#Arden core

[kentnaturaltribrid]

“You have your gallery of rouges, I have my groves.”

Couldn’t think of anything else to add to the already needing some possibly repairs and already sitting around somewhere, so decided to add this third one to the Ivys collection that should by now be sitting in reality somewhere, but for the most part can’t seem to find a good set of three or four of them. Only seem to have found these three so far. The one that I found today, and then the other two in the pile. It’s not much, but these are getting harder and harder to find. Would definitely want to do some bracelets to go with them, if I have time.

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

Thinking: Christianity is not an intellectual exercise. God is infinite and as such any attempts to rationalize the mystery of the divine will result in heresy. God is not a thing that you rationalize about but a being that you know (unfully) and are known by (fully). It does you no good to simply think of God and not speak to him. To know is to be. To know God is to become like God, it is to image God, it is to glorify and to be glorified, to be more and more intimate with God that the line between you and the divine becomes blurry to those who see you.

That is the end and aim of humanity: to image God so clearly that the spiritual beings can barely tell the difference.

[applcrumbl]

Joy Rider

The Morning After*

Pairing: JJ Maybank x Original Female Character Warnings: Mentions of Sex and Nudity, smut, Strong Language, Mention of alcohol, Underage Drinking, Canon-level violence. Word Count: 1.3k (I’m new to this again) Author’s Note: Lol OBX4? I may be back baby

Summary: JJ and Reader wake up in the same bed. Naked.

Traditionally, The Chateau was a place of quiet. Seldom did they party within its four walls. Opting to take their mishaps elsewhere in favour of the opportunity to retire to their favourite house of warm wood. Whether a full island kegger or a small gathering for beer on the beach, the Pogues always found themselves back in John B’s home at the end of the night.

This night was like no other.

A night at Kildare’s annual bonfire, Kook’s and Pogues mixing as much as their societal pride would let them. JJ Maybank watches as his friend parades around the beach, talking to everyone who would welcome her. A foot on each side of the grass. A finger in both pies. A Kook, and a Pogue

He watched her as she perused the crowd, beckoning her over as she got close. The smell of lager lingered on JJ’s breath as he leaned in. Not that he would remember it.

It has been a long time coming, in all meanings of the phrase, as JJ’s hips snapped to the back of Arden’s thighs.

“Yeah, you like that?” He asks, his hands gripping tightly to the flesh of her hips. The 

Chateau is quiet, save for the sound of skin on skin, and the headboard on the wall.

JJ’s hands wander, one up her spine, pushing her down into the bed. He can’t help but savour the feeling of her soft skin as he drives himself deeper into her. 

“Fuck, you feel incredible,” JJ pants, “Let me hear ya.”

“Jay-” She whines.

Sweat drips down his face, mixing with the sheen of arousal on her skin. The room fills with the smell of sex and the taste of the liquor on their breath.

“I’m gonna- Fuck” He stutters, pulling her from the bed and back into his chest as he finishes, holding her flush against his sweat-slicked body as he rides out the aftershocks of his intense orgasm. 

JJ collapses on the bed next to her. His head spins from the alcohol, but also, and more likely, the excitement and adrenaline one gets when fucking their best friend.

She, feels the same, except also with an ache between her legs as she clamps them together. She looks at him and allows her drunken eyes to wander down his body, back to his semi-erect cock. She reaches out, fingers tracing down his torso and to the, truthfully decent-sized, appendage. 

JJ hums, as she begins to stroke. “Never took you to be the kind of guy that would leave a girl hanging.” She teases as he firms again in her grip.

Her voice is slurred still, and if they both had been sober, this would never have happened. JJ was somewhat thankful for the Kooks then, and his best friend’s ability to sneak them both free drinks from their expensive coolers, as he rolled back on top of her, kissing down her neck and chest, all the way to her core.

…

She was awoken by gentle snoring. Very different to the usual sound of the bamboo windchimes she had in her own room. The telltale sign that she’d slept in the spare room at The Chateau. Although her bare hips, accompanied by the mop of blond next to her, suggested that she hadn’t slept alone.

In one way she was glad it was not her own bed, the windchimes would be killer with the headache she had right then. But, on the other, those chimes meant she wouldn’t have slept with some random stranger. Her eyes scan the boy’s back before she peers over his shoulder, finally unmasking the face that made a notch on her bedpost.

“JJ?” She questions aloud, fear dousing her tone.

A blue eye peeks open, “Hey,” he says.

“Did we..”

“Yeah”

He’s fully upright now, leaning confidently against the headboard. A sly smirk itching to appear on his lips. He fights it back once he registers the shock and embarrassment on his best friend’s face.

“Are you sure?” She asks, not quite believing the situation.

JJ’s hand lifts the duvet covering them, peering down at his own nude frame “Uh, pretty sure.”

She shuffles in the bed, moving to its foot. The duvet pulled high up over her shoulders, shading herself from JJ’s eyes. It’s quiet for a moment before they both speak.

“I’m sorry-” “It shouldn’t”

“Oh sorry, you go first.” she apologises, unable to quite meet his eye.

“It’s fine,” He replies, “you go.”

She wastes no time in getting to the point.

“It shouldn’t have happened.”

JJ looks to her, a small ‘oh’ in his expression. He turns away as quickly as he looked. Hands fidgeting the corner of the comforter. 

She continues, “We’ll just forget about it. No Pogue on Pogue macking.”

He nods, “Yeah. Sure.”

Neither look at the other, a tension settling in the air. Thick, warm, and merging with the smell of sex from the night before.

“What were you going to say?”

“Nothing.” JJ lies, licking the front of his teeth. “It’s just that you jumped to the offence really quickly there.”

Her face contorts. An expression of confusion.

“Why?” He continues.

“What do you mean, why?”

“It was like you regretted it.” He accuses, eyes finally meeting hers as she sat at the foot of the bed. The farthest she could get with her current lack of clothes.

She confesses, not understanding why her best friend wasn’t agreeing with her “I did- I do.”

“No like properly,” JJ starts, “Not like you regretted what happened, more like you regretted that it was with me.”

A twang of insecurity, which Y/N caught. He was embarrassed, but not by the situation, more because she’d made him feel that way. A different kind of guilt rose through her throat.

“Oh no I didn’t mean against you,” She rambles, doing her best to excuse and comfort, “You’re fine, great! I mean not like it was bad, - mean it wasn’t - we’re friends.”

“Friends,” He huffs, a ringing behind his eyes, “But you’re sitting at the opposite end of the bed.”

“Because I’m naked.”

“We just had sex.” He deadpans.

“Exactly!”

The room grows quiet again, both teens watching for a change in expression from the other. Anything readable. Something to help them understand.

It doesn’t come.

“Okay. Friends.”

“Friends.”

“Friends who just happened to have sex.”

Silence once more. JJ looks away as she slides from the comfort of the bed, and into her underwear from the night before. Her clothes reek of booze, the smell almost making her sick - but anything is more comfortable than nude right now.

She goes to leave so that JJ can do the same.

“Reef-”

“Don’t call me that.” She snaps, not fully meaning to. It takes JJ aback.

“But I always call you that?”

“I know. But, like-” She turns to him. JJ stands in his boxers, it’s no different to when she’s seen him in boardshorts, but the simple connotations of his current outfit turn her face bright red. “-Not now.”

“Not now?”

“Not after this.”

JJ’s hands run through his hair and down his face. The blond had become even more shaggy than it had been made the night before. Her hand is still on the door, ready to go.

“I’m not gonna stop being your friend just ‘cos we ‘did it’?”

“I’m not saying that.”

JJ huffs, “You kinda are!”

“Not.”

“Are.”

“Okay.” She finalises, tired of the conversation. “I’m just going to leave.”

“Whatever.” JJ states, not the answer she expected to hear. She waits a moment with the door open, thinking of a snide exit line. But ultimately, she just leaves it, closing the door gently behind her - so as not to wake the rest of the sleeping chateau.

JJ however, has no disregard for his fellow sleeping Pogues as his fist hits the wall in anger. The paintings rattle a bump with the action, and JJ throws himself back on the unmade sheets.

masterlist | taglist

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

Oh my goodness. I haven't seen this yet thank you!

[us3rnam3-r3dact3d]

and my body remains (but the person is gone)

Chapter 1: if i should drift away (please don't revive me)

Ao3 | 4.3k Words | Gabe Shaw's POV

Asher was, at his core, friendly. It was a dangerous thing to be for someone who looked like he did. He had his mother’s fiery hair, his father’s striking eyes. His boyish features gave him a soft, approachable look. Tall and slender, all of Asher’s strength was hidden. He was shaking up to be a handsome young man. Gabe didn’t worry about David, not in this way. Not even Milo, a whole foot shorter than David, sent off alarms in his head when around strange adults. He worried about Asher the way he worried about Amanda and Arden.

-

It's the last week of David and Asher's sophomore year. Gabe is woken up at midnight by a panicked call from Asher, asking for a ride home from a party. Things go a bit sideways after that. It takes Ash some time to recover.

Please mind the tags on this one. It is really rough.

TW: sexual content, rape, attempted rape, drugging, date rape drugs, violence, murder

[graveyardviolence]

arden minyard core

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

The reason communism doesn’t work here on earth is sinful human nature.

This is why I am still not anarchist or communist despite think that in the Ideal World both would be correct.

Humans are foolish, rebellious, arrogant haters of each other and of God.

Until we are literally in (G)Arden, it won't work. Simple as that.

You can try to change the government, the economy, the system (all the people love to yell about the systematic problems) and those things may very well be problematic. But ask yourself one critical question:

Who made them? Who made the government? The economy? The System? Humans. foolish, rebellious, arrogant haters of each other and of God.

[capitalisticveins]

Shaw Pack Headcanons Part 4 i think (INVERSION EXCLUSIVE EDITION [Ft. Sam])

I only listened to each Aftershock video once bc they make me cry so if any of these hcs were debunked in those vids PLEASE tell me

Also in another part of these hcs I said that Baaabe and Angel carpooled to the stadium so that’s why all four of them drove back in the same car okay enjoy

- Christian wholeheartedly believed he would die during Inversion.

- Tank was doing security during the Inversion, but they were scheduled to work inside the school, so they heard what was going on via Lasko’s announcement

- When they heard, they ran to the ward while shifted, and headbutted the ward. They kept punching and clawing at the ward while yelling incoherent words. It took Milo and Sweetheart pulling them back and explaining the plan to calm them down. By the end of it, their knuckles were bruised and bleeding, and tears were flowing down their eyes.

- They were more angry with themselves than they were with anyone else. They were the one who volunteered to work inside the school, and they were slacking off. They keep cursing themself out for sleeping under the staircase while their entire pack and Sam were fighting for their lives. They believe they could’ve done something, or protected more people if they were inside.

- David considered disbanding the Shaw Security company, Angel had to convince him otherwise, because he’d regret it in the end.

- Sweetheart thought Milo would die when he used his core to break the ward.

- When Tank and Sam got home, he broke down immediately in their arms. They spent that night on his reclining chair just staying in each other’s embrace.

- Christian and Arden refused to split up. No matter how many times they were told they’d save more people that way, neither budged.

- Sweetheart tried to phase through the ward to see if everyone’s okay, but couldn’t.

-David and Asher tried to text Baaabe and Angel, but the messages couldn’t go through. It wasn’t until an hour after everything happened that Baaabe and Angel got the text, and they nearly cried reading them.

- Baaabe bought the wedding ring 2 days after the Inversion. They never wanted to lose the chance to propose again.

- Sweetheart broke every traffic law possible when Milo called all panicky.

- Angel cried so much when they saw David made it outside the ward that they couldn’t see and drive back home. Baaabe had to drive the car with Asher riding shotgun.

- Tank saw the Closeknit ad before Milo told them about it, and broke their laptop in half midway through the ad.

- Kelsey wasn’t with the pack during Inversion, so when she heard about what happened, she immediately booked a flight and called Christian and Arden non-stop.

- Angel strained their voice and had to drink tea for a week with how much they were yelling.

- Baaabe was crying too, but it was easier for Lasko to comfort them because they were more willing to listen.

- When the ward fell, Baaabe and Angel stuck together and ran into the crowd, asking if anyone saw any wolf shifters around that were a part of security.

- Tank refused to show up to the award ceremony for the Shaw Pack. Half was for hatred of the Department, the other half was them believing they didn’t deserve it.

- Baaabe found Asher’s chest scars endearing about 7 months after Inversion. It reminds them he’s still there.

- Angel was making cupcakes before they got Milo’s call, to celebrate a “successful job for the Shaw Pack”. When Angel and David got home they told him they had to fix something in the kitchen before they’d join him in bed.

- They threw the cupcakes out the window and sprayed Febreeze everywhere.

- Bailey felt horrible that she wasn’t there for them when Inversion happened, -and didn’t go to any pack meetings or Solstices the next year.

- Milo was worried, she went NC with everyone, and he had to find out where she lived to talk about it.

Taglist: @vidiawinter360 @ilovedavidshaw

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

I love God.

He creates the tannin - chaotic sea monsters - in Gen 1 and they are good. But then they become corrupted (possibly due to the snake like creature in Gen 2) and now Yahweh must slay them.

They are humanity. Created good and beautiful, but corrupted and thus becoming violent agents of chaos who Yahweh must judge.

Humans create The City. God creates humans to protect each other; we build cities to protect ourselves after we murder each other. The first murder builds the first city. We were meant to live in gardens but instead we build violent, chaotic, oppressive cities. But instead of destroying the cities, God plans to create a (G)Arden City for us to live in.

The city is humanity. We recreate ourselves to be violent and evil agents of chaos, but Yahweh plans to redeem us and restore us to beauty.

[an-unprofessional-artist]

I’ve had a lot of this stuff vaguely in my head for a while but I want to have it put down somewhere.

I wanted to try this without referencing anyone’s centaur anatomy ahead of time, but the idea for the diagrams is from this post by @wizisbored. Looking at his post now that I’m done, I can see some stuff I ended up doing the same.

The skeletal, circulatory, and respiratory systems are pretty similar. In mine, the pelvic floor muscles are supported by modified vertebrae/ribs that resemble human hips while still being small enough to allow a range of motion between a human waist and a horse’s neck. Horses don’t have collarbones, it’s all connected by tendons and muscle. That means no joint sockets, which made it a little easier to figure out. The space in the torso not taken up by the lungs and stomach is occupied by a combination of human core muscles and horse neck muscles.

I had a lot written out trying to justify the two stomachs but honestly they’re just there because I like it. Let’s say uh… the first stomach has the chemicals needed to break down the complex nutrients required for higher brain function, while the second one has the chemicals to break down the cellulose found in tougher plants. It’s been a while since I took a biology class so if you’ve got an idea let me know.

On the bottom left is a design for wagon brakes that can be operated by the wheeler of a team of 2 or more centaurs, while the one to the right is for a single centaur. The brake bar would run parallel to either the wagon tongue (for teams) or one/both of the shafts, depending on how much braking power is needed.

Bottom center is artillery tack, used so horse drawn artillery crews could ride while hauling. In this case, it’s so our party’s halfling can stop falling off when combat starts but Arden can still pull our cart

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

A (g)arden body.

...what kind of body is a resurrected body?

Mayra Rivera, Poetics of Flesh

[boywonderloverr]

thoughts on the word fat

I've been fat for my whole life and when i was a kid, i couldn't even say the word. I mean it. in any context, I physically couldn't bring myself to say "fat." i felt like if the word was uttered in my presence that everybody would look at me; I thought I was the first connotation in everybody's minds. to say it out loud filled me with unbearable shame. fat was an ugly word.

as I got older i was able to say it on occasion, but only in a self deprecating way. id call myself fat and mean it as an insult. sometimes if i did, I'd get the very typical response of someone who means well but doesn't know the best way to go about it: "you're not fat, you're beautiful!"

and for a while I really loved when people told me that because in my mind, fatness meant ugliness and ugliness meant worthlessness.

changing my mindset around the word fat changed my life, i think.

because at some point i started to ask myself why, if i never thought that other fat people were ugly or somehow of lesser value than thin people, did i think that about myself? why on earth would the way my body looks change my value as a human being? getting more comfortable with the word took time. it's hard to unlearn that feeling of shame. my whole life i was told that fat = bad, and it took a while to start thinking differently. I took baby steps. started with the terms plus size or chubby. those are still wonderful terms to use. but i wanted to be able to say more than that.

I remember the first time I called myself fat and didn't mean it in a negative sense. i was fourteen, hanging out with friends in their backyard. and my girlfriend at the time was quick to 'correct' me. "you're not fat, arden. you're beautiful.'

and for the first time in my life, that response didn't make me happy, it made me confused and angry. and that emotional response shocked me to my core, and spoke to how much progress I had made in terms of my own self image. for the first time i could actually recognize that fat and ugly are not synonyms, fatness and beauty are not exclusive from one another.

it's been a while and I still struggle a lot with my body image and sense of worth. i still have days where I feel worthless or unlovable because of how I look. i am still very young and still have a long ways to go on the journey of self acceptance. but honestly, reclaiming the word fat has helped me so much. it helps me every day. when I felt bad about myself, I'd call myself fat as a way to degrade myself. now I call myself fat to uplift myself. i tell myself that I'm fat and that's okay. I'm fat and worthy of love and friendship and acceptance. I'm fat and beautiful. I'm beautiful because I'm fat. I'm fat and strong, I'm fat and healthy, I'm fat and i take care of my fat body, I'm fat and i don't need to change to be better. I'm fat!!!

the word fat, to me, used to be an inherently bad word. fat used to mean ugly, unworthy, wrong, a flaw, something that needed to change. now, fat means confident, it means authentic, it means self acceptance, it means beauty is not determined by what we look like. we are all beautiful no matter what we look like. and simply changing the intention of a word can make a big difference.

[film-in-my-soul]

One Glimpse of Relief | 909 | dalearden / @dale-arden

Summary: Yet from the moment he took Jake into his bed, Bradley knew something had changed. There had been a shift in the atmosphere, a force feeling like some kind of gravitational pull, guiding him. The knowledge he was always meant to wind up here is an awesome weight on his heart and Bradley allows it to crush him, the power of it not even a little painful like he fears it should be.

twist the knife (salt in my cuts) | 1,313 | ropememory

Summary: Bradley ignores Jake, traces a finger along the outline of a rib on Jake’s chest. When he speaks, it’s low and hoarse, more a byproduct of what’s going on in his head than disuse. “I want to try it. Tonight.” Swallowing, Bradley meets Jake’s confused look, shys back a little in response without giving up any of his leverage over Jake’s body.  Processing Bradley’s words shouldn’t be this hard, they’ve barely started doing anything and Jake’s frustratingly still got all his wits about him, but there’s a long list of things they’ve talked about trying over the past few months, and Jake’s at a loss to pinpoint the specific one Bradley’s talking about.

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Summary: Callsigns are a tricky business, both ultimate weakness and greatest strength. These are some loosely connected vignettes around how Rooster earned his feathers, for the good and the ill of it.

soar with me | 14,899 | vannral / @vannral

Summary: ”You – so what was it, you were trying to help me or something?” Bradley stammers, his whole perspective reeling off its axis at the revelation. Jake looks up, and his eyes are piercing, but there’s something raw, vulnerable underneath it."

one foot left, and then we're going down swinging | 15,944 | SaintClaire / @radpeacharbiter

Summary: “I’m still here.” he says, because it helps Bradley to be reminded sometimes. For all he’ll mouth off about Jake never shutting up, the sound of Jake’s voice can get him to drop the rigid set of his shoulders and relax, sit a little easier in the cockpit. “Still on your wing, Roo, just a little further away than normal.” Jake gets shot down on a mission, tracker blown to smithereens and on his own in enemy territory. The thing about Hangman is that he might be a damn good pilot but that means he comes with the bloody-mindedness to see his shit through. He's got a family to get back to.

unsportsmanlike conduct | 16,871 | ginnydear

Summary: He didn’t expect there to be highlight reels of him and Jake Seresin arguing and jawing at each other after their first game against each other. His Uncle Mav’s recorded it, saying it’s the beginning of his long, successful career - to have a rival. Bradley thinks it’s a pain in the ass.

When Jake Met Bradley | 17,163 | infinitejaust

Summary: They annoyed each other, then they were friends, and then they were more. All it took was fifteen years.

A girl, she once told me I'd be happy again… | 17,777 | AnadoraBlack / @anadorablack

Summary: Rooster has gotten himself into a bit of a predicament. If only because he agreed to be Hangman's fake date at his sister's wedding, when they've just barely started considering each other friends. Nothing can go wrong, right?

I need attention (and I need it all from you) | 19,291 | haridwar

Summary: “Mom and I agreed I wasn’t gonna enlist Mav.” Bradley had been reluctant to remind him while also trying not to sound too heartbroken. He didn’t want his mother feeling guiltier than she already did when there were more important things to be thinking about. “You promised your mom you wouldn’t fly, that you wouldn’t be a fighter pilot. There’s so much more to the navy than just that kiddo.”

The Best the Galaxy has to offer | 20,141 | AnadoraBlack / @anadorablack

Summary: To vanquish the Empire and hopefully put an end to the War, the best X-wings pilots in the Galaxy are called to the mother ship Top Gun. Among them, Bradley Bradshaw, who has a lot to learn and a lot to face; but also a squadron of former Stormtroopers…

I used to hate you | 21,707 | AnadoraBlack / @anadorablack

Summary: When Bradley Bradshaw and Jake Seresin first meet at Top Gun, they immediately decide that they hate each other. It takes a looooooong time for that to change...

How do you like your coffee? | 23,360 | WaffleToaster

Summary: Javy receives the first call after Jake makes an emergency landing on the tarmac and Bradley has to deal with the complications that arise. “Do we get along now?” “We do, yes. We’re.. good friends.” “That’s good. Cause you seem like a nice guy, Rooster.”

invisible string | 28,042 | ok_thanks / @galchenyuks

Summary: Jake being traded to San Diego should definitely not cause Bradley to feel so unhinged. Not at all. He can be teammates, they've done that before, except that Jake is just as annoying and attractive to Bradley as he was when they were younger.

Dirty and Sweet (Get it on) | 38,451 | MadeItUp / @gothampot

Summary: As things wind down after the mission, Rooster struggles with a need for something a little dangerous. That something absolutely should not – cannot – be Jake Seresin. But a little friendly competition and a lot of alcohol can go a long way to changing a man's mind. Hangman eyes Rooster’s empty beer, then his own. “How about that second shot?” “You tryna put me off my game?” “I don’t need you drunk to beat you, Rooster.” “What do you need me drunk for?”

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[thetypedwriter]

The Bear the Nightingale Book Review

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden Book Review

This book is so different from what I would normally read. 

I was browsing the shelves at Barnes and Noble as I’m prone to do when I picked up a YA book with a beautiful cover.

I don’t recall what the book was, but I decided to check out the reviews for it on Goodreads to determine whether I should purchase it or not. 

On Goodreads, the overwhelming statement being made about this forgotten YA book was that it was the poor man’s version of The Bear and the Nightingale. 

Intrigued, I wandered a shelf or two over until I found The Bear and the Nightingale itself and decided to buy it. The Bear and the Nightingale at its core is a novel steeped in Russian folklore.

It tells the story of Vasilisa Petrovna, a young girl with the powers to see spirits and otherworldly creatures. 

Starting from Vasya’s birth up until she’s on the brink of womanhood, you learn about Vasya’s mother Marina, who dies in childbirth, all of Vasya’s siblings, her father, Pyotr, and their small Russian village on the outskirts of metropolitan cities like Moscow and Vladimir. 

The plot revolves around Vasya’s deep connection with the spirits and guardians that live in and around her home and the disturbance that shakes them and the village with the arrival of a priest, Konstantin Nikonovich. 

Father Konstantin thinks that Vasya’s village is backwards for their savage reverence towards the old gods and sets the village and its people on a path of devoted fear and cruel judgment. 

Soon enough, everyone thinks Vasya is a cursed witch and the people who once loved her now cast her aside, both out of cowardice and obedience from Father Konstantin.

However, the person who hates Vasya the most is her stepmother, a righteous, pious woman who is the only other person in the village who can see the spirits. 

Unlike Vasya, who sees the creatures as guardians, Anna sees the creatures as devils out to damn her and her daughter, a curse she has borne to bear and has never been able to get rid of. 

As the village falls away from the old, traditional times, the spirits grow weak and infirm. From this fragility and vulnerability, the devil, Medved the Bear, grows stronger.

\With his newfound power, he turns the dead into upyrs, brings about bitterly freezing winters, dry summers, and poor harvests, cursing the people of the village slowly but surely. 

The only one who can stop Medved is his brother, Morozko, the winter king known as death himself. Teaming up with Morozko, Vasya must fight back against the evil that threatens her village, putting herself and her loved ones in perilous danger. 

I feel like there’s more to this plot and yet, this is the best summary I can come up with. At its core, The Bear and the Nightingale is a retelling of the Russian fairytale of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon.

In the fairytale (which Vasya’s nurse Dunya tells her at the beginning of the story) a witch-girl from the village comes across Morozko, who is so taken with her beauty and courage that he gives her a bountiful dowry upon her return home. 

Arden takes this classic fairytale and turns Vasya from a beautiful damsel into a fierce witch that refuses to marry, be sent off to a convent, or be shackled in any way to God or to man. 

The most astounding part of this book for me was the Russian folklore influence. Folk stories of any kind have always been fascinating and it’s always so intriguing to learn about myths and stories from other cultures.

I’ve never heard of the Frost demon and while Arden turns the story contemporary with Vasya being an independent woman, the rest of the story is steeped in Russian lore, language, and history. 

The way that Arden wrote this book reads like a fairytale. With a lot less focus on dialogue and traditional methods of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, the book rises and falls like a fairytale would. 

It was a lot of telling not showing, which I’m usually fiercely opposed to, but in this case, it was inherently intentional. It’s as if, Dunya, Vasya’s nurse, was telling the story the whole time, from start to finish.

It reads in a lyrical, poetic way, very different from other novels and a breath of fresh air for pure ingenuity. 

The characters themselves were also good. Just like in a fairytale, they don’t have the deepest of characterizations, but that’s also not the point. They’re archetypes, lessons for young ears to hear and heed.

I find it a bit strange that Vasya had the mentality of a young woman growing up in the year 2024, but it’s also forgivable. Arden wasn’t trying to create a fully functioning fairytale that’s wholly accurate. 

There are some other critiques I have, especially towards the ending. It felt like the climax came out of nowhere, with not much of a build to hit the ground running as a reader, and the death of a certain character was inexplicably vague and unimportant. 

But Arden’s decision to base Vasya’s story on a fairytale, twist it with modern sensibilities, and sprinkle in some magic and poetry—is a concoction that clearly worked as the book is a national bestseller. 

Recommendation: Overall, I enjoyed The Bear and the Nightingale. While it’s not something I would usually read, as stated at the beginning, I liked the reset. Every once in a while it’s refreshing (and needed) to get away from the typical YA love triangle or slow-burn romance, from the humdrum fantasies and the summer flings. 

It deepens my appreciation for literature, expands my horizons, and teaches me something new, which—isn’t that what we’re always looking for as readers?

Score: 7/10

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

Ohhhh my. I know you shouldn't convert for aesthetics but like.... oh gosh it's tempting

[wants to practice Christianity but in an esoteric, witchy kinda way]

[thrillhoues]

Top 3 scenarios you would love to see in Teen Wolf? Smut or non smut, I would just love to see it.❤️

Just more follow-through on different characters. Season 6 dropped Kira. That needs fixing (though the Arden Cho thing was just... super insulting). Parrish lost momentum in season 6. Lydia did too - her narrative role as savior to a bunch of men is just not a good one. Liam forgiving and providing space for Theo to grow was amazing, but the movie lost the thread of Liam's relationship to Scott despite it thematically being a core of the final three seasons of the show.

For TW fandom creations - stuff that expands beyond Stiles, Derek, Scott, Theo and Liam. I like all those characters, but Mason deserves love. Corey. Nolan. They all warrant more time in fandom-y spaces.

Similar to the TW fandom creations, just more variety in the smut tbh. The fandom has a dominant ship problem, and it just needs richer use of the other characters. Every actor is super hot and ship-able