#I guess if it's about the Brontes I take it PERSONALLY

[thisisnotthenerd]

anyway back to bells hells in the regency au:

laudna was born matilda bradbury, the only daughter of the bradbury family who stood to inherit a barony at the outskirts of whitestone. accused of trying to usurp the briarwoods as one of the only nobles who didn’t fall under their sway, basically atticwifed for it. pale skin and wide eyes from being locked up for years. i imagine that the atticwifing happened when she was like 20, and she’s not fed well/treated well in any way, so this affects the way she looks--slight, tall, a little more bones than flesh, even as she retains an aristocratic face and affect. 

after the debacle is settled, she keeps to herself on her land in a little cottage, taking elaborate commissions as a seamstress. ooh maybe she’s the one to dress the de rolos. anyway, she’s viewed as a spinster basically, but if anyone marries her they potentially gain a foothold into whitestone, which is otherwise fully under the de rolos by the time she can inherit her family lands. after some time she decides to travel to marquet to get away from the site of her trauma and leave the stigma of her experiences behind. starts her own little atelier of Tal’dorei-based fashion in jrusar, basically running it out of zhudanna’s house.

orym is still a bodyguard of the tempest blades and serves the Voice, the queen keyleth of the air ashari before the death of his husband will. this functions as his military accomplishments--he personally protected the queen from assassination. in his downtime he makes friends with the rest of bells hells. it’s interesting to think about, but potentially with the structure of this au he would know laudna peripherally before he meets the crown keepers, especially if she was the one to make keyleth’s wedding dress for her and vax’s wedding.

fearne was raised by nana morri to the calloway family. maybe she’s a countess or something in the ashari territory. both she and dorian (would have debuted as bronte but ended up leaving his family and becoming an independent musician and composer working up to scanlan’s scale) ‘debut’ for the queen keyleth around the same time and that’s how they meet orym. actually maybe that’s how the crown keepers meet--a year pre bell’s hells season, opal, fearne, and dorian are being presented to the queen keyleth, while dariax (and deni$e) and orym all work in and around the ashari kingdom. it’s actually funny as hell to think about orym going with fearne and dorian on an ambassadorial trip to marquet and coming back to deni$e being like i don’t know where dariax is but when i find him i will kill him,

ashton is raised on the streets, finds out they’re titled and is awkwardly shunted into a debut season after years spent robbing people blind. no one knows what to do with him. he hates the stifling, repressed, privileged nature of high society. maybe fcg is a steward or something in dancer’s household who tracks genealogies, finds out about this, and tracks ashton down after everyone in dancer’s household dies. how? i don’t know yet. we’ll find out. anyway it’s basically just the two of them and milo, who was patching ashton up after their final heist.

bertrand served in the military with percy, plays up the connection to vm all the time but basically is just an older man reliving his glory days. no kids, so he’s buried in the whitestone graveyard after bh show up at his deathbed. maybe he sponsors them in the marquesian court in conjunction with eshteross in this au.

chetney runs a wood carving workshop and does custom commissions for a lot of marquesian nobles. i guess this would be the mahaan houses if they’re primarily in jrusar. also peripherally knows laudna since they’re running their businesses in a similar circle. i’m imagining her commissioning him for little wood button details and other such trinkets that go along with dresses.

imogen is set to inherit a barony in the taloned highlands that she doesn’t really want--she goes to jrusar to find out about her long lost mother, which is how she ties into ludinus’ nonsense. i imagine she makes arrangements to stay at zhudanna’s, which is how she meets laudna. full on soft infatuation from the start, and as they live together for awhile they both fall in love.

[olderthannetfic]

Two of the recent asks on your blog just made me realise how fucking EXHAUSTED I am of of all the "boy who cried wolf" and "boy who vaguely heard about a stray dog looking for food in their area and decided it was obviously an invasion of rabid wolves" situations on this website, and in fandom in general.

I hate that my first thought when someone on anon talks about being groomed as a minor by an older person who "let" them interact with their nsfw fanworks, is "let me guess, is this gonna turn into a spiel about how because minors often ignore warnings and can't be trusted not to lie about their age to strangers online, everyone who posts nsfw anywhere but on places you need to be given a password or to pay actual money to access is a pedophile?" Because I've already seen every possible version of "checking out the rating, warnings, and tags and clicking "proceed" when the "this work could contain adult content" thing shows up isn't the same as consenting to see adult content" and I'm fully prepared for the day when we all get hit with "if you're an adult and don't have Minors DNI in all your social media profiles and your fandom accounts you're clearly a predator.""

And I hate that my first thought when someone on anon talks about being uncomfortable with some literature classic and getting told they're just too sensitive or equated with pro-censorship people is, "yeah, well, assuming it really went like that, people ARE gonna be on the lookout for the next big clout-chasing "Mark Twain was a horrible racist bastard for not foreseeing how the English language would evolve and not using words appropriate for a modern audience so having students read Tom Sawyer in school is basically a hate crime" or "there is sexist content in 1984 which means George Orwell was a pretentious hack with nothing of value to say about society or politics" thing, or the next person saying "Emily Bronte was just some idiotic romance-addicted white woman trying to pass a toxic abusive relationship as Twu Wuv" and proclaiming themselves the one lonely enlightened feminist in the land, or the next fic writer "Dante was just some racist homophobic creep who wrote some weird Bible fic so his blatant Self Insert could keep on harassing the girl he was obsessed with even after her death" to prove they're so forward-thinking and original and deserve to be regarded as a BNF defending fandom as a whole against the hordes of evil literature professors supposedly out to destroy it... I mean, this is the website that came up with "don't use a quote about Orestes and Pylades for your OTP because that's an incest" and "gay men shouldn't call themselves Achillean because Achilles and Patroclus might have had a pederastic relationship" yet worship Sappho as this relatable quirky wlw icon without giving a single fuck about the fact that she might be the one surviving example we have of institutionalized female pederasty, and I'd trust it to fall for a whole new MedievalPOC scam before I'd trust it to give a nuanced take on any kind of literary work, ESPECIALLY any literary work older than the early 2000s."

Sometimes I just feel the wolf could be right there howling at my door and I'd probably just say "ugh, great, those stupid kids got into my brain enough that now I can't even go about my day without imagining that there's a fucking wolf howling for no reason" and not even check out of the window. Or I'd check and still assume the wolf is just a big dog even then.

--

It's a genuine problem. Because there are still predators out there.

[faintingheroine]

I have expressed this sentiment before but what is Tumblr for if it isn’t for writing the same posts on your blorbos again and again?

Again, listening to this podcast, and the host went into Wuthering Heights completely blind. He had a vague idea of it being a romance but didn’t even know Catherine’s name. Up until Chapter 12 he read the love between Catherine and Heathcliff as rather typical conventional sexual romantic love with some identification with Heathcliff’s “bad soul” on Cathy’s side. He read Cathy as completely horny for Heathcliff. Then in Chapter 12 there was a footnote for Penistone Crags and it referred to the “sexual problem” of Wuthering Heights, which lead to the host searching up academic articles about the “sexual problem” in Wuthering Heights which included an essay about Lesbianism in Wuthering Heights which mentioned Heathcliff and Cathy’s twinning and the host now has a more metaphysical interpretation of the whole affair.

I don’t know, this man went into Wuthering Heights as blindly as someone in the English-speaking world could (he initially had the idea of the famous romance ending up being between Lockwood and Younger Cathy) and I can’t help but suspect that his initial interpretation is closer to the text’s reality as a result. We are all as helpless before WH as anyone else. Emily Bronte left us with nothing to “decode” it. Everyone’s guess is as good as anyone else’s. Not much context is needed to understand it, so a person who goes into it knowing nothing about the critical tradition will probably interpret the text more on its own basis and more accurately. So yeah. I think this is mostly a love story of “boy meets girl; they fall in love; can’t marry because the boy is poor; boy takes revenge”. It is romantic love and it is a love story in the first half. The characters are original in their psychology and in how amoral they are, but the beats of the love story are rather conventional and the first-time reader unacquainted with the elaborate interpretations intuitively sees it to be so. A metaphysical completely otherworldly twinning this is not.

I don’t know maybe I am boring. But I feel that Wuthering Heights is not as wildly unconventional in its depiction of love as people make it out to be and it is one of those novels much more unconventional in its telling and characters than its themes and plot.

[gay-otlc]

Tma/Kotlc AU (incomplete)

So, I'm never gonna finish this, but the 800 words I did write were pretty good. And now I am posting them.

@aphelea @solreefs @xanadaus (i didn't get past season 1 so it's spoiler free) @ anyone else who is in both fandoms, I don't remember

Prentice is Jon, Tiergan is Martin, Cyrah is Sasha, Juline is Tim, and Sophie is Jane Prentiss (funky worm lady <2)

Uhhh content warnings for canon typical worms and canon typical worm sex

Without further ado

Prentice: Well, this statement is obviously fake.

Cyrah: (amused) You can't just say that abouteverystatement.

Prentice: All of them sound so fake! Listen to this. "I was stalking my weird neighbor who ate paper and then she turned into a completely different person. But conveniently, no one else noticed that Biana is 'Not!Biana' now." 

Cyrah: Maybe it's real.

Prentice: You would think, if some malevolent entity were to take over Biana's life, they would be thorough enough that no one else noticed. Or if they were sloppy enough that Stina Heks could give a statement about her, someone else would have noticed. 

Cyrah: Maybe they're very good at making sure only one person notices, and no one else. Maybe I'm Not!Cyrah and you have no idea.

Prentice: That's not funny.

Cyrah: (jokingly eerie voice) I am possessed by the Wraith! Everything about me has changed. I love math now! The horror, the horror! 

Prentice: That's really not funny.

Cyrah: Maybe you're Not!Prentice. (bad imitation of Prentice's voice) I trust every statement I read, I hate garlic bread, and Tiergan is my best friend now!

Prentice: That is not what I sound like.

Cyrah: Don't be ridiculous, that's exactly how your voice sounds. Why would it take the Wraith possessing you for you to like Tiergan, anyway? He's not that bad.

Prentice: I don't know. He just gets on my nerves. He's completely unqualified for this job and his handwriting is theworst so I can never read his reports and-

Cyrah: And he's cute?

Prentice: Listen, if you're not going to help me organize these statements, you can get out of my office.

Cyrah: Okay, okay. (pages flipping) This statement isn't supposed to be funny but it is. Imagine you're Maruca Chebota and some shady dude delivers a coffin to you, so you use it as a coffee table for a year. You don't report it to the police or anything. It's just your coffee table now.

Prentice: See what I mean? There's no way that really happened. 

Cyrah: How are you gonna work at the Loki Institute and still be a die hard skeptic?

Prentice: I'm just special, I guess.

---

Juline: Have you read the worm sex statement?

Tiergan: ...the what?

Juline: The worm sex statement! Did I stutter?

Tiergan: No, I have not read that. What the fuck.

Juline: Oh. Well, basically, the statement is by Fintan Pyren. He was flirting with a guy named Bronte and while they were talking he found out Bronte was recently attacked by someone who matches our description of Sophie Foster. Then they had sex. Then Bronte exploded into worms. The end.

Tiergan: ...wow. Okay. Does Prentice think it's real?

Juline: You know him, he doesn't think any of these statements are real. I think it is, though. You can't make up shit like that. 

Tiergan: Yeah, it sounds too weird to be fake. I'll do some research into this Sophie Foster worm person.

Juline: (sarcastically) That sounds really fun.

Tiergan: I am not getting paid enough for this shit.

---

Prentice: Where's Tiergan?

Juline: Awww, you're worried about him?

Prentice: What- no- I- (clears throat) I wanted to know if he'd done any more research on the death of Jensi Babblos. 

Juline: Which one was that?

Prentice: The one who was afraid of spiders.

Juline: Right. Anyway, he said he was going to check out Jensi's old apartment, but I haven't heard from him since.

Prentice: Hmm. I'm not surprised he can't be bothered to come in to work today. Or even finish his investigation.

Juline: Maybe he was attacked by worms. 

---

(door slams open)

Prentice: Tiergan, please, I'm in the middle of something-

Tiergan: I was attacked by worms!

Prentice: ...that's unfortunate.

Tiergan: No shit. The Loki Institute might want to install a worm security system.

Prentice: A worm security system? What, exactly, does a worm security system entail?

Tiergan: Fire extinguishers.

Prentice: Fire extinguishers?

Tiergan: The worms were attacking my house, so I defended myself with a fire extinguisher-

Prentice: You defended yourself with a fire extinguisher? 

Tiergan: I panicked, okay? And it worked. 

Prentice: Fine. The Institute can get more fire extinguishers. You think Foster might attack this place?

Tiergan: There's a chance. I haven't seen her in a while, but she might still be following me. I don't think she likes me very much.

Prentice: (muttering) Well, the worms and I have something in common.

Tiergan: What?

Prentice: Nothing. Thank you for letting me know. Is that all? 

Tiergan: Yes.

Prentice: Great. You can go now.

---

Tiergan: I don't think Prentice likes me very much.

Cyrah: (with fake surprise) Oh my god, really?

Tiergan: What did I ever do to him?

Cyrah: He's just kind of an asshole. Why do you care if he likes you, anyway?

Tiergan: ...no reason.

Cyrah: Are you going to go write sad gay poetry about him in your notebook?

Tiergan: (clearly lying) No.

[oraliefathdon4eternalia]

Sophie & Oralie: Forgiveness (Feb 13 2023)

Oralie stood under the Panakes tree, catching the falling petals. Her mind flashed back to a moment she and Kenric had had under one of the Pures.

"Ora, Ora!" Kenric ran to catch up to her after a Council meeting. "Ora!" He stopped when he got to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"What?" she turned around with a teasing smile. "What?" she repeated, wrapping her arms around his neck, bringing her face close to his so they could feel each other's breathing.

Oralie could feel his emotions shifting. She herself began to feel lightheaded as Kenric's gaze traveled down to her mouth.

She too, noted the small opening between his lips...

Her eyelids drooped as he leaned down...

"Oralie! Kenric!"

They sprang apart, looking wide-eyed at Bronte.

Bronte coughed and help his hands up. "Look, you two, I just wanted to stop this before it escalated. Remember where we're standing? You're lucky everyone else went home already. Bet you didn't even realize I was here! You should be careful. Besides..." His gaze traveled between the two, one of understanding and sympathy. "You can't be like that on the Council."

Both Oralie and Kenric's cheeks flamed as they looked down.

Out of the corner of her eye, Oralie saw Bronte give them a sad smile and raise his Pathfinder up to the light, leaping away. Leaving them alone.

Kenric shuffled his feet. "So... I guess I'll see you around," he mumbled miserably.

"I suppose," Oralie said quietly.

He looked up to give her one last beautiful, sad smile before he leaped away.

"What are you doing here?" a voice called from behind.

Oralie turned around. Her daughter's narrowed eyes stared back at her. She could sense lack of comfort and utter disgust, making her eyes water.

She cleared her throat. "I was just leaving. Just... passed by to talk to Flori."

It was true. Oralie needed someone to talk to, and since Calla and then Kenric had been the people she went to for that before, now she'd decided to do that with Calla's niece under Calla's tree. She'd sunk into Flori's hug today the same way she had into Calla's.

And Kenric's.

But that thought was too unbearable to think, so she pushed it away.

Sophie stepped closer, and Oralie could tell her brisk act wasn't working. So she said quietly, "You know... about Kenric."

Neither of them knew what to say after that.

Finally, after a long silence, Sophie blurted, "You can talk to me, you know."

Oralie's eyebrows shot up, and she could feel Sophie's surprise as clear as her own.

But Sophie only walked over to her and hugged her. Oralie could sense awkwardness, confusion, and... was that concern?

Oralie's face brightened. "I knew you'd understand. With Keefe..."

She smiled as her daughter's face turned bright red. Then her smile wilted as she remembered the same shade of red on Kenric's face after being caught staring at Oralie for too long when Sophie first came to the Lost Cities.

"Kee-Keefe and I... we're not dating," Sophie mumbled. "And I can't believe even the Council knows about this! Don't you have better things to do than spy on your people's love lives? How about, oh, I don't know, taking down the dangerous rebel group?"

Oralie sighed. "You do have a point there, Sophie. We spend too much time monitoring unnecessary details of people's personal lives and not enough time fixing the problems we've created."

The problems they'd created...

Oralie folded into herself, wrapping her arms around her own waist (she'd been trying to hug herself a lot lately, wondering how Kenric had done that so well for her) and leaning against the Panakes. She listened to Calla's soothing songs as she remembered one problem the Council had created.

The rule forbidding her from being with Kenric.

And now he was dead.

Before she realized what she was doing, Oralie felt a tear trickle down her cheek. Followed by another. And another.

Soon she was bawling her eyes out, in front of the daughter who hated her and was probably watching her disgustedly--

"O-Oralie." Oralie felt Sophie's arms around her, steadying her. Oralie forced herself to blink her eyes open, even though they were full of tears and couldn't see anything anyway.

Sophie continued. "If you ever need to talk about Kenric, I guess you can come to me too. And..." She wiped away Oralie's tears so she could see better.

"And... I forgive you."

Oralie blinked. "What?"

"I forgive you, Mommy."

"M-M-Mommy?" Oralie's eyes filled with tears again. Sophie hugged her tight. They were the same height by now.

Oh, they grow up so fast.

"Edaline is my mom, but you can visit me."

Oralie jumped for joy. She couldn't believe Sophie was giving her a chance to be part of her life!

"Thank you, thank you!" She squeezed Sophie. She would have lifted her up (without telekinesis) if she was strong enough, the same way Kenric used to spin Oralie around.

Kenric...

Oralie wished she could hold him again.

"Come on." Sophie had let go of the hug and was tugging her by the hand toward Havenfield. "Let's tell Grady and Edaline who you are."

"Okay," Oralie found herself agreeing, knowing she could lose her Council position.

And so, hand-in-hand, Sophie and Oralie walked across the field.

@official-kenralie-fanbase@you-have-been-frizzled

[kryptoniteheadcanons]

Thoughts on Black Christmas (2019)

Uhh....brief mentions of sexual assault. Spoilers I guess ...it’s Black Christmas 2019 I don’t think anyone cares.

- I don’t know if I'm going to make a separate post comparing the three of the movies, I might end up saying everything I need to say  in this review. 

- Once again, stop making remakes and sequels that have nothing to do with the original. 

- That snow angle shot was actually pretty cool, I like it. 

- This movie being set at christmas is just as arbitrary as the first one. 

- Yeah, that diva cup thing was pretty awkward. Why did there have to be complete silence while she was putting it in? You couldn’t have used that time for dialogue?

- Oh hi Cary Elwes ….didn’t expect to see you here. 

- God I fucking hate it when professors call on you even though you didn’t raise your hand.

- Also they make Cary’s character so fucking creepy that the first time I saw this I he  assaulted Riley.

- “He totally went off on me because I asked why there were no women, or people of color, or queer people on the syllabus.” Yeah that is weird, most classics lists i’ve seen for colleges, even in 2019, at least have like Frankenstein or a book by one of the Bronte sisters. You have to be trying to not have a woman on the list. (Also: I don’t think they ever mentioned any of their majors? I feel like that would have been a good thing for character building, at least for Riley) 

- Yes, Riley does need to take back her agency and learn how to live her life again, but I don’t think getting up on stage to sing and dance about what is probably one of the most traumatic experiences her life, in front of the person who assualted her, is really the healthiest or safest way to do that. 

- Also, am I the only one that thinks Kris petitioning to get the bust removed from the main hall and that actually happening sounds weird? Maybe it’s just because I went to community college so I don’t know how larger, more established colleges work but that sounds like she was probably petitioning to get the name of the school changed and they just did the bust thing as a ‘compromise’. 

- What did they steal for Kris for the pledges to know that she had to be killed too? 

- Nate, dude, I know you have a migraine or whatever but just leave the room or something. 

- I feel like a lot of real world discussions about feminism and equal rights end up like the one that happened in the kitchen so I think maybe this needs to be said: We do need men in the world, however what we don’t need is bigots and abusers. Misogyny negatively effects all of us, you can talk about the issues men face without having to put down women. 

- I find it really odd that this movie claims to be a more ‘feminist’ version of Black Christmas (I have no idea if the director or writer intended that, maybe it was just a studio or marketing team thing) but they cut out the women’s reproductive rights subplot? How do you even do that? 

- I kind of wish this movie was a full on psychological thriller of Riley having to actually process her trauma instead of being a qausi-slasher movie. 

- Referencing the point above, I feel like the ending is in this weird limbo where it’s not weird enough to clearly be an allegory but it’s also not normal enough to be like, believable. 

- Was Riley’s smile fading at the end because one (or some of them) got out alive or because she realizes that she just destroyed half of the evidence that proves she and Kris didn’t kill all those people?

- Do I think this movie is misandrist propaganda? No. Do I think this movie is great and everyone should see  it? also No. I think its a movie that tried to do something good but fumbled and wound up in a no woman’s land of cringe dialogue and ham fisted morals. 

- also in case anyone was wondering, my favourite character was Jessie, she reminds me of one of my cousins. 

[bookwyrminspiration]

had to google this to double check but a casanova (named after some guy whose last name was. you guessed it. casanova) is a pimp playboy sexy guy who gets all the bitches etc. a hot guy with many lovers. which i find very funny in regards to fintan. the cowboy part im assuming is just because its a country song but idk

Ah, I was thinking of it too literally!! I was comparing it to casablanca in my head, breaking it down into casa nova and confused about what houses had to do with getting bitches.

I can't believe all this time Fintan has been a cowboy playboy getting all the bitches in the world. I think his concave ass creates a vacuum that sucks them in with no chance of escape, that's the only single one unitary explanation for this phenomenon. how else were Dimitar, Bronte, Shakespeare, and everyone else all drawn in? his personality? ridiculous

anyway, thank you for doing the really simple google search for me, this is an eye opening perspective to take on fintan :)

[commonghost]

(i wrote this like, weeks ago but hey, clearing out the drafts.)

Okay, now that I've had time to sit on it, I'll try to compile my general thoughts on Stellarlune:

What is Linh a completely different person? I understand her frustrations, but she feels…hilariously out of character. Like, I'm all for her expressing her anger but the way she does it felt weird.

On that note, what happened to Fitz and Marella. They feel almost completely different as well, but I can't put my finger on it as well as the Linh thing.

Bronte has curly hair. That's it. I won. (Also, I was right about that remembering-the-names-of-the-dead detail and I will never shut up about it.)

Chekhov's gun except make it Sophie's Hope. (By which I mean: she is going to use it.)

Speaking of which, I very much like Sophie naming her dagger Hope. I think it's perfect.

The Sokeefe scenes were admittedly very cute! But personally I prefer the idea that Edaline and Grady adopt him and he and Sophie having a sibling dynamic instead--and I WILL be making content about that. Probably.

Maruca! Wylie! Dex! Wish we'd see more of the former two, but I'll take what I can get.

Very happy about the fact that Kenric and Oralie are shown to be very different people than we initially thought. Makes my brain worms happy. (And by brainworms, I mean the fact I have always imagined them to be jackasses of some kind.)

Not sure how I feel about the new Fintan content, but it's mostly positive? I think?

LOVED Edaline in this book. She's wonderful.

I'm officially back into KOTLC for at least a little while, I guess. Great.

[ronnyrens]

The support your local Transformeur compilation

My friend Casper is making a movie, he could use some cash to make it, he likes tapes and he’s got a lot of friends in bands so I decided to make a compilation tape by bothering his friends for a song. It was very easy ‘cause everybody likes Casper. Now you might think what a great person I am and you could be right about that but you could also be wrong because the main reason I’m doing this is is to get to hear some new unreleased stuff by bands like Bront, Tuff Guac and Magic Max and I can assure they didn’t disappoint! I also got to hear some good stuff by bands I hadn’t heard before so that was a nice cherry on top. At the moment I’m dubbing tapes and being bored (I’m also listening to Lightning Bolt on magenta vinyl and reminiscing about the awesome show they played at De Not in Antwerp last Saturday so I’m not that bored...) so I decided to write some liner notes for the comp ‘cause I always like to read the liner notes on compilations and doesn’t everybody really? I mean if you could choose between reading some Dostoyevski or the liner notes to “Back from the grave 6″ you would always pick BFTG6, right? So here we go!

1. bontridders - “If i had (demo)”: timeless melancholy from a cassette buried in the future and dug up in the past or the other way around, who knows? 

2. Frankie Traandruppel - “Frankie’s dead”: a song for all those whiners who always go on about how Frankie Traandruppel doesn’t sound like Suicide...

3. Fake Indians - “Let me shiver”: a cover of a Moar song, the Indians turn down the tempo and turn up the sleaze, I swear I heard something like this on an 80′s German porn VHS my older nephew had.

4. Bront - “Don’t wash it too hard”: sick title and the song totally lives up to it! And to know Bront is sitting on a bunch of bangers like this...

5. Lisp Service - “Round 2 (demo)″: finally some groovy postpunkfunk, the band is really called Lip Service but they asked me to call it Lisp Service 'cause it’s just a demo I guess or maybe they just thought it would be funny (which it is).

6. Lou K - “Les chiens”: this was a (too) late entry but since I fucked up the mastertape I had to start over again so it made the tape! And I’m super happy it did! A great song by the very underrated Lou K!

7. PEGA - “Me so me that”: I know Barbara from a Pega a bit but I didn’t know Casper knew them too but bontridders hipped me to it (gotta thank the bontridders for pointing me in some different directions for this comp btw, thank you!) and so I could ask Pega for a tune and they told me I could pick something from their Bandcamp so I choose this funky hit from their first demo. Go see Pega live, always fun!

8. Shy Dog - “Visions”: another one of bontridders’ tips, Shy Dog, a big hairy good natured but sometimes a little bit sad dog I imagine. He sings a cover of the band Loving, never heard of them but great song!

9. Magic Max - “City blues”: a country song from the big city by the one and only Magic Max, do I need to say more? 

10. Tuff Guac - “Strawberry cheesecake (demo)”: a new Tuff Guac song! The recipe for this tasty cheesecake includes a sea of reverb and a sticky chorus.

11. Ero Guro - “Werkmens”: time for the country’s 2 most mentally challenged punk bands with 2 mentally challenged covers like only they can get away with

12. Freddie & The Vangrails - “Dominique”: see 11

13. Dachau David - “Fun with cars”: I bothered David for a track last Friday, he sent me 2 tracks by Saturday morning, on Sunday something terrible happened to Davy and his family which makes me feel a bit shit now for bothering him last Friday. The fact that he still delivered tells you all you need to know about what a good guy Davy is. Very sorry Davy, big hugs!

14. Kotskat - “Jam with a cop”: an improv take on Kotskat’s hit “Friends with a cop”, I’m on it so of course it’s genius!

That’s it! I copied 5 tapes while writing this. 

[helloalycia]

The Wrong Lifetime – Seven // Wanda Maximoff

chapter six | story masterlist | main masterlist | wattpad | chapter eight

author’s note: hope y’all like this one 👀

The Maximoffs were just as a good at throwing a party as my own parents were.

Celebrating a new book that was published at Pietro's business, they threw a party in their back garden big enough to host half the town if they wanted to. Actually, now that I thought about, half the town was probably there.

We were invited to celebrate along with them because we were 'family' now, as Oleg and Iryna pointed out, so I found myself standing in their garden getting a drink under the night sky and trying to blend in with the snacks table so I wouldn't have to mingle. Parties still weren't my thing, clearly.

People-watching was more my forte. It was amazing the things people did when they thought nobody was looking. One guy coughed into his hand and wiped it on his pants – I reminded myself not to shake his hand – whilst some woman checked if her teeth were clean on the back of a serving tray.

My gaze raked the garden, indifferent to the men who attempted to get women's attention with a boyish grin and terrible pick-up lines, or the women who lifted their dresses a little higher than necessary to steal a man's attention. I spotted my parents talking to some guests whom I'd never see before, then there was Wanda's parents laughing alongside Pietro as he told a joke to some important looking people.

Eventually, my eyes fell to the remaining Maximoff, who was looking especially beautiful tonight. A deep lilac gown adorned her figure and she wore it like it was uniquely made just for her. She probably didn't even realise, but all eyes were definitely on her; a simple stride around the garden had people turning heads to see who the lilac beauty was. Y/B/N was the most envied man of the evening, with every guy here wishing they could have Wanda on their arm.

I'd wanted to tell her just how truly stunning she looked tonight, but I hadn't been able to pull her away from my brother's side for even a second. Everywhere he went, she went, too. I'd caught her eyes maybe three times tonight since she was so involved with whatever she spoke about with the people who worked for Pietro. I didn't take it personally of course, but it didn't make me feel any better.

Y/B/N had his hands all over her, probably suspecting just how many people were checking her out tonight, and I hated the way it made me feel. Envy and jealousy came over me and it wasn't pleasant. His hand was permanently fixed on her waist, at times moving suspiciously lower and making me roll my eyes. Occasionally, he'd lean over and whisper something in her ear making her flush – involuntarily or not, I didn't know. Wanda was a good actress, appearing as the perfect fiancé to him and couple to everybody else. Or, at least, I hoped it was acting.

"Pretty ladies shouldn't be standing by their lonesome," said someone with a Sokovian accent, but sadly not the one I wanted to hear.

"Pietro," I said with an amused smile, turning to face the man of the evening. "Congratulations on the new published book!"

He smiled appreciatively. "Thank you, Y/N. How are you finding the party?"

I glanced around, disguising my discomfort with a nod. "It's great."

He chuckled, as if suspecting that was a lie, before changing the subject. "So, the book. Have you read it?"

Glad that this was something I could actually talk about, my shoulders relaxed and I nodded. "Yes! I bought it yesterday as soon as it was published. I've only read the first six chapters, but what I've read is beautifully written."

Pietro snickered, raising his brows. "Only? That's further than anyone here has read."

I smiled bashfully, eyes veering elsewhere with embarrassment. "I guess I just have a lot of free time."

He hummed with amusement. "And you must really like reading... Wanda mentioned you write, too. It's nice to know it runs in the family."

Certain my cheeks were flushed, I nodded. "Yeah, our dad, he taught Y/B/N and I how to write when we were kids. That's where my love of literature began."

"And what do you like to write?" he asked, intrigued.

I shrugged, the grip on my glass of champagne loosening as I grew comfortable. "I don't know... short stories, drabbles, novels. I mainly deal with themes of love and romanticism. We're so intent on leading our lives with what other people want that we rarely take time to think about we want... I write about that."

Swallowing, I looked to Pietro, hoping I wasn't boring him. He was a publisher after all, besides my soon-to-be brother-in-law. His opinion was important to me.

"I must admit, Y/N, my interest is piqued," he admitted, watching me with an inquisitive gaze. "Do you have anything I could read?"

"It's probably better than it sounds," I said dismissively, knowing this was just small talk.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "I doubt that. You shouldn't say such things. You never know, you could be my next signed author."

I tried not to laugh. "Nice try, Pietro."

He smiled widely. "What? I'm serious!"

Tilting my head towards him knowingly, I sighed. "We both know that can't happen."

He was grinning now, clearly entertained by my unamused expression. "Says who?"

I motioned around us with my drink. "Says everyone? The world we live in?"

He began to list authors on his fingers as he said, "Jane Austen. Emily Bronte. Mary Shelley. Louisa May Alcott. Dare I name more?"

"Okay, okay, I get it," I said, pushing his hand down and rolling my eyes at his smug expression. "But I can promise you that all of those women fought tooth and nail to get published. Their families probably weren't as accepting as they wanted them to be. There's still people now who talk about how unprofessional and lacklustre their works are. They didn't have it easy. Still don't. And don't even get me started on the reputation side of things for you... d'you know how much backlash you'd get for signing a woman?"

Pietro shrugged, sipping his drink, before saying casually, "I only care about talent, Y/N. And if you have even a quarter of the talent your brother does, then I'm happy to go from there."

I quirked a brow, trying to gauge if he was pulling my leg or not. But the kind eyes looking back at me suggested he may not have been. Either way, the idea of actually being published – something I'd been dreaming of since I was a kid – was enough to raise my suspicions and make me shake my head.

"Thanks for listening, Pietro," I said conclusively, hoping he got the hint.

He nodded, accepting my word, thankfully. "Anytime. Hopefully this isn't the end of this conversation, though."

I cracked a smile, knowing it was but giving him the benefit of the doubt. He pursed his lips, glancing around briefly before attempting to hide an amused smile.

"What are you smiling at?" I teased, nudging him in the arm slightly.

His eyes met mine, sparkling with mischief. "You've probably not noticed, but as we've been speaking, almost everyone in this garden has looked our way."

I cocked my head with confusion, smile still present. He nodded subtly, eyes flickering to the right, so I followed his gaze and inconspicuously looked around. He was right, as murmurs of gossip escaped people's lips, their eyes trying to get a good look at the two of us. Even our parents were looking our way, no doubt discussing our future wedding affair.

"Wow," I breathed out, trying not to laugh as I looked back to him. "You'd think they'd have something better to do."

He leaned in, muttering, "Wanna give them a show?"

My eyes flickered between his, seeing that roguish charm of his come to life. I couldn't resist his mischievous attempt to piss off our parents, so of course I nodded with a stifled laugh.

"Care to dance, Miss Y/L/N?" he asked, a little louder than he needed to, attracting more attention.

I grinned, grateful for the idiot that was Pietro. He was already making my evening ten times better than it was.

Resting my hand in his outstretched one, I nodded. "Thank you, Mr Maximoff."

I barely had chance to put my glass down before he led me to the area before the live band that was strumming a lovely upbeat ballad. We joined the other couples that were also having a dance, unbothered by their nosey stares.

Bowing dramatically, he smiled and I curtsied before resting a hand on his shoulder and the other in his. He rested a hand on my waist respectfully before a grin spread across his lips and he began to dance me around everybody else, way too fast for me to keep up.

"Pietro!" I exclaimed between fits of laughter, trying not to trip over my feet or his.

"You said we could dance," he answered simply, before spinning me around.

My eyes went dizzy as he dipped me, making me laugh joyfully. For the first time all night, I was having fun. When he pulled me up, his eyes motioned to the left of us.

"D'you think our parents have already picked the wedding venue?" he teased.

"Definitely," I said with a nod, before shoving him back slightly. "But you, mister, need to slow down. You're like a speedster with the dancing. We should call you Quicksilver."

He laughed, continued to dance me around but much more slower this time. "I like that. You're clever. I can see why Wanda has taken a liking to you."

I knew he didn't mean it like that, but my heart dropped to my stomach anyway. A hearty chuckle escaped his lips as he noticed my expression. Thankfully, he didn't question it and we continued to make a fool of ourselves for a few more songs before taking a break by the snacks table.

"You're an idiot," I told Pietro as we caught our breath, but a delighted smile was on my lips. "You know you've probably convinced our parents that we're a couple now, right?"

"Hey, you're the one who started to fluff my hair like you loved me!" he retorted with humoured eyes.

"Because you're just so darn cute!" I mocked him, before moving forward and going in to fluff his hair yet again.

He attempted to smack my hand away as he said, "Hands off the hair, Y/L/N! I styled it perfectly!"

Grabbing my wrists, he held me back and I tried not to cry with laughter at the expression on his face.

"Such a child," I decided, pulling my hands away. "Whatever happens from here on out is definitely your fault."

He scoffed, as if ready to refute that fact, but before he could say anything, my brother's voice was heard.

"It's nice to see you actually conversing with people for a change, but maybe not my publisher."

Pietro and I turned and saw Y/B/N and Wanda approaching us. My brother seemed entertained by Pietro and I, looking between us with pre-conceived ideas that we may have already fancied each other, just like everyone else had tonight. Wanda, meanwhile, was watching me with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"He's good company, what can I say?" I joked, returning my brother's smile.

"Oh?" He raised a brow, knowing look in his eyes.

I rolled my own, trying not to laugh at his insinuation. There was no point trying to convince him otherwise.

"I was just giving Y/N here the best evening ever since she was moping around in the corner," Pietro explained nonchalantly, making me smack his arm.

"I was not moping!" I defended myself.

He shrugged, ghost of a smile on his lips. "Whatever you say."

I gave him a playful glare before focusing my attention to the couple before us.

"As lovely as it is to see whatever this is," my brother continued to make things awkward as he motioned between us, "I came to get Pietro. Someone from the press is here and has questions about the book."

At the mention of this, Pietro straightened up and neatened his bow tie, flashing my brother his most confident smile. "Lead the way, Y/B/N."

After assuring Wanda he'd be back in a second, Y/B/N let go of her waist and guided Pietro to the members of the press. Glad that he'd finally left her side, I looked to Wanda with a soft smile.

"Hey," I said quietly, glancing around before saying what I'd wanted to say all night. "You look radiant tonight, Wanda." 

Unexpectedly, she crossed her arms and pressed her lips together firmly. "How was your dance with Pietro?"

Her green eyes, literally green with envy, watched me with distaste. It didn't take long for me to recognise that familiar jealousy entwined in her expression because it was probably the same way I looked when she was with my brother. For some reason, this made me smile with amusement.

"He's a very good dancer," I said, half truthful and half trying to poke fun.

She wasn't amused. "Yeah, everybody saw. You've been all over him."

I covered my mouth, trying very hard not to laugh. "I mean, he's pretty funny to be around. I can totally see why everybody wants us to get married."

Her jaw clenched as she narrowed her eyes at me.

"C'mon, it's a joke," I said lightheartedly, nudging her in the arm. "You know that."

After internally debating whether or not to believe me, she relaxed her shoulders and unclenched her jaw. "I know."

"So, what's the problem?" I asked, raising a brow and smiling playfully.

She rolled her eyes. "Nothing."

My smile faded as I searched her eyes. "C'mon. What is it? You know you can tell me."

"Forget it, Y/N," she muttered, avoiding my eyes.

Realising she was still clearly bothered, I sighed dramatically, hoping to lighten the mood. Making sure my voice was low enough for only her to hear, I said, "I only danced with him to annoy our parents. Same with him. He's clearly not interested in me and neither I with him. That's why we get along so well." Teasing her once more, I added, "If circumstances were different, I'd like to think we'd be good friends. He's quite handsome, though I think the good looks are a Maximoff twin thing. Maybe if–"

"I'm in love with you!"

I paused, blinking, unsure if I'd heard correctly. Her cheeks were flushed as she looked to me with exasperation.

Glancing around to make sure nobody was attracted by her outburst, I swallowed hard. My heart was pounding in my ears as she said what I'd been struggling to accept for the past two months.

"What?" I breathed out, raising my brows with surprise.

She licked her lips, realisation replacing her look of admission. Opening her mouth to say something, she stepped forward, but my brother returned with an oblivious smile on his face and interrupted the moment.

"Wanda, the journalists want a picture of us for their article," he said enthusiastically, returning his arm around her waist and tugging her close, making my skin crawl.

Her gaze lingered on me for as long as she could before looking up to my brother with a halfhearted smile.

"Sure," she agreed reluctantly.

My brother nodded at me before leading Wanda away. She gave me one last look, her eyes trapped with unsaid words, before leaving with him. My mouth went dry as Wanda's words echoed in my mind. She was in love with me. And I knew I was in love with her, too. I had been for a while.

But wouldn't admitting that make this whole thing a lot more complicated?

—

"Will you stop shaking your hand? It's very distracting."

I stopped shaking my hand and gave my mum an apologetic glance before facing the door again. I was extremely eager and nervous to see Wanda again, as I hadn't been able to see her for the rest of the party last night.

Her words were permanently resounding in my mind all night, making it difficult to fall asleep. The reality of our situation had dawned on me and I knew that even though everything would become more difficult between us, I had to tell her that I felt the same way. The last thing I wanted was her panicking that I didn't. Because these last two months loving her in secret were better than anything I'd experienced in my life.

Iryna and my mum had made plans to hang out today, including Wanda and I in the plans without actually telling me until this morning. I didn't mind though as I was hoping it could be an opportunity for us both to finally speak.

The front door opened to reveal Iryna with a bright, inviting smile. She exchanged greetings with us both and ushered us inside instantly. There, waiting, was Wanda, looking as gorgeous as ever. A calm suddenly enveloped me as I looked to her, my heart fluttering in my chest more so than usual. She loved me and that thought alone made me feel giddy inside.

"You must come upstairs to the closet with me," Iryna insisted before I could utter a word to the brunette. "I've been very silly and impulse-ordered a bunch of new dresses. Of course, the only way to fix that is to try them on."

My mother laughed alongside her and the two of them looked to Wanda and I questioningly. I smiled their way, glancing at Wanda, before following them upstairs. Maybe later.

I spent the next hour trying on clothes against my own will, modelling them for Wanda and our mothers awkwardly. Ecstatic, our mothers threw their opinions out at me, but I was barely listening because all I could seem to focus on was a quiet Wanda. I couldn't read her mind for the life of me – she was getting better at hiding how she truly felt.

Wanda also tried some dresses on, still not as enthused as she usually was, but neither of our mothers seemed to take notice. I sat on the lounge sofa alongside them, eyes unable to look away from Wanda as she modelled the dresses. I had no words, my mind hazy and tongue tied as she stole my breath away for the millionth time. She was ethereal.

"...what do you think, Y/N?" Iryna asked, forcing me to look away from Wanda and to her. "She should keep this one, shouldn't she?"

I hummed in agreement, looking back to Wanda, who was avoiding my eyes. "She should. I don't think I've ever seen a dress so perfect for someone before."

Our mothers didn't seem to think much of my comment, but Wanda finally looked up, not ignoring me for the first time since I got here. I offered her a small smile, hoping she could see what I'd been wanting to say to her since last night. But she looked away, chewing on her lip and looking down.

"I'm gonna change," she mumbled, before turning to go back behind the curtain.

A sigh escaped my lips as I leaned back against the seat. I'd just have to find a spare moment.

Iryna and my mum proceeded to try on a bunch of dresses before we called it a day and were ready to eat lunch.

"I want you to have these, Y/N," Iryna told me as we all stood up, motioning to the pile of dresses on the arm of the sofa. "It's my gift to you."

I raised my eyebrows. "Oh, Iryna, you don't need to give–"

"Don't be ridiculous," she cut me off with a wave of her hand. "You're family now. Anything for my daughter-in-law."

I smiled awkwardly, not missing the eye roll from Wanda, before nodding. "Thanks..."

She looked to her daughter. "Wanda, medovyy (honey), can you help her pack them away and meet Y/M/N and I outside on the patio for some lunch?"

Wanda, having no other choice but to say yes, nodded and forced a smile in her mum's direction. "Sure, mum."

Our mothers fell into conversation as they left the room, finally leaving Wanda and I alone. I released a breath, grateful for the privacy, and looked to the Sokovian in question.

"You okay?" I asked slowly, wanting to find a start before erupting straight into my feelings.

She nodded, nibbling on her lip. She looked like she wanted to say something more, so I watched her patiently.

After a pause, when I thought she may just stay quiet forever, she spoke. "If what I said last night was out of line, I'm sorry."

I shook my head, a smile curling on my lips. "It wasn't. I'm in love with you, too."

Surprised, she finally met my gaze, eyes swirling with confusion. "You are?"

"Of course I am," I said quietly, stepping forward and taking her hands in mine. "I didn't mean to make you jealous last night. Pietro and I were genuinely just hanging out as friends."

She shook her head, eyes flickering between mine. "It doesn't matter about that. Forget it."

I still felt guilty, adding, "I know, but it does matter. I don't want to–"

She pressed her lips to mine quickly, cutting me off. Her fingers tangled in my hair as she tugged me closer with her other hand, making me gasp when my body touched hers. I kissed back, closing my eyes and moving my lips against hers in perfect sync.

I probably could have kissed her all afternoon, but the sound of the door opening made us both jump apart, startled. It was just a servant who was coming in to clean up the room. When she saw us, she gave us a small smile before moving around the room carefully. My eyes fell to Wanda's excited ones, and I smiled at her before nodding to the dresses.

"We should sort this out before they wonder what's taking so long," I told her, moving to pack them.

She nodded, grabbing my hand and squeezing it gently before helping me. We packed the dresses in no time before joining our mums out on the patio where they were sat with our lunch. I tried to keep my eyes off Wanda as our mothers spoke to us about God knew what, but it was hard when all I wanted to do was kiss her over and over, telling her just how much I loved her.

"...nice to see you both getting along lately," Iryna was talking, and I only zoned back in when I realised she was looking at me.

I blinked. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Wanda stifled a smile as my mum gave me a disapproving look from across the table.

Iryna didn't seem to mind as she chuckled. "You and Pietro," she continued. "You both seemed very comfortable at the party last night."

I settled on a polite smile. "He's a gentleman. Very nice to be around, I guess."

Iryna smiled knowingly, exchanging glances with my mum before patting Wanda on the forearm, getting her attention. "How does that sound, dear? Your brother and Y/N together?"

I shook my head instantly, realising how she'd taken my words. "That's not what I meant."

Humming in response, Iryna continued to look to her daughter. "You may have to start sharing your new best friend with Pietro."

Remembering Wanda's jealousy last night, I spared her a glance of concern, hoping she wouldn't let this get to her. She was smiling, but her eyes were dimmed with dismay.

"Uh-huh," she played along with her mother's words, before using her fork to pick at her food.

As our mums began to talk about it, I found Wanda's hand under the table and laced my fingers in hers, hoping she'd know I only cared about one person and it was her. Though she didn't look up, her hand tightened around mine and she didn't let go.

The rest of the lunch went by as expected, though the more Iryna and my mother mentioned the wedding, the more Wanda and I grew uncomfortable. It was so much harder to hear about it when I knew my feelings were growing stronger for the brunette every day. By the end of the meal, my mother was happy to go back home and said I could stay to hang out with Wanda, which of course I did.

After bidding her a goodbye, I let Wanda drag me upstairs and to her bedroom, though the door closed when she spun around and pushed me against it, immediately kissing me. Before I could even question what was happening, she pulled away and looked at me through a half-lidded gaze.

"I don't want to share you with my brother, ever," she rasped out lowly, before licking her lips. "I don't want to share you with anyone."

She breathed out, her breath mingling with mine. Her hands rested on my waist before she reattached our lips, moving hers slower and more thoughtfully against mine.

I closed my eyes, grabbing her face and holding her gently, letting her slip her tongue between my lips and play with mine. Then she sucked on my lower lip, teeth nibbling gently at the sensitive skin, and made my insides go warm and fuzzy.

When she let go, she trailed kisses down my jaw and to my neck, having me at her mercy.

"Wanda," I moaned, hand moving to the back of her neck as I tried to regain some control of the situation, but the longer she sucked at the exposed skin, the more my knees wanted to buckle.

Already lowering my dress to my shoulders, her hand untied the back of it and I flushed at the contact of her fingers against me, not used to the feeling but also not opposed.

"Wanda, are you sure?" I asked between bated breaths, attempting to get her attention by tugging at her dress.

She pulled back, hand rising to my jaw and caressing it with her thumb as she looked between my eyes. Hers were dark, clouded with an arousal I hadn't seen before.

"I am," she said with certainty, before asking, "Are you?"

I swallowed hard, the warmth in my core growing hotter as she stared at me with lustful eyes and swollen lips. "Yes."

She gave me a slight smile before pressing her lips to mine again, allowing me to wrap my arms around her neck. I heard her lock the door behind me as I undid the top of her dress, struggling to do so without breaking contact from her. We moved to the bed clumsily, trying not to stumble over our discarded dresses, before I laid her down and straddled her.

Leaving a trail of open-mouthed kisses down her neck, I felt her fingers grip my waist, keeping ahold of my body on hers. I shivered as her nails scratched gently against the skin and grew warm when she lifted herself up gently to get more comfortable, her clothed centre rubbing against mine.

Taking a breath, I pulled away and hovered over her, revelling in the beauty that was Wanda Maximoff. Her cheeks were dusted pink as she opened her eyes, green eyes sparkling desperately as they flickered between mine.

"I love you," I told her softly, leaning on my elbow and caressing her forehead.

She smiled, nails trailing up my back and sending shivers down my spine. "Ya tozhe tebya lyublyu."

I tried not to laugh as I tilted my head with confusion. She smiled a little wider, hand reaching for the back of my bra.

"I love you, too," she translated in English, hint of amusement in her eyes, before she managed to undo the bra strap.

I rolled my eyes at her attempt of mockery before chasing down her lips once more. Everything about the woman before me was absolute perfection and I was glad I could finally share how I felt about her without having to hide it anymore.

The potential consequences of our actions was not my concern right now... all I cared about was treating her with the respect and care she deserved.

[jilytoberfest]

JilyFic - 4

Guess the author in this form!

The prompt: A is a literature major and has to do a character study from the novel that had been discussed in class but everything A writes is actually about B.

The fic is under the cut

Love vs. Autonomy

“Prongs, are you sure you can’t come to the pub with us tonight?” Sirius pressed.

James turned his body to face his best friend and roommate from his desk chair. “You know I want to, Pads, but I’ve got to finish this ridiculous character study, and then I have to meet my lab partner in the library to finish up our report for Biology.”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “I thought Remus was the studious one.”

“Hey!” Remus swatted at Sirius’s shoulder in mock offense.

“We’ve been over this. I’m turning over a new leaf this semester.”

“Yeah, yeah, dreams and aspirations of writing movies—”

“The correct term would be a screenwriter—”

“Whatever. We’ve still got two years of Uni left. Let’s live it up and have fun!” Sirius dropped his last argument in the hopes of swaying James out for a night of fun until James threw out a compromise.

“How about tomorrow?”

“Suit yourself. You know where to find us if you change your mind.”

James nodded and waved his friends off as they disappeared out the door. Now that the room was settled in peace, James turned his attention back to the blank piece of paper.

Okay, okay, okay. Focus.

His eyes sweep over the instructions for the hundredth time.

Instructions: Choose a character from the classic novel, Jane Eyre, and discuss their characterization, including their growth from the beginning to the end.

James would be lying if he said he thoroughly enjoyed a classic Charlotte Bronte novel. Sure, they were timeless but so dry and difficult to get through. Reaching over the paper, he grabbed the tattered copy that he’d borrowed from the campus library and flipped through it rapidly, feeling the cool breeze the pages fanned over his face and taking in the scent of aging paper. At least he’d actually read the book this time and didn’t need to Spark Note it.

Jane Eyre is one of those classic literary characters, one that is highly respected for the strides they took within the setting of their story. It is telling that Jane has a strong head on her shoulders, and an unfailing belief system that never flounders even in the most trying of times.

Despite being orphaned and dealing with the cruelty of her Aunt, Jane maintains her trust in God, which helps her through the alienation that her life has thrown at her. She possesses a strong sense of self-worth and dignity, even with the abuse she receives, and is well-versed in what is right and wrong. Her passion helps to drive her emotions but is not completely overwhelmed by her need for autonomy at the same time.

As James wrote, he noticed the similarities with Jane and Lily, the lab partner he’s been harboring a crush for since the beginning of last year. For a brief moment, James contemplated whether that’s the reason he chose to analyze Jane instead of Rochester, who would have been the most obvious choice for his character study. Rochester was much more easily understood. His intentions were clear, whereas Jane flip-flopped through much of the story, unable to make up her mind until the end. But perhaps that was what drew him to the character.

She is truly a unique individual. She doesn’t believe she ever quite fits in, no matter what crowd she’s around. Nonetheless, she’s friendly and holds everyone she meets in high regard. Lily’s respectful, yet demanding, and holds no hesitation for what she believes is best for herself.

The way she refuses a date with a man because she’s unsure of his true intentions, or for the sole fact that she doesn’t want to give up her independence to be with someone else is both commendable and infuriating. It’s clear that the person she’s meant to be with is right in front of her, yet she’s insistent on denying herself true happiness because of ‘principle.’ Like the other guy is better for her?

Psh, please. Sure, he can talk a big game and say all the right things, but what does that mean in the end? Where’s the passion? Where’s the spark? Rochester loves her, and St. John...well, there’s something about him that’s not to be trusted. At least Rochester owned his mistakes, and never pressured Jane into something that she never wanted. He admitted his mistakes and accepted Jane’s choice, which is commendable for the Victorian period.

At least she receives her happy ending

A knock at the door to his flat disrupted James from his assignment, and as he got up to answer, he left the paper abandoned on the table to see who was there.

“Lily! What are you—”

“I’m sorry! I tried to text you, but you didn’t respond, and I didn’t particularly feel like waiting outside in the cold—”

“What are you talking about?”

“For some reason, the library closed early tonight. My guess is there wasn’t enough staff. I hope you don’t mind that I texted Remus for your address. I still was hoping we could get this lab done.

“Er, yeah, sure. We can go to the table if you want.”

James invited her in and she kicked off her shoes while he shut the door. He took her coat to hang up while she made her way over to the table to get set up for their study session. Now he was even happier that he’d stuck to his original plans and hadn’t let Sirius talk him into going out instead.

“Would you like some tea?”

“I’d love some, thanks.”

James headed to the kitchen to put the kettle on and waited. He wondered if tonight would be the night he plucked up the courage to ask Lily on an official date. And not just a study date. The kettle began to whistle and he moved about the small space, fixing two cups and bringing them out to the table where Lily sat.

“Hey, James, what’s this for?” she asked, holding the paper he’d been working on before her arrival.

“For my English Literature class. One of those character studies.”

She nodded, though her brows were knotted in confusion. “Do you confuse the main characters in the books you have to read with your lab partners often?”

“What do you mean?”

“You wrote my name in here where you clearly meant to put Jane. At least, I think you did. Maybe you meant another—”

“No, I didn’t!” he denied as he snatched the paper from his hands, but Lily didn’t seem to hear him.

“I mean, I guess it’s only a little strange that a lot of that seemed to—never mind.”

James scanned the paper until, sure enough, he saw her name in his handwriting, staring back up at him. “Bloody hell…”

At some point in his writing, he’d muddled the lines where Jane started and Lily ended. And of course, he’d left it out for Lily to find.

“Er, sorry, I—”

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not.”

“It is! I’m flattered. To be compared with such an iconic character as Jane Eyre? Though I’d love to know who you think my Rochester and St. John Rivers are.”

James groaned at her teasing. “Isn’t you reading my mistake bad enough?”

“Oh, come on, what’s the harm?”

And James, never one to back down from a challenge, set his mild embarrassment aside. “Well, I’m Rochester. Obviously.”

“Of course.”

“And St. John is…” he trailed off, thinking of that creep Snape who sat behind them in Biology, always asking her to study with him, or if she wanted to grab a coffee.

“You don’t have to say it. I know.”

“You do?”

“Well, yeah.”

They sat in silence for a moment before Lily spoke up again. “And if it’ll help your paper, I have another similarity for you.”

“Oh?”

Lily smirked at him. “I’d choose Rochester too.”

James looked up. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but it wasn’t that. “Uh, Rochester’s code for—”

“You, you dolt,” she laughed at his question, making it obvious for him.

“Well, I had to check! So, does that mean if I asked you out to dinner tomorrow night, you’d say—”

“Yes.”

“Brilliant!”

James punched the air in victory and Lily smiled shyly. As they settled into their assignment, James began thinking of all the possible places to take her on their date. The only downfall—but it wasn’t—was that he’d have to cancel on the boys again.

Ah, well, they’ll understand.

Guess the author in this form! You can also leave reviews in it which I’ll pass on to the author!

[baezdylan]

Hey jo!

I did the mbti personality test again! I knew I had to because the last time I did it was years ago way before lockdown and everything! I was probably 14. So the only thing that's different is that I'm more introverted than extroverted now (which is obvious). I'm officially an infp, which tbh seems to fit me more. I still don't know much, but I read the description. I am not sure how I feel, it's surely more relatable and well, realistic! I don't know what to think, but that's me!! (Yes I am making a deal out of this, sorry?)

Anyway I wanted to tell someone, i hope you don't mind your overthinking friend venting here. Love you so so much 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗

I so love this gif.

Mais, I am an overthinker and a rambler and an incredibly annoying nerd, why. would. I. mind?????????? INFP I THINK EMMA IS AN INFP OMG @the-girl-who-cried-wolf ?????? This is one of my favourite personality types, there's Todd Anderson, Peter Parker, CHARLIE KELMECKIS, Luna Lovegood, JUST SOME EXCEPTIONALLY AMAZING PEOPLE WHICH MAKES SO MUCH SENSE CUZ YOU'RE AMAZING!!!!!!!!! I'm an INTJ which is ✨A Curse (TM)✨, but I'm working on it!!!!! (I have Greg House, Beth Harmon, Mr. Darcy and Kat Stratford in my corner and I also think Doctor Strange? I think Kaz Brekker too? And that I'm not too thrilled about even tho I haven't met him yet dhsjdjsjdj + some famous people which I'm taking with a grain of salt, such as Nikola Tesla, Jane Austen and Emily Bronte, tho Emily does make sense to me because the way Wuthering Heights is written kinda fits my mindset???? *end geek rant*). You know you can be and are both, right? I always say that, one personality type doesn't have to "fit" you exclusively and this is all for fun (+ it actually helped me with some of my issues because: self awareness!!!!!), so I'd keep the ENFP one too (I mean Jo March is formally an ENFP I think, but I relate to her So Much and see her as an introvert and am probably projecting a little, but she's My Character in mine and everybody else's eyes apparently so who cares! + I have Neil's (ENFJ) energy. See my point? ✨Interpretation✨), then you get something close to the whole picture. My MBTI fits me very well and I don't know what's my second "diagnosis" but it's probably something completely contrasted with my current one, that's how humans function I guess. The only thing that must be the same is probably the Thinking >>>>>> Feeling part.

It's just that I have lots of Todds to bully into confidence now.🧙‍♀️ *evil laugh* YAY! (Yep, Dash (don't even try ok, I NEVER gave up) and Emma, this is about you 🧐, I think Stella also? I remember her mentioning it in the tags?)

And it's more than ok to make a big deal out of things!!!!! I try to ignore emotion and live outside of myself and here I am, with Greg House and Jo March as my fictional counterparts... *sad emoji* I view that as an admirable quality, making a big deal of things, you inspire me! Keep being you whoever that is or might be and just be, exist, write poetry, dance, it's called Keating-it-up! OMG ANNE SHIRLEY CUTHBERT IS AN INFP, MAAAAIS!!!!!!

- Your Friendly Neighborhood (Spider)Witch 🧙‍♀️🔮☀️

[lola-legendary]

I AM BACK WITH WAY TOO MUCH

Latino!Bronte is something I did not expect. But now I can't get it out of my head.

Here I am, wondering if I can combine Latino!Bronte, Halfhuman!Bronte and Pyrenbros!Bronte into one acceptable backstory without it being weird as well as wondering why I can't MAKE SOMETHING THAT IS FUCKING ORIGINAL FOR A CHANGE???????????????????????????

actually is a headcannon that ancients hear better that normal elves original? No?

Okay... what if we upped it a notch? Ancients can hear a specific type of noise better than normal elves according to their personalites.

Like, an ancient who likes music would hear music better? idk

Now Bronte angst headcannon. It conflicts completely with my original ones. You can choose which one you like.

Bronte had manipulative parents but he persuaded himself that they only wanted the best for him. Translation: it worked.

He totally overworks himself. Like actually. The other councillors taking him for granted and just giving them his work doesn't help.

He has social anxiety. He's scared he's going to mess up something near others so every day is a living hell.

Gets fucking walked over. Like, he tries to pretend he's tough, but in reality he's that one guy that says nothing and follows everyone's orders.

Not helping his repression.

Has a big fucking crush on Emery but says nothing about it because he's scared that it'll ruin their friendship.

But because of that he's always sad.

Like, all he wants is to be loved. But he's scared he'll get rejected and lose his will to live.

Some people follow their head and some follow their hearts, Bronte is a 'follow the head' person, but that doesn't mean the heart doesn't shut the fuck up.

But anyway.

He specially hears people talking. Like he hears any human or elvin voices in a 10-mile radius.

Like once he was trying to sleep and heard some couple making out. Poor guy.

Apparently my brain wants Bronte to be a horse whisperer now. Okay. That's what his parents did for a living. Breed horses.

Because elves lived like humans in the Middle Ages. Idk.

i suck what

EHHHHH

WHAT IF...

KOTLC ENCANTO AU

Abuela: Fallon bcs old

Julieta: Ramira idk just gives off mom vibes

Bruno: Fintan bcs he has a poor reputation

Pepa: Velia bcs she's a guster and pepa controls the weather

haven't decided the husbands yet tbh

Isabela: Alina bcs perfect redemption arc opportunity

Dolores: Bronte bcs perfect angst opportunity

Luisa: Noland i guess?!

Camilo: Kenric for that energy

Mirabel: Oralie bcs main character vibes

Antonio: Clarette bcs animals

@bronte-deserves-better @bronte-deserves-better @bronte-deserves-better please

please say something

im begging you

i need you to know of my existence

you were the one to get me into posting please

[chimcess]

With All My Love {J.J.K.}

Jungkook x Reader Genre: Angst Warnings: Cheating (sort of), Open relationship, and the angst is piled on thick with this one Summary: Y/N always knew what she was getting into with Jungkook, another girl would come with the package, but it was a price she was willing to pay to have him. However after finding out that he’d slept with Mina behind her back at a party without telling her, she realizes that she needs a clean break, but isn’t willing to face Jungkook, so she decides to leave him a letter instead. A/N: This one really hurt to write

Jungkook,

I hope you’re well. I’m not, but still, I can’t help myself but want you to be happy- even when I’m miserable. You know, it’s crazy how life plays out sometimes. When I first met you, I never thought we’d be where we are now, but here we are, and though I love it… I can’t help but hate it at the same time. When I imagined us, this wasn’t exactly what I had pictured. I was expecting dates, kissing in your Ford, sharing holidays, and growing old being two peas in a pod. Jungkook and Y/N versus the Patriarchy one hip surgery at a time. Now, though, I can see I was wrong. While I could still have that, I have also come to realize that this will always and forever be Jungkook, Y/N, and whoever else Jungkook decides versus you and I growing old and kicking ass.

Last night, when I was upset about you sleeping with Mina behind my back, at that moment I was so angry at her, and I just wanted nothing more than to curse her out and kick her to the curb. However, after some thinking- as I do tend to do at two in the morning after my boyfriend falls asleep on me- I realize that I was angry at you. 

I was so mad at you. I was livid. I was so unbelievably hurt. I don’t think I could ever describe the pain that caused me, however Emily Bronte has a wonderful quote from Jane Eyre that does it some bit of justice, “Gentle reader, may you never feel what I then felt! May your eyes never shed such stormy, scalding, heart-wrung tears as poured from mine. May you never appeal to Heaven in prayers so hopeless and so agnised as in that hour left my lips: for never may you, like me, dread to be the instrument of evil to what you wholly love.”

Does that help you understand better where I’m coming from? I hope it does. Books tend to understand me more than anyone. Even you, it seems. Kookie, I want you to realize something very important. I hate Mina. Not because I think she’s a bad person or anything, but the fact that she has you in a way that I never will. How in the world does she make you so blind to the fact that it tears me apart that you want her, too? I don’t care if it’s purely sexual, I just want you to want to have sex with just me. That’s why I never flat out say, “Don’t see her again.” I want you to just want me. I want you to see that I’m enough. I want you to want only me and nothing more. I want you to put an end to things because you love me. That’s all I want. In me writing you this, it’s my way of saying that I can’t do this anymore. We’ve hardly been together and you’ve already broken a huge portion of my trust. 

I mean honestly, do you think I like being able to see that she’s slept with you? Do you think I like looking at the face I want to see for the rest of my life and there’s bruises another woman left there mocking me? Do you really think I want you to touch me after she’s had her hands all over you? Like I’m sloppy seconds? Like I’m an afterthought? Like you have no respect for me at all?

Even you know I don’t like it. You knew it before last night, and still you continued to see her. The day after we started dating you slept with her. Instead of us going to see your parents together, you wanted to bring me there to keep them company for the night alone while you snuck off to be with her? Do you really think I would ever in my life be comfortable with this arrangement you made for me?

I know I have my faults. I should’ve put my foot down. I should’ve communicated more. I should’ve told you exactly how I felt. I should’ve made it abundantly clear that I want it to only be us. However, I felt like you would hate me if I did that. I still do. I feel like you would resent me for making that choice. I feel like you would never be happy with me if I just said no. If I never considered it. Yes, I’ve said certain things, but it was only to make you happy. I know she makes you happy, you enjoy her company, and she gets you off. She is a car girl, you guys go out together, and she’s really fun. However, where is this effort for us? You don’t take me out or show me off. You don’t ask me on dates. You don’t buy me little presents because you see them and think I’d like them. Why? Because I am not more than enough. 

Now we’ve come full circle to the point I wanted to make. When you love someone, truly love someone, there are things you do to show them that. Someone can say they love you a thousand times, but if they come home drunk and beat you that doesn’t sound much like love, right? Love is sacrifice. Love isn’t making boundaries about who we can openly sleep with outside of our relationship- especially when we both know one of us isn’t too keen on the idea. Love isn’t sleeping with people behind one another's back and just expecting them to magically know about it. Love isn’t, “Well I like being top and bottom, so I’ll have my cake and eat it too.” That’s not love. Love is accepting that person for all that they are. Love is wanting them, and only them, because no one else can compare. Love is blindly going into a relationship with the most beautiful man knowing full damn well you’ll get hurt over and over again just because you’d do anything to make it you two versus the world kissing in a truck, sharing holidays, and growing old being two peas in a pod. The two of you versus the Patriarchy one hip surgery at a time.

That’s why I say I don’t believe you when you say you love me. I sacrificed a lot for this relationship. I put aside my values, my dignity, and my self respect because you’re so worth it to me. You are more than enough for me. However, I don’t see that same thing in return. So, this is me telling you… You need to figure things out. Figure out what you want, because it’s not me. I’m not cut out for this amazing for a minute shit. I’m not cut out for standing by watching you choose someone else over me again. I’m not cut out for feeling left out in my own relationship. I’m not cut out for feeling like I’m not good enough for you. I’m not cut out. 

I would like to apologize in advance for leaving things like this, with nothing more than a note telling you goodbye, but for my heart’s sake I have to. I know myself too well, and the moment I saw your face I’d run to you without second guessing myself. I cannot allow myself to do that just like I can’t allow myself to die a slow, painful death anymore. I hope you’re happy, and I hope Mina picks up the pieces of you that I’m leaving behind. Please, stay well. I left you dinner in the fridge, make sure to eat that. I’ll be at Hoseok and Yoongi’s for a while, so don’t worry too much. I love you.

With all my love,

Y/N

[reddeadreference]

Blog Progress Update (Travel Blog Style? #16)

I forgot to shave before passing out in the street… damn it.. 

Also I love (and hate) the idea that this guy just found me in the street and decided to DRAG me to the doctors (or maybe he just dragged me out of the middle of the road… cause he does try to get Arthur to wake up and the doc isn't far from where we fell over)

"Not good news" Yep here come the water works.

I made a gif, i’m sure there’s a bunch of these out there of this but I made one anyway..

I'm sure the game didn't think I would actually choose to leave the horses after taking the canoe up river and actually WALK all the way to the cave judging by how Arthur and Charles were yelling despite walking a foot apart. 

But guess what game, I just needed to take a long walk through spooky woods with my boy, the only guy (okay one of two cause John counts but he's not here right now) that has my damn back in this damn camp. 

It was actually rather relaxing… if I didn't think about where we're going or where we were or the fact that Arthur is DYING (I'm not okay)

Damn it the last mission in chapter 5 is just full of so many "oh shit" moments where I remember or hear a line that reminds me what's about to happen. Bringing Meredith home I almost started crying, hearing Molly I had to pause and take breath first… this game is so well done to provoke emotions like this even after years and knowing what’s coming

Oof and the music "I did… I told them!" And the music just gets so much darker and dramatic and UGH I don't like this pain. Yelling at my screen "no she didn't! She's drunk! Susan no!!!" DX but fuck man… she's so heartbroken she's lying so he'll shoot her and/or she's lying cause she knows it'll hurt him cause he’s hurt her… I hate it. 

The fact that Molly didn't get a fucking grave and that they didn't bury her but burned her… I know they didn't know… but she deserved better… and the fact that the chapter screen pops up on that image…

Chapter 6: loads in

Me: I hate it here...

Dutch is giving a speech… does he even realize NO ONE is looking at him. Like for his other speeches he had people stop and turn to look or walk over to listen… I think everyone has realized his speeches are just the same. He'd throw himself in the ground in their stead. Yeah, we got it Dutch…

Basically saying pick his side… dude there shouldn't be sides in the first place. You're a self fulfilling prophecy my man… 

Also seeing how the list in my “people” folder for camp stuff keeps getting shorter just HURTS

I am excited about doing Bronte's house's post. Dude has his fucking initials on his damn wallpaper xD

I think you can go inside it in Red Dead Online so I might go back for some more photos (it was very annoying to angle the shots I did take so bodies weren't in frame) if not I can just replay the mission.

Might have to see if I can go into the Mayor's house too cause the party doesn't really let you wander in there unless Luca is with you or you're sneaking

Apparently you have to use a wagon to get to the second floor then go through a window… well this’ll be interesting… just hope I don’t get a session with a lot of players in Saint Denis… ugh I wish it was like GTA V online where you have private lobbies. I hate going onto RDO alone cause I always run into assholes who just wanna kill npcs and players for fun. Well, I will ‘document’ my online adventure as Evangeline (my online OC) who looks like Ciri from Witcher 3 and her Missouri fox trotter Trevor.

Well I found a wagon immediately but it had an open back so i couldn’t climb onto it… now i’m waiting on the either side of a bridge for a good wagon… If i had a trader wagon that might work but I don't… wait... O_O Target acquired.

*Hacker voice* I’m in.

Obviously these photos won’t be as clear cause I can’t turn off blur on the 1st person view thing… Gonna do the same kinda thing I did with the Braithwaite manor post where there is a lil mini map to show which room it is. Gonna make a separate post for the garden in back… and honestly… probably have to make a separate post for each floor… I took a lot of photos...

So yeah that might be the next thing to come out cause I really wanna get that up.

[bronte-deserves-better]

I was wondering what do you think Emery's reaction was, after the ability restrictor was put on Sophie and she fainted? Also what if off screen or on screen the council talks things out with Sophie and Dex about the ability restrictor and apologize

See the thing is, I think any reasonable person would be horrified that this kid they were restricting the abilities of fainted. But I also think that the Council aren't necessarily reasonable people. Is Emery a bad person fundamentally? I'd say no. But will he do whatever it takes to help the Lost Cities (by his perception)? I'd say yes.

So I imagine Emery was at least shaken by Sophie fainting, but given that he doubled down on the ability restrictor thing, I would guess that he didn't allow that to sway his conviction that it was the right thing to do.

The fact that elves' minds can break from guilt creates this very interesting issue where elves have a hard time admitting that they were wrong. Even to themselves! Because if you admit that you did something bad, and if you feel guilt over the harm you caused, that can literally break your mind. So elves (especially ones like the Council who make decisions that affect millions of lives) have this incentive to always justify everything they do to themselves, which makes it hard to grow. (Interestingly, we do see Bronte admit to Sophie that he didn't treat her well when she was first his prodigy, but he seems to be the exception rather than the rule in this specific instance.)

In short: I don't doubt that Emery found it shocking and even horrifying that Sophie fainted. However, I think his willingness to carry through the plan anyways shows that he was able to justify the harm to Sophie as being a necessary evil to himself.

As for the second part of your question, I don't think we've gotten an on-screen apology, though I might be misremembering- and I don't think we will! Shannon seems to have resolved that plotline, and like I said before, the Council has this incentive to justify their past actions to themselves, making it hard for them to grow and change. Though I would love to see the ability restrictor brought up again and the Council understand the harm their actions caused, it doesn't seem likely to happen in canon. However, that doesn't mean the concept wouldn't be interesting to explore in fan content!