#the COMPLIMENTARY parts of books about how he was fucked up and complicated'
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remembered theres people who consider stalin quotable and my mood immediately fell off a cliff
#'oh he was multi-faceted and complicated and thats why i only ever talk about the good things he did or how he was helpful and only quote th#the COMPLIMENTARY parts of books about how he was fucked up and complicated'#'fucked up' used here to mean like. convoluted. contradictory. ambi-valent. not JUST a reprehensible cartoon character#<- regardless of whether you think he's a reprehensible cartoon character or not lmfao not the point they. wouldn't quote that. lol
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Character Model
Author: @wordsfromthesol
Pairing: Jason Todd x Reader
Summary: You may or may not have been following Jason Todd around a bookstore so you could model one of your story characters after him. He may or may not have noticed.
Warnings: Language?
Word Count: 2k
A/N: Just a story from my drafts folder. Sorry I haven’t been able to write any of the wonderful requests I have sitting in my inbox...work has been running me ragged. But they are coming! Love you all 💛
You had no idea where this man came from, but he was perfect. Exactly what you envisioned the assassin prince in your newest story to look like, and he just waltzed into the bookstore. First, you tried to ignore him…after all it would be kind of creepy to stare at this man while sketching him and jotting down little details about the way he walks, talks, runs his fingers through his hair. The more you thought about it, the more you couldn’t get him out of your mind. As you watched his mannerisms, he just became more perfect. Fuck it. You got up from your seat and moved closer to him, pretending to look at the books on the shelf. It wasn’t a very good cover story, as it was quite obvious you were drawing him. I will never see this man again, who cares.
You were never the best artist, but the image got the message across. Once it was complete, you continued following him awkwardly around the store jotting down notes. His interest in certain books, the way he seemed to survey the bookstore…Maybe he is an assassin prince? Those didn’t actually exist right? You ignored those thoughts as you commented on his gait. Wrapped up in your descriptions, you didn’t realize he was now watching you. That is until you looked up again and saw his steel blue eyes staring into yours.
“What are you profiling me for, doll?”
You spun around, hoping he wasn’t talking to you. No such luck. “Oh, uhm, I wasn’t?”
“Hmm, sure does look like it. Can I see that sketch?”
“Heh, you saw that?” He raised his eyebrows. Of course he saw it, Y/N, you are being creepy. “Okay, I swear I’m not stalking you! I just…gosh this is going to sound so stupid…you look exactly like how I envisioned this character in my head…for a story.”
“You’re a writer?”
“Some people would beg to differ, but I guess technically.”
“So what’s the character then?”
Okay now he’s going to be offended. “Uhm…an assassin? But he’s also like prince to the guild thing. It’s kind of complicated.”
“So I look like an assassin?”
“Kind of…?” To your surprise the man chuckled.
“Not gunna lie, I’ve been called so much worse.”
Why are you so awkward? “Well sorry for being creepy…” You turned to leave and didn’t notice the man following you until you nearly slammed the front door in his face.
“I think I deserve to see that sketch after you followed me around for an hour AND tried to knock me out with a door.”
“Oh my go – I’m so sorry, I figured I’d thoroughly…embarrassed myself, so I left…why are you following me?”
“Thought I’d return the favor?” You gave him a nervous smile, the thought of this very large strange man walking you home, at night, in Gotham, did not provide you with much peace. “Relax, you look just like a character I imagined…” He quipped, trying to ease your obvious discomfort.
“Not funny.”
“Really though, it’s dark and getting late and this is Gotham.” You eyed him suspiciously, this still probably wasn’t the smartest move on your part, but you relented and motioned for him to follow.
“Don’t make fun of it, I’m a writer not an artist. This is purely for research.” You commented as you passed him the sheet of notebook paper.
“It looks good, I especially like all the little notes about me. Ruggedly handsome? Piercing steel blue eyes?”
Shit. I forgot about those. “Uhm, yeah.” You tried to snatch the paper back, but he could easily keep it from you. “It was research!” Huffing, you remember some of the descriptions were not very complimentary. Watching his eyes scan the page, you tried to explain. “Some of them are just for the character, don’t take it…”
“No, they are all…pretty spot on I’d say.” His voice turned solemn, almost sad, as he passed the paper back to you.
“I’m sorry.”
“Nah,” he waved it off, picking back up his nonchalant timbre.
The two of you mindless chatted about your favorite books until you arrived at your apartment building.
“Well, this is me. Thanks again…” You had just realized the two of you never exchanged names. “My name’s Y/N, by the way.”
“Jason. I’ll see you around. Try not to stalk anyone else.”
“No promises!” You called out as you entered the apartment.
**
It had been nearly a week, and honestly you didn’t expect to see the stranger again. After all, how would you? No numbers or last names were exchanged. Yet there he was, sitting across from you at the coffee shop, face buried in a book. This man is actually reading in a coffee shop. He looked so out of place compared to all the usual suspects. It would be creepy if I remembered him, right? I’m just going to ignore him. Your plan didn’t last long, as Jason soon came up and sat beside you.
“Stalking anyone new today?”
“Oh, I uhm…no. Writing about you actually…the character! The character not you.” God, you’re so smooth. You thought as you brought your hand up to cover your face.
“So how is assassin me doing today?”
“Honestly? You’re kind of being a bitch. Like how am I supposed to know how you will react if you are refusing to tell me?”
“Uhm…isn’t that the part you’re supposed to make up?”
“No, I made up you…the assassin…now you’re…they’re supposed to tell me what they want to do.”
“Uh huh. Right. You know they aren’t real right? Like I’m not actually a killer prince.”
“Heh, yeah I know. Wouldn’t that be cool though?”
“I just think you’d be assassinated.”
“Ohh, harsh. Though, sadly, I would just be murdered.”
“No, I had it right.” Jason gave you a smirk as he got up from the table and walked out the door.
Did that actually just happen? You quickly gathered your things and threw them into your computer bag, racing after him. “WAIT!” You noticed he had stopped just outside the door and well before you called after him.
“Walking home?”
“Uhm, yeah. Can I ask you some questions first?”
“How about you can ask me questions until we get to your apartment building?”
“Deal.”
It was a short ten-minute walk, but you picked his brain. Giving him situations to see how he would react. This was way easier than you rewriting the scene, or going back and forth for hours before giving up and not writing anything at all. In fact, his reactions were eerily similar to that of your murderous character. You weren’t accidentally copying his life, right?
**
The next time you saw him, you were out with friends at some random bar. He sat there stoically on the bar stool, staring into space. This was so…like if your character had just murdered someone. No, he couldn’t have. Probably just a bad day. You excused yourself from the group of friends and slide in to the stool besides Jason.
“So, Jason, bad day?”
“Oh, Y/N. I didn’t…you’re here.”
“Yeah, I try to have a life sometimes. Albeit very rarely.”
“Hm, well, don’t let me keep you.”
“That’s alright, they are content without me.” You pointed towards a group of people. “And plus, you look like you need some company.”
“…”
“Man, riveting stuff. So, what are you drinking?”
“Whiskey.”
“Just…straight? Alright, spill. Remember I know you.”
“I…just had a bad day at work. I’ll get over it.”
“I’m sure whatever happened wasn’t your fault. Some situations are inevitable.”
“I guess.”
“So what do you do, exactly?”
A sad, solemn smile laced his lips as he got up from the bar. “Another time. Get home safe, Y/N.”
“That wasn’t an answer…” you mumbled as you made your way back to your friends.
**
Just the next day, you were mindless going aisle by aisle in the grocery store, when you feel someone slightly bump into you. You whipped your head around to see the culprit, when what you saw was Jason with a big grin on his face.
“I’m starting to think you never stopped stalking me.”
“If anything, you’re stalking me. This is the closest grocery to my apartment…which you know the address of. I have no clue where you live.”
“Fair enough.” He looked down at the assorted items in your cart, “got a plan for those?”
“Honestly, my version of cooking is throwing some things in a pan and hoping for the best.”
“Hm, well, I could come over and show you some things?”
“Jason, I don’t know your middle or last name, are you offering to cook for me?”
“Peter Todd, and yes, Y/N Y/M/N Y/L/N, I am.”
You looked at him with surprise, “See, now who’s stalking who.”
He started to trail off with a smirk, “I’ll be at yours at 6!”
Did that seriously just happen? How did he know my name? Once you were done you raced home to clean. You were so not prepared for guests, with your scratch paper and sticky notes strewn about the apartment. As soon as the clock struck 6, you heard a knock at the door.
**
Jason tried to show you what he’s doing in the kitchen, but you couldn’t care less. You sat on the counter, pretending to listen to the instructions, while sipping on the wine in your hand.
“You’re not retaining any of this, are you?”
“Hmm, not really. But I’m quite enjoying watching you do it.” You motioned for him to continue preparing the meal.
“Are you just trying to get a free meal?”
“Well, technically I paid for the food, I’m just after the free chef…that was…I meant like after the preparation of the food…not after you…” Shut up Y/N, you are making it worse.
“That’s alright, I’m just after the free writer.” He looked over his shoulder and winked at you before returning to the stove.
“Does cooking always take this long? It’s nearly 7!” You were trying to quickly change the subject and forget the embarrassment you had just endured.
“Calm down, doll, it’s nearly ready. Grab some plates.” You hopped off the counter and took two plates down from the cabinet, placing them next to the stove before sitting at your kitchen island patiently waiting to be served food.
**
“Okay, this is amazing. MAYBE worth the hour wait.”
“Oh well MAYBE I’ll take it back then.”
“Don’t you dare.”
Though both of your plates had been empty for hours, and the mess in the kitchen was staring you in the face, neither of you could seem to move. You found anything and everything to talk about, well almost everything. For some reason he still wouldn’t tell you what he did for a living. Which annoyed you because whatever it was clearly took its toll.
“Okay, fine! Don’t tell me, some big ole secret. I’m beginning to think you actually are an assassin prince and your consciousness just went into mine…so now you’re a character in my book.”
“I guess I’ll just have to read it and let you know.”
You side-eyed him, “You can read it when I find out what you do?” You knew at this point there was no hope in getting an answer.
“Tempting. Perhaps you can tempt me further Wednesday night.” Jason rose from the stool and traipsed over to the door. You quickly followed him, mainly out of sheer confusion.
“What’s Wednesday night?”
“Well, I figure those leftovers will last about two days. Can’t leave you without your free chef.” At this point his face was inches from yours. “I’ll be here at 6.” He whispered as he quickly spun on his heel and left.
#Jason Todd#jason todd fanfic#jason todd x reader#jason todd imagine#jason todd x you#red hood#red hood fanfic#red hood x reader#red hood imagine#red hood oneshot#batboys#batboys x reader#batboys fanfic#batboys imagine#batboys x you#batfamily#BatFam#batfam fanfic#batfam imagine#batfam x reader
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You’re all I need (the air I breathe)
eleven - in which Stella makes it through finals
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love-at-first-sight, falling-too-fast, uni au that will make your heart ache (in a good way)
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There were only two things that got Stella through finals. It was the silence of her room and the biggest cups of coffee of her life. Stella banished Niall from any place that she was. That meant that she didn’t want to run into him at the library, at the dining hall, or most importantly, see him in her room.
So the eight days that Stella confined herself, she thought more clearly than she probably had all semester. That was something, Stella thought as she left her last final. She’d come to the conclusion that she hated thinking clearly. She hated being aware of things that didn’t concern Niall.
Stella was stopped in her tracks when she saw Niall, a grin on his face and two coffees in his hand. Stella laughed, adjusting her book bag on her shoulders, “Niall,” she drawled out.
“Stella,” he sang, closing the distance between them.
He handed her coffee off just in time to catch her lips in a painfully chaste kiss. He smiled down at her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, “how’d it go?”
“Pretty good, I think,” Stella shrugged. “I may have bombed that awful Shakespeare part but I knew everything else.”
“Well you’re an absolute genius,” Niall told her as they began to walk toward the dining hall. “I have no doubt that you aced it.”
“You have high expectations for me,” Stella mused, looking over at him.
“Well you have higher expectations for yourself,” he chuckled. “Why else would you have ignored your boyfriend for a whole entire week.”
“It was eight days- not that that makes it better,” Stella chuckled, sliding her hand into his. “And I said I’d make it up to you, didn’t I?”
“You did,” Niall nodded, looking up at her. “And how do you plan on doing that?”
“I don’t know,” Stella laughed, shrugging. “Maybe we could get high and snog.”
“That sounds absolutely incredible,” Niall laughed, stopping her before they could go inside. He pulled Stella in for a kiss that was less than chaste.
Usually public displays of affection made Stella want to crawl out of her skin but when Niall’s hand wrapped around her waist, she couldn’t think about anything else.
“Get a room,” a voice called from behind them.
Stella didn’t have to look to know it was Veda. When she looked, though, she saw Louis and Eleanor and Veda. It made Stella roll her eyes.
“Finals went well, then?” Louis asked, falling in step with them just as they walked through the doors.
“Hopefully,” Stella shrugged. “You?”
“Slept through communications, might have failed psych. Stel, I just don’t know,” Louis laughed, shaking his head. “We’ll see.”
“Bloody hell,” Stella muttered. “Louis, you have to do better.”
“I know,” he emphasized, looking back at Eleanor. Stella watched them share a look, “I know I do. I will. Next semester. I promise.”
Stella couldn’t help but feel as though everything was about to change drastically. She was set to go home in two days and there was nothing she wanted less than that.
More importantly, she was worried for Niall to go back to London. He’d admitted the ways he wasn’t at his best there. His friends, mostly. And Nadia. She couldn’t help but wonder what happens when he goes home.
Niall caught Stella’s gaze, though, and he smiled like he’d never hurt her. Those smiles were most dangerous, Stella knew. Niall was none of the boys she’s dated before but somehow they all had the same glint in their eyes.
“Stella did you hear me?” Veda urged, pulling her from her thoughts. “You never listen to anything but the thoughts in your head.”
“That’s so true,” Louis laughed.
“I have to agree,” Niall nodded.
“Fuck off,” Stella laughed, shifting in her chair. “What is it that you want, Veda?”
“I asked if I could ride home with you on Sunday,” Veda repeated. “My mum can’t get off.”
“Of course,” Stella nodded. “Mum would love to see you. Missed you the last time, you know.”
“Yeah I know,” Veda chuckled. “You goin to Zayn’s tonight?”
“I don’t know,” Stella shrugged. “I think Niall and I have plans.”
“Lou?”
“I think we have plans too,” Louis shrugged, looking apologetic.
“Fuck,” Veda grunted, rubbing her forehead. “You know I’m just- we’re just going to talk,” she decided, shouldering her bag. “I’m done playing these stupid fucking games.”
Stella watched Veda leave, a determination in her pace that was hard to ignore. Louis shared a look with Stella and she shrugged, holding her hands up, “I have no idea what that’s about.”
“Last I heard Zayn was fucking around with other girls,” Eleanor supplied, very helpfully at that.
“Yeah I heard that too,” Niall nodded. “Last weekend I think. They had a big fight at the party.”
“Well Zayn’s got what’s comin’ to him, then,” Stella concluded, setting her fork down. “Why haven’t you guys talked some sense into him yet?”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” Louis chuckled, scratching the back of his head.
“Zayn just doesn’t like monogamy,” Niall explained, leaning forward. “And you know you don’t just become a monogamist overnight.”
“Well I mean...” Eleanor trailed off. “Louis, that doesn’t happen does it?”
“It does when you’re given ultimatums,” Louis laughed, shaking his head.
Stella tried to find the amusement in that, but she couldn’t. She hated ultimatums. They never ended well and sometimes racked up a number of resentments that wouldn’t go away.
And then Stella met Niall’s eyes and she hoped he knew that she hated ultimatums. Niall smiled, shaking his head in a way that made Stella think he knew exactly what she was thinking.
As Niall and Stella walked back to the dormitory, Stella told him, “I hate ultimatums.”
“I know,” Niall chuckled, sliding his hand into hers. “I’d expect you wouldn’t respond well to an ultimatum yourself and you’ve always followed the golden rule.”
“Some people like them,” Stella added. Louis was the kind of person that needed them and everyone knew that including Eleanor.
“Louis is going to Zayn’s tonight,” Niall told her. “Want to spend the night?”
“Sure,” Stella responded, looking up at him. She waited for Niall to make some sort of joke about sex but he didn’t and that’s where Stella felt like she should worry. “Are we....”
“Are we what?” Niall asked, seemingly oblivious. He picked the best moments to be unaware of the thoughts going on in her head.
“Never mind,” Stella shook her head, not as brave as she once was. “Do you have anything to smoke?”
“I think so,” Niall nodded.
Stella knew the days after smoking she’d feel restless and unsettled but it’s possible she wouldn’t this time. When she was with Niall she felt at ease.
This time was no different. Stella collapsed on Niall’s bed beside him, breathless feeling like she could float away. “Fuck,” Niall breathed out, rubbing his eyes.
“You know,” Stella said, “three weeks is a long time to be apart.”
“It is,” Niall agreed.
“What are we gonna do?” Stella asked, rubbing her forehead. It has come to realization that eight days without Niall was a lot. And 21 days without him was even more.
Niall breathed out a laugh, shaking his head, “fuck if I know, stel. FaceTime? Phone calls? Love letters?”
“Love letters? Niall be serious,” Stella muttered, rolling over to face him. “Won’t you miss me?”
“Of course I’ll miss you,” Niall urged, rolling over to look at her. “Like mad. I’ll miss you every second of every day. I’ll write you love letters every day.”
“Niall,” she drawled out, sighing.
“Stella,” he mimicked, pulling her closer by the hips. He pressed a chaste kiss to her lips. “Don’t worry.”
Stella tried not to worry but he was just better at it than she was. Stella thought of them as complimentary skills that they shared. Niall didn’t worry while Stella worried a lot.
Niall kissed her again and again and she felt her worries slip away. The only thing Stella could think about was the way it felt to be with him in this way. Tangled limbs and teasing touches where Stella found it hard to breathe.
Niall’s lips on her neck and Stella felt like she’d risk it all right here. She’d close her eyes and let him take control. Niall had more sense than she did, though. He found his way back to her lips where he pressed a soft kiss.
“Niall,” Stella found herself whispering. “Do you ever think about it?”
“Think about what?” He asked in his kind way, a soft question.
“You know...” Stella trailed off. “Sex.”
“Of course,” Niall laughed, knee bumping against hers. “But I reckon this isn’t a great time. I can tell you’re far away and holiday is coming up.”
Stella didn’t respond because she was feeling far away. Maybe too far away after asking that question. She let her eyes slip shut as Niall’s fingers brushed the hair from her face.
It’s possible this night was a grave mistake but the brush of his fingertips against her cheek made her want to believe different. It made her want to curl into his side and make a home for herself because it was cold outside and Niall had ways to warm her from the inside out.
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so what was ever good about acotar anyway?
For some reason, I’ve been very tempted to reread ACOTAR lately, and so I’m going to just make a quick list of what I remember specifically endearing the book to me back when I first read it in 2016 so we can compare notes later. This will, however, also include some retroactive criticisms now that we’re four years on from ACOWAR ruining everything forever.
Twigger warnings for discussions of abuse, csa and neglect, as well as me using my complimentary R Slur Pass.
For some context:
>Be 18yr me in 2016.
>Be in your first semester at college.
>Be so fed up with YA romance that you avoid books just for hinting at them in the summary.
>Be also brainstorming a series with your roommate called The Cuckmaster Saga.
This is probably going to sound embarrassing, but I’m being completely sincere when I say that part of why this book excited me was simply the novelty of finding a YA romance book that I liked.
I’d fallen out hard with YA in general by this point in my life, partially because of a string of fairy tale “retellings” that clearly gave zero fucks about the source material beyond using the iconography in its marketing. Folklore had been my special interest for a while, and my excitement for the series and all its little extra niche references coincided with finally getting to study folklore in a true academic setting.
Which leads me to point one:
I love the idea of combining BatB and the Tam Lin ballad. I know some people have complained about this, but honestly, I enjoyed finding a retelling that mimicked the mix-and-match structuring of a lot of folktales. ACOTAR isn’t even the messiest or least coherent mash-up by a huge margin. Unfortunately, this aspect of the series severely lessened as it went along — remember when we all thought ACOWAR was going to be a Snow White retelling and then there was just one scene with poisoned apples? Lmao.
[If anyone wants an author who does YA mash-ups that are actually YA, I’d recommend Rosamund Hodge, whose books are always interesting in their sheer weirdness even when the story itself slightly falters. I mean, I wrote a whole 20-page thesis on her Red Riding Hood/Maiden Without Hands retelling and still didn’t cover everything I had thoughts on. (Tragically, however, I must inform you all that she is a Catholic Reylo. Rest in pepperoni.)]
It is fucking hilarious in retrospect that SJM clearly knows a bunch of different folktales and folkloric creatures but thinks it’s believable for shadowsinger powers to have no theorized origin “even [in] the rich lore of the warrior-people” (ACOFAS 65). Bro fuck outta here.
But this leads into point two — Feyre and her family. It’s very obvious that SJM based Nesta and Elain’s dynamic with Feyre off the common folktale trope of having the youngest sibling be the only competent person in the room (and Katniss Everdeen). I thought it was honestly a lot of fun to see this trope done with some interiority; you can practically hear Feyre seethe about what useless hoes her sisters are between every line. I genuinely giggled through these parts on my initial readthrough.
I’ve seen some people complain that Nesta and Elain’s behaviors aren’t realistic in this situation, but au contraire! Nesta and Elain’s actions in book one are (...almost) perfectly realistic. Without revealing too much, my grandmother grew up in poverty with a few older sisters, and yet my great-grandmother would make her do all the work and constantly force her to give up her possessions (like her car) to the older sisters whenever they wanted them. Even to this day, when they’re all in their 70s and 80s, one of these sisters still relies on my grandma to do basic shit like balancing her checkbooks. I’ve also observed similar dynamics play out plenty of times between an adult child and an overindulgent parent, with people literally ruining their lives and bodies all for the sake of sitting at home all day buying furry porn off the internet.
Nesta and Elain are basically the psychology of this type of person split in two — Elain the soft, delicate, perpetually victimized front they put on for the world, and Nesta the ice-cold, bitter, and aggressive bitch they truly are.
Honestly, the only thing I would change about this set-up is either keep Ma Archeron alive or give Papa Archeron more personality than a plank of damp wood. What’s truly missing here is a parental figure enforcing this fucked up dynamic — I don’t remember it being clear that Feyre’s always had this role, just that she took it on after her mom’s death. Making it clear that Feyre’s always been forced to be this way — alongside giving the mom more characterization — would have gone a long way towards making this dynamic feel more realized and less like the narrative using trauma and pity as a shortcut towards reader engagement.
Then again, that would require SJM to have a female villain in this series who isn’t a rapist, and quotes I’ve seen floating around from ACOSF make it pretty clear SJM doesn’t know same-gender sexual abuse even exists.
Anyway.
Point Three (or rather 2B): Feyre realizing she doesn’t have to hang around her family just because she feels obligated to love them was a fucking banger. I loved it so much; having a story, especially a YA story, that showed you aren’t obligated to love a family that treats you like shit was so special to me. Especially since I was also leaving my family for the first time, and going home to visit them every other weekend felt like being hit point-blank with a Psyduck blast.
Thankfully, my relationship with my family has gotten a lot better, but I’m still really disappointed that Nesta and Elain were forced back into the story, rather than them reaching out to Feyre and making amends because they wanted to do better. The closest we got to this was the revelation that Nesta almost made it to the Border by herself after Feyre was taken, which was definitely badass, but also unfortunately the only Nesta scene I’ve liked in this entire fucking series. If SJM was going to force Feyre to regress into being Nesta and Elain’s tardwrangler again, then she should have followed up on Amren’s line in ACOWAR that Feyre treats Nesta and Elain the way Tamlin treated her.
“I asked them to help once—and look what happened. I won’t risk them again.”
Amren snorted. “You sound exactly like Tamlin.”
[. . .] and I said, “She’s right.” (169-170).
But I’m sure everyone who’s read ACOSF knows how well that’s going.
Point Four: the femindhjdfhfdh I can’t even write that with a straight face. I mean let’s be real, I too enjoy seeing female characters I like become queens and all that other stuff, but it was clear to me even on my initial reading of ACOMAF that it was all shallow and designed to help delineate good guys from bad guys without much in the way of nuance. It certainly took me out of the experience a little, but at least it ties into the books’ themes of recovering from abuse and shacking up with a Certified Women Respecter.
My actual point four: Truthfully I only bought this series for the meme of having the first shitty love interest getting cucked in the second book. ACOWAR gave me some complicated feelings on Tamlin, and I honestly think he should have just stopped appearing in the series after that — BUT, having him be dragged back in once per book just to call him a cuck and cockslap him around a little bit is fucking hilarious. Pointless! But hilarious.
I also think that this kind of arc is a great critique of the standard “happily ever after,” acknowledging that in real life, you’re much more likely to just pass from one abusive household to another because you don’t know what healthy love, communication, and boundaries are. (Arguably many folktales are the fantasies of women who are well aware of this reality but want to imagine a world that’s otherwise). I definitely have a lot of problems with SJM’s claims of “sex positivity,” but acknowledging that Feylin used sex as a means of avoiding communication was another great touch.
I wish that this whole King of Hybern shit was completely cut just to focus on these themes more; it’s very clear SJM only included it because fantasy series = BIG EPIC WORLD-ENDING STAKES!! I've read maybe ten pages of Throne of Glass, so I can't speak for how she handles epic fantasy there, but I know for me and a lot of other stans, the Hybern plot had licherally nothing to do with what we liked and connected to in these books.
But I must soften here, because I totally empathize with feeling like big stakes are “necessary” for a fantasy story and that no one would want to read your books without them. YA fantasy is the reason why TV Tropes coined the term “romantic plot tumor,” after all. (Source: I’m making shit up.)
What else… what else… uhhhhh. I think that might be it, at least for substantial things I don’t have to qualify too much. I of course have plenty of little things I used to like but have now been tainted because ACOWAR ruined everything forever and ACOFAS danced on the graves (such as how I liked Lucien but everyone in the books shits on him now to the point it’s stopped being funny). But this post is too long anyway.
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World Building w/ Monkey
There can be many series in general where the world it takes place in struggles to leave a lasting impact on you (pic above unrelated). That perfect balance between immersion and comprehension.
Ideally, you want to land right in the middle, next to Donkey Kong, where you’re given a world to think about but you aren’t loaded with questions the product purposefully won’t answer. But where this can get muddled up is with the addition of consistency, memorability, logic, whether it all mattered. It no doubt gets messy when you start examining what made sense, what didn’t add up, why were certain things in certain places, what importance does the world have. There can be so many variables, and it’s largely subjective to each viewer’s critical and investment levels that I don’t even know where to begin with this rant. How about...
Steven Universe. I of course didn’t go into this series expecting a lot of exploration, but at the same time I visibly cannot give a rat’s ass about the settings for this show. Beach City is a white noise backdrop that can leave you begging for a change in scenery. I can see the personal influence that came with this, it can look beautiful, but it doesn’t help that very little actually happens in Beach City to where things would’ve probably been a whole lot cooler if the show took place in a metropolis or somewhere busier. You can casually remember certain locations, sure, but there is little to no overall memorable history and it makes the beach location feel mostly interchangeable rather than a place Steven genuinely calls his home. This is a problem for a lot of shows, ones I love included. You can have locations that in the back of your mind go, “Hey I know that place,” but unless it’s a location that actually has some weight on your mind, you’ll remember it but you won’t probably care as much.
I hardly believe Beach City is for Steven what literal Hell is for Doomguy
And one might say, “Monkey, SU is mostly character focused, the world is supposed to be secondary.” To this, I gotta ask, what makes the town important to Steven? Exploring Steven’s character crisis among everything else is fine, but where SU staggers internally is that it could’ve given us better insight as to why Steven bothers to stay in this one place when he has the option to freely explore the world beyond having the dangers come to him at supposedly inconvenient times but doesn’t. It's like Beach City is this isolated trouble magnet that never shares why problems only happen in this one place or random, equally isolated and forgettable locations. This is where I gotta bring Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.
Diamond is Unbreakable’s Morioh-cho is more than just Josuke’s hometown, it’s a place where impromptu phenomena happen and gives the town that adventurous livelihood while giving us a simple explanation as to why we’re staying here instead of traveling the globe like its predecessors. Every place, from Tonio’s restaurant, the docks, the ghost alley, to the transmission tower Superfly, adds to both the town’s history and the overall Jojo universe, even when this story is isolated in it of itself. Additionally, even when you could change the location to a metropolis or whatever, the anime especially gives Morioh that memorable style to where it can be difficult imagining the story taking place anywhere else. The biggest factor is the main villain Yoshikage Kira, a man whose entire existence is to live among the small town citizens as a stand wielding serial killer. He is that looming threat, killing and evading exposure, and adds to the value of Josuke and his squad being the protectors of the place they call home. Diamond is Unbreakable is a character focused story like Steven Universe, but JOJO does a better job making its fixed location matter in the long run. Good world building shouldn’t just be about what a place looks like, but what do the characters make in them.
This isn’t to say Beach City is a terrible world, it’s far better than what games like Destiny, Anthem, World of Warcraft, and such have to where you honestly have to read a bunch of wikis and in game logs to understand why you should give a fuck. This is where lore comes in and lore does not and should not equal world building. A golden rule for me when it comes to media is that the best media is easily accessible media, and lore complicates that accessibility; lore should be complimentary and not obligatory or important to understanding things. It’s like seeing a desk covered with school supplies, if world building is expressing the details of said supplies like whether the owner has a habit of biting his pencils or folding his books a certain way, lore is unnecessarily explaining why the pencils and books were made. That isn’t to say that the rules of what exists shouldn’t matter, but lore is that extra step that you shouldn’t try to worry about when it comes to expressing/understanding your rules organically.
Take Beastars, a definitive series where the rules of society are highly beneficial to the story. It never feels like Paru skimmed through how the animal characters function, and any questions that come up either are or can be fairly explainable. Like, why aren’t insects considered citizens when even fish get privileges? You can look at the series and go, “Maybe since insects are tiny and can live on their own, Itagaki considers them the wild animals of this society,” without feeling like you’re pretentiously speaking for the author. The universe of carnivores and herbivores not only are what pushes our protagonists to essentially break the known expectations and limits of their birth right, but you can have an entire chapter where Legosi or the others are barely in it, & the story details with the character you’re reading about, say Sebun, Yafya, or Legom, are so captivating that it feels just as organic when we see the MCs again. The city itself is much a character in this story and like the titular Abyss from Made in Abyss, Far Far Away from Shrek 2, or the Land of Ooo from Adventure Time, you can probably imagine wanting to be in that world yourself or seeing yourself comfortably in that world without even thinking about it. Good rules adds depth to a world that can keep your focus but makes you think. Too little trivializes your investment because there’s no stakes, too many feels like a college course and fuck that.
Like Minecraft, the main character isn’t really Steve or whoever you control, but the world that you’re able to create and warp to your hearts’ content. You are grounded to the aesthetic and format of the game, but what you do in the game adds unique character to the experience each and every time. Once you jump on, sometimes it all just clicks to you and that can be the best feeling. To close this rant out, I wanted to express my two favorite worlds that to this day stuck with me.
These places are generally opposites, but they do an amazing job in showing you everything without hardly telling you anything. Treasure Town is this busy and complex theme park looking place and you’re essentially with the characters as we roam the notable sites filled with details that can clue you in on what’s what. Does it all at a good, brisk pace and the colorful environment plays a major part in the story where the city is a symbolic extension of our main duo Black & White and the main struggle they go through in the film.
Yokohama does this but in a more subdued way. The whole story is centered around living in what you could imagine a generally realistic post apocalyptic earth. Not a whole deserted wasteland like what you’ve seen from Mad Max and the like, but one where it’s says civilization has begun anew; a vast landscape that means the world to our lead. And as life reset, we take things easy as relationships grow and seemingly one off moments can reappear as significant turns later on. The mangaka of Y2K leaves you mysteries, but you never feel lost as the main character Alpha is a compelling protagonist to journey with and it kinda makes you wish you were in her shoes, enjoying life in a world pretty barren but full of tranquil hope and easy adventuring.
In the end, I find these to be the best because they 110% commit to the main idea that makes world building such a meaningful concept to think about and invest in:
Escapism
#world building#writing#steven universe#su#jjba#diamond is unbreakable#Beastars#minecraft#tekkonkinkreet#yokohama shopping log#yokohama kaidashi kikou#dumb#Good Stuff
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Coffee shop AU, Bang or die/Sex pollen AU, Soulmate AU, Body swap AU, and Family AU
*rolls up sleeves* OH BOYYYYYY this gets longs so i’m putting it behind a cut~
COFFEE SHOP
how likely i am to write it: it’s not very likely, sadly. i’m not huge into coffee shop AUs even though i think they’re pretty cute and cozy and i would definitely read a good one. i don’t like coffee, maybe that has something to do with it haha
what character(s) or ship would i use: nathan and abigail maybe? :3 i think it would be SO cute if abigail owned the coffee shop? dethklok is such a small-time band that all the boys need multiple jobs. toki comes in with a resume (that charles made for him), looking for part-time work, and he gets hired. suddenly during rehearsal he just keeps talking and talking about his amazing new job and how sweet and nice his manager is. one day he brings the guys in on one of his days off to meet abigail, and nathan’s like :0
SEX POLLEN
how likely i am to write it: AHHHHHHHHHH *TEARS HAIR OUT* IT’S MY FAVORITE TROPE AND I NEED TO WRITE IT SO BAD
what character(s) or ship would i use: CHICKLES!!!! pickles gets himself this totally bonkers new drug that has some uhhhh interesting side effects. OR charles is working with the dudes in the lab on some form of aerosol-based crowd control shit, except the formula has gone wrong and also he gets exposed to it somehow (i don’t KNOW how i just know i NEED IT TO HAPPEN), and he thinks he’s fine but then he’s like...so hot? why is he so hot and sweaty? and his heart’s beating so fast? 83c i’m rabid for this, fuck, i’m gonna write this aren’t i
SOULMATE
how likely i am to write it: probably not very likely, though i like the trope (one of my favorite books uses this trope - archangel by sharon shinn)
what character(s) or ship would i use: i’m just gonna break my own heart here and say hammertooth. there are so many kinds of soulmate AUs but i always like the kind where it’s like two people have the same or complimentary markings on their body. imagining the two of them not realizing their markings match until well into doomstar?? fucking hell, what do you DO with that? i’m hurting myself i need to stop dfkjgd TENDER HAMMERTOOTH ONLY WHAT IF THEY ADOPTED A CAT TOGETHER
BODY SWAP
how likely i am to write it: i wrote a little tiny scene of it here! anything longer than that would get mad complicated unless it was only like two people who swapped haha and even then it’s still complicated!
what character(s) or ship would i use: again, i think this is a great one for murderface and skwisgaar for obvious reasons, either shippy or platonic. i can’t decide which is funnier: skwisgaar being in murderface’s body and just repeatedly striking out with woman while murderface is tearing up using skwisgaar’s body, OR skwisgaar in murderface’s body is still somehow tapping ass across the world, and murderface EVEN IN SKWISGAAR’S BODY just can’t seem to close the deal with anyone jkdfgjkd
FAMILY
how likely i am to write it: writing kids is hard for me, so i gotta say not very likely unless a plot idea really jumps out
what character(s) or ship would i use: nathan and abby having a kid somewhere down the line is basically a given for me, i love the idea of nathan getting to be a big goofball dad. also in love with the idea of pickles and charles being like the designated babysitters. ALSO i love any idea that revolves around pickles’ nephew entering the picture.
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Kim Defending Kanye Isn't The First Time She's Managed A Kardashian Crisis
https://styleveryday.com/kim-defending-kanye-isnt-the-first-time-shes-managed-a-kardashian-crisis/
Kim Defending Kanye Isn't The First Time She's Managed A Kardashian Crisis
Seriously, she’s a PR guru.
In case you somehow missed it, Kanye West took to Twitter yesterday to express his support for Trump.
As the internet imploded, Kanye then revealed that Kim Kardashian had asked him to make clear that he doesn’t endorse all of Trump’s decisions.
Twitter: @kanyewest
However, this isn’t the first time Kim has taken a Kardashian Krisis into her own hands.
In fact, in an interview last year Kim revealed that she would consider PR as an alternative career, saying: “Sometimes I wonder what I would be doing if I had a different career path. Everyone who knows me really well says that I would be a good publicist. I think the PR world is really interesting and over the years I’ve definitely learned a lot about it.”
instagram.com
And, over recent years, she’s navigated the Kardashian/Jenner family through multiple public controversies.
Here are the most important.
E!
The Kardashians vs Caitlyn Jenner, 2015.
When Caitlyn gave a less-than-complimentary interview about Kris Jenner shortly after she transitioned, the family fell out in a big way and Kim became the mediator between camp Jenner and camp Kardashian.
E!
After the article was published, Kim told Caitlyn that she needed to stop publicly “bashing” Kris, and put on a solid united front.
E!
She said: “You’ve got the fame but you’re losing your family. You look amazing, this is your time. But you don’t have to bash us on your way up. No matter what, we’re a family and even though you and my mom aren’t together anymore, we still need to have a public united front. So just mend it and move on.”
E!
Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna vs the Kardashians, 2016.
Rob and Chyna’s relationship was fraught with complications from the very beginning, not least because Chyna’s ex-fiance and baby daddy was dating Rob’s 18-year-old half-sister, Kylie Jenner.
instagram.com
Things came to a head when Rob and Chyna appeared to shade the Kardashians and Kylie Jenner on social media.
Rob posted a meme declaring himself an orphan and then mocked the food Kris Jenner had stocked his home with. Meanwhile, Chyna tweeted numerous negative references to Kylie and released some custom “Chymojis,” which featured a Kylie lookalike being slapped in the face.
Chymoji
Kylie turned to Kim for advice on how to handle the situation.
E!
Whereby Kim urged her to sit tight and ignore the digs on social media.
E!
And when things didn’t improve, Kim called Rob and told him to end the public feud.
She said: “When you start publicly bashing my mom and sister, that’s not cool. This is unnecessary, this is not what this family does. There’s way too much drama – there’s so many haters in the world, we don’t need it from our own inside circle.”
E!
Before telling him that the family must contain their internal arguments.
Kim said: “Everyone has to just not be blasting everyone on social media. It’s petty as fuck. I just want everyone to be respectful and the social media part makes everyone look bad. I just think we’ve got to keep it tighter and not have this internal arguing that we bring out to the world.”
E!
Kanye West vs Taylor Swift part one, 2016.
You may remember that after the furore surrounding Kanye’s song, “Famous,” in which he referenced having sex with Taylor Swift. While he maintained that she’d known about the lyric, Taylor publicly denied approving the words “that bitch.” As the internet lost its mind over the song, Kanye was secretly recorded having a meltdown backstage at Saturday Night Live during which he repeatedly called Taylor “fake.”
Getty Images
Well, as soon as Kanye’s publicist got wind that the audio existed and was about to be released, she got straight on the phone to Kim.
E!
Kim then told Kanye that she cared about the public’s perception and would be speaking with his team to formulate a plan, adding: “Please, just lay off Twitter for a while.”
E!
Before delivering this line.
E!
She then told Khloé that she feels under pressure to “think smarter” on behalf of Kanye.
E!
Kanye West vs Taylor Swift part two, 2016.
After Taylor appeared to refer to “Famous” in her Grammys acceptance speech and then deny knowledge of some of the song’s lyrics in a second statement, Kim continued to take the drama into her own hands.
CBS
Kris Jenner advised Kim to call Taylor and attempt to make amends.
She told her: “What would happen if you just called Taylor up and just ask: “What happened? How did this go so south?” The thing is, I really do like her and I really like her team and I really like her mom. I guess I don’t understand the motivation to flip so quickly [over the song.]”
E!
However, Kim decided to ignore Kris’ advice, telling her she was sick of people “misrepresenting” her husband. And we all know what happened next.
She leaked the audio of Kanye and Taylor’s phonecall in which Taylor could be heard approving some of the song’s lyrics.
E!
Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi controversy, 2017.
Last year, Kendall starred in an ill-advised advert for Pepsi in which she interrupted a protest and gave a can of Pepsi to a police officer. The ad was pulled almost immediately, but not before it caused uproar on social media with the public calling for an apology from Kendall.
Pepsi
Once again Kim stepped in to school her younger sister on how to deal with her “first big scandal.”
Kim told her: “You need to be really real and honest, because you can’t ignore this. You just can’t. There will be light at the end of the tunnel, but only if you’re honest.”
E!
And Kim also stepped in to clear up the messaging around the scandal for Caitlyn who was about to embark on a book tour.
She told her: “I need to refresh you on what to say if the commercial comes up. You need to say: “Kendall had the best of intentions with this being something peaceful, and she totally gets everyone’s problem now. It was not appropriate and she’s sorry.”
E!
However, when Caitlyn began to say that the public’s response to the advert was “a joke,” Kim urged her to simply not address the controversy at all.
E!
And although Kendall didn’t respond as immediately as Kim advised, she was “real and honest” when she addressed the situation on KUWTK months later.
E!
Khloé Kardashian vs TMZ, 2017.
Back in the summer of last year, TMZ got wind of the news that Khloé Kardashian was pregnant. While the rumours were indeed true, Khloé was still in her first trimester and therefore reluctant to confirm the news.
instagram.com
But then Khloé’s publicist called Kim to tell her that TMZ had issued an ultimatum: Either deny the rumour, or they’d publish a report in five minutes.
E!
E!
E!
Khloé’s publicist suggested attempting to “work with” TMZ, pleading with them to wait an extra two weeks until she was into her second trimester and make the announcement then.
E!
E!
E!
Aware that time was ticking, however, Kim made the call to just let TMZ publish the story, but offer no comment.
E!
Which is exactly what happened.
And we all know that Khloé didn’t confirm her pregnancy for a further three months and kept the gender of the baby underwraps until a month before giving birth.
TMZ
All of which is proof that Kim is not only a businesswoman, reality star, mogul, wife and mother, but an up and coming PR guru too.
E!
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