#TJ is so fun to write honestly

[peachhcs]

semester recap → social media post

hughes!sister x will smith au (samy + will)

in light of me going through writing slump where i hate everything i write, i’ve complied a 3rd semester recap from everyone for you guys while i work through my writers slump 😇 enjoy!

au masterlist

samyhughes i love you michigan #3

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hannahduke YOURE SO UNREAL WOW

hannahduke CAN I BE YOU?

hannahduke love my roomie can’t wait for 5 more with you

| samyhughes I LOVE YOU HAN MWAH MWAH UR SO AMAZING AND I CANT WAIT TO LIVE WITH YOU FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE

user1 wowwowowow

user2 every time she posts it gets better and better

lhughes_06 i almost liked this post.

| samyhughes what does that mean??

| lhughes_06 pic 4 🤨

| samyhughes you police me like a mom

| lhughes_06 and who else is supposed to make sure their little sister is posting appropriate instagram photos?

user3 she’s so gorg omg😫😫

user4 i wanna be her so bad

edwards.73 one more semester left😓

| samyhughes do not say that to me rn

markestapa what a great semester with baby hughes

| samyhughes such a fun semester with mark!

jackhughes i agree with luke i don’t like this post 🤨

| samyhughes can i liveee pls

user5 jack and luke being protective are so cute omg

user6 HAHA her and her brothers arguing in the comments

nick_moldenhauer fire semester

| samyhughes thanks for paying for my lunch everyday 😇

tyler___duke5 ew my sister made front cover

| hannahduke die

tj_hughes13 meow

| samyhughes meow

_quinnhughes wow you post a lot lowk

| samyhughes and you never post lowk

kayleighdocherty_ my babyyy you’re so cutie

| samyhughes so when are we going to cali together 😍

rutgermcgroarty every time u post i miss michigan more

| samyhughes come back pls

julianne_gelinas HOTTT STUNNING BEAUTIFUL AMAZING

| samyhughes MY BABY I MISS U

samanthaminnetian ur actually gorg wow

| samyhughes that’s literally u

danielle_minnetian jaw on the floor when i see u😍

| samyhughes i love u

emmagcooper so gorg samy!

| samyhughes i luvvv u emma

drewf2 omg i beat will to the comments YAS

| samyhughes LMAOOO

user7 what does one have to do to be a part of their friend group?

jacob_fowler24 yay will is in this post! but we can’t see his face 🤨

| samyhughes why does nothing i do ever please any of you

jameshagens_4 yeah you’re pretty cool ig

| samyhughes wow thanks hagens u too ig

aram_minnetian why r u soft launching will like we’ve never seen him before 😭

| samyhughes can u leave me alone 😭

graceccsmith adorable!

| samyhughes i need a reunion grace 😭

teddystiga_ why were we not included in this 🤨

| samyhughes we have no group photos

gabeperreault44 justice for my man😔

| samyhughes bruhhh at least i included him this time

ryan.leno_4 this is so michigan core✨✨

| samyhughes okk?

eklund_72 hey will’s gf!

| samyhughes hey will’s teammate!

thombordeleau_ is this what college feels like?

| samyhughes ok michigan alum

mackcelebrini wow why are there so many comments

| samyhughes honestly idk im running out of replies for everyone

beckettsennecke_ come back to anaheim :(

| samyhughes soon!

_willsmith2 HOW did all of these people beat me to the comments 😭

| samyhughes PLSS i have no idea 😭

_willsmith2 ur so gorg wow i love you

| samyhughes ur making me blush i love you

_willsmith2 fuck u look good

| samyhughes i miss u pretty boy

hannahduke casual 3rd semester post

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samyhughes BAEEEE

samyhughes love love love love love you

| hannahduke I LOVE U MY BAE

nick_moldenhauer hats off to another great semester!

| hannahduke best semester everrr

tyler___duke5 why didn’t u feature me

| hannahduke u said no to all of the pics i sent u :(

alyssa_duke so cute han!!

| hannahduke miss u alyssa come save me from tyler

| tyler___duke5 rude

user1 imagine knowing hannah duke wow

user2 need this kind of friendship

tj_hughes13 aesthetic

| hannahduke thanks tj

ryan.leno_4 this is such a hannah post

| hannahduke is that a bad thing??

| ryan.leno_4 no

julianne_gelinas actually adorable

| hannahduke i love u

aram_minnetian i like the 3rd pic

| hannahduke same i had to take a pic when i saw it

markestapa very casual

| hannahduke i really try

kayleighdocherty_ this is adorable han

| hannahduke 🥰🥰

edwards.73 what will u do without us next year 😔

| hannahduke probably have to keep samy from crying bc u and mark aren’t around anymore

user3 thinking about these people at michigan are like a person away from hannah and samy

emmagcooper love this!!

| hannahduke love u!!

drewf2 r u KKT girl now?

| hannahduke unfortunately no :(

jacob_fowler24 i like the sunglasses in pic 4

| hannahduke thanks fowler 🙌

gabeperreault44 is it casual now?

| hannahduke is emma making u listen to chappell roan?

| emmagcooper yes

_willsmith2 iconic hannah behavior

| hannahduke wow that means a lot coming from u will

jameshagens_4 wait ur kind of cool..

| hannahduke wait..u too..

teddystiga_ this goes hard

| hannahduke why thank u stiga

dylanduke25 wow ur at semester 3 already?? i feel old

| lhughes_06 tell me about it

gabeperreault44 first half of 3🎅

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ryan.leno_4 girlfriend alertttt

ryan.leno_4 damn where's my feature??

| gabeperreault44 sorry leno next time

| gabeperreault44 wait ur literally in pic 3

| ryan.leno_4 omg i didn't see me there

drewf2 i knowww emma picked all of these photos for you

| gabeperreault44 shut up

jacob_fowler24 aww he's so whipped

| samyhughes these comments are sending me

| gabeperreault44 i'm glad one of us finds them amusing 😐

aram_minnetian what a cutie 😍

| gabeperreault44 😍

_willvote good things so far

| gabeperreault44 u got that right

samyhughes wow this is so cutie gabe

| gabeperreault44 thanks samy!

user1 aww him and emma are so adorable

user2 i love this man sm

jameshagens_4 glad i made the cut

| gabeperrreault44 of course ❤️

teddystiga_ who knew u could be so aesthetic gp

| gabeperreault44 trying something new

michaelhagens_11 what a softie

| gabeperreault44 😔 why do i get shamed for posting my gf but will doesn't?

| _willsmith2 heyy don't bring me into this i already get enough from the guys

user3 anyone who hates this man will have to through me first

user4 men who post their gfs >>>

_willsmith2 good stuff gabo i miss u man

| gabeperreault44 miss u too smitty come back to boston

zeevbuium28 wow never took u for such a softie gp

| gabeperreault44 i have many sides

hannahduke wow emma u trained him so well

| emmagcooper i know 🤗

julianne_gelinas wait the ones with u and em are so cute

| gabeperreault44 thanks juli!

samanthaminnetian wow he's all grown up now

| gabeperreault44 🥲🥲

danielle_minnetian y'all are adorable aww

| gabeperreault44 🤗

emmagcooper i love you!!

| gabeperreault44 i love you more!

rutgermcgroarty looking good gp

| gabeperreault44 thanks rut hope pitt's been good to u

liliane_perreault so cutie g

| gabeperreault44 thanks lili i miss u

ryan.leno_4 that's all folks

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julianne_gelinas wow! i made front post for the first time in forever!

| ryan.leno_4 stoppp

julianne_gelinas i love u

| ryan.leno_4 i love u more

gabeperreault44 ok u stole my photo

| ryan.leno_4 i did not

user1 wow these hockey boys could not compare to the hockey boys by me 😭

user2 frrr who made these hockey boys so loving and willing to post their gfs??

drewf2 sickkkk stuff

| ryan.leno_4 frrr

_willvote year 2 cooking

| ryan.leno_4 facts they have no ideaa what's coming up

jacob_fowler24 glad i made the cut

| ryan.leno_4 u'll always make the cut j 😘

user3 i don't understand the way men respond to comments to one another

user4 the man lingo is crazyyy

_willsmith2 wow now i miss boston after seeing these posts

| ryan.leno_4 boston misses u smitty come home to us

teddystiga_ i guess i need to find a gf to post

| ryan.leno_4 there's plenty in the comments to go after

| user5 LMAOOOO ryan😭

jameshagens_4 gooodddd stuff lean

| ryan.leno_4 thanks hags 😎

michaelhagens_11 living loving laughing boston

| samyhughes this was a good one

samyhughes wow he posts more than hockey!

| ryan.leno_4 shut up

hannahduke i'm impressed with this photo line up

| ryan.leno_4 thanks?

rutgermcgroarty hell yeah lean miss ya

| ryan.leno_4 miss ya rut

emmagcooper i like the football field pic

| julianne_gelinas he took it on my camera LMAO

danielle_minnetian aww christmas pic!

| ryan.leno_4 u know it

samanthaminnetian these gfs for sure know how to train their bfs

| julianne_gelinas it's what we do best but i think samy's trained will the best

| samyhughes wow what a compliment thanks guys!

aram_minnetian how did my sisters beat me here 😭 u look freshhh lean tho

| ryan.leno_4 thanks aram 😍

zeevbuium28 hotttt

| ryan.leno_4 no u 😘

_willsmith2 felt left out of the semester recaps

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user1 awww samy's in his posts like every time

user2 WILLL he's so baby aww

gabeperreault44 samy first post again

gabeperreault44 do u ever not post her??

| _willsmith2 u were complaining about getting flamed and now ur flaming me jeez

| gabeperreault44 what i do best

ryan.leno_4 aww we miss u smitty

| _willsmith2 miss u guys too

drewf2 big things happening in sj

| _willsmith2 u got that right

_willvote what a cute candid of u guys

| _willsmith2 ikr 😊

user3 if samy and will ever break up again i'm never believing in love ever again

user4 i like how he makes sure to include his gf every post

lhughes_06 ok i can get behind this post for once

| _willsmith2 glad it's up to ur standards

jackhughes beastttt

| _willsmith2 👀

rutgermcgroarty fresh prince does it again

| _willsmith2 always working on it

zeevbuium28 wow i feel like i need to post now..

| _willsmith2 peer pressure

jameshagens_4 ur the king of posting gf in posts

| _willsmith2 is that my title now?

michaelhagens_11 hell yeah smitty

| _willsmith2 🔥

drewf2 such a good line

| _willsmith2 missing the bc one tho 🥲

jacob_fowler24 i wanna be u when i grow up

| _willsmith2 i'm flattered

eklund_72 wow i got a feature this time!

| _willsmith2 ofc u did 🥰

thombordeleau_ epic post w-2

| _willsmith2 thanks thomas!

tofff73 good half so far

| _willsmith2 agreed

hannahduke somehow u choose the best photos of samy to post and she doesn’t even need to ask😫

| _willsmith2 well she deserves nothing less

| hannahduke WOW someone find me a man like this

| julianne_gelinas yuppp they won

mackcelebrini so samy can make the cut but not me wow :(

| _wilsmith2 sorry mack :(

beckettsennecke_ wait now i’m jealous of these college posts :(

| _willsmith2 you and me both

samyhughes i love you ur so cute

| _willsmith2 i miss you :( come back to sj

| samyhughes soon!!

[orange-peony]

Thank you so much for tagging me @emeryhall, @monbons, @rimeswithpurple, @nausikaaa, @artsyunderstudy, @alexalexinii, @j-nipper-95, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @thewholelemon @imagineacoolusername and @mooncello! It's been so lovely to see all of your wonderful creations this year!

To be completely honest, when I was first tagged, I opened AO3 to look at my stats and felt utterly 💩 about what I have accomplished this year. My writing time has been significantly reduced, and my self-confidence has gone down.

I kind of decided not to do this, but then I saw everyone else's amazing creations, and I decided to do this slightly differently.

So, these are the things that I enjoyed the most this year:

Reading The Green Greek Series by TJ Klune with @pato-roldnart - I'm still so terribly behind, but I swear I will finish the third book so that we can move on to the last. But I hadn't read a book with a friend in so long, and it's been such a lovely experience. 💙

Discovering @flightspathfic's pynch fics on AO3 - they're soooo amazing!

Seeing everyone's amazing creations for the @carryon-countdown - honestly this fandom is full of so many fantastic and talented people!

Being tagged for WIP Wednesdays and Six Sentence Sundays - sometimes I can't share anything, but it still makes me happy to be tagged. I feel so grateful for how warm and friendly the CO fandom is (especially after having a very bad year in my other fandom).

Having such wonderful and dedicated betas as @bubble-gumhead and @thewholelemon! Thank you for sticking with me even when you're busy and life gets in the way.

Organising the @carry-on-au-fest with @pato-roldnart and @bubble-gumhead. I'm sooo excited about this! We had some amazing prompts, and the people who have signed up are wonderful!

Working on my Omega Baz fic with Pato 💙

Finally writing Thorns after two years of planning it and having the chance of getting it illustrated by two brilliant artists.

Writing Space Oddity - it started off as a silly idea in my head, and I just let go and went with it. It was so liberating and fun!

Tagging anyone else who still hasn't done the review (in any kind of way).

[nisiedrawsstuff]

Nisie's Year in Books | 2024

books i read this year (its pretty much all queer romance)

Top 5 Reads of 2024

Limited to books released in 2024 only (otherwise how the fuck do i choose???).

Prince of Agony (Perilous Courts #6), Tavia Lark

Swordcrossed, Freya Marsk

What Feasts at Night (Sworn Soldier, #2), TJ Kingfisher

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend (Mischief & Matchmaking #1), Emma Alban

The Captive's Curse (Twilight Mages Book 2), Eliot Grayson  

Full review list under cut

Purple are queer romance books I would recommend! Pink are other books I would recommend!

Captain's Surrender, Alex Beecroft ★★★☆☆ Jan 2024 I feel sure that i have read this before but it's not in my good reads history so I'm adding it now. Overall an enjoyable book but there was a bit too much gay angsting for my tastes, I don't care for stories with moral or religious dilemmas over being queer. Naval bits were fun and exciting. Not sure how their Happy Ending is supposed to work with them both being captains but my best wishes to them  

Hunting the Spy, Tyler Flynn ★★★☆☆ Jan 10, 2024 Didn't really like this book until the last 20% or so. Nathan is really unlikeable and mean to his beloved, Peter, who is precious and sweet and never did anything wrong. It wasn't until Nathan realized he loved and trusted Peter and begrudgingly accepted his help that story became interesting.  

On a Lee Shore, Elin Gregory ★★★☆☆ Jan 25, 2024 Very slow burn. Main character is slightly annoying but he comes around eventually.  

Twisted Tome, Vanora Lawless ★★★★☆ Jan 29, 2024 Fun plot, likeable characters, but I feel like it could have done with more editing. There were many parts that felt too long.  

Slippery Creatures (The Will Darling Adventures, #1), K.J. Charles ★★★★☆ Feb 08, 2024 ok so i will never like Kim and Will as much as Daniel and Archie, but they are similarly shaped hot messes so I love them anyways, and this was probably my 3rd reread of this book.  

The Stablemaster's Heart (Tales of Lilleforth #2), Sarah Honey ★★★☆☆ Feb 11, 2024 Characters were likeable but the writing felt strangely YA for a book with constant and detailed sex scenes.  

The Sugared Game (The Will Darling Adventures, #2), K.J. Charles ★★★★★ Feb 24, 2024 I absolutely love how messy these guys are!! and the cameos by some characters from Think of England/Proper English !!!!! (also a reread)  

Subtle Blood (The Will Darling Adventures, #3), K.J. Charles ★★★★★ Feb 28, 2024 KIMMMMMMM WHY ARE YOU YOU????  

The Larks Still Bravely Singing, Aster Glenn Gray ★★★★☆ Mar 02, 2024 I mostly enjoyed this book but the ending was a bit underwhelming and it felt like there wasn't really any closure or character growth. But they did end up together so that was good.  

Ghost Star Night (Sea of Stars, #1), Nicole Kimberling ★★★☆☆ Mar 11, 2024 Didn't enjoy as much as last time. It's still batshit crazy and the mcs are likeable but the plot is so fucking wild???  

Tramps and Vagabonds, Aster Glenn Gray ★☆☆☆☆ Mar 12, 2024 DNF at 50%. Honestly I thought it was boring and didn't seem like the plot was going anywhere  

Heir of Starlight (Sea of Stars, #2), Nicole Kimberling ★★★★★ Mar 24, 2024 This is a wierd ass book, and I don't know why I like it as much as I do, but here we are - I enjoyed this book where the love interest is trapped in the body of an orangutan.  

King's Man (Outlawed #1), Sally Malcolm ★★★★☆ Mar 29, 2024 Good tension happy ending, likeable characters and side characters.  

A Botanical Daughter, Noah Medlock ★★☆☆☆ Apr 05, 2024 DNF after part 1 of 3. Simon and Gregor just didn't feel like good or likeable people and I just didn't feel interested in following them on their journey. Their relationship dynamic didn't feel happy or healthy either since Gregor seems to constantly bully Simon and ignore his feelings and concerns. Lastly, I'm sorry but digging up the corpse of your housekeeper's bff without consent and experimenting on it in the basement is a line I don't think protagonists should cross. Personally I would give this a 1 star but it gets an extra because it has potential. I think the story would have worked better and been more interesting if it was entirely told from Jenny's perspective, since she's the only likeable character (as far as I read)..  

The Royal Curse (Twilight Mages, #1), Eliot Grayson ★★★★☆ Apr 08, 2024 I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would  

What Feasts at Night (Sworn Soldier, #2), T. Kingfisher ★★★★☆ Apr 28, 2024 LET ALEX EASTON FUCK A MONSTER!  

The Scottish Boy, Alex de Campi ★★★☆☆ May 2024 This started off strong and it was shaping up to be one of my favorite books. Then it turned sideways and the plot stopped making sense. Still have very mixed feelings about this.  

Finding You, Finding Me, Bailey Queen ★★☆☆☆ May 04, 2024 The romance between Henry and Will felt forced. It felt like Henry had more romantic tension with his friend/superior Giordano than Will.  

Knight of Nights, Karin Kallmaker ★★☆☆☆ May 10, 2024 Plot didn't really seem to go anywhere and it ended surprisingly abruptly. Didn't like the coin's melodramatic and mysterious comments. Skyra and Kirstine were likeable characters but their romance felt a bit forced. I wanted to like this but there was too much that wasn't to my taste  

Crowns and Swords (Royalty & Romance, #1), J.L. Meyrick ★★☆☆☆ May 22, 2024 i don't remember this at all  

A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel (The Doomsday Books, #2), K.J. Charles ★★★★★ May 28, 2024 The spicy sequel I have been waiting for!! Luke is absolutely hands down one of my favorite characters.  

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen (The Doomsday Books, #1), K.J. Charles ★★★★★ May 30, 2024 this is the good stuff  

Wine and War: The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure, Don Kladstrup ★★★★★ May 31, 2024 A NON FICTION BOOK!!! IT IS GOOD  

A Rulebook for Restless Rogues (Lucky Lovers of London, #2), Jess Everlee ★★★★☆ Jun 02, 2024 This book had a lot going on, possibly too much?  

The Gentleman's Book of Vices (Lucky Lovers of London, #1), Jess Everlee ★★★★☆ Jun 06, 2024 First time I tried this book I quit in the first chapter. (The scenes in the molly house were annoying) Second time I held on and made it through to the actual plot which was entertaining and the couple was delightful.  

The Oak and the Ash (The Old Bridge Inn #3), Annick Trent ★★★★★ Jun 17, 2024 Absolutely loved this book!!! Just average working folks trying pursue their dreams and build a relationship while earning a living and avoiding the trouble the aristocracy creates! A wonderful blend of realism, hopefulness and cosy.  

Harvest Season (The Old Bridge Inn series), Annick Trent ★★★★☆ Jun 19, 2024 hell yeah lesbians! workers!  

Bound to the Wild Fae (Fortune Favors the Fae, #3), Tavia Lark ★★★★★ Jun 21, 2024 Absolutely adorable romance!!! Love Yarrow's immediate need to protect his small human!!!  

Silk & Sand (Seth & Raider #1), Katherine Diane ★★★☆☆ Jul 2024 i can't even begin to describe how wacky this series is.  

Hothouse Bloom (Ramsbury Estate, #1), Hannah Morse ★★★★☆ Jul 06, 2024 Overall a perfectly fine little story but could have used finer proofreading  

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend (Mischief & Matchmaking #1), Emma R. Alban ★★★★☆ Jul 11, 2024 Generally I liked this, the characters were likeable, their relationships with their parents were wonderful, and their friendships with cousins and such was sweet. There were a few spots I felt the characters did unlikely things to advance the plot but overall a fun read.  

A Bluestocking's Guide to Decadence (Lucky Lovers of London, #3), Jess Everlee ★★★☆☆ Jul 15, 2024 Overall pretty good but there were some moments where it felt like "eating your vegetables". I love Jo but Emily's perspective was a bit tedious at times.  

The Lighthouse Keeper, Liv Rancourt ★★☆☆☆ Jul 20, 2024 It felt like there were too many plot threads that didn't always make sense. The romance between Rafe and Vincent felt a bit forced.  

The Duke at Hazard (Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune, #2), K.J. Charles ★★★☆☆ Jul 24, 2024 I didn't particularly enjoy this book. Cassian wasn't likeable until a good way through the book and the villain was too mustache twirling and over the top bad guy. Meanwhile Daizell was perfect and did nothing wrong!!!  

The Captive's Curse (Twilight Mages Book 2), Eliot Grayson ★★★★☆ Jul 26, 2024 Highly entertaining and spicy! Cyril was incredibly annoying and I have no idea how Enzo puts up with him but to each their own.  

Silver & Gold (Seth & Raider #2), Katherine Diane ★★☆☆☆ Aug 03, 2024 I r really wanted to like this book, but the ratio of action to romance was off. 90% of this book was sex or talking through trauma. It got to the point where I would skip over sex scenes and dialogue, because how many times do you need to know that raider and Seth have hot sex, and that they love each other enough to work through trauma. It's fine, we don't need to know all the details!!! The last 10% of the book was enjoyable, because that's when the plot finally kicked in.  

Never Darling (Fortune Favors the Fae, #6), Sam Burns ★★★☆☆ Aug 06, 2024 It was a bit strange that this story was set almost entirely in the human world with fairies just kind of being there at the end. I think the concept for the story was interesting but the slow burn over 3-4 years was implausible. A lot happens in 3 years and you're just not going to remember someone who stopped by once! Meanwhile the background story with Everett and Peter actually seemed more interesting than the main story. I also just don't like stories with hot rich nice guys who just swoop in and solve all of a poor person's problems. Not my kind of fantasy. I think overall it was a taste mismatch for me, and people with different tastes than me will probably enjoy it.  

Prince of Poison (Fortune Favors the Fae, #7), Alice Winters ★★☆☆☆ Aug 08, 2024 This felt like 2 books smashed into one - there wasn't enough clues for the reader to understand the layers until 60% through. The plot was convoluted and relied too much on characters explaining it. Lastly the language and dialogue felt really off, they all sounded like teenagers instead of fantasy characters. I'm not exactly expecting Tolkien, but am expecting significantly less "like"s and "I guess" es. Overall I think this had the potential to be a great story but could have used stronger editing.  

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb (London Highwaymen, #1), Cat Sebastian ★★★★★ Aug 11, 2024 BE GAY DO CRIME THE NOVEL  

Prince of Agony (Perilous Courts #6), Tavia Lark ★★★★★ Aug 16, 2024 WOW OH WOW this is SO GOOD!!!!! KAZIA IS MY BESTEST BABY BOY SO SAD, SO TRAGIC SO PURPLE!! (and yes i have read it 3 times already) .

The Necromancer's Light, Tavia Lark ★★★★★ Aug 18, 2024 Charming romance! Love an opposites attract! They're an adorable couple - what else do I need to say?  

These Old Lies, Larrie Barton ★★★☆☆ Aug 24, 2024 Feels weird giving this a 3/5 because I loved AND hated this book. I think it had so much potential and mostly a good plot, it's the timeline of events that makes it unbearably slow and full of needless suffering. I think the arc of the story, which takes almost 30 years to resolve, really could have been resolved within 6 years. I think it would have been a tighter storyline and more hopeful story if the author had compressed the timeline and reduced the characters suffering and pining.  

Prince and Assassin (Perilous Courts, #1), Tavia Lark ★★★★★ Aug 28, 2024 Absolutely loved this book! Both Julien and Whisper are absolutely loveable and have a great dynamic. Assassin falling for target is a classic trope for a reason!!!  

The Forgotten Dead (OutFoxing the Paranormal, #1), Jordan L. Hawk ★★★★☆ Aug 30, 2024 This was somewhere between a 3 and 4 for me. I can't put my finger on anything that bad or that I particularly disliked but I wasn't feral over it either  

Hunter Omega: M/M Paranormal Romance, Liv Rider ★★★☆☆ Sep 2024 A perfectly fine popcorn romance.  

You're the Problem, It's You (Mischief & Matchmaking #2), Emma R. Alban ★★☆☆☆ Sep 02, 2024 UPDATE: the book improved significantly literally on the next page after i quit. I did go back and finish the story. so maybe its a 3/5? DNF at 40% it was just too annoying and stressful to keep reading. Bobby Mason was mostly delightful, but Demeroven was whiny, rude and annoying in every scene he was in. Raverson and the evil Stepfather were both too obviously moustache twirling villains and also unnecessary plot points. I didn't believe the attraction between Bobby and Demeroven one bit it was just exhausting to see them continuously arguing and in fact arguing in circles, until they end up on opposite sides but still arguing.  

A Thief in the Night, K.J. Charles ★★★★☆ Sep 30, 2024 Great story! Wished it was longer!! Love a happy ending that involves stealing from the rich!!  

Liar City (Sugar & Vice #1), Allie Therin ★★★★★ Oct 05, 2024 I really wasn't expecting to love this as much as I do!! I'm not a fan of contemporary fiction but I love Allie Therin's other books so I thought I'd give it a try. I ended up staying up until 3 AM to finish this book in a day  

Peacemaker (Sharps & Springfield, #1), Morgan Brice ★☆☆☆☆ Oct 08, 2024 This is one of the most frustrating books I ever read. I should have put it down but it was so close to what I wanted. This book is like going to the freezer for a rich creamy ice cream and only finding a ice encrusted popsicle with freeze burn. The romance between the main characters felt forced and unappealing. They were both incredibly bad at giving and receiving "I want to fuck you" cues and they're also just bad at their jobs? Most of this book was dialogue, with other characters telling them what they had already discovered. The "evil plot" was unnecessarily convoluted and I have no idea how any of the characters reached the conclusions they did. I wish I could have liked this book  

You Should Be So Lucky, Cat Sebastian ★★★★☆ Nov 30, 2024 I won't say this book made me care about baseball, but it made me not mind the fact that baseball was here. The romance was charming and the slow burn addictive, although it was probably too slow for my tastes. I think what really kept this from being a 5 star book for me is that it didn't really feel like Romance - it felt like a mid-century period piece about 2 gay men finding a life together. WHich is good, don't get me wrong, but not what I was expecting.  

Twisted Shadows (Sugar & Vice, #2), Allie Therin ★★★★★ Dec 19, 2024 Oh my God!!! The most delicious and horny of slow burns!!!!!! It was so good i immediately re-read as soon as i finished it.  

One Night in Hartswood, Emma Denny ★★★★☆ Dec 22, 2024 There were a lot of things that annoyed me, including a whole lot of unnecessary misunderstandings, but it had such a delightful ending that overall I did really like this book  

Swordcrossed, Freya Marske ★★★★☆ Dec 25, 2024 I'm glad I stuck this one through, though the beginning was rough. I feel like there was too many details of this fantasy world introduced too quickly, and the writing style felt a bit -hm- like it was trying too hard to be high brow? Eventually though the tension between the characters kicked in and the world started to make sense and then it became a whirlwind to the dramatic finish!! (Although I'm a little sad we didn't get DOUBLE WEDDING) The setting is very much like Swordspoint, or the Astreiant series or Daughter of Mystery, but less white, which is great. Would love to see more books in this universe.  

Boyfriend Material (London Calling, #1), Alexis Hall ★☆☆☆☆ Dec 25, 2024 DNF at 5% - i just couldn't get into it - I don't really like first-person perspective, and I especially don't like it when the narrator just goes on and on about what a disaster they are, and how HARD their life is, and BOO HOO all anyone cares about is his famous dad. I suppose this makes the character relatable for some people, but doesn't do it for me.

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC REVIEW: Triple Sec by TJ Alexander

4.5/5. Releases 6/4/24.

Vibes: healthy polyamory, front and center genderqueer rep (from a trans nonbinary author), slice of life in the best possible way, BOMB ASS COCKTAILS

Heath Index: 7.5/10.

Ambitious high-end bartender Mel Sorrento has been in a rut since her divorce. Enter the vivacious, brilliant Bebe... who happens to have spouse. Quiet, reserved Kade doesn't have a problem with Mel dating their wife, however--because Kade and Bebe are polyamorous. Mel's never considered the lifestyle, but her instant connection with Bebe makes her willing to give it a shot. But when her dynamic with Kade begins to shift into something entirely new, she must confront what she's actually looking for in a relationship, and how much this new opportunity for love really means to her.

UGH. YES. This is how you do a contemporary romance that, at the end of the day, is a slice of life character piece. Triple Sec is not about shocking you with plot twists and over the top dramatics (and that's not a critique--often, I'd say that I prefer plot twists and over the top dramatics). It's just fucking good writing with great character development and romance. It's also one of the more realistic contemporary romances I've read, which is honestly so refreshing. I truly believed that there were grown-ass adults figuring out their shit.

Quick Takes:

--One thing I love about a triad romance (and while this is the most realistic one I've read (I say having never been in a polycule or a triad more specifically), I do generally enjoy reading about the complexities of both figuring out a three-way relationship and developing the different "segments". While I've read some that begin with love triangle elements, that isn't the case here. Though they aren't without expected hiccups, Kade and Bebe have a very healthy approach to Bebe's beginning relationship with Mel (and later Kade starting things with Mel as well).

I feel like in less capable hands, the degree to which Bebe and Kade communicate and deal with jealousy would seem overly sanitized or boring. Like, they begin the relationship with Kade sitting in on Bebe asking Mel out and everything, just to reassure Mel that there isn't any cheating going on. But like... it's NEVER dull. It never feels expected, or like these people are perfect. (I mean, they aren't--Mel has some struggles and stumbles when beginning her journey into polyamory.)

--Part of what makes that work, I think, is the contrast in the relationships. Kade and Bebe have been together for almost a decade--they know what they're doing, and their lived-in love reverberates off the page, even though the book is entirely from Mel's third-person perspective. (Kade calling Bebe "love" constantly, despite seeming kind of frosty? Swoon.) Bebe and Mel have this immediate chemistry, full of fun and fire. And Kade and Mel sort of like... I felt an automatic sexual tension, but I also think that Mel was a bit too "new" to their dynamic to super sense it. This is probably not going to make sense to anyone but me, but I got this kind of like... Darcy and Lizzie vibe? Kade was never as prickly as Darcy, but I definitely felt like Mel was in that "WHAT. BUT THEY DON'T EVEN LIKE ME???" space.

All of it worked to me. I mean--I won't lie. I was a little partial to Mel and Kade's dynamic, because a) I like it to be a little difficult and b) Kade was my favorite but everything is great.

--Let us expand on Kade being my favorite. I really appreciate a "still waters run deep" character. Kade is that. They seem remote, but they have so much feeling and passion rumbling under the surface, and Alexander throws them into this situation with Mel that is sooooo tropey and fabulous and reading as the feelings spilled out of them was just pitch-perfect.

This does happen somewhat later, so you technically spend a lot more time with Bebe and Mel together on the page. However, Kade has a such presence, and they're constantly sort of like... looming in the background. And because of that, the slowly bubbling tension that Mel doesn't even fully register for a while is so HOT. I mean. Kade is also so hot. I was ABOUT them. Again--love Bebe and Mel, together and apart, but WHEW.

--This is completely an aside, but I do think the cocktail competition and the highlighting of the art of making a great cocktail was really cool. It made me both want to learn how to mix drinks (to the extent that I can) and try something new. These types of details make a contemporary romance way richer, and they're appreciated.

--I think it's really important to show books that are both incredibly romantic and sexy and approachable. Again, I've never been in a polyamorous or more generally non-monogamous relationship. I can't attest to have truly realistic this book is. But in general, I loved seeing a romance in which the relationship part started fairly early, showing negotiations, showing boundaries, showing rules. I mean, really, monogamous relationships should also be subject to rules and negotiations and boundaries. We should normalize this in romance. Things change. That HEA does kinda take work in some stories, and that is more reflective of real life.

Speaking of the HEA... I so appreciated that both Kade and Mel had been in very serious, very intense relationships in the past. Kade's openness and honesty about how their past partner did offer them things Bebe couldn't (and Mel can't either) was so refreshing. It's not that they necessarily need someone else to come in and take that space (though the rules do allow room for new partners--we don't see anything happen beyond the triad in this book). It's just a reality. No one person can give you everything, and that doesn't mean that every person needs to be with enough people to comprise "everything". If that's even possible. It's just something to accept, no matter what your relationship preferences.

I also loved that Kade was kind of like--yeah, this could end. How many things are really forever? But we love each other when we love each other and make each other happy and that's good. I mean, I think some people will categorize this book as one with an HFN versus an HEA--personally, I'd kinda disagree with that. But either way, I really loved seeing a romance that validated the idea that like... A relationship ending doesn't mean it wasn't VALUABLE.

The Sex:

HOT HOT HOT. Technically speaking, there are three full sex scenes in this novel. Every single one of those scenes went HARD. We have sex in a public space, we have LICK! IT! UP! (as in cum) the strap is indeed taken out and used to great effect. It's great. I loved it. I also liked and overall agree with Bebe's philosophy regarding sex and how people often tend to switch up their "out of bed" personalities compared to their "in bed" personalities.

(Also. Kade is a dirty talker. What can't they do?)

A super queer, super sexy, super bubbly contemporary romance with a heavy emphasis on character development and love story that really sold me on the "love" part. And on a personal note--I have a trans nonbinary person in my life who is much loved, and I so appreciate them having someone like TJ Alexander to see out there, creating art and leaving a mark.

Would highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[justablah56]

Since you seem to be having a bad day, I threw together a little ficlet for you. Read/respond at your leisure (whether that's in 3 minutes or not until next year)

It had been a long fucking day.

It was a full day of teaching for Terry Jr, with a bad cold wiping out the entire drama department of San Dimas High (which had only been two teachers and a tech in the first place). There was screaming, and snotty noses, and one or two kids bursting into tears, and by the time the school bell rang, he was just about ready to collapse. And, of course, that was clearly asking too much, because it was drama club that day. 2 whole hours of dealing with kids who are meant to be off book two weeks ago, and still hadn't learnt half their lines. It was a fucking nightmare.

Now, dear reader, don't misunderstand. Terry absolutely adored his job and the kids he worked with. But today was one of those days where you just want to roll over and hide back under the covers.

The train had been cramped and noisy, even if the journey had been mercifully free from the kids usual loud arguments. (Why they insisted on riding back with Terry Jr, he had no idea. It was baffling though that Scary waited for him, and they were going to the same house. Although, somehow, her friends always seemed to stay over longer than expected.) Honestly, it was a relief to lock the door behind them all, the kids rushing off to the garden for soccer practice - mostly moral support to be honest.

Terry wearily pulled off his shoes, before turning to Scary.

"Hey, kiddo, I'm gonna go have a lie down. Let your mom know, okay?"

Scary, for once, didn't seem to protest either the request or the nickname. She just nodded, frowning.

"Yeah, sure. Go have a nap or whatever." He ruffled her hair a little (this did elcit an irritated groan. He may not be her dad, but she was still his kid and it was his duty to embarrass her in front of her friends after all) and headed upstairs.

Terry didn't bother to turn on the lights as he collapsed down into the bed, just letting himself he enveloped by the darkness and the comfy sheets. He felt bad about breaking his normal routine of kissing Veronica when they both got home, but honestly he just couldn't handle doing anything other than laying down right now.

He lay there with his head burried in the pillow for maybe a minute, maybe an hour, when he felt the bed dip.

"Hey, Tear-Bear. Bad day?"

There was his amazing wife, the light of his life. Her hair was flying loose from her bun, and even in the dark Terry could see that her office clothes were slightly rumpled.

She was stunning.

"You know, you gotta stop picking up Nicky's pet names. He has far too many." Terry mumbled as he grabbed her hand, tiredly bringing it up to his lips.

"Ah, but that would mean I don't get to hang out with your wife as much. Darling." A familiar weight draped itself over him, tail curling round his leg. "Dropping round unexpectedly and hanging out with V without you is half the fun."

Nicky's voice was a soothing rumble against his chest. Somehow, just having his two partners here made it easier to relax. Even if Nicky had definitely not announced that he'd be coming over. Veronica kicked her feet up and slung an arm over Terry's shoulder, pulling him closer.

"Come on, time for you to rest, TJ."

okokok I've hoarded this fic long enough , ive probably reread this AT LEAST 5 times now xnsnmsms anyways it means *so very much* to me that you decided to write an adorable little ficlet for me bcs i was not feeling good <3333 this lil fic is literally *so* cute i don't know how to properly convey to you how much i love this but icy i love this so much . thank you <33333

[luninosity]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love! Tagged by @estrellami-1 - thank you, my dear! <3 Let's see, fanfic specifically, not original works, I imagine...well, I've got a lot! The question is, which... Okay, these are just my personal favs, not even necessarily the ones I think might be the best-written, and I'm also excluding co-authored fic because that would be a very different list! (For one thing, Amateur Cartography, with Reg....) 1. straight from your heart (Stucky) - lots of people seem to like this one (thank you!) and I do too - I love recovering!Bucky stories, I loved the premise (it was written for a fest prompt), and I love the idea of Steve and Bucky working out what they want to incorporate, and play with, and reclaim, as far as identities (and, okay, some kink; it's me!). 2. Like Sugar (Evanstan; series) - okay, this is probably cheating because it's a whole series, but I can't separate them! This might be the thing people know me for most, maybe, and it was at the time the longest and most detailed story I'd ever written, and one of those that was (mostly) easy to write - words and scenes just turned up and flowed. I sometimes go back and reread my writing and am honestly impressed by myself. I do love this whole giant thing. 3. tempt me, tease me (leave me breathless) & (baby won't you please) run your fingers through my hair (both Evanstan, both sort of gentle kink) - okay, this is also kind of cheating, because they're two separate stories - except they're sort of linked, in my head? They have vaguely similar premises, about Chris discovering some things about Seb's preferences, and love confessions, and kink, and comfort, and...I don't know, they just have a similar 'feel' to my writer-brain. They both have specific lines that I've put on "top ten favorite sentences I've written" lists before, and I love my writing at this point. 4. never mind the why and wherefore (Johnny Storm/TJ Hammond Fantastic Four/Political Animals no-powers AU crossover) - this is an odd random one but I genuinely love it! In the category of "stories I never expected to write"...and then friends made me think about it...and then suddenly it practically wrote itself and I had 45k of story. One of the best and most unexpected and consequently wonderful writing experiences I've ever had, plus of course TJ deserves all the happiness! 5. Know That It's True (Cherik, X-Men: First Class era) - pulling out a real old-school one: this was my first-ever X-Men fic! Well, to be fair, that depends on how you count - it's the first one I started writing, but then I stopped and wrote and finished something else short, and then went back to this one! These days my writing style has evolved a bit, and there're some things I'd do differently - but the sheer sense of fun to it, the absolute joy, the "oh gosh YES" rush of feels while writing, posting, being so nervous about it as a new(ish) writer...oh, I love it. And I tumbled into so many communities and friendships and fan events and fests and, oh, the shared love - really, without this, I don't know where I'd be. So that's always got to be on a list of favorites. *hugs you all* Tagging people, oh, let's see... @musette22 @significantowl @ninemoons42 @thebestpersonherelovesbucky @rozf and anyone else who wants to! love you!

[kagdowo]

Ok to answer your tags. flynn is way too active (involved with the self/ self serving) and way too good at self care to be a seer. (also the idk about you until we've hung out enough and then i'll die for you but i'll never tell you but that's another thing entirely)

a good example of echo project seer would be cameron wilson from arches vn (seer of doom, dersite) or dave halloway (seer of time prospit)

Flynn just has too much of the akward cohabitation with his aspect too much of self imposed rules. and not enough of trying to foster pseudo mage like traits into other to be a seer.

altough yes you are right flynn is the ragest bitch to have ever raged. (you could argue that flynn ending and him spectatulary failing at self care by getting himself killed is a seerish trait. but the devil is in the details. seer hurts themselves with their opposite aspect. by misfiring their twin witch impulse (especially the women) terezi had relationship problems rose was alcoholic etc....

Mage get burned by their primary aspect while gaining instinctive non scholar insigth about it. (flynn get burned by rage when his fury against secrets and lie as well as general skepticism led him to be burned in the mine, murdoch get burned by blood with his abusive familly situation)

all in all flynn has all the akwardness the wanting to dance by their own rules the attuning to his aspect as personal insights of a mages.

i am literally a seer so i know one when i see one. P.S other fvn seers might include cordelia hendricks (seer of hope prospit) porter moore (seer of blood no idea of his lunar sway) and klaus from dawn chorus (seer of void, no idea for his sway either)

omg wow thank u so much for ur reaponse!! this was such a fun breakdown to read, and now that I’ve read it I wholeheartedly agree with u on flynn being a mage of rage.

i always had a hard time conceptualizing / understanding the mage class- like, i understood they suffer from their aspect in some way and in the process gain intuitive knowledge about it, but that was the extent of my understanding.

seers too- like, lmao now that i’m thinking about it i think i had an even looser grasp on seers than i had on mages! i didnt even know about the twin witch impulse stuff, or the stuff about fostering psuedo mages

it all makes perfect sense tho, and i’m a bit embarrassed i never really caught on to a lot of this before (especially embarrassed that i forgot seers were the passive to mages, not the other way around lol)

regardless tho, thanks so much for taking the time to write all this!! i especially love how u provided examples of other seers/mages in other fvn titles. (cameron as a seer of doom is so real but its also such a sad title, which tracks but still 😭)

i gotta ask if u’ve thought about the rest of the casts’ titles? i’ve thought about it a bit, but as shown, i don’t really have the greatest grasp of classpecting so a lot of what i have is really half baked

i think leo is definitely bloodbound and possible a prospit dreamer? or maybe he’s a prince and he’s just mirroring blood so he’s actually a prince of breath? or something?

carl feels possibly space or breath bound? maybe a page too?

jenna is either light or mind? as for class idrk

tj could be either void or hope? void cuz of syd and hope cuz of his faith and how he parallels flynn (lol i know very superficial). and as for his class… idk honestly lol

and chase… idk really lmao, maybe heart? since he’s sort of the heart of the narrative? don’t really know what class i’d give chase either tbh

and the sydney… probably doombound, right? or time, since his death sort of starts the clockdown towards the town’s undoing?

[nbwriteschaos]

i've come baring book rambles!

**spoilers? for wolfsong by tj klune even tho it's like 8 years old...**

i finished wolfsong in four days! i switched between the audio book and a kindle copy and it truly soothed my lack of motivation to read (maybe kindles aren't so bad?)

i got the vibe that it was very clearly self indulgent tumblr 2014-esque; with the writing style, the characters, and the a/b/o dynamic which i never have had much interest in before. but, honestly? i loved it. it satisfied my Adhd Brain™️ and my longing for more explicitly (and explicit😉) clear queer characters. it was really fun and easy to read, and i think the looseness of it helped push along the angst and slow burn.

which, btw, the childhood friends to lovers trope absolutely destroyed me and made me adore joe as a character. i wish there was more about him!!!

anyways, i love love LOVE joe and ox, but i'll admit i'm a little critical of the age gap their romance started in and it wasn't really of my interest to indulge in that, but later on i was more comfortable with it and found their relationship sweet. a little blood boiling, but sweet. i'll be thinking about them for too long.

i'm kind of hesitant about starting ravensong since i wasn't too interested in the side characters (besides rico, loved him sm), but i got the audiobook anyway and i'm gonna give it a chance!! excited to see how this plays out :)

[reallyhardydraws]

hi !!!! i have been a huge fan of ur art for a long time, esp since i found it via x-men fanart, and it's what introduced me to evo which is now like one of my fave shows ever. i've always LOVED all your kurt/wanda stuff, but since i only rlly have access to the movies & tv shows, and wanda isn't even in the xmcu (💔), i've always wondered if they're involved in the comics or if it's just something you'd wanna see? obvs your earth-number-i-forgot au is yours, but the other stuff? i guess if ur willing i just wanna know what makes you like them so much, since everything you draw for them is so cute, and i don't get to see any of the source material!!

hi!

a lot of my interest in kurtwanda came from my old days of writing as kurt in the xmcu RP fandom here on tumblr :') i had some of my best times writing with my friend who wrote as wanda, we had loads of headcanons and just yeah haha. i think there's something about their visual contrast that's fun obvs the red and blue and then their similar sort of romani upbringings give them common ground, they're both sort of goth too lol.

but there IS also the cartoon wolverine & the x-men. they go on a date and wanda gives him a kiss, and i think this is all sort of a nod to the fact that kurt & wanda are married in the universe that gave us TJ wagner/nocturne

and so yes they ARE in involved in the comics, but it's all entirely offscreen RIP!!! earth-2182 is their home universe - we only learn a little about their relationship via TJ, but she implies that her parents are a) married and b) very much in love:

(click through to view these properly, please excuse the antiromani slur used in the 2nd screenshot) there is also like... one extra panel where we see old man kurt watching wanda saving people on TV and he's like 'atta girl that's my wife' but i can't find it and you're not missing much b/c for whatever reason they said 'this version of wanda is as hot as always but this kurt is decrepitly old, bald, rocking a white goatee, and has an eyepatch.' really a weird turn for our favourite elf.)

but yeah i would recommend the wolverine & the x-men scenes: they appear together in episode 10 - greetings from genosha and episode 15 - hunting grounds i think they may appear in other episodes but it's been a while since i've watched the series, these are the only 2 where they are both main characters and their storylines interact.

anyway tysm for asking! i'm glad u enjoy my drawings of them and tbh i miss them!!! need some more free time to be drawing my faves they're honestly a ship for the ages!!!❤️💙❤️💙

[eddiestattoos]

20 questions for fanfic writers!

Tagged by @aintgonnatakethis 💙

How many works do you have on AO3? 46

What's your total AO3 word count? 213 147

What fandoms do you write for? My big two are stargate (any and all. Mostly sg1 and sga though) and csi. Though my ao3 says my most posted fandoms are smallville and spn, and that's technically correct, from the svnatural crossovers. There's a couple other shows thrown in there too but we won't get into my whole writing history and future rn

Top 5 fics by kudos:

The thing about a fantasy (csi, G, CathRick)

Beautiful disaster (sga, sg1, T, Gen.)

Keep me safe (sg1, G, Sam/Daniel)

Take me back into your arms (sg1, T, Sam/Daniel)

Morning person (sg1, G, sam & daniel)

Do you respond to comments? Not always, but no that if you've left a nice comment I'm grinning like an idiot each and every time I read it. I love them.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I feel like I don't write a ton of angsty ending so I might have to say so much for normal (also my 6th fic by kudos). It ends basically how spn starts, so yeah.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Oh so many but I think the ultimate one has to be take me back into your arms. Nothing like a reunion after coming back to this mortal coil

Do you get any hate on fics? Thankfully no (knock on wood)

Do you write smut? No siree. Not my wheelhouse

Craziest crossover? I basically started by writing crossovers, but the wackiest is definitely the Jason Teague & Dean Winchester are twins fic. Thanks @morrison-the-ii once again

Have you ever had a fic stolen? I hope not!

Have you ever had a fic translated? Not to my knowledge, but I'd allow it!

Have you ever co written a fic? I've bounced ideas with various people, but never actually wrote with anybody

All time favourite ship? I'm not sure tbh. My unhinged svnatural SamLois era was very fun and am still much a fan of Sam/Daniel fics. But one it always seems to come back to writing for me is the brotp between Sara and Nick. They're such a great dynamic to work with and I truly missed writing all csi but especially them so much. Bonus answer Clois, but I don't think I've wrote anything for them. Or at least not anything beyond a ficlet

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I have this saving hope doc I've had for over a year that was meant to be a role reversal of the series finale (meaning its Alex because I like to be even more depressing apparently). The doc is still empty to this day and I honestly think itll stay that way but let's be real nobody wants that anyway I know I really don't 😭. Could also say csi road trip fic but I'm damned and determined to write that one

What are your writing strengths? Characters and dialogue. I love characters and I always feel like I have a good grasp on each of them and can keep them in character as much as possible

What are your writing weaknesses? Any kind of creative descriptors.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language? I doubt I'd personally try it, but I mean if you want to, I don't see a reason not to

First fandom you wrote in? First fic I ever started was Resurfacing (csi, M, gen.) First fic I posted however was the original version of hear it from me (svnatural, G; Clois & Sam)

Favourite fic you've written? Do you know how hard this is? I might have to go with special occasion (svnatural, G; gen.) Just because of how excited I was for that idea combining the best of both worlds. But another one I'm proud of for some reason is just maybe (we'll be alright) (sgu, G; TJ/Young). I don't often feel great about my scene setting and emotion but I like to think I hit the nail on the head with that one

Tagging (no pressure): @sga-owns-my-soul @jencsi @ilkkawhat and @space-helen

But please also feel free to jump on if you see this!

[valeriianz]

Ooh, for the trope-grading thing: sex pollen. Merfolk AU. Aaaand, fake dating? Unless someone already asked that one.

Thank you for so many options, TJ!

Sex pollen:

C. Not my favorite, not something I actively look for, and usually something I know will like or not by the initial tone. I don't mind a good, nasty PWP but something about sex pollen hedges a little too close to non-con. So if an author is able to tackle that well, then I'm all for it.

Actually, if I can toss in a recommendation, Midnight in Bloom by @aeon-of-neon is a very good take on the trope, I loved it.

Merfolk:

B-. I only very recently started getting into it with Designtheendless' work, @chaosheadspace's Little Mermaid AU, and before all of that, @teejaystumbles' Hell or High Water series. I was always passively okay with it, read a short tumblr fic here or there... but sheesh, something was awakened in me over dreamling week and now I have a craving lol. Not actively looking but patiently waiting for more :)

Fake dating:

A. I gobble that shit up. Such a fun trope. Such a good excuse for unresolved sexual tension. Shame I haven't written much, but I love reading it.

Band/musician au:

B. This used to be a C or even D. It was never a trope I particularly enjoyed. I've been in a lot of fandoms and in all of them I remember trying band/musician aus and always feeling disappointed by them. Maybe I just wasn't having as much fun with the possibilities of aus back then (because honestly, musician au IS very hit or miss. Especially if you're not a fan of aus, I think). I really have no clue how my brain got rewired. I still can't believe I'm writing my own band au and that it's grown into the monstrosity it is now... AND that I'm reading other musician aus as well lol. (btw if anyone hasn't read Music When You Speak by @ml-nolan please give it a shot! It's like Bolt in the Blue's hot older sister lmao).

Send me a fanfic trope to grade!

[thisaintascenereviews]

Brothers Osborne - S/T

Country music was thrown for a loop in 2021 when TJ Osborne, one half of Brothers Osborne, came out as gay. That’s not unusual in itself, but for country music, it is. Openly LGBTQ musicians are hard to come by, minus Brandy Clark, Brandi Carlile, or Orville Peck, but they’re not extremely mainstream, so it’s more telling that a mainstream country artist came out. It’s telling due to the fanbase that most country music has, at least mainstream country. There are plenty of underground queer artists, but for the mainstream, they’re rare. That was the main topic of discussion before Brothers Osborne put out their fourth album, this time a self-titled album, because they said they were reinventing themselves with this one. I’ve said before that self-titled albums are usually for that reason, especially when something drastic chances for a band. They were asked if LGBTQ themes would be present on their new album, which is a strange question (although it makes sense, if they’re writing about what they know and their own experiences), and they said that are still going to use gender neutral pronouns in their songs, and that’s ultimately a smart move.

That doesn’t have any effect on me one way or another, both because I’m not a diehard fan, and I also haven’t listened to these guys in a couple of years. I did briefly listen to 2020’s Skeletons, and enjoyed that a bit. I really loved their 2016 debut, Pawn Shop, and their albums have been consistently solid, albeit nothing worthwhile. I can kinda say the same here, although I have to admit that I really like this album. They don’t totally reinvent themselves here, but this album has a few curveballs, including some R&B, funk, and disco-ish numbers. A lot of this album is still relatively standard pop-country / country-rock that they’re known for, so the reinvention doesn’t make a ton of sense, but there are some new enough ideas here that make it worth it.

If anything, this album is really slick, catchy, and pretty fun. There are some nice hooks on this relatively short album, which only clocks in at 35 minutes, and the vocal performances are great throughout. TJ Osborne has a nice baritone that is rather unique for the genre, and he has some good range. Miranda Lambert makes an uncredited guest appearance on “We Ain’t Good At Breaking Up,” which she co-wrote with them, too. The instrumentation is a lot of fun, especially with some solid guitar solos that pop up from time to time throughout the album, and even the more disco and funky cuts, such as “Goodbye’s Kickin’ In,” or “Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That.”

The lyrics are the only thing on this record that brings it down a bit, but they’re not bad or weirdly written, like a few songs on Dan + Shay’s new one, they’re just not unique at all. These songs are about pretty cliched things, although they do it well enough. They don’t say anything new, but they don’t make it boring, either. A song like “Back Home” is about how people miss their hometowns the longer they’re away (that’s not always true, but that’s neither here nor there), or a song like “Love You Too” has the either brilliant or awful lyric of “Hate on me, love you, too,” and while that song is about only showing love towards people, it’s still done well enough.

I’d honestly recommend this record if you want a catchy and short country-rock album. This won’t necessarily win any awards, or blow your mind if you’re looking for a unique country record, but it gets the job done and offers some stuff that the band hasn’t done before, and that you don’t see too much from country, such as funkier sounds. Out of last two albums I reviewed, being this and the new Dan + Shay, this one is “better,” but not by a whole lot. That’s not even to say that Dan + Shay’s new album is bad, either; I really like that record, but it doesn’t have a long shelf life, per se. This one has a bit of a longer one, albeit it depends on how much you enjoy this band and/or country-rock. I’d recommend this, though, as it’s pretty fun and energetic, despite its cliched lyricism.

[zerokrox-blog]

hello love!!! 31, 33, 49 for the weirder asks please?

hi lovely!! firstly I love your writing, and every time I see your name of my timeline I get so happy!! <3

31. what type of music keeps you grounded?

I really like rock music like Lorna Shore, bad omens, and Our Last Night to name a few. Honestly though, all music is grounding for me. But if I'm specifically upset my favourite and most calming songs are 'A little piece of heaven' by avenged sevenfold, 'go to war' by nothing more and 'bloodbath & beyond' by Ice nine kills. I have a hard time with anger so these songs feel angriest to me so I can be upset and calm down without snapping at anyone. Plus the beat and screaming is calming to me.

33. the last adventure you’ve been on?

honestly the last one would be trying to find a store with my sister. We were supposed to go to TJ Max and she got lost because she was showing me something nearby and made a wrong turn 😂 .... it was rather fun because we got to some really pretty houses in her area until she figured out where we were and got us back onto the main road. 10000/10 would do it again with her

49. can you skip rocks? no... 😭 I tried but for some reason I find it difficult. I will say my hand grip isn't the best due to some injuries I have had in the past, so that doesn't help at all. But yeah I tried skipping rocks but they just sink they don't skip

ask me questions

[ev-bell-logbook]

Phys Vis // Projects // Sem 1 // Week 10

5/12/24

We did our class warm-up again!

After we got ourselves warm Jodie put us into a walking around the room exercise. We naturally found ourselves all copying the person walking in front of us, so when someone stood out they were an outlier. Jodie asked us to play with this a bit more, experimenting with the idea of a call and response ensemble. When the outlier stopped to turn and face us we all faced away. Then we'd follow them as they walked past, and repeat. After we played around with a few of these situations we broke off into smaller groups and played with a set of given instructions to create a call and response from. We experimented with mirroring and proximity and levels. I found this as one of the less enjoyable exercises that we've done so far, but that may be because I was thinking too much about it. If I did it next time I would probably try and go into some kind of autonomous ensemble state and have my awareness a lot more open.

Next we split into partners and looked at Rashdash's way of devising a movement duet. Under-under-over-over. I really like this method of devising movement as it feels a lot more open compared to Frantic's round-by-through. I worked with TJ and really enjoyed the process. We were both so open to movement and connection. TJ has this understand of what feels right as well. If a move we did didn't feel as strong as some of the others we were able to sit and revise it over and over until we found something that worked. Part of this process involved us layering other techniques to make the sequence more interesting, like playing with the tempo and eye-contact. Both of these things were things we had already touched on naturally. Finally we added speech. I felt it would be beneficial to only speak in questions, which was very powerful to begin with. However, I think we over did it and some of the questions we chose lent themselves too much to the story, so they lost some of that strikingness. Going forward I think an outside eye would work to stop us getting so caught up an aspect as important as this.

After that we looked into creating some Frantic inspired chair duets. My group had the extra challenge of adding a third person into our group because someone had to leave early. So it was more like a chair trio. It was actually quite fun working out the relationships between the characters when it's not just a two-person thing. It added an extra layer of thought into creating intricacy and purpose within our performance as we had to always find some way to utilise the 'extra' person. We performed these with a piece of music I had made. I had played around with Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring to create something a bit weird and unnatural and ethereal sounding. Then Jodie spotted the ledge outside and said "wouldn't it be a good idea if we could move it outside," so we did. It was completely spontaneous but we played with the idea of disconnection from the audience and music whilst performing the piece from the other side of the road. It was interesting to think of everything outside being our stage as well and that whatever happened happened. This is definitely inspiring me to think about site-specific performance as part of what could be our assessment piece for this module. Currently (the time of writing this, after doing the preparation work for next lesson on Forced Entertainment), I think performing something meta about a group of performers trying to think of a performance in the library would be interesting.

Then we showcased our remixed Bausch solos to our groups to try and incorporate elements of each of these three materials into one last piece. We chose to transition all of our materials together. We started entering the space with our solos and went into our chair trio, then TJ and I branched off to do our duet, whilst Charley did his solo again. This final rehearsal process felt a bit rushed honestly and looking back at it we probably could have found better ways to blend the three materials together.

[justablah56]

TJ anon once again: this is great because it's like writing a multi chapter fic but there's no plot and it's made for a readership of one person

Cass "Hey, if there's no security footage, there's no proof" Swift-Close-Foster-Freeman-Stampler is definitely a bit of a chaos gremlin. She and Lark once almost got arrested for public indecency when she got him to unbutton her shirt in a nightclub. Why? No one really bothered to ask, they were too busy trying to bargain with the police. One of them turned out to be Jodie's old work mates, who let them off.

You know what, this is going to be a clubbing themed ask. Disclaimer: I have never been clubbing. Legally, I cannot

The kiddads, Rebecca, Marco, and Cassandra have gotten kicked out of multiple clubs. At some point, they developed a system to create the wildest night possible, involving when you can start dancing on tables, and the best place to make friends for the night. The answer to the latter is the girls' bathroom. There is always a crying drunk girl in a bathroom, and Cassandra and Rebecca are very skilled at comforting and befriending them. Your boyfriend broke up with you? And he's here with his new girlfriend? Girl, you're so much better than him, we will buy you drinks and hype you up. We have 6 hot men who will dance with you and treat you like a goddamn celebrity for the entire night, let's show that fucker how much you don't need him. And if you're worried about them being weird, two of them are gay and all of them are respectful. Have some discount coupons for Swallows Ice Cream and a random makeover. We will turn a terrible night into one of the best for you.

Certain members of the group have been mistaken for erotic dancers on multiple occasions. No comment as to who. It does mean that they have more money for drinks though.

Cassandra and Nicky will be the ultimate gnc couple. Cass goes in a suit, but one of those more casual ones that have lowcut shirts and a deliberately loose tie. Nicky goes in a crop top and mini skirt with fishnets. They have switched outfits part way through the night without people noticing at least 7 times, because honestly, they would both wear each outfit.

Terry and Lark are usually the sober ones, as Lark is often the designated driver, and Terry just assigns himself designated drunk people wrangler. Since they're also the two who (at the time) are not in a committed romantic relationship, they carefully accumulated embarrassing moments for everyone's weddings, knowing that there was no sufficient retribution.

(Side headcanon that Terry and Lark go on platonic Valentine's dates every year in college/uni. They take lots of photos of Terry being cutesy and couple-y and Lark just being grumpy. Terry Jr always buys him sunflowers for the date, and although he'd never admit it, he keeps them for as long as possible. One year, TJ actually had a girlfriend on Valentine's Day, but he told her he was busy and still went on the date with Lark. She broke up with him after seeing the pictures of them together on social media, which, in retrospect, Terry Jr admits was completely fair)

hello again tj anon !! <3 also , this is great bcs I get soso many hcs and fun storylines that are vaguely connected , all written specifically for me to read and it's absolutely lovely <3333

anyways , the kiddads and co just being the most chaotic clubbers to ever exist <333 they commit enough crimes when they're sober , so it only makes sense they'd commit even more when drunk LMAO but them also just being like . that one story that a bunch of random girls have . just some club cryptids that find random sad girls and then proceed to be the nicest people ever and give them the night of their lives dbnsnsmsm also multiple of them being mistaken for strippers 😭😭 love that for them honestly <3 also glad to see Nicky is continuing Glenn's legacy of having the most gnc "straight" relationship to ever exist <333 them sharing outfits is everything , actually <3333 but lark and terry collecting everyone's embarrassing moments for weddings dbjsnssksk they are so silly <33 it's just the Lark and Terry dynamic !!!! they are the qpps of all time !!!!! and Terry ditching his gf of valentine's for lark 🥺 like yes that sucks for the gf , but Terry and Lark !!!! I love them !!!!!

[kirensbird]

HES ALIVE

hello yes gamers i am alive (mostly :p) and im here with 2 things.

my thoughts on my kinktober journey

2. BIG ANNOUMCENT on a long term project

so lets get the kinky stuff first. so i both hated it and loved it. ive been writing to an extent for a while now but this was my first time posting my writing on anything. heck the first story was my second time writing smut. one thing tho i fucking hated those due dates. how the hell does anyone make these daily. deadass probs to yall. honestly im surprised i didnt get burnt out. well i did get burnt out of writing smut but its coming back so dont suprise when i randomly post some pwp or something lol. anyways besides that was really fun, might do it again but might do whump instead not sure.

OK OK BIG ANNOUMCNET TIME HEHE. so the reason i havent been posting alot is because im working on a long chapter based story called His Heart in my Hands starring Wayne and Arlo with a bunch of side characters (you've seen some of them already from my other stories). im not 100% on the tags and stuff but it angst especially the first few chapter. and it doesnt get better lol. also its a hell of a slowburn. like im out here writing from hell (is this what tj klune felt lmao). anyways i plan on posting each chapter here and on ao3 weekly starting today (probably). also dw its getting beta read and proof-read by like at about 4 people (they gotta suffer through my illiterate ass lol). not sure what else to say besides i really hope ya'll like it because i loved writing it. see yall later tn when it comes out <3