#I'M BAD AT FINISHING BOOK SERIES OK

[roz-ani]

I hereby declare the 1995 "Pride and Prejudice" TV series to be the superior adaptation. Thank you. You are dismissed. Have a nice day ❤️

(rambling in the tags)

[stuck-writing-sickos]

In Poor Taste [P3]

[Series Link]

(Yandere × F! Reader)

[Warning: explicit language, uncomfortable interaction, pushiness]

[A/N: ok, the pace has been slow, but it's gonna pick up in the next chapter 🙏🙏🙏thank u guys for supporting my story so far. Lmk how we feel about Lukas and Yuki ❤️❤️❤️]

You were never crazy about spoiled rich men. They were nothing but troubles.

Yuki Sakamoto didn't like the new guy. He would never say that, but he would think it. From across the teacher's lounge he would see the newcomer sitting with his head tilted back, his feet gliding on the floor as he played with the office chair. The carefree manner with which this American carried himself was a sore thorn he couldn't avoid seeing, given that Yuki's tall frame forced his head to peak past the cubicle walls, alligning his vision perfectly with the sight.

Yuki supposed this guy should not be his problem. After all, the foreign department had never been not loud and unkempt, save for the few dilligent teachers who kept to themselves, fading in and out silently like shadows. He managed the Science subsection, and from what he heard, this freckled eyesore would fall into Literature. Into your hand.

So, not his problem.

Still, he couldn't help but feel the irksomeness. Yuki blamed the summer heat. The window directly behind him was catching bright sunlight, and the flimsy blinds could not filter out enough heat. The suffocating AC air wasn't of much help, what with roughly 30 other teachers recycling their breaths between 4 walls. The cicada's maddening screams was adding to Yuki's mood - his blaring headphone could not mask them. His fingers danced across his sleek keyboard, desperate to punch in the last exam's score to the excel sheets. He felt his heavy eyelids drooping and his tense shoulders slouching. Yet, across from him, the newbie was scrolling on his phone, gliding on the chair's wheel as if he was a bored guest.

Yuki wondered if you even assigned this jackass anything, or if you had simply taken on the workload yourself. You had always been like that: quiet and accepting. Surrendering. You let your department get away with too much. At that thought, he couldn't help but chew on his lip a little. A poor boss, that was what you were. You didn't know how to distribute workload, leaving your guys dependent and spoiled. Yuki much preferred his team: quick, straight to the point, and no nonsense.

He felt bad for you. It couldn't be helped, though: you had the expertise that compelled his respect, but your reluctant attitude was wearing you down. Your team sure knew how to take advantage of that.

Lost in his thought and the repetitive manual task, Yuki let himself flinch a little at the bell. He glanced at his americano now so dilluted that the coffee had sunken to the bottom, leaving melted icecubes and murky cold water to float atop. The sweat building around the plastic cup left a puddle on his desk. Yuki wiped it off, his face souring. He didn't even finish his coffee before lunchtime.

Maybe he was in a bad mood because he was hungry and insufficiently caffeinated.

The door slid open. Here you were, walking in silently. You never made loud sounds. Even when you spoke, your voice was soft and quiet. Yuki could never really make out what you were saying if he hadn't paid close attention.

"Mr. Sakamoto?"

That would be him.

Your meek voice barely reached him from over there. Yuki saw you setting your books down in your cubicle. His head perched up as he smiled at you. He had a soft spot for you, despite his opinions on your management skills. In truth, he was worried, and when he couldn't voice his concern for you to the degree he felt, his worries fermented into frustration. Seeing that new slack-off playing on his phone right beside your cubicle could not have helped.

"Yes, I'm ready", he smiled and stood up, knocking on his chair gently. It slid backward a touch too far, and he awkwardly fumbled as he set it back into its place.

By chance, he had become your lunch buddies for the last 2 years. The first year, he didn't care to get to know you all that much. By the second year, Yuki's walls had gone down after your serious attitude proved to be consistent, and it was completely dismantled ever since he discovered your music taste and his was a perfect fit. He liked to talk to you: you were gentle and kind, not overly affectionate or friendly, something he didn't expect from the foreign dept. Plus, you tried to accompany him during lunch as often as possible. "Why", he did ask you one time, and you simply responded with "well, it's no fun eating alone". But you never specified who was "alone", and he didn't feel like pushing it.

As he made his way toward you, Yuki saw the new guy stood up with an expectant look. "Well, where are we going?" - he asked, his head turned toward you. Yuki's nose scrunched at that, but it quickly relaxed so as for you not to notice. Was that something you had planned?

You seemed dumbfounded, too. Your wide eyes darted between both men, lingering on Yuki to scan his reaction.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I don't think I ever introduced Mr.Lukas to you, Mr. Sakamoto", you laughed nervously, your hand gesturing to direct Lukas' attention to him, "Mr. Lukas here is going to be a new member of my team. He will also be working on the summer program with us."

Upon closer look, Yuki found less reasons to like Lukas. This was clearly a fresh grad who only came to Tokyo for the experience. He could see the lack of care in his boyish face - he was not taking much seriously.

Yuki would not say that. But he would think it.

"Pleased to meet you", he said, shaking the outstretched hand that Lukas silently offered. He could feel the weight of the man's stare.

The feeling was mutual, then.

The awkward silence was heavy. Yuki shifted. He was about to just leave you to it on the off-chance that he was interrupting when you suddenly spoke: "I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Lukas. I was hoping to discuss some confidential work details with Mr. Sakamoto. Can we have lunch together another time?"

"Oh?" Lukas arched his brows at you, incredulity left bare on his face. Yuki felt himself internally scowling when his empty green eyes turn to his direction, as if to ask for confirmation.

How rude. How very, very rude.

"Apologies, Mr. Lukas", he came to your aids, "there were some issues with her contract regarding the summer program. I would love for you to join us for lunch any other day."

"Does tomorrow work?"

Yuki was stunned. He was used to pushiness from new employees who were clueless about Japanese social cues, but never to this extent. From the 2 years he had spent in Australia, Yuki had gathered that this conversation was an evident rejection. He wondered if this kid was dumb or purposefully grating.

Before he could open his mouth, you interrupted between nervous laughter: "Of course, Mr. Lukas. See you tomorrow!"

"Okay. Bye you guys. Good to meet you Sakayono!"

Yuki was wide-eyed. He saw Lukas' smug eyes challenging him.

"Very well then", he said, bewildered. You followed him, your eyes somewhere as big as his own.

Only until the teacher's cafeteria did Yuki peeped about Lukas.

"How's the new kid?"

Your expression dropped as you settled in to your seat, your neat lunchboxes unwrapped from the handkerchief.

"Well, he's not a kid. He's only 4 years younger than you."

Yuki's mood was getting to him, and he let it slip- "as far as attitudes go, that's a kid to me."

You didn't react. Perhaps you shared his opinion. Lukas opened his own packed meal, lightheaded now. His eyes were still readjusting to natural light after staring at a screen for too long.

"I agree, he's quite young. But I'm hoping he would be a good addition to the team. He did sign a 2-year contract."

Yuki found your feigned optimism both sad and frustrating. Sad because you were trying so hard to be professional when that eyesore wasn't, and frustrating because he was personally disrespected just moments ago.

"Are you for real?"

You painfully laughed.

"I know... I know... but what else can I do beside my best, right? Plus, he is actually smart. All the task I handed him was done like", you snapped your fingers, "that."

"Well, that's ... good. I guess that's why he was sitting like that all morning."

"Yeah, but hey, he got his job done. He is pretty new. I'm sure he will learn about the culture soon enough."

Your eyes scanned his face. It seemed he was too tired to hide his feelings.

"Sakamoto, please don't worry. I will be fine. There are better things to look forward to, right? Like your show tonight!"

Yuki bashfully looked down at his half-eaten meal, his ears going red. He had been performing underground since ever, but hearing it from other people's mouth never failed to render him an embarrassed mess. Likely it was the switch-up: he still found it hard to balance between his daytime self as a serious teacher and the "him" who played electrice guitar to drunken crowds under blinding stage lights. You knew his secret - you, someone from work, someone that happened to stumble upon the flyer his band had posted online last December wherein his face was unfortunately unmasked. Before they took it down, you had managed to take a screenshot and rushed to him. "You?" -your dreadful message read above the attached picture. Yuki still shuddered remembering that moment: his blood was cold as ice.

Sometimes, that's what happens when your music tastes match perfectly.

"It's... nothing special."

"Well, I'll be there this time, for sure."

Before Yuki could thank you for the support, he was once again startled.

"Be where?"

Too engrossed in the conversation, he was caught by complete surprise when Lukas towered over the table. In sync, you and Yuki turned, neck craning to meet eyes with the young trainee.

Lukas stared you down, disregarding completely the other end of the conversation. Once again invisible, Yuki uncomfortably readjusted his glasses.

"Oh, um...We were just talking about-

Lukas leaned closer, his frame closing in on you. Your eyes met Yuki's in a moment of panic before going back to the man who looked as if he was in an interrogation. Yuki now could notice the quality of the obnoxious new guy's clothes - nicely ironed blue button-up with seamless stitching, and a long pair of slacks with a glistening leather belt. Must be alligator skin, Yuki thought to himself, barely hiding disdain toward the wastefulness.

"I'm sorry", Lukas spoke, his voice slow and deeper than usual, "I couldn't quite hear you. You have a very soft voice."

"Oh, sorry. I was just talking about-

"It's an underground punk rock show", Yuki interrupted smilingly, "we were just talking about how nice it would be if we could attend one some day."

Lukas turned to him only partly, his body still pointed at you.

"Oh? Is one happening tonight? I'd love to catch one, too."

"I didn't know you were into rock music."

"Well, I'd love to try out new things. I'm in Japan, for starter."

"Unfortunately we both have plans tonight, so even if there were any, we wouldn't be able to make it."

"Both of you? A plan together?" - Lukas now turned to you again.

"Not together...", you patiently responded, your eyes downcasted, "I'm having dinner with a friend, and Mr. Sakamoto here has something else going on."

Now blatantly ignoring Yuki, Lukas chuckled.

"I didn't know you were into punk rock. You didn't tell me that over drinks last Friday."

Yuki knew too well it wasn't out of the ordinary for a senior colleague to fratenize with a junior early into a job, but the attitude on Lukas and the didrespectful way he framed it left a bad aftertaste in his mouth.

He now found the persistent smile on Lukas' face very, very, very shitty.

"It wasn't something worth mentioning", you shook your head.

"Well, then I definitely will catch a show soon!"

Yuki felt like a crazy person watching this chucklefuck flirt. He was close to be embarrassed on his behalf - just juvenile and completely out of bound.

"Mr. Lukas", he cut in, "if you don't mind, we would love to catch up with you any other time. As we said, we were hoping to discuss some confidential materials."

"I thought you guys were talking punk rock?"

"It was just a passing thought."

Lukas looked to you who nodded in agreement.

"Oh, my bad, my bad. I'm still new to all the- you know! Well don't mind me, then."

Yuki waited for the guy to disappear completely behind the cafeteria door for his expression to sour. He could not hide it any longer.

"Good kid", he snarkily commented. You slumped in your seat, your eyes squeezed shut tight.

"Should we just get him the hell out of this school before he actually causes you trouble?" Yuki pressed.

Your face fell at that. You looked down, your fingers tapping on the table softly. Your chest heaved.

"I'm sorry... I overstepped."

"No", you waved your hand, trying to play it off, as if your voice didn't crack, "it's okay. I'm fine. You didn't-

If it was Lukas' plan for lunch to be unbearably awkward, he got what he wanted.

"Hey, don't you worry. Wanna see something that will make you feel better?"

Make him feel better? You were the one that needed that care. Yuki opened his mouth to protest, but you were quicker to flash your phone screen toward him.

The QR code to his show.

"See? I won't backtrack this time, for sure! I felt bad to get sick right before your last show."

Yuki's chest still felt heavy, but the way you reacted just then told him to drop it.

"Don't beat yourself up about that. You couldn't help getting sick."

You sheepishly grinned.

"I know... but I was sad to miss it. Well, this time there is no way I would!"

Yuki laughed.

"Thank you... we're no good, but I'm glad you'll be there."

"I already listened to your album, you know."

"I know."

When lunch was over, Yuki still felt a nagging anxiousness. He couldn't blame the hunger now. Clearly, something else bothered him. He wanted to say it was the lack of caffeine or carbonhydrate in his meal, but he knew that it was neither. It was the creep that cornered you, and likely will so many more times in the next two years.

His suspicion was in some way validated almost immediately. Right as he returned to the teacher lounge, his eyes met Lukas' monitor which displayed a punk rock clothing website. Lukas himself was nowhere in sight and neither were you - it was most likely that you had taken him to observe some lessons.

Upon this discovery, Yuki couldn't help the part of himself that found Lukas pathetic and desperate. So he chuckled. But another part reminded him that despite the ridiculousness, it was best for him to keep an eye out for this clown from now. Even though this person may be off-putting to the point of comedy, there was something strange about him.

Yuki thought it, but he didn't want to say it yet.

[maitter-of-creepfell]

Ok, so let's list them, my babies which got cancelled cruelly and often without an explanation, with my random commentary:

The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself (Half Bad) (gif) - witchy, dark, gay, big potential for a natural polycule, excellent chemistry among the main three characters, I am so mad.

Castlevania - need I say anything?

Dead Boy Detectives (gif) - supernatural, horror, funny, gay ARE YOU FKING KIDDING ME YOU CAN'T JUST CANCEL IT WE ONLY JUST GOT IT

Dead End: Paranormal Park - a trans main character? Cute animation? Supernatural stuff? Hello???

Fate: The Winx Saga (gif) - so much fun, great acting, good soundtrack, good plot twists, childhood throwback, I want my Winx back.

First Kill - LESBIAN MAIN CHARACTERS in a classic trope of a monster (vampire) x monster (vampire) hunter forbidden love? The acting, at first, might not have been what I'd call great but I think it was more of the script's fault.

I Am Not Okay with This (gif) - dark, horror, teen, another lesbian main character, cute as hell, cancelled at the worst possible scene.

The Imperfects (gif) - a bit fucked up plot-wise, tbf, but all the more fun for it. Cool twists and abilities. And Rhys Nicholson as Dr. Alex Sarkov is hilarious. Also, a spin on an ace succubus. Lol.

Lockwood & Co. (gif) - the books were the slowest of slow burns and had the least reliable narrator of all time (Luce. I'm looking at you. Anthony Lockwood is also looking at you.) and the TV series chose the protagonists SO WELL 😭 I loved it. I want more. So much more.

Mindhunter - psychology of serial killers, this had SO MUCH potential for a tonne of more content.

Sense8 (gif) - different cultures, action, an evil old white man, explosions, martial arts, gayness, transness, LOVE CONQUERS ALL, BITCHES. Technically, it's finished, but it was rushed.

Shadow & Bone (gif) - wonderful fantasy! Try not to cry, cry a lot.

Spinning Out (gif) - actual believable representation of a mental/neurological illness (bipolar disorder) and stunning figure skating shots?! Cancelling it was a criminal offence

And just because I'm in the wailing part of my evening:

Stargate: Universe (gif) - why yes, cancel it at the biggest cliffhanger ever.

Our Flag Means Death - 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[l3st1b0urn3s-707]

Ok, now that I've finished Wind and truth there are some things I really want to talk about, not only about WaT, but Stormlight in general (this is probably going to be a long post).

While reading this book I didn't feel as inmersed in the story as I did with Rythm of war, probably because I read WaT so fast, and RoW is my favourite cosmere book and that was hard to top. However, I didn't think I would've felt as nostalgic reading it as I did.

Now, I started The way of kings in december 2022, arround christmas time, and I spent all of 2023 reading Stormlight with some other cosemere novels in between, so I didn't have to wait much until book 5 came out. But remembering little moments from prior books like the bridge runs, or the training in the chasms and all that stuff really made me feel very emotional.

And one thing I trully love about this series and that's had me tearing up for the last few days is the amazing representation of mental health struggles, which is so present all troughout the books. Because if I had to highlight just one thing about this series is how seen it's made me feel. When I started reading Stormlight I wasn't very well mentally, and even if i didn't have the exact same struggles as Kaladin or Shallan I realized that in some ways my feelings/ thoughts were really similar. I'm much better now and I've been working on it for quite some time, and I really love how wonderful it's been to be able to grow with this characters and kinda go through this process with them, and on the bad days, taking some time to remember that things will get better.

So, even if Wind and truth wasn't my favourite Stormlight book, I really loved it and I'm extremely thankful for its release. I'm very excited to see how the story will evolve in later books, and I'll definitely be there for it. For the moment I just wanted to take some time to appeciate what this journey has been so far, and we'll continue it together until it reaches its destination!

[secretsandwriting]

HELLO!!!, can I request a etho fanfic

So this is not hermitcraft but the life series, so I would like the secret life one. like etho got a task but it involves reader, they have to like they both have to kill 2 or 3 warden together, but unfortunately the reader died, but the reader will respawn tho. if you dont want to make it secret life you can do it in hermitcraft, but it will change a few, BUT ITS FINE, That it! I dont know if you get it or not😭😭 but I hope you do get it🥲🥲, THANK YOU💜 LOVE YOUR WORKSS🫶🏻🫶🏻

I got this in April, i'm sorry it took so long!! I hope you see this anon!

Anyways, this has a hint of the hermits being borderline god mentioned bc I love that so much. So many emotions too...

Death Games and Wardens

Etho wasn’t sure how to go on about this, He had to keep his task a secret but it involved you. He stared at the book in his hands.

Kill two wardens with Y/n. Neither of you can die.

The thought of you dying sent a pang of fear through him. Logically he knew that if you died, you would respawn and if you lost your last live you would go back to your home server. Which was hermitcraft, the exact Server he would return to. 

Respawning was bad on a good day, but on a Server with rules that didn't follow Players normal code and instead added some, made respawning even worse. He didn’t want you to go through that. 

“Etho!” His focus was torn away by you. He couldn’t help but relax around you, even when playing against you in death games. Somehow, you brought comfort to him no matter the circumstances. The book burned in his hand as he remembered what your task was. He saw your book in your hands and a nervous grin on your face. “You got a good one?”

“Let's go somewhere private.” You nodded and followed him to the border. Etho glanced at the two sentences in his book and signed. The fear of you getting hurt was back and growing stronger. You broke the silence, apparently he waited too long to start.

“Does your task involve both of us?” He nodded, the sick feeling in his stomach growing. “Good my task does too… Now.. Is yours something we have to do?” Another nod and more stomach pains. “Ok, this is my task.” You handed him your book and he opened it.

Etho’s secret involves you. Do it with him and guess what it is to finish.

Etho may read this book.

He somehow hated this more. You didn’t even know what you were getting into. That meant more room for mistakes and mistakes would lead to a very fast death. You were oblivious to his dilemma and just waited for him to figure it out, assuming he was just trying to figure out how to go about this. The expression on his face was very abnormal but these were death games, they put everyone on edge and filled them with stress.

“Are you ready?” Etho’s head jerked up to look at you. “We only have so much time after all.” He sighed and nodded. He really wanted to come up with a fake task but he knew you wouldn’t like that.

“We need to gear up.”

Fully geared,you followed Etho do into a cave, when the shrieker went off, you hesitated. This wasn’t looking good. This had to be a hard task and probably involved wardens. Something you avoided no matter what. The sound of the Shrieker going off a second time had adrenaline pumping through your veins and terror settling in your bones.

“Etho,” You whispered. “Is the task to summon a warden?” 

“No, but that's your closest guess so far.” You were starting to understand Etho’s hesitation and strange looks. The shrieker went off a third time, darkness filling your vision and the sound of a warden spawning filled your ears.

“It’s over here,” Etho whispered. You weren’t sure what to do until you saw Etho launch himself at it and attack it with his sword. Pulling out your bow, you shot it with arrows both to lower its health and to help Etho out of any sticky situations by drawing its attention away.

To focused on the fight, you didn’t notice the second warden spawn or it approaching from behind until it was too late

Y/n was slain by Warden

Etho’s attention on the warden shattered when he saw the death message and another warden standing in the middle of all your items. His hesitation cost him some hearts but he managed to get away and took the surface without them following. Rushing to spawn he looked around, desperately trying to find you and make sure you were ok. He found you not too far away, sitting on the ground looking a bit dazed.

“Y/n!” Etho grabbed you and held you close. “I’m sorry! I should have noticed! I shouldn’t have let it happen!” You sat in his arms, letting him ramble at you while you readjusted  after a hard respawn. When you finally got yourself together, you listened to Etho’s rambles, pulled yourself out of his grip, and slapped him hard. Etho immediately stopped and jerked back to look at you.

“Pull yourself together!” Etho immediately took a deep breath and squeezed your hand. Once he was calm, you continued. “Etho, I'd respawn no matter what. You know that. If I didn't respawn here, I’d be back on hermitcraft. If I wasn’t there we have enough people that are almost gods on the server I'd be found and brought back.”

Etho shuffled forward and dropped his head on your shoulder, he wrapped his arms around your waist and his shoulders shook with sobs. You ran your fingers through his hair while your other one rested on his back, you slowly rocked side to side. From your spot you could see a few of the red names started to surround you.

Your communicators buzzed with the 5 minute warning but you knew you wouldn’t make it until then. Not with the intent in Gem’s face as she came closer. She paused and pulled out her communicator and typed for a second before flipping it so you could see the message to Xisuma letting him know to expect you. Something only done when one of the players was having a rough time. She smiled when you mouthed a thank you and slipped it back into her pocket before lifting her sword.

Etho was slain by Geminitay

Y/n was slain by Geminitay

Waking up on hermitcraft was disorientating. It always was when you respawn from another server due to death. Your communicator buzzed with a message from Xisuma.

Xisuma: Did you respawn ok? Gem messaged ahead, she didn’t specify who

Y/n: Yeah

Y/n: Etho was having some trouble at the end. Did he respond?

Xisuma: No, I was just about to go check on him.

Y/n: I’ll do it. I’ll let you know if anything went wrong with his respawn.

Xisuma: Ok

You got up from your temporary bed at your mega base and made sure your elytra was equipped before shooting off to Etho’s base. You searched the entire place, the only sign of Etho was the messy bed and his communicator on the floor. So you took a gamble, instead of flying you ran down the path leading to your starter base. Looking for a mop of white hair along the way. With no sign of him along the way, you looked through your house. Stopping in the doorway of your room to see Etho sitting on the floor next to your bed.

“Etho.” He didn’t seem to hear you. “Etho!” You tried again, nothing. Carefully, you moved towards him, making sure to go slow. When you were close enough, you gently rested a hand on his shoulder. He jerked out of your grip and looked up at you.

“Y/n!” He launched himself at you, pulling you close and holding you tight, relief crawled up his spine as he clung to you. “I thought you were gone.”

“I just respawned at my mega base. I told you I would respawn… Come on, let's lay down for a bit.” You managed to get Etho into your bed and when he relaxed you sent a message to Xisuma.

Y/n: Etho’s ok, just the death part of the death games messing with his head.

Xisuma: Ok, take care of him. Let us know if you need anything.

With that out of the way, you put your communicator away and decided to get some rest. Maybe when you woke up, the two of you could figure out what you were. But for now, you were tired.

Etho x Y/n shippers

Geminitay: I kinda felt bad, Etho was clinging to Y/n when I killed them. I mean CLINGING

Xisuma: Y/n went to help Etho right after his respawn when he wouldn’t respond and then let me know he was ok.

Xisuma: What happened?

Grian: So I might have purposely messed with their secrets so they had to work together. I forgot it might have been a bit traumatic.

ImpulseSV: What were their secrets?

Grian: Ethos was to kill two wardens with Y/n and not die and Y/n’s was to help and guess what it was.

Xisuma: Etho is literally laying on top of Y/n in their sleep

Geminitay: THEY'RE SLEEPING TOGETHER

Grian: THEY’RE CUDDLING???

Xisuma: [Image]

Tangotek: You think they’ll actually talk this through after this or not?

You two did not in fact talk about it afterwards. Both of you just acted like it didn't happen and the group chat with every hermit except the two of you were outraged

[rory-multifandom-mess]

I finished catching up on BFDI and I wanna give my final (not really) thoughts on it. Yes I was thinking about this the entire time I was taking a shower. And yes I did accidentally spend too much time in there because I was focusing too hard. What do you want from m

Anyway I'm putting it under a cut because I'm so so nice

TL;DR: I REALLY LIKE TPOT & BFDI people aren't looking at it DEEP ENOUGH. AAAGH

Ok so basically. I don't think BFDI was ever about the prize. Well maybe in the first season when Cary and Micheal had no idea what they were doing because they were like 12. But y'know. Anyways.

I think, over time, the series became focused on the contestants more than anything. It started to focus more on relationships, how the characters interacted with each other and their surroundings and circumstances. It became like a ... not a message. What's the word. A story, I guess. About how easily relationships can be changed, good or bad, maturing and growing, learning to respect boundaries, finding a soulmate. All of this stuff packaged in like. 5 seasons. kind of.

Like. Firey and Leafy for example. They were good friends until Firey refused her entry into Dream Island when he won. She got angry and jealous and felt betrayed, so she Fucking Stole It from him, breaking his trust. And for the longest time they stayed strained. Nobody liked Leafy, not even Firey, and that hurt Leafy a lot, I imagine because she'd been isolated for so long. But through communication and almost forced proximity, they managed to work things out. While it took them a little while, they finally reconciled. They forgave each other. They realized that their friendship was more important than some dumb prize. This is really important to me I think. It's such a strong message- that nothing- nothing- is more important than connecting with other people.

And I think what perfectly contradicts this is Pencil in TPOT and. a lot of Golf ball too. Golf Ball says it herself in the most recent episode- she'd been so focused on winning that she hadn't realized she was hurting people- Donut literally had to shout that at her for her to realize that.

Meanwhile, because of Pencil's tarnished relationship with Book and Ice Cube - and the trauma that came with being trapped in Four's head for years - she's become jaded almost. She doesn't care who she hurts or what she has to do, she can't go back there. Even though she wouldn't-- there's a new host, with a new elimination area. I know her """"Crashout"""" scene gets dogged on a lot, but it's genuinely a super powerful scene. It's a view into her mind, into what she's thinking. She's not thinking rationally. She doesn't care if the timeline is ruined, she has to win.

I think another big reason why Pencil is the way she is is. well. she was away from everyone for years. Things have changed so much. Freesmart is gone. Match isn't by her side anymore. Everyone is so different. She wants things to go back to how they were before Four and X showed up, I think that's why she's so adamant on Book joining her alliance.

Meanwhile, Book is already learning to move on. She's making new friends like with Winner and Price Tag, she made up with Ice Cube and Gaty by giving them the space they wanted. In a way, Pencil and Book are very good foils of each other. One can't move on, while the other is already on her way, working her way towards betterment.

Pin and Coiny are a good example of another thing-- codependency. Ok that's not the right word I think but it's similar. She relies on him so much. They've stuck with each other since BFDI I think, they've been through so much together- him getting eliminated in TPOT was hard for her because of this. And also the fact his elimination was during a high-stress situation. She used his ass as a shovel wdym thats not love LMFAO. Anyway.

I just. AAGAH. There's so much more I could say, so many good examples, but this'll get way too long if I keep going. Final message is this:

Don't judge things at surface level. Looking deeper into things is how you find a deeper appreciation for it, even if there's flaws. The BFDI series is very good and well written, and the attention it gets is much deserved.

Oh and btw if anyone disses you for liking TPOT or any object show in general I will personally kill them for you ok? ok. Thanks for reading guys I'm totally normal about the characters in this show

[clonerightsagenda]

top 5 books that could been good (unfulfilled potential? cool idea poorly executed?)

Ok I routinely get into my discord DMs and start bitching about books that were poorly executed but now I have forgotten all of them. However I'm going to start typing and hope I remember something by the time I finish.

From Below by Darcy Coates. I have said several times someone should do a horror story with the preserved shipwreck corpses in the Great Lakes. Someone did! Sort of. It's not set in the Great Lakes for some reason but follows the same principle, so you get gross preserved underwater zombie scuba diving horror. Excellent. Love it. Except this book bizarrely attempts to explain the horror scientifically and magically at the same time?? and also has such an unbelievably bad decision I couldn't accept it even in a horror story. Sorry I don't think you would dive back into the wreck filled with shambling underwater zombies just to get the ring you were planning to propose to your girlfriend with. Buy a new one.

Wayward Children series (it's complicated). Look, I genuinely enjoyed several of these, particularly the Jack and Jill installments, but I was excited by the original pitch of kids recovering psychologically from portal fantasies and that got left behind pretty quick in favor of more portal fantasies. And I get it - you need a plot eventually. When I wrote Breaking Mirrors I fell into the same thing, although I tried to continue emphasizing that mythologizing your life like that isn't healthy. Still, I was hoping for something different than what I ended up getting here.

Ok that's the 2 I can think of right off the bat. I need to prep some green beans so I'll keep pondering.

[vintagelacerosette]

Tag game

*peeks from under a rock*

Hi there! It's been awhile & I've missed you all 🫶🏼 Sorry for the absence but I'm back! Hope to stick with it haha

I was tagged by the always incredible & sweetest sweetheart Evie @energievie

Name: Mayn (lol I forgot changed that so spelling fit how it's pronounced)

Age you are mentally: Early 20s

Top 3 fics that came out last year (that you can remember at this point lol):

i'm not the way i was by @sam-loves-seb this is a goddam BEAUTIFUL season 6 Rewrite!! I am living for this fic! Just an astounding & excited for more 🥰

It's from Jen's @wehangout Fast & Furious series! The additional part 2 & 3 came out last year & made me wanna melt!!! These two are freaking edging & teasing me!!! 🥵Bravo Jen! 👏

Headphones Encouraged by Ray @whatthebodygraspsnot an absolute fucking delight & so fun! 😆

Add in any authors who you read all of their things: It's gotta be Jane @captainjowl Jaclyn @crossmydna Kay @goodkwuestion Ling @lingy910y

Fave artist/band/singer/group you discovered last year (has to be new to you, not new): Gotta be Chappell Roan. I wanted her to be my top artist on spotify & get Good Luck, Babe to 1 billion before 2025. We did it besties 🙌🏻

One thing you learnt last year that you’re taking into 2025: Taking your time to figure it out is ok

Was it a good year or bad year? Pretty good at the beginning last my steam at the end tbh

Is there anything superstitious you do to try and continue that vibe or absolutely change it? I was doing manifesting rituals on New moons which was fun but I didn't keep going lol. It was like finger painting with images I was manifesting. It was quiet fun

Fave WIP you're following into this year:

Gotta be

let the bodies do the talkin' by Captain_Jowl

i'm not the way i was by sam_writes_fic

The Blackwing Prophecy by CrossmyDNA

Are you doing any January ‘get healthy’ things? I want to incorporate more body stretching throughout my days like full body stretches, wrist stretching bc I'm working on computers at work & eye stretches to help with strain.

More random questions~~ Did you consider yourself an avid reader before you found fanfic? I really did not! I loved watching TV over reading any day when I was younger! It felt like such a chore especially with my mum basically pushing it on to me so wasn't fun.

But then the TV shows finished & I wanted more! I think my sister introduced me to fanfic.net lol. Unlocked a reading monster! Wasn't until high school when my fave English teacher was like you must read a lot & I was like nah oh wait a minute?!

Do you read books as well as fanfic? Yes or No: fanfic or die

What are you doing to survive this January so far? I am currently on holidays YAAAY 🎉 I went to Korea for the first time & I LOVED ITTT!!! I need to go back asap!! Definitely a money hole ahaha! Now I'm also in Philippines with my fam 🥰

Also if you wanna go under the cut it's a pic of me in a hanbok!

Sooo I'm pretty late just gonna tag some friends that I'm sending hugs & well wished your way 🥰

@lingy910y @look-i-love-u @samantitheos @deedala @michellemisfit @suzy-queued @heymrspatel @burninface @heymrspatel @heymacy @sleepyfacetoughguy @deathclassic @kiennilove @creepkinginc @guinguin1984 @iansw0rld @mybrainismelted @gallapiech @doshiart @ian-galagher @sickness-health-all-that-shit @jrooc @gallawitchxx @gallapiech @andthatisnotfake @kiinard @sweetbee78 @spookygingerr @femboymilkovich @rereadanon @takeyourpillsbitchh @callivich

[so-many-ocs]

user so many ocs, my beloved, fellow Locked Tomb enjoyer, I am about to finish Nona and I am losing my mind because nothing will fill the Gideon Nav sized hole in my heart (lol). do you perchance have any recommendations of what I can read next that's similar to TLT?

ok i wanna preface this by saying i've only read GtN (i needed time to recover after the first one and left HtN at my parents' house for the semester lol but by virtue of Existing On Tumblr i know most of what happens in the series + i plan to read HtN asap)

BUT LET'S GO!! (storygraph summaries linked)

if you liked gideon the ninth, try:

This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone & Amal El-Mohtar - maybe i just read these 2 really close together but Time War has time travel, space fuckery, gut-wrenching sapphic yearning, and a drily humorous tone all packed into the span of less than 200 pages.

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan - historical fantasy, rich worldbuilding, one of my All-Time Favorite Books (right alongside Time War and Gideon the Ninth lol)

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang - historical fantasy, political intrigue, silver possesses the ability to manifest any meaning lost in translation between languages.

Cosmoknights by Hannah Templer - graphic novel (2 books out now); princesses, politics, and gladiator-style fights, but in space!

now for books i haven't read (on my tbr) that others have recommended for fans of TLT:

The Unbroken by C.L. Clark - fantasy, desert empire, a soldier and a princess "haggling" over the price of a nation.

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri - fantasy/romance, one seeking revenge, one seeking family.

The Ones We Burn by Rebecca Mix - fantasy, girl who is a monster (favorite trope of Ever btw), witches, kingdoms, and assassinations.

Crier's War by Nina Valera - fantasy with some sci-fi elements(?), humans vs. robots but with a twist! i want to read this so bad but have not found it anywhere

this list has some of the books i've recommended here, as well as a couple others i haven't! most of the books i've recommended are sapphic or at least lgbtq as well if that's something you're specifically interested in :)

lastly, storygraph does have a "browse similar books" feature, though i'm not sure how accurate it is as i've yet to really try it out!

i hope that was helpful !!!

[batgirlsay]

Phoenix Fan Fusion 2025 feels post!

I had a different con experience this year since we tried meeting and seeing actors and even with all the scheduling issues, we worked it out!

My favorite TV show of all time is The Good Place and both Manny Jacinto and Eugene Cordero were there!

This was my first time attending an actor panel and it was awesome!! Arrived at the panel room early and got great seats! After signing the phoenix, Eugene tried to ride it LOL

Recounting as much of the panel as I can to help refresh my memory:

Someone asked about the particular cadence of their characters voices, and Manny said he was thinking about boys at his high school and Eugene was just dropping words out of sentences to make them sound dumber!

Someone from the Facebook Shirtposting group asked a question and they mentioned that they use the "we both it" meme so much. I love the Shirtposting group, so many great memes, highly recommend!

There were some appreciative Filipino fans who asked questions and they discussed how Eugene made his character in Star Trek canonically Filipino, so cool!

Eugene was hilarious and we were laughing so hard the whole time! You can tell he is an amazing improviser and he was giving tips to some panel questions about how to improvise. There were also questions about being on a Mike Schur show and how there was not much room for improvising on a perfect script. We all know Mike Schur shows are the best and that The Good Place is the perfect positive show!

Someone also asked how many of their characters from their other shows would go to the bad place and Eugene said his characters would be OK, but Manny wasn't so sure (Qimir reference lol).

Someone asked how they thought Pillboi would have died and Eugene said likely accidental overdose lol like he knows his stuff but he would still be mixing things.

Most questions were great, except there was a kid who asked a wierd question about which actor they would replace on The Good Place (which is none! The casting is perfect!). They of course said they wouldn't replace anyone and then Eugene deflected by going back to his long running murder joke.

There was also a question about the relationship between Jason and Janet and Manny mentioned how great D'Arcy is!

One of the best questions was about what Good Place flavor of frozen yogurt they would like to try and Manny said his SO just finished a marathon so he would like to experience that feeling. Eugene continued his murder reference by saying he would like to try the Phoenix Fan Fusion phoenix with all the flavors of everyone that signed it LOL

Next time I attend a panel I might prepare a question, but I also didn't want to leave my great seat to sit on the floor in line while they answer questions...

After the panel, I went to get my signature from Manny and I think I was the only Good Place fan besides someone dressed as Chidi Janet who got an ethics book signed. I'm glad they had a good picture of both Jason and Pillboi to get signed!

When I got my signature from Eugene, I told him that I was going to put the signed picture next to the Jeremy Bearimy clock that I won from a trivia contest at a local movie theater showing of the series finale. He responded with “oh so you’re a big fan then” and didn’t know that they had something like that. I had gotten the Eugene signature the day before and I felt kinda bad that he didn’t have a big line when I was waiting for Manny the following day, but Manny only had one day of signings and it looked like Eugene had a lot of Star Trek fans coming up to talk to him while he was waiting. It was neat that Eugene wrote "you both it!" on the picture also!

Before my signature with Manny, my friend shared her beautiful painting of Qimir to get signed and his face lit up!

I saw Manny writing a lot on my picture but I was distracted because I was also explaining to him how it was going to go next to the Jeremy Bearimy clock. I didn't notice he was writing "you got the dopest soul" until I looked at it again later and freaked out.

It was so funny when I finished signing with Manny and I showed Eugene that I got both signatures and told him I really liked the panel and he was all sorry about “all the talk about murder” LOL

I was heading to talk about environmental ethics at a science panel after the signatures, so I also have hella environmental ethics!

Hardly got to spend any time in artist alley this year but had some friends pick me up a few things while I was in line. I was especially looking forward to Frieren and Apothecary Diaries stuff so I'm glad I was able to get a few things. (You can see the common theme with the other merch I chose...)

(Stickers from momotin.studio and bookmark from @katthegoblin!)

Also tagged along with my friends to meet Hayden Christensen! It was a mess with miscommunications and lines running hours late but it was worth the wait!

[orange-s-mario]

Saturday Reads

While there's a lot more I wanted from Embersen - I do like Haitani as a character, If it wasn't for him I'd probably like this series a lot less. I like it finishing how it started but I don't really have a connection to the non-Haitani characters

hima-ten focused on Honoka. i feel bad for her (her names not in the title, I'm invested in her as a character). Also she said i have a crush on someone not i have a crush on you so I'm pretty sure Iemori is gonna misunderstand

Harukaze Mound: TWIN RIVALRY I'M EXCITED. LET'S GOO

Kaedegami: I like their mother son relationship

Nue's Exorcist had a kinda cute moment. The baby isn't a baby anymore though. and mostly anything would be better than last chapter

Ashi dribbles through had an extra chapter so there was some bonus illustrations

Star of Beethoven had some excellent art. Also I'm putting Yaso above Haitani in the Jump protagonist rizz rankings (Haitani actually probably is one of the characters near the bottom there)

Witch Watch had everyone transformed again

Akane has become Rakugo destroyer of uh. her rivals? I'm really excited for next issue

Otr of the Flame had a pretty good moment here. I'm enjoying it. I like our trio

Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi had a pretty good chapter. Seen people say its derivative of other things and I'm like ok so? I mean even if it's not as developed as other versions I still understand Yuda

Centuria: Helem is the worst. We need to kill her

Sakamoto Days was pretty good today

Ichi the Witch had an amazing conclusion to this arc

Blue Box started its newest arc. Really like this dude immediately getting shot down. Also I'm pretty sure this is going to be mostly Kyo and Ayame focused

I liked the newest chapter of Me & Roboco but my favorite bit was the Bondo's mom parts. Love how the instructor is 20 like most of the adults in this manga

Kill Blue had a pretty good chapter. I like the StuCo president

Kagurabachi was crazy good this week. Seiichi Samura continues to be an amazing character but we got more on Kunishige today too

Sirens won't sing for you was amazing today

In Shinobi Undercover, Yodaka got hit with the oldest trick in the book. GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME YODAKA

Spy x Family was great too. Hemlock was still in shock basically the whole chapter. But we (might) get more development

[bereft-of-frogs]

is friday have list

☁️ currently reading/watching/listening to:

☢️ [ audiobook] Midnight in Chernobyl - Adam Higginbotham: I'm thinking a lot about how I'm scared of radiation sickness in the way that I'm scared of deadly viruses. Because there should be some fanfare. There should be a collective wailing when you get hit with enough radiation to kill you (or contract a virus like ebola or rabies). And there's not. There's just a 'that's a funny taste in my mouth...oh shit.' And the concept of the latency period/incubation period where you can feel fine but already be dead. Horror. Anyway. This is where I'm at.

🤖 [ audiobook ] Network Effect - Martha Wells: HELLO???? THEY DELETE ART???????????? That is where I got last night before I had to leave for an event and today I've been slammed at work so haven't had time to listen. I am screaming. I have been screaming for like 16 hours. What. I'm so stressed. The rollercoaster from 'ART attac?????' to 'ART DELETED???' has been the most stressed out I've been reading this series oh my god I have to finish this post so I can go listen while stressfully doing my work tasks

👻 [ book ] The Haunting of Room 904 - Erica T Wurth: Possibly the worst book my horror book club has subjected me to and I'm only like 50 pages in. When I started being like 'what a second....this is really bad' I skimmed some reviews and most of them were like 'strong start, but fell apart.' So. I'm in the 'strong' part. It gets worse apparently. Fuck. It’s already devolved into me just highlighting lines I find painful, I might not make it…

🌌 [ tv ] The Expanse: Despite my whining, I'm coming around on the change I hated, mostly because it was pretty angsty fun to watch Naomi plead with Drummer not to fire on the Rocinante. This breakup is the stuff of legends. Drummer calling after her, 'I'm sorry -- if I killed them I'm sorry!' but Naomi's not having it...ok fine yeah that was good. They're really speedrunning Abaddon's Gate, so there's not a lot of time to sit with being annoyed with any changes. Amos has also been great both with the 'oh my god Holden is going crazy' arc and the hilarious way he shooed the camera crew out the airlock like 'yup, in you go, bye-bye'.

🛸 [ tv ] The X-Files: Episodes are still good but I'm really starting to miss Vancouver's gloom. The change to the atmosphere when production moved to LA is increasingly apparent, and while the writing is still good....yeah I miss the gloomy weather and dense pine forests.

🤖 [ tv ] Murderbot: I still don't like the Sanctuary Moon sections. I appear to be the only one. Everything else is fine, I'm not bothered by much else, but the Sanctuary Moon scenes are just tipped way too far into the secondhand embarrassment valley for me, so even if I like the way its being used in the narrative, every time it's actually on screen all I can do is cringe.

☁️ posting:

I'm posting stuff and stashing it here instead of making dedicated posts about it for ✨reasons✨ don't ask because the answer will just be '✨insecurity✨’

🌲 new chapter of way out there, extremely niche long!fic, stuff’s actually getting underway now

☄️ dipping my toes into not just bothering tumblr with Expanse-posting, but ao3 as well. have a book tag oneshot (in theory, first of several…I have a list. We’ll see how this one goes I’m always worried when first posting in a new fandom that either people will be like ‘wow…it’s incredible but every word you just said is wrong’ or something else insane like that the specific metaphor for loneliness I used is actually a dog whistle for the most toxic fandom discourse and I’ll be featured in a callout post within the hour. This is what it’s like being in my brain.)

☁️ to do:

Long run!

I should probably pick up the sleeves on that sweater because if I don't do it NOW it will probably sit in the project bag for another month.

I need to figure out where the draft I wrote last weekend is on the scale of 'salvageable by a deadline', 'salvageable but I need to take my time', and 'start over (for the third time)'. So. That's happening.

It is supposed to be rainy because once again someone has taught the weather what a weekend is and the weather apparently hates us and wants us to be unhappy, so I'll probably just be inside. Playing video games/watching movies/hanging out with void creature, idk maybe I'll try and blow through the 250 pages of this godawful book club book so I can be free of it. Probably going to be pretty boring but boring is okay too lol

Have a good weekend!

[jobazzle]

books i've read in 2025

it's! officially! a new year! and the end of the first month of 2025! so i obvs had to do this again (see my 2024 post here)

January

The Women - Kristin Hannah ★★★★½ did i start reading this in 2024 MAYBE SO did i finish this almost as soon as the new year started YUP lmaooo (oh my god i just checked and...i started reading this in OCTOBERFHJDSHKJFS...it was a really good book so i'm glad i finally finished it!!!!)

Bright Young Women - Jessica Knoll ★★★★ this was as infuriating as it was heartbreaking....and also featured one of my top 10 book betrayals of all time i hate that man I HATE HIM

How to End a Love Story - Yulin Kuang ★★★★½ this falls into one of my favorite and most exclusive categories: books where it takes me a bit to really get into it but once i'm in i start reading soooo slowly bc i never want it to end <3

February

Love and Other Words - Christina Lauren ★★★½ my expectations were so high bc of all the hype i'd seen online and yet....this was just....ok....like how is this friends to lovers (MY FAVORITE TROPE) and yet i didn't deeply love and adore it???? NOOOOOOO. however it DID make me SOB so!!!! there's that!!!! (IT GOT TOO RELATABLE)

Taming 7 - Chloe Walsh ★¾ literally what the hell was that (the review i wrote on storygraph was....so long i don't wanna get into it again lmao just know: i HATED how this entire story played out)(and whew was this a rough read for us lizzie defenders!!!!!)

The Rom-Commers - Katherine Center ★★★★★ loved this so much i literally DREAMT about finishing it and rating it five starshjgkhskjfhdsk. the yearning!!! the tension!!! the will they won't they of it all!!!! YUP YUP YUUUUP THIS WAS EVERYTHING (i have decided the theme song of this book is couldn't make it any harder by sabrina carpenter. no i will not elaborate. yes this song choice probably isn't the best or most accurate. but it feels correct ok)

Only If You're Lucky - Stacy Willingham ★★★¾ talk about an unreliable narrator DAMN i'm actually kinda sad for all parties involved like i'm sorry i was suspicious of you i was INTENTIONALLY MISLED by the pov i was reading oops </3 (i was in a theme song kick when i read this and the rom-commers so i do indeed have a theme song for this and it's if you go down (i'm goin' down too) by kelsea ballerini...that would 1000% play during the end credits of a screen adaptation for this ok)

Cross The Line - Simone Soltani ★★★★¼ see i was expecting to hate this and now i'm counting down the days for the second book in the series to release GIVE IT TO ME NOWWWWWW (i literally got up and started pacing while reading the on track racing scenes like bitch i was STRESSED)(that is also the emotion i feel while watching an actual f1 race sooooo 10/10 incredible writing good job love that it evoked the exact same emotions from me fhdsjkhfdskj)(also holy shit what an epilogue)

March

The Pumpkin Spice Café - Laurie Gilmore ★★★¼ not at all anything rly groundbreaking + had a predictable "mystery" buuuut it was cozy as hell (i really should've read this in the fall oops my bad) and idk like it was just a lighthearted, sweet, easy read!!!! i had fun!!!!

Beg, Borrow, or Steal - Sarah Adams ★★★★¾ college rivals to coworker rivals to kinda friends to lovers yeaaaah that's my type of love storyyyyyyy (the fmc is sooooo rwylm by taylor at the beginning of this ohhhhh my god). quote that ended me -> "you think you're unlovable, but i think i've never known how to love until knowing you." like???? oh!!!!! so you want to make me emotionally unstable via deeply heartfelt dialogue????? CONGRATS MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Sunrise On The Reaping - Suzanne Collins ★★★★★ i really thought i knew the whole story of haymitch's games and that nothing in this would surprise or shock me LMAOOOOOOOO (this was devastating but so perfect in every way)

Lost and Lassoed - Lyla Sage ★★★★½ sometimes a book resonates so deeply with your soul that despite any imperfections you can't help but adore it aaaand that's what this was for meeeee 🫶

April

Scythe & Sparrow - Brynne Weaver ★ this series getting progressively worse when i rly liked book 1 actually HURTS ME DEEPLY. NOOOOO. (what didn't help this books case is i got a version that was incorrectly formatted so on top of being irritated by the plot i was irritated simply by trying to read it oh this was not a fun experience at allllll)(i rly should've dnf'ed)

First-Time Caller - B.K. Borison ★★★★★ this author is officially 5/5 for books i've read of hers that have BROUGHT ME TO TEARS. SPECTACULAR. GIVE ME 14 (MORE) OF 'EM RIGHT NOW. (this is a tiktok reference sorrryyyyy it just popped in my head as i was typing) anyways NEED THE NEXT BOOK IN THE SERIES ASAPPPP (except it doesn't come out til next year UGHHHH

Deep End - Ali Hazelwood ★★★★★ good drama 🙂‍↕️ compelling plot 🙂‍↕️ decent focus on their respective sports 🙂‍↕️ well-written characters 🙂‍↕️ a beautiful love story 🙂‍↕️ need a physical copy of this on my bookshelf YESTERDAY (or rly since april 25 since that's when i finished it)

The Cinnamon Bun Book Store - Laurie Gilmore ★★ instead of miscommunication (a trope that can sometimes work for me) THIS was ZERO communication. having to read a dual pov internal monologue about how they both doubt the other has the same feelings for them over and over and over again drove me a little insane!!!!! pls let the next one (christmas tree farm) be better bc the first one in the series is cute WTF HAPPENED

May

Tress of the Emerald Sea - Brandon Sanderson ★★★★½ first ever book from this author and i was!!! pleasantly surprised!!!! would the narrator have made more sense if i'd read his past works PROBABLY but!!! this was still so enjoyable so fantastical such a sweet lil story

The Christmas Tree Farm - Laurie Gilmore ★★★¼ deeply irritated with myself for not waiting to read this until the christmas holiday season (ok this isn't rly My Fault Completely ok the libby hold came in and i couldn't wait to read it). unfortunately featured mentions of both elon musk (meant to be derogatory tho...which...still no...don't put him in this cozy universe ew) and henry cavill (meant to be complimentary but he is my parasocial nemesis so i hated it) right at the beginning which...did not bode well for it but after i got past that and kept reading yeah the story was cute it was sweet sure!!!!!

Not in Love - Ali Hazelwood ★★★★½ i love the feeling when you're reading a romance book and you begin seeing how their relationship just Makes Sense. like. yeah. i can totally see how they're each others soulmates. they absolutely complete each other. I NEED THEM TOGETHER NOW. that sorta feeling lol. (also is this the first dual pov book i've ever read that had one character's chapters be 1st person pov and the other's be 3rd person pov??? POSSIBLY SO. V INTERESTING)

Rewind It Back - Liz Tomforde ★★★★¾ i scoffed at this being a second chance romance bc the One Other Book i remember reading w that trope was Good But Not A Fav BUT THISSSSS YEAH COUNT ME INNNNNNNN. and yeah!!! this did indeed make me sob bc it featured a plotline that i Deeply Related To OUCHHHHHH (complimentary). also....character my age mentioning a boyband obsession when they were a teenager???? I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE (A 1D STAN). what a beautiful finale to one of my favorite lil romance series can't wait to read whatever she releases next

Releasing 10 - Chloe Walsh ★★★★½ what a heavy heavy HEAVY read. and possibly my new fav from the BoT series.....the way this adds context to every single other book liiiike i need the next one ASAPPPPPPPPPP. (as a lizzie defender since day 1, this book only strengthened my love for her character)(i'm so serious i needed to jump in this book and Kill Some People)(IT'S THAT SERIOUS)(AND DEVASTATINGLY SAD)(also lizzie's songs are castles crumbling / wcs by taylor swift and hugh's is some protector by role model YUPPPP)(i am sobbing over the playlists i made for them)

Problematic Summer Romance - Ali Hazelwood ★★★★★ wdym this was full of so much yearning and emotion that at times i felt like i couldn't fucking breathe oh my god??????????? i'm literally still thinking about it i've genuinely gone back multiple times and reread all my favorite moments that i highlighted i already want to reread it i want to inject it into my veins i want to completely erase it from my memory and experience it all over again (but also ali...girl...wdym no epilogue tho like COME ONNNNNNNN)(anyways favorite ali hazelwood book favorite ali hazelwood couple quite possibly the only age gap romance i will ever be able to stand reading bc they will all get compared to this)(genuinely every issue i've ever had w that subgenre of romance was Completely Fixed And Perfect in this one HOW DID SHE DO THAT)

June

Ride with Me - Simone Soltani ★★★¾ i think i hate the marriage of convenience trope!!!! lmaoooo!!! buuuut...lowkey...i did still think this was sickeningly sweet and it made me smile at my ereader while reading soooooo there's that! V EXCITED TO READ THE NEXT ONE!!! (next year......)

King of Wrath - Ana Huang ★¼ boring romance (i literally felt nothing for their "love story"). boring smut (go girl! give us nothing! this was BLAH). boring plot (why did this not feel like what i remember liking from the twisted series). boring mmc (lowkey i think i hate him lol). BORING BORING BOOOORING smh i deeply regret reading this.

Wild Love - Elsie Silver ★★★★¼ ily books that actually make me laugh <3 rosie and ford (and cora) my belovedssss <3 this is getting turned into a tv series and trust i WILL be tuning in!!!!!!!!!

The Conditions of Will - Jessa Hastings ★★★★★ picture this: me reading and falling in love with everything about this book so much so that it becomes one of my favorite reads of the year just for the author to go on a tirade on her instagram stories defending the existence and usage of generative ai 😐

Wild Eyes - Elsie Silver ★★¾ wild love CLEARS ford grant CLEARS weston belmont you're kinda ANNOYING (ok i'm being harsh this had so many hilarious moments i think i am just irritated by the mmc and the ending...)

Wild Side - Elsie Silver ★★★½ throughout the whole book i just kept thinking about how it's becoming a tv series and was like "ohhhhh i can picture this scene PERFECTLY". NEED TO READ WILD CARD ASAP GIVE IT TO ME NOWWWWWW (i have to wait until september SIGH)

All the Dangerous Things - Stacy Willingham ★★★★¼ at 70% i was rolling my eyes bc i was SO SURE i guessed the "twist" (it's a thriller like there's always gonna be a twist) and OH HOW WRONG I WAS!!!!!! oh also while reading i couldn't stop thinking of taylor songs that applied to this book sooo here's that list: mad woman / cassandra / i can fix him (no really i can) / tolerate it / no body, no crime / fortnight / illicit affairs / cold as you / eyes open / guilty as sin? / tell me why / i knew you were trouble. / i did something bad / seven / my tears ricochet / right where you left me / you all over me / carolina / robin

Face Off - Chelsea Curto ★½ this feels like it was written based around a checklist of tropes which resulted in terrible pacing and a story that felt so disjointed and just didn't flow well and was not at alllll cohesive (not even somewhat likeable characters and decently written smut could save this for me)

Power Play - Chelsea Curto ★ I SHOULD'VE DNF'ED OH MY GOD THIS IS TERRIBLE I SPENT THE LAST 50% OF THIS FILLED WITH SO MUCH RAGE. this is where i stop w this godawful series!!! nope!! i'm DONE

[skyfallscotland]

Daughter of No Worlds, by Carissa Broadbent 💃🏼🗡

“We walk in together, and we walk out together.”

This one actually took me so much longer to finish than I thought it would. I've heard a lot about this series (it's my first read from her) and I was really excited to start it because I've heard a lot of people say lately how good it is. For me, it was just ok.

I honestly couldn't tell you what it was besides pacing.

The world-building is good, I liked the magic system, the characters, I liked the backstories, but it just fell kind of flat for me. I was doing mostly audio, with some reading, and I just kept wondering how I wasn't closer to the end already.

I wouldn't say she's a bad writer—far from it. There were some really great lines like:

It was amazing, the mental somersaults minds and hearts could do to justify their actions in the name of love.

and

“Men want power because it makes them feel good. Women want power because it lets us do things."

But I just kept thinking oh, I must be almost done...and checking only to find it had been fifty pages. It felt like the book moved at a snail's pace. It's hard to place my finger on, really, but it meant the book just wasn't for me. It also got a little repetitive at the end there with Reshaye, so while I'm curious about where life will take Max and Tisaanah next,

“We’re not done,” I whispered. I didn’t even realize that I’d said it aloud until I felt Max’s fingers squeeze mine. “Barely gotten started,” he said, and a smile tugged at my mouth.

I'm not sure I'm curious enough to actually put myself through the next two books (and no doubt more 'oh dear, she can't control Reshaye, etc). I guess we'll see.

The only other thing I'd mention is that the book does deal with a lot of trauma and doesn't really show us the effects of that trauma? I mean Tisaanah clearly wants revenge and freedom for all the other slaves, but it's never really addressed that she was raped for so long either. Her trauma, Max's trauma, all of that just feels like it's used for the plot and glossed over, which you guys know isn't really my jam, so, there's that.

Anyway! I've heard a lot of people like Serpent and the Wings of Night a lot better, so maybe I'll give that a go 🖤

[whats-she-gonna-post-next]

So I just finished binding Trust Life by the absolutely amazing @chaiandsage (Hello, I am ready to be perceived now, I hope that I have done your story even the slightest bit of justice) and I just wanted to make a post both showing it off, and going through what I learned doing this bind because I did a few new things here and want to talk about it.

Also I'm not going to subject you all to this, so most everything but the final product here is going to be below the cut.

(Also so sorry that the photos aren't the best. I am... Very bad at photography, lmao)

Ok, so let's start off with some of the cool things I learned during this bind. Or, maybe not necessarily cool, but they are things I learned and I think that learning is cool!

First off, I learned how to download and add fonts to Microsoft Word, which while not interesting, does open up a whole world of fonts for future binds. Is it a little late in the game to have found this? Probably. But it is what it is. I actually downloaded a pretty good chunk of different ones, but the fonts I actually used were MF Love Dings for the heart motif dividers, which was a new download, and then a few standard fonts - Edwardian Script ITC for the title pages, Baskerville Old Face for the chapter headers, Book Antiqua for the chapter titles, and good old Garamond for the actual text of the novel.

Here is the divider and the title fonts. I just think they are neat.

Another thing I learned was how to make book cloth! I found these squares of white cotton fabric at a dollar tree and decided to give it a go. The way I did mine was by painting them first (a task in and of itself, and as you can see on the cover, did not turn out super even, but I love them nonetheless) and then I glued down a layer of tissue paper to give it a little stiffness and make it stick to the chipboard easier, it was a super cool process and I look forward to trying it again in the future now that I have done it once and have a better idea of how I can improve in the future

And now onto some of the other cooler parts of the process!

So I had a lot of fun doing the formatting, it's my favourite part of any binding process, I cannot tell you how many fics I have formated that I have yet to print out and actually bind because I enjoy the process so much (the answer is actually 5 that are completely formatted and ready to go, 3 that I am actively in the middle of formatting, 4 projects completed - including this one, which... may technically count as 3, granted 2 of them were gifts for other people - and 3 that I am planning on doing that I haven't gotten to start on yet. Oh, and a 5 part series that I have printed out but haven't actually bound yet. I have a problem, lmao.) As I mentioned, I downloaded a few fonts for this but it just ended up looking so good in the end. Here is what some of the inner formatting looks like (I did just take the screenshots from word, I thought it was easier than getting the pages in the book)

Something else! This was the first time I actually broke a single fic into multiple parts, and I do not regret it. Each section is fairly large on its own, so it would have been a monster all together. I gave them basically the same title pages and such, just used the main stories summary for all of them and copy pasted everything - work smarter, not harder - and kept the same format for the chapters and such. There were 2 obvious spots (at least imo) for breaking things up, those being at the end of chapter 24, and then again at the end of 57, if you know, you know. However, that made the divide be 24 chapter, 33 chapter, 9 chapters. I was a little worried about how that divide to affect the look of the books, but I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked out. Book 2 there is quite obviously the largest part (it's basically double the length of book 1) but book 3 was surprisingly long for being only 9 chapters and I think they look fairly cohesive together. I didn't realize how long the last nine chapters themselves were. The first and third ones are actually about the same size together as book two, which is pretty cool!

When it came time to put together the actual books, I stuck with my tried and true french link stitch, as I find it to be a sturdy stitch, and then used green, yellow, and red card stock for the end pages, I felt it thematic.

I'm super excited to have this as a physical book now, thank again to chaiandsage for allowing me to bind this amazing story and just for writing it in the first place! I read it like twice in the span of a month, and I swear I have read chapter 57 and 58 themselves way too many times to count. Not even going to mention the amount of times I read the last 6 chapters because I just love a good happy ending.

But yeah, I'm really happy how this bind turned out, I still have to put an actual cover in these - which I plan on doing, I have a friend who is going to help me with the cover design when they are free, so there will be an update at some point.

[myloveforhergoeson]

ash's january 2025 reading round up

find all the books and fics i read (or didn't read...) this month under the cut with a link to the synopsis and my reviews/ratings attached :)

this is just for fun! i'm not a professional, i just like to read <3

booklist:

a trilogy this time... but i only finished two of them this month. need everyone to be ok w some things rq...

The Fine Print by Lauren Asher

review: LISTEN i need a billionaire romance every now and then OKAY... this one in particular is insane though bc laruen asher clearly wanted to fuck walt disney and im so enthralled by her passion on this subject and how she ended up turning it into an entire book series. scene set: three brothers, evil alcoholic dad, newly dead grandfather who founded the kane coroporation - this universe's version of the disney company. streaming service, theme parks, movies and all. to cut their father out of the company these three brothers must complete the tasks in their grandfather's will to collectively earn more stock shares and oust their father from control. awesome. first book is about the youngest sibling, rowan, hardened by the rigid lines of toxic masculinity who is forced to go back to his creative and artistic roots to overhaul an old section of the park/spruce it into something new. on day one of this journey he runs into a spunky wannabe imagineer, zahra who spouts off all these criticisms of the company she works for and instantly he's attracted to her. which is so crazy. a unique story concept in the theme park i'll give her that. but the story was really choppy at parts. cringe dialogue. tongues battling for dominance. the best part was the way she radicalized him into like doubling employee wage and giving them all like the best tier of healthcare possible! go girl! help your fellow workers! kind of the epitome of the coolest chick you've ever met and she's just dating Some Guy. this time he just happened to be rich

rating: 3/5 times i thought "wow the author wants to be zahra so fucking bad:

Terms and Conditions by Lauren Asher

review: told you there were three! so obviously i had to read the second. oldest brother, declan, slated company CEO once the tasks from the will are complete. notable for being a huge dick, heart of ice, america's most eligible bachelor who wants nothing to do with anything besides business. so of course his task from his GRANDFATHER'S WILL is to marry a woman and have a kid with her. i was crying! so fucking funny! only getting laid because of your fucking grandpa! anyway. he and his assistant, iris, end up entering a marriage of convenience contract and. yall might kill me but this is one of my fav tropes ever sue me! but this is my book review so. i loved this one. declan and iris were so enjoyable to learn more about and see their relationship develop. the pacing wasn't as awkward as the first book and these two already had a working relationship prior to their story actually unfolding which helped very much. i'm so obsessed with iris, woman of all time, and how she was - even as his assistant - always on his same level. reading him finally fucking realizing that and trying to make up for all is previous wrongdoings > love it when a man has to repent. and it certainly doesn't hurt when he's filthy fucking rich. anyway. lovedd this one had all my fav things in it. and the ending did make me cry even if i hate to admit it.

rating 4/5 times i would have added distributing the wealth to charity on their marriage contract rules

fic list:

assorted works by @naquey / @allthistrashtalkmakemeitchin

Decdonna 1

Who Invited You?

Totally Just Directions

Cig

Homesick

Things You Like

JANUARY. THE MONTH OF DECDONNA..... oh my friend. i love your creative mind and how you weave all of your stories together.... donna is everything to me! getting to see her story unfold through these one-shots was such a pleasure. and THEN! she loves DECLAN? my DECLAN? im screaming. the way your write them is everything to me. knowing my work inspired others... i can't even begin to describe the feeling <3 AND THINGS YOU LIKE...... i can't believe i harped on about my billionaire romances you wrote me my own featuring james and roxy to help me out of my slump. i do not deserve you my friend... i simply don't <3

2. assorted works of @icegirl2772

Take A Shot In The Dark Ch. 18

RAHHHHH!!!!!!! first of all your work always leaves me speechless. it's so masterfully done, and i can tell just how much effort goes into each any every line but this chapter..... oh my god. even with the ending which had me HOLLERING.... btw........ each chapter makes me fall more and more in love with kaelyn and how her relationship with james keeps developing <333 so excited to see what comes next for those two!!!!!!!!