#yaaaaay finally wrote this lol

[leojurand]

house of niccolò reread rambling thoughts: niccolò rising edition (final part)

writing this like a week after finishing the book because i'm lazy but hey! at least i'm doing it!

i think niccolò rising is a great introduction to the series. it's not as emotionally gripping as the game of kings, but it is way more polished and easier to understand and get into, i think.

that being said, it's still one of my least favourite dunnett books. which says a lot about the quality of her novels because i still really, really love it.

so yeah, a couple of reread thoughts before i (eventually) move on to book 2 :)

1.

“Although,” said Tobie, “we’ll never know, will we, what brought it on? Relief or disappointment?”

i think it's fascinating that after 8 books, and considering nicholas is one of my favourite characters of all time (possibly even my number 1!), i still can't 100% tell if something is a part of his plan, or fate making those things happen.

did he always plan to marry the widow? on paper it seemed like a last resort because he didn't want her to sell the company, and it gave him status so it was, mostly, a win/win situation (if we ignore the fact that she brought him up and he was ten, which i definitely can't ignore, but i do wonder if it bothers nicholas especially considering his childhood).

did he want felix to die, even if he wasn't happy about it? he was the one to encourage felix to go to battle, though trying to convince him not to go would've had the opposite effect. and right before felix gets shot, julius was thinking that people on horse make an easier target (something nicholas would know because the dauphin's men threw him off his own horse before that). so maybe if nicholas hadn't tried to save felix, felix would be alive. but who knows!!

and i love this. i think some readers are frustrated by how little they understand of nicholas as they read the series, but to me that just makes him more complex and more real. it's a testament to dunnett's prowess as an author that she can create a protagonist like this, and not only does she make it work, she keeps adding layer upon layer as the series continues. and nicholas is already super complex in this first book! by the end of his series there's so much going on with him, and somehow it's not chaotic at all. or, well, it is a chaotic, but a controlled and deliberate sort of chaos.

i could talk about nicholas's characterization forever. and i will in this ramblings 😁

let me finish this part with THEE quote of this book for me:

Nicholas said, “I thought of a way to do it. That was all.”

“And did it,” said Adorne. “Why?”

“To see what would happen,” said Nicholas flatly.

2.

For himself, Julius felt neither anger nor envy but a growing pleasure, and a growing curiosity. For whatever reason, it had begun. And now, what would come of it?

i know for a fact there are fans who don't like the julius reveal in gemini and don't think it makes sense on reread. i can't say i loved it when i read it, and i don't know yet how much sense it does or doesn't make, but at least i can say that in book 1 it was super fun to look at julius under a microscope.

i think i've mentioned this in my previous post, but julius was one of my favourite characters in the series because i think he's funny, and i love his reactions to the things nicholas does. because most of the time he's out there winning the idgaf war while everyone else is horrified. like tobie, he fulfilled his role in the story perfectly, but he was never that deep; and i was never going to write essays about him. he was just a silly guy.

but julius going from an amoral, selfish, entertainingly idiotic jerk, to a perfect example of lazy and opportunistic evil (while still being all those other things lol)? i do criticize dunnett's choice of leaving the reveal for the last half of the last book, but i do think that's really fun. and whether or not there are enough clues, or if they don't add up or only add up when dunnett wants them to, i will judge for myself. either way, taking a character that i enjoyed a fair amount on first reread because he was kinda dumb, and making me look at him really closely on reread... well i think that slays and i commend dorothy for it

[msprojects]

Happy New Year! The first KazuHoku moment of the year :D

01/01/2023

Happy New Year, everyone! Pleasant wishes to you all! Most of you may have seen the video already, but if not, kindly please get yer asses over to the group's instagram, it should be one of their most recent videos. Watch it, freak out, then come back here, read this and freak out even more ^_^ Enjoy!

New Year's Eve 2022 Here's a little script I wrote on what I think telepathically went down between Kazuma and Hokuto (and The Rampage lol) moments before welcoming the new year together. I haven't had any peace this whole new year's day because this thing was rattling in my head bugging me to be written lol. Scene: The Rampage are in their green room, finished with their last show of the year and are about to greet the coming year in style.  Kazuma is fidgeting with his phone doing whatever the fuck he's doing when he finally looks up to laugh with Riku on his left while NONCHALANTLY reaching out to Hokuto on his right, WITHOUT LOOKING. This guy, lol trying to be all cool about it. Kazuma: All right, 2023 let's do this shit guys, hehe. Riku: HAHA you tryna be sneaky but I see you, HAHAHA. Hokuto: *waving his "2" balloon* Yaaaaay! Hokuto feels Kazuma's hand brush up against the back of his. Hokuto: Eh? Here? Right now? You sure about this~ hmm ok! Hokuto starts to open his palm fully towards Kazuma so Kazuma can have better access. Kazuma subconsciously grabs his hand like usual (so Kazuma seems to take the lead usually, huh? Hehe. Also, Hokuto, you give in way too easily to Kazuma hahaha) before he comes to his senses. Kazuma: *whips his head towards Hokuto* What the - dude no, not right now! Hokuto: *pauses visibly* Eh? Why not? You don't want to? *cue his sparkly eyes looking sadly down at their entwined hands* Kazuma: *falters a bit* D-damn it, why are you so effin cute? *grabs Hokuto's sleeve instead* Later, bro, later. Hokuto: *is happy again* Yaaay! And you guys might think I'm delusional BUT. WATCH TAKKUN. Boy directly placed the "0" on KazuHoku's hands like a magnifying glass, probably by mistake, and saw them FLIRTING, it was too much so he had to turn away. Watch him turn away!! Takkun: Hehe yeeee new year's almost here!! Hokuto-san lookit my ballo- *places his balloon square on top of KazuHoku's flirting hands* UMMMMMMM ok I'm gonna go see what Shogo-san's doing... *runs away to Shogo lol* Also, Hokuto either unintentionally or masterfully hid their hands with the balloon at the critical moment, but my imagination knows no bounds, babe. Nice attempt but you think I didn't see Takuma? LOL.

[lokisgoodgirl]

Hi! How are you?

I wanted to let you know I finally just finished reading "Schooling Steve " part 4. And oh my word it is amazing! It was a Rollercoaster of emotions! I laughed when Steve used his 40s sayings! I was beyond shocked and excited when Steve gave a hint to Loki. I was like "Is this is will it finnaly happen?" Nope you tease. But still it almost happened! (Maybe in the future?) I loved how you wrote the reader she was like "I'm feedup with you loki ill take over from here love" lol. She was sweet but very Dom with Steve. It was perfect! I can't wait to see what happenes next in thr saga of "Schatchel Steve "

Yaaaaay!!! I'm honestly so delighted and thank you and everyone else for helping make my journey into a fic longer than 2 or 3 parts so much more enjoyable!

I'm writing part 5 today, and I'm really excited about how it will 'end' but I guess I'm kind of nervous too 😂 I don't know how writers who have multi chapters do it honestly.

But anyways, thank you for your continued support and being so lovely and invested in our friend Satchel! Steve and of course, Loki our love❤️

Get your sleep, Satchykins, you'll need it.

@xorpsbane @ijuststareatstuffhereok89 @lokischambermaid @michelleleewise @mochie85 @vbecker10 @yelkmelk @ozymdias

[facewithoutheart]

Weird Writer Questions: 5, 16, 19 (I'm super curious about this one), and 36

Thank you 😘😘😘

I answered #5 here and probably don’t have more on the subject. I am surprisingly superstition free?

16. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever used as a bookmark?

I genuinely couldn’t say. I’m sure I did something weird but I have a terrible memory 🤣 I def use a lot of receipts and I used to use a lot of boarding passes

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

Oh boy. So, I used to write a lot. Took creative writing in high school and then in college. I started a short story shortly after I graduated college, stopped halfway through and then… didn’t write again for ten years. I wont go into details but suffice it to say Trauma happened and until I started to process it I was unable to write anything meaningful. (I did write blogs, articles for an online lifestyle magazine, and local bar reviews.)

Then, in 2015 or so I found the short story I stopped halfway through, laughed at the way I inserted my trauma into the story without realizing it, finished it in one feverish sitting, and then more Trauma! Yaaaaay. So I wrote mostly poems for awhile, processing earlier trauma while avoiding the new stuff. Finally went to therapy for my issues in 2019, found fanfic, and started writing like a maniac.

So, suffice it to say I’m a big believer that unprocessed trauma can be a block to the creative process. How can you tap into how you feel if you’re suppressing it? But I won’t preach here lol.

36. They say to Write What You Know. Setting aside for a moment the fact that this is terrible advice...what do you Know?

I know… how to be a bratty piece of shit. LOL. How to be a burnt out queer ex-talented and gifted student? How to both be the annoying spouse and suffer the annoying spouse?

How to turn procrastination into an art form? Like I am doing by posting this instead of trying to make my idiot characters kiss?

From this list of asks

[haroldtea]

i wrote something!!

soooo I’m a pathological “i have a fic idea and i’m never going to write it or I write a few pages and then fall off” writer buuuut I had this very cute idea and wrote 4k words of it! I wanted to post it here before ao3 because 1) not sure if I’m a fan of starting a multichapter WIP because I still may abandon it like my other stuff 2) i want feedback before i continue!!

here’s the gist: it’s princess prom except it’s a high school au and princess prom is actually homecoming. Adora is very happy and supportive of Glimmer and Bow running for king/queen. Glimmer is very, very passionate about winning. The problem is they’ve naturally got competition, in the form of Perfuma (who is equally as passionate about winning, for her own reasons) and her new girlfriend Scorpia. In a sitcom-style mishap, Adora sort of accidentally signs up to run as well...with Catra, Scorpia’s best friend who Adora doesn’t not have a crush on. The two decide to go through with it with the intention of getting eliminated from the race as soon as possible. Then, their friends come up with a different plan for them.

so, take a read below at 4k of stupidity and let me know what you think, and if you would be interested to read more :) (fyi there is a lot of swearing lol)

“I’M GONNA BE THE QUEEN!”

Adora shrieks, flailing her arms and almost knocking her lamp over in the process. She whirls around in her desk chair to face the intruder, arms raised in karate chop form (she does not know any martial arts), and finds Glimmer, who has flung her bedroom door open and has that crazed Glimmer look in her eyes that only means trouble.

“Fuck! Glimmer, you can’t just sneak up--wait, how did you get in my house?!”

“Didn’t you hear what I said?! Also, the door was unlocked,” Glimmer replies, kicking off her shoes and launching herself onto Adora’s bed, which she had just painstakingly made.

Adora presses her hand into her face, sighing. “I was kind of busy trying not to piss myself. Haven’t you heard of knocking? What if I was, you know...” she says, gesturing vaguely.

Glimmer rolls her eyes. “Please, Adora. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. Anyway--the student council decided to bring back the homecoming pep rally!” she squeals, gleefully kicking her feet in the air.

Adora leans back in her chair, brows furrowed. “Bring back? Didn’t we have one last year?”

“Yes, but after the water balloon thing they weren’t gonna let us have it anymore, but it turns out that one senior who wasn’t gonna graduate did graduate so I guess they figured it would probably be fine, ‘cause like, who’s ever gonna try and top that?”

“Right,” Adora hums, thinking back to last year’s pep rally. Just before homecoming court was announced, a group of rogue seniors had risen from the bleachers, unleashing dozens of water balloons they had stashed in their backpacks. What ensued was a pandemonium Adora could only remember in flashes, resulting in almost the entire student body and the school’s hallways being completely soaked.

The catch was that the seniors had filled the balloons with blue paint. It had taken the janitorial staff weeks to get the gym bleachers, the lockers in the science wing, and the cafeteria ceiling (don’t ask) to look normal again. Classes were cancelled for almost an entire week because the paint had messed up something with the internal plumbing. It was single-handedly the coolest thing Adora had experienced in her living years.

It was all led by the legendary Mara Hart, notorious for sticking it to the man during her K-12 years. The prank had all but gotten her and her friends expelled, but given that she was otherwise an A+ student and no one could technically prove who was behind it (her friends were loyal to each other to the bitter end), she walked at Bright Moon High’s graduation to uproarious applause from her classmates.

Adora knew some of the more grisly details because Mara had been captain of the girls’ lacrosse team last year--effortlessly cool Mara, endlessly caring Mara, definitely part of Adora’s gay awakening Mara--but it had become something of an urban legend at BMHS over the past year.

“Wait, how do you know any of this?” Adora asks, because while she was personally connected to Mara in a small way, she hadn’t been aware that they were going to cancel the pep rally indefinitely.

Glimmer arches an eyebrow. “Um, hello? My mom’s the principal?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“And Mermista totally let it slip when I asked her about it after the student council meeting,” Glimmer adds, then pauses. “Okay, it was more like I didn’t even wanna be there and I wish no one had ever voted for me and I’ll tell you whatever, but still. I’m...” she props her face in her hands and bats her eyelashes, “in the know.”

Adora smirks and rolls her eyes fondly, turning back to her desk to shut her textbook and put her notes away. She can never get anything done when Glimmer’s around. “Okay, so, pep rally’s back--that’s cool,” she says.

“It’s not just cool, Adora,” Glimmer scoffs. “Being homecoming queen is literally all I’ve wanted since I was a kid. I thought my dream had died with Mara’s academic career, but now there’s hope again--it’s meant to be, Adora. It’s destiny.”

Adora had literally never heard Glimmer talk about this, but, “Um, okay.”

Glimmer huffs and dramatically rolls onto her back, flinging her arms out and further messing up Adora’s sheets. Lesson learned, it isn’t worth the effort for Adora to make the bed anymore. “My mom was the homecoming queen like a hundred years ago, and my aunt was the homecoming queen before that. It’s, like, my birthright!”

Adora lifts a shoulder, twisting around in her chair to look at Glimmer. “Okay, then we’ll just get you to be the homecoming queen too. Can’t your mom just...make it happen?”

“Ugh, no,” Glimmer sighs. “I already asked. It’s a student vote.”

“Oh!” Adora brightens. “That’s easy, then. Everyone loves you.”

Glimmer pouts. “I know, but it’s not just a popularity contest--it’s, like, a whole thing. Me and Bow are gonna have to do a talent show, and there’s a relay race, and other stuff that if we don’t do well in we won’t even get to be in the final vote.”

“Wait, what?” Adora doesn’t remember any of that from last year. “What do you mean, Bow? Is...he's running for homecoming queen too?”

“Ha! No,” Glimmer laughs, then her expression darkens, eyes narrowing. “I would crush him.”

“Right...” Adora says. Actually, Bow would make a pretty good homecoming queen. But Adora values her life, so she decidedly does tell Glimmer this.

“No, every queen nominee has to also have someone to run with them as their ‘king,’” Glimmer explains, making air quotes with her fingers. “There’s no boy/girl bullshit, but you do have to be in a pair.”

“I don’t remember any...talent shows, or whatever,” Adora points out. “I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of one of those happening in real life.”

“Well, obviously you never went. It would’ve all been during your lacrosse thingies and you would've been too busy making googly eyes at Mara Hart,” Glimmer replies, wiggling her fingers at Adora.

Adora crosses her arms and blushes a deep red. “I would not. I would’ve been playing lacrosse. And stuff.” Okay, maybe she did make googly eyes at Mara, but only sometimes, as a treat, and Glimmer doesn’t need to know that.

Glimmer flips back over on her stomach and levels Adora with a pout. “Adora, this means a lot to me. We’re gonna need your help to win this.”

Adora has no idea how she could possibly be of any help with this, but hey-- “Of course, Glimmer. Whatever you need. I’m there.”

Glimmer grins, eyes sparkling. “Yaaaaay. Also, my mom’s making meatloaf tonight, you in?”

Adora pumps her fist in the air. “Sweet. Hell, yes.”

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

“This is a joke, right? Like, you’re joking?” Catra says into the receiver as she shoves another handful of popcorn into her mouth.

“I am usually a pretty funny gal, it’s true--but, ah, no. This time I’m serious,” Scorpia replies on the other end.

Catra hoists her phone higher up on her shoulder while she adjusts her grip on her Xbox controller. “Okay, please explain,” she says between chews.

Scorpa sighs, and Catra visualizes her sitting cross-legged on her bedspread, hugging one of her many stuffed animals to her chest. “I know it’s kind of silly, but Perfuma sounded really excited about it, ‘cause I guess if you win, you get to pick what charity the proceeds from the dance ticket sales go to, and...I just couldn’t say no?”

Catra smirks, mashing a series of buttons on her controller as her TV screen lights up in front of her. She’s been trying to get past this level for weeks, but she’ll probably die right before the end again whether she’d answered Scorpia’s call or not. “You are so whipped,” she says.

Scorpia sighs again, but this time Catra can hear a smile in it. “I guess so, kitty cat. Still, it sounds kinda...fun? I mean, it’s more time spent with her, if anything else. She’s talking about writing an original song together for the talent show and incorporating her Tibetan singing bowls into it.”

Catra takes that in and barely suppresses a laugh. Her New Year’s resolution was to make fun of her friends less. Some days are harder than others. “Um, wow,” she says instead. “That’s, uh...that’ll be interesting. Do I have to call you Queen Scorpia if you win?”

“Oh, Perfuma doesn’t believe in gendered royalty,” Scorpia replies. “She wants us to be known as Homecoming Monarchs.”

“Of course she does,” Catra mutters. Perfuma is endlessly kind and patient and makes Scorpia smile, so by default Catra likes her, but otherwise they...don’t exactly share identical values, let’s say. Catra brings her own point home by pressing a button on her controller and chainsawing an alien in half on screen.

“Do you...think it’s a stupid idea? The whole...running for homecoming thing, I mean.”

Catra hears the telltale signs of Scorpia-doubting-herself in her reply, so she pauses the game. “Nah. If it’s something you guys wanna do, you should go for it. Fuck what anyone else thinks.”

“Okay, thanks,” Scorpia says, sounding lighter. “I think it means a lot to Perfuma. It would be cool to win it for her.”

“Well, hey,” Catra continues, un-pausing her game. “If you need any help, let me kn--oh, fuck!”

“Catra?” Panic sets in Scorpia’s tone. “Kitty cat, speak to me--do I need to call 911?!”

“No, no, Scorpia, please don’t do that,” Catra groans, tossing her controller aside. “I just got blown up in my stupid game again, that’s all. I’m never gonna beat this final boss.”

Scorpia sighed in relief. “Aw, don’t give up, kitty cat. One of these days, you’re gonna really give it to--what’s the dude’s name again?”

“Prime something-or-whatever,” Catra grumbled, reaching for her popcorn.

“Yeah, that guy. He’ll never know what hit him.”

Catra snickers into the receiver. “Yeah, okay. Thanks, Scorpia.”

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

The lunch period at BMHS is, naturally, chaotic. Being a regional high school, every inch of the place is usually crawling with students, and the cafeteria is no different. The student population is small enough and the cafeteria big enough to condense into one lunch period, although Adora has oftentimes heard Perfuma lament about the ethics and health concerns of overcrowding.

Adora likes chaos. She likes that the overlapping sounds of chairs scraping and garbled chattering combine to form a comforting din that allows her to drown out whatever weird TikTok plans Bow’s making (ok, to be real, she will be asking about them later) and quietly observe the antics happening at tables around them.

She takes another bite of her pudding and her eyes land on the table to their right where Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio from her math class always sit together. Lonnie is mechanically chewing her gum as she stares into a compact mirror, examining her eyebrows with fierce concentration. Across from her, Kyle is holding up something on his phone to Rogelio with one hand and gesticulating wildly with the other as he holds a corn dog. Rogelio is nodding along but is staring down fondly at Kyle rather than at the screen Kyle’s pointing to, one arm hanging loose around Kyle’s shoulders. Lonnie slaps her compact shut and shouts something at them, pointing emphatically to her eyebrows. They all pause for a moment before bursting into laughter. Then Kyle drops his corn dog.

Adora pointedly does not observe the table across from theirs. She’ll gladly watch the Star siblings silently and intensely do their homework for the next period, or listen to Mermista fight off Seahawk’s PDA attempts, but nothing could compel her to look at the table straight ahead.

That table was where Catra Weaver and her friends sat.

Including: Perfuma’s new girlfriend, Scorpia Garnet; Entrapta Dryl, who was dating one of the Hordak twins (Adora was ever completely sure which one); the Hordak twins in question, one of which who usually broods silently and one of which who usually stares around smiling at nothing and everything; the stylish and blonde ruler of the theatre kids who has been nicknamed Double Trouble for as long as Adora can remember; and finally: Catra Weaver. Effortlessly cool, effortlessly gorgeous, effortlessly effortless Catra Weaver, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed, coolly regarding the rest of the cafeteria as she holds court at her table of wonderful misfit toys.

Today’s effortless ensemble: cool jean jacket, a cool crop top, cool black jeans, cool combat boots, she got a haircut recently so--

“Um, Earth to Adora?”

“Huh?” Adora says, jerking her head up.

This is why she avoids looking at Catra Weaver’s table. Or Catra Weaver in general.

“We were talking about homecoming,” Glimmer says from her seat across from Adora, raising an eyebrow. “You were totally spaced out.”

Adora clears her throat, willing herself not to blush. “Sorry,” she replies, digging back into her pudding.

“Glimmer’s trying to convince me not to run for court,” Perfuma continues, crossing her arms.

“What? Why?”

“Because it’s totally lame and stupid and a waste of time,” Mermista answers from beside Perfuma, inspecting her nail polish. She glances up when she senses everyone at the table staring at her. “What?”

“Mermista, you’re on the homecoming committee,” Bow says.

Mermista shrugs. “So? I said what I said.”

“Look, Perfuma,” Glimmer starts, sliding her hand across the table toward Perfuma. “I just don’t want you to be disappointed if you lose. Homecoming’s a really big deal to me, and I really want to win.” She smiles saccharinely, tilting her head at Perfuma, eyes gone wide. Bow and Adora exchange a look.

Perfuma smiles back. “Oh, don’t worry about me, Glimmer! I’m sure our classmates will select the most deserving and talented couple to win,” she says, then goes back to stabbing a fork into her salad.

Glimmer’s eye starts twitching. Bow slowly and gently takes Glimmer’s hand and slides it back to her side of the table. “Glimmer, we’ll do great. The most important thing is to have fun,” he says, patting her hand.

“The most important thing is the charity,” Perfuma mutters.

“That too.”

“Is anybody else we know running?” Adora asks. Glimmer and Perfuma both shake their heads in response, until Mermista sighs dejectedly.

“Unfortunately,” she groans, raising her hand.

“Wait, what?! You just said it was stupid and lame!” Bow squawks.

“It is,” Mermista rolls her eyes. “But the rest of the student council said it would look really bad if I was on the planning committee and didn’t run. I was forced against my will.”

“Isn’t that a conflict of interest?” Glimmer asks, gripping her lunch tray so tight Adora wondered if she was going to launch it at Mermista’s head.

“I don’t know? I guess not? I’m planning on getting cut as soon as humanly possible though, so whatever,” Mermista replies, flicking her hair behind her shoulder.

“We won’t win with that attitude, my love!” Seahawk roars, throwing his arm around Mermista’s shoulder and raising a fist triumphantly. “You and I are going to be the greatest King and Queen this school has ever seen!”

“Oh my god, please stop,” Mermista groans, hiding her face in her hands.

“Picture it: you, me, newly crowned, gliding down the science wing--the students stop and stare! Could it really be our King and Queen in the flesh? The teachers stare too! I am going to give them both straight A’s!”

“Please just sit and eat your sandwich,” Mermista begs.

“Never,” Seahawk says, then kisses her on the cheek and acquiesces, taking a big bite of his sandwich. Adora tries to hide her smirk when she sees Mermista blush a deep red. She elbows Glimmer and nods in their direction so she can see.

“Aw, how cute. I’m going to destroy them,” Glimmer whispers in Adora’s ear.

“I know,” Adora whispers back. “But try to at least be nice about it.”

“No promises.”

“Ok, I have to pee,” Adora announces to the table, grabbing her lunch tray as she stands, grinning at Bow’s groan of TMI, Adora!

She makes her way over to the trash cans by the cafeteria exit, waving to her friends on the lacrosse team as she dumps her leftovers in the trash and sets the tray in the dish bin beside it. She should probably go over and check in with them about practice tonight, but she really has to pee, which reminds her that she forgot her water bottle all the way back to the table and needs to refill it before her next class.

“Damn it,” she mutters to herself, still smiling at her lacrosse friends as she whips around to head back--

And crashes right into someone, their heads knocking smack together.

“Ow!” Adora yelps, losing her footing for a moment. She rubs at her stinging forehead, glancing up as she apologizes, “Shit, sorry, sorry, that was totally my fault, I--”

And stares right up at Catra Weaver.

“I...I...I...”

She blinks a few times, but yes, that is Catra Weaver, rubbing at her own forehead and fixing a few strands of hair that had come loose from behind her ears. Catra Weaver, up close and personal, who she hasn’t talked to since...

“Your forehead is fucking hard. And big,” Catra says, holding her tray in one hand as she narrows her eyes up at Adora.

“Oh, um, you too...I mean! Thanks? I grew it myself,” Adora replies spectacularly, and then promptly wants to crawl into a hole and never come out.

Catra raises one eyebrow at her. “How hard did I hit you?”

Adora scrambles to answer. “Oh, not at all! I mean, not hard. It was my fault. Are you, um, are you okay?” This is going amazingly.

“I’m fine, Greyskull,” Catra replies, sending a tingle up Adora’s spine. She goes to deposit her tray. “Just watch where you’re going.”

Adora grins dopily. “Yes. I mean--I will. Sorry. Again.”

Catra glances Adora up and down, eyebrow still raised, and goes to say something else, when they’re interrupted by a foreboding, familiar voice.

“Ah, Adora! I’m so pleased to see you taking an interest in student affairs.”

Adora turns to see Glimmer’s mom looming over them, hands neatly clasped together. Maybe looming isn’t the right word as she’s smiling brightly down on her and Catra, but she’s tall, ok? “Oh, hi Ang--,” Adora starts before remembering they’re at school, “um, Mrs. Moon. What’s up?”

Angella gestures between her and Catra. “I was just observing how wonderful it will be that Glimmer will have a friend to share the homecoming experience with.”

Adora tenses again, remembering that Catra is still standing very close to her. “Oh, haha, yeah, super great. Wait, what?” Sharing?

Then she notices that her and Catra are standing in front of the wall where the Homecoming Court Signup Sheet is hanging. A sparkly pen tied to the clipboard is dangling within Adora’s reach.

“Oh, um, actually, Perfuma’s already--”

“I think this activity will make a fine addition to your college applications, Adora. And you know how Glimmer gets,” Angella leans in conspiratorially, not bothering to lower her voice. “I think it will calm her nerves to have a friend by her side. A bit of friendly competition, even!” she claps her hands together, delighted. “I remember having so much fun with my friends back in my day.”

“But, I’m already on the lacrosse team...” Adora mumbles, scratching the back of her neck. She glances down at the pen.

“Oh, but you know schools these days, always looking for that something that makes a student stand out,” Angella says, waving her hand dismissively. “And don’t worry, I’ll speak to Coach Huntara about any scheduling conflicts. You’ll get to have the best of both worlds!”

Wait, but lacrosse was Adora’s whole thing--does she not stand out enough? Will she seem boring to UEternia? “I...”

“Oh, Ms. Weaver!” Angella says, as if she’s just now noticing Catra. “I didn’t take you for the...school spirit type.”

“I’m not,” Catra replies, crossing her arms. She smiles saccharinely and adds, “ma’am,” for good measure. God, she’s cool.

“Ah,” Angella says, creating an awkward pause before brightening again. “Well, still, here you are. Are you Adora’s running mate?”

So, sometimes Adora panics.

Look, she’s in a high-stress situation. The girl she doesn’t not have an embarrassing crush on bumped into her, talked to her, and then her best friend’s mom swooped in basically saying that lacrosse is boring and dumb and running for homecoming court will get her into UEternia. At least, that’s what Adora got from all that. And then she insinuates that she’ll be doing that with Catra Weaver.

So, she panics. She panics, and she grabs the glittery pen, and she continues to panic.

“Yep! We’re running together!” she says, grinning.

“Say what?” Catra hisses.

“Oh, wonderful!” Angella squeals, clapping her hands together again. “I must say, I think this will turn out to be a very interesting competition. You’ll have to come dress shopping with us, Adora.”

“Haha, yeah...” Adora says, quickly scribbling Adora Greyskull & Catra Weaver on the signup sheet. Oh fuck, oh god.

“Hang on a fu--” Catra starts, then clamps her mouth shut, because the goddamn principal is still talking to them.

“Oh, I wonder what you’ll do for the talent show! I can’t wait...well, I’m off. It was great catching up, girls!” Angella says, and winks, and does weird-mom-finger-guns, and then she’s gliding away as quickly as she came.

Adora continues to grin and wave awkwardly until Angella is out of sight, then she deflates. That was so weird.

Then she turns and sees Catra reach for the pen that’s still in her hand. Adora has half a mind to snatch it away. Or half a brain cell, at least. “Hey!”

“Cross our names out. Right. Now,” Catra growls through gritted teeth, still trying to grab the pen. Adora tries to hold it up out of reach, but it’s still attached to the clipboard, so the best she can do is weave her hand in and out of Catra’s way.

“Um, no? I just told her we were running!”

“Well, we’re not. Give it to me!”

“No!” Adora grunts, yanking the pen away. “You heard her--she’s gonna talk to Coach Huntara. I can’t back out now.”

“Well, I can!” Catra says, grabbing at Adora’s arm, where she has the pen tucked under her armpit. “Find someone else to run with you!”

“I can’t! They’ll want to win!” Adora says, twisting her body away from Catra. She’s having a slight meltdown over Catra touching her so much, but she’s focusing on the pen for now. “No one’s gonna want to run with me anyway.”

Catra mutters something under her breath that Adora doesn’t catch, then she snakes her hand under Adora’s and takes hold of her wrist. Adora stifles a gasp. “Wait, you don’t want to win?” Catra asks, eyebrow quirked.

“Noooo,” Adora furiously shakes her head. “No, no, no. Glimmer would kill me. She wants to win. I just, um, panicked. I guess?” The heat from Catra’s hand is searing into her wrist.

Catra glances down at their hands and back up at Adora. “So, your friend will kill you if you run for homecoming. And you just signed up in front of her mom?”

“Um...” Adora thinks for a second. “Yes?”

Catra huffs out a laugh. “Wow, you’re even more of an idiot than I remember.”

Adora feels her face redden, shocked at Catra’s casual mention of the past, and glances away. “Look, let’s just get eliminated as quickly as possible and then we can forget it ever happened. Deal?”

“Ugh,” Catra lets out a groan, leaning her head back. She tugs at Adora’s wrist a few times, finding that she isn’t budging. “Fine! As quickly as possible.”

“As quickly as possible,” Adora nods, finding herself grinning as Catra loosens her grip and pulls away. “I’m gonna take this pen home, by the way,” she calls out as Catra begins to head back to her table.

“Fuck!”

After Adora finally pees and refills her water bottle, she gingerly sits back down beside Glimmer. Poor, sweet, deadly Glimmer, who’s chattering away excitedly with Seahawk about some new music video or something.

She says, in a very tiny voice, “So, um...I think I’m running for homecoming queen?”

Glimmer whips her head around, nose flaring. She stands up, slamming both hands down on the table with a smack.

“You WHAT?!”

And then the bell rings.

[marvels-writings]

Yaaaaay I requested the carol x f-readed swimming lessons prompt. I’m honestly so satisfied with what you wrote, it’s better than what I could ever hope for. And no pressure to write a 2nd part u can stop there if u want. I’d literally read anything u write I don’t even mind the pairings lol cuz your writing is amazing!

A/N: technically this isn’t a request but I wanted to write it, oh and thank you so much!!!!!!

Part 1

“You ready?” You knocked on Carol’s door, standing in the doorway as she grabbed her towel from her bed.

“Yeah.” Carol answered, she wore a navy blue crewneck and loose shorts over her swimsuit and had a peacock blue towel slung over her shoulder as she followed you out.

You wore your fav/color sweatshirt and some loose white shorts with your fav/color swimsuit from yesterday underneath, you walked towards the pool to find the entire team already there, half in the pool as the other half sunbathed.

You and Carol slithered out of your robes, you cannonballed into the pool instantly while trying not to stare at Carol sunbathing in a bikini. Carol sunbathed for about 15 minutes until you splashed her with water, grinning. Carol grinned back at you and a splash war ensued, Natasha climbed on top of Clint’s shoulders and started trying to splash you while laughing.

“Oh you’re on Romanoff.” You joked, climbing onto the pool’s side before indicating Carol to stand in front of you, she frowned slightly. “Oh come on.” you groaned.

Carol got the hint and stood in front of you, you jumped, sitting on Carol’s shoulders, Carol wrapped both her arms around your legs and laughed, finding it easy to carry you.

“Good to know I’m light.” You joked as Carol walked towards Clint and Nat in the pool, you and Nat started wrestling to get the other off.

“Oh no you’re really heavy,” Carol joked, you took one arm away and slapped her head lightly, losing your balance and toppling off of Carol’s shoulders, bringing her down in the pool with you.

You put your head above the water with a huge grin on your face, the second Carol got her head above the water you splashed her, she grinned again but before you could start, Tony invited you to a game of truth or dare.

“Y/n, truth or dare?” he asked after everyone was sitting in a circle on the pool’s side, umbrella’s shielding you from the sun.

“Truth.” You stated, Tony smirked, which was never a good sign.

“Are you in love with Carol?” He asked, putting his hand in front of your face as if he was holding a microphone, a blush quickly lit up on your face, Carol looked at you, waiting for a response.

“Da-dare.” You said, Tony rolled his eyes and took his hand away from your face, a smirk still on his face.

“I dare you to kiss Carol in the pool.” He dared, your eyes widened as your blush worsened.

“Why in the pool?” Carol asked, hearing someone murmur ‘that’s the thing you caught onto?’

“Cause it’s cliche.” Wanda shrugged, you glared at her and she winked at you. 

“It’s part of the rules y/n.” Steve stated, before grinning at Tony and picking you up.

“STEVE PUT ME DOWN!” You shrieked as Steve started walking over to the pool, Carol observed but was soon pushed into the pool by Nat, it was easier since she was sitting right next to the pool.

“Okay.” Steve shrugged and dropped you in the pool right next to Carol.

You stood up and glared at them, Carol did the same thing, an equal blush lighting up both of your faces. They started chanting ‘kiss’ over and over again, Carol opened her mouth to say something to try to get them to stop, you rolled your eyes and grabbed her neck, watching her face turn into confusion before you smashed your lips into hers.

Carol didn’t respond for a second in shock, but melted into it instantly, hands wrapping around your waist as her lips moved over yours, fingertips grazing your skin through the cutouts, making your breath hitch slightly as you leaned in again, ignoring the team cheering you.

You finally pulled away for breath, grinning up at Carol who smiled softly down at you, sunlight glinting in her hazel eyes. 

“That was intense for a truth or dare kiss.” Clint remarked slyly.

“Shut up.” You and Carol shouted at once, laughing.

A/N: No one needed this but here we are now

Tag List: @capcarolsdanver, @versdan, @lesbian-girls-wayhaught, @lovebotlarson, @dhengkt, @5aftermidnight, @hstoria, @natasha-danvers, @veryfunnyal, @xxxtwilightaxelxxx , @ophelias-heart  , @never-didbefore , @justarandomhumanhere, @the-most-unicorn-of-them-all , @thatssocamryn , @lesbian-x-blackwidow , @marvelbbyx , let me know if you’d like to be in any of my tag lists!

[thedappleddragon]

exit 83 bootleg live reactions

because i already did it with the australian one

yaaaaay

good job jeremy actor

i wish i could see tho

aw the way his voice got soft when hesaid hero :D

also this is already a bop

wow rich wrote that really fast apperantly

a TINY nitpick (just because im used to the origional cast studio recording) jeremys actor could put in a touch more emotion. he’s not bad at all!!!! he’s good. just sayin

i wanna seeeeee

i take back me earlier comment about more emotion he’s great wow

holt sHIT when the croud screamed for michael?? honestly same

omg yayy we can see the set design! nice

i miss the scream before “im lstenin to marley”

awww my heart <3 he sounded so sympathetic with “how was class u look like ass whats wrong” he’s so sweet

boyf riends

“i hate this school” omg such an angry bab i love it

omg i love christine and her outfit is SO CUTE YES BITCH LONG SOCKS

whoever’s filming? same

oh my god my poor hEART HE’S SO SAD I LOVE IT

HOLY SHIT HE’S SO LONELY AND SAD I FEEL TERRIBLE

u can realy feel how alone he feels. just him singing and the soft piano and he blue lighting and noone on stage close to him? HOLY SHIT

HE’S SO PITIFUL I CANT HELP IT

o love how everyone slowly starts to dance again by first just kind of bouncing and then they turn around one by one? god i love whoever directed/choreographed this

oh he’s so nervous 

my bean <333

CHRISTIIIIINNEEEEE GOD I LOVE EVERY ITERATION OF HER 

im smiling like a doofus i love her and i cant get over how much i love her OUTFIT SHES SO CUTE

shes so bouncy and cute <333 god my weak gay heart

HOLY FUCK

there’s also a part of me that wants to do this

OBLOBLOBLBOBLBOBOBLBOBLO

I WAS NOT FUVKING PREPARED 

I WAS EXPECTING THE SCREAM

AND THE SHE SAYS “so i did it” SO MATTER-OF-FACT-LY 

GOD I LOVE HER

 “aw” honestly same

aw shes so cutesquirming in her chair from exitment

i stg i must hae ghostfilmed this because SAME

“our funds will be diverted to the frisby golf team” “YES” “omg jake”

ME

i feel like jake’s dialogue was kind of monotone and didnt have enough pauses

n the bathroom dialogue was kind of awkward with its pacing, but then again it could have been because of the audience talking. idk

SOAR BI

ITS FROM JAPAAAAAAN

but really rich’s actor is really good from what i can hear

AAAAA 2 PLAYER GAME honestly im not even mad that i cant see they sound amazing

the scamming realization is different but thats not a bad thing

i love michael

and i kind of like that they didnt lunge at every trumpet blare 

FUCKING HELL GOD DAMMI SHIT FUCK DAMN HOLY HELL WHY IIS MY SWEET BABY MICHAEL MELL DABBING MAKE IT STOP FUCKING SHIT LOL

LIKE ITS FUNNY IF HES DOING IRONICLY TO PISS OFF JEREMY (and that seems like a very michael thing to do) BUT ASDFGHJKKLQWEHRDFJGHVB

i am both enraged and laughing my ass off

also shit michael’s actor has a very nice lower vocal range

the legendary fall into the beanbags! yes!

oh my god theyre both such dorks <3

ok i couldnt see that well but apperantly the extras cleaning up the set were dressed as video game characters and omg? that’s genius 

um what’s going on with the drug dealer’s voice? are there 2 of them? is that their squip? i am confusion 

thats what makes it so... AWESOME 

aw... i really wanted to see the squip activate... or at least hear it... :(

HOLY SHIT THE SQUIP IS SUCH A GOOD SINGER

JEREMY asdfghjkl you’re so extra

i love how extra everyone is in this musical its gREAT

are they using a live band for the music? because the trumpet just fucked up

the squip is so EXTRA i wanna see himmmmm

also i just remembered the theory about hiw the trumper blare and the cutoff of the regge time beat was to simulate optic nerve blocking being turned on and it made me sad

but then i was unsad because i remebered how much of a fuckin BOP this whole musical is!!!

lol sarcastic play rehersal is great

in the “from a guy that id never be into” song (sorry i dont know the name) christine sounds less infatuated and more powerful. not sure i like it

lol jeremy’s crying lmao

its kind of funny how they solved the problem of not being able to portray that they were behind the school other than bird chirps and her blatently saying so

lol squip gay “just take me inside you”

oooOOOOOoooo rolling around on the floor? thats new

“extra circular activity” also its cute how he couldn hit that high note

WHY DOES JAKE SOUND LIKE FUCKING KERMIT THE FROG

I AM GOING TO KERMIT

AA I LOVE seeing michael so exited my good baby

wow really good lighting effects

“oh...” same 

“OH MY GOD” same just let me SEE

“i- ag- i drew it right!” lol holy shit

haha its funny watching the squip suffer

ooooooOOOOO THEYRE ROLLING OUT THE BATHTUB IM NOT REAY FOR ALL OF THESE EMOTIONS

that scream

the whole croud is ME aw-ing for michael

ok so u know how i like trans michael (what no im not stalling) what if trans michael is sitting in the bathroom and actually was on his peiod. oof

no imnot crying youre crying TT-TT

omg i completely forgot about all oft the siagogue between MITB and RSAFABDTH

wow all of the dancing in this is great

the squip is such a badass

also i jus noticed this is the first time he came down from his tower thing

OOOH and i assume all of the black figures resemble all of the squips he’s about to unleash upon the school? nice

i live for the squip’s “beep bop boop”s

seriously the squip is such a good villian 

i never really liked the pants song, but its not that bad

AAAAA I LOVE HOW THEY OPENED THE MIDSUMMER NIGHT WITH ZOMBIES thats so cute and cool

AWW Christine sounded do heartbroken :,( “what’s wrong with me now?” NOTHING SWEETIE I LOVE U <333

HOLY SHIT THIS IS SUPER GOOD

watching everyone get squipped is so much fun wow

“IIIIII NNNEEEEEEEEED MMOUUNTAIIIIINNN DEEEEEWWW REEEEEEEEEEED!!!!” lol oy cracks me up every time

MICHAEL MAKES AN ENTRANCE 

“give it to me!” “hey, wait! ......................no” “... but i need it D:>” holy shit i cant breathe

i dont think ive ever seen this banter n the middle of the play and im shitting myself laughing

*person filming is zooming in on michael and jeremy cuddling* me: big mood

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOH FUCK” BITCH IF THAT AINT ME

AAA THE SQUIPS DEATH WAS SO MUCH MORE DRAMATIC THAN I COULD HAVE EVER HOPED FOR HOLY SHIT

The girl filming while the squip dies: “no, not my daddy”

RICH MY LISPY BOY

im in awe

they’re all just bouncing up and down this is so cute

i always forget exactly how much i love this mudical but then i watch a booyleg and im sucked right back into bmc hell <3

awe man did u have to cut off right before the final note?

[sobdasha]

i got caught up with this not because i did better but because i’ve had no time/watched some tv

War for the Oaks, Emma Bull I began reading this book at the same time as The Innkeeper's Song, listed below. I started out dragging my feet on this one and racing through TIS. But one book got progressively more amazing while the other book got progressively less impressive and my better book is this one. This was the roomie's first brush with urban fantasy, and one of her friends got her a second-hand first edition paperback, and so she talked about it a lot until I finally picked it up and she said "Uh but also I haven't read it in forever so I uh. Don't know how it holds up." (She rightly fears me because as you will have noticed I am a Very Particular Reader.) Reasons I disliked this book at first: - fashion choices that scream "1980s" and fashion choices that scream "lesbian" are incredibly similar and guess which of the two I am not getting, seeing as this was published in 1987. - Eddie is breaking up with her garbage boyfriend which is good but she has an incredible amount of chemistry with Carla which is disheartening given that I know I won't get sapphics and Eddie will end up dating some other boy with whom there is no chemistry. - This is a book about rock-n-roll bands I don't know any of these songs (okay I might know these songs but I don't know artists or titles so I may as well not know any of these songs) it's kinda wasted on me. - oh boy I'm so excited to watch her and the phouka fight like Kagome and Inuyasha or any other pair with this dynamic yaaaaay /sarcasm Reasons this came to be a Good Read: - Everyone dresses so goddamn queer in this book that you know what, everyone except that jerkass Stuart is queer. He's garbage so he can be straight or whatever. It's my reading experience I do what I want. There's no way these people aren't bi. Also it's canon because everyone takes one look at the phouka and assumes he's gay. …………………………with slurs but still. - Good supporting cast. - I both failed to give the phouka a deep voice and also to sustain a Stereotypical Gay voice (which, the dialogue will totally 100% support), but I did accidentally voice him with Tatum's dub of Tomoe from Kamisama Kiss which was completely appropriate in the "vaguely gay vaguely British unambiguously prissy" department, and also entertaining because it reminded me of the dynamics in that anime but, y'know, better. - I almost gave up when the romance hit hardcore but it turned out later that was actually a fake-out that was meant to be garbage and set us up for the endgame much later, by which point Eddie and the phouka actually had the same level of chemistry as Eddie and Carla, so I could actively enjoy the ship. A win! Anyway it was fun. It may not have aged the best in the sense that it strove to be accurate to time and place (see: homophobic slurs), but the character dynamics held up pretty dang well. I would definitely read this again and enjoy myself; in fact I plan to.

The Innkeeper's Song, Peter S. Beagle I was very excited to read this because I was so blown away by The Last Unicorn but the more I read the more disappointed I got. Half the time I feel like that weeb who is like "hello I only like your fanfic you wrote when you were 13 and high on pixie stixs, all your stuff now sucks", and half the time I tell myself, "Maybe there is a reason I've only ever heard of The Last Unicorn and had no idea he'd actually written other books." As you have probably picked up by now, I have a knee-jerk dislike of first person PoV where it must prove itself worthy to me first, despite the fact that I like plenty of things written in first person. I also have a knee-jerk dislike of "I will change the narrator every chapter and announce loudly who it is instead of doing it subtly but unmistakably in the content of the text itself." This book had both. Despite all my harsh judgment, it would be incorrect of me to say that this writing choice is not valid. That this writing choice cannot be used to amazing effect. I do not believe that is what happened here. I did not feel it was adding much to the story to begin with (other than being the shortest and straightest path to advancing a narrative with many fronts), and I was definitely unimpressed when we got to the string of chapters, all of them less than a page and some no more than a paragraph, during the orgy scene where the 3 women have sex with 1 teen boy who's been thirsting after them, and they pay him a lot of worshipful attention in the orgy even though none of them actually like him, and also this is when we reveal one of the women is a man in disguise in the most confusing way possible so my cringe got even deeper as I waited for Beagle to fuck up a trans storyline. (It was literally just "I'm on the run so I'm magically dressing as a girl" but it took a really long time to clarify that after.) In addition to not liking the narrative structure, I just wasn't interested or invested in the actual plot. It didn't feel very urgent or important and at the end I was like "what even happened and also why did it happen." I was underwhelmed. I was definitely the wrong audience for this book. Oh also because I was not enjoying myself I started to get really irrationally annoyed by the way fantasy fauna and flora would have fantasy names and they would be italicized. In a first person PoV. Where the narrator is literally speaking the language that this word is native to. It half felt pretentious, and half highlighted what felt like a loose thread: everyone is literally narrating to someone (presumably collecting the story, after everyone has gone their separate ways) and this has all been woven together into a proper narrative, but our story collector is absent despite addresses to such a person. What purpose does this serve? Does it make it more ~authentic~ fantasy? Because I don't buy it. Now my suspension of disbelief is snapped; I'd have preferred it was either left out entirely, or made into a brilliant framing device like in The Name of the Wind.

Giant Bones, Peter S. Beagle This one was short stories "set in the same universe as The Innkeeper's Song", which basically meant some city names were reused, as well as all those italicized fantasy names and the "I am narrating my story to an audience in-story" frame. You know, all the things I didn't particularly care for. I pressed on to see if there was anything I might like, but since I can't remember, I assume there wasn't. Because this left me wanting, and the title was Giant Bones, I went to reread Conservation of Shadows by Lee instead, starting with "The Bones of Giants," which was greatly preferable, so much more my speed. That's when I did the write-up for the last round of books lol.

Nimona, Noelle Stevenson This has been on my list for Forever but I'm bad at reading new books. Anyway! Nimona was very good!! It felt, hm, very self-indulgent in the way that is amazing, where the creator gives themself whatever they want and the work turns out brilliantly because of it. I didn't think I was into friends to enemies to lovers but apparently I love it wen Stevenson handles it (see: She Ra reboot). Speaking of She Ra, I probably would have figured out where the end game was going if I'd read Nimona before looool. I know people referenced it when they talked ships but I just….didn't...pay enough attention. There was found family stuff I enjoyed, dad stuff, I'm finding that I am liking a lot of takes on monster girls, etc. Anyway it gave me a lot of feelings, it was funny, it was good, I need to get a copy.

The Dragon Pearl, Yoon Ha Lee The first time I talked about this book I mentioned something about the pacing and suspending disbelief or whatever, but I want to note that this time the pacing felt perfect and the plot didn't seem weird at all, it flowed very smoothly. I don't know if that's because it was a reread and I knew where it was going, or because I just read it awkwardly the first time. Anyway. Something that stood out to me this time is that, near the end, I realized this story is a bit animated Disney Mulan. There's even the "you broke this you broke that you impersonated a soldier but also you saved China so thanks" bit. Where The Dragon Pearl is wildly different from other Mulan-type stories that I like (see: Monstrous Regiment) is that it is entirely ungendered. (There are some mentions of gender in the book. These amount mostly to, "most foxes choose to be female because Tradition but one of my cousins decided to be male like my brother and no one mocks him for it" and "official name tags also include handy signifiers of which personal pronouns a person prefers.") What I'm trying to say is, a lot of other stuff when dealing with/trying to deconstruct gender stereotyping, ends up reinforcing it in a way. In order to illustrate why the stereotypes are wrong, they end up repeating the stereotypes a lot in order to argue against them. The Dragon Pearl, on the other hand, is genderless in a way that doesn't reinforce the gender binary. There are no gendered clothes. There are no gendered bathrooms. There are no gendered hairstyles or accessories. There are no gendered actions or emotions or stereotypes. There are no gendered bodies (the differences highlighted between Min and Jang-who-she's-shapeshifting-into are of build ie, height, center of gravity, not of private bits). No plot points revolve around the maleness of the person Min is impersonating; no plot points revolve around the femaleness of Min. And they/them? It's never explained why any person uses that pronoun. They just do so that's just how it is. I just think this is amazingly neat and I wanna applaud Lee for this finesse.

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, Mackenzi Lee I put this on my list because Queer and people were recommending it, but it was not well-advertized to me. I was expecting shallow teen romance, but dressed in historical clothes and unsubtly, unabashedly, unashamedly GAY. So I was expecting some gay. I was not expecting gay pining I actually enjoyed, I was not expecting call-outs for privilege of wealth and class and sex and color, I was not expecting the drama of the romance to not be stupidly fabricated misunderstandings but instead be driven by the need for character development and personal growth, I had forgotten I was expecting people of color, people with disabilities, badass women, I was not expecting a nuanced call-out of ableism ("I don't believe I need to be well to be happy", etc). I was not expecting a reversal of gender stereotypes that avoided saying "X gender is bad." Like, Monty is the team weakest link. Monty faints at the sight of blood. Monty is romantic and emotional and swoons at the slightest provocation. Monty uses his wiles to seduce people, that's the main skill he actually brings to the party. Monty cries. Aside from probably Monty's asshole dad who hates him for being gay, no one else nor the narrative calls these traits out as being Feminine (And Therefore Bad). Like, haha, We All Know These Are All Stereotypes Of Women At The Time, but no one says it. I find there's something really nice about no one saying it. Meanwhile, Percy and Felicity are competent and cool and I heart them. (What the hell, I heart Monty too. He really grows on you. He's so soft and in love and pathetic.) Anyway going back to the privilege thing, I love that Percy and Felicity and others constantly call Monty out on his privilege and refuse to coddle him over it. But they also care about him and they are very tender to him, not because of his privilege, but because he is a person who deserves basic person things, when he has his own issues. Your issues don't excuse your behavior, but yikes we deeply underestimated the sheer depth of your PTSD and we're gentler with you because of it. So try to stop being an ass. This book is just super wholesome and I can already tell this will be one of my new go-to's when I need a comfort book. Like Ancillary Justice etc.

The Gentleman's Guide to Getting Lucky, Mackenzi Lee This is not a fanfiction in the sense that is it written by the author and not a fan, but you need to understand, as part of me selling this to you as earnestly as I can, this is a fanfiction set after The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue which involves hijinks as Monty and Percy try and fail hilariously to have their first time having sex together, Felicity tries to wingman, there are miscommunications and nervous breakdowns and tender resolutions and it is absolutely a perfect indulgence. Because it was written by the actual author everyone is 100% in character and the narrative voice is spot-on. Kudos!

The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, Mackenzi Lee Ace/aro Felicity???? ACE/ARO FELICITY!!! TBH I only vaguely remembered the descriptions for this one, ie "this time it's lesbians," and I was reading this going "there is a suspicious lack of lesbians but so much platonic vibes and also…..maybe…..maybe…????" and like I got both lesbians AND ace/aro Felicity????? Lee wrote this book? As a gift? For me???? I cannot believe I was blessed with "not like other girls"!Felicity as a vehicle for calling out the internalized misogyny inherent in the Not Like Other Girls mindset, and it is glorious. You can like pretty dresses and running around doing science, or you can hate dresses and only love science, or you can only like pretty dresses, or you can like whatever the heck you want in whatever combo, doesn't matter you're still a girl you're still valid and this shit isn't mutually exclusive. Much as I don't wear makeup (I've slowly learned to wear dresses again) in real life, gosh I love Johanna for being like "I love dresses and I love science and what if I was a badass adventurer but also got to be rescued a lot" because that was bitty me. Gimme a princess dress and a sword and a bow and arrows but also a tower to be rescued from and then various adventures. I want it both ways! And that's okay!! Also this is a critique I have apparently wanted since at least 3rd grade, see this proof from my daily journal prompts, I apologize for my lack of attention to spelling and forming letters: "Girls are what ever girls are. Girls like different things so I con't judge them all. Some girls like barbies. Just becaus you my not like barbies dosn't mean those girls aren't girls, it means they like more things that hove barbies. I like nintendo and I'm a girl." Apparently I was a Not Like Other Girls who thought Other Girls were still extremely valid. (that's kind of hilarious though because like, child, you had Barbies and didn't hate Barbies, you are just bad at playing with dolls and props. You're also bad at playing Nintendo.) Other stuff specifically, hm, it was refreshing to not have "I am skinny and perfect and clearly ugly" or even "I am legitimately ugly." Instead we have, "You do realize my torso is a solid rectangle, it laughs at this corset which I guess we are going to put on anyway, also my football player shoulders are going to literally pop the sleeves off that dress" and "I am built like a corgi dog, this is simply a fact of my proportions." Like, Felicity definitely has Issues with her traditional femininity and lack thereof, but I feel like it was never specifically tied to "my body shape is ugly." Also to go back to this book being written for me personally. You know they always say to write things that only you could write, that are self-indulgent, write what you want to see? It's really hard to do without a template to follow. Right before I picked up this book I realized that maybe The Thing Only I Would Write would be saying "a Skadi-and-Njord marriage is in fact a valid happy ending," but I've never seen that before and I don't know what it would look like even if I kind of understand the concept. All the media I consume, if not ending in romantic soulmates, is at least found family. If you are a loner, if you like being alone, your happy ending is to get a manic-pixie-dream-anything (girl, grandson, grandma, dog, whathaveyou) and integrate back into being social. There are no happy endings where a loner stays alone, where you get married but live separately and see each other very rarely because you love them but can't stand to live with them and you need to be alone to exist as you. And Mackenzi Lee just up and wrote it. It's valid to want to live in a house by yourself filled with bookshelves and have friends. It's valid for a girl to marry another girl who is a pirate and sails around most of the time and only comes to visit on occasion so you don't get sick of her and you keep loving her. This is an okay thing for an ace/aro to want, and it's valid to be happy with this. I can't even, y'all. I'm still marveling. I finally have seen a picture of the life I know would make me happy, and it's finally been acknowledged that I can be happy. (The amount of time I've spent, knowing I hate being social, and wondering--how many years down the line, when I'm living alone and content, will the switch suddenly flip? How many bridges will I have left behind when it turns out that I actually feel loneliness, and I'm miserable and unable to make friends and it turns out there are no manic pixie dream whatevers in real life and I fucked myself over forever because I was wrong and I should have been maintaining these social ties now and turning into someone I'm sure I'm not? What if people like me, who don't really get lonely without people, don't actually exist??) Anyway representation matters. Also Felicity being blindsided with Callum's proposal was, wow, okay I should have caught on to ace!Felicity then because that was so very accurate to my life experience minus people cutting fingers off. Look I was quoting stuff at the end to a friend and she was like "maybe that's why there's aces on the cover" and I am a very stupid ace okay. Felicity and Johanna's intense queerplatonic friendship that they keep trying to take up again in among the same sort of "you need character growth" drama that Monty needed re: Percy is also just, chef kiss, god I love this book. I need to buy this book. I haven't yet so what I did is I renewed all the books so I could immediately reread them after I finished them the first time.

[vestrits]

ive already pretty much liveblogged everything on twitter BUT i like to keep track of these dumb things so here is a quick recount of what happened on my trip:

> plan: go to spain, then rome to meet friend > is in spain. meets my bestie & stays at his flat, BUT my bestie is in a pinch bc he has no job & his flatmate tells me that on saturday they might give a party if he finds sth > he does > me (against friend): ‘what a shame looool i rlly want to stay now ugh’ > him: ‘yea well but u already paid right’ me: ‘yea i cant just change my fight ha ha ha’ > literally 2 seconds later: ‘not to be impulsive or anything but im 100% checking flights and here’s one on sunday lol’

> yaaaaay i surprise friend

MEANWHILE AT NIGHT i have a dream abt the flatmate kissing me and hes 100% nice and i wake up going ‘oh no’  bc he’s not my type but suddenly i Notice him aka RIP ian’s aloof cool self, u will now Die because

my brain: PUSHES THE REVERSE HAREM AUTOPILOT MODE BUTTON

> catches glimpse of him out of the shower in the morning, shirtless, runs into the fkcing door > drops phone, a water boiler, a plate, idk what else but IT WAS BAD I DROPPED EVERYTHING LITERALLY EVERYTHING > i need his pc so i went to ask if i could use it, SURPRISE BITCH he’s in the bathroom, SHIRTLESS, opens it, me ‘o-oh oops’ ‘no no sfine what do u need’ (has to lean in and whisper so friend doesnt hear) (dies) > gets super self-conscious when he sits next to me, against me, during the fcking films we watch in the evening > INCREDIBLY easily startled at EVERYTHING  > stumbles 54789 times in front of him or not in front of him, hits head every time im in the kitchen, > manages to fuck up cooking RICE

me: ok fine so im into him now FINE I GUESS

> commence operation ‘ian tries not to be a cowardly hoe’

> gets fkcing tipsy on the last night just so i can muster my courage and REALLLY lean against him (i dont rlyl remember this part except that i reached for his hand twice when i got jumpy) > since 45687 of my friends told me to do something that thought remained prevalent the entire night so my tipsy ass, after receiving a generous amount of 3 hugs, goes up to him and goes ‘can i-- touch your HAIR--’ and meep meep red alert i want to get out of there after realising that was NOT right so i awkwardly pat it and gtfo after mumbling more nonsense

> i was supposed to get a flight that morning but me + tipsy + my fUCKING PERIOd + 2HRS OF SLEEP = i wake up with a fever and nausea; IM NOT GETTING ON A PLANE LIKE THAT so i cancel my plan to go to rome and extend my stay in spain YET AGAIN

> also wants to die bc at least i wouldnt have had to face him after the awkward phrase but NOPE > 5 hrs later i wake again and my pal is at his work so its me all alone in the kitchen and i barely manage to keep the dishes alive, flatmate shows up super confused as to why im still here and ehhrhrh ANYWAY

anyway

> i finally tell my bestie in spain that i seem to have a thing for his flatmate > ‘yes i think its obvious hahah’ SSSSHHHHUT UP I WANNA DIE > ‘u should try something’ commence stage 2 of the plan > SUCCEEDS in holding onto his arm even tho it was only the last 10ish minutes of the film (we watch a film every night) > during the day, nothing tho > doesheevenlikeit.png > the final night: HE MAKES THE FIRST MOVE angel choirs are singing i am blessed and can leave in peace > the end

ish. im still dead bc i wrote him a thank u note for keeping up with my awkward shy self and drew a fat cat on it and totally made it weird i bet and i want to fucking die again bc now im thinking ‘WHAT IF HE WAS JSUT PITYING ME’ (very likely) and uhhh yeah anyway im going back in february to hopefully have a blast again bc ALL THIS ASIDE it was rlyl fun and i feel really proud of myself for being able to try sth EVEN THO IT WAS THE MOST AWKWARD THING EVER 

> basically this entire video probably happened to me

[melien]

Prepare for Julianne’s cute little face to take over the blog :D

(x)

lilinabe said: I can really understand you by going to write things down you have so long in your head. It happens to me too that I have some stuff in my head but don’t like it but don’t get rid of it until I do write things down. XD so you are forgiven. :)

Mostly happens with the ideas which seem ridiculous at first :D

(x)

zauglom said: OMG, I’m dead 😍😍😍

I looked at the result and was like “what? is it really my drawing?” :D

(x)

grumpysimmies said: Maaaan Logan is too good xD

This guy is something else lmao

(x)

asimlishpixel said: yaaaaay!!! :D

Congrats Andrea :P

(x)

grumpysimmies said: What a cutie ;-; (I love the pointy ears omg <3)

I think I’m overusing them :D Thanks!

(x)

electronicsmarts said: Sureeeeeeee 😉

Hehehe

(x)

alexwearinacoolhat said: i’m all for gay legends 👌

jackssims said: Gay legends omg 😂

simlovinggirl said: lmao, omg i laughed so hard at this.

goatkibble said: LMAO

The moment I saw Terry I knew he appeared to pass some of his rich experience to Tobias haha

(x)

stephaniesim said: Yay! I was so worried that Chloe was going home!

Glad she stays :3

(x)

simlovinggirl said: I wouldn’t blame you if you never moved on from this generation <3

lilinabe said: I love them :3

Luckily the focus will be on them for another while before Irene becomes a teen :3

(x)

simlovinggirl said: I’m totally a Nate and Tobias Forever girl <3 too cute!

Who knew they’ll become such an OTP ♥  

(x)

simlovinggirl said: lol xD Poor Tobias <3

His and Dain’s relationship is such a rollercoaster lmao

(x)

simlovinggirl said: She’s adorable!!! <3

simmeronnie said: Such a cutie!

I’ll show her as an adult *-* She definitely looks a lot like Wendy but I assume something’s different, can’t figure out what exactly. (Ignore these eyebrows, they appear on every sim of mine, are non-recolorable and I have no idea how to get rid of them and when have I even installed them)

(x)

blurrypxls said: Lmaoo

blurrypxls said: He actually sort of reminds me of Trump stepdad

He’s Trump stepdad but three times thinner

(x)

jackssims said: me whenever I have company over

My only company is my dog lmao 

(x)

simlovinggirl said: *_* Soooo beautiful!!! <3

amixofpixels said: Still a total cutie.

I’m glad kids finally started to grow up :3

(x)

alexwearinacoolhat said: can i be number one fan of ted please

I thought you are :D

grumpysimmies said: It’s been a while haha!

This generation had so many bright personalities!

(x)

alexwearinacoolhat said: dont be jealous tobias

alexwearinacoolhat said: …forget i wrote this

Plot twist: Tobias is actually in love with Ted 

(x)

grumpysimmies said: She’s adorbs ;-;

asimlishpixel said: She looks so cool! *o*

lesyasun said: Gosh! Cutie!

A great start for Julianne *-* I’m happy you like her!

(x)

amespixels said: Aw, thanks so much for doing this! Definitely going to have to put them in my game!!

I got this idea from other people who do BC’s and liked it, it’s like a little present to the person who sent you the sim, to show the appreciation *-* 

(x)

simlovinggirl said: awww, his little face <3 I love kyle :D

I know right, I’ll always love him and too bad I don’t know what to do with him right now except photoshoots :( I’d like to explore his personality so much because it’s very close to my own as I mentioned a couple times before

(x)

simlovinggirl said: aww, she’s beautiful!

Thank you, I love making over premades (and the quality of this game is breathtaking *-*)

katatty-main said: i remember this story, im so excited! hope u upload the old chapters on wordpress too,would be giod to recap :)

@katatty I’ve already done the recap recently and you can find the previous updates here. Thank you for your interest in this story, it means a lot :3

[ethereal-lix]

Omg your first priority is healing and getting better dw about replying fast or anything lol do whatever is comfortable for you :) life’s been pretty good heh I had to stay up until like 3 and then wake up again at 6 everyday for the past week bc school teachers are being bums in the last weeks lol but it’s fine :) I wrote a paper that got full points so ✌🏼 it’s cool lolol I’m ready for the summer. omg but the sad part is that the guy I like is gonna leave the school

:( but it’s fine lol he was my first actual crush. It was fun having him around while it lasted. He was pretty cool lolol I liked him for a good two years. I’ll get over it soon enough :) It’s about time I get over him oml I use to try so hard but then I’d see him the next day and I’d be like !!! Omg hi ily !!! yeah seeing him was stressful™️ for me lmao. I hope he has a good life :)

I finally have time to sit down and reply !!! Ugggh I’ve been slacking I’m so sorry :((((

Oof I feel you. The other day I slept in until 3 because I haven’t had the chance to sleep and rest and sleep in in almost a month so my body literally died and wouldn’t function until 3pm.

Yaaaaay to writing papers that get full points !!!! I always loved when it my writings got full points plus extra. It made me feel good.

Omgggggg nooooo !!!! He’s leaving ?!?!?! Did the booty ever get touched ????? Speaking of booty touches and crushes gurrrlllll let me tell you what happened with my work boyfriend omg. Lololol I feel you. I’m always like I’ll get over him and I start the process but then I see him smile and I’m like oh hi feelings how are we today ?? We still gonna crush on him. And they’re like duh. I hope he has a good life as well. Also I would totally confess to him before he leaves cause like he’s leaving. He won’t be there next year so everything will be all Gucci. I hope I’m not too late with this🙃🙃🙃