#I am a sucker for the cold months captured in a lot of detail what can I say

[dizzydyke]

say what you wish about ms taylor swift and believe me , I have said plenty, but last kiss is like. a perfect november song.

[veroticker]

The librarian’s vampire assistant book 2 - Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

You can buy the book on Amazon, or get it for free if you suscribe to the author’s newsletter.

Summary (from Mimi Jean Pamfiloff’s website)

HOW MUCH LONGER CAN HE KEEP HIS SECRET AND HIS FAVORITE HUMAN SAFE?

Michael Vanderhorst has always been a lone wolf. Or lone vampire? Whatever. Point is, this ancient gentleman vampire is obsessed. She’s quirky, a horrible dresser, and the cutest librarian he’s ever seen. The question is, why her? In four hundred years, no one has ever captured his attention like this. He must find out, which is why he just signed on as her new assistant.

The problem is, she has no idea vampires exist or that she’s just broken one of their laws. As the leader of his territory, Michael has been ordered by his council to turn her or kill her. “Over my dead body!”

To overturn the ruling, Michael needs the council on his side, and right now they’re asking him to hunt down and execute five hundred vampires no one can seem to locate. Unfortunately, his assassin days are long over, and he’s not so sure he can go back to killing.

But with Miriam’s life on the line and their unusual bond growing stronger each day, will he dust off the old sword or give her the bite that will make her his forever?

Blurb

““Dammit, man! Just get in there and do it!” I mutter to myself while pacing the sidewalk under the scorching hot Arizona sun, where I’ve been the better part of the morning.

Okay, think, Michael, think.I sip the cold latte I’ve been nursing since I arrived to the library parking lot. The taste is ghastly, but far better than my current dilemma: today I must deliver devastating news to the sweet, tiny, and very human librarian inside. Clearly, the task is much harder than I anticipated. Maybe I should say, “Miriam, you have twelve months to live, and then I must—”

No, no. Too direct.I shake my head and walk back toward the nearly empty parking lot where my god-awful rental, an electric blue Pop-Tart with wheels, beckons me to drive away.

“No. I cannot chicken out.” I march back toward the library. How about, “Miriam, this may sound crazy, but I am a vampire.”

No. She will think me mad! Maybe, “Miriam? Remember when you asked me to tell you the truth and you noticed many strange things happening in your life and—”

“Bloody hell!” I stop two feet from the entrance. There simply is no pleasant way to say it, and I have gone through the entire list of options, ranging from “Hey. Being dead and drinking blood is not as bad as you think. It is worse!” to “Watching the world drift by while you are frozen in time for all eternity is miserable, but you will get used to it.” Obviously, nothing truthful works, yet I have promised to never lie to her again.

I look down at my size 11 wingtips, cursing my feet for being unable to move through the front door. Perhaps I should have worn shoes that feel less civilized, like my Converse, as required by law. No, no. I do not mean that vampire law dictates we must all wear sneakers—thank heavens—such ghastly things—but it does state we must wear attire in accordance with our external age. For the record, I appear to be about twenty, but I am over four hundred years old, which is why I much prefer suits, the clothing of a real man. However, let me not get ahead of myself. A proper gentleman must always make the proper introductions, even in the direst of situations.

My name is Michael Vanderhorst. I am loyal, respected, and feared by some. I am also the new, very unwilling leader of the Arizona Society of Sunshine Love.

End me now.

1. No vampire in his or her right mind would want to live in this peppy inferno of sunshine called Phoenix, Arizona, even if vampires do walk in the sun, contrary to popular belief. We simply hate the hell out of it, similar to how cats hate baths, children hate bedtime, and men hate listening. Vampires. Hate. Sunshine.

2. Who would name their society (our word for “coven”) such a silly name? Sunshine Love? Pfft! Ludicrous. And as luck would have it, our laws prohibit renaming our societies once they have been legally established as a business or organization in the human world—something having to do with not wanting to draw extra attention to ourselves. Therefore, I am stuck being the leader of a society that is the butt of all vampire jokes: What’s the difference between a catfish and a member of the Society of Sunshine Love? One is a bottom-dwelling sucker and the other is a fish.”

(review under the cut)

Review

You know those TV shows where you feel that two people are destined to be a couple, but it takes several seasons before they get there? This series is exactly like that. It makes for a very slow burn that I enjoy greatly, and it makes me want to read the next book. So I dived into book 2 right away.

And I enjoyed it more than the first. The mystery is still going strong. There’s a lot of drama: love, betrayal, reconciliation... I couldn’t put it down. And the relationships between the various characters are more and more defined. Some new characters appear that are also very interesting.

Be aware that this book is more graphic than the first, and a bit darker too. But the humor I loved is still there. So this one is even more a rollercoaster than the first, with tons of twists and turns.

Time to see if the 3rd book gets even better!

Quickie

Series: The librarian’s vampire assistant #2 (it’s a serial)

Hashtags: #paranormal romance #romantic suspense #vampire #veeeeery slow burn

Trigger: vampire violence, human violence (a lot more gory than in the 1st book)

Main couple: Miriam Murphy & Michael Vanderhorst (still not really, but I haven’t given up)

Hotness: 2/5 (there’s some passion simmering here)

Romance: 3/5 (not a declaration of love, but we’re getting there)

+ very strong storyline

- some unnecessary repetitions of details

  Stalker mode

You can suscribe to Mimi Jean Pamfiloff’s newsletter on her website.

You can also follow her on Facebook.

[longsightmyth]

Chapter-by-Chapter, The Naming, Chapter 16

PELLINOR

So the dude talking to them in the speech is essentially a marchwarden. He’s not a bard though, which is confusing to both Cadvan and Maerad, who both thought only bards could use the speech. Maerad can’t even use the speech yet, so she’s a little left out when Cadvan and the new guy tell each other things. More people who can presumably use the speech appear with more bows and arrows and lead Maerad and Cadvan off.

The bowmen led them for hours, long into the night. Maerad looked up through the trees and saw the stars shining bright and cold above them. How many times had she cast up her eyes to the stars for succor? she wondered to herself; for as long as she could remember she had found a comfort in their chilly beauty, so remote from human suffering.

Keep that in mind: we’ll chat about it in the comparison section.

The bowmen lead them to a super fancy bardhome where the trees have even grown some beds. Cadvan is pretty chill about the whole situation, saying that he’s grateful for a bed and food while Maerad (understandably) frets. They sleep.

Cadvan learns the bowmen’s names in the morning when they set out early (Farndar, Imunt, and Penar) but nothing much else. After a while Maerad realizes they’re following a path, and they reach a river. Cadvan thinks it might be the Cirion, which does run into and out of the forest. Nobody knows what it does while it’s in the forest, though.

They are brought to the city of Rachida, which is made entirely of wood. Throughout are planted gardens and orchards. It sounds pretty great tbh. Cadvan says he has in fact heard of Rachida in story and lore (it was one of the havens of the Dhyllin) but everybody thought it had been destroyed.

As they walk through the city the people are kind of interested in Cadvan and Maerad (they’re both pale and dark-haired, which appears to be a rarity here) but even more interested in the horses. The children especially follow them.

They are led to a hill and told their ruler’s hall is at the top.

There’s a lot of similarities to Lothlorien for reasons that will soon become even clearer, but Rachida is actually more similar to Gondolin for all that Ardina could easily be compared to Galadriel.

They get to eat and wash their faces and hands and rest, and then Farndar comes back to lead them to what is effectively a throne room.

At the far end was a dais on which was placed a single chair, carved simply out of a polished black wood that Maerad thought at first was stone, and in the chair sat a tall woman. She was robed in white, and her hair fell freely down her shoulders almost to her feet, like a river of silver. Her face seemed at once young and infinitely ancient, as if she were the painted image of a queen who had reigned in ages long past which, by some enchantment, lived; and her gaze pierced Maerad with a strange thrill, as if she had stepped into a cold river. She bore no circlet or jewel or staff of authority, yet Maerad knew at once she was a queen of great power.

The woman tells them that it’s a good thing Cadvan knows the speech, because otherwise they might already be dead and she’d be a little bit sorry about it, since she prefers people not to die needlessly. They’ve been brought to her to hear her decision.

“I will tell you willingly of us, Lady of Rachida,” said Cadvan, bowing. “But it seems a lack of courtesy not to know who I am addressing, and who reigns over this enchanted place.”

“You wish to know who I am?” The woman seemed to ripple with amusement, although she did not laugh. “I am called many things. To my people I am the Star of the Evening, and the Song of Morning, and the Sap That Feedeth the Tree of Life; and once I was called the Child of the Moon, and the Jewel of Lirion, and many other names. I have wandered beyond the Gates to the Meadows of Shade and returned whole, and so am encumbered with a doom alone of all my kind, and am also called the Alone. What is a name?”

Cadvan, who apparently missed the whole bit about names being pointless to her, asks if she was once known among bards as Queen Ardina. She says yes fine, that’s her too, and she hadn’t thought anybody remembered her outside Rachida.

Cadvan says the bards at least remember her, but they all thought she died, and Ardina basically says she isn’t allowed to die.

They all sit and chat, Cadvan filling Ardina in on a few things, and,

She asked for news of the realm of Annar with a distant curiosity, as if they spoke of something that had nothing to do with her, but was quaint, like travelers’ tales of distant regions.

So if you can’t tell, Ardina is an Elidhu, though we don’t know that for sure for another two pages or so. She mentions her kinship with Maerad (second Elidhu clue, the first being, of course, that she’s only vaguely interested in the human world: I still love that little detail. Even the Big Good Elidhu is kind of like ‘sometimes these stories are entertaining’) and sends them off to rest more while she considers some things.

The kids still love the horses, and Cadvan and Maerad are given a guest house to sleep in, where Maerad asks about Ardina since Cadvan is so flummoxed by her continued existence.

Ardina, it turns out, fell madly in love with a mortal king and rescued him from Arkan (the Ice King, if you remember), but first she had to exist, so Cadvan gives us a bit of poetry.

When Arkan deeme an endless cold

And greenwoods rotted bleak and sere,

The moon wept high above the world

To see its beauty dwindling:

To earth fell down a single tear

And there stepped forth a shining girl

Like moonlight that through alabaster

Wells, its pallow kindling

A wild amazement fastened on

The Moonchild’s heart, and far she ran,

Through all the vales of Lirion

Her voice like bellnotes echoing:

And from the branches blossoms sprang

In iron groves of leafmeal wan,

And Spring herself woke up and sand,

The gentle Summer beckoning.

Basically, Ardina is a mashup of Galadriel, Luthien, and Arwen. I’m less mad about it than I could be, especially since she was apparently created in direct opposition to Winter, aka Arkan.

So Ardina rescued Ardhor from Arkan, and Cadvan says there are a zillion and twelve tales about her (paraphrasing).

“But I wonder what she meant, when she spoke of her doom. The Lady Ardina was one of the Elementals, and she alone of all her kind attempted to die as a mortal and to follow her lover through the Gates. The songs say that they walked together past the Meadows of Shade and to the Starry Groves that overlook this world, and there at last they could be together as they wished. But it seems the songs are wrong.”

I love this, y’all. She tried to pull a Luthien and failed.

Maerad dreams about her mother Milana as First Bard of Pellinor, and in the dream Milana won’t turn to look at her. Maerad wakes up crying.

If she was First Bard of Pellinor, [Maerad] thought to herself, why did she not free us? Why couldn’t she have run away with me, like Cadvan did? Maerad couldn’t remember Milana ever mentioning her father, but suddenly she knew with adamant certainty that his death had destroyed her mother. She wondered what it was like to love someone like that, like her mother had loved her father, like Ardina had loved Ardhor. She never would: it was too dangerous. It had killed Milana. And even Maerad hadn’t been enough to save her. Why not? A pain she had never acknowledged opened and flowered in her breast. Why couldn’t she have saved her mother? Why did Milana die, so miserable, so broken, in a place so far from the bright world that was her right?

...she thought of Silvia, of how deeply she already loved her, of how in that short time in Innail she had been more of a mother to her than anyone. Except Milana before Pellinor burned, she loyally added to herself; but the truth was she could scarcely remember Pellinor.

Maerad further remembers that the Elidhu in the forest called her ‘daughter’ and starts spiraling into an existential crisis, remembering Dernhil too, and then moves on to whether going to Norloch is worth it and how exactly she feels about Cadvan.

She knew she trusted him as she trusted no other man in her life, except perhaps the father she could barely remember, but she didn’t really understand why. Perhaps it was because Silvia trusted him too; but inside she knew it was more than that. She remembered how he had first stood before her in the cowbyre, years ago it seemed, though it was only a couple of months: how his face then was gray with exhaustion, vulnerable, and, she thought now, sad. Even then it had not occurred to her to doubt him. ...what if he was wrong [about her being the foretold]? Would he then abandon her?

She can’t stop thinking and can’t sleep, so she goes outside to look up at the stars. Eventually she does sleep, wrapped up in a blanket. He tucks her hair away from her face and goes back inside to let her wake up naturally (I’m a sucker: SHE’S SIXTEEN but this is really cute).

The next morning Maerad is especially grumpy about not having the speech since that’s how everyone communicates here. Cadvan tells her to be patient and it’ll come. Maerad points out that he doesn’t know everything because he didn’t know about the elementals.

“No,” said Cadvan. “I don’t know everything. No one does, and only the foolish seek to.”

They discuss being set apart even amongst bards, but Cadvan won’t tell her why he is even if she’s noticed it.

Rachida is great, but Cadvan makes a sidelong comment about possibly not being able to leave since nobody knows about the place.

“I hope not,” [Maerad] said. “It’s time we left.”

Rachida is in fact like Gondolin in that once you’re there you aren’t allowed to leave, they learn when Ardina summons them back after a week. Cadvan makes the case that if she doesn’t let them leave there probably won’t be a Rachida to keep safe, because the Nameless One and the Dark are rising. He further tells her that he (Cadvan) was “captured by one of thy kin, one who inhabits a mountain some know as the Landrost. He was long ago snared and corrupted by the Nameless. He is a sorcerer of great malevolence and strength, and even so he is but a slave of that Dark power.”

Ardina acknowledges that she knows who he means, and Cadvan continues that his captor had a dark reflection of Ardina’s scrying pool, and in it Cadvan saw all the awful things actually currently going down in the world including the return of the Nameless because his captor hoped he would die of despair.

“The tools of the Dark have ever lied,” said Ardina swiftly.

“Aye, Lady,” said Cadvan. “But I am said among bards to be a Truthteller, and have the gift of knowing what is a lie and what is not: and I am long used to the deceptions of the Dark. What he showed me was not a lie. He could not have hoped to have tormented me with a falsehood or a meretricious shadow; and well he knew that.”

Ardina considers it and says that Cadvan has something else he should tell her, so he tells her that Maerad is the foretold. He takes his time about it: I can’t tell if he’s dolling out tiny bits of information in hopes that eventually she’ll stop asking before he has to tell her it’s Maerad that’s important or if the book is just dawdling a bit.

Ardina says Cadvan reminds her a little bit of Ardhor, and she really wishes he didn’t. She turns to Maerad.

“I see a Fate on thee, sister,” said Ardina softly. With a thrill, Maerad realized that Ardina was speaking to her in the tongue of the Elidhu, not in the language of Annar. “I sensed it when first I saw thy face. I know not what to say to thee, for thou art yet asleep, like the lily that sleepeth under the ground in winter; and yet within thee there dwells a fire of unsurpassed brightness, which will blossom in its own time.”

She says that she thinks it will mean the end of her people here in Rachida one way or the other, and Maerad says maybe it will be another beginning. Then she realizes that Ardina and the Elidhu in the forest are the same person, just slightly different aspects maybe.

“Aye, sister,” said Ardina, who was studying her closely. “You see aright. I am both Queen and Elidhu, here and there, wildefire and hearthfire, forgetting and remembrance. But do not yet speak of this, for men are impatient with such things and do not brook contradiction.”

Ardina says she’s going to let them go and gives Maerad a ring, telling her to be careful: “...you are sought by the Dark and the Light. Perhaps you will find that your Fate has nothing to do with either of them. It may be that you will find that your greatest peril exists already within you.”

She adds that Maerad has a great heart, but will suffer for it and shouldn’t let the suffering make her heart any smaller. She gives Cadvan only a blessing, but he says that’s pretty big in his books.

Maerad decides she will always wear the ring just like she always wears the jewel Silvia gave her, “as a token of love.”

They are led out of Rachida and bid everybody farewell.

Yet already it seemed to [Maerad] that a shimmering veil lay between her and Rachida, as if, even at this distance, it lay only within her memory, a golden dream of untouchable beauty.

THRONE OF GLASS

Chapters 32, 33, and 34, y’all.

Nehemia and Celaena walk through the gardens. Celaena reflects on how much of the common tongue she’s taught Nehemia even though they both speak Eyllwe on their walks, and how in learning Eyllwe she at least learned something in the mines.

Nehemia says that Celaena seems troubled. Celaena says she can’t tell her anything about it, and Nehemia says she understands secrets but will always be there for Celaena to talk to. She mentions that Celaena is always followed by guards or locked in her rooms, and “if [Nehemia was] a fool, [Nehemia] would say they were afraid of [Celaena].”

I’d worry that my friend was being unwillingly kept, but what do I know.

Nehemia says that she’s been talking to Georgina to keep her fingers in all the pies of royal politics, which I approve of. Anyway, they reach the kennels, where Celaena worries they aren’t allowed to be.

“I am Princess of Eyllwe,” [Nehemia] said. “I can go wherever I please.”

Rock on until you hit the evil conqueror whose will is supposedly never flouted, I guess.

The breeds were all fascinating and beautiful, but the sleek hounds aroused awe in her breast.

Breeds weren’t really a thing in medieval-ish society? You bred for traits, but you didn’t have, say, labrador retrievers or springer spaniels. I guess I can give some leeway because hounds were a thing, but you just went ‘I have a dog that’s great at sniffing out game, let’s breed it with ANOTHER dog good at sniffing out game.’ The classifications weren’t nearly so specific as ‘breed’ implies. Also, stop using aroused to sound fancy 2k18.

In short, when Dorian and Celaena discuss ‘mutts’ I roll my eyes a lot. If they looked nice and fulfilled a function, the dogs were already ahead of the game. If they just fulfilled a function, they were used for it.

ANYWAY.

Celaena gets angry when Dorian says that a puppy that hates people and also won’t get along with other dogs might have to be killed. Celaena immediately scoops it up and declares that that would be cruel, and Dorian says fine, he’ll find a family for it if it makes her happy and make sure she approves of the family.

But if the dog hates people and other animals, what kind of family are you going to get it to? You can’t put it with kids, kids like to pet soft things and a dog who hates people and other animals will bite. Dogs can do damage. Additionally, Dorian didn’t even say that the dog would be killed: it was a conditional. I hate to be on Dorian’s side, but he said if the dog couldn’t respond to humans it would have to be killed, and that’s an if. So like?

Nehemia and Celaena leave, discussing how pretty Dorian is and how much Nehemia has misjudged him (...?). Celaena says she would sooner cut her heart out than love a Havilliard, which. Fair.

Celaena considers running away once she and Nehemia split up, and runs into Cain, who is acting strangely. He finally leaves after appearing to almost choke himself and try to say something.

Celaena waited until the sounds of his fleeing footsteps faded, then hurried back to her own rooms. She sent messages to Nox and Pelor, not explaining why, but just telling them to stay in their chambers that night and not open the door for anyone.

I maintain that Celaena is Adarlan’s Assassin not because she is the most competent, but because everyone else is even more incompetent. The champion candidates are getting murdered left and right and nobody’s guarding their doors? I’d guard them on the off chance it was one of the champion candidates offing the others to eliminate competition.

Chapter 33

Kaltain smokes opium for her headaches. Perrington comes to see her and she swaps clothes and sprays perfume in the hope that he won’t smell it, and then drops hints about Lillian not being appropriate for the prince. Perrington agrees. Kaltain manages this while hallucinating and in the midst of a migraine.

Cut to Celaena in the library. Nehemia enters and says she didn’t know where else to go. Five hundred rebels were captured and being transported to Calaculla when they tried to escape and all of them were killed.

“What is the point in being a princess of Eyllwe if I cannot help my people?” Nehemia said. “How can I call myself their princess, when such things happen?”

“I’m so sorry,” Celaena whispered. As if those words broke the spell that had been holding the princess in place, Nehemia rushed into her arms. Her gold jewelry pressed hard into Celaena’s skin. Nehemia wept. Unable to say anything, the assassin simply held her—for as long as it took for the pain to ease.

We’re gonna discuss this later, y’all. For now, the next chapter.

It’s eleven pm and Nehemia has returned to her room. Celaena stretches and feels a cramp. We are informed she’s been like this for an hour. Philippa comes in with tea and says it’s a pity about the rebels, but that at least Nehemia has a good friend like Celaena.

She leaves. Chaol comes by and starts babbling his feelings on the matter to Celaena even after she tells him she isn’t feeling well. She throws up, which is fair - menstrual cramps are, as previously mentioned, nothing to sneeze at. Chaol is alarmed and escorts her to bed, where she finally fesses up that it’s her cycle.

He immediately flees.

Dorian comes in and decides they should play cards, since he knows she’s menstruating and wants to distract her. She throws a book at him, he says she should call him Dorian, and then he starts to mock her romance novels. She tells him Chaol wouldn’t read them either, so he takes one and hides the title to avoid being embarrassed I guess.

Dorian tells her she’s beautiful. We learn that he hasn’t ever known an attractive woman this long without courting her except Kaltain.

He goes from there to considering how he’ll feel about inheriting a conquering country to how Celaena must feel about being from a conquered country, with only a cursory mention of Nehemia, whose people are being killed right now you selfish overcooked monkfish.

Anyway, he tells Celaena he gets why she might hate him (no one ever mentions this to Nehemia) and Celaena tells him he isn’t like the others and he mentions the Yulemas ball.

Celaena can’t come. She wants to know why, and also what a yulemas ball is. Celaena, you are a motherfucking princess and also raised in this exact city, you know about the goddamn religion/celebrations.

She jokes about extending her regards to Perrington, and Dorian gets angry thinking of how Perrington treated Celaena. Dorian leaves.

Celaena stared at the moonlight as it streamed across the ceiling. A masked ball on Yulemas! Even if it was the most corrupt and ostentatious court in Erilea, it sounded dreadfully romantic. And of course, she wasn’t allowed to go. She let out a long sigh through her nose and tucked her hands beneath her head. Was that what Chaol had wanted to ask her before she vomited—a true invitation to the ball?

She shook her head. No. The last thing he’d ever do would be to invite her to a royal ball. Besides, both of them had more important things to worry about. Like whoever was killing the Champions. Perhaps she should have sent word to him about Cain’s strange behavior earlier that afternoon.

Celaena closed her eyes and smiled. She could think of no nicer Yulemas gift than for Cain to be found dead the next morning. Still, as the clock marked the passing hours, Celaena kept her vigil—waiting, wondering what truly lurked in the castle, and unable to stop thinking of those five hundred dead Eyllwe rebels, buried in some unmarked grave.

You forget about them quickly enough.

COMPARISON

Let’s get this out of the way: I love that Ardina is a failed Luthien, and I love that she kept on keeping on anyway. It’s an interesting contrast to how Maerad thinks about Milana, though later on we learn more happened than just Maerad’s father’s murder.

About the stars: Throne of Glass has a fascination with the stars, but usually in order to make bombastic statements about how much people want to sleep together etc etc. The bards have a whole culture surrounding stars (if you remember from way back in the very beginning, they’re even technically called Star People). When Maerad looks up at the stars, she’s pulling on childhood teachings that she might not consciously remember but remained ingrained in her. When Celaena looks up at the stars… well I don’t know, what do the stars even mean to Celaena aside from that one line about rattling them that originated with Treasure Planet?

Also we hit a menstruation scene in Throne of Glass, which is slightly better than I remember maybe. Everyone involved is super embarrassed except Dorian, who proceeds to try to embarrass her about her books and this is supposed to be funny? I don’t know. It feels very juvenile, but then so does the whole book so maybe that’s just what’s wrong here. You’d think menstruation in a YA novel aimed at young women especially would deal more maturely with the whole thing, but to be completely fair a lot of grown-ass people I know in real life deal with menstrual cycles in a juvenile way.

On the note of dealing with things well or not: I am not a fan of the narrative becoming All About Celaena once more when it’s Nehemia’s people who have been murdered. I understand that we don’t get Nehemia’s PoV, but we do get Dorian’s and he feel remorse towards Celaena ten times more than he feels for Nehemia, whose people are being murdered right now when he can in theory do something about it as opposed to a conquest that happened when he was eight or nine. This book’s priorities are very clear.

Both protagonists are likened to fire a lot, or having a fire burning in them, and both display fantastic capacity for destruction (granted for Celaena it’s in later books). Celaena gives lip service once or twice to not wanting to use her powers and/or wanting to be normal, but it always feels out of left field. Part of it is that we’re in her head so if the narrative doesn’t mention it it seems like Celaena isn’t thinking about it, and part of it is how little Celaena hesitates to use her phenomenal cosmic powers to threaten or punish.

Maerad uses her magic in times of fear and worries about it afterwards. She constantly worries, because it’s only been a few months. She trusts Cadvan and Silvia, neither of whom belittle her or invade her privacy or override her opinions. I wonder how Celaena would seem to us-the-readers if she had a more deeply developed relationship with anybody: it’s a pity that Nehemia is here to prop up Celaena’s supposed awesome, because Dorian and Chaol constantly override her opinions, deliberately invade her space to watch her sleep, don’t believe her if she says she feels ill, and force their presence on her when she doesn’t feel well. That’s leaving aside embarrassing her about her own body or her reading taste.

Honestly at this point Celaena feels like one of those children who are often unpleasant, but once you see their home life you understand: they have too many rules and not enough boundaries. Here, the book is the parent: it refuses to let Celaena move out of the role of Shining Light in the Darkness Who Can Do No Wrong when it tries to push the idea on us, while at the same time letting her get away with everything so long as it doesn’t directly stop the story’s goal. It’s bad writing and worse parenting.

Maerad is allowed to make mistakes and worry and second guess and be wrong. She’s allowed to be set down, but she’s also allowed to be right even in the face of her love interest, which is something Throne of Glass also doesn’t allow. Maerad is a sixteen year old coming out of a terrible situation that she ended up in through no fault of her own, and she’s adjusting, however slow the adjustment might be in some areas (or fast in others). Her experience has shown her, for instance, that dudes are to be feared or at least to be wary of, but her instincts and (short) experience with Cadvan say that he is trustworthy. Cadvan very purposefully gives her space: compare the scene a few chapters back in ToG where Chaol and/or Dorian watch Celaena sleep to the scene here where Cadvan finds her asleep.

First of all, he isn’t going into her private space looking to watch her sleep. He goes outside and she has fallen asleep there. He moves her hair out of her face and leaves her alone, in fact going back inside so she isn’t disturbed. Chaol and Dorian? Walk right into Celaena’s bedroom and stare. They stare a lot. They wake her up. They fantasize about her, so when they do something like move her hair back it’s fucking creepy instead of sweet. I cannot emphasize enough how deplorable I find it that these two men with literal power of life and death over our protagonist continuously enter her private spaces without permission (sometimes after being told to leave). It doesn’t matter that I hate Celaena. It doesn’t matter that I loathe Celaena with every fiber of my being. This is bullshit, and I hate it.

Cadvan, I think you might be worth 10,212 Dorians and 127 Chaols. Even your age difference goes by the wayside at this point.

STATS

Throne of Glass

Pages: 22

Fragments: 19

Em-Dashes: 49

Ellipses: 15

Pellinor

Pages: 29

Fragments: 9

Em-Dashes: 6

Ellipses: 7

[vaultsexteen]

The Vault Sexteen End of Year Fic Rec List 2017

because i read a lot of fallout fanfiction in the last five months and i want to justify it

i get into the nitty gritty of Why I Like These Fics So Much because i love explaining things, so i’m shoving this under a cut!

Honesty, Industry, Prudence by meanoldauthor

Slaves of Caesar's Legion are all but invisible. Most use it to avoid punishment, but the clever might turn it to their own gain. A rare few, through a roll of fate, might gain unexpected influence on the Legion itself.

Caesar's Priestesses are the only women held in any regard among the Legion, and even then only as caretakers and nurses to children. A mysterious and select group, their influence seems to go no further than the Temple doors. However, one lucky slave sees beyond the safety and softness of their work--and into a far deeper potential.

a wholly self-contained, character-driven story that takes us through life in the Legion through a woman’s eyes, and also one of the first FNV fics i ever read that captured my interest. i love worldbuilding and i super love when fics explore and build upon established canon and give these worlds their own space to breathe, to take a peek behind the curtain. this fic builds upon the Legion’s lore excellently, weaving a rich tapestry that makes the setting come alive. Aquilina is also a very compelling character with strong motivations, and keeping up with her life was always super interesting.

Qui Sumus by ghostofshe

A deceiver, two frumentarii, and a Courier, betting on the future of the Legion with a stack of mismatched cards and stolen caps.

4 chapters and yet to be finished but i love love love it. the Courier gets replaced by his twin sister and it’s already an intriguing premise but the writing for the characters really sold this fic for me. if you can’t tell, i am a sucker for character-driven stories, but that’s really because the characters are the backbone of a good story, for me - and the ones here are super strong and distinct and are really fun to watch. Cato and Nox and Canus are great, but i also love the depiction of Vulpes Inculta here - here’s a version of him that’s around someone familiar, which is super jarring usually, but what we’ve seen of him so far works for the character in my opinion.

dear hearts and gentle people by cheloniidae

The Courier survives the Second Battle of Hoover Dam. Her mother loses her all the same.

the Courier’s exploits told from her family’s point of view - a concept that’s been done before, but this one pulls it off the best, in my opinion. short but bittersweet! all the details about Johanna’s life and her relationship with her family come forward, and her motivations for the events of FNV, which take place off-screen, are at the forefront.

oasis of light by cheloniidae

A late night's work before the war.

(Instead of a family, Robert House has a city.)

if i am a sucker for anything, it’s character studies, and this was an excellent character study for House. it’s under 700 words but it perfectly encapsulates House’s motivations and feelings so well that it made a huge impression on me, and made me think about how i frame the motivations of my own characters.

G, You Look Good To Me by moon_crater & SynthApostate

Razz has a problem. O’Hanrahan is more than happy to help! Cheerfully, annoyingly happy to help. Whether Razz wants him to or not.

this fic is SO CUTE. it’s SO GOOD. minor FNV characters really got to shine in this fic, it has 6 chapters so far and i love every single one of them. it does a fantastic job of setting up the budding relationship between its main pair, their chemistry is so great. they’re finding that they have more in common with each other than they thought - but they also start to appreciate their differences, too. and it’s not just about o’hanrahan & razz, but poindexter and mags have integral roles, too, and their relationship as a whole unit is explored as well. i love how their friendships are slowly but surely developing together.

Here’s to the Losers by moon_crater

Fate decides Benny needs to acquire four-feet-ten inches of mouthy sidekick. Benny disagrees. Too bad he's got no say in the matter.

don’t you love it when characters are kicked down a peg or two or ten? ‘cause i sure do, and this fic hits Benny hard. Benny Gecko, shitty garbage man, has to take care of a smart-mouthed little kid, and it’s beautiful and also amazing. he’s still so obviously Benny, he can smooth-talk his way out of getting killed by raiders but he’s also always looking around every corner for anything that might kick him in the gut or stab him in the neck, and it’s just amplified when he’s in a situation where he has to look out for something other than himself. they got his character down cold and the situation they put him in is a great test of that character. plus, the kid is super funny and a great character in their own right, and i love their interactions! they play off each other super well!

The “Moron” in “Moroni” by TerribleAndSadThings

“Men like Graham do not change, Courier. His loyalty was never to Caesar, but to the war Caesar provided him. His religion is not that of New Canaanites, but that of battle. His god is not of kindness or mercy, but of slaughter.”

first off, THIS COURIER. WHAT A CHARACTER. seeing this Courier that is just a force of nature is so great, and my favorite kind of Courier if i’m being completely honest. just reading the other NPCs try to figure out how this Courier even works is always entertaining. and then there’s his relationship with Joshua Graham, which feels like such a cataclysmic disaster yet feels very very right. this fic has maybe one of my most favorite depictions of Joshua Graham ever.

and that’s not even getting into the SMUT PART

Case File: Vulpes Inculta by RandamHajile & turianosauruswrex

In the year 2299, over a decade and a half since the death of Caesar and the fall of the Legion, we’ve followed two reporters, Delilah Wells of Radio New Vegas and Carlos Rendón of the New Vegas Times, as they’ve come together in the capital city of the Mormon nation of New Deseret to uncover the mystery behind a grave anonymous tip they’ve been given–is Vulpes Inculta, the infamous war criminal said to have been slain in 2282, still alive and free in the Holy City of New Zion? And if so, what sort of danger could he pose, and can he be brought to justice for his heinous crimes? Join us now as the trail goes hot, and the mystery deepens…

now this list is NOT in any particular order BUT... this is the Best fanfic i have ever read this year, bar none. it’s at 2 chapters so far, but don’t be fooled: it’s an epistolary whodunit with loads of journal entries, audio recordings, letters, transcripts, and more to pore through and discover. what i can say here, i already said in the comments for chapter 2:

Words cannot grasp how much I love this fic, but by Jove, I'll try. It's SO GOOD. And wonderfully written and presented, holy crap. It's plain to see how much effort went into making everything look, and it adds so much to the characters and setting: examples that stick out to me are the pristine, color-printed recruitment pamphlets of Brotherhood of Steel; Delilah's photographs; Arthur Young's ADORABLE stationary; the sketches in Carlos' notepad; the New Vegas telegraphs... I'll be here all day if I list 'em all. And those are just the VISUAL element...

The audio recordings have mismatched volume levels for each actor and are at times hard to make out, which is explained in-verse by having the recordings be from a wire - not saying it's bad, in fact I think it gives the recordings lots of personality. And the voice talents themselves do a great job! Delilah has a nice, clear voice for radio and Carlos is mumbly with a sort of flat voice, which I think suits him perfectly.

The writing and worldbuilding is just stellar, too. Delilah and Carlos KNOW what they're doing, and I love learning more about them as more and more details begin to show themselves, and it's all very seamlessly integrated with the main story. Trying to figure out the mystery of Vulpes Inculta along with them never feels boring and I am on the edge of my seat wondering how things are going to develop aaaaahhhhh oh my GOD.

In short, I love this fic and I think anyone who loves Fallout should read it. Thanks!

THOSE HAVE BEEN MY TOP PICKS FOR THIS YEAR! YOWZA!!!

[peentuba9-blog]

The Friday Five | August 2018

This cute outfit is linked in THIS post!

Hi there, friends!

I don’t know about y’all but this month has flown by! Fully embracing the opportunity to unplug, whether it be with my family in the mountains of North Carolina, college girlfriends in Jacksonville Beach, or one of my best friends in Spain, this month has been nothing short of a blessing … and all because of a conscious choice to let my people trump productivity and ‘doing it all’. While I love what I do, it can be easy to let the fusion that exists between my personal and professional life cause me to get too caught up in capturing the moments with people I love rather than fully being present in them. I have come to realize that I have been robbing myself of ‘rest’ when I try and capture everything. So, although I love sharing, and I am certainly a natural sharer, I’ve found a lot of joy in keeping some moments to myself …

What was it about this month that gave YOU life? Be sure to share in the comments below. One random commenter will receive a surprise gift from me. The winner will be announced on Instagram stories on Monday!

Okay, let’s get this edition of the Friday Five started! At the end of the post, I linked ALL of my outfit details from my recent trip to Spain. If you had questions about ANY outfit from my trip, it is linked in this post!

5 Items I’m Buying From The Sephora Rouge Sale

Beauty products can get really expensive … am I right? One of the reasons why I love shopping at Sephora is because the more I invest in making my beauty product purchases there, the more I am able to save when the Sephora Rouge and VIB sales come around a couple of times a year! Their Rouge sale begins today for Rouge members and VIB members get to enjoy the savings next week!

What are you purchasing?? I feel like it’s important for us to share our lists with each other because there are just SO many goods on Sephora’s website. It’s hard to be in the know on EVERYTHING, hah! So, share in the comments what you’re buying and what I might want to consider!

A lot of what I’m considering are skincare products because those are so much more of an investment than any other beauty product. In my opinion, they’re far more important than any other beauty product. So, take advantage of the savings by investing in some of the skincare products you’ve been needing refill’s of or you’ve been tempting to try! Here’s my list:

Drunk Elephant

THE LITTLES

In my pursuit of being a consumer of clean and cruelty-free beauty products, it’s been hard to miss the buzz surrounding Drunk Elephant. I am so happy with the skincare products I have already invested in and use daily, as they also fit the bill as being either clean or cruelty-free. For that reason, I have been a little hesitant to check out Drunk Elephant but, I figured there couldn’t be a better time than now to give them a try to see if I’d like to incorporate any of their products into my routine as an addition or replacement. I decided to start with this eight mini product set called The Littles. It has a value of $123 but is sold at Sephora for $90, however, with the sale is $72 so that’s an over $50 savings in value! I’d say that’s a pretty good deal for EIGHT products!

Ole Henriksen

C-RUSH BRIGHTENING GEL CREME

Vitamin C is necessary for collagen production and maintenance. If you’re new to skincare, collagen is the most abundant protein in the body and is what gives structure to your hair, skin and nails. It’s important for your skincare products to promote the production of collagen as it will help improve your skin’s youthful elasticity. Vitamin C is also a powerful antioxidant that can neutralize free radicals in the skin and, ultimately, helps to soften fine lines and wrinkles and prevent new ones. My old Vitamin C cream was by a brand that was not cruelty-free so I had to part ways with it and have been keeping me eyes open for a new one. I have been looking at this one by OleHenriksen, which is a natural skincare brand based in Los Angeles, California. It’s sold at Sephora and if you peruse the list of products available to try, it’s easy to see how many of them have almost a full five stars. Today, I am picking up this C-Rush Brightening Gel Creme [if you prefer serums, they have this Vitamin C serum] and their cleansing cloth wipes. I know makeup removing wipes aren’t great but I do like getting the initial layer of makeup off with them before starting my full skincare routine. I’m also looking at trying their daily moisturizer and their cold pore mask!

Stila

STAY ALL DAY WATERPROOF LIQUID EYELINER

I have been using this liquid eyeliner by Model Co. + Karl Lagerfeld and I absolutely love it! However, it is a little pricey and I have been looking for one that stands up to it in terms of quality but is a little easier on the bank account. I am going to try out this Stila Liquid Eyeliner. The sale price of the Stila eyeliner is $12 less than the Model Co. one, which is considerably less! So, I will report back and let you know if it’s a comparable product to the one I’ve been raving about!

Kate Somerville

ERADIKATE ACNE TREATMENT

I absolutely love Kate Somerville products, especially her exfoliator treatment, and have been looking to see how I can incorporate more of her products into my daily skincare regimen. I don’t have many things that I need, to be honest, but an acne spot treatment is something that I don’t currently have due to having to discard some of my products with the transition to cruelty-free. So, I’m excited to give this product a try. Have you tried it? Or have you tried this one by her? Let me know if you prefer one over the other!

All of her products are cruelty-free and they are all highly rated on Sephora’s website!

Violet Voss

MATTE ABOUT YOU EYESHADOW PALETTE

If you’re a longtime follower, you know my love for eyeshadow palettes and that, when I wear makeup, I typically have my eyes done up! Truth is, putting on eye makeup in the morning is a really fun way for me to just zone out before the day begins. I have this palette and this palette by Violet Voss and they are two of my most used. Their eyeshadow palettes offer a variety of shades that are highly pigmented and blendable. I need another eyeshadow palette like I need a hole in my head, but I am tempted by this palette made up of very basic, traditional shades that I think are perfect for everyday eyeshadow combinations, especially with the Fall season creeping up, where we’re more inclined to wear deep berry, lavendar, burnt oranges, and browns. What do you think? Work with what I’ve got or indulge??

5 Safety Tips for Traveling Solo Like A Pro

Look up the route to your destination ahead of time and familiarize yourself with it before leaving your current location.

There’s nothing wrong with having an app help you get to where you’re going but doing this will help you not look so much like a tourist, constantly looking down at the route and trying to figure out what street to turn on. 

Walk confidently.

You can easily stand out as a tourist in some destinations but I find that if you act like you know where you’re going you can really fool people into thinking you’ve been here awhile. When I’m in London, walking confidently comes very natural to me because I am so familiar and comfortable in the city. People stop me to ask me how to get places all the time. I definitely think that when you look confident and competent in the place you’re in, people will see you as that, as well, and therefore, might not mark you as a target.

Keep in touch with one person at home consistently while you’re on your trip.

Touch base with this person every morning and every evening, always keeping them up to date on your plans for the day and when you arrive safely back at your place of accommodation. This will be helpful in identifying whether there were any issues throughout your day that someone might otherwise not know about. If you don’t have a great international plan, you can always use Facebook. I personally use What’sApp but there is Viber available to use, as well.

Leave the flashy stuff at home.

You never want to draw too much attention to yourself when you’re traveling solo so as to not give anyone who might be looking for an easy target to guess maybe you’re not from the area and you’re traveling by yourself. So, leave any nice jewelry or designer items at home. When I’m walking around London by myself, with no photoshoots planned, I wear basics like skinny jeans and a tee, maybe a jean jacket, and very simple makeup … foundation, concealer, powder and mascara. 

Don’t stay out too late and don’t drink too much.

When you’re traveling alone, it’s important to keep an eye on your surroundings at all times and that can be hard to do at night, in an unfamiliar place when you’ve maybe had one too many cocktails. Drinking could also potentially cause you to become Chatty Kathy at the bar and disclose to the wrong person that you are traveling by yourself. I think it’s fun to meet new people when you’re traveling but I do think you need to pick the times and places that you disclose that information very carefully when you’re by yourself!

Five Pre-Fall Items To Buy Now

SUEDE BOOTIES

I’m such a sucker for a pointed-toe bootie, or just shoe in general. There are a lot of new booties coming out with Western influences, whether it’s a stitched design within the leather or metal adages, like this one has. I’m thinking about giving these [seen left] a try when I get home as they are a little different than the other bootie styles I already own and I have been gravitating toward suede shoes for the Fall the last few seasons. These are a little pricey, but here are some other suede bootie options that are a little more affordable:

WOOL HATS

A wool hat is the one Fall accessory that I feel completes your outfit. The great thing about this accessory is that they are typically very affordable! Here are three that I think are super cute and versatile! Two are under $100 and another is a little higher quality, which I find to have better shape:

Simply tap the hat you want to shop to be taken to the product page!

SUEDE MOTO JACKET

A suede moto jacket is to Fall what a fitted blazer is to Spring. It’s a great way to elevate any basic Fall outfit. I got this jacket in a deep purple color last year and couldn’t justify the price when I knew I wouldn’t wear it that often. After returning it, I missed out on my chance at a neutral color in my size so decided to wait to purchase it this year. I should be getting this one in the next couple of days and I’ll be sure to review it for you guys on Instastories!

I got an XS because I do remember that it runs true to size, which is a rarity in outerwear, in my opinion! So, opt for your usual size! Also, the quality of this jacket is top notch for under $200!

BLANKET SCARVES

Blanket scarves are essentially just large scarves that make you feel like you’ve wrapped yourself in the warmest blanket you own. They are a fun accessory to throw on to add a little personality to your outfit! Now is a good time to pick up a really affordable one before they’re all picked over! If none of these fit your fancy, be sure to check out a retailer like ASOS a few times a week to see their new arrivals. They always have really great, affordable blanket scarf options!

This one by White + Warren is my all time favorite, though! It may be pricey but it keeps me so warm!

BASICS

Basics are going to be the most worn items in your closet this season. Basics range from striped tees that go with cardigans and jackets to skinny jeans that go perfectly underneath your favorite over-the-knee boots! These are items that you will see bloggers style continuously and later in the season, you’ll wish you had bought them earlier because they’re sold out of your size! Buy these items now! I promise. You will thank me later!

To help you out, I have rounded up a few of my favorite basics below:

Five Things I Want To Accomplish Before the End of the Year

READ SIX BOOKS

I didn’t share my New Years Resolutions with you all but one of them was to read one book a month and, well, I’ve failed miserably at this. I started reading again while I was in Spain and am now a few chapters deep in two different books: The Londoners by Craig Taylor and Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis. I read so many books when I lived in London because I always had my Kindle with me and would always read on the tube because I never had service down there. I pumped the breaks a bit when I got back and wish I hadn’t. It’s hard to start again but after getting started on those two, I really am energized to keep going. Here’s my list of books that I want to read and am challenging myself to finish six of them by the end of the year:

CATCH UP ON ALL THE TRAVEL DIARIES I OWE Y’ALL

Travel diaries are some of the most time intensive blog posts that I put together for AlysonHaley.com and, while they are also one of my favorite posts to put together, I simply am not able to get them all done in as timely of a manner as I would like. This is often because, when I return from my trips, I am juggling so many other projects and investing time in other posts that also take quite a bit of time, like Friday Five’s or Beauty reviews, for example. So, before the end of the year, I’d really like to finish the travel diaries for Curaçao, Paris, Boston, Amsterdam, Positano, Lisbon, Porto and Spain. I also want to do a post on Procida, Italy and the four little fairytale towns I went to in France last year. Will it happen? Honestly, probably not. Those are going to take awhile and the busiest season of the year [for bloggers] is on its way! So, I will absolutely work hard to get the ones that I can to you but, just so I know, which of these three do you want to see? Fill in your choices HERE.

GET BACK INTO THE GYM WITH MY TRAINER

Last year, I worked out with my friend and trainer, Troy, and shared it with y’all in a couple of posts. After my travels started really picking up toward the end of the year, I was really bad about scheduling myself to get back into the gym. It was a crazy time of year for me and I just told myself that I didn’t have the time to do it. I also moved so that didn’t help. The truth is, you have time for what you make time for and I should be investing more in my health and wellness. After having knee surgery in April and going through a few rehab appointments, it was really clear to me how much weaker my right knee and thigh muscles are compared to my left. I’ve definitely been working it out with all the walking I’ve been doing in Italy, Portugal and Spain but I really need to work on strengthening. So, I’ve been thinking about calling up Troy and seeing if he’ll take me back 🙂

REDECORATE MY LIVING ROOM

I absolutely love all of the cool tones and romantic feel of my living room but I am thinking about making some changes this Fall. I am talking with my friend, Vonna Kelly, who is a local interior designer, about some ideas and I’m really excited to see what we come up with! I’ll have to introduce her to y’all. She’s super sweet and so good at what she does!

FINISH DOING THE RESEARCH THAT I NEED TO DO FOR …

So, I shared in a Travel Q&A that I did on my IG stories with Whitney that I have been talking with an immigration lawyer based in London to explore the possibility of moving there. It’s a huge decision and it would likely change / impact my business greatly. My Dad always told me that you can have all the ideas that you want but, before going after any of them, doing your research could potentially benefit the implementation of those ideas greatly. So, I’m in a research phase right now. I have the blessing and support of my family if I do want to do it. They know how much I love it there and, although they don’t want me to be that far, they would help any way they can to help me see it happen. However, I still have a few people I need / would like to speak with before making any final decisions. This is something that likely wouldn’t happen until 2020, if I’m honest, so let’s not all get ahead of ourselves, hah! There are some other things I want to do before making a move like that but I’ll be keeping those to myself for now but essentially they are things that would put me in a better position while I’m over there.

Five Spain Outfits With Earrings On Sale

Baublebar is hosting a huge 20-30% off sale right now and I styled so many of my favorites while I was in Spain. I rounded up ALL of my Spain outfits below, for your convenience, but five of them include earrings that are included in the sale!

I love these turquoise earrings so much! They are so fun paired with this top! Snag them now for up to 30% off! And, don’t miss this top, either! It comes in three other color / pattern color combinations!

These adorable statement earrings are currently on sale for up to 30% off!

I got so many sweet compliments on my jumpsuit! It is super sassy and perfect for a date night or fun night out with your girlfriends! Whit and I’s espadrille wedges were both handmade in Spain so cannot be linked.

My floral cami is actually a body suit and currently on MAJOR sale. It also comes in three other color / print options!

These adorable statement earrings are currently on sale for up to 30% off!

Everything I’m wearing, except my sunnies, is under $75!

My dress is under $55. My slides are under $70. My earrings are currently on sale!

How adorable is this dress? It flows so freely! I love it! My earrings match perfectly and are currently on sale!

Thanks for stopping by, lovelies! I hope y’all have a great weekend and thank you for showing my friends who took over the blog while I was away all the love! You guys flocked to all of their posts and I know they appreciate it, as do I! 🙂 xo.

Source: https://alysonhaley.com/2018/08/the-friday-five-august-2018.html/