#another novel by urs truly <3

[graysongraysoff]

sometimes i just remember that my dream for like. most of my life. my entire education. was to be a published fiction writer. like as my job. lol. lmao.

[screech-bling]

i finished TSATS a couple hours ago and i have a lot to say on some of the shit it’s been getting (keep in mind, i truly did not care abt solangelo before this novel… so this isn’t even coming from a solangelo stan)

TSATS SPOILERS

on nico’s characterization:

- before reading TSATS, i was the FIRST person to complain abt fanon nico. i’ve always HATED when ppl make him dark humor-y and proud and stuff bcz he literally grew up a catholic in 1930s. in the HoO and lowkey ToA era, his ass was NOT frequently making gay jokes and “lol i’m so dead inside” jokes

- i like how in ToA we get to see him be slightly less brooding than in HoO, bcz it shows us that he’s evolving as a person (kinda like real three dimensional human beings tend to do)

- in TSATS, with him now being in a healthy relationship and a safe environment, i think it’s fair to assume he’s changed. i would say the change was fast… but he’s a teenager, and coming from another teenager… im a completely different person than i was 3 months ago so honestly i can 100% believe it

- the one nico characterization thing i didn’t love was his talk w/ piper (and the lil nas x thing but i like to pretend that didn’t happen) … it was pushing it. but i’ll allow it bcz i imagine it could be beneficial to some kids… just wish that same message could’ve been conveyed through will or something?

on will’s characterization:

- i don’t think it’s fair to say he was just “dumbed down” or being an asshole… he was in tartarus. and he spends 90% of the book being injured or severely exhausted.

on them being cringe:

they’re teenagers and it’s a middle grade book. if ur gonna tell me u wouldn’t have said that kinda shit in ur first or second relationship as a teenager… ur fuckin lyin.

on them being a percabeth “rip-off”:

honestly, i truly thought this was the case until they started genuinely bickering. that’s when i realized that they’re a completely new archetype to the riordanverse… a VERY fresh and nuanced one at that.

- love for percabeth comes easy, percy’s bullshittery is endearing, annabeth’s know-it-all-ness(???) is endearing, they’re obsessed with each other 100% of the time. even when the other does something stupid it’s always “i was annoyed, but i love them so much”.

- for solangelo, they have moments where they are genuinely just annoyed and frustrated with each other because- say it with me now- they’re three dimensional!!! not every couple is percabeth, not every couple has to be percabeth, and not every couple should be percabeth. they’re very sweet (they’re my favorite ship in all of riordanverse btw), but also pretty unattainable and rare in the real world.

- i also think it should be noted that percy and annabeth went through a lot of their trauma together vs. will and nico, who didn’t experience most of their trauma together… so instead of it bringing them closer like percabeth’s might, it puts a strain on them.

in conclusion: TSATS is my second favorite percy jackson book. (my first being HoH)

⭐️ ☀️

[dukeofdelirium]

you're my fav kataang blogger so i need to give u a fanfic rec i've been OBSESSED with.

their user on tumblr is @quillthrillswriting i think and their ao3 is @/quillthrills but like,,,,, their kataang dynamics are PERFECT they have one abt teen aang and another one where aang is the good dad he should be and like..... its just so so good you need to read them and give ur review PLSSS <3 🫶

I actually read a few of their fics last night! I love the portrayal of kataang that they have, and I especially love any kataang being parents content. I also thought it was funny that they took the whole zvtara trope of Katara having to escape Aang (🤢) and then flipped it on its head bc yknow what? We as a ship fandom deserve it after all we deal with lmao.

I have yet to read the Teenage!Aang fic that’s multi chapter and I haven’t read their one shot titled I’m No Longer A Kid, but I will when I get the time! Maybe tonight 💛

There’s truly so many amazing kataang fics to be found on ao3 and fanfiction.net (that’s the site I wrote my first ever fanfics on and yes they WERE kataang fics). We have some truly amazing artists and writers for this pairing <3

If you’d like recs of my own for kataang, I read a couple last night in addition to the author’s you mentioned. Exchange of Wrath by ArmageddonGeneration was incredible (3 chapters) and a one shot From the Moon to the Ocean by the same author. I also recommend literally any kataang content from chocomd on ao3 and they have some zukaang fics too if you ship that. Highly rec Without Water, Midnight Meditations, and Drag You Down, all are kataang fics!

Hopefully I’ll have the time eventually to write a kataang fic myself! I haven’t gotten around to writing anything for them on my ao3 account, but one day I will 🫶🏻 only gotten to post my twilight fics on there and have tons of WIPs and working on original novel too so just gotta find the time to devote to kataang

[girljeremystrong]

cat!!!! hi!!!! i want to get my non-reader friend into reading. he probs won't read anything over 150-200 pages so i'm trying to find an entertaining short book. all the short books i love are essays or philosophy or things i think he could like in time but would probably find dry at the start (especially cause he hasn't read anything recreationally for years). so im at a loss and wanted to know if u have any recs for short books that are page-turners/easy to read <3 hope ur having a good day beloved xo

hello my love <3

first of all sorry for replying late but i was sleeping and then i had to go to the BANK but anyway i have compiled a little list of books i loved that are under 200 pages. there are lots of classics that are shorter and i've included them even though i think some of those would be stuff that you or him might have already read!

contemporary fiction

open water by caleb azumah nelson: THIS IS SUCH A GREAT ONE that i can't imagine anyone not enjoying. truly. it's a love story between two black young british people but it's far from a tiktok romance novel. it explores themes of race and masculinity and vulnerability and it's soft but also very real and it's wonderful. honestly if i had to only recommend one it would be this!

small things like these by claire keegan: very good and quietly hopeful story of a man in a little irish town at christmas. everybody was talking about this book last year and with good reason, it's great.

whereabouts by jhumpa lahiri: the story of a woman in the town she lives in and how it can change in a year. this is an introspective one but jhumpa lahiri is a genius so it reads very easily and it's so wonderfully written.

interpreter of maladies by jhumpa lahiri: short stories, mainly dealing with indian characters in the US. they feel absolutely universal while teaching something about culture and belonging. won the pulitzer in 1999.

how not to drown in a glass of water by angie cruz: a woman narrates the story of her life to her counselor who's trying to find her a job. it's funny and hopeful and memorable. the author is so great (she wrote another one called dominicana that is a masterpiece although is longer!)

kim jiyoung, born 1982 by cho nam-joo: the story of a new mum living in korea that explores the estrangement of being a woman and having to give up so much. it's definitely more serious but it's written very well and it doesn't feel heavy at all.

swimming in the dark by tomasz jedrowski: this one is incredible. it's the story of a polish university student who falls in love with another man in the 1980s in an obviously very repressive society. so he's in love but he wants protest and he can't ignore the struggles and the disparity around him. it's very political but also lyrical and tender.

someone who will love you in all your damaged glory by raphael bob-waksberg: okay this breaks 200 pages at 256 pages long. but it's so good. everybody would love this. it's by the creator of bojack horseman if that can be an incentive somehow. it's a collection of stories that are so unconventional and bizarre in the most incredible way. they are funny stories and sweet and absurd and sad. i really loved reading this book.

infinite country by patricia engel: the story of a colombian family dealing with deportation. it's from the pov of elena who is the eldest daughter. it's a beautiful book that deals with very real struggles and it does it beautifully.

classics

recitatif by toni morrison: very short story (about 20 pages) but so clever and so well written of course. it's the story of two women who have known each other since they were children. they lose touch and then they reconnect when they're older. one of them is white and one of them is black, but the author never tells you which is which. so it's a great story about race.

the cossacks by leo tolstoy: the story of a man who loses his fortune and retires to a cossack village. it's very russian... but it's very well written and definitely explores some of the themes that tolstoy will then explore in war and peace like the purpose of life and war and his love of nature.

white nights by fyodor dostoevsky: again very russian. but less than 100 pages long! it's the story of a young man living in st petersburg who one day meets a girl and they become fast friends. they both feel like outcasts, so together they feel like they can belong. it is actually great.

giovanni's room by james baldwin: lots of baldwin's books (both his fiction and non-fiction) are short ones actually. this one is the story of a man in paris who, while waiting for his girlfriend to get there, falls in love with a man. it's an incredible story dense with love and passion and shame and it is wonderful.

the old man and the sea by hemingway: old man tries to catch big fish after not being able to catch any fish for a long time. but also so much more than that and nobody made me read this in school so i only read it at 25 and it blew me away. everybody told me it would be so sad but i think it's actually hopeful and a little bit it is a story about community? and it tells you that there's people waiting for you to come back.

of mice and men by steinbeck: again i read it in my mid twenties and loved it. it's a gut punch. it's about two men clinging together as laborers in california. it deals with what it means to feel powerless in a tyrant world.

franny and zooey by salinger: one of the best books ever i think. franny and zooey are brother and sister and they are two young people experiencing existential doubts. it's a book about family and about growing into adults and about the alienation that comes with that. salinger knows how to write young people in a crisis so well and how to make it engaging and entertaining.

having compiled this list i now see that my tastes definitely are oriented in a certain way but i hope at least one of these can work for your friend. i tried to include all the shorter books that i have read and loved and i think that generally anyone could enjoy them, but you never know!

hope you're having a great day too!!! mwah!!

[autisticlancemcclain]

fic rec friday 21

welcome to the twenty-first fic rec friday! where, on friday, i rec five of my favourite fics.

1. Most Artists are Messy by @shipsgalore

Lance is drawing a complicated flower on the base of Keith’s wrist and it makes his lips pull up into a smile despite the panic. They’re always flowers when it comes to Lance. He uses them in everything he does, and usually doesn’t even know he’s doing it. Keith can count on one hand how many times the doodles on his arms haven’t been of flowers.

i love this one because keith & lance are just blatantly and clearly autistic. it’s wonderful. it’s sweet and fluffy and it’s a modern au, which as y’all know is my jam, and the last few paragraphs do this specific thing with sentiment repetition that genuinely gets to me every time

2. Be Alive With Me Tonight by @caesaria [EXPLICIT] [ABO]

When the Blade of Marmora requests assistance on an information gathering mission, Lance and Keith go undercover as a bonded alpha and omega pair. At first, it seems like this is going to be more like a vacation than a mission – right up until everything falls apart and they realize how unprepared they really are. Now, Lance and Keith have to fight to not only survive, but to make it out together. They’ll have to rely not only on their skills as Paladin, but the bond they’ve created and nurtured between them.

okay i gave this one the explicit warning bc there are chapters that are explicit, but tbh the scenes are skippable if that’s not ur thing. now this fic is an EPIC. truly. its a quarter million words and the plot is breathtaking, the worldbuilding is iconic and the romance is like HOLY SHIT. this is a novel, and better yet its a KLANCE novel, so. highly recommend if you have a day or two to read.

3. roses by @renyoi

Lance is always getting flowers for Keith, so Keith decides to return the favor--with a little help, of course.

written for prompt #4 of klance valentine's week!

keith is hilarious here. just in general but here especially and i love him. he wants to pamper lance so so badly and hes so straightforward and earnest!! and allura’s character in here is also excellent. i will leave u with this one line from the fic that made me laugh it loud: “ The next day, the sun rises to Keith Kogane, dressed all in black (that’s all that was clean, okay?!), loitering around in front of Alluring Blossom, the 5-star-rated “I’ve never had such a delightful bouquet delivered to me in my entire life!” flower shop of a woman named Allura Altea. Keith automatically trusted her because he loves people that also have alliteration in their names. “ king. love him

4. here it comes by rideahorse

Keith watched a lonely droplet of water fall from Lance’s soaked bangs, curving a path over the bridge of his nose and then pooling—almost teasingly so—at the bow of his lips.

“I feel like I won, for some reason,” Lance said quietly.

what have i told yall about fics from 2016!!! this fic made me SMILE and im not usually a fan of like senior year of high school fics but holy shit!! holy SHIT!! this fic had me smiling and kicking my feet and losing my mind. i will leave u with the note i put on my bookmark (spoiler warning):

a couple things: 1. “lance is a bad influence” and “lance is a pretty princess (tm)” are god tier tags so thanks for that 2. keith with a tongue piercing. must i say more. 3. i miss keith gyeong that was an excellent era 4. the couple tattoo moment had me taking a Moment 5. here’s how i imagine the aftermath of this: shiro: i saw u ditched prom. are you okay? keith: yeah actually! lance convinced me that we have to have a wild final night, so we went to a High School Party (tm), i decked a guy for lance and your honour, we panic drove away, went skinny dipping in a pool, got caught, ran away naked for two blocks, went to sonic in another town, got matching tattoos, fucked in the backseat of my car, and watched the sunrise :)) shiro: shiro: shiro: shiro: i’m sorry. what were those last parts keith: yeah i know you really like sunrises we probably should have invited you :// but it was kind of an us thing i’m sure you understand :) shiro: KEITH

anyways i laughed

5. if silence was a song by @angstinspace

“It’s … Your show is on so late at night,” Keith tries to explain, as if Lance didn’t know this already. “I guess I was just wondering why that is.”

A crackling silence answers him, and Keith’s stomach sinks. Did Lance hang up? Keith can’t exactly blame him.

But then he hears Lance make a noise––a short huff of breath that might have been either an impatient sigh or a quiet laugh … Keith has no clue.

“That’s the reason you’re calling? To complain about my time slot?”

or, Keith starts anonymously calling Lance's college radio show and develops an unexpected crush.

@catnippackets did a comic of this i believe, and it literally never leaves my head. yall know the trope where one person gets a phone call and halfway through they sigh wistfully and say “god i wish you were here” and then the other person smiles so viscerally it can be felt through the phone and they say “look behind you” and theyre THERE?????? that makes me lose it every time. i love this fic

that’s it for today!! i’ll see y’all back next friday for the next fic rec post!!!    

[orviposition]

HERE is how solo leveling anime can and will benefit orv as well; a short list made by yours truly

Number 1: They're both korean webnovels with a manhwa adaptation and more often than not they go hand in hand. If you see one solo leveling post, regardless of the social media, like on twitter tumblr reddit tiktok etc etc, 9/10 orv is going to be brought up in one way or another

Number 2: the manhwa is done by the same studio. that alone makes them half-siblings / siblings by another mother, if you will

and last but not least my most powerful point of this list, Number 3: sung jinwoo is objectively hot, and do you know what fans like to do with hot characters? they ship them with others. after a group of fans who like to ignore the semantics of power scaling and bait questions like "but can he beat goku" they'll take refuge to our lord and savior AO3. and what is the most famous couple in solo leveling ao3 you might ask?! well I'm happy to answer: it's sung jinwoo x kim dokja.

now picture this. you're a new fan. fresh out of the latest anime episode, you finished screaming about it on your main platform so you head over to SL ao3 and see, a new name. who is this kim dokja? you ask yourself. is it a character that appears later on in the novel? out of curiosity, you read SL (manhwa and/or novel) and realize that, oh, kim dokja is Not a character in SL at all. and then you google his name and *gasp* kim dokja is the main character of a whole nother novel with much better plot and character dynamics??? people in that fandom have also said that this novel changed their brain chemistry for life??!!

TL;DR you can't help but start reading orv as well after catching up to orv manhwa. ur welcome!!!!!

[sunfortune]

been thinking about your thoughts on book lovers since ur blog became emily henry discourse night. i’m someone that likes emily henry books but i think the issue is the stories she’s telling are like litfic or women’s fiction stories but then she has to like fit them into a romance novel. so like book lovers is this really tender story about the like trauma of grief and having to raise your younger sibling and like shaping your life and career around that to the point of unhappiness, even years after that shaping became unnecessary, shoved into this little teehee premise of like wouldn’t it be so silly if the heartless big city other woman from the hallmark movie got a small town romance teehee. and i’m not opposed to a romantic subplot OR a flat out romance novel but in book lovers the romance unfolds in these weird almost gimmicky ways around the heart of the story which is the sisters. so then it becomes like hey why are you here. about the romance. in the romance novel. anyway sorry about this i just couldn’t get it out of my head or figure out how to articulate my thoughts about it until now. all love<3

i agree! in both of the books i’ve read of hers (book lovers and happy place) i think she has very compelling main characters. (in happy place i felt genuinely moved by the main characters pov and her problems with her parents. and in book lovers i really had high hopes for the way her character was described before the execution killed it) BUT then the romance doesn’t have the same draw. and isn’t incorporated into the book in a way for the connection OR the tension to land. (happy place was a bit better than book lovers tho) if it was chic lit or the romance was a subplot it would be different. but the issue with emily henry is her books ARE romance novels at the end of the day. so when the romance falls flat…the parts that are admittedly done well can’t really make up for that. -for me at least!

also i think another thing is her main characters are very interesting but No other character truly is. including the love interest. which is what truly hurts any sort of connection. like i have read and watched sooooo much mediocre NONSENSE (i’m self aware) that i have a drive to want better for bc the interpersonal relationships in them just /slap that Hard/. but in emily henry’s books that concept is nonexistent. every relationship you see play out on screen, including the friendships (looking at happy place) do not pack a punch. at all. they never have me on the edge of my seat hoping for a resolution or happily ever after or whatever

which is why these books don’t even make me mad when they’re not good. bc i don’t Care about any relationship to be like i wish this was better </3 they deserved more </33. i’m just perplexed by why these books keep getting lauded as the pinnacle of contemporary romance. when they are Nothing of the sort

[supersoakerfullofblood]

Back with another question hehe. brace for ramble.

so. i was reading about povs and narrative styles and what not, and the person had to mention, of course, that of Virginia Woolf where she manages to jump from the stream of consciousness of one character to another expertly without missing a beat.

The person went on to subjectively add that that style isn't for everyone and best avoided unless you've mastered the craft (do you agree? why why not?)

But that's not the question. My concern is that i may have done this in one of my WIPs. but here's the thing, i assumed what i was doing was omniscient narrarion (i remember it as following the streams and thoughts of ur characters and being all-knowing kinda) but according to the same thing I read, the person claimed that with omniscient narration, while u do move freely, u are sticking to/favoring one character more than others, because too free a movement will confuse your readers. (what's ur two cents on that too)

I realize as I type this that I might need to share an excerpt of the WIP for you to actually see where the pov/style falls exactly (is it truly omniscient, or am I failing at being another Virginia (who I recall in Mrs. Dalloway for instance, she only followed the consciousness of like 3 people), or is my work utterly hard and confusing to follow?)

so for now imma wrap up and have u share ur thoughts on what i blurted. Thanks for putting up with my long rants yet again lol

I think that might've been my post, because that all sounds eerily familiar hahaha

One thing to remember with Woolf is that not everyone is a fan of her style. By all the formal metrics with which we judge prose, she's an incredible writer, but that doesn't mean everyone has to like her stuff. Her prose is thick, and the frequent POV shifts (so many shifts that the novel feels liquid where others feel solid) is inherently confusing. Woolf gets away with it because she has damn good reasons for employing it (highlighting the liquidity of institutions and individual identity under modernism; showing how each person is inherently a collection of the people around them, and there's very little, if anything, immutable about a person; etc.), and her prose is so mind-bogglingly gorgeous that she convinces the reader to stay with her through the POV shifts. Once you really get into Woolf, these shifts become part of her delight, but for a lot of people, this liquidity in narration erodes their enjoyment of her novels, and they put them down (which is fair, though sad). When I said writers should probably avoid writing like that unless they've mastered the craft, I meant that the average writer isn't nearly strong enough in the craft of prose to get people to read something with Woolfian POV shifts, and that the average writer probably doesn't know how to even write those shifts. (This includes me. I tried to write in a truly Woolfian POV style, and it was awful. Third person limited for me!)

I definitely can't gauge your writing without seeing it, but I would say as a blanket statement not to worry too much. I don't know if it's possible to accidentally write the POV Woolf writes with haha, and if your story has a main character/protagonist, that character is probably your central viewpoint character, whether you know it or not. Your story might be confusing to follow, but that isn't inherently a negative. If the prose is strong enough, readers will put in the extra muscle to understand the story (think of all the To the Lighthouses, Infinite Jests, and In Search of Lost Times out there, books known for being daunting but beloved). If you're still worried, though, there's nothing wrong with revising until you're happy with your POV. Just know that nothing is ever inherently wrong in writing, and you can make anything work if you grease the prose's wheels.

[hollyhomburg]

hi  I hope you are  doing well  mentally and physically, hydrating and eating well and having a less stressful writer's  life as it could be.

you are one if the first writers I followed when I joined here and i just thank you for putting forth ur impeccable writing and heartfelt peices. as a writer and reader I truly admire you (so much so lately that I have ditched my jane austen novels for the time being)...the way you decribe everything...it brings me peace happiness and joy. after a tiring day when i read your works it never fails to refresh me. 

I am an absolute fan of BILY. The way you have beautifully described everything from how delicate yoongi  us with y/n to how Tae feels about the others and about him being Trans and how jin cares everyone, it makes so soft and blissful and I love it.

I haven't finished BILY but my favorite line in probably: "She would savor every moment, every new inch of skin she was allowed to nip at and claim. She could nibble and suck on the skin around the flowered hem until bruises bloomed around it and make you a bouquet of moans, a garden only for her to touch and love and lavish with attention."

I hope you have a nice day and whenever or whe or wherever you are reading this I hope you know who beautiful and wonderful you and pretty mind is .

~your admirer🌸

ps I m sorry if this is too long...I tend to get carried away sometimes and I accidently sent this to another writer so I apologize for that as well😅❤

ahhhhh i saw that <3 kinda a little lowkey funny but! thank you for your super sweet message! i'm so happy that my work has becomes something that you look forward to helping you relax after a long day, it's funny cuz its also similar for me to be honest, when i check back in and see what you guys have enjoyed in a day it makes me feel very idk??? worthwhile???? this takes alot of effort but you guys make it worth it!

dang that is a good line, i love it when people send me the lines that they enjoy because then it gives me something to kinda like go off of if that makes sense <3

have a good day too anonie <3

[ge]

hiiii, ge! <3 sorry to bother youuuu, but i started reading rotmhs the other day because of your posts and i had a question! i'm new to skydemonorder's tls, so i was wondering if their paid episodes work the same as webtoon's? as in. are they sort of early access and you have to wait longer to read them w/o paying or are they locked forever unless you pay? truly sorry to bother you with this!!! but thanks in advance! <3 xoxo

hellooooo my love, yupp the paid for chapters are just early access however u dont need to pay for them if u dont want to, skydemonorder updates everyday/once every other day and when they do that, they unlock their oldest early access chapter and make it available for free readers and add a new locked chapter to the bundle so yeah its basically just like a queue..if ur impatient and dont want to wait a day for a new free chapter to unlock, thats pretty much all the paid chapters are there for

HOWEVER if youve reached sdo’s early access chapters and dont wanna have to pay or wait, theres another tl that ive had recommended to me recently! mylasteds tl to my knowledge is just an edited mtl…? but ive been told its better than skydemonorders somehow AND it goes all the way up to chapter 800smth and its all free iirc.. i hvnt read mylasteds tl yet so im not sure how good it is tho so i cant vouch for it

edit: scrolling thru mylasteds chapter list and the first chapter thats posted is chp83..? so u shld have read up to there in skydemonorders tl before jumping to mylasted.... unless if uve already read season one of the webcomic and dont feel like rereading all of that again, s1 of the webcomic leaves off on chapter 117 of the novel so u can jump to that chapter if needed

[pointlessresistxnce]

i aint ever seen two pretty best friends before - an intro for james potter

name: James Fleamont Potter birthday/age: March 27, 1960 ; 16 house: gryffindor year: sixth

James Fleamont Potter is loud, proud, and honestly a bit stupid. It’s something that has followed him from birth. Even as an infant, his screams could be heard all around the house. And, it was quite a big house. More rooms than he could count on his fingers, (You can find him joking about how he barely has more fingers and toes than his house has rooms, a not so very humble brag). Growing up as an only child to Fleamont and Euphemhia, he was keen to receive the doting care from his mother and father, even his grandparents throwing their love into the lot from time to time. What he sees as a blessing, others see as a curse.

As a child, he was every much a brat that people would stereotypically apply to an only child. He was unaware of how much space he took up. From his voice, to his attitude, all the way down to his limbs. He would enter a room and make SURE everyone knew he was there. Whether it be from a joke, a pout, or making a comment (mostly rude) about someone else in the room. Even with all the stares, glares, and comments, he never saw it as a problem. It was simply who he is. And if you’ve got a problem with it, then I guess you just won’t become one of the few elite enough to be considered his friend.

Hogwarts was a whole new playground. He quickly found solace in his three new friends: Sirius, Peter, and Remus. The three brothers he had wished for since he was young. It was a big boost to his ego, as well. These three boys that stuck by him, had a few similar opinions, and cared for each other. They were the first few people he realized he would die for. His early days at the castle included three things: passing classes (but not top of class), playing quidditch, and being an absolute nuisance to anyone and everyone that managed to cross his path.

Compassionate. A word not usually thrown towards James. But one he knew he was capable of. It slipped through the cracks, in moments he wasn’t ever ready for. A first year struggling to get through Charms, a third year missing a few too many goals during a Quidditch match, a horrible, horrible prank gone wrong… There are moments or pure kindness that seep through. Is there a voice deep down telling him to do it just so he will have something good attached to his name? Well…. that’s a question he doesn’t quite want to answer.

James doesn’t know many things about the future, about this war, about how he’s going to manage to graduate and make sure that he and his friends make it to the age of twenty. He’s more focused on living in the moment, creating a life worth remembering and sharing. Maybe falling in love, as well. Someone he can share the miscellaneous rooms and hideaways in the mansion that would only ever be inherited by him.

HEADCANONS:

James Potter is dumber than a doorknob. You can ask him what he had for breakfast the day before and he couldn’t tell you. He is, what you could say, a himbo. He is truly not the best in social situations because of this. Unless he is comfortable with you, there are awkward silences, jokes that only he laughs at, and much more.

Don’t even THINK about touching his chocolate frog cards. He earned them, through the stomach-aches and hundreds of repeats. And perhaps a few (handfuls) of frogs themself were passed along to Remus. No one has to know that. A small part of him hopes to one day be on one of the cards when he’s old and wrinkly.

He doesn’t give a shit what you think about him. Truly. You could stand there and call him and idiot for HOURS, and he’ll just nod along. Maybe do some reading. If you turn that same attention towards his friends? You’re done for. Meet him outside. You’re on his shit list for life.

Also… Yeah if he’s in a really bad mood he’s a bit of a bully. He has a slew of petty hexes under his sleeve, mostly just to give himself a laugh. He doesn’t always think of the consequences. He doesn’t think of any consequences. Like. Ever.

James Potter desperately needs glasses. Practically almost legally blind. Thick ol’ lenses. Is he self conscious? Perhaps. Will he tell you? Fuck no.

he absolutely detests hair gel of any kind. Keep it far away. Don’t even try.

James IS smart in the classroom though. He has a brain that just absorbs knowledge and tactfully separates it into files. He can tell you almost verbatim what McGonagall had said about transfixing a pen into a knife back in third year. But still. Barely remembers yesterdays meals.

He truly believes McGonagall is his third grandmother. That’s it. That’s the headcanon.

James’s love language is touch. He is tactile, almost to a point of annoyance.

if u read this far make sure to like, subscribe, and comment ur fave ice cream flavor !

[ceramicdove]

i wanna do ice breaker question in ur inbox too. whats ur fave music genre, what is ur favorite book, favorite food?

Wonderful ice breakers, because I actually don't have a concrete answer to any of these! You hit the jackpot!

I really cannot pick a genre...but according to my Spotify stats, you'll most commonly find me listening to different pop subgenres (K-pop, indie, electro, art pop), a weird little array of alternative music, musical soundtracks, video game OSTs and orchestral scores!

2. BOOKS....oh heavens. You are talking to the person who notoriously does not really have a favourite book. I'm just a bitch like that. Sorry. So no favourite book to gush about. That doesn't mean I haven't read things with a meaningful impact in one way or another, so here's a few recent reads that have intrigued me, or that have left some form of a mark on me:

–"This Is How You Lose The Time War" by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone - epistolary science-fiction lesbian novel about two agents on opposing sides of a time-space war who start leaving each other correspondence and end up fleshing out a relationship that goes beyond what the war allows them to have.

I read this in two sittings and, again, not a favourite, but it was very engaging and some of the quotes still stick to me. I'd like to re-read some parts of it again.

–"un nor în formă de cămilă" ("a cloud shaped like a camel") by Alina Nelega. I need to finish this one! This one is a Romanian novel and has yet to be translated into English, but it's a modern re-telling of Hamlet following a pseudo-found-family of actors and their warped relationships and worldviews, mostly told like a stream of consciousness through the eyes of a mother watching her son's mental health spiral and decay until their relationship becomes incomprehensible, and she's trying to tell where it all went wrong. There are other types of relationships and affairs on the side that are interesting to explore in and of themselves, and of course there is the wider narrative plan regarding Shakespeare's work.

Fun fact: I made a Wataru/Eichi mini-web-weaving with one of the scenes from this book. I don't usually do that stuff, but the scene was freakishly reminiscent of one of their canon moments. I still think about it sometimes.

Some of the scenes are so neurotic that I had to read them over multiple times to digest them, sometimes they felt like reading my own mother's thoughts about me (very uncanny feeling), truly a very interesting book. I heard the final chapter is actually written from the son's perspective, and I am very eager to get to that.

–I am also currently reading another Romanian novel (sorry.) that has yet to be translated, called "Am ucis pe Dumnezeu" ("I killed God") by Carol Ardeleanu. I am still VERY early on into this book, but from what I currently gouge out, it seems like art, suicide, sacrifice, and warped perspectives of religion/achieving divinity through art are notable themes. Excited and terrified for what it might hold next.

A few other books on my little "I need to read these soon" list: Decreation by Anne Carson, Power by Shakespeare, The Decay of the Angel by Yukio Mishima, Revenge by Yoko Ogawa.

3. Favourite food! Shit! Like I said, I don't really have one, but I do have quite the sweet tooth...In recent times, I've been craving a lot of banana split ice cream, choco-vanilla pudding and pain au chocolat or chocolate croissants (the only things French people were good for).

Thank you very much for the question, Matthew 😊

[rigelmejo]

Also, I've mentioned this before but: I truly do think Listening Reading Method is at least 75% as good for learning as it claims it is.

I've never had the stamina to do an entire book with it, but the one time I did 20 chapters of Listening Reading Method with Guardian (just steps 2-3 of chinese audio with English text, and Chinese audio with chinese text), I improved a significantly noticeable amount. That was 1 month of approximately 20 chapters x 40 minutes each to listen twice to each chapter. So 800 minutes, or a little over 13 hours. 13 hours of study is not that much study time in a month. But it drastically upped my vocabulary and reading/listening ability in that small time, and I'd say for anyone upper beginner/lower intermediate (A2-B1 ish) it would give a significant improvement to your abilities in a reasonably short time frame of study (10-20 hours short study time to see a significant improvement).

The L R Method suggests more study time, at like 40+ a novel and 200 hours in a short time period like 2 weeks. I've never been able to focus long enough to test out how well it works in that recommended study time. But I've tested L R Method in shorter bursts, and any time I did it 10 hours in a month or more I noticed a significant vocabulary boost, reading level boost, and noticed listening level brought up closer to my reading level.

It's the shortest "time investment" study method I've seen that works even somewhat as well as it claims to. It's only downside is it Does require you to focus the entire length of an audiobook chapter, and then do that 2+ times for each chapter. Which for me was the hardest part - I am not good at focusing for long unless I do other things at the same time like draw or move (which I can't do when reading/listening with my full attention).

And I've mentioned this before but like. If you've got Pleco (or some similar tool), for "english" you can just click the megaphone and have Pleco read aloud in chinese while giving a word by word translation. Then read the translation in one round and the chinese in another. Or even, the quickest laziest way to do this - open up the Chinese, paste that baby into Google translate, and use the resulting English text for ur translation part. And click the speaker for the Chinese part for ur audio. An audiobook is going to be wayyyy better in quality, but in a pinch machine audio does work (I used it and it still helped). And Pleco in particular will highlight each word as it speaks which helps keep you following along. So there's reading tools out there to do this in a very easy way with very little inconvenience or set up time, if you're lazy like me and won't do it if it takes too much work. (There's also SOME youtube and bilibili chinese audiobook postings with chinese subtitles, so you can use natural audio for the step of following along chinese text with chinese audio).

[marsipspans]

i finished reading 泾渭情殇 - Jing Wei Qing Shang - Clear and Muddy Loss of Love and have several comments.

Not too Spoiler-y

- The schemes really do last all 300+ chapters and there are a lot of revenge schemes.

- Quite a few parts get pretty dark.

- It’s mostly presented from Qi Yan | Qiyan Agula’s and Nangong Jingnu’s POV.

- Wasn’t sure what to expect when the author said there was a happy ending despite all the things that happened between the main two, but it could apply. One of the better ways it could realistically end I suppose.

- “Ruse of Self-Inflicted Suffering” Indeed. Very applicable. Iconic words for this novel.

- Was enjoyable throughout. There are two Acts in the book basically and it covers the main pairing in their youth to their “retirement”.

More specific comments (w/ spoilers) under the readmore

- The amount of Times Nangong Jingnu is all “Wow, Qi Yan is prettier than woman”. The fact that the ministers in court notice that Qi Yan has not grown any facial hair despite everyone else having grown some and people thinking that she’s shaving because that’s her wife’s preference.

- Qiyan Agula’s unintended pining from the beginning to the end really did end up saving her life lol, kudos to the doting for ur enemy.

- so all three Nangong sisters had relationships w/ women at some point huh. And 2/3 stayed in said relationships. Nice.

- Was Ding You into Qiyan Agula? Was Gu Rolan also into Qiyan Agula? and Nangong Lie for a bit also?

- Qiyan Agula is canonically handsome.

- Qiyan Agula also almost dies more than a few times. The path of revenge is not kind to her. not at all. Needs more post-canon fluff. Where’s the post-canon memory recovery fluff fanfic that the people need. But also the fanfic expanding on what Qiyan Agula does w/ the rest of her life after revenge besides remarrying Nangong Jingnu in that fishing village. Throughout the novel, it seems to be implied that she actually would be a good teacher and it seems to be what she settles on in the end, but that’s because Ding You got it for her so she stopped staying inside all day and pretty much doing nothing. Story ends on that hopeful note that Qiyan Agula probably eventually recovers her memory with Nangong Jingnu, but the specifics aren’t given as the POV is more from an outside narrator than one of the two main characters at this point.

- First translated webnovel I actually finished reading and the one I’ll figure out how to use JJWXC for. I liked the premise and the plot throughout. The prose was unfamiliar to me, but didn’t end up being a pro or a con. I really liked it. Took about 3-ish weeks to get through it.

Specific Chapters

- Ch 65 : QiJing vibing by a koi pond and Qi Yan plays the Xiao. That’s kinda gay.

- Ch 76 : Damn, I wish there was a official design for Jiya. Also Nangong Jingnu almost discovers Qi Yan is a woman bc of the pierced ear, but not quite. Tender moment in this chapter. Nice.

- Ch 110 : A description of Qi Yan’s default appearances (One of the few specific descriptions in the entire thing, for fanart purposes if that ever happens)

- Ch 119 : Jiya and Nangong Shunu did what

- Ch 130 : Twins have been born under fucky circumstances.

- Ch 144 : Qi Yan and Nangong Jingnu have a playful moment in the rain. It’s cute. Fanart?

- Ch 145 : Oh, Qi Yan cried in front of Nangong Jingnu. Stress and guilt is bad for ur health.

- Ch 146 & 147 : Nangong Shunu and Qiyan Nomin did what? Oh, also the Fuma estate was set on fire. R.I.P.

- Ch 150 : Female Empress?! “I don’t want to die” - “Then just don’t lose” Oh boy.

- Ch 152 : Boom, an imperial exam. Qi Yan is only mildly treasonous in her job as main examiner.

- Ch 153 : “She had once again entrusted her fate and survival to Nangong Jingnu” just like with the fire earlier and the entire thing with Xiao Die.

- Ch 162 : That one nightmare where Qi Yan killed Nangong Jingnu cause revenge. Bad vibes for Qi Yan.

- Ch 206 : Qi Yan carried Nangong Jingnu back to her room and confessed she’s a woman while Jingnu is passed the fuck out from drinking.

- Ch 212 : Qi Yan p much says to hell w/ it after waking up from her poisoning. If u kno what i mean

- Ch 228 : Female Emperor!!

- Ch 231 : Nangong Jingnu is the empress, but there are 73 chapters left. What’s next, when will Qi Yan’s scheming be revealed?

- Ch 238 : Longevity festival or Nangong Jingnu’s birthday p much. Another detailed description of formal Imperial Husband clothing, one of the few so far also.

- Ch 252 : Agula goes to the You province. More clothing descriptions cause I like to collect those.

- Truly, the way that Jingnu is consistently on Agula’s side.

- Ch 276 : Qiyan Agula and Gu Rolan become sworn siblings and there’s a brief POV from Gu Rolan on QiJing as a couple. Jingnu trims a candle and Agula watches for a moment while lamenting that she didn’t learn painting. Gay.

- Ch 295 : The Grand Court Meeting. Reinstate the Husband. All this after Qian Tong put in that complaint. See, it pays to make loyal allies.

- Ch 296 : QiJing meets again.

- Ch 297 : “Who’s the wife” quote.

- Ch 300+ : Ding You is alive after all this time. And is back to help cure Qiyan Agula.

- Ch 302 : Even this late in the story, the schemes really don’t stop, but hm. Interesting.

- Damn, if it wasn’t for Qiyan Agula’s nice ass calligraphy, she wouldn’t have been found. Don’t like the thought of them never meeting again after separating like that.

- Extra 304 : The Masked Person’s backstory! How interesting, there seem to be some parallels between Qiyan Agula and this person.

[saintobio]

i´ve been waiting for so long to leave an ask here :d. i really love sn and its one of my favorites series rn, i really adore how you put the characters and the amount of detail and work that you put in it is the best and makes me think that this would look in the big screen or something like that cuz ive never seen a plot so messy (in a good way haha i really love the twists and development to every single character including the ones that dont play a huge role into the novel) hope i can read++

++ more of it and see what is gonna be at the end !! <33 im glad i found this work ( ill tell u my final thoughts at the end of the series or at least at the end of the 1st season haha)

@japanesevenom said

saint holy shit it’s been a while since I’ve caught your inbox after reading a chapter and I’ve got to say…. I’m speechless I having nothing to give apart from tears and the broken pieces of my heart god damn I mean we knew it all from the start but I’m still really hurt by the revelation honestly you’re going to give me a heart condition it’s not healthy for my heart to hurt this much I feel like It’s caged in metal im crying

But oh my god I love sad desperate satoru it’s truly questionable how much I reread his reaction to the divorce announcement and now to this something about men when they’re begging for forgiveness and professing their love that hits different well I love u

Damn… at least we had lots of fluff on his birthday now we got to figure out custody of the baby my god

Anonymous said

This isn’t really an ask but thank you so much for writing Sincerely Not, I never knew a post that I happened to fall upon at 3 am one morning would take over about 4 months of my life. It’s crazy that it’s coming to an end and I’m excited to see what you have in store for us readers !! Take care 💛💛💛

Anonymous said

im nervous for sn2 omg >///< also tmi was listening to this song "i love you so - the walters" and reminded me of sn ❤️ thank you sm for the great series saint!!! i hope ur getting enough rest stay safe 💟

Anonymous said

i haven’t been able to interact or read the latest chapters because of uni but just wanted to check in! hope you’re doing good and that your days are well Saint!

-🦢

@natsukashii-ai said

Yayy!! finally! i just wanted to addressed your AMAZING work for “sincerely not” wow such a treat 💖 keep the good work sweetie ✌🏻

Anonymous said

i havent written an ask in so so so so long because i know you have a lot on your plate and didnt wanna add to it but i just want you to know that your works are absolutely amazing, ik you hear it from many people already but i just wanna say i appreciate you a whole lot. you stories are fucking amazing i dont know how many times I've reread all of them already. sincerely not keeps me going lately its something that i look forward to every week something that makes me wanna get up everyday 😭😭 i love u and ur works so much words arent enough!!

@sin-with-quiche said

I just want to say I'm a huge fan of this story. I love everything you put into it. The thought, the dedication, the love. I'm sure us readers can feel all of it. I recommended this to my friend, and she absolutely loves it too. We fangirl & discuss about the story! I swear to God, you have first class material to make this into an excellent drama! Do take care of yourself, and don't mind the negative remarks. I love you & your work so much!!! <3(btw I sent another ask long ago, hope u read it!)

THANK YOUUUU SO MUCH 😭😭😭 sn1 is ending soon and i’m really grateful for the love u guys have given this series <33 i appreciate the feedback and support !!

[wistfulrat]

im sorry if u dont do fic recs u can ignore this! ive been seeing ur reblogs n its kinda putting me back to mdzs mood (i thought i was over this sike to me ig) n if u have any fics uve read n liked id gladly take any 🤲

oh i love this for u!! im def new here so i haven’t actually read a ton but my fic finding method is currently —1) ask @lanwangjigrumpyfacecollection what i should read bc their taste is immaculate and i always end up crying at whatever they rec 2) after reading a particularly excellent fic, comb thru that author’s ao3 bookmarks, rinse repeat etc—and that hasn’t failed me yet :)

anyway here’s a list of my faves so far!

The Roots Grow Riotous by hansbekhart - 104k E a fashion industry au from LWJ’s pov. immersive, devastating, poetic. i could probs write an essay-length reflection on this shit. felt genuinely rearranged after reading it. a stand alone novel in its own right. a beautiful exploration of grief, loneliness, despair, horror, etc. like, come for the lovely wangxian dynamics and them being hot, stay for the revelatory LWJ character study that had me in fucking tearsss by the end. truly deserves to be read widely just for how singular and cinematic that third act is.

Three changes. by orange_crushed - 18k M for someone who reads so much angst i could choke on it, i love to recover with distilled tenderness, no hurt all yearning etc. and this is the blossoming of summer love cql-lecture-arc the boys deserved. peak comfort fic mentally i am in that lake scene. young terrified-of-love LWJ my beloved!!

Say So by @lanwangjigrumpyfacecollection - 15k E feat. a sex-cursed WWX incapable of playing it cool. LWJ is not not pleased. more importantly who is doing it like feelsforbreakfast. who!!! u know i had zero intention of getting into the untamed even tho it ruled my dash for 2 years and yet the moment ffb wrote a fic? im there. say less. say nothing at all. ur always in for a tender funny horny time. it’s hot it’s hilarious it’s abt the mortifying ordeal of voicing what one wants. 10/10 re-readability.

your name, safe in their mouth by astrolesbian - 10k G [lan sizhui gets sick on a night hunt. wei wuxian comforts him. they both have a lot of feelings about it.] how to gently rip out my heart and stitch it back together in 10k words: explore literally any aspect of WWX-LSZ father-son relationship. be sure to include post-resurrection WWX feeling like he’ll always be playing catch up with lost time and the people who had to survive his death. feature a vulnerable LSZ (who just wants to be close with his undead dad) and a wary WWX (who doesn’t know if he deserves that closeness). im still emo abt this

Pentimento. by orange_crushed - 73k E [Former best friends Lan Wangji, paintings conservator, and Wei Wuxian, art handler, meet again and realize... neither of them were actually in unrequited love.] immaculate setting, i read it for that reason alone. loved LWJ’s pov in this—reserved, self-conscious, observant, sad, suffocating with unspoken desires etc. but it’s the final paragraphs of the last chapter that got me. thee loveliest surprise and such a satisfying close to the story.

A Very Star-Like Start by hansbekhart - 3k E short lovely soft perfect. the extended cql wangxian lotus lake boat scene we deserved.

All that is solid melts into air by huxiyi - 18k T was absolutely taken with the premise of this fic bc 1) i love angst 2) i love seeing a bitter/sad/angry wangxian in their older age making amends 3) i love thinking about the class dynamics in CQL, WWX’s robin-hood streak, all the villains having origin stories that amount to a lack of status, and the breakdown of relationships because of these dynamics. everything is a sad mess but it will be ok!

No night as deep as my night. by orange_crushed - 17k E another orange_crushed bc well. if u find a good author it makes sense to work thru all their fics. anyway this one is a post-nightless city au. wwx on the verge of death. lwj desperate to save him. equal parts dark and lovely. idk how to explain it but i feel like orange_crushed excels at using a fic setting to build emotional landscapes that completely expand ur understanding of a character. this one in particular feels like a love letter to the burial mounds, homes made out of dead things, personified darkness, etc.