#only ever yours

[semper-legens]

132. Only Ever Yours, by Louise O’Neill

Owned?: No, library Page count: 390 My summary: freida is sixteen years old, which means it’s her last year before the Ceremony - before she is chosen by a man to be his companion, or cast aside into the life of a concubine. She’s near the top of the rankings, at target weight, careful to keep herself beautiful. But when her best friend isabel starts to self-destruct, freida finds it harder and harder to remain perfect. And the men are coming soon. Can freida gain the future she’s always wanted, even at the cost of her only friend? My rating: 5/5 My commentary:

Dear lord, this book. I read it a few years ago for the first time, and was thoroughly Harrowed by it, to the point where I couldn’t stop thinking about it since. And so, I’ve got it from the library to reread, and it most definitely lived up to my expectations. I think the points it was making are always relevant, and the portrayal of young women twisted by a misogynistic ideal of what women should be is thoroughly upsetting, in the it-gets-its-point-across-well kind of way.

freida is a young eve (the in-universe term for artificially created women) trying to make herself perfect so she is chosen by a boy to be his companion (wife) rather than be sent to the concubines (sex workers). Her entire life revolves around being perfect. eves are given calorie blockers routinely, aren’t taught to read, are encouraged to harshly criticise themselves and each other to achieve perfect beauty, are taught to think that dying at 40 is better than living to be old and ugly, taunted if they eat the wrong foods, forced to exercise in inhumane conditions as a punishment. And freida is a typical eve in this. She’s thoroughly bought into this world’s ideals, never once does she question that her purpose in life is to be beautiful and serve a man. So she compromises herself, again and again - she hangs around with the most popular girl, rejects her friend, tries so hard to be perfect and chosen, and it all blows up in her face. Make no mistake, this book is a tragedy.

The theme of misogyny isn’t subtle in this book, but it is hard-hitting. Unfair beauty standards are satirised. One running idea is that, despite the girls all being genetically modified, they are still seen as more or less beautiful for things they can’t control like hair or skin colour. isabel’s white-blonde hair is seen as perfect, and generally blondes are preferred - which isn’t good for freida, said by the author to be Indian ethnically. It’s an exaggeration of how teenage girls are taught to hate themselves in real life, but it’s entirely true to life. There is no way to win, as a teenage girl. frieda becomes addicted to sleeping pills and loses a lot of weight, and everyone is jealous despite the fact that freida is clearly falling apart. When frieda self-destructs in the last act, the people in charge of the school lock her in a room with tv shows criticising her on repeat, as a form of torture. And that’s seen as fine, because freida has failed at her one job in life.

What I find the most fascinating about this book is how it doesn’t use some of the YA Dystopia Tropes standard at the time. freida isn’t rebelling against her dystopian society, she’s trying so hard to fit in, and becomes a much worse person for it. The only real rebel against this society is isabel, but she’s rebelling through self-destruction more than leading an uprising. Nothing is solved at the end, it’s a real downer ending for everyone - and freida’s even okay with what happens to her. And I like that, it makes the story feel that much more real. It’s a slice of life within this world, and really exposes how misogyny can seep into the pores of this world. It makes the threat seem insurmountable - which, in fairness, it often does in reality too.

Next up, back to the past for an old mansion, and some ghosts and faeries.

[urmomreadsbooks]

1st book of April!!!!!!!!

Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill

Wow. This book was so not what I was expecting in all the best ways. A few notes:

This book legitimately scared me a little bit. Like, especially with the current way people worship beauty and things like that, it's genuinely scary to see how we could develop into a world with eves.

Holy mother misogynistic society at its finest

It's also a little scary how much megan resembles some kids at my high school and how I see a little bit of myself in freida

It also discusses lesbians by referring to them as "female aberrants" and talks about the fetishization of gay people literally just existing

If you're looking for a read to kind of open your eyes to more feminist literature, this is a good place to start. While it isn't deliberately feminist, the way this dystopian world is presented reveals more about misogyny and homophobia than other girl-power books I've read (which are still amazing, but this one is darker)

Overall? I give it a 9/10.

(Also, if you're planning on reading this-make sure to check trigger warnings. It has depictions of eating disorders and drug addiction and the like. Stay safe 💖)

[blogmollylane]

Finished reading: Only Ever Yours by Louise O’Neill

Currently reading: Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

[blueskittlesart]

i hope everyone in nintendo’s management department dies and goes to hell no matter what and i’m not kidding

[adobe-outdesign]

"why don't super-intelligent Pokemon like Metagross and Alakazam just take over humanity if they're smarter than us" imagine that a random primate gave you free housing, food, and medical care for the rest of your life for literally no reason other than they want to be friends with you and I think you'll understand

[stil-lindigo]

the fox god.

a comic about a trickster.

--

creative notes:

–

all my other comics

store

[akanemnon]

Something tells me this isn't Flowey...

FIRST - PREVIOUS - NEXT

MASTERPOST (for the full series / FAQ / reference sheets)

[koschei-the-ginger]

[firbolgfriend]

I didn’t realize fluttershy being a model in like one episode was a staple part of her character

[heartinhyacinth]

I think one of the funniest tgcf fanfic tropes is the different reunion type where Hua Cheng painstakingly searches every corner of the earth for hundreds of years, exhausting every resource imaginable, following every fraction of lead, but always inevitably comes up empty, only for Xie Lian to randomly walk right through the front door of paradise manor or fall from the sky or smth on a casual Sunday afternoon.

Then Hua Cheng turns or looks up, ready to disperse whoever just had the audacity, and comes face to face with the love of his life who was just dragged there by a magical bracelet or a gifted to him by cowardly gods or used as collateral in the gambling den or whatever other wild thing that would only happen to Xie Lian.

And the best part is when Xie Lian is getting ready to explain himself to the All Powerful Infamous Ghost King, but has to pause and wait as he notes the full-system malfunction that is clearly going on inside Hua Cheng’s head at the moment, judging by the look of pure shock/disbelief on his face lmao

[bixels]

Hot to the Touch

(Sunset x Thea)

[bunnieswithknives]

AU based off Nature except I kept thinking about it too hard. Dales not a good dad, but its such an easy problem for him to throw money at, and what do you do when a part is damaged? Well, you replace it.

Basically an AU where Dev gets to experience medical trauma and realizes much sooner how much his dad doesn't love him

[lazylittledragon]

i refuse to believe that boycotting is hard. my favourite thing in the world is ordering maccies after a late night at work/a concert/getting drunk. yes i do miss it sometimes. but the other night i ordered from a small place near my house instead and it was the most orgasmic burger i've ever had in my life. i very rarely say this but fucking suck it up people are DEAD

[derangedfujoshi]

Stalking is a crime, yes that includes your yandere boyfriend

Assault is a crime, yes that includes your whumper/whumpee scenarios

Being part of a mob is a crime, yes that includes your sexy son of a mafia boss

Killing is a crime, yes that includes your blorbo

Zoophilia is a crime, yes that includes you liking Nick Wilde

All your "exceptions" from what is and isn't condemnable in fiction are, in real life, a crime as well. Every dark trope falls in the "it would be a crime to commit this irl" category, it's not just the big age gaps with adult/minor ships and the incest, it's ALL of them. All of them are crimes in the real world, by law. The sentence may vary but you'd still be sent to prison. "But I only like it in fiction!"

So do we.

So do we, so can you get off your high horse and just admit that liking dark themes in fiction, ANY dark theme, does not reflect your moral compass in real life and for the love of everything STOP pretending fake murder is better than fake incest? You sound preposterous.

[corpsentry]

pick your battles

[leaf-bitmap]

Collab animation by Awi (awisha_doodles on insta!) and myself bc we both love this game 🥺🎉🎉🎉🎊🎊🎊

Happy (belated😭💥) 1 year anniversary Star Rail!! 🎊🎊🎉🎉🎉

Himeko, Stelle, and March + Illustration done by Awi :)

Dan Heng, Caelus, Welt, and FX + Compositing by me 😄