and tell me to write down the names of each book I've ever read so I would never forget. Now I have a list of all the books I've read since 2014 categorized by year and if that's not solid advice I don't know what is

[frownyalfred]

I think authors underestimate how many people reread their works/chapters.

That’s why, when I’m rereading WIPs or old works, I always leave a comment. Just a little hey, I’m rereading this and it is still great goes so far, actually

[mewritingblog]

Cale:

[zharaely]

TCF PART 2 SPOILERS

Cale being an incredibly intelligent strategist and leader: Everyone else: Wow, I wonder what he thinks about... Inside Cale's mind: With the team leader, anything is possible. Even going from Endable all the way to Roan as a freshly reincarnated baby.

[dan-ish]

Cale's mind must be really rowdy and caiotic even without the APs. Many many records goes through his mind most of the times, his ability that with time made him able to discover complicated codes (without even having to use it) within seconds, and enables him to count normally-uncountable-by-eye quantities (like the books for example when he entered the mercenary's records library or the rocks in the last arc of part 1).. The amount of stuff that he processeds in his mind is unbelievable , like how he crates plans from A to Z on the spot to be able to survive, even his dreams are past records! (Trauma ofc...).

He sure will get a headache very often if he was a normal person with all this added to it the APs conversations and comments on every situation and let's not forget the dragons who are always ranting inside his head ... Poor little main character who has to suffer ⁦⁦(⁠╥⁠﹏⁠╥⁠)⁩⁦

[mirusx]

if there's one thing i have felt for lcf that nothing can ever beat, it's the novel's love for familial bond. it's how everyone have lost so much and still somehow found each other. it's how they all relearned how to truly belong. it's how they are family by bond and by choice. it's how they would never trade the family they have been blessed with for anything, for anyone, not even for the gods.

oh how they would actually stand before and stare down the universe itself if it means protecting their family..

[originalaccountname]

Uhh i just finish stormbringer and i didnt quite understood Rimlaine relationship im sorry if this comes off as annoying its just that i read some of your analysis and you explain thing very good, thanks in advance 💗

Their relationship is complicated and contradictory. Ultimately, their lack of communication (both in talking and listening) dug a hole so deep between them that they both had to die before it was fixed.

I'm gonna attempt a timeline to break it down, so you can see what happened. This got way too long despite my best efforts so I'm putting it under a cut:

At an undisclosed time, Rimbaud, a spy/special agent working for France, goes to defeat a mad scientist and ability user, Pan. Pan had created a sort of puppet, named Black No12, who could manipulate gravity and obeyed him blindly. Rimbaud managed to cut the link between them, and Black No12 turned against and killed his creator and master.

Rimbaud took Black No12 under his wing as a fellow spy for France. He trained him and made him his partner. He gave him a name, his name from before he changed his identity to become a spy: Paul Verlaine.

Rimbaud wanted the formerly brainwashed person he found to be independent. Despite his origins, Rimbaud wanted Verlaine to feel human. He was his friend and wanted him to be happy.

Verlaine, on the other hand, was haunted by not being or feeling human. He felt lonely and isolated, and Rimbaud pushing so hard to make him feel human only rubbed salt in the wound. But he didn't tell Rimbaud any of that.

Rimbaud gave Verlaine the hat right before their operation in Japan to retrieve project Arahabaki. The hat had a special ability alloy woven into it meant to make sure no outside instructions could be used to brainwash him again. That was Rimbaud trying to guaranty Verlaine complete agency, one step closer to making him human. This was only a grim reminder of what he was to Verlaine. After the lukewarm reception of his gift, Rimbaud starts to feel permanently cold.

When they got (what they thought was) the artificial human from Project Arahabaki out of the lab, Verlaine was taken by the Bungou Stray Dogs curse of seeing yourself in other people and wanting to save them to save yourself. Verlaine told Rimbaud he was taking the child and going into hiding to raise him as a normal human being, to protect the child from the same pain he felt. Rimbaud, who hadn't realized how his dear friend suffered, still didn't understand and tried to reason with Verlaine that they couldn't possibly turn their backs to their home, and that the child would still be with them in France.

This poor communication resulted in Verlaine feeling trapped and choosing to shoot his only friend in the back. They fought and Rimbaud got the upper hand before he got surrounded by the lab's guards and desperately tried to use Arahabaki to defeat them too. This ended in the Suribachi incident and his loss of memory. Verlaine still had enough strength to stop Arahabaki/Chuuya's rampage before vanishing who knows where.

Fast forward 8 years, Fifteen happens, with Rimbaud, now permanently cold, who got some of his memories back. Rimbaud wants to know more than anything what happened to his partner and friend all those years ago, and is even willing to kill Chuuya (and Dazai) for it. As he dies, he remembers what happened that night while they were escaping, and how Verlaine chose to shoot him in the back over Chuuya. He tells Chuuya that he was probably human all along, and to live no matter what, before vanishing into thin air.

One year later, and Verlaine has found Chuuya and decided to try again to take him so they can be lonely together. He's trying to both isolate and protect Chuuya in a twisted sense of responsibility and kinship (and the power of projection). When Verlaine finally loses himself to Guivre, he manages to tell Chuuya about how he stopped Arahabaki 9 years ago in Suribachi so Chuuya could do it to him now. Chuuya understands from this that Verlaine might have felt lonely and oh so bitter about the world, that he might have hated his existence, but he had found friendship in Rimbaud and wished to save the world in his name. One person had been worth it, so he couldn't just destroy it all.

After the fight is over, Verlaine is dying from Guivre's energy having been depleted by Chuuya's efforts. As he dies, Rimbaud appears: Rimbaud has created a singularity with his own ability at the time of his death, maintaining his mind alive in his subspace by absorbing himself as his ability on loop. He's like the Old Boss was in Fifteen, just a puppet, not a human... but he's still Rimbaud. And Rimbaud wanted his friend to live and be happy.

Rimbaud apologizes for not understanding Verlaine's struggle with humanity and incidentally handling it badly. Then, he passed on his ability, now a singularity, onto Verlaine to replace Guivre as his source of life: a lot less powerful, but enough to keep him going. Rimbaud tells him he's glad Verlaine was born because he got to meet him, and disappears for good.

Verlaine realized then, way too late, that he really cared about Rimbaud. Rimbaud spent a whole year as something that wasn't human just for the chance of seeing Verlaine again and apologize to him. That got to Verlaine too. Since then, he's been hiding in the Port Mafia's basement, uncaring of the world, and mourning his friend and the friendship he passed by without knowing.

In the shortest, in-novel words possible:

[messy-haired-bum]

Cale has scammed me, once again.

Remember this? It's in Chapter 20, and we all thought that while it's a bit depressing, it's a realistic and even good outlook in life.

Then does anyone also remember this?

and

Bro. Bro. I canNOT believe this son of a b**** has been LYING TO US from the VERY START.

Not even that, he even said that lie aloud so confidently that NONE of us even suspect it might not even be the truth.

No okay I know he lied to us from the beginning, but I thought it's only about him being a poor normal office worker. I did not know he'd lie about this!!!!!!!!

Cale: I don't think about what ifs and the past.

Cale: I said, you know, like a liar

Me: ??????? @&#$?&!

[anqelbean]

Shen Qingqiu, after being taken as a captive in Binghe's palace: I can have anything I want? Fine! Then I don't want to see you! Ever!

Shen Qingqiu, after Binghe complies with his wish and doesn't bother him: WHY won't he come and see meeeeeeee?!?!? This protagonist is nothing like the gongs in Meimei's books!!!! WHY DIDN'T HE LOCK ME AWAY TO HAVE HIS WAY WITH ME??!? WHY IS HE RESPECTING MY BOUNDARIES!?!?!!

[ubersaur]

Something just occurred to me. Do anime-onlys know the anime has been actively adding more Senshi panty shots??? There aren't anywhere near as many in the manga. Bless them. Thank you for the meal.

[livwritesstuff]

So Steve obviously loves Valentine’s Day.

This didn’t ever come as a surprise to Eddie, and in the years between when they started dating and when their kids were born, it was something that never changed.

When Steve walked in the door fresh off the afternoon carpool route with their three daughters in tow and said, “Dude – I swear to god this has gotta be the best Valentine’s Day ever,” Eddie wasn’t exactly taken aback, more just unsure what could have happened so early in the day that had him this confident that V-Day of 2012 would be the best one ever.

“Why?” Eddie asked suspiciously.

“When I dropped off Ava, David invited me over to watch the basketball game,” he replies, still with a massive grin on his face even as their daughters dump their backpacks and jackets and shoes all over the ground instead of hanging them up like they should be doing.

Eddie made a face – David, one of their neighbors and an unfortunate addition to the elementary school carpool circuit, is notably a total fucking loser. 

He’s also obsessed with Steve (and not even in a gay way, which Eddie could at least understand – no, it’s in this weird, loser, ex-jock who peaked in high school kind of way).

“I know, right? I’m pretty sure he’s that fucking desperate for something to do tonight that isn’t his wife,” Steve continued.

“What’s wrong with his wife?”

“Ed, believe it or not, it gets even better.”

“Tell me,” Eddie demanded, finally getting that Steve’s got a whole-ass story for him.

“I’m going to, man, holy shit,” Steve shook his head as he stepped over the mess their kids left behind (because one of them would be corralling them all back downstairs to deal with their shit like they’re supposed to)

So Eddie listens as Steve launches into a retelling of the conversation he apparently had with David, who, predictably, acted like a total fucking loser about how Steve actually wanted to spend time with his family on Valentine’s Day.

“What does this have to do with his wife?” Eddie asked when Steve reached a stopping point, “Other than how incredibly sad it is for her.”

“Right – so get this. David ended up telling me that his wife is going out tonight with Chris, and I figured he meant Chris, like Christine, Liam’s mom, because I know they’re friends, but it’s not. It’s Chris, the divorced dad on the PTA, and apparently they hang out all the time.”

Eddie’s eyes widened as he pieced together what Steve was implying.

“No fucking way.”

“Right?!? And, look, you know I think cheating is wrong, but…I dunno, I really hope she has a fantastic Valentine’s Day.”

[frownyalfred]

ao3 author’s notes found in the wild that make me laugh ??/????

[mewritingblog]

So Raon copies Cale’s smiles AND Cale copies Raon’s smile as well!! My heart!!!!!!

[greendaleinc]

Why are you crying?

jeez, I haven't arted in a while. small thing i made for @zoe-oneesama's second recent chapter of her scarlet lady au :p check it out, it's cool as heck