#amalgamated

[rabbitcruiser]

The former municipalities of Point Grey and South Vancouver are amalgamated into Vancouver on January 1, 1929.  

[imirgege]

Woof?

[donothello]

You laugh,

But it's not funny.

[otiksimr]

Ditto.

[akanemnon]

We didn't even get an answer, and we never will (at least it's not determination)

FIRST - PREVIOUS - NEXT

MASTERPOST (for the full series / FAQ / reference sheets)

[chiropteracupola]

a little victorian boy and his elderly maiden aunts

[i love @pangur-and-grim's weird cats and wanted to draw them beatrix potter style]

[turiyatitta]

Unveiling Divinity

A Whisper from the Abyss of EnlightenmentThe inscrutable odyssey of a seeker ends at the altar of enlightenment, a realm where words stagger and concepts crumble, birthing an existence of boundless essence. It’s at this moment of spiritual enlightenment that a being enters a sphere of profound reality, touching the tapestry of the universe with a feather of transcendental wisdom. The essence of…

[booksandwords]

Amalgamated by Becca Seymour

Series: Coming Home #2 Read time: 1 Day Rating: 2/5 Stars

The Quote: Truth be told, I didn’t give a shit about the lost time, the hurt. To amalgamate and have the time to figure out us as a couple was worth the growing up I’d needed to do. — Leo

Warnings: Nothing triggering. But my review does explain two potential issues for some readers.

I like Leo and Zak's story it has some similarities to the other book in the Coming Home series (duology?) in that there is self-sacrifice and miscommunication in play. It has a simple, easy-to-read and low angst plot. It is about Leo understanding the words of others, the actions of Zak and their coming to terms with their mutual long-held attraction. I love that Leo was a dumb twenty-something who did a stupid thing. Zak is a complicated man. Some people will like him some will not it is dependent on how you view his actions. He broke Leo in a way but knew he was watching and played up to it. He did not groom or act on his attraction to underage Leo. I have a spoiler discussion here in my original review that looks at a specific quote.

Leo and Zak's age gap is something to get over when you realise the ages in play. It is an eight-year age gap, with the book set when Leo is 27. This is his first time home in five years. Leo admitted his own feelings for Zak when he was fifteen and tried to make a play for him at maybe twenty-two (if not earlier). I don't hate it but I don't love it either it just feels like it's tiptoeing an uncomfortably fine line. I like that Leo's family is supportive of the relationship and wants it to happen, has always known and wanted it to happen. It may go some way to making their relationship more acceptable by on-the-fence readers.

Some quotes and comments.

I struck hard and fast as I dug my fingers in and made her squeal like a girl, which I promptly told her. “Get off. And girls are kick-arse, so I can squeal all I damn well want.” — I really with we saw more of Jenny. She's a total badass, she is Leo's older sister and the Mayor's wife. (Leo and Jenny)

There is such a pure Australianness to the description of the town. No one said excitement couldn’t be trumped by fear. And between the two emotions, I was still struggling to figure out exactly how to approach the man who’d stolen my heart so many years ago. — Their first time seeing each other after so long is perfect. But life this line there is a simple anxiety to it. (Leo)

Awkwardness had charged into the room and ran around laughing its arse off at me. — This is a total mood and I can't not include it. (Leo)

Michelle is lovely. She is Leo's stepmother but more or less the only mother he's only ever known.

Breathing hard out of my nose, I took control of my emotions. I didn’t even have to ask why he’d done it. He was Zak. It’s what Zak always did. He always took care of me. Always. The knowledge had my heart punching against my ribcage. — This says as much about Zak as anything else we see. Leo and Zak are both caregivers with actions meaning more than words to both of them. (Leo)

I'm not mad about this book's ending but I'm disappointed in it. Let me say the difference between the two Coming Home books Realigned and Amalgamated is in the ending. Realigned's protagonists Shaun and Mitch never get to full sexy times Leo and Zak do. Shaun and Mitch we leave them right before they begin, Leo and Zak in their afterglow. That is where it falls over if I'm honest. I don't think either of them needed it, I like the focus on the emotional and the choice that Shaun and Leo respectively need to make. It's implied heavily that both couples were going there and showing it means the story loses something for me.

As an explanation for the low rating, 2⭐ part of it is tied to the ending. I'm hiding that part of it under a spoiler on Goodreads but it's not all that major really and largely a personal preference. The other problem is the lack of character development. I know this is a novella so necessarily short. But it needed to be longer or skip the sex for the sake of just a little more character development. Leo's British life is ignored more or less. We don't know what he does it is a problem. I can see where the potential was in this but it just feels poorly executed.

I want to add a picture for those like me who like beautiful machinery. Leo destroyed Zak's pride and joy on his way out of the country... "Once my eyes adjusted, they jumped wide open as they landed on the machine off to the right. Still sleek, black, and sexy as hell stood his 1965 Royal Enfield. The biggest relief that sent shame thrumming through me was that it was intact. “How did you…?”" This is my best guess at the bike that Zak owns. She really is a beautiful thing. Leo as much as I adore you, your 22-year-old ass was a freaking moron.

[twobeesornottwobees]

claudia had to die because if she and daniel had met it would have been OVER for these bitches

[t8oo]

psych wards are so isolated and kept shut from the outside world that it kind of feels like you live on an island with 150 other people that got somethin seriously wrong with them. A small foreign nation of freakazoids. So I made Miku one of us

[coolcheese51]

ever heard of. 2007 portal odyssey. my favorite mobie

[vyorei]

Live coverage of the 29th of February 2024 has now begun.

Here is an amalgamation of news from the last hour, oldest at the top and latest at the bottom.

Please pardon my absence the past days, I was unwell.

[gorryb]

Let's melt together

[breadmecoshy]

Why are you looking at me like you care?

[anokha-swad]

LAMA die Band

From our stacks: "Treading a solemn and stately measure. Wearing gorgeous robes surmounted by an ugly mask, this Lama is enacting his appointed part in the Tsam dances, which are a prominent feature of one of the great Buddhist festivals of Mongolia. The mask is intended not merely to strike fear, but also to attain a more important end, the expression of the dancer's identity with the underworld spirit he represents." From Manners and Customs of Mankind. An Entirely New Pictorial Work of Great Educational Value Describing the Most Fascinating Side of Human Life. Edited by J. A. Hammerton. Over Fifteen Hundred Photographic Illustrations from All over the World - and twenty-Seven Plates in Color. Volume One. London: The Amalgamated Press, Ltd., n.d. (c193-?)

[cracklewink]

Part 2 of my mlp infection au, Harmony Syndrome!