#enjoy the potato quality I don't know how to edit anything

[avelera]

I can't believe someone hasn't made this one yet. Is this not how the scene went?

[isfjmel-phleg]

December 2024 Books

The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown

This entire series is very charming and poignant. I enjoyed this one about as much as I did the previous ones.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (annual reread)

Someday I'll have an original insight into this book, but not this year.

Go to the Room of the Eyes by Betty K. Erwin

A family moves into an unusual house (that actually exists in the real world!) in 1960s Seattle and have slice-of-life adventures and get involved in solving a mystery left behind previous inhabitants. An enjoyable example of this type of story. Unfortunately very out of print and hard to find, though!

The Probability of Everything by Sarah Everett

Ostensibly this is the story of a girl and her family as they deal with processing that an impending comet is about to obliterate the earth, but--I won't spoil it--there's much more to it. I loved the family relationships, and the poignant examination of grief. It does deal with some heavy topics, including a racially-motivated hate crime, but I thought it was tastefully handled for a middle-grade audience. There were some worldview things that I personally would differ with, and this won't be everyone's cup of tea, but on the whole, this was a real page-turner for me.

The Thursday Kidnapping by Antonia Forest

This entire problem could have been avoided if the adults in this story would have been responsible enough to look after their own children and not expect literal children to do it for them. I had a hard time warming up to the characters in this one.

Dick Grayson, Boy Wonder: Scholars and Creators on 75 Years of Robin, Nightwing, and Batman edited by Kristen L. Geaman

The essays are of varying quality, but the better ones had some interesting analysis, and the interviews with writers were insightful.

Fault Lines by Janet Sumner Johnson

Not as effective for me as the previous book (Final Word). It stretched my suspension of disbelief a bit (that's a lot of faked deaths), and it was a bit hard to keep all the family straight, especially when most of the cousins are fairly underdeveloped. But it was an entertaining mystery, and I would read a third book if it happens.

Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight by Travis Langley

Varying degrees of interesting. Words cannot express how few darns I give about Batman's rogues gallery, but the explorations of Bruce's psychology, upbringing, and mental health and of the Robins in a familial context were fascinating. Apparently there's an updated edition, so I think I'll track that down.

I would love to see more books in a similar vein for other DC heroes. There's so much that could be explored.

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

Very sweet and nearly made me cry a few times. Don't go in expecting a narrative; this is a series of illustrations and vignettes involving the four eponymous characters--funny, sad, or inspirational by turns.

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

Lovely polished writing. I think I will need to read this again to figure out what exactly is being said; this is a very Literary piece (not a criticism, I just read this on a tired brain).

Enemy Brothers by Constance Savery (reread)

I had a hankering.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Enjoyable. I liked the epistolary format.

The Chinese Egg by Catherine Storr

I don't know why it is, but Storr tends to lose me whenever she wanders out of the middle-grade level. This was YA, and I didn't really get anything out of it.

The Woods by R. L. Toalson

I picked this up in a bookstore local to my family's city while on adventures with my sister in October. Never heard of it before, but I liked the cover and premise. And I did enjoy the book! Stories about children coming to stay in mysterious gothic houses full of family secrets are almost always my thing. But there were a few historical nitpicks that drew me out of the story a little, and in the end, I'm not sure that the story was fully cohesive. Historical fiction involving a real-life tragedy in 1940s Texas is great, and so is gothic fantasy about dangerous creatures in the foreboding woods. But this book had both, and it was hard for me to reconcile them in the same story (especially the fantasy elements supposed to be set in East Texas). This might have done better as two separate books, or perhaps if the fantastical elements and the family's background had been adjusted to suit the intended setting.

Solomon Snow and the Stolen Jewel by Kaye Umansky

...I hardly remember this one.

Victoria by Barbara Brooks Wallace

I am still processing this one. Not sure what to make of it.

Network Effect by Martha Wells (reread)

A lot going on in this one. Definitely had more of an impact on this reread.

Comics

Infinite Crisis

Rip my heart out, why don't you. This is the event in which Grant gets his face destroyed, Bart comes back aged up (before going on to star in an absolutely terrible miniseries that would mischaracterize him and others and then kill him off), and Kon dies. Do I love this story? No. But I am not over Kon dying with tears in his eyes while characteristically framing the situation as something positive.

Damage (most of it)

A very 90s book that didn't get to live up to its potential before getting canceled, but its characterization of Grant has never quite been replicated by later writers. I would love to interview Tom Joyner (the writer/co-creator, who wrote this while in college!) about his work on this book.

The "Return of the Hero!" arc from various titles, Justice League Task Force (#15-16, 0, 17-37), and Triumph

This guy. He's the worst. Compels me though. More analysis forthcoming.

[sarcasmandships]

his! do you have any peterick fic recommendations? i've already read all your works on ao3 and i'm waiting desperately for updates so until then i need something to read because i feel like i've already read soooo many fics and i'm running out of material plz help :)

hiiii, im glad you like my fics and I'm sorry im terrible at updating i used to be so consistent but uni is just killing me with assignments rn! but i promise the restaurant au will get an update soon and im planning to edit death by a thousand cuts before i add to it again cos im just not really happy with the quality of it, but that will also be coming soon i promise!

anyways onto what you're really asking about; recommendations. im not sure if you're looking for smut or stories with plot so here's just a mix of things i've really liked ( i suck at bookmarking things so I've just searched through my history and there's deffos stuff i've missed im sorry)

Literally just read kick me in the face & ask me how my head feels by fkingdeathwish today - devoured this in a few hours and this fic made me like stories in first person. its so good and also has the best andy/joe/pete friendship dynamics i was smiling the whole time. but also features a lot of petekey tho which might not be ur thing

(smut) going down, down by @pyrchance - i read this the other day and its 10/10

Anything by snitchesandtalkers but some of my favourites are i've been checking my list, crooked love, making out inside crashed cars (smut), silver screen dream, the antidote to everything (except for me), we're friends when you're on your knees (not finished but still so so worth reading), amateur pornographers (smut obvs), a little less 16 candles (a little more bite me)

brutal love by @notastumph- this one is so good but like i also had to take a 5 min break between chapters cos the angst and heartbreak was getting to me so much (in the best way)

and i'll burn by jiksa - just read the tags first

the house on rosewood lane by scarredsodeep - this one is so fucking good, i don't even like horror and i was obsessed with this and couldn't stop reading

hey doctor, i'm certifiable by derridoid (smut) - so good and the ending made me laugh sm

husband on the payroll by das_verlorence-kind - what can i say, i love the fake relationship trope

also ive changed my plea to guilty by das_verlorence_kind - again just check the tags incase it’s not ur thing

accidents will happen by rusty76

again pretty much everything by @annoyingpetekey but some favourites are (i just wanna) get some, so pretty (when you're on your knees), and come on (and fuck me like you doubt me) - all smut

That Schrodinger guy made some really good points, you know? by @earlgreytea68

but i'm reflecting light by looks_a_scream - this one is deffos a favourite

the purgatory of my hips by auralcosm

edgar allan potato by emeralcitydowntowngirl - another absolute favourite, i have such a soft spot for soulmate AUs but I've never read one as good as this, again features a lot of petekey but it is all in the past

to take what i'm given with grace by likeasugarcube - their whole 'marriage of convience' series is amazing but this is the main fic and it is sooo good

anything by littlesnowpea but favourites include love in the middle of a firefight, but there's no preparing for this, and nobody wants to hear you sing about tragedy (pls read tags first tho)

december is for cynics by looks_a_scream - another favourite

secrets i don’t want to keep by perceived_nobility (although i think they’ve changed their name to invisible_man now) anyways this one is only accessible if you have an ao3 account but it is so so good an hurts in all the best ways, would advise paying attention to some of the tags tho

Also pretty much anything written by appleremix or vampyerika

Ok so I have like another 30+ pages in my history but this is already so long, so i hope you enjoy some of these assuming you haven't read them already!

[jeanmoreaux]

why did you dislike ses4? and was there anything you enjoyed recently?

oh boy. i think it would be easier to tell you what i DID like about the season. i can count it on one hand. (1) ruby. she's my queen. (2) adam making it explicitly clear that he identifies with the bi label. (3) gillian anderson. she's just soooooo ugh. i love her. (4) NONE OF THE BAD BITCHES CHOOSING OTIS. maeve and ruby both deserve better fr. (5) aimee reclaiming some agency. cannot even think of a sixth thing. that's how bad this season did not worked for me. i said i was not gonna rant but i guess now i am gonna rant a little (trying to keep it short for both of our sakes).

i think there is definitely some more technical and objective stuff that's wrong and with this season and then there is some stuff i personally didn't like but that may work for other people.

objectively, i think the writing was severely lacking in quality. it was SO LAZY. even uninspired. the plot was meandering and the arcs fell extremely flat as a consequence. they randomly introduced interesting internal and external conflicts, sometimes even towards the end of the season, that could have spanned the entire eight episodes, but then they often just drop those ideas like hot potatoes—sometimes by the next episode, sometimes by THE NEXT SCENE (e.g. otis basically taking over a surrogate parent role or feeling like losing his mom, basically everything ruby-centric that wasn't oatis-related, jackson questioning his sexuality, etc.)!! other storylines that didn't have to last for several epsiodes (like jackson's cancer scare) went on for way too long. and the storylines they kept up for several episodes were mostly half-assed. the vivian & beau thing was surface level at most (and rushed af), the ace thing was soooo buried and shoved aside for stupider plotlines (they did o so dirty istfg), same with their approach to adding to the discourse on disability/accessibility, the exploration of jean's sister dealing with her abuse was just almost non-existent, eric's storyline reconciling his sexual and religious identities relied an cheap gimmicks, maeve finding her voice as a writer, jean's postnatal depression (how half-assed that was truly hurt my psych major brain), etc..... and then they dragged these storylines out without giving them any *substance*. like. i SKIPPED two episodes and missed NOTHING (i even did go back to jump through it just now to verify and, yup, did not miss a piece of information i did not gain or infer from the episodes i watched). you know a story is aimlessly wandering around when people can skip 2h of content and not even miss a shrivel of character development. i'd claim almost all storylines and arcs were handled badly. the only one that was well-structured and well-executed (from a storytelling standpoint) was the groff family arc (mind you, not the individual arcs but their arc as a family). AND I DON'T EVEN AGREE WITH THAT STORYLINE FROM AN IDEOLOGICAL STANDPOINT BUT STILL I LIKED IT THE MOST BECAUSE WRITING WISE IT WAS AT LEAST COMPETENTLY HANDLED!!!! like, that's so unfortunate. for me. and don't even get me started on the tonal dissonance WHITIN scenes and BETWEEN scenes. it was so so jarring at times and made the humour NOT land AT ALL (especially the physical humour because holyyy shit what was that). idk if that's editing's fault or if the writers made these decisions or if the producers and executives are to blame, but the inconsistency of mood and tone just really made me feel disconnected from the emotional moment. felt absolutely nothing about what was happening to these characters.

on a more personal level, i took issues with the way they wrote some characters and the content of some arcs. they really reduced maeve's character to nothing (like. i am sorry but her dialogue is so flat and boring, the most meaningful thing she said all season was probably at her mom's funeral.) otis literally learned jackshit. he's still kind of a self-absorbed dick. o was so underutilised and disrespected (they didn't even try to make the ace thing an important plotline). aimee was turned into a grotesque parody of herself. eric's story focusing on religion was HELL to me personally. like, i grew up catholic (which is different to the christianity eric practices but still...), and ngl the way they handled his 'religious' awakening just sent me up the wall. as a queer person who was very involved in church life from a young age and had to reconcile her faith with her queer identity, i felt like his story made a mockery of that struggle and that inner conflict. the visions were ridiculous. it felt like the writers were making fun of the struggle queer people face when (1) wanting to meaningfully engage with faith and religion *OR* (2) wanting to distance themselves from organised religion. additionally it felt like they were making fun of religion & religious faith as a whole, depicting it as this almost psychotic thing to believe in god. and they completely decoupled eric's personal journey to faith from what religion primarily is about for many, many people: community and connection. like, sure, they briefly brushed it i theory, but neglected to real get into the emotional reality and complexity of it. they very much glossed over the fact that religious communities are a source for moral/ethical and social control and even when you disagree with some aspects of the doctrine you will still be affected by it if you grew up in those circles. and your personal reckoning with religion will probably be more tied to THAT (the fear of losing love/support/part of your social circle, ostracisation (because even when you're okay with who you are right from the start it's something that doesn't feel good even when you prepare for it....), feeling disconnected from your former self, struggling to build your own belief system that you feel lie it truly belongs to you etc.). his entire journey was lacking any nuance and complexity in my opinion. and maybe that's because i personally had a different experience reconciling my faith with my sexual identity. i wasn't a self-hating queer either, but breaking away from religion still was a change in my life that impacted me very real and convoluted ways!!! (also like let's be real him becoming a pastor is gonna solve what exactly??? go through the homophobic system to change the homophobic system??? HUH with what power??? you're better of starting a new church fr.) idk. another thing that bugged me was the lack of chemistry in intimate scenes. like. jo and i watched these scenes and. nothing. the lack of chemistry really made me so uncomfortable. it almost made me question if i really do like sex lol. ALSO WHYYYY did they force the aimee and isaac relationship for no reason???? that really didn't have to have to happen. not that i hate it, it's whatever, but i was just so BORING to me. same with the otis and maeve thing. THEY WERE SO BORING. their drama this season was so repetitive and reminiscent of earlier conflicts between them it made me want to rip my hair out. i think i stopped caring about them as a couple after season 2. they don't fit and they don't work yet still the writers were trying to make them a thing for no reason. i could go on but this is already longer than i wanted it to be (yikes). i just want you to know that this season did so many things so badly i ended up not caring about ANYTHING that happened or ANY of the characters (except ruby). they could have all just disappeared and i wouldn't have cared one bit because they were all giving NOTHING. so basically, the season felt like this meme to me, but with a heavy, all-permeating, very petty & derogatory undertone:

okay so now for the things i did watch and enjoy recently (i assume you mean movies/tv shows because i my monthly wrap ups cover my reading). there are quite a few things, actually! ofc i watched barbie which was fun, and oppenheimer which was Very Good. oh, and i watched and liked set it up, and my brother sat me down and made me watch the two spider verse movies with him which i enjoyed a lot as well! my other brother made me watch the new puss in boots (liked that one, too). i also watched the first couple of episodes of the bear and i am very intrigued (gonna continue for sure)!! also finished glow a couple of month ago which was quite good but sadly prematurely cancelled. other than that i have been mostly rewatching stuff tbh (recently e.g. fleabag, schitt's creek, atla, succession, and the occasional movies like p&p 2005, emma 2020. also been in the mood for a rewatch of god's own country & the ghibli movies.). other than that, the movies/tv shows i reblog stuff from are generally things i enjoyed in the past (or at least partly enjoyed). idk there's a lot on my 'to watch list' but i am only making my way through it super slowly jhghjgjhjgjh

[spark-lapis]

FOR THE OC ASKS. 2 and 3 with ANY BECAUSE I LOVE THE DESCRIPTIONS

hi i'm sorry this took so long to answer!!!!! (for future reference this is the oc asks post since it's buried deep in my blog at this point)

here they are!! the answers are colorcoded too because. i havent changed the blue one's name since i designed him when i was 12 and i havent come up with a better name for him yet

🎵 ~ song: Cult Of Dionysus or Don't Lose Ur Head (mostly the tone of the song, that's how he speaks); Houkago Stride (not so much the content as much as the energy of the song)

🍓 ~ fruit: tomato, just to be controversial (he would bite them raw and whole so it counts i think); banana (and other sweet fruits!)

🏀 ~ sport: paintball, archery, or knife throwing; running or gymnastics

🎤 ~ hobbies: pranks, political activism; sewing!

👖 ~ clothes: tank tops, tight-black-leather-style clothes, tall high heel boots, piercings in most conceivable locations, probably fishnets and fishnet-type gloves; crop tops, soft stretchy fabric, booty shorts, sneakers

🎷 ~ instruments: if he knew how he would play an electric guitar, in some settings he's probably a great drummer; he can probably play piano or guitar, but not well

🍿 ~ snack: literally anything he could put in his mouth for shock value. pickles dipped in mayonnaise. popcorn soaked in soda. raw pasta. potato chips in a pb&j. kitkat bars dipped in chili. cold soup. melted ice cream. (he enjoys some of these genuinely but no one will ever know which ones.); hot dogs, sandwiches, chips probably?

🧸 ~ animal: various snakes and birds, and probably very specific deep-sea or cave-dwelling animals; dogs, cats, hamsters, bunnies, mice in that order (he likes fluffy pets :3)

🎁 ~ things they want: [edit: where did this go lmao I've put it back now] parties and gag gifts and ridiculous outfits; also parties, a stable romantic relationship, and quality time with his friends :)

☕️ ~ drink: microwaved gatorade (sometimes mixed with red bull); a fruity alcoholic drink maybe?? (i don't know alcoholic drinks very well)

🍩 ~ sweet treat: sizzling cinnamon spicy jellybeans (i am vagueing jelly belly brand ones but there are probably other brands of spicy jellybeans too); mint-chip icecream! or cotton candy, which he then proceeds to shape into fun and silly shapes

🌼 ~ flower: venus flytrap, mostly because he thinks the plant itself is very cool; lavender!