#oh! and honorary mention to poetry which rose Sometimes Likes. like she gets very frustrated with it quickly because it's hard for her to

[terrifyingstories3]

most people would say rose is more likely to use a book as a weapon than she is to actually sit down and read it, and there is some truth to that. rose struggled through a lot of vlad’s required reading list, but more due to difficulty focusing and lack of interest in cookie cutter classics than a true distaste for reading in general. in fact, rose actually really loves reading anything about ethology (animal behavior) and sociobiology. one of the best things you can do for her if you care about her is get her a book containing one of those topics or something related to them. 

she’s kind of embarrassed and sheepish about it and will downplay her enjoyment of reading because of jokes people have made and her whole jock stereotype, but it’s a really tender way to show her you care. if you ask her about it, she’ll open up to you and share lots of cool facts if you’re interested. 

she also really likes the library. in portland, the library on the college campus she and lissa snuck onto to sit in on classes was one of the places that made her feel most safe. she’d go there sometimes when lissa was sitting in on a class nearby that bored her to tears and find books about things she was interested in and find herself sad when the class ended and she had to pack up and go and couldn’t finish what she was reading or take it with her. she still likes the library as an adult, and prefers the feel of books in her hands to ebooks or pdfs or audiobooks. one of her biggest moments post becoming a guardian and living at court as a Real Official Adult was getting her own library card at nearby library and it’s one of her favorite possessions. 

similarly, one of the things that rose does that really shows she cares about you is picking out a book that could help her learn more about you or make her better suited to help you in some way. she’s constantly reading whatever books she can find about st. vladimir to help lissa as well as diving into psychology textbooks in the hopes of learning how to support lissa through her depression and anxiety. when she learns of her boyfriend bellamy’s ( @lingeringscars ) back problems she comes home with a pile of books about back pain and massage because she wants to learn how she can best provide relief to him. i think she definitely picked up a book about addiction when she was dating adrian, though i can’t say how far she got on account of how many major life things were going on for her then. likewise, she began reading books on grief after christian lost his aunt. these are little acts of love for her that show how deeply she cares and also picks up on things you’re struggling with that she might not know how to directly approach you about or you might not realize she knows.