#characters: rachel lennox

[hmsharmony]

X for the fandom meme

X - top 5-10 characters who are yoUR PRECIOUS BABIES AND YOU WILL DIE DEFENDING THEM

Gwen (Merlin), my darling, my light of my life, my queen. Too good for your show or this world. Denied your own story despite all there was to work with, yet your scenes were what made the show compelling (for me). I will avenge you one day.

Peyton Sawyer (One Tree Hill), particularly if you come at her for telling Brooke how she felt about Lucas SHE WAS TRYING TO DO THE RIGHT THING AND AVOID HER FUCK UP FROM S1 SHE WAS TRYING OKAY SHES ONLY 17. Let me protect you darling.

Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon). I don’t need to die defending her because she’s pretty beloved, but she’s been my girl since I was five or six, so yes, I will die for her nonetheless.

Mal Oretsev (Shadow & Bone/Grisha Trilogy), particularly the book version. I’m so sorry people don’t realize you’re a fucking teenager figuring out emotions and your place in Alina’s world and sometimes that means fucking up. You learn and you grow and that’s so goddamn important!!!

Like one person will know who this is but Rachel Lennox (Dancing Shoes). My favorite character in all of literature. My stubborn orphan girl who is trying to step into her mother’s shoes and struggles so deeply with change. The one who had to learn how to live a life for herself. I thank my mother every day for giving me this book when I was ten and letting me grow up with this wonderful, deeply flawed young girl/teenager.

Sansa Stark (Game of Thrones/ASOIAF). People eventually came around to you, but in the beginning I was literally reciting essays to friends who pushed you aside as inconsequential, who failed to see that you were using your femininity to survive in a world that thought so little of such traits—that this was your strength, not weakness.

Martha Jones (Doctor Who). Put in probably the worst position of all the New Who companions, having to deal with a lovesick Doctor and get hate from certain doctor/rose fans for daring to fall for him. She saves the goddamn world and learns to recognize what she deserves.

There are more but these were the ones for which I had visceral reactions when I read the prompt. But if you peruse my light of my life and darling girl tags (and the much less used darling boy lmao), you’ll probably find some others.

Fandom meme

[itsss4t4n]

Who I write for /Rules

Masterlist

I'm new-ish to writing (i used to write fanfiction when i was like 13. i'm 19 now and write very rarely) but I really wanna do it again.

So this is a list of characters/fandoms I write for as well as some rules for asks. Some things may be missing from this list so if you dont see something on this list, feel free to ask. :))

Do add as much detail as you want to a request and please ALWAYS have at least some sort of prompt, as i'm really not good with coming up with storys on my own yet.

I WILL NOT DO SMUT SO DONT REQUEST IT! I might however do spicy stuff (Nothing more than making out or somewhat implied stuff tho).

My writing will be mostly pg 13 but please still be careful if the fic-warnings include sensitive topics, and i might repost some 18+ things so be careful when navigating my blog.

Please be nice and have manners when requesting.

Also please include what gender/pronouns you want the reader to have (i write for all genders). If its not included I will default it as gender neutral. :)))

I also write poly relationships and AUs.

Some things I will not write include: Pregnancy, toxic/yandere, student x teacher, love triangles.

(Also english isnt my first language, and even though, in my opinion, i speak it really well, if they are any mistakes, thats why.)

Heartbreak high

Harper Mclean

Quinni Ghallager-Jones

Darren Rivers

Spencer "Spider" White

Anthony "Ant" Vaughn

Malakai Mitchel

Sally face

Sal Fisher

Travis Phelps (male or gn readers)

Larry Johnson

Ashley Campbell

Harry Potter

Fred Weasley

George Weasley

Charly Weasley

Bill Weasley

Cedric Diggory

Olliver Wood

Draco Malfoy (+6th year only)

Theodore Nott (+6th year only)

Marauders

James Potter

Sirius Black

Remus Lupin

Regulus Black

Evan Rosier

Barty Crouch jr

Pandora Rosier

Lilly Evans

Marlene Mckinnon

Hogwarts Legacy

Sebastian Sallow

Ominus Gaunt

Gareth Weasley

Poppy Sweetings

Imelda Reyes

Die drei fragezeichen / the three investigators

Bob Andrews

Peter Shaw

Justus Jonas

Skinny Norris

Twilight

Jasper Hale

Emmet Cullen

Carlisle Cullen

Esme Cullen

Rosalie Hale

Alice Cullen

Sam Uley

Paul Lahote

Charlie Swan

Leah Clearwater

Jacob Black

Pjo

Let me know if you want book or show

Percy Jackson

Annabeth Chase

Luke Castellan

Clarrisse La Rue

Selena Beauregard

Charles Beckendorf

Ethan Nakamura

Nico di Angelo (no romantic fem readers)

Rachel Elizabeth Dare

Will Solace

Travis Stoll

Connor Stoll

Hazel Levesque (no romantic)

Jason Grace

Leo Valdez

Piper Mclean

Magnus chase

Magnus Chase

Samirah al Abbas ( no romantic)

Alex Fierro

Blitzen

Hearthstone

Mallory Keen

TJ (Thomas Jefferson jr)

MCU (Avengers)

Bucky Barnes

Steve Rogers

Tony Stark

Sam Wilson

Natasha Romanoff

Yelena Belova

Peter Parker (tom holland and andrew garfield)

MJ

Wanda Maximof

Piedro Maximof

Clint Barton

Scott Lang

Stephen Strange

Kate Bishop

MCU ( Guardians of the galaxy)

Peter Quill

Daredevil (Season 1)

Matt Murdock

Karen Page

James Wesley

X-men universe

Deadpool

Wolverine

Francis

Xavier

Mystic

Angel

Kurt

Venom

Eddie Brock

DC

Harley Quinn

Jason Todd

Dick Grayson (any version, young justice, robin, nightwing,etc.)

Wally West (youngJustice)

Artemis (young justice)

Roy Harper (young justice)

Disney Descendants

Mal

Evie

Carlos devil

Jay

Benjamin Beast

Chad Charming

Audrey Rose

Jane

Lonnie Fa

Uma

Harry Hook

Gil

Rise of red

James Hook

Hades

Bridget

Ella

Cloe

Red

Morgie

Kingsmen

Eggsy

Tiny Pretty things (Netflix)

Bette Whitlaw

Oren Lennox

Shane Madej (no romantic fem readers)

June Park

Jennifers Body

Jennifer Check

Colin Gray

Ever after high

all characters

Redacted Audios

(no x reader, just ships)

literally all characters

[yung-notorious]

music has been the best medium to help me tap into my characters' personalities when I write…

writing a bimbo? pussycatdoll, doja, nicki, kim petra, stunna girl, jt, britney spears, gwen stefani, lady gaga, tommy genesis, saweetie, tove lo, kesha, fergie, rasheeda, dreamdoll, chinese kitty

writing a awkward girl? sza, ari lennox, jazmine sullivan, samaria, rachel chinouriri, olivia rodrigo, lorde, jessie reyez,

writing a soft girl? pinkpantheress, tyla, maye, alex mali, ambre, jenevieve, jolianne, umi, ravyn lenae, sole, hope tala, zella day, the marias, kaash paige, weslee, yerin baek, flo, ciara,

writing a lover girl? tinashe, kehlani, tink, jhene aiko, beyoncé, mariah the scientist, summer walker, ariana grande, kali uchis, janet jackson, mariah carey, victoria monet, tems, chloe, latto, brandy, sid, alicia keys

writing a baddie? latto, flo milli, meg thee stallion, lil kim, glorilla, cardi, ice spice, sexyy red, amaarae, doechii, bree runway, city girls, flyanna boss, lola brooke

ill update this regularly to make this more inclusive 💕

[pink-evilette]

Characters named...

♡ Mary/Marie ♡

Marie-Poupée, Mary Corleone, Mary Katherine "Merricat" Blackwood, Mary Lennox

[isfjmel-phleg]

August 2023 Books

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 1-6 by Beth Brower

Although I had to fight myself a bit to ignore anachronisms, I did enjoy these! The earlier ones more than the later ones, but I will definitely be continuing this series as more come out.

And I know it's setting us up to ship, but am I horrible for thinking that none of Emma's potential suitors are a good fit

Towers in the Mist by Elizabeth Goudge

I normally like most of Goudge's books, but I regret I had a hard time getting through this one. As ever, the prose was lovely, but I struggled to get invested in the characters.

Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones

I liked this one on the whole, but it took me forever to finish for some reason! I've started the sequel and am finding that it's more approachable, or maybe I'm just reading it at a better time.

Father's Arcane Daughter by E. L. Konigsburg (reread)

This is a bizarre book, but I love it and keep coming back to it. The characters may not be easy to like, but what's behind it is evident, and the emotion very poignant. There's also a TV film adaptation (titled Caroline? and it's free to stream in a few places) that's pretty close to the book and well-done.

Beyond Authority and Submission: Women and Men in Marriage, Church, and Society by Rachel Green Miller

I don't read a lot of books like this, but someone around here recommended it, and I've been struggling for a while with this issue, so I picked it up. Miller makes a lot of good points and I really appreciated what she had to say (and wish I could share this perspective with some churches I'm familiar with).

The Aviary by Kathleen O'Dell (reread)

The initial setup and atmosphere of the book are great, but I regret that I didn't enjoy this one as much on the reread and probably won't be visiting it again.

The Edge of In Between by Lorelai Savaryn (reread)

I reread this one as a refresher while researching the TSG paper and was able to put more of a finger on why this one doesn't work for me, either as a story or as a retelling. It's not just that Savaryn completely changes the themes and focus of the story she's retelling, but the result is heavy-handedly allegorical. Reminders that This Is A Metaphor For Grief are everywhere. Characters feel less like living humans than representations of things. They're oddly self-aware of their problems and all their causes and there's a lot of talking like a grief counseling session rather than ordinary people. It feels like A Message that happens to have a story rather than the other way around. Even in a middle-grade book, there should still be room for the reader to independently think about and analyze the themes rather than have everything spelled out, and I didn't get much of that here.

Wintle's Wonders, Circus Shoes, and White Boots by Noel Streatfeild (reread)

I was in a shoes reread mood, and a bit curious if the British editions (as two of these are) differed significantly from the American editions. White Boots seemed pretty similar to Skating Shoes, but Wintle's Wonders has a noticeable amount of material that's cut from Dancing Shoes. Mostly details that flesh out the world and characters a bit more, but there's also a conversation between Rachel and her uncle about her late father (his brother) that furthers their bond and should have been left in.

I love Streatfeild's protagonists. A lot. Even though most of them are unusually talented in the arts or a sport, they feel very real. Rachel Lennox is important to me because she's a very rare thing: a quiet, shy, bookish fictional heroine who isn't also perfectly nice and sweet but angry and frustrated and understandable for it even when she's mistaken and it's relatable. I want to protect poor exploited child-celebrity-in-the-making Lalla, despite her occasional obnoxiousness. And Peter and Santa's weird isolated upbringing that leaves them unequipped to handle the real world...strikes a chord, even if the way Streatfeild plays out their arcs doesn't always work for me.

Also apparently circuses in the late 1930s did have whole families of performers who lived and traveled with the shows, if the portrait that Streatfeild offers of that life is accurate. It lends a bit of surprising plausibility to the background of a certain famous fictional circus child who debuted in 1940.

Speaking of which...I've read a lot of comics in the last few weeks.

Damage (1994)

A rather obscure series that didn't get to live up to its potential because of an early cancellation. It's got its share of clichés (like a girl whose personality is basically "love interest" and who gets fridged) and dated stuff, but Grant is a compelling character who's worth reading the series for.

Various issues of New Titans

I was just here for pre-Alabama Bart and Grant. No idea what's going on with anyone else, but these boys were robbed of a promising friendship.

Titans (1999) #1-19 plus a few others

I was mostly here for a continuation of Grant's story after he got stuck in canceled-book limbo, but I also got sucked into all the Drama with the five original Titans, who are all on the team when the book begins. There's not a lot of Grant, but what's there is well done. Some weird elements in this series, and some plotlines I didn't love, but I appreciate the overall character-focused approach.

Jason's (re)introduction in Batman, A Death in the Family, and Under the Hood

I knew the gist of all this already but actually reading it all...yikes. Sad about this forever.

Superman: Last Son and The Third Kryptonian

I want to be familiar with all the kids in the superfam, which means I need to meet Chris. More of these to come. So far there hasn't been much done with his character. But he meets Tim at one point and they have some cute interactions, which I appreciated.

The stories that focus on the action aren't so much my thing, but I like that sometimes the series slows down to allow the characters to take a breather and bond. There's an issue that's just the family going to a beautiful other world/dimension to have a picnic and chat...and that's basically all that happens, and it's refreshing.

The Life Story of the Flash

Silver Age comics were wild. What even were some of those storylines. But the narrative does its best to ground the mythos's established ridiculousness in the humanity of the characters, which works.

Why don't we have any adaptations that give us this book's characterization of Barry? He's analytical, methodical, scientifically-minded, and a neat freak. He proudly wears bow ties, a crew cut, and a pocket protector. He's a certified Iowa boy and a comics nerd. He doesn't want a reporter to take his picture after he solves a case at his civilian job because he isn't the story. He considers himself boring and when his girlfriend tells him she finds his analytical mind attractive he coughs an entire lemonade through his nose. He's late to everything except the time he shows up five minutes early to a date because he's going to propose (on top of a Ferris wheel, no less). Bless his heart. Very different from the reckless, hyperactive speedsters who would succeed him, and the tension between his temperament and his powers is a fascinating contrast. The recent TV series was sleeping on some excellent material to work with.

[choicesfrog]

Veil of Secrets

Name: Lennox Park

Age: 29

Pronouns: he/they

LI: Kate

Hobbies: Video games, guitar, hanging out with friends, pulling pranks, writing

Lennox is the eldest of the Park kids and also the most laid back. Easily making friends, he formed a tight knit group with his sibling Dez, friends Olive and Jade, and his cousins Nadia and Carolina. The group was pretty inseparable through most of their childhood.

Lennox didn’t care about school much and was constantly in trouble for talking in class, and the occasional prank they’d try (and fail) to pull off. Despite all that, he tended to get really high grades to the frustration of some of their teachers. His parents considered homeschooling him because they felt some teachers had already formed an impression of Lennox and weren’t treating him fairly due to that. Cheerful and optimistic, they didn’t let that bother them.

Lennox loves video games and about half his childhood bedroom was taken up by his gaming station. They prefer their computer, but they’re into console games as well. And as far as games themselves, anything goes really, but he loves games with good character customization.

Lennox also knows how to play the guitar and quickly figured out how to play a lot of his favorite songs by ear. He also plays music his sibling Dez composed since Dez writes music but can’t play an instrument.

Lennox attended the same college as his friend Jade, and he met Kate through her since they were roommates. The three took the campus by storm and were a major part of the party scene. Lennox had a crush on Kate early on but was too afraid to say anything.

Lennox was an English major and wrote for the school paper along with Jade, though they weren’t nearly as into it as she was. Focusing later on journalism, he really kind of wondered if he made the right decision or if he was just following his friend since he didn’t really know what he wanted to do job wise.

Lennox and Jade both fell out of touch with Kate before the wedding but were thrilled to receive invitations. Once Kate went missing, Lennox was hellbent on finding her, and like Flynn, could be a bit impulsive letting his connection to Kate effect his decision making.

When everything was resolved, they stayed in Birchport with Kate and helped her run her bakery, finally finding joy in their work. He was beyond thrilled that Kate reciprocated his feelings, and though some might think they were moving fast, the two moved in together after just a couple of weeks. Lennox loves Kate’s daughter Rachel, and considers her his own. Not too long after she was born he adopted her. A few years later, the couple went on to have another child.

[quinntessentiallyglee]

What I did on My Muse’s “Sabbatical”

Quinn:

“For the first few weeks, I don’t think any of us did much of anything-“

Santana:

“Except for each other.”

Rachel:

“Santana!”

Santana:

“What part of that is a lie?”

Rachel:

*blushing* That- That’s not the point. We’ve been gone for months, I’m sure our adoring public want to hear about more important things than our sex-lives.

Santana:

“Have you been on the internet? Like, ever?”

Hannah:

*singing* “The Internet is for porn-“

Rachel:

“Not in this house it isn’t!”

Dani:

“Apartment”

Rachel:

“Really, Dani?”

Dani:

*laughs* “Sorry Rach. I just know how much you hate when people use the wrong words for things, and we are technically an apartment, not a house.”

Rachel:

“And I appreciate that, but perhaps you could find a way to do it that doesn’t encourage certain people?”

Santana:

*leans forward in her seat?* “And who, exactly, do you mean by ’Certain People’ ?”

Tamsin:

“Aren’t we technically some sort of magical space/time nexus that only looks like an apartment?

Rae:

“I think so, yeah. But that’s kind of a mouthful. Even as an acronym. MSTNTOLLAA”

Aurora:

“One, I don’t think that just putting the first letters of the words in a sentence together makes it an acronym. And two, Mistintolla sounds like the name of some sort of mystical mountain you’d find in a fantasy novel.

Angela: 

“Or a D and D campaign.”

Tamsin/Rae/Jonathan/Lucas/Lennox/Quinn:

*to Angela* “You play D and D?”

Tamsin/Rae/Jonathan/Lucas:

*to Lennox and Quinn* “You play D and D?”

Angela:

*looking between Quinn and Lennox* “I’ll go first, yeah?” *to everyone else* “Yeah, I do. Well, I did when I was younger. Been a while since I played.

Quinn/Lennox:

*eye-ball each other until Quinn looks away.*

Quinn:

“Guess I’m next.” *sighs* “Yes, I’ve played it a little, like once or twice with Sam and his family.”

Tamsin:

“How am I only learning about this now?”

Jonathan:

“I know, right? We could have been having an EPIC campaign this whole time!”

Lucas:

“Dibs on GM”

Lennox:

“Like Fuck you do. If anyone gets to call the shots, it’s going to be me, pretty boy.”

Melody:

*trying to hide her grin* “So you do play?”

Lennox:

*glares at Melody before folding her arms over her chest as she pointedly avoids looking at anyone* “It’s good for practicing strategies and thinking on your feet.”

Melody:

*failing to hide her smile* “And would these feet be human, or-“

Lennox:

“Fuck you” *jumps to her feet, points and looks at Lucas* “I’m GM!” *storms off*

Lucas:

*crosses legs* “I, uh, I’m just going to give her a few minutes and then go get my stuff too.”

Angela:

*winks at Lucas*

Tamsin:

*So… does this mean we should all grab our dice and start rolling up characters?”

Angela:

*I’m game… plus I kind of like hot women ordering me around.”

Rachel:

*sighs* And we’re back to the sex talk…

Santana:

“Rolling around in bed is better than rolling dice, I don’t care how hot you are.”

Dani:

“And just for that, we’re playing too.”

Santana:

“Like fuck we are!”

Dani:

“If you ever want to roll around in bed with any of us ever again, we are.”

Rachel:

*hugs Dani from behind* “For that, I completely forgive for earlier, Dani.”

Santana:

*glares at Dani and Rachel before turning to Quinn* Are you just going to-

Quinn:

*grins as she moves to hug Rachel from behind* Sorry, San. I learned a long time ago to stay on Rachel’s good side. Besides, it’s more fun than you might think.”

Santana:

“SO IS SEX!”

Tamsin:

*ignoring Santana, laser focused on Quinn* “So you’re playing? For real?”

Quinn:

*nods as Rachel turns to give her a quick kiss before returning Quinn’s hug* “Yep. That is, if anyone has any dice to len-“

Tamsin:

*jumps to her feet* “ON IT!” *runs from the room*

Dani/Quinn/Rachel:

*turn to Santana*

Santana:

*sighs* “For the record, I hate all of you.”

Rachel:

*to Santana* Liar. *to Dani/Quinn* “Bards are a thing in D and D, right?”

Quinn/Dani:

”Yes.”

Rachel: 

*squeals in delight* “Dibs on the Bard!”

Santana:

*looks at the ceiling.* “Just kill me now. Please? Anyone?”

Dani:

*leans over Santana* “Sorry, Babe, you aren’t getting out of this that easy. But how about this, every time one of us rolls a nat 20, we give you a kiss?” *kisses Santana for several seconds*  “Deal?”

Santana:

“Can we negotia-“

Dani:

“Kisses only.”

Santana:

*sighs, but smiles as she pulls Dani into her lap* “Fine, but if I get killed, we re-negotiate.”

Quinn:

*leans in* And give you an incentive to get killed as soon as possible? I don’t think so. But…” *looks at Rachel and Dani* “-make it to level 5 and we’ll consider re-opening negotiations.”

Santana:

“Done. Let’s hope your little sis has enough dice for both of us or I’m stealing yours.”

Jonathan:

“I, uh, I have some extra.”

Angela:

“And he enjoys getting bossed around too.”

Jonathan:

“What?! No! I- I mean, I- I didn’t… I wasn’t-“

Santana:

“Relax, Granger. You’re not my type.”

Jonathan:

“…Oh… Okay… so is that a yes on the dice, or-“

Santana:

“Yes, I’ll take your damn dice.”

Rachel:

“Santana…”

Santana:

*grumbles something that sounds suspiciously like ‘lucky you’re hot’ under her breath before letting out a sigh, then gives Jonathan a tight smile.* “Thank you.”

Jonathan:

*glances between Santana and Rachel* “No problem. I’ll just… go get them” *leaves*

Rae:

*stands, then looks over the rest of the gang* “Before I grab my stuff, anyone else want to join in?”

Melody:

“I wouldn’t mind giving it a try. *turns to Hannah* “Hannah?”

Hannah:

“Can I dress up?””

Rae:

“Like, dress up fancy, or dress up as your character?”

Hannah:

“Both!”

Rae:

*shrugs, looking at the rest of the DnD crew still present* “Sure?”

Hannah:

*fist pumps* “Yes!* *jumps to her feet* “Hey, Tams! I need to raid your closet!” *leaves*

Rachel:

“I don’t know if I should be relieved or insulted that she didn’t want to raid my closet.”

Melody:

“Relived! Trust me! The only time I’ve ever seen her use a hanger was-“ *clears her throat* “...classified. And definitely didn’t involve a closet. But I have to admit it was ...creative”

Dani:

“And now I really want to know.”

Rachel:

“I don’t”

Rae:

“Anywaaaaay…” *looks around the room again* “ ‘Rora? Rebecca? Gwyn? C’mon, you name is straight out of fantasy.”

Aurora:

“As if Tamsin will let me sit this out. I’m in, but someone will have to explain how it works.”

Rae/Quinn:

“Done.”

Rebecca:

“Tams puppy eyes notwithstanding, I think I’ll sit this one out.“

Rae:

“You sure? I’m sure you’ll love it if you give it a try.”

Rebecca:

“I’m sure. It’s a little to close to acting for me, and I had my fill of that growing up. No offence.”

Rae:

*shakes head* “None taken. But if you change your mind, you know where to find us.”

Rachel:

*clears throat*

Quinn:

“Let it go, Rach.”

Rachel:

“But-“

Quinn:

“Let it go.”

Rachel:

“As an actress and a performer, i feel it is incumbent on me to defend the noble profession that is act-Mmpphh” *is cut off by Quinn kissing her*

Gwyn:

“And on that note, I’m out. Sorry. Maybe next time, I’m just not in the mood right now.

Rae:

“Totally fair. You do you.”

Selina:

“Will there be treasure and priceless artifacts to steal?”

Rae:

“Probably.”

Selina:

“I’m in!”

Rae:

“Awesome! I’ll put you down for a rogue. Anyone else?

Maze:

“I had enough role playing in Hell. Unless there’s going to be sex involved. I don’t mind that kind of role-“

Rachel:

“No Sex!”

Lucas:

“Says the Bard.”

Rachel:

“What does that mean?” *turns to Quinn* “What does he mean by that?”

Quinn:

“Nothing, Rach. Just a stupid and overused stereotype.”

Rachel:

“Promise?”

Quinn:

*nods, give the tip of Rachel’s nose a quick kiss* “Promise.”

Santana:

Now I know what I want to be.”

Rachel:

“No! Besides, I already called dibs!”

Dani:

“You can have more than one of a class, Rach? Besides, don’t you want to show San how to do the role right?

Rachel:

*grins* “Excellent point. Fine, I can share Bard-ship.”

Santana:

*slowly shakes head at Dani* “This, this right here, this is why I hate all of you.”

Dani:

“So you don’t want those kisses, then?”

Santana:

*grumbles*

Dani:

*grinning as she leans in to press a kiss to Santana’s cheek* “That’s what I thought.”

Jade:

“Sounds nerdy, but no worse than any of Sikowitz’s acting exercises. I’ll give it a try.”

Rebecca:

“Are you saying that just to prove that we aren’t twins?”

Jade:

“… No!”

Rebecca:

“Good. Me either.”

Tamsin:

*from down the hallway, and muffled* “Twins!”

Jade/Rebecca:

“How?”

Raven:

“I think she might be part Fae.”

Quinn:

*tilts head to the side, one eyebrow arched in question* “On which side of the family?”

Aurora:

*opens her mouth*

Mal:

“Don’t say it”

Raven:

“I think the whole dragon thing goes without saying at this point, right?”

Mal:

“We! Are! Not! Related!”

Tamsin:

*from down the hallway, and muffled* “Triplets!”

Quinn:

“She definitely doesn’t get it from my side of the family.”

Aubrey:

Mmhmm, sure. Whatever you say. More importantly… are you tell me I worked on this ‘What I did’ paper for nothing?

—Mun’s Note—

So, yeah…

Two things:

I’ve been gone a lot longer than I was planing for (and I’m still not back yet).

I genuinely thought this would be an actual, in character (ish) post about what all my muses have been up to while I was away. As usual, it took a direction all its own (which, I suppose, should be comforting in a ‘back-to-normal’ sense, and it is, even if nothing [else] is back to normal).

Oooh, also, bonus point: I’m pretty sure I had a DnD riff with this lot before, but damned if I can find it, so if anything here contradicts any previous apartment verse posts…

… I don’t really have a follow-up for that. Just… yeah.

Now, onto the important stuff:

Apologies (of the deepest and strongest variety) to everyone I left in the lurch. I haven’t checked my messages/etc yet, and It may be a few more days until I do (though I will try to do so ASAP). My status in general isn’t much better than it was when I left, and I’m still not ready to return to rp-ing anything serious and/or intense (the randy-ness of some muses aside [and sexy times are both serious and intense, just ask Rachel]), and this whole post was more of a test to see if I could find (and hold onto) any muse long enough to get from one end of a post to the other. I’ll let you decide if it was a success; that I got to any kind of cohesive ending at all is enough for me right now.

It probably helped that these apartment verse posts tend to be pure chaos (or at least chaos adjacent) and before the start of my ‘sabbatical’, some of my favourite posts to write.

Not that I didn’t love all of my threads or my writing partners, but part of why I took a break in the first place was because I felt I wasn’t living up to the bar set by both my brilliant writing partners and myself, and having something freeform like the apartment verse was a respite from those feelings, real and/or imagined as said feelings might be.

Anyway, Hopefully you’ll be seeing more of me around here soon-ish. My muses, while muffled over the last few months, were never completely silent and I would love nothing more than “getting back to normal” as soon as physically (and emotionally) possible.

Until then, I thank you all for your patience, humbly ask that it continue at least a little longer, and thank all of my incredible partners, past, present (fingers crossed) and future for all the wonderful stories and memories we’ve created, and will create in the future.

—Kay

[perfectdisastcr]

💗 i would like a list of all 3 million potential pairings please 🙈

my god, i would love to take the time out of my day to give that to you, and just know that we can ship literally anybody and everybody because that’s all we ever do in the first place and you know how much i love doing that with you too. my favorite writing partner everybody, bre is hands down the best partner in the whole world, and i’m lucky enough to be able to have her at all. she’s mine and i’m never going to let her go because i love her so much! she’s literally the best thing to ever happen to me and i know i wouldn’t be here through the shitty times and all without her! everybody better go follow her right now and send her all the love i swear to god, because she’s the only person on this hell site that shows me the attention that i deserve! also that list of potential pairings is below the cut, and don’t say i didn’t warn you. 👀

send 💗 if you’re open to the possibility of a romantic ship eventually happening between our muses

all these characters are up for shipping with all your characters:

alex gardiner (paul rudd) alexander hamilton (lin-manuel miranda) alex mullner (brant daughterty) alice liddell (madelyn cline) alisha khara (jameela jamil) annie abel (luna blaise/anya chalotra) antonia moreno (victoria justice) apollonia levine (anastasia karanikolaou) arthur pendragon (niall horan) ashley spinelli (ursula corbero) aspen rhodes (sofia black-d'elia) astrid porter (karlie kloss) audrey ramirez (selena gomez) august khalil (rami malek) axel turner (charlie weber/skeet ulrich) aziz hassan (riz ahmed) bailee rose (jenny boyd) bambi prince (lachlan watson) barbie roberts (kate upton) barley lightfoot (michael clifford) beatriz velasco (camila cabello/diane guerrero)  beau hester (froy gutierrez) beck collins (joe keery) bellatrix lestrange (carmela zumbado) belle dubois (margaret qualley) belle summers (candice king) berliouz bonfamille (alex fitzalan) bernard davenport (gavin leatherwood) billie groves (kiana lede/emmy raver-lampman) billy hargrove (dacre montgomery) bindi culver (meg donnelly/rachel mcadams) bo-peep ‘bo’ patterson (amanda seyfried) brady gardiner (nathaniel buzolic) brielle stewart (alexandra daddario) bronwyn pierson (madelaine petsch) buzz lightyear (paul mescal/chris pine) calliope jung (phillipa soo) camille aguilar (jeanine mason) carl fredricksen (tye sheridan) celeste quintana (rosalia/maite perroni) chandler armstrong (iwan rheon) cinderella tremaine (lily james) clementine ahn (jamie chung) cliff egan (stephen amell) colleen lowell (jodie comer) connor catrell (thomas doherty) copper slade (nick jonas) cordelia goodwin (ryan destiny/candice patton) coriander thompson (dacre montgomery/chris evans) cornelius robinson (simon baker) cruella de vil (melanie martinez) cyrus quinney (owen joyner) daisy vaughn (isabella gomez/aimee carrero) dakota atkins (amber midthunder) dale monks (keiynan lonsdale) dalton davis (harris dickinson) daniela ‘dani’ costello (becky g/eva longoria) dash parr (jaden smith) delilah diaz (camila cabello/diane guerrero) delphine washington (antonia thomas) delta montgomery (manu gavassi) denver koch (thomas elms) devon montgomery (iain de caestecker) diego hargreeves (david castaneda) dorcas meadowes (ariela barer) dory blau (julia louise-dreyfus) duke blaise (ashley graham & matthew daddario — reincarnated)  duncan traeger (zac efron) edmund whittaker (richard madden) edwin orwell (nicholas galitzine) elena flores (jenna ortega) eleonora moretti (benedetta gargari) eleven (millie bobby brown) elio montgomery (noah schnapp/brendon urie) elisabeth ‘elsa’ andersson (candice king) elliott murdoch (kj apa) eloise thompson (taylor hill/zoey deutch) elwood leith (sam claflin) emerson wheaton (beau mirchoff) emily sondheim (eve fraser) emmy silverstein (nat wolff/michiel huisman) ericka ‘ricki’ santos (danna paola) esmeralda guybertaut (priyanka chopra) everest sorenson (adam driver) ezekiel ‘zeke’ bauer (neels visser) fa mulan (awkwafina) felix dawson (lukas gage) ferris rockwell (joshua bassett) five hargreeves (aidan gallagher/rob raco/john mulaney) florence prata (barbie ferreira) flynn rider (jacob elordi/steven r mcqueen) frank castle (jon bernthal) gabrielle dupres (louriza tronco) genevieve rizzo (troian bellisario) gill moorish (harrison ford) godwin vivar (diego boneta) grainger anslow (justin hartley) grant wesley (keanu reeves) griffin price (liam hemsworth) guinevere ‘gwen’ flores (ester exposito/ana de armas) gulliver kennedy (robert sheehan) gunner mccoy (miles heizer) halston krogen (nick robinson) hamish duke (thomas elms) harper graves (sydney sweeney) harry potter (alberto rosende) harvey wolff (joaquin phoenix) hawke bradbury (brenton thwaites) helen parr (megan thee stallion/kerry washington) hendrix palmer (mark fischbach) henley howell (dylan everett/paul wesley) henrik nilsen (herman tommeraas/chris evans) hercules sabri (aubrey joseph) hermione granger (quintessa swindell) holden krogen (jack falahee) holly la stella (olivia holt) honey lemon (irene ferreiro) hudson reid (jaeden lieberher/paul mescal/james mcavoy) irving reid (matty healy) isobel evans (lily cowles) jacoba ‘cobi’ abernathy (geraldine viswanathan) jake bennett (joe jonas) jake breckenridge (landon liboiron) james potter (noah centineo) james ‘sully’ sullivan (hozier) jane porter (zoe sugg) jasmine agrabah (naomi scott) jessica jones (krysten ritter) jim hopper (david harbour) johanna ‘jo’ gardiner (carlson young) josefine olive (lili reinhart/maika monroe) joseph ‘joey’ carnegie (chris o'dowd) juliette russo (camila mendes) juno nicks (gideon adlon/linda cardellini) justin miller (michael b. jordan) keaton green (charlie plummer/austin butler/alexander skarsgard) keifer fry (nathan parsons) kennedy sutherland (florence pugh) khalid farid (mena massoud) kiernan jost (jack barakat) kiki penn (natalie alyn lind)  kim possible (karen gillan) kit dempsey (aaron taylor-johnson/michael sheen) kristoff bjorgman (ben hardy) kuzco inca (tommy martinez) lady alvarez (camila cabello/diane guerrero) lake montgomery (jace norman/casey deidrick/jeff goldblum) lazarus (sean teale/tom ellis) lennox wells (billie piper) leonardo ‘leo’ light (armie hammer) levi wesley (gerard butler) liam wheaton (lucas lynngaard tonnesen/dominic sherwood) lilac montgomery (sophia lillis/deborah ann woll) lila pitts (ritu arya) lilo pelekai (courtney eaton) lola carver (carla gugino) macy merritt (kylie jenner) madeline hawkins (rowan blanchard/kaylee bryant) madison bloomfield (gwyneth paltrow) maggie wheaton (virginia gardner) maria deluca (heather hemmens) mariana de la cruz (victoria justice/salma hayek) marianne darden (elizabeth olsen) marisol torres (alexa demie/salma hayek) marlene phan (brianne tju) matilda franks (brooke markham) matthew murdock (charlie cox) max tian (chloe bennet) mckenzie whitman (danielle rose russell) megara creon (ashley moore) melanie carter (brenna d'amico/zooey deschanel) melody burns-newman (camren bicondova) mercutio bellini (giancarlo commare) merida dunbroch (bree kish) michael ‘goob’ yagoobian (dylan o’brien/andrew scott) mickey hader (shawn mendes) miguel rivera (diego tinoco) mike wheeler (finn wolfhard) mildred ‘millie’ brantwood (stella maeve) milo martinez (itzan escamilla/tyler posey) milo thatch (jason ralph) minerva ‘minnie’ winslett (jenna coleman) mischa locklear (jenny slate) moana motunui (auli'i cravalho) molly wheaton (saoirse monica jackson/kristen bell/kristin chenoweth) monet bugg (annie murphy) mordecai ‘cai’ baird (joseph morgan) murray bauman (brett gelman) nadja (natasia demetriou) naomi phillips (hunter king) natalie fuller (krysten ritter) nate gardiner (tom holland/thomas hayes/joe keery/adam scott) nemo fisher (nick robinson) nick novak (jon bernthal) nick wilde (jake johnson) nina baxter (laura harrier) nolan van ness (louis hynes/benjamin wadsworth) nymphadora tonks (kennedy walsh) odessa barnes (inanna sarkis) osbourne russo (oliver jackson-cohen) otis richardson (finn jones) owen monroe (zachary levi) paloma katz (brittany o'grady) paxton gardiner (douglas booth) pearl turner (maia mitchell/aubrey plaza) penny proud (sarah jeffery) perdita ryan (alisha boe/zoe kravitz) perrie wheaton (ariela barer/jessica alba) peter pan (rudy pankow) peter pettigrew (alex lawther) phil mcdermot (leo howard/dylan o’brien) phineas flynn-fletcher (michael provost) piper donahue (millie bobby brown/katherine langford/felicity jones) pippa mei (amy okuda) pollux isola (camila mendes) portia sadler (hayden panettiere) prairie gallagher (lucy boynton) quaid ‘q’ wright (jake gylenhaal) quinton saunders (jamie dornan) rain montgomery (nick jonas) ramona montgomery-wallis (lana condor/ashley park) reed knightley (arthur darvill) reign fentworth (madison bailey/vanessa morgan) reno thames (joshua bassett) richie tozier (finn wolfhard/bill hader) river montgomery (jack griffo/tyler blackburn) robin buckley (maya hawke) roger holtz (ben platt) roger radcliffe (aaron tveit) romy reyes (carmela zumbado) ronald ‘mac’ mcdonald (rob mcelhenney) roosevelt banks (spence moore II) rowan burke (andy biersack) roxanne sutton (lady gaga) rush mccoy (cody fern) russell montgomery (ian harding/hugh jackman) russell montgomery II (jack dylan grazer/timothee chalamet/adam brody) sable rosales (catherine bascoy) saint fentworth (reece king) sally finklestein (marina ruy barbosa) salvador ‘sal’ mendoza (jorge blanco) samson gardiner (cole sprouse) sandy diamandis (christina hendricks) sawyer bell (penn badgley) seamus kennedy (aria shanghasemi/michael sheen) seb seif (zeeko zaki) selena hada (camila cabello/diane guerrero) severus snape (rob raco) shawn taggart (ben barnes) shay strauss (chris wood) shia zoheir (rami malek) shiloh young (devery jacobs) shiri madani (inbar lavi) simba king (john boyega) sloane shapiro (diana silvers/linda cardellini) sofia ramirez (camila cabello/camila mendes/morena baccarin/fluvia lacerda) stefani vidal (louriza tronco) stella romero (adria arjona) steve harrington (joe keery) stevie wagner (anne hathaway/jennifer garner) sutton reiser (katherine langford/kat dennings) tandy hawthorne (giorgia whigham) tanner cohen (ross lynch) tarrant ‘mad hatter’ hightopp (hale appleman) tarryn fischer (giorgia whigham/perry mattfeld) tatum barton (ben schwartz) teddy flood (james marsden) tex navarro (bad bunny) thad abraham (dylan sprouse/chris evans) the handler (kate walsh) thomas gardiner (felix mallard/paul rudd) tierney kennedy (maisie williams) timothy ‘tigger’ trigger (jeremy allen white) tinker bell (sabrina carpenter) tj lieberman (armie hammer) tommy burns (will poulter) topher larkin (alexander hogh andersen) trey turner (jonathan daviss) ursula celia (normani/lizzo) vaughn abel (max greenfield) veronica lodge (camila mendes) vidia viento (emma dumont) vivica lang (madison pettis/tessa thompson) wanda cowell (brenda song) warren wentz (robert pattinson) wendell langston (link neal) wilbur robinson (david mazouz) winnie knox (sophie turner/jessica chastain) wren green (alexander calvert) wynona winstead (sarah hyland/cristin milioti) xander talbot (g-eazy) york pemberton (heather baron-gracie) yusef barlas (zayn malik) zack abrams (alex fitzalan) ziggy (taron egerton) zoey matthews (olivia munn)

[clickbeetle]

could you post a list with a short description of your ocs/sonas so we can be properly introduced to them :) ?

(Original characters made for my story will be marked with a *)

Radical Ramsey (he/him): Cuphead oc/sona with the head of a ram skull. Big npc energies, won’t speak unless spoken to. Not really meant to have much of a personality, he just likes to be spooky bc it’s fun.

“Crow” (it/its): Monster sona. Technically nameless but likes to be called Crow. It molds itself in with shadows, and can be considered a shadow itself, but when touched it has a goopy viscous feeling to it. It’s only real feature is a mouth full of sharp teeth, but it can’t talk and only uses it to smile at its friends. A friendly monster :)

Lilith Nearsight (she/they): Pmmm/magical girl sona. It’s not her real name, just a stage name she uses as a magical girl. Their magic power is flash stepping and phasing through things, and their weapon of choice is a mace. She’s 17 but otherwise she’s just me as a magical girl.

Lexroe Lennox (they/them): Homestuck trollsona. A burgundy blood that lives in dumpsters and collects knives they find. Kinda scrappy but chill. Likes to say “babydoll.” In love with the Condesce but only bc shes hot.

My other trollsona is a purple blood named Vimmie Sapher but that’s just bc i think purple bloods are fun.

Less Nicols (she/they): Homestuck humansona. It’s just me. but homestuck.

Little Nametaker/LN (he?): Homestuck carapacian sona. Last hs one I swear. He’s just a little dude. Dersite. He talks big game despite not being able to talk, also he really can’t fight. He takes down the names of the derse prisoners and tries to befriend the nice ones.

Coffee (he/she/they): Fursona. idk it’s a deer that got some glasses on it. Can either be a white tailed deer or reindeer, depending on what I’m Vibing with. I just think deers are neat.

Ruby (she/her) is a robot version of Coffee, and is my fnaf sona. She has an axe.

Normandale Lankley (she/they): Smile For Me oc/sona. They went to the Habitat for just general depression stuff, and can be cheered up by destroying old photos of themself.

*Nijen (he/she/they) is a Sereb, a human-like creature that evolved from birds rather than apes. Kind of a vriska, also kind of a gamzee. Kind of a little shit, but only for The Funzies. actually isn’t that much of an asshole. They’re super low-key, but say the fuck word a lot. She’s also a sex worker but I need to do more research on that line of work before I can say anything about it.

*Charlotte (he/she) is a porcelain doll possessed by the ghost of some dipshit. He’s an ass sometimes, but can become a big ole softie if the player chooses the right options. Wants to be a goth but alas, is stuck inside a pretty pink doll. Really just wants some love. I’ll give her some love :(

*Shirabeth Miller (she/her) is a lesbian who wants to become a cowboy. tbh I had a whole thing typed out about her in a google doc but I lost it :( All you need to know rn is that she is kind and precious.

*Rachel Calypso (she/her) is a hypochondriac robot fox possessed by a girl fnaf-style. She is loud and just wants to party. I have a lot more to say about her but i’m very tired so it’ll have to wait. she’s based on an older oc except this one is nicer.

*Cairo (he/him) is a dude that got fused with a cat like the doggirl in fma. He is soft and I love him, even though he has kind of an edgy style that makes him look intimidating. He chooses hugs not drugs. I made him ironically as like a “sexy catboy” but then i gave him a tragic backstory whoops. he’s chunky and i wish to hold him.

[midsvmmars]

 CHARACTER NAME MASTERLISTS

under the cut are name ideas for your characters (with meaning) if you're struggling to find one that fits! there is a mixture of generic and odd names, but overall underused in the rpc! they will be seperated into female, male, and unisex!! i hope this helps, and if you need anymore name ideas don’t be afraid to send me a message for some more! i might make a part two if i find or remember more names that weren’t here!!

female:

joanna/johanna/joanne - gift from god

roxanne - dawn of the day

claudia - lame

suzanne - lily

nancy - grace

audrey - noble and strong

calliope - beautiful voice

paulette - small and humble

kiana - ancient

lorelai - to watch a cliff/ambush cliff

effy - well spoken

renata - born again

darby - free from envy

darcy - dark

greta - pearl

mellie - brave strength

veena - musical

brandy - flaming torch

shannon - wise river

sionna - possessor of wisdom

daisy - day’s eye

lara - famous, protection, and cheerful

margot - pearl

lynette - bird

alice - noble

edie - prosperous in war

rosemary - dew of the sea, bitter rose

nicolette - people of victory

lana - harmony

siobhan - the lord is gracious

helen - bright, shining light

helena - bright, shining light

yelena - shining one

natalia - birthday of the lord

enya - fire

anya - grace

samantha - told by god

felicity - good fortune

ramona - wise protector

matilda - battle mighty

bronwyn - white breast

laura - bay laural

blanche - white

cassandra - prophetess

bonnie - beautiful, cheerful

nadia - hope

colette - people of victory

alyssa - noble

sabrina - river severn

beverly - dweller near the beaver stream

heather - a flowering evergreen plant

elodie - foreign riches

melody - song

posy/posey - a bunch of flowers

zelda - dark battle

libby - pledged to god

luna - moon

adina - slender, delicate

rhiannon - divine queen

dolores - lady of sorrows

dorothy - gift of god

agatha - good woman

hannah - grace

cher - beloved

alicia - noble

mina - protector

vanessa - literary invention, butterfly

marcella - warlike

marisa - of the sea

nora - light

janine - god is gracious

valentina - strength, health

valencia - brave, strong

ada - noble

jasmine - flower

magdalena - of magdala

gwendolyn - white ring

sophie/sophia/sofia - wisdom

letitia - joy, gladness

nicole - people of victory

naomi - pleasantness

hilda - battle woman

katerina - pure

audra - noble strength

wendy - friend

viola - violet

tilly - battle mighty

bernadette - brave as a bear

birdie - bird

mara - bitter

imogen - maiden

eloise - healthy, wide

amaya - night rain

amara - grace, bitter

mya/maya - water

diana - divine

anastasia - resurrection

genevieve - woman of the race

angelica - angelic

celine - heavenly

chrissa - follower of christ

myrtle - a flowering shrub

odessa - wrathful

beatrice/beatrix - she who brings happiness

winifred - blessed peacemaking

marnie - rejoice

velma - resolute protection

eleanor - light

elizabeth - pledged to god

ophelia/ofelia - help

gemma - precious stone

greta - pearl

christine - anointed

daphne - laurel or bay tree

juliette - youthful

amber - jewel

dinah - god will judge

danika - morning star

esther - star

marisol - mary of sun or solitude

mariella - bitter or wished for child

mariel - bitter

muriel - of the bright sea

phoebe - radiant, shining one

winona - firstborn daughter

olivia - olive tree

jessica - rich

yvonne - yew wood

camila - young ceremonial attendant 

marcia - warlike

carrie/kerry - free man

victoria - victory

chloe - blooming, fertility

sabine - woman of the people

veronica - she who brings victory, true image

rachel - beautiful in form and countenance

wilhelmina - resolute protection

odeya - i will thank god

tabitha - gazelle

lacy - belonging to lace

willow - willow tree

charisma - charismatic

sarah - princess

sally - princess

cordelia - heart, daughter of the sea

jade - stone of the side

violet - purple

isadora - gift of isis

barbara - foreign woman

moxie - know how

brittany - from briton

dionne - divine

sonia/sonya - wisdom

sibyl - seer, oracle

mallory - unfortunate

male:

warren - park keeper

fitzgerald - son of gerald

fitzwilliam - son of william

tiago - saint james

gideon - hewer

clinton/clint - hilltop town

diego - supplanter

simon - the listener

charles - free man

zachary - the lord has remembered 

edward - wealthy guardian

trevor - from the large village

gregory - vigilant, a watchman

gerald - ruler with the spear

holden - hollow valley

richard - dominant ruler

ronan - little seal

roman - of rome

frank - free man

peter - rock

stanley - near the stony clearing

sebastian - revered

fletcher - arrow maker

steve - garland, crown

jimmy - supplanter

dewey - beloved

james - supplanter

michael - who is like god?

garfield - triangle field

ethan - strong, firm

clive - lives near a cliff

owen - young warrior

jackson - son of jack

christopher - bearer of christ

ernest - serious or resolute

jeffrey - pledge of peace

dean - church official

leonard - brave lion

romeo - pilgrim to rome

duncan - dark warrior

trent - the flooder

malcom - malevolent, devotee of saint columba

roy - red haired

ross - upland, peninsula 

bernard - strong, brave as a bear

jared -  he descends

enrique - estate ruler

axel - father of peace

zayn/zane - god is gracious

xavier - new house or bright

zander - defending men

vincent - conquering

duke - nobility

bo/beau - handsome

william - resolute protection

finn/finnegan - fair

clyde - river

hunter - one who hunts

benjamin - benevolent, son of the right hand

garrett - spear strength

hugo - mind, intellect

oscar - god spear, deer lover, champion warrior

dante - enduring

enzo - estate ruler

mateo - gift of god

wyatt - brave in war

seth - appointed, placed

jay - jaybird

carlos - freeman

logan - small hollow

ace - one, unity

henry - estate ruler

eric/erik - eternal ruler

timothy - honoring god

kent - edge

frederick - peaceful ruler

nicholas - people of victory

anthony - priceless one

asher - fortunate, blessed

dimitri - follower of demeter

sean/shawn - god is gracious

gabriel/gabe - god is my strength

timothy - honoring god

colin - pup

jameson - son of james

conrad - brave counsel

alexander/xander - defending men

harvey - battle worthy

oliver - olive tree

lance - servant

rupert - bright fame

johnathan - gift of jehovah

robert - bright fame

dustin brave warrior, thor’s stone

alberto - noble, bright

nolan - champion

marcus - warlike

elias - yahweh is god

fernald - from the fern slope

klaus - people of victory

jaques - supplanter

bertrand - magnificent crow

atticus - from attica

cole - swarthy, coal black

darian - kingly or possess well

andrew - strong and manly

joshua - the lord is my salvation

joss - the merry one

albert - noble, bright

felix - happy, fortunate

andre - man

maxwell - great stream

maximillian - greatest

willard - resolutely brave

raphael - god has healed

marius - god of war

scott - from scotland

kane - warrior

homer - security, pledge

caleb - devotion to god

alfred/alfie - wise counselor

randy - shield wolf

conner/connor - lover of hounds

unisex:

ashley - lives in the ash tree grove/meadow of ash tree’s

jordan - flowing down

rowan - little redhead

aspen - quiver in the lightest breeze

sutton - from the southern homestead

dylan - child of the sea

shaw - lives by the thicket

cody/kody - helpful, pillow

dakota/decota - friendly one

riley - courageous

reese - ardent, fiery

kendall - valley of the river kent

peyton/payton - fighting mans estate

taylor - tailor

blake - fair haired, dark

arden - valley of the eagle

rory - red king

mica/micah - who is like the lord

wren - spear

spencer - keeper of provisions

maddox - fortunate

lennox - elm grove

casper/kasper - treasurer

quinn - wisdom

casey - brave in battle

andy/andi - strong

drew - strong

jamie - supplanter

cameron - crooked nose

kolbey/colby/etc - from a coal town

regan - little king

aaron/erin - enlightened

max - greatest

gale/gail - my father rejoices

ty/tai - great extreme

kit - pure

morgan - sea born

renee - reborn

joey - jehovah increases

sloane - raider

andrea - strong

brooke - small stream

rooney - descendant of the champion

jackie - supplanter

shelby - estate on the ledge

harper - harp player

allison - noble

sandy - defending men

gal - wave

eman - belief, faith

miles - soldier, merciful

dashiell/dash - unknown

cooper - barrel maker

dale - valley

howard - high guardian or brave heart 

tyler - maker of tiles

mason/maysenne - stoneworker

rudy - famous wolf

ryan - little king

dorian - child of the sea

shane - gift from god

drew - descendant of the druid

[bookaddict24-7]

MUSIC MONDAYS!

A series where I recommend a book, review it, and create a short playlist to give a sense of what the book is about.

This review may contain spoilers.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Anyone who’s been following my reading in the past few years knows (because I remind everyone quite frequently) that I am an avid Young Adult contemporary reader. Sometimes I will fall into a hole where all I crave are cute romances. Eyes On Me by Rachel Harris is a perfect example of my love for certain kinds of contemporaries. Real, honest, and slightly dramatic, Harris’s novel was so thoroughly devoured by me that I want another one (especially if it’s about a certain sister in this book.)

Lily is your typical, over-achieving nerd. She wants to get into one of the best colleges, so she will (literally) work herself sick to accomplish her goals. All Lilly wants is to follow the plan she made with her dying mom. After finding her sick from the stress she’s put on herself, Lily’s dad decides that she needs to slow things down and get a hobby: dancing. Stone is the popular guy in school. Football, lots of friends, and charisma that oozes from his perfect pores. But Stone has multiple secrets and more depth than that of just being the town’s football hero. Stone’s family dance studio may be in trouble and when Lily’s dad offers him a deal too good to pass up, he agrees. But what will happen when things start to change and clumsy, self-conscious (but secretly tough) Lily comes face to face with charismatic Stone? 

One of the things I love about contemporary novels is dual perspectives. I want to know what each character is thinking during critical moments. I want to be able to see the POVs of the characters and how they see the world--but mainly, I love seeing those private internal reflections of their co-narrators. Eyes On Me features dual perspectives and it made me so happy. In a way, it played into Lily’s commentary on how people put on a mask for the public while having so much going on inside. 

Lily wasn’t a perfect character by any means. She was flawed and she had a lot of growing to do. Harris did a great job of essentially rebuilding this character while also reminding her of how she was before her mom’s death. And grief is another topic that surrounds Lily in this book. She deals with the death of her mom by striving to do her best in school. In growing from that dangerous dependency that Lily gained in the years since her mom’s death, she also learns to properly process the grief she’s been harboring for so long. I also love that Lily allows herself to try new things. Sure, she’s hesitant at first, but she persists. 

Stone is a little more of the cliche of the two, but I like that he isn’t the typical “mean popular guy, turned nice”. We’re first introduced to Stone in a typical Lily clumsy way and even then he’s a sweetheart. Stone’s personal drama with his ex was done in a way where you knew it was something to be dealt with, but it didn’t overtake his new budding friendship with Lily. Also, he’s an incredible brother and adorable son! I want to also commend Harris for introducing a football player who’s an amazing dancer. While yes, she does comment on the expected stereotypes of him being a dancer, I like that it wasn’t enough to make him question who he is and what he loves. 

I can understand why Stone makes some of the decisions he makes, but I still felt that growing sense of anxiety waiting for when everything would come to light. I literally put this book down for several days because I was too scared to read on. That’s how well Harris built the anticipation for what was going to happen. 

Lily and Stone together was the cutest thing because they built each other up so much. I love seeing relationships where the characters actually learn more about each other and focus on helping them better who they are. Stone’s relationship with Lily is sweet. Watching him grow to become someone who isn’t just a football hero, and seeing her want to enjoy life beyond studying more was awesome. Another reason why I love dual perspectives in stories is because we get to see the love interest of the current narrator in the same way that character sees them. We are incredibly biased when we only have one perspective. There is a particular scene where Lily says something to Stone that is really surprising to him, while I’m sure that if we were in her head, all we would read is: omg, I’m rambling! Their dynamic definitely benefited from this stylistic choice. 

Also, let’s talk about how Harris handles the drama in this book. 

She introduces it and...deals with it in a logical way. I don’t want to say too much because spoilers, but I was happy that I overcame my anxiety and read on because she handled it really well. Though the reasoning behind the drama is a little cliche, it was done in a much better way than other novels I’ve seen that use this dramatic cliche. Especially the aftermath--respect to those who don’t drag out misunderstandings and similar plot devices!

Now, the side characters! I love stories where the protagonists have best friends who actually act like like best friends. I’m a big fan of authors who don’t use a friend’s lack of trust and inability to be a good friend as a plot device. Lily and Stone have friends who actually earn the titles of “best friends”. Also, I loved that though they aren’t entirely rounded or part of the central plot, we still learn enough about them to understand their roles in the story. 

Stone’s family was adorable and while I want to see them through the eyes of his sister, I liked seeing a family that wasn’t falling apart (despite their financial troubles). Lily’s dad also experienced some serious character growth and that was sort of surprising. Parents magically change near the end in a lot of the contemporary novels that deal with similar situations. In Eyes On Me, much like the title states, Lily’s dad starts noticing his daughter’s spiraling from the very beginning of the novel. 

Finally, the dancing aspect of this book was a lot of fun! I remember looking up one of the songs mentioned more than once in this book and dancing in my kitchen. I love books that give you that chance to think about them beyond the pages. 

Basically, I loved this book. Was it perfect? No, definitely not--but it was one of the more well-written and addicting Young Adult contemporaries out there. I’d strongly recommend it to anyone who loves music and dancing featured in their books, and also the jock and nerd romantic trope! 

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Age Recommendation: 14+

Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Coming of Age, Family, Dance, Grief

Add it to your Goodreads here.

See the playlist on Spotify here.

The Playlist:

Muevete by D.L.G.

Shape of You (Latin Remix) by Ed Sheeran, & Zion & Lennox

Electricity by Diplo, Mark Ronson, & Dua Lipa

Kiss Me by Sixpence

Secrets by OneRepublic

Clumsy by Fergie

One Call Away by Charlie Puth

Have you read this book yet? Would you recommend it?

Happy reading!

[hmsharmony]

Tagged by @hondagirll to list my top 9 books. Caveat that many other books could have made it on here, and choosing came down to which books caught my eye while scrolling through my five-star reads. The only ones that are permanent fixtures are probably 1., 2., and 5.

1. Dancing Shoes by Noel Streatfeild. My ultimate comfort book. When I was 10 or 11 my mom gifted me Ballet Shoes, Theater Shoes (aka Curtains Up), and Dancing Shoes (Wintle’s Wonders). I don’t remember when I first read them, but what I do recall is sixth grade outdoor education, when I was desperately homesick (and actually sick with a bad cold) and would curl up at night in my bunk with Dancing Shoes. Maybe it was because that book was a comfort when I was dealing with my separation anxiety, but as much as I loved the other two books, Dancing Shoes is the one that captured my heart. Rachel Lennox is one of my favorite characters of all time. A ten-year-old girl trying to step up after her mother’s untimely death, convinced she must be the responsible one and keep her sister on track. Sacrificing and sacrificing when no one has asked for it, when no one really wants it, all because she’s convinced herself this is how she does right by her mother. I have read or listened to this story at least 100 times, and it never fails to bring me comfort.

2. Emma by Jane Austen. A self-involved but well-intentioned protagonist! Long time friends turned more! “I cannot make speeches, Emma. If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.” All things I love, but the reason this book has stuck with me is probably because it was the subject of a literary criticism paper I wrote in 11th grade. I lived and breathed Emma (both the book and the contemporary criticism of it) for a good two months, and it left an indelible print on my heart.

3. Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta. The love and care Marchetta gives to her characters. I was a blubbering mess reading this book. It’s one of my favorite coming of age stories, with a focus on Francesca’s relationship with her mother (the latter of whom is suffering from depression) and the friendships Francesca builds at her new school. This is reminding me I need a reread.

4. Under a Cruel Star: A Life in Prague, 1941-1968 by Heda Margolius Kovaly. I haven’t read this book since my sophomore modern European history class in college, but I remember how much it meant to see a story about antisemitism in Europe that doesn’t end in 1945. So few people talk about it—the DP camps, the pogroms, the Soviet persecution. Around this same time we watched Life is Beautiful for my Holocaust and Post-Holocaust reflections class, and I remember how angry, how frustrated I was that the ending made it seem like liberation was the end of the suffering. This is one of the books I routinely encourage people to read if their Holocaust education only went through 1945.

5. Night by Elie Wiesel. This is a favorite for a slightly odd reason: this is the book that helped me find my “voice” in academic writing. It was one of the last books we read in 11th grade AP Lang, and my teacher had spent the year pushing us to find our voice, and I had struggled to understand because “I wrote the essay how could it not be in my voice!” Looking back, given my personal connection to the Holocaust, it makes sense that Night would be the book that broke through in that particular way (that said, I wouldn’t realize the extent of the effect of my Holocaust trauma until a year and a half later, when my pop pop died, so at the time I WAS surprised this book turned out to be the key). The struggle to hold onto religion, to believe in a higher power, in the face of genocide is one that I have struggled with almost my entire life, albeit often at an unconscious level. Wiesel’s struggle with the same was the subject of my essay, and I put myself into every word of that paper.

6. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. From my 2015 Goodreads review: “There are those books that, when I reach the end, I smile. Those are the really good ones. And then there are the ones where I'm in tears -- not because of emotional manipulation or because the story was sad, but because the writing is so beautiful, the story so moving, that I'm reduced to tears.“ The deftness with which Morgenstern threaded together the time periods, the second and third person POVs, the seemingly disparate narratives still haunts me.

7. We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter. Another personal one for me. So much of studying the Holocaust is, understandably, sadness and horror. And when you’re a survivor descendent? It’s knowing your existence comes at the expense of 6 million Jews. It’s looking at your family tree and seeing every branch but one cut off. So to know that there was one family where the branches survived? Against all the odds, in the face of indescribable evil? Again, from my Goodreads review: “I'm not sure there are words for how much this book means to me. To know that an entire Jewish family made it out alive... it's overwhelming to be honest.”

8. In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan. I don’t know what to say other than this book is a goddamn fucking delight. The trope subversions in this book are perfection, and I grin every time I think of the chaotic, messy trio.

9. Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers. God, no one does found family like Chambers. Every single book in this series reduced me to tears, but this one resonated with me in particular, perhaps because this installment is entirely character driven, with a focus on the every day. It’s like a fictional popular history take on the future.

Tagging @reasontoshine, @lissomelle, @malinaa, @jamietaylr, @therabbitcatcher and anyone else who wants to do this because it’s nearly 1 am and my brain is blanking

[peggy-faces]

Mad Men rewatch: Season 1, Episode 1: Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

I finally got around to doing this months after I said I was going to start. Don’t say I never keep my promises.

I’m still trying to work out a good format for these recaps/reviews. Having watched this episode so many times before I’m not really sure how to approach this with fresh eyes but I’ll give it a shot. Bear with me, this is a learning process.

This episode is essentially just “24 hours in the life of Don Draper(with some Pete/Peggy hijinks thrown in)”. I genuinely love this and it is the perfect way to be introduced to these characters.

I won’t focus much on Don right now because there’ll be plenty more opportunities down the line, but the thing that struck me in this specific episode was the emphasis on Don’s age compared to Pete and the “younger guys”. 34 is basically a baby by today’s standards. Pete is only 8 years younger than him! Perhaps(?) the role was intended for a man in his 40s but they cast Jon Hamm instead?

A weird thing that’s always bugged me about the pilot. The show seems to set Pete up as someone who wants to take Don’s job. But Pete’s an accounts guy who never really shows that much interest in being in the creative department in the rest of the show.

Also, I’m still not totally sure what was up with Don’s “It’s Toasted” speech. That slogan has existed since the 1910s. Either Mad Men was attempting to retcon history or Don was using it as an example of a good slogan? The commentary tracks seem to suggest it was the former.

Meanwhile, a certain mousy working class girl from Brooklyn is starting her first day of work at Sterling Cooper. Peggy is my favourite fictional character in anything ever and I unironically adore her despite her faults so I’ll definitely have more to say about her in the future especially about her relationships with Don and Joan. But now I’d like to focus on her relationship with Pete.

In the closing moments of this episode, Pete shows up at Peggy’s apartment and she allows him inside, presumably so they can have sex. First of all, how the hell did Pete get her address in the first place. Secondly, Why? Why did Pete go to Peggy of all people? Why did Peggy fuck him? Let’s take a look at their previous interactions in this episode.

1. Pete insults Peggy’s appearance and insinuates that she’s sleeping with Don.

2. Pete lies to get into Don’s office and gets Peggy into trouble with Don on her first day of work.

I like this episode and I do like the Pete/Peggy arc throughout the show and they normally have amazing chemistry together. But this scene feels so inorganic that there was a lot of speculation that Pete and Peggy knew each other beforehand because that would at least make more sense than what we got.

Fun fact: according to the shooting script for this episode(easily Googlable if you want to read it), Pete arrives at Peggy’s apartment at 9:45. Which means Pete’s bachelor party must have ended at 9 at the very earliest in order for him to get to Brooklyn in time. What bachelor party ends that early in the night? And Pete must have spent chunk of time finding Peggy’s address WHICH, AGAIN, WE HAVE NO IDEA HOW HE EVEN FOUND. I like imagining Pete wandering around Brooklyn drunkenly asking random people where “Peggy” lives.

We’re also introduced to Ken, Dick, and Harry. Yes, Paul Kinsey’s name in the pilot was originally Dick but it was changed when it got picked up by AMC. Ken is the weird sleazebag and Harry is the married guy who does seem somewhat decent compared to Kinsey and Ken. Weird how things change, isn’t it? Paul’s the pretentious guy. At least that never changed.

And then, of course, there’s Sal. Hey, did you know that Sal was gay? If you didn't, you probably missed the numerous “subtle clues" that were dropped throughout this episode. And by subtle, I mean so blatant that the only way they could have been more unsubtle is if you could hear Matthew Weiner screaming "heeeeeeeeeeeeee's gayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy" in the background of every shot Sal is in. The most notorious example of this is when Sal randomly drops the line “we’re supposed to believe people are living one way and secretly thinking the exact opposite? That’s ridiculous.” It doesn’t feel organic to the conversation at hand, it just sounds weird. But if you look closely into the reflection in Sal’s eyes you can see Matthew Weiner patting himself on the back and congratulating himself on being such a genius.

But the most cringeworthy line of dialogue in the entire episode goes to: “It’s not like there’s some magic machine that makes identical copies of things.” Which is the sort of line you’d expect in an SNL parody of Mad Men, not the actual show.

The final plot twist of this episode is that we find out that Don is *gasp* married. Yes, this was actually supposed to be a plot twist. But I guess finding out that the dude who just claimed love was invented by capitalism has wife and kids would be pretty shocking if you don’t know what’s coming?

This is getting kinda long so I’ll touch more on Betty, Joan, and Roger in later instalments as they don’t get much to do here, as well as Rachel and Midge.

Random Observations

I really like the very brief interaction between Roger and Joan. I don’t know if there were was already plans for a secret relationship between the two, but it fits in well.

Elisabeth Moss seems to be affecting some sort of mild Brooklyn accent in this episode that doesn’t exist in the rest of the show. Kinda weird but it does make sense that Peggy would try to hide her working class background later on.

Is this guy in the opening scene Pete? Because he looked like Pete when I was watching it on Netflix but when I put in the DVD to listen to the commentary, he didn’t look like Pete anymore. Pete’s evil twin? Pete’s non-evil twin?

Commentary tracks

There are two commentary tracks for this episode. The first has Matthew Weiner and the second has director Alan Taylor. There wasn’t really anything particularly juicy so I just wrote down the BTS stuff that sounded interesting.

The pilot script existed for five years and Matthew Weiner used it as his writing sample when he applied for jobs.

Weiner was planning to play the role of the judgmental gynaecologist himself. Make of that what you will.

This is the only episode of Mad Men actually filmed in New York. The bar in the very first scene is a real bar in Harlem called the Lennox Lounge.

It took them a long time to cast Jon Hamm, partly because Taylor didn’t believe a man that handsome could be interesting.

Taylor calls Midge the most modern person in the show. Her apartment is a real artist’s studio on 57th street. They were warned it would be impossible to shoot there because it was on the seventeenth floor and only had a tiny elevator and no space for equipment. They built a set based on this apartment when they started filming the show in California.

The traffic sounds you hear in the scene where Don wakes up after sleeping with Midge are real New York traffic sounds.

The actors for Kinsey, Ken, and Harry felt they had to bond so they went out to drink together every night. At least that’s the excuse they used.

If you look carefully at the end of the elevator scene with Peggy and the guys you’ll see Rich Sommer(Harry Crane) walk off to the right because he had mistakenly thought they’d already cut. Classic Harry.

Taylor says the scene with Lucky Strike was very reminiscent of Bewitched and I agree, which is why I initially described Mad Men as “Bewitched with less magic and more adultery” when I was first started watching.

Something weird I noticed: Alan Taylor only refers to Matthew Weiner as “the writer”. Bad blood? Can’t remember his name? Guess we’ll find out in the inevitable Mad Men BTS tell-all someone writes in ten years.

The strip club was a real retro-style strip club in New York.

They’d almost completely run out of money by the time they shot the scene of Don on the train so it’s basically just a piece of plexiglass with water dripping down it. 

Taylor says he dislikes the use of the song Caravan but I actually really like it. 

Overall, great episode, albeit one with some glaring flaws. I give it 7 Scowling Petes of 10.

[melaniem54]

Winter Cowboy (Whisper Ridge,Wyoming #1) by R.J.Scott

Winter Cowboy (Whisper Ridge,Wyoming #1) by R.J.Scott

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5 Winter Cowboy, the first story in a new series by RJ Scott, has a full and varied narrative plot/theme list. As the first book in the series, it’s required (and does) set in place the history and universe for Whisper Ridge and it’s foundation characters. We start with Micah Lennox and his sister, Rachel, and her children. The Lennox ranch. The town and its people.…

[bitchryver]

Top Ten favorite female characters EVER...!!!

im gonna assume you mean book characters because this is a book blog so Aelin Elinor Dashwood Nina Zenik (&inej as a close second)Mary LennoxHyacinth Bridgerton Astrid Leong Cathy Linton Lizzie Bennett Cinder Linh Rachel from My Cousin Rachel Emma Carstairs (&then Cristina +Diana as close seconds) Hermione Granger (& under rated sweetheart of the century cho chang but that’s a rant for another day)

that’s way more than 10 but that’s just off the top of my head I’ve forgotten like 6000 more

[isfjmel-phleg]

Ten characters, ten stories, ten tags

Tagged by @brown-little-robin. Thank you!

Awful Sykes (Archer's Goon)

Zuko (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Philip Ransford III (The Candymakers)

Kon-El (DC Comics)

Sophie Hatter (Howl's Moving Castle--the book)

Sticky Washington (The Mysterious Benedict Society--the books)

Rupert Psmith (Wodehouse's Psmith series)

Mary Lennox (The Secret Garden)

Rachel Lennox (no relation!) (Noel Streatfeild's Shoes books)

Patric Tenthragon (Tenthragon)

Please consider yourself tagged if you would like to be!