#as a lot of my stories contain bad french

[the-right-thyme]

Lucilin Black: A Dark Caress (a HL story)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/50284582

Characters: Sebastian Sallow, Ominis Gaunt, Original Black family member

Warnings: Non-con kiss, ableist language. All mild.

Summary: Sebastian meets Ominis’ betrothed.

‘Oh là là, if it isn’t the little Sallow lap-dog.’

Sebastian looks up at the witch speaking. Not much older than them, but definitely a woman. 

She’s beautiful; tall, willowy, tumbles of gently curling jet black hair framing her perfectly proportionate delicate face, her eyes dark brown, iris’ almost black where they merge with the pupils. She’s wearing a deep purple and black laced corset dress affair, tight fitting and scandalously low in all the right places. Beautiful in much the same way he thinks the iridescent feathers of the occamy are. From afar, preferably with a thick dragon hide gown between them. It takes him a few seconds of gawping to realise despite saying his name, she isn’t talking to him. Her focus is entirely, intensely, on his friend stood next to him. He’s almost a bit jealous.

‘Lucilin, to what do I owe this pleasure?’ Comes Ominis’ curt, overly enunciated reply. The same voice he uses for all acquaintances, the voice that makes people think he’s a much colder person than he really is.

‘I heard your father made an example of you, mon cher Ominis.’ Her smile is more of a smirk; her voice melodic, the vowels an accented edge to them, and, he notes, she pronounces Ominis with a silent s.

‘Not that it matters, I’m promised to Umbra now, regardez.’ In front of his face she holds out her left hand, long and elegant, to reveal an ugly, chunky gold band encasing a bulging, roughly cut black gem, looking wildly out of place on her slender fourth finger. Ominis’ clouded eyes skate. She lets out a girlish giggle, covers it lightly with her right hand, her forehead wrinkled with a sneer.

‘I forget. Terribly sorry.’ Her tone is cruelly mocking. She turns her gaze to Sebastian, and he instantly regrets any shred of jealously he harboured moments before. She looks him up and down with obvious disgust, raises one perfectly shaped eyebrow.

‘This is the little friend my Uncle tells me you traipse after?’ She waves her hand at him, dismissed, as if he were merely a bothersome fly. ‘How disgusting.’

‘Was there something you wanted, other than to mock?’

‘Isn’t that reason enough?’ She drawls, placing a hand on Ominis’ cheek, the ghost of a caress. He flinches slightly, but doesn’t pull away.

‘Quel dommage.’ She murmurs, her fingers clasping under his chin, turning his head side to side as her eyes skim over him, ‘You’re quite a dear little thing close up.’ Her forefinger rubs over one of his moles lightly. ‘Très beau.’ Appraisal evidently over she moves her hand to the side of his head, coiling a strand of his hair between her fingers, twirling it slowly.

‘I expect I’ll see you at le mariage. Do try to stay out of trouble, it would be a shame if your father had to mar your pretty face.’ She threads her fingers deeper, this time at his nape, grasping a handful of hair in her fist as he tries to duck out her way. Sebastian hears the sharp intake of breath as Lucilin pulls him close, until her mouth is barely a few inches from his own, so close he must be able to feel her breath on his lips he thinks. 

‘But I would very much enjoy watching it.’ She whispers, her breath gusting in anticipation. Her grip tightens, Ominis’ face pulls taut in a wince. Lucilin looks gleefully over his pained face for a second, before pressing into him with a harsh kiss. Ominis lets out a muffled hum of disapproval, causing Lucilin to let out a manic laugh, a cackle, and pushes her back, his hands on her bare shoulders for the briefest of moments.

She licks her lips, turns, and saunters down the corridor with an airy ‘Au revoir’ without a backward glance. Sebastian watches her figure disappear round a corner out of sight. It takes a few seconds for his thoughts to stop scrambling, to place the name fully. Lucilin. It hits him. Lucilin Black.

‘That’s-’

‘Don’t.’

Sebastian whistles.

[wandafiction]

Just Us - Series List

Y/n is a multimillionaire. Wanda Maximoff is a divorced mum of two twin boys who is trying her best. What happens when their paths cross at a club and Y/n takes Wanda home for the night?

Warnings: This story is an 18+ read, Minors DNI, contains talks and description of Death, Accidents, Injury, Child Loss, Abuse (Physical and Emotional), Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Suggestive themes, Smut (Each Chapter With Themes Explained), Angst (Lots of It), And Some Fluff Thrown in because I felt bad. Top Reader, Bottom Wanda

Each chapter will come with their own warnings.

This is a story that I have put up on my Wattpad and my Ao3 and thought I would share it here for more of you wonderful people. I do hope you enjoy this read. There will be mistakes here and there and maybe some incorrect translations.

So this is an AU story with the MCU characters. So the ages and story lines with be changed and different from that in the movies. 

I will right some history for each character as the story progresses just so ages and other things make sense. 

All the Character's in this are played by their respective actors and certain aspects of the MCU have been added in. But once again its not going to be an alternative marvel story it is a completely different universe. 

I don't own any if the MCU characters.

Master List

Chapter List

Chapter 1 - Yours or Mine

Chapter 2 18+ - First Time

Chapter 3 - How Much

Chapter 4 18+ - Beautiful

Chapter 5 - Accent

Chapter 6 - The Twins

Chapter 7 - Just Add 8

Chapter 8 - Panic Attack

Chapter 9 - Sounds Like A date

Chapter 10 - Happy Tears

Chapter 11 - Twenty Percent

Chapter 12 - Favourite Colour

Chapter 13 - Ex-husbands Clothes

Chapter 14 18+ - Trust is Not Like Candy

Chapter 15 - Morning Bliss

Chapter 16 - Sisterly Advice

Chapter 17 - Lunch Date

Chapter 18 - Not By Blood, By Choice

Chapter 19 18+ - Frozen Peas

Chapter 20 - Scarlet Witch

Chapter 21 - Iron Man

Chapter 22 18+ - Love Language

Chapter 23 - The Friends

Chapter 24 - Hela's Kitchen

Chapter 25 - The Question

Chapter 26 - From Second To First

Chapter 27 - Mr Blue Sky

Chapter 28 - Protective Friend

Chapter 29 - It's Real To Me

Chapter 30 - Pile On

Chapter 31 18+ - Water Fight

Chapter 32 - Head Scratches

Chapter 33 - Billy's Discovery

Chapter 34 - Superhero Trio

Chapter 35 - Pancakes and L Bombs.

Chapter 36 - 10 Out Of 10 Dive

Chapter 37 - Tickle Monster

Chapter 38 - Sarah Stark

Chapter 39 - Love Persevering

Chapter 40 - First Meeting

Chapter 41 - Hear, Listen, Take It In

Chapter 42 - Touch

Chapter 43 - Mockingbird

Chapter 44 - Family

Chapter 45 - Search Party

Chapter 46 - Bowl Of Popcorn

Chapter 47 - Pet Names

Chapter 48 18+ - Trying Something New

Chapter 49 - French Braids

Chapter 50 - Not Taking Advantage

Chapter 51 - To Understand Someone

Chapter 52 - The Row

Chapter 53 18+ - I Need You

Chapter 54 - Your Flaws Are Your Strengths

Chapter 55 18+ - Jealousy

Chapter 56 - I Can't Be Here

Chapter 57 - Stephanie Grace Turner

Chapter 58 - Zak The Waiter

Chapter 59 18+ - Declarations

Chapter 60 - Clingy

Chapter 61 - Triple Chocolate Brownies

Chapter 62 - Watch Me

Chapter 63 - Grown-Up Conversations

Chapter 64 - A+

Chapter 65 18+ - Dynamic

Chapter 66 - You Don't Get It

Chapter 67 - Conditioned

Chapter 68 - Selachimorpha

Chapter 69 - Beed Stroganoff

Chapter 70 - Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Chapter 71 - Realisations

Chapter 72 - Princess

Chapter 73 - The Talk

Chapter 74 - Black Widow

Chapter 75 - Can I Join You

Chapter 76 - Люли, люли, люленьки

Chapter 77 - Moose

Chapter 78 - Aurora Borealis

Chapter 79 - Calgary

Chapter 80 18+ - Mirror

Chapter 81 - Massage and Important Conversations

Chapter 82 - Banff

Chapter 83 - Strawberries

Chapter 84 - Bayushki Bayu

Chapter 85 - Cookies

Chapter 86 18+ - Control

Chapter 87 - Hyper Puppy

Chapter 88 - Treehouse

Chapter 89 - 312

Chapter 90 - Forgiveness

Chapter 91 18+ - Always Feel Good

Chapter 92 - Your Third Love

Chapter 93 18+ - Daddy

Chapter 94 - Home

Chapter 95 - Stalker

Chapter 96 - Can't Catch A Break

Chapter 97 18+ - Mile High Club

Chapter 98 - Happy

Chapter 99 - Halloween

Chapter 100 - What's In The Box?

Chapter 101 - Hired

Chapter 102 - I've Got You

Chapter 103 - Missed Morning Message

Chapter 104 - Someone I Would Like You To Meet

Chapter 105 - Sis

Chapter 106 - Soulmates

Chapter 107 - Eleos

Chapter 108 - I Called Her Mom

Chapter 109 - Suka

Chapter 110 - How Have I Made It Worse?

Chapter 111 - What Scares You?

Chapter 112 - I Thought I Was Helping

Chapter 113 - What If They Leave?

Chapter 114 - Yelena!

Chapter 115 - Puppy In Training

Chapter 116 - Your Wish Is My Command

Chapter 117 - Morning Sex

Chapter 118 - Safe

Chapter 119 - Work On Yourself

Chapter 120 - Happy Thanksgiving

Chapter 121 - I Hate This

Chapter 122 - To Be A Deer

Chapter 123 - Is Love Enough?

Chapter 124 - Let's Go Out Out

Chapter 125 - Feeling Of Rejection

Chapter 126 - You Should Hate Me

Chapter 127 - You Ready?

Chapter 128 - Pietro

Chapter 129 - Questions And Opinions

Chapter 130 - What Are You Up To?

Chapter 131 - When Pigs Fly

Chapter 132 - Science Lesson

[mooseyspooky]

do you have a marrissey moment that a lot of fans don't know about? like a little story or a rumour that is not well known among smiths fans?

Moz' pining for Johnny during the early to mid 2000s isn't talked about enough in my opinion. Everyone assumes they didn't talk between 1997 to 2008, but I don't believe that. I think Moz did reach out. I don't know if Johnny responded, but Moz' whole grudge against him after the court case seemed to be more for show than anything else. He was clearly as obsessed with him as ever.

In Mozipedia, Simon Goddard credits 'I Like You' in 2004 to Johnny, not Jake: Something in you caused me to take a new tact with you, you were going through something I had just about scraped through. Why do you think I let you get away with the things you say to me? Could it be I like you? It's so shameful of me...I like you. No one I ever knew or have spoken to resembles you. This is good or bad all depending on my general mood...Magistrates who spend their lives hiding their mistakes - they look at you and I, and envy makes them cry. Forces of containment, they shove their fat faces into mine, but you and I just smile because we're thinking the same lines.

Moz wrote 'Home is a Question Mark' in 2003, but didn't release it till 2017, which is interesting considering the context of the song sounds like he desperately misses someone he's been estranged with for a long time - but that doesn't line up with his relationship with Jake in 2003: I have seen many shores. I hug the land...but nothing more. Because I haven’t met you. I've wined and I’ve dined with every bogus music mogul. No sign of you. I brush and I rub, pressing palms, exuding charms, but never in arms...I have been brave, deep in every shaven cave - but none were you. Another film on re-play, this time Hell with Guillaume Canet. For wingless me...If I ever find home, if I get there would you meet me? Wrap your legs around my face just to greet me?

Hell by Guillaume Canet is a French film where, in the opening scene, a woman walks in to find her husband with a naked younger man. The husband is imprisoned, but later the younger man confesses her husband was innocent. He had stripped his clothes off while trying to seduce him, because he was in love with him. This, as with many of the films Moz is obsessed with, has some resemblances to his relationship with Johnny.

There's also 'You Have Killed Me' and 'I Just Want to See The Boy Happy' in 2006, and very shortly after he talked to Johnny in 2008 he wrote 'Black Cloud.' Moz literally wrote that he wanted Johnny to be his two decades after The Smiths fell apart - and yet their relationship is always seen as this very brief fling they had for a few years in the 80s lol

[pedros-immaculate-vibes]

I saw you said to feel free to throw Halsin smut into your inbox and one I keep NONSTOP thinking about is that like touchstarved “you have no idea how long I’ve been wanting this” desperate type shit 😭

I know he even says how he’s had to contain himself but I mean I need Tav to fight with him, getting mad about something dumb and blurting out that she has feelings for him and his chest is just heaving, eyes staring at her, before he stomps up and grabs her face and kisses her like he’s starved. Like I need them both gasping for air, him bending down to her level just to grunt in her ear about how words cannot describe how badly he’s been wishing for and dreaming of this moment that he thought would never come.

LIKE I **NEED** them to be frantically taking off clothes without breaking contact, him ripping things off of her, sweaty, panting, just carnal. But I so so so badly want that sexual tension to tear me apart first.

He’s ruining my liiiiiife 😭

Do I have a story for you 👀

If I may SHAMELESSLY plug my 22-chapter story about them essentially being too stupid to act on how bad they want eachother (but actually he’s just too fucking noble for his own relief). So far, the whole thing is them pining for each other and finding small ways to show that they care and falling deeper with no escape ladder in sight or wanted.

*coughSpecificallyChapters9.5And12cough*

FULL Feral behavior hasnt happened yet, BUT they def have a fight scene where Tav kinda kicks his ass and then, um, things are said and stuff against a tree

I haven’t found much “I want to fuck you so bad it makes me look stupid” on my Ao3 travels, unfortunately, bc that’s one of my favorite tropes.

THIS however is a good one shot from someone else where he’s like a sweet Dom and it’s hot af where they celebrate the solstice *insert dirty French laugh here*

But YES the tension that drives them both insane should be in more smutty fanfics imo

like they’re under an intense amount of stress, and he’s trying his damnedest to not lose focus, and you’re just fucking strssded

ESPECIALLY IF THIS FAMED HEALER KEEPS HEALING AND BANDAGING AND FIXING YOY LIKE OMG WHY IS THAT NOT IN THE GAME FFS

I have a lot of strong opinions on several things 😅

BUT YES

ALL THE ANON SMUTTY HALSIN OPINIONS

THE MAN IS IN NEED OF SOME AFFECTION FFS

HES BEEN RUNNING ON FUMES FOR DECADES

[yuri-is-online]

Yuri, what do you think about the theory that the Clash happened because Clementia found out a dark secret about the Academy/ghouls and got offed as a result? Because it's been keeping me up at night and I NEED ANSWERS

edit: while I was writing this I went back to the intro so I could read the prophecy and noticed something in the Intro I think we all missed since I haven't seen anyone really talk about it. When naming the dorms, Luca obviously does not list Clemntia, but he also does not name Obscuary. When asked neither does Kaito, but I assume that is the seventh and "newest house of the current line up" he describes as "having no general students and even most ghoul students cannot join it... you cannot be assigned there by the Weighing of Souls." There is a rumor about "their captain being the one to-" and then he is cut off by Cornelius. Is that also related to the Clash? What is Ed rumored to have done?

... huh. I should. I should probably get back on the reddit or look at world chat. Or maybe join a guild that's got more active people in it that aren't french or a discord because this is the first I have heard of this. I want to make a lengthy post here at some point about what we know about Clementia from the story + some trivia stuff I have noticed but none of it really helps beyond suggesting that it's 1) vaguely church/holy themed and 2) has some roman and greek influences. Neither of which assist us in figuring out what happened to them.

For my part, my brain keeps turning towards the fact they seem to be responsible for "exorcisms" and that the ghouls have "lately" been refusing to capture the anomalies and insist on killing them. Darkwick has a lot of anomalies in their care, and as we see in Book 4 it can create them as well. I was wondering if maybe Clementia's duties extended past exorcising anomolies, were they also responsible for their proper storage? To me I feel like the ghouls (specifically Taiga) have a reason for thinking it is best to kill the anomalies instead of taking them back for study. My reasoning for this is mostly that I can't see Tohma, who makes a point to be in good standing with the school, actively whoops a daisying every single mission he does "just because." Whatever happened with the Clash clearly caused a break in relations between the school and its ghouls, based of Taiga saying the spy among them is trying to "make us ghouls look bad" I think the general belief among one faction (let's call them Tohma's Faction since he was the first one to bring up the spy) is that whatever happened was not actually the ghouls's fault. Perhaps even that things were instigated on purpose.

That feels like a lot of word vomit, basically what I am trying to say is that I don't think the ghouls trust the school with the care of anomalies at the moment, and that an anomaly of some sort is what was responsible for what happened to Clementia more so than the school itself. Perhaps a very powerful demon? I sort of get the feeling that whatever happened to Clementia was not whatever the instigator (if one exists) intended, if for no other reason than it was the only dorm destroyed. There's a chance this person wanted all of the ghouls destroyed, the school seems to think that the prophecy they keep is about a ghoul but I'm not so sure. "The whisper of the new moon will lead the champion to the academy on the solitary isle. So long as the champion resides there, the world shall be sheltered from profound tragedy." I could just be overthinking things but that doesn't really sound like something meant to encourage someone to be a protector of something... it sounds like instructions for a cage. Like as long as a specific thing is contained on the island, then the world will be safe.

Of course none of my thoughts exclude the idea Clementia was destroyed for finding something out, but to me it seems less like a punishment and more like a preemptive strike. If that makes any sense?

[noahsresources]

SWEET TOOTH ( 2021 NETFLIX SERIES ): S1E2 ' SORRY ABOUT ALL THE DEAD PEOPLE ' SENTENCE PROMPTS !

part 2 of the series!! reminder that these prompts are not spoiler-free, and may contain potential content warnings for apocalyptic settings, child abuse, drug usage, killing, and death. feel free to change pronouns and/or descriptor words to fit your needs! EVEN MORE SWEET TOOTH PROMPTS

❝ he never listens to me. ❞

❝ it doesn't show mercy, and it is here, and it is now. ❞

❝ everybody left, huh? ❞

❝ are you ready to be free? ❞

❝ fate was bringing all our stories together. ❞

❝ how long are you gonna follow me? ❞

❝ sorry you missed it. oh, well. have a great life. ❞

❝ your jokes aren't very funny. ❞

❝ i'm not alone, i got you. ❞

❝ i said stay put, as in don't leave. ❞

❝ i'll be quiet, i promise. ❞

❝ you're creepy as hell back there. ❞

❝ guys like me aren't good for kids like you. ❞

❝ i'm going to bed. ❞

❝ i don't give a shit, as long as you're gone in the morning. ❞

❝ oh, no. not my food. ❞

❝ i tried some, but they were gross. and they made me feel funny. ❞

❝ you can have my share too! ❞

❝ i get angry when i don't have food. ❞

❝ maybe we can go in together? ❞

❝ leave my head alone! you can't have it! ❞

❝ you get many visitors? ❞

❝ i don't know why people still believe that. ❞

❝ don't get him started. ❞

❝ i'm sorry. i'm afraid i don't know her. ❞

❝ i tried to tell him, she ain't out there, but he's stubborn as hell. ❞

❝ do you bite? ❞

❝ i forget i have them sometimes. ❞

❝ are you who i think you are? ❞

❝ try not to think about it. ❞

❝ you're lucky you made it. ❞

❝ what do you want from us? ❞

❝ we don't want any trouble. ❞

❝ not sure i've met a sorer loser. ❞

❝ i hate it when you call me that. ❞

❝ can you at least bring me back some french fries? ❞

❝ busy as usual tonight? ❞

❝ you know what i went through. ❞

❝ i wouldn't be asking you if i had any other choice. ❞

❝ i've had to do a lot of things i'm not proud of. ❞

❝ you're acting like this is a bad thing. ❞

❝ it goes against everything that we believe in. ❞

❝ we don't want your money. ❞

❝ what are you doing with him? ❞

❝ you're one of them, aren't you? ❞

❝ he believes whatever the hell he wants. ❞

❝ he's better off here than out there. ❞

❝ you're weird. super weird. ❞

❝ what's it like having a mom? ❞

❝ we liked music almost as much as you, apparently. ❞

❝ i couldn't sleep either. ❞

❝ we're not here for you or your family. ❞

❝ come here, little freak. ❞

❝ we'll always find you. ❞

❝ you're doing what you have to, to survive. ❞

❝ sorry about all the dead people. ❞

❝ i can do it on my own. ❞

❝ don't push it. ❞

[garbage-connoisseur]

Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter

Let's talk about a very silly movie starring Kung Fu Jesus Christ trying to stop a group of vampires from committing hate-crimes. That's right baby, it's Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter!

Things are grim in Ottowa, Canada. A string of vampiric murders have targeted the local lesbian population and severely impacted church memberships to boot. The church decides to pull out their secret weapon...

This alone should be enough to sell you on the movie, but let me just throw in that besides vampires and Jesus it also contains (bad) kung fu and musical elements.

I should however also do my usual content warning for the movie: While it doesn't contain any major sexual assault, homophobic or racist scenes, it does still come from the tradition of Troma pictures, so there is a recurring gag with a female character getting groped, a villainous character french-kissing a corpse, some general distasteful bits and just... So much blasphemy (obviously).

But back to the story:

Jesus gets several make-overs throughout the story, first of which includes a haircut, a couple of earrings and a song-and dance routine in which he proves his might by healing the sick in front of a public crowd.

There's sadly not a lot of diagetic singing and dancing, but the soundtrack does slap, and the movie more than makes up for it with memorable scenes, such as when Jesus has just been out shopping for wood for stakes, but gets accosted by a new enemy:

After which we are treated to a scene of some 30+ atheist combatants leaving a single (clown?) car, followed by a very dumb fight scene.

Jesus finds out that the reason that vampires can travel freely in the sunlight is that a mad scientist has been grafting the skin of the dead lesbians they've been kidnapping unto them, thereby protecting them from the deadly rays of the sun. For any vampires reading this, there's a thought, eh? Although maybe steer clear of the hate crimes.

However, Jesus on his own is no match for the entire vampire population and he gets completely trounced, at which point the movie treats us to a wonderful little take on the parable of the good Samaritan:

That's right, first a bishop walks past Jesus without helping him, then a cop (ACAB) and finally he gets help from a transvestite (according to the credits), who nurses him back to health. Support your trans communities as they would support you. <3

And that is generally the message of the movie. I don't want to spoil anything else. The movie is very worth watching, it's genuinely funny while also being very supportive of queer people. It's currently less than €3 on German Amazon, so go grab yourself a copy and experience this wonderful low-budget masterpiece for yourself.

I'll just leave you with this:

[burntblueberrywaffles]

Fic tag game

got tagged by @fangeek-girl ❤️❤️

How many works do you have on Ao3?

I have 7 works but 3 of them are fanfic lol

2. What's your Ao3 word count?

1896 words total. Your girl is definitely one for brevity LOL

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Wednesday, that one drabble I made for The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, and I've been writing for Star Wars (though I haven't posted anything yet) and Mrs maisel (i wrote a whole short fic for that almost a year ago but I forgot about it completely until I found it in my notes apps, I should get around to posting it)  

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I don't have 5 fics total but here's my current count in order:

1-Lies

2-The world's a little blurry

3-Pretend

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes always! the fact that people are READING my stuff and taking time to comment has me 🥺🥺🥺

My writing ao3 isnt linked to my main email adress though so sometimes it takes me a while to respond because I wont see it until I periodically check my fic stats

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

.....Probably The world's a little blurry let's be real (I'm going to fix it it in the next one in the series, I promise!!!)

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

akdadhjgsjgd hard to say all my shit is angsty, I guess Pretend?? kind of, it's less of a downer than the other ones. The final part of Come a little closer will have a happy ending though I promise! (already finished writing the end, I just need to write the beginning lol)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No ❤️ I don't think any of my stuff has gotten enough attention for that lol

9. Do you write smut? What kind?

NO my ace ass has no experience with that so I wouldn't know how 🧍‍♀️🧍‍♀️🧍‍♀️(I might need to in some future project, fortunately a lot of my friends are perverts (affectionate) so I could probably ask for some guidance if it comes to that LOL)

10. Do you write cross-overs?

No, I'm not a big fans of crossovers in general so certainly have never felt compelled to write one.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No

12. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

No

13. What WIP you would like to finish, but doubt you ever will?

So many ugh I cant even choose, it's more rare for me to actually finish something than the opposite, that's why I'll never post anything unless the whole thing is finished (only exception is my current series, but that's because I felt like each fic making up the series were self-contained enough that they didn't need to follow up immediatly to work? if that makes sense - plus the first one was a one shot and only thought of how to follow it up after posting it)

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

ANIDALA MY BELOVED

15. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm really good at imagery and emotion (being a poetry writer goes brrrrr)

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

DESCRIPTIONS oh god I'm so bad at it. My fic are vibes only lmao, what are they wearing? where are they? what movements are they doing? NOT IMPORTANT how about I offer you 12 metaphors on how this character is feeling instead. (though I'm forcing myself to work on it haha)

I also struggle with any longer story arc... there's a reason all my stuff is so short lol

17. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

If it's in french it would be pretty fun since it's my ✨first language✨ hehe. For other languages I'd see if one of my friends speak it but otherwise idk if I'd include it bc I don't want to butcher another language, I've seen too many english authors put french through the ringer it's painful 😭

18. First fandom you wrote for?

I guess Julie and the Phantoms? I never posted it but I had a pretty advanced fic for that. unless you count the 13 reasons why fic I posted on wattpas when i was early teen but we dont talk about that

19. Favourite fic you've ever written?

right now it has to be The world's a little blurry, I just love how it came out hehe

20. What fic would you want to rewrite one day?

none right now.

Anyway tagging @nonamemanga @beri-allen @unlifeira @realmermaid333 @suchaladyy @witchysith @king-crimson-works @theycallme-thejackal and anyone else who might want to do it!

[brightmalcolm]

I'm so happy I found your blog! This show has been my hyper-fixation ever since it came out and it's nice to find people who still talk about the show :)

ANYWAYS, I just started reading The Count of Monte Cristo (for totally normal reasons, and not so I can deeply analyze S1E13 "Wait & Hope") and I wanted to know your thoughts on the fact that The Count of Monte Cristo was Malcolm's favorite story growing up. Because this book, like said in the episode, is about a man murdering for revenge (take this with a grain of salt I'm on page 73). And I can't help but think about Martins though process of reading this story about murder to Malcolm. Because in the episode, We get a flashback of Martin reading the story to Malcolm, and He's acting out a scene from the book where I think the Count kills one of the men who betrayed him (again I'm only on page 73 I'm not completely sure). And he makes the act of murder seen fantastical, fun, and light-hearted. Which makes me think that when he reads this story to Malcolm, not only to get Malcolm used to the idea of murder, but to also prematurely downplay his crimes. So when Malcolm found out that Martin's a Serial Killer as a kid, Martin could then say, "Well you didn't have a problem with it when I read those crimes to you, why do you have a problem with it now?" And we see the adult version of this when Malcolm is an adult, Martin brings up the fact the he never killed anyone on his operating table, he only killed people when off the clock. Which of course means that his crimes aren't as bad as they really are because he could have done so much worse!

AND THE WAY MALCOLM WOULD HAVE LOOKED BACK AND THOUGHT HE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BECAUSE OF THE BOOK!!

because of course Martin the Murder would read a murder book instead of a normal Fairytale, of course Martin would only act out the murder scenes from the book. It just gets the trauma ball rolling, like give my guy a break please he's had enough.

hi omg it's nice to hear from you!

so obligatory I have not read the count of monte cristo so take everything I say with a big grain of salt bc I am just going off the wikipedia page and conversations I've had with people who have read it. I like to think everything (or at least most things) with this show are intentional so I enjoy looking in to these kind of details to see what they might mean. I think one way to look at it is the writers trying to do a short hand for malcolm being an intelligent and precocious child and a bit kind of like "ha ha of course malcolm's favorite childhood book was an old french classic about revenge and not like the magic tree house bc he's so eccentric and pretentious." also it ties nicely into a murder investigation that they can base on the story to give malcolm more reasons to know a bunch of random info to help with the case.

but when it comes I think with martin basically anything can be used as a tool for manipulation, even if in another context it wouldn't be by someone else. like the count of monte cristo doesn't seem like something super out of left field for a parent to read their child in my opinion, yeah it involves murder but a lot of books involve heavy subject matter and are still read at any age. so I don't want to imply it's like bad or odd for a child or their parent to read something like that, I was reading things like the outsiders and the hunger games around malcolm's age which are both kids/young adult books but also contain death and violence. BUT I think with martin he definitely could have had some more ulterior motives and again, the show deliberately made reading the book a memory malcolm had with his dad so I think the writers definitely had intent behind details like that.

so yes I get what you're saying and could 100% see it being used that way in martin and malcolm's dynamic. I think it's in the vein of how malcolm collects murder weapons in that it demonstrates how death and murder kind of consume his life even in to his interests and hobbies and how martin's shadow is always there (again, not saying reading about murder or being interested in it mean you're a serial killer obviously but in the context of like themes in the story, a reoccurring one is malcolm's preoccupation with death and how it relates to his trauma from his father). like the example you gave, martin is very good at justifying what he has done, especially and specifically to malcolm bc he knows his son is already traumatized by his actions and desperate for some logical reasoning behind them when there just really isn't one. the way martin acts out the story is also an interesting point. again, not trying to imply this is like inherently something bad or problematic but specifically in the context of this show and this relationship it definitely shows how martin kind of presents murder to malcolm. like it's all about the larger context for me; what does this mean with the information we already know by episode 13 and what conclusions should we draw from it. and I think it makes sense how you interpret the episode!

anyway TLDR the way martin talks about murder with his son is a vital part of their dynamic. martin knows malcolm wants to understand his seemingly incomprehensible actions and he uses this multiple times in the show to try and manipulate him in to thinking different ways about them, whether that is by telling malcolm he is somehow responsible for him murdering people (see 1x02) or that he saved more people than he hurt (see 1x07) or that he has changed completely (see 2x13) ect. ALSO I just remembered how interested I am in how this show portrays the concept of monstrosity and wow this TLDR is getting long specifically in the episode you referenced eye of the needle 1x14 and how martin says something along the lines of "I'm the monster, so vanquish me" as if simplifying the concept down to that of a storybook, like he's a dragon to be slain and how he tells malcolm there's no such thing as monsters in the pilot, conjuring the image of like a child who thinks there's a monster under their bed or in their closet. so the lines kind of get blurred and martin will ultimately use every tool in his disposal to manipulate malcolm in different ways, even using things that are innocuous on their own or in a different context. would love to hear everyone else's thoughts especially if you've read the book :)

[imminent-danger-came]

what would your ideal lmk season five look like? specifically for mk's character arc because I love your takes on that

I've said it before I want that boy centrifuged by the narrative

I didn't get the title of "MK death spiral blog" that one time by that one guy for nothing. I am 1000% on the "MK getting centrifuged by the narrative" pain train.

Now, in all honestly my ideal lmk s5 is the one they give me. These writers are so talented and they know more about their story than I do, so whatever they got planned is going to make me lose my mind!

But, indulging myself a little bit, here's a list of some things I'd love to see in s5 (or beyond???):

Sun Wukong V MK fight. Anyone who has followed me for any amount of time probably knows this. I need a SWK and MK fallout and then I need them to build their relationship up stronger.

MK Guilt Over Azure's death. That boy felt guilty for "releasing DBK from the underworld" when it was definitely Red Son who did that. MK arguably had a huge hand in Azure's death, being the one to cause Azure to finally lose his grasp on the Jade Emperor's powers.

Samadhi Fire Part 3. Anyone who has followed me for any amount of time also probably knows this. I want MK to be in the position of Samadhi Fire Mei and Jade Emperor Azure, unable to control his own powers, and needing to be talked down by Mei or someone else. We got one half of a 3x10 parallel in 4x08, and I need more!

Mei Dragon Form. Please for the love of god I want her to turn into a dragon so bad—nonnegotiably while she's protecting the people she cares about, for the sweet 4x05 callback. In my heart of hearts, I want Mei to unlock dragon form while trying to reach MK during Samadhi Fire Part 3. If we don't get another "We will figure this out together" what's the fucking point.

MK Subodhi Training??? Or honestly, MK interacting with real Subodhi in general. Did you see his face after the world reformed in 4x14? That was not a face of confidence.

Sandy Backstory. Which partially includes Pigsy. I just want to know what his 2x08 PTSD flashbacks were all about. *pulls out conspiracy board* I want to say those flashbacks take place at the 1x09 battlefield, which has helmets that we then see in 4x01, but who knows!

Sun Wukong homeless arc. Flower Fruit Mountain was destroyed during the s4 special, and I want to see the consequences of that, especially if MK feels guilty about it! Which he probably will!

MK Spiral! This isn't as much of a prediction/want as it is just a fact. MK is going DOWN next season and I'm here with popcorn and tears. I need a FULL harbinger of chaos meltdown.

Macaque is just there, hanging out. After everything that happened last season I hope we see Macaque around a lot more, because I love him but also because I need MK to yell at him too. Also because "Whatever they're scheming we can handle it."

Yellowtusk helps Ne Zha maintain the seal. Yellowtusk had an important skill in helping Azure contain the Jade Emperor's powers—I'm wondering if he could do the same with Ne Zha's lotus seal.

MK Flashback. You know, how he got to Pigsy's, the circumstances of his birth, an explanation for what the fuck the stone monkey is/all those stone animals were, all that good stuff.

Bye Bye Bandana. If/when MK snaps and completely loses himself to whatever he is, I'd love for the headband to come off. Really cement it.

MK Relives His Nightmares Again. Oops. After going "So we never have to live our nightmares again!" in 4x12 I now need the opposite of that to happen. Sorry MK. I need his new "Better than we found it" resolve to fold like the soggy french fry it is. That ain't lasting.

Hurting The People You Care About Theme. So with "hurting the people who care about you the most" and everything being "to pain", I really want this to go a "hurting people is a part of life" route. We're already almost there with "Mistakes happen but as long as you leave the world better than you found it then it's all good." Like that's SO close. Come on s5 give it to me.

Wukong Killed Macaque Reveal. *twirls hair* This would sooooo not bode well for MK.

MK Gets Out of His "Good Guy" "Bad Guy" Way of Thinking. I think 4x11 as an episode really highlights this. MK views people as one or the other, ignoring the vast grey area that a lot of people fall in. Wukong in his past wasn't just "a bad guy", just like he isn't currently flawless or wholly "a good guy" now. He's just a guy.

I could probably go on forever, so I'll cut this off here!

[measureformeasure]

Hey June! I was wondering, what medias/books would you recommend for a person wanting to get into the ancient greek classics? The Iliad/Odyssey/Aeneid stories fascinate me, but as there are so many versions and translations and retellings, I don't really know where to start. How did you get into them?

hey anon! I feel mildly underqualified to answer this as I actually haven’t read the Iliad or Odyssey or all of the Aeneid but I will do my best (i’m working on it! promise! iliad is up next and i’m gonna read it and i’m gonna go crazyinsane)

firstly you should totally read the original texts. remember that they aren’t The One True Story, they’re just written-down versions of wobbly cultural stories that change from person to person. and you don’t have to read them before reading retellings or adaptation but it’s good to read them fairly close together. just read what you wanna read. the bit of the Aeneid I read was translated by Robert Fagles, and I’ve heard Emily Wilson’s Odyssey is good. my friend Theo @fifthlydoyoudream recommends E. V. Rieu’s Argonautica translation, if you wanna read that. poetry in translation has decent translations of most plays i’ve tried to find, and that’s nice because it’s online and super accessible.

the way I first got into the greek classics was reading Anne Carson’s An Oresteia, which is Agamemnon, Elektra, and Orestes. it’s a really great intro because Anne Carson’s translations are just fantastic & it’s one play from each of the three big greek tragedy-writers & it’s a pretty well-contained story so you don’t need much context - you could read Iphigenia at Aulis first but that’s not really necessary. (confusingly there is also The Oresteia, which is different). if you can find an Anne Carson translation of a play you should totally read that one. that’s my rule of thumb. I always recommend Antigone too - it’s also fairly self-contained and it makes me crazyinsane. Anne Carson has two translations, they’re both good - Antigonick is better if you have a little context beforehand in my opinion. also Oedipus the King/Oedipus Rex is good.

tbh what i recommend is just following characters or stories that you like and seeing where that gets you. like i’m having a pretty intense house of atreus moment atm but i still barely know who penelope is because i haven’t read the odyssey. who is penthesilea? still do not know. but don’t get overwhelmed by the amount of stuff out there!! it can be a little scary but wikipedia is your friend and also you do not have to know everything.

and some adaptations/retellings:

Lavinia by Ursula K. le Guin is an adaptation/retelling of the Aeneid from Lavinia’s point of view and it is very very good.

Luis Alfaro’s Greek Trilogy are play adaptations of Oedipus Rex, Elektra, and Medea set in modern-day LA with a Latino cast and it is so fucking good it makes me want to bite glass and explode. you can find oedipus el rey by googling but the other ones might be a bit more annoying to find

Iphigenia and the Furies (on Taurian Land) by Ho Ka Kei is a good deconstruction of the colonialist nature of Iphigenia among the Taurians, and it is also absurdly hilarious, so I recommend. I read it before I read the play it adapts and I was fine but it is good to have context.

i’m having an iphigenia moment anyway i also recommend Iphigenia at Zero by Lisa Schlesinger if you get into iphigenia’s story.

I’m like 15 pages in to Cassandra by Christa Wolf and I am thoroughly enjoying it so far

Antigone directed by Sophie Deraspe is a great French Canadian adaptation of Antigone in the modern day I really like it

and who would i be if i didn’t recommend max @goose-books‘s godsong, aka the aeneid (among other things) with lesbians

also. note on adaptation - a lot of adaptations i have read flatten the morality of these plays into good and bad. i think that’s dumb. let them be shitty, adaptations!

ok thats all good luck brave soldier o7

[welcometotherpsideblog]

Various important artifacts from Greek mythos history are STILL in museums, and the gods are SICK of it, someone should REALLY go run that errand and bring them all back... Oh—wait, a prophecy was just given about this exact quest? How convenient!

˚.⋆ ✶ 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐎𝐂𝐱𝐎𝐂 𝐌𝐱𝐌 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐏! ✶₊⊹

.𖥔 CLOSED|open RP AD ꩜.ᐟ

this RP AD is now taken, it may open back up at any time, but feel free to check out my other ADs here!

the basics about me and my RP are HERE, but in short: 17 years old, semi-lit/lit, 3-6 paragraphs however i mirror, i reply once to multiple times a day depending on how busy i am, private discord servers.

˚.⋆ ✶ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐓: ✶₊⊹

the RP starts in modern times of today at the start of just an another summer at Camp Half-Blood. my character is a 17 year old straggler and unclaimed son of Demeter from the French revolution who escaped to America and got tied up in the Lotus Hotel and Casino. before he comes to camp, he knows nothing about his parentage or the fact Greek gods exist—leaving him as a rather pathetic demigod who's powers are weak and who's fighting skills are... well, nonexistent. too bad he gets mentioned in the prophecy of a quest almost immediately upon arrival—even if it's just a simple errand to run in theory!

the quest is simple—the gods are tired of the fact that some important things from their history are still stuck in some mortal museums who know nothing of their importance, and since Olympus has now decided to build a museum with the help of a certian Annabeth Chase, they really need them back like... yesterday. this quest will take two campers across the world, but, it shouldn't be that deadly and will have a lot of downtime, perfect for demigod mingling, general slacking of and general teenagers-who-are-left-unsupervised mishaps!

this RP i also want to just be set in the riordanverse and structured somewhat like a classic PJO book, but the actual characters from the books i don't want to have a main part since they are all now adults, and i would also prefer for your OC to also be just an another demigod like mine with no connections to the cast of the books. i've only read the first/main PJO set of books, however i know the lore of the others well enough! but, again, this will only contain the adventures of our demigods with the adventures between the main points of the quest.

as you can see, i already have a quest made up, however that does not mean i will do all the work in this RP! i prefer to HEAVILY plot before the RP even starts with my partner, so bring your ideas! let's get excited and develop the story together, bouncing off eachothers ideas is my jam! i want to get excited and worldbuild together!

˚.⋆ ✶ please DM directly here if interested and read pinned before responding!✶₊⊹

[lostcryptids]

no one is going to read this whole post i just have to like write it down because it's so insane crazy the world of city hunter movies is so baffling, like idk if other manga/anime series have this level of strange stuff happening movie wise maybe they do? there are multiple theatrical movies: .357 Magnum, Bay City Wars, Million Dollar Conspiracy, then the newer ones, Shinjuku Private Eyes, and Angel Dust. Multiple ovas/television movies The Secret Service, Goodbye My Sweetheart, and Death of Vicious Criminal Ryo Saeba. Ok all normal Then there is the world of live action city hunter movies which are like. City Hunter 1993: hong kong adaption of the movie starring jackie chan (? never understood it's bad casting honestly) but also, i've read that he didn't like the raunchy humor which is like, 90% of the humor, so they cut a lot of it out of the movie. this is a pretty normal adaption despite not being that accurate. jackie chan also dresses as chun-li from street fighter in this movie Saviour of the Soul 1991: this is the most bizarre thing i could imagine, this movie was released in 1991 making it the first actual "adaption" of the material despite it being like...the only thing i can say is martial arts fantasy au? and to make this even funnier there is a second movie that has nothing to do with the FIRST movie so i have no idea what this even is anymore. The second movie has a character named the Devil King and is about "a special block of ice that is said to contain the life essence of immortality" like idk this seems like the FUNNIEST possible adaption you can make of a crime/slapstick story about a guy who always has a boner? i see so many people praising this movie saying it has like amazing action and story and costumes but that's so freaking funny why is it city hunter au Mr. Mumble 1996: UNOFFICAL hong kong adaption of the manga/anime. like holy shit hello all the characters are here..the MAIN character is in the same outfit from the anime...how does this not get you sued badly. But funnily enough it looks like the most accurate hong kong adaption. because there are three of them. and the one that copies the most is unofficial and unlicensed. wonderful world we live in i think its just so funny Nicky Larson et le Parfum de Cupidon 2018: since city hunter aired in france with a very bad dub it has a very large following and so there is a live action movie for it over 30 years after it was first published. everyone is french. pamela anderson is in this movie there's a kdrama series but it isn't anything like the source material apart from the name really so i dont think it counts also it's annoying because i always see it all over when i want to se the anime oh also there's a live action adaption of the city hunter alternate universe sequel series............there's so much stuff here Finally they are finally planning on making a japanse adaption and it's going to be on netflix. in 2024. i think that's it.

[richincolor]

Those Pink Mountain Nights by Jen Ferguson Heartdrum

Summary: Over-achievement isn’t a bad word—for Berlin, it’s the goal. She’s securing excellent grades, planning her future, and working a part-time job at Pink Mountain Pizza, a legendary local business. Who says she needs a best friend by her side?

Dropping out of high school wasn’t smart—but it was necessary for Cameron. Since his cousin Kiki’s disappearance, it’s hard enough to find the funny side of life, especially when the whole town has forgotten Kiki. To them, she’s just another missing Native girl.

People at school label Jessie a tease, a rich girl—and honestly, she’s both. But Jessie knows she contains multitudes. Maybe her new job crafting pizzas will give her the high-energy outlet she desperately wants.

When the weekend at Pink Mountain Pizza takes unexpected turns, all three teens will have to acknowledge the various ways they’ve been hurt—and how much they need each other to hold it all together.

My Thoughts: It’s winter and everything is cold at the beginning of this gem of a story, but warmth slowly seeps in through people and their relationships even though winter remains. As is the case with many books, much is jumbled at first–particularly with three different perspectives. I was sometimes needing to reread bits and sort things out, but that didn’t last very long. Over time, the voices and personalities became more distinct and their backstories were filled in enough to answer a lot of questions.

The teens at Pink Mountain Pizza work for money, but they also go there to have another space to exist. Young people spend most of their time between home and school, but in this third place, Berlin, Cam, and Jessie have the opportunity to learn more about their abilities and challenges and have a space to be something other than simply a child or a student. They also have time to get to know each other.

While they are learning, they are also sharing themselves and finding ways to offer support to one another. They are each very definitely facing challenges, but have all really been trying to cope on their own without relying on others. The difficulties include depression, grief, economic issues, racism, a learning disability, anxiety, childhood health trauma, and probably some others I am forgetting right now. Berlin, Cam, and Jessie have much to learn readers will see them stumbling, but also growing.

An image that is carried throughout is that of a pipe by Magritte that Berlin had seen in French class previously. Until I looked it up today, I knew that image by the name This is Not a Pipe, but didn’t know it’s other name, The Treachery of Images. The main characters are trying to project a particular image for others to see and have been hiding a lot, but are also trying to navigate the people and spaces around them to see the realities and not just what they think is there.

Berlin and Cam have connections from childhood and through the shared experience of being Native in Canada. Even when they are at odds, mostly due to misunderstanding what they see and experience, those things bind them together.

Recommendation: Get it soon. As the author explains in a helpful note at the beginning (which you can find in this sample), there are hard topics in this story including anti-blackness along with missing and murdered Indigenous women. But, there are also wonderful things like friendships and love in the face of such things and somehow there is a warmth within the pages that is comforting.

Extras:

Teaching Guide

Author Interview

Pages: 352 Review copy: Digital ARC via publisher Availability: On shelves now

[lilareviewsbooks]

Dallergut Dream Department Store: 2.5/5

2.5/5 stars 243 pages contains: cozy vibes and dream magic!!

As some of you may know, I make the São Paulo – Boston trip quite frequently! I'm a college student in the US but live in Brazil, and so that makes for very long plane rides. We're talking 14 hours here. So, to keep sane, I usually download a couple books into my Kindle, pray they're interesting enough to keep me interested, buckle down, and read. 

I've just made the trek once more to spend the summer holidays at home, and I decided to download some books I'm reading for r/Fantasy's Bingo Challenge. One of them was The Dallergut Dream Department Store, by Lee Mi-ye, which clears my "alliterative title" square! Of course, because I can't make anything easy on myself, I read this Korean book in its French translation. Because of this, I feel like it's fully possible I didn't grasp the story in all of its complexity. I'm kind of bad at French. And I might have also been high on sleeping pills for half the book. So, take this review with a grain of salt.

In general, I thought this was a 2.5 star read. For me, that means it's decent. Like getting a C in school — you passed, but your work is far from stellar. What I did enjoy was the concept: the story follows Penny as she begins to work at a magical store people visit in their sleep, and where they "buy" their dreams for the night. And for the most part, the book is a world-building exercise in the concept of the store. It researches how every situation would work, from nightmares to people who day-dream, to animal dreams. Personally, I love a good deep dive into a world, so I was having fun, especially during the first half.

But after a while, it gets repetitive. The chapters are mostly loose stories that don't circle back to a particular theme or event. Penny is almost always there, though, I guess, but I'll get to my problems with Penny later. Although the stories are well-written, very easy to read and can sometimes be quite compelling, they don't make a novel when they're put together. They make up a collection of episodes with the same vague amalgamation of characters. The gimmick gets old pretty fast, and I was quickly looking for some emotional stakes, an overarching plot, anything. And although I am a fan of a good plotless, vibes-only fantasy, the lack of connection I felt with our main character and the fact that she and her friends do not change at all throughout the stories made it a very stale reading experience.

And Penny? Oh, Penny. My question became, quite simply, why are we following her? She's not a particularly interesting character, with no defining traits, nothing she needs or wants (besides working at the store, which she achieves in chapter 1)... Meanwhile, other characters in the novel have more personality, more interesting backgrounds, and they barely get to shine. They're buried behind an overabundance of Penny doing not much of anything, and being a self-insert/audience for Mr. Dallagoot's sermons. I kept wondering if it wouldn't be more interesting to follow any one of them. 

And I think Ms. Lee wondered this too, since she includes two epilogues which are, in my opinion, completely unnecessary, and are told entirely from the perspectives of two other characters. They just prove to the audience that Penny is a dreadful character by abandoning her at the end, leaving two random anecdotes about side-characters, which could've been anywhere in the book, to finish the novel off.

Although the vibes are good, the world is interesting and the book reads very cozy, there's a lot that you're left wanting, here. I think what this book needed was an editor, or a workshop session. It has so much potential, and if some crucial changes had been made, then I think Ms. Lee would have a wonderful final product on her hands.

[thecatwars]

Books that I read in April 2024

I'm back! This post is a few days late because I was in the French countryside and my access to wifi wasn't too great. Anyway, I wasn't planning on reading the first book on this month's list as I had put it on hold at my university's library February and it was predicted that I would be able to read by July. It was a nice and unexpected surprise to be able to start off my month by reading The Gifts of Imperfection. After that, I decided that for this month I wanted to focus on reading books from my physical TBR and Kindle Unlimited TBR (The Ten Thousand Doors of January has been sitting on my nightstand since November!).

As always, my brief reviews contain no spoilers.

The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown: I've been meaning to read a Brené Brown book ever since I was a teacher and after about five years, the moment to read it finally arrived. This book does a good job of organizing how I feel about self-love and self-worthiness. Although there are a couple of things that I didn't quite agree with her in her book, I appreciate how everything ties together with three words: compassion, courage, and connection. I'm definitely interested in reading more of Brené Brown's books. This is a book that I borrowed from my university's library and I plan on buying this book. I gave this book a 5/5.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January: I started reading this book later last year but couldn't get into it since I wasn't in the right headspace to read it. After about spending five months on my nightstand, waiting to be picked up, I decided to give this book a second chance and started from the beginning. I am pleased to say that giving this book the second chance that it deserved was the right way to go! This book is a beautiful story about finding one’s self and having the courage to write your own story. January, our main character, is relatable with her faults and her strengths. I like the combination of historical fiction with fantastical elements. I'd be down to read another book by this author. I own this book and plan on keeping it. I gave this book a 5/5.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. I think I first stumbled across the book while browsing through GoodReads and then saw it mentioned as a recommendation on TikTok a few times. I came into this book knowing little about it. It seems like I got lucky this month because Emily, our main character, is one that is relatable and she's 30 years old! I wish the book had a page dedicated to helping the reader pronounce certain places and things. It's a cute book and although I wish it had a little bit more to it, I still liked it. I can't wait to read the next book in this series! I own this book and plan on keeping it. I gave this book a 5/5.

The Prisoner's Throne by Holly Black. Oddly enough, I liked this book more than The Stolen Heir. I think I liked this book more because I connected more with Oak rather than Wren. Whereas The Stolen Heir is from Wren's perspective, The Prisoner's Throne was from Oak's POV. I enjoyed seeing characters from The Cruel Prince and was pleasantly surprised at how much they are included in this book. Reading The Prisoner's Throne makes me want to go back and read the original trilogy. This is a book that I borrowed from my local library and I plan on owning this book in the future. I gave this book a 5/5.

The Lovely Dark (Monster Romance) Anthology: Wave Song by Emma Hamm. This is the second novella I've ever read and it was not bad. This novella is a prequel to a book I read in January, Whispers of the Deep, which I liked a lot. I like that there was a dual POV the main couple, but I found that the ending of story was a bit rushed, which I suppose is fair considering the length of the story. This is a book that I read on Kindle Unlimited and do not plan on owning. I gave this book a 4/5.

The Serpent and Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent. this is advertised as Hunger Games meets vampires with enemies to lovers and if you’re looking for Hunger Games level of storytelling, then skip this book. I feel like this book is fairly forgettable. I came in with low expectations and even those were too high. I found the prose to be boring and the author is much more of a teller than a show-er, which often lead to the repetition of things that were mentioned before, such as "I'm human and they are vampires. Vampires like to drink human blood." This paraphrased mantra gets repeated so much in this book and it's like "yes, we get it. FMC is human and everyone is out to kill her." I don't think that I will read the rest of the books in this series. This is a book that I read on Kindle Unlimited and do not plan on owning. I gave this book a 1/5.

2024 Reading Masterpost

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