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a-pretty-nerd · 4 years

Text

Rebellion

Tomura Shigaraki x AllMight!Daughter!Reader

Chapter 2

Premise:

When The League of Villians discovers that AllMight has a daughter, they are quick to snatch you up and hold you hostage. Shigaraki had a careful and thought out plan, but that was before you got there. Now you're in the mood for some not-so-healthy rebellion.

Word Count: 1,567

Warnings: Kidnapping, mommy/daddy issues? Fictional politics? Future chapters will include NSFW content and violence!

A/N:

I cannot describe how much fun I'm having writing this. Like I'm genuinley having a blast with this concept. The more I learn about Shigaraki for, "reseach purposes", the more I fall in love with him as a character. He's so complex, that character development, GOD! That charactet design, FUCK! The exploration of the complexities of mental illness from trauma and grooming, DAMN IT! He's becoming an anti-hero and I 👏 AM 👏 HERE 👏 FOR 👏 IT👏 Anyways, Don't forget to check out my Patreon! ❤

Chapter 1 Chapter 3

You passed out again. Dehydration.

You woke up in a sleeping bag. Your wrists and ankles bruised slightly from the restraints, but free. You laid there on the floor, looking over you noticed a few bottles of water and a granola bar. You took down one bottle in a matter of seconds before discarding it and starting the next. A horrible aching pain in your head raged on as you took in your surroundings. Light trickled in between the cracked of the barred-up window.

Your heart began to race as you began to sort through your options. Could you manage to escape through the window? Or were you on a second or third floor? Maybe if you asked to use the restroom, maybe there was a window there where you could get a better look.

Poor All Might, he must be so worried. Did even know you were missing? Of course, he knew, it wasn't like you to be out all night and gone in the morning. He'd probably called Mom by now, she's probably on a plane already. She's going to be furious.

After you finished a second bottle and the snack, you stood. You felt better. Not good, but better. You made your way to the door and knocked.

"Hello! Is anyone there?" You called.

"The doors open!" A new voice answered. The door let out a harsh creak as you opened it. It let out into the living space you had been in before. There, the majority of the villains surrounding you earlier sat around. You looked up to the figure that stood, leaning against the wall closest to the door.

"You're new." You mumbled.

"My apologies, Miss. I believed I was absent when you first arrived. I'm Mr. Compress." His sing-song voice reached out from behind a mask.

"A pleasure." You groaned back. "Why is the door unlocked, aren't you afraid I'll break free?" You asked the room. They all turned to look at you.

"I doubt you could fight all of us at once." The red-eyed man had the hand again.

"Bathroom?" You asked. Mr. Compress pointed you in the right direction and you walked off. The only window in there was way too small and too high up to help you. You finished your business and washed your hands before looking at yourself in the mirror. You looked tired and worn out.

You shuffled back into the living room and found the group lounging around. A Tv played the news non-stop. A few of them were passing the time by playing games on devices.

"I'm sorry...Who exactly are you?" You spoke to the room.

"Wow! You really are clueless!" The girl mused.

"Don't you follow hero news?" Patchwork asked. You shrugged.

"I never really paid attention to what was happening over here. All I know is what Dad has told me. He's mentioned 'The League of Villians' a couple of times, but I guess I wasn't listening. Hero news back home is, different."

"You know of All For One, don't you?" The red-eyed man asked without taking his gaze off the Tv.

"Yeah. You're his associates, or something aren't you? Like his henchmen?" A few chuckled.

"You can call me Toga!"

"Twice!"

"Spinner."

"Dabi."

"'Henchmen'...hehe. No, I wouldn't say that." Red-eye stood and began making his way closer and closer, holding a bottle of water in his hand. Careful to hold a finger away from it. "There is nothing I hate more than heroes. This wretched society that rewards such self-serving narcissists." Closer. "We seek to destroy it." Closer. You're backed against a wall now. You watched him place his last digit down on the bottle. It began to crumble before shattering to dust in his grasp. "My name is Shigaraki Tomura. You can consider me, All For One's heir. The future King of Villians." He came so close the wrist of the hand on his face rested dangerously close to your chin. His red eye stared down at you. Your heart raced.

"Oh yes. I've heard of you." You whispered.

"Good." He hummed before turning back and taking his seat again.

"How could you let this happen!?"

"I didn't know this would happen! She's strong, she's an adult now! I thought she could handle herself!"

"She's just a kid! She could be dead by now or worse!" Your mother cried. Her fists firmly slammed on the table where your father sat. Policemen and detectives scattered about the apartment. When you hadn't returned after a few hours, All Might went down to the gym. He found your bag, but no sign of you. First thing he did was call the police and then your mother. She arrived less than 24hrs after receiving the call.

“Please Ms. L/N, we’re doing everything we can. We’ve got the best team in Musutafu looking for her.” Detective Tsukauchi was the second person he called. He felt better knowing his friend was on the case, he had faith that if anyone could find you, it was Tsukauchi.

“Everyone knows if a victim of kidnapping hasn’t been found in the first 24hrs its hopeless! How could you be so sure about this?”

“I understand your frustrations ma’am, but we already have reason to believe we know who took her, and motive. At this rate, we’re just trying to track down their location.”

“Its the League isn’t it? They’re using her to get to me aren’t they?” Your father sulked in his chair. His eyes fixated on his hands which sat in his lap. He shook with fear, rage, disappointment, all targetted at himself. He took sole responsibility for your kidnapping. Your mother fumed across the table from him, arms crossed, and nails digging into her arms.

“Don’t beat yourself up, we’re going to find her,” Tsukauchi assured him. Your mother sat there, gritting her teeth as she gripped her phone.

“I have to go.” She spat as she got up.

“Huh!? You’re not going after her yourself are you?”

“No. I sent for Xavier, Y/N’s boyfriend as soon as I arrived. I’m going to meet him at the airport.

“Boyfriend? Y/N never said anything about a boyfriend.” Your father watched your mother walk towards the front door as she threw her jacket over her shoulders.

“Yes, well, there’s a lot about her you don’t know, Toshinori. I’ll be back.”

“What’s it like in America?”

Toga asked with a wide smile as you sat with them. It was odd, they seemed entirely unbothered by you walking around doing your own thing. The front door was right there, you could have made a run for it. You knew that was a bad idea. They knew, that you knew, that was a bad idea.

“Oh, it’s alright, I guess.” You sat on the floor against the wall beside her.

“I heard heroes work for the military there,” Dabi noted.

“Yeah, they are. Back home, heroes are organized into ‘Military aids’, or ‘police aids’. Meaning, if you want to be a hero, you have to choose between working for the military, or independent police forces. A lot of heroes go into police work because it allows heroes to be community-focused. But Military, that’s where the money is. If you want to be a hero celebrity, that’s where you work.”

“Yeesh, there aren’t any independent agencies?” Toga asked, pulling her legs to her chest.

“I guess the police offices work like hero agencies do here. It’s just a group of people who are authorized to use their quirks to ‘keep the peace’.” You used your fingers to create air-quotes.

“You don’t sound too keen on the idea.” She pointed out with a sly smile. You sighed.

“I know things seem bad here with heroes, but in America, it’s worse. The system was built so that people wish flashy quirks get the best out of life. It’s created a highly militarized country that only cares for those who have something to offer it. If you can’t serve your country, you’re considered trash.”

“I’ve seen the anti-hero marches online. Things seem really out of hand over there. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a league over there too.”

“It’s not anti-hero, it’s anti-military. If we could take away the idea that we’re supposed to serve the system, then heroes could be held accountable for their actions as individuals, not part of a flawed system. When you give these people so much power, they ultimately abuse it and leave the rest to rot.”

“You sound like a villain,” Dabi smirked. You sighed, having realized how loud you got. You were passionate on the subject. You spent your college years working to analyze and fight against the system. The system your mother so willingly played into and encouraged you to do the same. The system that killed your friend.

“Maybe here things are a little more simple. But back home not everything isn’t so black and white.”

“It isn’t here, either.” Shigaraki groaned from his place on the couch, facing away from you.

Taglist

@craftybean13 @babayaga67 @imjustverable

#mha #bnha #Shiguraki x reader #shigaraki x reader #Tomura Shigaraki #Tomura Shiguraki #league of villians #LoV

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bladekindeyewear · 4 years

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HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2020-09-15

This caught me laaaate at night gosh I’m tired but I’m gonna get it outta the way so it won’t stick in my craw! Already saw the first page, so it’s time for:

> CHAPTER 13. The Funeral

Church with chess symbols at the peaks and a Prospit/Derse or Hope/Rage split color theme on the stained glass windows.

JANE: Dearly beloved...

> (==>)

Trolls, humans, and papparazzi. Oh, hm, this church is RATHER carapacian isn’t it? Between the chess and the continuing Prospit-Derse themes, like how this corresponds to how they align in the incipisphere top-left to bottom-right if I recall:

(Minus the outlying orbs to the left and right for symmetry.)

That twisted pattern is interesting, and not quite a spirograph. Is that gonna be important later? If we’re going to get some sort of class chart later in the comic, it’d be easy for them to hint at the chart’s graphical structure subtly by dropping it places like here.

JANE: Ladies... JANE: Gentlemen... JANE: News outlets... JANE: And other valued members of the Human Nation State.

Technically true, but still odd to hear-- ...oh right, I forgot this was asshole dictator-wannabe Jane, too.

I read an interesting twitter thread recently about the intense psychological distinction between wanting to BE the best, and wanting to be TREATED like you’re the best. Epilogues/HS^2 Jane is kind of written as a case study on the pitfalls of leaning on the latter instead of the former.

> (==>)

They brought Yiffy WITH them-!? --Oh right. The hostage exchange was supposed to happen here wasn’t it.

Yiffy definitely looks like a Harley-Lalonde daughter in this shot.

JANE: Gamzee Makara, High Court Jester, exalted saint of the purple veil, has left us to traverse that grand, gay carnival in the sky, where, I am told by various members of the clownly cloth, he will spend the rest of history, honking in grand tribute to the Mirthful Messiah.

SINGULAR???

Weird. Is it because Alt!Callie “won” here?

Or is Jane just forgetting because she’s culturally used to monotheism (ironically) and is insensitive.

JANE: And my first memory of our Purple Prince, was his robust codpiece--

Wow.

> (==>)

JANE: --As he offered me his friendly support, along with the sacred blood of his brethren, the holy sacrament--

He STILL killed trolls??! (EDIT: No, a friend points out that she's talking about when she met him first in Act 6 and he tried selling bottles of troll blood to her. EDIT2: -which may be another inconsistency, since Vriska supposedly overwrote that post-retcon.)

> (==>)

It takes Jake a few seconds of puzzled eye contact before he catches exactly what it is Yiffany is tossing down. In his defense, he is distracted by his wife’s speech, which is doing the emotional equivalent of wringing him out like a wet towel, before using that towel to slap the sweaty buttocks of a large, odorous man. Even if he knows everything she’s saying is a load of horsefeathers, it does nothing for his composure to hear her heap praise on that smelly, homewrecking clown.

Bad things about Gamzee deserve to be said here, yes.

Jake wonders what she’ll say about him, at his own funeral.

Now those are some uncomfortable thoughts.

He narrows his eyes in Yiffany’s direction. She’s a lovely girl, really. He wishes he could have gotten to know her under better circumstances. He’d known she existed, of course--Jane had complained about her often enough--but they’d never had much chance to get acquainted. He rather believes her and Tavvy would have been fast friends.

Then again, perhaps it’s better that she never had much of a chance to get to know his family.

He lets go of the leash.

Yep, there’s a plan to set in motion that he’s probably already discussed with her privately. Gotta unite this four-kid team after all.

> (==>)

Wait, are you ATTACKING?!? --Of course you’re attacking. You would even if the plan was something different, wouldn’t you.

JANE: And I know that at times like these it is easy to want to give in. JANE: To throw in the towel, and turn our faces away from the light of democracy and moral fortitude that we, the citizens of the human kingdom, are blessed with from birth. JANE: God knows I’ve had my own faith tested in the last few weeks.

Jesus Christ, what has she turned the place into, a fucking theocracy?

She sounds like the leader of some screwed-up, fundamentalist country! Like the United States!

*rimshot*

JANE: As many of you know, I did not grow up with the same privileges that all of you enjoy.

Jesus.

JANE: I was born on proto-Earth, that half-finished dystopia mangled by the ravages of foolish leadership and endless war.

Jesus, she really IS a self-evident takedown of hypocritical entitled political figures. With the bonuses having Jasprose explicitly ADDRESS said entitlement to make things even clearer cut.

JANE: And as for Gamzee, well, his upbringing was even worse. JANE: He was born to a violent and uncaring home, a lonely child with few natural gifts.

...Some natural gifts and status.

> (==>)

She’s just, shaking with fury here isn’t she? And about to perform an impressive corpse-lob.

JANE: It would be simple to let this disgusting, vile, SHAMEFUL act of spiteful revenge turn us away from the blinding light of the sword of justice that hangs over us all--

This sentence seems suspicious so I’m quoting it to refer to later if I need to, but is probably just platitudes.

> (==>)

JANE: Poised

> (==>)

JANE: Trembling

Okay maybe the sword’s a dick, but what exactly is Yiffany doing?? I’m finding it difficult as usual to tell between some of these image transitions.

> (==>)

JANE: Ready to burst forth--

Bad PR to shock-collar a kid mid press junket. (Very dicks description.)

> (==>)

Click. (Did they swap the shock function with Jane’s necklace somehow, that’d be fun.)

JANE: I want to give up, at times. I understand your pain.

While shocking a kid? GREAT PR.

> (==>)

JANE: I sympathize with your pain.

Wow, those horrified audience members. She REALLY can’t even see herself anymore can she? Not even hear herself. And they’re making sure this is pointed out to EVERYONE watching. They described this as in large part a PR campaign to defeat her, didn’t they?

> (==>)

Great furious businesswoman-villain look, that art.

JANE: But when that pain! Becomes too hard! To endure! JANE: Remember poor, lifeless Gamzee! Who suffered pain far worse than any of us could ever fathom! JANE: THE PAIN OF BETRAYAL!

Click click click. This is a fun sequence.

> (==>)

DIRK: Dude, didn’t you lower the voltage on that shock collar? DIRK: Little Red isn’t looking so hot. JAKE: Yes of course i did but the damn doohickys got the kick of a donkey! JAKE: I couldnt remove it completely shed know i was the one who did it! DIRK: Well, if that supervillain cuntwaffle doesn’t stop, she’s going to kill her. Not really the best at hostage management, is she.

Decent plan. (And of course Dirk would pull out the word cunt.) When’s the cavalry coming?

> (==>)

JANE: But we cannot allow his memory to be in vain! JANE: For Gamzee Makara taught us that even the most loathsome degenerate can take their place in society. JANE: All they need is the right redemption arc - !

Trying to hammer home some of the Epilogue’s trolly-critical themes a little less bleakly, I take it.

I kind of like the violent vibration in ALL of these gifs in a row. It makes the scene seem small, slow, teeth-clenching but still full of steady action, emphasizing the importance of the relatively small events from panel to panel while giving them the sense with the animation of them being [i]drawn out[/i] and tortuous instead of just “occurring”. It feels that way to me, anyway.

> (==>)

If he got up alive here, that’d be hilarious. (Presumably he’s been treated and done-up like a normal funeral body, not “dormant” and undecaying like a dead god-tier.)

> (==>)

CORPSE PUNT w/ CLEATS

> (==>)

That face is just. I love that face.

> (==>)

SHE MAD

JANE: Young lady, I am just about at the end of my rope with you. JANE: Throw all the dog bowls you want at the walls of my warship. JANE: But don’t you dare act up in front of a JANE: Live JANE: Fucking JANE: Newsfeed! YIFFY: Grrrrrr

What did you expect to happen? Do you expect to shout her down from this, Jane?

JANE: After everything I’ve done for you--paying for your education, helping your parents cover up your existence from the world! JANE: Just imagine what Rose and Jade would say if they could see you now, even dissidents can have a little decorum! JANE: Get down from there at once! YIFFY: Grrrrrr

But this is GAMZEE. --I guess it’s seriously disrespectful to his followers, though. Still. If you wanted civility from her, a shock collar, leash, and food bowl wasn’t the way to go about it.

JANE: Don’t you threaten me, young lady. Not today! YIFFY: GRRRRRRRRR

What is your PLAN even, Jane? You’ve completely disregarded her.

JANE: There’s nowhere for you to go. My agents are swarming this church. Be reasonable, Yiffany. JANE: Ugh. JANE: Disgusting name. JANE: But that’s hardly your fault. You were always just a footnote. Your parents’ little prank. JANE: Honestly, that’s why I helped them all those years ago! I do love a good jape. JANE: But let’s be serious. JANE: You don’t matter. If you did, they would have come for you already.

Can all the press hear her being such an asshole?

Okay, stereotypically, their arrival should be the next couple panels:

> (==>)

Jake, do something useful like hoping harder.

> (==>)

And she knocks the remote away. Excellent.

And she does. Seemingly at the end of her tolerance for insults toward her name, social status, and heritage, Yiffy performs an impressive backflip off the podium and down onto the church floor. One that, if it hadn’t been happening amidst a sea of other newsworthy events, would surely have ended up on someone’s instagram story within thirty seconds. She gives Gamzee’s corpse one last parting kick: a hard, proper kick that proves those cleats aren’t just for fashion. Although they are certainly also for fashion.

Good, good.

He vanishes into the seething crowd, and we are confident that we will never have to deal with this asshole ever again.

God damnit.

> (==>)

Jake watches this from a safe distance, poised on the edge of intervening to pull Yiffy out of there. But in the end he doesn’t have to. Instead he watches in admiration as she tears the place to utter shreds. An echoing sympathy swells inside of him as she rends apart the funeral flowers and punts Gamzee into the shrieking congregation. Here is a girl who felt the cold, indecent hand of fate wrapping around her, and instead of submitting to it and slowly sublimating down into morasse of boiled doormat, she slapped it away from her with a lively oh, no thank you.

All at once, Jake feels immense affection for his granddaughter. He hopes the two of them can make up for lost time.

Lessons belatedly learned, but learned nonetheless.

> (==>)

JANE: Enough of this. JANE: Seize her!

Kind of Red Queen of you. (Are those stained glass windows in back of the frame about to burst?)

> (==>)

Yep.

The stained glass window shatters inward, obliterated to stardust. The war is knocking.

Even attacking a disgusting faith’s church is pretty bad form, though.

Tired and busy, seeya next upd8. <3

#Homestuck #hs2 #Homestuck Liveblog #upd8 #Homestuck^2 #spoiler #spoilers

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hellyeahheroes · 6 years

Photo

You know, gotta love when a website in the middle of an interview with Marvel editor shows off a panel from an upcoming book they’re allowed to show and FORGET TO SAY WHICH ONE IT IS! Surge and a character who I think is supposed to be Hellion (his telekinesis is usually green so this green glow could be what and in a book that doesn’t look to be NextGen (thankfully) and the site didn’t even say what book it is. Considering the two blonde girls look quite similar I SUSPECT they might be Stepford Cuckoos, which would suggest Amazing Nightcrawler where we know Stepfords will be showing up (these posters might be an additional clue) but I don’t know because WHAT A WEBSITE SHOWS A NEW STUFF TO PROMOTE UPCOMING BOOKS WITHOUT SAYING WHAT BOOKS IT IS FROM WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE THIS ISN”T ROCKET SCIENCE HOW BACKWARDS IS THIS ENTIRE INDUSTRY THAT IT CANNOT EVEN DO BASIC PROMOTION LIKE THIS RIGHT?!

Then again that website’s name is Adventures In Poor Taste, they sat down with Jordan White and made him answer questions from their twitter followers. Some things he said:

So, Perilous Siege‏ (@perilous_siege) is loving “Age of X-Man” so far and asked if this event is a sign that X-Men stories are headed in a more subversive and perhaps envelope-pushing direction moving forward.

Jordan: I think the X-Men titles are always trying to push the envelope… but, yes, we have very big plans to push things in a way no one is expecting. Subversive is definitely a good word for it, although it’s funny, because I think it’s kind of double-subversive, in that it’s going to be subversive in a way you don’t expect?

Last time I saw someone describing a superhero story as aiming to be envelope-pushing we got this trailer

youtube

And seeing how shitty Uncanny X-Men is I suspect we shouldn’t ask if Cyclops is gonna say “FUCK XAVIER!” but when.

Speaking of school, Rafael Martins‏ (@rafaradar) wondered if there are upcoming plans for the Academy X kids like Surge, Hellion, Mercury and Dust.

Jordan: Three of those characters appear in a book we’re sending to press last week. The fourth is in a script I read recently, and I think her fans will be very happy with that appearance.

@newx-menfan

How long it takes for a book to go from print to store? If one week then the only book that would make sense is X-Tremists #1. If two then it will be one of the next week books and then we have Prisoner X #1, Champions #3 or the one book I hope none of them shows up in considering its abysmal track record in the last two issues, fucking Uncanny X-Men #13.

Also, while linking this on twitter White was sure to mention Surge by name as only one out of these four.

And now for the absolute pure unrefined GOLD of this interview:

Oh, and speaking of X-Men Twitter, Zack Jenkins over at Xavier Files (@XavierFiles) had concerns. He said, and I quote: “Y’all ever gonna let Colossus and Wolverine’s Savage Land kids hang out and be friends?” Think of the children, Jordan!

Jordan: NOPE! Never.

In all seriousness, there are no plans. Giving super heroes kids is one of those things that seems awesome in the moment, but always ends up very awkwardly because GENERALLY SPEAKING the audience does not want to read a book about their favorite hero getting bogged down in the real-life responsibility of having a child. There’s a reason the stories almost always end up bending over backwards to get rid of the child one way or another. >cough<Cable>cough<

I will now try to form a response to this that doesn’t devolve into an incoherent rage again. I should manage, I mean HOLY FUCK EVEN DC ISN’T THAT OUT OF TOUCH MY GODS WHAT IN THE FUCK’S NAME

- Admin

#Surge #Hellion #Mercury #Dust #Stepford Cuckoos #Amazing Nightcrawler #X-Tremists #Prisoner X #Champions #Uncanny X-men #Marvel #Robin #Damian Wayne #Superboy #Joanthan Kent #Jon Kent #DC

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coeurvrai · 5 years

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I wonder how many pages this review/rant/scream into the void has taken up on my blog so far? Far more than it deserves, I’m sure of that much.

“But back to the point, we have to get past the Vultures to get to the king?”

Rashid glanced at Malachiasz, but nodded. Malachiasz leaned back on the chaise, pulling at his lower lip.

“That complicates things,” Nadya said. “We can’t just wait for the opportune moment. I need to know what I’m doing if this is going to work.”

Malachiasz nodded. “You’re going to go to the dinner. Watch the king. Charm the prince. He’ll be your way to get to the king. Tell me exactly what the masks on the Vultures near the king look like.”

He was going to deal with the Vultures. Fine. Good, even, because Nadya didn’t know what to do when they were involved. They were a variable she feared and did not understand.

God, if only you knew an individual who had been a part of that order/cult for a very long time and knows the intimate details of how it works and what they do.

Oh wait...

But seriously, Nadya, if you were so curious and so concerned with your lack of knowledge about the inner workings of the Vultures, you could just fucking ask Malachiasz about it. I know he’s the Black Vulture, but you have no real reason to believe that he wouldn’t just tell you. Then again, asking for common sense from this girl is like asking a block of cheese for directions.

Also Nadya wouldn’t recognise an opportune moment if it walked up right to her face and held up a bright flashing neon sign saying “opportune moment”.

Rashid stood. “I’ll go find Parijahan; you don’t have much time before dinner.”

That left just Nadya and Malachiasz.

NO! Don’t leave these two fuckers alone in a bedroom, Rashid! I don’t want to deal with what I’m sure is gonna be more focus on this stupid relationship that I neither need nor want. ED just provides us with a surplus of this damn stuff.

“You should go as well,” she said softly.

She could feel his gaze burning against her face, but she refused to look at him. She saw him stand and move toward the door out of the corner of her eye, but he changed his mind. Instead, he dropped down into a crouch in front of Nadya’s chair so he was looking up at her.

“I acted without trusting your judgment, and for that I apologize,” he said.

It’s not an apology for murdering that girl, she noted. But it was a start. It was something from this boy who obviously had no morals and no regard for anything that didn’t serve his own interests. She just wished she could understand what those interests were.

Nadya, we do not have time to once again get into your utter stupidity because it will just make myself go into a blind rage over it and that’s just not healthy. I still have like a good 150 pages to go and I cannot afford to burn myself out so, I’m just going to ignore that for now. Also, “the girl” has a name. It’s Felicíja, Nadya. I know you know it because you’ve used it before.

Also, “no regard”? Nadya, you say that like you have regard for anything else but your own interests. You don’t. You still view Tranavians as lesser than you, as unworthy of existing as they are because they have blood magic, as “heretics” because they rejected your religion and do not want it.

You can’t tell me you feel empathy and understanding towards the Tranavians, genuinely, because you haven’t gone through the character development for it - no matter what this book is trying to tell me. Unlearning biases and xenophobia is tough, unlearning any kind of systemic discrimination is tough, but you haven’t made an effort to. You haven’t. And this isn’t how to do it, anyways.

Also the moral high horse that Nadya is sitting on is eye-roll worthy. You’ve also murdered people, Nadya; I can’t say this enough.

“Nadya,” he started and stopped. He let out a frustrated breath.

Inexplicably, she felt herself soften. She reached out and threaded her fingers into his soft, black hair, letting her hand settle against the side of his head.

Why—after being so furious with him—did she find herself desperately yearning to kiss him? The heat of anger that he sparked was still felt fresh in her veins and yet she couldn’t help but gaze at the bow of his lips.

She was feeling too many things in too little time. She wanted it all to stop. She wanted whatever this was she felt for him to stop.

I want it to stop too but I know it won’t, because otherwise ED would have nothing else to write about, and we can’t have that.

I don’t know why, either. It’s stupid. You’re so abhorred by him killing Felicíja when you claim that she didn’t need to die, and that he’s undermining your agency, and you know, he’s a former Vulture and a blood mage and your enemy but yet you still get all gooey over him for no real reason.

To the point that you checked out his unconscious body before you checked whether or not he was alive.

If he was startled by her actions, he didn’t show it. He let another moment pass between them—fraught with a tension still too new to her—before he spoke. “You have to trust me, Nadya,” he said, his voice low. “I know I am everything you have been taught to hate and more. I have done terrible things in my life. If I disgust you, I understand. But—”

“We have to work together,” Nadya whispered. “All four of us, or else this whole mess of a plan will go up in smoke and we’ll all be hanged for it.”

He leaned his head into her hand and she felt herself warm. To have another person react to her touch was a peculiar feeling, a connection she had never really had with anyone. The monastery didn’t encourage relationships; one’s devotion to the gods was more important.

This was a disaster. Anyone, anyone but him. Anyone but the enemy boy who had tormented her people, who was faithless, godless, monstrous. If she tore out her own heart would this stop? If that was the thing betraying her, then she would be rid of it. Anything to stop from being pulled to this terrible boy.

This plan is an absolute mess but also you’re the one who put “the plan” in jeopardy in the first place, so you should really start pulling your weight, Nadya.

Also “the enemy boy”, I’m fucking laughing. Nadya, you could just like, stop, you know. Not acting on your attraction to people is like a thing. You act like you literally cannot help yourself but get all blushy blushy over him and you HAVE to touch him. Like, that’s not how things work.

“And you and I need to come to an understanding,” he continued. “We can be enemies when all this is over.”

It was fairly clear now that enemies wasn’t quite what they were before, and an understanding probably wasn’t going to be what either of them wanted.

Maybe she had knocked her head during the duel, but she found herself sliding her other hand up his neck to cradle his cheek. He grew very still, as if he truly thought her a little bird and sudden movement might startle her away.

“What if I don’t want to be enemies when all this is over?” she asked softly, her voice betraying her by trembling. Her heart was pounding in her throat.

Yeah, no shit “enemies wasn’t quite what they were before”, because it was a half-hearted attempt at the trope. ED couldn’t bother building it up in a believable and organic way, so she just threw it aside completely and was like “what I really want to see them is suck face!”

Also bullshit, Nadya! You’d think your gods would have something to say about that, since they’re the only reason you have power in the first place. It almost infuriates me that I had to sit through all of her xenophobia and discriminatory tirades, just for it to not bloody matter one fucking bit to her character.

Anyways, I’ll spare you guys the descriptions of them kissing. Nadya is the one who initiates the kiss and she describes kissing him as “heresy”. Because that is a word you should just throw around. Totally, ED. Totally. Also Malachiasz calls her little bird again and I hate it.

She still finds blood magic repulsive, though. She asks Malachiasz if he felt it when she accidentally used the spells, and he nods. She says he knew this could happen, since she had to draw blood to pass herself off as a blood mage. He’s like “yeah... but I mean, I didn’t think anything bad would really happen!”

Malachiasz says he’s gotta go and they’ll continue this conversation later. Good, I can’t stand another moment of your bullshit. And we get this heavily advertised quote.

“Even so. Dazzle the monsters, Nadya. You’ve already charmed the worst of the lot; the rest should be easy.”

*rolls my eyes*

This is also weirdly reminds me of that one quote from The Cruel Prince, a book I have not read and have no intention to but have heard a lot about.

“So I am to sit here and feed you information,” Cardan says, leaning against a hickory tree. “And you’re to go charm royalty? That seems entirely backward.”

I fix him with a look. “I can be charming. I charmed you, didn’t I?”

He rolls his eyes. “Do not expect others to share my depraved tastes.”

But thankfully, Malachiasz is leaving for reals.

“I’m still mad at you,” she said, but the words felt flat.

“I know.” He grinned as he slipped his mask back over his face. He was gone before she could say anything more.

She pressed a hand to her lips, wrenching her eyes shut. There would be hell to pay for this.

Everything about this romance falls flat, so I’m not surprised. What’s the point in them being enemies-to-lovers if you’re not going to follow through with the enemies part of the trope? Oh wait, it’s for cheap angst, plus otherwise this wouldn’t be published Rey/Kylo Ren fanfiction.

Also, I doubt you’re gonna get that much of a chewing out for it, to be honest. I mean, the gods had plenty of opportunities to chew you out for your bullshit with Malachiasz and they didn’t, and that was back when they had easy access!

Anyways, that’s the end of that chapter!

#sarah reads ws #PHEW #we finally got through that fuckity fuckness

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swordbreakerz · 5 years

Note

romanticized asks do all the evens motherfucker

i’ll hunt you for sport

2. if someone were to catch Hanahaki disease for you, what flowers would they cough up?

thats such a loaded question god, fucking. green carnations i guess? simply cause of the gay coding of that flower idk man

4. tell us about your ideal battle outfit.

im gonna take this literally so base layer: nice linens, and then a silk shirt and pants. well fitted leather armor with a good range of motion, sturdy but flexible boots, leather arm guards, a swooping cloak and simple jeweled diadem

6. name five iconic quotes that make you feel things.

may butcher these i have a shit memory and i cant think of anything like. ‘iconic’ rly so bear with me

‘and don’t forget sam. frodo wouldn’t have gotten far without sam.’ ‘now mr frodo i was bein serious!’ ‘so was i.’ - lord of the rings

you’re right-- holiness is in the hands even if it’s always the head that gets haloed. - c.t. salazar

are you there, sweetheart? do you know me? is this microphone live? let me do it right for once. - richard siken

you cannot kill me in a way that matters - that tumblr post abt mushrooms

there is no greater innocence than our gentle sin - hozier

8. what combination of natural scents would you use as perfume?

manzanita, pine sap, forest duff, juniper, very earthy and sharp

10. describe yourself as if you were a storm.

on again off again all day rain, sometimes no more than a drizzle and sometimes a raging thunderstorm

12. honey in milk or cinnamon in tea?

yeah

14. curtains of beads or lace?

mmmmm beads i think cause of the click clacks

16. describe your ideal fantasy outfit

high waisted cotton pants and a poofy linen shirt, leather half corset, a couple belts for my sword and daggers, either no shoes or soft leather slippers, cape obviously and lots of jewelry

18. hard candy, fruit preserves or spice cake?

if i had to choose right now spice cake but like all of them depending on my mood

20. tying your hair up using ribbon, yay or nay?

hell fucking yes i just dont have long enough hair right now

22. tell us, in detail, about a curse a witch would put on you.

god fuck you uhhhh. probably like a curse to not be able to articulate myself? i would be able to get the general idea across but not what i Actually Meant wow that sounds like my personal hell

24. mint, rosemary, basil or sage?

mint or basil depending on my mood

26. tell us about an experience you’ve had that seemed unreal or supernatural. (doesn’t have to be scary)

ok so 2018 i did a haunted house and for the first few days i was behind a door that essentially led to a service hallway fr the security cause there was a lot of people instead of like, an actual scare spot in one of the rooms and it was great UNTIL i started hearing knocking from the wall behind me, and keep in mind this was a warehouse i was at the edge of the haunt there was nothing on the other side of me but the Outside so its not like one of the actors or patrons was knocking around behind me, a couple times i saw a stack of hat boxes jostle which was Not fun no sir i really hated it, this went on for a couple nights before one night it was a slow period and i was standing by my door waiting to hear someone come in, and let me clarify the setting a little bit i was in a storage area so there was bins and shit all around me, and i was chilling and i heard smth like sliding behind me? and then a stack of empty tubs fucking slid into me and hit my shoulder. now this stack wasnt in danger of falling it was sitting back pretty stable on top of a pile of boxes so tldr a ghost shoved a pile of emtpy storage bins to try and hit me it sucked. it stopped after that and then i moved rooms after to fill out the necessary spots but it uhh sucked lol

28. tell us three sayings that you live by.

ah jeez um. lets see

do no harm, take no shit; it takes two to tango; curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back

30. describe your ideal masquerade ball outfit (mask included).

tailored three piece suit with a corset styled like a waistcoat, dress shoes with a small heel, cane with a handle styled like a big cat, maybe a panther or smth, full-face barn owl mask with pale filligree you have to get close in the right light to see clearly

32. what would you end up in the dungeon for?

homosexual activity and public dueling

34. if you could have any magical item, what would it be?

definitely a flying carpet

36. would you rather be a pirate or a king/queen?

pirate pirate pirate pirate 100 percent oh my GOD please let me sail the open seas with my gay lover

38. would you have a painting of yourself?

nah maybe if it was a group piece with my friends or s/o or smth but not a solo portrait

40. if you could live any fairy tale, which one would you?

idk i dont have the braincells to give this question a lot of thought, theoretically i guess but it depends on the fairy tale

alright motherfucker expect retaliation im coming for you

#ilysmmmm #friendos #jade #and z answers #prozacking

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max-is-tired · 6 years

Text

Look Into My Eyes (It’s Where My Demons Hide)

Pairing: Analogical, background Royality

Characters: Logan Sanders, Virgil Sanders, Patton Sanders, Roman Sanders, Caelius (OC), Amelia (OC), Emile Picani (mentioned)

Words: 5.686

Warnings: Blood, stab wound (mentioned, not graphic but it’s there), kidnapping, mind control, referenced past abuse, referenced past kidnapping, vampires, witches, I should have tagged everything but please let me know if I missed something!!

Notes: It will be very short, I said. 1k words max, I said. Nothing big, I said. If this is what past me said, then why THE FUCK DID THIS BECOME A 5K+ MONSTER WHAT THE HECK-

Just to make you guys understand real quick why I say this fic got out of control. I've got an entire AU out of this. I need help.

Finally, after days of endless crying and typing and editing, here is my piece for @darknightvirgil's Halloween exchange, for none other than the amazing @virgilmydarkstrangeson !!! I really really hope you like your gift Nate, and I'm incredibly sorry for being so late!

Hit me up if you want to be added to the taglist and let me know if you liked this, reblogs, comments and asks are always very welcome and much appreciated!

Read it on AO3!!

Once, when he was a kid, Logan had asked his mother what love was.

“That’s a very difficult question to answer.” She had said, carefully mulling the question over and over in her head. “Let’s see. Love is… caring for someone in such a powerful way that just being near them is enough to make you smile. It’s being happy when they’re happy. It’s finding yourself doing everything possible to cheer them up when they’re sad. Love is also a risk though, because to fall in love means giving someone the power to break your heart in a million pieces with a snap of their fingers. Love can also mean pain, so heartbreaking and painful that you can barely breathe.”

“But if it can hurt so much, why do people fall in love?”

“Because for the right person, it will be worth it.”

He didn’t understand back then, what she meant. The concept of ‘love’ –something so powerful and mighty, able to make people move mountains and defeat entire armies- felt so foreign to him, like some sort of intangible, unattainable goal. He figured he would get it, one day. And yet, time passed, and he kept living his life without understanding.

Maybe he wasn’t meant for love, he thought.

Then, he met Virgil.

Virgil had barged into Logan’s life without a warning, completely turning his whole world upside down. He had been the first person that seemed to actually enjoy Logan’s company, listening to his ramblings and often helping him with his researches. The worked well together, like a well-oiled machine, and with time Logan had found himself enjoying the anxious man’s company more and more.

Suddenly, his mother’s words started to make sense.

Now three years have passed, and Logan feels like a schoolgirl on her first crush.

“Honestly Lo, why don’t you just tell him how you feel?” Patton asks, his cheerful voice filling the apartment. “I know you like to pretend you don’t have feelings, but-”

“I do not pretend, Patton.” Logan snaps, face turning into a scowl as he keeps searching for the book he’s looking for. “While it is true that I quite enjoy Virgil’s companionship, we should not forget the fact that he’s just a human. Harboring such feelings for him would be a really foolish action on my part.”

“Oh, shut up Specs!” Roman interjects, “You’re head over heels for that guy, and the sooner you stop denying it the better!”

“Excuse me?!” Logan bristles, pivoting on his heels to glare at the other. “I am not, thank you very much.”

Roman simply raises an eyebrow, clearly not affected by Logan’s heated glare. “Logan, I listened to you ranting about him for over three hours the other day.”

“I am not in love with Virgil, and that is final.”

Roman opens his mouth, probably more than ready to keep pushing his foolish argument, but gets interrupted by Patton, who has moved to stand between the two.

“Stop it right now, both of you!” he chides, bringing out his dad voice, “Roman, you know how touchy this subject is for Logan, so stop pushing him and try to be a little more tactful next time.”

Roman rolls his eyes, huffing in annoyance as he looks away and his expression morphs into what can only be described as a pout. Logan can’t help but feel a little smug as he watches Patton scold the other. What he doesn’t expect, however, is for the witch to suddenly turn towards him, disappointed expression still in place.

“And don’t think I’ve forgotten about you, mister!” Patton continues, finger pointed at Logan’s chest, “I know that you don’t like feelings Lo, but this is honestly getting quite ridiculous.”

Logan glares at the shorter man, a flash of gold glinting in his eyes. “I’m afraid I don’t quite understand what you’re talking about, Patton.”

“I think you do, Logan,” Patton counters, expression shifting from scolding to something warmer, more understanding, “and I believe it’s time for you to stop running from yourself.”

Logan stares back, stubbornly trying to hold the other’s gaze –honestly, he doesn’t get why Patton keeps insisting on this particular manner. Logan is fine, always has been, and just because he has suddenly formed a bond with some human it doesn’t mean he would be so foolish to-

“You haven’t told him yet, have you?” Patton’s voice reaches Logan’s ears with sharp clarity, causing his thoughts to screech to a halt. “About your true nature, I mean.”

Logan opens his mouth, more than ready to snap at Patton to stop talking about all this nonsense and just leave him be, but once he finally registers Patton’s expression he finds himself stopping on his tracks. Because Patton is looking at him with so much warmth, gaze soft and comforting –like he understands, like he knows exactly what he’s going through. Then Logan sees Patton’s eyes shift subtly towards Roman, who has been silently listening the whole time, and abruptly realizes that yes, of course Patton understands. How could he not?

Logan’s shoulders slump as he feels all of his rage and indignation rush out of him.

“No, I haven’t,” he admits, looking to the side.

“Is there a reason for it?”

“Patton, he’s a human. A mortal who lives his life under the sun, blessed with ignorance of the more twisted and supernatural aspects of our world. If I were to tell him the truth -that I am a vampire, a blood-thirsty, immortal creature of the night- not only would I destroy that innocence forever, but he surely would-” Logan clamps his mouth shut, trying to stop the words from pouring out of his mouth. He doesn’t need to, though.

“You’re scared he’ll leave.” The other finishes for him, a sad smile making its way to his face. Beside them, Roman moves to stand once again beside Patton, a comforting hand on the smaller man’s shoulder. “You’re scared that, once you tell him who you really are, he’ll run away and never come back, terrified by something that you cannot alter or change. And you don’t know if you’ll be able to move on from it.”

Silently, Logan watches as Roman imperceptibly stiffens at Patton words. The witch simply smiles and covers Roman’s hand with his, turning just slightly to look at him.

It’s okay. We’re okay. Patton’s eyes say, and god, if their little show of affection doesn’t make Logan’s heart twist in something akin to longing.

“How did you do it?” he asks, barely a whisper. “How did you tell him who you really were even though you knew it could have driven him away forever?”

“I trusted him.” Patton smiles, letting his body lean on Roman’s side. “I know how scary it sounds, but you’ve known Virgil for over three years now. Do you really think he would leave you forever if he knew?”

“I may not know him as much as you do,” Roman interjects, attracting Logan’s attention, “but for what it’s worth, I really don’t think he will. It’s obvious he cares about you Teach, and I don’t think you being a vampire will change that.”

Logan looks at the two men standing in front of him –a human and a witch, magic and mundane mixing together in such a seamless, unpredictable way- and sighs, his mouth twitching upwards in a hint of a smile.

“Maybe you’re right.” He admits.

The couple grins, sharing a look before turning back to him. “So, this means you’ll tell him?”

“I’ll think about it.”

One week later, and Logan’s still thinking about it.

Not that he doesn’t trust Virgil. Logically, he knows the chances of him just straight up walking out of his life as soon as he learns the truth are quite slim. And yet, he hesitates, letting their frequent hangouts end without him saying anything.

If only Patton could see him now, he would probably be sporting one of his trademarked Disappointed Dad looks.

“So, you snapped at him?” Virgil asks, smirking as he takes a sip from his coffee, “that’s so out of character of you, Logan.”

Logan feels his face flush, gaze shifting to the side as he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “He was foolishly denying to acknowledge the rightful connotation of Pluto as a planet. It was my duty as a teacher to correct his flawed statement.”

Virgil raises an eyebrow, visibly amused. “By yelling at the kid, and I quote, Viva la Pluto fuck you?”

“I get really defensive when it comes to astronomy.” Logan concedes.

“That’s quite the understatement if I’ve never heard one!” Virgil snickers, trying –and mostly failing- to keep himself from out-right cackling.

Logan feels his lips twitch upwards, eyes fond as he watches the human laugh –he quite enjoys the times he can get Virgil to act so carefree around him, his smile lighting up his face in a way that leaves Logan breathless every time without fail.

Logan sighs, shaking his head lightly. Virgil is going to be the death of him, he’s sure of it.

Somehow, that thought terrifies him far less than it should.

“Shit!” Virgil suddenly curses, snapping Logan out of his reverie.

“Are you, uh… good, Virgil? Did I use that right?” he asks, bending his head to the side in confusion.

Virgil snorts, stopping his frenzied movements to shake his head in amusement. “Close enough.” He comments, quickly flinging his backpack on his shoulder.

“Sorry to cut this short, but I have a class in less than an hour and if I’m late again the professor is probably going to murder me,” he explains, smiling apologetically.

“Do not worry about it, I understand.” Logan nods, standing up as well. “Our plans for tonight are still in place, I believe?”

Virgil grins, shooting him a thumbs up as he exits the coffee shop. “You betcha, nerd! See you at eight!”

The more their chosen time of meeting approaches, the more Logan starts feeling uneasy.

He doesn’t know the reason, if he has to be honest. Sure, he may or may not be planning to finally talk to Virgil about his…more-than-human nature, let’s say –Roman threatened to trap them both in a really small room if Logan didn’t- but the thought of that causes him to feel nervousness, or even apprehension.

But this, this is a different kind of unease. If Logan had to describe it, he would say it feels like dark heaviness on his shoulders, like vines constricting his very core tighter and tighter as the seconds tick away. It brings back echoes of a past he thought he left behind, of screams and blood and a sick, wide smile Logan’s sure will haunt his nightmares until he draws his last breath.

He hastily shakes his head, snapping out of his thoughts –he won’t let himself get lost in those memories, not now that he has finally managed to move on. More or less, at least.

Logan takes in a shaky breath, fingers moving to fix his tie almost as a second thought –a nervous habit he’s never quite been able to correct. There’s nothing he has to worry about. Virgil will arrive around eight, they’ll settle down on Logan’s couch and they’ll enjoy together the Doctor Who’s new season premiere.

Nothing will happen, he knows that. And yet, the unease doesn’t disappear. It doesn’t disappear while he moves to get his living room set up, or when he goes to his bedroom in order to change into comfier clothes.

When the clock strikes eight fifteen and Virgil –ever-punctual, anxious Virgil, who despise being late like nothing else and never fails to notify him if he does end up getting held back- still hasn’t shown up or sent him a text, Logan knows something is indeed wrong.

He has a bad feeling about this.

Fuck, he’s late.

Virgil sprints down the street, muttering curses through gritted teeth. His photography professor –who had wanted to talk to him for ages about a side project Virgil didn’t want to have anything to do with- had managed to corner him while he was walking out of the library, keeping him from exiting the building until the librarian had basically kicked them out, distracting the man long enough for the anxious student to get away.

And now Virgil is late, his phone dead because he forgot to recharge it. Great. This is fine.

He barely avoids barrelling into another passer-by for the third time in two minutes and fuck it, this is not fine at all.

Virgil briefly pauses and leans with his back on the brick wall of a building, gulping down deep breaths as he tries to fight the anxiety he can feel bubbling in his stomach.

It’s alright, he firmly tells himself, it’s only ten minutes. Logan will understand.

Breathing deeply, Virgil quickly tries to figure out an estimate of the distance between where he is and Logan’s apartment.

“Ten minutes,” he grumbles, hands gripping his backpack’s straps, “I can do this.”

However, just before he can go back to sprinting down the sidewalk while trying to avoid colliding into innocent pedestrians, somebody near him speaks.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” the stranger asks, “but it appears I lost something.”

Virgil looks to his side, annoyed and slightly irritated expression meeting a pair of green eyes framed by perfect red curls. The woman in front of him looks like one of those models posing for the cover of beauty magazines –which, if Virgil wasn’t very much gay and very much in a hurry, would have made him want to at least try to help, but he’s already late and doesn’t want to make Logan wait for him more than strictly necessary.

“I’ sorry,” he starts, already turning around again, “but I’m really late for something and I just can’t help you.”

But before he can even move, a hand shoots out and grabs his arm. “Oh sweetheart, I believe you can.”

All Virgil sees is a pair of golden irises staring back at him, and then everything goes black.

Logan tries to stay put and wait for Virgil, he really does. No need to overreact, after all.

He manages to stop himself for five long, excruciating minutes. Then, all of his resolve gets thrown out of the window. Mind racing, Logan hurries to grab his coat and bolts out of his door, only to find himself face to face with a pair of startled green eyes.

“Roman?” Logan blinks, momentarily confused. From what he knows, the human and Patton had left three days ago to go attend a witches’ gathering that was being organized two towns over, and weren’t set to return for at least five more days. Then why-

“Logan!” Patton cries, approaching them. “Thank god we found you!”

Logan shakes his head. He has no time for this now. “Patton, I am sorry but whatever it is that you have to tell me will have to wait until I can get ahold of Virgil.”

“Wait, the Emo Nightmare is missing?” Roman interjects, eyes widening, “That’s not good.”

“We had arranged to meet up at my house to watch together the new Doctor Who premiere. He’s currently fifteen minutes late, which is very concerning because he’s never late and he never fails to notify me those few times he is.” The vampire explains, before actually registering Roman’s words. “Wait, what do you mean?”

Patton and Roman look at each other, worry and hesitance clear in their eyes. They’re hiding something, he’s sure of it.

“What is going on?” Logan demands, barely stopping himself from openly growling at his two friends. “It is quite obvious that, whatever information you are withholding, both of you believe it might be connected to Virgil’s absence. So tell me. Now.”

“You’re not gonna like it.” Roman warns, expression unusually serious, “Like, at all.”

“Just say it.”

“Caelius is back.” Patton finally reveals. “Emile said he has been spotted almost in all of the towns around here. We came back as soon as he told us.”

Logan freezes, thoughts screeching to a halt as he tries to process Patton’s words. Even after all these years, after all he has done to disappear completely from the radar and finally be able to live a normal life, Caelius has found him –and god if the mere thought of it doesn’t make his blood turn ice cold in his veins, fear knotting his stomach and invading his mind until all he can think of is blood and screams and that sickening grin, that feeling of utter powerlessness he didn’t want to feel ever again-

“You are mine Logan, and always will be. Never forget that.”

Fuck.

“We need to find Virgil. Now.”

When Virgil comes to, the first thing he registers is how fucking cold he is. The second is a head-splitting headache he seems to be suffering from, pounding behind his eyelids with enough force to make him let out a loud, pained groan.

The third thing he registers is the sound of light footsteps approaching, stopping right in front of his face as an all too familiar voice reaches his ears.

“Aw, looks like the boy is finally waking up!”

Virgil’s eyes snap open, immediately meeting a pair of bright green ones staring back at him. He lets out a strangled yelp, memories flooding his brain as he quickly scuttles away from the visibly amused woman –oh fuck he has been kidnapped, what do they want why did they take him he’s gonna die ohygodsomebodyhelp-

“Amelia, stop terrorizing our dear guest.” Another voice interjects, startling Virgil out of his panicking thoughts.

Behind the woman, another person enters the room. He looks rather young, with pale, perfect skin and deep blue eyes surrounded by blonde curls –an angel, something whispers in the back of Virgil’s mind, and he finds himself unable to tear his gaze away as the man approaches them.

“But I didn’t do anything!” the woman –Amelia- exclaims, still grinning as the man stops beside her.

Virgil looks at them, his mind still reeling in fear and confusion, and visibly jumps when the man’s blue eyes suddenly turn to him.

“I don’t understand,” he mutters, studying him in an obvious search for something –what, Virgil has no clue. “Why would Logan be so interested in this human? He looks so... weak.”

That’s when Virgil’s mind completely draws a blank, the sentence replaying over and over in his head as he tries and fails to make sense to the whole situation.

“W-what? How- How do you know Logan?” he stutters, but the two don’t seem to hear him as they keep looking at him –their contemplative, calculating stares unnerve Virgil to no end, the voice in the back of his mind screaming incessantly danger danger danger must get away before-

Suddenly Amelia is standing right in front of him, body bent forward until her face is a few centimeters from Virgil’s. “Maybe it’s his blood?” she wonders, eyes gleaming yellow –why are her eyes yellow I don’t understand somebody help please- “I wouldn’t mind a little sip. Just to check my hypothesis.”

“Just a taste,” Caelius concedes, waving his hand, “he’s no use to me dead.”

The woman grins, sharp canines gleaming in the dimly lit room. Ice cold fear floods Virgil’s veins, every instinct in his head screaming for him to run, get away before something bad happens -but he can’t move, back pressed against the wall and his two captors standing between him and the door –are they even humans? They have fangs and golden eyes and skin so pale they almost seem dead and Virgil doesn’t understand, why did they take him what do they want no no stay away he doesn’t want to die-

Before Virgil can even open his mouth to scream, Amelia is suddenly flying to the other side of the room, colliding with the wall with so much force cracks expand from the point of impact and sagging to the ground with a wordless thump. The other man simply raises an eyebrow, grin widening as he watches the scene unfold.

“Took you long enough, Logan.”

It doesn’t take them long to work out where Virgil is. Patton’s a witch –and quite a strong one at that, with over a century of experience on his shoulders and a member of the Council as his mentor- and a locating spell isn’t difficult to cast. They use a t-shirt Virgil accidentally left behind at Logan’s place during one of their previous hangouts, and once they’ve retrieved a map of the region from the vampire’s study it only takes a few seconds for the spell to work.

Somehow, Logan is not surprised with the location, barely reacting as the pendant points to a point of the map in the middle of nowhere –he knows those coordinates, knows them as he knows his name, and of course Caelius would be there, always a lover for the dramatics.

Because what better place to bring Logan’s beloved –the one obstacle between him and Caelius- than the building where everything started?

Logan glares at Caelius, standing protectively in front of Virgil.

“Caelius.” He calls, blue eyes flashing a furious golden. “What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

The man laughs, expression full of mirth. “Why, isn’t it obvious? I’m just taking back what is mine.”

“I was never yours in the first place, you self-centered bastard,” Logan growls, forcing himself to ignore Virgil’s whimpering coming from behind him. “Virgil has nothing to do with this.”

“Oh, I believe he has everything to do with this.” Caelius purrs, cerulean eyes turning golden as his gaze behind him towards –no, stop it, must keep Virgil safe stop looking at him you filthy monster- “Aren’t I right, Virgil?”

Logan feels it almost immediately, blood turning ice cold in his veins as the sheer strength of Caelius’ power slams into him. It’s a suffocating pressure, like a weight compressing his mind until his grip on reality almost slips away from between his fingers. But this isn’t the first time Logan has been subjected to Caelius’ overwhelming power, and even if it has been decades since he has had to deal with it his instincts don’t fail to kick in, allowing the younger vampire to hold onto his consciousness for dear life.

However, Virgil is a whole different story.

Logan can only watch helplessly as the human stands up, eyes suddenly dull and unfocused, and starts slowly shuffling towards Caelius.

“Exactly as I thought.” The vampire grins, beckoning the boy closer.

“Virgil,” Logan calls, fighting with all of his might Caelius’ influence, “Virgil, you have to fight it!”

He keeps calling and pleading, unable to move and grab the other to stop his advancing steps. But Virgil keeps walking, closer and closer to Caelius’ awaiting hand.

There’s only one thing Logan has yet to try, and even if logically he knows he has next to no chance of success he knows he can’t let Caelius get his hands on the human –HIS human, a voice in Logan’s head roars viciously, something hot and heavy settling in his stomach.

So Logan closes his eyes, taking in a steady breath, and opens.

Them.

Wide.

“Virgil.” He calls, his own magic reaching the other in gentle waves. It’s different from Caelius, whose power is simply overwhelming and paralyzing –Logan’s is more quiet, calculated, hitting the target with accuracy and precision. “Virgil, stop.”

He watches as Virgil’s steps falter, face turning just slightly towards him to show a confused frown –he knows Virgil is there, somewhere, he just has to help him find a way out of Caelius’ control, give him an opening to slip away from the vampire’s vicious grip on his consciousness.

“Virgil, come here,” Logan calls, golden eyes shining with determination as his focus zeroes on the other man –he ignores Caelius’ magic trying to forcefully push his away, grits his teeth and holds his ground with a vengeance.

Seconds pass, tense silence filling the air. Virgil’s body starts shaking, a pained groan escaping his lips as the two vampire’s powers clash and fight all around him. Then, suddenly, he’s staggering backward into Logan’s arms, breath coming out in short, quick gasps –everyone can feel the exact moment Caelius loses his hold over the human, like a rope snapping under too much pressure, loud and clear in their mind.

Logan immediately holds Virgil as close as he can, hand caressing up and down his back as he takes a moment to reassure himself, breathing deeply as he takes in the other’s scent.

“L-Logan-” Virgil whispers, whimpering.

“It’s okay.” Logan murmurs, voice low and reassuring, “You’re okay. I got you.”

“How dare you,” Caelius growls, snapping them out of the moment. “How dare you try and defy me?!”

He’s standing in front of them before they can even process his words. Logan’s instincts immediately kick in, and he turns around so that his back is between Virgil and the incoming blow –whatever Caelius throws at them, he can take. But he won’t let him lift even a finger on Virgil. No more.

However, the hit never comes.

What comes is, actually, Roman’s voice suddenly booming in the room, a yell of “Don’t you dare, you fiend!” followed by the clang of metal and Caelius shout of rage.

When he turns around, Logan finds himself staring at Roman’s back, sword in his hands –the same sword Patton gifted him years ago, the same sword Logan himself taught him how to use- and a very pissed off Caelius growling at them, side dripping with blood.

“You worthless, stupid human, you’re going to pay for this!” the vampire roars, lunging at them with a snarl.

It’s strange, though. Logan remembers Caelius to be a fierce, strong fighter, all quick and fluid movements born from millennia of walking on this Earth. But now his movements seem slower, almost sluggish. Roman has absolutely no problem deflecting the attack, before round-kicking the vampire in the stomach and sending him rolling to the side.

Caelius grunts, landing quite a few feet away from them. He doesn’t get up again.

“Emile enchanted my sword, just before we got back to warn you,” Roman explains, lowering his sword. “He said the spell was made to work specifically on ancient magical creatures like him. Looks like he was right.”

Then he turns around, a weary smile on his face.

“Come on, let’s go home.”

Apparently, going home for them means getting scolded by Patton for a good half an hour, sitting in Logan’s bedroom while the witch heals their few wounds and checks them for any possible injuries.

“Honestly Logan, I get that you wanted to get to Virgil,” Patton says, hand glowing softly as he heals a scrape on the vampire’s temple, “but sprinting into the building by yourself certainly was not the way to go! Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? Who knows what Caelius would have done to you two if Roman hadn’t found you when he did!”

“You are right Patton,” Logan complies, “but I still do not regret my decision. Had I waited even just a second more, I would have been too late.”

Patton sighs, shaking his head. “Stubborn as ever, I see.” He chuckles, “well, my job here is done. I feel like you two need to have a little talk, so if you need me I’ll be downstairs with Roman.”

He shoots them one last, encouraging smile, before walking out of the room and closing the door with a soft click.

Silence falls. Logan turns his head just slightly, eyes falling on the figure sitting next to him. Virgil stares back, expression unreadable as he raises one eyebrow in question.

“So.”

Logan sighs, adjusting himself to be sitting face to face with the other man. “I suppose I owe you an explanation,” he begins, “but first, I need to apologize. It is my fault Caelius targeted you in the first place, therefore putting your life in danger, and I am deeply sorry for that.”

“It’s okay. I mean-” Virgil tells him, before backpedalling in a rush-“it’s not okay, because getting kidnapped is no fun at all and I’ve never felt more scared in my life, but-” he stops for a moment, taking in a slow, steady breath before looking up at Logan with a tentative smile-“I know you, Lo. I know you would never intentionally put me in danger, and I don’t blame you for what happened.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that, hadn’t it been for me, you would have never been put in danger.”

“I’m okay now, though. You made sure of that.” Virgil points out, before frowning in thought. “What was that dude’s deal with you anyway? He seemed to have some sort of personal vendetta against you or something.”

Logan winces at his words, looking away. “It’s a long story.”

“I got time.”

“Alright then. I guess there is no avoiding it.” Logan sighs, “As you probably have already guessed, I am not… human, like you. I am a vampire.”

When Logan risks a quick peek at Virgil’s reaction, he doesn’t look surprised in the slightest. Instead, the man simply raises an eyebrow, muttering “No shit Sherlock” under his breath.

Something in Logan’s chest relaxes a little at that.

“Caelius is the one who turned me, all those years ago.” He resumes, pushing down the memories trying to resurface. Not now. “He tried to make a meal out of me, I fought back, and he decided he wanted to keep me. So, he took me away with him.”

“He turned me and kept me in this big mansion down south –the same one you were brought to, by the way. Years passed, and I finally managed to escape. I wandered around for a while, not really knowing where to go. Then, I met Patton, and here we are.”

Silence falls. Then, Virgil lets out a slow whistle.

“Holy shit Lo.” He breaths out, eyes wide as he processes the load of information, “and to think people assume I’m the one with the tragic backstory.”

Logan lets out a tiny chuckle, shaking his head. “That is one way to put it, I suppose.” Then he looks up at the other, looking genuinely confused. “How are you taking all of this so well? I expected you to freak out –no offense, but this is just not something you hear every day. It is simply not logical for you to be so calm.”

Virgil shrugs. “As I already said, I know you.” He says, a crooked smile on his lips. “You’re still Logan, vampire or not.”

“I… thank you, Virgil. This really means a lot to me.” Logan tells him, expression soft.

Virgil blushes –the vampire has no business looking at him like that, goddamnit, his poor gay heart is gonna explode if he keeps this up- and waves him off, huffing in embarrassment. “Shut up nerd.”

The sit in silence for a while, enjoying each other’s company now that the truth is out in the open for both to see. If he has to be honest, Logan feels… free, in a way. Lighter, as if an enormous weight has been lifted from his chest. He mulls it over, before deciding with a smile that he quite likes this new feeling.

Then, a thought strikes him.

“You know what I don’t really understand?” he asks, catching the other’s attention. “How did you manage to actually break out of Caelius influence, back there? Logically, it shouldn’t have been possible.”

Virgil snorts, bumping their shoulders. “Wow Lo, such a vote of confidence for my inner strength.”

Logan rolls his eyes, huffing in amusement. “You know I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Yeah yeah, I get it.” Virgil huffs, chuckling. “You were using your power too, though. I felt it. Maybe you were stronger?”

Logan shakes his head, expression growing more puzzled the more he thinks about it. “Caelius is much older and powerful than me. Moreover, since he’s the one that turned me, he’s technically my master.” He explains, “I may have taken him by surprise, but there’s no way my thrall overpowered his.”

Virgil hums in acknowledgment, mulling something in his head as he watches Logan try to find a solution.

“Could it be…” he suddenly speaks up, cheeks strangely pink, “could it be because, while he was forcing me to follow his orders, I actually wanted to come to you?”

“Wait, really?” Logan asks, obviously taken aback. “You had just found out I was not human at all, and therefore had been lying to you for all the three years you have known me. Why would you have trusted me?”

“I trust you with my life Lo, vampire or not,” Virgil says, expression earnest, and no matter how much he searches Logan can’t find a hint of a lie in the other’s eyes.

Distantly, Logan feels his heart skip a beat, blood rushing to his cheeks as he stares at the other.

“Oh.” He murmurs, unable to form anything more coherent.

Virgil chuckles, smiling. “Logan, I would follow you to the ends of this earth if you just asked.” and that’s the moment Logan’s brain screeches to a halt, his last functioning brain cells leaving him with a metaphorical laugh as he tries to process what exactly Virgil might be implying.

“You’re-” he finally says, clearing his throat while trying to will his blush away- “you’re aware that you sound just like Roman, right?”

Virgil bursts out laughing, eyes twinkling in amusement and something else entirely that makes Logan’s heart beat wildly in his chest.

“Shut up, I know.” The human grins, mockingly punching him on the shoulder. “Still, the sentiment stands. Now the question is… would you want me to, Logan?”

That is a question Logan is pretty sure he knows the answer of.

“I think I do.” He murmurs, before leaning down to kiss Virgil’s smile.

Taglist: @noodlesforlife13 @keithkhoegane @introverted-happiness @virgilmydarkstrangeson@sidesroleplayblog @im-patton @creativity-killed-thekitten @heck-im-lost @adultmorelikeadolt@gayfandomsaremything @thesealwhodraws @ihateitwhenyourejustvague @logicallycrofters

Plus @teacupfulofstarshine bc I know starmom is analogical trash.

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liquidstar · 5 years

Note

33, 52, 75, 89, 91, 92

Sorry I’m replying a bit late!! For context for other people I said that it’s okay if you just send a number with no character and I’ll answer it for the main 4 (And any others I may have something to say about) so they may be a bit shorter since its for four characters! Anyway it’s a bit long so I’ll do it under the cut so I don’t clog people’s dashes

33. What is their biggest fear? How would they react to having to face it?

Amary: The inability to live up to certain expectations, as in, failing as a queen. And the truth of the matter is she has to face failure and she has to face becoming a queen someday, but I don’t know if she could handle both at once. She needs practice with failure, and she needs to grow into her own person before she’s ready to become a queen. That’s a big part of her arc really.

Rue: I think she’s just afraid of hurting people she cares about, and with her background it makes sense, if she were to hurt someone she cared about in a major way she’d probably react by running away from it and isolating, she wouldn’t think of apologizing because she’d think she’s beyond redemption.

Aloe: This one is the easiest because it’s actually something brought to the forefront with him. He’s afraid of death, but not his own. The idea that people close to him could die at any moment is a side-effect of having a mother that goes on life threatening missions often, and it manifested in OCD issues. That being said though… He’s probably the strongest out of the main four in this regard, even if he was left broken he could piece himself back together.

Sorrel: Unlike the other three his fear is less abstract, it’s concrete and physical. He’s just afraid of his dad, he’s afraid of confronting him specifically. And unlike the other three it’s not something he has the option of not thinking about, he has to! He has to confront it daily! And obviously something like that leads to a lot of issues down the road, it’s a lot to unpack.

52. What is their body type? Are they muscular, chubby, skinny, etc?

Amary: Freshmen year Amary is like five foot nothing and super dainty, the intent is mostly to make her look like she’s taking up as little space as possible. Senior year Amary is taller, she’s less of a twig but she’s still pretty lanky.

Rue: Freshmen year Rue is short, but taller than Amary, she’s chubby and combined with her height it makes her kind of.. Stout? I’m not sure if that’s the right word or if I’m just thinking of the teapot rhyme. Unlike the rest though she doesn’t get to much taller, a couple inches maybe but by Senior year the high difference is reversed.

Aloe: Freshmen year Aloe is taller than Rue and on the chubby side but unlike Rue he’s got a bit of a more square build. Senior year Aloe is the tallest of the main four (or maybe tied with Amary), and as the only one out of the them to use an actual weapon instead of magic for combat he gains a bit of muscle too. That plus some sort of implied magic top surgery by junior year.

Sorrel: Freshmen year Sorrel is the tallest out of the main four but still pretty scrawny and scrappy looking. Senior year Sorrel only gets a couple inches taller, like Rue, and like Aloe he does look visibly stronger, taking after his sister a bit. Not as much though since his main focus is speed.

75. If given a blank piece of paper, a pencil, and nothing to do, what would happen?

Amary: A bunch of little doodles probably, none of them really all that great but she’s just trying to kill time not end up in the fantasy MoMA

Rue: Paper airplane, that was she can throw it around as much as she wants until it gets old after the 5th time

Aloe: I mean… Now is a good a time as any to do homework I guess. He’s gotta do it anyway.

Sorrel: Cover it in The S

89. What is their D&D alignment?

I’m not a pro at D&D alignments here so I’m just giving my best approximation lol

Amary: Lawful good at first until she evolves into a chaotic good by the end

Rue: Chaotic neutral at first and chaotic good by the end, really they just find a middle ground

Aloe: Lawful good but unlike Amary he stands by it (But he does go through a bit of a lawful neutral phase at some point)

Sorrel: Kind of a neutral good, I think he’s a bit of a mediator for the group in that aspect

92. Describe them as a John Mulaney gif.

I’m too lazy to get gifs so I’ll just say the quote… Also I’m skipping 91 because I cannot find good tweets… Maybe some other time u_u sorry but to make up for that ill just do the whole class for this one and Aster+Reed

Amary: I listen to everything my girlfriend says. I don’t mean she bosses me around, I just listen to everything she says because before I had a girlfriend, I never had someone who’s always standing next to me who can just point out obvious things that are happening.

Rue: I bet you part of the reason goths are so miserable is they wake up every morning and think, “Oh god, I gotta put all that shit back on. Why did I join?”

Aloe: My mommy, so shut the fuck up!

Sorrel: If you’re an adult male that sees no flaws in your father you’re an insane person.

Carnation: Just you raising your hand and being like, “I think Emily Dickinson’s a lesbian.” And they’re like, “Partial credit.”

Pine: You spend most of your day telling a robot that you’re not a robot. Think about that for two minutes and tell me you don’t want to walk into the ocean.

Geran: I’ll just keep all my emotions right here (Points to heart) and then one day, I’ll die.

Fennel: I thought it was a little too dramatic. I didn’t need the whole little brother dying thing.

Musk: It’s wrong to make fun of people, you know, but it’s so fun sometimes.

Gallica: Hmm, we’re not so different, you and I. You have your law practice, and me, I have all these fucking markers.

Protea: I don’t know how to lightly make fun of people, I can’t be like “Oh, look at your shirt!” I have to be like “Your wife left you.”

Daisy: [Pepper] is my best friend in the world. I give her a million kisses a day. She does not like me, and barks at me and bites me all day long.

Maggie: Everyone get outta my way, I just wanna sit here and feed my birds.

Tam: Well… you know how I’m filled with rage? (nods knowingly)

Holly: I need everybody, all day long, to like me so much.

Hyacinth: No one look at me or I’ll kill myself!

Aster: “Yeah, I don’t wanna work!” And I was like, “You know the kids don’t wanna work either” and she was like (closes eyes and slurs) “Good!” (pantomimes taking a shot)

Reed: And then, he ordered one black coffee for himself. And kept driving.

#jdphobe #answered #finn's ocs

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frickengreenfrickyeah · 6 years

Text

An Irreverent Intro to the Iliad

A/N:I’ve taken the introduction to the Lombardo translation and condensed it. Any time I says something to the effect of “don’t quote me on this” that means I’ve added my own analysis or thoughts that I cannot back up in any way, so don’t, like, put it in an essay if you don’t plan on doing your own research.

Anyway, you don’t care about that stuff, you came here to read about the Iliad.

It’s really fricken long, so, for the sake of mobile users, everything’s under the cut except for this:

“Rage. Bitch, lemme tell you about the time that Achilles fucked over the entire Greek army by Rage-quitting.”

Timeline for the Noobs

Ten years ago:

Aphrodite bribes Paris so she can win a beauty contest between herself, Athena, and Hera. Paris’ reward for his ‘heroics’ is Helen

(There’s probably an essay’s worth of symbolism you could dig into here, what with the goddesses all representing different priorities: erotic love, wisdom/justice, and familial duty. I wonder what Paris’ choice reveals about his character?)

There’s some disagreement about whether or not Helen when with Paris willingly

Seeing as literally no other woman in the Iliad (and maybe the entire Cycle? Don’t quote me on that) willingly went with her kidnapper, I’m calling bull on that. Do with that what you will.

Menelaus gets really mad that Paris stole his wife, so he rounds up the Greek army, and they go to war. (It’s worth noting that Athena and Hera are both on his side here.)

Present day:

Agamemnon(Boo), Menelaus’ brother kidnaps a girl. Then he has the balls to get upset that the girl’s father called Apollo’s plague down upon the Greeks until she’s returned

Achilles points out that Agamemnon’s being a dick and people are literally dying because he won’t let go of one girl. Agamemnon says, “Fine. If I have to give up my lady-war-prize, I’m taking yours as recompense.”

Achilles allows Agamemnon to take his girl, then Rage-quits. As consequence, people die.

Hypocrites. Hypocrites everywhere. If you wanna analyze that for an essay, I think there’s plenty to talk about.

The Theme Worth Giving a Shit About (Because it Drives the Narrative)

Heroes risk their lives on the battlefield in exchange for Prizes

Ie. riches, bitches, and clout

Honor <--> Shame is how they judge the value of others and themselves. Honor wins Prizes, Shame loses Prizes

3 Characters Worth Giving a Shit About (Because They Explore the Aforementioned Theme)

Achilles: Main character. Rage is his thing. Also, pouting.

His honor is insulted by Agamemnon(Boo) taking away Briseis, his lady war prize. Since war prizes are how their society rewards heroes for risking their lives, Agamemnon is basically saying he doesn’t care of Achilles dies or not.

And that hurts Achilles’ feelings because he knows he’s gonna die. There’s a prophecy about it.

The only reason he’s fighting is because society conditioned him to believe that Prizes and eternal glory were worth dying for.

Now that he doubts everything he knows, he refuses to fight for the Greeks.

The entire poem is the consequences of his Rage-quit

Agamemnon: fuck this guy

He loses his lady war prize, so he takes Achilles’. Because short-sighted spite is the best motivator.

He and Achilles start the poem in the same place, believing that material goods should equally compensate a loss. Achilles is the one who learns that that’s not how that works.

Agamemnon starts as a dick and ends as a dick. Google Iphigenia if you want to learn more. And that shit he pulls with Cassandra? Major dickbag. Fuck this guy.

Hector: The Trojan hero, and honestly the only likable guy here.

He is Achilles’ foil.

Just like Achilles, he’s separated from society - but, unlike Achilles, it’s not because he rejects their values. It’s because he never questions them.

He’s basically the perfect hero, and he suffers for it:

His son is scared of his war helmet

He can’t stay closer to home to fight defensively because that’s ‘shameful’

And he can’t even stay in the city that long on his breaks because wine and women are too tempting.

Side Characters to Maybe Give a Fuck About

Patroclus: The most important of the supporting cast, and he’s only in it for, like, maybe a book

Achilles’ BFF and probably more

(Read: Definitely more. If you listen carefully, you can hear me chanting OTP OTP OTP every time you open your book.)

He is Achilles’ double

He never doubts society but supports his bestie’s midlife crisis anyway

His death at the hands of Hector symbolizes Achilles’ death because he was wearing Achilles’ armor at the time

Achilles causes Patroclus’ death btw

When he Rage-quits, he asks Zeus to help the Trojans (because short-sighted spite is the best motivator). Patroclus goes to help the Greeks wearing Achilles’ very recognizable armor, causing Hector to target and kill him

His death redirects Achilles’ Rage at the Trojans instead of the Greeks

Diomedes: a badass fighter

Greater Ajax: a badass fighter

and (I think) the guy who talks sense into Achilles at some point

Ajax the Lesser: a badass fighter (are you sensing a theme in these characters?)

Odysseus: the only smart guy here

The Odyssey is about him btw

The Trojan horse was his idea, according to the Aeneid (and maybe other places? But definitely the Aeneid.)

WTF is an Epic Poem Anyway?

Epic Poem: recounts events with far-reaching historical consequences, sums up the values and achievements of an entire culture, and documents the full variety of the war

Basically, if “’Murica, Fuck Yeah” sums up America, then the Iliad sums up Ancient Greece

(Actually, Hamilton is a better comparison, but I needed to make a joke. Fite me.)

That “full variety” thing is why Book 2 and a couple other places just list off a bunch of ships or leaders and their dads. That shit is boring. Skip it.

But also, that ‘full variety’ thing is what makes other parts of the story so interesting. Homer will sum up a dude’s life story right before he kills them or some shit. It magnifies the scale of the narrative by showing how insignificant one person’s experience is - no one person can stop the war.

That’s what makes Achilles’ story even more powerful --> because his impact on the war is significant. His Rage controls the ebb and flow of it.

He can’t stop the war though. No one can.

The Gods are Petty as Fuck

Homeric gods look/act like humans, but they’re different mainly because of two things:

1. They can’t die.

That means they treat the events of the war less seriously than the mortals do.

2. The gods know about fate

To the modern reader, it seems like the humans have no agency, but that’s not really the case

Knowing fate is a bit like knowing the plot of a movie. It gives insight into a character’s actions that would otherwise seem random.

By reading this poem, you’re basically a god. Don’t let it go to your head. (But, hey, there’s a reason I’m majoring in this shit)

Bards like Homer would more directly be gods because they changed and adapted the story as they told it, just like the gods influence human actions in the story.

Don't quote me on that tho

Character choices are usually doubly motivated - by the human, and by the gods

Ex: Achilles chooses not to kill Agamemnon because Athena tells him not to.

This is personifying the literal thought process he had so that the reader understands what’s going through his head.

Fate doesn’t force anyone to act out of character --> fate is the consequence of their life choices

The gods not caring about death and his own lack of foresight is what Achilles messes up on

He asks Zeus to help him get revenge on the Greeks because he assumes Zeus cares about that sort of thing, but Zeus is bigger than that.

That leads Patroclus’ death, btw.

The “Enduring Heart” Shit

Achilles is really butthurt that Agamemnon wronged him

The lesson he has to learn is that even if material goods can’t make up for losses, there’s no other option --> you can’t bring people back from the dead, so you have to move on

That’s the Enduring Heart shit

also, if you abstract that concept it sounds kinda like entropy to me (Don’t quote me on that tho)

He learns that lesson by feeling pity for Priam (Hector’s dad) instead of perpetuating the Rage Train

And, hey, that Enduring Heart shit is a lesson that all of us could take to heart. None of us want to die, but it’s gonna happen. Maybe that’s not fair, but throwing a temper tantrum isn’t going to change anything. Really, the only way to avoid being miserable is to embrace our mortality so we can appreciate life while we have it

don’t quote me on that tho

In a nutshell, Achilles has to accept his mortal-ness. Otherwise there’s a lot of unnecessary suffering.

That’s why we don’t need to see him die in the Iliad even though everyone makes such a big deal about the prophecy about his death. His journey was completed as soon as he found pity in himself instead of Rage - essentially rejecting the godly side of himself (oh yeah, I forgot to mention. His mom is a goddess) and embracing his mortality.

because gods don’t have to deal with death, they can Rage all they want, remember?

Also, if he never dies, he can’t be reunited with Patroclus.

OTP OTP OTP

You could probably write an essay about how Achilles died as soon as Patroclus did.

Honestly Boring Historical Context (That might be interesting if you’re a nerd like me?

The poem was basically historical fantasy even when it was first written. There are gods and super strength and shit

Greek History Over-Simplified: The Mycanaean Period was prosperous but ended suddenly. The Dark Ages of Greece followed, and we don’t know much about what happened during that because they forgot the written word was a thin.

The events of the poem probably take place during the Mycanaean Period because they use bronze weapons.

But warfare is described from more of a Dark Ages perspective. Like, they don’t use chariots the right way

Which suggests that chariots were part of the source material, then the Dark Ages made people forget how they were supposed to be sued, so the bards just kinda made shit up to explain their presence. (Don’t quote me on that tho)

The Oral Tradition of the poem means that this story was told thousands of times over hundreds (thousands?) of years. So the narrative is hones at shit.

it has the sculpted body of an Olympic athlete. Each muscle toned to do a specific job and everything works perfectly together to accomplish the sporty feat of interest. Every verse is packed with character, setting, plot, and cultural significance

Except for that Catologue of Ships shit. Boooo boring ships.

There were probably lots of other versions of the poem, but Homer told it best. His version was written down as soon as the written word was (re)invented

Side Note that wasn’t in Lombardo’s Intro

The Iliad and Odyssey are both parts of a larger body of work known as the Epic Cycle

(The Aeneid is basically Caesar Augustus-insert fanfiction at that, btw. Virgil was a satirical fanboy and I’m living for it.)

Characters and events are introduced with the assumptions that the reader already knows their importance

But we only have fragments of the rest of the Cycle today because it was either never written down or the manuscripts were lost

I’m looking at you, Burned Library of Alexandria

*sad fiddle music plays in the background

Videos That I Learned Shit From (Only, like, the first two links are relevant to the topic at hand, btw)

Basic Plot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faSrRHw6eZ8

More about the Epic Cycle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3bn0eKt4Rw

Iphigenia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifFsKCrH3GM

Oresteia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kpGhivh05k

The Odyssey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-3rHQ70Pag&index=4&list=PLDb22nlVXGgfwG1qbOtNgu897E_ky_8To (Also, this story is my favorite of the Epic Cycle)

The Aeneid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRruBVFXjnY&list=PLDb22nlVXGgfwG1qbOtNgu897E_ky_8To&index=5

Ancient Greek History: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzGVpkYiJ9w&index=2&list=PLDb22nlVXGgexsbafIwirG6Tk9uww9dSW

And, yeah, these videos are all from the same channel. I’m a basic bitch and a ho for not leaving my comfort zone. Fite me.

Honestly, if anyone has other sources, let me know. Youtube history/video essays are my shit.

I hope this was helpful.

#iliad #literature #irreverent synopsis #i really like green but thats not the topic at hand #epic cycle #Achilles #Achilles and Patroclus forever #intro to the iliad

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sugartums · 7 years

Text

The Full Heart and Emotional Availability

The drive home from the Theater for Emotive Artificial Intelligence Science was in the rain on gravel roads past the one/laned bridge. The country. A lone squirrel was making her frantic search for acorns and sustenance for the winter. My winter of discontent, no more, thought she.

He should start acting differently in a few weeks, it’s done, the Maestro determined. It was all a matter of time now. His brain is sub/affecting the change through his baptismal/implanted devices as we speak. They were still current, no new insertion needed for the next twelve years. Strange: none of the future Meridians had any recollection of the pain inflicted by violent insertion of ear-implants; a ritual unquestioned and decided long before consciousness was attained.

The Maestro remote activated the device to reconfigure the area around the corpus colosseum; (like in Rome, said Maestro), so that when she arrived back home; her live/in boyfriend would already be Engaged. Interconnected cryptic syntax; nerves talking one another or something, his being unaware of the whole affectation of his advanced personality. Blah blah blah.

He would be better that way, such as was advertised on TV.

Click click, program supra/routine engaged: Emotional Availability: EA.

It wasn’t a cheap upgrade. The MC in his electric/silver/plated desk and his silver/black hair swiveled when she balked at the non/premium covered cost of her boyfriend’s brain evolution. That’s not what it said on TV. The Maestro said nothing as prices were haggled.

Slicked back and side parted.

Long metallic pen in thin/tarantula length fingers, fingering the thing.

False/glass plate windows were back in vogue and behind him, the foggy dusty lines framed the once-scientist.

Weary and heaving downward in the chest, he determined the price again without argument. MC would indeed be the Master of the Ceremony and the coin.

She weighed her actions like a laundry list.

←←←←←

II.

The night before the upgrade he didn’t respond to her question. While watching her

decision (re Boyfriend) stare at the plexiglass moonroof of their bedroom, flat-backed; "Do you ever feel anything?" asked she.

“Whaat?” and a chuckle from him.

Even worse, any text messages received from him, after her explanation remembering a time-frame, or a series of events surrounding them, were answered with an “I see”.

She thought he may as well have said, “I don’t give a shite” instead of “I see”.

Halloween was over. The guise of insanity no longer an excuse for Fools.

↑↑↑↑

In the next phase, the doctor said, the subject, i.e. Raymond, would be responding more lovingly and with empathy.

It would be another few weeks before anything would happen; runtime errors, bugs, and self-deletion of wayward files.

It was good for humans to have a heart. Every stew needs a salting.

Even some humans rejected the attempt of science to force more humanity, said the once-scientist. I don’t want this to happen, she thought.

Halloween was over. The guise of insanity no longer a suggestion. Who dresses up on the other days of the year?

←←←←

The stupefied glow of a man after orgasm reaches a point of lull for only five seconds, then he becomes aware of reality again. The Fukijawa light on a semi-warrior pose of Raymond by the wall window held for more than five seconds-- there was a time she could stare at his slim-toned stomach for many seconds after sex. In this time frame, she was getting up to clean herself off after the five-second lull. Wasn't the time used now for better things than sex? But without sex Raymond would retreat further into his Mother's figurative tentacles. Birdsmouth would be around to feed him immediately at her exit.

His body was never the problem. His sexual prowess, even without the help of botvibes, was never the problem.

His mind: was what she said in her mind. Born and raised without empathy. That kind of person. Mean sometimes. Critical of her driving. Unnaturally negative in simple conflicts.

Lush green mountain flora and sweet smelling air. Country s-curve roads in a to

p-down blood red Mitsubishi r-type.

→→→→

“The end of the story is when the people go away, then only come back as spirits,” Mirima explained to her 6-year old niece when visiting Fractiontown trying to forget about Raymond’s upgrade to complete.

“I don’t like this story, Aunty Em, it scares me too much.” Mirima laughed, “No, my baby, this is just a story that is not true, and what you are hearing cannot really happen, people cannot come back as spirits.”

“What about ghosts,” she was curious.

“I don’t know about ghosts, but your grandma is still with me, I can feel her. “

“Do you still talk to her anymore?”

“When I miss her, “ then a wave of emotion, silently stepped stage center from a waiting place; so Mirima let it, and let it more. Tears cannot be repressed when your heart is full.

“Stop,” said the niece slowly and atonally. Again three more times.

Mirima came home five days later.

Raymond worked at a polymer plant and got through traffic and gravel roads around

1900ss.

His self-chosen duties were to make the dinner of fish and rice, sauces, and soy, peas and beans. Sauces and soy, peas and beans. He had an apron to protect his clothes. He maneuvered around the kitchen like one of his robots doing inspections. He amused himself by acting as they would; sharp stops and slow turning.

Control of heat and time. Watch the flame. Lower the flame.

Toss the food, Plate the table.

She sat at the supper table and looked on the outside of his deeply Jade and orange-flecked eyes, soft black eyelashes, and the Steve Martin-esque hairline from 1979. It was some kind of rage and admiration always. Both at once, unlike a cup of milk on the table. The table had other things there like a bowl of rice, but the rice would never be judged.

After dinner, she looked for some signs and was told to preview her questions slowly but surely over the course of four weeks. One question per day to solicit an emotional response. When the desired answer was received, she could then reward and affirm him through a series of phrases and personal attention.

The physical attention was the first thing she desired from him in the commencement of their matchmaking. Then as the progression happened, and her happiness waned, she let him move into her complex. He was more than willing to take over the financial and the household task halves. She watched him at the stove and garbage bin a

nd held back screams of rage.

But there were no sounds to describe the horror.

The secret remote engagement of the missing elements would be modulated to the maximum potential of Raymond’s emotional threshold. Max. pot. meaning using the prefrontal cortex as a type of clay, molded to make the emotional elements missing, would force the man into a more balanced being.

Dionysius and Apollo. Yin and yang. The fullness of the heart and mind.

Lonely. Cold. Scared. Alone.

This morning she decided to wake early to make some muesli with honey and kiwi. Some fruits were rare and showed extra love to prepare for someone.

He came to the table dressed and pressed. He had a smile on his face. She asked how he was doing, he gave her a tiny pinch on the shoulder at the breakfast bar while bussing his bowl to the island.

Oh god, a rush of dopamine, oh yes. Thank you for touching me. It is happening, It is

happening! She suppressed the joy/wave but smiled back. Have a good day honey, I love you.

Love you too. And into the gravel driveway to the Mitsubishi Eclypse.

III.

Because this will help us. Because he is disabled by lack of emotion. Because he is a man.

He will thank me later for this. She wandered mentally in this matrix for the rest of her morning. She had to take off this day to get some bloodwork done. She was having her own brain chemistry tested to make sure her evolution was in order. No new upgrades for me.

I am tired today. I am feeling slow and tired. Does this happen when someone else changes?

→→→→→→

On the desk a month later, in her computer room, was a card. It said her name in black ink. She opened it and saw the picture of a heart on the front with some kind of abstract fish swimming through it.

She had a pause before the feeling she was looking for.

Ecstasy. She had to calm her beating heart. Inside, the card said:

“I have sunk like a stone to the depths of the ocean; I am lost in devotion.”

Love, Raymond

She lay back in bed with the card on her chest and cried a joyful messy cry with minimal repression.

I want to feel this way every day please please my God I knew this would work and my dreams would come true finally

She drove off the gravel driveway looking straight ahead. This will last with her eyes unblinking at the battery of red lights that forced her to pause. She would not be stopped now. Her way was now.

→→→→→

The second card. Two months later. Know that she never brought up the cards; that would ruin it. I’m not dull in the brain, for Pete’s sake.

A picture of a saint or something, looking woeful, and in pain. Only inside a quote:

"And what God? Great Jove,

Who shakes heaven's highest temples with his thunder,

And I, poor mortal man, not do the same!

I did it, and with all my heart I did it."

She put on the computer to find an answer...it was St. Augustine, talking about sex and then going on about it in a Confessional; about the vileness of lust.

This is not what I want..I wanted to love, I must bring this up to Raymond.

She forced with some flesh resistance, a pair of crystal hoop earrings into the second hole in each ear. It was enjoyable, the feel of the skin ripping. Take it, bitch.

That voice came from nowhere and inside her head, responding to whatever leftover guilt remained. For sneaking, for cheating, for getting what she thought she wanted.

→→→→→

There is first spring, and then there is summer. You now, do not become you later.

The person who has settled down on the train is not the same person who stepped onto the train on the platform.

True words are not beautiful.

Raymond made statements such as these. Mirima went into the bathroom to knock on her head with her fist. She caused a flux of a person; no longer a consistent person. He was more emotional, yes. But was he sensing his brain was different? What did he know of this programming?

If he was giving her a clue, it was when helped her with the kitchen duties. He said I want you to know, I will never judge you. You can be honest with me. She turned from scooping the prickly pear fruit:

Let’s go horseback riding then, you said the smell of horses makes you sick. If you

can handle that, then I know you won’t judge me for forcing you to go.

The jumping of the beasts was horrifying to him, more so at this moment; but the lucidity and clayness of her face; this new frontal cortex made him think, ok, I will go.

Ok, I will go, he said aloud. She shrieked and hugged him around the hips; the hips felt round and lovely, like the vulnerable thighs of a baby.

IV.

The self that travels from moment to moment, corresponding to the moving water on the waves. This is the meaning that no one experiences anything, there is simply seeing and experiencing.

The Maestro spoke to the young woman with the gentle approach of an ancient technologist; the folding rice paper table held a few oyster shells, upside down and holding sticks.

I cannot find a place to love him, he is changing in a way I cannot compute. Maestro sighed, took a long look out the plexiglass, then sneezed with a loud AHHH before the choo.

Recovering swiftly; I can only tell you that what you experience, and you, are the same thing, he said.

So I am looking at his changes, but my insides are not separate from his outside changes?

He ignored her question, then asked if she would take a short test, to see if her brain was doing its job properly. You know, he said, the job for the thing one owns; memories, experiences, Raymond. She laid on the couch submissively with her legs spindly, hanging off the settee.

Raymond got off the phone with the Maestro and grabbed his keys. He would be going horseback riding after all. It was time to move on to look at things he no longer feared. It was his solemn duty to learn how to enjoy himself, the man said.

Mirima was absolutely smashed from a few cocktails at the kitchen table. He was hoping she would be fine to ride when they got there in two hours. Into the deep country, away from gravel and smog. No place to bicker, only the horses. He loved her fully now, no more fear of risks.

On the hill, she was still buzzed but quite aware of her skills inherited from a family

of farmers and tillers. She opted for no helmet, her hair was sprayed and beautifully luscious with copper tones.

No, he would not jump, he would take a stroll on one of the older beasts; on a short journey in the wood while she got her courage to leap over the five-foot barriers.

It was a perfect blue/sky morning. She raced forward and the horse’s gait leaned to the left. She over compromised on the right, and her foot fell from the

←←←←

Down on the ground and neck

Slowly people around the body, she is conscious, she is ok.

Raymond took her to the hospital himself, 23 kilometers away, and raced like a wooden horse. Carried in as a Princess...saved by actions, saved by his works. This was not in the time/frame.

In the waiting room, he sat with his hands folded, knees wide apart, facing the floor.

He was called in and she was bandaged around the head and awake. I love you he felt.

“ I love you, my dear, I have to tell you something..I know what you did, you were stalked..we will be together forever, we wanted you to accept the upgrade….” he burst into tears, the first cry of his time with her. Amidst blubbering, his head in her braless breasts, I

love you I love you...

With furrowed brows, she gently pushed his head away.

“Who are you?”

#emotionallyavailable #the future #relationships nanobots upgrades transhumanism

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ronanlyncx · 7 years

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the best parts of the dream thieves (featuring me crying pt. 2)

part one

- “Ronan was everything that was left: molten eyes and a smile made for war”

- Ronan’s second secret #gay

- Gansey: “i would have thought you had more muscles. Don’t feminist have big muscles?” i just want to punch him can someone please punch him

- gansey calling ronan an incredible creature #gay

- “The elderly made ronan anxious” bitch me too!!!

- Ronan wanting to race kavinsky in the pig and adam is like dude no there is like 5 people in here we weigh too much and ronan goes: “noah doesn’t count” “Hey!” “You’re dead!” i love these nerds

- Gansey: “am I in your dreams?” Ronan: “Oh yes, baby” i hate him jsjksksk

- “Ronan sometimes dreamt of Adam, too” #gay

- Gansey and Ronan going to get orange juice at 3:32 am

- “Unlike some people, my sense of worth isn’t tied into my occupation.” “Ooooooh,” Orla crowed… she traded her Henrietta accent for a gloriously snotty version of the Old South. “Someone’s been hanging out with Richard Campbell Gansey the third too much.” orla just came for blue’s life holy shit

- “Jane!” “It’s a wizard in box.” “It will do your homework.” “And it’s been dating your girlfriend.” “Are you all drunk?” hey quick question wtf am i reading

- “Why is the tea so good here?” “I spit in it” Blue Sargent is an icon

“Blue Sargent was pretty in a way that was physically painful to him. He was attracted to her like a heart attack.” not to sound like a cheesy white lady or anything but this shit breathtaking bro

- “What do you want, Adam? What do you need, Adam?… Freedom, autonomy, a perennial bank balance, a stainless steel condo in a dustless city, a silky black car, to make out with Blue, eight hours of sleep, a cell phone, a bed, to kiss Blue just once, a blister-less heel, bacon for breakfast, to hold Blue’s hand, one hour of sleep, toilet paper, deodorant, a soda, a minute to close his eyes. What do you want, Adam? To feel awake when my eyes are open.” PROTECT THIS ANGEL GET HIM SOME TOILET PAPER WTF (also notice how what he wants continues to drop in difficulty to acquire this is so sad i’m literally a mess)

- “You be careful, Adam Parrish. ‘Cause one day you might get what you ask for. There might be girls in Henrietta who’ll let you talk to them like that, but i’m not one of them.” i really love this woman

- “He [Gansey] was bare-legged and sockless in his Top-Siders and very clearly a real human, an attainable human, and this, somehow, made Ronan want to smash his fist through a wall” #gay

- “Adam thinks he saw an apparition at his place” Ronan eyed Noah, “I’m seeing an apparition right now.” this entire relationship is just ronan roasting noah have you ever seen anything so pure

- Noah freaking out about the glitter in the snowglobe #angel

- Ronan paying Adam’s rent i am alive

- Gansey comparing Blue to a platypus

- “He threw me out the window!” “You’re already dead!” amazing

- Blue wanting to get Adam high so he can relax seriously someone let this boy take a nap

- Noah: “Is crack the same thing as speed?”

- Ashley not going into St. Agnes bc she “refuses to participate in a ceremony that doesn’t allow equal spiritual privileges to women” NICE

- Ronan dreaming kavinsky a replica of his white sunglasses after kavinsky gave him a copy of ronan’s leather bands #pettygay

- “and he was the boy with the most beautifully interesting car and the most savagely handsome of friends, Ronan Lynch” #gay

- Gansey: “I love this car. I should buy four more of them. I’ll just open the door of one and fall into the other. One can be a living room, one can be by kitchen, I’ll live in one…” what...the fuck

- Declan coming to give gansey a new battery for the pig and Ronan actually doing the most™ “He hurriedly sprawled back in the seat, throwing one jean-covered leg over the top of Adam’s and laying his head in a posture of thoughtless abandon. By the time Declan arrived, Ronan looked as if he had been asleep for days.” this is so extra omfgggg

- “His [Declan’s] gaze followed his brother’s leg to where it rested on top of Adam’s, and his expression tightened.” dude ronan even your brother is noticing your crush u gotta do better

- Gansey thinking that Ronan tried to kill himself after all this time and then finding out that Ronan was attacked by a dream demon thing #shook

- Gansey and Ronan fighting a different dream demon thing with a box cutter and a crowbar how are these children alive

- “She [Blue] wore a dress Ronan thought looked like a lampshade. Whatever sort of lamp it belonged on, Gansey clearly wished he had one. Ronan wasn’t a fan of lamps.” This is the least subtle homosexuality metaphor i have ever read in my life (also: Gansey crushing on Blue #nice)

- refer to this post

- “Let’s just go on before Gansey has time to say something that makes me hate him” lmao

- “The air was stained permanently with the pleasant odor of Ronan’s childhood: hickory smoke and boxwood, grass and seed and lemon cleaner. ‘I remember,’ Gansey said thoughtfully to Ronan, ‘when you used to smell like this’” #gay

- Dream toaster

- “I am being perfectly fucking civil” #iconic

- “Don’t fucking swear” #iconic pt 2

- Calla preforming arial yoga through the continuation of Ronan’s reading

- The entire time they are on the boat adam and gansey have the biggest hard-ons for orla and blue wants to die/kill them and ronan is disgusted

- ronan complains about the heat like 600 times i love my dramatic son

- Gansey finding the skin of blue’s calf more “tantalizing” than orla’s entire torso boiiiii if u dont get!!!!!

- “Blue cheerfully spit a mouthful of brown water on his boat shoes.” she’s doing god’s work

- “He was struck by what a glorious and fearless animal Blue Sargent was.” I’m emo

- “Gansey, pacing next to his ruined miniature Henrietta, set his eyes on Ronan. There was something intense and heedless in them. There were many versions of Gansey, but this one had been rare since the introduction of Adam’s taming presence.” The fact that adam calms gansey down is so pure and i cannot believe this is canon (also: blue also calms gansey down... i love my bisexual son)

- Gansey being badass asf when him and ronan go to confront kavinsky about breaking in the apartment and ronan going super heart-eyes

- also i am convinced that this scene is dick’s bi awakening

- “…Gansey leaving for D.C. without him was unbearable. They had been a two-headed creature for so long, Ronan-and-Gansey. He couldn’t say it, though. There were a thousand reason’s why he couldn’t say it” #GAY

- “While i’m gone, dream me the world. Something new for every night.” #REALLYGAY

- no one in fox way can work a cellphone maura literally had to get blue to make the gray man’s voicemail work

- Ronan blowing a kiss to gansey and adam when they are flying away in the helicopter i fucking hate him jsjsjs

- Helen asking if Adam wants to go into the whole foods with her and adam just stares at her. me too buddy

- “’Pigmy Pouters. Feisty ones!’ Gansey mouthed Blue at Adam. Adam let out a little wail of helpless laughter.” adam parrish laughing: a concept

- Blue finally admitting to herself that she likes Gansey while laying in his bed

- “I’d ask you out, if i was alive” “i’d say yes” :(((((

- the fact that adam’s dad actually pushed my manz down the stairs at one point i will personally fight robert parrish

- “This is Adam Parrish. Shake his hand. He’s more clever than I am. One day we’ll be throwing one of these shindigs for him.” MY HEART

- Adam literally filling up a whole page describing helen #bi

- when helen asks why ronan wasn’t with them, adam and gansey both get the mental image of the house burning down lmao

- “you gonna race with those shades on, you Bulgarian mobster Jersey trash piece of shit?” he’s so elegant with words!!!1111!!!

- Ronan thinking Kavinsky is beautiful um this is gross but #gay

- Gansey calling Blue to calm him down just because she makes him feel “uneven and shattered” im fucking emo

- Kavinsky calling gansey literally anything BUT his name: “Dick three” “dick dick dick” “Dickie”

- Ronan figuring out how to master his dreams and then leaving kavinsky #scammer

- to be honest i cannot believe helen and gansey managed to convince adam about the hondoyota with the literal SKIT they used

- “HEY, OLD MAN!” “Ronan!” ANGELS

- ronan apologizing for wrecking the pig and Gansey actually not believing his ears.

- “Hey, Churchill tried to negotiate with hitler.” “Did he?” don’t argue with boat shoe about history this man will rip you to shreds

- pink switchblade

- “Times circular, chicken”

- BLUE GOING OFF ON ADAM IM JUST ABOUT TO QUOTE THE WHOLE ROAST

- THE WHOLE ROAST: “Politics! I have no interest. Voting? What? I forgot my apron. I think I ought to be in the kitchen right now, actually. My rolling pin-” “i didn’t know that you-” “thats my point! did it even occur to you? You wouldn’t have gone someplace without Gansey, though. You two make a grand couple! kiss him! (lmao) Well, i don’t want to be just someone to kiss. I want to be a real friend, too. Not just someone who’s fun to have around because- because I have breast!” GO OFF BITCHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

- Adam calling Blue a raging feminist like do boys not know that this is a complement like yes this is the angle i am going for thanks for noticing

- Gansey and Blue’s first drive together #i #am #emo

- “Jane, in this light you... Jesus. Jesus. I’ve got to get my head straight.” MURDER ME

- When Adam woke up at fox way after being asleep for 24 hours or whatever he drank four glasses for pomegranate juice and three cups of tea and then left in the span of ten minutes. i know sometimes these kids act like they are 50 years old but....this is a teenage boy

- “It was against Ronan’s nature to appear overly interested in anything.” HES SO EXTRA

- Grey man: “But it wasn’t personal.” Ronan: “It. Was. To. Me.” :((((((((((( also i’m pretty sure neil josten said the same thing to that police officer one time i love parallels.

- “when ronan thought of gansey, he thought moving into monmouth manufacturing, of nights spent in companionable insomnia, of a summer searching for a king, of gansey asking for the grey man for his life. Brothers.” kill. me.

- kavinsky dying #goodshit

#the raven cycle #pynch #bluesey #trc #adam parrish #ronan lynch #gansey #blue sargent #noah czerny #trc edit #BLLB IS NEXT IM SO EXCITED TO RE READ #anyways here u go nerds

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its-btrz-blog · 7 years

Text

Throne of Glass (by Sarah J. Maas) Series Review

Throne of Glass is an on-going fantasy YA series, with currently 7 books (Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, Queen of Shadows, Empire of Storms, Tower of Dawn, Book #7) on the main series (5 have already been published, there's one being published this year and another next year), published by Bloomsbury since 2012. The author, Sarah J. Maas, has another on-going series on the same genre, A Court of Thorns and Roses.

What made me want to read it:

Since, well, fantasy is my favorite genre, Goodreads has been recommending me this since I created an account (almost 4 years now). It has a really, and I mean really, high rating on every book, lots of 5-star reviews and it seemed like I was missing out on such an AMAZING series. Its books have been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards since 2012. Also, the premise is really just that: amazing.

What is it about (no spoilers):

Celaena Sardothien (she'll be C. from now on, I can't write this name) is, at 18, the best assassin in her land. However, she has been captured and spent the last year of her life as a slave in the salt mines. Now, to win her freedom, she has to win a competition to become the King's Champion. For that, she is supported by the Crown Prince and trained by the captain of the guard. As the competition begins, the other candidates start dying, and it seems like C. will end up as another victim if she can't figure out who is killing them.

What I thought about it (spoilers after marked as such):

I'm going to start with the most important thing. The whole premise of this is that C.'s like the greatest assassin ever (she says it multiple times in every book, everyone else keeps saying it, also multiple times, it's really shoved down your throat). Great. Except, that's the biggest lie ever told. The whole premise of this character is false, as soon as you start reading. She doesn't act like an assassin. She's not smart, she's not strong, all we have to rely on is what she keeps telling us (which is, that she is the best). And it doesn't get better as the series progresses. She's described as knowing how to use all these weapons, she goes out full of hidden weapons on herself and super cool armor but then… that's about it? We barely see her acting as an assassin. Also, for someone who kills people for a living, she sure objects to it a lot. And it's not a great moral objection. She just wants to kill people she doesn't like (rich and powerful and evil people, really).

Then, of course, she's also the most beautiful woman ever (and best at everything else she does), and EVERYONE keeps remarking on that. I lost count of how many times we are told about her golden hair, her weird colored eyes, her slim body full of womanly curves with her perfect breasts that hang beneath her tunic. Of course, every time she changes clothes, we also get at least a paragraph describing color, cut, fabric, accessories and hair style. We spend more time hearing about her, how amazing she is, how pretty she is, how pretty her clothes are, that actually seeing her do something. Also, every other time she eats, we need a full description of how hungry she is and of what she's eating.

To make matters better, she's not even likable. She loves books, she loves reading, she loves candy. OK. She also loves boasting and making (empty) threats. And throwing temper tantrums. And thinking about how handsome her love interests are. She is a huge hypocrite, too. (Oh, how awful these wealthy people are living in luxury while people are being made slaves! Oh, let me buy the finest clothes I can and then burn them in rage.) That's a consistent trait she has throughout the whole series. And vain. (I’ve been imprisoned one year but my boobs aren’t big anymore! It’s not like I’m out of shape for this tournament thing or anything) Great personality there.

As for the story. It's fairly generic, I think. It doesn't get better than that. There's only a small percentage of each book actually dedicated to some sort of plot. The rest is padding. I'm serious, the books are huge, but if we're talking about the substance in each one, you could probably stuff it in half the books with half the length. At some point (after the second book I think), the direction of the series changes completely. Of course, the world building is mostly made up along the way. I never got a sense of what kind of world they were in to start with. The mythology and magic stuff is just kind of there, but never expanded upon. When it's necessary, something really convenient and never mentioned thing was already there all along. There's some gods, some named whenever it comes up, I don't know what the belief system is, there's some Christmas holiday that isn't really explained, I don't know how they worship, (aside from a vague ceremony in which she’s half asleep) there's some ancient runes, and there was magic once and magic creatures but they aren't talked about until halfway through the first book, and even then, it's like the bare minimum. So, confusing. Also, I was never really sure where they stand in terms of technological and scientific development. There's a coexistence of really medieval things with more advanced stuff and it's not addressed and I don't know what is supposed to be available.

The construction of the society is also somewhere along these lines. There's a king, he's evil, he's a conqueror, he rules all. Great. And there's a foreign princess from a country that has a name and that's barely it. There was a map, but I felt it was useless, mostly.

As for narration, these random in-chapter point of view changes are so annoying. They hinder the reading, they make me get lost. Either stick to one character per chapter, or mark the changes properly. And the writing… What is this? It's so flowery, it tries so hard! Every other sentence is written like there's some deep meaning in everything. So many trying-to-be-badass quotes. It's so tiresome, I can't even keep track of what's happening. Of course, to remedy that, the narration keeps telling me very important stuff, like how awesome C. is.

Lastly, there's the love triangle. You can spot it instantly. Two very handsome teenagers are presented. Wow. What could this mean? Also, a person cannot possibly be in love, if they don't mention at least twice per chapter how beautiful and amazing their love interest is, and how much they are attracted to them. It gets old. It doesn't make a well developed romance. Both Chaol and Dorian (captain of the guard and prince, respectively, and the first two love intererests) are also very incompetent at their posts. Maybe because they spend so much time thinking about C.? This sort of applies to other characters too, since everyone who doesn't think C. is the greatest person to walk the earth is shown as a bad person.

[SPOILERS AFTERWARDS]

About plot. There's this huge feat of writing that features in these books. It's called: you're in the protagonist's head half of the time but she has this huge secret/secret plan that she somehow never talks about until it is revealed for the other characters! Seriously? Lost princess fae never thinks about it? Ever? Those secret allies you have about whom you've never talked about that will save the day?

You know, part of the enjoyment of reading is seeing the characters planning and doing the small things and seeing how it plays out in the end. None of this here.

Then we have the huge shift that happens between books 2 and 3. We were following the story of a supposed assassin who wants to overthrow the evil king and suddenly we are following the story of a lost Fae princess (even though we are told almost nothing about Fae before this) who wants to take her kingdom back and improve other kingdoms by conquering them and killing the evil entities and her evil relative. And those two protagonists are the same person, but are written as if they were two separate persons. They're not. She's still selfish and a hypocrite. (She's also given a new magical love interest to match her new persona. Of course.)

Continuing with C./A./her 100 out-of-nowhere titles, apparently being born a princess and being raised as a spoiled “assassin” gives her all the qualification she needs to rule a kingdom she has never cared for. And of course, to start colonizing other countries once she's queen. You know, the same thing the EVIL VILLAIN does? And anyone who questions her right to rule is immediately painted in a bad light, and threatened by good queen A. and her “court”. Great way to show the rise of a dictator.

[END OF SPOILERS]

The supporting characters, of course, all adore C./A and see no faults in her. Conveniently, they are all being paired up with each other, so we'll have a nice group of couples by the end. We don't see these romances develop, they just happen. As with the main romance, only with less endless paragraphs of love and lust declarations.

I'm really not liking the direction these books are going.

Conclusion:

I have rated every book in this series with 1-star. This has been my greatest disappointment lately, since I've been exposed to its good publicity for years. So, no, I don't recommend it. In fact, even though opinions are always subjective, these books get a lot of compliments and attention I feel they don't really deserve. I didn't get what I was promised. I've only kept reading because I'm incapable of leaving series unfinished.

[My individual reviews for each book are here, here, here, here, and here.]

The short stories:

They exist to, you know, reassure us of how amazing C. is, like we need it. And to show is this “epic” romance between C. and her previous boyfriend that she keeps mentioning was the love of her life until the REAL one appears. Oh, and some character is introduced, that then appears out of nowhere in a later book to simply save the day. I don't think they had anything important to add, really.

#throne of glass #sarah j maas #breviews #series reviews #reviews

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sweetcron · 4 years

Note

11-97

hhelllll yEAHHHHH HERE WE GO BABIE!!!!!!! THANKS FOR THE ASK!!!

i probably went too hard on all these but....one of my summer classes just finished and i was like yeahahhHhhahah

11. what you have for breakfast on an average day?

totally depends where i am and how much time i have, but typically ill have yogurt & something small but sweet so i dont go insane

12. name of your favorite playlist?

god right now my favorite is handle without care, which is just stupid songs im into right now

13. lanyard or key ring?

lanyard, except i always get it caught on shit so typically i just throw my keys in my bag anyway

14. favorite non-chocolate candy?

oooo hard one, my initial thought was sour gummy worms, but probably... either that or sour skittles. oh but fuck lemon & black licorice jelly beans together......im excited to have 0 followers & 0 friends tomorrow

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment?

percy jackson was dope. im trying to come up with another that i even read and frankly cannot

16. most comfortable position to sit in?

honestly i just sit like a fool all the time, but i like to be very reclined and almost horizontal, if im forced to sit more upright i like crosslegged or with my leg(s) pulled up to my chest

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes?

depends on the season or length of time, recently it’s been my black high top vans, usually it’s my docs. for a long time it was black converse.

18. ideal weather?

i like when it’s a little sunny, kind of overcast, but a little cold, like enough to wear layers but not suffer

19. sleeping position?

on my side, curled up, ideally holding pam(ela indestructable underworld), my adorable stuffed sloth

20. preferred place to write (i.e., in a note book, on your laptop, sketchpad, post-it notes, etc.)?

depends on what it is, but I have a planner sort of thing i really like for planning, a sketchbook/painting sort of notebook for more emotional shit and then my twitter that nobody follows and is private for really emotional shit

21. obsession from childhood?

i loved making like..dirt, water, and grass mixtures in an empty gatorade bottle. apparently this is not a common experience.

22. role model?

everyone to an extent, but also nobody. but to pin down a specific person, probably my therapist lol

23. strange habits?

i keep listening to shiny from moana? also i keep wanting to change my hair.

24. favorite crystal?

oh god, i love opal, but i dont know. most are pretty but some are awful. it depends, and id have to look at a million pictures for any resemblance of a legitimate answer

25. first song you remember hearing?

that’s so hard um. i dont remember very early but i do remember hearing crush, crush, crush by paramore and thinking ew crushes are gross even though i had a crush on a dumbass at the time, and welcome to the black parade and crying

26. favorite activity to do in warm weather?

warm, probably a concert but past that, walking around, going to thrift stores or record shops.

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather?

a concert, again but past that going home, or getting a warm drink

28. five songs to describe you?

oh LORD!!!!! this is hard, but i did my best

1. caught in the middle - paramore

2. grow - muna

3. cool for cats - squeeze

4. cut my lip - twenty one pilots

5. tubthumping - chumbawumba

29. best way to bond with you?

share music with me, be vulnerable and share what is going on with you

30. places that you find sacred?

being in trees and being alone listening to music that means a lot to me loudly

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names?

i have a mustardy yellow shirt that’s got vertical lines that are raised from the shirt, and then a flared leg jumpsuit sort of thing that’s like plaid, with black and white and grey. then docs, and yeah i love that outfit. adore it. even better with a jean jacket with fleece lining.

32. top five favorite vines?

also so hard but after doing this i think im gonna throw up from laughing so hard

1. dancing puppet

2. get outta your mind

3. cat

4. WAY TO GO PAUL

5. krispy kreme

33. most used phrase in your phone?

that’s a great question, probably me asking people what to do with my hair

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head?

none currently, but always “meat, it’s what’s for dinner”

35. average time you fall asleep?

depends, but usually 10ish

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing?

probably some rage meme like brian or whatever

37. suitcase or duffel bag?

depends on what im doing, but usually duffel.

38. lemonade or tea?

arnold palmer babie!! but it depends, usually i’d say tea, i really like lemon ginger (especially pukka but its expensive)

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie?

i dont know if i’ve had lemon meringue pie, but lemon cake sounds better i think

40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school?

i remembered this and it is entertaining, in middle school (i was...prolly 14? 13?) someone said “someone likes uuuu” to me and i was like. “......k” and they were like..... “it’s a giiiiiiirl” and i again, was like “.......k” and so literally, i fucking spent the rest of the class being like, hm! apparently i dont care. and thats how i realized that idc about gender when it comes to liking someone lol

41. last person you texted?

max, @laetan. follow him if u dont i love him

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets?

women’s pant pockets are cursed. jacket pockets enlighten me, especially when there’s one normal and then one like, on top of that pocket but the entrance is horizontal. that’s my favorite.

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket?

all? but let’s rank them

1. jean jacket, my absolute fav, i have like 5 jean jackets and it’s bad. i always want more

2. hoodie, with a jean jacket is even better, but COMFY!!!!

3. leather jacket, look like a badass with one piece of clothing!!

4. bomber jacket, dont have a lot but always make me feel cool

5. cardigan, makes me feel like an old lady, but also really comfy idk. even the worst is amazing

44. favorite scent for soap?

i love lemon, but any fruit is good. or like, vanilla

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero?

sci-fi usually....fantasy is usually too much and superhero is usually annoying. unless it’s spiderman. i adore spiderman

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in?

oversized soft t shirt and like, soft shorts/boxer things

47. favorite type of cheese?

GOAT CHEESE!!! also sharp cheddar and pepperjack

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be?

pear. i feel like i’m not talked about a lot but people like me and nobody despises me??

49. what saying or quote do you live by?

i really like “you can start over each day” and “only skeleton bones remain” (FUCKING CLIKKIE)

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have?

i feel like ive cried laughing so hard, or almost thrown up, but i dont know why, and that’s almost better

51. current stresses?

just general body things, appointments, school in the fall, graduating, etc

52. favorite font?

it depends on what im doing, but i love my own handwriting, i like times new roman, hate arial with a PASSION!!!!! brawler is nice but doesn’t bold well. handwriting fonts are cool too

53. what is the current state of your hands?

left hand’s nails is in silver glitter and right hand’s nails are blue/purple glitter. perpetual hangnails. still a hint of a scar from cutting my hand on a razor, and remnants of blisters from rowing

54. what did you learn from your first job?

that you can be kind and see change without changing the entire world, and that men are creepy as shit

55. favorite fairy tale?

i dont think i have one? max probably has a good one that i’d love. new ask game send me ur favorite fairy tales and ill read them and review them

56. favorite tradition?

my mom makes me a half birthday cake every year, it’s really cute and idk why it warms my heart

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome?

fuck dude, umm this is hard and also a lot

1. my extreme self hatred!!

2. my extreme concern for other people’s thoughts, just honestly like dressing and listening to whatever and not really caring, ill always care, just not as bad as i did

3. letting go of things and trying to grow because of pain rather than viewing it as a waste of time

58. four talents you’re proud of having?

uhhhhhghaghhaghdshaghdhsaghadshg i dont know this is hard

1. finding dope ass socks at thrift stores

2. thinking creatively and trying to make something stranger than others like it

3. i can draw p well???? i guess? i designed my tattoo does that count

4. winning contests. i won like, 10 last year? like wtf

59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be?

recently it would be life’s a sham and then ur wow, in reference to life’s a bitch and then you die and also shamwow. so that. or just constantly referring to things as bad boys, like. dishes.

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be?

there’s different kinds? but ummmm i dont know, i dont want to google anime types. can i say like a miyazaki movie and be done with it

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.?

i dont know, can i do a song? bc i really like I’m alive in spite of me recently, also like this graffiti that i say that said 33 might mason men couldn’t put me back together again

62. seven characters you relate to?

oh boy, i asked my gf for help on some

1. nick miller from new girl

2. peter b. parker from into the spiderverse

3. dean mccoppin from iron giant for some reason

4. emile from ratatouille

5. a mix of ben and leslie from parks and rec

6. a weird mix of chris and ron from parks and rec

7. rodrick from diary of a wimpy kid

63. five songs that would play in your club?

1. come down by anderson paak

2. send me on my way by rusted root

3. doses and mimosas by cherub

4. replay by iyaz

5. rap snitch knishes by mf doom

64. favorite website from your childhood?

WEBKINZ!!!!!

65. any permanent scars?

yeaaa got a lot, most prominent are on my legs, partially just stretch marks, and then the one on my forehead from when i got stitches

66. favorite flower(s)?

i love carnations, marigolds, roses, but really anything, fuck

67. good luck charms?

i don’t have any, i used to wear a bracelet my gf gave me but it broke. *insert gif of me trying to remember when it broke and if that’s when everything went to shit*

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried?

centipede jelly bean. worst thing ive ever had. it wouldn’t go away for a day even with eating other things and drinking water and chewing strong gum. horrible

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned?

i have no idea. truly

70. left or right handed?

i am right handed

71. least favorite pattern?

houndstooth, i really don’t like it for some reason

72. worst subject?

i am oh so bad at writing, it’s really hard for me. but honestly recently every subject is horrible.

73. favorite weird flavor combo?

this was mentioned before, but black licorice and lemon. i’ve only had it with jelly beans, so maybe it’s not as good in other formats

74. at what pain level out of ten (1 through 10) do you have to be at before you take an advil or ibuprofen?

depends on what it is, if i think a migraine is coming then i take it pretty low, maybe a 4, otherwise i can deal with it up to like a 6 or 7, unless i’m needing to focus

75. when did you lose your first tooth?

i dont know when, but i do remember where. i was at a drive through bank in a rental car with my parents and brother in oregon, and i put the tooth in the lid of a plastic water bottle.

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)?

jalepeno potato chips are soooo good but, honestly, tots are the best. mashed potatoes are good too

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill?

depends on the direction it’s facing and climate, but i’m growing some ivy right now and it’s so pretty and cool. also a christmas cactus that my great great great grandma or something like that started and has been passed down!!!! and a ..... leafy boy

78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store?

absolutely coffee from a gas station, i dont trust sushi

79. which looks better, your school id photo or your driver’s license photo?

my school id because i’m smiling. i look stoned or dead in my id.

80. earth tones or jewel tones?

i didn’t entirely know what this meant, so i googled both and went oooooooo to jewel tones so. jewel tones.

81. fireflies or lightning bugs?

i say both, i don’t know which i say more frequently because i live where there aren’t ....... lightning bugs. ore fireflies. whichever. lol

82. pc or console?

i dont game much, but i like my psp a lot, or like a joystick sort of sitchhhh

83. writing or drawing?

dRAWING FOR SURE!

84. podcasts or talk radio?

podcasts, i don’t listen to much of either

84. barbie or polly pocket?

can i throw in a third variable of bratz?

85. fairy tales or mythology?

either, but probably mythology

86. cookies or cupcakes?

depends on the kind, but i love frosting and cupcakes are fun, so cupcakes.

87. your greatest fear?

that i will lose everyone i love or push them away? eeeee

88. your greatest wish?

to be content and hopefully other people are content alongside me

89. who would you put before everyone else?

honestly my gf, max, and steph. and my mom. yeyeeeee

90. luckiest mistake?

oh god we could go deep or not. probably not. so like, buying pamela, my stuffed sloth

91. boxes or bags?

depends on the situation, but bags are fun, can put patches on them, plastic bags are boring and boxes are useful, help organize or carry lots of things

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights?

sunlight absolutely, i love it. i then would say lamps are better than fairy lights which are better than overhead lights. fuck overhead lights

93. nicknames?

for me? okay lets GO. delly, delly boi, dell, d, glen, glenjamin, glenny, yenaled. there’s a lot of weird/gross ones that i dont want to share.

94. favorite season?

fall in theory, summer in stability.

95. favorite app on your phone?

wasn’t this already asked? CAUGHTCHA

96. desktop background?

switches between 3 pictures around colorado that my gf took

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized?

five

98. favorite historical era?

good question, i honestly don’t know. can i say the 80s or 90s? if not like, before racism existed. yeah

#about me #ask #long post #THANK YOU #ask game #anon #was this too long #sorry #also i spent so long on this wtf?!?!?!?!???!?!!?!??!?!?!?!?!?! who am i #anonymous

0 notes

english2121 · 5 years

Text

Discussion Leader 10/3

Quotes One:

“And when, on the morrow, she presented Elizabeth to me as her promised gift, I, with childish seriousness, interpreted her words literally and looked upon Elizabeth as mine — mine to protect, love, and cherish. All praises bestowed on her I received as made to a possession of my own. We called each other familiarly by the name of cousin. No word, no expression could body forth the kind of relation in which she stood to me — my more than sister, since till death she was to be mine only” (Chapter 1).

“But my chief delights were the sights of the flowers, the birds, and all the gay apparel of summer; when those deserted me, I turned with more attention towards the cottagers. Their happiness was not decreased by the absence of summer. They loved and sympathised with one another; and their joys, depending on each other, were not interrupted by the casualties that took place around them. The more I saw of them, the greater became my desire to claim their protection and kindness; my heart yearned to be known and loved by these amiable creatures; to see their sweet looks directed towards me with affection was the utmost limit of my ambition” (Chapter 15).

Question 1: Throughout the novel, Victor Frankenstein and his monster exhibit instances of their mental states shifting due to the events around them (i.e. perception of nature). Can we say these instances make them similar to one another?

Quote Two:

“‘But soon,’ he cried with sad and solemn enthusiasm, ‘I shall die, and what I now feel be no longer felt. Soon these burning miseries will be extinct. I shall ascend my funeral pile triumphantly and exult in the agony of the torturing flames. The light of that conflagration will fade away; my ashes will be swept into the sea by the winds. My spirit will sleep in peace, or if it thinks, it will not surely think thus. Farewell.’ He sprang from the cabin window as he said this, upon the ice raft which lay close the vessel. He was soon borne away by the waves and lost in darkness and distance” (Chapter 24).

Question Two: Towards the end of the novel, we are given an open ending of the monster’s fate. Is this in any way Romantic? Why do you think Shelley chose this open ending?

Quotes Three:

“Great God! What a scene has just taken place! I am yet dizzy with the remembrance of it. I hardly know whether I shall have the power to detail it; yet the tale which I have recorded would be incomplete without this final and wonderful catastrophe. I entered the cabin where lay the remains of my ill-fated and admirable friend. Over him hung a form which I cannot find words to describe — gigantic in stature, yet uncouth and distorted in its proportions. As he hung over the coffin, his face was concealed by long locks of ragged hair; but one vast hand was extended, in colour and apparent texture like that of a mummy. When he heard the sound of my approach, he ceased to utter exclamations of grief and horror and sprung towards the window. Never did I behold a vision so horrible as his face, of such loathsome yet appalling hideousness. I shut my eyes involuntarily and endeavoured to recollect what were my duties with regard to this destroyer. I called on him to stay” (Chapter 24, Sept. 12th letter).

“‘The task of his destruction was mine, but I have failed. When actuated by selfish and vicious motives, I asked you to undertake any unfinished work, and I renew this request now, when I am only induced by reason and virtue’” (Chapter 24, Sept. 12th letter).

Question Three: What do Walton’s letters provide for the end of the novel and do they affect the ending? Why do you think Walton did not fulfill Frankenstein’s wish in killing the monster?

Quote Four:

“He paused, looking on me with wonder, and again turning towards the lifeless form of his creator, he seemed to forget my presence, and every feature and gesture seemed instigated by the wildest rage of some uncontrollable passion. ‘That is also my victim!’ He exclaimed. ‘In his murder my crimes are consummated; the miserable series of my being is wound to its close! Oh, Frankenstein! Generous and self-devoted being! What does it avail that I now ask thee to pardon me? I, who irretrievably destroyed thee by destroying all thou lovedst. Alas! He is cold, he cannot answer me.’ His voice seemed suffocated, and my first impulses, which had suggested to me the duty of obeying the dying request of my friend in destroying his enemy, were now suspended by a mixture of curiosity and compassion” (Chapter 24, Sept. 12th letter).

Question Four: The monster has become fixated on causing Frankenstein pain and suffering after being rejected by him and the rest of humanity. However, he manages to show regret over Frankenstein’s death. Can this be a sign of character growth (meaning the monster has reverted from committing malicious deeds) or is this another mind game that he is playing? Can this be seen as a sign that the monster never truly wanted to cause suffering for Frankenstein?

Quotes Five:

“In the Sorrows of Werter, besides the interest of its simple and affecting story, so many opinions are canvassed and so many lights thrown upon what had hitherto been to me obscure subjects that I found in it a never-ending source of speculation and astonishment. The gentle and domestic manners it described, combined with lofty sentiments and feelings, which had for their object something out of self, accorded well with my experience among my protectors and the wants which were forever alive in my own bosom. But I thought Werter himself a more divine being than I had ever beheld or imagined; his character contained no pretension, but it sank deep” (Chapter 15).

“But Paradise Lost excited different and far deeper emotions. Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence; but his state was far different from mine in every other respect. He had come forth from the hands of God a perfect creature, happy and prosperous, guarded by the especial care of his Creator; he was allowed to converse with and acquire knowledge from beings of a superior nature, but I was wretched, helpless, and alone. Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition, for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me” (Chapter 15).

Question Five: The monster has exhibited a deep hatred for his creator and humanity due to their rejection of him, which allows him to sympathize with Werter. Do you believe that if the monster would still have this similar mindset if he had never read The Sorrows of Werther and Paradise Lost? Do you believe that this texts have truly shaped his perspective on humanity (inducing his hatred and maliciousness)?

Argument:

Throughout the novel, Mary Shelley composes scenes which show Frankenstein’s bond with his monster through the likeness of their mental states: these two characters manage to have composed, rational thoughts but then break down to irrationational thoughts - thus repeating a cycle. This further shows a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde dynamic between the two due to the fact that they both are parallels of one another (mindsets, perception of nature, their temperaments). But why does Shelley make them similar? By analyzing the scenes where they exhibit similarities, it could be said that this is a way to show that all of humanity has a monster within us all - whether it is created and illustrated through our ideologies, beliefs or actions. In this sense, it could show Shelley’s opinion that too much curiosity, self-exploration, and experimentation could be damaging to us and our morals which thus creates our monster. This is shown through Frankenstein committing himself to experiment with the creation of life, which proves to be his fatal mistake as his creation has now become an abomination, later, destroying his happiness and life.

0 notes

flauntedpixels · 7 years

Note

Alllllll the questions for Delilah

Oh lordy this is gonna take so long LOL..01. What does your character’s name mean? Did you pick it for the symbolism, or did you just like the way it sounded?I was creating her and listening to "Hey there Delilah" so it just was perfect. 02. What is one of your character’s biggest insecurities? Are they able to hide it easily or can others easily exploit this weakness?Delilah HATES bugging people, she feels like she bothers everyone she talks to, so sometimes she gets sad about it and stops talking to them for a while so they don't get bothered by her.03. What would be their favorite physical trait about themselves?D really likes her eyes or her nose.04. What are their favorite traits about their lover? (one psychological and one physical)No lover :( I will skip all of these probably.05. Are they sexually confident or more of the shy type?She is pretty sexually confident.06. Do they have any hobbies that their lover finds unusual, odd, or otherwise annoying?No lover.07. Is there a catchphrase or sound that they tend to make a lot (likely without being aware of it)?"LOL" "Dude" "Oh my god"08. What is, perhaps, their biggest flaw? Are they aware of this or oblivious to it?Being too clingy, and yes she is aware.09. Do they have a favorite season? What about a favorite holiday?Summer is her favorite season so she can surf and wear shorts, flip flops and hats.10. Is your character more feminine or masculine?For sure more feminine.11. What is something that would make your character fly into a rage?Someone talking bad about her sister and her sisters bad decisions.12. Is there some particular talent, skill, or attribute that they simply could not give up?Surfing probably13. What are your character’s sleeping habits? Heavy or light sleeper? Blanket stealer? One that always rolls onto the floor? Pushes their lover onto the floor? Sleep talker or walker?Heavy sleeper, she doesn't steal the blanket, she used to sleep talk as a kid but she doesn't anymore.14. Do they live alone or with family? How do they feel about their family/roommates?She lives alone.15. Is there a certain person in this world that they cannot stand? The very mention of this person’s name makes them tremble with anger or fear.Her mother.16. Is your character the athletic type or more of a couch potato? What are some sports/games that they like?She is definitely athletic, and surfing is her favorite but she also enjoys soccer & cheer (high school).17. Does your character have dreams of getting married and/or having children?All the time!18. What kind of home would they want to live in? Where would they place this abode? A beach house right on the water.19. Would your character be the kind to get into fights? (physical or verbal) Would they be a good fighter or cave in rather easily?No, D doesn't like to fight usually.20. Does your character like animals? What are some of their favorite animals? Would they want pets? What about mythological creatures?Shes obsessed with dogs but she doesn't have one.21. What is one of your character’s biggest fears? How would they react when dealing with this fear?Her sister passing away, or her mother coming back and trying to come into her life after all of these years. She would shut down completely and ignore the world.22. What kind of tattoos, piercings, birthmarks, freckles, and other such unique physical features do they have? D has two freckles on her right cheek, an arrow tattoo on her left arm, flowers on her right arm, a quote on her ribs and a wave on her collar bone.23. What is your character like when it comes to school? What subjects are they good/bad at? Do they get in trouble a lot or are well behaved?She was pretty well behaved and excelled at math and science.. she didn't do too well in English or history though. 24. In their own words, how would your character describe what their lover is like?No lover.25. Is there something traumatic from your character’s past that greatly affects them even to this day?Her fathers death & her mother being in prison.26. What is their lover like sexually? How do they feel about their lover’s quirks, needs, etc?No lover.27. If your character was going to get arrested, what would be the most likely reason for it?Trespassing, D loves to explore and go on adventures..28. If your character became a celebrity, what would they be famous for?For being a professional surfer more than likely.29. What is one of the most courageous things your character has ever done for a loved one?Calling the cops on her own mother when she was dealing drugs from their home.. that sounds bad but it was for the better.30. When it comes to the arts (music, film, theater, etc), what does your character like?D LOVES to paint and draw.. she hasn't done it much lately but she used to paint quite frequently.31. Would your character be the kind capable of killing? Would they enjoy killing or only use it when necessary or, perhaps, refuse to kill no matter what?NEVER32. If your character’s lover offered to take them out on a dream date, what would they want to do?She would want to go surfing in hot spots all over the world and camp on the beach for weeks with a lover.33. If your character wanted to be alone, where would they go?The beach or her roof.34. Does your character have favorite foods? (breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snacks, etc)LOL don't even get me started, tacos, sushi, pizza, fries, etc. D LOVES food.35. Is your character afraid of death? If they got to choose how to die, how would they want to go?She's terrified of death.. preferably she would like to go in her sleep.36. Does your character have any medical conditions? Are they serious or minor? Do they affect their day to day life?Nope.37. What are some of your character’s pet peeves? What are some things that annoy them or disgust them?People who bite their nails, don't care about their general cleanliness, etc.38. What kind of weather does your character like? Cloudy skies, rainy days, sunshine, etc?She's a big lover of the rain and the sunshine. 39. When people look at your character, is there some assumption they might make about them just by appearance? Is that assumption correct?They might think she's a bitch, they're half right.. LOL. 40. Does your OC have any guilty pleasures they enjoy? Hobbies, past times, music, etc that they wouldn’t want known by others?She's heavily into some sexual stuff but she doesn't voice it.41. Does your character’s family affect your character in any way?Oh of course, her fathers death ruined her from the young age of 4.. and her mom being put away hurt her too.42. Is there anything in your character’s past that they regret, haunts them, or they wish they could change?Not holding onto past lovers hard enough, shes only had 2 guys that shes ever LOVED. 43. Does your character have a switch that changes aspects of their personality whether they are around friends, family, etc. Is there someone who gets to see their true self?This depends on the person.. shes usually herself around people.44. Is there a particular event that would emotionally devastate your character?Losing her sister or her best friend Issy.45. Is your character the kind to hide their true emotions or do they wear their heart on their sleeve?Most of the time she hides her emotions, but if it's bad enough she wears her heart on her sleeve.46. What is some random affectionate thing that your character always does to their lover?No lover.47. Is your character outgoing? Would they be the leader of the friend group, or the quiet one that gets dragged along?She's very outgoing.. shes the one who is always bugging people to go on adventures with her.48. Is there anything in particular that would ignite your character’s jealousy? Or does your character not get envious? If someone was talking to her boyfriend in a sexual or flirty way.. but she doesnt have one.. so..49. What is something that your character has nightmares about? Are these frequent? Do they heavily affect your character’s mood?D has frequent nightmares of her watching her father being killed in the army and her being stuck behind a wall of glass and not being able to help him as he dies in front of her.... these nightmares often put her in an upset mood for a few days after the nightmare.50. If your character confessed love to their crush, boyfriend, girlfriend, etc, what would they say?Something like 'you make me so happy, i cant live without you.." etc.

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