#not speaking on the actual quality of the books btw

[girlmikeyway]

listen i'm not saying the cover for Where Are Your Boys Tonight is good at all but if you're going to complain then let's also acknowledge that all the covers for Not The Life It Seems look like this

the shitty graphics are camp and part of the experience just go with it

#the third one is the most passable cover but. it's servicable at best #not speaking on the actual quality of the books btw #where are your boys tonight #not the life it seems #text #ash speaks #mcr

[smolsleepyfox]

Do NOT let me loose in a museum shop it does not end well

#at least for my wallet lol #they even had a tablet weaving set!! BUT the tablets weren't great quality so I'll get some better ones #foxy speaks #i so wanna weave my own blanket now btw #and i got a naalbinding needle!! from bone! #didn't buy any books yet because expensive but i wannaaaa #the divination stines were also VERY tempting even though I don't even believe in this stuff. but pretty #i did get myself two oretty bronze necklace hangers based on actual finds from viking graves so

[twisted-lover-boys]

Haiii so I your requests were open and wanted to ask if you could write a small fic abt Ruggie developing feelings for a reader that’s Malleus’s little brother(or sibling if you’d rather do a gn reader) who is like really ethereal and kind?

Ruggie with a boyfriend who is Malleus’ brother

{not proof-read}

As much as I’m not a fan of doing “reader is sibling to character” I’ll do it for you because I like your pfp. This is the only time I’m doing it btw!!

==================================

🦁🍩🐺🦁🍩🐺🦁🍩🐺🦁🍩🐺🦁🍩🐺🦁🍩🐺🦁🍩🐺

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Your whole life, the only thing you’ve ever known was your brother Malleus and Lilia. With you and Malleus both being the crown princes, a lot of expectations were placed upon you at a young age

You were the opposite of your brother, taking more after your father in terms of looks. Of course you’d till retained your mother’s draconic features as is the dragon fae bloodline

Although you looked more approachable than your brother, you power and name alone scared people off. It was honestly a lovely life and you were tired of it

So being able to go to NRC was something you both weren’t going to pass up. You were tired of how your life was and wanted a change. Maybe this was it?

It was only a matter of time until you met Ruggie. You don’t really remember how this came to be, but a crush had started to form for the hyena. Luckily, you weren’t the only one. It was only a matter of time before you and the hyena got together

At first, Malleus and Lilia were wary of Ruggie as they didn’t want you to be taken advantage of, but after a few days of watching you both interact with each other, they knew you were in good hands

Now on to the actual relationship!!

Ruggie is not used to being spoiled in any way, shape, or form. Whether it be through gifts or acts of affection, he will not know how to process it after a while

On that note, he feels bad that he can’t spoil you in the same you do. Even though you reassure him that he doesn’t have to get you anything, he still tries his best to gift you things

Ruggie is more of a physical touch kinda guy. While he doesn’t mind kisses or words of affection, he would much prefer getting hugs or hanging off your arm or shoulder

Please make or buy this man donuts. He doesn’t care if they’re high quality ones from an exclusive store or you made them by your own hands he will scarf them down without hesitation

On that note, Ruggie knows how to cook with so little and how to make it super good in the process. He likes making you things that you’ve never had before

If you’re anything like your brother, then you probably have a little tamogachi. You care about that thing more than life itself. Ruggie actually tried to get a matching one until he realized just how old your model was…

The stuff that happened in book 2, he did his best to not involve you. He didn’t really end up caring about what happened to everyone else but he cared about what happened to you

He couldn’t have imagined just how upset you would be when you found out that he did that to your brother and guardian figure. I did cause an little argument but one match of magift and an infirmary recovery cuddle later, all was good

Of course, Diasomnia didn’t hold it against Ruggie as the whole problem started with his dorm head. He tried his best to be friendly with them and it was extremely easy! Sebek only tolerated him because he was dating you

Speaking of family, the fact that you were Malleus’ brother never really crossed his mind because you’re literally the opposite of him. You’re social and kind, you literally look like an angel, always hallowed in light while your brother looks unapproachable and is always shrouded in darkness

Oh dear Seven Ruggie loves seeing you all dressed up and all pretty and handsome for him outside of your school uniform. He’s seen you in so many outfits and you’ve pulled off every single look he’s gonna have a heart attack one day

Speaking of outfits…event time!!

Yeah, no, Ruggie was not about to let some ghost bride take you away from him and he was sure as hell not gonna stand around trying to be someone’s husband or watch one of your retainers vouch for you, especially Sebek. He was more than contented to just stay and chill in Diasomnia with you, your brother, and Silver

Whether you both went to Vargas’ camp at the same time or not, Ruggie will worry over you. He doesn’t care if you’re just as powerful as your brother and can handle yourself, he just doesn’t want anything bad to happen to you

Now that Port Fest is a thing, you find it extremely funny that Ruggie pulled the entire school into this event solely because he wanted to eat because his freshman Jack owed him. Despite that, you still had fun since you’ve never really been to many festivals

Ruggie was screaming, rolling on the floor, begging on his knees, practically dying when he saw you in your masquerade outfit. The silks and laces, the see-through sleeves, the cute hat over your curly horns, he’s so weak for you

He was happy that you and your brother ended up getting personal invitations to the City of Flowers, especially since you and Malleus don’t normally get invited to things because of your reputation. Made him a little sad but he’d never say that out loud

But when he learned what Rollo’s intentions was, to literally kill you and Malleus, he was pissed. He was focused on making sure you were okay and safe despite how upset you were over the false invitation

Oh man when he heard the Bell of Salvation, he went nuts. Now the whole nightmare was over, you were both sage, and you could enjoy the party and gorge yourselves with as much food as you wanted. He thought it best if he didn’t tell you his master plan with Jamil while you went with your brother to the Bell

Imagine dancing and singing with Ruggie as the masquerade. He’s not very good at either but doing it with you is all he wanted

I have nothing else to say he just loves you so much that he can’t put it into words half the time

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

🦁🍩🐺🦁🍩🐺🦁🍩🐺🦁🍩🐺🦁🍩🐺🦁🍩🐺🦁🍩🐺

==================================

#twisted wonderland #twst #twisted wonderland imagines #twisted wonderland x male reader #twst x male reader #savanaclaw #ruggie bucchi #ruggie bucchi x male reader

[endy2eepy]

Favorite Toy Brands

I wanted to make a list of my favorite brands of stuff (mostly toys and games) when I'm in littlespace!

Melisa & Doug ✨

This one's pretty well known (also a bit pricey) but they make lots of roleplay/pretend play toys- especially food themed ones, but also doctor/nurse sets, cleaning sets, ect. They have really good wooden toys.

American Girl ✨

Super duper pricey, but they're the best doll brand especially with their older stuff since each doll has a whole character with books and collections and some even have movies! They've also got lots of craft kits. I recommend MyLife as a cheaper alternative though (that's where I mostly go for extra stuff for my dolls, like clothes and furniture... if I don't make it myself of course!)

(btw here's a link to a Google Drive folder with almost all the movies and books from American Girl)

Make It Real ✨

Arts and craft kits, mostly fashion based. I can't speak much for their actual kits, but I love their fashion sketchbooks!

Nintendo (& Ubisoft) ✨

Video games... duh! I have a Wii and a DS and I love to play Just Dance on the Wii and the Petz series and Imagine Series on DS (all Ubisoft, I think) and also the Wii series games (Nintendo, obviously) and EA playground (EA, obviously)

Kidrobot ✨

Cool plushy store that collaborates with shows and stuff! I really want the Warner Brothers (and the Warner Sister, Dot!!!) plushes and a few others

disclaimer: a lot of these are toys that I want, not that I have- so if you buy them and the quality is bad and you're disappointed, just know that I am too!

#endys sleepy rambles #endys half asleep ideas #agere #age regression #sfw littlespace

[ducktracy]

Idk how easy this will be to answer but what was the best year for Looney Tunes? I'm more fixated on Tom and Jerry myself, but I can't pick between 1947 and 1949. Looney Tunes has many more shorts tho, so its probably a lot harder to say. Would love to hear your opinion! (Loving the Mel Yell polls btw!!)

OH THIS IS SUCH A GOOD ASK!!!! (and thank you so much!!) GEEEEZ that is hard because there are so many different aspects to go by!

i think in general, i would probably say 1945 is the one year that consistently has banger after banger after banger. Wagon Heels maybe being the only exception, but it doesn’t necessarily count since it’s a remake of a previously existing cartoon—and even then, as eugh as the material in it is, i do think Heels does tangibly improve upon its source material in some considerable way. speaking purely in terms of technicalities, there is a noticeable uptick in animation quality and voice acting and timing. there are very few remakes i can say the same for.

i’d argue it’s also a relatively significant year, too—not as significant of a year as, say, 1937 when Mel first officially began voicing characters, Bob Clampett adopted the directing chair and set the tone for a lot of permanent changes, the Porky “that’s all folks” ending is instilled, the first usage of “The Merry Go Round Broke Down” is used for the opening titles—but as far as character introductions go you have Pepé, Sylvester and Yosemite Sam (and all of their respective introductory cartoons are very good—i enjoy what they did with Pepé in that one more than i do any other short with him HAHA), Frank Tashlin is in his element with every short he released, Bob Clampett’s cartoons are likewise top notch and full of lush animation, Chuck Jones has masterpieces like Fresh Airedale and Hare Conditioned, and Friz Freleng’s shorts are consistently hilarious

1946 is an answer always in my head too, but it doesn’t have the benefit of 1945’s short release year (which is one of the shortest out of the entire filmography due to a Technicolor backlog thanks to the war) and so there are a few more mediocrities involved. NOT MANY, and it’s likewise very significant in being the last year for Tashlin and Clampett (who is at his absolute apex this year. no director ever had a stronger string of hit after hit than Clampett with Book Revue, Baby Bottleneck, Kitty Kornered and The Great Piggy Bank Robbery released all in a row), Bob McKimson and Art Davis’ first year of directing, Gossamer and Foghorn Leghorn are introduced… but it does have a few weak spots in the foundation, namely The Big Snooze and Bacall to Arms especially being finished up by Art Davis after Clampett left and it shows. i enjoy both cartoons, but you cannot deny Bacall is a bit of a mess of a cartoon HAHA.

IT IS SO HARD TO JUDGE because there are so many different factors… especially when narrowing it down to directors, who i think each had their own respective “best” years at different times. Chuck Jones unquestionably hit his peak in the ‘50s, whereas McKimson was quicker to hit his peak in the late ‘40s… i actually dont know when Friz’s peak would be, though i do tend to enjoy his efforts from the ‘40s more when he’s not bogged down by middling Tweety cartoons. what i enjoy doesn’t necessarily coincide with what his objective best is, though!

THANK YOU FOR THIS ASK! maybe the deeper i carve into doing my reviews i’ll be able to come out with an actual answer at some point! for now i’d have to say 1945, but there are so many different peaks and highs and lows spread so far apart

#1942-1946 i think are my personal ‘golden years’—i have always stood by the fact that i think 1943 is when the true Warner identity is #solidified once and for all #likewise that year boasts a bunch of my favorites… but also is bogged down a bit by WWII jingoism that’s still particularly egregious #cherry-bomb-ships #asks

[italeean]

Hello! Congrats on 350 followers! You're imcredibly talented, so good on you! May I please request an entry for the event?

Fandom: Bungou Stray Dogs.

Role in the tk community: Ler (I've been blessed with not being ticklish.

Romantic/platonic: Platonic (unless it's Fyodor, Dazai, or Sigma😂)

Gender: Male.

Here's a little about me :)

Age: 23

Gender: male.

MBTI: INTJ.

Introvert/extrovert: introvert.

Hobbies: playing the cello and piano (habe played both since I was 10), playing chess, and reading (I got a whole mini library in my house XD).

Likes: Stargazing, strategizing, books, instrumental music, listening.

Dislikes: Rude people, those who don't listen, dogmatic people, loud/crowded places.

Random facts I thought I'd include: Like a certain Russian rat, I'm anaemic. I'm also a bit of an insomniac, though I take meds for both. I speak MUCH more formally in person, though I tend to use slang or more laxed language online as a tone indicator (the struggles of ASD😅).

Feel free to decline if you get to busy. Your well-being comes first! Have a fantastic day and I wish you luck on all future endveavours!

Hello fellow INTJ, thank you for participating!!! I had lots of fun writing your request, it was genuinely cute 🥹❤️ Btw you remind me a lot of Fyodor haha but I didn't match you with him... anyway, I hope you'll enjoy your match! Let me know if you do, my dear Fyodor-anon ❤️🍡 *some dango to enjoy while reading*

🔮 So for my event, your match is... SIGMA

🔮 Why did I choose him for you?

• Okay first, Sigma is an absolute sweetheart with 100% lee energy, which matches your ler vibes • I feel like he'd be amazed by how many talents you have! He's the kind of guy who'd sit down and watch you play an instant for hours • He'd always take you with him at the casino, but he wouldn't make you stay in the middle of the crowd... he'd probably let you watch the cameras and see how people are playing. He'd love to hear your sarcastic comment's about the lack of brain of some people • I feel like the perfect date for you two would be an indoor date or exploring hidden gems where you can be almost alone and admire the landlord • I feel like his laughter goes from extremely high-pitched to silent... you'd probably tell him "Now I can play another instrument" just to see him blush • He'd be ✨️hopeless✨️ in a chess match against you, which would lead to him pouting at you... and obviously it would mean cheer-up soft tickles!! (I feel like he'd prefer a softer touch in this context) • HOWEVER... he'd be a great match against you in card games because he can memorize the cards so he'd have a big advantage to match your superior strategizing abilities! • I'm sure you'd annihilate him at Risiko, and he'd destroy you at Memory hahaha (if I had a game night with you two, I'd have to get ready for a major humiliation /hj) • I can imagine you two having a window on your ceiling to fall asleep while stargazing, although sometimes you'd also go out • I'm positive that Sigma would close the casino for one night just to do stargazing with you from such a high and secluded spot! • I feel like you'd enjoy reading together sometimes, and then you'd comment on the books you read at night... Sigma would LOVE your more formal speech style • Thanks to his amazing memory, Sigma would remember to make sure you follow a diet full of iron and take iron integrators... he'd do his best to take perfect care of you

🔮 Tickle scenario

Note: "мой ангел" means "my angel"

Fyodor Dostoevsky and Nikolai Gogol probably weren't the best guys around... to be honest, they weren't even close to being good, but they actually did the best thing when they introduced you to Sigma.

He was an angel to you, even if he couldn't see it. How he both listened and opened up to you, watched you play instruments as if you were a music deity, how he showed appreciation towards you and the quality time you spent together... you two were a match made in heaven. Different enough to complete each other and similar enough to be compatible.

You were thinking all of this as you watched your little angel asleep on the couch, breathing deeply but without making a sound. He looked like he was having a peaceful dream.

You had asked him if he could listen to a cello piece you were practicing on. It was an extremely relaxing piece, some critics even said it was probably a lullaby written by the composer for his children, but you didn't really think it would work on your boyfriend.

However, you had to interrupt that blissful moment for Sigma's sake. It was almost dinner time and sleeping at that time was surely going to mess up his sleeping schedule. You chuckled, glancing at that sleeping angelic face once more before tracing his back lightly to wake him up softly.

A smile formed on the dual-haired guy's face and it got wider and wider until it turned into a sleepy, groggy giggle. "Good morning, мой ангел~" you smirked while he looked up at you, still giggling as the last traces of sleep left his eyes.

"I wanna sleep... just keep playing your cello..." he tried pointlessly to swat your hands away. "No can do," You sing-songed "It's dinner time, and you need to get up if you want to sleep tonight." Your words made him groan, but he knew you were right.

"Go awayyy" He whined, and then he made the worst mistake. "Did you... just throw a pillow at my face?" You asked, showing playful indignation, and decided to make him regret that choice.

"5... 4... 3..." You started counting, and Sigma knew what was coming. You ignored his pleads and neutralized every attempt he made to get away, "2... 1..."

"Gyahahahahaha Ihihi'm sohohorryehe pleheheahase nohohohot thihihis!!!" He kicked with his legs and punched the couch, as if doing that would give him any relief or protection from the tickling he was receiving on his back, sides, ribs and underarms. "I'm afraid I have to decline your request, dear... you had your chance to listen to me, and now you have to face the punishment for not doing so." You solemnly scolded him. You didn't know why but that kind of tone always flustered him.

"YohOHOu're meHEahAHan..!" He complained while you drew little circles in the hollow of his underarms. "Says the one who threw a pillow at my face..." You quickly retorted, and then you decided to go for the kill without any kind of warning.

"NAHAHAHAHA NOHOHOT THEHE NEHEHEHEHEHEHECK!!! I'M SOHOHOHORRY IHIHI'M SAHAHAHAHARRYEHEHE IHIHI'LL GEHEHET UHUHUHUHUP!!!" He immediately caved in. It was adorable for you how he could've handle even two fingers tracing his neck.

"I didn't even get to use my whole hands there... but I got what I wanted and I'm getting quite hungry, so I'll let you off the hook this time." You decided to be merciful and helped him sit up, giving a couple of minutes to recover.

You noticed how late it was, and noticing that Sigma was fully recovered, you got up and walked towards the door of the living room. "Come on, let's go to din-" You tried to say before getting interrupted by two hands squeezing your sides.

"Hahaha I got you!" Sigma exclaimed proudly, eager to finally get his revenge on you... only to find out, to his dismay, that you weren't even twitching.

"Nice try, мой ангел~"

"H-how can this- No! Nononono wait wait wahAHAHAHAHAIT..!"

#350/400 followers event #milestone event #bungo stray dogs tickle #bsd tickle #ler!reader #lee!sigma #ticklish!sigma #fyodor anon 🐈‍⬛

[licncourt]

As far as engagement with your fics dwindling, I think it’s mainly a result of the ao3 tag naturally being flooded with show verse content and book writers disappearing. There’s also the increasing rhetoric among popular show writers/bloggers that continued art and fic for book Louis and Armand is inherently racist so my guess is no one wants to out themselves as someone who enjoys book fic for fear of being shunned. Which is disappointing but with a large fandom that is mainly centered around a popular show, not surprising (not that there wasn’t gatekeeping preshow but the fandom was significantly smaller). I think most fans of the show think with these new (and improved) incarnations of the characters, there’s no need for their book counterparts. And the belief that people who do still enjoy book Louis and Armand are ignorant and fundamentally don’t understand the vc characters. It sucks because it would’ve been sweet if it could all be enjoyed for the multiverse it’s become since there are fans (like myself) who enjoy both the books and the show but there does seem to be an unspoken rule that you shouldn’t still be interested in producing content for the books. However, I’ve always been a huge fan of your works (and meta/thoughts!!) and the quality of your writing and grasp on the characters is still just as compelling as ever so I selfishly hope you continue writing 🫶 I promise I’ll make an effort to drop comments! lol

Well first of all thank you!! I just want to reiterate that the point of my original post was never to fish for comments or anything, I was just curious about why the engagement was happening on here suddenly vs ao3, but I always appreciate comments, kudos, reblogs, etc, it makes me so happy to know people like my writing because I really love doing it. I have plenty more stuff planned just because I love writing fic and I love the characters, so no worries there!

That also makes a lot of sense actually as far as people wanting to send me anons instead of comment. That's a crazy take though, like the books are forty years old you can't expect them to suddenly not have fans because of a new adaptation...? And I think it's a wild take to say that the original books/fans of them don't understand the characters?? Tumblr discourse is on another level always.

Liking the show better is absolutely fine, everyone can have their own preferences in media, but I don't believe for one second that the show is "less problematic" than the books. They just found a different way to be insensitive and offensive 😭 I think Anne Rice IP is just destined to be a morally bankrupt trainwreck and we all have to accept that. No one has moral high ground here really. And in a way it really feels like people coming into OUR house and saying we suck and aren't welcome.

This might be a selfish way of looking at it too, but I didn't get called literal slurs for months because I was defending the show and diverse casting for people to act like I have a problem with black Louis or brown Armand. Myself and friends of mine were harassed (including racially and sexually) for speaking positively about the casting decisions from day one, before most of these people knew the show or IWTV existed. My issues with it only started after episode 5 and that will always be my reason for jumping ship on the show.

I really wish things could have been different too, I was hoping the show would bring new people into the fold and just generally expand the VC multiverse like the movie did except with a new take on the story, but of course everything has to degenerate into a slap fight on the internet.

**There are absolutely people who don't like the show because they're racist shitheads and that is absolutely not a valid opinion to have btw. Just a blog reminder that I will absolutely never support or tolerate racism surrounding the show/the casting/the actors. It could have been a really great thing, unfortunately I just deeply disagree with how it was handled.**

#sorry that was more of a rant than i intended #but it's been festering for a while because of the things people have said to/about me over the months #as well as the takes on book fans in general #answered

[catchingbigfish]

oc name meaning tag game

ooooooh this is an interesting game, thanks for the tag @dotr-rose-love! (sorry @ everyone whose tag games i missed pretty much the entire month of march btw, i know i'll never get to catch up on them but might work through a few that look immediately doable at some point) i'm tagging @nanashi23, @inkspellangel, @linaket, @pga-books, and @ls-daydreams!

rules: list OCs and explain the meaning of their names

i tend to pick names based on the vibe i have for the character -- i have strooooong associations with various vowel combinations, or arrangement of letters, or pairings, etc., so most of this is just "idk it sounded cool". but because i love the idea of this game so much, i'm going to do it for every WIP i have rn:

so it goes

Marisa: i wanted a name that ended with an A because names like that make me think of someone sincere and serious

Isaiah: i wanted a biblical name; i associate those with families with deep lineages and a strong matriarch for some reason, which was a quality i wanted Isaiah to have

Ali: i wanted a name that complemented marisa's because they were sisters in the original draft, and i feel like L's and S's complement each other nicely. her full name is Alison, but i wanted her to be someone fun and outgoing, and Ali feels like that more than Alison

Paige: i got stuck on her name and picked a name from a random generator -- for some reason, when i see the name Paige, i instantly think of a girl who is aesthetically similar to the character (whose description is inspired by Gillian Jacobs)

Henry: another random generator produced this one -- i wanted it to be a very common man's name that wouldn't provoke much interest

Sophia: she's not a main character but i fucking love the name sophia/sofia so much. it's probably my favorite ever girl's name. it means wisdom and in some schools of gnosticism it was the emanation of god that was paired with Christ and unintentionally caused the world to exist

the space between pomegranate seeds

Meredith: i wanted a name that felt like the weird religious girl everyone knew growing up, but wasn't super cliche like Chastity lol

(most of the other characters are purposefully unnamed)

decomposing gods - priestess of bones

Claire: when i originally came up with this story idea i was deep into my Early Cronenberg Period (end of 2021) and had just rewatched Dead Ringers. i knew there would be a trio of women, so i gave them the names from the movie as placeholders: Claire, Bev, and Elly. i chose Claire for the documentarian because i felt the name fit her personality/vibe best, a diminutive brunette intent to prove herself

Bev: as above. i originally wanted to go Bev/Elly for the documentarian and camera person's roles, but realized they didn't fit right. also frankly i always categorized this as a lesbian name in my head for some reason, which worked out best since the character is queer

Sofia: even though i felt like Claire and Bev fit well with the characters i also never intended to actually use the trio's name. Sofia as a filmmaker is actually most inspired by Julia Ducournau, but i do love Sofia Coppola, lol.

bilocation

Emily: the real person she is based on is Émilie Sagée, and i didn't want to trick myself into not writing this by deciding to do research on the historical period she's from (1800s latvia), so i americanized her name and placed it in a 1980s boarding school in oregon but retained the formal speaking voice i'd imagined for her

Ms. Frond: i honestly went with the first word that popped into my brain on this -- i have so many characters named after the most bizarre shit because i'll use anything for a last name that pops into my head. i love it, though, because Emily becomes obsessed with her and has an established fascination with plants

Roland: i wanted a name that felt like a surprise on the groundskeeper character -- he looks like a dude who would be named something like Biff or Johnson or something, but he becomes a much more tender and gentle character than you anticipate from the description

#tag game #ty for the tag <3 #wip: so it goes #wip: family ghost story #wip: found footage #wip: bilocation #there are literally no named characters in either of the other stories i've drafted for decomposing gods and i only just realized that #i have others but they're not drafted so i disqualified them

[verecunda]

Leithian: An Incoherent Reaction Post (Act II)

Back by not at all popular demand, the second part of my LOL reaction post. A week after the fact, admittedly, because my brain has just been doing elevator music all week, but for the sake of completeness if nothing else, see below!

(Act I)

- I like how we have Lúthien rocking back and forth, unable to stay still. Big fan of how expressive she is in general. Given that’s she’s supposed to be objectively the Most Beautiful of the Children of Ilúvatar™, it would have been too easy to make her just this figure of porcelain perfection, which would be boring (and, I would argue, uncanonical).

- oh geez, not Daeron again. Give it up, mate, your princessa is very much in another castle.

- Day 8, and I’m still not over Celegorm and Curufin. I WILL NEVER BE OVER THIS. The chest bump!! The cheery wee wave Celegorm(?) gives her before they fuck off!! I’m still crying. X’D (If the Silmarillion is the history as written by the Noldor, this show must be the history as written by the Sindar. Or the people of Nargothrond. XD)

- Oh great. As if that wasn’t humiliating enough, she gets rescued by a furry. I KID, I KID. Huan is a certified Good Boy. <3

- That wee look Lúthien and Huan share before they run off, the way it’s timed to the music... it makes me giggle a lot. :)

- ...yeah, I think this must be just about the moment that Celebrimbor decided he was now an orphan. XD

Meanwhile, in the Pit of Despair...

- Finrod’s fight with the werewolf is awesome, and I really, really like how, although there is music, there’s no singing. As if his powers of song have been utterly depleted, and the only weapons left to him now are his bare hands. *___*

- er... Beren... you know you can step in here at any time, pal...

- Shit, the second half really is just filled with music designed to get the blood pumping, isn’t it? 8D

- “I look out of the window at your beauty.”    “No one’s allowed to be prettier than me in my own fortress!” >:(

- HUAN BEST BOY ❤️

- RIP Finrod, we hardly knew ye. :’( 

- Honestly, I reckon they could have done so much more with the Angband sequence. They should have made an absolute MEAL out of it. I’d especially have liked some interplay between Lúthien and Morgoth, let him get his creep on before she sends him to sleep. Let me share in the satisfaction of him being so utterly humiliated!

- A very lovely song, completely ruined by me going “SLEEEP!” à la MST3K every minute or so. XD

- Bet Melkor’s really regretting having those sycophantic backing singers installed right now...

- Back in Doriath, we see that Thingol has very obviously been sleeping on the couch recently.

- Beren like “Hey-hop! I’m back with a source of neverending dad jokes!” :D

- ps. please, please, someone, let this poor lad clean that blood off his face, it’s driving me daft. XD

- Anyway, I don’t care what the rest of fandom says, I love Thingol. The way he comes striding back on stage, having swapped his kingly robe for his form-fitting trousers o’ wolf-slaying, HEY-HOP-ping along with Beren... WE STAN.

- Speaking of stanning, I'm pretty sure I actually went “yesssss” aloud the first time I got to Melian’s song about the hunt. Like, damn, that is an INTRO. Also - sleeves. *___*

- h-hey... hop...? 😭

- Mandos has such a... swishy quality, I can’t describe it. Good for him.

- All my smart-arse remarks and crap jokes stop here, btw. I have nothing but feels.

- Possibly a result of me spending the best part of the week before last being emotional over the Athrabeth, but quite a few lines here put me in mind of Aegnor. “Even death will not spare me from the loss.” “What need have I of immortal Valinor/If Beren is not by my side?” Also “Even a day can be compared with immortality” has dim echoes of Andreth’s “For one year, one day, of the flame I would have given all...”

(You know, just in case you weren’t crying enough.)

- waaaaugh, her voice. Actual tears in my eyes.

- He’s baaaaaack!!! (I half-expected him to give the world’s softest “hey-hop” XD)

- First time I saw this, I thought they should have had another scene to follow the book, with them returning to Doriath, Lúthien healing the winter of Thingol’s grief, the bittersweetness of Melian’s realisation, before the two of them head off for their new life together, but the actual ending, still in Mandos, has grown on me. I rewatched it just there and realised I was on the verge of crying. What do you other LOL nuts think?

- Curtain call! I LOVE EVERYONE IN THIS BAR. Carcharoth and Huan are both very good boys. <3 asdfhjl C&C did another chest-bump!! X’D I see you twirling there, Finrod! There is something absurdly charming about seeing Morgoth holding a bunch of flowers. Enjoy your flowers, big fella, you’ve had a rough day. <3

So, yeah, I’m absolutely in love with this wee show and everyone in it. 💖 Hopefully one day I’ll make it to a livestream so I can AAAAAAAA along with the rest of you!

#The Silmarillion #The Lay of Leithian Rock Opera

[talesofafangirlwithadvr]

Persuasion Deserves More

I love Jane Austen’s final novel Persuasion. It is my second favorite alongside Pride and Prejudice. It never gets adapted enough. However, it is not Pride and Prejudice or any of Austen’s other works. So why was the latest Netflix adaptation trying to make it something else? 

Right away the aesthetic of this adaptation reminded me of Emma (2020), which is one of my favorite Emma adaptations btw. This was mainly because of all its bright colors. I didn’t realize it was going to take on so many similar aspects to that film. 

Read on for more of my opinion on the new film. Spoilers below!

Let’s start with ANNE ELLIOT

Anne Elliot is the oldest of Austen’s heroines and is one of the quietest. She is very passive. Helping out her family who takes advantage of her and you can see her struggle to stay with them. There is no snark or look to camera. Her feelings are all buried inside and her longing and yearning for Wentworth is not told. Okay, so you can already hear some of my complains about this version. 

Suddenly Anne is witty with come backs. She feels both like Elizabeth Bennet and Emma Woodhouse this way. It also reminded me of Jane Austen’s character in the film Becoming Jane who takes on similar qualities. I HATED the direct address. It was not needed. I know many people compared it to the series Fleabag but as I don’t watch it I instantly thought of Patricia Rozema’s 1999 adaptation of Mansfield Park that does something similar. I did not enjoy that choice either. While the 2007 miniseries adaptation of Persuasion does not have direct address it does have Anne looking to camera at big emotional moments and I was not a fan of that either. 

With the direct address it was awkward because we were told SO MUCH rather than shown. We could understand Sir Walter and Elizabeth were vain by observing them. Same goes for Mary with her hypochondria. Anne didn’t need to tell us these things.  

Speaking of the SIDE CHARACTERS

(I can’t stop comparing this picture to this one from the 2005 Pride and Prejudice)

But moving on from that...

So, I know it’s mainly been negative so far, but I have to say that I enjoyed a lot of the side characters. I thought each of the Elliots (besides Anne) were casted and portrayed really well. Mary was definitely one of my favorites, which I was expecting because she usually is. Henry Goulding’s version of Mr. Elliot actually made me dislike him clearly showing his superior acting. I thought I’d love his character in this version because of the actor playing him. Well done, sir.  

I also LOVED the diversity in the cast. Ever since Bridgerton this seems to be happening more often and should continue to do so.   

I did have a problem with Louisa’s portrayal. I thought it was out of character for her to push Anne and Wentworth so much together. In the book and past adaptations she is oblivious to Anne’s affections towards him. Instead her and Henrietta are ‘fighting’ over him. While I liked not seeing the sisters in competition I didn’t love Louisa’s involvement in setting up Anne. Usually she is seen as an older maid-type that wouldn’t be looking to marry.

Anne and CAPTAIN FREDERICK WENTWORTH 

Captain Wentworth is one of my top Austen heroes. This should not come as a shock seeing as how much I love the novel. 

I also blame this Wentworth for fueling this...

Rupert Penry-Jones Persuasion (2007)

I feel like we didn’t get enough of the ‘secretly pining but avoiding Anne’ Wentworth. In the Netflix adaptation we see Anne and Wentworth speak to each other a lot earlier than in the book. Then there’s that awkward ‘let’s be friends’ scene at the beach. That was extremely weird and not at all accurate to their relationship. There was a few pining glances (mainly from Wentworth) but due to the expository info dumps they didn’t feel as powerful as they could have been without it. Again, I know I’m biased to the 2007 adaptation (but if I’m remembering correctly I think the book has a few of these moments too), but I wanted to see a little more into Wentworth’s side of things. Also, we should have gotten his narration of the letter so much sooner compared to just when Anne was running to him. In the end, I didn’t feel much chemistry between one of my favorite Austen couples, which was a shame. 

Lastly, I still don’t understand the significance of THE RABBIT. 

I heard a rumor that this director may be adapting more of Austen’s work. I seriously hope that is not the case. In the meantime I will continue to mourn that we will no longer get the theatrical Persuasion adaptation. 

#jane austen #persuasion #netflix persuasion #dakota johnson #anne elliot #frederick wentworth

[abishekmuses]

Facing the Music

For years, I've harboured envy, resentment, pride and slothfulness. I'm not a christian or anything - don't know why this is taking that form - but I want to roll with it. I've been having a pretty intense time of it recently - For years, I've felt like I've been stuck. Years. Today, I even thought that maybe I've never really felt well-adjusted throughout my entire adult life - that's a scary thought. I don't know if it's true though - how can I know? I've not been in other people's heads. Anyway, about a month ago I decided to take my writing more seriously - you see, I'd spent most of my life wanting to be a doctor - wanting's the key word here - I just wanted it. Wanted it - said I wanted it anyway and thought I wanted it. I realised that I'm not in control of my life and was getting swept away with events and the changes in mood/perspective that they brought about only to find myself in pretty much the same place again after months or maybe even years. There was this sense of "now or never" - I felt like like if I didn't do something radical, I'd keep getting sidetracked by the crosswinds of life - so I decided to go on a 3 month period of silence. I'd still play badminton and to make sure it didn't get unnecessarily weird, I'd speak minimally to my mates there. Likewise on the odd occasion that i'd need to buy something, I'd speak sparingly. (although the idea was to keep this to a bare minimum) And, I'd still speak to my boss. (which is not often anyway)

I was also going off social media (which at this point was just whatsapp and telegram) and youtube. No music either. I also switched off my phone.

I'd been on a "high" wave of sorts - the past few months had felt pretty "flow-y" - There was this sense of positivity in me that was reasonably stable and it felt like this was the right time to do something like this. In the beginning it was all hunky dory - I felt good about myself and got into this "everything's gonna be so great" kind of a mindset that I tend to get into - a high-energy, high-optimism and high-creativity. (I have been thinking if I'm actually bipolar; Not a fun thought)

I had a lot of time; I had a lot of clarity and energy; Good stuff flowing - great all through! Gradually, the fears and icky emotions started to surface.

"Hey! I'm equipped for this stuff now - I've done a bunch of sadhana - plus I know that doing these kinds of things hasten the processing of negative emotions - this is totally par for the course - let's just keep going towards these emotions and just let them go! That'll do the trick!" I felt good about my odds against these dastardly old nemeses of mine. I even wrote a post on this selfsame blog about how much of a game changer this "letting go" thing was. Just sitting with emotions and watching them leave. Managed to finish reading the book "letting go" by David R Hawkins btw. Great read. A book straight out of the heart - and a heart full of love and compassion at that. Highly recommend.

Anyway, been letting out a lot of emotions - been crying practically every single day. But today was something else. It was the motherlode - fear, insecurity, guilt, heartbreak, anxiety, shame - all the negative emotions you can think of - rolled up into one ginormous feeling of pressure and "oh fuck the walls are closing in on me".

At some point, I remembered Richard Rudd's words from the Gene Keys (another book I highly recommend having at home and reading every now and then when the inspiration strikes; It's a prophetic piece of writing and the book has an almost oracle like quality to it) saying that one just has to accept and feel one's fear - that's all it takes.

But it was pretty non-stop. The onslaught of panic and fear just wouldn't abate - I was worried about losing my job; I was worried about ending up broke; all sorts of stuff. But somehow I was able to remind myself that what I was actually afraid of was continuing to feel the way i was feeling in that moment.

The suffocating emotional pressure was the problem - not some hypothetical scenario where i'd lose my job and be broke. I realised that a situation where my inner state wasn't one of stress/fear and I lose my job, wouldn't be such a bad situation after all - I guess what i'm trying to say is i remembered something crucial through that intense negative state - that the real problem is just the state itself. The fears about a certain situation coming to pass in life is just a projection of that internal state.

To make matters worse, I'd woken up thinking about my ex today. I felt a lot of old memories coming up - of me cheating on her - me being a reckless addict in general who caused a lot of damage with his inability to control his impulses; Guilt emerged. Sadness emerged; Desperation ensued. She was on my mind a lot today and I guess that's why I googled her name - Found her website, IG etc - saw that she was upto a lot of cool stuff with her life - she'd been writing (incredibly well) and seemed to have started some kind of service where she was helping people release their inner pain and find lightness. My instant response was one of constriction - A lot of fear, anxiety, insecurity and inadequacy came up. Old patterns of such feelings were recognised. I went for a walk and kind of reckoned with myself for a bit - "hey this is not who you are - are you really upset that she's doing well?" the answer came back that I'm not but I did feel terrified about my own prospects. Felt this feeling a lot of us are familiar with which goes along the lines of "why am I such a fuck up? Why did I waste so much of my life? yada yada" Now you see why I'd mentioned earlier about wanting to do more with writing - now that I saw my ex writing and doing so well with it - I was like "fuck I'm late even to this and I'm not sure i'm even at this level yet - blah blah blah - self-defeating rhetoric. Classic insecurity and fear.

At some point while I was swimming in stress and anxiety, I stumbled on one of her blog posts where I found that her best friend, Julia, a girl that I'd spent quite some time with (she's about my age) had just died! That piece of news was a real shocker and did quite the number on me! I bawled my eyes out and just couldn't hold it.

I was like "to heck with the silence - I'm gonna go tell my parents that I love them and hug them - which I did; I didn't want to go through my period of silence out of some misplaced sense of pride/propriety only to face that feeling of "oh fuck I never got to tell them how i felt!"

I hugged them, cried to them and wrote some stuff to them. For what it's worth, the verbal silence is still intact. Kept crying non-stop. At some point, after hugging my parents and soaking in their love, I couldn't help but feel a profound sense of gratitude for life - that I was even alive. Some of the things I was worried about even hours ago felt churlish. To think that I was thinking things like "fuck I'm 30! Is it too late to pursue my dream of becoming a doctor?" - Man that chick I smoked weed with is dead now! fucking dead!

That really knocked some perspective into me. Even being broke isn't nearly the same ballpark of a problem as being dead. Fuck. That news really knocked the wind out of my sails for a bit. But it also showed me that I was holding back a lot with unnecessary worrying. I felt an inner loosening - a relaxation - a coming back to life.

I got on my motorcycle and went for a ride through my town. I fell in love with everything my eyes saw. I felt reborn.

Let's see where we go! But for now, I love you all and I love this beautiful world we live in for all its fuck ups and dramas and heartaches - I love being alive!

[gggoldfinch]

talk to me about star wars! tell me all about it!! I know very little about it and am willing like to be educated by a professional such as yourself!!! tell me about anything that's giving you the brain worms! goldfinch rant time go go go

(i'm sat, notebook open and pen ready to take notes ✍️)

SCREAMIFN SHAKING CRYING THROWING UP EXPLODING INTO A CLOUD OF CONFETTI YIPPEEEEE YIPEE YIPPE YIPYIPEEEE I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU

Okay so the basics are that the movies are split into three trilogies and tell the story of a bloodline (aka the Skywalker saga), and each movie is called an Episode (1-9). The first trilogy is caked the Prequels, and follows Anakin (Darth Vader) and Padmé, Luke and Leia’s parents. Second trilogy is called the Original Trilogy (which sequentially came out first and is the one pretty much everyone is at least somewhat familiar with), which follows Luke and Leia. The third trilogy and most divisive is the Sequels, which follows Leia and Han’s son and Palpatine’s granddaughter (yikes…). Then there’s the stand alone movies Solo, which is a prequel to Han Solo’s story in the Original Trilogy, and Rogue One, which is a prequel to the events of the Original Trilogy. I recommend watching them in canon timeline order, even if the film quality differences are jarring 🤣 (I personally prefer the visual dark fantasy effects of the Original Trilogy, but I digress)

MY personal favorites are the Prequel movies, specifically The Phantom Menace (Episode 1) and Attack of the Clones (Episode 2), and the standalone movies Solo, and Rogue One (which I believe is objectively one of, if not THE best Star Wars movie to date); however growing up I only ever saw the Original Trilogy, and not very often. I only really got into Star Wars when I was around 18-19 years old. Once when I was a little kid my local library (which was fancy and had a projection theater in the basement) was showing Return of the Jedi (Episode 6) and invited the kids to dress up; so while everyone was dressed up like little Leias and Anakins, my ass was an Ewok (my costume was spot on btw). I got sick halfway thru with like a 101F fever and had to leave 😭

THEN there’s the TV shows. The animated ones, The Clone Wars, and Rebels, are modern television classics and are beloved in-fandom (and although I have personal beef with Rebels i don’t deny it’s a good show lmao). More recently there’s been a surge of live-action TV shows, like The Mandalorian, beloved by all, and recently Ashoka. So far I’ve only watched The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett (which are both my favorites), and Kenobi, so I can’t necessarily speak to the quality of the others (being Ashoka, and Andor) but I’ve heard they’re great too. There are other animated shows too, like Visions (which I have seen) and Bad Batch (which I’ve partially seen), which are also good.

My favorite character, as is obvious by my shrine blog, is Darth Maul, the first apprentice of Emperor Palpatine introduced in The Phantom Menace. He himself is a menace🫡 After his first appearance he’d then go on to have major plot arcs in The Clone Wars and Rebels (the latter of which I don’t ever want to think about ❤️), and also a very hot cameo in Solo. He’s a very complex, deep, and a deeply troubled character (and is also physical disability rep), and he means so much to me. His story is beautifully fleshed out and I just. AAAAAA he’s in the top 5 bracket of my favorite blorbos of all time tbh 🥰

Other runners up for my favorites are: Din Djarin aka The Mandalorian, Boba Fett, Savage Opress (Maul’s beefstick brother played by the same actor as Mr. Krabs), Asajj Ventress, Kit Fisto, Cad Bane, and other miscellaneous idiots. There are so many amazing alien designs & fully armored people to adore and be horny over…

I’m currently writing a Star Wars fic that has been EATING MY BRAIN since 2022 and I’ve only now gotten my act together to actually write it. The main character oc is very self-inserty, as the all are. I put pieces of myself into all my main “I made this as an adult” ocs, and they help me learn things about myself (in a crazy psychoanalytical way), and cope with trauma, and vent, and feel LOVED! And it’s crazy. This fic is MY EVERYTHING and I’m so excited to be writing and sharing it finally after I thought I never would 🥰 It’s seriously just been like an alternate life I’ve lived inside my brain up until now 🚶🏻‍♀️

It’s late and I can’t think of anything more I can infodump about rn but if you want to ask specific questions or want me to talk about specific things I will! THANK YOU FOR INDULGING ME ❤️❤️😭

#ily anon #goldfinch goes insane on main #anon ask

[vacantgodling]

the old english baron — mini review

just for context, i was much much quieter in my live reaction from the other three books i’ve talked about reading on this blog, and that’s kind of because like. this book was very… eh.

the context that it was written “in direct response to the castle of otranto” actually does it more harm than good, because seriously this book hardly feels like a goth lit at all. all of the quintessential things that create a good gothic literature piece are just missing from the narrative, or glossed over. if anything this feels more like a medieval period piece with gothic elements. which, tbh, i don’t mind—i saw reviews with some people getting annoyed by the entire latter half and end of the book being devoted to court proceedings but because i enjoy history i was actually kind of fascinated by it. but the fact that all the “gothic elements” were resolved within the first 100-150-ish pages wasn’t really great bc all the intrigue that could’ve been fell by the wayside.

the main similarity this book shares with the castle of otranto is its lack of focus; but i think it’s done worse lmao. it’s very clear in this book that edmund is the main character but it’s not necessarily built up that way—the first part of the book starts with sir phillip who the reader immediately likes and feels sympathy for and we get a detailed backstory for; however the story then shifts to focusing on edmund who is like. for all intents and purposes jesus fucking christ reborn. i like him much less than theodore from the castle of otranto; theodore is a more complex character who does have some faults despite his (generally speaking) overwhelming good qualities (which is just a thing in gothic lit and old european books in general; the characters are very overwhelmingly Good and Virtuous Christians LMAO). but edmund is a fucking SAINT. i somehow like little billee from trilby SLIGHTLY (oh so very slightly) more than edmund bc edmund Literally Is The Perfect Man and at least billee was interesting by virtue of being ridiculous, having a foot fetish, and getting on my fucking NERVES lmao.

furthermore a lot of this plot hinges on random characters who are “villainous” doing “villainous things” out of just. jealousy???? barely explained jealousy at that. we spend very little time with the murderer of edmund’s parents nor the kinsman of the baron who edmund lives with who hates him for idk breathing air… and like it’s saying a lot that i can’t remember their names because they are THAT inconsequential and make THAT LITTLE of an impression. meanwhile manfred made himself no. 1 enemy of the state by PAGE SIX. i hated him and i wanted to see him get his shit rocked. that makes a good villain!!!

and despite being written by a woman, this book is so uninterested in talking about the few female characters that exist it’s painful. lady emma is introduced as a love interest after never being mentioned out of FUCKING NOWHERE in the middle of the story and just said “btw she’s perfect also and edmund’s been in love with her since he was a boy but dw about it” and i’m just ??? bruh lmao. otranto gave so much more respect and character to its female characters; all of them had distinct personalities and goals and furthermore THERE WAS MORE THAN ONE OF THEM!!! (and i’m not counting edmund’s adoptive mother in this bc sorry she is also like only in one scene and is basically irrelevant. yeah she tells edmund about his mom but we did like Nada to give her anything. she and emma count as one for me).

— going to show that just because a woman has contributed to something does not automatically mean it’s not misogynistic (looking at jkr as well 🙄)

anyway the other main thing that strengthens my stance that this isn’t Really a goth lit book is there is Barely any tragedy or lingering melancholy that haunts the narrative. yes, edmund’s parents died but there’s literally like two scene with the ghosts (or anything spooky) and yeah edmund is sad about it once he learns the truth but it’s just all… never expanded upon. it’s talked about but the emotions aren’t felt. the loss doesn’t take center stage; it’s simply a vehicle to propel the story to edmund triumphing over his circumstances and getting Literally Everything he wants out of life. which; mind you, i’m not against like at all. i don’t dislike the overall story (sans edmund being a mary sue? edmund sue? and it being kind of just. boring lmao) but i dislike the insinuation that it’s gothic lit like at all. it has gothic elements. but it’s just missing everything about the genre that makes it good.

so going back to my original point—the author positioning herself to try and make the castle of otranto “better” or “more realistic” is just. ridiculous lmao. it’s no different than people who make adaptations of media they’ve barely engaged with and that they don’t understand: it will never be as good.

overall 5/10. i wouldn’t read it again but just bc it’s kind of boring lmao. but i don’t hate that i read it lmao

#ren reads #the old english baron

[mydarkvanessasblog]

review of “speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson

i bet everyone with the last name anderson wants to be a writer. seems like it comes with the territory. anyways, i read this book in 20 hours and i enjoyed most of them. 20 hours from the time i bought it to when i finished reading btw. not 20 consecutive hours… that would be embarrassing!

i’ll start with what i didn’t like cause i feel like if i raved about it first it would seem like one of those compliments, you’re so gorgeous! …please block my boyfriend!

so one thing that really has nothing to do with the quality of the work is melinda’s eating habits were disgusting… wtf were those meals??? grossed me out. ok one actual criticism was the end. i didn’t like how she had to end up “finding her voice” & having her bad ass moment. “i said no” people’s experiences with abuse can’t be defined by if they took it passively or aggressively. both are completely valid. it was rushed and confusing? “why would u say i raped u???? i didn’t “ “ur ugly anyways” *try’s to do it to her again & kiss her while he does it*??? what? and then suddenly cause she “stood up for herself” now her parents don’t fight & school is easy & the cheerleaders love her & she’s no longer depressed or traumatized? the ending was a shit show in my opinion .

BUT what makes the book a 5/10 is everything up to the end (which is why half the earn-able points were deducted) the internal monologue was so good. it was real. i know how it feels to be selective mute from my own personal younger experience. it was summed up incredibly well. i don’t know why the author got so weird & digestible at the end. fumbled.

signing off, me!

#speakbook #booksbooksbooks #literature #avidreader #lmao

[yaoipaddlestar]

OK SO EVERYONE

I finished reading Educated by Tara Westover (...a while ago. I just never posted this lol) and it is absolutely magnificent. Such a powerful memoir. Her life is really, really unconventional (that's an understatement btw) and not in a good way. >_>

Reading Tara's development and growth outside of her bubble, and her struggles with family, imposter syndrome, and her own self worth were both deeply moving and something I resonated a lot with.

Her relationship with her dad was something in particular that I connected the most with. Just bad dad things!

Westover's writing is both very reflective and very succinct. I love her writing and it's definitely what makes her story so impactful.

Some of my favourite excerpts under the cut! (Spoiler warning, if it wasn't already implied)

Apologies for the quality of some of these! I'm literally just taking pictures of the pages as I read them. Click for better quality!

If you know anything about me (it's implied earlier in this post lol) you can guess why I like this. Context not super needed, the last paragraph is what I like. If you want it, clarification is that her older brother, Shawn, cracked her neck bc it was so stiff she couldn't move it.

This is one of those moments that just made my jaw drop. Nothing particularly poetic that drew me to it, it's just kind of crazy to read and realise this actually happened to her.

This moment is after Tara took her brother to a hospital when he got in an accident. Her parents, being devoutly religious Mormons and distrusting the government, wanted Tara to bring Shawn home to their mother could treat him with various oils and herbs. Tara did not, and she is grappling with the shame of not following the wishes of (primarily) her father.

This is about Tara reflecting on her journal entries after a particularly bad moment of abuse from her brother, Shawn (yes same Shawn from earlier). She's reflecting about how she chose not to let herself be gaslit (or rather, admit that she doesn't trust Shawn as he attempts to gaslight her).

You can probably guess but this is about Tara watching her father's presumed last moments (he does not die). The part where she talks about expecting some grand resolution to their conflicts (and realizing she won’t get one) struck me a lot. Not going to overshare too much but oh boy if that’s not one of my biggest fears in the whole fucking world!

Those three excerpts were all separate but focus on Tara's imposter syndrome and anxieties, so I'm just grouping them. She goes through much of it as she goes through college. I think context can be gathered.

Another one about Tara and her father. In this scene, Tara's father visited her at college to and coax her into "forgiving" her brother for abusing her (which is to say, pretend it never happened). Her family believes that Tara has been bewitched by a devil or something and that's why she is acting "like this." I resonate a lot with the last line. My father is not a religious sort of man, much less like Tara's, but the idea of her father wanting to "cast" her out rings very true to me and my own experiences. No need to explain further than that lol >_>

This is another one. Tara is visiting her family for the last time and realising that she needs to make a choice about her future (by cutting them off) lest she doom herself to the same life she'd lived thus far. Again, the very last lines are what speak to me.

And that's the photo limit so I can't post more. Maybe in a reblog if I ever feel up to it. Tara talks a good bit about her experiences learning about the truth or her family circumstances and the world around her (she didn't learn about things like the Holocaust or the Civil Rights Movement until she was 17.) Her ability to reflect on her past and tell this story is so incredible. The writing is amazing, the "story" is unbelievable, and Tara is such a strong woman that there's nothing about this memoir that I don't adore. Definitely one of my favourite books I've ever read. Could not possibly recommend it enough.

#my post. #Educated #Tara Westover #reading #book

[francy-sketches]

I’m not elaborating.

#my art #yea not feeling the asswife tag on this one #this is for the warrior cat conossieurs only #the cinematic parallels...deadbeat dad with bastard children and a mean wife whos way too attached to her son who is evil and annoying #im not elaborating (elaborates) #the cats are crow/breeze/night btw lol. typing out wc names in full feels cringe -_- #objectively speaking the kitties have a lot more redeeming qualities and yet. they are insufferable to me #i mean its mainly bc their fans are annoying lol like. i dont remember what they were actually like in the books its been so long #love the other 3 tho i am so normal about them #margaery is heathertail i gues lol #and uhh that one dude cat people ship crow with. ned. #man my posts have been sooo high quality lately. first rcdart balon swann then this :)