#When I read this story I was like ohhhhh uhhh maybe I need to uhhh get out for a while?

[nmvord]

Luke SSR [Invincible for Love] is truly an experience.

[cassyapper]

loving you may mean losing you but i dont mind (jotakak playlist)

dont talk to me about the title of this thing im embarrassed enough

anyway but okay so!!!! very excited to share this!!!! this has been in the works since september but my picky ass finally found an adequate amount of songs so here it is!!!!!! my jotakak playlist (:

special thanks to my lovely and wonderful friend jade for helping me finish this this thing <3

track list nd why i picked the songs that i did under the break!

1. the predatory wasp of the palisades is out to get us! by sufjan stevens i chose this song because it’s all about internalized homophobia and being in love with your best friend as a kid which RLLY resonates w jotakak imo. esp cause in the song, stevens’ friend ends up leaving abruptly, leaving stevens to wonder about what couldve blossomed if they had stuck together and worked through the difficulties together, which JOTARO....THAT IS JOTARO-CORE esp cause kak also “leaves” (dies). so this song was a v obvious choice for me and in fact this song is what inspired me to create this playlist in the first place

2. we are beautiful, we are doomed by los campesinos! this song is abt being in love with someone but you both have ur issues so it’s kind of a mess. considering jotaro and kakyoin’s (to point it quite frankly) trauma and the fact that both of them do jack shit to try and cope with it healthily, this song DEFINITELY fits them. esp cause this song mentions physical fighting and the imagery that goes with it (”he got his teeth fixed/im gonna break them”, “i’ve got a fist on fire”, etc) and the entirety of the bridge/last verse rlly gives me these two’s vibes so! ya (:

3. love love love by of monsters and men this song is the singer feeling like shes completely unworthy of being loved by this important person in her life, particularly because she has NO idea how to show affection and love the (for lack of better word) “acceptable” way, or any way at all really. this REALLY has jotaro vibes cause he is one repressed motherfucker and as we see the entirety of his story, jotaro is full of love he loves so much it’s just he has no idea how to properly express it cause he’s scared essentially. but that didn’t stop people from loving him, in this case, that being kakyoin. hhhhHHh

4. ribs by lorde this song is about being scared of growing up but due to the lyrics being written the way they are, i kinda spin the interpretation of it to be the fear jotaro and kakyoin had on the crusade to egypt, as they were the youngest and didnt know if they’d make it back and everything is just incredibly overwhelming there is so much going on all the time those 50 days. i can do a full analysis on why but that would be kinda long LMAO. for now let’s leave it at they have a very Unique fear of growing up but it still fits with the lyrics. particularly the last bit of the song with the “youre the only friend i need” verses,,,makes me think of these two...

5. can i call you tonight? by dayglow i interpret this song to be about trying to figure out what, exactly, your feelings are for this very specific and important person in your life. since jotaro and kakyoin r both repressed and also suckers of internalized homophobia, i think they fit that theme very well. particularly with the whole “i feel like we’re close, but maybe we’re not actually? what are we?” theme going on in the lyrics, this whole song makes me think of jotaro and kakyoin figuring out their intense and sudden (cause again only 50 days but also, those 50 days had So Much going on) feelings for each other. also the “now i’m no longer alone” line in the chorus HHHHHHH that’s them

6. la la la love song by toshinobu kubota ft naomi campbell SO I KNOW THIS SONG IS KINDA JUST FLUFF but we need some light-hearted moments in this thing hjgg;. ALSO toshinobu kubota is canonically jotaro’s favorite musician so i wanted to reference that and this was my fav love song of his that i’ve found so far so (: also the “you are my shining star” line,,,heh

7. truce by twenty one pilots so this song is very soft. it’s about tending to wounds and taking a moment before continuing to push on. it makes me think abt jotaro and kakyoin taking care of each other on the journey (for example the lovers arc/n’doul fight). also the whole “stay alive, stay alive for me/you will die, but now your life is free/take pride in what is sure to die” makes me go fucking nuts that is. that fits these two to a T fuck

8. this side of paradise by coyote theory this song has big “two lonely people are in love with each other for the first time” vibes and OHHHHHHHHHH THAT’S JOTAKAK.... there are a lot of little lines that make me specifically think abt these two, such as “love so strong it makes me feel weak” (jotaro-core...), “if you’re lonely come be lonely with me”, “i’ll be yours if you’ll be mine” (wanting some security while ur in love for the first time is common but especially for these two i think it works spectacularly) but yea this song as a whole is just...ohhh them. theyre in lvoe HK;FNJFL

9. i saw you in a dream by the japanese house EVERY. SINGLE. LINE. OF THIS SONG IS POST-EGYPT JOTARO. EVERY SINGLE LINE. and the ghost the singer talks about seeing? they hadnt changed at all? they were such a pretty vision, a perfect hallucination? BRUH... just listen i could do a whole analysis on this song it all just fits jotaro mourning kakyoin throughout the years so so so so well it makes me feel nuts holy shit i just. literally every line. every line fits i am not joking. i cried when i first heard this song LMAO

10. video games by the young professionals SO LMAO obviously kakyoin’s epic gamer moves are being referenced but beyond that i interpret this song to just be the fun parts of being in love esp when ur young (backed up with the “kissing in the blue dark” and the “watching all our friends fall” lines). also the chorus just makes me want to cry cause just, happy jotakak moments PLEASE. “the world was built for two only worth living if somebody is loving you, and baby now you do” THEYRE NOT ALONE ANYMORE THEY FOUDN EACH OTHER IM GONAN WAILLLLLLL oh my god. im nuts theynkjNJKNJF also “i heard that you like the bad girls” please. these two shitty teenagers

11. ikanaide by sohta ft. yuki kaai this song is abt not wanting someone u love to leave u cause youll miss them obviously but also ur scared of how the time will change you and if it’ll make you unrecognizable eventually. big post-egypt jotaro vibes 😔 especially cause one part of the chorus translates to “i shouldnt cry, i shouldnt cry, but the truth is i want to say dont go” and im jus like OHHHHH NO IT’S JOTARO FINDING OUT KAKYOIN DIED jkfnNKJFNJDhkld

12. therefore you and me by eve ALRIGHT. god this song is one hell of a doozy. i interpret this song to mean being sincerely in love but youre in the wrong place/wrong time. considering the uh Whole Situation in part 3 there were definitely better times to fall in love for these two. jotaro and kakyoin try to be happy w the moments they do have (i think the second verse in particular adds to this sentiment what with the selfish ghosts part) but they want a better environment understandably so theyre also just kinda ignoring things until they can properly care for a relationship. but well...who knows if theyll live to make it to that better environment ):

13. mayonaka no door/stay with me by miki matsubara this song is a v sweet sentiment abt like “it’s not just heat of the moment!! i do care about u a lot!!” and asking the person u have feelings for to stick around. big kakyoin and jotaro vibes as it would be easy to call what they have a fling considering how relatively short of a timeframe they had but i genuinely think their relationship was deeper than just that and this song nicely reflects such. “jotaro and i will share a room cause we’re both students” fuckin head ass

14. a thousand years by sting oh sting.... so since sting is kakyoin’s favorite musician canonically i had to add one of his songs here as well but beyond just that i do think this song fits them!! it kinda gives me big “if not in this life, then the next” vibes which is a big uhhh thing for jotakak. they may be doomed to tragedy but the moments they have together make the tragedy worth enduring ironically i feel like this song is mostly from jotaro’s pov considering i dont think he ever completely got over kakyoin and this song def has that kinda sentiment but hey it fits them...

15. mr loverman by ricky montgomery SO FUNNY STORY i actually REALLY. REALLY didnt wanna add this song at first cause i felt it wouldve been...idk too cliche? i guess? and i was ALL kinds of picky when choosing songs for this playlist HOWEVER. eventually i relistened to it and read the lyrics while thinking specifically abt jotakak and it actually rlly does fit quite well KJDFN; another jotaro mourning song ): it’s not just the chorus tho the whole song fits jotaro immediately post-egypt but also i feel like some time around part 4 this sentiment would come back to him cause Yknow. Gays In Morioh and the mess of his family life back in america. it just aches for him cause while he’s happy josuke is happy he wishes he couldve had that for him and kakyoin too but yea jus ... them

16. you by petit biscuit an instrumental?? in a ship playlist?? yes that’s right much like mr loverman i was hesitant to put this song in cause it’s harder to justify since i dont rlly know much abt music (and not to b controversial but interpreting lyrics and interpreting music r two different things) however i really think the vibes of this song fit jotakak. it’s got a somber melody but the keys of the piano are high which im taking to mean “light in the dark” which. jotaro and kakyoin (along w the rest of the crusaders) were each other’s lights in the dark. also the ending samples a conference/lecture talking about space flight and like. star platinum. space symbolism. jotaro. yeah

17. saturn by sleeping at last MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. this song is all about losing someone very close and important to you, but reflecting on the good they brought into your life rather than the pain of losing them. this song also has HEAVY space imagery which stardust crusaders is absolutely chalk fucking full of so also it’s a very philosophical song and considering that jotaro and kakyoin are both Nerds and both got a nice view of the stars/space in the desert with each other, im sure they had conversations similar to the one highlighted in the song. i think it’s a good note to end the playlist on cause kakyoin is dead and jotaro is the survivor but it’s not a mourning song so much as jotaro taking the love he had for kakyoin and pushing forward with it allll th way into part 6

but yeah that’s the tracklist! i might add or take away a song or two but this is mostly it (: hope yall enjoy!

[katierosefun]

so after one really big latte, a muffin, a run which resulted in a near accident with an oncoming car, and a shower in which i contemplated my own mortality, here’s my thoughts on the adorable me & au podcast, because babe wake up new hyperfixation dropped. very spoiler-y, i’m sorry in advance for how f*cking long this is, this might only have like two people reading this but i have many thoughts please listen to this podcast because it’s so cute and i listened to it all in about 2.5 hours? 

- firstly: the main character is super relatable. like, scary relatable. meet kate “acunningplan” cunningham, a gal about to enter her senior year of college and just kinda,,,lost. she works as a barista and very confused, very...stuck gal by day, fic writer (and still very stuck gal) by.........not barista hours. 

- honestly, i love kate. idk i’m about to enter my senior year of college, and bro i related so hard to her fears of “bro i can’t even think about next week without feeling overwhelmed”. she misses her best friend whitney a lot, who is currently on the other side of the country for an impressive internship. so that can be kinda lonely. 

- but fear not, kate has an escape, like so many other fic writers/fandom people: fanfic. this whole story references tumblr without actually naming tumblr (let’s be real....it’s tumblr, from the “notes” to “this stupid app keeps crashing”), and kate follows this tv show about werewolves and supernatural creatures. very gay. only problem is that there’s not a whole ton of people active in the fandom, since this show is relatively new. 

- however, in this small fandom, kate meets ella: otherwise known as “hella-enchanted”, who is another fic writer. 

- kate is very obsessed with the idea of alternate universes, and for that alone, i love her.

- okay, so even if you’ve never fallen in love with a person online/in fandom circles, i just wanna say that ella and kate’s interactions are still so super relatable. the shooting messages, the starting random conversations and getting a little thrill when you see someone liking your personal post or whatever. it’s very wholesome. 

- also, at the end of episode 1, kate goes on about how “yeah, fanfic is kinda odd, but it led me...to you” and it was so soft and gentle you just know your heart is gonna melt huh 

- at one point, kate decides to be vulnerable via vent post about something that came up on the show (and oh god yeah i feel...things. kate relates very hard to one character in the tv show she’s following, and tbh,,,yeah. i can’t quite word it right now, but i think anyone who feels kinda.....stuck? would relate.) 

- the “EXACTLY ONE PERSON ASKED FOR THIS ESSAY SO HERE IT IS” please

- also oh :’)))) kate talks about ella’s playlists and when i tell you i squeaked a little bit because oh hey--

- anyways lol yes can you relate to like,,,posting a vent post and forgetting to delete it and being mildly horrified (but also mildly touched) when someone actually responds?

- ella’s very sweet, just responds with “seems like one of my favorite fandom people needed a pick-me-up” and :’))) i would die for ella! (i mean, i would die for all the characters) 

- okay yes also all the bits where ella and kate scream at each other about fic. very relatable, very real, you can tell that the writers of this podcast really knew this feeling, and i just :’)))

- THE TWO DEBATE OVER TITLES,,,,,kate keeps sending in crack-y titles and also song lyrics, and ella comments on “well,,,i just read this whole wikipedia page, so i think i’ve lost the high ground”, so if y’all KNOW i started laughing at that 

- also LMAOOOO the moment when conversation diverts from fic and fandom to slightly more personal things! kate being like “oh,,,,,you have an actual job! like,,,you’re an actual adult and.....how’s that?” and then quickly rambling on via message “actually let me change the topic because that’s probably too personal”...

- okay so there’s this bit where ella drops the fact that she’s never read anne of green gables because “listen,,,,you have an ex-girlfriend who sang the anne of green gables musical all the time--” and kate’s “.......ex-girlfriend? you had an ex-girlfriend? girl--” (and BACKSPACING ALL OF THAT because “god i’m such a freak”) 

- much gay disaster

- so much gay disaster

- opportunity for kate and ella to meet irl comes up! at a fan convention! in toronto! (and kate lives in bc). kate’s best friend (remember, internship one?) invited kate over to toronto for this thing anyways, and then ella posts something about “heeeey i’m gonna be in the area so if anyone wants to meet up for the fan convention...” 

- let me just say......kate chucking her phone across the room because she freaked out about that. again. very cool, very nicely done, very relatable, etc. 

- ALSO,,,,i forget if this was one of kate or ella’s fics or if it was the actual tv show, but there’s this tidbit where the characters in the literal fandom has this conversation: 

“don’t waste your time.” 

“what?” 

“don’t waste your time on me.” 

and the way that reflects kate’s feelings-but-she’s-not-trying-to-think-about-it for ella please let me just die here

- okay, so kate does decide to message ella about the meet-up, and let me just tell you, kate’s inner monologue about the worst possibilities for ella’s responses: 

“1. no response. which is terrible. 

2. you find out you’re not wanted after all. :(((((

3. the most terrifying response of all.......” (an enthusiastic “yes i’m so glad we can meet up!!!”) 

- well, of course ella responds with #3. 

- gay disaster kate not knowing how to acknowledge her feelings for ella...she goes on this “you don’t wanna come across as....y’know because if they suspect that....y’know.....and like, i don’t....y’know--” oh my god kate 

- anyways, kate works at a coffeeshop, right? and her co-worker stewart (nonbinary pansexual co-worker! we love to see the rep!!) being like “oh yeah maybe you can bring over your friend!” and kate panicking because “ohhhhh i’m not too sure about that,,,,she’s,,,,,,,,,busy......” (ie. the awkward moment of having to explain that,,,,,,your online friend isn’t exactly someone you’ve met in real life,,,,,,,,and not sure exactly how to explain that so you just,,,,,,“ohhhh uhhh......y’know...............it’s really hard to.......get her out of.....work.....” 

- kate and ella video-chatting for the first time is very cute, very gay. very gay. 

- they swap “how’d you know you were gay / liked girls” stories :’))) 

- “that’s a cute story!” “you’re a cute story” [awkward silence] “please let me hide under the desk now” (have i mentioned that kate’s  a disaster? i love her, but you’re a disaster. we need to be best friends.)

- kate.....describing herself as “irl fanfic disaster waiting to happen” and the whole “i didn’t know we were actually dating until she asked if she could kiss me” lmaoooooooooo (but okay yes this is also a mood? like,,,,,,idk something about heteronormative standards so like,,,,,it’s so stupidly hard to figure out if a girl is flirting with you or if they’re just being nice i am glad kate’s such a disaster) 

- in other news: kate’s “how tf do i write a kiss scene i don’t like the word lips ughhhhHHHHH” (yeah, mood kate) 

- lmao stewart (kate’s co-worker!) just chilling with kate and being like “oh yeah i figured you had a girlfriend? the one you’re talking about? ella?” and kate blanking because “wait you thought ella was my girlfriend? she’s not....uhhh....” and then later drinking with stewart and rambling about ella and panicking because “what if she realizes i can’t talk about anything except this tv show what if she thinks i laugh too loud what if i have horrific body odor what if she realizes i have NOTHING to say what if our meeting goes SO terribly that i need to deactivate and change my name just so i could like her posts at 3 am” and then her small “please forget i said any of that” 

- oh kate :(((( 

- kate :((((((

- k a t e :(((((((((((((((((((

- anyways, kate does go to toronto. 

- meets ella. 

- very cute. 

- ella...........very gay. they go into a coffeeshop and kate doesn’t know what to do. 

- okay but what’s hilarious is that ella,,,,,seems so cool and suave and i too would be kind of intimidated by her but then these two idiots really talk about writing kissing scenes and the build-up and ella’s voice gets all,,,,,,suggestive and there’s this.....awkward gay silence between the two oh my GOD they’re both IDIOTS 

- also okay yes kate and whitney, a irl friend, having a heart-to-heart. good. we love that. also, whitney being like “I MISSED YOU!!! YOU IDIOT!!!! and i’m glad you have a new friend, and you’re happy, but I MISSED YOU!!! I HATE THIS CITY AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’M DOING!!!” (whitney is also very relatable. ily whitney.) 

- they’re so cute. they hug, and it’s sweet :’)) also, then kate says in a stupidly small voice “i think i’m....kinda in love with [ella]?” and whitney being best supportive friend-- 

- OKAY so we finally get an episode of ella’s perspective 

- listen, you’re gonna think ella’s this cool, suave person who has all her own gayness put together (i mean, she kinda knew since she was 9 or 10 years old? she’s had a girlfriend? she seems like she has her life together? she’s waiting to get into grad school? she has a job? she just seems....cool and knows what she’s doing). 

- but then you realize. ella is just as much a pining mess. (her bullet point list/schedule in her head is so relatable. as someone who uses her notes and reminders app religiously, that was just :’))) 

- ella: reasons why this is not a date. and then....kate sends a message. (ella: reason why this....might be a date....kate keeps saying stuff like...that.) 

- kate rehearsing how to tell ella that she maybe kinda likes her? very cute. (”you know the feeling in your chest when....uh, you know when you feel like you have a frog in your stomach--oh god not the frog NOT the frog”) 

- the love confession is very cute, and also very relatable. “i like you a lot” “i like you too!” “no i mean,,,,like i like you. wait. which like do you mean? wait that’s not english. uh. what did you say?” 

- kate’s “I HAD A WHOLE DRAMATIC FANFIC CONFESSION PLANNED OUT” 

- kate and ella just spilling everything made me :’))) 

- “i like how your brain works” “i made so many posts hoping that you would just talk to me” “you always make me laugh” “you just make me feel...better” “you make me smile” 

- “this whole summer you’ve been making me smile and i guess it kind of freaked me out? ...i don’t know where my life is going but if i have a choice, i want to go in any direction you’re going because you are cute and smart and amazing and i like you a lot, ella. like that. so yeah. that’s what i was thinking i’d say.” 

- i essentially explaine dthe whole plot but 

- i love this podcast a lot

- it was very sweet

- and very cute

- very wlw 

- i don’t even mind that i almost got hit by a car while i was running and listening to this it was worth it 

- idk. just like. anyone who’s ever read or written fic or just like...not necessarily fallen in love with another person? but at least relating to that feeling of “oh god i am not qualified to talk to this person” and “oh god what if they realize i’m actually,,,,a loser” and “oh god wait how to friend” can probably hit a lot of people

- but that said. the romance was very cute, very sweet, makes me :’))) 

- okay i’ll stop talking now but i just. it’s very cute, very relatable, i wish we had a season 2 but i think it’s a limited series. (but they’re living rent free in my head! forever!)

[dottie-wan-kenobi]

UHHH THE FIC I WISH YOU WOULD WRITE?? Deadass just.... roy and dick hanging out There is a severe lack of fics with them and i just live for your writing in general

thank you so much, that means the world to me 🥺🥺🥺!!! and ohhhhh that would be a lot of fun!!! and this isn’t a fic exactly, just a bunch of headcanons, but still let me preface by saying I haven’t read a lot of their comics so this would all be considered AU probably! AND THIS GOT SO LONG OH MY GOD im not sorry but WOW I got way off track lmao

I can see them doing a lot of different things lol, like when they’re younger I think they’d play hacky sack and arm wrestle and stuff but also I think there would be a lot of nights spent at one or the other’s place, laying under blankets with popcorn and their favorite movies on. I like the thought that either it’s a movie they both love, Their Movie(tm), or it’s multiple ones that only one likes and the other hates but can recite word for word bc they’ve seen it so many times. idk why but I’m picturing Stuart Little dkjfhkjdsah do w that what you will. I also don’t know if this is like a Thing or not but I love the idea of them together at galas. hiding under tables w their PSPs or DSes, trying to be quiet but everything is funnier there, and they overhear all kinds of shit that maybe they shouldn’t but THEY’RE BASICALLY 12 ANYWAY that’s almost a teenager and teenagers can watch R rated movies soooooo!!! and omgggg imagine the superheroing antics. when they’re training together, I think they’d throw trash talk around and at first they aren’t sure where to stop so some feelings are hurt. but the more they work together, the easier it is to tell what’s a joke and where the line is and stuff. they would absolutely practice their aim with nerf/water guns. someone says that they, the ones in the Titans without the powers, are useless and both get absolutely pissed because the other is SO IMPORTANT TO THE TEAM IN THESE WAYS *proceeds to list 27 reasons and doesn’t think to defend self*

when they’re a little older, like teenagers, I think they’d have a lot of fun working together on cases. they’d butt heads but eventually it would be kind of instinctual, like okay Dick will take the lead on this case and Roy will be in charge for this one, and they won’t have to think before doing something that depends on the other because they just know what the other is going to do before they do it. if that makes sense. across the room at Superhero Meetings, they’re making faces/mouthing stuff at each other making inside jokes. Bruce is like “can you please stop.” and they say at the same time, “I have no idea what you mean.” they spar a lot, and continue the time honored tradition of hacky sack and arm wrestling when they’re bored. they always go to each other for advice. when one of them needs a break from life, they just show up at the other’s place. (Ollie, many times: “Bruce? Yeah your gremlin is here. ... Yes I called him a gremlin what are you gonna do about it. My son is making him feel better. ... We’ll have him home by tomorrow afternoon.”) and Dick definitely, 10000% asks Roy if he’d like to join the Titans again, and is sad when Roy says no. they also know exactly how the other likes a lot of foods, like Dick likes his coffee w tons of milk/cream, and Roy likes Hawaiian pizza, and how much is Too Much Mustard, etc etc

as for when they’re adults,,,,,,,,,, this is kind of dumb tbh but them just??? sitting together in silence/quiet music? doing paperwork? they’re not talking or anything, but they aren’t alone either, and once they’re done they’re going to hang but didn’t want to wait???? I love that. I love them having sleepovers as kids, not so much as teens, and then having them again (bc they were comforting, and bc they trust each other so much, and bc they want to stay up all night eating pizza and playing chubby bunny again). speaking of, they meet up and eat pizza together sometimes. I can decide if it’s better like, they’re in disguise? they’re obviously themselves? they’re in costume??? idk I love all of it. they have Shows and they probably try to go on missions together bc Roy is NOT waiting 2 months to watch the next episode absolutely not. they prank each others’ siblings, and by that I mean I’m picturing Roy and Connor (Conner? idk how to spell his name I’m sorry dkjfsdahh) hanging out and Dick pranks him in a way that Connor would IMMEDIATELY assume was Roy, but Roy is right there. within sight the whole time. (C: “what is this bullshit, a shapeshifter?”) 

when they’re like ADULTS adults... training kids together and reassuring the ones without powers that they’re just as capable, and cracking jokes that got old TWENTY YEARS AGO, DICKOLAS. (Roy is still laughing tho. don’t be fooled.) leading the Justice League together I’m 🥺🥺🥺 and ugh oh my god I’m having parents feelings lemme just

obviously they raise Lian together lmao this isn’t a question. holy fuck imagine them tucking Lian into bed at night. reading/telling her five stories (even tho Roy says 2 is really enough, but she just loves the voices they make and how Dick acts stuff out so muchhhh she doesn’t want it to end) before going to bed themselves. staying up to lay on the couch, on top of each other, and be like “WOW she’s adorable but I am so exhausted.” again w the shows but it’s always reruns of like Fresh Prince. they have a stash of food Lian can’t eat, like sugary cheat stuff, and sit at the table holding hands while they eat them. they are the most embarrassing parents ever oh my god they go to as many of Lian’s school events as they can and take videos and actually go back and watch them??? even though they were there??????? Donna comes over and is treated to a viewing of every single award Lian has ever won, which are displayed on the walls. I also have this headcanon Roy has to get glasses when he’s older, like in his 40s, and I think Dick would spend a lot of time helping him look for them lmao. please also imagine them dying their gray hairs together. standing in the bathroom, shirtless, laughing at how silly they look and also how the gray looks REALLY GOOD are you sure you want to dye it. I’m also losing my shit at the thought of them having chairs like !!! this is so domestic but there’s Roy’s Chair, which is soft and has a high back and pops out/reclines so he can chill, and there’s Dick’s Chair which is softer/fluffier, wider and smaller in the back, and it doesn’t recline but it does have huge armrests bc Dick sits sideways so he can look at both Roy and the TV. (they sit in these chairs with their grandkids and fall asleep in them all the time and they are perfectly apart so that they can hold hands comfortably.)

I’m also having NSFW ideas as well but this is already so much?????????

send me a “I wish you would write a fic where…”!!

[ivanaskye]

WoT reactions: book 12, The Gathering Storm

Oh god, it was all worth it.

It’s not that I hadn’t already been enjoying this series. It’s the second best companion I could hope for in a quarantine (the best, of course, being my girlfriend.)

But the threads are all coming together now.

The payoff is actually happening.

And it’s glorious.

This is also the book where Sanderson takes over, and you can tell. The style really is different (and much faster to read, too), and he’s honestly better at psychological deep dives into characters.

Which is exactly what this series needed.

Oh gods, it’s so good.

[[MORE]]

Rand

Never have I seen a piece of media of any type break a character, let alone its central character, as thoroughly as this series breaks Rand.

Honestly that alone makes me massively excited for the TV adaptation, because just imagine an actor doing this.

He breaks in this book. He completely breaks.

I’m trying to figure out to convey how hard this hits to Those Of You Playing At Home, but I’m not sure I can

And then at the end of the book. His breaking breaks.

He becomes so far gone he almost kills his own father

Proceeds to run away

Almost decides to end it, by which I mean THE WHOLE WORLD

“What is even the point of living!!!!” he shouts dramatically on a mountaintop

And then he remembers that weird cool thing

One Strange Trick

Which is: caring about people

And he’s like, oh.

Egwene

Is Egwene al’Vere my favorite character in all of literature??? Is this what I’ve come to????

Her captivity arc remains. Amazing. As does her triumph.

I just

I can’t even explain this to the people playing along at home anymore. She is a torrent. She is a tempest. She is a force. She is the goddamn Amyrlin Seat.

Mat

The disaster continues

I loved. His elaborate backstories for sneaking into that town he didn’t even need to sneak into.

(Also a very Sanderson touch.)

In this book he also encounters a town where the residents go into a frenzy of killing everyone around them every night, but at sunrise they and the town reset to be alive again

I love... little horror stories in the middle of fantasy

Perrin

Has finally come to the conclusion that he should “maybe do some soul searching” and like “actually make decisions or smth idk”

Faile

Just kills Masema in the prologue

“A wife does what her husband cannot”

In this case? Murder.

Tuon

Speaking of wives.

Oh, Tuon. So near-definitely a good person. So utterly bought into a culture that DOES SLAVERY.

Actively resists Rand’s ta’veren pull

Which leads to the order of attacking the White Tower

Because she really, truly believes that everyone there must be enslaved

Oh, Tuon.

Verin

Ohhhhh Verin.

A darkfriend. Who was never really a darkfriend. And was infiltrating them for her own curiosity... and the good of the world.

Apparently the Dark One’s unbreakavle oaths Actually say, specifically, “I will not betray the dark lord until the hour of my death”

The hour.

[Verin voice] so if i take a poison that kills me in exactly an hour, I can hand someone all my notes about everything I’ve learned and tell her how to use them

W. Wow.

The most power of moves

Cadsuane

Very nearly actually succeeds at breaking Semirhage... because she realized how much the two of them are alike and worked out how she would go about breaking *herself*

Cadsuane is not a good person, y’all

Tam later describes her as a bully, and he’s right

But that doesn’t mean she’s not a...... good person.

She is certainly committed to The World Being Here Next Year

(Tbh, she’s very nearly the same character as Gertrude Robinson from TMA, which amuses me)

Moiraine

Still not rescued yet, but probably next book

We all miss her. Even Nynaeve.

Aviendha

Okay, the last test before being accepted as a Wise One is... really clever

Punish the apprentice ruthlessly and meaninglessly

And then when she finally speaks up for herself and says, fuck! WHY are you doing this! I don’t deserve these punishments!

Be like “oh you think you’re our equals then”

(Panicked “yes”)

Congratulations you’ve passed. The last test is standing up for yourself.

Meanwhile, the Forsaken

Semirhage and Graendal have now died super super permanently due to balefire. They aren’t coming back.

Mesaana has NOT been found and could be ANYONE in the white tower... though tbh I’d bet on not actually an Aes Sedai.

Demandred is PROBABLY responsible for the borderlander army but we dont KNOW that

And Moridin’s sure still There, giving off uhhh hotness vibes don’t @ me

Plus with a secret bonus psychic connection to Rand! Yay!

[alcheminary]

do you ship royed? if not, do you mind it?

oh boy!! someone hasn’t read my about!!

not only do I not ship it, I have a personal vendetta against it

…………………………

…. Alright, okay. As funny as it is to leave it at that, because of the climate of uhhhhhh. people are callin’ em antis, right?? yeah, I don’t really subscribe to that either (it’s just simply way too broad of a term to really mean anything for one), so if I don’t completely detail my shit, I’m gonna get lumped in with like. death-threat anons. and I’d like to be judged for my actual views, not the ones I’m perceived as having

sooooo my full stance is this:

I don’t like RoyEd as an interpretation of canon, and I certainly don’t like it in canon timelines “aged up”. I think the risk that kind of content invites, although often unintentional, to be used by actual predators to groom victims? is far too great for any kind of artistic merit to outweigh it. I have friends who’ve had it happen to them, and I myself came very close to having it happen to me. The fact of the matter is that most RoyEd content skeeves me the fuck out. (And I don’t blame people for wanting it so far out of their zone they block RoyEd content and creators on sight. I think it’s totally rational.)

BUT. And this is very important: I said most.

As someone who prides themselves on rational thought and being able to admit when I’m wrong, it’s important to me that I acknowledge the possibility of a RoyEd story that thoroughly thwarts any attempts to be used or interpreted in such a way, enough that its merits DO outweigh that risk. I think it’s like, a 0.00002% chance, but I’ll acknowledge it’s there. Largely because I’ll give other stories that play the AU card a pass in re: fucking with the ages of characters, so I can’t be internally consistent if I don’t.

Which is why, and this is going to probably lose myself some bigtime points with my friends the antis, if I see a RoyEd story that has an interesting concept and it doesn’t immediately make me want to throw my phone out the window? I’ll give it a try, because there is a part of me that is desperate to be “fair” and to be proven wrong.

I don’t often finish those stories. Hell, more often than not, I stumble into them unintentionally because I’m just atrociously bad at looking at tags. But I’ll see if they’re worth their salt and if they manage to convince me that RoyEd can be good, actually. Because, I don’t know, maybe someday someone with something worthwhile to say in the context of RoyEd will blow my mind? Like, I’m not going to fault someone for trying something out, you know? To try answering the same question I’m over here asking: Is there a universe where RoyEd could work? Not that a majority of people producing RoyEd content fall into this category for me. I can think of like, ONE person.

(Not like, AU universe. I’m using philosophy jargon here, which is asking this question: “Is there a universe where my premises are true, but my conclusion is false?”, which I can explain another time if anyone’s interested.)

…. So far none of them have. I’ve been thoroughly unimpressed, by large. There is so much recontextualizing that would need to be done, and it just doesn’t happen. I don’t know if that’s because the fandom’s been around so long that RoyEds are a splinter faction with their own lore and prerequisite texts that the fic I’m looking for has already been written and they’re all just reinterpreting reinterpretation upon reinterpretation on that concept so I don’t even have the context to pick up what they’re putting down, or if they really just think that’s what chemistry in a relationship looks like and… ohhhhh buuuoooy do a lot of them not get that far away from the core gross of RoyEd.

Anyway. I still land solidly within the bounds of “anti”. What I’m describing is anomalous to what RoyEd largely is right now. So, in conclusion (or tl;dr:)

- I hate RoyEd for both personal and moral reasons- You’ll never see me reblog or promote it- I don’t hate it so much that I can’t acknowledge the slim chance that there could be something worthwhile in that mire- However, I haven’t found that exception yet, and I don’t think it’s worth excusing RoyEd at large for- This is a personal stance I’ve taken that I would never expect anyone else to take to be a good and moral person, and sympathize with people who lean so hard into “RoyEd hate” that they don’t want to see or hear about it or interact with people who would- Don’t get me wrong though. I’m still an “anti”. Chances are if you ship RoyEd and you followed this blog 1) I’ve noticed, 2) I don’t like you, and 3) the only reason I’m keeping you around is because I have a sliver of hope that you’re a good person ready to think critically about the implications and influence of the media (even fan-created) you consume or create, because you know what? I’ve got something like 9 volumes of Dengeki Daisy in a box somewhere. I’ve been there.

If you or anyone else has further inquiries or wants more elaboration on how I arrived at this point then you can hmu. lord knows I’m a little bit tired and punchy and off my medicine and so I might have skipped over something integral to my stance. but I would prefer it wasn’t on anon, and uhhh, that if you’re going to try and argue with me? you’re over 18.

now if you’ll excuse me I super gotta pass out

[isaacathom]

ok this is actually a fun bit of writing here, even if the preceding shit was kinda garbage

tl;dr this bitch has to rant about this stupid book because i naively want to learn something about my family’s history and this is the only fucken way to do it

‘When he discovered he had to work to help provide for this instant family of a large flock of children, ‘Mick’ showed his true self and devotion to the family.

Within a year of the marriage, he left the fold, leaving his wife to fend for herself in the daunting task of raising her children.’

like.aside from just being kinda awkwardly worded (he bangs On and On about how his mum was the 11th of 11 children like fuck i get it its a big family, holy shit) i think thats just. a good concept there. the space really sells the punch. wouldve been better if we hadnt been told beforehand that Mick was a cunt, yknow. but thats nice

also lets keep going. ‘6 step brothers and 4 step sisters’ theyre actually her Half Siblings. they all share the same mother. theyre related. she’d be step if she was adopted, which she was not, because if she were, surely we wouldve been told about those circumstances.

‘[his mother] easily met that high standard as she was a very pretty young lady’ please dont perv out over your fucking mother you pig of a man. also you would hope ‘jock’ (his name is fucking robert but ok, Jock) was interested in more than how pretty Nellie was when they got together, right......... like there had to be more to it. am i naive? perhaps

‘scottish clan gordon’ the what. but we arent gordons???? are you. are you hundred percent sure. are you positive about this. are you sure thats why your name is gordon. alright buddy

‘according to buzzy’s story’ please never refer to yourself in the third person

‘hotels rarely burn down’ ?? i dont buy that at all. my guess is this famous hotel (which.... you didnt name so ok)

ok so theres a picture in here of my dad standing at some random gate, and he says its the same gate as a picture of his dad..... where is THAT picture??? this picture means nothing without that historic context, and it feels hollow if the actual picture isnt there.

granddad you dont. you dont need to wikipedia article dump me information about glasgow??? i mean sure, cool, id rather just be reading the wikipedia article.

jesus christ. so hes talking about his dad, right. who he’d technically set up earlier by saying he came to melbourne at 19. before he launched into a whole thng about his mother and shit. and suddenly hes come back to his dad to explain that his dad (so gordons grandfather) used to beat him! and its like, wOAH, where the fuck did that come from??? shit dude. thats rough. but he just mentions it suddenly out of nowhere. oH JESUS actually. sorry. i misread (yknow, because its written like shit). he means.... his brother??? right, he means his Brother Robert, was beaten by his dad, also named Robert, who was the one who came to melbourne aged 19. ok. ok that makes slightly more structural sense but ooof. ouch. poor robert (the younger). in my uh, defence, this book is written awful and i've never met robert? (my.... understanding is that he probably died before i was born? like with mary, who i dont recall having met either)

ok uhhh ‘most of the gorbal’s tenemenets were eventually demolished by the wise founding fathers many decades later, in the 1980s’ the WHOM. this isnt fucking america, this is scotland, what in the actual fuck are you TALKING about????????????????????????????? ‘modern day replacement improvements and architecture designed to achieve, what?’ fucker they were trying to fix the mistake they made in crowding 90k people into the fucking gorbals. maybe they didnt succeed (they didnt) but they were trying, it was naivete rather than fucking malice, you bitter old fuck. like, you visited in the 1980s.... and published this book in 2007......... without thinking to check back......... like hey maybe theyve gotten better? (newsflash - they fucking have) sooo... fuck

‘could the [my family] be related? [to the mcdonalds]’ yes??? we literally are. theres no question of that. being a sept of clanranald, we are Literally related to the fucking macdonalds. you absolute buffoon. yea its distant, and maybe thats your point, but when combined with you launching into this giant diatribe about rhw Campbells for shit that happened long ago, it seems youre picking and choosing how close ‘related’ is. we are. literally. related to the macdonalds. also it wasnt thought up in glasgow, they were from fucking new hampshire. but sure. 

‘his sheila wife of his’ excuse me?

‘so the name was related to a buzzing bee i suppose’ ? i still dont get it. like, he then explains that apparently his twin sister had difficulty saying Brother, so she called him Buzzy. that makes sense to me. i can understand that. but the buzzing bee thing? not sure i follow, given the prior context he provided. i dont get it. this is written like garbage. theres no structure. we went from jumping forward in time to the birth of my uncle Dale (my dads older brother) and suddenly we’re talking about Mick’s running career and gordon’s childhood! what the fuck happened.

‘coupled with the bigoted attitudes that were rife during those periods’ says the man who got angry at a black (i THINK, mightve been a separate story)  frenchman who couldnt speak english in France because ‘we saved them’. fuck off. youre just like them, you old codger.

also hes decrying his grandfather mick for being ‘no true irishman’ even though micks dad was full irish? by that exact same metric i can call my grandfather no true scotsman, because his dad is full scottish and thats it!!! you fucking fool. no true irishman, holy shit, how little self awareness could this man have.

‘then excessive drinking liquor isnt for me’ but is Is for your wife, is it gordon??? drinking wine when shes on antibiotics??? fucking incredible. god theyre. theyre so stupid.

‘not proceeding as a scholar as i could have’ you literally admitted like 5 pages ago that your twin sister was Far smarter than you, but sure! ~scholar~. if you were meant to be a scholar surely you wouldve bounded back from missing days with a vengeance. youre talking complete tosh.

im confused why theyd be doing bombing drills in South Yarra.... in preparation from a japanese air raid.... like im sorry, if the people north are doing their jobs, theres no physical way they couldve gotten to south yarra....... but ok. thats not his fault i just think thats strange.

im 110 pages in and he hasnt actually gotten to the point where he meets eleanor??? aside from a few time jumps forward and a brief mention of ‘meeting her in a milk bar in south yarra’ so like. hoi vey? the fuck.

oh jesus thats. thats a heavy thing to just chuck in the middle of a sentence??? like ‘oh yea after Skete the next scout leader was a paedophile who abused me and the others’ wwwOooahhh there buddy back up. what???? holy shit. ouch. thats. thats rough.

‘absolutely belted this poofta bastard’ yknow what? fair. id also beat the fuck out of a pedo with my boot. thats Relatable. good going on that, i suppose.

ooh thats full third person, weird.

one thing that is definitely kinda interesting, and very telling about his relationship with his family, is that he only ever refers to Nellie as ‘mum’, but refers to Mick as, well, Mick! rather than ‘granddad’ or anything of the sort. like its just sorta interesting when you get this big family photo and Nellie is the only one not called by her first name.

‘returning to those earlier days’ NO! FUCKING MOVE FORWARD IN TIME YOU GIT!!!! holy shit i just want to read about new fucking shit.

......... so like, at some point while playing footy, an opposing player kicked him in the leg and caused a fractured tibia. so a few weeks later... one of gordons friends took a mark on that player and kneed him straight in the head, with that player never playing again. and he’s PROUD of that!!! he’s proud of his friend for ruining a guys footy career. like yea, the guy was a dick, he broke your leg and it was at least partially malicious, but like........... you fucked him up????? hardcore?????? a straight up ruination. but go off i guess.

its interesting that he doesnt go even remotely into eleanors history beyond the fact (so far) that her father Leo didnt say much but was a good dude. then again the books all about him soooo fuck it i suppose.

‘recognition of our scottish heritage’ eleanor isnt scottish tho. shes irish. shes an o'donoghue. what the fuck. like yea naming them dale and glen is a ‘clever’ nod back to scotland (i actually do think thats cute and clever, joking aside. its the exact sort of ‘clever’ shit i love pulling) but............. shes not scottish. unless we’re waiting for volume 2 all about eleanor.

hE USED TO LIVE OUT HERE??????? IN SPRINGVALE????? fuck me. no fucking wonder we live here, huh, jesus. that. certainly explains something, i suppose. like ‘if you were raised in holbrook and YOU were raised in thomastown, why do we live in knox?’

OHHHHH HERES THE FRENCH THING!!!! OHHHH HERES ONE OF THE FRENCH THINGS. OH BITCH behold

so granddads being a dick, as usual, and he’s on some tour in paris. and the tour guide launches into a long thing about the glory of france, like french history and the fighting record, etc. and granddad calls out and tells him to knock it off, because ‘our australians died by the thousands for your country’

i. eh... uhh............... is he. is he aware? of how many french people died???? for france?????? how many????? il tell you how many - apparently 1.44% of the total population of france. thats 600000 people. how many did we lose? around 35k. thats, uh, a smaller fucking number. than the amount of french people. who died. for fucking france. you fucking idiot.

it kills me. is he gonna include the french speaking one too???

oh hell that sure is a picture of my father. good heavens. holy shit my brother really does look like him. thats uncanny, man.

‘one son Scotty’ his name is Scott, actually. not scotty. but cool, i got a really small shout out, weirdly BEFORE my older cousins did???? oh dear is he gonna talk about my uncles divorce actually. oh god. thats. thats terrifying to consider. oh, cool, he didnt in that small section, hopefully it doesnt come up haha (i can only IMAGINE what sort of vile shit he’d say about cathy)

also, ooh, more nuggets on grandma’s family. her dad was a freemason! thats cool.

ooh! he was the president of holbrook shire council! thats kinda neat actually.

ooh! the glenndale motel actually still exists! thats cool as hell. not that granddad told me that i just googled it

OHHH ITS THE FUCKING FRENCH SPEAKING STORY OH MY GOD

Ok first off ‘i slammed my fist into the counter and said very calmly’ yea no fuck that, youre fucking lying. theres no way you slammed the counter and spoke calmly. you almost definitely abused this poor french metro worker who, being a French Man living in France, is not required to know english. you fucking babboonnnnnnnnnn

apparently he nearly fell off a mountain innnnnn geeermany? austria, austria. and as he mentions my dad pulling him back up, he words it as ‘stopping me from falling to my final destiny’ what fucking wording IS that. my god.

uh well ok thats. about it i suppose. there was a big hullabuloo about like, hotels and shit, and there was probably some racism about Islanders in there (like i find it hard to believe there wasnt but im not gonna go back and double check, because this book reads like absolute garbage). but eh. yea?

uuhhh so that was an Adventure, for sure