#I like big books and I cannot lie

[belzebubsofficial]

The date continues...

[kaywrites23]

I think I am kinda in the middle. Some stories benefit from romance and others just don’t need it to enhance the plot.

How about you, what do you think?

[malicious-compliance-esq]

Not me being visible on Bisexual Visibility Day with a fun new “getting to know you” game from @meerawrites who tagged me!

Last Song? “Splatter Splatter” by Moxy Früvous, apropos of a hilarious discussion about horror films on the BJR Discord server.

Favourite Color? Black for my clothes—all I wear really. But I’ve jewelry in many color palettes, and in general tend to appreciate intentional coordination among colors rather than one particular color above others.

Currently Watching? Nothing at the moment save typing progress on my computer screen! I am also between shows right now. Sometimes I don’t like non-monotonous external noise during my thinky time. I’m also still digesting Season 2 of Good Omens and find myself needing to blast y’all with guys for a bit before moving on to new pleasures.

Last Movie/TV Show? Champions is the last film I watched. If you love the original White Men Can’t Jump and support Special Olympics, don’t miss this. Also don’t miss the remake of White Men Can’t Jump, for that matter—it’s hilarious and offers a fresh spin on the story.

Sweet/Spicy/Savory? Spicy all the way! Preferably with some salty and sour in the mix.

Relationship Status? Married to an awesome fellow bisexual person for 7+ years and together for 12+ years. Spouse and I have always had an open relationship. They’ve had a second partner for several years; these days I’m privileged to enjoy another precious connection as well. In deeply bisexual fashion, my choice of company comprises a mixture of sex and gender characteristics. Totally crushing it at Pokémon Go over here.

Current Obsessions? The Outlander canon and creative work involving BJR are a constant. I also love watching documentaries about extreme weather situations and the science of unpacking them, and reading nonfiction books in a similar vein even though they are farther afield from my professional and creative work than many of my other nonfiction choices. As far as foci of the moment go media-wise, definitely Good Omens is my “consume much content” one right now. I’m also really looking forward to watching the latest seasons of Reservation Dogs and Winning Time with my spouse.

Last Thing You Googled? Black Jack Randall photos for my Evil Redcoat Pipeline post celebrating Bisexual Visibility Day!

All the usual ERP mutuals are always encouraged to participate when spoons avail! I’m also tagging @lowgardn, @traycakes, @patronsaintofdemons, @unwholesome-gay, @blindbeholder, and @hummustea because I’d be very curious to see your responses if you’d like to jump in.

[manoomagoo]

Mi hanno chiesto dei consigli di lettura per Natale: siccome non c'erano indicazioni, ho deciso per:

La saga che mi ha fatto innamorare della lettura

Un romanzo agrodolce che parla di amore, di viaggi e di dignità

Un libello squisito la cui protagonista è la più iconica delle regine

Un romanzo sull'India e sulle sue donne (che ha anche le ricette dei cibi che mangiano in treno)

IL romanzo dove c'è tutto: amore, disprezzo, vendetta, riscatto, perdono, avventura.

[nightmareduckling]

It makes me very sad to know that there will probably never be a print version of the Oxford English Dictionary 3rd edition and you should be sad too.

[skitzoprincepnw]

1.22.23

I just started reading Artemis Fowl and I just read the first chapter..

Thanks Amazon Prime

[rbtbc]

My March of the Mammoth book pick.

She thick. 816 pages. Pray my strength in the Lordt!!

[kaywrites23]

Currently reading Kingdom of Ash and I’m scared

[ibeattheinternet]

[sarah-aliterarylife]

5 Doorstop Novels For a Long Weekend

I like big books and I cannot lie! Please excuse the Sir Mixalot reference, but I love a big book.

Here are a few of my favourites :

1. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (825 pages) Five weeks. That’s how long it took me to get through Margaret Mitchell’s epic exploration of the American Civil War and life in the Deep South.

Fans of the film should be mindful that the novel is very different to the film version. Scarlet O’Hara is much less of a southern belle in the book – she’s an unapologetic, hardnosed , and at times shockingly unpleasant, woman. She gives birth to 3 children (not one, as depicted in the film), and her first two marriages are not quickly discarded failures – indeed her second marriage to Frank Kennedy lasts for several years and is probably her happiest, if not her most comfortable, relationship.

There is no doubt that Gone With the Wind is a controversial novel. Much of the language and attitudes are of their time and have the power to shock modern readers to their core (myself included). But as an epic tale of war, poverty, love, heartbreak and loss, there is little to beat it.

2. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susannah Clarke (865 pages) Sorry JK Rowling – this is the finest novel ever written about wizardry and magic in England. Fantasy books don’t usually do it for me, but Susannah Clarke’s depiction of two wizards in 19th century England was recommended to me by a good friend and family member. It blew my mind! It was so good that I read it again a few years later, just in time for the BBC adaptation.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell has been described as Tolkein meets Jane Austen, but I don’t think that quite does it justice. It has stormy nights, spells, haunted ballrooms, bells that ring in the night, and sinister gentlemen with thistledown hair. It also has a terrifying scene at York Minister involving talking statues. (I’ve still never visited York Minster - you’ll understand why if you’ve ever read the book)

It is a novel that enthrals and scares the reader in equal measure!

3. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (771 pages) I wasn’t expecting to enjoy The Goldfinch as much as I did. At first, I couldn’t quite wrap my head around how the tale of little boy who steals a priceless painting could be strung out over 771 pages. That shows how much I know. I couldn’t put it down! What unfolds is an unforgettable story of childhood trauma, addiction, the value of authenticity, despair and ultimately, hope. I loved it and can’t recommend it highly enough.

4. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (633 pages) This is a great choice for readers who are interested in Charles Dickens but intimidated by the complexity of his novels. I read this book during Christmas 2022 – it took me a big two weeks to finish, but every word was worth it. It’s a riveting read.

The novel transports Dicken’s David Copperfield to the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia, one of the poorest areas of the USA. Dickens’ themes of poverty and survival are translated effortlessly to the US foster care system. In this world, family may be the one we are born with, or the one given to us via social care. Addiction is everywhere and poverty is “as natural as the grass grows”.

I won’t spoil much more of this wonderful book as I will discuss it in greater detail in a future instalment, but suffice to say you will not regret making the acquaintance of Demon Copperhead and his friends.

5. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (853 pages) “Like a circle in a circle, like a wheel within a wheel” I found this quote from the song The Windmills of Your Mind on the Amazon listing for The Luminaries, and it sums up this twisty, spiralling novel very well. Don’t bother with the BBC’s pedestrian adaptation – your time is far better spent on delving into the novel instead.

The Luminaries demands of the reader an investment both of time and focus. Set in the New Zealand goldfields in 1866, it is a story that quite literally takes place at the end of the world.

We begin with a tense gathering of twelve men, who meet in secret to discuss a series of unsolved crimes. From there unfolds a story about boom and bust, shipping, banking, murders and ghosts. Don’t try and read it on your daily commute (like I did). Settle in next to a roaring fire, grab a blanket and a hot drink, and just go with it. Let the twisting, slippery narrative and the darkness wash over you. You won’t regret it. What’s your favourite doorstop novel?

[bestbookfriends]

The fact that Xaden is drawn as much (or perhaps more) to Violet's intelligence as he is to her physique is refreshing. So often an MMC comments on the FMC's looks or emotive qualities, sometimes even their physical strength / prowess. Rarely is the comment made about the FMC's intelligence. I'm here for it.

[printcharms]

[virmillion]

local idiot reads book titled 'icarus,' is shocked when it contains references to falling and the sun, more at eleven

[astronicht]

Okay I'm almost done with Fellowship, here's an incomplete list of shit I noticed and thought was buck fucking wild on my first ever read-thru: medieval edition.

In literally the second line of the book, Tolkien implies that Bilbo Baggins wrote a story which was preserved alongside the in-universe version of the Mabinogion (aka the best-known collection of Welsh myths; I promise this is batshit). This is because The Hobbit has been preserved, in Tolkien's AU version of our world, in a "selection of the Red Book of Westmarch" (Prologue, Concerning Hobbits). If you're a medievalist and you see something called "The Red Book of" or "The Black Book of" etc it's a Thing. In this case, a cheeky reference to the Red Book of Hergest (Llyfr Coch Hergest). There are a few Red Books, but only Hergest has stories).

not a medieval thing but i did not expect one common theory among hobbits for the death of Frodo's parents to be A RUMORED MURDER-SUICIDE.

At the beginning of the book a few hobbits report seeing a moving elm tree up on the moors, heading west (thru or past the Shire). I mentioned this in another post, but another rule: if you see an elm tree, that's a Girl Tree. In Norse creation myth, the first people were carved from driftwood by the gods. Their names were Askr (Ash, as in the tree), the first man, and Embla (debated, but likely elm tree), the first woman. A lot of ppl have I think guessed that that was an ent-wife, but like. Literally that was a GIRL. TREE.

Medieval thing: I used to read the runes on the covers of The Hobbit and LOTR for fun when I worked in a bookshop. There's a mix of Old Norse (viking) and Old English runes in use, but all the ones I've noticed so far are real and readable if you know runes.

Tom Bombadil makes perfect sense if you once spent months of your life researching the early medieval art of galdor, which was the use of poems or songs to do a form of word-magic, often incorporating gibberish. If you think maybe Tolkien did not base the entirety of Fellowship so far around learning and using galdor and thus the power of words and stories, that is fine I cannot force you. He did personally translate "galdor" in Beowulf as "spell" (spell, amusingly, used to mean "story"). And also he named an elf Galdor. Like he very much did name an elf Galdor.

Tom Bombadil in fact does galdor from the moment we meet him. He arrives and fights the evil galdor (song) of the willow tree ("old gray willow-man, he's a mighty singer"), which is singing the hobbits to sleep and possibly eating them, with a galdor (song) of his own. Then he wanders off still singing, incorporating gibberish. I think it was at this point that I started clawing my face.

THEN Tom Bombadil makes perfect sense if you've read the description of the scop's songs in Beowulf (Beowulf again, but hey, Tolkien did famously a. translate it b. write a fanfiction about it called Sellic Spell where he gave Beowulf an arguably homoerotic Best Friend). The scop (pronounched shop) is a poet who sings about deeds on earth, but also by profession must know how to sing the song or tell the story of how the cosmos itself came to be. The wise-singer who knows the deep lore of the early universe is a standard trope in Old English literature, not just Beowulf! Anyway Tom Bombadil takes everyone home and tells them THE ENTIRE STORY OF ALL THE AGES OF THE EARTH BACKWARDS UNTIL JUST BEFORE THE MOMENT OF CREATION, THE BIG BANG ITSELF and then Frodo Baggins falls asleep.

Tom Bombadil knows about plate tectonics

This is sort of a lie, Tom Bombadil describes the oceans of old being in a different place, which works as a standard visual of Old English creation, which being Christian followed vaguely Genesis lines, and vaguely Christian Genesis involves a lot of water. TOLKIEN knew about plate tectonics though.

Actually I just checked whether Tolkien knew about plate tectonics because I know the advent of plate tectonics theory took forever bc people HATED it and Alfred Wegener suffered for like 50 years. So! actually while Tolkien was writing LOTR, the scientific community was literally still not sure plate tectonics existed. Tom Bombadil knew tho.

Remember that next time you (a geologist) are forced to look at the Middle Earth map.

I'm not even done with Tom Bombadil but I'm stopping here tonight. Plate tectonics got me. There's a great early (but almost high!) medieval treatise on cosmology and also volcanoes and i wonder if tolkien read it. oh my god. i'm going to bed.

edit: part II

[pretty-little-mind33]

BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM!

(ft. aaron taylor johnson characters)

ask: Idk if you do headcanons like these and I don't quite know how to get my ask into words. So, fluff, and positions that reader is usually in with the boys that you write for. I don't mean sexual positions, or cuddling ones, or any specific, just positions.

warnings: briefly sexual (nothing major)

includes - in said order

~ James Potter - harry potter marauder's era (yes ik it's technically a fancast but 🥺 he's my baby)

~ Tangerine - bullet train

~ Dave Lizewski - kick-ass

~ Count Alexei Vronksy - anna karenina 2012

~ Tom Ryder - the fall guy

~ Pietro Maximoff - avengers: age of ultron

~ hope you like this! kinda turned into relationship headcanons with a theme! ~

• James's love languages are a mix of physical touch and acts of service which means he always has his hands on you in some form or another!

• Holding your hand while you walk? Check. Having an arm around your shoulder when you're sitting on the couch? Check. Playing with your fingers/hair when he's bored in class? Check.

• Basically, he's a koala and you're his favorite tree.

• He walks with his hand in yours, your fingers intertwined (just holding them is for the weak) and he'll stroke his thumb on your palm.

• When he becomes agitated and can't sit still anymore, he'll bounce all around you and you physically cannot get him off you. It's times like those that means you aren't the little spoon anymore—he is.

• (Bonus points if you scratch his head while you spoon)

• James gives the best piggy-back rides. THE B E S T. He'll hold your hands in front of him, making you laugh as he runs around the common room (annoying everyone else) and then drops you on the couch. If you're laughing so hard you're crying his mission was successful.

• He loves when you lie against him. Not necessarily for cuddles but just when you're tired, or you're reading a book and he's being used as a prop lmao. He likes feeling useful!

• When he picks you up, he likes having you wrapped around him—your arms around his neck, his on your ass!

• Not in a sexual way but he likes leaning against your boobs and using one as an stress-ball if he can. He thinks your boobs/stomach are the best pillows ever.

• If he's still criss-cross, you'll always find yourself in his lap, playing with his fingers as he mumbles sweet nothings in your ear or just casually has a conversation with his friends.

• When James is talking to you, since he's taller than you (make him any height lmao canon don't matter—have your fun, babes), he'll hold your chin to help you look up at him. He tells you he can listen to you better if he focuses on you like this.

• It's bullshit but you don't care.

• You love wrapping your arms around his strong torso, feeling his muscles under your hands.

• Overall, James can NEVER take his hands off you. You're just his favorite girl!

• Tough guy pretends he doesn't like physical touch—and yeah, most of the time he does hate it. He's kind of a germaphobe and a neat freak so having strangers touch him? He'd rather put a bullet through their skull.

• Only, you aren't a stranger. You're his partner—his lover.

• Tangerine's favorite place where he holds you is around your waist, griping lightly onto whatever you're dressed in and squeezes your flesh. As in to say I'm here, I'll always be here for you.

• His love language is 100% quality time and acts of service. He loves being around you. He likes touching you in small ways, like resting his chin on your shoulder when you cook, or holding your hand in public and overwhelming situations (like in a bus, or a plane, or even walking in a crowded street).

• He's silly and overprotective like that 🤭

• When you're at dinners with friends, he'll always sit next to you. Always. He's facing the door in case something happens, his hand lightly touching your thigh as the conversation continues.

• Big spoon!! His hand gently resting on your stomach, his lips near your ear as he snores only gently. The blankets are a mess all tangled around you both.

• Random but Tangerine 100% likes his room cold!! So, the more blankets the more he's warm and toasty and he can snuggle you!

• He likes picking you up bridal style. 1. So he's all cute and like a handsome prince saving the princess (which makes you swat him over the head because ew) and 2. simply to display his own strength lmao.

• You guys will play-fight often. It's not even training—even though it's disguised as training—it's just him chasing you around the house and attacking you with tickles, smooches, and love-bites!

• He doesn't give you piggy-back rides necessarily—instead, it's more like during those play-fighting times you'll jump on his back and hold an arm around his neck while you laugh.

• Tangerine isn't phased and will often simply shrug you off him and send you a glare (hiding a smirk).

• You like trimming his facial hair while you sit on his lap. He's sitting on the toilet seat, a bowl of hot water on the sink beside him and he has you on his lap, carefully holding his face in your hands as you shave him/trim him and use the water to wipe the shaving cream away.

• Constantly pretends to dislike your attention in a joking way, but genuinely loves when you shower him with love! He's love starved fr.

• Dave is similar to James in the sense that he loves touching you whenever he's around you. He loves nuzzling his head into the crook of your neck and leaving little kisses.

• He likes having his hand in yours when you walk around, or even if you're sitting and doing something—like watching a movie!

• His favorite position to be in when you're on the couch watching a movie is him sitting normally and you're tucked into his side, leaning on him. Poor lil dude sometimes forgets to watch the movie he's so enamored by you.

• When you're out grocery shopping, you like to stand on the cart with his arms around you from behind as he pushes the cart (if that makes sense! it's very cartoon-esque if you know what I mean) and he likes making funny impressions in your ear as you're pushed around the store.

• Dave likes making you laugh! Which means sometimes he settles for stupid jokes, but other times he gets into tickles you mercilessly when you're cuddling in bed. It's so bad you almost piss yourself and you have to push him off you.

• You retaliate—of course—almost breaking his glasses as he flops around the bed too much!

• Dave plays video-games, I feel like that's obvious and he likes when either you hang around him when he's playing or if you like sit in his lap and do your own thing, or watch along with him!

• Sometimes, he'll even let you eat his headphones so you can listen along and "play".

• If you're good at video games, you often take over hard levels for him and he doesn't at all feel threatened! Or maybe only once when Todd and Matry tease him about it but otherwise he likes that you're good at the games he isn't good at!

• Dave lets you try on his kick-ass mask! Which you find super fun and you have a blast, taking loads of cute selfies which you obviously can't show anyone!

• You make fun of him bc his mask is ugly (sorry 😃) but in a loving way because he pulls it off.

• Dave 🤝 peppering kisses all over you!

• Holds your bags for you (school, shopping, any bag) and he knows the side-walk rule! He also does that thing where if you bend over and there is something sharp, he's put his hand over the sharp corner (sometimes even subconsciously)

• DAVE LIZEWSKI IS SOO BOYFRIEND CORE 💞

• Alexei is obviously more formal given the time period and his social status. He grew up rich and well-educated, and he's a cavalry officer meaning he's well-trained in discipline! Which means, he's not a very obviously affectionate person in public!

• In other words—no PDA 🙂

• In public, he'll have his hand resting behind your back, he'll keep you close to him and he'll save all his dances with you but nothing more.

• In private? Oh, he's very affectionate.

• Neck and cheek kisses galore! Whenever he walks by you, he'll spin you around and then press a chaste kiss on your lips—complimenting you on your dress/hair.

• Sits close to you at dinners and he holds your hand under the table, stroking your thumb. It's intimate and private so he loves doing this!

• Alexei helps the maids with your corset and everything if he’s ready before you and he loves watching you put on your makeup and your jewelry. He finds it fascinating and he'll just sit on the bed and talk to you where your maids help you.

• Obviously, he loves going riding with Frou-Frou! He gifted you a horse so you could learn how to ride and you guys can go on picnics and ride around fields all cute 🥰

• While you have your own horse, he still wants you sitting in front of him on Frou-Frou most of the time, your back pressed to his chest as he takes control.

• Very very much into taking control on the relationship.

• He likes to dance with you! You'll have little dancing sessions in the parlor room and it's very very fun!

• Lights cigarettes for you! (like that scene in the movie, yk the one! I'm salivating!)

• OKAY TOM RYDER L O V E S TEASING.

• It's basically his love language! He's very much like a school boy who pulls girls hair in the playground because they like them…so immature at times 😀

• Still, he has his mature moments!

• Tom really likes having his arm around your waist, his palm flat on your stomach—claiming—as in saying you're his and only his.

• Say you're in a conversation with someone and Tom is around? Boom, he's by your side in seconds and he's holding you possessively. Fake smiles all around (yes, he's jealous)

• Tom likes taking you to his favorite restaurants (bonus points if it's fancy and he can see you all dressed up!) He'll pull out your chair and all that! Very gentlemanly when he wants to be!

• He likes laying his head on your lap when you're at home watching a movie or something. It's completely innocent and he especially loves when you play with his hair!

• You like to shower together—no further elaborations 🤫

• Back to the teasing—that means whenever he sees you on set, he'll make small comments or slap your ass and whistle. It can be seen as kinda hostile but you know he means well and you just flip him off if it really bothers you.

• Tom likes to assert his dominance, which means he'll do the thing if you're in the kitchen and he needs to walk by you, he'll lift you by your waist and manhandle you any way he wants.

• MANHANDLING IS HIS THING 😏

• Hand holding but it's his arm across your shoulder as you hold his hand. He likes doing this when you're walking around because he can be close to you!

• If you're a yapper, he'll always listen but he'll also get distracted so he does the humming thing and that's when you know you've lost him.

• You swat him on the back of the head if he's acting too dumb—which prompts him to chase you around and punish you with a thousand little kisses.

• Secretly a dork that acts all cool and shit 🙄

• Very sexual lmao. Horn-dog. Can making anything that isn't sexual—sexual. He'll grind against you unprompted and also pretend to fuck you from behind if ever you bend over!

• Big boob and ass guy so when he's cuddling with you, he'll need to hold onto one of the two or he'll whine like a child.

• "What? I'm just a guy, babe. I see 'em, I want 'em," is his favorite excuse 💞

• Pietro is hyper active and that means he loves doing active things with you: like running, or swimming, or any kind of sports.

• Super spontaneous so he'll just come home with a trip to go rock-climbing randomly and you're just 😀 huh, what?!

• Obviously because of his super-speed he loves to pick you up and have you in his arms while he runs. You guys can basically run everywhere lmao.

• Pietro likes when you dote on him when he's tired from running! He really likes when you play with his hair and make sure he stays hydrated because of all the exercise he inevitably does!

• He's BIG on being cared for 🤭 like treating his wounds after a mission!? He'll stay extremely still for that and grin so hard when you take care of him.

• BIG HUGGER! Fully wraps his entire arms around you like a teddy bear and kisses your neck!

• He's a competitive guy so he likes making up competitions with you. Who can eat more cherries in under a minutes? Who can find the weirdest looking plant in the store? Who can run faster to the pole (this one is plainly unfair) either way he finds random little games he likes to play with you.

• I think he's the little spoon 😌 he likes being cuddled.

• You both tease each other. DEF you're a prank couple (in the cute way not the psychotic youtuber way)!

• He's a jokester so making you laugh is his favorite pastime and his one goal.

• Bonus points if you snort out your water/drink if you do laugh. He likes seeing how embarrassed you become and it makes him want to kiss you even more!

• Very boyfriend core even if slightly immature