#abigailspinach

[asexualbookbird]

5 of 12 for the 2024 Reads in Review Asks?

referencing this post

5. Crowd Pleaser: Book you would recommend to almost anyone

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. If you don't like that then you just don't like adventure and whimsy and hot older women and I can't help you ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

12. Favorite series of the year

I started Rivers of London which was neat, but I also read some Murderbot which is about 25% of my personality

[sketchinfun]

Your Cal sketches spark joy! Thank you for sharing

Thank you so much!! :D I'm glad you like my Cal sketches! He's my favorite jedi, and I draw a lot of him haha Have a Cal sketch!

[skygirlstars]

Ask meme concept: Reverse Unpopular Opinion meme

Ppl send topics and instead of salt or hot takes, you MUST talk abt smth you like about it. Good excuse to gush abt smth you already love, OR think and find smth positive to say. 

Something about Andor?

oooo this one’s easy because I have almost exclusively good things to say about Andor. where do I even start???

the writing is FANTASTIC. it’s a fairly neat, self-contained plot that weaves the separate storylines together so well, manifesting in the last episode where everyone is on Ferrix. speaking of Ferrix, I love how real the location and its community feel because the writers put effort into making all the little connections between characters and establishing traditions and a clear culture. oh and all the parallels to real life events and cultures, particularly the ones Diego Luna has said were inspired by his own experiences.

I love the characters!!! which is definitely also a product of the writing because everyone feels so fleshed out, and it seems like even the random side characters have their own lives and motivations. Cassian is such an interesting protagonist and his development and character arc so far has been so well done. I love how complex his morality is and how we, the viewers, see him realize his responsibility to fight the Empire on behalf of everyone, not just himself. Mon’s storyline is also one of my favorites. I think she’s such an interesting character as well, especially in her relationships with others. messy father-son relationships in Star Wars are great and all, but a messy mother-daughter relationship? holyyy fuck. I’m so unwell about them. Nemik being the revolutionary idealist, Vel and Cinta trying to balance their duty to the Rebellion with their relationship, Syril being the most cringefail loser ever, whatever the hell is going on with Luthen, etc etc it’s all just so interesting. (and not to mention good lord this cast is FINE)

and so so so many other things, I could seriously talk about this show all day. B2EMO is one of my absolute favorite droids now!! he’s so precious. and a canon sapphic relationship?!?!! and don’t even get me started on the MUSIC. Nicholas Britell deserves all the praise omg

so there you go, that’s just a little bit of why I love Andor. I should really make my own posts about it more lol

[sickness-health-all-that-shit]

Fic writer asks…. A trope you are into currently. Or dealers choice if there was another one on the list you like more

god...enemies to lovers, always! the tension and the angst kill me in the most delicious way

thank you for asking! <3

fic writer asks

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Book Asks - any one of the below that sounds fun. (Also,sorry the numbers are off... cut and paste is being weird)

What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations?

Did you participate in or watch any booklr, booktube, or book twitter drama?

Did you DNF anything? Why?

What reading goals do you have for next year?

hi there!! thanks for asking!! referencing this post (open offer til end of year!) i'm renumbering for bookkeeping purposes sorry don't mind me

20. What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations?

i think i've been running a year behind on Releases. i usually do B&N preorder sales, but this year i preordered almost exclusively paperbacks (which had hardback releases earlier). i was really hyped for TRANSLATION STATE in paperback and GRAVEYARD SHIFT in hardback, and those were both delightful!! TRANSLATION STATE was a smidge disappointing to me for aroace reasons, but overall i did so love the Translators and enjoyed Most Of The Book, and GRAVEYARD was an excellent little nocturnal romp that knew what it had space for and did a great job in those constraints.

21. Did you participate in or watch any booklr, booktube, or book twitter drama?

i'm much more of a "popcorn muncher and lurker," when it comes to book drama--my group chat popped off a couple times about various and sundry illumicrate nonsenses and we also roasted some Bad Author Takes (we love a good Safe Space), but honestly i had a lot going on this year and was less attentive in the popcorn munching bleachers than i have been in years prior haha.

24. Did you DNF anything? Why?

so one of my toxic reading traits is that i do not, in fact, tend to DNF anything, because A.) i can read very quickly, so it's almost never a huge time sink and B.) at a certain level of Ugh, i flip from "reading this as a Reader to Enjoy It" to "reading this as a Writer to Tear It To Shreds for Craft Reasons." i am not sure that this is a particularly healthy reading strategy, but it has served me well thus far! love a good hate read every once in a while.

looking at my shelves after the fact, the only two things i maybe could've DNF'd were GHOST STATION and ORDINARY MONSTERS, which both had a lot of potential and COULD have been up my alley but were, in fact, Bad™. oh, and DAEMON VOICES was kind of a slog, too. i'm pretty sure i blogged more thoroughly about all three of those at time time--if you're interested in Rants, search those titles in my tags haha.

25. What reading goals do you have for next year?

oooh great question, i have Several! i've really been enjoying the "2x in 202x" type goals list, so i have one of those put together for 2025 (cries that doesn't feel like a real year). i'm also doing a nature writing subscription box, and i'd like to stay semi-on-top of reading those as they come to me. and i would also REALLY like to start actually reading some of the russian poetry i acquired in the....spring.....of this year.....so i'll probably put that on the Goals Radar, too.

thanks again for asking!! this was fun :)

[userobiwan]

A few question and you can choose which one to answer….. What was your inspo for the Au? Pick a song or album that matches the vibe of your Au? What part do you like more…. Brainstorming or editing?

these are amazing questions!! ty!!!

inspo for the AU was half star wars rebels and half just playing through JFO and interacting with the fandom. I love seeing Kanan and Ahsoka's interactions, especially since in TOTJ we get confirmation that Kanan knew Ahsoka/watched her training in the temple!! also, so much of JFO revolves around rebuilding a new Jedi order, and I wanted to explore how that would go if Cal realized that he and Cere weren't the only Jedi left. Not only are there others, but other padawans specifically! I think Cal, Kanan, and Ahsoka each bring a different kind of child soldier trauma to the chat, and I wanted them to heal together and maybe fix everything also

also, while different AUs and timelines, major shoutout to @stealingpotatoes TL4J AU!!! it's so adorable and i love seeing what other people do with the padawan survivors!!!!

Song inspo will always be My Tears Ricochet by Taylor Swift specifically for the line "I can go anywhere I want, just not home."

And I am horrible at wanting to do editing, whether thats academic work or for fun. I much prefer brainstorming!! i have like ten million ideas for this fic and a few other ones kicking around in my brain rn

thank you!!

[morathicain]

30s Ask Game

Your choice to pick one of the options below

How many pairs of scissors do you own?

Do you still own your first car?

How do you take your morning coffee/tea?

What's something you collect?

What's your commute like?

Heyyy and thank you!

I'm gonna answer all because I can and want to :D

How many pairs of scissors do you own?

Difficult to say since I have some at work, but at home it's probably somewhere between 15 and 20? I have different ones for different crafts and also several children's scissors and left handed scissors for kids.

Do you still own your first car?

No, it's my second actually. Bought both used tho and the first one got too expensive to repair, sadly.

How do you take your morning coffee/tea?

If I drink any at all, it's either camomile tea or coffee with coconut milk (if I can get any). Used to drink lots of black and green tea tho.

What's something you collect?

Blorbos XD No, photobooks, DVDs and CDs. Books, too, of course but less than in older times. And paintings my friends made =^^= Also plants!

What's your commute like?

I'm driving to work with my car, sadly. Wish I could take the train but I live in the middle of nowhere (European nowhere) and the train would take forever to work and then I'd also need a car to go from one place to another ^^° But my goal is to one day find a place closer to work or change both together.

Thank you! And have a wonderful day/night <3

The 30s Ask Game for anyone who is interested

[no-where-new-hero]

13 or 27 for the ask ask

So sorry for missing this!! Thanks for sending them in :)

13. Describe or take a picture of your favourite mug/cup?

Don't have it with me, but it's a giant mug that has "Darling, Pour Yourself a Cup" in swirly lettering on the side!

27. Grab the nearest book, turn to a page, give us a quote?

Nearest book is Anne of the Island! Since I happen to have the Gutenberg pdf open in front of me lol. Happily, I scrolled to one of my favorite chapters: the "Averil's Atonement" interlude.

“I wouldn’t give up altogether,” said Mr. Harrison reflectively. “I’d write a story once in a while, but I wouldn’t pester editors with it. I’d write of people and places like I knew, and I’d make my characters talk everyday English; and I’d let the sun rise and set in the usual quiet way without much fuss over the fact. If I had to have villains at all, I’d give them a chance, Anne—I’d give them a chance. There are some terrible bad men in the world, I suppose, but you’d have to go a long piece to find them—though Mrs. Lynde believes we’re all bad. But most of us have got a little decency somewhere in us. Keep on writing, Anne.”

[mybrainismelted]

Writing ask… tumblr app is not letting me cut and paste

19-22 (you choose which one sounds most fun)

Share your favorite piece of dialogue etc

Hey! Yeah, copy/paste is annoying on tumblr! Answered # 19 here

#20 - Share your funniest line Ok, so I can't se the same answer for this one... So let's go with:

“Have I seen Ian?” he yelled back sarcastically, “What, you think he’s in the bathroom with me?”

Ian dropped his head onto Mickey’s shoulder to stifle his laughter at that. From Katie #21 - What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story? Researching how much money airline pilots make for Flights of Fancy 😂 Didn't really change the story, but... #22 - What writing programs did you use? Did you write by hand?

I mostly just write in Google Docs right now. I've been experimenting a bit with Ellipsus, but it needs a bit of work before it's fully useable for what I need I think. Thanks for indulging me! Year in Review writers asks

[robertfettuccine]

Tagged by @cakeyouareoh, thanks so much for the tag!!

Favorite color: hmmm like dark blueish green, the color that mountains are when they’re really far away or sometimes a really dark pacific sea.

Last song: Dances for Harp and Orchestra, L. 103:2. Danse Profane, by Lavinia Meijer

Currently reading: The Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates. Don’t come for me ok I study history

Currently craving: baked Mac and cheese with breadcrumbs, cooler weather

Coffee or tea: tea, but only herbal. Anything with caffeine makes my legs stop working and also makes me blind. I specifically like any tea with lavender and also celestial seasonings honey vanilla chamomile

Tagging @jabba-the-fett @abigailspinach @starbeets @skynapple @kanerallels @accidental-spice

[breakfastteatime]

Today's Fallen Order request is 'Uncharted' for @abigailspinach

“We’re lost,” Greez declares.

“We’re not lost,” Cere tells him.

They keep walking through the trees, dead leaves crunching underfoot. The air is chilly with winter’s approach, the promise of frost in the air. It’s nice to get out after days stuck on the ship. At least that’s what the others tell Greez. Personally, he likes being stuck on the ship. All of Cere’s comments about him getting weird pass over his head. He likes hulls, bulkheads, walls, doors… Is it his fault his species has a history of living in underground tunnels? Some facts of nature go deep, deep down into the marrow of someone. Besides, all this hiking and climbing and mud… it’s just… he’s not…

“We’re lost!” Greez wails.

“We’re not lost!” Cere, Cal, Merrin shout at him.

BD just does that disappointed warble sound he makes when someone’s really getting on his circuits.

Greez doesn’t buy it from any of them. “Oh, we’re not? Can any of you find us on a map?”

BD peeps that he can because he is the map.

Cal snorts.

Greez is ready for them both. “Now, BD, I am not one to question your expertise in cartography.”

Cal coughs.

“However, don’t you make maps as you go, meaning you don’t know if we’re anywhere near the place Cere thinks we’re headed to?”

BD tips his head to one side, conceding the point.

“Unmapped just means uncharted,” Cal says, entirely too chipper for someone who might never see the galaxy beyond these woods ever again. “Relax, Greez, breathe in that fresh air and try to enjoy yourself. We’ve got the camping gear, you have a big ol’ fire to build in your future, and everything will be fine.”

“I thought we were looking for some huge structure like those temples on Zeffo. How come we haven’t found it yet?”

“Because this is an unpopulated moon and we had to land the ship some distance from our destination,” Merrin tells him. “You are impatient, Greez. Walking is not as fast as flying, especially for you.”

“We’re almost there,” Cere calls from the front. “I can feel it.”

Cere’s certainty gives Greez hope. “You could have told me that Force thing of yours tells you stuff like that.”

“Oh, no, it’s not the Force.”

Hope dwindles. “Then how – ”

Cal takes pity on him. “We’re going uphill. Haven’t you noticed? The ruins are on top of this hill.”

BD lets out a long string of beeps.

“BD says you can do it. In fact, he thinks you could probably beat him to the top of the hill. His legs are even shorter than yours after all.”

As if to prove a point, BD hops down, skuttles to Greez and hops from one foot to another, still babbling.

“He promises he won’t use his thrusters,” Cal translates.

“Fine, BD, let’s go.”

Greez makes it to the top of the hill ahead of anyone. As promised, there are ruins – if piles of rock can be called ruins. BD disappears, the light of his scanner showing where he is. Cal leaps and bounds off to join him, Cere goes at a (barely) more restrained pace, and Merrin teleports a few times before joining Greez. “I would like to help with the fire,” she says.

“Good,” Greez says, still trying to catch his breath. “Because I think I need a nap after all this fresh air.”

Instead of sleeping, Greez shows Merrin the fine art of building a fire you can cook on without using magick, and by the time their Jedi and droid return, Greez and Merrin have the flames roaring, the meat cooking and the tea brewing. The stars come out, the ruins protecting their little campsite from the worst of the hilltop breeze.

Cal drops down next to Greez. “Not bad for an uncharted forest moon, huh?”

Greez pours the hot chocolate into four mugs. “Not bad at all.”

[jrooc]

what type of writer are you? ✍️

Thanks for the tag @sam-loves-seb! I always love a quiz.

Link to the quiz here!

This tracks! I always have a rough outline but it evolves lol. I don’t know how much symbolism I’m using tho lol

Tagging @deedala @gallapiech @thepupperino @ms-moonlight-inn @notherenewjersey

@nozenfordaddy @wehangout @lazystargazy @crestfallercanyon @whatthebodygraspsnot

@spoonfulstar @mmmichyyy @goodkwuestion @echotrees @abigailspinach

@roryonic @sgtmickeyslaughter @blue-disco-lights @suzy-queued @palepinkgoat

@gallavich-annise

[sigelfire]

Diego and Gael by Erica Hernandez for NPR

Thanks to @bluemoonperegrine and @abigailspinach for the headsup!

[charmwasjess]

"whats this I'm hearing now about the pollen?" That is an interesting question and I would be very keen to know the answer. 😁 Shoot, Jess.

EHEHEHE I WAS HOPING SOMEONE WOULD ASK and also, from my dear @abigailspinach <3

It's my take on the sex pollen trope, except that the actual amounts of any sex pollen in the story are questionable, and Sifo-Dyas and Dooku are idiots. I'm not sure graphic smut + humor is an actual genre, but I'm trying:

“Into the shower.” 

“What.” 

Impatient, Dooku began to pull at his tunic, lifting it up over Sifo-Dyas’s head. 

“What are you doing?!” His voice was muffled from the fabric. “I really don’t feel like another round of sex is going to help right now–” 

“I’m not trying to make love to you, you fool! Take off your pants!” 

Sifo-Dyas produced a kind of squawk, reminiscent of their earlier bird assailant, as Dooku began to undo his belt. 

[bereft-of-frogs]

@pennflinn tagged me in the 9 books I want to read in 2025 post!

The top three are really standing in for full series, The Expanse list alone would take up all nine spots pretty much.

I'll pass this no-pressure tag along to @aurorawest and @abigailspinach and of course, open tag if anyone has been wanted to do this. Also as always no pressure!

Also honorable mention/delusional hope:

*sobs* please? please I've been so good, I've been so patient please??? TT.TT

[annisefreya]

@abigailspinach tagged me to share 9 books I'm planning to read in 2025 so here are the first 9 that grabbed me from the to-read shelves.

This skews massively towards recent acquisitions, and I pick books based entirely on vibes so who knows if these will be ones I end up reading, but I definitely want to read the two sequels (Jade War and Vengeful).

Not sure who/whether to tag... @bluestockingcouture do you want to play? X