#i love u bitterns

[medievalwoundman]

once

twice shy

[faecaptainofdreams]

I am sad to announce that Ash and i are officially no longer romantic partners. We’ve been going through a very taxing rough patch and while things have suddenly taken a massive turn, we are still best friends, and even soulmates. We still love each other and wanna stay close, but Ash needs to figure out who he is as an individual, and i need to take this opportunity to relax and make fortune out of my own situation.

So to emphasize, there is no bittern or animosity, and we will be continuing on with our shared stories and interests and everything! ^u^ so no worries, there’s no crippling “divorce” in our work! Admittedly, we both feel really weird though, and I’m not comfortable pretending everything is perfect. It’s not, and I’m honestly quite sad.

But we’re both still growing as people and need to change some of how we experience life. This is simply part of the experience here on earth, and regardless in the end, we’re still connected and still share love. Things feel terrible atm, but they will improve with time.

[burningdarkfire]

books i read in april 2022

[these are all short + casual reviews - feel free to msg me and ask   about individual ones if u want a full review or ask for my goodreads!!]

23 books this month!! my reading challenge is thriving 🥰

piranesi - susanna clarke ★★★★★ (fantasy)

susanna clarke does it again!! insanely beautiful and utterly sunning. i absolutely loved how this book opened and the way we, the reader, have to navigate the faith of the narrator with our doubt until eventually our roles reverse. i’ll be thinking about this one for a while!

jane, unlimited - kristin cashore ★★★★★ (YA, fantasy)

i rarely say this, but i would highly recommend going into this book blind. it’s a very weird, genre-bendy, fun and funny book that i’ll definitely have to reread in the future. i love how clever this entire book is!

heartstopper (volumes 1 & 2) - alice oseman ★★★★★ (YA, romance, graphic novel)

i watched the netflix show and cried and then i reread these two volumes and cried again. nick and charlie are just so so sweet 🥺

the wicked + the divine (all 9 volumes) - kieron gillen & jamie mckelvie ★★★★★ (urban fantasy, graphic novel)

i’ve loved the concept of this series since the beginning and it’s never stopped delivering. the plot suffers at points but the emotional core never falters. it’s a story about living long enough to want to live. it reads so differently to me now in 2022 than it did when i first found it in 2016, and i'm thankful for that

beartown - fredrik backman ★★★★☆ (contemporary)

this was the first annotated book i did with my book club!! i loved the structure and narrative voice, and there was a strong and really well-rounded cast of characters. good exploration of different human facets and i teared up more than once

jujutsu kaisen (volume 0) - gege akutami ★★★★☆ (YA, fantasy)

i watched the movie and then read the manga and i’m actually impressed at how close the adaptation is. love the character beats!

fire and ice - erin hunter ★★★★☆ (children’s, fantasy)

nearly 20 years later and i still hate this graystripe storyline 🤪 anyway isn’t wild how differently the xenophobia of cats reads as an adult? i guess i’m gonna reread all of these books now

a siege of bitterns - steve burrows ★★★★☆ (mystery)

very generic mystery, in the "conventional for the genre” sense. clumsy at points where the detective work didn’t quite convince me but the birder twist was interesting and i love learning. i should read more of these!

ring shout - p. djèlí clark ★★★★☆ (historical fantasy)

tbh i lacked the vast majority of cultural and historical context to fully enjoy this but it was still fun! if you want a story about killing KKK demons then this is exactly what you’d expect

provenance - ann leckie ★★★★☆ (scifi)

the plot and themes are functional. i didn’t like the main character but i know that’s 100% personal preference and leckie wrote her well. i did really like the inclusion of a third set of pronouns though and that was the redeeming factor of the book for me!! very interesting inclusion that def challenged me as a reader

the break - katherena vermette ★★★☆☆ (contemporary)

it’s a shame i read this so close to beartown because it just feels like a worse version. the writing was fine, the story had some heartfelt moments, the characters were developed well for the time we had with them but nothing about it stood out to me at all

dowry of blood - s.t. gibson ★★☆☆☆ (fantasy, romance)

this read like the interesting outline of a novel but idk where the actual novel is. incredibly shallow and simplistic

[DNF] all of us villains - amanda foody & christine lynn herman ★★★☆☆ (YA, fantasy)

i gave this a try even though i know i don’t like amanda foody’s writing and it turns out i still don’t like her writing. everything is too dramatic with no genuine stakes. i stopped after a couple of chapters 🤷‍♂️

[DNF] fifty shades of grey - e.l. james ★★☆☆☆ (romance)

idk why i thought i was going to read this for the ~cultural impact but yeah actually i’m just not going to do that LOL i read the first few chapters and skimmed for the explicit and meh!

[alderations]

For that Tattoo prompt post u reblogged i def see u with some kind of cool critter. Maybe a snake or a dope bird? Stylized a little bit, it'd be really cool 👌

I have a realistic chimney swift & a leopard seal!! I’d LOVE a snake (and I hope to eventually get tats of every animal I study) but it can be hard to find artists who know what they’re doing with snakes or birds. Tho @benbokenobi got a wonderful rendering of Peter the hognose!! When I finally see an American Bittern I plan to get something because I’ll have seen every heron in the US.

[cyanpeacock]

WTF i just found out there's meant to be OTTERS at my patch???!!! OTTERS????! thats SO cool. water rail too!!! those r lovely... Weird Moorhens... and BITTERNS... real bastards to spot bc they're the colour of reeds, streaky, and stand with their bills pointing perfectly upright, swaying gently with the ACTUAL reeds. camouflage legends.

this is fuckin sick i didnt even know i had a chance to see those things in walking distance from my damn house. then again maybe i should expect the unexpected after seeing a PAIR of red partridge just chilling on the tarmac of my very urban area, instead of on the scrub u would usually see them chill on

ive seen a fox literally on my street outside my building before too!! that was so cool... that fox was SO fluffy...

maaan. animals r kool as fuk.

[2seaters]

god i fucking miss ten so much i wish he debuted in 127 or smth :(( and im bittern nothing happened for nct u’s anniversary. i love mark but ten was my fav since smrookies and i love him so much...

is he still recovering from his knee surgery? i hope hes well i really miss him