#dreamofpeppermints

[hotcinnamonsunset]

okay jumping off of the tags in the ballerina/PT novel (💀) — do you have a your ballet media reclist? signed, former dancer and struggling 🩰

from one former dancer to another, let me tell you. the prospects are grim. (at least if you’re picky. which I definitely am.) (also after I reblogged that post I was already combing over my goodreads to see what ballet books I rated recently to see if they were as bad as I remember lol)

wordy meander below where I try to gather some thoughts coherently🩰:

my preferred type of fiction/writing style is more literary fiction as opposed to quippable “chick lit” (god I hate that term but I feel it gets the point across unfortunately) fiction - so I feel like that’s already a big ask of ballet fiction.

I also (as a former dancer) like there to be some depth to the ballet knowledge presented because I feel that most authors that take on ballet in fiction do it for the “expose the gritty underside of ballet” perspective and they just want to have a female lead that can be cute/little/girly/submissive/etc without even trying to understand that that simply isn’t what all dancers are like. that being said, I do find works where ballerinas just go off being fully unhinged is fun from time to time. ballet and perfectionism can make you do crazy things and the glass in pointe shoes myth didn’t stem from nothing.

furthermore, while I understand that people want to read romance, for some reason if a book is about ballet I want romance to be very inconsequential? maybe it’s because for me ballet is a kind of love that personally never mixed with romance or that there is so much to relationships between dancers that can be so much more engaging than some romance plot about choosing between love and dance or something but most authors don’t feel this way.

all that being said, it’s no small wonder that my rec list of good things is a bit hodge podge. (and sometimes I’ll read things regardless of how bad just because sometimes it’s soooo bad all I can do is laugh)

memoirs are always accurate and enjoyable, albeit obviously not fiction. although! Dancer by Columbia McCann is a fictionalized take on Rudolf Nureyev that reads quite nicely.

fiction really is a mixed bag and often there are ports of stories that’ll be okay even if on the whole it’s not quite up to snuff. like, the last ballet book I read a few weeks ago was The Turnout by Megan Abbott and while I wanted to strangle each of the main characters repeatedly and shake them and ask them why are you like this??? the author had an atmospheric quality to their writing about ballet studios that transported me back to the smells and groans and quirks of old buildings repurposed as dance studios so acutely that I felt more empathy towards the ballet studio in the book as a character more than anything else.

so anyways. according to goodreads some ballet fiction that I did enjoy includes Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, Swing Time by Zadie Smith, Up to This Pointe by Jennifer Longo as well as Filthy Animals and The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor, both of which aren’t ballet centric but have genuinely realistic dancer characters.

as for other media…I feel like most things I watch, unless it’s really captivating, go in one eyeball and out the other. that and I’m really bad at watching movies. as for ones I have seen and appreciated though - And Then We Danced is a top one that I can recall, Suspiria is insane but a romp nonetheless, Bird of Paradise is also a bit of a romp.

all this to say if you’ve made it this far I am always always open to recs and suggestions silly and serious because it really is a struggle out there for content like this and we’ve got to stick together.

[eatmystardustloser]

happy birthday!!! -em

thank you!

[lilybarthes]

re: the gilded age, it’s by the same guy who did downton abbey, but filmed in new york, so you get a lot of competent theater actors milling around on period sets in incredibly elaborate outfits. most of the main cast is solid (carrie coon’s character and her husband from the gifset, christine baranski owns any scene she’s in, and i also really liked denee benton). only major quibble castingwise is that one of the lead girls sucks the energy out of every scene she’s in (she’s nepo baby supreme i.e. meryl streep’s daughter), but her scene partner can usually rescue it. TLDR if you like pretty costumes and playing spot-the-broadway-person, it’s a fun way to spend a few hours!

ooh thanks, that does sound right up my alley, i love elaborate costumes AND playing spot-the-broadway person.

(i hope you don't mind me publishing this, it was too funny not to keep.)

[morning-star-joy]

tarnished but so grand (Regency!Joel x F!Reader)

Pairing: Joel x F!Reader, Regency AU

Premise (by @dreamofpeppermints): tommy and maria lead a jovial existence in the countryside, but the appearance of tommy’s brother causes a stir in society with the dark rumors swirling around his reputation, some due to his standoffish demeanor and some due to the mysterious parentage of his rambunctious young ward miss williams

Warnings: Inferences to sexual tension/lust, forbidden relationship vibes, age gap (Joel early 50s, Reader late 20s)

A/N: Ty em for enabling my regency!Joel idea and giving me muse to write what was never supposed to be written (how dare you give me this brain rot ilysm)

Wordcount: 817

Mr. Miller was very much off-limits.

Nevermind the fact that the mysterious appearance of the man was followed by a cacophony of rumors at his heels—most of which revolved around the young woman who quite literally stayed on said heels.

No, it wasn’t the daunting whispers that surrounded the stoic gentleman—if he could ever be regarded as such, given his standoffish, abruptly gruff nature if anybody dared to approach him for fruitless conversation he wouldn’t bother contributing to—that made him unapproachable.

Nor was it even the questions of parentage of the girl in his care—an illegitimate daughter, perhaps? Mr. Miller had disappeared from the town for near-on twenty years, so to suddenly show up at his younger brother’s doorstep with a ward who had just recently come of age sowed many doubts of his reputation through the nosy neighbors of this small section of society that resided in the countryside.

None of these things, not even the man’s apparent lack of concern for court, were what branded Mr. Miller as being very, very unavailable.

What labeled him as being somebody you should stay far, far away from, was how he looked at you.

The first time you felt the heavy weight of Mr. Miller’s dark gaze was from across a crowded room.

To nobody’s surprise, the surly man had come into the habit of keeping himself as far away from the happenings of court as he could, holding up the wall from where he loitered at the edge of irritatingly extravagant rooms.

You were much of the same opinion as he—the only reason you attended these events was for the benefit of your younger sister and her closest friend, the two girls having just officially joined society, with stars in their eyes and high hopes of whirlwind romances that you were determined not to let them be swept away in.

Standing on the sidelines on the opposite side of the room, you felt the intensity of his eyes before you even saw them, eliciting a sensation of trembling unease that settled deep into your bones and rattled you completely.

And when you couldn’t resist any longer, giving up on ignoring whoever was staring at you so intently and lifting your gaze to meet their eyes—

Oh.

Your eyes met dark brown, a color so dark it was nearly black from this distance. It greatly suited his dour demeanor, enhancing the way you had caught mere glimpses of him scanning ballrooms with a severely furrowed brow, lips downturned in distaste at the frivolity of society.

But now those eyes were settled on you, watching you, completely picking you apart in a way that was not borderline scandalous, but still somehow entirely indecent.

It was a look that made your chest tighten, breath catching in your throat as you steadied your grip on the glass in your hand. 

Somewhere, in the back of your mind, you knew you should look away.

Best to play the ingénue; flutter your eyelashes and glance away to show submission, subsequently turning away his cold judgment and maybe finding the interest of another, suitable member of the court to distract you from how Mr. Miller made you feel from his eyes alone.

But that flare of a stubborn streak reared its ugly head inside of you, and you straightened, squaring your shoulders back as you met his gaze straight-on.

Your eyes didn’t waver, your own lips pulling down into the smallest of frowns as you refused to be the first to look away, not wanting to lose this battle that he had picked by staring at you so.

But he didn’t back down either. 

No, Mr. Miller simply raised the glass in his hand, taking a long sip from the dark wine before lowering it from his lips, giving you a glimpse of his tongue swiping along them to collect the last drops of the sweet drink—because you knew it was sweet, you had been drinking the same wine from your own glass and oh, no.

Heat like you had never felt before surged through you then, coursing in your veins and setting you ablaze, but you still refused to be the one to back down.

And so you witnessed that Mr. Miller’s deeply furrowed brow was not, in fact, permanently fixed on his face when he arched one of those dark eyebrows towards you and—

A trembling sigh escaped your lips as you suddenly felt that heat pool somewhere else; aching, throbbing, and you quickly looked away, eyes scanning the room for something, anything else to occupy your mind as you felt your heart hammer against your ribcage.

You knew then that what made Mr. Miller truly dangerous, what made him somebody that you would have to fight tooth and nail to stay away from, was how much you wanted him.

No, not even that.

It was how much he wanted you.

[anakinsafterlife]

Tag

tagged by @dreamofpeppermints

Last Song I Listened To: Life in the Fast Lane by the Eagles. I listen to it often because I enjoy revisiting trauma.

Currently Watching: For movies, North by Northwest. I'm watching because it features in Victoria's Secret, one of my favourite Due South episodes, as a meta-reflection on Victoria, the femme fatale of the episodes.

For shows, I'm re-watching Community again. I'm also watching Newton's Cradle, an Egyptian series about a woman who schemes to deliver her child in the US in order to stay, but ends up ruining her entire life in the process. I'm taking it slowly because a lot of Egyptian series tend to be angst-fests that try really hard to traumatize the audience, and this one is no different.

Sweet/Savory/Spicy: I enjoy all of them, but am somewhat renowned for my spice tolerance.

Relationship Status: Married With Children.

Current Obsession: Genealogy. I've managed to put my father's paternal line together going back to the early 1700s, possibly the late 1600s. I've found some of my mother's maternal line as well. It's remarkable how moving it can be to see a death notice or a marriage notice for an ancestor who was previously a brick wall.

Tag ten people if you can. Or not.

@lordansketil @lilybarthes @greysleipnir @cptsd-skywalker @asdeadasasquirrel @bonzoobel @multifandomfreak

@michele-847 @brightlotusmoon @silentwordsmyth

[feykiller]

Rules

Search ‘your name + core’ on pinterest and post the first 6 pictures

Tagged by -> @gothimp 🩵

Tagging: @lyriumrain @artemis-devotee @devilbrakers @aelyosos @zezran @rosenfey @dreamofpeppermints @bi-stander @halsinsbiggernaturals @cinqplusneuf @a-witch-bird

[crystalclaire]

tagged by @dreamofpeppermints!

Last Song I Listened To: On & On & On by Maggie Rogers, been listening to her new album all day!!

Currently Watching: rewatching Young Royals bc season 3, rewatching criminal minds again. Also just watched Femme (2023) and Ella Enchanted (2004) today. I still don’t know how I feel about Femme but the surface emotions are not positive

Sweet/Savory/Spicy: all, depending on my mood but I’m tending towards savory/spicy lately

Relationship Status: hopeless romantic (single)

Current Obsession: Masters of the Air, William Bracewell and Fumi Kaneko in ROH’s Swan Lake, also Mary Oliver’s poetry but that’s a constant in my life

tagging @kindafruityy @minorgoddesses @halleyys-comet @sourappleebaby @ladyblacklavender

[emeraldgreaves]

rules: shuffle your 'on repeat' playlist and post the first ten tracks, then tag ten people!

tagged by @theresa-of-liechtenstein!! (via my main @dreamofpeppermints but i mostly do games from here lol). i have not been using spotify much at all lately so let’s see what happens.

real estate by adam melchor

hœrgüpjelly kisses by jazz emu (LMAO)

through me (the flood) by hozier

human by dodie & tom walker

de selby (part 2) by hozier

francesca by hozier

30/90 by andrew garfield & the cast of tick tick boom

eat your young by hozier

carolina by taylor swift

bad idea right? by olivia rodrigo (?? i’ve only listened to this song twice)

my takeaways from this are that i have listened to unreal unearth a lot.

tagging: @bi-stander @jae-gerbomb @thenightdayblogger @euelios @queen-scribbles @morning-star-joy @feykiller and opentagging the last 3.

[theresa-of-liechtenstein]

@keepthemacramesecret tagged me which reminded me that i was also tagged by @cjflint to post the first 9 photos that show up when i search [name]core on pinterest! i have a board called ‘emcore’ already but i actually did the search lol

tagging @sircarolyn, @stoppablethetramstory, @malcolm-f-tucker, @supercantaloupe, @leporellian, @notyouraveragejulie, @smile-at-the-stars, and @dreamofpeppermints (no pressure, of course)

[eerna]

@dreamofpeppermints Final Fantasy VII dropped in 1997 and said "dragons live in a futuristic city built on 2 metal plates and giant robots roam the planet, quick shoot them with lightning magic" and the rest is history <3

[euelios]

tagged by @dreamofpeppermints 🩷🩷 (bc this was sitting in my drafts and i never posted it?????)

LAST SONG LISTENED TO: “viva la vida” by coldplay. it’s on my zevmancer cousland’s playlist but it is a forever banger.

CURRENTLY WATCHING: so much good mythical morning and mythical kitchen. also a lot of F1 but if we’re talking serious media… uh, HBO’s the passion?

SWEET/SAVOURY/SPICY: tbh a little of all of them, but sweet makes up like 70% of my cravings on its own. who am i but a girlypop who is a little too nuts about lavender coffee drinks.

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: aggressively single pringle for any number of inarticulable reasons! i have chickened out of at least four hinge eras and have decided to focus on myself for now NFHDJX

CURRENT OBSESSION: so many all at once. dayspring by anthony oliveira which is a timey-wimey p(r)o(s)etry queering of the gospels (hence my currently watching). dragon age, now that i’m not too fried for combat mechanics. also my most recent attempt to scratch together my “nano but actually year-round” project.

tagging: @mortumslab @honor-among-thieves @rosaindomitus @dogueteeth @silvery-bluish and you if yall would like?

[hotcinnamonsunset]

i only know the weewoo show through your gifsets but congrats on the incremental steps towards buddie!!!!

bahahahaha it’s a lovely thing to see bisexuals winning!! glad the love is felt via gifs as well😂🫶

[lilybarthes]

I was tagged by @dreamofpeppermints and @anakinsafterlife; thank you, darlings! 💖💖💖

last song i listened to: Bruce Springsteen's Hungry Heart was playing at the cafe today; and before that, it was my feel-good walking song, Electric Love by Borns (the man's American and Borns is his last name, I refuse to write it with a stroke).

currently watching: Shōgun my beloved, and the HBO docuseries about Synanon, as well as the Jus de Rose, Full Bottle Worthy, and ASMR Geographica YouTube channels.

sweet/savory/spicy:¿Por qué no los tres? But I will say I've been craving savory food the most, recently.

relationship status: thornback spinster/leftover woman

recent obsession: Perfume reviews for some reason? I recently ordered a cool-sounding sample online, and I've been killing time until it arrives by reading/watching reviews online so now Fragrantica is my best friend (highlights: "doesn't smell like death OR decay" for Lush's Death & Decay; "not as otherworldy as promised" for, I think, Jenny Glow's UFO). Also sketching, and The Guardian's Today In Focus podcast.

Tagging 10 people (no pressure whatsoever if you hate tag games with a burning passion/aren't in the mood for filling one out): @firstaudrina, @sparklemotioneer, @noceiling-m, @twylla, @le-quignon, @black-lodge-gatekeeper, @garrulus, @thebaconsandwichofregret, @common-blackbird, @ffrannyglass

[morning-star-joy]

spotify top 5 songs of the month

thank you for the tag @futureman I love seeing and sharing music!!

1. American Teenager by Ethel Cain 2. JOLENE by Beyoncé 3. Abstract (Psychopomp) by Hozier 4. Too Sweet by Hozier 5. Forever by Noah Kahan

JOLENE shooting up there so fast, not long before COWBOY CARTER takes over it all tbh

np tags: @sweetercalypso @ezrasbirdie @ilovepedro @dreamofpeppermints @fettuccin-e @javier-pena @thelightsandtheroses @devnmon @joelsdagger

[anakinsafterlife]

Tagged by @emeraldgreaves

Your lock screen, the last song you listened to, the last photo you took, and the last show or movie you watched.

Looks like it's a pan-Egyptian experience for me this time, unsurprisingly.

(Paranormal is a fantastic little show based on the books of an Egyptian fantasy/horror writer and I recommend it to everyone! It's on Netflix.)

Tagging @greysleipnir @lordansketil @asdeadasasquirrel @cptsd-skywalker @dreamofpeppermints @juniperpomegranate

[feykiller]

Tagged by @gothimp to make myself with this picrew so of course im using it to make the most plant goth canon version of me lol

Tagging in my fellows @aelyosos @bi-stander @lyriumrain @brightwaterforarainyday @dreamofpeppermints @lilbirdofdeath @orchid-tea-party @halsinsbiggernaturals @rosenfey + anyone else who'd like to do thiss