#ALSO THE MAGIC SYSTEM AND THE WORLD BUILDING OF THIS SERIES??? CHEFS KISS

[apuppetmuseum]

@theircurse asked: Ö

Send a Ö and I’ll reveal a character I’d consider rping.

There are multiple characters from ancient magnus bride i want to rp. Silver Lady being one of them cause i'm a sucker for silent side characters - but I definitely wanna rp Chise and Ruth aswell. I need to catch up on the anime since the second season finally came out. I was caught up with the manga until recently too so i should get back on that.

[elrielbaby]

Hello, friends!

I haven’t made a proper post of my own in some time, mainly just reposting. The toxicity of the ship war (and honestly, just the fandom in general) is not conducive to good mental health, and with there being no hint of any news I just found it draining. The thing is, we are all here because we love these books, and for many of us books in general. So before I get back to posting my own elriel related content, I wanted to share with you some books I’ve absolutely adored this year. Please feel free to reblog this and add your own!

Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff 🩸

This is the second book in the Empire of the Vampire series (first book of the same name) and it is a strong contender for my book of the year. Not for the faint of heart, this series is bloody, brutal and emotionally devastating - but my GOD what a world, what characters. They are flawed and full bodied, the world is desolate and grim, with such little hope but it is a corker!

All This Twisted Glory by Tahereh Mafi 💔

Okay so this is the 3rd book in the This Woven Kingdom series. The first book in this series I felt very luke warm about, but I liked it enough to continue. The second book in this series is when I began to get really excited, I started to fall in love. The third book? Get out of here, I’m obsessed. If you like stories that include Jinn, inspired by Persian mythology and absolutely jam packed with all the yearning, pining and painful brooding you could possibly ever imagine - this is the book for you. Small caveat, that not an awful lot happens in this book to move the story forward, but the MMC is so down bad that I loved it regardless.

A Fragile Enchantment by Alison Saft 🪡

This one really took my by surprise. This is set in a regency era setting with a sprinkling of magic (and I do mean a light dusting) with a Lady Whistledown style sub plot that really did have me guessing. Our main character, Niamh, has the magical ability to imbue clothing with feeling - and has been hired by the Royal Family to make clothes for the Princes upcoming nuptials. Except there’s a chemistry to Niamh and the broody, irritable Prince Kit that is undeniable. Couple that with a growing unrest of the Macklish that threatens the Royal Fam, it all leads to a very delicious story. I didn’t expect to love this but it truly worked it’s way in to my heart.

Emily Wildes Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett 🧚

This is the second book in the Emily Wilde series but as with the first book I absolutely adored this. It is whimsical, mildly cosy. Emily goes through one of the best character arcs I’ve ever read, and Wendell may be the best blonde haired fictional man to ever exist. If you love proper Faerie stories, you will love this.

Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare ⚔️

This was an absolutely impeccable start to what I think is going to be an epic fantasy series. Forbidden romance, political intrigue, an interesting magic system and world to boot. I cannot wait for the next book!

The Crimson Moth (aka Heartless Hunter) by Kristen Ciccarelli 🦋

I absolutely devoured this. Witch and witch hunter. Courting for the sake of trying to discover the others secrets, angst, brooding, betrayal. I’m loathe to say anymore lest I give away more than I should. But this is for sure one of my favourite books of the year. I read it so fast, I think about this daily. Please please please, give it a go - you won’t regret it!

The Road of Bones/Kingdom of Claw by Demi Winters 🪓

The Road of Bones was a 5⭐️ read I absolutely loved it, but it’s sequel KoC has made its way into the 6⭐️ category for me. Viking inspired fantasy, with impeccable world building, the romance in this is also chefs bloody kiss. I can’t recommend it enough. Silla isn’t a typical girl boss (I love a girl boss don’t get me wrong) and she got me through the missing Elain Archeron hours.

The Aurelian Cycle (Fireborne, Flamefall & Furysong) by Rosaria Munda 🐉

I loved this so much because it started from a different place than most fantasy stories. In this, we start 10 years post Revolution of a regime that was ruled by the Dragon Lords, who over taxed the poor and meted out brutal punishments to people who’s only crime was being poor and hungry. Our main characters met in an orphanage in the wake of the revolution, but they could not have come from more different backgrounds- and yet they love each other anyway. The political intrigue and emotional complexities of this story was superb. 10/10

The Ember Quarter (An ember in the ashes, a torch against the night, a reaper at the gates and a sky beyond the storm) By Sabaa Tahir 💀

I’m so incredibly late to the party but I’m glad I arrived nonetheless. What an epic tale, what a fantasy story. You truly set off at a running pace with this one - it feels like there’s very little stopping time. Every word and page of this story is used to its full effect. I’m in awe of this authors story telling prowess. It broke my heart, but by god how I loved it.

[ukiyokki]

mars reads too much dreamnotfound fanfiction for their own good

a dreamnotfound fanfic recommendation list by your resident dumbass (me)

this took way to fucking long... i’m tired

below is a (very extensive) list dedicated to all my favorite dnf fics, ranging from quick one shots to 100k+ word monstrosities that devour the storage on my computer, forever incomplete masterpieces to ongoing works of art, you get the idea. i provided links for each fic/series for your reading pleasure. there will be no smutty/nsfw fics on this list, that’s just not my vibe lmao. this list goes in no particular order, and i’ll update it from time to time when i feel like it. now, without further ado, let us begin.

Heat Waves (complete) by tbhyourelame

(wtf else did you expect, looking at a dnf rec list?) amazingly well written, and while it’s not my favorite dnf fic it’s damn near close. in the midst of a brutal heatwave, a suffering dream comes to terms with the fact that he is desperately in love with his best friend. everything i could say about this fic has already been said by nearly everyone who’s read it, so if you haven’t yet caved into the hype, just go for it. you won’t be disappointed.

Gonna be around (completed) by georgescatcafe

(mc irl) my favorite dnf oneshot to date. just read it, i don’t wanna spoil for you :)

Inferno in the Sky (ongoing)by zairielon

(star wars au) an ongoing star wars au currently clocking in at almost 200k words. need I say more? everything about it absolutely slaps, each chapter is amazingly written, and it’s just good. also, can we just appreciate dream and tubbos dynamic in here? 10/10, amazing, must protecc. oh right, a summary: george, an exiled padawan turned engineer, must return to the jedi temple after attacks on it from an unknown assailant threaten the safety of himself and the other jedi.

Like Magic (ongoing) by KangarooKen, NotGra55 (Gra55)

(harry potter au) the unofficial official dnf harry potter au. we watch the young unlikely wizard pair grow up together throughout their years at hogwarts as they battle good old fashioned wizard racism. beautifully written, incredibly fun and suspenseful, and just an overall blast and a half.

GeorgeNotFound, Son of Poseidon, and the League of Minor Gods (ongoing) by Clichewho_69, Cygnvs, Trash_Kinggg

(percy jackson au) percy jackson au? check. “road trip” (technically quest but u get what i mean)? check. enemies to friends to lovers? check. this fic follows the plot of the lightning theif (albeit loosely), but everything is explained enough where you don’t have to read percy jackson to understand what’s going on. basically after moving to the usa, george gets taken to camp halfblood where he learns that a) gods exist. b) he’s the son of poseidon and c) he needs to prove that he didn’t steal zeus’s master bolt.

Protected (completed) by aenqua

(royalty/camelot au) my favorite piece of dnf media of all time. dubbed the official dnf camelot au, where dream is the heir to the throne and george is a servants son with a secret that couldp get him killed. these childhood friends grow up together and learn trust, love, and acceptance. (that summary did not justice to the masterpiece that is this fic) here’s the directors cut

The Hunter (completed) by HederEgo

(mc irl) a choose your own adventure fic with 13 different endings, where dream the hunter must kill george and stop him from beater the ender dragon. enough said.

The official dream team cowboy AU (series)(ongoing) by antsu_in_my_pantsu

(cowboy au) cowboys and outlaws horses and shit. and the big gay. it’s a cowboy au, what else did you expect? fucking yee haw (all seriousness this is a great read, i loved it so so so so much and i can’t wait for the final chapter to release).

This is a Drista moment, let's just accept it (completed) by Qekyo

dnf fic from drista pov. considering its unique perspective, it’s perfectly done. beautifully showcases a sibling relationship through drista and her memories/moments with dream, and it just works, y’a know? also drista supremacy.

Dear Dream (completed) by Qekyo

(wwii au) i don’t cry when watching/reading anything sad. translation: i’m a heartless bitch. however, this fic is the only exception. it caused me to cry so hard my mom walked in my room and asked if i was ok. ‘nuff said.

TECHNOlogical Wingman (completed) by Closeted_Bookworm

techno is the autocorrect ai on dreams phone, and he gains sentience. interesting concept, and the author fucking nailed it. great fic.

It Was Only a Fic (ongoing) by imagineitdear

dream starts reading a dnf fanfic (we’ve all been there buddy).

Teacher’s Pet (ongoing) by niyuha

(teacher au) in which dream is a high school english teacher and george is the new comp sci teacher in room 297.

Saltwater Secrets (ongoing) by earlgay_milktea

(mermaid/high school au) a great example of the shear amount of variety in fics this fandom has to offer. when i started reading dnf fics i would have never thought i’d find one about a mermaid george hopelessly crushing on his human friend, who happens to be his schools star swimmer. yet here i am, and i am far from disappointed.

Smash My Heart (incomplete) by dontrollthedice

george and sapnap are commentators for duper smash brothers tournaments, and george develops a crush on an up and coming smash streamer named dream.

roleplaying in the dark is harder than it seems (completed) by Alienu

laser tag. 10/10

solar system (completed) by quartzfia

(mc irl) george vists dream in pandora’s vault.

Ramblings of a Lunatic (completed) by jungkooksfic

ahh communicating through a notebook left on a shelf in a bookstore- what a perfect way to start a relationship.

Paint me like your French Girls (It's Charcoal, Actually) (completed) by Turtle_ier

(artist au) george is an art student, and dream is a model.

00:00:00 (completed) by isleofdreams

(soulmate au) 00:00:00 is the moment you meet your soulmate, as indicated but the clock ticking down on your wrist until the moment you meet. i’m not a fan of soulmate aus; this fic is the exception.

Blue Skies Smilin' At Me (completed) by kivy

(artist au) i don’t usually cry while reading stuff, but this brought me damn near close. george is a painting conservator and chats it is with the ghost of the artist if the painting he is working on. they fall in a love.

Current Location (incomplete) by hendollana

(influencer au) george simps for a hot american instagram model. who knew he’d actually follow back?

The Withering (series) (series ongoing, 1 work completed) by App1e_Juice

(mc irl) lore and world building and fight scenes and everything i crave. what’s not to love? something starts making the plants and crops around dreams village wither, and must team up with new friends to find the cause of the mysterious disease plaguing the land.

Minecraft, But You Can't Leave (complete) by facadecake

(mc irl) dream and george are sucked into their own private minecraft world together and must beat the game to escape.

Free The Game, Beat the End (incomplete) by goatgoatwasfound

(mc irl) a glitch in minecraft causes thousands of players from around the world to be trapped inside minecraft, with only one way of escape- beating the ender dragon. first dnf fic i ever read, and it’s still 10/10 for me.

Why don't you come a little closer? (completed) by lifeofandoms

george gets stood up by a date, and Dream pretends he’s the date to save george from the embarrassment. simply adorable.

lightning bug (completed) by saintachesP

(band au) while on tour, dream realizes his feeling for george.

Hold me closer (completed) by Treesofmyheart

(mc irl/dsmp) i just,, really like this trope.

Dizzy on caffeine (completed) by GleamingGreenGoggles

(coffee shop au) best dnf coffeeshop au i’ve read. periodt.

living a life of crime isn’t always easy (series) (completed) by itisjosh

(mafia/assassin au) stockholm syndrome except it’s not weird.

Inhibitions Make Interesting Situations (completed) by Ship_On_The_Sea

i pissed myself laughing. it’s just a dream and george being hilariously dense, flustered idiots. serotonin central.

thy eternal summer shall not fade (completed) by gracequills

(high school au) that moment when you recite shakespeare to your crush in your ap lit class instead of confessing (hate it when that happens).

All is Fair in love and Football (ongoing) by graciegirl2001

(college au) #1 favorite college au. in which george is a cheerleader, and dream is the football teams rising star player. this one gets extra points because of the amazing karlnap moments sprinkled throughout. *chefs kisses air*

online love (completed) by andbutso

(high school au) online classes go zoooooooom

Can’t help falling (completed) by isleofdreams

dream re-learns the guitar to sing to george on his birthday. beautiful. fluffy. amazing

dance in the rain and my arms (completed) by lazy_kitkat

george is a rain god, and dream is a wind god

Weather Boy (completed) by DaintyDiizzle

wouldn't you like to know, weather boy? (where dream can control the rain)

The color orange (completed) by anon

(mc irl) dream describes the colors of a sunset

Family Mode (completed)by Strawberry_flavoured_tears

they’re dads :,)

Breathing Room (incomplete) by papercranes

(band an) an amazing band au. the mad lad author wrote original songs for each chapter. above and beyond, mad props :). unfortunately, it’s incomplete

Piece of Clay (completed) by carbonbrine

(artist au) george is a sculptor and his sculpture comes to life- but oh no he’s hot.

Try (completed) by Not4typicalwriter

(royalty au) george must choose a suitor, but none of them are up to dream, his head knights, standards. or dream is hella jelly. also protective dream is perfect

When the Roses Bloom (completed) by HederEgo

(royalty au) close second for my favorite fic. go to royalty au for a quick serotonin bost. it’s all fluff and flowers and crushes, and i love it. criminally underrated.

Heavenstruck (ongoing) by dontrollthedice

george is dreams guardian angel, and dream want to find out more about him and his past life. bittersweet :,)

Bang and Burn (completed) by App1e_Juice

(spy au) george accidentally falls for target number 1 on sapnap’s secret agency’s hit list. this ones great, i love me a spy au :)

Can I get a uhh… (completed) by lemonskies

dream keeps pulling up to the drive through mcdonald’s that george works at drunk.

Pretty Stranger (completed) by anon

when looking for dream in the terminal, george sees a cute guy and decides to flirt.

Take my Hand (completed) by latinbias

(royalty au) another royalty au? poggers. surprise twists? double poggers. love this a lot.

seconds, minutes, hours, lifetimes (complete) by meridies

ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP *inhales to compose herself* roadtrip au. unrequited love, ignored feelings, longing, pining, you know the drill. absolutely love this one, its the best roadtrip au i have ever read, in any fandom. (maybe cause i identify with it a little too much, but thats not important. whats important is that you read this fic. right now. im waiting).

Message redacted (complete) by justyouraverageloser

(text fic) dream asks for a girls number and realises hes been given the wrong number. however, an unexpected relationship starts to form between him and the stranger on the other end of the line.

the waves (completed) by anon

(mc irl) this fic was written by the same anon who wrote the color orange, which is up there on my fav dnf oneshot list. dream and george know they have a higher purpose. they don’t know where they came from, or why they are seemingly the only humans in the world, or how they feel about eachother, or even where the skeletons come from, but they are sure of one thing: they have to beat a dragon.

The Dream Doll (completed) by PeppDream (Pep_Pizza)

(voodoo i guess) i’m a real big fan of fics with really out there or unique concepts, so naturally this one makes the cut! i really liked it, it’s really sweet and made me think a lot about what matters to me in the world. george finds a strange doll in an antique shop, and would really like to just stuff it in a drawer and forget about it. sadly (?), the doll has other plans.

last updated February 6th, 2021

[kae-karo]

Ok so I am in love with your fantasy AU (the one that starts with DabiHawks) on AO3 especially the BaukTodo one 🥰 sooo my question is, do you have any quick advice for an amateur writer that wants to do their own fantasy AU? But I love novels of advice too in case you have time haha i know it’s silly to thank you for this but I appreciate how approachable you are. I’m just shy lol ok bye…

HI DEAR I HOPE U KNOW THIS ASK MADE MY DAY ???? u are so sweet, first of all thank u so much i'm so glad you're enjoying it so much!!! ngl i love excuses to talk about writing from a meta perspective so i am ALWAYS glad to offer my thoughts!! (also, fantasy dabihawks et al series for reference - x)

i think when it comes to a fantasy au especially (although this could feasibly be applied to other au ideas) there are 2 key approaches, and really that just depends on how you personally prefer to write. the first is a worldbuilding-focused approach, the second is a character-focused approach

in a worldbuilding-focused approach, i usually view the goal as setting the stage for your characters to be dropped in - building the magic system, if it exists, the political system/governing bodies and hierarchical systems, the world state (wars? power struggles/imbalances? stuff like that), and the local states that might affect your characters (ie are they subjected to the governing bodies? the justice system? the slums or small towns? etc) - i actually have a good friend who ADORES worldbuilding, so a lot of this is stuff i've learned from him. from there, the world gets applied to the characters - do they have magic? if so, how does that affect them? are they a part of the governing body, subject to it, outside it? etc. i'll be super honest, though, this approach is not my strong suit when it comes to fantasy aus! i'm not a very good planner, and going from the outside in (worldbuilding first) requires a lot of planning 😔

so, with that said, i'll dive into my personal approach, which is character-driven. and, in many cases, situation/interaction-driven - i'm more adept at starting small and working my way outwards as topics become relevant, and i am notoriously very horrible at planning, so if you are a planning person, this might not be your exact cup of tea lmao

okay so i think fantasy aus are SO much fun but can definitely be tricky, if you are like me and are a very character-driven/interaction-driven person when writing. if you are indeed like me and haven't built out a whole entire world from scratch prior to building (or inserting, when we're talking fanfic) the characters/interactions, some things that i've found helpful to have really solidly nailed down are the magic system (if there is one), general political climate (kingdoms? rival countries? power structure? religion?), and relevant influencing factors

for a magic system, which tends to factor pretty heavily into my fantasy aus, my key considerations are typically:

how does magic happen? via writing? speech? diagrams/glyphs? rituals? a natural energy flow from a person who can control magic? can everyone control magic or just certain people? are certain items involved/required for conduit purposes, or for ritual purposes?

what is the cost? most of the time, magic has a cost, though it doesn't have to (especially if magic isn't central to the story!) but it can be meaningful (like dabi's magic in my fantasy au) to the character's development or mannerisms, or to the way they interact with the world. costs could look like energy drain/passing out in extreme circumstances, physical costs, costs prior to doing magic (sacrifices of some kind, either to oneself or others), emotional costs/effects (i'm lumping this in here, but magic users with innate magic of some sort having emotional moments that trigger their magic is *chef's kiss* content!!), is the cost a damage to their mental health, etc!

what are the limits? can magic do anything? (if it's not relevant to the story, maybe it can! or limits are never discussed, but usually, they matter!) it could be a user's limits, limitations of creation or impossibility, or varying degrees of difficulty - transportation might be a challenge, but lighting a fire might be considered simple. or the other way around, if that makes sense in the world or for the story! this can also tie in with costs - ie a healer might not be able to heal a lethal wound if the cost for magic is one's own energy, as that might mean the magic user would have to die in order to heal the other person!

what is the societal reaction to magic? friendly, wary, outright hostile? is there any relation to religion, if it's relevant? is magic ubiquitous? rare? just rare enough that it's unusual to come across, but not unheard of? is magic classified in any way, either to outside users or to everyone? is it categorized or structured, ie with terms like '-mancer' (pyromancer, necromancer, etc)? is magic forbidden, or are certain kinds forbidden? if so, why? and how logical is that forbiddenness? is it out of a desire to protect magic users? or to protect non-magic users? or some other reason altogether?

what is the characters' reaction to magic? how do they feel about it? are they a user? if so, do the costs affect them? how, and how severely? do they fall into a category of magic user? are they set apart from other magic users in some way? what are their opinions in comparison to the overall societal opinions on magic? how do they react when encountering new people, where magic is involved?

this is a super minor one but i find it useful to pick terms and stick to them! are the magic users called magicians? sorcerers? wizards? witches? mages? do they vary based on the magic user? are there gendered terms? are there slurs, if that's relevant? what are the magic activities referred to as? spells? rituals? incantations? are there more specific terms for types of magic (again, terms like pyromancer, necromancer, etc), or terms for different degrees of magic, dnd-style? basically, because we're the ones defining it, sticking with something consistent helps reader understanding, and if there's a difference between 'witch' and 'sorcerer', or 'incantation' and 'ritual' if it's relevant!

ngl a lot of times i have this sort of already intrinsically figured out by virtue of what i'm writing, what characters will be a part of it, and how they interact - i knew the cost of dabi's magic would be something physical early on, and knew the reaction both hawks and initial village would have to his magic. the limits i ended up figuring out in tandem with the concrete decision about how the cost manifested, and the method of magic was basically decided from the start to be something intrinsic that didn't require any spells, words, etc! however, i crafted the method by which dabi received his magic as i went, mostly by answering relevant questions as they arose within the framework i'd already built

i've also written fics where magic doesn't have a huge prevalence, but it does exist - and most of the time with those, my process is 'only answer the questions that need to be answered'. how does the character do healing magic? it's innate, he was born with it, but he doesn't use it often because it draws dark forces to him and is widely unaccepted outside his home country. why is it unaccepted? oh, because the dark forces are dangerous, and they've gone to war with the people in his home country. there, questions about magic answered in a satisfying way, with the depth relevant to the plot. as a side note, is there a cost to this character's magic? nah, not really, because the cost isn't relevant and he doesn't use his magic often enough in the story for it to be a topic of discussion. for the most part, i find i work best when the amount of effort i put into building the magic system directly aligns with how relevant it is to the story

okay now that i've waffled about magic for like sixty five years,,,,,everything else lmao. i think it's pretty relevant to at least have an idea of the political (and religious, if relevant!) climate to the extent that it affects your characters - dabi is (spoiler alert i guess?) son of the king, hawks is a part of the spy network. the characters fit into the political structure, which means i need to build it out around them as far as it's relevant. and ofc that got a lot more complicated as i started adding characters, so for me personally, i found it especially beneficial (contrary to instinct) to have only built out exactly what i needed to know. it gave me a lot more freedom and flexibility to build beyond that with new characters without directly contradicting anything i'd done/said so far. this is definitely my personal favored approach, but there's also nothing wrong with planning it all out ahead of time - if you've accounted for everything relevant one way or the other, then it hardly matters how you got there!! i'm just horrendous at planning lmao

and now i'm using the most generic term in the world but..."relevant influencing factors". which is super vague, but really i just mean...what matters to the characters? if i'd told my whole story from, say, bakugou's pov, all the stuff about the intricacies of dabi's magic might be totally irrelevant, and there wouldn't have been much need to even build out all that detail. but i might've had a much stronger focus in detailing the army's proceedings, the hierarchy, etc (which doesn't become relevant for dabi and hawks til they're dealing with it directly!) this could expand in a thousand directions, but basically the gist of it is twofold: relevance to the characters in the moment and relevance to them eventually. if your characters are coming across something, make sure you know what your characters need to know about it, then make sure you know what you as an author need to know!

say they're stumbling across a shop in the rain - do the characters care about the wares being sold? the shopkeeper or the building? if they do, how much do they care? passing notice, maybe more ardent notice if it's a character known for their attention to detail or awareness of surroundings? maybe it hardly matters what they sell, your characters are only staying for the night, they'll be gone by morning. but you as the author want them to take note of the shopkeeper - maybe a physical description, if it's relevant later, or something they say, etc. maybe you have a whole entire backstory for them, or maybe you don't! maybe the characters only note that the roof is leaking, but everything else about the building is irrelevant. rinse, repeat, and apply to everything your characters come across! sometimes, this is where worldbuilding really shines, if you don't have to build the world as you go - but sometimes, building as you go leads to new ideas and discoveries that take you off the beaten path! that's part of why i love character/situation-driven approaches so much, it allows me more freedom to have my characters change course. perhaps one of the characters would notice something unusual about the shopkeeper, maybe ask after some topic and discover something that becomes cleverly relevant later on, or maybe it steers them down a different path from that point forward! either way, i find that 'what is relevant to my characters'/'what might be/will be relevant down the road' helps me build exactly the world i need to tell the story i want to tell

okay last point i promise lmaooo i know you wanted a novel i'm giving u like a four part series alskdjfsdf but the other general things i've found helpful are timelines (i had one written out for the dabihawks fantasy au once it got more complicated!) to make sure characters are referencing the right times/time periods (ie a week ago, two weeks ago, etc). i've also done timelines that include which characters were where, if that got especially complex. and while i don't often have planning docs anymore, for big stories like that, i had a lot of my details about the magic system, concepts, ideas, etc all written down in one place to refer back to and make sure i was consistent! i also have a personal discord server for just me where i put ideas now, and i'll make channels (most of the time, if i'm somewhat organized) that have references/scenes/etc which serves as the equivalent of a planning doc nowadays

ANYWAY i hope that was somewhat helpful? every now and then i have the thought to do a (general) writing advice post, so perhaps i'll do that at some point if there's any desire for more/more generic thoughts/experiences/advice?

[splashleexd]

if you're new to my page, here are some of my favorite books!! if you like any of these books we can be friends 😌

1. the gilded wolves by roshani chokshi

literally, one of my favorite ya fantasy series of all time, when I first read it I was not expecting to love it as much as I do now. don't sleep on this series!!! the characters are absolutely amazing, the magic system, though confusing, is so interesting. read the synopsis, psssslsslslslsl. ik it's not finished but you neeeeed to jump on the bandwagon.

2. the grishaverse books by leigh bardugo

I know this isn't a book per se, but the entire universe created by leigh bardugo, any book written in it, I adore. have I read king of scars? no, but I've seen so many spoilers for it :,D this includes, shadow and bone, siege and storm, ruin and rising, six of crows, and crooked kingdom. if for some reason you haven't read these books, you have to!!! omg pls do

3. the percy jackson series + the heroes of olympus series by rick riordan

the series that got me into reading!! this series means literally the w o r l d to me and will always hold a special place in my heart. if it weren't for PJO, I wouldn't be here today. (not like that, but you know what I mean lol) if you want to get into reading, and you're up for a younger middle grade series, the pjo books are so perfect. i love love love all these characters. Of course, I've read better books than these, but nonetheless, I have so much to thank this series for.

4. the cruel prince/folk of the air trilogy by holly black

how could I not? it's a perfect read if you need an easy to escape in, fae, enemies to lover, novel. HOWEVER!!! read the series for the romance, but don't read the first book for the romance. anyways, cardan and jude are the epitome of a power couple I meaaan. it was fun, do I remember anything that happened in this series?? nope. did still love it?? yes!! i do recommend at least trying it out, it's worth it imo

5. lovely war by julie berry

this. book!! SO UNDERRATED! i love it so so so so much, it's such an amazing novel that made me feel all the feels. as a fan of greek mythology and historical romance, this was the perfect book for me. obviously. ngl, this would be a life-changing movie, with an amazing score MMM. y e s. if you haven't read it I HIGHLY suggest that you do. And also, if you're going to, I would recommend that you listen to it along with the audiobook. it was so amazing. original music???????? full cast????????/ chefs kiss

6. the shades of magic series by v.e. schwab

though I know a lot of people don't really like this series, however, it's one of my faves. the world-building was so amazing, the characters are so fun (although lila suffers a little from "not like other girls" syndrome, I still like her) and the magic system!!!! please read this. technically, it's classified as adult fantasy, but I think the first two books could pass for upper YA. If that's a problem for you. I've made some of my friends read it, and they really enjoyed it!!! if you're a fan of V.E. Schwabb and haven't read this series, you just have to!!

I’m just going to end this post off here, but I will continue adding to this list if I ever get more!! <3

[pallases]

Fantasy + found family (sorta) is the Shades of Magic trilogy by VE Schwab! I haven’t read a book of hers I haven’t liked yet, the books contain some of my favourite literary villains to ever exist, the magic system is *chefs kiss*

Like. The series is really enjoyable. Am I gonna say it’s flawless? No. I have mixed feelings about Lila, the second book is a bit slow paced, but I devoured the third book (cause the third book is very character driven which is my JAM) but like I would say go for it!! I really really liked this trilogy!!

YEAH i loved the shades of magic trilogy!! the world building was so cool and the characters were so interesting. and yes i agree all of ve schwab’s writing goes so hard, my personal favorite i think is vicious it’s just mwah mwah the gray morality, the musings on memory and leaving a mark on the world, “there are no good men in this game,” the formatting & nonlinear timeline, etc etc it was all so good!! also i loved sydney sm. and monsters of verity was great too, august my beloved <3 i should reread it sometime. btw have you read addie larue? i bought it a good while ago but have yet to start it, how did you like it if you have checked it out??

— talk to me abt your favorite books!