#INCREDIBLE THE MADMAN ACTUALLY DID IT

[irritablepoe]

I'm a joke. Just ridiculous. A laughing stock.

[princess-pathetic-112898]

So, we can all agree that the real significance of The Great Gatsby to TBOB/GF is that Bill is just a crueler, more unhinged Jay Gatsby, right? He devotes his life to attaining the reputation of the untouchable, unbothered, charming host of the party that never ends, and he puts on a pretty damn convincing show of being that person, but that’s all it really is- a show. He’s actually a fucking wreck- The facade he’s built for himself is incredibly fragile, the world he was born into didn’t satisfy him so he’s reaching out for an unattainable world, his antics do wide reaching harm to ordinary people he doesn’t even know, most (if not all) of the people he’s surrounded himself with will abandon him the moment he can no longer keep the party going, and to top it all off Ford is simultaneously his Nick AND his Daisy. Bill’s Old Sport and his Green Light rolled into one. Ford is the socially awkward nerd Bill confided in, got to go along with his schemes for a time & ultimately did severe psychological damage to, but he’s also the former lover he’s put on a pedestal. Scholar Leland Person described Daisy as the target of Gatsby’s “dehumanizing adoration”, which is a term that fits Bill’s treatment of Ford so well it hurts my brain.

Alex Hirsch you absolute madman what have you done to all of us?

[power-handmaiden]

Day 64: Pounded In The Butt By My Irrational Bigoted Fear Of Humans Who Were Born As Unicorns Using A Human Restroom

While I had conflicting feelings on "Angry Man Pounded By The Fear Of His Latent Gayness Over A Dinosaur Transitioning Into A Unicorn" in light of how the conversation on trans rights and visibility has evolved, I feel like this tingler, published only 11 months later, holds up incredibly well. It tackles gender in a similar way to robot fiction, in the way that the protagonist feels insecurity over his humanity when someone he would not traditionally recognize as a human is able to inhabit human spaces.

One aspect that I appreciate a lot is that the story makes it very clear that the character that the protagonist initially directs his species transphobia towards does not pass as a human at all; the bigoted protagonist and the waitress who is dismissive of his bigotry both refer to the character as a unicorn based on appearance. A major point in this tingler is that the man deserves dignity whether or not he "looks" like he should be in a human space. A lot of transphobes love to make arguments that operate in this heightened reality. It's not hard to imagine one saying, "what, should we accept it if someone identifies as a unicorn?" I mean, the furry panic is basically that, using some on-its-face absurd otherkin caricature as a proxy for trans people. This tingler meets them in their invented space where they think their argument is the most ironclad and says, yes, that would be fine actually, even if we did all live in your thought experiment and even took it a step further by introducing other sapient species with clear physical differences. People of different species peeing in the same room is not going to break the fabric of society.

(Side note not entirely related, people who care about such things are also just.... really bad at telling who "belongs", which is addressed in the story somewhat but I just like to mention whenever I have the chance that it includes false positives on their Wrong Sex Detector too. I use the bathroom that corresponds to my birth certificate and I've been stared at, yelled at, one time someone just watched me piss?? So much for bathrooms being a harrassment free space.)

I also love that nothing sexual takes place in the bathroom. The protagonist recovering from his bigotry fucks a sentient restroom sign right in the middle of the diner. Absolute madman, I can't help but respect it.

[chvoswxtch]

i had an idea for matt but idk if it was good but reader who is matt’s neighbor and she always drops stuff off for him like a new first aid kit and food because she knows he’s daredevil and matt has no idea who does it till he catches her one day

like super fluffy

hi nonnie!

I actually LOVED this idea and thought it was super cute, so thank you so much for requesting it! 💘

warning: slight angst, cavity inducing fluff word count: 2.7k

[part two]

care packages

The first time it happened, Matt hadn’t thought much of it. He simply thought he’d placed an order that he had forgotten about, tossed the package containing a first aid kit and other items into his bathroom, and called it a day. Ever since taking down Fisk, the caseload at Nelson and Murdock had nearly quadrupled, and all the remaining crime lords in Hell’s Kitchen were competing for the vacant throne. Needless to say, Matt hadn’t been sleeping more than usual, and if you asked him what day it was, he probably couldn’t even tell you.

But then it happened again. And again. And again. And again.

Every couple of weeks, a new package arrived at Matt’s door, and the contents varied with each box. Some of them contained first aid kits, bottles of ibuprofen, other over the counter medications, ice packs, epsom salts, and various other supplies. Other times there were carefully packaged homemade dishes and freshly baked treats. Foggy and Karen both swore it wasn’t them, and even inspected the packages on Matt’s behalf. There wasn’t ever a note left, or anything written on the boxes, so none of them could figure out where they were coming from. Foggy lit up like a child on Christmas morning every time Matt entered the office with a new batch of goodies, and Matt couldn’t deny how nice it was to have a break from all the takeout. Whoever was leaving the packages was an excellent cook, and an incredibly skilled baker, but not knowing who was leaving the packages or why was driving Matt absolutely insane. 

Between both of his hectic lives, he didn’t have much time to investigate where the packages were coming from. He had asked his neighbors on a whim if they had seen anything, but they didn’t have a clue either. On the rare occasion when Matt did have an off day, he camped out on his couch in anticipation, hoping the next care package would arrive while he was home. 

But it never did. 

Karen had suggested leaving his business card taped to his front door, making the argument that it had his name and phone number on it in case whoever it was felt brave enough to contact him. But Matt was hesitant, because he wasn’t sure if the person leaving the care packages was leaving them for him, or for the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, and the latter made him nervous. He had no idea if they had made the connection, and he didn’t want to make it for them. 

For two months, Matt drove himself completely crazy trying to solve the mystery. 

By some miracle, or the grace of God, Matt was home at a normal time one Thursday evening. He was in the kitchen loosening his tie and reaching for a beer in the fridge when he smelled it. A familiar scent of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies that had been infused with cinnamon and nutmeg. The exact same chocolate chip cookies that had been left in front of his door four times in the past two months. The ones Foggy had dubbed, “crack cookies”. They were, in his defense, highly addictive.

Matt instantly froze, focusing solely on the sound of light footsteps approaching his door from the side of the hallway by the stairwell. The person’s heartbeat was steady, and they were humming softly to themselves as they bent down to place the package directly in front of Matt’s door. Matt abruptly slammed his fridge shut, racing towards his front door to fling it open like a madman, nearly tearing it off the hinges in the process and earning a shocked gasp from you as you were still knelt in front of his door.

He cocked his head to the side slightly, noting the sharp uptick in rhythm of your heart rate as you stared wide eyed up at him, fingers gripping tightly onto the sides of the container. For a moment, neither of you said anything, until the scent of cortisol creeping into your bloodstream snapped Matt back into focus.

“Are…are you the person that’s been leaving these?”

Letting out a shaky breath, you swallowed thickly as you gave a slight nod of your head.

“I…um…yeah.”

Your voice was timid and quiet as it came out, and there was something familiar about it. There was also something incredibly familiar about your scent, but Matt couldn’t quite place it. Your heart was thundering loudly in Matt’s ears, and he could hear the anxiety in every shuddering breath you took in. As his tongue darted out to quickly wet his lips, he slowly extended his hand out towards you.

“Do you…will you come in?”

Glancing between Matt’s outstretched hand and the dish in your own, you stared up at him silently for a moment. It suddenly occurred to him that his reaction might have made you more tense than the fact that you had been caught, and he pulled his lips into a gentle half smile.

“I’m not upset. I just…want to talk to you, if that’s alright?”

His words seem to put you at ease, and you carefully placed your hand into his own, allowing him to pull you up to your feet. Matt liked how soft your hand felt in his own, and he reluctantly let go to step back to grant you space, gesturing for you to come inside. After closing his door, he followed you cautiously into his living room, tuning all of his senses into you as you turned around to face him while still clutching the dish in your hands. There was something recognizable about you, but Matt for the life of him couldn’t place what it was.

“Um…I guess the obvious first question is…why you’re leaving all these care packages?”

Matt kept his voice even and gentle, not wanting you for a second to think that he was upset. As far as he could tell, you were leaving them with genuine intentions, and while that warmed his heart, he still wanted to know why. He caught the way you trapped your bottom lip between your teeth and tilted your head to stare down at the dish in your hands, taking in a deep, shaky breath before answering.

“Because you saved my life.”

Matt’s lips parted slightly in surprise, cocking his head to the side slightly as he took a step closer towards you and fixed his gaze in your direction with an expression of confusion. 

“I…I’m sorry, I don’t think I’ve represented you-”

“You were wearing a different suit.”

Matt’s entire body instantly went rigid. You did know who he was. Panic started to rise in his chest, and his brain wasn’t working fast enough to come up with some kind of lie or excuse to protect his identity.

“I…I don’t…I t-think you must have me confused with someone else-”

“Those men didn’t just want to rob me. They wanted to hurt me. They followed me home from that bar and pulled me into that alley. If you…hadn’t shown up when you did, they probably would’ve killed me, or left me there after they did what they really wanted to. I…I’m honestly not sure which would’ve been worse.”

Matt stilled hearing the way your voice trembled, tasting the fear that built in the corners of your eyes as the memory sent a shiver cascading down your spine. Suddenly it all clicked into place. That’s why he remembered you. He recognized your voice because he remembered hearing your frenzied cries for help from the rooftop. He recalled the scent of you lingering beneath his nose while he held you comfortingly to his chest as you gripped onto his shoulders, begging him not to leave you alone in the dark. After taking care of the men that had attacked you, he’d waited with you until the cops came, doing his best to keep you calm and reassuring you that you were safe. 

Your name tumbled from his lips before he could stop himself.

“Y/N.”

He remembers asking for it that night. He remembers repeating it back to you soothingly, enjoying the way it tasted on his tongue while wiping your tears away with his gloved fingers. He remembers the sweet melody of your voice as you thanked him endlessly, and the way you struggled to let go of his hand once the police arrived and he had to disappear into the darkness.

He noted the way your lips tugged into the faintest of smiles as you nodded.

“You remembered.”

Matt had wanted to find you, as himself, to offer you legal representation if you wanted to build a case. But with things being so hectic lately, he never got the chance. Another wave of confusion settled over his features when he took another step forward towards you. 

“Wait, but how did you-”

“I live in this building. I saw you on the roof about a week later.”

Matt’s lips parted slightly at your words, giving a slight nod of his head to encourage you to continue. 

“I was up there kinda late one night. There was a lunar eclipse that was supposed to be visible at a certain time, and I wanted to see it. I saw you. You disappeared through that door on the roof, and I thought it just went to a stairwell, but none of the stairwells I found led to that same door. I kinda put it together that it only led to your apartment…and it wasn’t that hard to figure out which one was yours from there.”

“So…you didn’t…know that I was-”

“No. I didn’t know who you were, not really. I never saw you again after that. I just…you looked like you were hurt that night. I wanted to do something…something to help you. I felt like I owed you.”

Matt pursed his lips as he shook his head quickly, letting a dry chuckle escape his mouth.

“You don’t owe me anything.”

“I owe you my life.”

Matt paused at the sincerity in your voice, noticing that it came out a lot firmer as you spoke those words. His fingers twitched slightly at his sides as you let out a soft sigh, turning around to place the dish of cookies on his coffee table.

“Look, I’m sorry if I…I freaked you out or anything. I didn’t mean to. I just wanted to do something nice for you since you saved me. I figured you probably go through a lot of first aid kits and don’t have much time to cook with your busy night job.”

Matt chuckled softly as a light smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, placing his hands on his hips as he followed your movements.

“That’s an understatement. Can I…can I ask…why you didn’t say anything? I mean, you never knock or leave a note or anything.”

Nibbling at your bottom lip, you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear and shrugged lightly as you fiddled with a ring around your finger.

“I told you, I didn’t wanna freak you out. I’m sure you wear the mask for a reason. I…wanted to respect your privacy. Look, you don’t owe me anything, certainly not an explanation. You don’t have to tell me anything at all, and I would never tell anyone about this, I swear.”

The steady, strong rhythm of your heartbeat had Matt’s chest swelling with gratitude. He knew you were telling the truth. 

“I believe you.”

There was a faint smile pulling at your lips as you stared at him, and Matt desperately wanted to know what you saw, and what you were thinking. He didn’t think it was a coincidence someone like you had fallen into his lap. He didn’t believe in coincidences. But he did believe in divine intervention. What were the odds of him saving your life, being your neighbor, and the recipient of your unwavering kindness and genuine understanding? 

“I…I’m not a doctor, or a medical professional by any means, but I do know my way around a first aid kit. I’m also a horrible insomniac, so I’m usually awake at ungodly hours throughout the night. If you ever…need…or want any help, I just live a floor down. I’m in 5C.”

“I…thank you. And thank you for all of the care packages.”

“Thank you for saving my life.”

Matt felt his cheeks heat up at the candor in your voice. He didn’t get thanked often for what he did every night, not that the praise was his main motivator, but they were still two words he didn’t hear all that much. The people he took down certainly weren’t thanking him for sending them to prison, and sometimes the people he saved were in too much shock to speak, or he had to take off before he got caught by the cops. But something about the way the gentle inflection of your voice dripped into his ears like honey had warmth spreading throughout his entire body. He took another careful step towards you, extending his hand once again for you to take as his lips parted into a tender smile.

“Matthew. My name is Matthew.”

His heart started to beat a little faster feeling the way your mouth pulled into a smile of your own, reveling in the feeling of your soft hand slipping into his once again, fingers delicately curling around the bottom of his palm.

“It’s nice to meet you, Matthew. Officially.”

Matt keened at the way his name sounded falling from your lips, and he gave your hand a faint squeeze.

“It’s nice to meet you officially as well, Y/N.”

He didn’t miss the way your heart jumped slightly when he repeated your name, or the fact that neither one of you seemed to want to let go of the other’s hand.

“You know, my partner is going to be beyond excited that I’ve finally found the person responsible for those amazing cookies.”

Matt’s chest expanded with pride feeling the rise in temperature across your cheeks, lips parting slightly as your soft giggle hit his ears.

“Nice of you to share, Matthew.”

A wider smile tugged across his lips hearing you say his name again. He lightly stroked his thumb across your knuckle as he shrugged.

“I thought at first one of them was doing it, but neither of them are as good of a cook or a baker. You’re a hit in our office, by the way.”

“I am?”

“They ask me everyday if I’ve gotten a new care package. Obviously the edible ones are their favorite.”

Another soft giggle slipped past your stretched lips, and Matt found himself inching closer to the sound as heat spread down your neck and across your chest.

“They…they know, too?”

“They do.”

“Well, then they’re just as deserving.”

Matt found himself completely in awe of you, wondering how he had managed to find an angel when he walked the path of the Devil. 

“Can I…can I take you to dinner? To say thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me-”

“I want to. You’ve provided me with a ton of dinners lately. I’d like to treat you to one.”

Matt angled his head to the side slightly as he listened to your heart’s tempo increase, enjoying the way you delicately tightened your hold on his hand as you took in a shaky breath.

“Well, how can I refuse my savior?”

“You can’t. It’s against the law actually.”

A large grin spread across your mouth at Matt’s playful tone, peering up at him with curiosity.

“Are you a lawyer, Matthew?”

“I am.”

An incredulous giggle escaped your mouth as your brows knit together in the center of your forehead.

“So, wait…lawyer by day, vigilante by night? How does that work, exactly?”

“I’ll let you know when I figure that out.”

Matt chuckled softly as you giggled, resisting the urge to reach his hand up to tuck a strand of your hair behind your ear like he had done the first night he met you. 

“So, Friday night?”

“You know where to find me.”

“I do, now.”

tags: @yarrystyleeza @little-miss-dilf-lover @neverlandcity @charmedkim @queenofthenoobs @stilldreaming666 @mattymurdock1021 @bubuslutty @messymissy @dark-academia-slut @strawberry1042

[star-rail-tings]

WAIT FUCK I LOVE WHAT THEY DID WITH SUNDAY’S CHARACTER

Spoilers for the newest Penacony quest below!!!

I don’t get the chance to see antagonists who are driven by order and/or justice often but I LOVE them. Partly because I can relate to them some, and partly because you can see where they’re coming from and realize they aren’t entirely wrong. One person ruling over all could, in theory, solve the world’s problems, so long as the people can’t or won’t resist. It’s just an incredibly immoral thing to do.

Of course, Sunday doesn’t see it that way. He’s not some madman who just wants power, but someone that genuinely believes his path is the right one. He doesn’t like the survival of the fittest mindset, but he does believe there are inherently weak people and inherently strong people, and that it’s the duty of the strong to take care of the weak.

I love that he doesn’t want order for order’s sake. I love that out of everyone who succumbed to the Dreamscape, he’s actually the one who wants to escape reality the most. He fears the perils of life so much, for himself and Robin and everybody else, that he’s decided it’s better to stop living altogether. I love that he doesn’t lack compassion but has so much compassion that his heart’s led him down a dark path. I love that he’s a realist yet still optimistic, and has been since he was a child. I love that he’s so idealistic to the point of being delusional.

GOD I LOVE HIS CHARACTER

[yourlowkeyidiot3]

Funny how the delta rune fandom treated Berdly as some supervillain and forced homo/transphobic and/or misogynist characteristics on him just to find a valid excuse to hate on him, when he is literally a CHILD that's HEAVILY implied to have been neglected by his parents, and made clear that he wasn't born smart and that he worked HARD for it. When in reality he really just wanted the best for Noelle and was manipulated by Queen. But then proceed to to treat the madman Spamton that literally sells you a damn torture device to two kids on the Alternative Route like a damn poor meow meow. Don't get me wrong Spams got an incredible sad backstory too but it's no excuse for what he did on the Weird Route.

Not saying you can't hate Berdly I just wish they had taken Queen's "there's nothing wrong with him he's just annoying" line to heart because that's it. That's all about it. There's nothing wrong with him, he isn't a super villain or anything like that he's just annoying, he's a TEENAGER for heaven's sake every damn teenager is annoying, Instead of pushing problematic characteristics on him.

Especially with making him "homophobic" when really. He respected Kris pronouns better than the whole fandom every did. (All the humans in ud/dr are non binary and only use they/them)

You want my honest opinion?

I believe Berdlys actually very damn brave and cares much for his friends. I absolutely love him and the Weird Route literally shows this:

He realised that something was wrong with Noelle and Kris. He realised that we were hurting Noelle, we were also hurting Kris too be unforntaly he doesn't know about this. But he didn't run away, no no instead he fought us, He wanted to protect Noelle. He wanted to stop what he realised was wrong, He also only targeted Kris because he believed they are hurting Noelle (when in reality it was us but like I said he doesn't know of this) and he isn't stupid he probably realised what Snowgrave was the moment he heard it. But he still didn't run away, I can't imagine how scared he must of been at his last moments but he still didn't run away. Because he cared too much to continue letting us hurt Noelle.

Again it's okay if you dislike Berdly I can understand why but the amount of mischaracterization he got was absolutely insane to me

[mildmayfoxe]

big fan of your romance novel complaint posts (love to see a fellow hater living it up) but i’m also curious if there are any you would recommend? not looking for anything in particular, just would love to hear your thoughts as someone else with nitpicky reading habits and a taste for trash

ok hello. i left you hanging for a FULL week and for that i am sorry but i wanted to be able to have some time to sit down and type out a real answer to which the short version is YES of course there are several that i have enjoyed!! my disclaimer is that i almost solely read gay romance so if you are looking for lesbian or even straight reccs i don't have much for you (although i will put a couple at the end anyway). hopefully something in this list is interesting to you or at least interesting to someone else! links are mostly to goodreads. break bc i'm gonna write too much

-kj charles is one of my fave authors in this genre bc they're all pretty reliable and there's a ton of them. they're all historical fiction and usually there's at least one murder- she's good at keeping a plot going while developing a romance. often supernatural or magical elements. sometimes cults! i've read almost all of the books she's written and have enjoyed them all

-charlie adhara wrote a really incredible werewolf series that i loved, the first of which is the wolf at the door. this is one of the only series i've read which keeps the emotional stakes up through the whole thing & kept me interested in a relationship after it was established bc sooo many series get boring the second the leads get together. i actually read the first book of the spin-off series (a pack of lies) first which is technically possible but i don't recommend bc i was like "wow they're really throwing me in here. i love it" and then i read the first series and i was like "oh i was supposed to know all this stuff." but i actually liked the dynamic between that couple better and i'm suffering every day because the next one still doesn't come out til 2025 and i read it in 2022. also worth noting that this (the original series) is cops-ajacent (~federal special agents~) and one of the characters is really prejudiced at the beginning & imo doesn't have enough character growth before it's waved away but if you can ignore that it's really good. mysteries! werewolves!

-speaking of werewolves (i could suggest several but i'll keep it to two) tj klune's wolfsong ends up at the top of a lot of gay werewolf novel lists (i'm keeping tabs) and there's a good reason. i enjoyed it a lot. made me kind of sad which is always a good sign to me. the writing voice was very fresh and novel at first but i did find it a little grating by the end so i've put off starting the second book in the series (it's also about a different couple which was disappointing) but i will get around to it. i enjoy tj klune in general although his recent stuff has a very different vibe than this and lightning struck heart is very 2015 in a bad way imo

-bone rider by j fally is a standalone that really delighted me. the russian mob? aliens? vaguely western? possession? throuple? it's got it all. very fun

-ok speaking of westerns there's this other series called magic & steam (yes it's steampunk. sorry. it's very silly) that starts with the engineer. a federal agent is sent to a town to apprehend a ~madman engineer~ except he runs into an infamous outlaw in the process. and the outlaw is really sexy. and probably why i enjoyed the series so much. the series also keeps them apart a lot in a way that i enjoy- i love when things take a long time. it's ongoing so this is another one that i keep checking for updates on

-i've read a lot of stuff by nr walker and they tend to be VERY hit or miss for me but one of my faves is evolved which is almost pure smut. it's about a sex robot that gains sentience. what more do i need to say. she also wrote a three-book series about an amnesiac that made me cry cry cry. and her cowboy (australian rancher) series is pretty ok. i could go through a list and tell you which novels of hers aren't worth it and which ones are good; i've read most of them

-salt magic skin magic by lee welch was a big surprise to me. cool magic, good folklore, fairies in there too. historical. big kj charles vibes which makes sense bc she edited it. welch also wrote a book called seducing the sorcerer which i had more mixed feelings about but had magic in it that i think about OFTEN (the horses)- that one's about an imposing sorcerer and a rundown groom cum handyman. and they're in their FORTIES!!! 🥳🥳🥳 (i love when books are not about 23 year olds)

-another one with a magic system i enjoyed was magician by kl noone. this was the first book i read by this author and i liked it but generally i find their books are too "nice" for me. i'm in the middle of one right now that i started months and months ago that i keep trying to go back to and it's sooo rough for me. but this one and the twelfth enchantment are pretty ok

-emily tesh wrote a duology of silver in the wood and drowned country that i loved because i am suuuuch a sucker for a wild man/green man story. really good. haunting! evocative! kj charles has a green man story too which was actually the first thing i read of hers (spectred isle)

-i complained about the monsterfucker book i was reading a while back but despite that i will also recommend the series it's from: lily mayne's monstrous, which starts with soul eater. are they messy? yes. are they repetitive? yes. are the monsters usually disappointingly humanoid? yes. are a lot of them about the military? also yes. so we're starting off on a bad foot. but the world building is interesting and there's LOTS of kinds of monsters and most of them were pretty fun. the one i just read (#7) was the worst one of the bunch though imo. and i have problems with #6. but 1 2 and 5 were good

-ok i should do a quickfire round. honeytrap: about two enemy agents during the cold war. put it off for a long time bc i didn't love that but it takes place over a VERY long period of time which is always interesting to me. zero at the bone: about a hitman who needs to protect a witness to a mob hit. really strong start but fell off a bit in the middle to the end imo.

-you'll notice a lot of these have subgenres of like fantasy historical supernatural etc but here's some regular contemporaries. a lot of these are about sad guys bc those are my favorite. best laid plans: hardware store owner helps a guy fix his house. in the middle of somewhere: same author actually. guy moves to small town to work at a college. mr jingle bells: this is a christmas one. bad title. fake dating. part of the reason i think i liked it so much is because i expected it to be awful but it was actually pretty good. good emotional stakes. published 2021 but feels very 2014. ignore that part. work for it: i rated this five stars but actually don't remember much what it was like. i think they were both really sad which i love. give me big emotions and i eat them right up with a spoon. i should read it again

-OK now i've got some straight & lesbian options. talia hibbert's brown sisters series is good and cute. she also wrote work for it, above. the unhoneymooners is the first real Romance Novel that i read and it really surprised me because i had fun! previously i had kind of written off romance novels as not for me but this kicked off a reading habit that is still going strong (primarily reading romance novels). i read this in 2020 so it might not be as good as i remember. as for lesbian options olivia waite has a series that i enjoyed that's also historical, and a friend of mine really enjoyed delilah green doesn't care (but i haven't read that one myself). and while not really romances i will always be a sarah waters fan: you may recognize her as the author of fingersmith, which is the novel park chan-wook's movie the handmaiden is based on. if you haven't seen the movie or read the book i recommend both. her books are very dramatic lesbian historical fiction; they don't always have happy endings but they're all very good

ok i think that's the end! regular disclaimer that romance is generally not a genre notable for Good Writing so a lot of these are just things i had fun with or just stuck out in my memory for having fun conceits etc. i can't guarantee that any of these are actually good, especially because this is a list solely based on my own taste and bad memory. would love to hear anybody's thoughts and/or if anybody has recommendations for ME!!! this post took me over three hours to write! crazy!

[yuseirra]

I've been jotting down notes here like a madman, but no matter how much I think about it, I don't think Ai's boyfriend would have tried "to scare her" by sending Ryosuke..

Looking at how Kamiki behaves, he’s the type who takes responsibility for things even when it’s not his fault, and it really wears him down.

I mean, the things Ai brought up when she left to him were incredibly cruel...(she didn't blame him, just stated the facts but that alone would have broke him) The incident related to Taiki was something terrible, something for which a mere 11-year-old kid could have no responsibility; he was just a one-sided victim. Yet, when Kamiki brings it up when talking to Aqua, he talks about it as if it was something he had done, saying things like "what I did," and justifies Ai leaving as if it were natural. When someone "accepts" and "agrees with" things to this extreme degree, the possibility of aggressive outbursts is very low. If this guy showed aggression, it should have been MUCH sooner, he couldn't even do anything at Airi, he couldn't say anything when Ai left. He just... stands there with wide eyes all speechless. No sense of anger or active actions of rebuttals.

His personality seems to be one where, when something happens, he doesn’t lash out at others but instead torments himself. He blames himself for everything, thinking, "Oh, it's my fault that things turned out this way," and he’s terrible at self-protection (he’s similar to Aqua in this way, but his low self-esteem makes it even worse). He should have been angry at Ai’s words, but he couldn’t even do that.

This kind of reaction aligns with how he couldn’t say a word in chapter 155. From his perspective, he’s been believing Ai’s lie for over a decade, and then the next thing he says is that he’s going to do something for Ai. His ways of actions are consistent. If he’s still like this after 15 years, then he’s either always been like this, or it’s just his nature, or at least when it comes to things related to Ai (although it seems like this is how he is overall).

It’s not impossible that he "exploded after holding it in for so long," but what happened before Ai died wasn’t enough to provoke someone’s breaking point like that... If it’s true that she only contacted him after four years, well, it’s possible that this character, given his nature, might have been excited, surprised, and desperate, only to be rejected again, leading him to feel miserable and sorrowful. But then he might have thought, "Of course, Ai wouldn’t want to meet someone like me again; that’s only natural," and convinced himself of that. (If someone dumps him, he’s more likely to accept it rather than obsess over it. Think about it, he didn't do anything for 4 years;; and Ai's a celebrity, he could've tried to approach her on many occasions but the protagonist twins have no idea of the dad) Based on what he says, this interpretation makes more sense. I think he could've been just incredibly sad. But then something went wrong, Ai died, and now he’s completely out of his mind, thinking it’s his fault. I honestly don't understand why you'd try to harm someone who'd be willing to show your kids whom you share with them. Is he that crazy and broken? That sort of reaction is very different from how he used to be, and personalities don't change that drastically. Maybe he grew insane after the influence of the black star or whatever, but from how well the characters are written in this manga, I think there should have been signs if he were to be the type to take that sort of toxic action. Kamiki mostly just seemed.. timid and helpless, in his past.

He believes he was never loved by the person they loved deeply, but he also says he's willing to sacrifice their life for them while being so, that’s actually quite a miserable state of mind, isn’t it? Even in such a state, it seems like Kamiki was constantly doing something for Ai. Since he thought Ai didn’t like him, he probably disregarded himself entirely and went off the rails... with a mindset of "I don’t care if I die."

That’s why I think statements from this character like "It’s my fault" or "I did it" are not very reliable to believe at face value. It seems like he’s saying these things because he wants to blame himself, or maybe he can’t forgive himself, so he talks like that. I could be wrong, but at least when it comes to Yura, I think there’s a high chance that he’s less responsible than he thinks and that there’s about a 50% chance that he didn’t even kill anyone; the more I try to examine his character, I feel like he’s not someone who would originally harm others.

Maybe he really did nothing at all... If that’s the case, someone should save this guy. The only explanation I could think of, for having Ai say "help Kamiki" would be this. If it were to be any other way, and Ai was his victim, then the story is just so harsh on Ai, even if she loves him, Kamiki would have to pay for what he's done, not "helped". Well, his life has been pretty miserable. I don’t know what he’s been up to while the main characters grew up and after he broke up with Ai and looking at him all dressed up in a suit and holding champagne, he might have lived his life doing everything he wanted and enjoying it, but I think he’d have definitely been mentally devastated since Ai’s death. He’s probably extremely depressed, to the extent that it's surprising he’s still alive. It can’t be otherwise. I bet he really doesn't care about himself all so much.., the songs imply that very strongly.

This could sound like I'm trying to defend myself for shipping them but really.. I don't think Hikaru tried to scare Ai using Ryosuke in the first place. It just doesn't line up with his personality and what his behaviors used to be like. My drawings are actually drawn on the baseline that he lied about to be hated by Aqua and to get avenged by him (at that point of the story, he still believed that Ai and Aqua both wanted to get revenge on him and he decided to go along with it) but I know, I can be wrong. And there's probably a pretty low chance of this being touched again, but it's been so confusing for me... If he turns out to be like that, then it is what it is, I guess.

What he did, if what he claimed to do is what's happened in truth, is unforgivable. It shouldn't be redeemable, although he did have his own troubles. But with how the stories are lined up, Ai's confession of love comes AFTER he makes such a claim, and she wants to help him. Would the writer really try to justify or stand with a guy who tried to scare her ex by sending a guy with a knife?; and make Ai say those kinds of things? For her to wish not just herself, but to work with her own children -the protagonists- to help a guy like that? That'd be so cruel. I wouldn't be able to support that so wholeheartedly. I'd want to see him get some proper scolding at least, as a minimum but Aqua just let him go after having him see a video. It makes me wrap my head a lot... it's not handled really well if that's what the story really is.

And why send a pretty bouquet, out of all things when you're trying to "make someone feel the same despair"? Couldn't that have been just a well-meant gift? I mean he sent one to Akane and he's held one at a funeral, and those didn't turn out to have ill intent from what's been shown so far. How did this guy even meet Ryosuke in the first place?

I wrote a theory about what could've happened earlier, and in short, I think Nino being Ryosuke's accomplice on this (and her having introduced Ryosuke to Kamiki) would make more sense than this guy. Nino could have had many opportunities to encounter Ryosuke, but I can't really picture exactly how and for what reason Kamiki would've met this guy and formed a long-term alliance of some sort if he's never really wanted to harm Ai.

So yeah.. I'll just draw them lots before things clear up more(maybe it never will and I'm just overthinking things but I'm really curious just how Ryosuke got into contact with this guy; stuff's confusing) and I'll kick Kamiki's butt if he's really done that sort of thing. Idk; his reactions in 155 were even milder than how I first anticipated it to be...he has very low levels of aggression if I've interpreted it right.

It's so fun to think about these things, perhaps I'm a person who will be scammed really easily since I believe in people's goodwill but, it will allow me to draw some things for the time being.

[divineerdrick]

Homestuck: Beyond Canon Upd8 for March 8, 2024

Alright! Not expecting this to be as hard hitting as last time, but who knows what the gang has planned.

First, we've got a news post from James saying they're playing around a bit with the upd8 schedule this month. I'm glad they're not doing a page a day, though there were times when that happened during the old upd8 culture. As he says, the big thing was that we never knew when one would drop, or how big of an upd8 it would be. But at the end of the day, that required a ton of output that only a madman, or someone in the deep throws of their creative passion (same thing really) can produce. This team is taking a much more thought out route to their outcome than Andrew did, planning things out with outlines and storyboards well ahead of time. Not a lot of room for pages to drop multiple times in a day with that kind work involved.

This won't exactly have me mashing my f5 key until the next upd8, but my ear will definitely be to the ground.

Of course Meenah is the Big Kahuna. But the BIGGEST KAHUNA? I'm going to be so glad to see our favorite shouty boy again.

Damn! This art! That is most definitely no longer a shouty "boy". Karkat has been through some shit!

And yes! You did keep us waiting!

He's been called so much worse. I honestly love this exchange.

LOBsTErs? Why do I feel like I don't want to know, even though I'm very much about to know.

Now that's the kind of seizure inducing, artifact filled GIF we've all come to know and love!

Despite the all caps, this is a very different Karkat. This is the kind of moment where the Karkat we watched grow up would have gone on some kind of epic rant. If this is him "PRETTY FUCKING STRESSED!" now, he's definitely gotten a hell of a lot more steady keel.

But then, he probably had to even more so than when he was trying to wrangle two bloodthirsty teams together.

Oh wow . . . We're talking about Dave and Jade. This is definitely more of a rant, though still kind of tame. I mean, god! I can't even imagine what this would be like, though I probably have friends who know this pain. Civilization was literally sliding into fascism, and when it was go time Dave couldn't commit. Even with the whole Candy "will they/won't they" they were still best bros. And yet Dave dragged his heels on helping Karkat when he needed it.

And from Karkat's perspective, they had no sooner gotten past all that, including the awkward apologies, and Dave just mysteriously dies. I wonder if anyone has figured out why Dave died?

Actually, this might be why we haven't heard about it from Jade yet. From the perspective of the war, this appears to be old news. It doesn't feel like it's been that long, but things happen fast in a conflict like this. And you don't really get time to truly process and move on until it's all over.

And yet, when it comes to Sollux!

Alright the players are taking the stage. Things are about to get into motion. And we end our upd8 on . . .

This glorious piece of crap!

By the Goddess . . . just look at it . . .

I'm no poet like Dave is. I can't elaborate on how gloriously shitty this incredible tour de force is. So I'm just going to leave it here for you to drink it all in.

[schraubd]

There But For the Grace of God

Over at the bad place, Batya Ungar-Sargon is mainlining copium to explain Donald Trump's debate performance. My take on the debate is that Harris did well because she's a factory settings Democratic apparatchik, and the main skill for doing that well is one she's good at: acting, pretending the neoliberal (or now neoconservative!) agenda of the Democratic elite is your own,… — Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) September 11, 2024 Ah yes, that explains it. Donald Trump is just too pure authentic for this world. His raw untamable independent streak just couldn't be corralled to please "the elites" ("on either side"!). Harris gets "if anything, she was too prepared" version 2.0. It's amazing how hard one has to work to avoid the Occam's Razor explanation* that Trump sounded like a madman because he is one; that Trump's inability to articulate a concept of a plan for America beyond crude xenophobic nativism is because he lacks one. Batya's descent into utter madness brain worms territory (which has been ongoing for years, including being a key player making Newsweek the house journal for the alt-right and antisemitic White supremacists and parroting the crudest Putinist propaganda about how funding of "Zelensky's War" is why Americans don't have manufacturing jobs) legitimately frightens me, because I don't know what zombie bit her and so I don't know how to ensure it doesn't bite me too. My main inference right now is "don't become opinion editor for a Jewish media outlet", because it was her experience at the Forward that seemed to drive her into the arms of madness, but I'm terrified that if exposed to the wrong trauma I too might go from being a reasonable intelligent and thoughtful commentator to a true believer in every fever swamp inanity imaginable. I'm not really exposed to Batya these days, since she's not on BlueSky. There's a line on BlueSky that it's an echo chamber, and that's something I worry about too -- isn't it important that I be exposed to more views like Batya's, to ensure that I'm not cocooning myself in an epistemic bubble? The problem, though, is that while when I expose myself to the Batya's of the world I may pat myself on the back for being a good, virtuous epistemic citizen willing to challenge myself with views-not-my-own, in reality exposing myself to the likes of Batya feels less challenging than it is confirmatory. Reading her takes only makes me feel incredibly relieved that I don't have her takes. She is anti-persuasive.  If the point of reading diverse views is to have that "huh, I never thought of it that way" moment, reading these people makes me go "huh, turns out that the caricatured mental model I have of brain-rotted right-wingers isn't a caricature at all." They're saying exactly what I expect them to say; there are no surprises. I'm unconvinced that confirming that instinct is actually healthier, even along the axis of remaining open-minded to divergent opinions. * Of course, this circle also struggles mightily to understand what an "Occam's Razor" explanation is. via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/juXKUBd

[missmaywemeetagain]

I’m not big into musicals and although The Phantom of the Opera is probably the most well known one, I have never fully indulged myself in it. What are some of your favorites moments from the musical and what about it changed your life?

(I figured I might as well learn about it and you seem like an amazing teacher!)

Oh, Stephanie, honey darlin’, I just LOVE this can of worms you are opening for me—thank you so much for asking!! ❤️ (Did I spend way to much time on this? yes. Did I love every minute of it? also yes. Did I cry watching the Overture clips? 100% yes.)

So, I was pretty young when I first listened to the soundtrack (only 8), and digging way deep, I’ll say that the drama of the music itself really got to me—the big orchestrations and amazing voices had me instantly hooked. Also, I was so fascinated that almost the entire musical was sung and that made it incredibly interesting to listen to because I could pretty much figure out the whole story just from the lyrics. I had been exposed to musicals prior to this, mainly Disney ones and good ole Rogers and Hammerstein ones, but this was so different. It was dark and scary (murder! crazy genius madman! problematic love story!). It was dramatic af. And it pulled at my heartstrings in a way nothing had ever done before. And I know Phantom isn’t for everyone because the opera-esque style of singing is not everyone’s cup of tea (and honestly, I am not really a classical opera fan either LOL), but I loved it cuz I’d never heard people do such amazing things with their voices before.

I saw it live for the first time just after my 11th birthday (and 12 -13 times since in various places, not counting filmed productions), and I will say I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. There is so much to look at and take in and somehow I always find something new each time I see it. It's a complete spectacle in the best way possible, honestly. It was everything amazing about theater that I longed to be a part of.

It changed my life because I wanted to be Christine Daae (lol). The more I listened, the more I wanted to sing like her and that led me to the fact that this was a musical and people could actually be in this production. So I learned as much as I could about the production and I tried to mold my little voice to be like Christine’s. And moreover, it inspired me to seek out more musicals in a similar vein, which opened an entire new world to me (hey, there Les Miserables and Evita and all the dramatic 70s/80s/90s musicals lol). Basically, Phantom turned me fully into a theater kid. I was already a dancer, and even though I was relatively shy, I thought that maybe, just maybe this was something I could do. And it set me on the path to do so! Lord knows without Phantom I may have ended up a STEM kid, but lol no. Luckily, my parents were SUPER supportive of this new passion and I owe so much to them for all the lessons and theater tickets and performances they had to sit through and for torturing them with the same thing over and over again LOL. Thanks, Mom and Dad! Anyway, I was the ultimate theater/choir kid in high school, and eventually got my Bachelor’s Degree in Theater as well.

Soooo, favorite moments! (There are many—I could go through the whole show but I’ll try to cut it down lol). 

The Overture (see links below). Seriously incredible music, sets the tone for the show, but when you see the stage production and see how the entire set transforms like magic and that chandelier rises above the audience, my god, it’s incredible. The organ kicks in and the floor vibrates and it's this (brilliant) sensory overload that will make you feel every emotion and sensation. It's magnificent, truly. And this was a HUGE deal in theater in the 80s cuz no one had done anything like it before. And let me tell you, there is nothing like watching that chandelier rise (and fall, later) right over your head! Every time I hear it to this day, I get goosebumps, but if I’m watching it, I will cry. That’s how moving it is. Here's some bootlegs of the stage production (which don't quite do it justice, but it'll have to do! WARNING: Flashing lights) Great quality BL (begins around 3:20 but the Prologue is a good watch!). Another one from Broadway (different angle)

The title song (The Phantom of the Opera) number is crazy. I’m not sure what they were thinking putting synth, an organ, strings, and electric guitars together, but somehow it works (the 80s were WILD lol). Throw in a stunning soprano cadenza at the end and it makes it both incredibly surreal and interesting. And the staging is fantastic. There’s a moving catwalk with body doubles. There’s a boat on a dry ice lake with candles rising out of nowhere. It’s just awesome. The costuming is iconic, too. 

The Music of the Night is beautiful. And it takes a major vocal and acting talent to traverse it well. I won’t get too technical vocally, but when done well, this song is so seductive and impactful. It’s a love song about music, about Christine, and it’s innocent and sexual all at once (when done well).

Masquerade (at the top of Act II) is a fabulous ensemble number and the costuming is amazing. Iconic number overall.

Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again is my favorite song of the show (if I have to pick). For anyone who’s experienced loss (esp. that of a parent), the lyrics will hit you right in the heart. But I love listening to (and singing) this one so much. 

The Point of No Return is the most underrated number in the show, imo and one of my faves. It is sexy. as. hell. and a bit unexpected, really ramping up the passion btw the Phantom and Christine under the guise of this opera that the Phantom has written and is forcing everyone to perform. A good performance has a lot of nuance and will get you a little hot under the collar. 😏 I honestly don’t feel like I can explain it well enough, but a good watch/listen/reading the lyrics will get you there. 

The Final Lair is the insane climax and it’s a bit of a roller coaster but I love it. You’ll go from hating the Phantom to weeping over him in the span of the scene. 

The staging, sets, costuming, and makeup overall (of the original production). Like I mentioned above, a lot of what they did in Phantom was new tech for the late 80’s and to this day has a pretty stellar effect on stage. The chandelier rising and falling throughout the show is just super cool. The (4 hour) makeup for the Phantom was pretty cutting edge back in the day and has a wonderful effect on stage when done well. 

I highly recommend watching the 25th Anniversary at Royal Albert Hall from 2013 if you can’t see it live. The quality is amazing, the talent is fantastic, and while the staging isn’t quite the original because of the size of the venue, it gives you a pretty good idea of the vibe. If you don’t want to watch the whole thing at first, there are plenty of clips on YouTube of the major numbers via The Shows Must Go On (linked above). (If you are just watching clips, you may want to read a synopsis of the show as a whole so it makes sense what’s going on.) The 2004 film starring Gerald Butler and Emmy Rossum is actually pretty decent from a cinematic perspective (though I have some major qualms about GB's vocal performance) but if it's all you have, its a pretty good representation of the story. And listen, with 35 years of material, there are so many cast recordings and bootlegs, you're bound to find a combo of actors that you like! (I won't dive into that here though, cuz that's a whole other can of worms...)

Anyway, I could go on forever about it, but I will stop there as to not put you to sleep! If you choose to check it out, I hope you enjoy and you’ll have to let me know what you think! ❤️

[melestasflight]

Fingon actually avoids traveling to Himring during the vast majority of the year.

He'll of course never journey during dead of winter, but nor would anyone else, so Maedhros understands it.

But Fingon also abuses his Princely station and reserves journeying to the Marches for the short season of mild warmth, when Himring resembles something like Norway in July, and things are vividly green along the hills.

Otherwise, Fingon insists on meeting somewhere in Dorthonion under the pretext of "maintaining a relationship with Arafinwean kin" (which is not a full lie at least), or "exercising discretion and not letting people think the Prince favors the Lord of Himring over anyone else" (even though everyone knows this as a fact already). Often he'll shamelessly demand that Maedhros ride all the way to Hithlum where he inevitably ends up trapped in Fingolfin's endless council meetings.

When Fingon does come to Himring, Maedhros is winter-worn and feels his limbs slowly re-learning how to move like a butterfly's wings in the shy sunlight. Fingon, on the other hand, is ecstatic, rambling endlessly about all the different species of birds and pollinators he's seen on the ride from Hithlum, complaining avidly about how Himring needs more gardens, and boasting to Maedhros about the incredible increase in harvest yields the Hadorians have achieved in Dor-lómin: "You really aren't taking advantage of the land, beloved. It is no bother to bring seeds from our fields, you just have to ask," or "This fortress needs more windows, this is frankly depressingly dark. You should consider stained glass at the least," or "My love, you are so pale, did you resort to living in your basement since we last saw one other?"

Maedhros puts up with it because he is already warmed on the inside from seeing Fingon alone, and deep down he cannot be angry at one who has crossed the Helcaraxë for despising the cold. But he cannot help but clench his teeth, especially when his beloved cousin tosses his clothes carelessly at midday and jumps into a barely-thawed lake nearby, screaming like a madman from euphoria and the endorphins that rush to his head, before threatening to splash Maedhros if he doesn't join.

Maedhros would rather go back inside and cajole Fingon's body into the hot springs that run beneath the fortress (in the basements, yes!) or trap him beneath a layer of pelts and his own self.

But then Fingon gets out of the water, gloriously naked and his skin deliciously reddened from the cold, and places a gentle hand on Maedhros' cheek before smiling that smile he knows Maedhros cannot resist. "Do you remember when we used to swim in the streams of the Pelóri, Rus? Nothing but Taniquetil above us, none else but the two of us, together."

And what can Maedhros do when those times have been summoned? When Fingon has called him by that name?

He smiles back at Fingon, brightly as summer's sunshine, and strips naked.

[frozenmoonshine]

Ok, so, I just randomly decided to make a list of Top 10 hottest (male) TR charcters... No idea why, it just popped in my head, lmao.

I wrote this 97% for the lolz, so don't take it too seriously.

So, here it is:

Top 10 Hottest Guys of Tokyo Revengers

10. MITSUYA - It's common knowledge that he's the Husband Material ™️ of the series! He was introduced as this responsible, mature, reliable guy with a somewhat eccentric hobby, and you may be into the cool, calm, collected, talented, kind ones, who're good with kids and house chores, but you can't convince me that your ovaries didn't do a happy little backflip with his glow-up in the last arc! You just know he's a little devil behind that whole boy-next-door act. 😏

9. SHIN - Ok, throughout the most part of the story, he was just Mikey's dead brother, who Mikey himself led us to believe was weak, generally lame, and a hopeless loser with women. Then we got the flashback chapters in the last arc, and what did we see? Capable, hardworking, caring, loving, selfless, persistant man, strong both in a fight and in holding his ground. Hell, he cared for vegetative Mikey for four years, pretty much all alone, sacrificing his own dreams and life in the process. Also, black turtlenecks and bomber jackets. That's all I'm gonna say.

8. HANMA - Who doesn't love a bit of occasional insanity?! The ultimate troll, both in the verse and in the fandom, tricked us all good! That's just how bored he was. Annoying, completely random and unpredictable, grinning madman who's only there to watch the world burn, by setting it ablaze with his own hotness! I mean, tall, tattoed, well dressed, cocky, handsome bastard, with sleepy eyes, anyone?! I hate the fact that he's giving an inexplicably strong 'boyfriend vibe'! But, I just wanna call him 'Shuuji'... 🤭

7. HAKKAI - This cutie is criminally underrated and slept on! I know Wakui did him dirty by not giving him a more complex personality than just a Mitsuya simp, but look at him! Tall, handsome, strong, blue eyes, lip scar, piercing. No wonder he ended up with a modeling career! And on top of the stunning looks, he's just a pure, shy baby! 🥺 Makes you wanna tease and corrupt the hell out of him! 🤭 Besides, his implied clinginess and loyalty suggest he's a keeper, and if that isn't hot, I don't know what is!

6. MIKEY - The definition and the school example of that old proverb - the strongest poisons are kept in the tiniest flasks. Yes, having incredible fighting prowess is hot, being a capable leader is hot, having endless authority is hot, being "emo" is hot, being painfully cute is hot... We don't care that he's pocket sized (and mentally unstable), with his endless charisma, our favorite gang leader very well deserved his place on this list!

5. WAKA - Simply, he's sexy and he knows it. And we know it. You know it. Your grandma knows it. Everyone knows it. Teen or adult, law abiding citizen or a crime lord, the White Leopard could make anyone anywhere fall for him at the snap of his fingers! ...if he only cared enough to do so, tho.

4. KOKO - Intelligent, smart, sassy, sarcastic, and plain insolent = perfection. This cheeky, well-read, super stylish, handsome motherfucker had us fawning over his strong, passion-driven personality, hidden under the cool façade. What's not to love about a blindly devoted guy?! It doesn't matter if it's the devotion to a cause or a person he deems important (#lucky Inui siblings). But fair be fair, that habit of sticking his tongue out should be X rated...

3. BAJI - If his fiery, man-among-the-men personality, undying loyalty, and endless kindness aren't enough to make you burn like a car, just take a look at that perfectly chiseled face, cocky smirk, and glorious raven locks! Still not convinced? Well, you're either blind, dead, or not into guys at all! We should actually be grateful that his adult version was only ever shown at the very last chapter, cause anything more than that would have been beyond too hot to handle!

2. KAZUTORA - There's just something indescribably magnetic about the whole "redeemed sinner" trope, and that alone would have been enough to get him a spot on this list! But since he also happens to have the handsomest face in the show, a beauty mark under the eye, the cutest smile, a piercing, a tattoo, and a fair amount of badassery and strength, it all sums up to the total of our dear banana tiger being the runner-up!

1. HARUCHIYO - Does this one really need any explanation? Pathological loyalty is beyond hot, wearing a mask is hot, scars are super hot (as already established), suits are hot, piercings are hot, long lashes are hot, pale blond/albino is hot, green eyes are hot, skillfully wielding a sword is hot, smarts are hot, being a little bit deranged is hot... the list could really go on for days, there's literally nothing about him that doesn't make him hot. "...Being a homicidal maniac and a drug addict?" No, he's excused for all red flags on the account of pretty privilege!

[mermaidsirennikita]

best kisses of all time iydm?? I think about the midnight library kiss in what I did for a duke at least once a week<3333

they are sensual enough i guess but nowadays I just don't see some good old, toe curling, actually romantic, a kiss for the sake of the kiss-kiss you know? the kind that racks a havoc in the very being of the mcs?? ahhh the good old days

Anyway thats the ask, thank you❤❤❤❤

For sure, yes! I will say, because I often say it... Lady Chatterley's Lover has one of the best onscreen kisses of all time.

Anyway:

Mafia Madman by Mila Finelli. I think of a kiss in this book a lot, because while these two have a lot of SEX, they don't have a lot of tender kissing or like, loooovemaking type sex. There's a scene where the hero has a panic attack, and the heroine helps him breathe through it, and they start having sex, and I think she calls him baby during or something (and it's also the first time they've had sex with her on top) and he like, grabs her and kisses her... it's so good.

Regarding the Duke by Grace Callaway. This is recent, but it's their first kiss in flashbacks, and he's all cold and calculating and trying to seduce her into marrying him for her connections, and she's sweet and gentle, and it's like... so good... When they kiss for the first time and it kinda goes out of control and he's like "SHIT".

Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas. There's a really passionate kiss around the line where Derek tells Sara that sometimes, he wants to punish her a little... And he's basically like "you need to stay the fuck away from me" but we all know he's falling in love with her, and he can't resist kissing her.

Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid. The kiss during the scene where Ilya is like "oh let's like chill and have an snack after sex", which turns into a handjob lol, but it's like the first time they really start getting EMOTIONALLY intimate (and the first time they switch out of using last names only), and you see the horror of FEELINGS happen.

American Queen by Sierra Simone. I really love the angsty ferris wheel first kiss between Embry and Greer because it does feel kind of doomed? Like, you're very "oh nooooo this is baaaad" because of the setup you've already seen and what you as the reader know that they don't know, but you're also reading so fast because the tension has been building and it all feels so fated.

And though it's not from their perspective, in the same book the mistletoe kiss between Ash and Embry is. SO. GOOD.

Lothaire by Kresley Cole. The kiss when Ellie is all "fuck you dude I'll make you yell to the rafters" (she does) and during they get really out of hand and start making out and he bites her lower lip and it starts bleeding... and as she withdraws he's like "she is going to lose her shit and run away", kind of WANTING that to happen because he's an asshole and is losing the upper hand... But she basically smiles at him through the blood and kisses him HARD. It's the entire relationship in a kiss.

When the Duke Was Wicked by Lorraine Heath. The first kiss in this book is one of those "he has many emotions including jealousy and can't stand it so he grabs her and kisses her" moments... and he feels so bad about it... and she's so pissed at him... and it's incredible. Waking Up with the Duke also has an amazing first kiss, especially because after that Jayne demands that, though they'll be having sex, there CANNOT be any more kissing. Because the kissing is Too Much.

Thief of Shadows by Elizabeth Hoyt. The masked kiss, which very much gives HARD Sam Raimi Spider-Man vibes.

Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas. The kiss while their hands are still tied, obvi obvi lol. I also love the first kiss in Seduce Me at Sunrise so great, because Kev can't stop himself (common Kev skill issue) and it's so angsty and so passionate and Win just leaves the country right after because he won't just put it in her, basically.

Between the Devil and Desire by Lorraine Heath. Olivia goading Jack into kissing her by being like "and that's what I DON'T want you to do" because she knows he does the opposite of what she tells him to lol.

The Duke Gets Even by Joanna Shupe. The first kiss in the ocean when they're strangers and he tells her to pull his hair harder. It sets the tone in every way for the rest of the book.

[misteria247]

Fuck it I'm gonna say it but I think Ravio is actually an incredibly brave guy. Like he left Lorule knowing full well that he could probably not go back home, in order to save Lorule and its princess and his companion Hilda from a shady person who didn't have her and their kingdom's best interests in mind. Knowing full well that he himself didn't have the strength to fight Yuga himself he went to Hyrule in search of a hero, or rather Link knowing that he was strong enough to fight this madman when he couldn't. And he did this while being afraid yet he brushed that fear aside in order to not only save Lorule and Hilda, but to also save Hyrule, Zelda and Link by making a way for the hero of courage to do what needed to be accomplished. Not only that but he was incredibly wise too, especially when he finally confronted Hilda and told her that what she was doing was essentially what her ancestors were trying so desperately to stop. That she was creating the very madness that resulted in Lorule's Triforce being destroyed and condemning their world to it's current state of ruin.

Like Ravio isn't brave in the traditional sense, he doesn't use swords or fight monsters or any of the normal things we usually associate with heroism but his actions that he took despite his fear makes him just as brave as Link in so many ways. Because it takes so much bravery to literally turn your back on everything you know in order to do what's right, even if in the end it might be all for nothing. That takes guts and Ravio did that. So in my humble opinion he's a pretty brave man.

[chronicler-of-narrative]

Hello genshin tumblr!

So, making good on my promise, i return to tell you about my first and main oc: Sigurd!

(Art made by the fantastic @the-fallen-aesthetics, go and show them some love! They're an incredible multi-fandom artist!)

Now, before i get into his backstory, I want to point out a small detail regarding his desogn: How, unlike most genshin characters, Sigurd appears to be masked (yes, I know Xiao, Freminet and Gaming all put on headwear during their bursts, but I dont count that). But, what if I told you that in fact, this is Sigurd's face? That Sigurd is not the man, but the mask?

So, with that narrative hook added to convince you read more, here's the gist:

In the mechanized kindom of Khaenri'ah, Sigurd still found himself by chance as the servant of an uncaring and almost sadistic master. Bruised and overwhelmed, Sigurd would eventually turn on his master, stealing a rusty hatchet from one of his master's many armories before promptly chopping him in half.

Eventually, Sigurd's crime was discovered, and so he was put on trial, with a mask over his face to indicate his sinner status and to prevent him the shame of being known. Though, as a result of some shady dealings between the court and an enigmatic acquaintance of Sigurd's, instead of finding himself in the gallows, Sigurd instead found himself in the dungeon, still wearing that same mask, although now, curiously...He was holding a greataxe.

For the punishment was, ironically enough, for Sigurd to continue engaging in the very crime that had put him there, though this time his victims were the worst of the worst. Sigurd was now a captive executioner.

Little did Khaenri'ah's court know, howevery that instead of providing Sigurd with repentance, they had instead created a monster.

After being locked up for so long in a dark, dusty tunnel surrounded by naught but corpses and sin, Sigurd began to go mad: In his eyes, he was no longer a criminal enduring punishment, but a righteous champion of justice who was graciously given the honor or disposing of the nation's filth.

In fact, it got so bad that, even when his sentence was up, the locks on Sigurd's dungeon grew ever stronger. The very people who prosecuted him grew so terrified of the violent lunatic stuck in their basement that they just started throwing the most banal of criminals at him, if only in hopes to keep him sated.

Eventually, the Cataclysm came. And Sigurd, now fully convinced of his noble purpose, thought it the perfect time to leave the dungeon in hopes of saving his people from the influx of monsters. Though, he never did reach the warzone, for an encounter with said enigmatic acquaintance lead to Sigurd's vision fading to black.

And yet, when a corrupt Garde named Lestat, desperate to avoid judgement for his actions, chanced upon a strange mask washed up on Fontaine's shores, he had no way of knowing that by dawning it (in hopes of using it as a disguise)...He would end up unleashing a madman with 500 years of built up vitriol.

So yea, thats about it. Had to rewrite this whole post once because im an idiot who forgot to hit save to drafts. But yea, hope you guys enjoy him, and my ask box is always open. I also originally had a fic go go along with it, but since i didnt quite like how it came out, its currently rotting in my notes app. However, should you folks like my little executioner, I might be more inclined to actually fully work on it (which I might do anyway, but im really not sure).

If you took the time to read all the way to hear, thank you so much and have an incredible day!