#what most annoys me about the pressure to have romantic relationships is the way its forced on people who arent ready

[prettyboykatsuki]

okay fr what do you think scara is like in bed? what’s he into, what’re his kinks, the whole shebang?

modern scaramouche hc's

✭ tags ; sub!chara, dom!reader (they bottom but parts are unspecificed so gn!reader as well), this is also my modern!scaramouche take so just be aware, bratting, rough sex, slapping, hitting, a lil degradation, reader is v careful abt scaramouches boundaries tho, romantic implications reader is stronger than scara + he is short king, etc

✭ wc ; 2.1k (im soooo ashamed. anon im so sorry)

✭ a/n ; this got so out of hand so quickly. this is my personal scaramouche this has nothing to do with anyone but me and my delusions sorry in advance.

like really. cant describe how subjective this is but i also refuse to change my mind or see him any other way. thank u so much for inquiring

my modern scaramouche is usually aged like. 20-something in college. he goes to a nice university (a very competitive school mind you.) he was really concerned about excelling for like most of his hs career. kind of a loner except tartaglia who adopted him into his friend group.

he panics about his degree for the longest time cause he doesn't know what to do - but settles on civil architecture and minors in fine art.

he has his ears pierced and some other piercings too that he was peer pressured into, but overall likes how they look. he's not usually very dressed up and all of his closet is so oversized because comfort > fashion BUT he never looks like a slob either.

has like 3 other friends on campus (kazuha + mona + childe who somehow followed him there)

complicated relationship with his mom + stepmom (he doesn't hate her but they do not communicate so tons of misunderstandings between them. like sooo many)

and. usually not actively looking to date anyone ever. he had like one crush one time in highschool but chickened out so miserably and SEETHED about it the whole time.

after that he swore to never, ever, ever go back to that dark place and sort of just focused on his career and school. his major is pretty difficult so it takes a lot of his time

plus he's a little pretentious, stuck up little shit so only a few people can handle him in the first place.

anyways. u meet through tartaglia who thinks you two will get along really well (and he's trying to set you both up bc he thinks you two could work well together)

its honestly like oil and water. you're personality just rubs him the wrong way. sure childe is annoying, but he's stupid

you're...not stupid. you're kind of clever and you treat him with like. a sense of disrespect he hates. scaramouche is used to people who let him have the upperhand

but you're always pretty quick to shoot him down. you never let him him get away with anything and you guys have this like... insane back and forth for months

its the slowest of burns. he swears he hates you.

(he doesn't though. he thinks its really fucking attractive that you talk back to him and don't let him intimidate you ever. but he loathes that feeling. he also loathes how nice your laugh is and how easy it is to talk to you)

scaramouche spends. AGES. ages in denial. closes his eyes to it. its like 6 months deep into it - he starts having wet dreams and he wakes up HORRIFIED with himself.

WORSE? scaramouche knows about your sex life. not through you but through observation and gossip. he's not fucking you in the dreams. you're fucking him.

humiliated, he simply tries to ignore it. but it's making him so much moody than usual and because you two spend so much time together - you notice almost right away. of course you do.

"whats got your panties in a twist lately? not that you're usually sunshine and rainbows but you're acting like a little kid"

scaramouche says something mean. like, really mean in response. he's just so frustrated. its a personal jab, farther than he'd usually go.

he's expecting to sabotage himself you know? he does that sometimes. pushes people away when they get too close. it's a miracle he has any friends. he's expecting you to get annoyed and leave.

but there's this like. chill to your voice. and you're looking straight at him.

"you don't talk to me like that, understand? i don't care how shitty your mood is."

one hit k.o. he can't even breathe. what's wrong with him and what is happening to him, and holy shit why do you sound like that.

"sorry," he apologizes (him. he's apologizing first) "just. frustrating,"

and you immediately slink back to your usual self. and he's relieved and a little excited and just overall restless because he can't stop thinking about what just happened.

"it's fine. i like being on your ass or whatever but it's bothering me that you're so moody. maybe you really do need to get laid,"

the joke is one you often to make. it's meant to lighten the mood. but scaramouche is feeling pent-up and horny and that's kind of exactly what he needs

"s-shut up. it's not like you're going to do it,"

internally he's hoping you take the bait. he is equal parts horrified and excited watching you take in the information. you give him a lazy smile as you sit up and look at him.

"huh. do you...want me to do it?"

oh dear god. oh fuck.

"so what if i did?"

and then you laugh, which he can't decipher. he's gearing himself to be made fun of. he watches you with big wide yes as you come sit on the desk near him. feels your fingers trail his jaw and tilt his head up and holy shit he might really die.

he can barely look up at you.

"is that why you've been acting weird for last couple of weeks?" your voice is so smug and scaramouche is so turned on it's stupid. he hates it. hates himself. hates everything

"shut up,"

and then, you grab his chin. really make him look at you and it's startling but he doesn't pull away. you look gleeful.

"that why you've been running with your tail between your legs when you see me?" you hum, your eyes almost predatory "cause you want me to fuck you?"

its times like this scaramouche he could be honest. because that's exactly what he wants, but he hates having to say it.

"as if you could satisfy me," he says, instead. your eyes widen, and it takes you a minute to register it all in your head.

"you're such a fucking brat," you say, light. affectionate, really. it makes his heart pump "you think i can't?"

"i'd like to see you try," he says, absolutely and utterly in disbelief internally. you grin.

"can i kiss you?"

"why're you asking?"

"cause im an asshole, not a villain,"

you and scaramouche makeout in a study room before he decides to to get ahold of himself and invites you into his dorm. he's never been so thankful in his life that his roomate is gone.

when you get scaramouche into bed - it really dawns on him how out of his element he is. he's not a virgin - a few awkward and usually bad hook-ups in his repertoire.

but you're not like them. he's bitey and on edge but you handle him. ask for permission for little things, clarifications for what he's okay with. you're thoughtful, despite how much he's lashing out.

and it's turning scaramouche so much he doesn't know how to handle it other than doing it again. he wants to provoke you so much. he wants to put him in his place over and over.

it's mid makeout he pulls away, frustration all-welled up inside him that he asks. he's hard and needy and needs something to get him off.

"i knew you were all talk," he sneers, putting as much of himself in it as he can "this is nothing,"

you look at him very seriously "you're really asking for it, huh," you say with a sigh "do you know what you're getting into?"

"nothing serious obviously,"

"usually when i deal with brats like you, i treat 'em real rough. im being nice to you cause you're so pent up, but it's like you don't want that," you grab his face again, getting close and personal this time and scaramouche feels like he'll collapse "want me to treat you mean and put you in your place? hit you and make you cry?"

oh it ruins his life. that's exactly what he wants. what he needs from you so much it aches. so much he chokes.

"wh-what the hell are-"

but you make him face forward, look you in your eyes.

"your first lesson is answer me when i talk to you. is that what you want? you can nod if you can't say it,"

so he nods and you laugh.

"yeah? should smack the brat outta you shouldn't i?

you're asking for permission. despite his everything, there's something affectionate about it. he feels his stomach twist with desire.

"just fucking do it already,"

"tell me if you need to stop,"

"i said—"

it's unceremonious, really. when scaramouche feels the palm of your hands on his cheek, landing heavy and hard as you push him back against the bed. you hit him.

he liked it. makes his cock throb in his fucking jeans, feeling the sting.

"your second lesson is don't fucking mouth at me," you practically spit. there's some roughness in your actions that make scaramouche keen as you crawl on top of him "can't even deal with your moods without lashing out."

scaramouche feels his stomach churn as your hands make rough work of him. you pin his wrists over his head, tell him to keep it there.

and of course he refuses, disobeys - gets to feel how strong you actually are when you spit the words back in his face again to hold fucking still.

scaramouche keeps doing it. keeps pushing until you have to put him back where he belongs forcibly. he doesn't know that he's doing it

but he wants something he can't name, a desire that aches so deep in his chest. he wants you to take responsibility for him - like a promise of some kind.

he likes the way your mouth feels on his skin. your teeth feel so good sinking into pale flesh. the scratch of your nails and sting of your palms as you spank and hit and push his body.

you manhandle him so fucking easily, putting him in every position you can think of. on his knees, or his back - naked and waiting.

you tease scaramouche till he's honest, your voice coarse until he starts giving in.

you're so good with your hands. your fingers, your mouth. you know just the right things to get him all squirmy - praising him when he's getting desperate towards the end.

his sense of shame nowhere to be found as he gets close to the edge. as you tip him over it, he can feel all the tension bleed out of him. goes from bitching, to whiny - needy and not above begging.

he doesn't even understand it. can't wrap his head around it all the way - lets you guide him through the feeling as he starts feeling pliant.

you let him fuck you with mercy. don't make him work for it, just sit on his cock and tell him that he looks so much better when he's all messed up for you and he just. melts completely. like feels like he's gonna fall through the floor.

he cries when he cums. sobs a little as he finally gets relief then melts into your bed like a pile of wet sand as you finish yourself off and overstimulate him a little in the process.

after all is said and done - he falls asleep basically immediately after the high.

when he wakes up the next day - you haven't left. he's like kind of nuzzled up in your arms (which. is wild bc he has always hated physical touch but? apparently not with you)

when you stir awake, you're immediately whistling. you even press a kiss to his forehead and brush his hair out of his face.

"you awake? feel okay?" you hum, so stupidly tender and scaramouche has to fight every urge to push you away.

"im...fine. you're still here," he says unhelpfully. you chuckle.

"yeah. figured you would start spiraling if i left in the middle of the night"

he is horrified at the accuracy.

"it's weird when you're being all...nice to me,"

"its a lot easier since i realize you just wanted to be put in your place," you say with a knowing him. scaramouche elbows you "it's cute, it's cute. don't kill me,"

"you're annoying,"

"yeah, i know. i wiped you down a bit but we should shower and i gotta make sure you're not too hurt anywhere,"

"i'm not a flower,"

"i was bein' pretty rough and its my job to take care of you,"

"why would that be your job?"

"cause im a responsible sexual partner and we're seeing each other, i figure?"

he flushes at the implication. he doesn't want to think about it as he cuddles himself into your side. ugh. whatever.

"who said that?"

"do you want me to see other people?"

"i'll kill you,"

"that's what i thought,"

scaramouche hates it but does not have the confidence to protest you.

scaramouche realizes with the weight of the world on his shoulders that he is the most submissive brat in the fucking world

he decides not to think about it for a while

[ddarker-dreams]

The way id eat my own thumbs to know what the bucci gang would do if sr reader mentioned off hand that she wanted a boyfriend. Just hanging out with them on a balcony and she just offhandedly sighs “I wish that could be me!” when she sees a girlfriend giggling with her boyfriend outside I just think itd be silly

Note: better get the salt and pepper out because i loved this idea so much i had to write it . it'd be criminal not to. godspeed to your thumbs.

[Scarlet Ribbons Index]

Giorno

“I hadn’t realized you were interested in romantic relations, [First].” 

Smooth and practical — Giorno Giovanna never wastes an opportunity. That's what he considers this to be, a rare opening into your psyche. He'll even take notice of what the boyfriend was doing the instant you decided to voice your thoughts. Gotta tuck that knowledge away for later. Most importantly, however, is your response to this inquiry. He won't follow up much at the time should you respond in the affirmative, but it'll make a solid foundation for his future plans. He's always a fan of asking open-ended questions to learn more about you. Observation can only prepare him for so much. Sometimes he has to roll up his sleeves and put himself out there more, if it means he could possibly win over your most sought-after heart.

Bruno

“... I’m sure there are many who’d be grateful to experience that with you.” 

Bruno tries to remain blasé so as not to betray his inner feelings. Emphasis on the word tries. Really, if you were any less oblivious, you could've picked up on the borderline yearning timbre in his voice. He finds it equally reassuring and troubling that you're actively hoping to be in a relationship, to the point of voicing the desire out loud. It feels like a chance that, if he doesn't act swiftly enough, will pass him by. Bruno loves the others on his team dearly, but he knows how feral they'd start getting should they have been the ones you told this. You stress him out so much without even realizing it. At the end of the day, how can he be upset by this, when the mere thought of having you be his and him yours gets him through the most strenuous circumstances? You are his guiding light.

Fugo

“You want that? Don’t you see how he’s slobbering over her? Gross. A little self-respect goes a long way.” 

No, he isn’t bitter, what are you talking about, psssh. Fugo always expresses his disgust over public displays of affection, finding it to be in poor taste. Some serious self-reflection would reveal he's beyond envious. It just... looks nice... so fun and carefree... then there's him. A guy who has been chasing after you for years by this point without ever having the courage to make a serious move, lest he risks ruining everything. He keeps trying to confess through telepathy, meanwhile, you think he must be annoyed since, from your perspective, it looks like he's glaring at you. Poor guy. The extremely subtle hints he drops and telepathy haven't gotten him far. Still, staring at your wistful expression when you confess this fills him with hope. This could be the push he needs to say what he's been wanting to say for so long.

Mista

“Well, have I got some good news for you.” 

Mista is his own worst enemy. He wants to come across as casual enough to not pressure you into anything and make the atmosphere awkward, but by doing so, you have a difficult time taking him seriously. This genuine statement from Mista ends up coming across as another one of his jokes. You just kinda give him a light punch on the shoulder and laugh. Meanwhile, he's crying on the inside from yet another instance of you not picking up on his flirtations. What does a man have to do? Get down on one knee and propose while reciting a monologue? Now that he thinks about it, you'd still likely view it as a jest if he were the one to do it... alas. Being the funny person in the friend group has its pros and cons. Regardless of his mixed success in the moment, he'd still find comfort knowing you're interested in a relationship too.

Narancia

“What? You want to be a pigeon? Wait, that’s not what you're pointing at. Ohhhhh.” 

A heart-pounding moment! Okay, okay, he needs to get himself to calm down. These hand-delivered moments by the universe are best approached with a steady mind, using logic and reason to deduce the next optimal step— who is he kidding! You want a boyfriend! He can be a boyfriend! So, by following this train of thought, you could potentially want him as a boyfriend. He'd later go on to reveal this revelation to Fugo who appears nowhere near as enthusiastic about the prospect as Narancia is. It doesn't matter. A fire has been lit beneath Narancia's feet and he's ready to get moving. He intends to boost his appeal and lure you in using the art of subtly. When he's talking to another and you enter the room, he'll switch the subject and then loudly discuss how single he is. Super single. Not in a romantic relationship whatsoever. Nope, nada. His eyes keep flicking to you to see if you've gotten the message. He tells himself in his heart that you did.

Abbacchio

“I’m sorry to hear that.” 

Abbacchio is ready to shame you for envying such an obnoxious, unnecessary display being flaunted in public. Unlike Fugo, Abbacchio holds a genuine resentment toward this sort of stuff and wishes people would get a room. He'd ask why you'd be interested in anything like that. From what he's seen over the years, it's relationships that people loudly flaunt that fizzle out the fastest. You're more amazed that Abbacchio of all people is entertaining an in-depth conversation about relationships to feel like he rained on your parade. He isn't nearly as selfish as he thinks himself to be. He tells you all this not just for his own benefit, but so that in the event you end up with someone else, you'll give these matters some serious thought. He won't ever admit that to himself, however. Deep down in his soul, he wishes for your happiness above all else. He writes this off by telling himself he just wanted to complain about something he's always had a pet peeve about.

[fallinfl0wers]

i've never actually done this so this is kind of new haha. i might be doing this wrong? >.< your writing is really cool so im a bit nervous to send this. :'D would it be possible if i requested heizou with a reader who is a hopeless romantic but is really dense to signs of affection and flirting and stuff like that so they don't know heizou really likes them? preferably a male reader if that's alright. thank you and take care! <3

fandom: genshin impact characters: heizou reader type: hopeless romantic, dense!male reader summary: heizou can piece together many mysteries, but your contradictory, adorable self, is not one of them. genre: fluff warnings: none i think. notes: thank you for your compliment <3 lemme tell you my friend, I FEEL THIS REQUEST IN MY HEART! oh boy, i feel you, i get it!!! its me i'm the hopeless romantic dense dumbass who can't tell when someone's flirting with them! <': here you go, hopeless romantic, yet denser than a rock fellow <3

Heizou wonders how can a person be so smart, yet so astonishingly dumb at the same time?

He wonders this, sighing again, while he sees you excitedly discussing with one of your friends the plot of a romance light novel you've been reading.

You smile and blush so cutely, saying how these two HAVE to end up together because the male lead has been so blatantly obvious with his flirting and the other love interest just doesn't treat the main girl right-

And Heizou just slaps his face with endearing desperation towards you.

Simply put, you're Heizou's crush. You've been his crush for a very long time.

It is quite unfortunate, but you don't have Heizou's intuition or deduction skills to figure out his feelings for you...

But, really, dude? He's very obvious with his intentions! How can you not see it?

The world may never have an answer to that question...

You're the most hopeless romantic man he's ever met.

And also the densest man he's ever met.

Because one moment he'll hear you say all these things about soulmates and what the ideal relationship is for you or how you define what love in a romantic relationship is and all things of the like-

-And the next he'll be asking you out on a date to have dinner together and you're just smiling at him like "Sure, Heizou! I'm always happy to have dinner with my best friend!"

Or saying something like "Ah, you're feeling lonely? That's cute~ But don't feel lonely, I'm here for you, my friend!"

Heizou will stop at nothing to drill it into your thick skull that he likes you! Not as a friend, not as a buddy, definitely not as a bro!

He likes you like a husband likes his spouse- likes you in the "i want to hold your hand and hug you and kiss you in a not platonic way"- likes you romantically!!

...But you don't get it, so poor Heizou lol

You're annoying (/pos) and endearing, so he won't pressure you and will keep trying his best to make his feelings clear!

If somehow all his hints and flirting keep fling above your head (yes)

Expect to one day be at the receiving end of a kabedon coming from a blushing Heizou spelling it very slowly for you: "I like you a lot and want you to be my lover. And I am serious."

fallinfl0wers. 2022.

[i-am-minty-fresh]

Topic Essay

Fandom: One Piece

Topic: Love and Romantic Attraction

One of the major things about One Piece that draws me, and I think a lot of people, into it is its weird lack of emphasis regarding romantic partners. This isn't to say that One Piece is without romance, Usopp and Kaya being a good example, but the way that the concept of relationships are handled in One Piece is really unique.

Let's go about this in, by far, the most annoying way possible which is to go character by character

(Obviously Spoilers Ahead!!!!)

Luffy: While I could talk about Luffy's character for the rest of my life, lets focus on the way that Oda handles him interacting with other people, specfically women. The first potential character Oda could have lazily set up with Luffy is Nami, who first meet in episode 5 with the introduction of the Buggy Pirates. Luffy helps her purely on accident after Nami throws him under the bus, and in exchange Nami finds some food for him and decides that they should work together for a bit. Later Nami saves him from the buggy ball, not because she likes him but because she hates pirates. Their relationship forms into a sort of allience as she follows him finding other members of his crew, all the while Luffy refers to her as their navigator. Nami referances her sexual apeal constantly whether to trick other pirates or to help her cut a deal, but Luffy pays it no mind. He never referances it and seems to not even really know what it means. He treats her like he does the rest of his crew and even with the introduction of the Arlong Arc, you never feel like he's doing it because he has some ulterior motive...he believes in freedom and loyality. Nami has already proved her loyality to him when they first met (as far as he knows) and by joining his crew she doesn't become his navigator, she becomes one of Luffy's precious treasures that he will protect with his life...no matter if she never navigates again.

The best example of this is with the Boa Hancock scene where he sees her naked and doesn't even react at all. He's not interested in her. He excepts her help and respects her, but to him...she is one of his friends and nothing else.

Zoro: This one is gonna be much easier. Kuina could have been a crush, a childish one, but a crush none-the-less. Instead, though, she became his older sister, or mentor. Her dream became his dream and he fights for that dream every day. He's aware of the attraction that Nami, Robin, and Boa have but it's never interesting to him. The most flustered he ever really seems to get is around Tashigi, which is because she looks exactly like Kuina, but is nothing like her. They are two sides of the same sword-weliding coin, but there aren't butterflies, but tension.

Sanji: Okay this one might be a bit hard to explain. He follows around Nami, Robin, and every other female character constantly expressing his undying love for them...but not really. If Sanji is a play on the chivalrous gentleman trope, then it stands to reason the Whole Cake Arc should end with him generally expressing his undying love for Pudding, outside of the pressures of his family…but that didn’t happen. It’s up for debate whether or not Sanji loves Pudding as she does erase his memory after kissing him, but he respects her as a pastry chef and still seeks to protect her. Sanji’s protection regarding women might come from his relationship with his Mom and Sister. They both protected him from violence and he returns the favor by protecting all women no matter what. He’s the character most aware of the attractive nature of his crew mates but never breaches personal space. He’s extra nice, without being extra creepy. (In my opinion Robin benefits the most from this, being someone who is always seen as this unstoppable demon from hell…but Sanji feeling the need to protect her, must feel nice. Being treated like something fragile and precious, but still powerful has got to be a fun change of pace, but I’ll look into this more later).

Usopp: I know I’m going out of order but whatever. Usopp’s is pretty easy too. He has a crush on Kaya but, like his dad, is a pirate at heart. Oda doesn’t mention this half as much as I think he should, but Usopp acknowledges attraction, but he just ignores it. He calls Boa a goddess for her beauty, but does nothing about it. Afterall he has a girl. Kaya. He acknowledges Nami’s seductive ploys, but in no other way than Luffy’s ridiculous plans.

Chopper: Literally a reindeer. Literally a sweet little boy. 

Robin: Similar to Usopp, she seems to acknowledge the attraction of others (and in very innocent ways, her crewmates), but sees it as nothing more than an observation. While Sanji dotes on her, she does nothing more than smile and thank him. She enjoys complementing her crewmates, but no more than a mother would (more on that in a later post).

Franky: Is considered a pervert for wearing a speedo, but other than that doesn’t do much else. Like Robin he will compliment his crewmates for looking SUPERRRR while also, like Usopp, commenting on how Nami uses her sexuality to get what she wants. Even the way that Kiwi and Mozu are handled, not as his sidechicks, but rather his second-in-commands.

Brook: Besides being a literal collection of bones wrapped in some, at times, truly ridiculous outfits, he’s also insane and also socially inept. He just gotta stop asking all the women he sees to show him their panties and then they’ll be good. 

Jimbei: … Wise Grandpa fish…

Conclusion: No one, besides Usopp, has a girlfriend to get back to. No one has a wife long lost. A lover who died too soon. No one is seeking revenge. Oda instead uses other storytelling methods to develop these complicated characters, like Loyalty and Trust and Respect. To create conflict Oda doesn’t so easily fall back into romance and attraction, specifically for the Strawhats and instead…I don’t know…Kills the characters family/friends, Blows up their entire island, Murders their previous crew, or Locks them in the basement with a steel mask over their face as a child…just to spitball some ideas. One Piece isn’t an anime about being in love, it’s about the unconditional way that Luffy expresses love and the crew that follows his lead.

[lesbianmarrow]

I hate hate hate the she ra fandom so much for how they treated/reacted to glimmer… like it was truly awful. I saw a lot of similarities between her and the treatment of Finn by fans, honestly

Like adora, like Rey, is white. Catra is kind of nebulous because she is visibly brown, but she’s also an anthropomorphic animal voiced by a white woman with no confirmed or implied racial identity… (like in contrast to a character like clawdeen wolf from monster high… a wolf girl who’s clearly meant to be read as black). Catra was read by many to be a woman of color, but read by as many (if not more) as white or simply “raceless” (by white people who see whiteness as default). Regardless, I don’t think it was women of color who saw themselves in Catra who were the problem. Catra was also a much better character than kylo, particularly as a sympathetic and reformed villain, but still.

Finn/Glimmer we’re both the secondary protagonists of their story, were both poc, were both besties to their main protagonist, who happened to be white, and were both in stories that seemed to have racism problems (the whole… she ra from before adora wasn’t white but pretty much became so as she ra was sooo fucked up). And both of them were so unjustly hated by white fans who would often try to minimize harm done to them by the antagonist(s) if they didn’t go out of their way to try to frame them as the antagonist in what they really saw as meta-analysis of the text. The justification ALWAYS boiled down to how they annoyed said white fans. Glimmer was written as a well rounded character who went through changes and had flaws and nuances which was awful to people watching the show who couldn’t accept that in characters of color. Finn was a black man (and also perhaps the best written character of the sequel trilogy) who had the audacity to be close to a white woman emotionally. Both of these were Crimes white fans felt the need to punish them for (or expand into full blown villainy) it was genuinely sickening to watch. It’s worse too since I feel like the storytellers gave into the pressure to sideline them. Like for Finn he clearly had a diminished role already in tlj so who knows if things could have been different but I kind of feel like glimmers story just. Didn’t get resolution there were plot threads for her that didn’t get tied

Not that the other comparisons you made weren’t valid and this does seem to be a particular issue for Asian girls/women/characters but my two sense bc your post threw me back to a darker time

yeahhhh like i love she-ra but i barely interacted with the fandom at all bc it had a lot of issues with racism especially with how it treated glimmer, like ppl were racist about catra as well but like the general fandom attitude that glimmer was annoying and detracted from the story was just so awful. i thought the show itself did a really great job of making glimmer a 3 dimensional character and giving her an excellent character arc over the course of the show. i don't really remember any unresolved plot threads with her? though maybe there were and i just forgot. but like overall i was very satisfied with her portrayal in the show, but the FANDOM was just.....eugh.

and the racism with finn.....oh it just makes me so boiling mad. tfa was not perfect in its portrayal of him but there was so much POTENTIAL and john boyega really made him such an excellent compelling character, truly the heart of the film, and the racist side of the fandom just could not stand it. like the thing about reylo and its popularity post-tfa is that it really was born out of a refusal to consider finn as a love interest for rey, even though their relationship is one of the most important and positive relationships in the whole film. the fandom would rather bend over backwards to find a way to make the creepy antagonistic tension between kylo and rey romantic than accept that rey and finn could be in love. and the way tlj validated those racist fans by sidelining finn and pushing the rey/kylo relationship was just awful. and that's not even getting into what tlj and fandom did with rose tico.

and then ppl will like minimize these issues by being like "well it's just fandom/shipping drama" which completely erases that it's an issue of RACISM. and aaaaaaaaaaahhh sorry for ranting there it just makes me so MAD.

[alittlebirb]

How to Be Romantic

Be thoughtful. ...

Express yourself. ...

Give gifts. ...

Know your partner's love language. ...

Listen attentively. ...

Make time for your partner. ...

Show physical affection. ...

BIRB HELP I GOOGLED WHAT ROMANCE IS AND IM EVEN MORE CONFUSED. tryna figure out if im aromantic or not AND THIS CLEARLY DOES NOT HELP. So can you explain what aromantic really means cause i know its not having romantic attraction, but like. what is romance?? google isnt very helpful right now

-A very confused mystery anon that is desperate for explanation and also confused as hecc

SGHDEGHCFH MYSTERY MY BELOVED YOU ARE SO DEAR

Ikr romance is sooooo confusing!! The way people talk about it, the fantasy and the soulmate and the butterflies etc etc etc have never made sense to me. I feel like it really obscures the true nature of this feeling and muddles the understanding of our emotions.

I don't know how much help I'll be, but I'll do my best! I think a lot of my early aromanticism really was this sense of questioning: what even is romance? What makes it different from friendship? I've always felt a bit of disconnect from the concept, and whenever I did associate it with me, I would literally push it to future as something that I would confront when I was "mature" enough. Turns out, most people don't experience romance as the ultimate marker of maturity! They get crushes as kids, they feel puppy love, they entangle themselves into all kinds of drama because of a wayward heart (allegedly)! For lots of people, the emotion of romance isn't an option they can choose or unchoose, it just happens to them. If that's not something you relate to, you might be aromantic.

It's all very very confusing though, and you don't need to have a straight (hah) answer...ever! Tbh, sometimes I still struggle with the idea of romance, although nowadays I realize a lot of it stems from my fear of isolation and the shapeless desire to be treated as an important fixture of someone's life. And that's not inherently romantic. Relationships are so beautiful and complex, and every one you form will be entirely unique. So if you can't pin yourself down, don't fret! Just do what feels best and most fulfilling to you, communicate and connect with people as you wish, and explore the many ways joy can be shared! You've got so much life and potential, and in the grand beauty of your existence, this confusion may eventually become a drop in the pond.

Here are some thoughts you could consider that might clarify some of your emotions though:

Have you ever had a crush? This might seem like a simple question, but oftentimes aros/aspecs confuse the desire for close relationships/the amatanormative pressure to HAVE crushes with crushes themselves.

Imagine being in a romantic relationship with someone. How would you feel if other people looked at you two and interpreted you as dating? How would you feel if your partner themselves saw your relationship as a romantic couple?

Do you like or relate to romances in media, particularly with well-written romances? Even when a romance has lots of enjoyable chemistry and the partnership makes sense, I still feel a sense of disconnect from the story when romance occurs. The experiences these plotlines represent are not ones I relate to.

Lastly, and this one might be very very me-specific, but how do you feel about dating sims? Personally, I really enjoy dating sims, but I get very annoyed when the protagonists start getting romantic, even though it's literally what I signed up for! It's the aromantic in me shining through lol. I just want everyone to be friends.

I hope I was able to assist, even in some small way in your journey beloved Mystery! Know that I'm always willing to talk, even if my capacity to help may be limited (⌒_⌒;). Have a lovely night, and rest well!!! (≧◡≦) ♡

[relaxxattack]

hi im asking u this bc u seem to be bee duo enthusiast so

ive been calling c! beeduos relationship platonic because i thought that was what their cc’s said, and i thought they had said that they were uncomfortable with ppl shipping the characters. But ive seen a lot of posts that say their relationship is canonically romantic? and i absolutely do not want to come across as homophobic by watering down a mlm relationship to just friends because that happens so much in media so.

what is the canon state of their relationship / ur opinions on the platonic thibg

dont worry abt answering if u dont want to!! i see a lot of differing opinions and i trust yours :)

aw it’s totally fine, im flattered you asked me about this!

let me put it simply: it’s a whole mess, lol.

first im going to talk about what’s happened fandom-wide that caused differing opinions, and then i’ll explain my own opinion/interpretation. :]

(this got really fucking long im so sorry)

ranboo and tubbo initially proclaimed the relationship was romantic, specifically in argument with the wiki editors who had set it as platonic by default. (you can see this in the vod where they decide they’re canonically married— it’s very funny. chat tells them the marriage is already on the wiki, they check, tubbo is jokingly offended that it says platonic and asks if he needs to up the romance).

tubbo also makes jokes about adultry, which sort of implies the relationship is not necessarily a platonic one.

(theres definetly more in that stream alone but it’s been a long time since i watched it so i don’t remember a lot of it.)

the wiki, because of this, suffers from going back and forth on platonic and romantic, seemingly unsure where the joke ends and the canon begins, or if its canonically a joke! a mess, as you can already tell.

this gets more complicated as the marriage bit goes on: outsiders, such as phil and scott, both at one point say “platonic marriage”, which then ranboo and tubbo agree with. however, when chat asks them if they’re platonic, they say the opposite. so there is a lot of confusion there.

there’s also the difficulty of being able to tell streamers and characters apart. ranboo and tubbo both don’t like being shipped irl, and that’s their boundaries that shouldn’t be crossed. (they’re also minors, but tbh when they’re 18 in a year i will still be following their boundaries regardless of their legal age).

due to people not wanting to be accused of minor shipping, they started adding the platonic tone indicator to most of their drawings— basically a way of saying “no homo”. meanwhile, tubbo frequently on stream flirts with ranboo and makes quite a bit of nsfw comments towards him that are frankly hilarious.

this goes on for a while with nobody really sure what’s canon, but a lot of people assuming it’s probably platonic, until: the drama of the mods night. a few mods dmed all the wiki editors telling them ranboo wanted his canon character relationship officially set to platonic.

unfortunately for those mods; the very same day, a few hours later, ranboo on stream makes fun of puffy delivering him and tubbo “friendship flowers”. because, and i quote, “bruh. we’re literally married. this must be how the ancient greeks felt.”

in case you don’t know, the internet often jokes about how historians will call ancient greeks ‘very good friends’ when they are quite obviously gay. so in this context, ranboo is joking that people will call him and c!tubbo, who are married, “close friends”, when he doesn’t think they are.

basically, ranboo canonized romantic bee duo, the very same day the mods told everyone he’d wanted a platonic one.

chaos and drama immediately erupted everywhere. on tumblr, we were talking about how weird it was of his mods to do something like that without asking him first. we ALSO talked about how weird it was of them to assume that ranboo can’t make his own decisions, or assume teenagers cannot be in relationships without it being sexual. twitter did the same thing but in the opposite direction: called ranboo mods homophobic, or said they were mad ranboo felt pressured into making a romantic relationship canon ‘just so people could have mlm rep.’

i dont want to go into detail about the drama that happened that night because apparently official people follow me and i dont want to stir it up or have them come “clarify” things. im just saying what we talked about.

ranboo in typical ranboo fashion apologized quickly and seriously. he was deeply sorry for possibly offending anyone with how he’d portrayed his rp relationship with tubbo, and he also assured everyone the mod thing was just a miscommunication.

he said he would talk to tubbo and they’d decide once and for all whether it was platonic or romantic, and then announce so everyone would know.

it’s now been a few months and we've had no word from them on that development. we still have no clue.

-

now, here’s my opinion:

i want to take ranboos word for it that it was a miscommunication with his mods, but... we had it on good authority from people on the wiki team and people in the discord with the mods that (while it was happening) they were really going after the wiki admins, and also made some weird comments about it. that combined with the way ranboo seemingly had no clue (considering he canonized their romance that very same day).... it’s very. sus of the mods.

then there’s the canon we’ve got since then. although occasionally adults in the room have called it a “platonic marriage” and tubbo once (back when it first started) called it a “plankton tectonic” marriage, in roleplay it’s been... kind of not that. tubbo and ranboo make nsfw jokes about each other in character, and their characters also share a master bedroom and bed in the mansion. there's also the way c!tommy really thinks it’s a romance between them as well, and they agree with and play off that— for instance confirming that they “fell in love” when he asked, or ranboo confirming that they “make out on occasion”.

people will still put platonic on their art and posts, imo, because they’re worried about breaking ranboo and tubbo’s irl boundaries by looking like they ship them. or even just being accused of shipping real life minors. and that’s a valid fear to have.

the thing is though: c!bee duo are not cc!bee duo. they’re roleplay characters. cc!bee duo are not okay with being shipped, but they made their characters get canonically married, and call each other “husbands”. so it’s okay to write the word “husband” in your comic without adding “platonic” to it, i promise.

telling the ccs that their characters have to be platonic is... weird. it comes off as not only babying them, but also as saying teens can’t date without it being gross. which isn’t true.

(this is why seeing people overuse “platonic husband” so much bothers me. like, they ARE husbands. you can just say it. what are you trying to hide...?)

-

do i think they’re canonically romantic? ehh, its likely. it’s still okay to interpret them as platonic, because again, it’s hard to tell where jokes end and roleplay begins. like, maybe it’s jokes in the rp too, and c!bee duo are just friends. friends can and should be allowed to make jokes like that with each other! aro & ace marriages exist!

or, maybe it’s actually part of the rp, and they’re very much romantic. we don’t know!

some people say they could be a qpr (queerplatonic romance), which i could see. (a qpr is a relationship that fluctuates between, or can’t quite be sorted into, “romantic” and “platonic”. people in a qpr can do romantic things while having platonic feelings for each other). in my opinion this is a very valid interpretation as well!

-

CONCLUSION (sorry this got so long omfg):

are c!bee duo romantic?

its likely, but you can still interpret them however you like!

should i put /p on bee duo content?

ehhh? i find it annoying when it’s overused (as do others), but if you’re worried you can. its up to preference. putting it too much is weird though

should i put /p on things cc! bee duo do?

no. you’re not the one saying it so you can’t decide the tone tags for that. imagine you said something to your friend and a random stranger came up and was like “haha but that was /p right...?”

can i ship c!bee duo?

mmm. i’m not sure on this one. they are canonically married and very flirtatious, but the ccs don’t like being shipped and they’re close enough to being the ccs that actively shipping might be against boundaries.

can i treat c!bee duo as romantic?

yes. literally just don’t be weird about it. it’s not that hard! you can understand that two characters are husbands without making it weird

here’s the most important thing: boundaries. cc bee duo still haven’t told us what their preferences and canon is about this whole thing.

right now, i am assuming based on what they already show us they’re comfortable with, but! the second they give us any more info! all these opinions will change!

i am only going off what they do. i would never want to cross boundaries at all. i just wish they would make theirs a little more clear.

..... i hope that helped anon, i went way off the rails... i need to go to sleep.

[brekker-by-brekkerr]

S&B vs.Tangled

So I know the Grisha Trilogy has been jokingly compared to Tangled in the past because the villains obsess over the protagonists for their sunshine powers, but recently I've seen a take floating around that's made me so...annoyed.

Apparently, Tangled is like what TGT could have been. Instead, we got the "equivalent of Rapunzel losing her hair and living in the tower with Mother Gothel for the rest of her life."

Because Tangled is my favourite movie and whatever problems TGT has its ending is not that level of bad, I felt the need to talk about how Malina, and the plot of TGT, actually parallels Tangled.

Starting out with the obvious, both Mother Gothel and the D*rkling are immortal, manipulative, lying gaslighters. They both make the protagonist believe they're using their abilities for something good when it's something the protagonist actually wouldn't agree to if they were given all the information. Both shield the protagonists away and go to extreme lengths to recapture them, harming the people they care about/using them as pawns in the process.

The D*rkling doesn't show Alina adventure, he keeps her protected in a cushy place where she's pressured to focus on her powers, which is exactly what happens to Rapunzel. Both of them please the villains and their relationships "improve" in accordance with them displaying their powers. Mal, on the other hand, is similar to Flynn in that he helps her get away from that situation. I mean, Rapunzel and Alina are both running away from Mother Gothel and the D*rkling.

The D*rkling as Flynn Ryder just doesn't work for so many reasons. The most glaring one to me, though, is the way both of these characters view the protagonists' powers. Flynn wasn't aware of Rapunzel's powers in the beginning and it's not why he's attracted to her in the first place. When he finds out they exist he's like wow, okay, cool, that's a lot for me to process but still cool, similar to Mal (though Mal's reaction is a little different because he's known Alina longer. the "that's cool" part takes a little bit longer to come around for that reason) And like with Mal, the beat in the story where Rapunzel and Flynn start to really have sparks flying comes after he is aware of her powers. But his attraction to her so obviously doesn't come because of her powers. (Also it's worth noting that both relationships have a touching romantic scene by a campfire)

Versus the D*rkling and Mother Gothel, both of which are in it for the protagonists' powers and are devastated when the protagonist loses their powers because that's why they were there in the first place, that's where they think the protagonist's worth stems from.

Alina sacrificing herself at the end of Siege and Storm by agreeing to go with the D*rkling in exchange for saving her friends' lives while Mal protests is also pretty much the ending of Tangled.

But the parallel goes even further than that. Both Mal and Flynn die as Alina and Rapunzel lose their powers. And here's the real kicker. Both protagonists end up without their powers but find themselves with the person they love most. An ending which people crucify Ruin and Rising for but no one seems to have a problem with regarding Tangled.

The argument that Rapunzel ending up as royalty is like the ending Alina should have had doesn't even work, because Rapunzel chose her family in the end, just like Alina, except Alina's is a found family. They both choose roles that involve taking care of people, live with the person they love most, and find happiness even without their powers. Plus, one could say Rapunzel's destiny was to be royalty, but that was never Alina's. Alina was supposed to be a saint, meaning she would have to be martyred, which is technically what happened.

At the end of the day, none of that really matters. Because it all boils down to this: if Tangled ended the way D*rklinas wanted the Grisha Trilogy to end, it'd be the equivalent of Rapunzel keeping her powers and being trapped in a tower with Gothel. Trapped for all eternity with her powers used by someone else for their gain while the people she loves fade away and die without her.

[bladerbunny]

Johnny McGregor Headcanons

Casual Headcanons

> Total Insomniac, partially why he's so grumpy all of the time. He can never fall asleep at a normal time, so he has taken to walking on his families land late at night. He found a love for star gazing and is an amateur astronomer. > Best friend is his dog. most people in his position would prefer some purebred champion, but he prefers a stray he found one day while out walking. >Love languages: Acts of Service and Words of affirmation > Terrible relationship with father and a total momma's boy. > Johnny loves to travel and one of his favorite places to get away for a few days is Greece. He loves the food, the history, and the atmosphere. being so different than Scotland. > He could give up Beyblading if he didn't have so much pressure from family and upholding a tradition. He is competitive, but there are other ways to show his strength and skill. >Enjoys dancing with a pretty girl every now and then. >Is the one who feels the most pressure and has always thought about what would happen if he just stood up one day and walked away from his current life to start over in something new. >Has gotten the Majestics lost once or twice while trying to show off his "sailing skills." Spoiler alert: he has none but he tries!

Dating Headcanon

> He is such a hopeless romantic when it comes to falling in love with you, but its also extremely hard for him to express those emotions. instead he just gets so frustrated and embarrassed and it takes quite a bit of communication for him to get that out in the right words > Like Robert, Johnny would be the one to slip in a "Forbidden" romance in their eyes. He would want to be with someone who can help him take his mind off all of his responsibilities and who would admire him for his own personality. Voted by me most likely to marry a Midwesterner from America. > Going out of his way to do something for you is a way Johnny tries showing his love, especially if its something he normally wouldn't do. > Tries to keep the relationship as separate as possible from friends and family. Many long weekends away from the public eye once the relationship comes out. > Uses a lot of pet names, for the simple fact he knows it annoy you

[jolynej]

been musing over some of the mafiosos having a corruption kink and it’s making me feel very fizzy inside like a newly opened can of cherry cola.... ahhh..

Cw: heavily implied nsfw and corruption kink

Characters: Bruno Bucciarati, Prosciutto, Vinegar Doppio

♡ This man thrives in an environment where he is the leader or caretaker — it’s familiar, natural, and it makes him feel good inside when he is able to bring a sense of comfort and protectiveness to others, and with his s/o he is no different, but when he first met you and caught a glimpse of that bright-eyed, sunny optimism that you radiated, he felt even more inclined to take on that role with you

♡ Bruno became attracted to your innocence and rosy-colored outlook, and when you confessed that you hadn’t even so much as kissed anyone or even felt this way about another living soul before, the black-haired man felt a low bubbling warmth pool in his belly, and he became torn between wanting to take things as slowly as possible with you and the sudden desire to corrupt you

♡ In the end, the former, more rational and caring side of him won over, and he assured you with a gentle squeeze to your hand and a dashing smile that he wouldn’t do anything that you weren’t comfortable with, and he truly is a wonderful, caring partner, never daring to pressure or make you do anything that you didn’t want to

♡ It’s on a hot, summer evening several months into your relationship — the kind where the skies are painted pink and orange and the hushed chatter of insects and night birds make you feel invincible and not alone — when you’re getting hot and heavy on your sofa that you say, all doe-eyes and tone shy, “I want to be good for you, Bruno.” and he blames it on the heat, but that overwhelming warmth has returned

♡ Mmm, he knew from the moment that he saw you that you would look so sweet, all pretty and debauched underneath him with your lips kiss-swollen and drool dribbling down your chin and onto your lovely neck. He had imagined coming home to you and the savory aroma of a roast cooking in the oven and you in a red gingham apron, just waiting for your amore to return from yet another stressful workday of scolding Pesci and bickering with the others

♡ But he knew that it wouldn’t be like that with you. Even if you may not always see eye-to-eye with him, you did respect him enough to listen to his opinions and engage in civil disputes, not that there ever were any; simply put, you were a breath of fresh air amongst a sea of strong and annoying personalities. And as an assassin yourself you were far from anyone’s definition of pure or naive, but that didn’t make his fantasies any less vibrant

♡ When he did find you in his arms eventually, the real thing was even better than he could have ever imagined because you were so unbelievably reactive and cute, ardently leaning into his touch and making the most delectable sounds marking him completely and utterly enraptured by you and the possibilities of what he could do to you

♡ Sweet Doppio craves genuine intimacy and validation, so when you appeared in his life, a vision of hope and beauty, he was enamored. He lives to serve those he deems respectable, and with the quiet air of authority that you possess, who is he to say deny you that love he so desperately wishes for himself? It isn’t born purely out of selfish reasons, no! Your relationship was gradual and deliberate all at once, and he could only open his heart to someone with whom he could trust

♡ It’s an accident, how he discovers just how much he wants you intimately. He’d brought you a bouquet of flowers and kissed your cheek, taken you to see a romantic movie and sat with you in the back row of the theater, and when he glanced over at you during a particularly steamy scene between the leading lady and her love interest, he could barely focus on the film for the rest of its duration

♡ With your lips slightly parted and skin illuminated an ethereal color from the glow of the projector, you stared up at the scene with wide eyes and your hand in a loose fist at your chest, intently watching the lover’s tryst with a look of curiosity. It was at that moment that something in his brain clicked, and he yearned to watch and hear and feel you come undone just for him

[musclesandhammering]

I'm not fond of the pairing but from what I've seen General public actually loves Sylki very much. Even the trade reviews called the relationship "genius" which,,,ok. Someone did a poll on various platforms, yt, reddit, fb, twitter etc comparing which ship is better (Lokius or Sylki) and it was Sylki who won by large margin in the end. I suppose mostly they just don't care because it's sci fi and a pairing in a totally unrealistic show, and after Wandavision I guess weird ships are 'in' but yeah it makes you think. But the writers already said they won't give in to the fan pressure bc they have their own story to tell (which ok, valid, you do you) but idk. I guess we will get even more Sylki in second season. Tom already said Loki won't stop searching for her

Sometimes I think casual fans are the most irritating thing about being in a fandom :/

Just as a disclaimer (bc I don’t want people coming for me): I think lokius is really cute, and I love fics/art/headcanons about them, but I never thought they were canonically romantically interested in each other. I never thought lokius was gonna be canon, and I never wanted it to (because I didn’t want ANY romance in the series), so I don’t even include it in my argument against s*lki.

Ok so….. listen. This is gonna be a long ass post, so I’m putting it under a cut. Sorry, anon, but you’re the one that opened the Worm Can.

The viewing public, in general, tends to heavily skew towards heterosexual-presenting ships. Partially because a portion of the general audiences are homophobic, and partially because a lot of non-tumblr fans are so sick of hearing tumblr stans go on and on and on about how they were queerbaited by certain gay ships not becoming canon, when in reality, said ships are trash.

Listen. I sympathise with that. I get that. I know I’m beating a hornet’s nest with this, but…. D*stiel? J*hnlock? St*cky? None of those were written in any way to invoke queer undertones, they were always supposed to be platonic, and tbfh even as platonic relationships the first two are literally toxic and abusive as hell, anyway.

So I definitely understand how a casual straight fan on Twitter or Instagram would see some of those same crazy “we were queerbaited” tumblr stans ranting about lokius not becoming canon and how much s*lki sucks and……. it makes sense that they’d be like “These people are just pissed that their gay ship isn’t canon, that’s why they hate s*lki.”

But here’s the thing. I don’t think those people realise how callous it is to say something like that when the only reason queer kids are so quick to ship any two male characters who express a modicum of affection for one another, is that they’re so fucking starved for representation in the first place, they’re willing to see queer romance in any same-sex interaction. They’re just that desperate. That’s where the whole crazy gay stan thing comes from. And yeah, it’s annoying that these people put their whole chest into defending gay ships that are total trash, but you have to realise why they do it.

So, what I’m saying is, for s*lki shippers- who are already winning, because their straight ship had the privilege of easily becoming canon despite all its flaws- to look at queer people who are frustrated to the point of tears that they were once again conned out of any form of queer rep (for the mcu’s first canon queer character, for gods sake) after actually genuinely being queerbaited this time (with his bisexuality/genderfluidity)….. and to essentially gloat that their straight ship became canon and taunt queer people by saying “oh you’re just desperate for two men to kiss”………… idk, man. It just seems real cold to me. Reeks of straight privilege and heteronormativity.

Ok, so with that being said.. let me respond to your actual ask lol.

I’m not surprised at all that s*lki won the popularity polls. I think a large reason for that is the fact that it was pitted against lokius, which sorta rubs a lot of casual viewers the wrong way for reasons listed above. I’m also not surprised that casual viewers liked it outside of its opposition to lokius- because, um, casual viewers aren’t very smart.

They tend to analyse exactly nothing, they don’t look any deeper than the surface, and if the writers of a show stick a hot man and woman together under a blanket, they eat it up. Because the narrative tells them it’s sweet. Just like the narrative tells them Loki is a greasy asshole who had no character development up until this point, and they eat that up too. Just like the narrative tells them that sylvie’s the best thing since sliced bread, and they eat that up too. Just like the narrative tells them it’s completely in character for Loki to try to subjugate a group of 3 random Mongolians in the middle of the dessert for absolutely no reason other than his “narcissism”, and they eat that up too. Just like the narrative tells them that one throwaway line about liking “a bit of both” is somehow this groundbreaking example of lgbt representation, and they eat that up too……… See the pattern here?

And as far as being concerned about the pseudo-incest angle, I don’t even think casual fans even dug that deep. They literally just saw two main characters- a pretty white woman and a hot white man- doing cool fight scenes together and giving each other goo goo eyes, and they were automatically sold.

And the writers saying “we won’t give in to fan pressure, we have our own story to tell” is honestly complete bullshit. What the hell is the POINT of working for a corporate film company and telling a story on screen if not to please the fans??? They do what they do to get people to watch their shows to get lots of money. That’s literally what they’re there for. Mike Waldron must have a pretty damn inflated sense of self importance if he thinks his own “artistic vision” or what the hell ever is the priority here lmao.

And I wanna be mad about Season 2, I really do. But at this point Season 1 ruined the character so much for me that I legitimately don’t even care what direction they take him in.

[butchfeygela]

"if you want to have sex than you have sexual attraction!" I found your post claiming that asexual people are all pro-rape (based off one tumblr post from one person) and I couldn't help looking thru your blog. I'm here to tell you that you are 100% wrong. Wanting to fuck someone's body because you see the sexual appeal/you're aroused by their body is sexual attraction. I've literally never seen the sexual appeal of anyone's body and the idea of letting anyone fuck me/touch me is repulsive. The idea of me fucking is so unnatural I think I would rather kill myself, but there are asexual people out there who feel otherwise and are sex-neutral or even sex-positive. I've known I was asexual since I was 14 and I'm 18 now. I see bodies the same way I see tables and chairs, they just exist. No amount of pretending or wanting to be straight or gay or bi is going to make me that way. Even if I fuck someone, I'll still be asexual. There's nothing wrong with my libido either, I get aroused by sexy stuff in books and movies as a simple observer. I masturbate every now and then because it's natural. An asexual person wanting to please their romantic partner isn't rape when they fully consent of their own free will without pressure or coercion. Asexuals can enjoy physical sexual pleasure, their parts don't magically stop working. And according to your logic, every sex worker (idc if it's transactional, it's the same concept, fuck you) is attracted to their clients, every comphet lesbian who's fucked a man must be bi, and asexuals who fuck with the goal of starting a family are lying. Have you ever ate without actually being hungry? Have you every drank coke without actually being thirsty? You're such a dumb cunt it's unbelievable. Don't speak on shit you don't understand. Don't go around invalidating people's identities with no valid reason and then make yourself out to be this socially conscious, progressive, compassionate person. I'm not white or a Christian either. Like instead of making your brain dead, irrational hatred of asexuals a Woke thing you can just admit you don't understand us and think we're annoying. That's literally it. And basing your perception of an entire group/community that exist in the actual world off of a few people online is brain dead.

Hi im not saying asexuality isnt real??? ik people who are asexual. I think the fact that the online ace community is so preoccupied with convincing people who have no sexual attraction that they should have sex with their partners to make them happy. that is absolutely rape culture and not really different the pressure on married women to have sex whenever their partner wants it.

i also agree past sexual history does not dictate current identity. Ive hooked up w guys in the past and your right tht doesnt make me less of a lesbian. A person who has had sex in the past can absolutely realize theyre asexual in the future.

The sex worker point was addressed in the post i reblogged i believe. Sex work is a transaction, it is labor. In a health interpersonal relationship, sex should not be a transaction and if your partner is pressuring you into thinking it has to be than thats a bad partner.

your procreative point is your most valid one for sure, but it doesnt change that the ace community spends way tooo much time talking about how its ok to want to have sex or to have sex only for your partners enjoyment instead of actually focusing on combatting the pressures ace people feel to have sex for other people

also like if someone activelt wants to have sex, theyre not asexual. sorry but thts not what ace means. they probably just have a different relationship to sex than the incredibly falsified 'norm' of media

I identified as a bi ace from about 14-17, so im v familiar with the community online and it turned out tht i was actually a traumatized lesbian child who was being given immense information from asexual adults about how i was asexual which led me to not investigate the actual reasons i wasnt sexually attracted to men and was scared of being sexually attracted to women

[life-rewritten]

OMG!! I just found your blog through a WBL fan sharing your post about WBL on Instagram, and I am SOOOOO happy to see that you noticed and appreciate the tutor and fighter couple from Why R U series too. If possible, please write an analysis about this couple, about any specific aspect you deem as most important or just generally, whatever you are okay with. I love reading your analysis and the insights it gives me, and I just finished binge reading all of your writings on my favorite bl (1)

Hi wow mindblown by this comment Thank you so much for letting me know that my stuff is being shared I really appreciate that and I am so grateful that you took time of your day to come speak to me. I adore Fighter and Tutor, like they’re my favourite couple ever. What happened when why r u was airing was I wasn’t yet analysing BLs at that time otherwise I would have been writing essays and essays about them. Because it’s been so long since I went back to watch them I’m going to let you see some of my drafts on how I would have broken their relationship into pieces and analysed. Because they are incredible and I really always feel sad when people see them as just like a se*ual couple when there’s more to them than that.  So I will let you see the first drafts and my ideas on them through this  ask and I hope that's okay for now. Maybe after my other shows I will like go back and rewatch them and start analysing more about them. If I do I’d probably do a youtube video about them because they’re so good. 

Here’s some of the analysis for them that I wrote: 

The theme for these two is  the struggle with internalised homophobia and self-acceptance. They both had this obstacle in themselves as they fell for each other and tried hard to avoid and run away from what they felt.  It’s been a long journey for them being into each other since the first time they met but not really realising what they felt.  Fighter did but he went into extreme panic mode and tried to run away immediately he felt that. So he tried to stay by Tutor’s side through the teasing and bullying because Tutor made him feel great and happy always but then with pressure from his father and the path he was meant to take to keep on being seen as successful, he thought his feelings for Tutor were useless and wrong. Plus he didn’t know if it was reciprocated so that caused even more fear for him which is why he just stayed with teasing and finally kater in thinking Tutor likes Hwa he chose to pull her away from him by taking her attention but also he chose to keep what they have as enemies/haters that way and avoid being near Tutor. This is why they end up hating each other a lot by the beginning of Why R U which is like 3 years later or something after he chose to stay with Hwa. 

Tutor didn’t understand fully why he got angry, jealous and annoyed, he had an inclination from the first year that Fighter liked men and he was actually hopeful about it because deep down he had feelings of wanting to also flirt with Fighter, wanting to stay with Fighter even when annoyed him and bullied him. He liked Fighter’s softness at times and he liked the way he felt even though he didn’t understand why he was so rifled and affected by Fighter’s presence when no one else has been able to do that to him before. But he became upset when Fighter chose to date Hwahwa because it was his automatic issue with IH that of course Fighter doesn’t like him but he likes girls, so he got jealous and sad and proceeded to also dislike Fighter because he had this effect on him whilst still trying to date his best friend who had feelings for Fighter.

They both have had unknowingly pent up feelings for each other, so once Fighter breaks the barrier by their first kiss, they both go into extreme panic and they both could no longer pretend any more with what they have. Which is why the first episodes they both keep struggling to keep their attraction with each other quiet because its been 3 years since they wanted each other that way. Fighter has so much pent up attraction and needs to give into his feelings that each time they have a chance to break that barrier it’s intense and crazy. Both have been longing, pining secretly for each other since the beginning of the show. What happens next is for Fighter he has to choose to finally accept that he cares a lot, a lot , a lot about Tutor, he finally starts to learn more about this person he loves and he starts to want to protect and keep Tutor happy and by his side. When it comes to finally choosing to let go of Hwa and choose to fight for Tutor and start knowing if he feels the same way. It’s a leap of faith he takes when he breaks up with Hwa. He realises he’s the one stopping his wishes from happening with Tutor because he keeps being in denial about what they are because he’s scared it’s only him that’s gay and has feelings for the other.

It’s only after tutor sister tells him that he’s holding back his feelings does he realise that it’s time to talk about their unstable relationship and Fighter at that moment had also come to terms with his break up with Hwa after making out with tutor revealed the truth, that’s why on the rooftop they do a test that ultimately breaks their walls down and choose to give in to their feelings no matter how scared they are about it being reciprocated. When Tutor looks away and loses the game it’s a symbol to Fighter that he’s also been the same as him from the start. Tutor looks away sadly thinking he’s the one who has the feelings but Fighter just loses it and lets him know its equal which is why I love that scene so much because for so long both of them because of IH has been avoiding thinking the other had the same feelings for them when they both from the start have felt love for a long time. And from then they go on a journey to learn about what this means, if it’s real feelings and not just attraction hence their beach vacation which is essentially them asking if they could love each other and be in a real relationship, and if they can take on their obstacles around them. The beach solidifies for them their feelings so they choose each other for life hence the earring and necklace. But it’s fast paced how they feel because it’s just confirmation, now Tutor starts to realise that Fighter is actually different than he thought he was and he falls so fast, he now realises how much he loves Fighter and how much Fighter made him want to fight for his happiness and life. Tutor has not had hope for happiness and ease in his life, because he’s always had to fight to survive on his own. So when Fighter shows up like a prince charming and constantly is connected to saving him time and time again, it’s exactly him realising there’s someone who does represent that hope that he’d be fine. Hence why the final obstacle is Tutor regressing and starting to think because of IH and society that he and Fighter are just a pipe dream.

They go back to face the world only for Fighters father to bring back all the fear, internalised homophobia and obstacles they had. Fighter panics and thinks he was right; the reason why he never told Tutor his feelings was because he was afraid the other would break his heart (was not gay, did not have feelings for him, would make fun of him etc) so when Tutor breaks up with him he loses his mind after trying hard to let go. When he sees that actually Tutor is taunting him and is still flirting with a guy, not him, he proceeds drunk and upset to try and get back moments from the beach scene/ past make out scenes to keep that spark alive but realises Tutor is not okay this time and he’s the one forcing it. He also acted out because with them the truth comes out each time they’re physical with other romantically. It’s a kiss that caused them to finally tell each other how they felt. That’s always been the way they break their walls down.

It’s what causes him to break down and finally reveal the truth he’s loved Tutor since he met him, he’s just been afraid of all that’s happening even if it’s happening he still wants to be with Tutor. Tutor however breaks his heart even more so he backs off. Tutor on the other hand is broken and mentally exhausted back to depression, back to having to fake being strong and deal with the futility of hope and joy in his life as he’s always been used to. He gets seen by Fighter and doesn’t have it on him to fight him away, so decides to stay in an idealistic fantasy, tells him to hold him and breaks his walls down again. Tutor is always having to fake being strong because it’s how he survives so whenever Fighter enters his world his vulnerability scares him, that’s why his sister gives him the image of a cactus. He’s tough and sharp or pretends to be with his demeanour but actually he’s just a boy who wants to be happy and be safe and survive. So when Fighter shows up at his weakest moments, as he struggles to deal with his mental exhaustion and heart break, he gives in  because again Fighter represents to him that hope. He starts to waver and want to stay in that lie for a long time with Fighter. Hence when he wakes up and Fighter is gone he thinks its all over and he finally breaks down completely.

Only when Fighter goes he breaks down in anguish truly thinking he lost him. Fighter finally comes out to his dad and fights his views, And we end up back at the beach, a place which represented authenticity and truth for them, it’s their truest realest self, but it also was their escapism. So Fighter coming there and letting Tutor know there’s no more obstacles in their way makes them both finally equally start a stable relationship with no more fear or care about anything. These twos relationship is full of tension and they both feel the chemistry, like magnets their bodies are drawn together, every scene they’re in, it’s their love language physical touch not bl fan service. They just naturally want to be in contact with each other and also their pent up feelings leads to them constantly wanting to sleep together because of hormones and well because they enjoy their se*ual life, nothing bad about that it’s realistic for couples to be that horny, that needy and that touchy.

It’s people who don’t get the context of internalised homophobia and what being in the closet is like for people with this anxiety and self hate caused by how they think society views them and treats them if out, those are the people who think there was no plot. Every dialogue these two had, their flashbacks and their acting (eyes, facial gestures, touches) showed why Fighter liked teasing Tor, why he dated Hwa but never paid her attention, why we had the beach scenes, why the break up escalated, why Tutor gave in when ill, why the non/dubious consent scene happened, why they get back together and why they told each other I love you forever immediately after they got together. Every single part adds up. It really is insane to me how people don’t see their real story to this day or see them as such a great storyline for BL. I would never get it.

[all-about-seggs]

Birthday Smash -

Rating: 18+, Mature

Pairing : Timeskip! Birthday boy Kuroo x female reader.

Word count: 1.5 k

Warning's: Smut, Birthday sex, Thigh riding, face riding, blow job ( could be considered as bit of somnophilia but I'm not sure, everything is consentual tho), established relationship, the reader is on top but Kuroo still doms.

You gazed at your wrist one more time before pushing the key card into the overpriced hotel suite your boyfriend was staying at. It was quarter to twelve, just fifteen minutes until his birthday. Even though you both were at the point of your relationship where you didn't have to make grand gestures for every occasion, you wanted to help him relax atleast on his special day.

Entering with a soft click, not wanting to be found out, you looked around the place, it was oddly romantic, the bedroom was seperate from the living space, most of the furniture having classy beige themes, beside the main couch, there was a little round table lined with scented candles. Atleast now you knew this place wasn't Kuroo's pick, although his company was the one providing for his lodgings, you still expected more of a business casual look but you didn't have time to complain considering you still had a surprise to pull off.

The last time you called Kuroo today was just after dinner, so if he wasn't working right now, he would most likely be either taking a bath or on his way to bed and both of the options gave you a good opportunity to ambush him. Putting your stuff on the nearby chair, you tiptoed your way into the bedroom to see your tired boyfriend stretched out in the huge king sized bed on the riser with two steps leading up to it.

His toned body peeking out from beneath his disheveled bathrobe ,indicating he just came from his bath. The large fluffy pillows, crisp white sheets and the light coming from the floor to ceiling windows next to the bed gave the room a picturesque view. He seemed half asleep, so you approached him carefully, now that you got a closer look you realised he wasn't wearing any underpants. You were going to wake him up anyway and the opportunity to make it the best wake up call just presented itself, dangling right in front of you, so it was in your best interest to grab it.

He was lying on his back, a position he only started to use after the two of you began dating, so that you could cuddle a little before sleeping. You crawled on the opposite side of the bed, slowly making you way towards his exposed legs, deciding it's best to just kneel beside him than over him. You pushed the last piece of the bathrobe covering his cock aside and started giving his tip small kitten licks. You wondered if would freak out, thinking you're some random women or maybe he wouldn't even wake up, thinking he's dreaming because let's face it, Kuroo can be a dork sometimes despite his natural cunning.

His previously soft member started to swell by the time you grabbed his shaft, stroking it gently. You didn't want him to wake up just yet, atleast not until he was throbbing in your mouth, his sleepy face just on the verge of cumming was a sight you wanted to see, but it's physically difficult for anyone to keep sleeping when they have someone mouth on their crotch so his legs soon started twitching. You lifted your head to check his face but his eyes were still closed, boy were gonna get teased like hell after he wakes up. You could imagine him saying stuff like," hooooo~ y/n chan.... If you were that thirsty for me that you could've just asked for my cum when I was awake." With that shit eating grin of his. He's nothing if not explicit with his teasings but that's wasn't enough to stop you from milking him till he was dry.

You picked up your pace, taking more of his cock in your mouth, using one of your other hand to massage his balls, you were doing if hard enough that it wouldn't surprise you if he woke up but there was no movement from his side. You kept on your ministrations until you felt him twitch in your mouth, he was close, you thought about stopping since you expected him to wake up before cumming but just as you were about to pull yourself up, you felt a hand on top of your head gently grabbing your hair.

"...what's wrong babe?.... aren't you gonna finish", his voice was a bit groggy as he propped himself on his elbows, staring at your cum smeared face, his hard cock still halfway in your mouth. The jerk must've been awake for a while now if he's able to talk so smoothly right of the bat or worst yet, wasn't asleep at all. It was annoying how he could keep a cool front all the time.

You squeezed his balls, hoping to get a reaction out of him but he kept on giving you his signature toothy grin. You started sucking on his tip while your hand pumped his shaft, knowing he was on the verge of cumming. He bucked his hips slightly, finally letting that string of moans you were waiting to hear. You pulled him out with a pop, focusing solely on stroking him, harder and harder untill he came all over his stomach and inner thighs.

"Haaa....that was mean y/n chan.....I thought you were really thirsty with the way you jumped on me in my sleep", he said grabbing you by your hair once again, giving his hold a slight pull untill your face was in front of him," but here you are wasting it all". There it was, his dirty mouth you are so used to and his lust filled bedroom eyes urging you make a comeback of your own.

" You knew I'd come didn't you", giving him a stink eye you were hoping he'd fess up. It all made sense, from the oddly huge and romantic suite to his overly sexy getup, he was luring you in all along waiting for his 'surprise'.

" I just knew you wanted to please you hardworking boyfriend~", you had to roll your eyes at that, but he was right about you wanting to please him. He kissed you softly, knowing full well that your night was just beginning. You quickly pulled the skirt of your dress up reveling your uncovered pussy, Kuroo raised an eyebrow at that.

" Well I am a woman on a mission you know", with a smirk you shifted until your wet nether lips were hovering just above his thick muscular thighs. You kissed him again, hard, as he grabbed your hips to pull you on his thigh. The feeling of your sloppy cunt against him made his thigh clench in anticipation, you began rubbing your pussy the sturdy surface he provided. Your movements brought pressure on the soft nub of your cunt, which sent shivers across your body, causing it to heat up.

He pulled his face back, you looked so cute to him, enjoying yourself so much on just his thighs, he had to be an ass, " so y/n, where's my present.....", His tone was joking but you wanted to shut him up for good this time, not wasting another second, you pushed him down the bed roughly and a few seconds later your cunt was straddling his face.

"Here it is.....your 'present' honey~", you cooed sarcastically above him as you braced yourself on the headboard.

" Is this what you meant when you say you'd take me to an all you can eat buffet, cuz if it is, then it's cringey", he said with a laugh, complaining halfheartedly, he grabbed your thighs to position himself, taking a moment to admire your puffed up pussy drenched in your juices. " Spread yourself for me babe, I atleast deserve a good view", something about his talkative nature in bed made you nervous no matter how many times to have fuck. You did as you were told, bringing two of your fingers near your pussy, you spread your glistening lips to until your entire cunt was in display.

With a hum and his typical "good girl", Kuroo went straight for your clit, not touching any other part until you were overstimulated. He gave your sex a long lick, twirling his tongue around your entrance as his hands kept massaging your inner thighs. Your voice begain cracking form his ministrations and It wasn't soon before you felt your orgasm approach, his movements were steady, relentless in their teasing. Your clit was throbbing and your pussy kept on getting wetter until you were certain your juices were dripping down your boyfriend's face which he devoured with a hum. You arched your back pushing yourself further down his face and moaning uncontrollably as your hips bucked to match Kuroo's rhythmic actions.

You came with a loud moan, calling his name till your orgasm passed. You lied in top of him as you both panted to catch your breaths. Turning around, you saw his bedside clock, reveling its way past 12. But the disappointed was overwritten with the blissful afterglow so you just settled for staring lovingly at his sweat slicked, cum smeared face.

"Ready for round two", his voice regained its challenging tone but this time all you could feel was gentle adoration towards your tricky faced boyfriend. With all its ups and downs you keep yourself connected to each other in so many ways, you had to show your appreciation somehow. You took his face in your hands, rubbing soft circles across his cheeks as you leaned in,

"Happy birthday my love".

[tobeornottotc]

WE BEST LOVE RANT- warning probably is insensitive or whatever but I just had to get it out!

Wasn’t going to complain but I had to because y’all are just filling up the whole tag, the whole drama list, everywhere with negativity about every single thing. If i’m reading the show’s outlines right then look. It’s a trope done before but it’s one that’s important to see. Shide likes to deal with problems on his own because that’s how he grew up, the father probably gave him a different option to end up with Shuyi later, which is to wait until he becomes the owner of his fathers company, Shuyi is on the verge of being promoted to his father’s role hence why the company acquisition storyline is important, but shareholders and others are looking for ways to get rid of him, its why he’s so pressured to fire these people with no emotion, the father probably believed their relationship won’t last, and won’t be worth the eyes on Shuyi looking for reasons to get rid of him. Shide’s promise to the father probably was to back of until that’s sorted which is why immediately he reunites with Shuyi he understands his anger but pretends like everything is normal (because he doesn’t think they’ve broken up, they’re just on a pause for a while), I don’t think he knows about the cheating misunderstanding if he did he would have acted more desperately he just thought Shuyi will have a hard time understanding and would be angry he just didn’t expect him to be so heartbroken since he sent him messages telling him there’s a reason and he should wait. It’s still stupid but Shide wanted a desperate way to let the dad accept him and Shuyi, and to protect Shuyi’s future as ceo, he didn’t want any issues for Shuyi. 

As stupid as the story is; it was very Shide to be a noble idiot and do this so people complaining about how tired the trope is, we best love didn’t promise to be a new unique outstanding different BL calm the fuk down. It’s just a normal BL using the same tropes written well and acted well. People all of a sudden shouting and complaining is just so exhausting like stop watching the show if you don’t like watching the same tropes over and over again. Or accept that tropes can be repeated and still be interesting, it’s not lazy writing, it’s not problematic writing because the characters are all humans, they can be flawed, they can make mistakes, the fu*king can act in a way that has already been told to us that they act in, so why are people making people feel bad for wanting to enjoy a good BL? Urgh. 

I get that the couch scene is non consensual, I get that we all want PC culture and we want things to be shown that way. It is not okay that the music used was romantic, however the couch scene is not meant to be seen as romantic, it’s not meant to be seen as something that is wanted. Shide is broken at that moment and his most worst angry version of himself, it’s not an excuse, but it’s understandable. And yes I’m allowed to understand why the characters act the way they’re acting, like they have been separated for 5 FUCKING YEARS so there’s a lot of angst, pain, anguish, automatic longing, toxicity that is brewing between them but this is not SURPRISING. The show isn’t saying to anyone this is right? No one is applauding the fact that they slept together because it’s not a good thing. But everyone who’s making people feel bad for wanting to like a scene that represented a predictable character action that was going to happen one way or another, like just stop! No one is bad or a pervert, or wrong for wanting to say that scene was good writing, no one is bad for wanting to say that scene was acted well, no one should feel guilty or messed up in the head for understanding why that scene happened. 

Second to all the people feeling triggered, I get you, I understand why non/dubious consent is an issue believe me i understand but at the same time it has been warned time and time again that the 15 minute couch scene was going to be bad, the actors themselves has said it, the tags have been filled with it, it was obvious this was going to happen, if you get triggered by stuff like this, and you know you get triggered by this why watch? why choose to come to the episode and watch, you had time to stop if it triggers you so badly, I’m sorry for being insensitive but I’m also a victim of this so i’m also being insensitive to my self,  and I didn’t get triggered, cause I understood why it is was written this way but if I knew this would be a problem i would have listened to the warnings and just backed off. 

For everyone else? I mean how else do you think these two were going to confront what they feel when there’s alcohol involved? There’s reasons why the writer used alcohol as a tool to break down Shide, Shide is problematic already and this is him being that way amped up because he has no control. I am not defending ass*ult, or non consent, but I’m tired with all the people who keep saying the people who understand why this scene is written are what’s wrong with the world because god forbid we don’t want to end the show, and send hate repeatedly and negativity because we feel uncomfortable but expected to feel uncomfortable since the beginning of this show? This scene is not a shock?  This might be problematic to some people and you can think whatever you want to think about me, but this tag has been really annoying, everywhere apart from weibo and maybe twitter, is just negativity. Just tiring and this is not just about the comments about the scene, or the ass*ult, its more than that, everyone is having a fu*king problem with everyTHINg.  Jesus. 

will probably delete this later. 

[alvallah]

2021 READING OVERVIEW

I was tagged by @quatregats to do this little summary of the literature I’ve read this year! Thank you friend :D

Did you reach your reading goal for the year (if you had one)?

I didn’t really have a goal except to actually finish a couple books for once lol so yeah, in a way I did, although I wish I would’ve read more.

What are your top 3 books you read this year?

In no particular order:

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk

What’s a book that you didn’t expect to enjoy quite so much going in?

This Is How You Lose the Time War. When I started it felt weak and the pacing was a little too fast for properly deep characterization and development, especially considering the entire novel is a giant magnifying glass hovering over only two characters, and I’ll still hold to that opinion. However, the deeper I got into the story it sweetened about halfway and I got invested. I was tearing up by the end after that point and I loved it a lot more than I thought I was going to at the beginning.

Were there any books that didn’t live up to your expectations?

I know I ranked The Museum of Innocence in my top three, but it was probably the more disappointing one (which should tell you how lovely Pamuk is --that even when his work doesn’t meet expectations it’s still good). The novel is an intimate picture of how women in Turkey have the pressure of westernization while also balancing the pressure of traditional ways, and how this affects romantic relationships and family politics. This struggle is interestingly viewed through the lens of an unreliable male narrator who is in love with a woman he cannot have. I felt a lot like how an aware reader would feel reading Lolita --the book was incredibly thoughtful and layered, but you’re battling the fact that your narrator --the one you’re supposed to feel empathy for-- is annoying and kind of a douche bag. At least that’s how I felt about him.

Maybe the intensely positive reviews set the book up to fail in my eyes as everyone was gushing about it as a love-story of the ages (I don’t know if it was quite meant that way but idk). My critique is that the novel moved a bit too slow. I could’ve skipped a few points and still got the meat of the story. Orhan Pamuk is a politically, philosophically, and metaphorically layered writer and it’s still a good read. Personally I’d recommend Snow over The Museum of Innocence though.

Did you reread any old faves? If so, which one was your favorite?

I reread The Golden Compass and The Book Thief. I think The Book Thief will always be a favorite.

Did you DNF any books?

I didn’t finish The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera. I think it’s more I lost patience with reading in general though. Kundera is witty and the book is aptly named. I think if I restart it and pay better attention I’ll appreciate it more.

Did you read any books outside your usual preferred genre(s)?

I started reading Quiet by Susan Cain. Most books I read are stories with plots but this one is more a giant essay on the nature of introversion, how [American] society negatively impacts reserved personalities (much to its own detriment), and the strengths and contributions of introverted dispositions. It’s nice to be validated and feel seen :)

What was your predominant format this year?

Always physical books. I feel like I’m a pretty tactile person --with people or things lol. I just focus and remember better when I’m actually holding the book. Plus it’s rewarding to put a finished book on my shelf.

What’s the longest book you read this year?

Maybe The Museum of Innocence? I lose interest if the book is too long nowadays. Middle school Rachel would destroy me on that metric lol

What are your top 3 anticipated 2022 releases?

I don’t really pay attention to this... I’m still catching up on a ridiculously long list I already have.

What books from your TBR did you not get to this year, but are excited to read in 2022?

Mmmmm I can’t think of anything specifically but here’s a list of books on my shelf waiting to be read/finished in 2022:

The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera (unfinished)

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

Quiet by Susan Cain (unfinished)

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

I’m tagging: @aanzheni @an-infinite-tenderness @papenathys @nfrtjytj @tealingual @chandajaan @eliskydavajidobrounoc @theeaumiel and anyone else who sees this because honestly I can’t say no to some inspiration!