#anyways i thought i'd make a sequel to last years <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[sharkyisashark]

.ೃ࿐

Aight, two stories in one night :') Couldn't think of any ideas, so I went to chat gpt :') It actually cooked today, so I thought I'd make a timebomb story based off of it. <3

(chat gpt prompt) Thought it'd be super cute if it was based a few years after season 2's ending. So Jinx has been "dead" for a while. Ekko has his suspicions she was alive, but the letter sort of just proves it. The last piece of evidence. Anyway, enjoy!

Ekko was sat looking silently out of his stained glass window. Looking quietly out at the large tree, it's long branches creating soft shadows that draped through the room. In his hands was a letter, no name, no address... nothing. He at first thought it might've been from Vi, considering she usually visited him, often to catch up, or help Cait with a case... But now, he wasn't so sure. Vi's letters were never this... ominous. Ever since the war, things had been... good? Piltover had somewhat created peace with the Zaun now, and things were probably the most peaceful they'd been in years. And yet for Ekko, he just felt... lost. Like a part of him was missing. It drove him insane. He finally got what he wanted, hadn't he? A happy ending. He could relax, and be with the people he cared about. But, he had to realise what the problem really was eventually... He had to realise who this was really about. Jinx. The girl he cared so much about, the girl who had deserved another chance.. was gone. There wasn't a goodbye, there wasn't even one last glance. She had just... slipped from his fingers, vanished from his life, within an instant. He'd been sort of living in shock for the first few months, things had felt all.. weird, dreamy. He couldn't process it, she was gone..? She couldn't just.. die? Even when Vi had told him, the person he'd trust with his life... he still couldn't believe it. He wouldn't. So he didn't, wasting years of his life on some fantasy that she was still out there... somewhere. And he just needed to find her. But never the less, he grew out of that. Forcing himself to recognise how much time he was wasting. He gave up, there was no finding a dead person. He'd spent so long trying to go back to normal, to forget about her, to move on. And when he finally did. He finally felt okay... he finally felt like himself, like he could be released from whatever turmoil was stirring inside of him... This damn letter arrived at his door. He spent days putting it off, he knew it could never be... from her. But he just felt- scared? Excited? Terrified..? Eventually though, Ekko did what any rational person would do. He opened it. His fingers trembled around the paper, chewing on his lower lip as he tugged the card out of it's casing. Stunned as a colourful variety of confetti erupted from inside of the note... settling itself over his desk. There must've been some... event in Piltover, some invite... surely there was something- He felt himself pale slightly as his gaze landed over the page however, soon realising that there weren't many words spread across the paper, maybe a few "hello"s scribbled in blue pen, and rather large "Boom!"s written in red... But it was enough to make his head spin. Those familiar scribbled monkey faces, or quirky little stick figures, drawings of people he could recognise from miles away. It made his heart hurt, this had to be some cruel joke...? Some delusional prank. But he knew otherwise, he'd learnt to memorize the childish lettering, the bright colours... everything that made Jinx... Powder. The part of her that was still in there... the part of her he fell in love with. With an exhaled breath he hadn't realised he was holding, he read over the only coherent text; on the bottom of the page. 'see you in a blink?'

Words cannot explain how fun this was to write <3 I'm thinking I might turn this into a sequel? Tell me what you'd think of that! Anyways! Requests are always open annddd join my community? It's new and we need members, just for chatting and making arcane friends :) Community invite .ೃ࿐ - sharky 🦈

[sequinsmile-x]

Flickers Like a Streetlight : Chapter 1 - Last Supper

Despite everything, despite the evidence of the things she’d endured, Ian had pleaded not guilty to the charges he was faced with, so they had to go to trial. His violence had always been behind closed doors, a secret he’d forced her to keep as he took away everything and everyone she’d held dear, but now he was making it public. Forcing her to let others in on what she had spent over a year trying to move on from.

She knew it was one final attempt at controlling her, at brutalising her, but this time with an audience for his sick and twisted game only he knew the rules to, the privilege of the privacy he’d once allowed her ripped from under her feet. 

A Young Hotchniss AU, and sequel to Burn Forever

Chapter 1/3

-x-

Hi besties,

Hope you are all okay <3

I've been wanting to do a follow up to Burn Forever ever since I wrote it. I love writing Young Hotchniss, and knew there was more I wanted to do with this version of them. With Easter coming up, it felt like the right time to do this! All three chapters will be up between now and Easter Sunday (y'all know I love a theme.)

Please note the tags for this fic, and if you haven't read Burn Forever I'd recommend reading that first, otherwise this might not make much sense.

I really hope you enjoy this, please let me know what you think - AU's are always anxiety inducing!!

-x-

List of tags are on the master list

Words: 3.1k

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

She wakes up with a gasp, her hand around her throat as she sits up, the heavy arm over her waist slipping down to her hip as she tries to catch her breath. It burns as she tries to breathe, the smell of whiskey and smoke she knows isn’t real lingering in the air around her, choking her as she sucks in precious air. 

It takes a minute or two for her to calm down, for her breathing to return to normal, and for the smell of Aaron, the smell of home, to overtake the remnants of her nightmare. She turns to look at him. Even in the darkness of their bedroom, she can make out the slope of his nose and his relaxed brows as he sleeps. He’d want her to wake him up; he always did, but she wants him to sleep, to rest before the long week ahead of them. His alarm would go off in an hour anyway. She smiles to herself, taking the time to lean in and kiss his cheek before she slips out from his loose embrace. 

She blows out a shaky breath as she heads downstairs. She wraps her arms around herself, shivering against the cool spring air in the house. She bought this place shortly after the Christmas that changed everything, the bruises Ian had left behind almost entirely faded, a lingering ache in her ribs as she toured it for the first time. It became her sanctuary - the place where she’d found herself again after Ian had chipped away all the parts of her she thought she’d never get back. Aaron liked to joke that the reason she picked a place on Dupoint Circle was because of how close it was to the Christmas markets - everything about her favourite season just a short walk from her front door. 

Aaron didn’t move in until after that second Christmas, a whole year after their first kiss and the promise they’d figure everything out together. He’d kept his apartment until he officially moved in, even though he spent most of his time at her place with her, always happy to take things at her pace - to let her lead. She was grateful for it, grateful for him, and she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to tell him just how much. 

She makes a cup of tea and sits in the living room. She pulls the cashmere blanket she’d bought him as a thank you for kindness she wasn’t used to a lifetime ago over her lap, and she tries to relax, to shake off the final dregs of her nightmare that were still lingering. She touches her throat, focusing on the warmth of her own skin instead of the phantom roughness of Ian’s. 

“Sweetheart?”

She’s only half surprised when she sees Aaron standing in the living room doorway, his hair sticking out in different directions, his pjyamas rumpled from sleep. She smiles at him, her hand falling into her lap, and she clears her throat, chasing away the ache that she knows isn’t real.

“Hi,” she says, “Did I wake you up?” 

He shakes his head and walks over, joining her on the couch and slipping under the blanket as she lifts it for him. “You know me, I’m an early riser.” 

She hums, seeing through his lie but not questioning it, and rests her head on his shoulder. “I…I woke up, and I didn’t see any point in going back to sleep. I thought I’d let you stay in bed until the alarm.” 

Aaron turns his head to kiss her forehead. “Nightmare?” He asks, and she nods in response. “The same as usual?” 

“Yeah,” she replies, swallowing thickly as she looks down at her cup of tea, her gaze focusing on the steam coming off it, “My therapist said to expect it, but I thought she was being dramatic,” she smiles tightly and looks at him, shrugging her shoulder to try and convince him, and herself, that it wasn’t a big deal, “I think the trial…it’s brought it all back up.” 

Despite everything, despite the evidence of the things she’d endured, Ian had pleaded not guilty to the charges he was faced with, so they had to go to trial. His violence had always been behind closed doors, a secret he’d forced her to keep as he took away everything and everyone she’d held dear, but now he was making it public. Forcing her to let others in on what she had spent over a year trying to move on from. She knew it was one final attempt at controlling her, at brutalising her, but this time with an audience for his sick and twisted game only he knew the rules to, the privilege of the privacy he’d once allowed her ripped from under her feet. 

No matter how much she tried to be ready for it, she felt unsteady, woefully unprepared to sit in a courtroom with him whilst his defense team tried to excuse everything he’d done to her. The prosecution had walked her through it - had told her what they knew was likely to happen. They’d make her seem crazy. Claim that she was having an affair with Aaron the whole time in an attempt to make Ian’s infidelity seem reactionary, and the violence that followed nothing more than an act of passion to avoid the attempted murder charge he was up against. They’d say it was a one-off, something she was worried about since she’d never reported any previous violence to anyone. Everything that had happened right up to the moment he wrapped his hands around her throat was something that had happened in silence. 

He’d tried to kill her, to silence her once and for all, and she wasn’t going to let him win, wasn’t going to let him silence her now that she finally had her voice back. 

“I’ll be there the whole time, sweetheart,” Aaron says, kissing her forehead again before he pulls back to look at her properly. “I won’t leave your side for a second.” 

She smiles tightly and nods. “I know.” 

“Want me to make you something to eat?” He asks, and she scrunches her nose up, her stomach turning at the thought of eating anything. He smiles softly, love and adoration pressed into his dimples as he runs his knuckles lightly up and down her cheek. There was a time when she would flinch any time he came close to touching her face, unused to the gentle affection he never seemed to run out of, but she would lean into it now, seeking out the warmth of his skin against hers. “You need to eat something, Em. It’s going to be a long day.” 

She sighs and nods. “Okay,” she says, blowing out a shaky breath, “You’re right. Something light, though?” 

“I got that granola you like especially,” he replies, and she smiles at him, unable to stop herself from leaning in to kiss him, her lips quickly stamped against his. 

“I love you,” she says, kissing him again, “So much.” 

“I love you too,” he replies, kissing her before he tugs her against his side, letting her sink into him so she can take everything she needs from him, lending all of his strength to her until she found her own again, all of it hidden away under sharp and suffocating memories, “We have some time to just sit here for a while, if you’d like?” 

She nods, knowing the moment she gets up, reality will kick in, and they will start getting ready to go to court. “I want to stay here forever.” 

___

There are still Christmas decorations in the waiting room.

She stares at the slightly threadbare tinsel and the pre-lit tree that had seen better days to distract herself, to pretend the other patients around her weren’t trying to act like they weren’t looking at her injuries, at the bruises that were fading but still visible. 

Aaron had offered to come with her to the doctor’s office, but she’d assured him that she was okay. He had to go back to work, and she didn’t want him to take time off just for her - not for something as simple as a check-up. She also wanted to start to try and regain some independence, to not feel like she needed him by her side just to function. She loved him, and she wanted to build a life with him, but she didn’t want their foundations to be this, to be built on her reliance on him. 

“Emily Prentiss?” 

She looks up as the doctor calls her name, and she smiles, crossing her arms over her chest to protect herself from the intrigue of those around her, her eyes fixed on the ground as she follows the doctor through to her office. 

“I’m Doctor Blake,” she says, smiling kindly, almost too kindly, as they take their seats, “I understand you’re here for a follow up from a trip to the ER last month?” 

“Yes,” she says, hating how her voice shakes, how she feels Aaron’s absence sharply, “I…my ex-boyfriend…” 

“It’s all here in your notes,” Doctor Blake says softly, and her understanding makes Emily clench her fists. Broken and sharp nails dig into her palms as she tries to redirect the anger inwards, furious at herself for not even being able to say it outloud. “Have you had any concerns about anything?” 

Emily shakes her head. “My ribs feel better, and my throat does too, and the bruising is almost entirely gone,” she says, looking down at her hands, running her thumb back and forth over the cresents she’d left behind with her nails. “The burst vessels in my eyes still look pretty bad, though.” 

“Those can take a while to heal,” Doctor Blake says, standing up and pointing towards the small bed in the corner, “But they should, in time. Let's have a look at your injuries just to check it’s all looking okay.” 

She nods, but hesitates before she sits on the bed, her cheeks tinged with embarrassment at the thought of someone else seeing bruises only she had seen. Even Aaron hadn’t seen them. They were taking things slowly. He was endlessly patient with her, kind in a way she’d forgotten people could be, and she wondered if he’d ever figure out that she wasn’t worth it. 

“Would you feel more comfortable if someone was here with you?” Doctor Blake asks, and Emily shakes her head as she smiles tightly. 

“I came alone,” she says. “It’s okay. Let’s just get things over with.” 

She tenses as Doctor Blake gently touches bruises and still-healing ribs, each second feeling like a lifetime as she holds her shirt up for the examination. 

“Everything is heading in the right direction,” Doctor Blake says, her kind smile flashing across her face again as Emily lets her shirt fall back down into place. “Just make sure you’re still taking it easy with those ribs for now. No heavy lifting for a few weeks.” 

Emily clears her throat. “I wondered…” she swallows thickly, “Can you organise an STD test for me?” She hates how embarrassed she feels, how humiliated at the mention of it, another indignity that Ian had caused her, but she wanted to be safe. Not just for her sake but for Aaron’s too, since she knew they would be heading that way eventually. “My ex…he was cheating on me as well as…” she laughs bitterly, “As well as everything else. I just want to make sure I’m okay.” 

“Of course, we can get the swabs and blood tests done today if you’d like,” Doctor Blake says, making notes in her file. “We’ll test for everything so you know where you stand, okay?” 

Emily blows out a shaky breath and nods, feeling like for the first time in months she was taking back control over something in her life. 

___

She overthinks her outfit. She knew all about the perception of the perfect victim. If she wore one of her suits from work, she’d be too serious, and the jury likely wouldn’t take to her. If she wore something too casual, they wouldn’t take her seriously. She’d felt paralysed by it, had stood in the closet for too long staring at all of her clothes until Aaron came in and helped her. He hadn’t chosen for her, but instead helped her narrow it down to a couple of options before he left her alone to choose for herself. She’d settled on a pair of slacks and a dark green blouse, but as she stands outside the court, she’s unsure again, anxiety that was easier to pretend was about her outfit settling on her shoulders. 

“Em?” 

She turns to look at Aaron and forces a smile, her hand tight around his, “You won’t leave my side for a second?” 

He smiles at her repetition of his promise just a couple of hours ago, and he nods, squeezing her hand in place of leaning in to kiss her like he really wanted to, like he would if they were anywhere other than standing outside the court house. 

“Not for a second, okay,” he promises, “I’ll even follow you into the bathroom if you like.” 

She laughs, a genuine, beautiful laugh, and she shakes her head at him, “I think we can draw the line at that.” She looks around, makes sure they are alone, and kisses him quickly. “Thank you.”

He furrows his brow. “What for, sweetheart?” 

“For making me laugh on today of all days,” she says, rubbing his lower lip to remove the remnants of her lipstick. “I don’t think many people could do that.” She smiles and then turns back to look at the court, her breath stuttering in her chest as she tries to breathe. 

“You’ve got this,” he says to her, winking when she turns to look at him before they start to walk up the steps. “You’re the bravest person I know.”

She chuckles humourlessly, “I don’t know what that says about the people who are supposed to keep you safe at work every day.” 

“I mean it,” he says, his expression becoming serious as they step into the court house, “You are so brave, Em,” he says, keeping his voice low so only she can hear him, a last moment of privacy for the two of them before the day truly began, “And no one can take that from you.” 

She nods and squeezes his hand one last time before they go through security. One of the guards recognises Aaron from his days as a prosecutor and the few times he’d come here since as an expert witness for the FBI. He makes polite conversation with him before they move on and are directed to the court they need. 

The prosecution greets them, and they sit just behind them. As soon as they are sitting down, Emily wraps both of her hands around one of Aaron’s and holds on tight. She recognises some of Ian’s friends, and the woman she’d walked in on him having sex with, but doesn’t cast them or the jury a glance, staring ahead instead - her gaze fixed on the back of the DA’s head. 

“All rise for his honour Judge Walker.” 

Her hands shake as she stands up, but she covers it, her grip on Aaron tightening as she looks up. The judge looks serious as he introduces himself and addresses the jury, his brows furrowed the entire time. She clenches her teeth and swallows thickly, pushing down any emotion she knows she can’t afford to feel here, her therapist's and the prosecution's words ringing in her head, the absurdity of her having to be the controlled one not lost on her. Ian could hit her for months, could almost kill her when she dared to leave him, but she was the one who had to keep it together now. 

“Bring in the defendant.” 

She hears the chains first, the rattle of them signalling his arrival before he’s brought in. When they were still together, she used to know the sound of his footsteps. A built-in defence mechanism that would let her know when he was near, her shoulders and smile tight as she did whatever she could to keep him calm and happy. She looks at Ian as he walks past her, her eyes meeting the blue eyes she once drowned in, a treacherous ocean she’d pulled herself out of. He stops and smirks at her, and she has to stop herself from reacting, from flinching as he’s tugged towards his lawyer by the correctional officer. He looks over at her again, winking just before she looks away, her eyes briefly closed as she gathers herself, not wanting him to have anything close to the upper hand. 

She’d escaped. He would answer for what he’d done for her. She has to believe it’s true, has to believe that they’ll walk away from this in a week or so’s time with him going to prison for a long time, because the alternative was too much to bear. She didn’t think she’d ever feel safe if he was walking the streets. She’d see him around every corner, in every shadow. The delicate safety she’d found in the last year and a bit would be gone in an instant if, somehow, he was found innocent.

She doesn’t have to look at Aaron to know he’s angry. He’s tense, his body so tightly wound up she’s surprised he doesn’t snap in half. He grips her hand for a moment before he loosens his hold on her. She looks at him, and he’s glaring at Ian and his lawyer, so she squeezes his hand to get his attention. When their eyes meet, his anger immediately fades away like it always did. He never got angry in front of her, an overcorrection because of everything she’d been through, and she wondered how long it could last. How long he could hide bits of himself from her before it started to break them. 

She barely has any time to think about it because the sound of the judge’s gavel makes her jump. She shakes her head at herself and smiles tightly at Aaron when he silently checks on her, his thumb running back and forth over the heel of her hand. 

“Everyone, please take your seats,” Judge Walker says, cutting over any further attempt Aaron could make to ask if she’s okay. “This court is now in session.” 

[softlypaintedseafoam]

okay, so now that i've officially decided to split my ace wip into two stories... once i get those out of my system, i think i'll focus on my non-op related wips. 2 from jjk and 1 from jjba; 2 of those will definitely be faster to work on than 1 of those

(jjba) bucciarati fic

(jjk) faerie au pt 2

(jjk) body horror au

click under the cut if you're interested in hearing more about those...

i'm pretty most people here follow me for my one piece fics, buuuut i am a multifandom writing blog so there's plenty i want to write for other fandoms. but there are 3 i want to get out of the way before adding more to my plate

bucciarati fic

this fic or the faerie au fic will likely be the first of the three posted

but yes, finally my first jjba fic proper. i've been wanting to write one for while. fun fact, this fic was tied between bucciarati and mista for the romantic lead but i ended up going with the former because mista seemed like a character i'd write for the most and i wanted to experiment outside who i'd typically write for

it's still mostly in the bare bones outlining stage though and i'm still detailing what will be completely included in this story

for now, i'm planning to do some research on naples to really get the atmosphere right

faerie au pt 2

a sequel to this oneshot and the fic that has the most likely chance of being posted first, but inspiration might really come in for a different fic and it could be posted second

i really wanted make a continuation of the prequel after all the tension it ends off on and delving more into the faerie/court politics that were touched upon

i also want to have a section on gojo's pov that i think will be in the introduction

body horror au

now this fic is going to be a hefty big boy. it's presently ~4k+ words but i'm still not halfway done with it yet. this is a wip i've been working on since last year and the only one i have that is still being written in google docs because i am actually working on something special as a fun little bonus and the formatting i want to achieve can't be done with present state ellipsus. but i'm looking so forward to you guys seeing it once it's done and out in the world

i've thought about saving it for kinktober since this is my first real chilling work, but i'm not sure i'll be able to last that long... we'll see though, we will definitely see

this is also my first time trying my hand out at writing anything horror related, so it's definitely a challenge in that regard. it's really focusing more on the thriller aspects than it is the body horror but it will still be there; things will be tagged accordingly once it's up and ready to be shared so definitely mind them, it will be 18+

once i get at least 2/3 posted (which i put 2 because the body horror fic is going to be so damn long that idk when it will be finished), i'll probably tackle two other one piece wips i have one of which is already in progress

one is for sabo and the other is for that hot ass marine from fan letter. the older brother with the brown hair. smh he just had to be a marine but i gotta get it out my system jndjnfkjnf. he at least gets ONE fic from me. it'll honestly probably only ever be the one, but who cares. he deserves it. and yes, i will be giving him a name for the fic bc idk if i can write a whole oneshot with him being nameless

the sabo fic is going to definitely be funny. to me. it's definitely going to be funny to me jfdnkjfsn at least, one part in particular. that fic is going to have a workplace annoyances to lovers thing going on, which is definitely different from my usual fair. most things i write have friends to lovers in it or the reader and character are already on good terms even if they aren't friends

i think i only have one fic (csm) where they're initially indifferent to each other if not occasionally annoyed to start. y'all know what tropes i like by now lmao

anyways- spring break is coming up soon, so that'll hopefully give me plenty of time to write to my heart's content. we'll see what gets posted during that time

[allwaswell16]

hi loove!! how's you doing? what are you working on now, like any fics soon? what should we expect and when? cause I love your works soooo so much !!💕

Hi, anon! Thank you for your kind words about my fics! I just posted a Tomlinshaw ficlet today actually, though this ask might have come before that posted. I've been busy all day and am just now getting a chance to answer asks. Anyway, I have some ficlets to write for the project I'm doing which is this and it's linked in my pinned post, too!

So like I said I wrote and posted the first one, and I have 3 more to write for that project at least so far. The prompts I'm doing are so different from one another, which is a lot of fun for me! And one is a sequel to a fic I never thought I'd revisit lol, but I'm happy to do it for a good cause! And I actually think it's going to be fun because the prompter had a great prompt for it!

I'm also writing a fic for @1dalphalouisfest which I'm excited about because it's very silly and involves Louis having an odd pet. lol

I also wrote a fic for the 1d Omegaverse Fest which is going to post on June 21st oh shit that's next week already?? It's a sickfic where alpha Harry inadvertently rejects omega Louis as his soulmate and the soul bond rejection makes Louis very sick. I'm not sure if I've ever had more fun than I did writing that fic and I'm not sure what that says about me. haha

I'm definitely writing...something for the @louisrarepairfest but I don't actually know what yet. Last year I wrote 3 fics for that fest lol, but maybe I'll keep myself to one this year. I have this other longer fic idea I may be want to start later in the year so I might do that as a wip or something just to try it because I've not really ever done that before.

So I suppose that's my year in writing planned out! Thanks for asking, anon!

[mistwraiths]

3 stars

I really thought I'd love this more than I did and that makes me far more disappointed.

I'm fully under the belief that using the comparison of The Mummy movie and Rick/Evelyn type romance is misleading. Rick and Evelyn are a top-fucking-tier level couple and Inez and Whit are so nowhere near them that it makes this book look and feel poorer for the comparison.

I didn't enjoy the small split POVs that were Whit's sections that lasted anywhere from a sentence to a few pages. They didn't do anything to give me a deeper connection or feeling to Whit and felt unnecessary.

The writing was good, it was fine, and reading this book mostly didn't feel like a chore until about 340ish pages when the novel felt like it should have ended. The pacing, however, dragged so much to the point that I didn't care about anything anymore. It took almost, if not more I can't be certain, a 100 pages to get our character to Cairo. And then another chunk to get elsewhere. Things felt slightly better once at the excavation site but then when the book should have ended, everything dragged on and on to I guess get some cutesy moments between characters who don't have an ounce of chemistry and some danger moments.

The repetition really was one of this book's worst offenders. Over half this book it's just Inez demanding to know what happened (to be fair she totally deserves to know) and everyone telling her to go home. It happens again because Inez doesn't use her brain once and makes a situation worse. There's other repetition in this book and a lot of telling but not showing.

Despite the fact that Inez is supposed to be investigating her parents' death, there's incredibly little investigating going on? It's mainly her demanding and someone eventually telling her something. When Inez literally finds out her mother is literally alive, I was just like oh okay.

Inez falls very quickly for Whit despite the fact that he literally doesn't tell her hardly anything about himself. She finds out he's engaged and she's mad at him for not feeling the same way at times? I didn't particularly like them together and honestly it could be because the story and characters are boring and some things just doesn't make sense.

Inez is nineteen, telling her the truth about literally ANYTHING would have drastically changed this book. I don't quite understand why they kept her from Egypt her whole life? Like everyone was like it's so nice and safe here. We're told her mother would help out around the campsite/boat and prank people but we're then told she hardly left Cairo so which is it?? Why is Inez so surprised her parents aren't who she thought they were if she doesn't see them for 6 months of the year?

Also, the magic in this book is confusing. Magic used to be a thing but now it isn't, but there's artifacts of magic but also sometimes the magic can latch on to you maybe??

Anyways, that ending is definitely a hook to get someone to read the sequel. But I'm not interested.

This wasn't a bad book and I can see why people would enjoy it. I think I hoped too much for murder mystery, Evie/Rick, and lots of Egyptian things and honestly nothing really delivered.

[katzynia]

Oooh, games! Thanks @there-must-be-a-lock for tagging me <3

Rules: Go to your published works on AO3 and list the first fic you ever published there, the last fic you published, any fic that you wrote for a fandom/ship only once, your favorite fic you wrote in the fandom/ship that has the most works, the fic you wish more people read, the fic you agonized over the most, the fic that sprang fully formed from your mind without any effort, and a work you are proud of—for whatever reason.

First fic published on Ao3: Signs of life, published 14.12.2022. It is more of a dribble, but for me, it was the first piece of fiction writing I've done in something like 15 years.

Last fic published: Straddling the line (in discord and rhyme) - my first pure pwp, I think it turned out really well!

Fandom/ship I only wrote once: I've stayed pretty firmly on my lane; I have only one fic that is not Jayde: (Be)longing which is for Games of Thrones (yes, got fic in year 2022, I just felt like it). Incidentally, it is also a wip, but I do plan on finishing it some point...

Favorite fic in most popular fandom/ship: Aaaaah, this one I thought a lot 'cause one way of the other, I like all my fics. But fine, I'll go with the most popular one: Let it fade, let it linger. I honestly think it's good. It's the first one I plotted and really thought over just by myself, the premise works (even still) and I thought it was pretty nice and tight on how the plot went. I could blather on about this one for a very long time, but I am fond of it.

Fic I wish more people read: strangers looking from afar (getting closer) Seems like Arkham AUs are not very popular. I wish more people would read it, 'cause I had such alternatively fun and horrible time figuring out how Jason and Slade work in that universe. This one cooked in my head for a long time before it was ready to be written, and I think it turned out pretty good.

Fic I agonized over: Ah, this was easy to pick: Every piece of you is easily the most difficult time I've had writing. First I thought about the idea itself for months before I actually started writing, then pushing every chapter out was slow and it didn't feel like flowing at any point (except the last chapter, but that I'd mostly written in plotting/planning stage). It didn't go the way I've planned and is one of the examples where I meant to write some smut and then couldn't (didn't feel like it). It was also one of those things that kinda pulled me down, nagging at the back of my head that 'you should finish this fic, you failure'. Doesn't help that I had a bit of a difficult time IRL at the time... Sigh. Anyway, I really like the last chapter and the first chapter. And the rest isn't bad either. Doesn't read as agonizing as it was to write :D

Fic that popped out fully-formed: Think a little clearer This one I wrote literally in one sitting in my notebook. The editing was just writing it to word with minimal edits, it just flowed. Goddamn joys of writing :D Might have something to do with the fact that it is a sequel to the first must I ever did, and I had a sense of accomplishment for publishing that. I wrote this pretty much the next day and it neatly finishes the story that was left just a little bit open in the first part. Anyway. Inspiration, my beloved.

Fic I'm proud of: Waiting (for the other shoe to drop) I am proud of many fics of mine (like Let is series), but chose this one cause this is the one where I really tried two new(ish) things: Humor and action. This is the first where I went in with the idea of making it funny (I do write kinda-funny lines here and there, but that is mostly incidental) for realz. And the last chapter is the first action scene I wrote, where it isn't just a few lines about shooting or something. Took some time and effort to figure out (for both the humor and the action), but I think it worked out well. :)

---

Task for you, if you feel like it (no pressure): @nonbinaryjaybird, @marirah

[callipraxia]

oh!!! this is a few hours later, but i also wanted to ask what the lost-but-recently-revived project actually is, because i've never thought to ask in an ask box until now. when my tablet is dead. eugh. it must've been mentioned before, but if you'd like to say more, i'd love to learn about it!!! i feel like i've been talking too much about my own things lately, and i wanna read about others', specifically yours >:] (i remember something about gideon and the axolotl, but that might have been a different project---regardless that sounds whimsy af) if you dont feel like it or anything, you can ignore this :^

The lost project actually hadn’t been discussed much, if at all; it’s a post-canon one-shot where Stan and Ford go back to Glass Shard Beach, reasoning that Stan probably needs to see the place again for the good of his memory and that Ford should probably pay some form of respects to their deceased parents. Stan has a video camera. He ends up documenting just how much everything has changed. He and Ford have Feelings about this, and then they run into someone unexpected. It’s...hardly high drama, so it probably doesn’t make sense that it’s taken this long to start rewriting it, but so it goes with my short pieces.

The Gideon thing is a spinoff/sequel to FWJB I’m considering – specifically, what happened to him after the final battle. It begins ten years later, with Gideon waking up to discover that someone appears to have recently jammed the majority of a tube of drugged lipstick down his throat. Since said lipstick would knock someone unconscious and induce mild amnesia in a much smaller quantity, it’s done a real job on him, which leaves him trying to figure out where he is, how long he’s been there, who drugged him, why that person drugged him, and, in fact, most of who he is – he knows his name is Gideon, he knows he should really not tell anyone that, and very little else. Not even why it’s so important to hide his identity.

Naturally, once he figures even a tiny bit of that information out, he promptly finds himself with even worse problems than he started with.

Other ideas...what the heck, I might as well talk about them a bit, not least to, er, document them in some fashion. Been thinking that writing them down might be a good idea anyway, so here we go:

1) You once suggested I kill Ford and make Stan have feelings about it. I’ve started that one, too; it’s the one I wrote down a lot of and then typed up and then lost...last week? Week before last? Week before last, I think. In this sad little universe, Ford manages to break his neck and die like six months after Weirdmageddon. Stan takes this poorly.

2) In other possible returns to old stomping grounds, I’m intrigued by the idea of going further into how Agent Trigger, of all people, somehow managed to slip under the radar, climb the ranks of the DFSI, and end up recruiting Dipper. Similarly, I’d like to do at least a short return to the IG Epilogue situation, if I can think of a good plot for it beyond Dipper’s initial reaction to “...did that guy really just take his face off like a pair off sunglasses and call me by name??” Plus, of course, if I’m ever in a fluff mood, I gotta write what happened when Soos made good on his promise to loan Ford the deeveedees.

3) Road trip time with Fiddleford and the Stan Twins! What could possibly go wrong?

4) So, Powers. Tell us more about how your agency spotted signals from Gravity Falls thirty years ago. What did you guys do then?

5) Writing more of McGucket’s memoirs, and/or the horror novel about the building of the Portal that I’ve had in mind, and/or a between-the-episodes incident where Fiddleford, struggling to remember who the Author was and why he’s so darn difficult to remember, convinces Tate to talk to him about the past, resulting in them going over a bunch of letters Emma-May had kept and Fiddleford struggling to figure out what was real vs what he was lying about, all while he and Tate are having feels (and sometimes explosive arguments) in the present.

6) Some college years stuff. I have vague ideas for something about the construction of the mind-control tie, and for something else about That One Time Fiddleford Convinced Ford To Come With Him To Tennessee Over The Holidays.

7) More angsty one-shots...stuff like Stan pretending to be Ford at Filbrick’s funeral, and the first day Ford went back to high school by himself, and some stuff with small Tate, and...you get the picture.

8) I will admit this only because of your current tagline – I, too, have entertained the idea that Stan has actually read Moby Dick. Specifically, that in his last months in school, he and Ford ended up in separate classes for part of the day because Ford was taking calculus or something, resulting in Stan having to take the standard-issue American Lit class by himself, and the teacher essentially annoying him into making a good-(ish; it is Stan we’re talking about) faith effort to do his book report properly...only for it to all end on the most depressing note possible, of course. I’ve told myself I cannot actually write this, but… *shrugs*

9) Early in his years in Gravity Falls, Stan visits the library. The librarian is someone he finds attractive. Somehow, one thing leads to another and he finds himself being strong-armed into helping with the town science fair, despite a) him not really being a scientist, only playing one in front of tourists and b) his very specific hatred of science fairs.

10) It is September. Everyone is going back to school. Wendy discovers that Tracey and Quattro exist. This is the one that had me complaining about how I missed the apocalypse not long ago – it’s harder to 99% ignore their infatuation with her in a lower-stakes scenario, and I have no idea how to handle that.

11) It is the academic year. Pacifica struggles to deal with her new social milieu.

12) Some other AU ideas...mostly “what if someone didn’t think of [clever thing] in time” disaster scenarios. There’s also the Better World AU, where...let’s just say it’s not a very nice place at all, at least for some people.

So, there you are! It’s...the majority of the ideas floating around my head at the moment. Some could merge together into one project. Some might not ever see the light of day. But I’ve got plenty of material to work with, just have to get my head back in order for writing, and I’m pleased to say that my head is getting closer to order by the day.

[definitelynotshouting]

62, 65, 81, 91

Ask me fanfic writer questions!

Hey Book!! :D wouldve answered these last night but as you know tumblr crashed on me 😭😭😭😭 so im answering it now instead!!

62.) what’s the weirdest reason you’ve ever shipped something?

Idk if this counts as weird per se but i straight up started shipping winteriron (Tony Stark x Bucky Barnes) because of THIS FUCKING FIC. It sold me on them SO HARD. Sometimes all it takes is one godtier fic that does everything right to get you hooked on a rarepair ✌️😔😔😔

65.) what is your favourite title for a fic you’ve written? 

If we're talking og titles i came up with myself, the title of my unpublished TES Oblivion fic is The Stars Have No Names, which ive always been fond of, especially combined with its planned sequel, But Those We Give Them-- which makes a full sentence that just sorta encapsulates the vibe of the whole thing in a way that really scratches my brain just right. This is closely followed by the piece i did for the DSMP Comics Zine, A Few E.G.G.s Short of the Full Scramble, which has multiple layers of puns loaded into it and makes me laugh like a lunatic every time i remember them

As for stuff that isnt original (aka song lyrics or poetry verses, which i steal from shamelessly), i'd have to say im most fond of sightless, unless the eyes reappear, which is the tma fic i wrote that accidentally predicted a decent chunk of the podcast's ending 😭 if i had a fucking nickel.... The verse is ripped from T.S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men" and i really loved how it just perfectly hits the vibes i was going for in that fic. Extremely on-the-nose titles are a game and brother i am WINNING

81.) if you could go back in time and give your younger self a piece of writing advice specific to you, what would it be?

"Hello tiny TJ. First of all, you are a transgender dyke. No this isnt relevant i just thought you ought to know. Anyway cool it with the perfectionism man one day people are gonna read a fic where every individual tag warning you've added is its own separate vine boom and you're gonna get tons of compliments on it despite the fact that it isnt what you consider fully polished. Got that written down? Cool. Now go forth and kiss women, peace<3"

91.) how has your writing style changed over the years?

My writing's always been pretty descriptive, but over the last few years its REALLY shifted into overdrive on the imagery. I think thats always been my biggest strength as a writer, and its something i really, really enjoy doing. As ive said in the past: if im not painting pictures with my words then what, pray tell, is the point!!!

The other thing ive noticed is that ive been dipping my toes into more experimental formatting, whether thats in regards to the story's structure (shout out to that time i planned to write a fic in reverse chronological order), the points of view (second person my beloved), different narration styles, or just the way the words on the page look-- something i know has been directly inspired by my cousin, who has an unpublished 85k Dead Space fanfic which replaces an ENTIRE CHAPTER with a twine game. The man is insane and i love him so much and one day i will bully him into finishing this fic because its not even halfway done what the fuck. Anyway thats my answer THANK YOU BOOK FOR SENDING THESE :DD

[gaybd1]

First of all, I'm soooo excited for that finished Zukki drawing. I am feral over it!! Also, could you maybe give a summary of each of your wips? I'm curious about all of them!

Thank you so much!!

Sure, I'd love to give some summaries! Then maybe y'all can PLEASE tell me what u are most interested in reading to help me figure out what I should prioritize?

The current priority is the one going by "Zuko Sees Sokka Fucked Up" lol bc @witchering10123 wrote the most beautifully painful Whumptober series about Hakoda and Sokka just Going Through It and I wanted to write the last two entries from Zuko's perspective when Sokka gets found because I think that would be so good and I love pain and suffering!!

Let's see... Modern Taiwan AU is the one I'm most excited about! This will be a long one and I've never written a modern AU before but basically it's based on SKAM (particularly season 3 of Druck) so it's like a cute trans love story BUT it is also going to have a LOT to do with Taiwan's ghost month and is going to be kind of inspired my Marry My Dead Body hehehehehe

Toxic Jetko I just posted about but basically it's my take on if Zuko and Jet had tried to make things work but it really just wouldn't have. It IS based kind of note for note on a real relationship I've had in the past because the dynamic was way too Jetko and I was like wow wouldn't that be a great fanfic actually

(how terrible it is) to love something death can(‘t) touch is a FUCKING. VAMPIRE AU!!! and it's so so so far from being ready but it's uhhhhh basically like if IWTV was about Zukka and Izumi. So there is some Divorced Zukka in there and also references to asshole Zhao in flashbacks... It's going to be angsty and exciting, but probably also pretty long

i will not be great, but I’m grateful to get through is a very niche sequel to if i fade away (the awful things we do to make the head go quiet) because that is a Dead Dove fic with a cliffhanger ending and I'm excited for the healing that we will see in the sequel but it does deal with heavy shit so I haven't been super quick at writing it. It does fix the Big Problem we saw in the first one though.

ZAtD Katara Arc - So when I wrote Zuko Amongst the Dragons I rushed it a bit too much and I love the universe that has been created for it so I want to go back and revisit some stuff. I skipped over the Puppetmaster and the Southern Raiders episodes in the plot and I thought it would be cool to write something with that like a deleted scene where Dragon Zuko is with Katara dealing with these terrible things

ZAtD Izumi Epilogue - I couldn't fit this into the main story BUT I want to write like a 5-10 years later snapshot of Zukka so happy with Druk and Izumi and kind of revisit how Zuko is dealing with his humanness, and is he the Fire Lord or nah?

ZAtD Divorce Epilogue - This would be way later but I'm obsessed with the idea of Divorced Zukka BUT with their psychic connection from their Dragon Bond and like what would happen any time they get into a room together hehe

ZAtD Extended Torture Scene - This is just because I had so many ideas for when Azula interrogates Sokka at the Boiling Rock that I left out of the original fic bc it kind of disrupted the tone but I DO like whump and angst so I WOULD like to finish what I had kind of wanted for that scene muahahaha

So yeah anyway, any opinions on what I should try to finish and publish first???

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

We're about a month away from the release of WISH...

Walt Disney Animation Studios, and by extension the whole dang company built on this cartoon bedrock, celebrated their 100th year yesterday... ABC aired ENCANTO, in addition to the world premiere of the short film ONCE UPON A STUDIO (which apparently has now been chopped off of WISH and will debut elsewhere), and an edited version of the WISH trailer... Nothing pertaining to the future was unveiled...

(By the by, I don't have cable, so... I didn't get to see ONCE UPON A STUDIO. Sadface.)

You'd think, for the company's 100th anniversary... That there'd be *some* word on what was coming up next from Walt Disney Animation Studios?

Their new movie is in theaters next month, and we don't know what the November 27, 2024 release from them is...

By now, we usually know what's next... For example:

WISH was first unveiled in September 2022 at the D23 Expo, which was a little over a year before the movie's target release date.

STRANGE WORLD, by contrast, was announced a little under a year before its release. That film was revealed to the public via the trades and Disney themselves on their socials.

ENCANTO was revealed in December 2020 during the company's Investors Day event, that less than a year before it came out.

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON was another D23 reveal, the August 2019 one to be exact. At the time, RAYA was set to be a Thanksgiving 2020 release until COVID-19 complications pushed it to March 2021.

This, of course, does not count the rumors and scoops. Sometimes, various sites get news on Disney animated movies before Disney themselves say anything. For example, long before Disney announced RAYA in August 2019 to the public, scooper sites were revealing info like "WDAS' next movie is DRAGON EMPIRE". I sometimes heard stuff from the trenches, which was always fun. I remember little snips of what ENCANTO was going to be maybe a year or two before announcement? STRANGE WORLD is interesting because not only were scoopers saying a movie called "Searcher Clade" was coming, but the Venture - the airship the Clade family and the explorers use to reach Avalonia's insides - was Easter Egged in the ENCANTO credits. ENCANTO debuted just a few weeks before the announcement, not even...

So yeah, I thought I'd look at the patterns of their recent releases. We're definitely well beyond the days where you'd hear about things 2-3 years in advance. Remember how ZOOTOPIA, a March 2016 release, was first unveiled at the 2013 D23 Expo? Fun times.

I'm guessing we'll hear about this new WDAS movie, reportedly an original fantasy story set in the Middle East (is this Suzi Yoonessi's film?), either right before WISH comes out... Or maybe a little after. Maybe current world events pertaining to the setting would make an imminent announcement seem a little insensitive?

After this movie, all we know about on the horizon are undated FROZEN and ZOOTOPIA sequels, with next to no info on who's attached.

There's also still the Disney+ shows that are in the works. We got none this year, despite earlier reports indicating otherwise. IWAJU, MOANA: The Series, and TIANA remain without firm release dates, but are all aiming for next year. IWAJU's absence is especially unusual, it's pretty far long as far as I know. Last year's D23, again - in September, gave us an image. Maybe it's been pulled back? Retooled? Maybe because it was outsourced to Cinesite and kinda resembles a Disney Junior show... Maybe it's been dropped as a WDAS project and is now a Disney TV Animation production? It's only speculation on my end, because that show is a collaboration with upstart Nigerian house Kugali, and that would be a partnership squandered if WDAS passed on the show.

Anyways, with Pixar... We got WIN OR LOSE around the corner, and next year ELIO and INSIDE OUT 2 have firm release dates. Both of those, by the way, officially revealed at the September 2022 D23 Expo. Pixar usually rolls 'em well before release, WDAS cuts it a lot closer these days for some reason. Like, are we gonna know what the summer 2025 Pixar movie is *before* the fall 2024 WDAS movie? (I'm being facetious here, haha.)

I'll keep trying to be patient, but I'm like burning to know... What is *this* movie?

Worth noting that a while back, Disney Animation CCO Jennifer Lee stated that Suzi Yoonessi, Josie Trinidad, and Marc Smith had movies in the works. At the time, Carlos Lopez Estrada had a movie in the works as well, but then he was pulled off of it (reportedly called FOSTER) to take over RAYA... and then he left Disney altogether not too long after RAYA came out. He was also set to direct a live-action/CGI ROBIN HOOD remake for the enterprise... So that leaves Yoonessi (whose Instagram bio still says "Director - Disney Animation"), Trinidad (who recently directed episodes of ZOOTOPIA+), and Smith (who was recently revealed to have come up with the idea for FROZEN III, he's probably directing that if Chris Buck is unavailable).

So yeah... This information, along with two sequels...

I said it before, but I don't think either ZOOTOPIA 2 or FROZEN III are next year's movie. If they were, I think we'd know who is directing/writing/etc. FROZEN III, given that Marc Smith came up with the idea, might be closer to us than ZOOTOPIA 2 is. Or not. FROZEN II came out 4 years ago, ZOOTOPIA is over 7 years old, one would think ZOOTOPIA 2 comes first. They're just very mum on who is involved. I'd like to think ZOOTOPIA 2 isn't being directed by Byron Howard, who is likely pursuing another original movie after ENCANTO, but maybe not? ZOOTOPIA 2 might reincorporate the whole movies' worth of ideas that were thrown out during its development (I particularly like that more James Bond-like story set on an island that it could've been), or maybe it'll go for an all-new story and idea. I have no idea where FROZEN III could go, I'm not as invested in those movies.

While WDAS usually does one-a-year, always settling for Thanksgiving, it'd be cool if they take a year where Pixar doesn't have two new movies, and release two movies that year. If they FEASIBLY CAN, that is. We don't want CRUNCH, now... But in the scenario that they could... Pixar has two for 2024, and two for 2026... Who's to say... WDAS can't slot in, maybe, ZOOTOPIA 2 in the spring of 2025, and have an original out for Thanksgiving? Just spitballing, here. ZOOTOPIA and MOANA both came out in 2016, so why the heck not?

Anyways, hope to know more soon about what's up with the studio that's literally why this whole damn company even exists in the first place.

[mashitandsmashit]

AGT Season 19: Auditions 2

Now THIS is more like it!

Aside from a goofball dancer, a bunch of nerds playing those whatchamacallits, and that unicycle couple who would make a great redemption story on this show in a year or two, NONE of whom got admitted to the next round anyway (and deservedly so), everyone in here is at LEAST B+ material...I still feel somewhat jaded by this show in general, but I can't deny that this list will be about 95% positive...So let's get started!

9: Sabrina. Well, SOMEONE in here had to come in last, and I didn't feel like covering the pre-mentioned rejects anymore than I already have...So the bottom spot goes to this overall impressive dance group...If this was three or even two years earlier, they might have ranked higher...But we've seen quite a few amazing Japanese dance groups in recent years, and since these ladies lacked the unique identity that Avantgardey or even Chibi Unity possessed, nothing in here was THAT surprising...except maybe working in that fire Lindsey Stirling track! But we'll see what they bring next time...

8: Bao Cuong. Honestly, I never set my standards THAT high when it comes to sideshow acts...But there is something about the instruments he used, as well as the calm way he did it (and that dissonant happy track) that made this pretty compelling...Not enough to win votes in the live shows, but enough to at least MAKE said live shows...

7: Chrisyius Whitehead. (Kind of a gross last name...) Second show in a row where a little black kid does something most ADULTS can't do! I suppose he was a LITTLE off the beat at times, but when you're smaller than the bass-drum, you can't really hold that against yourself...As it is, he's somewhere between Travis Barker and Taylor Hawkins standards...In a few more years, he'll be on the Moon...KEITH Moon!

6: Ashes & Arrows. It's like Mumford & Sons meets Zac Brown Band, with a little sprinkle of Nathaniel Rateliff...Only the facial hair is all the more epic! Howie may not have liked the song THIS time, but if these guys play their cards right in later rounds, they could go VERY far in this game!

5: Hakuna Matata. What a wonderful phrase! And it's EXACTLY what I say in response to the occasional stumble in this performance! I mean, they're pretty much combining every acrobatic act we've seen on this show into one, so you can't expect it ALL to go perfectly...Just the fact that they can pull off all of those formations while on that rolla-bolla is something in and of itself! If they can work out those little kinks, they could very well take it even farther than their friends the Ramadhani Brothers...

4: Phillip Lewis. Well, I never thought I'd enjoy a baton-twirler this much, but here we are! The juggling was amazing, he made it all look so effortless, AND his flamboyantly bubbly personality shined the whole way through! I don't know if there's something in those donuts he's eating, but if they're helping him do as well as he did here, what's the occasional sweet-tooth here and there...?

3: NiNi. Wow, this sequel to “Kubo and the Two Strings” looks amazing! Not much to add here; She played all of those instruments perfectly, and rocked the house with them! I just hope we don't get another John Wines situation where Simon just decides he doesn't like her anymore...

2: Liv Warfield. Backed up for Prince, huh...? Well, I know a dancer who performed with Vanilla Ice AND Milli Vanilli! Beat THAT! No, seriously, she was amazing! So far, she's my favorite to win...Especially since she'll NEED the million dollars to cover for the damages of the house she just brought down! A Golden Buzzer VERY much earned! (Note: Richard Goodall still seems to be the clear front-runner...)

1: Sky Elements. Well, it is NOT the guys from “Xtreme”...It's better! While Simon's OTHER GB may be my favorite to win so far, I really can't give the #1 spot to anyone else tonight! It's hard to deny the limitations, and it WILL hold them back in the long run, but for now they created a spectacle worthy of Olympic-sized stadiums! It really is one of those cases where I wish I was actually there! The only thing is that it went into brief uncanny valley territory with that Simon face...(Shudder) But on the other hand, they used a track from Sara James' best performance on this show! I knew they were getting Simon's second GB, because the promo clearly showed him pressing it outside with all of them wearing coats in this 70-degree California night weather...I look forward to seeing what they have in store for us in the lives...All I ask is that they spare us the obviously-scripted producer banter next time...

Again, pretty damn solid show! Here's to next week, and seeing if Howie or Sophia will finally use their FIRST GBs...

[booreadsbooks]

2024 Reading Wrap up

Reviewing my reviews for the year!

So, while these stats are available on Storygraph, I thought it might be fun to have them here on my account, so that it's easy for me to look back on things later on in my life, lol.

I'd like to start by saying that I am actually really proud of my growth this year! I've always been a reader, but I let myself forget that love of reading when I started college, along with basically the rest of my hobbies. I've kept the hobby alive through fanfication (which I still love) but I've really appreciated getting back into original stories and characters.

This year I finally prioritized reading again, with a very reasonable goal of 12 books, keeping in mind my school and work responsibilities.

I doubled that goal, reading 24 books this year! My average reading time, according to storygraph, is about 3 days. You might think that would mean I should've read more than I did, but being a student is rough lol, and I ended up binging books in between assignments.

October-December were my highest numbers of books, which makes sense, because I found a lot of books I really loved those months (Plus I had a few holiday breaks without homework or work to worry about).

I read overwhelmingly fantasy (it's my favorite sorry not sorry), including 14 books.

Alice Oseman, Olivie Blake, V.E Schwabb and Cassandra Clare were my most read authors last year. I suspect that they will continue making appearances next year, because I have to finish series, and I just overall love their work

My average rating was 4.52 stars (I love most books I read)

And Now!! I want to give some of my favorites of the year! (Not including rereads, unfortunately, though honorable mention to Cassandra Clare, who is everpresent in my life. I swear I'm going to gets started on the series I haven't actually read yet this year)

Boo's Top Reads of 2024 (In no particular order, completely subjective and potentially out of line with star ratings? IDK lol)

Masters of Death, by Olivie Blake: Just so fun. Heartwarming. The storytelling and style felt unique and it made me think about things and giggle and kick my feet

Ocean's Godori, by Elaine U. Cho: I've not stopped thinking of this book since I finished it, and that's very special to me. The sequel is one of my most anticipated releases

The God of Endings, by Jacqueline Holland: I said in my review that it's potentially my top read, and I stand by it still. Beautiful book.

Silver Under Nightfall, by Rin Chupeco: Very fun, an absolutely thrilling fantasy with horror vibes and queer poly romance (which was new to me, and I enjoyed it more than I expected).

The Curse of Sins, by Kate Dramis: AHHHHH love. I adored the first book, loved the second. I am excited to see things really pick up in the finale of the trilogy, which I eagerly await.

Serpent and Dove, by Shelby Mahurin: Really enjoyed the characters, the story, and am excited to continue the series this year.

Anyway, another long post from me, sorry. Happy new year, sending love from me and Boo. Remember that your goals are your own, read what you love, and don't make it a chore. I'm increasing my 2025 goal to 25 !! books, hopeful that I can keep up my current pace, and perhaps even surpass it again 👀

Bonus Boo pic for the new year:

[shinxeysartgallery]

Since you’re getting weird asks begging for ocs I thought I’d do an ask where you get to ramble about them instead. :)

So other than your Sonic ocs, which ones do you think were your favorites in terms of design? I’d like to hear more about the non-Sonic ones since they seem to take up most of your attention lol

That's probably true. lmao I love my Sonic OCs and I've had several of them for quite a few years now, so I'm pretty attached to them. Makes sense that I wouldn't shut up about them.

Anyway, right now I'm also kinda fixated on my Murder Drones OCs. Out of them all, I think I'd have to say that Dragoon was my favorite of them to design. I did partially base her design off that one dead Disassembly Drone from Episode 6 (don't have a screenshot atm, but I'm talking about the one with long hair), and I added my own spin on it. (She's not meant to be that same drone, btw.) She's fun to draw, too. :) Ella was another one that was pretty fun to design. I absolutely LOVED the Sentinels and thought it would be cool to make one that was based off a different type of dinosaur. And now Topaz has a pet. :) Speaking of Topaz, he's definitely one of my favorites. He's just a lil' guy that unironically thinks he's a pirate. He's quite the resourceful little dude and it's fun talking about all the stuff he's been able to build or repair using various parts he found. I love all my funky little robot OCs though; all of them were really fun to design and make lore for. :D

Then I gotta give a little shout-out to my dragons because I love them all, too. I was around 8-ish when I came up with their ideas and they're the oldest OCs that I made and still use. My main four (Blaze, Shade, Valerie, and Bruno) are obviously my favorites of them, but I'd definitely also have to say that a few like Flora, Cube, and Breezy are also pretty big faves for me. I've had the TDS sequel planned pretty much since I had the idea for TDS itself, but didn't really have many good ideas for where to take the story until a lot more recently, so I didn't put a lot of work into characters until last year. My favorite of the newbies to design I think has to be Calssie. I'm really bad at drawing skeletons, but I thought having a living skeleton character would be really cool so I wanted to try it anyway. It shoved me out of my comfort zone to try something new and help practice more, and honestly I think she came out pretty well.

Those are just some that came to mind, but I absolutely love all of my babies. :3

[ninelivesart]

About Me (Kind of)

Doing this Drawing My Reads challenge this last year, made me realize there's a lot people don't know about me. You don't have to know anything about me, of course. But since I've had an uptick in followers, I thought I'd share a few things anyway. For context.

I'm a librarian! Technically a Library Clerk because I don't have my Master's. But this last year I got promoted to Programming Clerk. And I specifically run my library's Makerspace. Which means I get to play with cool, creative machines all day. This also means that I sometimes get to just vibe to audiobooks and draw stupid stuff (it's ideal). My primary focus at the moment is our laser printer. So I will 1000% be adding those creations into my rotation soon. Expect to see some SVG files and wooden bookmarks and things on my Etsy shop soon.

2. That being said, it's important to note that I hardly ever pay for books. I have access to a full library 40 hours a week. So please don't think I'm out here spending hundreds of dollars on these books. I very rarely pay for them.

3. My education is in books. I have a degree in English and Literature. I minored in Journalism. I didn't get to go to art school because there just weren't a lot of options for me back then. So I am a self-taught artist. And I'm lucky to have found a job that combines both of my passions.

4. I am a fully adult woman. I read a lot of very adult books. I'm closer to 40 than 20 and I have a teenage son. Please keep that in mind when interacting with me.

5. My reading tastes can sometimes seem contradictory. I love romances but I tend to stick to fantasy and scifi. I don't do contemporaries very often. And I don't read classics because chances are, I've already read it, analyzed it, wrote an essay on it, and read it again. I did my time and now I'm in debt for classic literature. I'm just trying to have fun. So sometimes I might diss a popular book and be very critical about it. And then turn around and wax poetic about alien smut. I don't expect much from the alien smut. I do expect more from serious books.

6. I pick my reads with a randomizer! This is why I sometimes take a long time getting to a sequel. I have made exceptions for a series I wanted to continue right away. And sometimes I roll again if I'm not in the mood for the book I got. I'm going to try to be a little stricter on this in 2024 though. With the exception of the audio books I listen to at work. I always search Libby for what's available now so I'm not wasting my work time, searching every book on my TBR to see if it's in.

7. You are more than welcome to send me suggestions! I'll probably just stick them on my TBR so I can't guarantee I'll read it quickly. But if you think I'll like it, feel free to recommend it. I'm also happy to talk books with you if you need someone to vent to about a book you know I've read.

8. You are also welcome to add me on Storygraph (beautawn) or TikTok (NineLivesArt). I'm stepping away from Goodreads, so you probably won't see a lot of updates on there. But I post drawing videos on TikTok and I update my Storygraph pretty regularly.

9. However, I don't do reviews! Why? They make me uncomfy! Sometimes I really need to marinate with a book before I decide if I like it or not. Rating systems make me anxious. And my mood alters my decisions. I also don't like being mean. I'm fine talking about my feelings with other readers, but I don't like leaving reviews. Especially if I plan to make art for it. Don't want to draw a lovely portrait and then bash the book.

10. I do plan to continue this project into the new year. But I am planning on doing it a little different. I have some other (non book related) projects I want to work on, and I want to push myself to focus more on the things I need to improve. I really want to focus on environments this year, so I'll be drawing scenes from the book instead. Which means I may not draw a book even if I loved it.

Thank you for following my reading/art journey! I didn't expect this silly little project to have such a positive response. I love when people talk books with me and I actually made friends with a few authors this year! So overall, it's been a very positive experience and I'm ready to jump into the New Year and see what it brings!

[retrouvailleschronicles]

Retrouvailles, after we left 1.3

Retrouvailles, After We Left a fan sequel to Before We Go

Ten years after meeting in Manhattan, Brooke seeks Nick out, with a terrible secret. ​ Act one, scene three. Providence.

The back door closed behind them as they stepped into the late sun.

"Just a little warmer than the last time I saw you," Nick chuckled.

"Le ciel san!" Brooke raised her hands to the sky, dropping Nick's arm.

"La sill san?" Nick repeated.

Brooke laughed. "The cloudless sky," she grinned. (1)

Nick laughed. (2)  "Guess I haven't learned any more French since Manhattan." 

Brooke laughed too. "Anyways, when are the reservations?" Brooke smiled.

"Seven, we've got some time." Nick relaxed, and his pace slowed.

Brooke slowed to match Nick's pace.

Brooke spoke first. "It looks like life has been good to you! Things have changed a lot since Manhattan."

Nick returned the grin. "It's nice having working credit cards. But yeah, I can't complain. Hopefully, you saw the end of the show. I like to end with 'Retrouvailles'," his face beamed. (3)

Brooke frowned. "No, I got here late." (4)

"You did?" Nick tilted his head.

Brooke gave a blank look.

"Thought I saw you. Well, I guess I've thought I'd seen you at other shows," he mumbled.(5)

"Haven't seen you live," Brooke gave a half-smile. "But I bought your album," she brightened. "And maybe I can catch a show in the future."

Nick grinned. "Well, night shows are better anyways. More intense. Danny can get you a ticket."(6)

Brooke gave a bemused smile. "Guess I'm old. I don't go out at night much anymore." She paused. "And I like recordings better anyway." (7)

"That's true," Nick mused. "No mistakes. When we record for the album, the song is as clean as we can make it."

"The guitar is a nice touch. Though I miss your trumpet," Brooke teased.

Nick grinned. "That happened after Hannah and I got married. Danny pushed me into it, you know. I was already writing lyrics. All I needed was an instrument that let me sing."

"Makes sense," Brooke agreed. "Can’t sing with the trumpet. I could tell you wrote the lyrics."

"It's me believing," Nick sang.

"My believing," Brooke corrected.  "Believing is a gerund, a type of noun, so it should be 'my believing,' " Brooke chewed a strand of hair.

"Wow," Nick feigned shock. "Correcting my grammar again?"(8)

"Again?" Brooke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you know," Nick looked at Brooke, smiling. "Like when we were in New York."

Brooke gave a blank look in response. "Never mind," Nick mumbled. "I know how to use a gerund. But Hannah said the songs don't play as well, and the focus groups agreed."

Brooke searched for something to say, but nothing came out. (9)

"You know, I invited you to our wedding. Hannah would have liked to meet you," Nick continued.

"Didn't want to make her jealous," Brooke breezed. (10)

They paused again, unsure of what to say.

Nick looked at his phone. "Let's see which way we go," he said.

"It's this way. We'll walk through the Quad," Brooke motioned.

"Looks like you know your way around Providence," Nick observed.

"Guess that night we hung out in New York, it never came up," Brooke mused.

Nick raised an eyebrow.

Brooke laughed. "I went to college in Providence. I graduated from Brown. It was a big change for an Arizona girl. They called me the Desert Rose," she laughed again.

"And you came back to Providence to sell me some art?" (11)

"What? Oh, no. I'm back to my original job, art restoration."

Nick chewed his lip thoughtfully. "Art restoration. That sounds so..."

"Nerdy?" Brooke finished. They snickered, and Brooke continued.

"Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed selling art. But I really prefer the restoration. It took me back to France, and I travel a bit to different museums. Michael didn't like it," she frowned. (12) But she quickly smiled. "But it keeps me busy. I guess it's one of the reasons I haven't been back to Providence since graduation. I used to live there, in Metcalf," she pointed.

"How is Michael?" Nick studied Brooke.

"He's good.  We're good!  Coming up on our 15th anniversaire."  Brooke watched a bird fly by.

Nick nodded.  Then he smiled.  "Glad to hear, things are going well for you."

"Thank you," Brooke turned back.  She looked about the campus.  "It's too bad he's not here, he would have loved see Brown."

"So you haven't been to Providence in a while," Nick changed the subject.  "Why haven't you been back?" Nick queried.

"Now that," Brooke reflected, "is a good question."

"You didn't like it here?"

"I love Brown. I even consider Providence my hometown. I had all the freedom in the world. Brown encouraged us to pursue our passions, and I ended up with Chemistry and Art History."

"And that's how you ended up with art restoration," Nick mused. "Is it good being back?" Nick grinned again. (13)\

"I'm getting too old to dream of going back to my college days," Brooke's voice tinkled. (14)

"Guess we can't go back again," Nick agreed. "But we can miss it."

"Exactly! Young and full of passion. Eager, easy to make changes," Brooke reflected.

"You should talk to Danny," Nick remarked.

"How so?"

"You remember that Danny majored in philosophy?"

"Not really, but go on," Brooke encouraged.

Nick's eyes fell. "He went to law school afterwards. He was working as an attorney at a big firm."

"I take it he didn't like it," Brooke observed.

"Called it dying slowly every day," Nick gave a wry look.

"Was it hard for him to make changes?"

"Yeah, definitely. Sometimes it's easier to go with the devil you know." (15)

"And now he works with you. So you saved him," Brooke glowed.

"We saved each other. He needed a change, and I needed someone I could trust."

"I imagine it's hard in your business, people always wanting something," Brooke sympathized. (16)

"You have no idea," Nick snorted. "You never know what angle people may be playing. Luckily, I had Hannah and Danny from before my first hit." Nick exhaled slowly. "Hannah, Danny, his wife Claire, we were too poor to go on expensive vacations. So we'd all go camping. Make wishes as the fire died. I think it was by the campfire that Danny convinced me to start singing," Nick remembered.

"The deepest wishes come out at night," Brooke agreed. "So how did Danny meet his wife?" Brooke deflected. (17)

"He and Claire have been friends since high school. They had a pact to get married by 35 if they were still single."

"Settle down, have kids?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it settling. Maybe they have the best marriage of all of us," Nick looked back at Brooke.

"Why didn't they get married earlier?" Brooke wondered.

"Guess they were worried about ruining their friendship. But like all things, in retrospect, they should have known better," Nick looked down the hill. "In any case, I'm glad you're here. I wasn't relishing eating alone. With you here, I won't have to make small talk." (18)

"Don't you like your fans?" Brooke tilted her head.

"Love my fans. But sometimes it's weird. People know a lot about me, but I can't know much about them."

Brooke looked at Nick from the side. "You could just cancel your reservation."

"Maybe, but Danny told me the maitre d is a fan. I've got to get out in the public eye, Danny says."

"Have you eaten there before?" Brooke asked.

"This is not exactly the place Hannah would frequent," Nick guffawed.

Brooke looked down. "How so?" she stammered.

"She's... kinda a health nut.  No carbs.  I was surprised she agreed to come initially." (19)

Brooke smiled. "Well, you're in for a treat. I haven't eaten here since graduation, but it's fantastic!"

Nick's eyes narrowed. "Is this the kind of restaurant you and Michael would go to?"

Brooke tilted her head.  "He'll come to restaurants like this for me.  But I'll eat like this alone.  I often do, when I travel."

Nick looked back.  "Alone?"

Brooke laughed.  "Alone!  I appreciate the food better by myself.  Here we go," she pointed to the Capriccio.

Click here to go to act one, scene four: Behind the Window. Click here to go to blog commentary for act one, scene three: How the Sausage Gets Made.

Authors notes and spoilers here:

Title for the next movie!  Le Ciel San, the Cloudless Sky.  

Fakegreat!  When you see someone you haven’t seen in a while, pretend everything is great, even when it’s not.

Callback to first movie, when Nick doesn't have any working credit cards.

Brooke will spend this chapter denying both to Nick and herself how she feels about Nick.  Similar to Before Sunset.

Not subtle!  Nick has been thinking of Brooke.

Setup, Nick will bring up Danny getting tickets again in 3.4.

Subtext.  By saying she prefers the recording to a live show she is saying that the memory of Manhattan is good enough, and there’s no need to bring their relationship to the present.

More denial.  Like Before Sunset.  By forgetting details Brooke is saying that night 10 years ago wasn’t so important that she remembers everything.

Brooke should be uncomfortable every time Nick brings up Hannah.

Lesson from the Dark Knight.  The reason Brooke didn’t go to the wedding should change every time, until the real answer in 3.4.

Nick should be trying to figure out why Brooke has come back to see him.  

A slip.  Hints at the problems Brooke and Michael have.  But quickly should pivot back to Fakegreat.

More subtext.  Really Nick is asking if Brooke is glad to see him again.

Brooke’s theme of growing old.

 Bring back this idea in 3.2., the Devil you Know.

Nick’s theme of loneliness and isolation.

Brooke changes the subject away from Hannah.

Back to Nick’s theme of loneliness and isolation.

A stand in for the problems in Nick and Hannah's relationship.

[nausikaaa]

Part Two!

July

Six Of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. 5 stars. this is the book i always turn to when i feel my motivation slip. this was my fourth time reading it. i finished it in three days and immediately moved on to the sequel. it's just so good, it grabs you from the very first page and sets off running and doesn't let go.

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. 5 stars. of course i had to finish the duology. it was amazing as always.

A Curious History Of Sex by Kate Lister. 4.5 stars, super interesting and really funny, my only issue is that it was mostly focused on middle ages and victorian England. a wider scope would have been even more interesting to compare different places and times.

August

Women & Power: A Manifesto by Mary Beard. 4 stars, a short but enlightening read. really made me stop and go "damn every woman on the planet has dealt with deeply shitty men haven't we? shits fucked."

Salt Slow by Julia Armfield. 4.5 stars, a series of short stories so i liked some more than others, but they were all really atmospheric and fun. also as an aside i counted three references to greek mythology, miss Armfield please write a sapphic horror novel set in the classical world next.

Pride: The Unlikely Story Of The Unsung Heroes Of The Miner's Strike by Tim Tate with LGSM. 5 stars, if you follow me you may know it read this as research for a fic, but honestly i couldn't put it down. i learned a lot, laughed a lot, cried a lot. wouod highly recommend.

September

Murder In The Family by Cara Hunter. 3 stars. read it in 2 days, most of it in one night in just over 3 hours. the amount of twists in such rapid succession had me so invested, but the ending was a bit of a letdown.

Liberated: The Radical Art And Life Of Claude Cahun by Kaz Rowe. 4 stars, a quick read but very interesting, i really wish we'd learned this kind of history in school!

October

The Ancient Guide To Modern Life by Natalie Haynes. 2 stars, there's absolutely nothing wrong with this book, it's just that i knew a lot of the information already so it dragged for me. would probably be better for someone who hasn't already listened to her podcast multiple times, as it's a lot of the same info.

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. 4 stars. i actually consumed this as an audiobook and regret not getting into them sooner. anyway, a really good mystery and i loved all the characters. i was suspicious of people who did turn out to be suspicious but for non murder reasons, everyone just has secrets in this book. and it managed to finally make me cry in the very last chapter. i'll definitely be reading the next book soon!

Secrets Of The Vampire: A Supernatural Sourcebook Of Our Legend And Lore by Julie Légère, Elsa Whyte and Laura Pérez. 3 stars, enjoyable but short. i really liked the illustrations.

November

The Man Who Died Twice (Thursday Murder Club 2) by Richard Osman. 5 stars, even better than the first one! super exciting and very sweet and touching at times.

Dracula by Bram Stoker. 4 stars. yeah i did Dracula Daily this year. actually i did Re: Dracula but that's basically an audiobook, right? it started in May, ended in November, so i've included it here. honestly, i liked it way more than i'd thought i would. obviously there are parts that make you cringe and remember this book was written in the 1890s, but so long as you read it critically it's really enjoyable.

The First Ladies Of Rome by Annelise Freisenbruch. 5 stars, supplemented the knowledge i already had while also having loads of things i hadn't known before, especially about the later empire which i never studied. overall was super interesting. i want more than ever to go back in time and befriend Julia The Elder, she sounds like an absolute riot. also tv show about Galla Placidia when??

The Bullet That Missed (Thursday Murder Club 3) by Richard Osman. 5 stars. another banger. stayed up all night to finish it, i just couldn't put it down. i'm really attached to these characters now. i fear for Stephen in the last book.

The Last Devil To Die (Thursday Murder Club 4) by Richard Osman. 5 stars. i hate being right. RIP Stephen. bawled my eyes out. but i finished the series!! i felt the mystery wasn't quite as interesting in this one, but the character development was absolutely top tier.

December

The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave. 3.5 stars. started off strong, was a fairly easy read so i got through the whole 300 page book in a couple of hours (with a break in between for work), but i felt the ending was rushed and dissatisfying. all the setup was there for Mira to become the third vampire, and then at the very end she just leaves and it's some random Countess a single line is devoted to? i can't even tell if it was supposed to be a surprise twist, but it just fell flat and made the ending basically a defeat for the heroine.

Heartstopper Vol 5 by Alice Oseman. 3.5 stars. a quick read but cute. i definitely can feel that this comic meant more to me when i first read it at 17 than it does at 22.

Weak Heart by Ban Gilmartin. 5 stars. this is my third or maybe fourth reread, such a comfort book. the characters feel like old friends at this point.

A Lady For A Duke by Alexis Hall. 5 stars. i was really surprised by how much i enjoyed this book, as i don't typically go for book where the romance is most of the plot, and i especially don't tend to like Regency historical fiction. but it was just really fun and sweet, and it kept me interested all the way through despite being quite long. multiple moments elicited actual shouting. the romance was excellent, i was really rooting for the characters and so happy for them at the end.

Elektra by Jennifer Saint. 2.5 stars. very hit or miss. Clytemnestra's point of view is really good. her compassion, her complexity, and the way she tries to justify her actions are all so well done. Cassandra's was pretty average. i personally wasn't interested in another rehash of the trojan war, and i felt her chapters just slowed the story down, but i can see how they would benefit someone less well versed in the myths. Elektra's point of view just made me angry. her motivation is never really explained in a satisfying way, and the author clearly felt that she has to address the Electra complex, but knowing the history behind it just makes me angrier. it was a badly thought out psychological theory used to gaslight and victim blame victims of sexual abuse, and while i don't believe that the author knew that, seeing it be treated as in any way valid and applicable to the real Electra boiled my blood.

Country by Michael Hughes. 4 stars. the book i chose to spend all christmas day reading this year. a really good story, and knowing the iliad made it even better as i could recognise characters and interactions map onto the original story! it felt like playing a game while reading, picking up all the little references.

Did Not Finish

Helen Of Troy by Margaret George. i did read some more of this but just keep dropping off and gravitating to other things. maybe i'll have finished it by next year.

Bitch by Lucy Cooke. another book that has done nothing wrong, it is a me problem. i will try to finish it.

Dykes To Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel. again, working on it.

In The Vanisher's Palace by Aliette Du Bodard. read three chapters (it's only ten chapters long so a decent chunk) and decided it wasn't for me.

The Menelaid by John Barth. it's not even very long but it's just really meandering and boring. i really tried but just couldn't focus.

and finally, top picks in no particular order that i think i would recommend to anyone who wants to read something new in 2024:

Books I Read In 2023, Part One

In January I decided I wanted to track my reading, as I usually don't really have a sense of how much I read per month or year. I don't like things like Goodreads, so I just jotted down the books I read and what I thought of them in my notes app. Now that we're halfway through the year, I thought I might share what I've read, and then in December I can add part 2. So, without further ado,

January

The Girl From The Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag. 3 stars, a bit slow but generally sweet and fun.

Jackalope Wives And Other Stories by T Kingfisher. 5 stars, every story slapped. would highly recommend if you like dark fairytales with a sense of humour.

February

started Helen Of Troy by Margaret George. I still haven't finished it (she is LONG) but i'm really enjoying it!

I Was Born For This by Alice Oseman. 4.5 stars, it was entertaining and emotional like all of Alice Oseman's books but i have to deduct a half a star for the main character (who is from the south) briefly assuming with no basis that being from north = transphobic and the narrative treating this as a rational assumption and not super bigoted and classist, like what the hell was that about? also via this interaction Alice Oseman managed to find yet another way to mention Durham in her books but this time i couldn't even go "yay i'm from there!" because now have this sense that she thinks i'm predisposed to transphobia because of where i'm from. i cannot stress this enough: what the fuck.

The Prince And The Dressmaker by Jen Wang. 5 stars, so heartwarming and i loved the art! I'm trying to get one of my friends to read it because I just know he'll relate.

March

The Lives Of The Saints by Leigh Bardugo. 3 stars, not really my jam but it adds another layer to her other books, which I really enjoy.

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. 3 stars, made my head hurt at times because it's kinda convoluted, but still super interesting. the musical is great too. and before you mention it, yes, i am reading Dykes To Watch Out For, but it's not on the list because I just started it, and I will probably read the bulk of it and finish it in July so it will fall under there.

April

Lies We Sing To The Sea by Sarah Underwood. 3.5 stars, i'll be honest, i read this out of morbid curiosity and spite. it was a pretty average for a YA book really, not worth all the drama it stirred up in the classics community, but the end surprised me so it gets an extra half star.

A Fatal Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum: Murder In Ancient Rome by Emma Southon. 4 stars, really interesting and quite funny at times but i just don't really like the author's vibe. she's weirdly defensive of Caligula, just as she was in her book on Agrippina that i read last year. like yeah people make fun of him and exaggerate stories about him but he literally killed people, maybe he deserves it.

May

Messalina: A Story Of Empire, Slander And Adultery by Honor Cargill-Martin. 5 stars, super interesting and engaging, i never wanted to put it down! Messalina really did just girlboss too close to the sun.

I travelled this month so didn't have time for any other books, but I bought my own weight in them and will try to work through them.

June

Rain Hare by Anna Barker. 4 stars, a collection of short stories so a mixed bag. I really liked most of them, some even made me cry (to be precise, How Do I Feel About Lentils?, which does an excellent job of blending past and present to help the reader get into the confused mind of the narrator, who has Alzheimer's, and Tunny, wherein the twist hit me like a sack of bricks and all I could do was break down) but there was just one i didn't really like (Sea Glass, i just don't really vibe with the mentally ill narrator dying at the end and this being presented as what she wanted.)

Through The Woods by Emily Carroll. 3.5 stars, good horror, the art was great and the stories interesting, but they all felt like they ended just a bit too soon and therefore lost some of their impact.

Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield. 6 stars, yes, i'm straight up giving this 6 out of 5 stars because it was so so good! i devoured it in one day flat and loved it. the horror was atmospheric and gripping, the romance made my chest ache, and the ending absolutely devastated me, but in a good way.

so yeah, hopefully i can continue to get through my massive TBR pile in the coming months! and if you've read any of these books, please let me know what you think, I would love to talk about them!!