#rachel smythe can’t write
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GUESS WHO’S BACK!!
Hi! It’s been forever since I’ve posted on here. I wanna say close to a year or even longer but I got caught up on LO and im ready to come back as RS number one hater. I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that I’m really a hater at heart but i think im ok with that lol.
Anyways the topic of discussion is between Hera and Zeus. So I was reading the latest episode and it seems like we’re back to talking about the plan with Kronos. Now we’ve been over this story line a lot and im not necessarily mad because this storyline is one of the few things that I like about LO but, I always get so mad whenever RS makes the root of their problems (Hera and Zeus) begin at this plan. I feel like that is so lazy and with all the time that they’ve been together RS had a lot of chances to make Zeus’s infidelity be caused by something other than jealousy. I honestly think that it’s lazy and if there was a better origin of his cheating habit then maybe the audience would have a little more sympathy towards him as a character. But of course that can’t happen because in order to make hades look less like an awful person, you first have to make every male look even worse.
That’s the end of my rant but I lowkey hope you missed me and be prepared for me to be back in my active era!
#anti lore olympus#lo hades#lo zeus#lo critical#lo hera#rachel smythe can’t write#minthe lore olympus
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Hello again!!!can I do an ask for the episode when sebastion throws the slushie in blaines face and the reader just attacks him? (Sebastion deserved a beating for that ong) or could you write about when coach bieste first showed up and when everyone was avoiding her the reader does their best to talk to her(bieste also deserved better, shue and sue were jerks)??? THANK YOU
❥ hiii! so glad to see you on my asks again! i shall write the first option! i apologise that this is late and short and the ending is so abrupt 〒▽〒
definitely deserved
pairing: glee x gn!reader
genre: platonic, angst
warnings: light violence, light assault, sebastian being an ASSHOLE, not rlly a character x reader
word count: 1.5k
walking through the library on a monday morning was the usual routine for y/n, rummaging through books for research and song ideas. just as they took a book off a shelf, they were jump-scared by the face of a beaming rachel berry.
“holy shit, rachel. you can’t just do that to a person.” y/n scolded, placing a hand above their chest, trying to calm down their rapidly beating heart. “sorry, was wondering what you were up to. needed something to get my mind off… something.” rachel said suspiciously, looking like there was something heavy on her mind as she walked around the bookcase towards them. y/n noticed the tension but decided not to pry. “i’m just looking through some things.” the two of them made their way to the seating area, joining quinn and tina who were having a conversation.
“hey, guys.” y/n greeted, taking a seat beside the blonde. the two only smiled and waved.
y/n went through their books as the other three had their conversation before blaine came strutting into the library, singing a michael jackson classic, ‘wanna be startin’ somethin’’ alongside kurt, mercedes, santana and brittany. the four joined immediately, used to this at this point.
they all regrouped at the choir room soon enough and discussed about the first michael jackson number they’d do for the weak, planning out costumes based on some of mj’s iconic outfits.
after the rehearsal, a small part of the glee club met up after school the next day. “okay, favourite michael jackson memory. go!” blaine tells them and they all smiled. “when i was one, my mom showed me a vhs tape of his motown special, and when he did the moonwalk across the stage for the first time in history, i uttered my first words - ‘hot damn.’.” y/n grinned at the thought of a baby artie saying those words, finding it totally believable.
“i owe the king of pop a deep debt of gratitude. he’s the first one to pull off the sequined military jacket long before one kurt hummel made it iconic.” kurt boasted, “i have to be honest. i never really got him.” rachel’s words immediately caused everyone’s faces to morph into disbelief. “no way.” “and we are no longer on speaking terms.” y/n and artie share a look.
rachel quickly defends herself, saying she believed he is an amazing performer but she never really got what he was about. though these reasons did not calm them down, y/n could understand where she was coming from.
“okay, but just since you guys are so jazzed about him, i think it’s a good idea for regionals-” “that might not be the best idea.” a new voice entered the discussion and it was a voice they all dreaded. “hey, blaine. hello, everyone else.” sebastian smythe, a member of the dalton academy warblers and basically kurt’s arch nemesis. “does he live here or something? seriously, you are always here.” kurt asked incredulously, flabbergasted at the fact he showed up out of nowhere. y/n snorted before taking a sip of their drink.
artie ignored the two of them, “why don’t you think that’s a good idea?” “because we’re doing mj for regionals.” at sebastian’s words, y/n sighed into their cup before sinking further into the leather armchair they were on. “you see, warblers drew first position, so as soon as i heard what your plan was, i changed our set list accordingly.” he explained with a smug expression on his face, y/n really wanted to punch him.
“i’m sorry, how did you hear?” rachel asked, fully upset. “blaine told me this morning.” y/n’s head turned to look at blaine who only rolled his eyes at the boy, “i just called for a tip on how to get red wine out of my blazer piping, and he would not stop going on about it.” at this point, the whole group was staring at him with an accusing look.
blaine avoids their gazes, “i may have mentioned it.” “how often do you talk?” kurt’s question makes sebastian fake chuckle. “oh my god! hey, kurt! i didn’t recognise you. you are wearing boy clothes for once!” santana had enough after that. “alright, twink, i think it’s time that i show you a little lima heights hospitality.” this made y/n throw their head back against the chair in exasperation, “unless you want to join your relatives in prison, that’s probably not the best idea.” sebastian’s comeback only makes them feel worst. y/n tuned him out as he talked even more, wanting nothing more but for him to leave and go away.
when he did, they sighed. “thank god. i thought he’d never shut up and leave. he’s like those never-ending interactive voice responses you get on automated telephone systems. he never shuts up.” y/n groaned, sitting up straight again. “we need to do something about michael.” kurt announced and they all nodded, agreeing to discuss what to do the next day.
the next day came faster than it could. everyone piled into the choir room and were complaining about the whole incident when puck suddenly spoke up about his suspicions over how blaine was still somehow a warbler. “come on, blaine’s with us. he’d never intentionally hurt our chances at winning regionals.” y/n defended, walking into the room with their sling bag, taking a seat beside blaine.
blaine gives them a grateful smile, “either way, he’s on notice as far as i’m concerned.” “we should all be on notice.” finn interrupted his best friend, trying to reason with them. “i mean, next to vocal adrenaline, the warblers are the best glee club in the state and for a lot of us, this is our last shot at a championship, so we should stop complaining about the warblers and figure out how to beat them.” finn told everyone, being the voice of reason as usual.
“i couldn’t have said it better myself, finn.” mr. schue commented, walking into the room. “i’m less worried about our set list right now, and more interested in getting us in the right mind-set to crush those guys. which is why our lesson for the week is…” with a marker, he wrote down on the whiteboard ‘wwmjd’. “what would michael jackson do?” “he’d fight back. he’d say regionals is ours. mj is ours, and if they want it, they can pry it from our sequin-gloved hand.” y/n grinned at finn and nodded along, “mhm. straight up. in 1983, mtv said they wouldn’t air his ‘billie jean’ video, what’d he do? he fought back, they aired it and the thriller album sold an additional ten million copies.” artie added and y/n only stared at him, “you’re like a michael jackson encyclopaedia.” they commented quietly, the boy held a hand to his chest. “why, thank you.” he gratefully said.
blaine smirked, “i know what michael would do. i think he would take it to the streets.” at his words, the whole room filled with excited mutters. y/n kept quiet, though. they couldn’t help but feel like something was going to go wrong with this, terribly wrong.
after the glee club dispersed, they tried to chase blaine down before he got too far away. “blaine, are you sure this is a good idea?” they asked as the two of them walked to the entrance of the school. “i’m sure it’ll be all good. we’ll show them that they’re gonna regret taking michael from us, and then we’re going to get him back.” the former warbler said excitedly before heading out the door. “god, i hope so.” y/n whispered to themselves, clutching their bag tightly.
the day of the showdown arrives quicker than they expected. they’d all agreed to wear matching leather jackets, after kurt’s persistent determination, to have some unity. it was the new directions against the warblers after all.
at the sound of santana’s snap, the rest of the group came out and they started their jackson-off. truth be told, having a dance and sing-off in an empty parking lot was a very 60s thing to do but y/n had no complaints. their only complaint was that the more the song progressed and the closer they got to the ending, they’d seen one of the warblers grab a paper bag.
y/n’s eyes widened when they realise that sebastian was going to slushee kurt. “kurt!” they yelled but blaine had thrown himself in front of the boy, getting the liquid assault instead.
blaine yelled out in agony at the impact, falling to the ground as he pressed his palms against his eyes. everyone froze but y/n couldn’t handle it anymore. “you fucking asshole!” they clenched their fist tightly and laid a hard punch against sebastian’s face, making him stumble back towards his group members. “y/n.” finn warned them, placing a hand on their shoulder to calm them down so they don’t rip their rival into shreds.
the warblers soon fled the scene with guilty looks on their faces as they helped sebastian stabilise himself and walked off. the new directions could see that his lip was bruised and his cheek was swollen when he passed by. it was easy for any of them to say, he’s definitely deserved that punch in a while.
#glee masterlist#glee x reader#glee x gn reader#gn reader#gender neutral reader#they/them reader#blaine x reader#blaine anderson#blaine anderson x reader#blaine anderson x reader platonic#reader insert#sebastian smythe#angst#violence#assault#darren criss#grant gustin#platonic
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A post for my book recommendations, to be continuously updated as I read and remember more. Because without reading, I would not be writing.
All time favourites are marked with a ☆
All are sorted by genre and will be linked (if able) to their Goodreads pages so that you can dig deeper into whatever catches your eye.
(ps if you have a Goodreads account, you can add me here)
Anthology/Short Story Collections
Behold This Dreamer - Walter de la Mare ☆
Love Letters of Great Men - Ursula Doyle
Difficult Women - Roxane Gay
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories - Ken Liu
The Elephant Vanishes - Haruki Murakami
Essays
Bad Feminist - Roxane Gay ☆
Bluets - Maggie Nelson ☆
On Freedom - Maggie Nelson
In Praise of Shadows - Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
Malleable Forms - Meeka Walsh ☆
Fiction (Classic)
Persuasion - Jane Austen ☆
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
The Awakening - Kate Chopin
North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell ☆
Siddhartha - Hermen Hesse
The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera ☆
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
Fiction (Modern)
All’s Well - Mona Awad ☆
Bunny - Mona Awad
Jonathan Livingston Seagull - Richard Bach
The Pisces - Melissa Broder
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
For Today I Am A Boy - Kim Fu
The Vegetarian - Han Kang
The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova ☆
Fall on Your Knees - Ann-Marie MacDonald
A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing - Eimear McBride
No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy
The Road - Cormac McCarthy ☆
Under the Hawthorne Tree - Ai Mi
The Song of Achilles - Madeleine Miller ☆
After Dark - Haruki Murakami ☆
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage - Haruki Murakami
1Q84 - Haruki Murakami ☆
Hamnet - Maggie O'Farrell
The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje
Boy, Snow, Bird - Helen Oyeyemi
Mr. Fox - Helen Oyeyemi ☆
A Tale for the Time Being - Ruth Ozeki
The Overstory - Richard Powers ☆
The Godfather - Mario Puzo
Blindness - José Saramago
How To Be Both - Ali Smith
The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt ☆
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
Ru - Kim Thúy
Brooklyn - Colm Tóibín
Big Fish - Daniel Wallace
Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto
Horror/Thriller
The Exorcist - William Peter Blatty
Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton
Gerald’s Game - Stephen King
The Shining - Stephen King
Audition - Ryū Murakami
I’m Thinking of Ending Things - Iain Reid
Manga/Graphic Novels
Basilisk - Futaro Yamada, Maseki Sagawa
Death Note - Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata
Eureka Seven - Jinsei Kataoka, Kazuma Kondou
Lore Olympus - Rachel Smythe
Nana - Ai Yazawa ☆
Paradise Kiss - Ai Yazawa
Uzumaki - Junji Ito
xxxHolic - CLAMP
Memoirs/Journals
Speak, Okinawa - Elizabeth Miki Brina
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness - Susannah Cahalan
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - Caitlin Doughty
I’m Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books - Azar Nafisi
Henry and June - Anaïs Nin ☆
The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls ☆
Non-Fiction (General)
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking - Susan Cain
The Red Market - Scott Carney
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern - Stephen Greenblatt
Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right - Jane Mayer
The Psychopath Test - Jon Ronson
The Elements of Style - William Strunk Jr, E.B White
Non-Fiction (Philosophy/Spiritual)
The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge - Carlos Castañeda
Silence: In the Age of Noise - Erling Kagge ☆
The Kybalion - Three Initiates ☆
The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo - Chögyam Trungpa
Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu
Poetry Collections
I Love My Love - Reyna Biddy
Let Us Compare Mythologies - Leonard Cohen
The Prophet - Khalil Gibran
The Anatomy of Being - Shinji Moon
The Beauty of the Husband - Anne Carson ☆
Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth - Warsan Shire
Night Sky with Exit Wounds - Ocean Vuong
Speculative Fiction
Dune - Frank Herbert
Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel ☆
Battle Royale - Koushun Takami
True Crime
Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders - Vincent Bugliosi
In Cold Blood - Truman Capote ☆
Young Adult
A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray ☆
The Diviners - Libba Bray
The Sun is Also a Star - Nicola Yoon
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My Top Ten Books of 2022
I read more than 100 books last year, and I thought it would be a useful exercise to list my top 10 favorites that I read for the first time if only so I can reflect a little and gush about my passion for books. This is in the order I read the books; most of these books are so different it would be really hard to put in any real order (warning: it’s an eclectic list):
1. She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker Chan: This was the first book I read in January of last year. It’s set in the 1300s in China; I remember it being advertised as similar to Mulan, which doesn’t really do the story justice, other than that the main character is born a girl, but lives as a man and becomes a military general. It was so much more than a Mulan adaptation; and it is quite dark. In particular, I loved the dynamic between the two main characters: they are on different sides of the war, but two sides of the same coin; they both don’t quite fit into society’s expectations of gender.
2. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi: Gyasi is probably my favorite author I discovered this year; both Transcendent Kingdom and her other novel, Homegoing, are absolutely amazing and I cannot recommend either enough. Transcendent Kingdom is about a neuroscientist who is also the child of African immigrants who is studying the science of addiction. The story reflects on how her family has been impacted by addiction and the immigrant experience. The prose is absolutely beautiful and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this story since I finished it.
3. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler: I cannot believe I waited until last year to read Butler; her writing is as impressive as I’m sure you’ve already heard. There’s not much I can say about Parable of the Sower that hasn’t been said a million times (all deserved), but I will say that I usually hate dystopias, even vaunted ones such as 1984 and a Brave New World. I read Parable of Sower fully expecting to hate it as well, and left simply blown away (and somehow even oddly optimistic about the future of humanity.)
4. The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich: This is the third book I’ve read of Erdrich’s and my favorite, though I’ve loved everything she’s written. This story is based on the real life story of the author’s grandfather. The story involves several characters living in reservation in North Dakota and their fight to lobby for their rights land and their identity.
5. Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid: Look, I’m not going to try to justify this; I just love hockey and I love rivals to lovers and I love hockey romances and this one is the creme de le creme; it was written specifically for me.
6. The Locked Tomb Series by Tasmyn Muir: I read several fantasy series last year, and I liked plenty of them, but the Locked Tomb is the one I can’t stop thinking about. The characters are all super weird and unhinged and awful and I adore them all. Their relationship dynamics are problematic and toxic and ridiculous and juicy. I cannot succinctly describe the plot in any way that would make sense. I cannot wait for the final book.
7. Young Mungo by Douglass Stewart: This book gutted me; I rarely cry while reading books and I had to put this down so I could lie in a ball. It’s a coming of age novel about a young queer boy coming to terms with his identity in set in Glasgow in I think the 1990s. If you choose to read this book, please look up the content warnings, it is not in any way an easy read, but it did have a surprisingly hopeful ending, even if I was crying.
8. The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth: This is another surprising addition to the list; I am no longer really the target audience for YA, and I had pretty much sworn off YA romance after disliking a few others. But, I decided to pick this up on a whim and I’m so glad I did. It is a very sweet wlw romance and coming of age story, but what really stuck out to me was the main character’s struggles with her mother’s early onset Alzheimer’s and how that affects her life. I read plenty of very good wlw romance (Deliliah Green Doesn’t Care and a Restless Truth are two more I’d highly recommend) but this one stood out.
9. The Narrative of the Life of Frederic Douglass, American Slave by Frederic Douglass: I have read a good number of historical fiction novels which show the horrors of slavery, but while many of those are very very good, I didn’t really realize the extent to which none can really compare to reading a first hand account of the experience until reading Douglass’s work. Like everyone, I learned about Frederic Douglass’s life, but sadly was never required to read anything he wrote in school. He is an amazing writer and storyteller and a truly remarkable person. Everyone should read this book at least once.
10. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: I had read part of this book in high school, but never actually sat down and read the whole thing. I’m not usually a fan of horror, and I was worried it wouldn’t be my thing. However, I shouldn’t have put this off so long. Mary Shelley truly is the mother of science fiction and Frankenstein is an unforgettable experience.
#books#anyway i know this is a dead blog#this is mostly for me#but if anyone sees this and wants to gush about books or book recs i would be happy
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Comics I’ve Read in 2022 - Part 1
1. I Want to Be a Wall Volume 1 by Honami Shirono
I’m really fascinated by Japan’s exploration and media representation of asexual characters so I when I found out about this manga, I had to get it. It’s cute too because the premise is that Yuriko and Gakurouta are married to each other due to societal pressures and the fact that they can’t have what they really want. Gaukrouta is gay and in love with his childhood best friend who is oblivious and Yuriko is ace and on the aro spectrum because she doesn’t want anything if it involves her, but loves Boys Love manga. Since this was the only first couple chapters it was really just an introduction, but I want to see where this goes and continue exploring Japan’s media representation of ace characters.
2. Lore Olympus Volume 1 by Rachel Smythe
I keep up on this on Webtoons, but when I found this cheap are Heroes Con I had to have it and of course than I sat down and binged this whole volume when I got home. I just love the art and the story is so well done for a modern audience to not only tell the tales of Greek Mythology but introduce concepts of concept, body autonomy, sexual violence, and mental health. Can’t wait to own more physical copies and I hope other webtoons do this too.
3. The Sandman: The Doll’s House by Neil Gaiman
Continuing on with the series, as it was something I always wanted to read, I was grateful to get through volume 2 before the show came out. What I love to is the comic was great on its own and the art is fantastic to tell the story, but seeing it come to life through the show made it feel more magical. I really enjoyed it and now I can’t wait to continue with the series as the show continues on in production.
4. Primal Warrior Draco Azul Issues 1-3 by Andre Perez
I met Andre early Sunday morning at Heroes Con as I was going through the artist alleys to see if I missed any gems and all because he said hello and good morning to me as I walked by I discovered this cool comic. Taking a love of the Japanese monster films and mecha warriors, Andre has put his own personal twist on them and introduced his Mexican Heritage to the characters and the setting. Its really fun and I can’t wait to see more of the story as more comics keep coming out.
5. Tuskegee Heirs Volume 1 and issue 5 by Marcus Williams and Greg Burnham
Another cool find at Heroes Con this year, I got to talk with Greg Burnham about how they came up with the idea to take the historical stories of the Tuskegee Airmen and reinvent in a way to still honor Black History while also giving them a sci-fi twist. Set in the far future these brilliant kids are the best fighter pilots of their age, saving the world from alien creatures and learning more about the organization that made them heroes. A really fun and adventurous story.
6. Maus by Art Spiegelman
Given all the hubbub about banning this book I wanted to read it because I’m of the belief that if people are trying to ban something it must be something they are trying to hide. And really the reasons for banning this book are incredibly frustrating because it ignores the history and the reason behind this comic which is to tell the tale of a son learning his father’s history of Jewish internment in Nazi internment and how that also affected some of his relationships and mannerisms after the war. Its not an easy read but an important one.
7. Neil Gaiman’s Teknophage Volume 1 by Rick Veitch
Picked this up on my annual second hand book shop splurge for my birthday and mostly because I had never heard of it even though Neil was accredited for it. And while he didn’t write this comic, it was interesting how other authors adopted his work to create a villain in a sci-fi universe with absolutely no moral background and still make him interesting. And that’s not just because he reminds me of my own sci-fi lizard villains.
8. The Legend of Wonder Woman Origins by Renae De Liz and Ray Billon
I really enjoyed this retelling of how Wonder Woman came to be and how she interacts with the Amazons and also meets people like Steve Trevor. And while this one shares some of the same aspects of wonder woman and the timeline of the first DC Universe movie that made me fall in love with her to begin with, I really appreciated the twists and the fact that while Steve Trevor was there, they weren’t the stars. Instead, Etta Candy is her best friend and helps her develop Wonder Woman in a very friends forward story.
9. Ms Marvel Volume 1: No Normal by G Willow Wilson
Even though I fell out of the MCU a long time ago, the ideas behind the new heroes has always been an interest for me so when I got the chance to pick up Ms Marvel I was excited. I love the story too of Kamala gets her powers but is such a geek about super heroes that half the time instead of fighting she just geeks out about stuff. I especially enjoyed her teaming up with Wolverine and giving him a piggy back ride.
10. Doctor Who Classics Volume 4 by Dave Gibbons
Doctor Who is one of the best comics mainly because you can literally jump in whatever and while there might have been some backstory, you can easily hop to later volumes and figure out what’s going on pretty quick. In this one we see the 4th and 5th Doctor tackle Cybermen, The council of timelords and masters of the universe to of course save the day. Pretty fun and I can’t wait to collect the rest.
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REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!
Books I’ve read so far in 2022!
Friend me on Goodreads here to follow my more up to date reading journey for the year!
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311. Princess in the Spotlight by Meg Cabot--⭐️⭐️⭐️
Re-read December 2022.
I'm excited to be re-reading this even more now because I don't think I've ever gone past book 2! Mia continues to grow a bit as a character, even though the adults around her continue to be unaware of how everything is truly affecting her.
I did like seeing a certain moment that redeemed her best friend because of her actions. Also, still a little weirded out by how Michael is 18 and she's 14. That's...yeah.
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312. The Lightcasters by Janelle McCurdy--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Another amazing MGLit fantasy title that I will be more than happy to recommend to my younger customers!
I loved the adventure in this and how the story flowed so well that there were never any boring moments. There was always something happen and I couldn't get enough of it. I loved the concept and the fact that these kids have so much responsibility despite the hurdles they face.
I think stories like this have so much potential because we only got to explore one small section of the world. I want to see what these characters accomplish in the future books (which I will absolutely be checking out when they come out!)
The only thing that threw me off is that one of the characters is four and he didn't act like a four year old? I'm always commenting that kids are smarter than people think they are, but save for a few mispronounced words, this four year old sounded like a nine year old. That's the only thing that was a little jarring.
I'd recommend this to readers who like road-trip style fantasies where the characters are forced to go on a journey; readers who enjoy stories where the fate of the world rests on the shoulders of the MC; and anyone who likes seeing MCs befriend and connect and magical beings/animals.
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313. Lore Olympus Vol. 2 by Rachel Smythe--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sigh, this series is so good. I'm mad at myself for taking so long to finally start reading it.
Listen, questionable decisions were made by certain characters in this volume, but Hades can still get it. Why is he drawn so....damn.
Anyway, I agree with Smythe in their commentary near the end before the bonus story about how one particular chapter is their best work yet. That whole letter writing scene (not a spoiler) was gorgeous but also portrayed so much emotion.
I sometimes just want to give Persephone the biggest hug.
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314. Lore Olympus Vol. 3 by Rachel Smythe--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I love this series so, so much. Even more-so after reading this volume. One can just tell when the chemistry can't be ignored. Whenever the two of them are on the same page, the attraction just jumps off the page.
Pity for those outsiders who think they have any power or control when it comes to this budding romance.
That conclusion made me smile the biggest smile even though everyone knows that they're endgame. But I especially love that in this one, one truth comes out and Persephone hears some absolutely solid advice.
My heart aches just thinking about this series and I want to look up the series that the author has posted online.
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315. The Feeling of Falling in Love by Mason Deaver--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
TW: Transphobic and Sexist commentary.
Deaver does it again with their newest YA romance novel! While I still LOVED their first book the most, this one dealt with some important topics when it comes to identity, how we judge before we know someone, and how we can sometimes misinterpret a situation when we are surrounded by self-doubt and the belief that age is a factor when it comes to whether love can be felt or not.
I loved the budding relationship between the MC and his roommate. I loved watching the judgmental MC learn that his words and actions have consequences, and that maybe communication would go a long way to better understanding both a situation and oneself.
This one was a bit interesting reading it as an adult because I could see the MC's pain when he is visiting his family, but I could also see the situation from the mom's POV (except for one glaringly obvious situation where I think she failed as a parent). This helped round the story out a lot more because I think that if a reader were to re-read this book, they would notice the moments where that anger towards and characterization of certain characters could be something that is more nuanced than just initial interactions.
That's all to say that I, again, enjoyed another Deaver novel and I can't wait for their next one!'
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316. We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
TWs: R@pe, Death and descriptions of death and gore, Teen pregnancy, Bullying, Grief
WE ARE NOT FROM HERE is an incredibly difficult book to read. It is unapologetic in its portrayal of trauma, the violent realities so many people and children face, and the brutal journey some have to take in order to escape even worse living situations. This book is truly not for the feint of heart and I'll be honest, I am very surprised it was YA (even though I think it is very important that it is a YA title).
The only reason why I'm not giving this a full five stars is because of one character that frustrated me. I understand that they're just a child, but I just felt so much frustration because of their actions and lack thereof. One of the impactful things, however, is that this character helped showcase the patience and love of the other two characters. This character also showed us that while this book has many heavier and more adult-themed topics, it is a book for younger readers at its heart (the innocence, the naivety, and the wish to just go home.)
If you're looking for a powerful book about the dangers of this kind of immigration story, then I think this should be added to your list. I cried, I laughed, and I hoped for the best for these poor kids who just wanted a safer, new life.
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317. Amari & the Great Game by B.B. Alston--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I loved the first book in this series and I was happy to finally pick this one up! While I enjoyed it slightly less than the first book, I still had a great experience following Amari and her best friend as she tried to solve a mystery that begins early on in the book.
One of the things about this book is that it made me so mad for Amari. I was surprised to see that the word "racism" wasn't used in the tags because this book features it so heavily--especially with the comments alluding to her race, both in skin colour and the type of magician that she is (which was also a theme in the first book).
This book is one of those books that is a fantastic adventure for younger kids, but also, an allegory for older readers.
Amari is a powerful Black girl who faces some serious prejudices in a fantastical world--showcasing that even magic can't save you if you don't fit the "societal [racist] standards".
Anyway, this series is awesome and I think anyone can read it. It's a great teaching resource as well as a great adventure for kids, and a great reminder for older readers!
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318. Uphill by Jemelle Hill--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
One of the greatest things I've done with my reading this year is introduce myself to memoirs and autobiographies. I love learning about different people that I would never learn about through any other means than a book. I love reading about experiences that others have had because it has helped me widen my understanding of how others see and experience the world.
UPHILL by Jemele Hill was one of those books that will stand out for me long after 2022 is gone. Her memoir sits on a mental shelf starting to fill with powerful Black women who have succeeded despite the world being so strongly against their success, and her words of justice and her refusal to cater to others are now added to my growing sense of awareness.
Hill is a woman who had an extremely complicated relationship with her mother, who also had a difficult experience with her own mother. Despite the poverty, her mother's drug addictions, and the racism that Hill faced, she came out on top. She pursued her dreams and broke the generational trauma that she was raised in. Her story is incredible and seeing her form connections and meet people who either helped build her up, or tried to knock her down, is inspiring. I especially loved seeing when her sassiness and no-nonsense behaviour slipped onto the pages. Let's just say that listening to her life story told in her own voice was a treat.
I'm becoming more critical of memoirs and autobiographies, but this one was just such a fantastic and eye-opening read. Please be aware of the TWs since there is mention of r@pe, sexual assault, racism, victim blaming, and physical abuse.
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319. Jackal by Erin E. Adams--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
From the get-go, JACKAL made me incredibly uncomfortable. It wasn't like in a way where I couldn't read the book because it was deeply enthralling, but in how it handled certain situations and presented the realities of small towns that flirt with the concept of being a sundown town.
The overt racism was palpable. The fact alone that it is Black girls that are going missing made this even more terrifying because of how much it mirrored missing cases that are happening around the world (especially when we look at how many BIPOC girls and women go missing and the police and media do absolute shit-all.)
The paranormal aspect of this was, in my opinion, the most fictitious part of this story and helped with the uneasiness I felt while reading this book. The MC is treated in such a way that the gaslighting could have set fire to the whole town. I didn't know who the villain of the story was going to be, but I did know it would be someone I wasn't expecting.
This book also touches on that "One of the good ones" theory because of how the image of the missing young girl who is mixed white and black is treated by the people of the town. There is even a moment where the white mother refuses to acknowledge that her mixed daughter shouldn't be grouped with the other missing Black girls because she isn't the daughter of drunks or drug addicts. That in itself shows the otherness that can happen when a child is mixed and one of the parents is white in an extremely white town.
JACKAL was creepy and uncomfortable and deeply enthralling. There is this sense of dread that lingers on the pages and you just absolutely NEED to know what is happening to these poor young girls and why they're being taken. This book, however, is not for the feint of heart. Be aware of the trigger warnings.
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320. What We Saw by Mary Downing Hahn--⭐️⭐️.5
I don't really much to say about this one. It was surprisingly short and not at all what I was expecting. First of all, with a cover like that, I never thought that this would be more of a middle grade book (considering how old the characters are).
I think this book could have used more fleshing out of the story--I think it could have been more compelling if we got to learn more about certain characters and had more time to grow attached to the characters that betrayed the MC and her best friend. I think some aspects were a little random and some of the choices made were really dumb (even though I know I always have to remind myself that these are children.)
I did like the ending and how realistic it was for it to end the way it did. These characters are so young and are just learning who they are and who they might become. Of the whole book, I think that was the most realistic approach to these characters.
If you want a quick thriller and if you're looking for a thriller for the younger readers in your life (no younger than 12 because some of the topics explored), then I think this one might catch their attention.
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Happy readings!
#books#bookish#booklr#bookworm#bookaholic#bibliophile#book blog#book blogger#Features#on books#on reading#reading#reader#read#book list#review#reviews#book reviews#my writing#my opinion#long text post#2022 books
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Hey There, ShadyDigress! I go by a different name here on Tumblr but I’m known as alphashley14 over on AO3 - you know, that crazy bitch who keeps commenting on your story, “What I Wouldn’t Do”. 😆
I really, really love that fic. Of all the years that I’ve been enjoying fanfiction, this is the first one that’s made me stoop to the level of doing fanart for other people’s work. Unprompted, no less. Hell - I’ve never made artwork of my OWN fanfictions before. But that one scene of Sabrina rambling about the painted ceiling of the opera house with Fisk just happily listening was just so damn tender and adorable that an image entered my mind and wouldn’t leave me alone until I spent five hours of my life drawing it. I am now THAT dweeb. 🤓 And it’s all your fault. 😆
Jk - I actually really enjoyed doing it. It gave me an opportunity to experiment a bit with my art style and with a new set of artist’s markers I acquired recently. I’ve been playing around with incorporating elements of Rachel Smythe’s art style (that’s the creator of the popular Webtoon, Lore Olympus) into my work.
Anyway, given that it isn’t MY story, I didn’t want to post this into MY AO3 account, but I still really wanted to show you - in fact you’re the only person I’ve shown. And feel free to post it along with your next chapter update if you want to, as long as you disclaim that I did the artwork. I included a watermark.
I’d love to know what you think of the fruits of my labors, and how close I got to how you imagined Sabrina. All I had to go on was that she had brown hair that was long enough to braid - that was mentioned in Chapter One. And I imagined that hair being very fluffy and kind of messy to reflect the craziness going on inside her brain. And that she has huge boobs. 😆
Keep up with that story. It’s a really good one. Know that it makes at least one person very happy. I’m looking forward to the next update and I can’t wait to see what happens next. Happy Writing!!! ✍️
Your fan,
alphashley14
WHEN I TELL YOU THAT I AM SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS FOR THE REST OF MY ENTIRE LIFE YOU NEED TO BELIEVE ME
Oh my God I’m melting this is so fucking cute. The stars around her head, THE SMILE ON HIS FACE. HER HUGE CANS. It’s perfect. Everything about it is perfect. Now we need the next panel with her putting her hands completely over her face like SHUT UP
This literally made my entire day. My entire WEEK. Oh my God this is so sweet, I’m obsessed and melting <3333333333
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11 Anti LO Asks
1. I don't get it, weren't the fans praising Persephone for wanting to own up to her crimes and saying she deserves any punishment she receives? Why are they now upset she got a temporary punishment that isn't even different from her life pre-uni? Why is Persephone upset too? It's not forever. It's almost as if the fans only care about the aesthetics of looking morally "good" while they really wanted her to get away with murder, and Persephone is a bad person who lied to keep up her nice facade.
2. I legit do not get why LO fans act as if it's some personal affront when people don't like it and even critique it. How self centered if their worldview to think everyone has to obsessively love and praise what they like? What reality are they living in where this is a thing? Get a grip, kids, you're not important and people not liking what you do is not a personal insult, it's just life.
3. LO would probably be better handled if it was put under an age restriction like more mature romances and other comics are, but WT and Rachel would never allow it because then they can't market it as YA and get the biggest draw of tweens and teens to spend their parents' money on it, so now LO is left w/ trying to be tween friendly while also trying to do serious topics with all the nuance of "bullying is bad >:(" but instead of bullying it's being critical of rich mass murdering slave owners 🤔
4. how does rachel have at bare minimum four people working on LO and it only looks worse?? like is it because they arent paid well, is the pay as low as the effort theyre expected to do. i dont care how much thhe fans are obsessed with it they seriously cant think this looks better??
5. What's going to preemptively anger me is that with IRL people I know, r/aita, and even tumblr anecdotes, giving a teen time away from a grown man for a long enough period of time usually results in the teen going, "wow, that was actually fucked up. thank you for stopping that disaster." Yet I KNOW that in LO, Persephone's probably gonna have her love grow by tenfold and miss her dearly totally-not-creepy beloved.
From OP: On a side note, I hate when fans try to justify the age gap by saying “it’s normal” or “perfectly fine since they’re adults” when most people (especially from tumblr, reddit, and just people irl) find it weird as hell and very questionable on the older person’s end. It’s just a blatant lie to try and justify this creepy dynamic.
6. introducing a major villain with no actual build up or reason for them to be in the plot right before a season finale is, no matter how you cut it, bad writing, and that's only one of several poorly planned and executed writing in this thing.
From OP: Yeah, even Apollo had some kind of foreshadowing. The only thing that hinted at Eris was an old tumblr ask from RS (Before LO became an original, RS said something about Eris and Hades having a bad date but that’s probably retconed) and Hera’s line to Hebe about getting her sister. With the sister thing, it’s too vague to pinpoint on Eris since she could also be Nyx’s daughter.
7. ok now LO fans are just lying and saying it was "always supposed to be a dark story" and people who are calling out it didn't develop these aspects well and it should have stuck to its original lighter tone "cant see context clues" like?? yes it did have SA shown early on ... which was IMMEDIATELY dropped and had rachel right way go into making puns! even persephone admitting she killed a village was framed with fart jokes and forced romcom flirting! how is that being a "dark and serious" story?
8. Rachel Smythe seems to have taken a weird approach to making HxP sympathetic? Like, I feel like she's trying to make the infinitely threatening villains more infinitely threatening as a way to make it seem like the rich, straight, cis, white coded deities in the story are the underdogs. The classism almost seems to come from her being too concerned about the image of rich people. Which, come to think of it, actually makes a lot of sense.
9. Even if we get Perse aow "justified" by Eris blessing it still doesn't mean she is innocent. She knew for a very long time that there is something "wrong" with her and she may be dangerous to others but she did nothing with it. Even now after everything that happened she still let that feeling affect her and didn't tell anyone beside Hades who equally doesn't care she may hurt someone again. Her wrath may be not her fault but her actions are
10. Part of me wonders if RS actually took any writing classes or even... just did basic research about how to write cohesive stories? The plot and timeline of LO is all over the place and it includes a lot of unnecessary scenes with characters who don't have a large bearing on the plot (like that whole subplot with Eros and Psyche, Thanatos and Daphne, that flashback with Persephone and the yellow war god who's name I can't remember. Like what was the point of that flashback? She could have just told us they'd met before and left it at that). Even just stuff that could have taken much less time than it did, such as those Medusa ladies spying, that dinner with HxP, Hera, and Zeus, or Hades taking the photographer's eye out.
I just always found the story very confusing to read. I've taken writing classes for my novels before and LO follows none of the guidelines for good writing.
11. I'm just upset that RS chose to make Persephone a young, impressionable literal teenager when she could have made Persephone an older, elegant goddess with years of knowledge and experience about how her world works. Like, if she wanted the r*pe subplot so badly, it could have been set up as Persephone deliberately avoiding Apollo/trying to expose him throughout the story, whilst the readers and Hades try to piece together what happened between them in the past before it's actually revealed. It also would have eliminated the gross age gape and Persephone acting like a child, etc. While we're at it, we could probably just take out that whole uncomfortable, unnecessary subplot where Apollo takes those photos.
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Gonna Come True (Glee)
AN: This is a follow-up to There's a Miracle Due which was written for the Glee Twistfest, “What if Mercedes & Kurt got Maria & Tony?” back in 2014 (yikes). I had the storyline for this already back then (hello, all of three lines in a document), it's just taken me until now to actually write it.
For @krummavisur who wanted it.
Thanks to @elledelajoie for looking it over .
The title is taken from “Something Coming”, West Side Story.
Oh, and I am not trying to follow any kind of canon time-line. Just, go with it.
Gonna Come True
Kurt throws himself into preparing for West Side Story with an energy that makes Mercedes envious. She understands though – he doesn't feel like he got the role honestly, which is bullshit, but. He still thinks he needs to prove himself. In her eyes he did so during his audition, and it's everyone else who needs to prove themselves to him, but he doesn't see it that way. Years of Lima bullshit stops him from seeing it.
He doesn't drop out of the race for senior class president though, not even when he's complaining about balancing that with Tony and school and Blaine. She asks him why and gets an answer she should have expected.
“At first this was about getting at least something on my resume. But that's not it any longer. I'm running as a reminder that bullying is a problem at this school, and that something needs to be done. If I win – and I don't expect to, not here – then I have a shot at making the administration do something. If I lose I still raise awareness. Every time I speak about my agenda I force the people listening to remember that bullying is an issue, that bullying kills, and that it is not okay.
“That's worth losing a little sleep.”
Mercedes's heart swells at hearing her boo speak so passionately about it, and it breaks as she hears an angry Santana tell Brittany that she should run against Kurt.
Kurt who is currently pulling down unicorn posters around the school while pushing back tears.
She waits until Brittany walks away before cornering Santana.
“We need to talk. What you just told Brit? That's a shit thing to do.”
Santana starts to argue, all fire, and under other circumstances Mercedes would admire her willingness to go to bat for her girl, but not now.
“No. Don't you dare. Do you know why Kurt is so upset over those posters? It's because to him they represent everything that he's been bullied over. And that? Has a lot to do with you. You have been sitting in the choir room for two years, mocking him for what he likes and for who he is.
“So here we are. Him running on an anti-bullying platform, and your girlfriend plastering the school with posters reminding him of exactly that bullying. Do I really need to explain to you why it is that when Kurt looks at those posters he doesn't see Brit's intentions, her meaning – he sees your bullying.”
Mercedes sees her words are hitting home, even if Santana is putting up a good front.
“Oh, and Santana? When you mock Kurt for being gay it makes you a hypocrite. But when you mock him for being 'girly'? It's even worse. Because when you say that there's something wrong with being like a girl, you're implying that there's something wrong with being a girl. And I'm not okay with that.
“Now, you are going to go back to Brit and tell her exactly what happened here, and you're going to make sure that she forgets all about running against him. He's had enough of his so-called friends doing that, I'd think.
“I'm not saying this – any of this – to be mean. I'm trying to be a good friend, to Kurt and to you. But make no mistake. You ruin this for Kurt? I'll ruin you.”
Mercedes might not be popular like a cheerleader, but she's got friends and she's got contacts outside of school. Her threat's not an empty one, and Santana knows it.
Her phone's ringing. There's something hitting her window, and her phone's ringing. At half past eleven on a school night.
Whoever it is, Mercedes is going to cut them.
Except it's Kurt, and he's not looking right.
As she lets him in through the back-door Mercedes notices the wrinkled clothes and the mussed hair that doesn't fit with a night of dancing. More making out, but Kurt doesn't have that well-kissed look. Plus, he's pale and shaky.
Something's wrong.
It takes her a long time to coax the story out of him, about Blaine trying to rape him. Except when she says that Kurt denies it, vehemently.
“Are you serious right now? Are you defending him? No! Okay? No. Hell no even.
“Look, if I showed up at your place and told you Shane had pulled me into the backseat of a car, had tried to get my clothes off and wouldn't stop touching me even though I said no, what would you tell me? Would you tell me it was okay because we're dating? That he's allowed to do that because I'm in love with him and he treats me good the rest of the time? Would you tell me to suck it up and forgive him?
“Would you explain away that and tell me that if he won't respect my 'no' the solution is to say 'yes' instead?”
Kurt's even paler now, his eyes blown and unfocused. He doesn't say anything though. Instead he just whimpers and rushes out to the bathroom.
When he comes back he's regained some color. He still looks like shit though. Mercedes pulls out some comfortable clothes that were bought for her brother, but got conscripted as backup for unplanned Kurt-visits, and leaves him to change while she gets them some chamomile tea.
Later, as the lights are out and they're curled up together, trying to get what rest they can Kurt whispers: “I'm going to have to break up with him, aren't I?”
She holds him as he cries himself to sleep.
The next day Kurt pretends like nothing's happened. He doesn't want to rock the boat before the West Side Story premiere, he says, or deal with the bitchfit Rachel would throw. “I'll do it after the final performance on Sunday” he promises, and Mercedes doesn't have it in her to push him. Not with the memory of his tears so fresh.
Dress rehearsal that night goes well, right up to the point where Artie comes to talk to them after. They need more fire, more passion, he claims and then proceeds to tell them that they should hurry up and have sex before their first show so they can portray lovers more believably. Oh, he doesn't put it quite like that, but it's pretty obvious that's what he means.
Mercedes is stunned at first, and then furious. She's surprised that Kurt's not ripping into him, with everything, and oh. Hell no.
“Are you telling me to have sex to improve the show you're directing? Really? How about you get some classes or something, to improve your part? You know, instead of sexually harassing me.”
Artie sputters out what's probably meant as a denial, but she just talks right over him.
“If you as much as breathe about this again, to anyone, I will report you. And then my mama will go have a talk with your parents about how they've failed at raising you to be a decent human being.
“Do you get me?”
He nods quickly, mumbles something and makes a hasty retreat. Just as he goes out the door Kurt's voice rings out, cold.
“And to think I remember a boy who grieved that his first time wasn't romantic enough. I wonder what he would think of you now.”
Artie doesn't say anything, or slow down, but he slumps a little in his chair as the barb hits home. Mercedes shifts her attention to Kurt and sees pale skin, rigid posture and shaky hands. He's thinking the same thing she is.
“Boo...”
“No, 'Cedes, please. Let's not speculate about whether or not he had that speech with the others first. I can't, not now.”
So she lets it go. For now.
Mercedes is on stage for the opening show Friday night along with Kurt. Not in the spotlight, sure, but still there. She can't help but compare Rachel and Blaine's performance with what she and Kurt can do, and they come up short. Tomorrow night, she thinks. Tomorrow night we're going to show them how it's really done.
She says as much to Kurt as they leave together and he laughs, the first sign of happiness she's heard from him in two days. The laughter dies out soon as he spots a bunch of well-dressed boys waiting outside. She recognizes a few from Kurt's time at Dalton, but not all of them. She'd think it nice of them to come see their friends perform, except judging from Kurt's reaction they're not an entirely welcome sight.
He still greets them politely, smiling that small “company smile” she doesn't like while asking if they remember Mercedes.
“And this,” he says with strained, icy politeness, “is Sebastian Smythe, this year's new transfer to Dalton.”
This then is the reason they're not welcome. Still, she follows Kurt's example and pulls out church manners.
Apparently the boys have been given tickets by Blaine, the tall new boy explains, before trying to needle Kurt.
“So, Officer Krupke? How did that feel, such a...manly role?”
Ouch.
“Oh, you know, it's not about the role, it's what you put into it. And it makes for an interesting contrast to tomorrow and playing Tony. ”
Everyone quiets at that and the mood gets slightly uncomfortable. Trent is about to break the silence, but Sebastian talks right over him.
“Right. Well, we'll have to withhold judgment until after of course, but I'd say you'll have a hard time measuring up to Blaine. And you,” he turns to Mercedes, “are you also playing another role tomorrow? This one's Maria perhaps?”
She nods without explaining, and then listens as the boys stumble over excuses about not knowing exactly who'll be there tomorrow, but “We're sure you'll do great, Kurt!”
Once they're out of sight Kurt sags a little.
“He didn't tell them. He went to Dalton to tell them about the show, and give them tickets, and he didn't tell them I was in it. Didn't tell them I was also playing Tony. They tried to cover it up, but... They were my friends too, and he didn't tell them.”
She loops an arm around his waist and snuggles close.
He deserves so much better.
There's a group of Dalton boys there next evening again, making Kurt smile and Blaine startle. Some are from the evening before, including the sharp Sebastian, some are new. They all applaud enthusiastically, and wait so they can congratulate Kurt on his performance. Mercedes pays extra attention to Sebastian, for some reason, but all he says is “not bad”. It sounds genuine though, and so is Kurt's smile as he nods and thanks the other boy.
Mercedes knows they did better than “not bad”. They were awesome together. She doesn't need to hear it from this reluctant boy though. She's got a better source.
They skip the cast party. Kurt's not eager to be with Blaine, especially since there might be alcohol involved, and Mercedes prefers celebrating with her boyfriend who has been a rock. There's a small sting as Kurt walks away alone, but it slips away as she accepts Shane's flowers and kiss and walks out on his arm.
The next morning Mercedes shows up at the Hummel-Hudson house almost uncomfortably early. She drags a still sleep-tussled Kurt to the dining table and spreads out the Gazette in front of him. It's already open to the right page and she sees exactly when Kurt realizes what she's got.
“You read that, I'll fix breakfast.”
She's brought coffee from home along with juice and fresh croissants from the bakery a block away and a small carton of strawberries. It's a luxury, but it's a well-deserved one. It's the work of no time to put it all out along with cups and plates, and as she does that she hears Kurt's voice rise, reading select paragraphs out loud.
“Rachel Berry's 'Maria' is technically perfect, with the singer hitting every note. Sadly that excellence does not extend to the rest of her performance. Ms Berry fails to provide personality and emotion, and simply put she lacks the ability to bring Maria to life.”
He stops, shakes his head and looks at her.
“Ehm, ouch?”
Yes.
“Blaine Anderson as Tony does not help. Where a better singer and actor could shore up his counterpart Anderson falls flat. 'Flat' is in fact the word that comes to mind most often when seeing and listening to him performing. Anderson fails to hit the notes in several of the songs, and often resorts to what must be described as screaming instead of singing. He lacks the range needed to play Tony, and obviously also the training needed to make up for his shortcomings.
“On the acting side it's equally flat. Anderson's body language and facial expressions are mostly too subtle – or possibly non-existent – to come across from the stage, making it like watching a cardboard cut-out most of the time. On the other hand, when he does come across it's much too exaggerated, making his Tony look like a caricature. (I find myself looking at the playbill to see if this is meant to be a comedic take on this epic show. It's not.)
“Holy shit, 'Cedes!”
Yessssss.
“Finally, the dancing. Here, Anderson does better – most of the time. He clearly favors certain parts of the choreography, and there he does very well. In other parts it is obvious that Anderson lacks either the desire or the ability to perform according to choreography. This shows, as other cast members – including Ms Berry's Maria – often have to adjust their own moves to accommodate Anderson, either because he takes up too much space or because he simply isn't where he is supposed to be.
“Towards the end of the show Anderson also shows a surprising lack of stamina, and almost literally falls flat as he stumbles through some of the steps.
“The rest of the cast...”
Kurt's voice peters off, and he looks at her, stunned. Mercedes only smiles, satisfied.
“You should read on. Really.”
Kurt looks at her with skepticism, but does as she says. She knows exactly when he hits the part she wanted him to see, because he looks up at her, wide-eyed and slightly stunned.
“After this the pair playing Maria and Tony during Saturday's performance – as well as today's matinée – is a pleasant surprise. Mercedes Jones and Kurt Hummel bring our lovers to life in a way that looks more like a professional setup than a high school play. Not only are they both talented singers, but they also manage to communicate the story to the audience and play off each other in a way that lifts the entire show.
“It is noticeable, having seen both sets of performers that like Anderson Jones has some difficulty with the choreography. However the adjustments made to cater to her limitations in no way come off as a lesser version of what Berry performs, and does in fact make her look better than Anderson's attempt at a more complex choreography. Meanwhile Hummel needs no such adjustments and manages to pair vocals with dancing in a truly impressive manner.
“Hummel's vocals could take up an article of its own, and so this reporter will just note that it comes as no surprise that Hummel is pursuing schooling and later a career in performing arts. We are looking forward to seeing him on stage on many more occasions.”
Kurt drops the paper and blinks like an owl.
“Am I dreaming? Did an actual reporter not only attend a West Side Story performance at McKinley to write about it in the Gazette, but they actually went twice?”
“Yeah boo.”
“And they actually wrote that we did better than Rachel and Blaine?”
“Yeah, they did. And they were right, you know. You did so much better than Blaine that he should be embarrassed.”
Kurt blushes a little, then pulls a grimace.
“What?”
“I was just thinking... I've been wondering if breaking up with Blaine over what happened was an overreaction, because...” He meets her eye, and looks away. “Anyway, I'm reading this and instead of being happy for me – for us – I can't help but think that Blaine's going to go ballistic. And that waiting for the show to be over probably wasn't that great of an idea. He's going to expect me to listen to him whine about this.”
Mercedes isn't surprised to hear that Kurt's been considering forgiving his boyfriend. A bit disappointed, sure, but not surprised. He always was more loyal than people deserved. She is surprised that he's being that clear-sighted about Blaine though. That's good. That means he's probably going to follow through.
As if cued Kurt's phone starts buzzing and they both look at the screen. Blaine. Mercedes makes an unhappy face. Kurt... Kurt looks upset and rejects the call before turning the sound off.
“Boo?”
“I am not going to ruin my afterglow by listening to him complain about how no one appreciates him. Not when I'm already going to break up with him. Just, no.
“Instead I'm going to enjoy this lovely breakfast with my gorgeous leading lady, and then I'm going to read that article again and gloat. Oh, and then I'm going out to get myself a couple of extra copies as proof that even in Lima people can see our talent.
“I don't know how you did it, but you, my dear, pulled off a miracle.”
And she has, hasn't she? Not by making someone see and recognize Kurt's talent, though, but by making him smile, wide and open.
That's her miracle, right there.
~ The End ~
#chocoholic fics#mercedes jones#kurt hummel#not for the klaint of heart#not rachel or blaine friendly#i guess
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Happy New Year, everybody! I know that Literally no one cares or will read this, but I have to rate and talk about what I’ve read this year and this is my page, so deal with it.
2020 may have been a dumpster fire of a year, but I did read so me pretty good books. I didn’t get to read as many books as I wanted (like always), but that’s life. If you couldn’t tell, I do have a preference for romance novels, and these selections are very... 🌈 and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Here we go:
- Lies we Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley (4/10)
- I think I could write a dissertation about why I have a problem with this book, but I think I can just stop with “a white lady writing an interracial queer romance in the 1960s where the lead white character is literally a racist” should about cover it. Absolutely disappointed.
- Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (10/10)
- Oh my god does Casey McQuiston know how to write a book. Classic enemies to lovers, my favorite trope. This is my comfort novel that I use as a form of escapism, and probably the reason I didn’t read many new books, as I reread it about five times. It’s my comfort novel, and I come back to it every time I need to feel happy. I’ve made three of my friends read this book, and I recommend it to everyone
- These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling (8/10)
- It’s sapphic, it has witches, and it’s adorable; what more could you possibly want? The ending left me wanting more. I was finally able to buy the sequel and I can’t wait to get into it.
- Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan (7/10)
- I think this book is sort of a classic when it comes to gay YA. This was a pretty good book, but it took me awhile to get into it.
- Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins (9/10)
- What did I say about enemies to lovers? HRH was regarded as sapphic Red, White, and Royal Blue, which I think is all you need to know to be interested. This book and short, sweet, and to the point. It’s an easy read (I read it twice, both times in one day). I think there could’ve been some more character building, but it’s so adorable I literally do not care. When I say I want more cute gay romcoms, they should use HRH as the blueprint.
- It’s Not Like It’s a Secret by Misa Sugiura (7/10)
- A cute, interracial sapphic love story where no white people are involved (the main character is Japanese American and her love interest is Mexican American). This coming of age story deals with acceptance, cultural differences, racism, and coming out. I think some of the points it was trying to delve into were too much on the nose at some times, but I really enjoyed this book.
- The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue and The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee (9/10)
- A fun romp set some time in the 1700s with a chaotic bi as the main lead? Count me in! I read this whole series this year, including the novella (the gentleman’s guide to getting lucky), and I loved every second of it. It’s an adventure series with some romance sprinkled in (a hella slow burn, but definitely worth it). The whole series has gay, bi, lesbian, and ace aro representation, and I was in love the entire time.
- You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson (8/10)
- The black sapphic book I needed. Liz Lighty decides she wants to leave her hometown and go to college, but after losing the financial aid she was counting on, she remembers the scholarship that prom queen gets every year, and decides to run. Sprinkle in a cute love story, and I’m hooked.
- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (10/10)
- I... cannot put into words how this book made me feel. When I finished TSOA, I cried all night trying to recover. Beautifully written, and I still can’t get over Achilles and Patroclus. One of my favorite books this year.
- Sorry Not Sorry by Naya Rivera
- After Naya’s tragic passing in July, I struggled to find her autobiography anywhere. However, I was finally able to get my hands on it, and am so glad that I did. Naya Rivera was just as genuinely funny and carefree as her previous costars have said, and I wish the world could’ve gotten more of her.
Not pictured:
- Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst (9/10)
- Sapphic love story about a princess who has been betrothed to a prince from a nearby country her whole life who instead falls in love with his sister. The main character, Denna, also possesses magical powers, which is forbidden in their land. One of my favorite things about this book is that it’s set in medieval times, but no one cares about queer relationships. The only problem with Denna falling in love with the princess is that she’s betrothed to her brother and nothing else. I recently bought the sequel to this book as well, and I’m excited to read it
- The After Series (books 1-2) by Anna Todd (-400/10)
- I was curious about this series because of how terrible the movies are, and needed to read them myself. I apologize to myself every day that I every even wasted my time on these two books. If I ever see Anna Todd, it’s on sight immediately. Not only is the writing terrible, but the romanticization of abusive relationships is absolutely unacceptable. I think I could take less issue with these books if the author wrote them as a “what to look for in men you should never date” rule book, but it isn’t. I could actually write an essay on why these books are more harmful than entertaining and how I genuinely think this series should have never been published. Also, Harry Styles did not deserve this.
I also discovered WEBTOON this year, and here are some of my favorites that I have read:
- Always Human by creator walkingnorth, a finished WLW story which was absolutely beautiful to look at and delightful to read.
- Lore Olympus by creator Rachel Smythe. I don’t think you can find too many people who haven’t heard of this story, but it’s a retelling of the Hades and Persephone mythology, and I adore it.
- Novae by creators KaixJu. A historical, queer and paranormal romance about a necromancer who falls for an astronomer.
- My Lady Artemisia by creator rimarza. This WEBTOON is a little bit newer with fewer episodes, about a knight tasked with guarding the princess, which starts to prove difficult once she starts to gain feelings for the princess, and an impending threat might cause her to past to come to the surface.
Of course, I’ve also spent a lot of my time on A03. I know I’ve read more, but here are the ones I bookmarked and have come back to this year:
- kiss me (if you mean it) by nerdybutpunk
- Carry On fanfic, short but sweet, absolute fluff
- Camp Llwynywermod by bleedingballroomfloor
- Red, White, and Royal Blue AUwhere Henry and Alex are camp counselors. It’s so good and I find myself waiting every wed and sat for the updates.
I read more this year than I have in a long time, and I enjoyed it most of the time. My goal for 2021 is to read at least two books a month and to expand my horizons to something that isn’t YA and isn’t romance. Also to find Anna Todd and tell her off. Hopefully we can accomplish some of that.
#rwrb#lgbtq lit#lgtbqia+#carry on#alex claremont diaz#henry montague#ggtvav#after series#naya rivera#wlw#her royal highness#tsoa#achilles#patroclus#patrochilles#you should see me in a crown#these witches don't burn#these witches gay#of fire and stars#henry fox mountchristen windsor#lies we tell ourselves#robin talley#booklr#lgbtq books
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I saw this prompt post and had an idea for it so, here you go.
Disclaimer: not Beta read, so if you see spelling/grammar mistakes, um, no you don't :D
Prompt (not word for word from the post): A Superhero lives with the Supervillain, and because being a hero doesn't pay well they can't afford rent without them.
Characters: Kurt Hummel, Sebastian Smythe, Rachel Berry, Blaine Anderson
Word Count: 1,031
Ao3 link
***
Kurt unlocks the door to his apartment and walks in. He sets his bag down on a stool next to the kitchen counter and gets a mug from the cupboard. Being in college and being a Superhero means less and less relaxation time, and sleep, which catches up with him fairly quickly. He pours enough water for one cup into a kettle and sets it on the stovetop, turning on the flame.
The door opens and Sebastian steps into the room, looking over at Kurt.
"Are you making tea?"
Kurt nods in response.
"Can you make me some?" Sebastian asks, sitting down on one of the open stools on the other side of the kitchen.
"Do I have to?" Kurt sighs, sliding the stool his stuff is on closer to him.
"No, but it'd be the nice thing to do. Isn't that what you're supposed to do, Mr. Hero?" Sebastian sneers.
Kurt shakes his head, adding water to the kettle. "If I could afford a New York apartment by myself, I would've gotten rid of you by now."
"Right back at you," Sebastian takes a step loudly towards Kurt, knowing he'd stiffen up.
Ever since they both found out who they really were Kurt's been on edge, even though he knows Sebastian wouldn't do anything.
For rent reasons, of course.
And if Kurt's being honest, he hates that he found out. He had been growing fond of Sebastian, and him being a Supervillain that puts people's lives in danger just to taunt him ruins that.
Kurt grabs another mug from the cupboard and puts two tea bags into the mugs. He glances over at Sebastian, who's leaning against the counter on his phone.
It's moments like these where he wishes Sebastian wasn't a bad guy because he so badly wants to kiss him. He wants to have a relationship with him, even if he gets on Kurt's nerves so often.
But he can't, and probably never will.
The whistling of the kettle snaps Kurt out of his thoughts. He lifts it off of the burner--turning it off in the process--and pours them into the mugs equally. Setting it back down on the counter, he turns to grab the milk from the fridge, but Sebastian is standing directly behind him holding it so he runs right into him.
"God, why were you standing so close?" Kurt asks, grabbing the milk from his hand, their fingers brushing against one another, and sets it down on the counter. Sebastian just shrugs and opens another cupboard to grab the sugar.
Kurt slides Sebastian's mug over to him and pours his milk and sugar into his own mug. They drink their tea in silence, neither of them speaking to one another like they used to. Normal roommates wouldn't have a reason to hate each other, like Rachel and Blaine.
The two of them had met Kurt in their dance class and the three of them hit it off instantly. They all bonded over the fact that they were in high school Glee clubs--Kurt was in New Directions, Blaine was a Warbler, and Rachel was in Vocal Adrenaline--and competed a few times against one another, and their love and appreciation for musicals. The two of them listen to Kurt when he goes on rants about Sebastian and what he does around the apartment, and Kurt listens in amusement to the two of them talk and obsess over his Superhero identity.
Neither of them knows about Kurt--his dad, stepmom, and stepbrother don't even know--so he has no one to rant to about Sebastian and the Supervillain issue.
But boy have they heard him rant before.
***
"Gah, he's just so irritating!" Kurt grumbles.
Rachel and Blaine share a look to one another, and Kurt doesn't miss it.
"What was that about?" Kurt asks, taking a drink from the coffee he had just gotten from the coffee shop they're sitting down at.
"Kurt, we-" Blaine starts.
"Know you have a crush on him!" Rachel announces.
Kurt looks to the two of them flabbergasted. "You seriously cannot think I even remotely like him."
"Oh come on, you talk about him all the time," Rachel remarks.
"Yeah, negatively," Kurt responds.
"Not all the time," Blaine adds, taking a drink of his coffee.
Kurt stares at his friends. "I'm not having this conversation," he takes a drink of his coffee.
"You aren't denying it," Rachel comments.
"Hmph." Kurt grabs the blueberry muffin Rachel had bought him and takes a bite of it to avoid talking about it.
Has Kurt stared at glanced over at Sebastian one time when he had gotten out of the shower and passed the kitchen, yeah. And has Kurt wanted to kiss Sebastian to get him to shut up, sure. And of course, there's the fact that he wants to cuddle with him at night, but none of this means he has a-
Oh shit, maybe it does.
Kurt looks up at Rachel and Blaine, who are in the middle of a conversation.
"I might have a crush," He mumbles.
"What was that?" Blaine asks.
"I.. fuck I think you're right. I have a crush on him." Kurt admits, finally looking up at them. Rachel's smiling widely and Blaine's smiling, too.
"We told you!" Rachel squeals.
"Yeah, yeah I know," he smiles at her. Blaine grabs a cronut that he had paid for and takes a bite of it.
"...What am I going to do about it?" Kurt whispers, the realization finally hitting him that he, Kurt Hummel wants to date Sebastian Smythe.
"Tell him?" Rachel suggests.
After Blaine swallows the bite he comments, "you two went the first three months on campus not talking, can't get more awkward than that."
Kurt nods and plans to tell Sebastian that night after he gets home. They finally were at a place where they were talking regularly, unlike when they first met. He could ask him out on a date--hope that there are no crimes that happen--and they could go from there.
And of course that night he finds out why he can't have a relationship with him.
***
(End of writing.)
So there's that. It was originally going to end at the end of the tea part, but i wanted to write Rachel and Blaine into this, and now that I've added more I kind of want to write an entire thing for this, like give them superhero/supervillain names, and have an entire enemies to lovers story.
i just started writing, apart of two challenges that i don't/barely have things for, and i want to write an entire story with a bunch of chapters and entire plot i-
if this does good then i'll write more for it.
okay im done rambling, thank you for reading!
edit: it's now on ao3!
#elliry writes#i still cant believe i wrote 1k words for this#glee#kurt hummel#sebastian smythe#kurtbastian#blaine anderson#rachel berry#superhero au#tw: swearing#writing prompt
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A post for my book recommendations, to be continuously updated as I read and remember more. Because without reading, I would not be writing.
All time favourites are marked with a ☆
All are sorted by genre and will be linked (if able) to their Goodreads pages so that you can dig deeper into whatever catches your eye
(ps if you have a Goodreads account, you can add me here)
Anthology/Short Story Collections
Behold This Dreamer - Walter de la Mare ☆
Love Letters of Great Men - Ursula Doyle
Difficult Women - Roxane Gay
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories - Ken Liu
The Elephant Vanishes - Haruki Murakami
Essays
Bad Feminist - Roxane Gay ☆
In Praise of Shadows - Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
Fiction (Classic)
Persuasion - Jane Austen ☆
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
The Awakening - Kate Chopin
North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell ☆
Siddhartha - Hermen Hesse
The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera ☆
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
Fiction (Modern)
All’s Well - Mona Awad ☆
The Pisces - Melissa Broder
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
For Today I Am A Boy - Kim Fu
The Vegetarian - Han Kang
The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova ☆
Fall on Your Knees - Ann-Marie MacDonald
A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing - Eimear McBride
No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy
The Road - Cormac McCarthy ☆
Under the Hawthorne Tree - Ai Mi
The Song of Achilles - Madeleine Miller ☆
After Dark - Haruki Murakami ☆
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage - Haruki Murakami
1Q84 - Haruki Murakami ☆
The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje
Boy, Snow, Bird - Helen Oyeyemi
Mr. Fox - Helen Oyeyemi ☆
A Tale for the Time Being - Ruth Ozeki
Blindness - Jose Saramgo
How To Be Both - Ali Smith
The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt ☆
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
Ru - Kim Thúy
Brooklyn - Colm Tóibín
Big Fish - Daniel Wallace
Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto
Horror/Thriller
Tender is the Flesh - Augustina Bazterrica
The Exorcist - William Peter Blatty
I’m Thinking of Ending Things - Iain Reid
Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton
Gerald’s Game - Stephen King
The Shining - Stephen King
Audition - Ryū Murakami
Manga/Graphic Novels
Basilisk - Futaro Yamada, Maseki Sagawa
Death Note - Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata
Eureka Seven - Jinsei Kataoka, Kazuma Kondou
Lore Olympus - Rachel Smythe
Nana - Ai Yazawa ☆
Paradise Kiss - Ai Yazawa
Uzumaki - Junji Ito
xxxHolic - CLAMP
Memoirs/Journals
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness - Susannah Cahalan
I’m Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books - Azar Nafisi
Henry and June - Anaïs Nin ☆
The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls ☆
Non-Fiction (General)
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking - Susan Cain
The Red Market - Scott Carney
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern - Stephen Greenblatt
Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right - Jane Mayer
The Psychopath Test - Jon Ronson
The Elements of Style - William Strunk Jr, E.B White
Non-Fiction (Philosophy/Spiritual)
The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge - Carlos Castañeda
Silence: In the Age of Noise - Erling Kagge ☆
The Kybalion - Three Initiates ☆
The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo - Chögyam Trungpa
Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu
Poetry Collections
I Love My Love - Reyna Biddy
Let Us Compare Mythologies - Leonard Cohen
The Prophet - Khalil Gibran
The Anatomy of Being - Shinji Moon
Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth - Warsan Shire
Night Sky with Exit Wounds - Ocean Vuong
Science Fiction
Dune - Frank Herbert
Battle Royale - Koushun Takami
True Crime
Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders - Vincent Bugliosi
In Cold Blood - Truman Capote ☆
Young Adult
A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray ☆
The Diviners - Libba Bray
The Sun is Also a Star - Nicola Yoon
BONUS: Or, A Book I Hated So Much That it Deserves Mention Here
Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy
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anti LO anon opinions
(1) Whats up with LO giving some characters random american names? In few fastpass episodes was characters that have bame anna, larry and derek and in previous episodes there was characters with american names. Isnt that supposed to be greek mythological beings that should have greek names?
(2) Maybe it’s my aroace ass but why do I have a feeling the relationship of HxP in LO goes too fast? I feel uncomfortable seeing them so close because nothing really has happened to bind them that much so early.
(3) I’m going to rant for a second here. I think the Kronos plot in LO is interesting but at the same time it’s also just so? Random? Like isn’t this supposed to be about Hades and Persephone? It have been over 150 episodes and they’ve only just now decided to do any basic romantic interactions, but there’s so many side plots that it just makes them seem so out of place?
It’s not great editing to jump from cutesy shipper moments to suddenly a new war is starting in the span of a few panels. The tonal shifts have to be built up, maybe split over a few episodes, but LO doesn’t put in the effort. It wants the stakes and writing of a deep epic but doesn’t put in the work to do so, so it ends up looking like shallow cliffhanger writing than actually planned.
Like you still have to deal with her murdering people (even if it was an accident), you now have to deal with Leto apparently being the real evil mastermind, redeeming (?) Apollo (🤢), Thetis trying to ruin Zeus’ marriage, Persephone being raped, her scholarship, her school work (?), Eros and psyche, semele and Dionysus, Daphne and Thanatos (gag), Minthe!, and now a whole new war all on top of the ACTUAL myth its popularity and readership is based off of.
For all we know Smythe does genuinely want to tell these other myths (the majority which have nothing to do with HxP to begin with) but just isn’t patient enough to just save them for a spin off series, so she shoves them all into this despite saying back in 2018 she was not going to do. Problem too is that doing that makes HxP, the actual selling point, completely minor in the grand scheme of it all. Who cares about Persephone cuddling her boss when they’re accidentally causing another war under their own noses? How are they good people at that point?
If Demeter or Zeus accidentally awoke a villain they’d be thrown in tartarus too, but we know Persephone will get off Scott-free for this and become queen with no push back. How is that fair? I will feel sympathy for her bad childhood and really bad two weeks on Olympus (good lord it’s only been like a month in comic and all of this is happening, what the hell) but why should we root for a character who is putting millions are risk and who we know won’t be punished or learn anything from it? From anyone not blinded by the rose-tinted glasses, Persephone and hades are villains as well, but because we get their POV we’re supposed to ignore that? No thanks.
Why isn’t the editing team cutting the fat, so to speak? You can’t write and market it off a singular myth and proceed to make it a b-plot because you got bored of it and don’t know how to get from point A to point B. There are a ton of super successful Webtoons that wrapped everything up strongly in less than 100 episodes, some with even less, but LO seems determined to be over 200+ at this rate with the actual plot/hook (HxP) being MAYBE 1/6th of the actual product, with everything else being unrelated side plots smythe found more interesting. Though I guess they do kinda matter in this case, it’s literally Persephone’s fault AGAIN she’s putting countless lives in danger, yet it still won’t be her fault somehow? It’s all just very stupid.
(4) What i find annoying about the LO marketing is they keep insisting it's this "global phenomenon" but that is only correct if you only go off the English speaking server. It was not received well in Korea, it doesn't even rank in the Latin American server, and only does ok in France, and it's not even on other Asian servers. I understand media tends to be very America-focused, but that seems to be twisting the truth. If they were honest True Beauty would be marketed as the "global hit", not LO.
(5) Whats up with LO giving some characters random american names? In few fastpass episodes was characters that have bame anna, larry and derek and in previous episodes there was characters with american names. Isnt that supposed to be greek mythological beings that should have greek names?
(6) what really makes me mad about LO is just that it has so much potential that isn't met. With a competent writer it could be a nuanced look into complex characters who aren't easily cut into black and white, and art wise, especially with the long strolling panels, it shows with a competent eye they can absolutely make something constantly visually strong, yet both genuinely good moments in either writing ad art are few & fair in between in over 150+ episodes. I'm sad over what could have been.
(7) I find it so weird that ppl are praising Rachel for giving Persephone stretch marks but the whole comic barely has diversity. There's only been a handful of plus sized women and I haven't seen any plus sized men so far (I could be wrong. Also, only one goddess is plus sized. Everyone else is skinny.). Nobody has kinky hair and a lot of the guys are extremely tall compared to the women.
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❄️ Snow In Love Bingo - December Books ❄️
So I’m going to do a reading bingo! I did one last year for my friends birthday and it was lots of fun. I love lists, tasks, goals, and crossing tasks off of lists so I can meet goals so this is gonna be great! I’m doing good so far with 8 books read so I’m on track to finish on time. I don’t think any of the creators have a tumblr but if they do, I’ll definitely tag them!
Gifting Me To His Best Friend by Katee Robert - 3 stars. On the one hand, no one writes sex like Katee Robert. On the other hand, this took a sharp turn into the corny area because a novella is just too short to establish a proper ménage. I can’t believe I’m saying this but for once, it needed less sex. 🎄 Square Fill - Takes place on Christmas/Christmas Eve🎄
First Comes Like by Alisha Rai - 3 stars. This was a solid meh. The cat fishing aspect was handled well but everything else was boring. It felt like the first 80% was a prologue to the last 20% where they finally get married and bang, but then most of the plot should have gone AFTER they married. 🛌Square Fill - it’s low stakes, low heat, and they chill a lot 🛌
Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughn - 4 stars. Some of it really shows it’s age (r slur used by Alana, f slur used by a villain) and some of the drama between Alana and Marko feels a little contrived but I still had a lot of fun with this. The art is amazing, the character designs and conceptions are great, and the planets and species building is fun. 👩🏾❤️👨🏻Square Fill - Alana and Marko are married at the start of the series👩🏾❤️👨🏻
Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe - 5 stars. Just amazing and unique art and color work with a really interesting take on the Hades and Persephone myth and Olympus as a whole. It starts cute but the last few chapters get heavy with a date rape (done to Persephone but NOT by hades) and PTSD (due to Hades’ trauma over his dad, ya kno, eating him). 🌟Square Fill - it was recommended by two different people with wildly different taste🌟
Hani & Ishu’s Guide To Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar - 5 stars. This book felt like being hugged. It’s a great exploration of the complexities of bisexuality as well as culture, family, and friendship. Also the romance between Hani and Ishu is so well done and sweet. 💞Square Fill - features fake dating, there was only one bed, hand holding, mutual pining, and more💞
Boyfriend Marerial by Alexis Hall - 5 stars. A little meandering in the middle, but this was really good. Disaster Millennial Gay recruits a stuffy friend of a friend to help revitalize his image, catches feelings. Very funny, very witty, good romance. 📚Square Fill - got it from the Swoonies website📚
Beastly by Alex Flinn - 4.5 stars. This was laugh out loud hilarious. As far as a BATB story, I think Adrian/Kyle and Lindy are great, and I love how active the witch is in the book. I knocked it down because of a Magical Disability Cure, which I talked about more in my goodreads review if you care to read it. 🥊Square Fill - Lindy and Adrian banter/fight all the time🥊
Learn My Lesson by Katee Robert - 4.5 stars. Fixed almost all the issues with the first book. It felt like a retelling of Disney Hercules plus a smattering of other Greek gods. The ménage was very well developed as well. The issues were that Zeus as a villain was interchangeable with Aladdin and it’s still Weird about female bisexuality. 🏨Square Fill - for Hades weird sex dungeon hotel/club/underworld thing🏨
#katee robert#booklr#adiba jaigirdar#rachel smythe#lore Olympus#saga#brian k. vaughan#Alexis hall#Alex Flinn#Alisha rai#reading update#screaming into the void#snow in love bingo
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kurtbastian, ones a broadway star & the other is a critic (does that count as an au setting? idk)
hi ana 👀♥️
Kurt let out a sigh.
'I can't believe I'm about to write positive things about Sebastian Smythe.'
Rachel looked at him from the other side of the table, he could tell from her expression that she was a bit confused. 'If you didn't like it just say so. It's your review, Kurt, no one is forcing you to write something nice.'
Kurt stared at her for a few seconds, trying to compose his thoughts.
'But that's just the worst part, isn't it?' he finally said. 'I want to.'
#kurtbastian#its critic!kurt because broadway star!kurt is the obvious choice and im not like the other girls 💅🏻#ana the soda expert#sorry its taking me so long with the asks#ill try to answer all of them today
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hiiii, could you please rank the seasons of glee? 🔥
Yes 😳
6. Season 5
I absolutely love Elliott and Kurtcheltana but it’s just the season I wouldn’t rewatch the most 😔
5. Season 6
It’s so bizarre that I can’t even bring myself to dislike it🦧 like the writers really said, “let’s just write whatever comes to mind and call it a plot” like it’s such a ride, which makes it oddly fun 😭
4. Season 4
Rachel growth my beloved💖 Kurt actually having things go his way this season 😌 Adam💖 and I actually like some of the season 4 newbies🦧
3. Season 3
Sebastian Smythe😌 theres a lot I dislike about this season, but also a lot I do like, so it’s a very love hate relationship. Which I think perfectly describes my relationship with glee, so it’s ranking high 🦧
2. Season 2
Theres just so many iconic episodes 😫 also this is the only season blaine was remotely tolerable to me (I still dislike him, but more in a, “you’re kinda an asshole” rather than, “you’re just an asshole” way) also background characters getting more screen time 😳
1. Season 1
Okay hear me out, I know season one is awful 🦧 but it has this vibe to it that I love?? Like everything about it just feels so g l e e, and nostalgic, like even bad episodes like Acafellas I’ll rewatch, because it just has such an overall fun feeling to it. Like I rewatch this season the most (not just because it’s the first season I swear 🦧) because there’s just something very fun about it 😭
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Last Seen Blogs
goodbetgames
Untitled
setsu-nana
Lily's Lesbian Romantic Comedy
leitereads
Leite Reads
panicpanini
ministry of misery
