#all i had to do was add my non fiction and a few novels i missed initially because i hadn't shelved them yet

[ltleflrt]

Figuring out I'm on the ace spectrum was so difficult because I have always been a horny bitch. I knew what sex was at a fairly young age, because I'd asked my mom and she's one of those good parents who'll answer questions like those, and as I grew older and would ask more complex questions, her answers would evolve along with my curiosity and understanding of the world. And I remember having fantasies as young as 9 or 10 years old, even if they were hella vague and nothing close to what sex actually is lol

So as I became a teenager, and all my friends' focus turned from playing with dolls to flirting with boys, I automatically thought I was attracted to boys. And I paid more attention to Cute Boys than I did to Cute Girls, because girls were just nice to look at while boys were People To Have Crushes On. Because of heteronormativity. Looking back on it now, I know there were girls I liked to stare at just as intently as boys, although less often because I wasn't trying to pay attention. And I certainly didn't fantasize about girls because I started reading romance novels in 5th grade, so I was fantasizing about male romantic partners because that was the fiction I was consuming. I didn't even realize fantasizing about girls was possible until I was 17, and I had a few "am I a lesbian" internal crises for years because of it.

So when I did start having sex, I had A LOT OF IT with SO MANY different guys, and eventually a couple of women once I started accepting that bisexuality was real. But it was never really fulfilling. Not like my fantasies were. Not like my books were. I was slutty because sex was fun, I was horny, there were plenty of options so I kept searching for that satisfaction I was craving.

Getting married was a relief (even though it turns out I'm aro-spec too lol) because I was tired of hunting, and even if sex with my husband was meh, at least I had someone around to scratch that itch if I had it, and he didn't mind if I occasionally took care of things on my own because I'd read an especially hot scene in a romance.

I learned about asexuality in my early 20s, but I brushed it off. Couldn't be me, I'm far too horny for that. But I think that comes from the fact that everything you hear about Aces is attached to sex-repulsion or sex-indifference. I wasn't either of those things. I was horny all the dang time. I was fantasizing about sex all the dang time. I figured actual sex was meh because my imagination was so vivid that real life could never match up. Which could be true to an extent, but I think not as much as popular opinion would have us believe. If fantasy was really that much better for everyone, then I think we'd have less incels and unplanned pregnancies than we do.

In my 30s I finally saw people talking about The Spectrum, and I started examining my past, and I figured out I wasn't really attracted to anyone I had sex with. I do occasionally find someone attractive; there are men and women and enbies who make my skin feel tight and give me a little wave of lightheadedness lol... but it's always always the fantasy that gets me really going. If given the opportunity I wouldn't have sex with any of those people. Thank you, but no thank you, I'd rather just imagine it than physically participate in the act with them.

(Ok I might go down on them, but that's less about wanting sex, and more about being able to add them to my Tally. Hell yeah I want to brag about making *insert hot person* have an orgasm. There's PRIDE in that kind of accomplishment lol)

I have a lot of respect for aces that are not horny. I understand it even if I don't share the sentiment. And I feel like most of them understand me even if they don't share the sentiment. There's a solidarity between us.

Until I go into a fandom tag for a character that the aces have glommed onto because they're canonically ace or headcanoned as ace. Good lord, the non-horny aces can turn into downright vicious bastards if a horny ace sexualizes their blorbo.

This post is for them.

Horny aces exist. Please look up "autochorissexual, lithosexual, and aegosexual."

Refer to those definitions in regards to romantic attraction as well as sexual attraction.

Some aces may not fall into one of those definitions, because asexuality is a spectrum, but they may still be horny.

Horny aces are not disrespecting you by enjoying being horny on main. We promise we'll wash the stickiness off our hands before we hold your hands in queer solidarity.

And most importantly: Your blorbo is fictional and does not need to be defended from icky sexuality. They exist in an infinite multiverse, so your blorbo and my blorbo are not the same, even if they appear to be on the surface.

AND:

This post is also for the people who are confused about themselves because they're horny but don't actually feel attraction. You're not crazy, you're not wishy washy, you're not "waiting for the right person to come along" (unless you are, in which case I hope you find them). You're just a thin strip of color on a massive rainbow that holds more unique shades than anyone can perceive at a glance.

You're valid. You're one of us too.

And don't be mean to the non-horny aces. Tag your smut so they can avoid it. (But actually so I can find it lol)

[polyamorousmood]

Hey! Sorry to bother, but I was wondering if you can recommend any books with or about polyamorous relationships? I know there are some shows and movies that include polyamory, but as I'm more of a reader recently, I'd love to read something with at least a mention of such relationships, and good recs are hard to find.

I'm mostly interested in fiction, but if you have any non-fiction you think people curious about the topic should read, that'd be great too.

Again, sorry to bother you, but I've been thinking about it for a while and decided to shoot my shot. Thanks in advance for the response!

Unfortunately, I've not been able to read as much lately as I would like so I don't have many recommendations personally. I've heard of a few, but I'd hate to suggest something that ended up being... not very good 🫤

The only one I can vouch for is @thebibliosphere 's Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites 🧛which if somehow you haven't heard about before now, is a poly paranormal romance novel. The book spends most of its time on the relationship blossoming, so there's not quite as much with all three as I had hoped, but I'm pretty sure sequels are in the works! And I really liked what was there! Its not a bad thing to finish a novel and be left wanting more 😉The author is also super cool, making smutty and fluffy versions of the same book and writing free fanfic of her own work. Seriously, she's one to support.

Anyone else who has more to add, please do!! 📙📚📖I'll keep an eye on the notes and reblog some additions. Maybe the promise of good poly content will actually get me motivated to start reading again 😅

P.S. Please do not feel the need to apologize for sending in asks! I love hearing from others! 😍 Please keep asking things!!

[willameena]

13 books

What’s up readers?! How about a little show and tell? Answer these 13 questions, tag 13 lucky readers and if you’re feeling extra bookish add a shelfie! Let’s Go!

this is such a cute idea! thanks for the tag, @magnusbae <3 all your recs sound awesome!

Last book I read: the last one I completed was Machines Like Me, by Ian McEwan. I'm on the last chapter of 5 Tuesdays in Winter, by Lily King, right now, and it's excellent. Machines Like Me had a cool premise, but I thought it really fell flat and got bogged down in the hypotheticals of 80s British politics, which I don't know much about to begin with, and while I thought it was cool that it explored what could have been if Margaret Thatcher weren't elected PM, it seemed like the book could have just done without that entire subplot, as the premise was advanced AI. Anyways.

A book I recommend: Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk. A great movie, of course, but I love the book even more and my best friend recently started reading, at my recommendation so I'm very excited to hear her thoughts when she's done. I want to do a reread myself!

A book that I couldn't put down: Unfortunately, I don't have the amount of free time to be able to sit down and read uninterrupted. I haven't read an entire book in one day in a very long time, although I devoured them daily as a kid. In a less literal sense, Revenge of the Sith and Labyrinth of Evil. I have those downloaded to my phone, in the Kindle app, and I couldn't stop reading them. Having it on my phone made that easier to achieve, haha.

A book I've read twice or more: Again, I haven't done a reread of any books in a little while :( I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo a few times though, pre-kids, when I had more time. Now, I prefer to move onto something new. It's one of my favorites, and the trilogy is so excellent.

A book on my TBR: I have quite a few that purchased from my favorite used book store that I haven't gotten to yet! Dune is one of them, and I'm excited to start that, although I think I'll read something shorter when I finish the book I'm currently on.

A book I've put down: I don't often put down a book I've started, just because I'll either hold out hope that it's going to get better, or I'll want to be able to explain in detail why I disliked it, haha. Sometimes, I'll put one down and return to it if I feel like it is too heavy for me at the time. I did try and read Lord of the Rings when I was a kid, and I just couldn't get into it... I'm hoping this doesn't make me any enemies lol

A book on my wish list: I really want a paper copy of Revenge of the Sith! I'd like paper copies of a few other Star Wars books that I have on the Kindle app, but that one's top of the list.

A favorite book from childhood: I was such an avid reader as a child! I didn't go anywhere without a book, or two. I loved A Wrinkle in Time, the Inkheart series, The Chronicles of Narnia, Roald Dahl's books, a book called Mandy, which was written by Julie Andrews. I loved Harry Potter, but everything that's happened has left a bad taste in my mouth.

A book you would give to a friend: The Almost Moon, by Alice Sebold, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Bell Jar, if they hadn't read any of those yet.

a book of poetry or lyrics that you own: If They Come for Us, by Fatimah Asghar, I can't recommend this enough!! It is absolutely gorgeous and very powerful. I believe they have also written a novel, which I haven't read yet. Where the Sidewalk Ends, and Falling up, by Shel Silverstein, which are my old copies from childhood and very worn and treasured <3 I have a book of Rupi Kaur poems as well.

a non-fiction book you own: quite a few! Spiritual Midwifery, Birth Without Fear, a couple books about Kurt Cobain, Anthony Keidis' memoir, Scar Tissue, a multitude of parenting books, a half marathon guide book, and some books in the "Highly Sensitive Person" series, which I really recommend for those who consider themselves a highy sensitive person

What are you currently reading: I've got 1 chapter left of 5 Tuesdays in Winter, which is a collection of short stories and has been a beautiful read. I'm also working through "The Highly Sensitive Parent" and "Half Marathon, You Can do it!" which sounds ridiculously corny, but is actually really informative and helpful, because I'm training for a half marathon

What are you planning on reading next: I think either Choke, by Chuck Palahniuk or The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, by Mark Haddon. My best friend bought it for me and said I would love it, so I'm guessing I'm gonna love it!

Soooo this was incredibly long and if anyone has read all of this, wow, haha. Thanks again for the tag @magnusbae this was super fun!

No pressure tagging: @cottonraincoat @sendpseuds @piecesofeden11 @wandering-not-lost04 @dragon-on-ice

@kenobster

@lesbianakins @tideswept @unspuncreature @sky-kenobye @betweensaintsandmonsters

@hausofroxann @kato-neimoidia

Also, a shelfie? A shelf selfie? A bookshelf picture? That's so adorable. I recently put up these shelves and while they don't hold all of my books, I really enjoy them and I am 100% taking the opportunity to show them off

[colescorner]

Mid Year Book Freakout tag!

Hello! It has way entirely WAY too long since I've posted anything! Since it's the end of June, I was inspired by one of my favorite Booktubers, Peruse Project, to participate in the Mid-year Freakout Tag! I will link the original video below and answer all of the questions! Since I haven't been on here in so long, if anyone wants to participate then by all means please do and if you do, add me so I can have some more bookish friends to have on here.

Original Video

1. Best book you’ve read so far this year.

I may be a bit biased since I just finished this one just a few days ago, but of course it was really good! For anyone who isn't aware, Cassandra Clare is my favorite author! I've been reading her books since her debut. Chain of Thorns is the last book in The Last Hours. In my opinion, Clare really shines when wrapping up a series. She just has a way of tying up all the loose ends and setting the stage for the climax of the story. I stayed late several nights because I just couldn't put it down! Clare continues to have a diverse cast of characters where so that all people have someone to identify with.

2. Best sequel you've read so far this year.

I read Angels and Demons forever ago and I've been itching to continue the series. Dan Brown's writing sucks you in from the very beginning and once you pick up the book you don't wan to put it down! I've been delving more and more into historical fiction each passing year and after reading Angels and Demons, I just knew I had to read the next one. It did not disappoint, Brown's pacing is fast and his chapters can be relatively short so I always feel like I'm making a lot more progress that I probably actually am, but I'll take it. This is Brown's claim to fame and it absolutely does not disappoint!

3. New release you haven't read yet, but want to.

As I've stated previously, Cassandra Clare is my favorite author and when she announced that she was releasing her first adult novel, I was ecstatic! I got this on release day but still have yet to read it! Sword Catcher follows Cal who is a body double for the royal prince of Castellane, he's been trained in combat and government and he is destined to die for the prince. This premise sounds so good and I can't wait to step into a new fantasy world and experience Clare's first adult fantasy novel!

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.

Rick Riordan has also been a prominent author that I've read a good amount of what he's published because of my love for mythology...especially Greek Mythology! The Percy Jackson series had 5 installments originally with the 5th book being published in 2009 and the 6th book The Chalice of the Gods being published in 2023...nearly 14 years later and now the 7th book Wrath of The Triple Goddess to be released later this year! If you like a classic hero's journey with greek mythology, humor and wit that can be enjoyed by, I think, people of all ages then you need to go and read this series!

5. Biggest disappointment.

One of my reading goals this year was to read more outside of my comfort zone. I mainly read fiction/fantasy so I have been trying to read more non-fiction. Honestly, it is harder for me to get into because I am so use to following a plot line and with non-fiction, there is a still a natural progression but it is different because there isn't a protagonist or a storyline to follow. While I did like the book overall, I had different expectations for what the content was going to be about. I think I need to continue to read more non-fiction and maybe once I do, I'll have a different perspective about it later. If you like books about books then give this one a try!

6. Biggest surprise.

I have been a fan of Britney Spears ever since I saw her video for ...Baby One More Time. The older I got, the more I fell in love with Britney as a person, she is one of the sweetest people who's been exploited by not just her family but the industry she loved. When this book was announced I was so excited because now we'd get her side of the story, for so long she has been silenced and under strict control and this memoir would be her chance to speak her truth. To say that this book completely took me by surprise is an understatement! I laughed and I cried because there were undoubtedly so many things going on behind the scenes that the public had god damn idea about. My heart both swelled and broke for her after reading all the things she went through and to be able to come out the other side and still have a positive outlook on life is astounding. I'll always be a fan of hers.

7. Favorite new author. (Debut or new to you)

This is the first time I've ever read anything by Madeline Miller. She is widely known for her debut novel The Song of Achilles and Circe. I have both of those novels but they are on ever-growing TBR, but Galatea is a short story about a marble sculptor whose masterpiece, the most beautiful woman he's ever seen, is brought to life by the goddess Aphrodite. Miller's writing is easy to follow, straightforward and has dry humor about it that I rather enjoy. If this was just a taste of what I'll get when I read her other works, then I'm excited to read more!

8. Newest fictional crush.

Pictured above is Thomas Lightwood, a main character featured in Cassandra Clare's The Last Hours trilogy. Thomas is often the voice of reason in his friend group, the merry thieves, he is also empathetic and often sees the good in people even if they do not have greatest reputation. Thomas can also be quite sarcastic which I always enjoy in a character. He is also a character who has to come to terms with his sexuality and he eventually realizes he is gay and as a gay man myself, I can relate to him on that level. The combination of the physical description of him, which is tall and a broad physique, and his personality, he checks off all of the boxes for a great fictional boyfriend.

9. Newest favorite character.

Cordelia Corsairs is one of the main characters from Cassandra Clare's The Last Hours. trilogy. We meet her in the first book Chain of Gold, when she moves to the London Institute. Cordelia is a fierce warrior and wields the legendary Carstairs sword, Cortana. I love a strong heroine! As a gay man, I feel I relate to female heroes more because it seems in every realm that they're in, they still have to prove themselves as a force to be reckoned with because they're female. I love when a strong female character can put her male counterparts to shame and show that they should not have underestimated her. Although, it is refreshing in Clare's books how the female shadowhunters are just s respected and seen as formidable as the male shadowhunters. While Cordelia is a strong fighter, there are aspects of her where she is not as confident at the beginning of the series, but over the course of the books she grows into a force to be reckoned with.

10. Book that made you cry.

**Spoiler Alert**

One of the things that Cassandra Clare does best is to get her readers invested in her characters and then kill them off and usually without warning! One of the main characters in this series was Christopher (Kit) Lightwood, he was killed in battle by a poisoned dagger thrown by Tatiana Blackthorn, one of the main villains of the series. Christopher was very an unassuming but prominent character. I was growing really attached to him which is what made his death all the more sad. I shouldn't be surprised but that is Clare's MO, and I'll most likely fall for it again.

11. Book that made you happy.

Is anyone else surprised I picked this one again...cuz I'm not! I've been reading these books for so long that are in a sense my comfort books. With this being the last book in the trilogy, you know it's gonna be good! I loved reading The Infernal Devices and this series is a direct sequel and follows the children of the characters from The Infernal Devices. Even though the book had some tense moments in the plot, as expected, everything worked out in the end for the band of heroes.

12. Most beautiful book you've bought so far this year (or received)

So I completely bought this book based entirely on the cover and title alone. To me, it looks like an older leather hand-bound book, which I think adds to the charm of the cover. The premise sounds good too. I'll link to Goodreads so whomever wants to read the synopsis can!

13. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

I have a lot of books on my TBR, but the ones I'll be listing are the top books I hope to finish by the end of the year!

Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare

Attached At The Hip by Christine Riccio

The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan

Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi

Children of Aguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Circe by Madeline Miller

If you made it to the end, then thank you for reading the whole thing! Below I'll list all the books from first 12 questions with links to their Goodreads page! Also this is an open tag so feel free to participate!

Chain of Thorns by Cassandra Clare

The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown

Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan

Why I Read: The Serious Pleasure of Books by Wendy Lesser

The Woman In Me by Britney Spears

Galatea by Madeline Miller

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

[girltomboy]

end-of-year book ask - answers

How many books did you read this year? - I'm currently on my 16th or 17th, which I will most likely finish by the end of the year.

Did you reread anything? What? - I did reread a couple of old books from my childhood. There was this collection of satirical short stories ("Cucumber Fairy") that I was highly attached to when I was a kid, which I randomly remembered one day and thought about searching for it online. I found it in an online used bookstore, but my copy was missing a bunch of pages towards the end (not ripped off or anything, it was just a misprint I guess?) so I don't really feel like I got the closure I was seeking 😭 I also reread this other book of short stories ("The Green Envelope") that I was attached to in college... also bought from a used bookstore. I could have sworn I'd never finished it, but the final few stories still felt familiar. Another unfinished book I revisited and finished this year was "Treasure Island". I got this book as a gift from my English teacher when I graduated from high school, I started reading it that same summer, but then I started college and abandoned it :( my bf found an old copy on a free book shelf at uni and brought it to me, so I started reading it since I had just finished reading another book. The translation was absolutely delicious, it was incredibly stimulating to re-translate (or de-translate?) it in my head, and overall it was a real delight.

What were your top five books of the year? - My number one book this year might be a novel called "The Survivors". It was very well-built and quite moving, I didn't expect it to be so devastatingly beautiful. Number two: "Beloved" - this was my second ever Toni Morrison book, and it made me buy every other book of hers I could find in the online used bookstore. Number 3: "Treasure Island"; number 4: "Journey Into Freedom" - the book that made me find out Thomas Mann had a gay son. Book number 5: perhaps "Your Inner Fish", it was the second non-fiction book I read this year and it was quite impressive to me, as someone with a pretty basic knowledge of biology, but a huge interest in it.

Did you discover any new authors that you love this year? - Some authors I intend to revisit through other books of theirs are: Honoré de Balzac, and Klaus Mann.

What genre did you read the most of? - Probably comedy/humor/satire. I mean I mostly read fiction, but I read an unexpectedly high number of satirical books, not even on purpose.

Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to? - I have A LOT of books waiting for me to read them. They're all on a waiting list. I literally can't ever decide what to read because there are too many on my shelf (and in my screenshots, in my notes app, on Goodreads, etc.) so wheelofnames picks a title for me and I read it. All of them get a turn eventually.

What was your average Goodreads rating? Does it seem accurate? - I only really started using Goodreads this year because a work friend asked me for it, and tbh I give pretty good ratings on average. I don't usually rate books I didn't enjoy very much. Maybe that's dishonest of me, but I had to manually add every book I could think of that I've ever read, and it was a bit difficult to wade through years of layered nostalgia and find my true feelings towards each book. So I just didn't add ratings for all of them.

Did you meet any of your reading goals? Which ones? - I never have reading goals, to be honest in the past couple of years my only reading goal has been "read". This year my thirst for reading has skyrocketed so I'm proud of how much I've exceeded this simple goal lol

Did you get into any new genres? - "Your Inner Fish" has opened up my heart to non-fiction, or science/biology related books. I've been doing some research 👀 on that online used bookstore, but I've decided to hold off buying any more books until I read some more of the ones I already have and/or donate the ones I've finished reading - at least some of them. My interest towards adventure books has also been awakened thanks to "Treasure Island", but for now I'm sticking to whatever my book shelf and wheelofnames throw at me.

What was your favorite new release of the year? - I don't usually read books as they get released, nor do I follow book releases. I just read whatever I find and whatever finds me, mostly old books. But the latest released book I read this year was this book about white magic (that's its title too) that my friend let me keep after he moved apartments a few years ago. It honestly was quite underwhelming and not at all informative to me, but it was a good mental exercise for reading non-fiction.

What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read? - The oldest book I read this year was Honoré de Balzac's "History of the Thirteen", from 1833. Pretty strange format and to be honest I didn't really understand what exactly was the history and who are the thirteen, but - and I might have said this before - Balzac writes too beautifully for me to ever be let down, so I just went with it.

Any books that disappointed you? - There's yet another collection of satirical short stories - no, I don't know how I read so much satirical fiction. It was called "Walking on foot" - I know that expression is technically incorrect in English but that's roughly how the title is translated. I was just unable to find any humor in it, it sort of felt like not even the author believed that what he wrote was funny; overall it had a pretty miserable vibe. It was by far the hardest book to finish.

What were your least favorite books of the year? - Other than the one I mentioned above, I'll have to add "The Bastard of Istanbul" - too cliché, but not uninteresting; and also "Cucumber Fairy" - I've already talked about it, but it was a bit disappointing to not receive the closure I expected, and also my expectations were clouded by nostalgia, so the book was actually not as fascinating or creative as I remembered it. Not a bad read either. I'm actually pretty happy with all the books I read this year. All of them had something to keep me attached to them until the end.

What books do you want to finish before the year is over? - Right now I'm reading - hold on to your hats fellas - a satirical adventure novel (I can't translate its title because it makes no sense as it is 💀 I guess a close approximation would be "Waltzing Dames"). It's not exceptionally fascinating, but it's written in this rich, almost archaic vocabulary (I wouldn't say 'archaic' is the best term, but I've had to look up a lot of words which are rarely used because they're super specific or very old, which I kind of adore in a book) that makes it engaging and satisfying to me personally. It's charming enough and pretty fitting for my last book of 2024.

Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)? What did you think of them? - I have no idea and honestly it would be too time-consuming to look up every title and its awards, especially seeing as I don't really care about that aspect. If I had to guess, maybe Agatha Christie, Neil Shubin, Honoré de Balzac, Toni Morrison, maybe even Elif Shafak, Louis Robert Stevenson might have received nominations and/or awards for their books? They for sure received a standing ovation from me in my bedroom.

What is the most over-hyped book you read this year? - I don't think I read any over-hyped books, if anything many of them are under-hyped.

Did any books surprise you with how good they were? - I knew Balzac was a pillar of the classics, but I did not expect his writing to be that fire. I also enjoyed "Treasure Island" more than I thought I would.

How many books did you buy? - Only 22, all second hand. I did not read most of them, but I read some. My boyfriend also brought me a lot of used books from uni.

Did you use your library? - Like the local public library? I can't access it because I need proof of residence for a permit, and since I'm a tenant I can't use my ID. There's too much bureaucracy required to even make a permit, so I rely on free book shelves (the one at uni where you can also leave your own used books for other people to take) and used bookstores mostly online.

What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations? - I don't follow releases, however I'd been wanting to read "Beloved" for a long time, and this year I finally got to.

Did you participate in or watch any booklr, booktube, or book twitter drama? - Drama?? 💀 I JUST started enjoying reading again, engaging in tomfoolery that would only take away time and energy I could spend reading, or even worse, the PLEASURE I just regained from reading would be too stupid of me. Generally speaking I don't really care about these spaces anyway, I prefer reading on my own terms, and eventually putting my thoughts on certain books here on this blog, if I have any, just for myself.

What’s the longest book you read? - "History of the Thirteen", almost 500 pages iirc.

What’s the fastest time it took you to read a book? - Ah, no idea. Probably a couple days for this Polish mystery book as thick as my index finger.

Did you DNF anything? Why? - No, I made it my mission this year to stick with every book assigned to me by wheelofnames, ever since I got the idea to use it to decide what to read, and read it in its entirety, and I did. I'm proud of myself for that, and will keep it up. Maybe the short story collection I didn't FINISH-finish because of the printing mistake could count here, but it wasn't my intention to abandon it.

What reading goals do you have for next year? - Absolutely none, just keep it up like I did this year with my good friend wheelofnames and I'll be beyond happy.

[dollycas]

Special Guest Nupur Tustin Author of Bearer of Secrets: An Art Heist Mystery (Celine Skye Psychic Mystery Series) #Author Interview #Giveaway @ntustinauthor

Bearer of Secrets: An Art Heist Mystery (Celine Skye Psychic Mystery Series) by Nupur Tustin It is my pleasure to welcome Nupur Tustin to Escape With Dollycas Today! Hi Nupur. Please tell us a little bit about yourself. I’m a former journalist with a Ph.D. in Communication, a creative individual with a passionate interest in music, art, and history. You’ll see that reflected in the three amateur sleuth series I write—one set in Haydn’s Austria with Joseph Haydn as the protagonist; one that takes on the unsolved Gardner Museum heist; and one in which a French sleuth travels the world as an undercover sleuth recovering stolen art. Oddly enough, all my characters are Catholic—or in the case of Celine Skye, a lapsed Catholic. But I wasn’t Catholic or even Christian when I started writing these series. So I suppose that tells one something about the authority of the Church, that even as a non-believer one saw it as the true faith. What is the first book you remember reading? It must have been an Enid Blyton book. She’s a British writer from the early twentieth century and was hugely popular and very prolific. I loved her books. She wrote quite a few mystery series as well—all for children, of course. If you’re familiar with her works at all, it’ll be in the context of Noddy and Toyland. And if you know about Noddy—you either have young children or grandchildren in your home! I have to confess, I still enjoy reading children’s books and picture books. Biscuit is one of my favorite series. What are you reading now? I read several books—fiction and non-fiction simultaneously. So here goes: Murder at an Irish Christmas by Carlene O’Connor Playing Dead by Allison Brennan The Caravaggio Conspiracy by Peter Watson How to Pray Always by Raul Pius, S.J. And I’m listening to a podcast of the Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila What books have most inspired you? As a mystery writer, I’ve been inspired by Emily Brightwell, Kate Kingsbury, Stephanie Barron, Susan Wittig Albert, Mary Higgins Clark, Jayne Ann Krentz, among others. I’m always on the lookout for mystery writers who excel at their craft in whatever genre they write in. You might wonder why I haven’t mentioned Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle. It’s because I enjoyed their stories but never reflected on their craft. I’ve learned the art of plotting from Emily Brightwell, of using dialogue to further the story from Kate Kingsbury, and when it comes to contemporary suspense, I’ve learned from Mary Higgins Clark and Jayne Ann Krentz. I ought to add Donald Bain—author of the first fifty or so Murder, She Wrote mysteries—to the list. I love the way Bain integrates cozy/traditional elements with a sound mystery. There’s a lot one can learn about Bain’s editing—I don’t mean editing for style. I’m referring to the type of editing you’ll find happens behind-the-scenes for a movie or TV show. There’s an art to knowing which scenes to cut out from a story—whether it’s a novel or a movie. What made you decide you wanted to write mysteries? Great question! I suppose I was like most people who decide to write. I wanted to write the Great American Novel! But I had to admit to myself that what I enjoyed reading wasn’t so much great literary fiction, it was mysteries. I also had to admit that the Great Novel is written not by an author who sets out to write such a novel but by one who doesn’t set out to do so. Shakespeare didn’t set out to write great art; neither did Charles Dickens or Thomas Hardy. Their works achieved greatness because they set out to write about humans and the world they lived in. They immersed themselves in the stories and characters. Had they not done so, their works would’ve been pretentious and unimaginative and certainly wouldn’t have stood the test of time. Do you have a special place where you like to write? No, but I do prefer being at home—surrounded by my books and very close to my teapot and coffee maker. I used to have a desk in our open-space kitchen-dining area. I’ve had to relinquish that, but my husband’s promised to make me a new desk just beyond the kitchen. Where do the ideas for your books come from? Mostly they come from my reading. If it’s a Haydn Mystery, immersing myself in his world will lead to an idea for a murder mystery. That’s how every one of my Haydn stories have come about. But true crime can give me ideas as well. That’s the source of my inspiration for the Celine Skye Psychic Mysteries. It’s based on the true story of Gardner Museum theft. The fact that 13 valuable works were stolen and that the FBI still has no clue why, how, or where is very intriguing. Since I couldn’t get resolution on the story, I decided to concoct my own theory. Many of my Haydn short stories are adaptations of true crime stories that we’ve watched. And when I read about art heists and art recovery, I often come up with a good Sophie’s Adventure story as well. Is there anything about writing you find most challenging? If I had to pick one thing, I suppose it’s where the plot meets reality. What I mean is this—every plot has a geographical setting and sometimes the specific landscape of the setting doesn’t quite suit the plot. So the plot needs to be finessed, adapted, really, to geographical reality. I’m working on a story set in Marseille, which, until I researched the place, I thought of as a delightful little town close to a delightful little village. Well, it’s a big, bustling city. And the nearest village isn’t exactly a bike ride away. So some plot details need to be changed. I always say fiction transcends reality, but changing Marseille from a bustling city to what I’d imagined requires too much suspension of disbelief from the reader. It’s asking too much. Of course, I could just make up a little town. But I like my title: Mystery in Marseille! This is a Sophie’s Adventure story, by the way. What do you think makes a good story? In addition to believable characters, the plot needs to be well-thought-out—and needs to exist! Random events strung together don’t make a story. And the events, in order to be plausible, need to stem from the characters and their motivations. Let me give you an example, from a show you may have watched, Mr. Monk. There’s an episode in which Monk goes off to investigate on his own, tricking Natalie, his assistant, into thinking he hasn’t really solved the case and that, therefore, there’s no need to call the Captain. Why would Monk, a seasoned detective, do something quite as stupid as that? Well, because the clue in question leads directly to the killer of his beloved wife, Trudy. It’s a case Monk hasn’t been able to solve and it eats at him. Besides, this is his wife. It’s personal. As a result Monk is framed for a murder he didn’t commit. The writers needed to get Monk to this point where he could be plausibly framed for murder. But the events leading him to that point needed to be plausible. Monk fans needed to understand what he was doing and why. If the writers had ignored Monk’s character, the plot would’ve fallen flat. Which, of all your characters, do you think is the most like you? None of them are like me. I don’t write myself into my stories. I enter wholly into the character I’m writing about. Haydn was an actual person. And although Celine and Sophie are fictitious, to me they are as real as Haydn. What makes your books different from others out there in this genre? There’s a unique blending of fact and fiction to the point where you can’t tell where fact ends and fiction begins. I like it that way. In fact, after I’ve written a story, I myself forget what’s fact and what’s fiction. In addition, I focus on music and art. It’s not for nothing that my tagline is: Painting Intrigue. . . Orchestrating Murder!  I like to think that my stories arouse readers’ curiosity about the facts—about art theft and recovery or Haydn’s life. I hope it sets them looking to find the truth. The best fiction has done that for me—aroused my curiosity and sent me on quest. And that’s what I want to do for you, the reader. What’s next on the horizon for you? I’m researching and plotting two Sophie’s Adventure stories, one set in Marseille, as I mentioned, and the other in Rome. I’m also working on the next Celine Skye mystery. At some point of time, Celine will need to go to London—some of the Gardner art has made its way there! Then it’ll be back to Haydn, and if I have the time, to a couple of other series I want to develop. Thank you Nupur for visiting today! ____ Keep reading for more information about Nupur and her new book! About Bearer of Secrets Bearer of Secrets: An Art Heist Mystery (Celine Skye Psychic Mystery Series) Psychic Mystery 3rd in Series Setting – Where does your book take place? Paso Robles, CA and Boston, MA Publisher ‏ : ‎ Foiled Plots Press (June 27, 2024) Print length ‏ : ‎ 397 pages Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0D5PCCSDR SIZZLING SUSPENSE: Based on the True Story of Boston's Gardner Museum Theft! Could a stolen Degas unravel a cold-case art heist? Celine must find out before murder closes in . . . Shattered by a journalist’s death and sensing danger to his mother, Clara, psychic art sleuth Celine Skye struggles to focus on the Gardner Museum theft. Until a stolen Degas taken eight years after the heist surfaces—along with new clues and visions of Clara in peril. Compelled to investigate, Celine has a startling revelation linking Clara to a Gardner Museum insider. Could Clara’s son have uncovered evidence implicating her friend in the theft? With the threat to Clara escalating, Celine must find the truth before murder finds them both. . . With smart taut writing and great characterization BEARER OF SECRETS will have you pondering the unsolved crime while waiting for the other shoe to drop. ~Cozy Up With Kathy About Nupur Tustin Nupur Tustin is a former journalist who misuses a Ph.D. in Communication and an M.A. in English to paint intrigue and orchestrate murder. She is the author of the Joseph Haydn Mystery series set in eighteenth-century Austria and the Celine Skye Psychic Mysteries about a psychic art sleuth who takes on the still unsolved Gardner Museum theft of 1990. She also writes the Sophie's Adventure series about an art sleuth who recovers stolen art as an undercover tourist. For more about her and her books, please visit https://ntustin.com Author Links - Website (Get a Free Taste of Murder) - N Tustin Bookstore - Blog - GoodReads Link - BookBub   - Facebook  Purchase Links: From the Author    Amazon    B& N Nook     Kobo     Apple iBooks Also by Nupur Tustin TOUR PARTICIPANTS - Please visit all the stops.  July 8 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT July 9 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR GUEST POST July 9 – Boys' Mom Reads! – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT July 10 – Mystery, Thrillers, and Suspense – SPOTLIGHT July 10 – StoreyBook Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST July 11 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT July 11 – Sapphyria's Book Reviews -SPOTLIGHT July 12 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT July 12 – Lady Hawkeye – SPOTLIGHT July 13 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT July 13 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR INTERVIEW July 14 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT July 15 – Christy's Cozy Corners – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT July 16 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW July 17 – Maureen's Musings – SPOTLIGHT July 17 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT a Rafflecopter giveaway Have you signed up to be a Tour Host? 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[princip1914]

Oh my gosh, first off thank you for such kind words and the rec. I absolutely loved writing TF&TF and it’s so rewarding to hear that it resonated with other people (especially people familiar with Appalachia in real life!).

Just wanted to add my thoughts to the original question too (if I may). As @ineffable-writer says it’s totally fine to only write fanfic, and I definitely agree that fic is not a “lesser” form of writing or training wheels for something else.

That said, fanfic has been hugely beneficial for my non fanfic writing in a lot of ways. I frequently see people say “oh fanfic teaches writers to be lazy about characterization” or “fanfic reinforces writing without plot” or other things like that (and these two criticisms are very very debatable I think). I rarely see people talk about the ways writing fanfiction *concretely* improves writing in all arenas, so I’ll just put a few things out there that I’ve noticed:

writing fic teaches you to write for an audience. If you ever want to sell original fiction, you must understand audience. Fic teaches you how to assess, utilize, and subvert the expectations of a specific audience. The writers of 19th century classics benefited from a similar working environment as todays fic authors. Anton Chekhov’s engaging sparse prose and weird sense of humor which in his later works mellows into poignant observations about the human condition developed *because* he started his writing career rushing to finish funny short pieces in between classes and publishing them in popular magazines to pay his bills while in medical school. Dostoevsky’s compulsively readable and absurdly long epics were produced for serialization; they had to be engaging enough that people would keep reading week to week and the longer they were the more he got paid. All this to say, there is a long tradition of quality literature shaped by serialization, immediate audience feedback, and the pressure to produce something engaging rather than “literary.”

And on that note….writing fic teaches you to take your writing less seriously. The New Yorker is not going to review your fic. It won’t end up on the New York Times best seller list. In terms of IRL prestige there are zero stakes with fic. I took a writing class recently (my second one ever!) and I could tell some people were really in their heads about trying to produce something literary. Fic can free you from this trap of being hyper obsessed about producing “art.” This is not to say fic *can’t* be literary, just that the conventions of writing it free you from the burden of trying to be literary.

Putting out regular chapters builds character and confidence as well as wordcount. Writing a novel is like running a marathon. You have to train for endurance. Fic helps with that, and it also teaches you what is possible in terms of wordcount and writing pace. Last year I wrote a piece of original (nonfiction) which ended up being ~106k in length. I was afraid of a lot of things while writing that piece but I was never afraid of the length because I knew I had written something that long before and I knew I could do it again. Writing long fic helps answer the question: “how long does it *actually* take to write X amount of words?” and “how long do I have to spend planning/outlining vs writing in order to achieve a work of Y scope?” The only way to answer these questions is to have already done a long project, the answers are so unique to each writer than no writing class or self help book can give you the insight that writing a long fic can.

community. Some of the most talented writers I know are fic writers. Friendships I’ve made through fic are some of the most important ones in my life and also are creatively generative in so many ways.

There are a lot of other points to add about how fic DOES actually teach characterization and plot and specific story elements like that, but I will leave it there since this is already a long answer. I am afraid I ranted a bit, but the writing fic vs “real” writing is a topic I have a lot of opinions about!

hiiiii, sorry to be a weird little weirdo but i just saw a post where you talked about your accomplishments as a writer/teacher and how still love fanfiction so i just wanted to say oh my GOSH, that was very very very nice to hear as a highschooler who’s afraid they'll never write anything but fanfiction haha. anddddd also, continuing on with being a weirdo, in said post you mentioned that one of your favorite works of fiction was an ineffable husbands fic ad i was wondering if you could maybe drop a link 👀

Dude, fanfiction is SO important and top-fucking-notch. There is nothing wrong with writing solely fanfiction! (And there's nothing wrong with writing thinly-veiled OC that's heavily based on things you're into, for that matter. Published authors do it all the time.)

The fic I was talking about is The False and the Fair by @princip1914, which is genuinely a gorgeous work of literature. It's set in West Virginia, which is where my family is from (I've spent a ton of time out there) and god, the sense of place is extraordinary. It beats out work that I've taught when it comes to sense of place. And the relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale is nuanced and complicated in ways you don't really see often in romances, and it's done so well. Gods, it's just gorgeous.

I know they're going to write a non-GO novel based on it, but honestly, they could probably change a few names and publish it without worry if the traditional publishing industry wasn't such a butt about first publication rights. In any case, if you want to read it I suggest downloading it from AO3 (for personal use only), since the author might take it down in the future. (That's what the author suggests, but the suggestion is in the epilogue, so I'm saying it here.)

Anyway--as a fellow weirdo, I'm so glad that was validating! Keep on being you, my friend. You've got this.

[writingwithcolor]

Desexualized Mammy & Strong Black Woman, too busy for “frivolous love”

“Alyse” (Anon Submission) asked:

My science fiction story includes a black woman (Talia) who raises two children that aren’t her own and takes on two young adults as apprentices. One of the children she is raises has Arabic background and was taken into her home upon his father’s death (his mother’s whereabouts are unknown). She was a close friend of his father and the closest thing he had to a relative. The second child has mixed French-Latinx background and was taken in after becoming shipwrecked with no means by which to contact her people. Talia was the first non-hostile individual she encountered and one of the few who would so openly embrace a stranger. Since Talia is Master Medic (the highest medical authority in her community) she is training two apprentices (think residency) and eventually mentors the second child as well. She was once married and passionately in love but lost her husband to illness. In this setting, some technology we take for granted is inaccessible and violence against their people is commonplace. Most have experienced sudden loss. This particular loss was the catalyst that drove Talia into medicine- a desire to protect her loved ones and prevent others from experiencing similar tragedy. She is usually kind (though businesslike) but sometimes succumbs to a frigid, furious depression when, despite all her knowledge and determination, she can’t save someone. 

I worry that her maternal association with the two children (one of whom is an outsider) mires her in the mammy trope. On top of that, she hasn’t pursued romance since the death of her husband. I’ve considered giving her a romantic subplot but there are already so many characters to keep track of. Furthermore, I just can’t see her engaging in the frivolous pursuits of new love when she’s dealing with kids, students, and an extremely taxing career. 

In terms of race and culture in this story, practically every character can trace their ancestry back to populations displaced through war. Even Talia’s second child was shipwrecked during a botched evacuation from a military science lab. The people who live here have been isolated for generations and no longer have a real concept of their ancestry. Cultures have blended, new religions have formed, and many of our familiar racial/ethnic issues are forgotten. However, new and different but equally toxic ones have replaced them. In this way, Talia’s blackness doesn’t carry the same associations in her world as it would in ours. However, readers may still make these associations. Do you see any issues with her character that I could amend? 

So! You have:

A highly educated Black-coded woman (the highest medical authority in the community)

She raises two kids alone 

She also looks after two apprentices

She is widowed (not sure the race of the husband, was he Black?)

Having experienced heartbreaking love, Talia's drive to look after, protect and save people through medicine is a great motivation for the way she is. Her experiencing depression and taking losses seriously is also very human and is dynamic characterization. 

However, such characterization with Black women is prone to brush across several tropes. You have a Black woman who gives and protects, but what does she get in return? Who cares for her? 

Prioritize your Black character’s happiness

"I’ve considered giving her a romantic subplot but there are already so many characters to keep track of. Furthermore, I just can’t see her engaging in the frivolous pursuits of new love when she’s dealing with kids, students, and an extremely taxing career." 

Priorities, priorities. Is love a frivolous pursuit in her eyes, or yours? Because I strongly disagree. You probably don't mean to but you, as the author, having an excuse to NOT give the Black woman romance is showing that you do not think she's worth being loved. TV viewers and stans who are uncomfortable when Black women characters have relationships find similar excuses to explain away not wanting BW in relationships.

"She's too strong and independent for a man/relationship" 

"I liked her better alone." 

"It'll take away from her character."

“A romance doesn’t feel right for her”

These sorts of statements above are grounded in racialized misogyny. 

Relationships do not lessen the woman.

Relationships does not lessen Black women. 

Love

Whether that love is romantic, familial, or friendship, it can come in many forms. Give Talia love. Because Black women characters deserve it! Either one or all! 

Let her have a loyal best friend, a cat, and a girlfriend. Because why not? And not to downplay the love of children to parents, but please provide her love beyond what she gets on a maternal level from the children she looks after. 

The stories that Black women are in today severely lack love for us, so why add to the narrative of Black women being all work and no play, and too [insert excuse here] to be loved? 

Of course, you didn't provide all the details from your story, but I'm not seeing much of a balance from the struggle. She is a caretaker, teacher, doctor (or doctor-like figure). 

Her position and background in itself is okay. It's the Strong Black Woman being presented with seemingly no commentary that strikes me. 

Where is her team to help balance the weight of the world? 

Who takes care of her when she's depressed from another loss? 

What does she get in return from taking an emotional and physical toll to heal her community? 

Do those around her recognize all she does for them and offer their friendship? 

When does she get to relax and turn off the need to be everything for everybody?

Fitting love into a book with many characters

There are many books with several characters to keep track of. People tend to manage. Also, I'm sure some of those characters are in and/or out of relationships. Even stories that couldn’t be classified as romances have relationships of some sort. It’s unrealistic to have a ton of characters and none of them be in relationship(s) of some sort. Not when there’s so many forms of it and many sexualities. 

Friends, frenemies, enemies, romance, affairs.. Relationships make stories (and life) interesting. By no means do I think adding these dynamics harm your tale. And what’s one more for a hard-working Black woman who sacrifices a lot and clearly deserves a shoulder to lean on? And, if you use an existing character to be that friend, family, or lover, then you won’t need to pencil in another character.

For romance specifically - I think a misconception when it comes to including romance in stories is that they have to somehow take over the story. Romance does not have to bombard the plot nor be described in lavish detail. Not every story is a romance and those sort of details aren’t everyone’s style or things they’re comfortable with. A sentence or two establishing relationships does not take away from the story.And how those relationships look and affections expressed will vary based on the characters, sexuality, etc.

Not every character needs to have a deep level of detail. 

“Katie and Lisa, a newly engaged couple, walked into the meeting.”

“Jack and Jamie are a married couple in their 40s.” 

“The two met in college. After two months of blissful courtship, they eloped, eager to start their happily ever afters. Twenty years together, they were still blissfully in love and never too far from one another.”

Sentences like the above are enough for some characters. You don’t always need to put in paragraphs worth of relationship-establishing details or plot. 

When it comes to the characters whose love you would like to highlight, at least a bit, you still don’t have to go over the top.

Use subtle details. 

“As soon as Talia’s back was turned, he gave her a longing look before shaking his head and getting back to the patient.”

“He squeezed her hand before taking hold of the stethoscope.”

“She kissed her wife goodbye before racing out the door.”

“You mean the world to me.” he had said, holding her face. Those words stayed with her all day, making her heavy load light as a sack of feathers.

“She soaked his shirt with her tears and he just held her tight, saying nothing, silently holding her together.”

As for Talia specifically…

Talia having the mindset you described, as love being frivolous and not a priority, is understandable knowing her background (I just don't agree with you as the creator using this as a means to keep her alone. Whether she’s romantically alone or without close friendships). She has lost so much, and continues to experience loss with patients. This can be extremely traumatizing. I gave some examples of being subtle, so perhaps that will help with the burden of feeling a thick subplot of romance doesn’t fit in your story. 

And as Talia doesn’t strike me as someone who would go looking for companionship, what if she stumbles upon it without trying? Is there someone on the medical team that can offer her friendship? Someone who admires her and feels the urge to care for her that she feels the same for, or has pushed feelings down for? What happens when she can’t hold those feelings down anymore?

Takeaway

Talia deserves healthy love, even if she doesn’t believe it or feel she has time for it. That love can come in any and many forms, not necessarily romantically required, although it is a plus. A struggle-ridden novel is balanced by love, support and rest for characters that hold the weight of the world. If you do not, evaluate why you want to write Black characters in these struggle roles without at least a social commentary. 

~Mod Colette

[perregrinstudiessometimes]

Spoiler Free Book review of

“All Good People Here” by Ashley Flowers

Good reads synopsis/summary: “In the propulsive debut novel from the host of the #1 true crime podcast "Crime Junkie," a journalist uncovers her hometown’s dark secrets when she becomes obsessed with the unsolved murder of her childhood neighbor—and the disappearance of another girl twenty years later.

Everyone from Wakarusa, Indiana, remembers the case of January Jacobs, who was found dead in a ditch hours after her family awoke to find her gone. Margot Davies was six at the time, the same age as January—and they were next-door neighbors. In the twenty years since, Margot has grown up, moved away, and become a big-city journalist, but she’s always been haunted by the fear that it could’ve been her. And the worst part is, January’s killer has never been brought to justice.

When Margot returns home to help care for her sick uncle, it feels like walking into a time capsule. Wakarusa is exactly how she remembered: genial, stifled, secretive. Then news breaks about five-year-old Natalie Clark from the next town over, who’s gone missing under eerily similar circumstances. With all the old feelings rushing back, Margot vows to find Natalie and solve January’s murder once and for all.

But the police, the family, the townspeople—they all seem to be hiding something. And the deeper Margot digs into Natalie’s disappearance, the more resistance she encounters, and the colder January’s case feels. Could the killer still be out there? Could it be the same person who kidnapped Natalie? And what will it cost to finally discover what truly happened that night?”

Format: audio book read by Brittney Presley (an amazing reader 10/10 for performance) with character actor Karissa Vacker and Epilogue by the author, Ashley Flowers

Source: Libby (app that my local library partners with)

Book started on: Jan 3rd

Book finished on: Jan 4th

Book Grade (out of 100): 87

Book emojis: 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦⛪️🩰😭😲❄️👮‍♂️🥸🌹✉️🔓

Book sins spotted:

“Let out a breath [character] hadn’t realized they were holding” count: 1

Spoiler free thoughts: The book, for the record, is one of fiction but it feels so real. Ashley knows the inner workings of real criminals and clearly has a knack for writing fake ones with her knowledge. This is the type of story where you think you know 100% where it is going only for everything you thought u knew to turn in its head (over and over again.) I personally found this book to be more mystery crime fiction than thriller but I definitely enjoyed it non the less.

The ending was fast passed and full of constant twists and turns that left me guessing constantly, so naturally I loved it. There were many points where I, finally, thought I had figured out the entire sequence of events only to have half of my assumptions turn out to be totally wrong. This is the type of mystery I recommend to all of my friends and this one will be no exception.

Warnings: There are a few warnings people may need to know going into this book (besides the obvious, ie. Murder) mainly child murder, child abuse, and sexual assault against a minor stand out the most. Although, just as in her podcasts, Ashley does a great job of asserting the seriousness of these topics while not lingering on the details that make us uncomfortable. The wording of these assaults and crimes are no more vivid then the wording would be in True crime podcasts.

I would also like to add in another warning; Dementia is discussed heavily through this book as one of the main characters suffer with it. Dementia runs in my family so this topic hit me especially hard. My own grandmother is suffering with the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s disease at the moment and is about the same age as the main character. While the character suffers far more than my grandmother does at the moment it is still a heartbreaking aspect of this book which I feel many reviews have not stressed the extent in which this aspect is mentioned.

Do I recommend this book? Despite knowing a few of the main twists ahead of time I still deeply enjoyed the smaller twists as a few audible gasps left my mouth while listening. I highly recommend this book to people who love true crime (or fictional crime stories.)

If you enjoyed this book and are looking for other recommendations: I, of course, have to recommend Crime junkie, Ashley flowers most popular podcast. I will also recommend another true crime show; The Casual Criminalist, which is both a podcast and a YouTube channel (I recommend the YouTube Channel over the podcast as the editor, Jen, likes to thrown in a few sight gags from now and then which helps lighten the mood.)

[elphabaoftheopera]

Tagged by @raven-curls​ and @vinkunwildflowerqueen​ thank you!

This inspired me to finally re-shelve the books strewn all about my place (and dust my bookshelf). So thank you for that.

From last place to first:

#10. Time Travel Short Stories foreword by David Wittenberg: “It may surprise readers to know that the sorts of spectacular time travel plots one typically encounters in contemporary science fiction, full of multiplied time lines, paradoxes, revisions of history and butterfly effects, are a late innovation of the genre.”

Pretty dry writing even for a foreword, and I was not surprised by the fact. Next!

#9. The Norton Shakespeare Anthology: (from the preface) “Since Shakespeare’s principal medium, the drama, was thoroughly collaborative, it seems appropriate that this edition of his works is itself the result of a sustained collaboration.”

There were like four collaborators for this anthology. I get what they’re going for here, but kind of boring. Bring on the Shakespeare!

#8. Star Wars I, Jedi by Michael A. Stackpole: “None of us liked waiting in ambush, primarily because we couldn’t be wholly certain we weren’t the ones being set up for a hot-vape.”

What is a hot-vape? When I googled it I just got “vape hot” which warned people that they were vaping too much if their vape was hot. Is it a Star Wars thing? Deducted points for confusion.

#7. Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer: “This was the time of day when I most wished I were able to sleep.” (I had to add the next few lines just to appreciate the brooding: “(cont.) High school Or was purgatory the right word?”)

I laughed when I pulled this one out. I borrowed it from my mother-in-law like over a year ago but couldn’t make it through the first chapter. I would give it higher points for the next two lines but judging just by the first line doesn’t make it a standout.

#6. The First Five Novels The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum: (from the intro) “In 1900, a moderately successful writer for children by the name of L. Frank Baum set out to write a new type of “wonder tale” in which (in his words) “the stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all the horrible and bloodcurdling incident devised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale.”

L. Frank Baum is obviously a fave, it was cool to learn a more about him in this long ass sentence. I laughed at the irony of “moderately successful writer”. Still, it’s a foreword and forewords are bland.

#5. Play Directing In The School (A drama director’s survival guide) by David Grote: “Play directing can be an art, but like all real art, it is built on a solid foundation of craft.”

I haven’t read this book yet and I’m not a drama teacher but I do direct plays. It’s a sentiment I agree with. No more, no less. Still a foreword! I promise I do have novels too...

#4. 1912 Facts About Titanic by Lee W. Merideth: “On April 11, 1912, many of the more than 2,200 people aboard RMS Titanic watched the green hills of Ireland slowly disappear from view as the magnificent liner steamed west into a beautiful Atlantic sunset—and into history.”

Actually kind of pretty imagery for a non-fiction foreword. A topic that interests me. I feel like if this were an introductory paragraph/sentence in an essay the teacher would write “nice work!” off on the margin. 

#3. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss: “It was night again.”

Simple. Concise. Informative. It was night again. I’m simply gripped! I have no idea what this book is about but this made me laugh out loud.

#2. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel: “Like many fathers, mine could occasionally be prevailed on for a spot of “airplane.”

Masterful, and I mean that unironically. Obviously Alison Bechdel is a fantastic writer, but this is a really great first sentence. It puts you right into the narrative and is creatively expositional. Makes me actually want to finally read the graphic novel in full. Obviously makes me think about the musical too which is a plus!

#1. Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook by Barbara Park: “My name is Junie. B. Jones. The B stands for Beatric. Except I don’t like Beatrice. I just like B and that’s all.”

I didn’t even need to crack the cover to know what the first sentence would be. Yes, I cheated a little to get the full bit but even so I’d rank it first. This intro is iconic and just delights me every time I read or recite it. This sentence was literally the first sentence of a chapter book I ever read on my own (though I was reading Sneaky Peeky Spying), and for that Junie B. Jones will always “B” #1 in my heart.

I'm tagging @the-shark-is-a-mammal​, @character-shoes-and-misery, @amidalleia, @cultishsocialgathering, @lavalierre, @starspangledpumpkin, @itsniaeveryone, and @misosuper and anyone else who wants to participate!

[twopoppies]

is there a master post for sex without a condom? can be safe or unsafe. sorry if it's already listed somewhere, I just can't seem to find it!

Every time I think I've made every fic rec possible, you guys surprise me! I've actually got a fair amount to suggest.

Danger I Can’t Hide by CelticSky (E, 227K) This one’s got all the tension and drama of a World War II story—life and death high stakes, friends and lovers unexpectedly torn apart, battles and heroism, plus the added stakes of classism and homophobia—then add a slow burn, high risk, scorching love affair spanning years. If you want a story that’s complex and fantastically researched, plus lovers to root for, read it. It’s long. But I couldn’t put it down.

where the tide takes you, I will follow by @pinkcords (E, 40K) First of all, I’m so happy this author is writing again! Second, everything about this was just lovely. The slow, dreamy tone of their writing fit the setting and the way Harry and Louis fell into each other so, so well. I love how descriptive their writing is without being flowery or pointless. The smut scenes were toe-curlingly sexy, and gave us beautiful insight into both of the boys. I just wanted to live inside this fic.

Hike Up Your Skirt (And Show Your World To Me) by Brooklyn_Babylon / @twopoppies (E, 18K) make sure you read the tags on this one because it’s not exactly “romance” and Louis is definitely super manipulative. But if you like the idea of secretary Harry in lingerie, CEO Louis, copious amounts of dirty talk, some power imbalance, and exhibitionism… this could be for you.

i can’t wait to see what you find by enbyharry / @non-binharry (E, 13K) This is such a well-written exploration of gender, independence, and intimacy. I thought the shift from Louis being a separate third part of a couple’s dynamic, to falling for Harry, himself, was handled very smoothly and I particularly loved the development of Harry’s character as he opened up and let Louis see more of who he was.

Literally Making Love by Brooklyn_Babylon / @twopoppies (E, 30K)

Holding up one of the android's eyes to the workshop’s windows, he smiled as the light picked up the gold flecks in the pale green of his irises. Louis had always paid attention to even the tiniest details.

--

All Louis intended to do was rescue someone in need from loneliness. He had no idea it would be himself.

I Love My Hands Around Your Neck by @fournipplesau (E, 6K) Hello... this was really hot. I just loved the dynamic between the two of them—you really get a sense of the difference between them when they play and how they interact when they’re not. Also, just really hot. Did I say that already? Yeah.

horizontal like a quarter to three by orphan_account (E, 9K) I always love fics that do kink discovery well, and this one is a favorite. Gentle, loving Louis realizing he wants to get rough with his sweet boyfriend? Gimme that.

Our Lives, Non-Fiction by @indiaalphawhiskey (E, 114K) this is, quite literally, the best fic I’ve read in years. It’s so well written, clever, funny, emotional, and sexy. Its draw you in immediately and you’ll end up falling in love with these characters before you know it. Don’t miss this one.

An Invincible Summer by Brooklyn_Babylon / @twopoppies (E, 45K)

Never content to stay in one place for long, a few months down south researching for his novel seemed like an idyllic, slow-paced summer to Louis. He wasn't ready for the blistering heat, the backbreaking work of watermelon picking, or how stifling the attitudes in rural Georgia would feel. And he definitely hadn’t anticipated falling in love with the farmer’s son.

The summer of 1946 would turn out to be everything worth writing about.

Lay So Still by yougotmetieddown (E, 3K) This one is really hot kink exploration with great dialogue and dirty talk. Plus, you really get a sense of their relationship dynamic even though it’s a PWP.

a body wishes to be held & held by turnyourankle (E, 9K) Louis and Harry are office mates who get trapped together as Harry unexpectedly goes into heat. Things develop from there.

candy in your mouth (i know you love me) by embodied (E, 7K) I really love how real the emotions in this one feel. The confusion and the fear and the hurt that come with moving from friends to realizing you have real feelings for the other is done so well.

leave you drowning until you reach for my hand by orphan_account (E, 17K) The psychological exploration of how and why this sort of play works (or doesn’t work) for these characters is so well done in this one. Plus, it’s just hot af.

ain't had none like you in a while by istajmaal (E, 12K) Ok, so first of all, read the tags. Don’t read this one if you have an issue with age difference in fics. If that’s not a squick for you, you get to read Harry and Louis traveling back in time to teach younger versions of themselves…a lot. This is one of my favorite authors when it comes to smut and this one has it in spades.

I'll Know My Name As It's Called Again by pukeandcry (E, 9K) This is basically a twist on exes to lovers and it’s a favorite. Actually, this author is all around a favorite. This one is funny, well paced, super sexy, and I’ve read it multiple times.

wings to break your fall by karamelised (E, 103K) Well. This author writes some glorious smut and Harry giving Louis a private dance wearing a pair of angel wings should be reason enough to read this. However, it’s also just fun and well written and has a little hate to love and I’m a fan.

Fertile Ground by Blake (E, 4K) This author explores gender and body acceptance in a way I haven’t seen done much in this fandom, and their writing is so moving. Like, every line packs a punch. This one, in particular, is such a moving portrait of Harry’s struggles with how others see him and how he sees himself, and Louis’ support as they figure it out together.

To the Ends of the Earth by stylinsoncity (M, 68K) I read this one years ago, so I don’t have great notes, but this author has written some of my favorite fics. What I do recall is that it was beautifully written, painful but ultimately so lovely, and of course...sexy.

You Give Me Fever (What A Lovely Way To Burn) by my_fandom_OTPs (E, 11K) This is just porn from start to finish, but I love it. Canon, friends to lovers, shower sex and more!

Never Never Never Stop for Anyone (Sheylinsonverse) by aimmyarrowshigh, spibsy (lucy_and_ramona) (E, 10-work series, 339K) Yes, here I am again, putting this series on a list. Probably 10 people in this fandom like it as much as I do, but I don’t care. I have read all 440K words more than once, and will likely do it a few more times. Yes, it needs editing, but even so…really well written, super sexy (if you like reading BDSM and can handle Larry + someone else in a polyamory relationship), and such interesting character development. One of my favorite things about this fic is how the authors differentiate between the ways the different characters inhabit their Dom and Sub personalities.

love to make him moan by say_thanks (E, 8K) This super hot PWP is just passion and lust and somehow the author also manages to convey how much they absolutely adore each other.

Makes Perfect by checkthemargins (E, 9K) Because this fic was written in 2014 when no one tagged very much, I am warning you that there’s some discussion of Ha*roline and het sex. Not a huge amount, but if that’s a squick, skip this one. However….Louis in makeup and a skirt and some super smutty “practice” with Harry? Good stuff.

sweet, where you lay by @infinitelymint (E, 27K) A Zachary Quinto/Miles McMillan AU (from back in the day when they were adorable and in love). I just really enjoy this author’s writing and they’ve given the fandom a real mix of styles, which is cool. This one is sweet and hot and I really enjoyed it.

down by sky_reid (E, 4K) What more can I say about a fic whose summary is “sometimes all harry really wants is to play with louis' arse.“ I mean... it’s really dirty, and really hot. And it’s a whole lotta rimming.

someone who knows how to ride by orphan_account (E, 3K) I’m a complete sucker for power bottom Louis / service top Harry. This one is 3K of stupid hot smut and I love it.

want it all the time, need it everyday by swallowsmateforlife (E, 6K) I read this ages ago, so I could be off about the characterizations, but at the time, my notes said: “ust a really sweet, sexy slice of life fic. Snapshots of moments in time of the two of them just being together and enjoying each other and loving each other, deeply.”

You'll Breathe Me In (You Won't Release) by LoadedGunn (E, 95K) Also known as The Driving Instructor fic. This has some of the best pacing I’ve read in a fic, some really well written BDSM smut, and characters I just really enjoy. I know it’s not for everyone. Read the tags.

Promise Not To Stop When I Say When by becka, mediaville (E, 49K) Harry, Louis, Nick. So, read the tags here because it’s got some pairings that might not be your thing. HOWEVER, even with Nick involved, it’s hot af and it’s still endgame Larry.

(your heartbeat) rang true inside my bones by flimsy (E, 33K) Sadly I can’t recall why I loved this one because my notes say: “So, so good. Smut. Fake dates. Jealousy.” 🙈 So here’s the summary:

Harry goes as Louis’ date for a weekend wedding. He ends up taking the role a bit too seriously.

“Hey,” Harry hears himself say just as Louis climbs back into the car. He ducks down, holding onto the roof to look at Louis who cocks his brow at him and says, “What?”

“I meant it,” Harry starts. “Like, I’d do it. I’d be your date for the wedding. If it’d make you feel less awful about being there and if you want me to, I’ll do it. I promise I’ll be good.”

Coup de Foudre by angelwarm (M, 15K) The characters (particularly Louis) are pretty OOC, but god this fic is gorgeous. After I read it I just sat there not knowing what to do with myself. It’s sad and hopeful and just gorgeously written.

[spockandawe]

Well, this is interesting! So, in that post yesterday, there was one line that really baffled me, a thing about people brushing off a character as an asshole “because he shows literally zero growth.” I kind of set that aside because it was such a weird non-sequitur, and guessed that it was just someone’s sentences not quite keeping up with their train of thought, which has happened to me many times. Apparently I was wrong! I already spent long enough on that one post, I’m tired of talking about that, but this is new and interesting. 

Okay. I kind of wanted to see if I could talk about this purely in terms of abstracts and not characters, but I don’t think it’ll work. It would be frustrating to write and confusing to read. It’s about Jiang Cheng. Right up front: This isn’t about whether or not he’s an abuser. Frankly, I don’t think it’s relevant. This also isn’t about telling people they should like him. I don't care whether anyone else likes him or not. But I do like him, and I am always fascinated by dissecting the reasons that people disagree with me. And the process of Telling Stories is my oldest hyperfixation I remember, which will become relevant in a minute.

I thought I had a good grasp on this one, you know? Jiang Cheng makes it pretty obvious why people would dislike Jiang Cheng. But then the posts I keep stumbling over were making weird points, culminating in that “literally zero growth” line.

So! What happened is that someone wrote up a post about how Jiang Cheng’s character arc isn’t an arc, it’s stagnation. It’s a pretty interesting read, and I broadly agree with the larger point! The points where I would quibble are like... the idea that it’s absolute stagnation, as opposed to very subtle shifts that still make a material difference. But still, cool! The post was also offered up as a reason why OP was uninterested in writing any more Jiang Cheng meta, which I totally get. I’m not tired of him yet, but I definitely understand why someone who isn’t a fan of his would get tired about writing about a character with a very static arc. Okay!

Now, internet forensics are hard. I desperately wish I had more information about this evolution, because I find this stuff fascinating, but I have no good way to find things said in untagged posts, reblogs, or private/external venues. But as far as I can tell, that “literally zero growth” wasn’t just a slip of the tongue, it’s become fashionable for people to say that Jiang Cheng is an abusive asshole (that it’s fucked up to like) because he doesn’t have a character arc.

Asshole? Yes. Abusive? This post still isn’t about that. This is about it being fucked up to like this character because he did bad things and had a static character arc.

At first, that point of view was still deeply confusing to me. But I think I figured out the idea at the core of it, and now I’m only baffled. I’m not super interested in confirming this directly, because the people making the most noise about this have not inspired confidence in their ability to hold a civil conversation and I’m a socially anxious binch, but I think the idea is: ‘This character did Bad Things, and then did not improve himself.’

Which is alarmingly adjacent to that old favorite standard of ‘This piece of fiction is glorifying Bad Thing.’ I haven’t seen anyone accusing mxtx of something something jiang cheng, only the people who read/watched/heard the story and became invested in the Jiang Cheng character, but things kind of add up, you know?

Like I said, I don’t want to arbitrate anyone’s right to like/dislike Jiang Cheng. That’s such a fucking waste of time. But this is fascinating to me, because it’s like..... so obviously new and sudden, with such a clear originating point. I can’t speak to the Chinese fans, obviously, but exiledrebels started translating in... what, 2017? And only now, in 2021, do people start putting forth Jiang Cheng’s flat character arc as a “reason” that he’s bad? I’m not going to argue if he pings you in the abuse place, I’m not a dick. I’m not going to argue if you just dislike his vibes. I’m just over here on my blog and in the tag enjoying myself, feel free to detour around me. But oh my god, it’s so silly to try to tell other people that they shouldn’t like him because he has a static character arc.

I want to talk about stories. I don’t know how much I’ll be able to say, because it’s impossible to make broad, sweeping statements, because there are stories about change, there are stories about lack of change, there are all kinds of media that can be used to tell stories, and standards for how stories are told and what they emphasize vary across cultures and over time. But I think that what I can say is that telling a story requires... compromise. It requires streamlining. Trying to capture all the detail of life would slow down most stories to an unbearable degree. Consider organically telling someone ‘I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich’ versus the computer science exercise of having students describe, step by step, how to make one (spread peanut butter? but you never said you opened the lid)

Hell, I’ve got an example in mdzs itself. The largely-faceless masses of the common people. If someone asks you to think about it critically like, yes, obviously these are people, living their own lives, with their own desires, sometimes suffering and dying in the wake of the novel plot. But does the story give weight to those deaths? Or does it just gloss by? Yes, it references their suffering occasionally, but it is not the focus, and it would slow the story unbearably to give equal weight to each dead person mentioned. 

Does Wei Wuxian’s massacre get given the same slow, careful consideration as Su She’s, or Jin Guangyao’s? No, because taking the time to weigh our protagonist with ‘well, this one was a mother, and her youngest son had just started walking, but now he’s going to grow up without remembering her face. that one only became an adult a few months ago, he still hasn’t been on many night-hunts yet, but he finds it so rewarding to protect the common people. oh, and this one had just gotten engaged, but don’t worry, his fiancee won’t mourn him, because she died here as well.’ And continuing on that way to some large number under 3000? No! Unless your goal is to make the reader feel bad for cheering for a morally grey hero, that would be a bad authorial decision! The book doesn’t ignore the issue, it comes up, Wei Wuxian gets called out about all the deaths he’s responsible for, but that’s not the same as them being given equal emotional weight to one (1) secondary character, and I don’t love this new thing where people are pretending that’s equivalent.

When Wei Wuxian brutally kills every person at the Wen supervisory office, are you like ‘holy shit... so many grieving families D:’ or are you somewhere between vindicated satisfaction and an ‘ooh, yikes’ wince? Odds are good you’re somewhere in the satisfaction/wince camp, because that’s what the story sets you up to feel, because the story has to emphasize its priorities (priorities vary, but ‘plot’ and ‘protagonist’ are common ones, especially for a casual novel read like this)

Now, characters. If you want to write a story with a sweeping, epic scale, or if you want to tightly constrain the number of people your story is about, I guess it’s possible to give everyone involved a meaningful character arc. Now.... is it always necessary? Is it always possible? Does it always make sense? No, of course not. If you want to do that, you have to devote real estate to it, and depending on the story you want to tell, it could very possibly be a distraction from your main point, like the idea of mxtx tenderly eulogizing every single character who dies even incidentally. Lan Qiren doesn’t get a loving examination of his feelings re: his nephews and wei wuxian and political turnover in the cultivation world because it’s not relevant, and also, because his position is pretty static until right near the end of the story. Lan Xichen is arguably one of the most static characters within the book, he seems like the same nice young between Gusu and the present, right up until... just before the end of the story.

You may see where I’m heading with this.

Like, just imagine trying to demand that every important character needs to go through a major life change before the end of your book or else it didn’t count. This just in, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg go through multiple novels without experiencing radical shifts in who they are, stop liking them immediately. I do get that the idea is that Jiang Cheng was a ~bad person~ who didn’t change, but asdgfsd I thought we were over the handwringing over people being allowed to like ““bad”” fictional characters. The man isn’t even a canonical serial killer, he’s not my most problematic fave even within this novel.

And here is where it’s a little more relevant that I would quibble with that original post about Jiang Cheng’s arc. He’s consistently a mean girl, but he goes from stressed, sharp-edged teenager, to grief-stricken, almost-destroyed teen, to grim, cold young adult (and then detours into grim, cold, and grief-stricken until grief dulls with time). He does become an attentive uncle tho. He..... doesn’t experience a radical change in his sense of self, which... it’s...... not all that strange for an adult. And bam, then he DOES experience a radical change, but the needs of the plot dictate that it’s right near the end. And he’s not the focus of the story, baby, wangxian is. He has the last few lines of the story, which nicely communicate his changes to me, but also asdfafas we’re out of story. He was never the main character, it’s not surprising we don’t linger! The extras aren’t beholden to the needs of plot, but they’re also about whatever mxtx wanted to write, and I guess she didn’t feel like writing about Jiang Cheng ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But also. Taking a step backward. Stable characters can fill a perfectly logical place in a story. Like, look at Leia Organa. I’m not saying she has no arc, but I am saying that she’s a solid point of reference as Luke is becoming a jedi and Han is adjusting his perspective. I wouldn’t call her stagnant, the vibes are wrong, but she also isn’t miserable in her sadness swamp, the way Jiang Cheng is.

Or, hell, look at tgcf. The stagnant, frozen nature of the big bad is a central feature of the story. The bwx of now is the bwx of 800 years ago is the bwx of 1500+ years ago. This is not the place for a meta on how that was bad for those around him and for him himself, but I have Thoughts about how being defeated at the end is both a thing that hurts him and relieves him. Mei Nianqing is a sympathetic character who’s also pretty darn static. Does Ling Wen have a character arc, or do we just learn more about who she already is and what her priorities always were? I’m going to cut myself off here, but a character’s delta between the beginning of a story and the end of a story is a reasonable way to judge how interesting writing character meta is, and is a very silly metric to judge their worth, and even if I guessed at what the basic logic is, for this character, I am still baffled that it’s being put forth as a real talking point.

(also, has it jumped ship to any other characters yet? have people started applying it in other fandoms as well? please let me know if this is the case, I am wildly curious)

(no, but really, if anyone is arguing that bwx is gross specifically because he had centuries to self-reflect and didn’t fix himself, i am desperate to know)

And finally. The thing I thought was most self-evident. Did I post about this sometime recently? If a non-central character experiences a life-altering paradigm shift right near the end of the story (without it being lingered over, because non-central character), oh my god. As a fic writer? IT’S FREE REAL ESTATE. This is the most fertile possible ground. If I want to write post-canon canon-compliant material, adsgasfasd that’s where I’m going to be looking. Okay, yeah, the main couple is happy, that’s good. Who isn’t happy, and what can I do about that? Happy families are all alike, while every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way, etc.

It’s not everyone’s favorite playground, but come on, these are not uncommon feelings. And frankly, it’s starting to feel a little disingenuous when people act like fan authors pick out the most blameless angel from the cast and lavish good things upon them. I’m not the only one who goes looking for a good dumpster fire and says I Live Here Now. If I write post-canon tgcf fic, it’s very likely to focus on beef and/or leaf. I have written more than one au focusing on tianlang-jun.

And, hilariously. If the problem with Jiang Cheng. Is that he is a toxic man fictional character who failed to grow on his own, and is either unsafe or unhealthy to be around. If the problem is that he did not experience a character arc. If these people would be totally fine with other people liking him, if he improved himself as a person. And then, if authors want to put in the (free! time-consuming!) work of writing that character development themselves. You would think that they would be lauded for putting the character through healthier sorts of personal growth than he experienced in canon. Instead, I am still here writing this because first, I was bothered by these authors being named as “freaks” who are obsessed with their ‘uwu precious tsundere baby’ with a “love language of violence,” and then I was graciously informed that people hate Jiang Cheng because he experiences no character growth.

[papenathys]

Bengali Academia

Last time I made a compilation of some Indian Academia picks, most of which were works written in English. So I thought I'll put together a book rec list but this time the works are in Bengali as we have a very rich heritage and it's high time I promoted my own culture :) this list is subjective and contains entries compiled with the help of my family and friends. Please keep in mind that the Bengali literary canon is VAST and encompasses works from India and Bangladesh and I cannot possibly represent every single author I have ever read and loved.

Political:

Pather Dabi [transl: The Way of The Road] by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay: revolutionary secret society in colonial india!! an actually likeable hero!! splendid anti establishment bengali youths!! themes like untouchability, decolonisation and female empowerment!! I will rec this book until my absolute dying breathe, especially because the whites™ banned it.

Ghare Baire [transl: The Home and the World] by Rabindranath Tagore: explores complex paradoxes in the early phase of the national independence movement, like western "progressive" theory vs western imperialism, patriotism vs aggressive nationalism, and the double alienation of desi women by Britishers + their own society. raises very pertinent questions about forceful "emancipation" of women, very layered characters and gorgeous prose.

Char Adhyay [transl: Four Chapters] by Rabindranath Tagore: you can read this as either the star-crossed love story of revolutionaries Ela and Atin, or a scathing critique of militant nationalism, embodied by the brilliant, ruthless, manipulative rebel leader Indranath. or both. either way, a great portrayal of systematic brainwashing by extremist groups, though does get a tad bit angsty at times.

Kaalbela [transl: Doomsday] by Samaresh Majumdar: you know the drill. Naxalite movement. Bengal burning. Love in the times of communism and revolution and police raids. Fun stuff. If you loved Udayan and Gauri from The Lowland pls read this.

Hajar Churashir Maa [transl: 1084's Mother] by Mahasweta Devi: a harrowing exploration of 70s Naxalite Bengal, state brutality, and the cost of resistance as seen through the eyes of Sujata, a mother battling to piece together the events leading to the murder of her son, rebel Brati. this one is particularly devastating and can be triggering in the current political climate. but god, what a read.

Social:

Pather Panchali [transl: Song of the Road] by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay: if you haven't read the book, you have probably heard of the equally gorgeous movie. It's about a village on the far precincts of rural Bengal, it's about a brother and a sister and a family whose destinies keep pulling them apart and together, and it's about other things too, a field after a rainstorm, fresh mangoes, the gnaw of hunger and the kind of love that suffers.

Padma Nadir Majhi [transl: The Boatman on the River Padma] by Manik Bandopadhyay: an epistolary story about the lives of the impoverished fishermen community living in the Padma delta strip in Bangladesh, and a man ferrying relocated settlers to a utopian riverine island named Moynadip. The river acts almost as a sentient presence through this novel about class conflicts. I remember reading this in middle school, the prose is to die for. Also, Kuber, the main character is v.v. good I kind of love him.

Satyabati trilogy by Ashapurna Debi: *slams hands on table* INTERGENERATIONAL FEMALE RAGE!! mother and daughter and granddaughter battling the same oppressive fate!!! Feminist and anti brahmanical academia!! Women writing about women!!

Chokher Bali [transl: Eyesore] by Rabindranath Tagore: it's about two women- beautiful briliant widow Binodini and her sweet naive friend asha, and the way their stories spill into each other. sometimes privileged men write surprisingly good stories about women who are flawed, women who want things, women with ambition and love and tenderness and lust and regret and jealousy.

Srikanto by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay (#1): bisexual himbo spends entire adolescence pining after hot male best friend before growing up, doing drugs and getting reunited with a former flame who now works as a courtesan. Involved: a snake charmer, baggy pants, feverish dreams, ghosts on the river's edge, and this one line that keeps me awake all night and which I totally lost in translation: "sometimes the best kind of love bewitches. Other times, it simply dethrones you."

Devdas by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay: or as I like to call it childhood sweethearts Dev and Paro battles The Bengali Class Hierarchy and Third Degree Alcoholism while the courtesan Chandramukhi is busy being an unproblematic angel whom I love :) also pls don't watch the film it is kind of cringe idk

Aranyak [transl: Of the Forest] by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay: read the memo it's about forests. it's about a man enamoured by forests and it's about people whose lives are inextricably bound to the trees, for better and for worse. actually pretty sad, but the journey through that sadness is lovely.

Non fiction

Pakdondi by Leela Majumdar: whimsical, gentle memoir/travelogue about the author's childhood in Shillong and Calcutta. Think hill stations and winter flowers and soft sunshine. Has the wistful nostalgia of a Ghibli film. I love her writing sm.

Any work by Nabaneeta Deb Sen, particularly Truck Bahone McMahon [transl: On a Truck Alone to McMahon], which details her road trip to the North East Indian states in the humorous precision only she can bring. Her writing style blends factual and funny in the same vein as Ruskin Bond and I had a good time with this.

Deshe Bideshe [transl: In a Land Far from Home] by Syed Mujtaba Ali: an account of the author's two year stay in Kabul between 1927-29 when the country was going through sweeping reforms under the controversial reign of King Amanullah. It's a little glimpse into a system and a time not often documented in literature, and Ali's writing is a gem. you'll enjoy this is you enjoy Ruskin Bond and William Dalrymple.

Mythology/Retellings

Rajkahini [transl: Stories of Kings] by Abanindranath Tagore: another favourite, lyrical, descriptive, half magical half historical goodness, this collection of short stories centres around ancient Rajput dynasty folklore and mythical histories. The accompanying illustrations are equally beautiful.

Tagore's Nritya Natya (dance drama) series of plays which centre around folklore. Think royal intrigue, warrior princesses falling in love with gods and the plight of benevolent monks and "untouchable girls". I adore nritya natya because most bengali girls learn these plays and the leitmotif songs and stories growing up.

Shei Shomoye [transl: Those Days] by Sunil Gangopadhyay: written in Sunil's typical wistful lilt, it is a retelling of the life of Bengali satirist and playwright Hutum Pacha (aka kaliprasanna sinha) as well as several historical figures like Michael Madhusudan, Tagore etc. Recommended by my mutuals and followers alike.

Tungabhadrar Tire [transl: By the Tungabhadra] by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay: a fleet carries two princesses to vijaynagar where one of them is to wed the king as part of a political alliance. but of course things fall apart (as they always do) and you get a whole cocktail of torrid affairs and 14th century politics albeit the joy is tempered considerably by the author's very Quirky Misogyny and a certain degree of SLB-esque Islamophobia ://

Poetry

Shakti Chattopadhyay (themes: restlessness, nature, modernism, translated verses)

Kalyani Thakur Charal (social commentary, dalit representation, feminism)

Rabindranath Tagore (mysticism, pastoralism, time)

Jibanananda Das (speculative, modernism, existentialism)

Michael Madhusudan Dutta (epic poetry, nature, sonnets)

Kazi Nazrul Islam (patriotic, anti colonial, social commentary......an icon ahead of his time.....king™)

Self indulgent recs

Abol Tabol by Sukumar Ray is one of those priceless books of nonsense/satire poetry rendered second grade in translation, I'm afraid. If you can, read the Bengali version. In fact, read any of Sukumar Ray's works, it's like taking an acid trip with Hayao Miyazaki and Louis Caroll, icon really created That Rich A Bibliography™ in his unfairly short life :') it's funny, it's unsettling, it's ridiculous, it's savage.

Professor Shonku series by Satyajit Ray: this sci-fi/thriller collection is written in the format of a long-lost journal, detailing the colourful and sometimes genuinely creepy adventures of whimsical old scientist Trilokeshwar Shonku. The professor is aided on his trips by faithful and benevolently dumb attendant Prohlad and his cat Newton. This series is so ridiculous and inventive and good, Ray's writing is so readable and the accompanying illustrations are charming AF. A nostalgic fave.

Feluda series by Satyajit Ray: you've partaken of bengali culture, you have studied museums and archives and watched documentaries. But did you read feluda? No? Not a very successful cultural integration then, was it?

Podi Pishir Bormi Baksho (transl: The Burmese Box of Aunt Podi) by Leela Majumdar: one eventful night, the Burmese treasure chest of a formidable bengali matriarch is stolen, spawning generations of hatred, bloodshed and betrayal. PEAK comedy gold. every time I reread this book it leaves me in hysterics.

Byomkesh series by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay: rounding off this list with my favourite dark academia detective boy, byomkesh is very well written and very likeable and very aesthetiqué if you are looking for crimes and felony and the seven deadly sins in the heart of colonial and post-partition calcutta. if you like Poirot, you will love this series, particularly the earlier stories.

This list is definitely not comprehensive! For logistical purposes, I was unable to add Tagore's entire Body of Work©, or ALL of Nazrul's poems....else we'd be here a few days. There are many, many names and titles missing. My list is limited by my own reading experience and the books I know from recommendations. However, I just wanted to make this list for a long time as I rarely see Bengali literature hyped on tumblr. Feel free to add more!

[bluebaby123]

Bitter Taste Pt. 2: Iwaizumi x reader

Part 1 is here 

tw: mentions of uncomfortable relationships, situations with drinking, and excessive sadness. but this piece is actually pretty fluffy and sweet overall xx Iwa turns the lock inside your door for you and you stumble inside. He reaches out and catches you for the nth time that night. “Hey, whoa, I’ll help you, okay?” You groan in protest but cling to his arm. “I- umm- wanna brush my teeth, because of…” “Yeah,” he nods. He doesn’t want to add to your embarrassment. He stares around in the dark of your house before finding the light switch.

The kitchen is painted a light green and the clock on the wall shows that it's a little after 2AM. The clock ticks and the sink drips. You release his arm and shuffle towards the stairs but turn back before you go. “I’m really okay, you don’t have to- babysit me,” you giggle, eyes tired. Iwaizumi makes no moves to leave and instead takes in your state; you’re always beautiful but there’s something new to you that he hasn’t seen before. “You can stay if you want of course… but I’m going to get cleaned up… oh, would you mind-umm...” You turn your back to him and peer over your shoulder. “Could you?” you ask again and gesture to the back of your dress. “Oh! sure,” Iwa moves closer to you and examines the dress. He’s surprised to find small silk buttons up the back instead of a zipper. “I can normally undo them myself, but my head feels funny,” you mumble. “I don’t mind helping…” He works his way down the back of the dress. It’s difficult for his large fingers to undo such delicate buttons but he manages. Staring at your spine he realises you’re missing the wings of your costume. They looked so natural at the party he was sure they were sprouting from your back. Your arms clutch the loosening garment to your chest. He undoes the last button and tries his best to not let his eyes linger on your bare back out of respect. “There you go,” he announces. He takes a step back and you thank him before scurrying up the stairs.

Iwa blinks. He walks through the open room past the kitchen and towards the section of your space that's your living room. There’s a small desk in between two large bookcases off to the left and the desk faces a window. A wide variety of books sit on the shelves in seemingly no real order, except the mangas. Psychology, philosophy, mythology, fiction, non-fiction, adventure novels, crime, Crime and Punishment, and a few poets' collected works. He turns his attention back to the desk. A plant grows in the window sill, and a mess of papers cover the surface of the desk, hiding an old laptop. His eye is caught on the curvy letters of your handwriting in an open book. He begins to read and then stops himself as soon as he realises what the writing is. It’s a poem and not for his eyes. He didn’t read much, not more than a couple lines… but he now sees a side of you and he hates himself for not seeing it before, though he supposes you hide it very well. You are not nearly as happy as you want others to perceive you... or perhaps it’s better to say you’re not nearly as happy as you desire to be.

“Hi again,” Iwa jumps feeling like he was caught. Your  smirk is sleepy but still playing across your face. “Are you snooping?” you probe. Iwazumi starts to explain but you laugh and brush him away, “it’s fine Iwa, I have nothing to hide from you.” The smile on your face is full of lightheartedness and understanding… normally you’re quick witted and bantering back and forth with him or Oikawa but perhaps it was because you didn’t feel well? Or maybe because you’re at home? But you’re different here… softer. Those words you wrote flash through his mind. “Are you alright?” he asks before thinking better of it. You ‘mhm’ a small reply then pad into the kitchen. “Do you want some tea?” you gesture to the powder blue kettle. “I’m good, thanks,” you nod in response and flip the kettle on for the water to boil. “So Iwa-” you start but he stops you. “Please call me Hajime?” A soft smile paints your expression as you lean against the counter, “alright then, Hajime.” He swallows hard hearing you say his first name like that. The rasp in your voice, the lilt, oh how he wanted you to say his name again. But the water now boiling, your attention was on making your tea. ‘Hajime’ ringing in his ears, he pictured how many ways you could say it. And for once, he indulged in imagining his name spilling from your lips as he lay between your thighs.

“Hey,” you pull him from his thoughts as you sit down next to him. “Any of your girlfriends ever call you Haji-bae?” you ask, that impish grin now back as you giggle to yourself. “No,” he laughs softly, more amused with you than your joke, “no they have not.” You sigh and place the mug on the coffee table, “that’s a shame, opportunity missed if you ask me.” Hajime narrows his eyes, “are you going to start calling me that?” You stare at the ceiling carefully considering your answer, “nah, I like saying your name too much.” Hajime looks down at his hands. If the situation were any different he would ask you out right there, but after the night and how weird Ushijima had been, he knew now wasn’t the time. Iwaizumi wasn’t a patient man, but for this, for you he would be.

“Wanna watch cheesy reality tv?” Iwaizumi chuckles before answering, “sure.” You flip on the tv and settle down on the couch.

Tonight~ on Kitchen Nightmares, Gordon helps a failing Italian restaurant whose sanitation standards have gone down the drain, ‘what is that?!?!’

You both watch in silence for a moment before you look over at him. “I’m really okay, and I don’t want you feeling like you have to take care of me,” you lean your head on his shoulder. The weight of that night, mixed with the heaviness of your head made your eyes start to droop. “I’m just- I’d rather you be here because you want to be, not because I got too drunk and made a fool of myself.” You pull your knees in closer to your chest. Hajime looks down at you, “I want to be here… and that wasn't your fault. Ushijima shouldn’t have pushed you like that.” You sigh, “I mean I guess, but I should have been more clear, should have told him no.” Iwa moves his arm and pulls you in closer. “Hey, I was watching… it’s not your fault, at all, okay?” Your head on his chest feels warm and his heart jumps at the way you nuzzle against him. You nod softly, eyes closed. Looking down at you Iwa thinks back to those words on those pages. “Here,” he murmurs as he moves both your bodies. Now he’s laying on his back, and you’re on his chest, one arm draped over you. Your hand rests on his free arm, your thumb drawing circles on his skin. You still almost completely and Iwa assumes you’ve fallen asleep, which is what he wanted. But he perks hearing you whisper, “you’ve got goosebumps.” There is something about you that’s so pure. He’d noticed it slightly before but it was so evident in your exhausted state. It’s something that Hajime wants to protect and he feels relief in holding you this close. No one can hurt you when you’re here. And suddenly Hajime hopes that he will never be someone to cause you pain. But laying with you at 3:07am, he makes the promise that if he ever were to hurt you, he would then make amends. Because promising to never hurt someone is unrealistic, people are unintentional with their cruelty at times.

You’re so warm, and your breath pattern is synced to his. It’s a new feeling for him, one he can't begin to define as his eyes grow heavy. The light of the tv, the sound of the clock ticking, you, sleep.

“Hajime, hey,” he’s awoken to the grey light of dawn and your voice. You sit up slightly, squinting and rubbing an eye. It’s raining, the water droplets falling rhythmically against the glass.  “We fell asleep,” you grumble, your voice raspy. Iwa can’t help but to wish you both were still sleeping.  You climb off the couch and stand looking at him. He sits up slowly and yawns. The tv, still on, asks if you’re still watching. He takes a deep breath and then stands as well, stretching. He was still wearing his jeans from the night before.

You pad towards the stairs and start to climb. Iwa looks for where he left his keys. “Are you coming?” you ask, turning around. Hajime blinks, “you want me to?” he checks. You roll your eyes and extend your hand. He takes it and follows you up the stairs. “Hajime, we were already sleeping on each other, and its like, 5-something, would be silly for you to go now.”

You push open the door to your room, stripping off your hoodie, revealing a simple tank top. You fling the hoodie into a chair and flop into your bed. “I don't mind if you take your jeans off,” you mumble into the pillows. “You sure?” Iwa confirms. “Yes I’m sure,” you laugh, “I wouldn’t say it otherwise… I’d say something like ‘keep your jeans on’ if that's what I meant.” You roll your head over to look at him. He squints down at you, a playful smirk slowly creeping across his face. “Is this just a ploy to get me out of my pants?” You huff a laugh, and brush away the idea with your hand. “Nah, you’re a gentleman, so I trust you.”  His smirk fades into a genuine smile, you’re so sincere saying you trust him like this. Perhaps it’s your exhaustion that makes you more literal.

He slowly takes his jeans off and climbs into your bed. He lays on his back next to you, his arm slightly extended as an invitation. He wanted to let you break the space between you. He would have understood if you’d kept your distance, but his heart fills as you lay your head on his chest. Your fingers draw lazy circles over his clothed shoulder. He relishes in the intimacy of the situation. The faint smell of perfume on your skin and the sheets, the way you sigh every so often, not yet asleep. You blink up at him and then smile, eyes closing once more and you cling to him tighter. “I didn’t want you to go,” you whisper. “Is that selfish?” “Maybe, but it doesn’t matter, I wanted to stay.”

Hajime watches as your breathing slows again. His thumb rubs up and down on the exposed skin of your back. The grey light, crisp sheets, rain on the roof, you, sleep for a second time.

This time Hajime awakens to the sound of your phone ringing somewhere in your room. You’d both moved, he was spooning you now, holding you close to him. The sound ceased, you remained still and he was hopeful it hadn’t woken you. Then the sound started again. You stirred, turning to bury your face into his chest. The sound stopped eventually, and he found his hand stroking your back in an effort to lull you back to sleep. It was starting to work when your phone went off again. “Oh my god, who is that?” you groan and climb out of bed. You follow the sound to your hoodie crumpled in the chair and remove your phone from your pocket.

Upon examination you see 3 missed calls and 8 texts from Ushijima. You utter a sound of disgust before unlocking your phone. A 4th call starts to come through but you hit the red button and quickly type out a message beneath what he had earlier sent.

Are you home?

Did you make it home?

Was Iwaizumi a gentleman?

Are you okay?

Hello

Y/n

Y/n

Pick up

I'm sleeping off a hangover

“Is everything okay?” Hajime asks. You nod and stand up, facing the window. “Who was it?” You keep your back to him as you grumble, “Wakatoshi.” Iwa watches as you take a deep breath and turn back to him with your usual bright smile. “You wanna go get breakfast? It’s umm-” you check your phone for the time, 3 new messages, “it’s almost 11 now.”  “Sure, I’d like that,” he smiles.

to be added to the taglist 

[shezzaspeare]

Pilot/Episode 1: Patching Things Up With Pastiche & Fanfiction

Hi, hello, and the wait is finally over! My name is Blessie, and welcome to the first episode webisode log installation I've decided to call these things an episode for now because why not also let me know what do you actually call these things episode of The Science of Fanfiction, where we take a closer look into our beloved works of fanon because we've all got plenty of time to spare till Season 5. Before I continue, I would like to thank everyone who's liked and reblogged the last few posts before this one. It means a lot for a small and growing Tumblr user like me, and your support is something I cherish more than my modules. You guys rock!

Anyways, like with most things, we have to talk about the boring and bland stuff before we proceed with the fun stuff. For today, we are going to settle the difference between a couple of things: first being the confusion between pastiche and fanfiction; then the distinctions between tropes, clichés, and stereotypes, which we'll tackle the next time. It's important for us to establish their true meanings in order for us to really understand what fanfiction truly is, even if it's merely just a work done for the fandom. I know – it's boring, it's something that shouldn't be expounded that much, but I believe that all forms of writing (unless it's plagiarised) is a work of art — and fanfiction is not something we always talk about. I hope that by the end of this, you'll learn about what they really are as much as I did. Let's begin to talk about the—

[Image ID: A flashback of John (left) and Sherlock (right) finding an elephant (not in the screen) in a room in The Sign of Three. End ID]

. . . I did say that this GIF will always have to make an appearance here, didn't I?

So, just as with Sherlock Holmes, all other works of fiction have their own pastiches and fanfiction, and many more original works out there have taken inspiration from them to create their own books. Although they've gained popular attention, this will not be possible if they did not have taken inspiration from the materials their writers had at the time.

[Image ID: Various actors as Dracula. Jeremy Brett in 'Dracula' (1978) (upper left), Adam Sandler in a voice role for 'Hotel Transylvania' (2012) (upper right), Gary Oldman in 'Dracula' (1992) (lower left), and Bela Lugosi in 'Dracula' (1933) (lower right). End ID]

For instance, Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' (the second most adapted literary character, next to the consulting detective himself) has been portrayed on the screen over 200 times — from Gary Oldman to Adam Sandler — and has spawned off numerous books and pastiches of its own such as Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot'. Its cultural impact served as a basis of how we see vampires today, since some characteristics of the Count were made by Stoker himself. Stoker's creation is the brainchild of his predecessors and inspirations.

[Image ID: Vlad the Impaler (left) and a book cover of 'Carmilla' by J. Sheridan Le Fanu (right). End ID]

Other than the ongoing hysteria over dead back then and the existing vampire folklore, Stoker also took his inspirations from the published books on vampires he had at hand. He is said to have taken inspiration from Vlad the Impaler, a Romanian national hero known allegedly for having impalement as his favourite method of torture. He is also said to have been inspired by the J. Sheridan Le Fanu's 'Carmilla', a Gothic lesbian vampire novella that predates Dracula by 26 years. I could go on, but hey, we're going back to Sherlock Holmes now before I deviate any further. However, if you want to know about Dracula's literary origins, I suggest you watch Ted-ED's videos about the subject matter such as this one or this one.

Very much like Stoker, ACD didn't just conceive Holmes on his own. He took his own inspirations from what he had available at the time.

[Image ID: Dr Joseph Bell (left) and Edgar Allan Poe (right). End ID]

As we all know, ACD's biggest inspiration for Sherlock Holmes was one of his teachers at the Edinburgh University, Joseph Bell. He was famous for his powers of deduction, and he was also interested in forensic science — both characteristics which Holmes is greatly known for. He also drew inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe's sleuth, C. Auguste Dupin ('The Purloined Letter' & 'Murders in Rue Morgue'). As ACD himself has said at the 1909 Poe Centennial Dinner: "Where was the detective story until Poe breathed life into it?" Some other writers he took after are Wilkie Collins, Émile Gaboriau, and Oscar Wilde.

Now, what does this say about us Sherlockians/Holmesians (depending if you're the coloniser or the one that was colonised)? Basically, ACD laid the groundwork for us with Sherlock Holmes: his humble abode 221B that he shares with his flatmate Dr. John Watson, his adventures, memoirs, return, casebook, last vow, and all that. Now that we have this material at hand, we can now make our own versions, takes, or even original stories featuring the characters of the Canon. Our inspiration comes from ACD's Sherlock Holmes, and we now get the chance to make our very own stories/conspiracy theories about them.

As I have mentioned earlier, Sherlock Holmes is the most adapted literary character in history. He has been adapted in over 200 films, more than 750 radio adaptations, a ballet, 2 musicals; and he's become a mouse, a woman, a dog, even a bloody cucumber. On top of all that are numerous pastiches and fanfics, and finally, we have arrived at the main topic of our post!

Fanfiction and pastiche are often confused together since they have three common elements: they take after the original work, they usually use the characters in that original work, and more often than not do are they set in that same time frame/period or not long after that. The common misconception is that pastiche are printed fanfiction, which is only partly true. While pastiche is definitely fanfiction in some ways and vice versa, there are fanfictions out there that aren't necessarily classified as pastiche that have been published.

Let's get on with our definition of terms to clear up the confusion a little more. Pastiche, according to Literary Terms, is:

. . . a creative work that imitates another author or genre. It’s a way of paying respect, or honor, to great works of the past. Pastiche differs from parody in that pastiche isn’t making fun of the works it imitates – however, the tone of pastiche is often humorous.

A good example of a pastiche is Sophie Hannah's 'The Monogram Murders', which is her take from Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot.

[Image ID: A book cover of 'The Monogram Murders' by Sophie Hannah. End ID.]

Although this was a commission from Christie's estate, it's still considered as a pastiche as:

It's takes after Christie's writing style;

It is set in the early years of Poirot's career (1929), which is still within the time frame that the author wrote him in;

It features Poirot and;

It pays respect to Christie in a sense that it stays true to her (Christie) characters and way of storytelling.

Meanwhile, our good and slightly unreliable friend Wikipedia defines fanfiction as:

. . . is fictional writing written by fans, commonly of an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted characters, settings, or other intellectual property from the original creator(s) as a basis for their writing. [It] ranges from a couple of sentences to an entire novel, and fans can both keep the creator's characters and settings and/or add their own. [ . . . ] [It] can be based on any fictional (and sometimes non-fictional) subject. Common bases for fanfiction include novels, movies, bands, and video games.

To avoid any copyright infringement issues if I ever use a popular fanfic in the fandom, we'll use my (unfinished and unpopular) Sherlock Wattpad fic, 'Play Pretend'. You can read it here.

[Image ID: The second self-made book cover of Blessie/shezzaspeare's 'Play Pretend'. End ID]

Why is it considered a fanfiction and not a pastiche?

It takes after an adaptation of Sherlock Holmes (BBC Sherlock) which is a TV show, not the ACD canon itself;

The author (in this case myself) uses her own writing style and does not take after the original story's style;

Although it is set well in modern-day London and after Season 4, it also features scenes decades before the actual fanfic is set and outside of London;

I added a considerable number of characters, i.e. siblings to canon characters;

I had my own take some of the canon characters' personality especially after the events of Sherrinford;

It is written by a fan – myself. It is a work of fan labour and;

It is only a work of fanon, and isn't likely going to be considered by the show as its writing style is different from the actual show.

To put it simply, you can have more freedom in a fanfiction as it does not necessarily restrict you to follow or take after the original stories. Alternate universes (AUs) such as Unilock and Teenlock are perfect examples of this thing.

So can a pastiche be classified as fanfiction? Yes.

Can a fanfiction be classified as pastiche? Not all the time.

What's the difference? While yes, they share the basics, pastiche is technically leans more onto the original work's fundamental elements whereas fanfiction is a broader range of works inspired by the original work but doesn't necessarily follow all or any of its fundamental elements.

In order for us to understand it more, I'll give another example.

[Image ID: The 'Enola Holmes' title card (upper left) and Henry Cavill as its Sherlock holmes (upper right). Underneath it is a a scene from the opening titles of BBC Sherlock (lower left) and Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes in A Scandal In Belgravia. (lower right) End ID]

Most of you are familiar with these 21st-century adaptations of Holmes: the 2020 adaptation of Nancy Springer's Enola Holmes books and BBC Sherlock, which needs no further explanation – but for those who don't know, it's basically Holmes and the gang if they were alive today. I specifically chose these two as they are the ones that I believe would get my points across best. Though both are considered as wonderful pastiches with a well-rounded cast and awesome visuals, if we break them down bit by bit, we'll see which one is more of a pastiche and which one is more of a fanfic. (Yes, I know they're both screen adaptations. However, as Enola Holmes was based on the books and BBC Sherlock's fanfiction has the show's scenes written out in most fanfics, hear me out.)

They share these characteristics of a pastiche:

They feature characters from the Canon (Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft Holmes, and Lestrade);

They have additional characters added by the writers (Including but not limited to Molly Hooper, Eurus Holmes, and Philip Anderson for BBC Sherlock while Enola Holmes has Lord Tewkesbury, Eudoria Holmes, and Enola herself) and;

They pay respect to the original Canon as their stories are based on the cases (BBC Sherlock) or simply what was going on around them (Enola Holmes).

They also share these characteristics of a fanfic:

They are made by enthusiasts of Sherlock Holmes (Moffat has called himself and Mark Gatiss 'Sherlock Holmes geeks', while Nancy Springer's Enola Holmes books are not just one or two but six);

They follow a common trope (we'll discuss these tropes in the following episodes) that goes on in the fandom (Sherlock's Sister & Modern AU)

They are based on a fictional subject (Sherlock Holmes);

They used characters and story elements that are copyrighted by the author/author's estate (fun fact: prior to the production of Enola Holmes, the Conan Doyle Estate filed a lawsuit against Springer & Netflix over Sherlock's emotions since he was more 'sympathetic' than he was portrayed in the Canon – this was later dismissed by both parties) and;

Their writing styles don't necessarily follow ACD's.

Despite these similarities, there are very obvious differences between the two that separates them from being a pastiche and a fanfiction.

Enola Holmes embodies pastiche more as it doesn't stray far away from the original elements of the Canon. It's still set in Victorian England. While Springer added characters of her own and definitely twisted the Canon to suit her series, she didn't necessarily place them out of the social construct that was going on around the characters. It follows ACD's writing style more as Enola Holmes' setting still remains within the Canon's original setting.

Meanwhile, we can safely say that BBC Sherlock is a work of fanfiction. While it did give us The Abominable Bride, the main series focused on Holmes and Watson in 21st-century England, which is drastically different from Victorian England. There are phones, black cabs, and cellphones — things which ACD Sherlock Holmes doesn't have. It also diverted from the Canon in the characters themselves, which is mostly seen in the names: Henry Baskerville became Henry Knight, Charles Augustus Milverton became Charles Augustus Magnussen, the H in Dr Watson's name stood for Hamish and Sherlock's full name is actually William Sherlock Scott Holmes. They also changed the personalities of some Canon characters: Mary was actually an ex-assassin, Mrs Hudson was an exotic dancer who drove a kick-ass sports car, Irene Adler is a dominatrix, to name a few. Moffat and Gatiss created a world of their own featuring the characters of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which is really what most of us fanfic writers do with Mofftiss' rendition of Holmes.

In conclusion: while pastiche and fanfiction could have been the same thing, they're actually not. There's more to them that just printed fanfiction or pastiche e-books, and we all should take some time to see and observe them in a closer perspective.

And that's it for our first episode! I hope you enjoyed it. It was a lot fun for me to write this, especially now that I'm only starting. I would also like to note that while intensive research has been done on this series, some parts of this comes from my own observation and opinion, which may vary from yours. I am very much open to criticism, as long as it is said in a polite and civil manner. I'm still young, and to be educated as I go is something that could really help me with this series.

Like and reblog this you like it. It helps out a lot. Be sure to follow me as well and the tags underneath if you want to see more of TSoF.

See you soon!

Blessie presents – The Science of Fanfiction: A Study In Sherlock (2021) • Next

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SOURCES • Pinterest, Google Images, Wikipedia, Literary Terms, Conan Doyle Estate, Definitions, The Sherlock Holmes Book, and Google

[bee-boppin]

2, 11, 15, 20 💖

Teehee thnk u for the ask brabby <3 ✨😚

2. Top 5 Books Of All Time (I’m choosing to go with books that were meaningful or formative for me throughout my life instead of my favorites because it adds some spice. Also I had to stop and restart multiple times because I realized I was writing paragraphs about each gfhfdgjk)

The Orphan of Ellis Island by Elvira Woodruff

Huge comfort book, read it during grief counseling because it was a gift from my dad. I don’t even remember what it was about but i was insane about it when I was 11

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Was assigned to me and one other kid with the same reading level in seventh grade and I was so mad, everyone else got cool YA novels and I was so jealous. Then I finished it in two days and didn’t shut up about it for weeks.

Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage

Counting the whole series as two books but my two favorites are Queste and Fyre. The septimus heap series is the reason I never read h*rry p*tter because I got a few chapters in and went “this wizard book fucking sucks why would I read this instead of *my* wizard book that Angie Sage wrote for me specifically” and I was so right it's such a fun series. The main character’s best friend is named Beetle. O Beetle Beetle. That’s his name. Also I had a crush on Marcia but ignore that.

Song of Myself by Walt Whitman

Some may hate on me for including a poem as a book but I don’t care. Made me cry in class, Bear can vouch. Good book.

11. What non-fiction books do you like if any?

I loooove big nonfiction books about like one specific topic with tons of pictures. Love to look at things love to see them. My astronomy text book has fold-out pages of super high-def pictures of space and I love it.

15. Recommend and review a book

I love to recommend recent books I’ve read so my most recent read I’d recommend is The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. I’m not gonna review it because I. Won’t shut up if I do. I have a seven page research essay abt it if u rlly want my thoughts dfgsfhs.

20. What are things you look for in a book?

I’m super particular about what I read because I lose interest in things so fast, so I love a book that challenges me. Any book that I find too predictable or lacking in depth I drop so fast. My bus driver wrote a book and he wanted me to review it and I never had the heart to tell him I got bored after the third chapter. Sorry Michael I’m sure it was a good book. ✊😔