#Caro reads

[honeygrahambitch]

I now get the satisfaction Hannibal gets when people are eating what he cooked

[mermaidsirennikita]

Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas is a great book, can’t wait to see Hardy Cates bone down 🩷

[fl0pera]

Sometimes I feel like I can join a discord server and interact with people. Turns out I really am not made for that type of thing.

😬😬

[nikosasaki]

DOLORES CARO ⭑ season one

Dolores considers for a moment where he would have gone, but there’s only really one possibility. If she knows Five — and she might know him better than she knows even herself — he’s never given up on going back. On the idea of fixing it all. ⸻ Rare & Sweet, chapter 3.

taglist: @kendelias @chlobenet @bravelittleflower @eddiemunscns @purpleyearning @eddysocs @heavenlysurf @arrthurpendragon @nolanhollogay @stanshollaand @lovehermioneforever @raith-way @kiara-carrera @decennia @luucypevensie @waterloou @ginger-grimm @hiddenqveendom @foxesandmagic @dragonsbone @endless-oc-creations @ginevrastilinski @sunlitscribe @dyhlanobrien @partiallypearl @witchofinterest @fleetwoodmcs @daughter-of-melpomene

[charaznablescanontoyota]

one must imagine alphonse elric happy(?)

[quelquunberlin]

Adam bittet Pia um einen kleinen Freundschaftsdienst für seinen großen Tag.

[selfishpresley]

another fem!checo fic gang

are you surprised?

[deadpanwalking]

i'm the original (ha!) non-fiction recs anon, if it's all right to follow up! the reason i didn't really specify is i am open to reading almost anything! (it's like going to a restaurant and asking the chef to surprise you because you trust in them, yk?) but yeah, i think history and biography would be something i'd be most interested in... no specific time period in mind, if it's rather modern then non-usa and non-western-european preferably. also i do love when people go into detail (ik caro is a bad example because it's hard to reach his levels of commitment , but). oh, and that's an interesting thing, i didn't even consider literary analysis as non-fiction (i thought about it as rather fiction-adjacent... not a dig ofc, just a thought ha).

Glad I won your anonymous trust or whatever, but I'll be honest...just shitting out titles on demand for faceless strangers is really boring for me. The last guy (gn) gave me a nice little puzzle to solve by telling me the period he wanted to know more about, and narrowing that down to a handful of subjects. Next time, just pick something from the Pulitzer, Wolfson, or Cundil shortlists and pretend I recommended that, since that's how I find new shit to read. In the meantime, uhhh...

Jack Weatherford's book on Genghis Khan. Everyone was losing their shit when it came out, but I wasn't even remotely curious until my friend's hot dad recommended it. It was one of the first serious non-literary biographies I ever read, and it made me realize just how much I'd been missing out on by sequestering myself away and only reading about writers.

[timetravelstudies]

Rereading my highlights of g&g and this is driving me insane

Literally the exact same thing as

But in inverse. its the realization that (according to B) sade had but couldnt cope with & had to invent a whole psychosexophilosophical system to process. aaaaaaaahjhhhhhhhh

[loisfreakinglane]

@queenofattolia OOOOH MY FAVORITE THROUPLES!!!!!!!!! SMASH THAT READ MORE BUTTON

ben/maddie/ryn ~ siren (never forgive never forget that breakup, they were PERFECT. that show ended with season 2 and i will NEVER EVER EVER forgive season 3's crimes)

kala/rajan/wolfgang ~ sense8 (we were denied a full series arc of them getting together, but frankly i didn't feel it was rushed in the finale. it still felt organic TO ME, largely bc the chemistry between rajan and wolfgang was impeccable immediately)

eliot/hardison/parker ~ leverage (can you believe there's people who watch leverage that don't ship this?!!?!?! there are human beings out there who ship eliot/parker with zero hardison involvement. BAFFLED, FRIENDS)

angel/buffy/cordy ~ btvs/ats (i'm sorry this is based on my own brain falling into the depths of madness when s6/s3 were airing and i was banned from watching buffy so i was reading the transcripts on buffyworld and left to stew over how much i wanted buffy and dawn and tara to flee to la and never look back, while also falling in love with cangel and thinking about how much those three would fit perfectly together, buffy and cordy as two sides of the same coin, just always out of step with the others parallel heroic journey, how much bangel would work so much more for me when it's damaged adults coming together and also raising their impossible blue eyed kids together also connors never kidnapped also also faith moves into the hyperion too and gunn and fred never break up the end okay i'll stop now)

the princess, the prince, and the mermaid ~ the little mermaid (i was infected by the novel mermaid: a twist on the classic tail (heh) in my youth- christopher, lenia, and margrethe had a fascinating relationship i fell in love with. and now!!!!!!!! watching older adaptations of tlm, seeing the interactions between the three of them always intrigue me so hard. pre-disney the princess is allowed to be sweet and kind to the mermaid, if somewhat patronizing to the mute young girl. and when the mermaid fades away, her body in foam and her soul off to heaven, she lays a kiss on the grieving princess's head AND I DIE)

elizabeth/neal/peter ~ white collar (IT WAS SUCH A FUN TRIO I STAND BY THIS CHOICE! also at the time it was extraordinarily refreshing of fandom to not immediately despise and vilify the woman standing between their slash ship. and i adored the canon and the fanon so tbh! this will always stick out as a classique ot3 to me!)

irma/marion/miranda ~ picnic at hanging rock (why aren't we frolicking in oz, wearing white gowns and eating picnic treats RIGHT NOW? anyway they're in love, they're so in love they fell into an alternate dimension)

ann/ben/leslie ~ parks and recreation (am I the only person who was tearing my hair out during ann's search for a sperm donor bc why did leslie never offer up ben's specimen!?!?! she is OBSESSED with ann and way too invasive and beyond controlling and I think way too much about that episode where ben and ann are fighting over the wafflemaker for one of leslie's insane random holidays, then end it off by coming together to make leslie STOP with the incessant celebrations and presents? anyway they should have all wound up together. and not just bc chris was terrible)

huoxin/jing/xiaowei ~ painted skin the resurrection (the lady demon, the princess, and the bodyguard. this trio was EVERYTHING. the demon fixated on the princess and her heart, the princess desperately in love with her bodyguard turned general but clinging to shame over her facial scars, the general who runs from his failure to protect her. ADD IN BODYSWAP SHENANIGANS AND I LOSE MY MIND EVERY TIME.)

ezra/jules/richie ~ imposters (possibly partially queerplatonic bc i'm not exactly sure where jules lies on ye olde kinsey scale, but even if it's platonic on her part i'm incredibly in love with this trio and i SO see it as a working throuple LEAVE ME ALONE)

elizabeth/olive/william ~ professor marston and the wonder women (whether you believe the historical accuracy of this movie or not, this throuple is fucking awesome and i adooooooore them)

gwen/mj/peter ~ marvel comics (i'm so sick of thinking about spider-man rn bc *waves hand at mcu* HOWEVER it would feel disingenous to leave this off my list. i love these three, i love them together so much.)

alex/hal/tom ~ being human uk (the way these characters brought new life to this era of bhuk. these three are in LOVE)

chel/miguel/tulio ~ the road to el dorado (baby's first ot3)

kirk/spock/uhura ~ star trek (THE KELVIN TIMELINE!!!!!!!!!!! THEY'RE SO MUCH. still mourning a fic that was deleted off ao3....... sad bean bear city)

art/patrick/tashi ~ challengers (THEEEEEEEEEEEE PINNACLE! there are ppl who cast tashi as the villain of the story and think art and patrick will flee her when the credits roll, and i am so glad i am not surrounded by those types. this is a love story where every person is desperately needed to complete the triad. they just don't work without all 3 of them)

clark/lana/lex ~ smallville (LOOK LOOK LOOK. SHUT UP. anyway i rewatched this show with my father at the height of the pandemic and lana/lex hit hard in a way it never had before, so now i'm p equally obsessed with every side of this triangle and now i want to smash them all together so bad. THIS IS HOW TO FIX EVERYTHING.)

gaby/ilya/napoleon ~ the man from uncle (ready made ot3, i can't be mad)

mylene/shaolin/zeke ~ the get down (did mylene and shaolin hate each other? uhhhhhhh yep. HOWEVER. THAT ALLOWED FOR SOME FUCKING GREAT TENSION. and they were both equally in love with zeke so like............ i wanted it so bad

i'm SURE i'm missing very important ones, but these are my broad strokes 💗💗💗

ALSO LOOK AT THEM!!!!!!!!! TELL ME YOU DON'T SHIP THEM IMMEDIATELY

[jetwhenitsmidnight]

The Palace of Eros by Caro De Robertis

Release date: 15 August 2024

Genre: adult romance fantasy retelling

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis

Young, headstrong Psyche has captured the eyes of every suitor in town and far beyond with her tempestuous beauty, which has made her irresistible as a woman yet undesirable as a wife. Secretly, she longs for a life away from the expectations and demands of men. When her father realizes that the future of his family and town will be forever cursed unless he appeases an enraged Aphrodite, he follows the orders of the Oracle, tying Psyche to a rock to be ravaged by a monstrous husband. And yet a monster never arrives.

When Eros, nonbinary deity of desire, sees Psyche, she cannot fulfill her promise to her mother Aphrodite to destroy the mortal young woman. Instead, Eros devises a plan to sweep Psyche away to an idyllic palace, hidden from the prying eyes of Aphrodite, Zeus, and the outside world. There, against the dire dictates of Olympus, Eros and Psyche fall in love. Each night, Eros visits Psyche under the cover of impenetrable darkness, where they both experience untold passion and love. But each morning, Eros flies away before light comes to break the spell of the palace that keeps them safe.

Before long, Psyche’s nights spent in pleasure turn to days filled with doubts, as she grapples with the cost of secrecy and the complexities of freedom and desire. Restless and spurred by her sisters to reveal Eros’s true nature, she breaks her trust and forces a reckoning that tests them both—and transforms the very heavens.

Content warnings

Sexual content

Misogyny, sexual harassment

Mentioned sexual assault

Mentioned domestic abuse

Familial abuse/toxic family dynamics

Confinement

Pregnancy

Review

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

From the start, this book does not flinch away from depicting the brutal misogyny of the time period. Psyche's throngs of suitors are cast into a new light, as this book shows the horrors of being desired by men, as well as the way marriage was viewed during this time.

Plot-wise this book follows pretty closely with the plot of the original myth, although a lot more time is spent exploring Psych's stay in the titular Palace of Eros. This was definitely the right choice to make as it gives the romance time to blossom, as well as allows time to develop Psyche's character. Psyche comes into her own during this time, as Psyche and Eros explore the meaning of womanhood and queerness (among other things😏).

I think the author does a good job of exploring the power imbalance between Psyche and Eros, although it's hard to not be aware that whatever agency Psyche has is only because a goddess allows her that. While their relationship isn't perfect, they do work on it and (mostly) resolve all of their problems by the end of the book.

Eros doesn't get as much character development as Psyche. This is fine, because I think this is much more Psyche's story than Eros'. But there are still certain elements I wish had been explored, mainly Eros' use of her powers. Throughout this book, Eros is kind of flippant about the way to uses her arrows to make people fall in love. Although she expresses regret about how she inadvertently ruined Daphne's life, she doesn't show much remorse or contemplation about any other people's lives she affected. The web of power is something Eros contemplates quite a lot, but she seems to cast herself in the role of being powerless to the whims of Zeus, while failing to recognise or address her own power.

I know I said earlier that the story focusing on Psyche living in the palace was a good choice, but it also results in less time spent on depicting Psyche's trials. I stand by this opinion, but this sort of results in the trials being kind of... boring. The original myth focuses much more on the events of the trials as Psyche proving her love for Eros, but in this book Psyche chooses to undergo the trials as a way to forge peace with Aphrodite. This was an interesting choice to make narratively, but ultimately lowers the stakes, especially since Aphrodite isn't even actively bothered with Psyche anymore.

Speaking of Aphrodite, I feel like her depiction was kind of shallow. She's not portrayed as a very complex character, aside from being a jealous goddess. I appreciate that the author shows how much she loves and cares for Eros, but I feel like she could have been explored a lot more.

I have always appreciated how special the myth of Psyche and Eros is, in the way that Psyche is one of few female Greek heroes, and also one of few Greek heroes who gets a happy ending. I think this novel captures the essence of the original myth, as well as expands on it in new and interesting ways.

Ultimately, while there are certain aspects of this book that I wish there could have been more of, the themes that the author chooses to explore, they do an excellent job of.

[mermaidsirennikita]

We need more second chance romances wherein the heroine keeps a scrapbook about the hero for like, a decade after they break up, including:

a) newspaper clippings about all his accomplishments

b) newspaper clippings about his marriage to another woman

c) newspaper clippings about the DEATH OF HIS WIFE with a note like "I'm so sad for him :("

d) 15 different nude photos of him with notes that detail how she got them and also like "THE BEST" (she absolutely got off with her weird scrapbook open, it's not a question)

e) a secret compartment where she keeps all the romantic and horny letters

[dyouknowwhatimean-archive]

lmao.

[emilianadarling]

fic: only as strong as the warrior next to you author: emilianadarling | beta: carogolden chapter: Inexorable (10/10 + Epilogue)  rating: E ships: Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa/Han Solo contains: Canon Divergence - Emperor Vader AU (But Palpatine Found the Twins First), Sith Imperial Luke Skywalker, Unreliable Narrator, Forced Cohabitation, Slow Burn Into Roaring Burn, Retribution and Culmination.

The final installment of “warrior” is now live. 💖 Chapter 10: Inexorable and the story’s epilogue have been a labour of love and passion. I am so grateful for everyone who has helped to get this story over the finish line. 

Thank you so much also to everyone who has been reading along, leaving feedback, and encouraging this story into existence -- you mean the world!! 

[darkacademiaarchivist]

unrelated to literally anything.. what are some of your favorite fic fluff tropes

Uhhhhh 👀👀👀👀 I'm a huge fan of cuddling and sharing a bed and characters taking care of each other when they're sick. I just think it's neat <333 ALSO!!! reminding characters that they're lovable when they don't believe it themselves. What is the fluff with a little bit of hurt/comfort until we get there

👁️👁️

[quelquunberlin]