#but if i said niccolo was one of the best characters on the show?? he was just there all the whole show being sassy mean and observant <3 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

teenandbeyond · 2 years

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Piccolo x Artist.Reader

Because his character is underrated and why not ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Talk to Me (DBZ or Dragon Ball Z)

From the moment you lay eyes on Piccolo, he intrigues you, but he doesn't seem too keen on a conversation with you...Well, apparently he hasn't met you.

Pt 2: Here

Master list: Here!

"[Name], can you help me settle all these Namekians? Relax them and such?" Bulma peeked her head into your room.

Your head shot up from the mural you were currently painting, you were crouched on the ground, a dorky smile on your face as you glanced at her, "Uhh, yeah. I'm guessing the Namekians are the aliens from the planet you were on?"

She nodded, "Mhm. What are you painting?"

You let out a tiny grunt as you stood and rolled your neck, sighing at the satisfying crack sound, "I'm not completely sure yet. I'm just going with the flow."

You closed up the paint carefully, not to spill any, "So far, I think it's a tree. But I hope something or someone ends up going along with it."

You cheerfully walked over to your best friend who was practically a sister, "But I need to take a break anyway," you grinned, "I'll be glad to help.

...

"When you said the Namekians...I didn't think you meant the whole population..." You blinked, there was so much green you could barely see another color. It made your eyes feel weird.

She laughed nervously, a sweat drop running down her face, "Yeah, I probably should have mentioned that to you."

You sighed and shook your head, "Oh, well. I said I'd help you, I'm not backing out now!"

And you didn't. You spoke to the Namekians, helping them settle, answering questions best you could (since you hadn't gone to Namek), calming ones who were frazzled, and showing kindness to them.

You were about to walk over to probably the fifteenth group of Namekians before you caught sight of a familiar Namekian.

"He looks familiar...Where have I seen him?"

...

Wait. he's that guy Goku fought years ago...and the guy that trained Gohan too, right? Niccolo? No...Pablo? That doesn't sound right...Ah! Piccolo!

He looks cool!

You found yourself walking up to him.

You waved with a smile, "Hi there! Piccolo, right?"

He opened his eyes slowly, giving you a bored expression.

"I'm [Name]. An old friend of Bulma's."

He didn't even blink.

"...Can you say something at least? I know you speak." You pouted.

He closed his eyes again, "You have paint on your face."

His voice is nice, you liked it...wait...

Your face warmed in embarrassment, "I do?! Where?"

You used your [shirt/dress/sweatshirt, etc.] to wipe at your face.

"This isn't doing me any good...I need a rag."

You turn to walk off when you pause, "Wait...you only mentioned that because you wanted me to have a reason to leave, didn't you?!"

His expression seemed indifferent at a glance, but as you looked a little longer, you noticed the tiniest of smirks.

"You're irritating. I don't get irritated," your cheeks puffed out. It was true, ever since you were a teenager you tended to be kind, a little bubbly, and mindful you did well at not getting irritated.

Until now.

"Then leave, so you're no longer irritated."

Was he mocking you?

"You know what? I'll leave for now, but I'm gonna get you to have a conversation with me."

You marched off with a determined gaze, "He doesn't know how persuading I can be, apparently."

Poor Piccolo, he messed with a person almost more stubborn than Bulma. But he didn't know that yet, he'd only caught glimpses of you here and there, this was his first interaction with you.

☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆

"Hey, Piccolo!"

He opened a single eye.

"What are you up to? Meditating? That sounds nice."

Silence. Then he closed his eye again.

You sat across from him a few feet away, shuffling through your satchel bag and pulling out a sketchbook. You softly flipped through a few pages before you found a clear one. You dug into your bag again for a bag you filled with many different pencils.

You glanced up at him, you wouldn't bother him too much while he was meditating. But you heard spending time with someone can make a bond better, so you'd sit in silence.

You contemplated for a moment before deciding to sketch a dragon.

"Can you be quieter please?"

You raised a brow, "Oh, I'm sorry," your voice dripped with sarcasm, "But shouldn't you not focus on outside sounds while you're meditating, Mr. Super hearing? Your ears are just sensitive, I'm barely making a sound."

He tsked.

☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆

There were a few interactions, overall they were kind of almost completely one-sided. But he learned more about you while you would talk to him...basically talking to yourself. You thought, anyway, he'd never admit he listened to you.

He learned you were an artist and you liked doing creative things.

He learned that despite your personality being more on the brighter side, you were crazy smart.

You were actually pretty chill and you weren't noisy and extra (not all the time, anyway) like he'd assumed.

You were really caring, you often talked about keeping up with his race, making sure they were okay after losing their home and if they were situated well, etc. You also cared for your friends.

You could fight, very well, apparently. You taught Goku a few moves. But you weren't feeling well that week, so you didn't go to Namek.

You were respectful, you never spoke too loudly if you happened to interact with him while he was meditating.

You had a soothing singing voice, he's observed when you hum to yourself...sometimes you forget he has super hearing.

He ended up finding himself intrigued by you as the weeks went by, even though he questioned how you kept finding him until remembering power level detection. He started...enjoying your company.

"Hi again, Piccolo."

You sighed, you were stubborn yes...But were you wasting your time? Maybe you should just finally leave him alone.

"...[Name]."

You gasped in surprise...did he just say your name?

You twiddled your thumbs shyly, "N-no meditation today?"

He opened his eyes and they met yours, "No, just relaxing."

Your eyes widened. Was he... conversing with you?

"Oh, mind if I join you?" You waved your sketchbook in the air.

"Why are you even asking at this point? It's been weeks."

You got giddy. He was talking to you.

"That's fair. I like sketching around you though, you're a lot calmer than most of my friends...all of my friends."

"I've noticed..."

You plopped down beside him with a laugh, your knees brushing, "It can't be helped."

You flipped open your book and flipped through the pages to find a clear one.

"Not bad."

You jumped and glanced over, his eyes were on your sketchbook.

"Thank you...Ah!"

The current page it was on, was a sketch you'd make of Piccolo meditating. You flicked it away, but it was no use, he'd already seen it.

He let out a huff of laughter.

You gaped and pointed at him, "You just...laughed."

"Oh? Did I?" he asked dryly, clear sarcasm in his tone.

"Shut up! You know you never give me any type of reaction to anything, I'm just surprised is all!"

"Mhm."

....

In your room, your mural was freshly completed a few days before. The tree sat in the middle, the skies clear, the grass plush...Leaning against it...was Piccolo.

☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆

After that day you conversated more often and maybe, just maybe, Piccolo made his second friend...or possibly something more?

#dbz x reader #piccolo #piccolo x reader #piccolo dbz #fluff #dbz fluff #anime #piccolo x gender neutral reader #cute

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hello-vampire-kitty · 3 years

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Translated questions from Tanaka-sensei's interview

There was an interview with Tanaka-sensei for the 10th anniversary of Servamp and sensei was asked 25 questions. Enjoy!

1) Q: Please tell us the ranking of how well the vampires can do housework, particularly cooking!

A: Among the eight Servamps, in order of their cooking ability:

Lawless > Freya > Lily > Tsubaki > Hugh > Kuro > Ildio > Jeje. (What, Lawless is the best at cooking among the Servamps?! That's surprising. He probably bakes sweets for Licht-tan :) 2) Q: Has Tsubaki ever been really angry at Belkia's pranks?

A: No, he hasn’t. Tsubaki never gets really angry by his friends’ jokes. Belkia is also able to read the mood, so he doesn't play pranks that go beyond the extent of a joke.

3) Q: What kind of lessons did Mikuni learn in his childhood?

A: Piano, violin, swimming, tennis, painting, horseback riding, and various foreign languages.

4) Q: Are there any certain pairings of Servamp siblings that are particularly close or unfriendly with one another?

A: The ones who get along especially well are Lily and Jeje, Lawless and Ildio.

On the other hand, the ones who don't get along are Hugh and Lawless, and Jeje and Ildio.

In terms of one-sided feelings, Lily is afraid of Freya, Freya dotes on Lawless, and Ildio has a somewhat affinity for Kuro.

5) Q: Are there any characters who dislike sweets?

A: Shuuhei, Shamrock, Touma Taishi are not particularly fond of sweets.

6) Q: Why does Kuro like cup noodles (Rame Ou)?

A: Because it's easy to make and delicious.

(note: Rame Ou [ラメ王] is the name of the brand of cup of noodles that Kuro likes. The kanji 王 means king and ラメ is short for ラーメン "ramen" )

7) Q: Is there a reason why Mahiru isn't on the cover even though he’s the main character?

A: Yes, there is. 8) Q: When Licht-san gets drunk, he becomes more aggressive towards Lawless than usual, but how does he react to other people besides Lawless? (For example, Crantz, Guil, Mahiru, Kuro, etc.)

If Lawless is there, will he be harmed no matter who is around? A: It's not that he's getting more aggressive, it's just that he becomes more arrogant than usual, so he's more selfish with Crantz and Guil, starts giving longer angel lectures to Mahiru, and pets Kuro like mad.

9) Q: There are many characters in Servamp that wear glasses, including Shuuhei and Lawless, but who is the character with the worst eyesight of them all?　

A: Although he is far-sighted, Kurumamori Junichiro has the worst eyesight.

Lawless has no problem with his eyesight because his glasses are just for fashion.

10) Q: What is inside Licht-san’s angel backpack?

A: Wallet, a handkerchief, cookies, smart phone, a good luck charm given by his family, earphones, sheet music, and so on.

11) Q: Please tell us the order of those who are skilled at Mahjong from team Melancholy!

A: In order of their skills: Otogiri > Tsubaki > Sakuya > Shamrock > Belkia > Higan.

12) Q: How long is Misono’s ahoge (cowlick) ?!

A: It changes depending on his emotions.

13) Q: What is Kuro's favorite dish from Mahiru's culinary repertoire? A: Hamburger steak with melted cheese on top.

14) Q: I got hooked on SERVAMP because of the stage play! I thought the level of reproduction of the characters was of high quality, but I'd like to ask Tanaka-sensei what you thought about the fact that the characters you created were materialized. Please, we would like to hear your opinions about the stage play! A: I really enjoyed the show, purely as an audience member!

It was impressive to see the characters actually exist and move. Kuro's cat-like movements, Lily's graceful swinging of his scythe, Tsubaki's ghastly sword wielding, and so on. I also like the opening dance. I would love to see it again. 15) Q: I would like to know which characters do their hair and which ones leave it as it is! Besides Lawless, do the others leave their hair as it is? A: In addition to Lawless, Mahiru, Sakuya, Belkia, Shamrock, Lily, Mikuni, Yumikage, Junichirou, Iori, Miyako, Crantz, Sigurd and Youtaro are particular about their hairstyles.

On the other hand, Kuro, Gear, Tsurugi, Iduna, Ildio, Higan, etc. leave their hair as it is when they get out of bed.

16) Q: When I'm reading Servamp, I consider that the foreshadowing is great, but do you have a clear structure for the final story in mind, sensei?

A: The flow of the story is generally defined until the end.

17) Q: Tanaka-sensei, is there any character that has acted in a way that you didn’t expect or made you think something like “Did they really have such thoughts?” A: Shirota Mahiru. I believe he has changed around the 11th volume, when he stepped out from his uncle’s ideology.

18) Q: What is Lily’s favorite macaron flavor?

A: Vanilla.

19) Q: Is Mikado Ichinose high-school only for boys? A: The Mikado Ichinose institution has elementary, middle and high schools, and the middle and high schools are boys' schools. There are rumors that the school will soon become co-ed.

20) Q: Are there any characters in Servamp who are considered good at art? A: Aside from Higan, Nicco is actually good at drawing.

On the other hand, Crantz has a unique sense of style, although he is not aware of it. Lawless and Guil call him "Master artist Crantz.”

21) Q: Please tell us which characters have driver’s licenses!

A: They are: Dodo, Mitsuki, Lawless (counterfeit), Crantz, Taishi Touma, Tooru Shirota, Tsukimitsu Iori, Tsukimitsu Miyako, Tsukimitsu Yumikage, Kurumamori Junichirou, Tsuyuki Shuuhei (paper driver), Shamrock (before his death), Niccolo, Cappuccino, Sigurd, Pisca, and Youtarou.

(note: Paper driver means inexperienced drivers who haven’t driven for years, or who never drive after they’ve got their driver’s license. )

22) Q: Is Tetsu-kun’s hair color natural?

A: No. He has been dyeing it for a while.

23) Q: I would like to know Mahiru’s mother’s name.

A: It's Shirota Akira. 城田暁 (her name means "dawn")

24) Q: Lawless doesn't seem to have said any theatrical lines since volume 8. Is there a reason for this?

Does it have something to do with the fact that he has become a crybaby? A: For him, there was no need to act anymore.

25) Q: When is it that Tsurugi laughs earnestly?

A: He doesn't think that he isn't laughing earnestly. (This question was difficult to translate because it used double negatives, so the meaning is that "I do laugh earnestly". I hope it makes sense.)

#servamp #tanaka strike #my translation

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aitarose · 3 years

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AOT BOYS IN LOVE ISLAND

⤷ characters: eren jaeger, jean kirschtein, armin arlert, levi ackerman, erwin smith, connie springer, reiner braun, bertholdt hoover, marco bott, niccolo

eren would be the type of contestant that’d come off extremely strong at the start, knowing full well of what the show entails—and ready to make any type of connection that could conclude in success.

he’d be the third or fourth contestant to walk into the villa, on the very first day. there’d be about two to three women that’d step forward for him—so he’d definitely get his pick of the bunch.

however, throughout the season his confidence would start to waver—he’d get overwhelmed with the concept of being filmed 24/7 and wish to have his privacy back.

there’d definitely be a few breakdowns on his part, solely from the stress of making vulnerable confessions of feelings and emotions in front of the entire world on film.

that being said, he’d still manage to find someone that relates to him on a deep level that he can walk out of the villa with. the two of them would end up self eliminating—believing that it’d be more effective to build there connection within the privacy of their own homes.

jean wouldn’t be the immediate heartthrob on the show, but would end up stealing not only the contestant’s hearts—but the viewer’s as well.

he’d be the first to walk into the villa, and literally no one would step forward for him—not because he’s unattractive or anything, just because they wanted to keep their options open and not jump at the first person they see.

his first couple would be a friendship couple and he’d be best friends with that woman throughout the entirety of the season, they’d be connected at the hip in the best platonic way possible.

but about halfway through the season, he’d be called to go on a surprise date with a new contestant and they’d just hit it off right away. like this person would be his perfect match and the viewers would be ecstatic for him.

i full heartedly believe that he’d be the one to win the show, obviously choosing to share the $50k with his significant other—there’d be no doubt in his mind that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with them.

armin would be the contestant with a completely open and vulnerable heart. he’d be open to any connections and relationships, just solely focused on the bonding aspect of it all—wishing to have a great summer and find some real friendships.

he’d be the person that’d stick through their first coupling throughout the entire show, finding that connection extremely valuable and not wanting to let it go.

challenges would be a breeze for him, like this boy would win a majority of them due to his knowledge of strategy and complex thinking—he’d find loopholes to each riddle and physical struggle, just showing off his intelligence in every way.

however, casa amor would be a big blow to him. he’d feel so secure in his couple that he wouldn’t have that serious conversation of where they’re both at, and his partner would end up recoupling in the other villa.

he’d be completely blindsided and end up self-eliminating soon after—not having the energy or time to take on an entirely new connection, believing that that person was it for him and that the villa would have nothing else to offer him.

firstly, i don’t think levi would ever be a contestant on a reality television show, let alone a dating one—but in the off chance that he did so happen to be on love island, it’d be because hange signed him up for it without his knowledge.

he’d be the lone wolf type of character, just living his own life—not interacting with any of the other contestants unless they’d come and approach him for conversation.

there wouldn’t be very many connections for him—probably only one if i’m being honest—and it’d be with a sort of bubbly type of person, one with good morals that wouldn’t be afraid to break him out of his shell and show him how to enjoy his time in the villa.

while he’d be wary of a romantic relationship, he’d end up falling for his partner extremely hard and would find himself protective and somewhat possessive of them—just to make sure that he wouldn’t end up losing them to someone else.

considering all of his doubts, he wouldn’t make it to the final four—probably only to the casa amor point, before being eliminated by viewer vote. however, he’d be amazing at challenges.

sexy dilf erwin would be a bombshell entrance in the villa—the kind where he’d be waiting in the hot tub balcony for his chosen date partner, just sipping wine and relaxing in the bubbles with his one arm resting on the side.

he’s very charming and would manage to sway the attention of a majority of the villa, men and women alike—and there’s no telling the shenanigans he’d get up to with the friends he’d make in there.

this man would be the cause of inborn relationship drama, but wouldn’t be involved directly—rather the type of drama where he’d be discussed but not actually have any say in whatever the matter was.

his placement would be around the top six or seven, just because he’d be so sought after that there’d be a hard time finding someone who he really connects with—since he’s trying his best to give every suitor an opportunity to try it with his sexy self.

he’d also have the thickest cockney accent that you could dream of—or a really really posh south london accent, like pinky up tea drinker and everything.

connie would be the fan-favorite contestant. he’d be that guy that absolutely no one stepped forward for and be the pity party right off the start, but manage to sway the audience with his natural humor and amusement.

he’d be the king of friendship couples, like he’d be the villa’s safety net for contestants who wouldn’t have anyone else to couple up with, and would secure their places in the show—without ever harboring any real feelings for those people.

casa amor would be his time to shine, he’d be living his best life in the other villa and have all the girls on his arms—with a wide variety to choose from and connect with. this is where he’d meet his perfect match.

coming back to the main villa with this partner, all of his friends would be extremely happy for him and just excited that he was able to get the experience that he signed up for.

him and his partner would end up in third or second place—though they’d be a fan favorite pairing, they just wouldn’t have had enough screen time to win the show completely.

reiner would be the shock contestant that’d be revealed after the first five couples were matched. he’d run into the villa with full confidence that he’d be able to snag one of the beginning contestants with ease.

however, that confidence would soon fade by his own insecurities and emotions—the fear of being unwanted and alone catching up with him in the worst possible ways, causing him to have a small breakdown before the coupling ceremony.

but he’d still choose one of the contestants, not having any real connection with her other than the first conversation—and that couple would completely crumble beneath him.

he’d get eliminated soon after by the following recoupling ceremony, and sadly wish his friends goodbye with a tear running down his cheek—it’d be extremely emotional despite the minuscule amount of time viewers would get to know him .

that being said, he’d still leave an impact on the season as the contestant who just couldn’t catch a single break.

lil ole berty would be the contestant that everyone looks over, contestants and viewers alike. he’d be that nice background guy that everyone is fine with, but often forgets he exists—which really puts a stunt on his time in the villa.

he’d be in a safety couple, one where him and his partner are loyal to their connection, but not head-over-heels interested in one another. just two people who are attracted to one another with no real bond.

challenges would be a bit of a struggle for him, just the competitiveness of it all and the pointless wonder of the whole ordeal—the show in general wouldn’t really be something up his ally.

him and his partner would end up getting eliminated early on to halfway through the season by an islander vote. it’d be a this or that couple elimination and only about two couples would vote to save them, causing him to have to pack his bags and head out.

twitter would have a field day with memes though, his sleeping positions would be trending all over the love island hashtag every night.

marco would be the nice guy contestant. the one that’s the boy next door kind of character type that everyone would love and see as the voice of reason and peace.

he’d be somewhat of the villa’s therapist, if that’s the appropriate word, and would always be there to lend an ear to any islander who’s having issues in their couple or just problems in relation to the show’s process and journey.

his encouragement would make him a fan favorite with viewers and allow him to make it fairly far into the season—probably past the casa amor point and nearly to the family segments.

he wouldn’t ever be in a totally stable couple, always having to take on the stress of the other islanders and never having the opportunity to really focus on his own time and relationships.

but he’d gain a massive following and get a shit ton of brand deals after the whole show is over.

niccolo’s love island experience would be different from all the rest, as he’d be one of the casa amor contestants—there to sway the main villa’s relationships and connections with a mere four-five days of conversation.

he’d end up stealing the hearts of the women and finding a person that matched him on a deep level—with not only his good looks, but the way he manages a kitchen as well.

the main boys would love him and immediately see him as one of their own—enjoying his company and how he’d make everyone a full course meal every single morning right as they woke up to the automatic bedroom lights.

the viewers would also be a little obsessed with him as his pairing would just be lovable in all ways—the look in his eyes being one of pure adoration and love, nothing falsified or phony—just absolute infatuation.

i feel like he’d snag a fourth place win, happily in the final four, yet still not quite there. overall, secure and safe within his couple—and excited for the future of him and his match.

aitarose do not copy, claim, or mimick my writing, works, themes, copy and paste my words, or headers and tags as your own. do not use my blog as a template for your own, or base your theme on mine.

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caesthetix · 3 years

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SAY A LITTLE PRAYER — Pt. 1 Blind Belief

↪Eren Yeager mini-series

↪content; major character death, canon universe, heavy angst, established relationship, spoiler for season 4

Tick tock. Tick tock.

Usually, if you and the rest of your friends were together, the room would never be this quiet. The second you guys walked into a private space together, someone would let out a joke or harmless snide, followed by laughter and a half-assed reply.

But not now, not when someone was missing from this circle of friendship.

Everything was still so vivid in your mind, in all of your minds. How you cheered after the attack in Marley could be considered a success, your arms wrapped around Sasha and teased her that she would be back to eat Niccolo's food — and then seeing him again, now with brown hair reaching his shoulders and a thin facial hair adorning his face.

There was an urge to tackle him with affection, you even let out a sob the second you laid your eyes on him in Marley. Though Jean assured you that there would be time for that. And with how your lover had his hands restrained within handcuffs and chains, you knew that now was not even the right time.

Those emerald eyes darkened when they fell on you, as if he was so disgusted by your mere presence. The excitement and longing that you felt was gone in an instant as you tensed up from his cold upbringing.

He was not hostile to anyone, anyone else but you.

With a heavy heart, you decided to just get back to the rest of your friends, letting Armin and Mikasa handle whatever would happen next. You could feel his emerald eyes weighing your body for every footstep that you took. But you never turned your face to him, afraid to see such emotion twirled inside his orbs.

What happened next felt like time passed in slow motion.

You closed the metal door, leaning your back as you took a deep breath. Connie was waving his hand toward you, laughter and cheers filled the room, and you could not help but smile, letting the joy of winning this attack seep into your heart instead of swallowing in worry of why your lover looked at you like that.

And then you saw it, little hands crawling up inside the airship. You saw it, when two familiar kids that you knew as warrior candidates infiltrated the place you were in. And you saw it too — the long rifle on her tiny hands, one eye closed as she aimed it at anyone, would be good if it was an important person.

You could not process what happened next after that.

Your feet brought you fast to your friends, ignoring how some of the soldiers looked at you with a question mark on top of their heads. You could not breathe, you were almost there, you just needed to push them all away and they would be saved.

Bang!

You gasped as you could feel the bullet grazing your hip. The pain was excruciating even for you, you felt it once leaving a hole in your arms back then inside Reiss Chapel, and now you felt it again. But thinking about your own injury was not your priority right now.

Your priority was to open your eyes and scan the faces of your friends. Connie was looking in your direction with jaw hanging slack. Jean had his pupils widened at the sight of you — and how your arms wrapped around Sasha's neck.

It was warm, suddenly you could feel a warm liquid seeping through your uniform at a rapid pace. A second later and crimson was now splattered upon your face as your friend choked out blood.

The next, her body went limp. The next, your vision was blinded with tears.

You pushed Jean away as he screamed at you to snap out of it, one hand gently touched your wound that you could not feel as your heart was ripped apart, even way more painful than the physical pain.

The night was not supposed to end like this, with the death of your comrade, with the death of your best friend. Meat, that's what she said. That was the last word that slipped from her lips.

It suited her. When you let the word roll down your tongue, it was so Sasha.

To remember someone as gluttonous as her even thinking about sharing the precious food all those years ago, you could only let out a bitter laugh.

Your fingers slipped in between her damped strands of hair, full of battle sweat. She loved it, saying that it made her feel secure, but only if you were the one who did that. No one else but you, not even the handsome chef.

You were supposed to do that with her head laying on your thigh, both of you rambling about what food Niccolo would cook for everyone once the airship touchdown safely in the Island of Paradis, home.

But it was not possible as the light in her eyes was forever gone, soon followed with pitch-black flooding your vision.

You let out a sigh to stop yourself from recalling the night even more. Your head was gently resting on Jean's shoulder, opposite you was Armin and Mikasa, both quiet as they were busy with their own thoughts.

"How is your wound?" Jean whispered as he knew how quiet it was in the room, didn't want to bother the others with the chit-chat. His question made your hand move subconsciously from your thigh to touch the bandaged side of your hip. "Is it still hurting?"

You chuckled softly at his question, which earned you a raised eyebrow from your friends as they were now focused on your direction. Not wanting to worry them, you raised one of your hands to dismiss their concern aside.

"I am fine, it was nothing." Clearing your throat, you tried to sound as sure as possible. "You guys knew I felt worse than this before."

Slipping a laugh from your lips, your friends were all having a thin smile on their faces. You were always the positive one, a naive — if they decided to go with what people said about you. Someone so pure and caring to everyone that she loved, yet if something endangered her loved one, she could turn into a monster.

"He didn't even say anything."

But the warm atmosphere only lasted for a few seconds.

"He knew that you were injured, that you lost so much blood too." Connie's eyes never left the windows in front of him, he was the only one who didn't smile at your attempt to loosen up. "But what?" You glanced at him, seeing how his hand balled into a fist. "That bastard Eren didn't even blink or care for you."

"Connie!"

Mikasa hissed at the truth that was being thrown in the air. She didn't know what angered herself more at this point. It was either how Connie insulted Eren for being apathetic, or his words that she knew too well left a sting of pain in your heart.

"Mikasa, it's al—" You stood up abruptly in an attempt to calm her down, but the pain jolted on your hips, making you gasp as you felt the wound stretch a little. She ignored Connie, and in an instance was striding beside you as her hand rested on your back, easing you to sit down again beside Jean.

"Don't rush. You are still healing."

The ravenette had her hands going up and down to distract you from the pain, Connie was silent for a while as he felt guilty for lashing out like that. You couldn't blame him, he lost half of his soul once Sasha took her last breath. You knew the pain, you were just better at hiding it.

Silence engulfed the room once again as your friends focused on making you feel better. You didn't want to worry them, and you could only curse at yourself for hissing out of pain like that before.

Connie was distressed, no. Everyone was distressed at this point for losing a dear friend. You knew at the back of their minds, they would think that this grief they felt right now would never exist if only Eren did not try to infiltrate Marley with the rest of the Survey Corps.

Well, that was true, but you felt like there was more to it. There must be a reason why your lover wanted to show up this night. Either it was just because he wanted to get revenge as fast as he could (a reason that you thought was enough to remember how emotional he used to be), or maybe it was just a start of a longtime plan, but you just believed that there would be a good reason for his doing.

"I am going to talk to him."

You voiced out your thoughts, and that even made Connie whip his face toward you. "He must have felt so lonely down there." With your head hanging low, fingers fiddling around the promise ring that was given by Eren after all of you reclaimed Shiganshina, you were making up your mind. "Maybe I could get him to talk, any kind of information would be important, right?"

Your friends looked at you as if you were crazy. Everyone could see how much he had changed. From a suicidal maniac, to now an empty, emotionless human. They even wondered if he was still human or not with how eerie his aura could be from time to time.

"Don't be stupid, he didn't even say anything when Captain Levi asked him." Jean scoffed as he straightened his back, perhaps wanting to intimidate you.

"Jean is right, with how unstable Eren is right now, we know if he wanted to, he would do something drastic." The soft voice that belonged to Armin filled the room, the gear inside his brain never stopped spinning to think of all the possibilities that might come if you decided to confront the long-haired brunette.

Mikasa stayed silent, while Connie felt like he needed to say something. But as his eyes landed on your pained expression, he decided to shut his mouth for now. He wouldn't say anything, at least not when you were around, not with how much you loved Eren and his words might make you sad even more.

"But I need to." You said out loud sternly, in the process, are demanding everyone to agree. "He loves you, all of you. But his love for me was not just a friendship or brotherhood bond." You squint your eyes a little as your words felt like you were trying to convince yourself. "It's romantic love." And it was stronger.

They gulped when they heard your statement. Even Armin could not argue that you might be the only one who could make Eren open up. You never pitied him, you were there to support, to cheer, to believe that he would be alright, even on the battlefield that was supposed to worry you with how low the chances of survival was.

And with how you treated him, the blonde knew that his best friend appreciated you even more than Mikasa. Because you treated him like a man, because you believed in his ability to manage a life and death situation, because even though you mourn with him while he was thinking about his mother, you were there to provide comfort, not to gaze at him with orbs full of pity.

"Even though we all agree to that," Armin paused, thinking for the right words. "How are you going to visit him? No one was allowed to go down there."

There was a smug smile tugged on your lips as you stood up, palms dusting your wrinkled clothes before walking toward the door. Your aura was reeking with confidence as if you had everything planned out. The blonde should have known by now. Whatever happened, nothing could actually separate you from Eren.

"Well, Armin, you knew that Hange had a soft spot for me, right?" You wiggled your eyebrows playfully, earning a little chuckle from your friend. "If only you guys showed interest too when they talked about titan, which is actually interesting despite their non-stop excitement, you all might get some extra privilege!"

Jean shook his head in amusement when he thought about it, you were the only one (except maybe Moblit — oh, Moblit, you missed that man) that could listen to Hange rambling about how magnificent titan was.

Mikasa and Armin only showed soft smiles for seeing your antics, while Connie just stayed silent and scratched his now (slightly) longer hair.

"Alright you suicidal girlfriend, go on then." Jean playfully insulted you, making you snort for it had been months since the last time you heard that nickname. "Just don't move around too much, walk like a proper lady."

"Bruh, even Historia walked like she stomped the ground anywhere she went." You rolled your eyes before settling your hand on the door's handle. "And she is the queen."

Jean snickered from your words before laying his back on the soft cushion. Somehow feeling at ease that the tension from before was now slowly replaced with a relaxed atmosphere. You hummed softly before opening up the door, now ready to search for Hange.

Hopefully, this plan will work out. Hopefully, he could open up to you.

"Alright, see you—"

"Be careful, okay?"

You jolted, slightly taken aback when Connie cut you off. Something was lingering there as he spoke, as if he knew something that you didn't know. It was like a warning, telling you not to let your guard down.

"My, my, Connie." You let out a soft chuckle and take a peek from your shoulder to look at your friends once more. "This is just Eren, he wouldn't do anything to me." Assurance, always tried to make everyone around you felt better. And you could see from the corner of your eyes that Connie's shoulders started to relax.

Gripping the handle a little bit tighter, you sighed before dazzling them with a wide smile. "Okay, see you guys later. Love you all!"

Your ears didn't find any answers from them. But the snort that you heard, and the little chuckle and a visible smile on their faces were enough for you to close the door behind with a soft click. Now you were ready.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ༶•┈┈⛧┈〄┈⛧┈┈•༶ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Once you left, the room was once again engulfed with silence. An impatient sigh slipped from Jean as he peered at the clock wall once again. It had been around an hour after you left. With how long you have been out, they were all sure that somehow you could get a yes from Commander Hange.

Though, he could not remember how it came to this. At first, they were all just talking about the war, the infiltration in Marley, or what Commander Pyxis thought about the plan. They were all sharing what they thought, everything was civil.

Until Connie asked, with terror in his eyes, whether Eren who was now locked behind the bar, was the same person that they all used to know. Jean knew that he should have kept his mouth shut, he should not have argued back to Mikasa.

But he was desperate, he wanted her to see the truth.

"That must be because he trusts us!"

Yet he knew, no matter how much Eren would stray into the darkness, even though sometimes there were times when she doubted, she would follow that man.

Just like you, sadly, just like you.

But you were so much more in another level of faith.

Both you and Mikasa put Eren on a pedestal. You were like his worshipper, giving your heart completely to the man with emerald eyes as if he was God. Praises would be sung, and no matter how your mind was a lot more rational than the ravenette woman, you would still believe him as the most devoted follower.

And Mikasa saw him as a saviour, extending his hand to her so she could keep on living. She believed that without him, she would have died a long time ago. To know that a man like Eren Yeager had not one but two powerful people who would gladly do anything for him, made Jean's blood boil.

"Mikasa," Connie whispered out, finally turning to face them all again. Even though Jean currently had his head hanging low, somehow he could see the terror in his friend's eyes. "What do you think Eren did when Sasha died? What do you think he did when he saw (Y/n)'s unconscious body with blood all over her torso?"

Mikasa was lost, it was as if she wanted to plug her ears so she could not hear what came next. "Do you think he cried? Do you think he was frustrated?" His voice was stable, yet everyone could hear the sorrow coated in his words. "He didn't even panic when he saw his goddamn lover with a weak pulse!"

"Connie, stop it."

"That bastard laugh, Mikasa! That bastard you called family dared to laugh when Sasha died!" And now the dam has broken. "I wonder what he found so funny. Which part of Sasha's death?" The water had flooded their mind, the truth once again made them question their comrades.

Connie did not want to break you even more, holding back his question before when you were there. And on top of that, he knew that somehow you could make them believe in Eren with how smooth you were with words.

He could see how you would stand up and hug him, he could hear your whisper of how Eren's laugh was something out of grief, maybe because that man remembering something beautiful from the past that made him mad at the universe. He knew that you would do anything to make sure they all still believed in Eren without force. Just by your words.

Maybe that was the reason why Connie spoke up now. Because he knew that Mikasa could never answer his question, so he could have someone to blame, so his selfish mind could at least unleash his frustration on someone else.

"Tell me, Mikasa." He continued, needing to release his sadness away by anger. "You know everything about Eren, right?" An answer would never slip from the woman, so he pushed, again and again. "Why did he laugh over Sasha's death? Why was he not even afraid that his girlfriend could be dead too?!"

Knock knock.

Connie gasped for air.

He leaned his back to the window, hands slowly went up to his head, nails scratching on his scalp as he tried to compose himself. No one knew who that was. And they immediately straightened up their posture as they waited for their guest to come in.

If it was you, you would just open up the door with a bang, as childish as you could get. They would see a smile and excitement beaming from you as you gushed at how glad you were to have a chance to talk with your lover. Your friends could see it all, knowing how predictable you were sometimes, especially when it came to Eren Yeager.

But they surely did not expect Commander Hange themselves to be the one behind the door. Jean, Mikasa, and Armin immediately stood up. Connie walked toward Jean before they were altogether given the surprisingly quiet commander a perfect salute.

"At ease."

This was scary. They all just got back from a traumatic infiltration with how their closest comrades died in the battle. The Commanders themselves gave them some time to relax, telling them that the report and meeting would be held tomorrow instead of right after their return.

So now, they were all questioning the same thing.

Why would Commander Hange have an expression that they would only show when the situation was deadly serious?

Armin's brain never stopped working, he tried to understand the situation by scrutinizing every detail that he could find from the veteran scout. Hange's body was still, lips shaped into a thin line as their eyes fell into the air. They didn't look at any of them, eyes empty as if they were trying to drain any kind of emotion out from their heart.

"This would be hard for all of you."

That was the first sentence that they said after a long pause. Breathe in, breathe out, blue eyes that belonged to Armin now could see the sweat and the tremble on Hange's hand. He could only swallow a huge lump as he waited for further information. "I shouldn't have let—"

The commander cleared their throat when realisation dawned upon them that they almost broke down in front of those who deserved to know the truth. Fast.

Everyone was now alarmed with how vulnerable their commander was standing in front of them. Hange that was never let anyone control their fear and emotion, now completely ruined with whatever guilt that seeping inside their mind. Everyone thought the same thing. "I am sorry."

They were broken.

Mikasa was now agitated. She wanted to push them for just spitting out the information. All she ever wanted was just rest, and with how the commander had something that they needed to share, somehow she doubted that she could get any rest soon.

"(Y/n)'s dead."

And now, she was sure that she could not even get any rest at all.

"I found her body already slumped on the ground."

She was screaming, a massive headache struck her as if it would split her head into two. Armin tried to calm her down, but it was no use with how panic his voice sounded right now, not even including the hiccup and sob that followed after as he finally processed the information.

Connie laughed like a maniac, thinking it was a joke. Now maybe he knew why Eren laughed when he heard Sasha's death. This was too painful to understand, too much to be taken in one night after everything that happened just a few hours ago.

And then there was Jean, who only had his legs wobbled a little.

"Where?"

Jean was the only one who dared to ask, who was still collected enough to push all the truth on the table. "Commander Hange, with all due respect. I needed to know. We needed to know." Even in between all the sobs and agonizing screams, the two scouts stared at each other with an unreadable expression on both of their faces.

"Commander Hange," He called out again, "Where did you find her?"

Silence.

Four pairs of eyes immediately flee toward the brown-haired scout.

They all indeed — needed to know.

"Eren's cell."

Everyone gasped, simultaneously. And they thought about the same thing, they were sure that someone tried to kill Eren and you were caught in between. They already had their eyes blazing with fire, ready to hunt down whoever dared to steal your life away.

Maybe a Marleyan, yes, or maybe some random soldier who had seen so many deaths on the infiltration that made them mad.

But the world was just as cruel as it was already.

They could only wish it were that simple.

"And there was no sign of someone breaking in."

↪Back to Wall Maria

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#eren x reader #eren x y/n #eren jaeger #eren yaegar #eren angst #aot x reader #aot imagines #aot x y/n #aot #snk x reader #snk #eren jaeger x reader #eren yeager x reader

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strangeandforlornbooks · 4 years

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best books with morally ambiguous narrators!

all y’all’s problematic faves and villains! :) also included are third person narrators but in books with morally ambiguous leads/themes

Sci-fi

Scythe by Neal Shusterman: in a future free from pain, disease, and war, people can live forever. ‘scythes’ are given the power to decide who lives and who dies to preserve the balance. sad and kinda gives of hunger games vibes, if you like that.

Neuromancer by William Gibson: basically invented the cyberpunk genre. strange and removed protagonists. (a team of computer hackers have to face off against an evil AI). you kind of dislike everyone and suddenly you’re crying over them. one of those trippy sci-fi classics.

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut: very beautiful and very very sad (same author as slaughterhouse five). the richest man in america has to face a martian invasion. more about free will and bad people doing good things than a plot that makes any kind of sense.

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick: set in an alternate universe where the germans and japanese won world war two. not really like the tv show at all- it’s not an action story, and there’s not really the hope to somehow fix the world that drives a lot of dystopia stories. instead its about how people survive and connect to one another in a hopeless society.

The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow: a supercomputer convinces the leaders of the world to keep the peace for hundreds of years by taking their children hostage and obliterating any city that disobeys. what happens to the hostage protagonists when war seems inevitable? lots of morally fraught decisions and characters slowly losing their identity. (plus a fun lesbian romance)

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson: a brilliant mathematician and a dedicated marine fight to keep the ultra secret in world war two. fifty years later, a tech company discovers what remains of their story. one of the most memorable sequences in the book is a japanese soldier slowly becoming disillusioned with his nation and horrified by the war even as he continues to fight.

Blade Runner by Philip K. Dick: another one of those sci-fi classics that’s not at all like the movie. there is a bounty hunter for robots, though, as well as a weird religion that probably is referencing catholicism and a decaying society with a shortage of pets. kind of a trip.

Wilder Girls by Rory Power: girls trapped in a boarding school on an isolated island must face a creeping rot that affects the animals and plants on the island as well as their own bodies. the protagonists will do anything to survive and keep each other safe. very tense (and bonus lesbian romance whoo)

The Fifth Season by N K Jemisin: three women are gifted with the ability to control the earth’s energy in a world where those who can do so are forced into hiding or slavery. some veryyyy dark choices here but lots of strong female characters.

Historical Fiction

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters: two victorian lesbians fall in love as they plot to betray each other in horrific ways. lots of plot twists, plucky thieves, gothic settings, and a great romance.

Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiwicz: a powerful roman soldier in the time of Nero plots to kidnap a young woman after he falls in love with her, only to learn more about the mysterious christian religion she follows. very melodramatic but some terrific prose.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr: a blind girl in France and a brilliant German boy recruited by the military struggle through the chaos of the second world war. ends with a bang (iykyk.) very sad, reads like poetry.

Boxers by Gene Luen Yang: graphic novel reveals the story of a young boy fighting in the boxer rebellion in early twentieth century china. the sequel, saints, is also excellent. beautifully and sympathetically shows the protagonist’s descent into evil- the reader really understands each step along the way.

Fantasy

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake: three triplets separated at birth, each with their own magical powers, have to fight to the death to gain the throne. lots of fun honestly

Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo: everyone in these books is highly problematic but you love them all anyway. a ragtag game of criminals plan a heist on a magical fortress. some terrific tragic back stories, repressed feelings, and revenge schemes.

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King: idk how to describe these frankly but if you can put up with King’s appalling writing of female characters they’re pretty interesting. fantasy epic about saving the world/universe, sort of. cowboys and prophecies and overlapping dimensions and drug addicts galore.

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud: lots of fun! a twelve year old decides to summon a demon for his cute lil revenge scheme. sarcastic demon narrator. lighthearted until s*** gets real suddenly.

Elegy and Swansong by Vale Aida: fantasy epic with machiavellian lesbians and enemies to lovers to enemies to ??? to lovers. charming and exciting and lovely characters.

The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen: an orphan boy must compete with a few others for the chance to impersonate a dead prince. really dark but very tense and exciting and good twists.

The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu: fantasy epic. heroes overthrow an evil empire and then struggle as the revolution dissolves into warring factions. interesting world building and three dimensional characters, even if they only have a small part.

Circe by Madeline Miller: the story behind the witch who turns men into pigs in the odyssey. madeline miller really said, i just used my classics degree to write a beautiful gay love story and now im going to write a powerful feminist retelling because i can. queen. an amazing and satisfying book that kills me a lil bit because of the two lines referencing the song of achilles.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer: the tragic backstory for the queen of hearts in alice in wonderland. a little predictable but very fun with a compelling protagonist

A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) by George RR Martin: ok I know we all hate GRRM and rightfully so but admittedly these books do have some great characters and great scenes. they deserve better than GRRM though. also he will probably never finish the books anyway....

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket: not really fantasy but not really anything else either. plucky, intelligent, and kind children fight off evil plots for thirteen books until suddenly you realize the world is not nearly as black and white as you thought.

Classics

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: gothic romance!! a new wife is curious about the mysterious death of her predecessor in a creepy old house in the British countryside...good twists and lovely prose.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles: not really morally ambiguous but one awful decision suddenly has awful consequences and certain people are haunted by guilt forever.... really really really beautiful and really really really sad. boys in a boarding school grow up together under the shadow of world war two.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: while imperial russia slowly decays a beautiful young woman begins a destructive affair. a long book. very russian. the ending is incredibly tense and well written.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding: I think you know the plot to this one. the prose is better than you remember and the last scene is always exciting.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie: one by one, the guests on an island are slowly picked off. one of Christie’s darkest mysteries- no happy ending here! very tense and great twists.

Contemporary

The Secret History by Donna Tartt: inspired the whole dark academia aesthetic. college students get a little too into ancient greece and it does not end very well. lovely prose but I found the characters unlikable.

Honorable Mentions

The Dublin Saga by Edward Rutherford: has literally a billion protagonists, but some of them are morally ambiguous ig? follows a few families stories’ from the 400s ad to irish independence in the 20s. beautifully captures the weight and movement of irish history.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer: how morally ambiguous can you be if you’re, like, eleven? a lot if you’re a criminal genius who wants to kidnap a fairy for your evil-ish plan apparently!

Redemption by Leon Uris: literally my favorite novel ever. the sequel to Trinity but can stand alone. various irish families struggle through the horrors of world war one. the hero isn’t really morally ambiguous, but the main theme of the novel is extremely bad people suddenly questioning their choices and eventually redeeming themselves. sweeping themes of love, screwed up families, redemption, and patriotism.

The Lymond Chronicles and House of Niccolo by Dorothy Dunnett: heroes redeem themselves/try to get rich/try to save their country in early renaissance Europe. if I actually knew what happened in these books I'm sure it would be morally ambiguous but its too confusing for me. in each book you spend at least a third convinced the protagonist is evil, though. lots of exciting sword fights, tragic romances, plot twists, and kicking english butt.

Bonus: Protagonist is less morally ambiguous and more very screwed up and sad all the time

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt: you know this one bc its quoted in all those quote compilations. basically the story of how one horrible event traumatizes a young man and how he develops a connection to a painting. really really really good.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro: hard to describe but strange... not an action novel or a dystopia really but sort of along those lines. very hopeless.

#book recs #morally ambiguous protagonists #dark academia #book recommendations #mine

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hunterartemisanime · 4 years

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Kuroko no Basket Headcanons: Generation of Miracles (+ select few) as Classical Pieces

I Know I am six years too late, but the quarantine opened my viewpoint to this great anime. And I have looked, so far I haven’t came across this particular type of HC for KnB yet. So enjoy:

Kuroko Tetsuya: Gnossienne no 1 by Erik Satie

Gnossiene no 1 by Erik Satie is quite paradoxical in nature. It is supposed to be “dance-like” in movement, but it is so minimalistic that in it’s movement it almost sounds creepy. If it’s left at the background, no one will hardly notice that a music is being played--as if, it’s a trail of a faint perfume which is remarkable when the first whiff is taken but you immediately forget how was the smell. It’s like Kuroko: he is invisible and has no presence at all, but as he starts to get noticed you see his unique abilities. This piece is very new and experimental, which also can indicate it’s similarity with Kuroko’s misdirection as a passing technique: unique and invisible.

Kise Ryota: Symphony no 4 “Italian”: Allegro Vivace by Felix Mendelssohn

Bright and Vivacious, Mendelssohn’s “Italian” screams extroversion, positiveness and brilliance. It is also the creation of the Romantic Age: that signify love for the fellow human and nature. Something Kise radiates as he enters the screen. Kise is famous for his modelling career, therefore he must be called “well liked face” and “overrated” a few times, which also goes well with this piece because, this particular piece of “Allegro Vivace” is one of the most common and overplayed Classical piece. Mendelssohn was also known for he remarkable “Beethoven-like style”--and what is Kise famous for? “Perfect Copy”.

Aomine Daiki: Caprice 24 by Niccolo Paganini

One of the Hardest classical pieces of all time, Niccolo Paganini’s Caprice 24 tests the mettle of a violin player. Passionate, rule-breaking, free flowing, this Caprice is very much the essence of Daiki Aomine’s style of basketball playing. It is said that Niccolo Paganini originated many Violin techniques, which never existed before and god knows no one could figure out how Aomine does the “Formless Shots”.The portrayal of “Aomine Daiki” as the “Big Bad” in the season one can be associated with the enigma and mystrey Paganini’s reputation carried: The Devil’s Violinist.

Murasakibara Atsushi: Also sprach Zarathustra, Op.30 - Einleitung by Richard Strauss

This Classical piece is perhaps the most iconic piece of all times. Whenever something is hinted to be grand and imposing this piece is used, so there was no better music than this to highlight Murasakibara’s herculean presence in the court. It is intimidating, imposing and gets bigger and bigger as the time progresses until is overpowers the listners: a style which Musrasakibara applies when he plays the Center in the court.

Midorima Shintarou: No 40 in G Minor : Molto Allegro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart belongs to the 18th century, an age known as Age of Rationality, control of emotions, satire and court music. Technically Mozart is in the Baroque age, which is known for it’s extravagance and indulgence in music and art with heavy dependency on God. Midorima’s motto is “God Proposes Man Disposes” and he is heavily dependent in Horoscope. Despite that, Midorima is calculated and rational: a paradox of a character. The no 40 of Mozart is considered as one of his “mathematically symmetrical pieces”--Midorima is obsessed in perfection, and doing everything so obsessively perfect that there was nothing better to describe him than this piece.

Akashi Seijuro: Erlkonig by Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst

Erlkonig is a poem by Goethe that describes the journey of father and son on horseback through the forest where the Elf King tries to disillusion the boy and finally kills him. This poem was first transcribed into an aria (song) by Schubert and then into a grand caprice of Violin by Ernst. The caprice has two voice: the piano part, the vocals, both played on violin at the same time, which not only is difficult but nearly impossible. The caprice which forces the violinist to play everything is also very Akashi-sh in nature: “he is at his best when he is not depending on his team” or rather “he becomes the team” in the Rakuzan vs Seirin Match. Apart from that, the storyline of Erlkonig highlights the inner struggle of Akashi and Bokushi, which is very much the struggle of the Boy and the illusive Elf King, a terror the boy is trying to escape. This piece not only depicts Akashi’s impossible qualities but also the terrifying influence of his father and the inner conflict he has within himself.

Takao Kazunari: Overture: Die Fladermaus by Johann Strauss II

Die Fladermause or The Revenge of the Bat is a comic Operetta by Johann Strauss II. It is about a gentleman who fooled his best friend. They visited a "fancy-dress"-party and this friend was dressed up as a bat. This operetta is about his revenge - The revenge of the FLEDERMAUS. the entire operatta is a huge troll, like Takao: when everyone, including his teammate is super serious, he lightens everything and laughs. He wheels around Midorima and is expected to play the fool like the lead character of the Operatta. However his keen and malicious intent comes at the court, sneaking behind his humorous personality where the “revenge” part of the comic opera can highlight.

Kagami Taiga: Symphony no 7 by Ludvig Van Beethoven

The “Symphony no 7” is called the “nameless symphony” by Beethoven. This is brilliant for Kagami because at the beginning of the series he is an unknown player in the time where “Generation of Miracles” dominate the space, he is even termed as “the Miracle who didn’t get to be the Miracle”. Regardless to his anonymity, he comes with a bang and grows as a person and a player, like the Symphony itself: the ensemble of the instrument makes the sound bigger and bigger after the “start with a bang”--which also shows Kagami’s effort to grow with his team, which sets him apart from the miracles. In the symphony no 7, even the smallest sounds of the winds contribute to the dynamics of the symphony, which highlights how much Kagami acknowledges Kuroko and the benchwarmers.

tagging because I am afraid this will be getting unnoticed #NoticeMeSenpai:

@yanderebakugo @kurokonoboisket @midorimachine @art-zites @idinaxye

@sp-chernobyl @avxda-kedxvra @rilnen @lextotherescue @reservethemoon

#kuroko no basket headcanon #knb headcanons #anime headcanons #anime and classical music #kuroko no basket x classical music #kuroko tetsuya #aomine daiki #kise ryota #akashi seijirou #kagami taiga #murasakibara atsushi #midorima shintarou #sports anime and classical music #new headcanon #new anime headcanon

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feingeister · 5 years

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I love Matteo with all my heart but I don't really think David is the best character, I think Matteo is, I love druck but I feel like you guys put David in a pedestal he doesn't deserve, I mean his story gave me chills but it's not like he's the best even or something in my opinion and I don't feel like I know him that much, what do you think makes him the best character?

well, you’re entitled to your opinion (and it is nothing more than that) anon, but so am i.

at the end of the day, no one really needs a reason to love a character or prefer them to other characters. i certainly don’t understand when people go crazy over the other even characters (except joana and og even), but whatever, no one needs to justify themselves to me, just because i don’t agree with their personal choices.

HOWEVER..... i do have my reasons, and even though i want you to understand that no one owes you a detailed explanation of why they love a character, i’m gonna give you one anyway, because i love talking about david lmao.

a lot of people who agreed with my last post, interpreted it to mean that david is just a lot more likeable than even. that is totally fine by me, my blog is your oyster and all that. but what i was actually trying to say is that i really, really like even and when remakes create a character that is just like him - with maybe some different nuances that can mostly be attributed to the actor playing him -, im just like.... he’s cool, but he’s not even. a cool and well written even character already exists, so i really don’t need a bunch of new ones that will only leave me thinking that they’re not as good as the original. again, i really fail to see how niccolo and and eliott are in any way preferable to even, but like i said: when you connect with a character it just... happens, regardless of reason.

i’ve made soo many posts about david and his storyline already (if you are genuinely interested: x x x x x), but the gist of it really is that druck took the bare bones and structure of season 3 and created an entirely different story, just because their characters are so different and they - most importantly - have different motivations, intentions and issues. that is especially true for david.

now, i really don’t want to accuse anyone of anything, but i think an issue that david has, is that people expect him to be like even and when he turns out not to be like him, it throws people for a loop and they kind of end up... not getting him, because they don’t really make an effort to understand him. i’m not trying to brush off everyone who doesn’t like david with an “oh, you just don’t GET him” argument, because that is really not my style, i just want to mention it, because that’s actually how i first felt about david.

the first talk between even and isak usually goes like this: the even character set his eye on the isak character a long time ago and when he finally gets the chance to talk to him, he goes all in. he pulls out all the stops, tries to be his most charming self and ends up being hopelessly extra. very good content 10/10.

personally, i was so set on that expectation that when i first saw the scene in druck, i ended up thinking that they were trying to replicate that and just kind of... failed at it. it seemed like david didn’t want to talk to matteo at all and that had me��SO confused. looking back, i feel pretty damn stupid for thinking that, because obviously, david really didn’t want to talk to him. that’s the whole goddamn point!!! and looking back at that scene with a genuine understanding of who david is, makes it one of my favorite scenes ever. its just.. deeply hilarious how uncooperative david is in that conversation and how matteo just does not give a fuck at all, because he’s too busy physically turning into that james-corden-in-a-wedding-dress.jpg meme.

okay so, case in point: i just went severely of the rails again, because there is so much to david that people don’t see, because they don’t give him a chance and on top of that, he is a completely new character, so there’s actually new stuff to analyze and get into. why does eliott talk to lucas at that bus stop? because he saw him on the first day of school and he’s been planning to talk to him ever since. why did niccolo talk to marti in that radio booth? because he saw him on the first day of school (idk if thats true actually, but he’s seen him before, that’s the point ok jkshfkjh) and he’s been planning to talk to him ever since. why did david follow matteo’s invitation? because they locked eyes in that corridor and david really meant to keep his distance, but when the cute guy with the sad blue eyes stops you and tells you that the abistreich meeting you planned to go to is totally not cool and asks you to have a smoke with him instead, just him: well then goddamn, one little chat with the guy won’t hurt, right?

the thing about not knowing him that much: that is something i have ALWAYS disagreed with and i’m pretty continuously salty about it on this blog. i have no god earthly clue why people think we don’t know him like other evens. we know what his hobbies are, we know his sense of humor, what his dreams are and we know his number one coping mechanism when it comes to trauma lmao. that’s therapist-level knowledge of a person. of course, there is more i want to know about him and there are plenty of stories he still has to tell and plenty of gaps to fill, but that really, really doesn’t mean that we don’t know him. also might i add... he and joana are the only evens who have a stable support system that is actually shown on-screen. showing joanas parents and davids sister laura actively supporting them is pretty important in establishing their characters as people who have a life outside of cris/matteo. we know that no matter what, they are loved and have support, even outside of their relationship.

tl:dr: if you don’t like david or don’t get the hype, that’s fine. if you never clicked with him, it is what it is. but here are the facts: david is the only male even who didn’t just copy the originals’ character traits, insecurities, motivations & habits, but instead has his own fully realized and different character arc. in my eyes, david is the most well-written remake-even, because, well.... someone actually had to put the effort in and write him.

#druck #ask #anti skamfr #tagging it bc i know y'all are bored #someone: why do you like david?#me: why don't you check out my bibliography #god i'm embarrassing #i didnt go too much into my opinion of joana #bc i dont know her that well #but i think while she's a lot like even she got her own story #which is also a good approach for 'remaking' a character

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sonofthesaiyans · 3 years

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Gabi Braun will always be the big reason for why I think Attack on Titan went so far south, she’ll always be its worst character as far as I’m concerned, not just in AOT but one of the worst in manga/anime at large. But.......she is far from the only reason. The final chapter of Attack on Titan exposed why the story just no longer worked on ANY level after the Ocean was finally found. The finale not only failed to justify anything about Gabi’s role in the story but also that of Falco, who was at least watchable..........On top of failing to adequately conclude or answer damn near anything else the story wasted so much time on. The focus should’ve been squarely on the battle against the Titans and their creators, someone want to explain to me again why an *ALLEGEDLY* serious war commentary cooked up a time loop and why it was necessary to anything we saw onscreen? Was Eren engineering his own mother’s death something we needed? That’s about as necessary as the entire “Chosen One” prophecy surrounding Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels. Did anybody give a shit about Yelena? The story clearly didn’t since she vanished from sight. What was Magath’s role in all this? Wasn’t anybody marginally curious about what Hizuru even looked like? The Warhammer Titan? NOPE! No great potential there! One battle and it’s essentially vanished, doesn’t look like they bothered to give its host a personality either. Pure plot device. The Yeagerists are still calling the shots? Oh great, nice to know that nothing was actually resolved, peace is merely implied but not promised. Sorry there’s plenty of reasons why that doesn’t service the conclusion. Weird shit like Reiner sniffing Historia’s letter? Yeah crap like that needed to be left out of the story, weird moments like that don’t work. Even as a joke. What was Pieck’s purpose? Got her introduction far too late I reckon. Why should we care about Pieck? What was Porco’s purpose? His motivation for trying to best Reiner was simply retarded, if you’ll excuse me. WHAT WAS YMIR’S PURPOSE? WHAT WAS THE POINT OF HISTORIA’S PREGNANCY? Niccolo x Sasha? Oh you could’ve done many great things with that but instead it’s just a plot device and nothing else. Does nobody appreciate how much Sasha still could’ve given if she stayed in the game? At the least, it would’ve made this relationship feel less artificial. I can’t even make sense of Eren’s motivations towards Mikasa in doing what he did and I dare say Isayama didn’t have a goddamned clue what he was writing there either. And I’m not wasting my time figuring it out. And again, Mikasa Ackerman REALLY went downhill as a character the longer she stayed focused on Eren. The epilogue doesn’t help AT ALL. That girl should’ve divorced his ass a long time ago, it’s sad that such a phenomenally strong and intriguing character lost all her intrigue because of that prick. The Colossal Titan? Big fucking waste after Armin inherited it, I’m not even sure there was a point to him inheriting it. Shouldn’t have taken to the finale to finally see it back in action, the most iconic Titan of the series. The Female Titan? Sorry folks, but when it takes THAT long for Annie to return or to have a purpose again, that’s not a credit to Isayama. It’s just bad writing. She was too disconnected for me to still give a crap by that point, too little too late. And again, WHAT THE HELL WAS UP WITH ALL THAT TIME LOOP CRAP? In the end, Attack on Titan was brought down by its own mythos, a mythos who’s holes just got wider and wider the longer it went on. The time loop really discredits the whole deal in my opinion, the simple fact that Eren caused his own mother’s death REALLY taints the whole thing that much worse for me. The story didn’t need that, convince me otherwise. Because I just don’t get it .

And the story pulled into far too many directions with subplots that just didn’t amount to any real relevance. The story really had too much time to waste on a shit ton of characters who amounted to little and who’s purpose in the end didn’t justify their inclusion. And the final act is where every one of them is exposed for their utter worthlessness. The real story got suffocated under all that crap and no single chapter could reasonably resolve them all, as we saw with Chapter 139. I don’t know what this idiot was attempting to accomplish, but the story suffers greatly for all of it.

So I’ll give you this much Gabi fans, your favorite character is no longer the one reason some of us are mad at this show, really nothing worked about the final act of the story. So I’ll give you that, as much as I hate the kid she’s just one facet of a whole slew of problems borne out of a lack of focus here. So maybe the most reasonable compromise here is that those of us who hated the story’s end just don’t acknowledge the final arcs. I know I sure don’t. If it had ended with the Ocean, I think I’d have been a lot more satisfied, knowing what ended up following. But that’s just me. This ending just fucking blows on so many levels, and unfortunately it’s not just one problem but dozens of them that all came together all at once. So I’m totally on board with those people who are asking for a better ending but like I said earlier I don’t think that’s going to do much good. And I’m sure I didn’t even list everything I had an issue with despite my best effort just now. This ending is pretty divisive, but I don’t think future reviews will be quite as forgiving. It’s totally out of touch with the series and opens up too many questions and not enough answers. That’s a rookie mistake on a grand level.

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ayellowcurtain · 5 years

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11 questions asked and answered (skam edition)

I wanted to do this one so badly but I thought nobody would ask me but then the always amazing @sttrawberries saved me so thank you <33

1. Always repost the rules

2. Answer the questions given to you by the one who tagged you!

3. Give 11 questions

4. Tag 11 people (I hope everyone does it! please!)

1. To which character do you feel most related to?

Generally to Isak from the OG but also to all the versions of him that I’ve seen.

2. Do you watch all of the remakes?

I try to but the ones that I follow closely are: Skam France, Skam NL, Skam Italia and Druck.

3. Did you see the og while it was airing?

I think season 3 was almost done, but I’m not sure.

4. Name 3 facts you like about every remake (or the ones you’ve seen)

Skam NL: 1 - the best aesthetics 2 - Lucas x Kes relationship is what I expect from the Isak x Jonas relationship but no remake made it so real and loving. (Gio and Marti are a really, really close second on this relationship for me) 3 - the girl squad is also amazing and so real!

Skam France: 1 - the obvious one: Lucas and Eliott are so intimate and madly in love that I can’t even explain. 2 - a season five!!!! with Arthur!!! A character that they created!!!! mind blown. 3 - Eliott has a voice and he tells Lucas how he feels and we can also see how it is for him. The scene of their talk was so well done and played!

Skam Italia: 1 - Giovanni Garau, that’s it. 2 - the whole Bracciano weekend was also an amazing “new scene” and everyone died on that weekend waiting for Niccolo to just show up!! 3 - the hotel scene, when they start kissing slowly. It gives me chills to this day. (there’s one weird cut on that scene that bothers me but the rest is pure perfection)

Druck: 1 - Alexander is the best William. (one of the few that are actually worth something) 2 - Matteo is a mixture of Isak and Even and so is David and I love it 3 - Jonas x Hanna is another amazing relationship coming from the remakes and they need to be together forever.

5. Have you tried to convince some of your friends (or anyone) to watch skam? Did you succeed?

I tried to make my best friend watch it, she only watched season 3 of the OG so I guess I failed

6. How did you find about out skam?

I was on weheartit and pictures of Even and Isak kept showing up and I started thinking “I’m in love with your love”

7. First impression and what do you think about it after watching it? (it can be about any character, season or remake, you choose)

When I first started watching the OG I decided to continue to watch season 3 (that was airing) and when it was done I went back to watch the other seasons. I was already in love with Isak but it felt like his background was needed so when I watched the first clip from the first ep I fell more in love when he said the line of Jonas was his best friend so whatever Eva told him Jonas would tell him later and Jonas just nodded. And I fell in love again but now with their friendship because it felt so real and so different from how a friendship between two boys is usually portraited.

8. What did you think when you found out that there were going to make remakes of skam?

I was still missing the OG terribly but then tumblr went wild talking about a french remake and I was beyond excited. I was ready to watch Skam over and over and over again. Then came a few pictures (one of them was Yann with Emma on his shoulders and Lucas with a gigantic teddy bear and I instantly fell in love with yet another baby Isak)

9. Favorite speech?

I’ll have to go with Jonas’ (OG) first one.

10. Favorite version of every character from all of the remakes? (or pick three if you don’t want to write much)

Isak: Lucas (France), Martino (Italia) and Lucas (NL) (I can’t choose between them, they’re all like my children, I can’t pick one)

Even: Eliott and Nico (same problem here)

Jonas: Giovanni (Italia)

Eva: Isa (NL)

Noora: Liv (NL)

William: Alexander (Druck)

Magnus: Carlos (Druck) (I assume he’s the Magnus character just because he ends up dating the Vilde character)

Madi: Arthur (France) and Elia (Italia) (same goes here, they’re the only ones still single of the boys)

Vilde: Engel (NL)

Chris: Sam (Druck)

Sana: Amira (Druck)

P. Chris: Alex (France)

Eskild: Filippo (Italia)

11. Favorite room from all of the ones we’ve seen?

Niccolò’s or Matteo’s (when it’s clean and open)

#aycsundaytag

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spadesinglasses · 5 years

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Skam (Series)

specifically this fucking scene.

Okay so I’ve been posting my thoughts about Italia and Norway and how different these characters are. But like finally made a gif that best shows it.

During this ending, in Isak’s universe you can see how angry, and desperate he was when Even said that. It was as if Isak was scared to have this all ripped away from him. That finally someone who makes him real will just be gone like that because of some bullshit about how their future is uncertain.

This may not be Isak’s first love for a guy, but it was the first one where he could actually have something real, something to hold onto and someone who would be there for him.

In Isak’s universe, he had enough shit from the world that he would fight anyone and everyone to just hold onto this piece of happiness he finally found. After years and years of being fake, of ruining basically everyone around him, getting mad and frustrated, he finally see happiness.

Only to fear that Even’s the one who’s gonna take it away from him.

So of course he’s fucking angry that Even would say such a thing. They were both happy, Isak saw that and he knew Even knows it as well. So there’s no way he’s going to let this fear take hold of them and keep them happy. He’ll fuck destiny up if they ever try to take this happiness from them.

In Isak’s universe, Even is uncertain, and Isak is angry that this shit is happening.

In Martino’s universe, we could see a more mellow approach with uncertainty, or rather Niccolo’s uncertainty.

Martino handles the situation with humor and lightheartedness. He understood the night they both have and knew, one way or the other, that Niccolo will feel heavy after that. So he tried to diffuse the situation with humor, to make him smile.

Martino may not see what Niccolo looked like when he was saying those things, but Martino is so fucking sure, like 100% sure that they will come out of this situation stronger than ever.

My boy has so much trust to their relationship that he just dismissed Niccolo’s fear and uncertainty. Because deep inside he understands why Niccolo feels bad because his mother was going through it as well. Because in his universe we were able to see Martino interact with his mother and can somewhat empathize with her (even though they did shouted at one another).

In Martino’s universe, Niccolo’s uncertain, but Martino is calm through it all, knows that this situation will pass and that by the next day, hour or minute, Niccolo will get down from his fear and see what Martino sees.

Niccolo will see that happiness is what they have as long as they both hold onto it.

While writing this post and making those damn gifs, I kept on thinking what if these skam remakes and the og exist on the same universe and then one day for some goddamn reason, they meet one another in a bar or a park and just talk about how they all got together and then they’ll just be like “why does our stories sound the same?” and Isak and Even would just look at one another and goes “oh fuck our parallels in the same goddamn world”

(because from what i can see, only Isak and Even talked about the parallel universe as Martino and Niccolo’s thing is the only person in the world thing)

Also i’m excited for how SkamFR be different with its ending since apparently they are doing friends to lovers thing. To those who watched season 1 and 2, did Lucas had a crush on Yann?

#skam italia #skam norway #skam og #isak yaki #martino rametta #even bech næsheim #niccolo fares #evak #nicotino #glass thoughts

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rileychester · 5 years

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I remember growing up and when it came to LGBTQ characters on screen, they really weren’t there. I remember all the hoop la over Jack on Dawson’s Creek and I loved him there back in the day.

But he was a gay white male, who went through a lot of hardships, most her boyfriends were mostly one notes or off screen, and I don’t think their was much affection shown. I don’t know if that was censorship, the actor not wanting to go there, the powers that be behind the show, or a bit of everything.

Then Willow and Tara happened on BTVS and I was so happy. (Even though I am still super bitter about Tara’s death and why that happened) But it always bothered me that even after having deep loving and physical relationships with both Xander and Oz, Willow was a lesbian only. To me personally it felt like the show didn’t even want to say that she could have been a bisexual because apparently those didn’t exist.

There really wasn’t any main bisexual characters growing up for me. Sure there was Nancy on Roseanne who was a background character, but I don’t remember her being around long. And she was there more for a joke a lot of the time, at least to me.

I remember finally getting internet and being introduce to Captain Jack Harkness from Doctor Who and Kris Fisher from Hollyoaks. They were open about being bisexual, they weren’t limited or favoring of their sexual partners genders. They checked people out openly, they weren’t ashamed or confused. They were passionate with their partners and got to show affection. And for the most part people just accepted them for being bisexual and there was no bull shit when it came to their sexuality.

There is also Chris Keller and Tobias Beecher, though Chris isn’t the best representation since he’s a homicidal sociopath. But they were both bisexual, though Tobias didn’t figure that out since he went to jail, met Chris, and they enter into a complicated love/hate insanity relationship. As much as I love them and watching their story together, dear god were they toxic and unhealthy and just plain fucked up.

Since then I have found Thirteen from House, Callie Torres from Grey's Anatomy, Bo Tamsin from Lost Girl, Ringo Beckmann from Unter Uns, Robert Sugden from Emmerdale, Charity Dingle from Emmerdale, Piper Chapman from Orange is the New Black, Rosa Diaz from Brooklyn 99, I don’t know if Niccolo Fares from Skam Itila counts or if he’s pan like Even Bech Næsheim from Skam and so that’s a different representation. And many more, though mostly on shows found in Europe, cable, or streaming. And most of them I think are from more recent years.

My point being is I’m just so excited about Michael being bisexual and he’s a fucking main character who is more than just his sexuality. He’s not some stereotype, he’s not some joke, he’s just a guy whose been through a lot of crap in his life and he’s processing the best he can. But I’m also extremely weary because I have been burned so much in the past with stories for bi characters and treatment of them.

Things I really want to see with Michael. I know everyone sexuality is different, and there is always that saying “i don’t like labels,” that I have a love/hate with. But I actually want to hear him and others say the word bisexual because it needs to be said. I don’t see Michael opening with his sexual orientation, but not hiding it under a bushel either. It’s just his business and the people he’s either sleeping with or in a relationship business. See him be comfortable in his sexuality, see him not be ashamed or hiding it. See others, especially his alien siblings love him, support him, accept him for simply being who he is.

As much as I love Malex and I think Maria would be a good pairing for him too, I’m curious about him hooking up or dating other people as well. Seeing him check people out, being interested, what would Michael flirting with some random dude or some random girl look like? Him not letting anyone try to change him, calling people out on any shit they try to give him about who he loves or chooses to have sex with. Not have him be defined by his sexuality or go through tragedy because of mainly his sexuality. He’s got enough tragedy on his hands from childhood and now, he doesn’t need that tired old joke as well.

Though it will be interesting to see him run into prejudices from different kinds of people. Since most people think bisexuals don’t exist or just experimenting and also get so much flack from both straight people and LGBTQ people. To show biphobia and issues that can come up with all sorts of people in your life because your bi. Which can be family, friends, romantic partners, co-workers, strangers, assholes on the street, etc.

No fucking cliche stereotypes about bisexuals. People acting like it’s a phase where the show then pairs him with only women after a time. Not that he’s greedy/slutty, or that he’s a cheater, or that it all about sex and he doesn’t really care about being monogamous to his current partner. The chance of heternormative hanging about instead of respecting that he’s bisexual. And yes the love of his life might be woman, but it could just as well be a man too.

#michael guerin #michael vlamis #roswell new mexico #bisexual #bisexual in media #lgbt characters #bisexual characters

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ianceii · 6 years

Note

Prompt: Character A is a pessimist and hates the world, Character B is an optimist and loves to brighten up their own world. Character A + B meet and B is determined to make A see the best in life. Character A starts to see it, just not on their own, but with B alongside them

Pairing: Harry Potter/Tom Riddle (I know you :”))

Rating: Teen

Word Count : 2.6k words

Tags: Tom Riddle’s Era,

A/N : The prompt got kinda convoluted the longer I wrote, sorry mum. NO BETA because I live on the edge. Sorry for any mistakes I wrote this late at night.

.MACHIAVELLIAN.

Since it is difficult to join them together, it is safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking.

- Niccolo Machiavelli

Tom Marvolo Riddle was an orphan with good looks, good brains and a great sense of everything there is to be, he had everything to survive in the world where everybody fights for the top. The weak die and the strong survive is what rang on every orphan’s mind as they all stare into the abyss that is their future.

Maybe it was because of that very reason why they hated him so much. He had everything they had to strive for without actually working for it. How everything that they find hard to achieve came so easy to the young boy.

They called him the freak, the devil’s child. They told him that he was so unwanted that his mother died when she first laid her eyes upon him (the next morning, Eric Whalley broke his leg upon falling down the staircase).

Despite what they say, Tom Riddle was actually born with emotions.

He, like all the other children who were brought forth into this world, once wore rose-tinted lenses.

But it didn’t take long for those lenses to break under the force of the other orphan’s cruelty.

The shards of his innocence and naivety scarred the way he saw the world and he doesn’t think that it will be the same ever again.

Maybe that was the reason why he was so misanthropic, maybe that was the reason how they still call him freak, maybe that was the reason his mother died, maybe that was the reason his father never came to get him, maybe-

There was a lot of maybes in Tom’s life but in the end, he doesn’t care because all he wants now is for everyone to feel the pain and suffering he had felt under the hands of the cruel world.

He will was be better than everyone else in this no good orphanage. He had it, after all, the ability to make reality do his bidding, the ability to twist and turn the mortal realm in whatever way he chose.

Tom swears he will repay them for everything they had done to him. He will rise above their filth, and one day, one day, they all will kneel and beg before him to show mercy, but he wouldn’t.

His heart was filled with so much anguish and hate, it made Hecate frown with pity.

“Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain.”

― Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

Harry James Potter was his new roommate.

The young boy had emerald eyes that had laugh lines around the edges, uncommonly tanned skin and hair so wild Tom wondered if it had its own brain. The boy was unnervingly polite and often shrunk to himself when Tom noticed him.

Tom dismissed him, sure that despite the boy’s current facade, he would be as loud and as irritating as the other orphans when the time comes.

‘The boy would be just like all the other roommates he had,’ he thinks, ‘disgustingly childish and immature.’

Tom makes a bet with himself on when the boy would break, and leave for another room (next Monday).

He frowns at himself, he can’t wait to be alone again.

Tom was being followed.

He could see him in his peripheral view every time he looks up from his book. It had been happening over the past few days and frankly, it wouldn’t take much to convince Tom to carve those unnerving eyes out of their sockets.

Tom was never the confrontational type, nor was he the one to choose blunt trauma over subtle manipulations, but there was a pinprick of emotion that Tom couldn’t comprehend whenever those eyes stare at him.

“What do you want?” He said, framing his words as more of an order than a question.

Somewhere inside the cramped room, Tom heard a small ‘Eep!’ and several other objects fall.

Then silence.

“Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.”

― Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

His stalker, which turned out to be his new roommate, Harry Potter, stopped hiding and started following Tom like a duckling that accidentally imprinted on his person.

The younger boy gets sniggers from the other orphans and the particularly empathetic ones try to talk him out of it, but the boy just ignores their advice.

He sits whenever Tom sits, and usually picks on a random series of objects or he entertains himself with some sort of story that Tom never gets to comprehend the plot of since it’s always changing.

Tom should be annoyed by this. He knew he should be. But somewhere, deep in the cresses of his mind, he actually doesn’t mind the comfortable silence.

He just justifies his actions by convincing himself that his intuition was telling him that Harry would be useful to him one day. The young boy would bring Tom a boon, he knows it.

There was screaming outside of his window.

His peace and quiet were being disrupted by the yelling match going on outside his window. Tom was ready to fling a book outside or ‘encourage’ someone to sew the lips of who dared disturb his reading when he heard a voice.

“HE ISN’T LIKE THAT!”

Tom knew that voice.

He hurriedly set aside his book before leaning out of the window to see if the voice really belonged to the meek green-eyed duckling he had unknowingly adopted.

There, on the vast backyard of St. Wool’s, stood Potter and Eric Whalley staring the other down, faces red and drenched in sweat. (That piece of scum, hadn’t he learned his lesson? TOUCHING WHAT WAS TOM’S! Filth like him keep polluting the world with his ignorance and stupidity. Tom should crack open his skull next, just to see if the ignoramus actually had a brain. See the crimson flow of blood streaming-)

Tom shakes his head to clear his thoughts.

“Wouldn’t yah see that?! Potter is defending his boyfwiend.” Said Whalley, his gang of obnoxious 15-year-olds laughing like the brainless idiots they were.

Harry went as red as a brick.

Tom couldn’t hear it but Potter smirked, and then he murmured something.

That something made Whalley redder than Potter was and made everyone else quiet down. Aflame with embarrassment, Whalley raised his fist high up in the air to prepare for a nose crunching blow. Nobody made a move to save Harry so the young boy crouched down and used his frail arms to protect himself.

Tom hastily ordered it to transport Harry somewhere else, to protect the boy from the bully’s meaty arms.

But nothing happened.

Adrenaline rushed through Tom’s veins as he could do nothing to save Harry. He readied himself for a cringe as he was about to see a boy shorter than him by a full head get thrown across the lawn.

High pitched screams filled the air

In a strange turn of events, Whalley, with all the glory of his gangly limbs, flew to the other side of the lawn, it was as if a giant hand plucked him out of the sky and threw him.

Eyes were drawn to the Potter as a shining white light encompassed his form.

Whispers echoed throughout the crowd of orphans who witnessed the event.

“Freak”, Tom heard an orphan said (Amy Benson, he later discovered when she was taken by the doctors to the hospital because of intensive injury to her jawline due to falling down the stairs).

But before anyone could take further action, cloaked men suddenly popped into existence.

Tom hid inside his wardrobe because for once, he was actually afraid of what would happen.

He just hopes Potter could keep himself safe.

(He hasn’t made use of him yet, Tom said to reassure himself)

“Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries - for heavy ones they cannot.”

― Niccolò Machiavelli

The next day, it seems as if nobody remembered the incident.

News traveled faster than an automobile in St. Wool’s, it was simply strange that Potter wasn’t teased to be Satan in human guise by the other orphans.

Speaking of Potter, he was curled up into a ball and refused to leave the room, the same state he was when he came to the orphanage several months ago.

It still shocked Tom that he and Potter were both different.

They were both gems in the pile of worthless stones that is St. Wool’s orphanage. They were both destined for greatness. They were both are going to overthrow the concept of being useless just because they are penniless orphans.

Tom could only notice it now, but he and Potter are similar. Both have dark hair, both are unwanted orphans and both are specially chosen by Fate herself.

He could see it now. He and Harry standing side by side as they conquered what was rightfully theirs.

All he had to do now is convince the younger boy.

If there was one flaw that Tom could admit, it was his ability to empathize.

He was currently standing in the middle of their room, facing Potter’s bed as he watches him curled up like an armadillo. He hesitated. One wrong word and everything could come crashing down.

“I remember what happened yesterday.”

Potter froze.

“I want you to look at me,” Tom said with, uncharacteristic of him, a soft and mellow voice.

Eyes the shade of jewelry the women at church wore peeked through Potter’s long fringe.

“I’m not scared of you, the same way you are not scared of me.”

Potter uncovered his face and stared at Tom with interest and wonder. His eyes were shining with hope and Tom could see the endless shades of green in Potter’s captivating eyes.

But hope suddenly vacated the younger boy’s eyes. Potter looked away and stared at a random spot on their creaky floorboards.

“But I’m a freak.” He quietly whispered.

“Freaks? Yes. But does being a freak have to be a bad thing?’

Potter didn’t reply.

“You and I? We were chosen. We were hand-picked by Fate because we of all people deserve this power that we currently hold in our hands! Yes! We’re “freaks”! But that doesn’t mean we have to abide by the laws of men who are lesser than us!” Tom declared, looking at the boy before him with passionate eyes.

“I swear to you. You and I will never be “freaks” in the eyes of the world again. We will rise above those who have wronged us Potter, and never shall we be tormented again.”

In the course of his tirade, Harry was now staring at him with wet eyes, which only emboldened Tom to ask for what he truly wanted in the first place.

He held out his hand to the younger boy.

“Be my right-hand man Potter”

A second ticked by

”Join me.”

Seconds ticked by between them and Potter finally smiled.

“Call me Harry.”

And thus, a pact was formed between the two of them. Magic streamed out of their cores as they recognized the other’s promise to each other, and to the future.

“I’m not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.”― Niccolò Machiavelli

Tom always wondered why Harry was so kind.

He stands by what he said when he first became friends with the shorter boy.

The both of them are indeed similar, both have dark hair, both are unwanted orphans, and (only recently discovered) both have the talent to speak to snakes.

But at the same time, they were similar, they were also very different.

Where Tom was cruel, Harry was kind.

Tom had the same outlooks on life as Machiavelli, while Harry still wore rose-tinted glasses, broken and damaged, but he still wore them.

Tom asked Harry about this one time and Harry replied with a phrase that plagued Tom with thoughts and dreams on what it meant.

“You, my dear Tom-Tom are a great man. I’ve decided to join you 7 years ago for the very reason that I desire to help you how to become a good one.”

Tom tripped him for calling him Tom-Tom.

Tom saw what Harry meant when they were on the roof of the astronomy tower.

They were in their 5th year of Hogwarts and Tom was made a prefect for that school year. Harry was scolding him for being too cruel to Abraxas Malfoy after the blonde had an unusual bout of incompetence which resulted to Harry being drenched in a potion and rushed to the Madame Chang.

Tired and frustrated, Tom only replied:

“Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires.”

Harry raised an eyebrow, and without dropping the beat continues the string of Machiavellian quotes:

“Therefore the best fortress is to be found in the love of the people, for although you may have fortresses they will not save you if you are hated by the people.”

Tom gave a fond smirk at their repartee.

“I didn’t know you read ‘The Prince’.” He said while looking at the Harry who has now decided to rest his torso upon the cold roof tiles. Tom renewed Harr’s heating charm which caused Harry to purr and yawn.

“It’s basically part of the job description of being your friend.”

Tom snorted and rolled his eyes.

“I want you to see the world from a different perspective, Tom.” Harry said as he outstretched his hand to reach the stars. “I know you like Machiavelli, but he isn’t the only philosopher. I quote ‘“And it ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things’.”

Harry gestured Tom to lay down with him.

“It’s hard for the both of us to overcome the scars etched into our very bones. I will not stop you if you want to continue your reign as ‘the supreme overlord of the skies and the earth’”

Tom sent a wandless stinging hex at him.

“Ouch!”

“You deserve it.”

Harry smiled and rolled his eyes.

“What I basically mean to say is to look at the future, our future with a lighter perspective. We’re both orphans Tom, you have seen the scars on my back. I don’t want you to die with no one else but I. The world will remember you, Tom. Your name would be etched into history, pureblood or no. Don’t forget the small things Tom.”

He held Tom’s hand and Harry placed his fingers to point at a star.

(Polaris, his brain points out as he stares into it Constellation Cartography, page 31, by L. Sinistra, it adds.)

“I don’t have a silver tongue like you, but I want to tell you to be Polaris. The star that will be the one to guide us to greatness. Yes, Machiavelli said: “It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.” But I believe that you have what it takes. I take that back. I don’t believe. I know.”

Tom smiles at the night sky fondly, holding Harry’s hand as they point at constellations till the break of dawn.

“He who becomes a Prince through the favour of the people should always keep on good terms with them; which it is easy for him to do, since all they ask is not to be oppressed”

― Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

.Nox.

#tomarry #writing requests #prompt me

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fadingfartconnoisseur · 7 years

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The Worst Books I’ve Ever Read

Every month, I tell you what I’m reading; every year, I rank my favorite books of the year. Reading is a huge part of my life and I make an effort to read the best books I can find. (See the best of 2016 and best of 2015 here.)

That being said, anyone who reads this much knows that there’s no attraction in, “This is good, this is good, this is also good.” The bad stuff — the drama, the conflict — is what gets readers really interested.

And so I think it’s time to talk about the WORST books I’ve ever read.

I haven’t read Fifty Shades of Grey and don’t plan to, so you won’t find that here. Nor anything by Ann Coulter — in fact, I’ll exclude political books altogether. Nothing by L. Ron Hubbard. The Da Vinci Code won’t be on this list, either (Dan Brown gets a lot of hate, but dude knows how to write suspense and I can’t hate on him for that). And while some people can’t stomach it, I happen to love Lolita.

Here are the worst books I’ve ever read, in my opinion. Some are great works of literature that happened to rub me the wrong way. Some are more embarrassing than that.

And the worst book of all, a book that made me physically angry for having read it and forever changed my opinion of the author, is listed last.

The Worst Book from High School: Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Sophomore year was tough for me, capped by my experiences in Honors American Lit. My teacher and I butted heads from the start and I disliked much of the literature we read. I struggled to keep up, even deciding to drop Honors British Lit the following year in favor of English electives. (This is why I didn’t read Hamlet until 2015.)

And then came Walden near the end of the year. A book lauded by so many people — often including the travel blogging community. A book that took place and was written just a few miles from where I grew up.

Henry David Thoreau moved into a cabin in the woods. He read, he wrote, he observed nature and grew his own food and tried to create art from it.

“Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself.” –Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity.

Revisiting Walden after years of reading about privilege in America, it becomes more striking that Thoreau was only concerned with what a wealthy independent man could do with his time, ignoring everyone else in society.

Another problem was that much of what Thoreau actually wrote was cloaked in hypocrisy. In between talking about the beauty and fragility and nature, he described how much he loved burning down half the forest. He would go on and on about how the only books people should read are classic Greek literature — as he writes a new book for them to read. Also, his mother would do his laundry.

I wrote a scathing paper decrying Thoreau’s hypocrisy.

My teacher gave me an A-.

I consider that one of my greatest academic victories.

What To Read Instead: The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli. It’s pretty much as much an opposite of Walden as you can get, and I found it far more entertaining.

The Worst Conclusion to a Series: Allegiant by Veronica Roth

I get it — it’s hard to write a good ending to a book, much less wrap up a three-book series. But I haven’t seen anything crash and burn as badly as Allegiant, the conclusion of Veronica Roth’s Divergent series.

The series as a whole intrigued me a bit but ultimately made my eyes roll. In a futuristic society, teenagers take a test and are sorted into one of five groups based on their personality: Abnegation (the selfless), Erudite (the intelligent), Candor (the honest), Amity (dirty hippies), and Dauntless (the brave). But when Tris displays the traits of multiple groups in her test, she finds out she’s Divergent and she could be killed for it.

Now: the first two books were told from Tris’s point of view. In Allegiant, the story is suddenly told from two points of view, Tris and her lover Four — but both voices are exactly the same. They witness the same events. They have the same feelings. Their vocabularies and cadences are identical. I could never tell who was speaking.

Beyond that, the “big revelation” at the end of the book landed with a thump, and so many people died throughout that the deaths became meaningless.

“When her body first hit the net, all I registered was a gray blur. I pulled her across it and her hand was small, but warm, and then she stood before me, short and thin and plain and in all ways unremarkable- except that she had jumped first. The stiff had jumped first. Even I didn’t jump first. Her eyes were so stern, so insistent. Beautiful.” –Vernoica Roth, Allegiant

Another theme throughout the first two books is that characters would occasionally get injected with serums that would create simulations — and sometimes led them to do evil things. The final book was a series of, “Okay, it’s time for another serum!” “Wait, here’s a serum to override that serum!” “No, that’s a bad serum, we’re the good guys, this one’s a GOOD serum!” Again and again, another serum. You’d think Roth owned stock in skincare products.

What to Read Instead: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Not only is it a fantastic novel, the story is told through several different narrators and each of the voices are unique and different.

The Worst Book Receiving Bewildering Levels of Praise: The Girls by Emma Cline

One of the buzziest books of 2016, The Girls is a fictionalized retelling of the Manson murders of the 1970s, focusing on the relationships between the women in Not Charles Manson’s cult.

One of the things I can’t stand the most is wasted potential. This book could have been so good in the hands of another author!

Emma Cline focused more on creating elaborate prose than telling a story. And when I say elaborate, that’s not a compliment — she stuffed her paragraphs with enough bewildering metaphors and similes as if they were banana peppers on a Subway sandwich (yes, I know what I did there). It goes to show that no matter how you write, if you don’t know how to tell a story, you’ve got nothing.

“Poor Sasha. Poor girls. The world fattens them on the promise of life. How badly they need it, and how little most of them will ever get. The treacled pop songs, the dresses described in the catalogs with words like ‘sunset’ and ‘Paris.’ Then the dreams are taken away with such violent force; the hand wrenching the buttons of the jeans, nobody looking at the man shouting at his girlfriend on the bus.” –Emma Cline, The Girls

At the same time, the book moved at a glacial pace. By the time the action started, I was psyched to finally have some excitement — only it withered and died instantly. The big showdown I had been expecting didn’t even come to fruition.

What To Read Instead: American Heiress by Jeffrey Toobin, a much better book about 1970s Bay Area counterculture. This one focuses on the kidnapping of Patty Hearst by the Symbionese Liberation Army, and it was so exciting I couldn’t put it down.

The Biggest Disappointment From An Author I Love: A Cook’s Tour by Anthony Bourdain

I love Uncle Tony. I worship the man. But A Cook’s Tour was not his best work.

You think combining Anthony Bourdain and world travel would be amazing, especially after his wild and raw Kitchen Confidential (one of my all-time favorite memoirs). This book is a collection of essays about his first major international trip as a food writer and personality. And he loved every minute of it.

But that was the problem — Kitchen Confidential was full of conflict. Pirate-looking chefs fucking brides in their wedding dresses in the walk-in. Crawling along the bar after work, snorting six-foot lines of cocaine. Going from cooking in world-class restaurants to flipping burgers in a crappy diner, the metallic taste of methadone in your mouth. It was gritty and ugly and utterly compelling.

A Cook’s Tour was just Uncle Tony eating food and having a good time traveling. There was no story, no narrative arc. It was just a lot of, “Hey, this is great.”

“What is love? Love is eating twenty-four ounces of raw fish at four o’clock in the morning.” –Anthony Bourdain, A Cook’s Tour

And while I enjoyed his stories from Russia and San Sebastian, Spain, they weren’t enough to sustain a full book.

Luckily, his writing changed direction in his subsequent collections, and I suspect he had a better editorial team behind him. Uncle Tony is at his best when he’s ripping on people he can’t stand.

What To Read Instead: Kitchen Confidential is great, but Bourdain’s best post-fame work is The Nasty Bits. It still has a lot of food and travel, but with a sharper, more ardent point of view.

The Worst Impulse Kindle Buy: On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves

On the Island was an Amazon bestseller and I liked the concept: a teenage boy and his thirty-year-old tutor survive a plane crash in the Maldives, end up living on a desert island for years, start a romantic relationship after he turns 18, and are rescued following a tsunami and have to deal with the aftermath at home.

And absolutely nothing that happened was believable. This sixteen-year-old boy acted like a 40-year-old man the whole time. Neither character changed or transformed in any way. And even after being rescued after living on a desert island for THREE YEARS, the only thing they worried about was how people would judge their relationship that they started after the kid turned 18.

“You weren’t supposed to fall in love,” she whispered. “Well, I did,” I said, looking into her eyes. “I’ve been in love with you for months. I’m telling you now because I think you love me too, Anna. You just don’t think you’re supposed to. You’ll tell me when you’re ready. I can wait.” I pulled her mouth down to mine and kissed her and when it ended, I smiled and said, “Happy birthday.” –Tracey Garvis Graves, On the Island

Yes, that’s an actual quote from a bestselling book.

It’s been translated into 27 languages.

I hate people.

What To Read Instead: Euphoria by Lily King. Now, THAT’S a great controversial love story set in a remote location — in this instance, Papua New Guinea in the 1930s.

The Worst Smash Hit: The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer

I’ll be honest — I was hooked on the Twilight books during their height of popularity. I didn’t like them, but I couldn’t stop reading them. And my friend Beth and I made a tradition of seeing the movies on opening night amongst the superfans, only somewhat ironically.

Nothing I say here is anything you haven’t heard before. These books are poorly written. The character development is scant at best. The plot holes are the size of football fields.

But the worst part is that these books glorify intimate partner abuse to an impressionable audience of young women. The behavior that Edward exhibits — stalking, controlling, threatening, saying “no one will ever love you like I do,” leaving you with bruises and suggesting you tell people you fell down the stairs, and ultimately leading you to give up your future for him — should be recognized as alarming, not held up as a model for romance.

“The waves of pain that had only lapped at me before now reared high up and washed over my head, pulling me under. I did not resurface.” –Stephenie Meyer, New Moon

Also, a werewolf falls in love with a baby.

What To Read Instead: The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. It’s a much better, more intellectual book for teens that focuses on issues of justice, bravery, brutality, media culture, and utopianism, just to start.

The Best Book I Happen to Hate: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Road is a fantastic, gorgeous book worthy of its Pulitzer Prize and every other honor it’s received.

And I fucking hated every word of it.

It’s an incredibly frightening tale of a post-apocalyptic world after a series of unspecified disasters — a barren planet where survivors hide in the shadows and the world is pillaged by tribes of cannibals and rapists. Through the book, a dying father takes his young son on a journey to the sea, not knowing what lies there but hoping they’ll find something better than what they’ve left behind.

“Then they set out along the blacktop in the gunmetal light, shuffling through the ash, each the other’s world entire.” –Cormac McCarthy, The Road

This book is terrifying. And realistic. And that’s why I hated it with everything I had.

Maybe it shouldn’t be on this list. I appreciated every beautiful word. But it still makes me upset, years after reading it.

What To Read Instead: The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Also a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, it starts with an incredibly bleak beginning but blossoms into joy and forgiveness.

The Worst Book of All Time: Cleaving by Julie Powell

Julie and Julia was a commercial success, and deservedly so — a sweet if not overly literary memoir about how a directionless woman finds joy and meaning in cooking all of Julia Child’s recipes.

A feel-good tale about an everywoman with a sweet husband who supports her, encourages her, and makes her a better person. It got some hate, but it was overall a fun and engaging memoir, and it was commercial as hell, working even better as a film.

Cleaving, the sequel, destroyed all the goodwill Powell earned with her first book.

Following the success of Julie and Julia, Powell began an affair with a former boyfriend. Her husband found out. They decided to open their marriage, though it seemed like they didn’t want to actually work on their marriage, either. And she decided to go apprentice at a butcher upstate because…food is continuity? And this memoir is about, um, all of that. It’s unfocused at best; I suspect her publisher rushed it.

But it mainly focuses on Powell’s affair with the former boyfriend, her enjoyment of the affair and obsession with her lover, and her complete lack of remorse while her husband waits in the background.

The worst part is when Powell is out with her lover and gets recognized by a blog reader. Her lover introduces himself as her husband to save face and they both get off on the scenario. This sums up the book: Powell runs wild with her id, doesn’t care about who she hurts in the process, and learns absolutely nothing.

How did her publisher agree to release this?!

“Like the muscles knew from the beginning that it would end with this, this inevitable falling apart… It’s sad, but a relief as well to know that two things so closely bound together can separate with so little violence, leaving smooth surfaces instead of bloody shreds.” –Julie Powell, Cleaving

I’ve read raw memoirs that overshare the intimate details of a marriage — Glennon Doyle Melton’s Love Warrior comes to mind. But Cleaving is far worse. I find it to be a cruel book. Cruel in its lack of accountability.

The other part I hated was that Powell clearly discovered she was into rough sex — only she never explicitly says so. She implies things and hints at others, conveniently evading details. Dude, you’re not the first person to suddenly realize you’re into a new kind of sex. Stop patronizing your readers and actually say it.

The book ends with what I’m sure she imagined was a heartfelt revelation: her lover, who had been called D up until the final page, was actually named Damian.

Hey Julie — nobody cares. Literally everyone hates that guy.

Many reviewers focused primarily on Powell’s infidelity; I don’t thick that’s fair, and much of that criticism is rooted in sexism. Infidelity itself is not the issue here. What matters is that she went about her infidelity, as well as her apprenticeship and travels, with a complete lack of self-awareness. Powell wrote a sloppy memoir about her darkest, most selfish moments without a shred of insight or transformation by the end of it. The Julie at the end of the book is the same Julie at the beginning of the book.

This book is the reason why I eat grass-fed beef today, and that just makes me hate it more. I hate that something good came out of it.

What To Read Instead: Wild by Cheryl Strayed. She flew into a tailspin after her mother’s death, cheating on her husband and using drugs, but she acknowledged her failures, strenuously worked through her shit, and transformed as a result.

What’s the worst book you’ve ever read?

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