#aka the premise of the book i’m “writing”

[friendly-neighbourhood-roadman]

“Take an ancestry test, they said. It’ll be fun, they said. I’m related to King fucking Arthur.”

[shepherds-of-haven]

Sorry if this has already been asked before, but have you ever thought about writing a sequel to SoH? I know you said it would be a stand-alone book, but I think a sequel where we explore different continents would be extremely cool. I just love these character so much and idk if I’m ready to say goodbye. I know we still have a bit left but still…

Hi there, this message has been sitting in a long queue of messages I've fallen behind on answering for a while now, but I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to send it! It ended up being extremely thought-provoking for me, and you may have single-handedly made me reconsider my stance on a Shepherds sequel! XD

I always planned on this entry being a standalone game, though I was toying with the idea of eventually writing a sequel that follows a separate cast of characters (aka different protagonist and companions, though with room for potential cameos with the old characters). Pretty much like how Dragon Age does it! I won't go into the potential plot details now, but I was thinking it might take place sometime between 10-15 years in the future, and it would follow "a new generation" of Shepherds in a different locale. I've sort of hazily cobbled together ideas for the story/main premise, but companions outside of the main protagonist have eluded me at the moment--I really need to focus on this game, its DLC, and my next book first, so I haven't given it too much thought!

However, your comment has unearthed some feelings I've been having about a potential sequel, too! It's hard for me to feel like I'd be ready to say goodbye to the cast, as well... It's so easy for me to write them because they've been in my head for so many years, and starting an adventure in the world of Blest with different and new characters admittedly feels a bit strange. It's like having to hang back a grade while all of your friends graduate high school and then looking around at the incoming freshman class like "welp, I guess you guys are my friends now! 😒" lol. I'm torn on the issue: I don't want to not challenge myself or refuse to move out of my comfort zone as a writer--in short, I don't want to be the kind of writer who recycles the same characters and material because doing something new is daunting to me, and I don't want you all to feel like I'm making endless sequels/trying to recapture old magic and should just move on to something new, either--but I do love my cast and I'm not sure yet if I should definitively say, "No, their chapter is done with this game and it's on to the next!", because I can see so many adventures happening to them even after this story is over!

The problem lies with endings--there are so many different endings planned for this game that I hesitate in treating any of them as the true or canonical one, but otherwise trying to account for all of them in a sequel feels quite impossible to accomplish when I wasn't planning on a continuation--along with other logistical concerns that I can't get into at the moment. Like, what if you end the game with all of the Shepherds except Halek dead? What if your friend ends the game with all of them alive, but the MC is dead? This game alone is already 1 million words, but a direct sequel would probably wrack up hundreds of thousands of variations based on all of these choices in its first chapter alone! 🤔

That's why I figure DLC is the happy medium here: you can expand on or create new content and adventures for the characters, but slot them into the timeline wherever you wish, like in between Chapter 7 and 8, etc. And episodic adventures might keep things small and streamlined enough that I can update them more consistently, rather than hacking away at one giant sequel game!

Aaaaaanyway... All this is to say: I have a lot to think about! Absolutely nothing has been decided yet (not even close), but these are just some of the things I've had rattling around in my head. Thank you again for your sweet and honest words: I'm glad you're so fond of these characters and would miss them. I would, too! But whatever ends up happening, I know this game won't be the last time we see them. :)

Thanks again!

[thewriterowl]

I would like to preface this out of left field question by saying I absolutely adore all of your work!!! Every story and tumblr post with dark content is something that I enjoy reading!

But do you ever look back at some of your writing and ideas, especially with dark Din, and wonder where the “F**k that came from”?

Like everything you have written is amazing but you have no idea where the premise came from? Like I can day dream up scenarios when I’m going to bed that follow some of your plots but I never seem to come up with anything original.

Please don’t take this question as an insult!!! I’ve just been rereading some of your posts and I had the realization that I never in a million years could have come up with this scenario.

Thank you for sharing everything!!

Hello! I am anything but upset or insulted, so no worries :D

And I shall be honest!

I dunno.

:D

I've liked dark content, with Dark "tops", since I was a teen. I devoured manga and anime, books, and then dove deep into Fanfiction.net and found myself just loving the Bad Boy trope (which also had Bad Girl trope for the yuri/FF pairings). You can see even in my ancient sacred texts of my fanfiction back on FF.Net that I had a thing for possessive/obsessive/controlling lovers who were super sexy for their love interest (i.e. the love interest/bottoms (I say tops and bottoms for all genders FYI, though it's mostly for MM) were always my favorite).

It very well could be from some trauma. It could be I am imprinting myself on the bottoms. I haven't ever truly sat to think about it because it was so normal when I was starting fanfiction that it wasn't really something to think about. But anytime a plot pops up my brain is all "aww...make it dark" or at the very least "make him feral and possessive" and I'm just "(snaps fingers) you crazy sonofabitch I'm in." I mean, i was doing that for the OG Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu Yu Hakusho, Bleach and Naruto (I'm old)

And nothing is really original lol some things just pop up from seeing something that weirdly triggers a story and my brain is just gonna go follow it and see what happens. Sometimes, I am reading manhwas (ya'll are in trouble with all the messed up stuff I'm reading with them anyone heard of suffering stories called Little Mushroom or Save the Hunter??? The WHUMP I am thinking of!) or a book and go "this is nice! but I wish they'd done this instead...hey, why don't I think of a story where they do this instead?" or there is a scene and I'm just "my baby girl meowmeow (aka Luke) needs to go through this" and bam story.

That's what happened for Ghosts of the Bent and Broken. I saw Rocket's past from Guardians of the Galaxy III and needed to inflict that on Luke. Just that scene made me want to write a whole story to simply lead up to that reveal.

So...

(shrugs)

I dunno.

And the clicking of stories? I also dunno. Literally this morning, I watched a few TikToks and my brain whispered "yo...you need to write this" and now I'm nearly 10 pages into a story when I should be trying to finish a story for Halloween or at least doing the Moonblight update but nope. Instead, my brain is on whales.

Maybe it's decades of intense maladaptive daydreaming and intense escapism. Or my brain is just wonky.

Hope that answered??? :D

[halimamis]

How to write the first chapter Part 2

I'm back with Part 2 on how to write a good first chapter. Read Part 1 here.

A Voice That Slaps (in a Good Way)

Your writing voice should be like that person at the party everyone’s drawn to: funny, mysterious, intense—whatever fits the vibe of your story. Whether you’re snarky or poetic, let your voice shine. Just not, like, in a “I’m yelling at you with CAPS LOCK” way.

Make Us Feel Things

No pressure, but if we’re not emotionally invested by the end of chapter one... well, we’re probably not sticking around. We need to feel something—fear, joy, suspense, awkward secondhand embarrassment—whatever it is, give us that emotional hit. Just one hit. We’re hooked now. Thanks.

Purpose, People.

Have a Goal. The first chapter should hint at where the story is going. Give us a sense of what we’re chasing. What’s the big picture? Doesn’t have to be crystal clear, but at least leave us a breadcrumb trail. There's an abusive neighbor, what do you think will happen? The lights in the kitchen were on although you swore you had turned them off before you left. Your dog doesn't like your friend and keeps barking every time you're near them... etc

Memorability: Hit Us with That Wow Factor

Make your first chapter stand out. Whether it’s a killer line, an unforgettable scene, or just a vibe we can’t shake, make it memorable. You know, the kind of thing that makes us put down the book and go, “Whoa. That was epic,” or even just, “I need to see where this mess is headed.” For example, the book "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera starts with a chilling premise where two people are informed the day they will die. The first line instantly captured the attention and made readers curious enough to finish to the end.

Balance Between Show and Tell

You’ve heard this a thousand times, I know. Show, don’t tell! But also... sometimes, it’s fine to tell. It’s just all about balance. Don’t give us 10 paragraphs of internal monologue, but also don’t make us guess at everything. We’re not detectives. Don't info dump but don't be selfish.

Example: Lara was a 25-year-old woman with long, chestnut hair and emerald-green eyes that she had inherited from her mother, who had passed away five years ago in a tragic car accident. She worked as a marketing assistant in a big city, though her real passion was pottery, which she had been doing since she was 14 after taking a class at summer camp. Her favorite color was blue, her best friend was named Sarah, and she always had her morning coffee with two sugars but no milk, because she was lactose intolerant... etc.

Okay, we get it. So much info.

Now Balanced Storytelling (AKA "That Feels Better")

Example: Lara sipped her black coffee, staring at the pottery wheel in front of her. Five years after her mother’s accident, the spinning was still the only thing that calmed her nerves. She pushed thoughts of her marketing job aside and went over to the wheel. This was where she belonged—her real passion, hidden away from the chaos of city life. Lara sat down on the wooden chair. One of the legs was broken and a nail was missing, but she couldn't care less now as she slowly let the clay take shape under her hands.

Now we’re showing her love for pottery, hints of her backstory, and her character—all without dumping everything in one go.

And there you have it! Now go out there and write your amazing, epic, flawless first chapter. And remember, no one’s perfect—except that one writer who’s probably over-caffeinated and crying in the corner. Reblog if that's you.

Oh, I almost forgot... I noticed a lot of people suffer with writing their first chapter (I myself deleted and re-wrote my first chapter 16 times before finishing my first novel) So, if anyone has questions, don't hesitate to ask and I'll try to give you as much help. And if you want me to revise and edit your first chapter, you can find me here.

[neshtasplace]

While everything is dead, I’d appreciate people boosting this as much as possible!

Hello all, I’m Rita AKA Neshtasplace, AKA ScaryAlu I write and draw stories with queer women and I’m currently working on the second part of my big long-running story, Cities of Steel and blood. The premise is as follows:

Adriana has been a broken woman for over a year now. Her cost of hubris is one shared by the world of Requiem: Decay. Her life has been a rotting mess, her own efforts to improve it gave way to desperate attempts at stagnation. She works for one of the most powerful crime families in Forthiron, the Nummari family. Adriana works as an enforcer, investigator, and sometimes executioner. She does what she can to stay off anyone’s radar, and tries to live a life she can call her own.

Her only problem is Mia.

Her handler, former lover, and current pain-in-the-ass, Mia is the one who sets Adriana on a trajectory towards disaster. Both of them answer a simple call—yet another mission from the family—which becomes a matter of increasing complexity. Dealing with a woman who fell from the stars, the two women have to do their best to cover anything up, avoid the eyes of the Nummari family, and survive each other.

ALL chapter for book 1 are out on my Patreon, come on a check me out! https://www.patreon.com/Ritasplace

[tokkiheart]

What are you top five k-dramas?

First of all, thank you so very much for the ask! 💜

Second of all, top 5? Ouch. That’s going to be hard. Hmmm…

W: Two Worlds Apart

Romance Is A Bonus Book

Happiness

Shopaholic Louis (aka Shopping King Louie)

Extra-Ordinary You

If you want a breakdown as to why…

W: Two Worlds Apart

Let’s be honest, it’s not a secret that I LOVE this show. I write fanfic for it, I re-watch it a lot, I think about it a lot and I will reblog any gifs that I find of it.

This show introduced me to who I like to call my primary bias - Lee Jong Suk! 💜 It also introduced me to Han Hyo Joo!

This show isn’t perfect, but I love it. Flaws and all 💜

It’s extremely hard to pin down why I love this show, I just do! The premise of the show is fun to me, I love the idea of winding up in your favorite book or book series. I love the romance, the chemistry, the cute fluff moments, the really cool special effects, etc. This show is just really fun and interesting to watch and I’m always noticing new and cool things about it!

Romance Is A Bonus Book

Another Lee Jong Suk drama! I had to limit myself to just two otherwise the vast majority of this would have been Lee Jong Suk dramas lol

Anyway, if (for whatever reason) I can’t rewatch W, then I’m more than likely watching this drama, which is why I put it in the 2nd place spot on this list.

Though I tend to prefer my romantic K-Dramas more on the fantasy side of things, this is a drama that’s a little more grounded in reality that I can enjoy (mostly reality aside from the telepathy moment which I think is a reference/call-back to LJS’s role in I Can Hear Your Voice).

Watching this drama gives me the exact vibe of curling up with a good book in a cozy reading nook with a blanket and a hot beverage. Which, I think was very much the intention considering the way each episode ends.

In my opinion, this drama is very much a book lover’s drama. As someone who loves to read and write and practically lived in the library as a kid, this drama just brings me back to those feelings. It’s just… cozy. It’s warm, fluffy and comforting to me and I love to come back to it again and again when I just need the comforting vibes.

Happiness

A surprise on this list. Trust me when I say that I never expected to one day have a show on this sort of list that would have zombies in it, a zombie apocalypse or anything even remotely horror-genre-like.

I had been on the fence about watching this show for awhile. It looked good, on top of that it has Han Hyo Joo and Park Hyung Sik, but the zombie thing was a turn off for me because I don’t really do horror and I don’t like zombies because (to me) they’re among the more… grotesque fictional monsters. Granted, malicious ghost possessions are also up there. There’s something about watching a body move in ways that it shouldn’t that makes me sick to my stomach.

Anyway, a wonderful tumblr mutual turned friend ended up telling me that I should go ahead and watch it because I was going to love it. They were not wrong! Forever thankful to them for giving me that lil push to watch it! 💜

This show’s version of zombies are less scary and a lot more human, so I wasn’t repulsed by them. More importantly though is the wonderful slow-burn romance going on at the same time between the main characters, there’s also a found family theme and fluff resulting from all of that!

I’m putting this in the third spot on this list because I have watched it fewer times than the first two and it’s definitely a “have to be in the mood for” thing because rewatching it in full means suffering through the rest of the insufferable residents in their apartment building 💔

Shopaholic Louis/Shopping King Louie

A very cute drama about a 3rd gen chaebol heir who gets amnesia, lost in an unfamiliar city and relying heavily on a country girl who is also new to the city. He’s absolutely smitten with her at first sight and he’s just a sweet puppy of a boy who follows her around and wants to lavish her with things they can’t afford in their current state lol

This show is big on fluff! How could it not end up on this list? I really loved this show, Seo In Guk is so cute in this and the romance is equally cute and innocent 💜

The antagonists are largely incompetent, so it makes things low-stakes, but it makes for just a really nice fluff watch in my opinion!

Extra-Ordinary You

The only high school drama on this list, but that’s okay!

I love this show! Even though this ended up down at the bottom of this list, it’s really only because I find Baek Kyung insufferable lol

Anyway, I adore the cute romance in this show! Ha-ru is just an adorable soft boi and I adore him with my whole heart. This show is 100% why Rowoon ended up becoming a bias lol

This drama reminds me a lot of W in some ways, which is probably why I’m working on a fic mashing the two together or something lol

[ddelline]

wip wednesday (feat shibuya groundhog day/time loop multi-ch goyuu pt 2)

blurb | more time loop wip aka cv/sm incoming. 10k and counting, mainly fleshing out part 1 right now, w some cursory parts done on part 2

premise | part 1, feat kenjaku & a satoru who’s looped a few times at this point, in shibuya. short one, but this isn’t like adsr; bits will be shorter & snappier, not so drawn out. and like always the goyuu is slow coming, lmao, there is none to be seen in this snippet (either). but it’s me, and my writing, so that was 2 be expected I suppose

very wip writing be under cut

Not-Suguru bares all teeth in a horror movie-semblance of a smile. “How interesting,” they say, in Suguru’s voice. The intonation is not Suguru’s at all.

Satoru swipes a sluggish leak of blood from his nose with the back of his hand. “That’s all you have to say to a guy who just flipped the time and space continuum on its head?” he grins equally grotesquely in turn, “Creepy.”

Not-Suguru’s smile thins into the edge of a knife. “Gojō Satoru,” they recite, as though from a book, “Not the first dual Six Eyes- and Limitless-wielder to ever live.”

Satoru relaxes into strike-ready stance: left shoulder dipped, left foot inching ahead of the right, left arm at half mast guard at his chin, the right curved and fist knotted level with his ribs. “I don’t know who you are—and at this point, frankly, I’m past giving much of a fuck. Are we going to be moving past the entry level history-spiel, or is this going to be a full, painful callback to my grade school days?”

Not-Suguru doesn’t shift; doesn’t move to mirror Satoru, or do anything that would otherwise suggest that they’re the slightest wary of anything he might decide to do. Satoru isn’t worried, per se: Fushiguro Toji had, at the end of the day, also delivered a one-hit KO in a two-round heavyweight bout, and drawn a blank as the bell rang for the inevitable second round, all lazy posture and fat cat-lilting smirk, all too unwary as he’d approached Gojō Satoru: Reborn.

“Well, not that it matters,” continues Satoru. He hitches his guard up to full cover. “I finally managed to end up here. I’m not going to waste it.”

He exhales, pitch whistling, through clenched teeth. He pounces.

[literaticat]

I write sci-fi, and I’m constantly paranoid that someone (an agent who rejects my work, for example) would steal the idea and give it to their client. Or worse, someone in Hollywood comes up with the exact premise and releases a movie. Sci-fi seems like a genre where it’s really about the uniqueness of the idea. Am I over-worrying?

I think if you describe yourself as constantly paranoid, it's safe to say you are being paranoid. Your words, friend!

As in the question before this one (about agents who write "ripping off" queriers ideas), it's equally silly to imagine agents ripping off ideas to give to their other clients. Our clients ARE our clients because they have their own ideas. They don't want our ideas, or your ideas.

And again, whether in SF or otherwise, ideas are worthless on their own. Lots of people have the same general idea at any given time. It's what they do with it that makes the difference. A dozen people could have the idea of, I don't know, 'people in a dystopian world who are must participate in a deadly game' -- and they'd each come out very different. See: Squid Game, or Hunger Games, or Maze Runner, or Scorpio Races, or All of Us Villains, or #murdertrending, or ... you get it, right?

Anyway, yes, IMO you are over-worrying. Write your own books the best you can. That's what you have control over. Nobody wants to steal your ideas. And if somebody DID "steal" your idea (aka, had the same general idea) -- it would probably end up quite different to your final product, anyway.

[thetypedwriter]

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

A Marvellous Light Book Review by Freya Marske 

I finished A Marvellous Light three days ago and I’m already struggling to remember what I had to say about it. That does not bode well for Freya Marske’s debut novel. 

The book is another take on magical folk in England, this time in the early 1900’s. Marske has some interesting ideas about how magic works and the society around it, but none of the details truly blew me away or gave me a breathtaking new view on magical storytelling. 

Marske’s magicians are secluded amongst magical families who keep magic to themselves and their bloodlines. You get a few bits of the society interwoven throughout the plot, like their version of the government called the Assembly, and the police force called the Coopers, but overall, it’s your standard take on magical people in old-timey London. 

The setting itself was small. We don’t see a great variety of locations and those that we do see as readers are often contained to homes or cottages. This is one of the first criticisms that I picked up on. 

Our two main characters spend most of the novel traversing between one minuscule setting and the next. One gentleman goes by the name of Edwin Courcey, a pale, cowardly, bookish young man from a well-known magical family. 

The other half of the duo, Sir Robin Blyth, finds himself mysteriously and yet inextricably tied up in a magically evil scheme even though he doesn’t have a single drop of magical blood himself and didn’t know magicians existed before his current job of working for the liaison’s office. 

By taking on the job after the absence of a previous employee, Gatling, and becoming unbusheled (aka, now knowing about magic), Robin finds himself the target of strange, powerful men who are looking for an item called the Last Contract. 

For his ignorance on the matter, Robin is cornered, attacked, and cursed with a spell that causes him immeasurable pain and also awakens the power of foresight within him, allowing him to see bizarre and complicated visions with no understanding of their importance. 

Thus begins Edwin and Robin’s journey to lift Robin’s curse, find out what happened to Reggie Gatling, uncover the bewildering truth behind the Last Contract, and perhaps even find love and camaraderie along the way. 

When I write it out like that, the book sounds solid and like it has multiple perplexing mysteries going on simultaneously that would entice and engage the reader. It…doesn’t. The book is so slow and meandering that the mysteries, while promising at the premise, are so painstaking in the delivery that the book becomes a slog to get through. 

After I finished reading, I was able to sum up the book into 5 distinct events: Robin finds out about magic and is cursed, Robin and Edwin go to Edwin’s family home and are tortured by sadistic siblings, Robin and Edwin almost die in a hedge maze before Edwin inherits an estate from a deceased, old woman, and Robin and Edwin figure out the Last Contract and confront, Walt, Edwin’s bully big brother and a leading force looking for the Contract by any means necessary. 

Again, it sounds like a lot, but the book is nearly 400 pages. So in between those five events, you have nearly 80 pages of just…meandering nothingness. You have a lot of scenes of them dining on toast, sipping tea, looking at books, and, most erroneously, multiple sex scenes of gratuitous length and detail. 

Now, I don’t mind sex scenes in adult fiction. They’re fine. Sometimes they’re even spicy. However, I could not figure out the point of the sex scenes in Marske’s book. This book isn’t Fifty Shades of Grey, it’s sole purpose isn’t to titillate or arouse like that book is.

 And it wasn’t even one sex scene, it was several very long, very detailed sex scenes. But then she would immediately delve back into the plot and want you to take it seriously as a reader. The combination didn’t work for me. I found the long, drawn out sex scenes boring after the first page or two and the takeaway was just to…have a long sex scene? I didn’t get it. 

So while the plot was decent in its idea, the execution took so long in the interim and was filled with such pointless fluff that it made the book tedious from one major plot point to the next. 

The characters themselves were…fine. I can admit that I would understand people liking them. Edwin, cowardly and bookish, but so smart and stubborn. Robin, fiercely loving, jovial, and athletic. 

The characters had a decent amount of characterization, but I was never sold. Edwin was the most interesting because he was the most nuanced, but everyone else fell into the category of good or evil pretty concretely. 

Because of that, I didn’t fall in love with any of the characters and the developing romance between Edwin and Robin didn't hook me because it was so fast and they were all-in without having any real moments to make it seem realistic to me. 

I’ve been pretty harsh on this book overall, but it wasn’t the most terrible thing I’ve ever read. It was a mediocre magical fantasy with some decent characterization and interspersed action. The writing itself was a little too verbose for my taste, but Marske’s writing style fits the tone and mood of the story she’s trying to portray. 

She sets up the end in a satisfying way that resolves most loose ends, but also executes the premise for book two clearly to hook the reader. As much as I can see why people might like this book, I don’t plan on reading any sequels. 

Recommendation: Every aspect of this book has been done better elsewhere. Want magic and fantasy? Read Harry Potter. Want detailed sex scenes? Read Docile. Want a mystery adventure? Read Dark Rise. Want a too-long story with imperfect characters and sex scenes randomly sprinkled in? Perhaps A Marvellous Light is the book for you. 

Score: 6/10

[sesshy380]

I’m very curious about the eldritch au! What’s that all about?

I had actually posted a snippet back in January (when the brainrot was intense) (Link to post)

So the original idea came from my sister sharing a dream she had that made her want to start writing again. It was about an eldritch being that had wandered the Earth for countless millennia, and was lonely. Brain said 'That would make a great Puzzleshipping fic!'.

Going to copy/paste the premise from my docs:

Yami is an Eldritch Prince who has wandered the earth for countless millennia. One day, he stops and looks in on a happy group of friends who are vacationing together in a cabin out in the middle of the woods. He feels the awkward tug of loneliness that he has encountered at random times throughout history. One of them, a spiky-haired young man, accidentally stumbles upon him and isn’t frightened by his ‘otherworldliness’ (Yami has taken the form of a deer at this point, but that ‘other’ is still there about him). Instead, the young man appears intrigued by him. After the young man leaves and goes back to his friends, Yami can’t help but want to see more of him. The young man, Yugi, encounters him a few more times during his vacation weekend, each time not showing fear of the ‘other’. When Yugi and his friends leave, Yami feels compelled to seek out the boy. He longs to feel whatever it was that had begun to stir deep within him each time Yugi was near. He finds Yugi, following him at a distance. He attempts to disguise himself as a human to get closer to Yugi. Ryou, one of Yugi’s friends, senses that something is off with the new friend Yugi has made, and after pouring over his various books on the occult and mythical beings, believes he knows what Yami actually is. The problem is convincing Yugi that Yami is an Eldritch. A few months pass, and strange things begin happening in Domino. Strange sights, a growing number of mysterious disappearances, and Yami knows he is not the one responsible (though he does hunger, but he’s been trying his best to ignore it). Kek and Zorc (Yami Marik and Yami Bakura respectively) appear. They are Reclaimers sent to hunt down and bring Yami back to the Eldritch Plane so that he can take his place as the next Eldritch Lord (the former Lord has joined the Cosmic Void, and so his chosen successor must take his place, aka. Yami). It turns out that the mysterious disappearances of local humans are due to Zorc (Yami Bakura), who has taken the opportunity to feast while he is in the Plane of the Living. The bizarre events are due to Kek (Yami Marik) having fun at the expense of humanity. Neither have been permitted to leave the Eldritch Plane until recently (and only because they were sent on a mission to bring back Yami), but they have deviated from their goal, and are now bringing about Discord and Madness. Strange storms begin occurring as Nature attempts to correct things. Yami’s essence was hidden from Nature. Zorc and Kek’s are only semi-hidden, and acting upon their baser instincts is not helping them. That’s not all. Zorc and Kek have assumed the forms of Ryou and Marik. They need to draw from the lifeforce of the one they’ve ‘copied’. Yami is a Prince, so he is able to negate this while being Yugi’s copy. Zorc and Kek are slowly killing Ryou and Marik by being their copies. Yami must decide: Stay with the one that makes him feel something that he cannot describe and would give anything to hold onto, or take his place as the next Eldritch Lord and never see Yugi again in order to set things right.

I have over 5k poured into the details alone of this idea. I normally don't 'plot' by writing things down, but this was one idea that would not let go until I did. I have a few small scenes (like the one linked...it's actually the longest), breakdowns on the different types of Eldritch seen and how they affect the world around them, how the transformations work, etc.

I will write this in it's entirety one day...it's just being able to put the focus on it that's stopping me atm. I am bound and determined to finish my current longfic before I attempt to take on something of equal magnitude.

[justmybookthots]

This Time It's Real

5/5 stars

I AM SCREAMING. I AM SCREAMINGGGGGG.

You know, I’ve always thought the fourteen-year-old romantic I used to be was dead? But maybe… it isn’t?? How is it that this cute little YA made me feel a gazillion more things than most adult romances? 

Ann Liang, I love you so much. I’m officially a hardcore fan now after I read If You Could See The Sun (which I reviewed) and this book. And there’s another book of hers coming next year (I weep! I WEEP! Why are all the books I’m looking forward to only out next year?) which I will DEFINITELY be reading. I am so excited. 

This book. This book. I am incoherent. I am squealing. And this is coming from a person who hates the fake dating trope, and YET. There is definitely an exception to every rule. Maybe it’s because Ann Liang writes her stories in Beijing, with a Chinese cast and setting (I love the personal rep). Or maybe it’s because Caz, AKA the male lead, is soooooo cute. Oh my gosh. CAZ.

Okay. Okay. Let me get my thoughts together before I spiral. The premise is simple: two Chinese high-schoolers, one an aspiring writer, the other a teenage heartthrob actor, fake-dating. I have to say that Eliza's reasons for needing to fake-date sound very valid, but I wasn't convinced by Caz's. All he gets out of it is… Eliza writing his college applications? There's also another reason—him cleaning up his image because of this "scandal"... which never gets touched upon again later in the story, so I don't count that.  

But whatever. I didn't dwell too much on it, because there are so many things I loved:

Caz trying to make Eliza jealous (LMAO) by going into lurid detail about his kiss scene with a girl and getting disappointed when she doesn't seem to care

Caz getting worked up over a pimple and not going to school

Caz being a vain little shit, period

Caz telling Eliza that he wanted her (for real, and not pretend), point-blank. T_T

Caz helping Eliza find her friendship bracelet 

Eliza trying to jog and getting outrun by an old man

Eliza and her PowerPoint Presentation.

Eliza and Zoe. PLATONIC BREAKUPS ARE HARD, IN A WAY HARDER THAN FALLING OUT WITH CAZ. THIS PARAGRAPH GOT ME:

What Eliza's dad said about girls in romance dramas because it is SO TRUE (for the non-Chinese folk out there, 'jiayou' means to 'keep fighting/going'):

My main complaint about this book is really how it ended. I think that Ann Liang ends her books in a really abrupt way, to the point where I don’t feel I got enough closure. The story just concluded about a chapter after Eliza agreed to be with Caz for real, and then… the end. Listen, I think that the build-up is always the highlight of a romance, but I still would have liked for a bit more closure. At least let me see them on one real, proper date before ending the book! 

(Since I'm on the topic of complaints—this one isn't from me, but from some reviewers: they say that Caz isn’t very different from Henry from If You Could See The Sun but I don’t agree? Henry isn’t anywhere as vain as Caz, and he is definitely academically more brilliant than Caz, lol. I thought they were notably different, and I was quite surprised by it. I actually found Caz somewhat more immature... but I adored him just as much as Henry.)

One final mini-complaint of mine before I wrap up this entry: I don’t think that Eliza’s hangup about being with Caz is ever truly addressed. She frets that, yes, Caz may love her now, but they’ll grow apart like she did with Zoe because she’s always on the road (and he is, too). In the end, she changes her thinking to: yeah, maybe I was just afraid all along that he really never did love me but now I’m sure he does. To me, that’s two completely different concerns, and the first still isn’t solved. 

But of course, this is just me nitpicking, and I can shut one eye about it because the rest of the book was just so, so lovely. If I were to nitpick further, I'd say boys like Caz really do not exist (re: young heartthrobs who are so swoony both inside and outside) but the fiction is fictioning, and that's how I LIKE IT.

And you best believe I will be eyeing Ann Liang’s next book when it’s out. In the meantime, I just need to make sure I make it till 2024. 

- 19 Aug 2023

[therubyreader]

My Review of Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

See a full list of my book reviews here

*Disclaimer: there will be spoilers later on in the review*

Review Word Count, non-spoiler: 824 Review Word Count Total: 1,432

So, I caved. After seeing all the hype that Legendborn was getting both on here and on TikTok I was finally convinced to read it despite the fact that I’m not a fan of Arthurian legends or really anything medieval for that matter and honestly, it does live up to the hype. Especially if you’re like me, and were weirdly obsessed with that Disney Channel movie, Avalon High, back in the day, this book has the same exact vibes and a very similar premise. Also, sidenote, I was Googling the movie to make sure I was remembering the title correctly, I found out it was originally a book written by Meg Cabot, aka the author of The Princess Diaries, so do with that information what you will. 

The book introduces us to Bree Matthews, a 16-year-old girl grieving the loss of her mother after she died in a tragic car accident. Her grief drives her away from home and to UNC-Chapel Hill, a university that has an early college program for promising high school students. On her first night there, she witnesses a flying demon that feeds on human energy get taken down by a group of teenagers, called Legendborn (roll credits), decedents of the knights of King Arthur with incredible abilities. When one of the teenagers, a Merlin, tries to wipe her memory of the night and it doesn’t work, Bree remembers this same magic was used on her the night her mother died. Realizing that there is more to her mother’s death than what she was originally led to believe, she infiltrates the Legendborn society on campus with the help of Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn, as they discover the secrets of the society while on the brink of a magical war between the demons and Legendborn. 

Like I said earlier, this book is great, definitely worth the hype it’s getting, it’s a great modern interpretation of Arthurian legends with a good amount of diversity that is treated respectfully and realistically. Of course, the most obvious one is Bree, a black girl, who is not only going through this magical adventure but being black and navigating the world and the magical adventure. Not to give too much away outside of the spoiler section but Bree’s background and the history of black people as a whole in the US is a big part of the plot and Bree’s journey which I think is beautiful. As a non-black POC I think that part of Bree’s story was done so well, and I can really sympathize with her despite not being able to explicitly relate. There’s also a nonbinary character in the book named Greer and I honestly didn’t fully realize they were nonbinary because they were so seamlessly integrated into the story that I didn’t bat an eye at the use of they/them pronouns. And there are also queer characters who are unapologetically queer, and happy, and just being people, their identities are very much a part of their character but not their whole character.  

And, for being the author’s debut novel, it honestly isn’t written like one, the writing is good and easy to follow so you become immersed in the world very easily. I will say the prologue is written a bit like a 2010s, Wattpad story and some of the rest of the book has the same vibes from time to time but it honestly isn’t a big deterrent. I will though, complain about the love triangle because I hate almost all love triangles and think they’re bad. I might’ve said this before, but I think most love triangles are a cheap way to make your plot more exciting (which this book did not need at all, it’s exciting enough as is) especially when one of the potential partners is a genuinely nice person and the other one is very obviously a POS. Honestly, the whole book could’ve done without it, the writing and story were compelling enough to where a love triangle wasn’t needed to fill in any spots that were lacking and I was going to talk more about why I specifically don’t like certain characters as love interests but I noticed that this fandom is violent about shipping so I will keep it to myself.  

Overall, I do recommend the book to anyone who’s looking for a fresh take on Arthurian legends or YA fiction and can stomach your standard amount of blood and violence. There are descriptions of violence experienced by slaves and general racism so be warned. Besides the aforementioned love triangle beef I have, and the fact that there is some Welsh that doesn’t get translated into English which was a pet peeve of mine even more so now that I have made a Welsh friend after I returned the book to the library, so I’ll just never know. I will give this book an it’s very good and worth all the hype out of ten. 

Spoilers Below!!

Ok, let’s talk a little bit about the love triangle. I will preface this with the fact that Bree is 16 and hasn’t really experienced any romantic attention up until this point so she’s acting how a regular 16-year-old would act in that situation, and I know full well that 16-year-old me wouldn’t have been any smarter. That being said, I honestly think that Sel is a bad choice based on his actions in this book alone (yes, I have read the second one but I’m not going to talk about it here). This man literally spent the majority of the book trying to kill her and sent literal demons after her, but they slow danced once, and he called her “cariad” now y’all are foaming at the mouth. This isn’t hate towards Sel as a character, mostly, but like, come on. That’s all I’m saying because this fandom is violent, and I like living.  

Moving on to things that don’t make me mad! Let’s just take a moment to appreciate Bree’s root. I absolutely loved how the author wove in traditional African and African American spiritual practices into a world where the knights of the roundtable were magical beings and the contrast, chef’s kiss. We have root where the users give back the magic they use, make offerings, and talk to their ancestors regularly versus aether which is just taken. There is a great metaphor here about colonialism and world history as a whole, but I’m not going to go deep into that and get too radical in a book review so I’m going to let you all just think on it.  

Another thing I really liked about the book was how real the characters felt, all of them were unique individuals with distinct personalities and motivations. Not all the characters were necessarily good people, some were honestly horrible and evil, but you can understand where they’re coming from even if you don’t agree, a la “cool motive, still murder”. I did like that in the story the villain wasn’t evil just because, he had a reason to want to be evil, but it honestly made for a more enjoyable story especially when you contrast Nick’s dad with the demons who are evil just because. Also, just a side note on Mr. Davis being the villain all along, that was so unexpected but made so much sense when he explained his evil plan, I think it was a fun surprise that I hadn’t predicted in the beginning.  

Of course, I have to talk about the twist at the end where it turns out that Bree is Arthur’s scion and not Nick, mind blowing. There’s something, I don’t know how to describe it, but karmatic about a black girl being the king of the round table after her ancestor was raped by the scion of Arthur all those years ago. That old slave owner couldn’t have ever predicted that his disgusting actions would one day see a black girl as the head of his secret organization, so take that horrible man. On top of that, the organization as a whole is pretty racist, just the way that it’s all white and how they treat Bree and Sarah’s dad, so double take that racists, a black girl is your king.  

Moral of the story, read this book for a YA adventure mixed with serious real-world topics and a lovable cast of characters. Everyone who is hyping this book online is correct and I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy especially since there are rumors that the last book in the series will be released sometime next year.  

[vreenak]

I was tagged by @trantors​, thanks. 💙

last song: I’m one of those weirdos that occasionally listen to their weekly Spotify recs ... the last song that came up was Forget by Lianne de Havas (I guess it was ok.)

last show / currently watching: I’m doing a Star Trek Voyager rewatch. The second one in ~7 months, but I just can’t find anything new that hits that spot just right.

currently reading:  1. For work: Novel by a local author, kind of boring even though the premise sounded super interesting (German librarian in Manhattan trying to find out why her late professor husband had a mental breakdown there ~20 years ago. Sth. to do with his/his parents’s WWII involvement, I guess.)

2. Also for work: Pretentious, highbrow sci-fi-ish novel by Thomas Lehr, a super-hyped German author. Finally got around to reading one of his books, but I’m very disappointed. Again, amazing premise (accident at CERN, the whole world literally stands still, a handful of survivors are trying to figure out wtf is going on), but there’s a *lot* of sexual assault happening and the writing style is tiring.

3. Finally, for pleasure: Cryptos by Ursula Poznanski, an Austrian writer and one of my favorites! Her genre is the kind of YA that an adult reader can get their teeth into and I’m really enjoying this one in particular.

current obsession: Hmm, I’m not super obsessed with anything right now. SAD. Still very much into Adar/ROP, though. Oh, and Mr. Himbo Vulcan aka Ensign Vorik, again (it comes in waves!)

tagging: @astro-gnome @evmorfiad @alittletoosmarttobestraight @kholkate, no pressure though. 😊

[mediawhorefics]

how do you get inspo usually?

oof thats a really tough question haha it’s so hard to pinpoint sometimes ? i get inspo everywhere really and it all merges together and comes out of me as ideas. i get inspo from all the stories i consume be it via books or films or tv shows or comics or fics ? i get inspo from art ? music? photography ? sculpture? history? fashion sometimes ! (moy was born entirely from a specific harry pic and the outfit he was wearing ! so was ctc !) i get inspo from people around me, convos i hear, etc.

but i think i’m mostly a vibes first, then ideas/plot points second kind of gal? i like thinking about what kind of atmosphere/vibes i want to create and what kind of world i want to immerse myself into for months before i start fully developing my stories. that goes for both story vibes and character vibes. once i have a desire for a specific atmosphere, then the rest kind of builds itself around it ? if that makes sense? for example, right now, i’m working on a romcom novel that’s aiming for grounded/modern fairy tale vibes with a sprinkle of whimsy aka amélie/pushing daisies/big fish/ the house in the cerulean sea with some ‘a bisexual woman’s history being uncovered by a quote unquote journalist a la evelyn hugo’ vibes. but it all started as me thinking: all of my current og projects are sooooo world-building heavy and i don’t have the energy for that right now. i want to write something fun and romantic and weird and silly and that would be a comforting summer read etc etc etc.

which isn’t to say i dont have fully formed ideas that just pop into my head. i know my vampire project (rip i’ll get back to you henry my love i promise) came to me with a fully formed premise in the middle of a history uni course (we were doing the russian revolution that day). so it all depends really.

but i think the easiest way for me to answer is that i get most of my artistic ideas by consuming art and talking with people about art. which in turns makes me want to make stuff too!

[jewelleria]

lol i wrote that at like 2 in the morning, let me just clarify a few things. long rant incoming.

firstly, as i said before, we need to remember that anti-muslim discrimination and islamophobia are not the same thing. anti-muslim discrimination is bad; that goes without saying. i am talking about islamophobia. moving on.

the difference between using the term antisemitism to refer to racism against jews and using the term islamophobia to refer to racism against muslims is that one exists and one doesn’t. the concept of antisemitism is a thing: jews are an ethnicity and a religion. we are a people. therefore, racism against jews is a thing.

islam is a religion. it is not an ethnicity. people of any race and ethnicity can be muslim. therefore, racism against muslims is not a thing.

the term islamophobia was created by iranian fundamentalists with the understanding of how the leftist movement thinks. it was created specifically for the purpose of shutting down any questions about the nature of islam, about some of its anti-western ideologies, and labeling them as “racism.”

antisemitism, aka racism against jews, is definitely a thing. it’s just the word that is of disingenuous origins—but at this point we’ve reclaimed it. it’s also so commonly used at this point that attempting to make up an entirely new word for the same concept would just be silly.

the fight against antisemitism is necessary. the fight against islamophobia is just radical leftism.

so what was my rant about mohammed about?

muslims view mohammed as the holiest man who ever lived—god’s greatest prophet. they see his life and his teachings as the ultimate moral example. the hadith, a collection of writings detailing mohammed’s sayings and deeds, is just as essential to islamic thought at the qur’an. the goal of the hadith is to create a guide for what muslims could do in any given situation—the hadith is basically a biography and an instruction book. but it contains a lot of ideas that are not accepted by democratic western societies (US, UK, etc). mohammed required women but not men to cover their faces, hated christians/jews/everyone who wasn’t muslim, married a six-year-old and had sex with her when she was nine, beat his wives and advocated for muslims to beat their wives, advocated for suicide attacks, instructed muslims to kill apostates and non-muslims…. i could go on and on and only use the qur’an and the hadith as sources. and this is not a fringe movement or an outdated ideology. this is mainstream islam.

so my problem with islam is not that many muslims are arabs. it’s not that the religion is from the middle east. it’s that islam praises mohammed from a “he must be good regardless of what he did” mentality rather than a “we recognize that he did bad things while still appreciating the good things he did” mindset. it's that it refuses to modernize with the western world and leave behind the idolization of violence as a tool of oppression.

do i think it's all muslims? no, definitely not. no group is a monolith. but muslim-majority societies, and the religion of islam, promote these ideas to create imperialist regimes—look at iran, saudi arabia, syria, egypt, turkey, afghanistan, so on. nearly every muslim-majority country is a dictatorship. maybe that should tell us something.

i am obviously not speaking about muslims who don't have that mindset. there are scores of ex-muslims who have come forward speaking about the abuse they faced growing up, and the extreme ostracization they were subject to upon deciding to leave. i’m speaking about radical muslims, the fundamentalist extremists who have carried out violent acts of terrorism for decades under the premise of justified resistance to oppression.

that mentality has somehow seeped into western society to the point where people think it’s okay to say things like “globalize the intifada.” they view it as some paradoxical peaceful resistance where the oppressed stand up against their evil oppressors and fix the world, and are so deeply ingrained in this mindset that when faced with a situation that doesn't fit that mindset (white oppressors vs. non-white oppressed), they just refuse to see. they dismiss it as lies, as propaganda, as an evil tactic by the oppressors to further oppress the victims.

western leftists have begun to glorify violence because they believe it’s the only thing that will save everyone from unjust oppression, and once oppressed people are released from bondage, everyone will be 100% good all the time.

that’s literally just called anarchy. why? because it turns into things like wanting to abolish the police (aka destroy every aspect of law enforcement that keeps our society functioning and safe from crime) instead of wanting to reform it. the idea that fixing police brutality will only come from destroying the police is absurd. “abolish the prison system!” they shout, because the people who were put in prison for murder and rape and kidnapping will be so grateful upon being released that they'll change their ways and stop being clinically insane.

wanting to reform the system and improve flawed governments has just been thrown out the window in favor of deciding it’s simply not worth it to try and make things better—and that we should instead try to make things worse.

i truly believe that this idea has been spread so widely because of radical islam. it’s a far cry, i know. let me explain.

sometime around the late twentieth century/early twenty-first century, radical islamist movements such as the muslim brotherhood realized that if they wanted to take over the west (which is the goal of islamism: to turn the entire world into a pan-islamic state and convert everyone to islam), they had to tailor their messaging and frames. thus began the process of language adaptation.

western islamists understand that deceiving young minds into thinking that violence is actually activism is the way to success, and to do that, they change the phrasing of their ideas. this process of language adaptation started decades ago but has accelerated over the last 10-15 years, especially in america and especially in universities, deepening in progressive circles in order to fool well-intentioned people into believing in their violent ideas. it’s just deception.

in a hudson institute commentary article, lorenzo vidino wrote:

“Unlike the first generation of Islamists who arrived from the Middle East, this new cadre is more attuned to Western cultural sensitivities by virtue of being born in the West and having mostly been educated in social sciences, humanities and communications (while the educational background of most activists of the first generation heavily tended to be in disciplines such as engineering and medicine). Many from this new generation of Islamist activists retain only tenuous formal links to established Islamist structures. They might have grown up with Islamist influences—in some cases literally, as some of them are the children of Islamist pioneers in the West—such as being active in Islamist youth groups or giving frequent lectures at mosques and events linked to the network. But they have often created their own ways of amplifying their voices, from establishing new organizations and a multi-platform online presence. Their degrees of connectivity with traditional Islamist organizations varies but is at times quite limited, at least formally.”

an author named yasmine mohammed wrote about the same thing. her memoir is about how her parents abused her in the name of islam, and courts wouldn’t prosecute her parents for abuse because of “freedom of religion.” that mentality, argues yasmine, is the mentality at the core of radical islam: aka terrorism. islamophobia just isn’t a thing, and it’s disingenuous to even use the word, because it shuts down relevant and necessary discourse.

that’s what’s happening in academic and intellectual spaces in america, where university students are arguing in favor of terrorism—the same kind of terrorism that caused 9/11—because they think it means some kind of “nonviolent revolution.” it’s an ideology that was born out of good intentions, out of a desire to eliminate persecution and discrimination, and that became warped beyond recognition to the point where it’s just turned into discrimination all over again.

we as a society are overcorrecting racism, prejudice, and discrimination. it’s so overcorrected that it’s now being reversed. “islamophobia” accusations are a weapon for that.

douglas murray writes:

“Let’s be clear. For the record I don’t think everybody needs to spend their time being offensive about Islam. Not only is there no need to be offensive all the time, but most Muslims just want to get on with their lives as peacefully and successfully as everybody else. But there is an un-evenness in our societies that needs to be righted…to think that the answer to any criticism of Islam or Muslims is a delegitimizing of critics and an indulgence in self-pity is not to make an advance. It is to pave the way for self-harm. For all of us.Where people are telling lies we should not be fearful to correct them. And where people are fearful – and genuine reasons to be so do keep coming along – people should remind themselves of something. Which is that just as bravery in one person instills bravery in others, so cowardice in one person has a tendency to be catching.”

here is some further reading, both about radical islam and about progressive politics in general:

Unveiled: How Western Leftists Empower Radical Muslims by Yasmine Mohammed

Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Woke Army: The Red-Green Alliance That Is Destroying America's Freedom by Asra Q. Nomani

Son of Hamas by Mosab Hassan Yousef

Islamism vs. the West: Essays, Reflections, and Warnings by Daniel Pipes

Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism by Maajid Nawaz

Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue by Sam Harris & Maajid Nawaz

The War on the West by Douglas Murray

Morning After the Revolution: Dispatches From the Wrong Side of History by Nellie Bowles

Islamophilia by Douglas Murray

So are you saying that Islamophobia is a problematic term?

Because using it to mean "anti-arab racism" is SUPER problematic but

Idk if we should just get rid of the term with nothing to replace it with

Same as maybe we should drop antisemitism entirely and go back to Judenhass because why are we still using a term coined by a eugenicitst

that’s exactly what i’m saying. it’s not just problematic—it doesn’t exist. you cannot be racist against a religion. you can be racist against arabs, and you can be racist against black folks, and you can be racist against jews. but you can’t be racist against muslims or christians because they are religions that are not exclusive to race or heredity.

islamophobia is not a thing, and it’s a weapon used to shut down anyone who tries to point out that, hey, maybe it is super weird that the founding prophet of islam married a six-year-old girl but no no no he wasn’t a pedophile!!! he waited until she got her period at age nine to fuck her so he was actually so amazing and kid!!!!!

now, anti-muslim prejudice, white supremacy, and xenophobia most definitely all exist and are terrible. labeling a woman with a hijab walking down the streets of new york as a terrorist or a threat to america simply because she’s muslim is anti-muslim prejudice. discrimination against people from another country, often poorer immigrants who don’t speak english and don’t look white, is xenophobic and racist. and white supremacy is self explanatory lol.

i don’t think we should go back to judenhass. it seems rather odd to refer to jew-hatred in german. i don’t know, call me weird, but i think we should just stick with antisemitism. that wilhelm dude will rot in hell anyway so who cares if he invented the word or not lmao

[franz-katka]

I made a classic lit alignment chart not too long ago based on suggestions given by some of my friends. destroy me and my takes.

some rambling about each book on the chart is under the cut just so this post isn’t obnoxiously long.

1984: this is admittedly one of my favorite classics, but... man... Orwell’s writing style gets really grating at times here. I’m more fond of the characters than anything else. I might move it a bit to the left just because of the people who don’t understand what the book is about but continue to spout shit from it anyways to support their own beliefs.

Lord of the Flies: I have a soft spot for this book solely because of its nostalgic value. I think the community surrounding it is... weird?? to say the least?? so I moved it to the left because of that. I enjoy the levels of symbolism and metaphor present in it though, as well as some of the characters. Piggy deserves better though and is the best character. I love him.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: I actually haven't touched this book since middle school. (the friend who suggested this just happened to like this.) I find the premise interesting but admittedly remember too little to really provide much comment about it.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: I think this book gets slandered too much. that’s my scathing hot take of the post. admittedly the use of vernacular made it difficult for me to understand the dialogue at times, it was definitely a welcome departure from what I tended to read up until that point.

Pride and Prejudice: I don’t even like the romance genre that much, but something about this book tickles my fancy... a lot. there’s a reason why this book tends to pop up on my blog when I post or reblog classic lit content. also, Elizabeth/Mr. Darcy awakened my love for girlboss/malewife dynamics, and I am VERY thankful for that.

To Kill A Mockingbird: I... actually don’t remember a lot about this book. I just remember its writing style not being the most enjoyable. I mostly remember it because one of my English teachers simped hard for Atticus Finch.

The Catcher in the Rye: to put it bluntly, I didn’t care much for the writing style or a lot of the characters, but... I think Holden Caulfield is neat and can be a poor little meow meow as a treat. I question people who simp for him but overall think he’s an interesting dude.

The Metamorphosis: hey look. a Franz Kafka work. I don’t remember if my translation of the work was the best in quality, but I do genuinely love pretty much every aspect of it. I think existential horror is neat! thanks Kafka!

Frankenstein: ah, Frankenstein... aka one of the few science fiction books I’ve actually read and enjoyed. I just think it’s a neat work with neat characters, even if I do believe it’s overhyped to some extent.

Fahrenheit 451: I have a soft spot for this book since it was the one that got me into classics in the first place, so I am... biased. I primarily have it a bit towards the left because I still feel weird about Clarisse’s death basically being retconned in adaptations of it, but the characters overall are pretty interesting.

The Great Gatsby: I’ve always found this book a bit overrated, even when I ended up reading it twice (once for fun, once for class). I found the characters a bit entertaining, but it was also a bit of a slog to read through. I rather enjoy the symbolism though!

Animal Farm: I don’t think I remember being particularly invested in the characters, but Orwell’s writing style does actually function well in this particular work. the plot is what stands out the most to me in retrospect, and I’d probably move it further to the right if I had more room in the chart.

Of Mice and Men: this book... is a doozy. I enjoy it for the content, but the writing style is... I don’t hate it - but considering how short it turned out to be in the end, I’m not sure if it feeling like a longer piece was a good thing or not. also, I hope it’s obvious I was running out of room on the chart. I’m not that mean; I promise.