#but that just struck me as such a bad faith reading

[dollsome-does-tumblr]

as i watched the righteous gemstones i read the reddit episode reaction posts to each episode, and i saw someone with the take that kelvin and keefe should, in fact, be revealed NOT to be gay because it's too obvious and it would be funnier if they were straight all this time

and like ........... it's very obviously that they're gay and in love but they won't admit it because their whole lives are the evangelical church, right???? like, i wasn’t aware there were even multiple ways to interpret what was going on. and i still don’t think so!

[serendipityandbenevolence]

I gotta say, when I passed out last night after writing this post, I didn't expect to wake up to people actually liking it. but hey! thanks for the support. As per my little footnote (if you didn't read it then sucks to be you ig) the people who commented got first choice of which characters im going to write. love y'all by the way <3 which means that first up is... Dottore! (as requested by @amber-sekio and @gallantys)

(I am not playing rn when I say that I spent a large amount of time reading Dottore x reader fanfic so I could figure out how the hell to write him and this is probably still ooc but i did my best)

Contains - Yandere behavior (kept to a minimum though) dottore being a charming ray of a human (he mentions enslaving other countries), discussions of blood and injuries

"Dottore?"

The silence from the hallway was almost deafening. The sudden intense quiet was broken only by the gentle crackle of the fire, a welcome reprieve as your words hung in the air. Perhaps it was stupid, to call for a person who may not be there and who, of all the Harbingers, might be the most likely to still attempt to kill you. A foolish whim, but nearly dying does funny things to a person's rational.

Your door slid open silently, revealing the Doctor himself peering in at you. He did not appear to be wearing his mask, but with the low light and strands of blue hair covering his face, you couldn't make out his features well.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

Something was wrong. His voice was too soft, his words too gentle, the whole demeanor was wrong. You knew he had segments that acted differently, but you couldn't imagine Dottore ever being that kind sounding. But you were in too deep.

"Can you come in here, please? I need to ask you a question."

A few murmurs struck up behind him, but Dottore simply nodded and stepped into the room, turning his back to you as shut the door.

"You know..." he mused as he clicked the lock shut.

Ah, there it was. With the door closed, his voice changed, with that hint of cruelty and mania that you had come to associate with him lacing his words. His blood red eyes bored into you, a sly smile creeping across his face.

"Oh, what's with the expression? You seem a little scared of me, Divine One. Am I not as nice as you assumed?"

He didn't allow you to answer, pacing closer to where you lay, buried beneath the pile of blankets.

"There's really no need to be scared of me. After all, I was the one who nursed you so lovingly back to health when you were brought here out of the cold. Aren't I so generous?"

"You healed me?"

You didn't bother hiding your concern. You kicked off your pile of blankets and assessed your body, trying to see if any of your organs were missing.

"My my, do you have such little faith in me? I am a doctor after all. One of the best I'll have you know."

He leaned against the wall by your bedside, giving you a rather unnerving grin.

"Well, you have my undivided attention. What was it that you wanted to ask me?"

You were starting to think that it was a very bad idea to ask for Dottore, but you also suspected that saying you wanted to talk to someone else would go over even worse.

"Yes, I just...wanted to know what I missed while I was asleep. You know, with the other nations."

"Ahh, of course! Well, upon some reflection they seem to have come to the conclusion that you are the actual creator and not a 'fake' as they so cruelly labelled you. Needless to say, quite a few letters of apology have been sent begging for your forgiveness for their dreadful ignorance. Including-"

He reached over to you, laying a shockingly gentle hand upon your bandaged side.

"-the one who nearly killed you."

"You know who it is?" you asked in surprise.

"But of course! Simply assessing your wound, I could tell the weapon and the particular style of it, which made it rather easy to cross-referencing that with the time and location that you were attacked and deduce your attacker with little difficulty. "

"Really?"

He scoffed. "No, of course not. They mentioned in their letter that they were the one who harmed you."

Dottore stepped away from you, pacing towards the door as he pulled a crumpled note from his pocket and tossed it onto the end of your bed.

"You should read it sometime, it is truly a delightfully pathetic read. They only made one mistake."

"Mistake?"

He turned to look at you and you saw that all of the cruel humor that had covered his face was gone, replaced with an infinitely scarier coldness.

"They signed their name. So now, I know exactly who will be my next experiment, when we invade the other nations."

There was silence for a moment, before his features softened and he let out a soft laugh.

"You should sleep. It's the best medicine after all. We can discuss this more in the morning."

Dottore went to turn from you once more, but paused as you opened your mouth.

"Dottore, burn the letter. I don't want to read what they have to say."

A wicked grin flashed across his face as he snatched the letter back up and strode towards the fire.

"You know, I think-"

He tossed the letter into the embers and watched as it instantly caught alight.

"-that you and I will get along very, very well."

Dottore pulled the door open and gave you one last comment before leaving, not even turning his head.

"Sweet dreams, Your Grace."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That took me so long to write guys 😭 but anyway i hope you liked it! like i said earlier, i struggle a bit with dottore because he has all his different segments with different personalities but i think this turned out okay.

Also, the order for the next few harbingers will go as such

Tartaglia- requested by @gallantys and @followingyou247

Pierro - requested by @mistresssasori

Capitano - requested by @moonlite-drabbles @megsthings and @legendarysacrificer-blog (yall really love him clearly)

If you guys want to help me pick the order after that, go ahead in the comments!

also tagging @heizoubeloved in this because you mentioned wanting to see more!

[mmmmalo]

this might be a stupid question, sorry in advance. when you perform analysis on a work like homestuck and excavate these levels of, like, racial and social meaning from it, how does it affect your opinion of the work? do you come to like or dislike it more, or have your feelings toward it grown past that over the years into more nebulous things?

i love your blog and your posts, even though i only started homestuck last year and never made it past act 4; when i read your stuff i always learn new things about how one can interact with texts. just got curious about the above after reading your post on caliborn and disability and such. hope you have a good day.

I continue to like the work, in new ways. The feelings evade summary, so here's a few examples:

I lost my initial fervor for classpect ages ago, when it became clear to me that the categories weren't mutually exclusive (depriving the system of majestic power) and that they were not the ultimate key to Homestuck (meaning a new paradigm would be needed to solve the story's remaining mysteries). But I still admire how classpect induces the audience to engage in symbolic reading, proposing this object or that color has an associated abstract significance.

The manifestation system started out just giving me digestible bits of characterization like Egbert being scared of heights, but within a few months it began giving me weirder shit like racist sex dreams. That was difficult to integrate into my impression of what exactly Homestuck was -- for the time, I was satisfied to conclude that Equius was not as much of an anomaly as he was made out to be, and that the comic might be in some measure a commentary on racism. That the racist thoughts seemed to emanate from particular characters, in a game whose modus operandi is making thoughts real, struck me as a distancing maneuver of sufficient strength to rebuff gentle (and not so gentle) suggestions that maybe this all just meant Hussie was racist. Thus when the ARG got posted, instead of joining the outcry against the abundant bigotry I was laser focused on how the alternate-dimension Obama was a surrealist confirmation of racist birther conspiracies. The psychological framing of Sburb had persuaded me to accept the story as a scare quote around "racism" that could be observed at a remove.

I was excited that the manifestation system meant more characterization for Jade, then shocked when it implied she had been raped, then apprehensive of the apparent perpetrator Grandpa's every move, then supremely confused by the revelation that Homestuck's deployment of pejorative tropes meant that all the above had coaxed me into a simulation of satanic panic. Reconciling my sympathy for Jade's suffering with the knowledge that Jake is by some measure an effigy sending out de-fused signals of DANGEROUS HOMOSEXUAL THREATENS THE CHILDREN, it all gives me a headache. The story's ironic scaremongering demands your disengagement, to view the story as artifice, but the suffering of the victim within the bad-faith narrative is nonetheless visceral. Conflicting demands like that make up much of the story for me now: pathos that I once felt and continue to feel, side by side with the need to question the foundations of the sympathy.

It is very rare that anything holds my attention as long as Homestuck has and that in itself is something I'm grateful for. Trying to get a rhetorical foothold on its weird ass games has been my primary motivation for reading new things -- psychoanalytic film criticism, existential philosophy, and academic theorization of assorted bigotries are probably not things I would have delved into were they not connected to the puzzle box. It became my lesson plan for self-study, and it has (slash I have) made me into a better reader in general... or something, idk.

I like the story. That's it for feelings for now

[bomberqueen17]

i just got a slightly incoherent comment berating me for rating Fit For Pearls f/f and not calling it gen, but like, my guy, if you were looking for a gen fic you'd be disappointed with this too. It's a slowburn but it's uhh not gen. i guess this only applies if you read to the end! but given this commenter's evident reading comprehension issues, given all the tags and author's notes and whatnot on that fic right at the beginning, i don't think changing the tags would help. there's nothing wrong with the tags on that fic. it's not the story you wanted it to be but it's clearly fucking labeled. it's probably no consolation that i was also hoping for a different story than it wound up being. but there's really no way to get past all the tags and author's notes and the fucking wordcount of this fic and still honestly be surprised by what you find there, so I have absolutely no sympathy for the small handful now of entitled commenters who are mad that it's not a different story than it is.

I also wanted it to be a lot shorter and more direct and just a simple f/f story, but the draft I wrote that was just that sucked out loud, so I don't really have any regrets.

Also, it's not hard to peer through the bad faith bit of these comments and notice the screaming biphobia. Sorry, I do feel there's pretty good textual evidence in the books anyway for Ciri being bi and that's a thing I, also a bi, wanted to explore, so I've tagged for that and if it upsets you, you can fuck right along and read something with less bi cooties I guess. I never got my cootie shot and it's too late for me. Save yourselves.

Hilariously, the very first shitty comment I got on FFP when I started publishing it was a pair of bad-faith jerks who wanted me to reassure them that I wasn't going to overlook Ciri's "canon relationships with men" or somesuch phrasing, all of which in the books are hilariously noncon and gross, so if my spite meter were better-calibrated I would have made the story purely f/f. But unfortunately I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my bi little soul, and I'm not saying it's anything deep. (But I was struck by book!Ciri's wild curiosity-mixed-with-revulsion about sex with men, which like, I also was a bi who had my first sexual relationship with another girl and thought it was great but also was like But What Is In His Pants Tho, Is It Gross Or Do I Want To Touch It I Really Don't Know, so I super related to that and wanted to explore it.) And beyond that, for fic purposes, I have the same disappointing-to-some tendency very common in fandom where I see a vaguely man-shaped blorbo and want to chew him and shake him like a dog toy, so i've indulged myself in that here and that's just what it is.

Anyway. I'm not like, apologizing or whatever, I just am venting because I'm stuck on a train and have nothing better to do.

[midnightmissionarchives]

Werewolf by Night Issue 32

Encryption status: decrypted

Opening files...

Alright first up we have the OG, the first appearance of the man we've come to know as Moon Knight. I'd like to start here so that we an see how he's grown and changed and developed over the years. Future files will probably skip around depending on which ones get decrypted first.

Anyway!

Honestly, not a bad read. Gives a little glimpse into Jack Russell and what life is like for him, but also provides us with essentially a rough draft for Marc (Mark) Spector and the character they were trying to develop. There are definitely some differences with how this version of Moon Knight is introduced, but that's the fun part!

This issue starts off with a bang! Literally. The werewolf and Moon Knight are duking it out in a New York alley.

Earlier, Jack had been on a trip with his best friend and unfortunately the full moon had other plans. Jack's friend jumped in the way as Jack went to attack a young girl named Buttons (files are unclear if that is the girls actual name or if it's a nickname). This tragically led to his friend ending up in critical condition in the hospital with doctors unsure if he'll pull through or if he'll stay in the coma. Guilt ridden and angry Jack punches the wall, which didn't help ease his lover, Topaz, or his sister's worried minds, before he leaves the hospital to go home to see his step father.

Now enters The Moon Knight. Or...more accurately Mr. Spector.

Minor detail, but one that I find humorous. The writers and editors couldn't seem to decide how to spell his first name, either with a K or a C because we see it both ways within issues 32 and 33.

Now as you can see, he might be wearing all white, but he was all about the green, taking the suit and rolling with it. Also worth noting that $10k back in 1975 is really close to $60k today. So when some weirdo "committee" asks you to put on a costume and call yourself some silly name all for $10k...you don't really say no.

This is a very different origin story than what we've come to know about this character. This version is not tied to any vengeful moon god or ancient order or anything mystical. He was just some gun for hire given an outfit and told to pretend. Very interesting origin. Could you imagine if they had kept with that?

So Marc dons the silvery/white suit and introduces himself to Jack as Moon Knight. Shortly after, the full moon works its magic on Jack causing him to flee as he transforms into the wolf causing Marc to pursue.

While Marc's name may have been inconsistent (as well as his feelings towards his hero name), one other character has been consistent since the beginning and that's...

Jean-Paul "Frenchie" Duchamp

Yes, faithful congregation, Frenchie has been with Marc since the very beginning. Now that's a good friend.

Now we come back to the present with the fight in the alley. A crowd watches as a werewolf and some guy in a white costume tussle in an alley. The crowd stands and watches the fight for a good while before being struck with the realization...

I'm just imagining these people literally standing there slack-jawed at the fantastical brawl happening before them and this guy just suddenly comes back to consciousness like he had been woken up from a trance.

Anyway.

Jack puts up a good fight, despite his hurt hand, but Moon Knight wins out in the end thanks to his arsenal of silver weaponry, armor specifically designed to fight werewolves, and his incredible resume of skills.

The issue comes to a close as the police arrive and Moon Knight is dragging an unconscious werewolf towards the rope latter of the helicopter because, as Marc so eloquently put it,

"Payday's just around the corner, and I'd rather kill this hairy monster----than let those cops cut me off from my bread."

Yes, Marc Spector said "I'm getting that bread." I love how phrases make their way back into social vocabulary.

This is a far cry from the Moon Knight we've come to know. What he stands for, who he is, his motivations, just a different person. But, getting to know this version of the man only helps us to understand and appreciate how far he's come. This Marc is laying down the foundation for every iteration after him. He might not be the mystically endowed Fist of Vengeance, but he's no wimp either. Strength, agility, skill, marksmanship, you name it this guy has it in spades. And he would need it in order to hold his own with a werewolf who has inhuman strength and speed. The way the wolf (regrettably) cuts down his friend and really anyone who stands in way show just how powerful he is in this form, but he didn't seem to be a match for Moon Knight (who admittedly had a slight advantage with those silver weapons). Granted he did get a few good hits in, but Marc wasn't down for long. Would things have been different if the wolf's hand wasn't broken? Probably not. It might have gone on a little longer, but Moon Knight would have still come out on top, but who knows!

Thank you for joining me as we dive into the archives. This is the first file we're uncovering from the archives so I hope you enjoyed the read.

[bethanydelleman]

Northanger Abbey Readthrough Ch 27

Isabella has written! And it's pretty funny to be honest. She writes exactly as she talks and jumps all over the place in her story. But here is the rub:

The last two days he [Captain Tilney] was always by the side of Charlotte Davis: I pitied his taste, but took no notice of him.

And there we go, sounds like Captain Tilney dropped her like a hot potato when she broke off her engagement with James. And with that, Isabella lost both her hen in hand and in the bush! Poor girl... I guess.

This is quite the turn around for our heroine Catherine:

Such a strain of shallow artifice could not impose even upon Catherine. Its inconsistencies, contradictions, and falsehood struck her from the very first. She was ashamed of Isabella, and ashamed of having ever loved her. Her professions of attachment were now as disgusting as her excuses were empty, and her demands impudent.

She's so angry about the letter she reads most of it to her friends with "strong indignation." Which makes me imagine she did an impression of Isabella... that would have been great.

Now on to Captain Tilney, Henry is fairly convinced that he never loved Isabella and played with her feelings for vanity, which is very Henry Crawford. Northanger Abbey is interesting because Catherine herself never faces a charming man with hidden intentions, unlike Elizabeth/Wickham, Fanny Price/Henry Crawford, Marianne/Willoughby, Anne/Mr. Elliot, and Emma/Frank Churchill. Catherine's experience is closest to Fanny, she is an outside observer to a flirtation. Also, the Isabella/Frederick flirtation feels very different because we know that both sides had bad intentions, unlike Elizabeth/Wickham where at least one side was sincere.

As for Isabella, like Maria Bertram, she would have met with different treatment if she had been different herself. Her lack of faithfulness to James makes it almost impossible to feel sorry for her.

Now, people have argued that Isabella was just trying to secure her future. While I am a big supporter of women's wrongs against the patriarchy, I can't support Isabella's attempted fiance hop, James was not rich but he was a solid option, a good one even considering how poor Isabella was herself. So sorry Isabella, that was just greedy.

Catherine is still not quite up to speed with Henry:

“But we must first suppose Isabella to have had a heart to lose—consequently to have been a very different creature; and, in that case, she would have met with very different treatment.” “It is very right that you should stand by your brother.” “And if you would stand by yours, you would not be much distressed by the disappointment of Miss Thorpe. But your mind is warped by an innate principle of general integrity, and therefore not accessible to the cool reasonings of family partiality, or a desire of revenge.”

Catherine assumes here that Henry is defending his brother, but Henry (I believe) is just fairly pointing out what has been his point all along: if Isabella had been faithful, Frederick's flirtation wouldn't have mattered. That line about Catherine's mind being warped in a good way is great!

The funny thing is, Frederick did James a favour. It would have been harder for him to honourably break his engagement if this happened much later in their relationship (Think Edward and Lucy Steele), so it was positive for James to learn Isabella's true character so soon after they got together. Still hurts though, and I doubt Frederick was acting out of charity!

[tiredbiird]

i come from a very small town, around 3000 people. everyone knows each other and gossip there spread like wildfire.

back when I was in primary school, I overheard my mum and grandma talking about a girl few years above me. they talked about how her mother met a guy and abandoned her daughter to move abroad with the guy.

everytime the topic came up everyone was talking about how evil the woman was. like, don’t get me wrong, abandoning your child is not a morally good action, but there was always something else that struck me about this story.

the girl was then raised by her grandparents. which means her father was never in the picture at all. nobody has ever said a word about how her father was a bad person too for leaving her. nobody ever mentioned him. it was just normal. fathers just abandon children sometimes. but when a mother does it it’s an unforgivable crime.

(before some of y’all read this post in bad faith: i’m not saying the mother in this scenario is excused for what she’s done. i never knew her personally but I think abandoning an 8 year old because you met a guy in a different country is condemnable. i just wish people saw and mentioned how the girls father did exactly the same thing, just a few years later, and maybe condemned him too)

[billiejean485]

Okay - a long rant ahead and some explanations.

I would also like to point out that what I'm about to talk about mostly concerns the Christian community and it may not be interesting to anyone else or would just lead to pointless arguments that I don't want to be a part of, so - read at your own discretion after the explanations.

EXPLANATION

Yes, you have probably all noticed that I haven't completely stopped indulging in Miraculous stuff, especially after this post, and the reason is - I am simply enjoying (or have been doing so up till now) the concepts, the fan art and the never used possibilities and lost potential of the show and its characters. Which leads me directly to the second part of this post.

TO THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY WITHIN MIRACULOUS LADYBUG FANDOM

Yesterday, I gave this vid a watch and discovered something I wished I knew from day one of this show.

Among all the good points, something really struck me, and it was this:

.... Look.

I know Thomas Astruc is an atheist (or however he defines himself) and that he's a very anti-religious person - but this is downright offensive.

So, what I wanted to bring to attention.... was that this show really isn't just some goofy fantasy x sci-fi mix that doesn't delve into religion or myths - but that that is far from the truth.

Miraculous goes directly into everything and reshapes it to the viewing pleasure of people who have no religious beliefs whatsoever and are, like it's creator, of a mindset that it's all just nonsense, thus disrespecting culture and faith of humongous groups of religious communities.

As an (Orthodox) Christian, I can't talk much about people of other faith, though I know there were also big problems with the Muslim communities. Because of that, I am just going to stick to what I'm capable of concluding.

... You know, we all have the right to believe whatever we want to believe in. If atheistic people don't want to believe in anything, that's their choice. But spitting in the face of absolutely everyone who is of different opinion, especially through a worldwide known show (and directed at kids, to make matters worse) is definitely not alright. We have the right to choose our faith as much as any other individual and absolutely no one should be allowed to say that we should keep to ourselves as some kind of 'minority' and let the 'majority' take over, because they're right since there's a bigger number of them.

Speaking up about something negative within a certain religious community that affects everyone is one thing - telling them to shut up altogether is another.

If you think I am blowing things out of proportion with this.... do a little research on Astruc's X (formerly Twitter). I kid you not when I tell you that I have practically quoted him in the last line of the paragraph above my previous one. Amanda does the same in her video as well.

But what am I really getting at here with this post?

I wanted to send out a warning to fellow Christians that are watching the show and to boost up the awareness to this problem.

Literally... all the problems I've been having with the show for the past two years come down to this. The way the characters are treated, the direction the show is taking... everything. If I had known about the creators' opinions on this topic I would have seen disappointment a mile away, and it never would have affected me as bad as it did.

I stopped drawing for a whole year for crying out loud! And I've seen during that period that many people are absolutely unaware of what is lurking behind the curtains. The show is meant to take you to a certain point of viewing the world the way its creators believe are right, and it's not going to stop doing that anytime soon. What's more, I believe (and I am talking from experience here, from other disappointments in my past) that things are only going to get worse.

The Love Square is bait. The prolonged plot is there to keep the viewers interested. Heck, Astruc confirmed that publicly - it's needed to exist in order to keep the show successful and running. He thinks he's doing a good job at it, and, to be fair - business-wise, he is. That doesn't speak about the quality of the story though. But that's another topic I'm not going to bring up here...

I just wanted to give a heads-up to peeps, who do have an incorporated belief system in their lives, to not get swindled. It's not innocent fun, and that's going to get more obvious as time passes and the creators get more freedom to express their opinions.

I'm sorry if you've invested yourselves in this show as much as I have. I truly believed there wasn't another system directed against religion somewhere in its shadows and that it was a safe watch - however, it isn't. If you do have a life dedicated to something this show is against, all I can tell you is - re-evaluate what you're watching here.

For all the rest of you.... I suppose I have nothing to say. If you read all the way up to here and still disagree with me... well, feel free to do it. But I have no discussion to be made with you.

[lol-jackles]

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cvz9tvGud5C/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Is this considered a violation of the strike?

It doesn’t seem that it is to me, but I’m an outsider of the industry.

At a recent con, Jensen wore a tshirt given to him by a fan with Dean fanart on it and posed with the fan for a pic. Is that also considered a violation?

Based on the rules I’ve read, I don’t see that as breaking the rules either.

In both cases, he’s not using his social media to promote struck work. I don’t think the studio paid the fan to create the shirt or paid Jensen to wear it.

For the Supe beer, other than being a bad looking product design, wouldn’t it be a violation only if Amazon paid FBBC to create and sell the product? Do you think that is the case?

Has Jensen crossed the line or just gotten really close to it to warrant the criticism?

While technically those are not intended as promotion or endorsement of any works, the rule of thumb is just don't needle the thread because of optic reasons.  Look at it this way, non-union family members are not technically forbidden from promoting their union-spouse's past, present, and future work, but optic wise it is viewed as crossing the picket line.  So when non-union friends are expected in good faith not to promote for free the struck work of their union-friends, then union actors shouldn't either through their fans.  See, don't thread that needle.

Again, when non-union cosplayers are discouraged from cosplaying a struck character at conventions for free, then union-actors shouldn't be doing it at paid photo ops.   Unions are even going after Influencers who are non-union members and are encouraging witch hunts where non-union Influencers are turning in other non-union Influencers and keeping actual Black Lists, then you know how overreaching the unions are.

[ariadneamare]

OK so, since everyone's feeling so angsty, how about Hange and Levi get into an argument that like slowly ends up in them like throwing chairs at each other, but levi accidentally injures her, with a hurt/comfort ending ofc 🤭

The connection between Levi Ackerman and Hanji Zoe had been going strong for some time.

Neither confessed, but they both felt that there was something between them. Levi would often come down to her lab, and bring food. He would check in on her from time to time, and he was more protective during missions outside the walls.

Levi's initial jealousy stemmed from Hanji's time spent with an acquaintance. He attempted to conceal his emotions, but Hanji still felt something wasn't right. When she inquired as to his well-being, he responded angrily.

“Levi,” Hanji spoke softly, “you seem tense.” 

“Just lack of sleep.” The soldier answered sternly. 

“Are you su-” 

“You and Cory, huh?” He said sternly, a hint of sarcasm in his tongue. 

The candor caught Hanji off guard. "What do you mean by that, Levi?” 

“You seem to like him,” he continued. “He’s good for you.” 

“Stop that.” 

“Tch. I see you two sitting beside each other every meal, and I see how he looks at you,” he argues. 

“We’re friends, he’s a colleague.”

But Levi's envy prevented him from paying attention. 

“Bullshit,” he scoffed.

They were in the midst of an angry debate before either of them realized what had happened.

She could not believe that he refused to believe her. Him of all people. 

Hanji was never the type to play around. 

Did he really think she was that type of person?

Hanji has been having a really bad week, with her experiments not going the way she wanted, and the upcoming missions she have to prepare for. Levi being condescending instead of confronting her properly was the cherry on top. 

The brunette’s patience was wearing thin. 

“At this point, you could just announce your marriage.” That snapped Hanji, it ticked the time bomb in her head. 

“Oh, you’re so petty!” A book flew across the room. 

“Now I am petty?” His voice rose an octave. “I am not the one flirting with other people! I have been so patient with you. I ignored it because I trusted you.” 

Levi was too busy rambling that he did not hear the footsteps approaching him.

His best efforts to maintain composure were ultimately foiled by his rage. In his anger, he tipped over a table without noticing that Hanji was standing dangerously near.

Hanji collapsed to the floor, screaming in pain and clutching her ribs after the table had struck her in the side.

Levi turned his head so fast, he heard it click. His anger transformed into worry as he hurried to her side, cradling her gently.

“Are you okay? Where does it hurt?” His voice cracked as he said, "I am sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

Although Hanji was in agony, she could read regret in Levi's expression. She had faith that he had intended no harm. 

"Calm down, I know you didn't mean it," she said to him. “No broken bones, I am okay.”

But Levi was not an easy person to console. He hated himself for doing harm to the one he cared about most. 

“No, no it is not okay.” 

“Levi, please, it is okay.” 

“No, it is not.” He finalized. “I cannot let my anger get the best of me, especially when it comes to you.”

“You are an enigma, Levi Ackerman.” 

“I care about you deeply,” he announced. “People call me Humanity’s strongest soldier, and I have this sense of duty to that. I cannot show them that I am anything but strong.” 

There was a pause in the air. Hanji does not reply. She gives him a moment to gather his thoughts. 

“But with you,” he begins again. “I can be anything.” Levi sighs heavily, leaning forward and letting his forehead rest against hers. “You are my rest.” 

“You could’ve easily said ‘I am in love with you, Hanji Zoe’.” She jokes, lowering her voice to immitate his. 

“Is this your way to break the ice?” 

“Yes,” she laughs. 

She laughs and he is okay. He holds her a little bit tighter, and they relish in each other’s presence.

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 19 – All The Names They Used For God by Anjali Sachdeva

This is the second short story collection I’ve read this year, and of the two the only one that was really trying to be a coherent work in its own right and not just a grab bag of smaller pieces. I actually picked it up entirely off of a tumblr post, of all things – there was an excerpt from the story Killer of Kings that really got stuck in my head, and having read it I just needed to see the context and the rest of the work it was from. So, score one for viral word of mouth advertising I guess.

Killer of Kings – about the writing from Paradise Lost, from the perspective of Milton’s politically unreliable angelic muse – is absolutely the best story in the book, but there weren’t really any that struck me as bad. The overall tone is kind of dreaamlike – mythological, or in many cases the kind of story you’d expect to hear on a weird fiction podcast (if a very literary one). High on the uncanny and numinous, on weird situations and the touch of something transcendent, and just on people being put in situations. Low on high action, or really tension or plot at all – the narration usually feels like it’s at a bit of a remove, or if not then like one is observing the inevitable machinery of fate more than anything to really get excited about and caught up in. Dreams or fables, or something in between.

The writing is good enough to generally make the remove work, I think. Beautiful imagery in a lot of places, and very distinct (if occasionally pretty broad) voices for the points of view of all the different stories. Call prose lyrical is essentially just a buzzword at this point, but I think these mostly qualify.

There are nine stories in the book, and aside from the aforementioned fairy tale about regicide and mutinous angels, I’m afraid that I remember absolutely none of their titles. Or, no, that is a lie – the story about a pair of Nigerian girls abducted as brides by Boko Haram who escape after learning how to magically compel and dominate their husbands shares All The Names They Used For God with the whole collection, so I do remember that one. The other stories that really stuck in my head were of an albino homesteader in the Ozarks abandoning the farmhouse to explore and lose herself in the labyrinthine cave system she discovers, the modern day sailor in a dying fishing village becoming enraptured with the mermaid he glimpses as the ship he works gluts itself on the bounty of fishes she has called to feed the shark she’s become fascinated by herself, and the near-future story of identical septuplets created by their geneticist parents who are each struck by accident or disease as they go through adolescence and increasingly haunt their surviving, doomed siblings. (They’re all like that).

So clearly the plots and settings vary pretty wildly, but I do mean it when I say that the book was the most cohesive set of short stories on an artistic or thematic level I’ve read in quite a long time. Every story in the book (I’m pretty sure, at least) has a real sense of some vast and unseen mechanism of the universe brushing up against the mundane world, some intrusion of something grand and overwhelming and uncanny into the protagonist’s life. (It’s the title, after all – ‘God’ in a broad, rather pentheistic sense, but still, the glorious and uncaring clockwork behind the curtain.) And the culmination of each story is the protagonist (not always the point of view, but the character actually driving the plot) in one sense or another succumbing to the unknown, abandoning what they have and take a leap of faith into some transcendent self-destruction.

All to say the collection really works as a whole more than the individual stories do on their own. Which is probably entirely normal for short story collections that aren’t pulled together based on being based on the same property or written by the same author without much curation otherwise, but I really don’t read many of those that are also actually good.

[my-soul-sings]

what’s wrong with secretary kim: ch 4

Fandom: Tears of Themis Characters: Vincent Kim, Marius von Hagen (not shipped)

Summary: Five times Vincent Kim put up with his boss’ antics, and one time he didn’t.

ch 1 | ch 2 | ch 3 | ch 4

You can read this on AO3! See the replies to this post for the AO3 link.

***

He Hates Working Overtime... But Not Always

Organising Marius’ calendar might just be the most tedious and difficult aspect of Vincent’s job. 

It took a full day, but he’s finally done adding the latest flood of appointments to the master schedule. It’s completely packed for up to the next six months, and Vincent even took pains to plan the schedule down to the minute. Naturally, he also factored in buffer time in between his appointments, and left room for any last-minute cancellations or last-minute appointments. 

Vincent can only wonder how Marius is able to handle this much responsibility at his age. Being the CEO of Pax Group is certainly no walk in the park. 

That is, until he’s struck by an act of God and is reminded that Marius isn’t always the most responsible CEO around. 

Exhibit A is happening right at this moment. 

“Vincent, cancel all my meetings for today,” Marius tells him over the phone, which has Vincent doing a double-take.

“What?”

“Cancel all my meetings for today.”

“...Sorry, I must have misheard. Would you mind saying that again?” 

“Vincent, I know you heard me that time.”

“I did, but— wait— you mean, everything? You’re cancelling everything?”

Marius has the audacity to sigh. “Yes. Everything.”

“But— But why? You have a conference call with the vice-president of Boogle in fifteen minutes, a lunch with the directors of Tinysoft, a meeting with the board of directors after lunch and then a meeting with the mayor of Stellis at 4pm. You’re telling me to cancel on all of these people?”

“Yes. Just reschedule with them. Actually—I can do the conference call while driving, so leave that.” 

Just reschedule, the man says, as if the deed can be done with nothing more than a snap of the finger.

“I will call them immediately,” Vincent tells him, “but may I ask the reason for this sudden cancellation? They will need a good explanation.”

“I just can’t, okay? I’m busy.”

“And what are you so busy with that you have to cancel on people who booked appointments with you more than a month in advance?”

“Well…” 

Vincent has heard that sheepish tone before, and knows it can only mean one thing. Taking in a deep breath, he braces himself for an incredibly stupid reason for Marius’ sudden outburst this terrible morning. 

“She’s having her, err, monthly… lady problems.”

Vincent’s tone instantly falls flat — this isn’t the first time Marius has employed this excuse. “Can’t someone else take care of her? Shouldn’t she know how to manage by now given how… often she deals with this?” he suggests, while nervously eyeing the time on his watch and the master schedule currently displayed on his computer.

“Her cramps are so bad that she can’t leave the house to get pills to ease the pain. She can’t even get water for herself because she can’t walk. I’m her boyfriend. The least I can do is take care of her when she needs me, especially when she’s living alone.”

“The company needs you too—”

“I know, but this is an emergency. Please, Vincent. Reschedule the other appointments for me?” 

It’s not like Vincent can decline. So, like the faithful secretary he is, he simply replies politely as always. 

“I will. Leave it to me.”

“Thanks, Vincent. I appreciate it. Truly.” 

The line cuts, and Vincent sinks into his chair, looking like the world is about to end. 

But, there is no time for him to sit around and be depressed. Vincent quickly gets his act together and starts frantically searching for the numbers of the people he needs to call. 

***

After many rounds of apologising profusely and getting an earful (or basically getting yelled at) over the phone, the deed is finally done. Vincent returns his gaze to the calendar that he had planned so perfectly, and which is now going to take him a whole night to reorganise. 

He feels a sudden urge to throw a chair at his computer, but instead, he wisely chooses to get up and take a walk. Maybe some air will cool him off. That, and a bottle of hard liquor. 

But his evening plans are foiled when he receives a call on his work phone. As expected, it’s from his boss. 

Vincent ponders whether or not to pick up for two rings, but on the third ring he relents and reluctantly answers. Curse him and his strong sense of responsibility. 

“Is there anything else you need, young master?” he asks, sounding pleasant and professional as always. Sometimes he thinks he has a talent for this — perhaps a career switch to acting might be in order.

“Hey Vincent, sorry to call you at this time. Would you mind swinging by the convenience store and picking up some pads to deliver to her place?” 

The secretary’s composed tone falters slightly. “Sure... Is there a picture of the brand that she usually buys? How many does she need?”

There’s a pause and some muffled voices in the background before Marius speaks again. “I’ll send you a picture of it. Maybe get two packs?” 

“Will do. Is there anything else you would like me to bring?” 

“Hmm… how about some condoms?” 

He wonders if the condoms are so Marius can continue to fuck up his life even more. At this point, he’s partially resigned to his fate. “S-Sure…”

“I’m just kidding.” The young man bursts into laughter and Vincent is too relieved to get mad at him. “Just the pads will do. Thanks, Vincent.” 

“You’re very welcome. I will be there by 9. Is there anything else you need, young master?”

“Nope, thanks a lot Vincent. Appreciate your help today.”

He hangs up then, and Vincent stares at his phone for a second before exhaling like a deflated balloon. Well, the only thing he can’t complain about is the fact that at least Marius shows his appreciation and thanks him for the shit he puts him through. 

Still, it doesn’t change the fact that Vincent has his work cut out for him tonight. 

Just as despair begins to sink in, a brilliant idea pops into his head, and his imminent gloom begins to wash away. 

As faithful as he may be, this secretary isn’t about to take this much shit lying down without making sure he returns the favour. 

 ***

“Good evening, young master. I brought the items like you requested.” 

“Thanks Vincent. Woah, that’s a pretty big box you got there.”

“Of course, I wanted to make sure there was enough.” 

Marius blinks twice at him, seeming to notice the slightly sinister undertone in his secretary’s voice. Eventually, he finds the sense to respond. “Ah, I see. Thanks.” 

“Would you like to check to make sure that I got it all? If there’s a need for anything else I can go and pick these up right away.” 

“Sure.” Marius proceeds to open the box, and it takes a few seconds before his eyes widen in alarm.

His head snaps up. “Vincent, you–” 

“I got a whole box of pads and extra condoms at your request, young master,” Vincent says, making sure his voice is loud enough so the young man’s girlfriend can hear from where she is in the living room. “I hope you are satisfied with this, but if it’s not enough, please let me know.”

“Hey, I didn’t—”

“Oh? It’s not enough? I will fetch another two boxes right away, young master.” 

Vincent’s smile only grows at the panic that is visibly increasing in Marius’ face. His face is so red that it looks like it might explode at any minute, especially the moment a sharp call of his name sounds from inside the apartment. 

“I thought I said it was just a joke,” Marius hisses, glancing behind his shoulder at the sound of approaching footsteps. 

“I thought you were joking about it being a joke, so I bought these just in case,” Vincent continues smoothly. “You know how thorough I am.” 

Before Marius can get another word out, a voice comes from right behind him. “Marius, we need to talk.” The cold tone makes even Vincent shiver a little. Marius looks visibly frightened now, much like a lamb about to go in for the slaughter. 

“If that’s all, I will go now. I will need some time to rearrange your master schedule after today’s cancellations.”

A look of realisation crosses Marius’ face, but Vincent turns on his heel just as the young man’s lips parts in what seems to be protest. Or maybe it’s to apologise. 

Whatever it is, none of it matters anymore; it’s too late now.

“Ow ow! Wait, it’s not what it sounds like, let me explain— Ow, my ear! Jie jie, wait!”

The vindicated secretary heads down the stairs of the apartment building with lighter steps, with the sound of his boss’ cries trailing in his wake. All the while, his smile doesn’t leave his face. 

For the first time, working overtime isn’t so dreadful.

***

A/N: I'm going to try my hardest to finish this while I have some freedom for the rest of this week (i am finally on leave lol vincent is truly my spirit animal)

[atheostic]

Hi! Christian here. I came across your blog through a post I really disagreed with, I scrolled a little bit and thought many of your arguments were in really bad faith or wonky and even ignorant, BUT you're often acting in a way I've rarely seen from people who decry faiths (and I'm from a majority atheist country and only ever had non religious/agnostic friends outside my family). I was especially struck by your posts sharing things about religions presented without commentary, or even with helpful info like with the halal food one. You seem to really want to strive for kindness and even understanding. I disagree with you on just about everything but I really liked seeing that, so props to you 👍 keep searching for truth and love

Hi there, I appreciate the politeness even though we don't see eye to eye on things -- it's sadly a rarity on the internet, so it's much appreciated.

And thanks for recognizing that I'm striving for kindness -- just because we disagree on theology (and potentially politics as well) doesn't mean we can't be kind to one another. :)

As to whether my posts are in bad faith: As I think you already noticed, I'm truly in earnest in my posts (well, I can occasionally get facetious if someone is being nasty for no reason, but it typically takes a lot to get me there).

I find that sometimes people on both sides of the aisle (especially on the internet) already come to discussions on sensitive topics on the defensive, which leads them to be more likely to see bad intent where there is none. I don't think that this is even a conscious thing most of the time, which is why I personally make a conscious effort to assume positive intentions until proven otherwise unless it's extremely obvious (namecalling from the get-go, etc).

And a few friendly bits of context that may further help explain where I'm coming from:

I've been interested in religion since I was five or six.

I took Classic mythology courses in uni as well as a Norse mythology course as well

My main area of interest is Christianity, mainly because it's the religion that directly affects my rights and the rights of people in my country (Canada). For example, it's legal to fire me from a job at a publically funded school if it's found out I'm not Christian.

I'm also somewhat familiar with Afro-Brazilian religions and some North American Indigenous religious practices and mythology (primarily Cree and Blackfoot)

When it comes to religions I'm less familiar with, I try to listen to a mix of people in that religion and atheists who used to be part of said religion in order to inform my views

I've read the Bible in three languages (Portuguese, English, and Spanish)

I attended a Catholic public school in high school and have worked in a Catholic public school as an adult

I think it's also important to keep in mind that our situations are polar opposites of each other; I live in a primarily religious country. And in my country, as I previously mentioned, Christianity is used to infringe on my rights and the rights of others all the time. I wouldn't be nearly as critical of religion -- and Christianity in particular -- if religion weren't forced upon those who don't believe.

And, finally, it's worth remembering that there are 30,000+ denominations of Christianity, so it's possible that posts you think my argument sounds wonky or ignorant may simply be referencing a denomination whose theology you think is wonky or ignorant.

[lover-of-mine]

Weekend WIP Game!

Tagged by @wikiangela thank you <3

Rules: List your WIPs below (if you only write one fic at a time, feel free to include future WIPs/ideas!) then answer the following questions. Then, tag as many people as you have WIPs (or more)

WIP List

ill come tackle the monsters

buck breakdown fic

elevator (it's gravity after all)

wayf (i thought i had you (still wrapped around your finger))

duck duck buck

eddie begins

2. Which of your WIPs is currently the longest?

Buck breakdown is currently at around 12k

3. Which WIP do you expect will end up the longest?

Buck breakdown soasokaosk, when I started writing it I was thinking it was gonna be around 15k but I am no where near where I need to be with it, so right now, it's my bet (but wayf could be a longer concept than it is now, depends on how detailed it all ends up being, I'm not sure about some bits there, but it could end up longer than expected too)

4. Which WIP is your favourite to write/the most enjoyable to write? Why?

probably wayf because the story goes in two timelines, the present and flashbacks about the weekend and I'm having a blast weaving the flashbacks into the story

5. Which WIP do you find the most intimidating to write? Why?

definitely the buck breakdown fic (I'm guessing most of the answers will be this fic, sorry in advance oksaoskaos) because it's very emotionally heavy, since my plan is to have Buck confront his own feelings, and Eddie and Chris are hurt, so there's the medical side that I'm trying to get right and there are a lot of scenes with Eddie in the hospital that I needed to stop and reconsider a lot of what I was doing because I wanna stay as in character with Buck as I can, and he's bad with emotions so I can't make him reach the conclusion I need to him that easily and he's also terrible about asking for things he needs and he's a trainwreck through the whole thing and that's a challenge. Also, if I'm making Buck cry, I'm also crying while writing, so I'm crying a lot so seriously, my process with it is a disaster. But I have faith it will be worth it in the end.

6. Which WIP do you experience the most self-doubt about. Why?

the breakdown fic oskaoksoaks and the eddie begins, the breakdown because sometimes i feel like I'm going for a concept that's beyond my abilities as writer, like, I legit sit and contemplate that doc all the time lol and the eddie begins simply because it's a missing scene fic but i need to portrait the specific emotion that i want but at the same time i need to stay within canon, so that's a line that i go back and forth that makes me question a lot of what I do, also because I'm used to writing season 6 or after, and going back to season 3, i really need to tone down a lot of things I'm used to, and that created a lot of "wait, they do not know how to communicate like this yet" that makes me question a LOT on the idea.

7. Which of your WIPs will you seek out a beta/sensitivity reader for? Why?

I don't really do betas because I am the most awkward human on the planet and I don't know how to ask someone for help with a fic aksoaksoaksoaks

8. Have any of your WIPs been struck by the curse of writer's block?

currently the wayf fic, i am obsessed with the concept and seriously i wanna finish it because i really want to read it myself soaksokasskoaksoak but I'm STUCK, like legit nothing is happening in my brain, no words at all

9. Which WIP has your favourite OC? Tell us about them?

i dont have any OCs

10. Which WIP is the sexiest?

i don't really do smut, but the concept of wayf is that Buck and Eddie sleep together, but Eddie panics and says he just wants to be friends, so sex is part of the plot so it does get heated there sometimes

11. Which WIP is the angstiest?

the buck breakdown fic soaksokaoskoaks i mean, i am almost killing Eddie and making Buck scream cry throw up so like, shit gets real there

12. Which WIP has the best characterization (in your humble opinion)?

the elevator fic actually, i'm forcing them to talk but I'm having a lot of fun with their friendship and i honestly believe some of their banter there is extremely on character aoskoaksoaksokasa

13. Which WIP has the best scene setting (in your humble opinion)?

probably the elevator? i am making a conscient effort there so it makes sense with the fact that they are in an elevator and that you can't forget that while you're reading, but I'm not sure actually

14. Which WIP have you worked the hardest on?

i would say it's between the breakdown and the elevator, for different reasons, the breakdown because that fic is the most planned thing I've ever written (and i have 2 over 60k stories that took me like, years that didn't involve the amount of thought I'm putting into this) and the elevator is because i keep googling things aoskoaskaoskas i actually even drew a little schematic of the elevator to make sure their movements made sense oaksokasasoaks

15. Which WIP do you have the highest expectations for? Why?

the breakdown fic sokasokaoskoasksasok cause I can see it so clearly in my head, that I'm staring at it all "i hope you're half as good in paper as you are in my head" like, I can see the whole thing in my head and it looks so good there, so I'm like "you better be good"

16. Do you dream about any of your WIPs?

does the fact that i started writing ill come tackle the monsters because i had an unrelated nightmare and started to write it in the middle of the night because i couldn't go back to sleep count? sokaoskaoskasok but no, not really

17. Do any of your WIPs have particular complexities that your other fics don't?

well, the elevator alternates povs which is a first for me, so that adds a whole layer that I'm not used to.

18. Which WIP is the funniest or has the most humour?

duck duck buck oskaoksoaksokas she's almost a crack fic oskaoskaoksoaks there's this thing where people leave rubber ducks on jeeps and one day buck says he never got a duck, so everyone in the firefam decides to leave him a rubber duck but apparently they all bought them in the same place and it got shipped at the same time because they accidentally all decide to leave their ducks on the same day and the whole thing is Eddie trying to duck Buck while everyone else does it too and Buck is just getting all these ducks sokasokasokaoskasokas and it's just ridiculous really

19. Do any of your WIPs contain outside POVs or a deep dive on a character other than the main ship? How are you finding that process?

i dont think i have one of those, no.

20. Tell us one thing we don't know about one or more of your WIPs

I mean, I ramble a lot about all of them soaksokaoskaoks but a few months back I was on the fence over something and I posted a poll here that was like "this is about the buck breakdown fic you get no context say yes or no" only one person voted no, so, yes won by a landslide and well, that was about deciding if I was going to temporarily kill Eddie and force Buck to watch, so the Buck breakdown fic is temporary major character death fic :)

i dont know whos been tagged but no pressure tagging <3: @eddiebabygirldiaz @bucks118 @honestlydarkprincess @watchyourbuck @giddyupbuck @daffi-990

[macksting]

Long ramble infodump about El Goonish Shive

Oh where do I start.

I wasn't particularly sheltered, but Grace's flight (not literally) from the history class strikes a deep chord with me regardless. She read between the lines of what that book said and realized very quickly that there had been incredible scales of death and misery and horror, and even knew all too well a kind of person who might have brought that sort of thing about himself. In a recent chapter, Grace sees herself in her mind's eye, cowering and crying and helpless in a laboratory room, and she approaches herself and tells her words she'd've wanted to hear then, words she needs to hear now to heal that past self. I've done that. Or something akin? Sometimes in panic attacks I am simultaneously multiple people, much like Horselover Fat and Philip K. Dick in VALIS. It makes it easier. There's not much imagination involved, just one person comforting another, in the space of one's own body. Whatever. Point is, I felt like I was going crazy, but it helped. I don't know as it calmed me any faster, but that wasn't the point; the point was to get through it with less pain. And who among us* hasn't done a quick census in one's head and thought, wait a minute. What percentage of the population is straight? That's absurd. Or the moment when she was going to simply disappear from their lives without a word, leaving not even the clothing she was given, lest she endanger anyone by her presence again. The list of reasons Grace is my favorite is very long. I could go on for quite a while. * amogus I fall back on El Goonish Shive for things a surprising amount. Whether it's the harmful nature of secrets, or the shame in feeling used and foolish because we were taken in by a person operating in bad faith, or that awestruck feeling of "there's a name for it." That moment when Elliot sits reading the fan letters about the video review series and is struck silent thinking about the trans person whose letter he received. I remember in 2016 I was so worried for my trans friends, so afraid that either victory or loss would see violent riots from the Trump crowd, and what the next four to eight years would hold in that regard, and what was to come thereafter for them. Then two years later my own egg cracked, and I find myself in the same position. Was it the same, for Elliot to look back on that moment when he, en femme no less, read that letter and felt he must do something for them, that something could be done with what they had available? And to look at it from a future perspective, when he no longer identified as male at all, to realize he was fighting for himself too? Does it give him a headache like it does me? (excerpt from The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle) "Closer!" he grumbled, squinting through the dark. "Come closer. I want to see you." "Light a light, then." said Molly Grue. The calmness of her own voice frightened her more than the fury of the old wizard had. It is easy to be brave for her sake, she thought, but if I begin being brave on my own account, where will it end? (end excerpt)

[astreetcarnamedkendall]

just finished les mis... wow! i'm already sad and miss it :( but! here are some random thoughts post-finishing it:

hugo understands people and their relationships (and the interactions within said relationships) so well. this was my favorite aspect of the entire novel. i feel like i could pick apart so many different relationships and characterizations for hours

^ the above is how i could tell tolstoy really loved/admired him and was influenced by his work which was cool to see

my favorite section of the entire novel was the barricade section. he captured so much of humanity in such a vivid way within that section. also it was just gripping to read

favorite character was easily enjolras but no one is surprised. also loved jean valjean and grantaire. found myself loving cosette way more than i realized by the end of the novel

"to love or to have loved, that is enough. ask nothing further. to love is a consummation." that quote struck me more than i anticipated. i really loved how you could tell hugo geniunely loved humans and the world and how that love was a driving force throughout the entire novel. love - a love for and faith in the people, for change - is what pushes us forward and how progress occurs.

^ going off of that I thought of this quote from lady bird often: "don't you think maybe they are the same thing? love and attention?" you can tell hugo really loves paris

the sewer chapters were not as bad as people made them out to be like they're fine