#and I truly feel like I have excellent taste in books. which means that I Have Strong Opinions about something. about what’s good and bad

[artificial-condition]

I’m writing an essay for one of the 3 things asks about three books I recommend and uh. I need to cut that down

[sagemonsters]

@that-dnd-life has a blind date with...

Honey the Werebear

Honey is a paunchy transmasc werebear who has curly hair that is constantly in disarray, a booming laugh, a chipped front tooth, and kind eyes. He dresses in comfortable clothes and always smells like cinnamon.

Honey is a warmly gregarious person by nature and collects friends the way other people collect Pokémon cards. He cherishes every single friend he makes, but you’re especially dear to him and he seeks you out above other friends. He texts you “good morning” every day and makes an effort to respond to all of your texts. He cares about the mundane happenings in your life and would never call you boring.

Honey loves to cook and bake—it’s how he got his name! He’s particularly fond of complex desserts, and often asks for your opinion on what recipe he should try out next. He’s working on writing a cookbook, and will test recipes over and over before presenting them to you for “the final seal of approval.” He truly values your input in his creative process.

Although he has an entire bookcase filled with cookbooks and culinary history nonfiction, Honey doesn’t read much outside of his comfort zone. Instead, he asks you what book you’re reading and lives vicariously through your descriptions and clear enjoyment of the stories you’re imbibing. He likes listening to people talk about things they care about.

Honey loves to make you laugh, and will do silly voices to represent various members of your stuffed animal collection while acting out conversations between them. He wholeheartedly approves of that collection (he feels the same way about good-quality cookware) and is a very understanding person overall. He isn’t one to judge people, and disapproves of mean-spirited humor.

“You’ve been eyeing that plushie display for at least ten minutes,” a voice said behind you. You jumped and turned around, and met the grin of a kind-looking, easygoing man. “Which ones are you the most torn between?”

You cocked your head to the side. The man wasn’t wearing a shop uniform, so it was highly unlikely he was an employee here. “How do you know it’s been ten minutes? …Or are you just making that up?”

His smile turned a trifle embarrassed. “I come here for the people-watching, to be honest. This shop sells a lot of vintage and handmade toys, and it’s always nice to see people find a new favorite thing, you know? You’ve got the look of a seasoned collector.”

A blush heated your face. “Thanks, I think. You’re right, I do have a few stuffies at home.”

“Excellent! I need some help finding a mascot for my new restaurant. A bear of some kind, but otherwise I don’t really have any preferences.”

You thought for a moment, looking past the displays of Squishmallows and Jellycats to the secondhand toys. Some of them were quite worn (or “well loved” as the sign said), while others looked as though they had time traveled right out of a display window from over a hundred years ago. 

“Why a bear?” you asked eventually.

“Oh, it’s because I’m a werebear and the restaurant is called the Bearpaw Grill,” the werebear said, but he grimaced as he said the restaurant's name—as though it left a bad taste in his mouth—before continuing: “Call me Honey, by the way.”

“That’s a cute name—yours, I mean,” you said, and then introduced yourself. “Do you not like your restaurant?”

“I love it just fine. I love the building, I love the kitchen… I just don’t like the branding. It sounds like a sports bar, when really I want to run a family-oriented diner, you know? But my marketing manager is very insistent.” 

“So? It’s your diner, isn’t it?” you pointed out. “You should follow your own dream, not someone else’s. What about this one?” You walked over to one of the bins of secondhand stuffed animals and pulled out a tattered-looking bear. It had blue button eyes and a little pink nose, with one green ear and a lopsided, stitched-on smile. “He looks like he’s been cuddled a lot.”

“He’s perfect,” Honey said, and then looked up at you. “And you’re right—I should stay true to my original vision. Come by sometime, okay? I want to treat you to lunch if that’s okay. Our grand opening is next month, and we’re right on the square by the clock tower.”

You smiled back at Honey. “That sounds really nice. It’s a date, then.”

Honey grinned back at you. “Yeah. I’m looking forward to it."

see here to get your own blind date with a monster!

[docholligay]

Lone Women

Non-spoilery: I wanted to like this, and the blurb made me think I really would, but boy is this book equal parts mind-boggling, boring, and pandering. It makes PERFECT sense to me that most people who have read this got a free copy or a Book of the Month copy.

Spoilery:

OY and also GEVALT. Jesus herschel Christ, okay so, first of all this book is a textbook example of what I’m talking about when i say sometimes representative fiction and media risks becoming a Pokemon ‘gotta catch em all’ situation. The story centers around a Black woman, Adelaide, which is fantastic and absolutely relevant to the story given that Montana was very “sure fine whatever” about giving Black homesteaders land. But then, it just...keeps adding up. Another Black woman and a Chinese woman who are also lesbians, obviously, and lesbianing together join up with Adelaide and her new friend, a single mother with a young trans son that she is 100% accepting of. This is in a 250ish page book, and at a certain point you just start sighing because it’s this author is just ticking stuff off a list at this point. This would be very doable in a longer book or maybe a better written one, but this is a piece of genre fiction par excellence, and none of that is on offer here, so you end up just trying to figure out how he’s gonna shoehorn in another minority. Because none of these minorities have problems with each other, by the way. Obviously. There is no such thing as inter-minority oppression and hatred, there is “majority” and “minority” and the white straight people who are the villains are truly mustache twirling in a way that is damn near hilarious. I think that actually identifies a big problem: None of these characters feel like people. I was sitting here thinking about having read and interacted with MANY other properties that play the ‘gotta catch em all’ game, and as a person who can often be included in ‘em all’ I am often not bothered, but the issue here is none of them FEEL like more than the Minority Experience he has highlighted for each of them. The villains have no internal life. Everyone is the flattest possible version of what a person can be.

That’s all very truly annoying, but I think I could forgive it if the horror was good. I have forgiven MUCH MUCH bigger sins in other books because the horror was enjoyable. Please don’t let the above make you think I am discerning in my horror tastes.

But oh my god. what the fuck.

The whole story centers around Adelaide having this secret she keeps locked up in a trunk with her. It’s heavy and burdensome, but she MUST carry it with her. It contains a murderous thing, a thing that killed her parents, and she dreams of being free of it. It nearly kills a man she falls in love with, and he goes away. Sounds great, right? Me sitting here wondering what I think this whole thing could be a metaphor for, for generational trauma or what have you. When it killed some mean white people I thought maybe it was a metaphor for Black anger. It’s a faceless monster described only in terms of its sharpness and its lust for men and horses (which did throw my theory about black anger out the window.)

But, at the end, it turns out the thing she’s been carrying around was born at the same time as she was and is, I shit you not, a literal dragon. Lavalle has intentionally avoided ever calling it a dragon throughout the book, I suppose because he thinks this twist is exceptionally clever. The dragon is Adelaide’s sister, and the secret is for her to learn to love her sister and also after they beat the bad guys--where, it must be said, they attempt to hang the lone women on the stage of a grand opera house-- everyone goes and lives in a secret town for “lone women” where everyone gets to be happy.

I read that, reread it, and quietly uttered “What the fuck”

I would be much angrier about it if I were a slow reader, but I’m not, so I don’t care. Read this if you’d like to read a book that feels like a bold attempt to cash in on people’s desire for representation in stories that also understands very very little about racial and social politics in the American West, which unfortunately I know a lot of, and also the big twist is SHE IS CARRYING AROUND A LITERAL DRAGON WHO IS ONLY DANGEROUS BECAUSE IT DOESN’T GET LOVE.

[ziracona]

Do you have any trivia about Alex the crow? (I guess "headcanon" is the wrong word because anything you decree about her is canon). I could see her being taught to use those communication buttons some people have for their dogs. Was she a fly on the wall for any of ILM's events? (Besides the Doctor fight of course).

Thanks! Haha it always feels a little weird to call author thoughts on my own story HCs too. Let’s see.

The Entity re-uses crows rather than make new ones, so she was there for maybe a third of any given trials in the book? Definitely a crow he had fed in the woods before (let’s be real, that /is/ most of them, but she was one of his first successful times feeding crows way back when he arrived). She saw him killed in the Trapper trial during Solidarity. In general, the crows eventually liked less any killer who specifically targeted Jake, and since Evan went after him for breaking hooks, Trapper was ‘we feel disdain towards this pleb’s taste in what survivor to hate’ for the crows. Crows gossip, so they all knew most of what any of them ever saw, if it might be interesting to them. She saw him ditch Claudette in the woods and think he’d lost her for good and collapse at camp in relief that one time Claudette mentions in a journal. Thought it was funny. Was there (albeit outside, listening) during Waking Nightmare. Saw the events of Distortion/Iron Maiden, and the part of Proven that takes place in the Doctor’s realm. Not the crow who gave Jake an apologetic look before taking off and making noise bc Dwight was with him, but she saw that and was like “It do be like that rip ✊😔” about the event. I don’t have a full running tally though.

She eventually just kinda does her own thing. She’s not a flight risk after a while, because Jake is the only person she truly loves and other crows are weird towards her because to them she’s some kind of weird eldritch crow thing pretending to be a crow. She gets to fly around and explore and come back. (After a few years, when he knows her behavior super well and it’s safe to do so). She gets friendlier with the other survivors too, but weirdly her second favorite being (excluding Rin, in the brief time before she passed) is Michael Cat. They should not vibe, given feral cat and eldritch corvid, but they do. They like to be mean and steal things or sneak up on each other and attack, but in a ‘we both actually love this game way.’ Took everyone else a /while/ to realize they were both into it, and not true hate filled fight on sight.

She’s possessive and gets jealous of causes of Jake not spending time with her. For a while she’s a dick to Dwight about that, but eventually she gets possessive about him not paying attention to, and he becomes a ‘Hey! Hey! Look at me!’ target then instead of a ‘Hey! Hey! Stop distracting Jake from me!’ Not that he knows peace from her, but least he knows love.

She’s very intelligent, and figures out some words eventually, like many corvids, and is absolute chaos incarnate. (IE she loves to find Andrew Park when he visits, sneak up behind him, and as loud as possible and menacingly go ‘He he he’ because it always flips him out and gets an amazing physical comedy reaction.) She loves startling people. If they got a button set, which I could totally see Meg talking Jake into, I’m sure she’d excel at it. Loves collecting things. Has what Meg calls her ‘little dragon hoards’ hidden throughout Jake’s house and the cabin. Will rob you, but also has been known to retrieve dropped precious things like a bracelet or phone on trips, because she knows she will be showered with love praise and rewards.

[lizziestudieshistory]

Books of 2024 - May, June, and July

Going to be honest folks, I've been having a really shit year particularly with my mental health but physical too. So that means I've: A. Not been reading as much, B. Not been present online, and C. Been playing far too much Zelda to be healthy. However, here's what I have read...

I've not really been feeling a lot of what I've picked up, which probably hasn't helped, and I've been doing a lot of reflecting on how my taste is changing. (If anyone has any recommendations for historical fantasy in the style of Guy Gavriel Kay or Susanna Clarke then let me know because I'm CRAVING these kinds of books right now.)

Anyway here's the books:

May

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - I wanted to love this but I ended up hating it... The atmosphere was incredible and that kept me reading, but I found it incredibly sexist and, ultimately, shallow. It felt like those annoying men in seminars... Wanting to be perceived as clever but spouting other people's opinions and secondhand observations.

Sir Orfeo by Anonymous, translated by J.R.R. Tolkien - this was a captivating little narrative poem, mainly because I love the structure - I find it slightly hypnotic to read and I just glide through it. Truly beautiful! This is a perfect example of reading for the language alone - although the tale was charming.

June

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell - genuinely loved this! I thought I'd hate it but I think I like quiet stories about small communities?! Between this and my unwavering devotion to Emma I might need to rethink my preferences when it comes to classics. Cranford was a delight to read and I'm very happy I finally gave it a chance.

Mrs Wickham by Sarah Page - I didn't know whether to include this because, technically, it's an audio drama, not a book... However it's listed on Goodreads, so... 🤷‍♀️ Either way I HATED this. It was so complete and utterly ridiculous that I couldn't even take it seriously. Of all the poor continuations of Jane Austen I've had the misfortune to experience this was truly the worst. It's like they forgot Pride and Prejudice is a regency novel... Lydia deserves a better defence than this! I'm also baffled by how it managed to be crass AND overly sentimental at the same time?!

The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton - loved it! This was a stunning character study AND exploration of Western society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Truly glorious. I should write up my notes into an actual essay at some point because I have SO MUCH to say! I can't do it justice here but someone should remind me to talk about this at some point.

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien - depression induced reread. I needed some comfort and Tolkien always delivers.

July

The Rogue Prince by George R.R. Martin - House of the Dragon was so bad I needed to soothe my heart, but I also didn't want to reread all of Fire and Blood... So this was my compromise. I had a much better time with this than the show (I still haven't bothered to finish it...)

The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin - I got bored at a friend's house and read her copy. I'm glad I've never bought it because this was underwhelming.

A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay - I had a fantastic time, a solid standalone from Kay and one I think a lot of people will like. This isn't a new favourite - I don't think anything will eclipse The Lions of Al-Rassan or the Dianora half of Tigana, but it's an excellent book that I'd highly recommend to anyone thinking about reading a Kay novel.

DNFs

I'm not sure when I abandoned these but here we go:

Inferno by Dante - this was a reread but I was struggling so much with anxiety that reading about Hell wasn't a good idea. Confession time: I'm not religious and don't believe in Christianity when I actually sit down to think about it. However, I've managed to give myself a case of 17th century protestant salvation anxiety... It fucks with my head sometimes and this was one of those moments.

Peril's Gate by Janny Wurts - I think I'm done, I've given this series so many chances because I WANT to love it. On paper it's everything I should love. But I'm so bored and the ONE character I'm reading the series for feels like wasted potential. I might come back if they continue to make audiobooks for the series, but I don't think I'll come back to reading the ebooks.

The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett - on paper this book should be right up my street. However this is NOT a book for me. I also really hate rogues... Instant turn off for me.

[uniquejellyfishqueen]

Houdini thoughts

Obviously Harry Houdini who is labeled as “an escape artist, illusionist, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts.”

Harry Houdini was his stage name. This guys real name was Erik Weisz.

Now don’t ask me why or how but the lyric came to me and it gave me a thought i had to get out.

“White America, Little Eric looks just like this.” From White America (5/26/2002 Track 2 of the Eminem Show)

Harry Houdini escaped a straight jacket. Those are normally worn in asylums. Which have either been named something that sounds less scary to the public or their buildings are oddly destroyed and/or left creepily abandoned like they are just waiting to use these for future endeavors when shit hits the fan, so no America I will not be a fan when that happens.

The tangent is necessary for those who don’t like to read, sorry I’m descriptive.

I now know not to assume everyone has the same music taste. If you don’t know the band, you really shouldn’t wear the shirt, fuck you could honestly know one song from that artist rather than being the kid that is wearing a hair band shirt because it looked cool from forever 21 and when they were asked if they liked an artists music when it was playing she was wearing the shirt when she said no. That was bold of me. I have learned to use Spotify on demand in the store to make sure i have heard the song before i make the purchase.

Thats a big part of the problem we have as a country in itself because music originated in the Bible just like we did, so if people are gonna stand up for religion the same thing should be happening for music. Which includes its artists, instead of protecting them the industry uses them to their gain like chess pieces on a board actively protecting their Queen until they can’t fight anymore.

Anywho. For those who don’t know Hardy released a song and music video titled Psycho. Excellent all around if you haven’t streamed them, I highly suggest it! In the video Hardy is seen wearing a straight jacket. I feel that even if there is no true connection between Eminems song and Hardys video, I truly believe there is a more poetically tragic yet empowering meaning behind these two both being released this year.

All of these artists are essentially strapped into a straight jacket the day they get a record deal. People make jokes about some celebrities going missing and then reappearing a little bit differently, imagine how you would feel if you stepped out of line and the industry tightened that jacket of yours. If you dig deeper into it, these artists are resisting, they are fighting back from within. What if the straight jacket they are busting out of is a disguise? A mask? An alter ego? Are you going to be there to help them out of the jacket and help them on their mission for freedom and peace with music for everyone? Or are you gonna turn your nose up because they aren’t what they appeared to be? Do you judge a book by its cover before you read it? (Shame on you if you said yes, you’re missing so many stories that are waiting to be told.) these artists are tired of being locked away from who they truly are just to keep continuing to prove that the its the industry standards or bust. No it’s not that way at all. If you step back in time and look at the progression of music and how it has transformed of course it is gonna sound different, until you listen to the meaning behind it and realize that this is the movement that has been passed down through generations. The ones considered the greats passed the torch just like they do at the Olympics. And it’s up to these artists to continue to break the chain and further the movement along. Back to the point originally, little Eric looks just like this. Eric is one of the most commonly used names, therefore the celebrities are just little Erics and Ericas. They couldn’t use Barbie and Ken because then the world would actually be aware of what they are spending their money on. What’s the movement called you asked? The hell if i know, I just know its happening and its badass to finally be woken up and see that there are real superhero’s out there working it from the inside. It’s up to us as the fans to not pay into the drama. Can’t like we grow up and graduate but be really cool about it and just be happy? I know it really is too much to ask for us at the moment but I’m gonna table that idea because it sounds really freaking cool.

Continuing on…

Okay oddly enough after viewing Wikipedia for a better view of the straight jacket I am immediately greeted with an image of the Posey straitjacket (dire straits? Future Savannah question.) the Posey is a straight jacket that hog ties you as well. this is also a future me research question but oh my god it looks like how the little boys from the West Memphis Three were found. 5/5/1993 three 8 year old boys were reported missing in West Memphis, Arkansas. And sadly they were found in a Mindy creek near a major drain canal. The boys were naked and hogtied, and one of them was also mutilated. This case is devastating. It is also the one of two cases that got me into true crime and they both are music related. Yeah sadly enough three little boys died, and three older boys lives were ruined because they dressed a little different, had a learning disability that everyone ignored, and they liked metal music. This case was a dumpster fire and has only gotten worse, it’s with deep hope that the Arkansas PD gets their shit better together.

If Eminem and Hardy didn’t know of that connection or maybe they like true crime too, cool beans. But if i was a betting person I would say that yes yes they did know that, because they know that Jessie Misskelley Jr, Damien Echols, and Jason Baldwin were failed by the judicial system, and that they metal/rock/hair bands (this was a rough time for metal fans i am sure) were affected negatively in the media. Almost like the news headlines of a kid playing a video game and then running down the road naked with his neighbors yard goblin, then proceeding to throw the goblin into someone’s front window. And when he gets arrested and is asked why they fuck he just did that he simply explains that “the video game did it, why can’t I?” Probably because things come with disclaimers that say “don’t try this at home.” Or was that a law that was put into place to create a safety blanket of sorts?

Tupac said that we wouldn’t have peace until we have peace on the streets. Well you see the whole East West thing. Yeah that was created by the media to cause an increase in record sales therefore to make them more money and then tarnish the musicians reputations in the process. But hey big brother up there only cares about him and himself and those few that help make sure he never slips from his thrown. btw no one likes that guy in case you didn’t know. The industry and the media didn’t care about how the beef they were creating became physical. They were all wearing armor while you have these talented musicians on your front line like soldiers on a cold dark day in WW2.

Tupac was right, there wont be peace until we create the peace. The ones opposing the peace are the ones that don’t know how to continue to spread the message. Remember back in the day when you would buy a CD and then read the inner cover to read the lyrics or hang the Jonas Brother proudly on your wall? Yeah well we need to start doing that again, okay you don’t have to hang the poster but I might. Music is poetry and stories with a beat. These artists are writing you messages. Read them and tell everyone about it!

Stay weird everyone

[annieandro]

The sun in Virgo and the moon in Aries Combines a critical ability With an aggressive personality The careful Virgin nature drops its guard under the influence of the speculating Ram After a few false starts, the drive toward personal recognition begins And the excellent metal equipment of Virgo, fired by the enthusiasm of Aries Helps desires to be realized

The Virgin moon in Taurus softens the corners of ambition And usually the native likes the living to be easy You're often fortunate in matters of money, and sheer luck seems to favor you You prefer harmony to excitement, and have an aversion to being rushed You are a great audience and both artists and life love to have you around

It's been said that man is not a beast of pure reason alone The Virgo with the Twin moon seems to learn everything but that You are mostly education and information, but not very big in inspiration and imagination If you think it, you believe it If you feel it, you don't quite understand it In the area of the mind, challenges get you going And there you are hard to defeat Your mind just never stops working

If you are a Virgo with a moon in Cancer, there's more to you than meets the eye You appear aloof but respond quickly to a show of friendship You seem to be practical and conservative, but time reveals a quivering sensitivity Your attitude impresses as conventional, but you can have things going that could raise eyebrows These contradictions do not result from dishonesty, but from protection against a world you're not sure of

I could not love thee dear so well, loved I not honor more This quote sums up the Virgin with her moon in Leo Your character, sense of duty, and your need to be honorable mean more to you than anything else in the worldYour difficulty comes from not understanding that you are pretty much alone in this competitive world You can live and die by your standards While others, less able, succeed Much to your amazement and resentment

The sun and moon in Virgo produces an intellectual aristocrat Your thinking proceeds on classic lines, and your approach to living is impeccable Taste is your word And your creed And anything that violates good taste scrapes across your senses like a fingernail across a blackboard You uphold the status quo, and violent changes in personal and world affairs is a condition and a fact of life you cannot buy

The moon in Libra inspires refinement Which heightens the fastidiousness of the Virgin nature Only truly worth while pursuits can claim your time and your energy You're discriminating, but are not a put down personIf you cannot associate with people you respect, you prefer your own company and the stimulation of a good book Any port in a storm is a philosophy you couldn't possibly abide

If you are a Virgo with your moon in Scorpio Your life is lived in extremely personal terms And all roads lead to you Passion dominates thought And a fiercely subjective attitude touches everything you do Your convictions are primarily emotional And as a result they're not easily changed When an idea you believe in is threatened, you feel your entire existence is in jeopardy This could make you a rebel without a cause

The critical faculty of the Virgin is challenged by the optimism of the ArcherWhen the Virgo Moon is in Sagittarius Your mind may tell you "no", but what you feel is "yes" In order to escape this paradox, you substitute dreams for realityIn fact, even give up on reality Which, isn't necessary For you have a practical and analytical potential Which, when focused, can achieve first-rate results

When the Virgo Moon is in Capricorn, the exactness of the Virgin and the cautious ambition of the Goat combined to create a study in practicality You are quietly straight forward And achieve by using precise knowledge, and subtle reasoning Financial gains usually follow your efforts And business advancement seems to be the natural result Your assent, though extremely careful at times Does lead to a personality and a style of living which is well integrated

The Aquarian's love of relating to life in the abstract is increased, when Virgo's Moon is in Aquarius You not only feel a cause, but being Virgo, can examine it rationally And find ingenious original ways of presenting itIndividuals you can take or leave alone as a rule But people, as a mass mirror of suffering humanity Get the most you have to give, which is usually a great deal

The hairsplitting eye of the Virgin is given the third eye vision of the hypersensitive Fish, when the moon is in Pisces There is the perfect equation of the factual and the intuitive A capacity for seeing beyond the obvious And reaching the spiritual essence of a problem or a human being The most rewarding life you can live is one of sympathy, and charity With an open ear, and open heart for anyone, at any time

[marjaystuff]

A Book Year in Review

This is the time of the year when I turn into a numbers geek.  GoodReads puts together a list of number facts about my reading each year.  I have read 50,122 pages this year.  That seems HUGE but I went back in time and found I have read over 78,000 pages in 2019.  Certainly the crocheting I have been doing has taken away reading time, which is fine.  It just means my expectations of the number of books needs to decrease.  In 2019, I read 255 books and this year 158 books.  The shortest book I read was 74 pages and the longest book (a series) was 1014 pages.  The average number of pages was 317 pages.  My last book I read this year was The Women by Kristin Hannah.  (Which was absolutely a wonderful read.) My first book was Barbara Freethy’s novel called Last One to Know. 

Check it out (https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2023/2259573)

Meanwhile, this school/holiday vacation was truly different. I had COVID. Luckily, I was not as ill as some people.  For me it was a bad cold with brain fog and exhaustion.  My sense of smell and taste is spotty at best.  I  burned my dinner more than once, because I couldn’t smell it.  Some things to be grateful for were my family understood I couldn’t see any of them, and my neighbor was able to pitch in with groceries from the store when I was really too sick.  I am also grateful for my fur babies.  They were soooo good for cuddling, purring and comforting me.    

The best book I read over vacation was hands down - The Women by Kristin Hannah.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed so many of the other books, but Kristin Hannah’s story is excellent and well written.  This is not an easy book to read, but it is easily one of the best books I have ever read.   

 I feel like with each new book Kristin Hannah writes her stories have become more powerful and bring crucial information to light to her audience. The book will draw you to tears again and again and it will make you angry again and again. The novel will help you understand what happened to women in Vietnam during the war, even if most people tell you there were no women there.  It will not let the woman be forgotten any more.The Women is one of those timeless novels that allow you to recognize and accept things you might have heard - or things you might have learned, but this will help you know. The Women by Kristin Hannah comes out February 6th, 2024.    

Elise sent in a review of A Cold Highland Wind by Tasha Alexander.  In this novel, her characters Lady Emily Aston and her husband Colin Hargreaves are trying to solve a cozy mystery.  It sounds like a good read.  Also Elise included a new interview with Melinda Curtis and her Christmas novel called A Cowboy Christmas Carol.  

Wishing you a Happy New Year with time to enjoy reading.

[steelycunt]

books!! okay so im currently reading the souls of black folk by du bois and it’s fantastic so far. his prose is sometimes seething & extremely beautiful. ive been underlining so many passages !!

recently ive picked up madame bovary and giovannis room (i read if beale street could talk a couple of years ago and ADORED it + the movie, so im v excited!! ik u like giovannis room as well and i trust ur taste!!)

as for what i have just finished reading/my recommendations, there’s de profundis & other prison writings from oscar wilde and these violent delights by micah nemerever. if you enjoy wilde at all this is a gorgeous & gratifying read. ill never tire of his wit !!!

as for these violent delights by micah…my life has been changed. if you havent touched this let me tell you that although it is technically mystery/thriller, it doesn’t read like a typical mystery/thriller at all (in fact that feels so far from the point. it IS suspenseful but i feel like calling it a mystery/thriller is doing it a disservice bc those who would truly appreciate & enjoy it might not pick it up!!)

it’s pretentious and toxic and crawls its way into your brain and festers there. paul & julian are like if r/s were even MORE fucked up and while there is violence, it feels poetic. plus it’s 70s!! and every musician that is mentioned im like !!!!!!! if u like young mungo i think it’s absolutely worth checking out.

alright sorry, ive just seen how long this is. have a great day!! or have a bad day and have a better one tomorrow etc etc <3

helloo do not apologise this is exactly what i wanted!! a chat abut books!! so many good ones here too...i learnt abt du bois for my a level but ive never read anything by him other than some articles so thats definitely going to go on my list!! and giovannis room AHHHH. i hope you love it i think you will if you liked beale street because baldwin's writing is just exquisite in both of them n gio's room is my favourite of all time fr!!

i studied wilde for my englit a level n we did comparisons between dorian and importance of being earnest and i really enjoyed his writing then!! de profundis has been on my list for a while ive gotta get to it. and i read these violent delights at the start of this year and really enjoyed it!! very freaky and fun (completely get what u mean abt r/s) and i enjoyed a read where i could get so into the characters which i hadnt had in a while...i believe its a debut if i remember correctly which makes me really excited for what nemerever will put out in the future!! thanks for dropping in bab you have excellent taste...lmk what you think of giovannis room and have a great day!!

[thedavinoparadox]

Reading Wrap-Up (September)

🍂☕️🍁

8th October 2023, Selenio

And suddenly it’s October…

No, but seriously: this month has come quite quickly and I have yet to decide if I’m already ready for all the change it will bring. Not only will I open fresh new pages in fresh new books but also in my personal life, as my life in university will begin on Monday… I still can’t quite fathom it.

September has been filled with preparations for the time ahead but also with new reads. I spent my time tying up loose ends left from August and already started planting some seeds for the upcoming month.

Bella Ciao by Raffaella Romagnolo (2019)

Italy in the late 19th century. Giulia leaves Sicily for America after discovering that the man she is supposed to be marrying has fallen in love with her best friend, Anita. Decades later she returns and the little old town awakens long forgotten memories. But life has happened to Anita as well. Will the two women meet again? And what has really happened during the long time that has passed? In August I surprisingly discovered a certain comfort in generational dramas. I began reading this book while laying on the beach, enjoying the Italian sun. But somehow there was something about it that made me put it down for a few weeks. The writing and characters were incredibly realistic yet also incredibly melancholic. I loved how there usually was a deeper hidden meaning in some of the scenes which often felt like expertly placed punches in the gut. A dark, yet interesting beginning to last month’s reading.

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Kabi Nagata (2017)

An autobiographical novel by a young Japanese woman who has had to struggle through her fair share of depression, eating disorders, anxiety and overall feeling like she has not found the ‘key’ to living yet. My sister has recently re-discovered manga and although are tastes often differ substantially, she believed I would enjoy the refreshingly honest psychological aspect of this work. And she was absolutely correct. There is something incredibly heartfelt and direct about the way, Kabi Nagata tells her story. She doesn’t sugarcoat her feelings and the way she talks about mental and physical health truly feels refreshing. She tackles ‘taboo’-topics in such an honest way, it makes them lose their sense of ‘unspeakableness’ often given to them by our modern society.

The Grain of Sand (Das Sandkorn) by Christoph Poschenrieder (2015)

It’s the beginning of the last century. Tolmeyn is arrested while spreading sand from different places in Italy in the streets of Berlin. With his questioning at the police station his life story slowly gets unveiled and the mystery behind his reasoning gets revealed piece by piece. It took me a couple (hundred) pages to truly be sucked into this novel. This might be attributed to the writing style of dividing it into shorter, almost diary-like entries and police reports, as it sometimes rips you out of the plot for a few seconds. Nonetheless, Poschenrieder has created an excellent morally gray character with very human emotions and flaws. He is trying to exist in a world which shuns the very core of his identity and has to adapt a kind of ‘secret code’ to navigate it unharmed. His life is filled with unanswered questions and unfulfilled desires. His struggles seemed authentic, thanks to the research that undoubtedly went into it. I do believe a story just like Tolmeyn’s could have easily played out in this way just a few decades ago. This book also ignited the flame of my passion for art history inside of me again.

The Obliterated (Die Vernichteten) by Ursula Poznanski (2014)

In September I was finally able to finish listening to the last installment of Ursula Poznanskis dystopian ‘Eleria’-trilogy. It concludes the events surrounding a group of ejected ‘darlings’ or ‘sphere inhabitants’ who first make contact with the outside world by means of a seeming misunderstanding and slowly start to unravel the conspiracy, the government which they have always put their unwavering trust in, has spun. It really took me three books to realize how fond I have grown of these characters and how invested I had become in the story detailing their adventures. Every single time I open one of her books or start listening to an audiobook by her, I am amazed by Ursula Poznanskis writing and how effortlessly she manages to create a vivid picture in my mind. I am a little bit ashamed at how late I am to reading these books and sort of wish I’d decided to do so when I was still in my ‘sci-fi’-phase a few years ago. But in my opinion, even someone who is not as invested in this particular genre is fully able to enjoy these books. There is just something so well done and satisfying about the way everything is wrapped up with a neat little bow in the end. A feeling which I get from most (if not all) of her work.

Dangerous Holidays - The Alps by Anna von Planta (2017)

This wonderful collection of short stories and novel excerpts all centered around the alps was gifted to me by one of my favorite professors and during the last month of summer I decided to take a trip down the very short memory lane. There is just something special in reading about your homeland (or better: home region). In this case, it was made even more special by the fact that so many of these places, the people living there and their practices and little quirks felt so familiar. Although most of these stories are set in Switzerland there are many similarities between the people from the places I’ve lived in and the Swiss. This novel really was a compilation of some of the best works in modern and classic fiction and I can not recommend it enough to anyone coming from or meaning to visit the alps.

Stories from Duckburg: Monsters, Mummies and Mutants! (2023)

Ever since I was a child I have loved Donald Duck and his friends and family. And I believed there was no better way to end my high school career (and subsequent ‘student’-status) than to practice some self-care by indulging in some nostalgic comics again. In this case, you either enjoy the humor in Duckburg or you don’t… there’s not much of a recommendation I can speak here. Only perhaps that if you’re looking to get back into reading comics again after a long time I’d recommend reading these ‘specials’ and analogies first because picking one of the seemingly millions of regular copies at random seems impossible. This little book was just the thing to put me in the spooky fall mood and end September with.

This little recap of September made me appreciate the diversity of genres I was able to read last month just a little bit more. I’m a strong believer of the fact that you need variety and alternation in your every day life. Not simply in reading matters but also in each and every other aspect of life. Only this variety can bring full happiness and fulfillment to one’s numbered days on earth.

[strawbrrydior]

TBP HEADCANONS

• Vance likes to be nurtured and prefers quiet, gentle things. If you approach him nicely and you talk to him nicely then he won’t be mean to you he just has a trigger for aggression.

• Bruce is multitalented. One of those guys who can do anything he really tries to and has done a lot. He’s done theatre, baseball, he’s really good at braiding hair and is excellent at writing informative essays but his main things are studying unsolved cases and filling notebooks with information on thinks he’s into.

• robin boxes every other day after school, he goes to this gym that’s sort of old and kind of empty so it’s usually just him in there. He brings a little radio and hustles a punching bag for hours. Sometimes Vance comes and works out with him, usually they don’t talk rather just enjoy each others company (and music taste. I think they like similar stuff.)

• Vance and Gwen and Amy are actually really good friends for some reasons 9/10 of the times the boys can’t find Vance it’s because he’s at one of their houses letting the girls braid his hair. He protects them but truly he’s scared of them they’re vicious rabid creatures

•Gwen, aside from her dreams and shit, just has really good intuition and can read people like books. Which is why she and Vance are such good friends because she reads him so well she somehow manages to know exactly whats wrong at all times, besides, she went through a stress toy phase and now has a drawer full of them she doesn’t use and Vance has taken all of them. Win win.

• griffin doesn’t know how to ride a bike. He swore up and down that he did and billy got annoyed and called his bluff, hopped off his bike and pat the seat. He couldn’t even get on it he was down on the sidewalk in half a second.

•billy is an advent fan of the outsiders and his favorite character is Darry. He likes to associate characters to his friends and it’s an inside joke between them who’s who. (Finney is pony boy, robin is Johnny. Vance is dally, Bruce is soda pop (but also billy argued he was cherry. He wanted to be soda pop) griffin is two bit, and billy is Darry. (And they wonder why that’s his favorite.) Gwen thinks she should be soda pop and Bruce should be cherry and not reverse but whatever! )

• finney and Gwen’s movie is grease. It’s their favorite, they have The soundtrack on tape and know the dances. They sing duets, finneys danny and Gwen is sandy. Gwen’s favorite song is hopelessly devoted and finneys is you’re the one that I want

•robin listens to a lot of rock and a bit of metal (mostly because of Vance who just needs someone to talk to about albums he likes so he tells Robin cuz Robin always actually listens to them.) he rly likes run dmc and the beastie boys. Any fast paced or loud music is his shit. Finney doesn’t like loud noises and he doesn’t enjoy listening to that kind of music it makes him antsy so their common ground is soft 50s / 60s music. (I.e those magic changes - Sha na na & anything Ritchie valens) but most of the time robin plays whatever he wants on his stereo and just keeps it super low.

•robin and Vance have daily smoke seshs in the bathroom (one robin fought to own literally. Like he put a group of seniors on their asses freshmen year and now it’s his bathroom no one goes in there)

•Billy’s really into old movies and is constantly in the library trying to read up on old 1920s actresses

•billy likes classical music. He buys cheap tapes and lets them play softly in the background

•robins bed is in the corner of his room against a wall so whenever finney sleeps over he sleeps on the side pressed against the wall because sometimes he gets nightmares and makes monsters out of the shadows in the room but from the corner he can’t see them.

•Vance hopper is a writer he’s awful at SAYINg how he feels so he writes to people. He writes poems and stories and stuff and he’s a real good story teller he just can’t figure out how to get the words out of his mouth

•griffin has undiagnosed adhd and spent all of his life getting yelled at by his mother over it. He’s self conscious about himself and tries to do things quietly in dark corners but the boys are never annoyed with him when he talks or runs around or stims and it helps him come to terms with himself

• griffins dad and Vance’s mom are dating and have been since they were younger. They live together and even though Vance still has to go see his dad on a court order and stuff griffin always waits at the doorstep for him or drives with his mom to drop and pick him up

•Bruce is the oldest in the group and takes on a motherly type role. He’s always there to help them, constantly feeds them and buys them stuff and talks to them like he’s sooo much older then them and how he’s sooo tired from raising kids and working but deep down it makes him happy to provide and make other people happy. He needs to be taken care of too and there’s always someone there for him (usually Vance because he’s a little more mature then the others and notices when Bruce is down before they do. Not their faults though, sometimes they just don’t peep it for a while.)

•robins mom loves finney, she jokes about loving him more then robin All the time. Sometimes they’ll lay at the foot of her bed while she’s watching tv and just whisper to eachother. She enjoys their company and really likes it when they stay home she much prefers they just stay right by her side for safety

•robin has a dog named paco , he’s a 3 year old brown pit bull. Very rowdy and clumsy just like robin :)

[reidscanehand]

Politics of Lonely

Inspired by this song by Isabel Pless Pairing: Spencer Reid x BAUfem!Reader Category: Hurt/Comfort/Fluff TW: discussions of loneliness, cursing, self-doubt This is, honestly, a pretty self-serving write on my part, but I really need something like this and, since that likely won’t happen, I wrote it. I also really love Isabel Pless’ music, so any chance I have to introduce people to her stuff is a win in my book. Hope you like this and love you! xx 

~ If success is subjective, then what's the objective of a lonely life fully lived well? - Isabel Pless ~

Spencer Reid is not a stalker. Truly. And he never had any intention of finding out Y/N’s Saturday schedule. In fact, knowing anything about it at all makes him feel incredibly weird. However, the mind works in mysterious ways and a genius mind even moreso. Meaning, that, once he accidentally happened upon a part of this regularly occurring and particularly well-kept to schedule, he just so happened to be able to slowly (not nearly slowly enough for his comfort) piece together her schedule for the rest of her day off. 

Seeing her at his favorite bookstore had been a completely unexpected (though entirely pleasant) surprise. His favorite booksotre isn’t exactly a secret, and he knows he mentioned it to her when she’d asked him about a certain edition of Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but he somehow had never anticipated actually seeing her there one Saturday morning. 

But, sure enough, he turns the corner and there she is. He immediately turns back behind the shelf, out of her view, pressing his back into the endcap, his breathing suddenly far more labored than he’d expected. It’s not exactly a secret either that Y/N is a beautiful woman. And to see her, standing in a pool of light, almost comically, perfectly provided by one of the gorgeous skylights in the store, was a quite a sight to behold. The crush that’s been burdgeoning since her arrival to the BAU fills his chest fully, as though his heart is accepting what his mind already knew: he more than likes Y/N. 

“Spencer?” her voice breaks his reverie. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yes,” he manages to say, “why would I not be?”

“You’re leaning against the bookshelf pale as a ghost and breathing like you’ve just run a mile,” she states, her smile perking up the ends of the sentence with disconcerting charm. “I’m just making sure you’re not running from someone or something.”

“I, um, read something that scared me,” Spencer says, lying desperately (badly). 

“Oh?” Y/N asks, her eyebrow arching upward and her slight smile deepening. “What were you reading?”

“Um,” Spencer drops his eyes, thrilled to see an abandoned book right near his foot. He leans down and picks it up, not even glancing at the cover. “This one.”

Y/N glances at the book, then looks up at Spencer, her face alight with barely contained laughter, “A Guide to Pigeons of North America?”

Spencer looks down at the book in question, he’s horrified to see a (rather terrifying) picture of a pigeon on the cover. Fucking hell. 

“Um...yeah,” Spencer almost sighs at his own stupidity, “I, uh, I’m scared of pigeons.”

Putting himself in such an awkward position distracted him from how overwhelmed he felt as Y/N spoke to him. Simply enough, they’d chatted for a few minutes about books, which only reconfirmed the two things he already knew to be true: 1. Y/N has excellent taste in many things, especially literature. 2. It wouldn’t take too much for him to fall in love with her. 

As they walked out the door, she’d eyed him carefully.

“What is it?” he asks softly, barely resisting the urge to reach over and push her hair back over her ear. 

“Would you, um,” she chews her lip, like it’s her turn to be nervous. “Would you like to, um, get a coffee with me?”

Spencer stares at her for a moment too long, a tad caught up in the blissful spring weather and how pretty she looks in her little dress and how the sun is shining just so and-and she’s floundering. 

“You don’t have to, obviously, I just usually go to get another coffee after stopping here and...and I just figured you might-”

“I’d love to,” Spencer cuts her off, his own voice sounding far away in his ears. 

She stares at him for a moment, a smile overtaking her features, “Wonderful.” 

And it had been wonderful. Truly wonderful. Maybe the best Saturday Spencer had had....ever? They walked to the coffee shop, where Spencer easily deduced she was a regular, just as she seemed to be at the bookstore. She’d then walked him to the Farmer’s Market, picking out produce for her week and gathering bits and bobs for her dinner that evening. 

As they parted ways when he walked her back to her apartment, she stared up at him suddenly, eyes still shining with remnants of smiles from the afternoon. 

“Thank you for...for spending time with me today,” she almost whispers, her voice is so quiet. 

“Thank you,” Spencer corrects her slightly, “for letting me tag along.”

“It’s...um, it’s just that I usually...” she trails off, her face quirking up awkwardly, “I usually do this alone. And I don’t mind being lonely, I guess, but it was...nice, more than nice, really, to have someone to do it with for once. I know my...preferences can be kind of boring, so I really appreciate you...wasting an afternoon with me.”

Without a second thought, Spencer lurches forward, tucking her into a tight hug that she settles into almost instantly. 

“I had so much fun,” he assures her, before releasing her from the hug, arms still around her, staring down at her intensely. “And it certainly wasn’t a wasted afternoon.” She beams at him and hugs him again. They say their goodbyes and he walks out, dusk just settling in, a smile still on his face.

~~~

He’s hoping to have another opportunity to ostensibly...run into Y/N, to sort of maybe...extend the afternoon into an evening, somehow gathering the courage to ask her on a date.

But, cases get in the way. Case after case hits the team like a neverending treadmill, keeping them going for almost a month non-stop. They return from a rather harrowing case in Kentucky and, the team assumes, anyway, Hotch draws some sort of line with Strauss. 

“We’ll work tomorrow, starting at 10,” Hotch announces as the team takes their seats on the jet, “just for paperwork purposes. But then the weekend and Monday, you’ll have off.” 

Everyone practically cheers with joy, chats already brewing about plans for the long weekend. JJ texts Will, excited to spend the weekend with her boys. Emily texts some old friends, planning to meet up with them along with Derek and Penelope. Rossi laughs when they ask him to join, then sighs deeply and admits that he’ll need the Saturday off, then he’ll need to work on his newest draft on Sunday and Monday in order to keep his editor off his back. Hotch taps out, too, excited to finally spend a weekend with Jack. 

“What about you, Y/N?” Derek asks. “Wanna meet us at the bar tomorrow night? I hear Emily’s friend is single.” 

She giggles demurely and then rolls her eyes, “Actually, I think I’m going to see if my sister wants to drive down from Maryland to see me. We’ve been meaning to catch up for a while now.”

Spencer’s happy Y/N has plans to finally see her sister, who she’s mentioned missing quite a bit recently, but he’d sort of been hoping to see her on Saturday, if just by chance. 

“What about you, Pretty Boy?” Derek asks, turning the attention to Spencer. He feels his face turn beet red.

“Um...I, uh...” he flounders for a moment then clears his throat, “I’ve got some books to read.”

The rest of the team seems happy with that answer, but Spencer can feel Y/N’s eyes on him, a gaze he avoids as the plane takes off back home.

~~~

“Are you sure you don’t want to come out with us tonight, Spence?” Emily asks over the phone. It’s around 10am on Saturday morning and Spencer’s pouring a second cup of coffee - a necessity as this is the second call he’s received about this evening’s festivities.

“Why are you guys so annoyed with the idea that bars really aren’t my thing? Besides, it’s not like I’m the only one not coming. JJ’s with Will and Henry, Hotch is with Jack, Rossi’s still working, for God’s sake, Y/N’s with her sister-”

“Y/N’s sister cancelled on her,” Emily corrects him offhandedly. “I was sort of hoping to convince her to come, too, but-”

“When did that happen?” Spencer demands abruptly. There’s a pause as Emily’s clearly taken aback by his reaction.

“Yesterday afternoon after you left,” Emily explains. “She’s pretty down about it, actually, which is why-”

“I have to go, Emily,” Spencer interrupts her. “Thanks for the invite, but I’ll be busy.”

“Busy?” Emily asks incredulously, even as Spencer hangs up. “Busy with what?”

~~~

Spencer’s not exactly sure what his plan is here, in fact, he most decidedly doesn’t really have one. But he knows...he knows he should do something. On his way to Y/N’s apartment, he passes the Farmer’s Market, his height and the open air facility making it possible for him to look around, not seeing her there and moving on. He passes the coffee shop, walking in and almost blindly ordering his favorite, tacking hers onto his order without thinking twice. He looks around, hoping she’ll just happen to be there, but determinedly continuing towards her apartment complex when he still doesn’t see her. It’s a last ditch effort at the bookstore, but Ron, the owner - seemingly fully aware of the situation - tells Spencer without any prompting that Y/N hasn’t been in today. 

So now he’s standing in front of her door, the slightly lukewarm coffees in his hands making him feel even more awkward. He knocks quietly, considering doing it again when the door suddenly opens. He almost can’t breathe when he sees her. The usual glow around her is dimmed slightly, her adorable matching pajamas still on despite noon swiftly approaching. She looks tired and sad somehow and it tugs at his heartstrings. 

“Spencer?” Y/N asks, looking up at him in astonishment. “What are you doing here?”

“I, um,” he chastises himself inwardly for being so unprepared. “I know how much you were looking forward to seeing your sister and I’m sorry she cancelled on you. And I know it might be...be stupid, but I thought that maybe...maybe you’d want to spend another Saturday with me? And then maybe...maybe we could just spend more time together generally? Because I...the most fun I’ve had in ages was the Saturday I spent with you and I...” he trails off, staring at her, cursing himself for his own discomfort. 

“Spencer, I appreciate it, but I don’t want you to feel like you have to hang out with me just because I’m...lonely,” Y/N says sadly. “I don’t want to drag you along just because-” 

But he cuts her off then, the determination of earlier in the day settling over him again as he places the coffees on the ground next to her door, stepping forward and reaching for her hands, which she - thankfully - allows him to take easily. 

“I know,” he whispers, “I know what it is to be lonely. And I wanted you to know that...if you want, you don’t have to be...lonely, that is. Because I’d...I’d like to...love to, really, be with you. Spending time with you isn’t anything but a joy. You wouldn’t be dragging me, if anything I’ll damn near skip along beside you.”

Her eyes have widened, mouth parting slightly, but that makes her laugh and smile as she meets his eyes again. 

“Really?”

“Really,” he nods, smiling down at her. “Not just today, but...for however long you’ll have me, actually.” And with that he presses a kiss to knuckles of her hands, bringing them to his chest. 

Y/N smiles up at him and he can tell it’s the first time she’s smiled in a minute. She meets his eyes again, the twinkle from that Saturday over a month ago returning as she glances towards his lips. 

“Would you like to go to the bookstore with me?” Y/N asks sweetly, her eyes flicking back to his mischievously.

“Yes,” he whispers, stepping closer, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. 

Her smile deepens, “And then maybe the coffee shop? I think the ones you brought might be cold.”

“Yes,” he chuckles softly, tugging her impossibly closer and dropping a kiss to her shoulder. Y/N shudders slightly, but smiles into his chest, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

“And then the Farmer’s Market?” she suggests shyly. “I could make us d-dinner, if you’d like to stay.”

“I’d love to,” he replies almost huskily, pressing a kiss to her temple. 

“We could eat outside,” she whispers teasingly, starting to laugh.

“We could,” he answers, pulling away slightly to look down at her properly, “if a picnic’s not too funny for you.”

“It’s not that,” she shakes her head. “It’s just that we’ll have to be careful.”

“Careful?” Spencer asks, pushing the errant lock of hair behind her ear, like the universe giving him a second chance to do so. 

“Yeah,” she nods, clearly trying not to burst into laughter, “you know, to avoid the pigeons.”

Spencer rolls his eyes and tugs her back into his chest, finally pressing a kiss to her lips. 

~ “I think you’re the one.” - Isabel Pless ~

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Link to My Main Masterlist

Link to My Spencer Reid Masterlist

[sagau-fruit-bowl]

Yo. Can I request a letter for the event? Because if so I wanna make the midget puppet Scaramouche write a love letter to the Guide. I feel like that’ll be amusing considering he’d probably be salty he isn’t a vessel since his banner hasn’t dropped yet.

Hello dear requester. I keep getting requests for characters I know nothing about as I am early game and I feel so bad for you all as I attempt to get characterization done properly. 

Now then! Please enjoy

LOVE LETTERS TO YOUR GRACE

To, [Name]

Dispite the indescribable number of letters I've been forced to send in the past, I'm still never sure how to start these, especially not with you and your rambling replies that make as little sense as you usually do.

So, I'll start off by describing just how much I can't stand your vessels. I arrived Mondstadt last night but dispite my best efforts, those conniving little brats refuse to inform me where you are and at this point, I'm almost convinced you've left Mondstadt entirely as a result of their pointless doting and whining.

Which I wouldn't blame you for by the way, I The Fauti would welcome you with open arms and would actually listen if you said you wanted space.

Quite honestly, if you chose to stay with anyone other than us after some of the arguments these nations seem to have, I'll be suprised. I'd like to think your smarter than that but considering I'm not one of your vessels, I could be wrong.

Speaking of intelligence, I sent a book with my last letter, hopefully you received it. I thought you would enjoy it I am certain it suits your tastes considering the amount you mumble relentlessly over your and I quote 'Beloved hates everyone but you trope'. Whatever the fuck that means, I don't know, but The Ginger (derogatory. Thank you for teaching me how to use that term in this situation.)informed me it fit that genre.

And while we're on the topic of him, he informed me recently that you were having some issues with some of your acolytes, where he gets this information I am unsure but I'm willing to bet it has to do with his weekly fights against the traveler, but regardless, I hear you've has some issues with them attempting to prove themselves as potential consorts and honestly, it's laughable.

I've been in informed their methods to do so are rather dramatic and only restrict and limit your ability to act on your own even further (again, if you want to leave, just say the word.) and I was wondering how you plan to handle that.

I can't imagine them throwing theirselves at your feet is enjoyable and I would do anything you asked of me if you requested I make them stop.

However, the best ways I can think of to make them stop would to be either stop this talk of a consort entirely or to simply take a consort and put the rest of those pathetic scoundrels to shame.

Continuing with that thought, I don't think any of those currently with you would make good options for a consort with how they whine and beg for scraps of your attention, I am well aware of how you enjoy your independence and distance at times.

I'm not exactly the most poetic with my words, nor will I claim I am a master of my own emotions, so I'd like to be quite plain with this.

I might not seem like the best choice for the role, but you make me feel things I'm not exactly familiar with in both the best and worst ways possible, I'm not the most practical choice but if you chose me as your consort, you'd never want for anything.

Unlike those fools who beg for your attention now, I will truly listen to your needs as well as your requests, so, I would make an excellent consort.

-With love my upmost respect, your dearest Scaramouche.

[pcttrailsidereader]

The World is Waiting to Be Discovered -- Take a Walk

By Francis Sanzaro

Francis Sanzaro is a climber, a mountain athlete and the author of “Zen of the Wild: A Philosophy for Nature.” Although not specifically about the PCT directly . . . it captures the spirit and philosophy of trail walkers. For that reason, it more than fits on this website.

Barry Lopez, nature writer extraordinaire, once remarked that one of the first things he did when arriving in a new landscape was lace up his shoes and have a stroll. But Mr. Lopez didn’t walk the way most of us walk. Open ended, without rush, bird books in his suitcase and his entire body tuned like the stiffened ears of an arctic fox, he felt the dirt crunch under his toes, ran his fingers through dew on the leaves, noticed what’s growing in the nooks, listened to what birds were yapping and — I’m speculating here on this last one — welcomed notes of sunset-mud up his nostrils, as from a ’96 bottle of Chateau Margaux.

Study after study after study have proved what we feel, intuitively, in our gut: Walking is good for us. Beneficial for our joints and muscles; astute at relieving tension, reducing anxiety and depression; a boon to creativity, likely; slows the aging process, maybe; excellent at prying our screens from our face, definitely. Shane O’Mara, a professor of experimental brain research in Dublin, has called walking a “superpower,” claiming that walking, and only walking, unlocks specific parts of our brains, places that bequeath happiness and health.

I have no beef with any of this, but I believe we have it backward. We are asking what we can get out of a walk, rather than what a walk can get out of us. This might seem like a small distinction, a matter of semantics. But when we begin to think of walking in terms of the latter, we change the way we navigate and experience — literally and figuratively — the world around us.

To understand the difference, we need to ask more about what Mr. Lopez explained is the purpose of all this sensory input. “The purpose of such attentiveness is to gain intimacy, to rid yourself of assumption,” he wrote in his essay “A Literature of Place.”

When I first read that line, I’ll be honest, I didn’t get it. What does intimacy have to do with assumption? And what does walking have to do with intimacy? And what does “assumption” mean?

I pulled out the dictionary. “Assumption” is a knot of a word, meaning both an act of taking on, such as a new job, or taking control. It also means you believe something to be such: “I assumed that was the case.” When you give the word “assumption” a kick, the shell cracks and you can see the yolk of possession. Ownership. Responsibility. Taking on. Anticipation. Judgment.

I came to truly understood the power of Mr. Lopez’s observation when I was on the edge of something. I’m a climber, skier and trail runner, but each time I went out, I felt oddly disconnected to those very same places I pined after. I sought them feverishly, yet when I arrived, I felt like a foreigner, a squatter even, never at home or at peace. The mountains had lost their joy. In truth, I was lonely, and a bit desperate.

And so, I tried ways of throwing myself into the wild. I ran deep into the Rocky Mountains while on 24-hour fasts, used exhaustion (as well as some mind-altering drugs) to loosen the grip of reality. I put myself in front of the most gorgeous places on earth. I climbed frozen waterfalls and remote desert towers. I ran at night, during hurricanes, and bobbed face up, in the middle of lakes, in the middle of the night, in my birthday suit. I was searching and searching — for what, I did not know — and in the process I was failing and failing, powerless to pry the lid and taste nature’s mysterium tremendum.

Then I read Mr. Lopez and he called me out.

I was neither attentive nor meeting the wild on its own terms. I was merely trying to pry something from the wild for my own benefit. Which means I wasn’t seeing the wild at all.

I started walking around my neighborhood more. Compared with those wild places, this was unremarkable: pacing down a sidewalk of 10-year-old maples, across cracked squares of pavement, alongside a ditch bursting with spring runoff. But I turned it into a practice of sensation. I listened. I felt. And in a remarkable way, the neighborhood came alive — alive in a way that those mountaintops or the wildflower-strewn rivulet in the valley below never had. My senses, once atrophied, came to life, and with them, so did the world around me.

My experience, which took me from the rugged wild to a tamer, humbler landscape outside my front door, went against the grain of a few hundred years of traditional nature writing, but so be it.

My strolls taught me that walking truly is a discipline and an art. The discipline of removing assumption — thinking that something is going to be beautiful does as much damage to a place as thinking it will be ugly. It is an art of attention. There was no satori, or breakthrough moment. I had the kind of experience young lovers do when, after hanging out every day for two months, it finally occurs to them they’re in love. They smile, but they can’t remember the precise moment their love began.

I realized the main thing preventing a more intimate connection to the natural world was concept — the mysterious filters our mind lodges between us and the world, at every turn, at every second, in just about every interaction. Concepts can be good: We get the concept of “mortal danger” when a car is hurtling toward us. But concepts, also a form of assumption, can neuter experience because pure sensations become impure when we judge them. Concepts are what we deploy when we ask what we can get out of a walk, rather than the opposite.

Researchers who study our brain activity while we walk use the term “automaticity” to describe how our body behaves on a stroll. Automaticity is defined as “the ability of the nervous system to successfully coordinate movement with minimal use of attention-demanding executive control resources.”

We should leverage the gift of walking to stop thinking and start doing, apparently, what walking is asking us to do — pay attention to the stuff of place, the place itself. To arrive at that point takes time, and discipline, but when it does, delight bubbles up, a “praising of the mysterious and tender touching we are so often in the midst of,” according to Ross Gay, poet and author of “The Book of Delights.” Place comes to life, any place, from the life we gave it, from attentiveness.

When I walk, I say, “Now I’m walking.” I ring a bell in my mind to get prepared. It doesn’t matter if I’m going to the store or for a lunchtime stroll to catch a glimpse of a sexy tree — I know I’m walking. I breathe. I swipe left on everything that tries to lodge itself between me and the world. Pebbles crunch underfoot. Leaves smile in my eyes. Sounds emanate from bottomless wells. The world gets younger, exalted. I see, smell, hear and feel things I didn’t before. It’s not profound, not magic, but it is impossible to tie a ribbon around.

Not everyone can walk. That capacity may be denied to us at birth, or we can lose mobility over time. But walking is, in the end, a metaphor for being, a place and time — a place-time — gifted to us.

All of us could use to find that gift.

[starcrossedyanderes]

Would Rygel take his darling stargazing?

Yesssss

I’m sorry I just love it when I get requests that fit my ‘aesthetic’. I decided to take my own twist on this request so it turned into this. Also with this picrew Rygel has much darker skin but this was the darkest skin tone in this picrew.

“We have an event tonight.”

You quirked an eyebrow at Rygel’s words.

“When did you do events?”

“I must admit I usually abhor going to such required events. But I believe we shall find this one to be quite enjoyable.”

A smile actually pulled at Rygel’s lips as he looked down at you from his 6’9” stature. You felt a phantom hand caress your cheek; no doubt from Rygel’s own psychic abilities.

“Besides I think now is an excellent time to go ‘public’, don’t you agree?”

The hold on your cheek tightened.

“I expect that it has been long enough for you to have come to terms with my.. actual identity. And with that the expectations and status of you being my moonlight. I trust that you shall live up to these expectations, yes?”

The way his mind and eyes drilled into yours had you give out a meek “yes.”.

Rygel’s aura immediately lightened up and the feeling on your cheek disappeared only to be replace by the feeling of your whole body being gently squeezed; Rygel’s form of an affectionate hug and sign of approval.

Rygel bended down to your height to place a chaste kiss on your lips as the feeling of other kisses being placed all over your face accompanied it. You even felt some of your hair be lifted up and twirled.

“I’ll have a car pick you up at 8:30 and I believe the money I have just provided you should suffice for preparing for a formal event. Oh, and do be sure to wear the circlet I gifted you earlier. It is only fitting with your status being announced and all.”

Rygel pulled away with his flowy purple hair slightly ticking you. He started to walk towards the exit before suddenly turning around to face you again.

“Oh and one more thing my moonlight. Try and make yourself look as good as you truly are. In other words, perfect.”

~|~

After hitting up the mall you finally stood in back home in front of your full length mirror striking poses. Like, dang, you look good. You don’t know if this is how good you truly are, but dang is this as close to perfect as it gets.

Except for a teeny-tiny issue. Your circlet. How does one even wear such a thing? You just couldn’t get it sit quite right, look quite right, or anything! You just don’t know how to circlet!

And of course it was at that time you heard the opening of a car door.

Crud.

You would have to fix it in the car as you only had time to grab your purse and book it down to the car before Rygel blows up the planet or something.

You didn’t even pay attention to the chauffeur who held open the door for me as you scrambled in.

Of course like the idiot you were this also meant you didn’t notice that Rygel was also in the car with you.

There his majesty sat, for the first time legitimately speechless. Even you could practically feel the change in the mind pheromones thing. There clad in his suit and own matching circlet the Emperor sat truly admiring all that is you. It was times like these he remembered why exactly you were his destined one.

His eyes even became hooded!

“Darling, you look positively ravishing. Yes, I do believe this is the definition of perfection itself.”

As you buckled yourself in your face blushed as you let out a meek “thank you.”. But in classic Rygel fashion his face returned to mostly normal as if he hadn’t just said such out-of-character things. 

It was with a slight chuckle at your positively adorable behavior that the car started up to wherever the heck you were headed.

As always the car ride with your ‘betrothed’ was almost completely silent since Rygel was never very talkative.

During this extended time you couldn’t help but to continuously fiddle with the garment on your head which just.. wouldn’t.. sit.. right! You had no idea how long you were trying to get it right before you were met with Rygel’s rich voice.

“Let me.”

You arms quickly fell down to your sides by both of your minds commands as Rygel lifted the circlet from your hair. You felt portions of your hair float into the sky as Rygel brushed your hair in certain directions before digging some pins out of his pocket. 

“I always find pins to work best at keeping these in place. I never really use them though but I try to keep them on me at all times just for cases like these.”

It is with a few flourishes of his hands that the circlet was perfectly placed in your hair.

“Rygel..I.. Thank you!”

A sudden pull was administered on your waist as you fell into his chest. A large inhale was heard as Rygel took in the smell of your hair. A smile tugged at his lips as he placed a kiss onto your lockes.

“It is no issue. I pride making myself and others look presentable. Besides, I’m sure you’ll become more comfortable with putting on a circlet later. I’ll send you some info about how it is typically worn.”

“I would appreciate that.”

You sat in a comfortable silence before you broke it.

“Hey, where exactly are we going?”

“We’re going to an observatory where some of my people are holding an event in honor of us soon leaving this accursed place.”

Rygel truly was a master at saying sentences with a lot to unpack.

You turned to face him.

“Hold up? Your people? Aren’t they all supposed to be in space or something?”

Rygel let out a hum as you felt your hair mindlessly float about you.

“Well of course most of them are indeed in space but a few like me have infiltrated Earth and have made lives for themselves. Such as my foster family.”

“Are you telling me there’s a bunch of aliens walking around us in plain sight without anyone knowing?”

Rygel shrugged as a playful smirk pulled at his lips.

“Perhaps. I mean, I did manage to fool everyone for what? 18 years?”

At his remark you let out a few mumbles which only earned you a smile and pat on the head.

“You truly think the most hilarious things, my dear.”

~|~

“Isn’t it a bit much to.. float?”

The two of you were currently going up the stairs to the observatory with your small hand being engulfed by his slender, graceful one.

“Absolutely not. It is a show of status and is simply much more enjoyable than walking. I will never understand you humans. Why walk when you can simply float everywhere?”

“Because we can’t float.”

Rygel frowned slightly at that. 

“Ah, yes. Pity. Really moonlight what ever would you do without me.”

“Walk.”

With a smirk you rose right up to him. His smirk seemed to widen even more once you clung to him to catch your balance.

“This.. is weird.”

“Just wait until you try dancing like this. Actually, stay like this on me for the rest of the night. I would hate for a small accident to occur.”

That was a lie and you knew it. He just liked you like this. But even so you couldn’t imagine how you would ever be able to dance on this invisible floor beneath you.

~|~

“Is that his imperial highness?”

“He’s so tall.”

“And so.. pretty...”

Rygel let out a quiet sigh only you seemed to hear.

“And all of the sudden I remember why I don’t enjoy such events.”

You had to agree with his sentiment once walking past an uncomfortable amount of gazes. How did they even know who you both were?

It’s probably because you’re the only two wearing circlets and floating that high off the ground. Curse that fancy headpiece!

The two of you began to walk deeper into the dome where the large telescope could be seen.

But you were quickly interrupted.

“Oh! Your imperial highness! How wonderful it is to see you!”

You could tell by the change of Rygel’s aura that his mood had quickly soured.

“Ah, Devah.”

Out of the corner of your eye you could both see Rygel’s strained smile and 2 glasses floating your way.

As the glass landed in your hands Rygel slightly turned to you.

“This is one of the main sponsors of the missions on Earth.”

Devah put on way too cheery of a smile as he hissed out a whisper; as if he was making sure you could not hear.

“And is it alright if I ask but what exactly is a human doing here?”

Rygel’s golden eyes flashed as his grip tightened on you and his mind readied for a strike.

“She is my mate. If you are not as dimwitted as I thought then you should know that things such as species has no effect on who a person’s mate is. Human or not, she is your empress and you shall treat her as such.”

As the aliens face paled it dawned on you that Rygel may be invisibly choking like in Star Wars.

“Y-yes, my apology your imperial highness.”

Rygel raised a purple eyebrow at this as the man jerked into a bow as yellow energy surrounded him.

“Highness?”

“Y-yes your imperial highnesses.”

Rygel actually let out a smile at this.

“Much better. But I think we’ll just leave you like this for the rest of the night. Perhaps it will help you remember your status. Come now, my darling.”

You were pulled away from the bowing alien by Rygel’s long strides towards the large telescope; the focal point of the room.

As Rygel peered in and gave some slight adjustments to the machinery you took a sip from the glass in front of you only to pull back in shock.

This was a new taste for sure. Despite scowering your mind’s attic of a memory you could not place such a taste anywhere. You were honestly kind of scared to ask what the drink was made because of the possible response being blood.

And you kinda needed to know if this was alcholic.

“Um.. Hey, Emperor?”

Rygel let out a mere hum as his only indication of hearing you as his psychic energy caressed you.

“What exactly is this drink? And is it alcholic?”

Rygel let out a light chuckle as his golden eyes continued to look through the lens.

“Don’t worry, it isn’t alcholic. I know you technically aren’t of age to drink here but you’re always more than welcome to. Beauty of world domination and all.”

You hated how he says such awful things so eloquently.

“What you are currently holding, my dear moonlight, is a drink that is drived from one my home planet’s natural fruits. I believe in your language it would be pronounced as the xoqub fruit. Care to look?”

Rygel pulled away from the telescope to give you your turn at the stars. As your eyes peered in you continue your questions.

“How did you even get that stuff here? That has to take forever to ship out.”

“It does take quite a bit to get here but it is admittedly faster than transporting life forms. We actually do a mix of getting some delivered, growing it ourselves here, and just using food replicators.”

“HOL UP YOU GUYS HAVE REPLI-”

“If you point it more this way you’ll find what you’re looking for.”

Rygel prematurely interrupted you by moving the telescope slightly.

“This is the closest point this telescope can get to our planet. It can be seen far past this point.”

You were the one to actually shut yourself up as you stared deeply at that tiny little point.

“It’s really that far away?”

“Yes. It is at least a one month journey to reach there. We will also have a few days added on as we will be making a few stops along the way for various things and your own enjoyment.”

You looked up from the vast before you.

“My own enjoyment?”

“This will be your first time into space, yes? I figured you could at least see some of your new territories. I also have some things to take care of at these places anyway. We’re mainly stopping at the Europa colony and this area by the Kupier belt. After that it’s a non stop journey.”

You turned to look back at all the stars.

“It’s weird.. to think I’ll be riding through the stars and going to places humans have never gone before. But it’s all so.. pretty.”

Rygel hummed as he took a sip from his own glass. 

“And all that ‘pretty’ shall be ours, my moonlight.”

[smoulderingocean]

Osblaine Week Day 2: Headcanons

My list is long (though far from exhaustive haha- I could really go on forever), so it's under the cut. May we be blessed with more details in the future so we don't have to keep headcanoning them.

Holly is left-handed, just like her Uncle Josh. Nick is deeply moved by this small connection they share, feeling as if Josh lives on in her.

Nick and Holly's birthdays are both in February and are just a few days apart, with Nick's birthday coming just three days after hers. To him she is the greatest possible gift that he could ever receive. And the closeness of their birthdays has a deeper meaning too- his Mum and Josh had August birthdays that were just a few days apart.

Nick's family couldn't always afford it because money was tight and it was hard to get time off of work, but every couple of years they tried to visit Mackinac Island for a week in August to celebrate those August birthdays. Those handful of summer visits are among Nick's most cherished memories because it was the only time that his family was truly happy.

Growing up Nick was really close to his Mum. She was a very gentle, kind, and sweet person, and raised Nick to be the same. She was the head and heart of their household. When she died the Blaine family fell apart. Nick's father and Josh both struggled to function, falling deep into a pit of depression and spiralling further after they were laid off. Seeing no other alternative, Nick, himself deeply depressed, stepped up and tried to fill her place. He never felt like he was enough, because no one could ever replace his Mum.

Because he took on the head of the household role at a very young age, Nick's natural caretaking personality grew stronger, something that follows him for the rest of his life and is part of why he is such a good partner and father.

June sleeps cold while Nick sleeps hot. One night, very early on into their relationship, Nick wakes and looks over at June. He can tell from her face that she is cold and not entirely able to relax enough to sleep more deeply and get enough rest. So Nick gets out of bed and gathers his spare blanket from his trunk, tucking it carefully around her. After a few minutes, he sees June relax and fall more deeply asleep. When she awakens a couple hours later, very well-rested, she is deeply moved by the simple gesture. A gesture that hadn't been given to her in years. From then on Nick has the extra blanket out for her wrap up in. It's unspoken, but to both of them that blanket belongs to her.

Nick is a night owl while June is a morning person. This dichotomy works really well within their relationship as it allows for balance. In the mornings June wakes up early and goes for her run, then gets the kids up and going while Nick makes breakfast. Then at night Nick puts the kids to bed and stays up later than June to read, listen to music, watch tv, or just sit on the balcony and relax.

June enjoys the mornings because they're a new start, while Nick has a harder time with them because getting everyone up and going and out to where they need to be means they'll be apart for most of the day. Meanwhile Nick enjoys nights more because it's a winding down- the family is together and able to spend some quality moments with each other. At night Nick is most able to take care of everyone; there are no burdens or expectations, just love. The nights are peaceful and calming for him. For June, the nights are challenging because she finds it difficult to wind down- she enjoys being busy and being on the go, and the nighttime family rituals are the opposite. Together, Nick and June manage to balance each other out- June's drive and energy get Nick going in the mornings while Nick's tenderness and unwavering support help June wind down and relax at night.

Together, they sleep really well because they feel safe and so their subconsciouses are able to let go and relax. Without the other they struggle to get enough rest.

Nick is the cuddler of the two and really craves those moments in their relationship. The quiet warmth and comfort means so much to him and it's what he really looks forward to each night because he feels safe and loved.

One of June's favourite things to do is to watch Nick read. She finds it -the glasses and the lips pursed in concentration and the emotions on his face- incredibly sexy and she often finds herself unable to resist temptation and ends up distracting him, which Nick enjoys immensely. Nick also knows that she finds the whole thing erotic and so he puts himself into situations where he knows June will notice just what he's doing.

When they were living at the Waterford house, Nick never had to say that June was welcome to read his books, the acknowledgement that she was free to choose went unspoken between them because Nick knew that she didn't need his permission and June knew that she didn't have to ask; it was a natural thing because his apartment is was close to a home that she had in Gilead (he's her home) and so those books were as much hers as they were his.

In the Boston Globe they finally got to spend a lot of real downtime together. There they found many books, dvds, and cds that had been long-banned, left forgotten in the hastily abandoned office tower. In their free hours together they got to be a normal couple. In those hours they found that they both had an unapologetic love for Harry Potter and they enjoyed getting into enthusiastic debates about the subject. (Also, they both agreed that Nick is a Hufflepuff and June is a Gryffindor.) June loves Friends, while Nick teases her that it was before his time and that he preferred Glee, which June hated because she thought the singing was terrible. Both share a love for boy bands, with Nick's music tastes being more varied than June's and he introduces her to many good songs. Both are avid readers, but June is especially and Nick reads each and every book she hands to him.

Together they learn all sorts of things that accompany a normal, happy relationship; June can't cook worth a damn while Nick is skilled at batch meals like soups, stews, and chili. Nick loves coffee and tea equally (he's especially fond of a good Hong Kong-style milk tea, the kind his mother use to make) while June is exclusively a coffee person. Nick's favourite chore to do is laundry and June is amazed to find out that he'd often take the laundry off of Rita's hands whenever he could as she despised it. Meanwhile June's preferred chore is doing the dishes, because she doesn't contribute by and so she likes to do her bit by washing up.

In the Boston Globe, Nick finds a copy of "What to Expect When You're Expecting" and reads it in its entirety, an action that makes June cry from emotion.

While in the Boston Globe, Nick does everything he can to fulfil June's pregnancy cravings, including trading his valuable illicit liquor for her beloved Twinkies. He loved being able to do that for her because it made her smile and Nick lived for those smiles.

Both Nick and June share a commonality of being bookworms as children, a trait that they pass down onto Holly. Their favourite weekend family activity is a trip to the library.

June was in the 'in' crowd in school while Nick was more of a loner and was very quiet. June ran track and was on the swim team, and was good enough to get a partial scholarship to a good school where she majored in English. Nick never played any sports (though like all good Detroit boys, was a big hockey fan and knows how to skate, and Nick's parents, especially his father, were such big fans that they gave their sons hockey-related middle names- Joshua Gordon [after Gordie Howe] and Nicholas Stanley [after the Stanley Cup]) but he excelled at English and social studies. He couldn't afford to go to university, something that broke his father's heart as he wanted to give Nick the chance to go that he never got. (Josh meanwhile, was very artistic and was particularly good at photography- one of Nick's prized possessions is a print of one of Josh's photos. Like Nick, he couldn't afford to go to school.)

After getting into Canada together after getting Hannah out of Gilead, June and Nick and their family move from Toronto to Kelowna, finding great comfort in the mountains and also appreciating that it helps Hannah recover from what she's lived through as the mountains are comforting and familiar to her.

My biggest crack headcanon is that Nick and June have the same blood type (O+) and it was Nick's blood that was donated to help June after her haemorrhage. Nick volunteered and this action was seen as so good and so 'godly' that it was a small element in pushing Nick further up the ladder. He knew this, but selflessly gave her his blood anyway, because it was the only way he could help.