#(it's delicious)

[jay-soaring]

Convictneer is cute, but have we considered the angst potential of head engineer Mark destroying hundreds of universes and Simon living in a dying universe?

[swordbreakerz]

I think the thing that really makes a single pov book Really Fucking Good and the thing that sorcery and small magics does expertly is when you can tell the non pov character is Thinking Something, but the narrator can't. Like, you know when you're reading a book and the character Says Something and you immediately clock their shit? My favorite thing is when you can figuratively make eye contact with the non pov character over the narrators head as they do the same thing, and there are SEVERAL points where this happens w Grimm and it's just delicious, and like it can be difficult to write a character who is stupid (affectionate) and write this in a way where they do not notice themselves getting clocked but where it's still clear to the reader that this is happening, and ssm REALLY pulls this off. Each reread I get more desperate for grimms pov bc I can SEE you thinking over there, on the other side of the page, let me in gayboy I need to KNOW

[fishandshesmygills]

thinking about galex in the secret space between there's no platonic explanation for this and this is the platonic explanation for this. so devoted the lines blur. maybe-requited feelings but enough plausible deniability that neither wants to make the first move and destroy the thing you have. their friendship IS that serious but when you've been joking about the idea of a relationship between you two for so long it becomes so difficult to acknowledge it as a real possibility because it’s always been just jokes, what if he sees it as just jokes <3

[robrondingles]

I could spend forever unpacking the scene where Aaron tells John that Robert is everything to him and the love of his life, because after over a year of the John and Aaron storyline, and seeing how far Aaron pushed Robert away and convinced himself John was good for him, there is nothing more satisfying than John finally hearing the truth from Aaron himself.

But what really gets me is that the thing that really pushes John over the edge, and ultimately causes him to lunge at Aaron, is when Aaron tells him that Robert is ten times the man he'll ever be. And that's always been the problem with John; he saw an opportunity to fill the gap that Robert left, be the husband and the brother that Aaron and Vic were desperately missing, but Robert's legacy is one he has never been able to match up to.

John hurt and manipulated whoever he could to try and overshadow Robert, sculpted himself into someone who was trustworthy and reliable and good, but all Robert has to do is exist, flaws and all, and yet he is still the person John could only dream of being.

We've known this, but seeing his greatest vulnerability out in the open, seeing Aaron of all people be the one to expose that wound, is a brilliant pay-off for all that we've been through with this storyline.

[onaperduamedee]

Moiraine post-Finn being just subtle enough to hide the state she is in except on the eve of the Last Battle the EF5 catch different clues about how bad she's doing:

Perrin smelling dried carcass on her: it clings to her skin as if she lied down in a charnel house although he knows she smells like she's always smelt to everyone else. It doesn't even get stronger when he's close to her. It's constant, precise, like something that warps the air the moment she steps somewhere.

Egwene noticing Moiraine's dreams are just not there. She spends her last night hopping from dream to dream, many warded by channelers, but Moiraine's are completely absent. Egwene knows Moiraine is sleeping because she saw it herself earlier, but there is nothing left of Moiraine's dreams anymore.

Rand not getting any resistance from Moiraine. He doesn't know what to do with this Moiraine who lets herself be carried by his will. She barely contradicts him. She's sweet, she's fond. She's so unlike the weapon that took down Lanfear and saved him that he has half a mind to break her so that the shards are sharp again.

Nynaeve being avoided like the plague. She thinks it's comical at first, but then when she enters a tent where she's been told Moiraine was mere seconds ago, she starts to get worried. Moiraine never fled before her in the past. (Nynaeve doesn't know Moiraine is fleeing Lan through Nynaeve more than Nynaeve.)

Mat knows because he was there just after. He knows what the Finn can do. He has experienced it himself. So he doesn't comment, doesn't deliver a wisecrack, doesn't ask questions when they see her in the camp before the Last Battle. It's the most damning evidence they get concerning her well-being.

[effortlessly-unhinged]

While I absolutely love how a lot of pre-relationship fanfiction (particularly modern AU) characterizes Wei Wuxian as a shameless bi slut (affectionate), let's not forget that in canon he was convinced he was the hettest of het bros, a lady killer, a full-on fratbro jock. And even in his second life he was blaming his "gay, gay, homosexual, gay" feelings on his new body belonging to a gay dude. Dude had the doors of his closet burst open and kept burrowing into the corner like a cockroach. So I also crave more fics where this is explored, if only because it's narratively interesting to explore.

[whimsymoonchild]

Current Byler fic rec -

guilty pleasures by wusgood_curious -

(EVERYONE GET MORE TOXIC BYLER-PILLED. What are these messy guys doing i love this)

Will and Mike turn sneaking around into a twisted routine, convincing themselves that whatever happens in the dark doesn't actually count.

Or: Ruining a friendship is easy. It's the rebuilding that might actually kill them-or finally make them honest.