#i❤books

[rockingtheorange]

Do you ever wonder about characters coming out from their stories to find out that they have a book dedicated to them?

How do you think FirstPrince would react?

Personally, I think Henry's first thought would be "What's there to tell about me?" and then he would think about Alex and immediately make a fuss on how "a book is just too short to narrate who Alex is! He doesn't fit in any room."

And while Henry would be walking back and forth in the room, Alex would have the book in his hands, desperately trying to erase the pages where the emails got leaked 🥹

And well, this is the crack version instead:

Alex: holy shit, I'm in a book

Henry: Alex, don't swear!

*Henry looks at the book*

Henry: holy shit, you're in a book!

[waitineedaname]

i love the bingge extra because it's like

the horror of realizing you're the dark universe version of yourself. the injustice of seeing this other version of yourself be happy and loved, seeing him be treated with such gentle tenderness from a person who only ever treated you with cruelty

bad sex.

[chickensauras]

Bits from ch9 of Neverending story aka one of my favorite chapters

[moon13dreams]

My partner asked me how I would want to be proposed to and it took everything in me not to say "in Bingqiu cosplay"

[adhd-merlin]

everyone conveniently forgets that Merlin tried to drop a fucking gargoyle on Arthur to save Freya

HE WASN'T PLAYING

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

I might not have been paying attention but what happened to the third baby during the switch?

Hiya! :) It is explained in the book (which I very much recommend! :)). If you want to read the book and find out then stop reading now ❤.

...

In the book there is more about The Them and we find out that Tadfield as another gang lead by the boy 'Greasy Johnson', the gang is called the Johnsonites. We find out that Greasy Johnson is actually the third baby :). And there are some greats passages about the metaphors for The Them vs the Johnsonites / Hell vs. Heaven :):

"I dunno," said Pepper. "I mean, it wouldn't be so interesting without ole Greasy Johnson and his gang. When you think about it. We've had a lot of fun with ole Greasy Johnson and the Johnsonites. We'd probably have to find some other gang or something."

"Seems to me," said Wensleydale, "that if you asked people in Lower Tadfield, they'd say they'd be better off without the Johnsonites or the Them."

Even Adam looked shocked at this. Wensleydale went on stoically: "The old folks' club would. An' Picky. An'—"

"But we're the good ones . . ." Brian began. He hesitated. "Well, all right," he said, "but I bet they'd think it'd be a jolly sight less interestin' if we all weren't here."

"Yes," said Wensleydale. "That's what I mean."

"People round here don't want us or the Johnsonites," he went on morosely, "the way they're always goin' on about us just riding our bikes or skateboarding on their pavements and making too much noise and stuff. It's like the man said in the history books. A plaque on both your houses."

This met with silence.

"One of those blue ones," said Brian, eventually, "saying 'Adam Young Lived Here,' or somethin'?"

Normally an opening like this could lead to five minutes' rambling discussion when the Them were in the mood, but Adam felt that this was not the time.

"What you're all sayin'," he summed up, in his best chairman tones, "is that it wouldn't be any good at all if the Greasy Johnsonites beat the Them or the other way round?"

"That's right," said Pepper. "Because," she added, "if we beat them, we'd have to be our own deadly enemies. It'd be me an' Adam against Brian an' Wensley," She sat back. "Everyone needs a Greasy Johnson," she said.

"Yeah," said Adam. "That's what I thought. It's no good anyone winning. That's what I thought." He stared at Dog, or through Dog.

"Seems simple enough to me," said Wensleydale, sitting back. "I don't see why it's taken thousands of years to sort out."

And then on the airfield :):

"I just don't see why everyone and everything has to be burned up and everything," Adam said. "Millions of fish an' whales an' trees an', an' sheep and stuff. An' not even for anything important. Jus' to see who's got the best gang. It's like us an' the Johnsonites. But even if you win, you can't really beat the other side, because you don't really want to. I mean, not for good. You'll just start all over again. You'll just keep on sending people like these two," he pointed to Crowley and Aziraphale, "to mess people around. It's hard enough bein' people as it is, without other people coming and messin' you around."

Crowley turned to Aziraphale.

"Johnsonites?" he whispered.

The angel shrugged. "Early breakaway sect, I think," he said. "Sort of Gnostics. Like the Ophites." His forehead wrinkled. "Or were they the Sethites? No, I'm thinking of the Collyridians. Oh dear. I'm sorry, there were hundreds of them, it's so hard to keep track."

[evil-keitaiyuri01]

youre not gonna believe this

[froidefille]

Day 7: the best of your OTP *

📚 Bond by Anna Fugazzi **

Draco/Harry, 174k, M, OOTP compliant ***

Summary:

Yet another one of those Harry And Draco Are Forced To Be Together By Something Beyond Their Control And Then Stuff Happens Leading To Twoo Wuv stories. Because every HD writer has to write at least one.

First off, if you enjoy bond fics and haven't (somehow) read this gem yet - oh boy, are you in for a treat. This was the very first bond fic I've read so for me it's an archetype of the trope, sort of like an exemplary model. It has it all - the very veeeery slow enemies to husbands to lovers, excellent plot, worldbuilding and the writing style to die for.

I asolutely loved the bond theme of it and how we can slowly see the boys start to trust each other and how they become friends and each other's Persons’. What I also loved was how believabe the characters were. It was absolutely enfuriating to read how Draco stays true to his beliefs but at te same time, exactly that has made him an excellently-sculptured character. Plus, it makes the final resolution so much sweeter :')

I also have to mention the way intimacy is handled in this fic, because it was so down-to-earth and realistic. In the story both boys are sixteen year olds, forced to suddenly spend all the time with someone they don't even like so obviously the intimacy part was going to be tricky. Dont get me wrong, I like "and suddenly they were kissing" just like any other girl but I LOVED reading how getting intimate was actually difficult for the boys (well, one of them xd) and how they've overcome this (and boy, they have, don't worry 😇).

Oh and also the h/c elements were delicious 💔.

I have already read this fic multiple times. I have this tradition that I read it every summer (and every other about-Christmas time actually) so I have many memories reading it: in uni during English Lit lecture (oh irony haha), on the bus stop, on the beach in Croatia, in my parent's house, in office at work.

I also remember when I was only learning English (lol) and so I have listed every word I didnt know the meaning of from the epilogue to my English notebook (I still have it somewhere!). So yeah, this fic has taught me the word spouse and expression rotten luck xd

Thank you for today’s prompt @hprecfest and until the next one!

* I really appreciate this prompt’s wording as „the best of your OTP” allowed my autistic black-and-white brain write about just one fic as it obviously is one of the best. My OTP happens to be one of the most popular ones hence there is at least a dozen of my personal bests of (some of which are included in the other day’s prompts but some just have to wait for another fest. There's simply too many 😅).

** I actually planned writing about this fic on day 3 for not-on-AO3 prompt as I’ve read this fic on FF.net like, 10 times minimum. So I wrote the whole rec and just before linking FF.net page I thought, let me just check if it is DEFINITELY not on AO3.

And guess what. It is. And I have it bookmarked xd

*** So many adnotations for this one, sorry! Anyway, I wanted to make sure you are informed – Anna writes on her dashboard that she is not tagging her works on AO3 – so tread carefully!

[hirunoka]

[lenzimanotmoved2]

thinking about c.laire e.lizabeth b.eauchamp r.andall f.raser today 😳👉👈

[merakiui]

recently i watched ‘the shape of water’ for the first time and omg i enjoyed it so much!! creatures in captivity will forever be such a fun concept. <3 i adore it greatly hehe!! \(//∇//)\

of course now this also means i am blessed with shape of water thoughts but with octavinelle. orz i couldn’t stop myself from thinking about floyd while watching. all of octavinelle fit in the captivity trope, but there’s something especially fun about imagining floyd in that context because he is a much more emotionally volatile creature in comparison to jade (who keeps everything hidden close to his chest), and that makes for very interesting happenings. but then jade is also interesting in his own ways, especially with all of his secrecy and how he will silently observe instead of wanting to readily socialize after having determined you’re not a threat. and then azul….. uuuuwuwwaa i’ll stop myself before i ramble, but please know octavinelle in captivity regularly circulates on my mind and watching ‘the shape of water’ sparked that thought once more.

[hedwig221b]

I have no wips... The possibilities are endless

[yuukimiyas]

Happy Thursday Chloe <3333 what book are you reading?

happy thurs nana my sweet!! ໒꒰ྀི∩˃ ᵕ ˂∩꒱ྀི১ right now i’m reading ‘Cleopatra & Frankenstein’ by Coco Mellors!! its so good so far!! i’m ab 60 pages in but i love the characters & the subtle twists!! Coco Mellors has the unique talent of RLLY utilizing imagery!! & it takes place in NYC so you KNOW i had to get my lil paws on it hehee (ฅ'ω'ฅ) but its a v good read if you enjoy fiction, relationship/drama type books!! <33 ofc i will give my official chlo bookclub review once i’m finished!! ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝

[ronanlynchbf]

ugh like. WHATEVERRRRRRRRR

[maygirlsposts]

4,14,24,37,39 and 40 for Piper and Leo!

@scarareg Thank you so much for your ask!

leo x piper is kinda my self-indulgent secret ship heh, it's nice to talk about it sometimes hgjfkl;

4. Their favorite show to watch together?

I think they would love watching stupid movies (romcoms or unnecessarily sentimental and cheesy) together not bc they like them but so that they could make fun of the lines/scenes together like best friends do (bc ofc they are best friends first, lovers later). leo mimicking them in his stupid way, and piper giggling and rofling about like a buffalo the way she can't before others. they are the kinda couple who would enjoy everything they watch together.

but their ultimate fav, repeat to 10000x movie list till they have memorized every line is HTTYD, cuz yeah, leo-hiccup, toothless-festus, and ig piper is a lot like astrid? AND DRAgons!!! so yeah their go-to, top-of-head movie when they are lazy to try something new

(the only thing they never watch is tristan mclean movies lmao)

14. Who falls asleep during a movie?

Neither, but on hectic days when they are super tired, both of them catch the sleep bug and fall asleep.

if Leo is first to wake up to find the movie is over, he'd pick up piper and carry her to their bed, taking care she doesn't wake up (watching her sleep is secretly his fav thing, yk cuz of piper's cute way of sleeping: "inhaling through the nose, exhaling with a little puff through the mouth" and "her hair looked like it had become a nest for a friendly hamster")

on the other hand, if piper is first to wake, she'd prob simply arrange some pillows for their necks and go back to sleep, snuggling into him bc no chance she is getting cold lol

which brings me to the next choice!

24. Sleeping/cuddling positions? (Big spoon, little spoon, etc.)?

ggfhjk i love this question specifically for this ship cuz Piper is 100% the little spoon!

iirc (forgive me my knowledge of HoO is getting rusty! seriously, it's time for a full reread T_T) both piper and leo are the same height, right? maybe as adults, leo gets a late growth spurt of a couple of inches over her (which is annoying cuz leo is finally taller but secretly she likes it, cuz perfect for a side snuggle)

even otherwise, piper is always, subconsciously snuggling into his side cuz he is so hot warm. even if he hasn't used his fire, there is always some residual warmth in him all the time, which she has got used to searching out for. say, if leo gets up in the middle of the night to drink some water/got a brand new design idea in his head he just has to jot down NOW,,, by the time he returns to bed, piper is completely rolled up in his side of the bed, searching for him in her sleep (he loves this habit of hers! it also probs makes him feel better about his fire too)

iirc, his mom's warehouse caught fire in the middle of winter, right?? ig he'd slowly come to like winters better, bc of piper snuggling more into him during winters agfhjk

and iirc, he likes to sleep with a hug pillow, right? his old hug pillow has been replaced by piper!

39. Do they get along with the other's family? If not, how do they deal with the other's family?

on leo's side, hephaestus will be very suspicious of the daughter of aphrodite (cuz of his own experience with her) but talking to piper, he will be slightly mollified abt her… yet, his advice for Leo always will be to trust his machines more than the human specimen of his girlfriend (ofc leo won't take it seriously)

//toa spoilers/// now josephine and hemithea are his foster mothers i am sure piper would get along with them super well as well <3

on piper's side, leo has already met Tristan in Lost Hero and knows him as piper's friend, so he'd be pretty much chill with what pipes does and who she dates,, he might try to give Leo The Talk as his duty as her father, but Piper would kick her dad out before that ever happens (Leo just being the awkward bean like during the whole helicopter ride in TLH lol)

oth, leo would be mildly (understated) scared of Aphrodite. if they ever meet her (by chance) he'd keep fidgeting and tapping 'i love you' on his jeans till piper clasps his hand and taps back 'it's okay' but i think aphrodite won't be as scary as leo imagines in his head; she'd probs find him amusing and intrigued that her daughter actually prefers leo over jason.

40. Who is the skilled shopper for holidays? Who always waits 'til the last minute to get all of their gifts? (Which one gets stressed out easily)?

piper! she won't--but she would use her charmspeak to bargain for the best prices in those overly expensive, money grabbing malls, something that leo always finds terrifyingly awesome lmao,, piper gets excited for holiday shopping and stuff whereas leo tags along obediently (and use his magic toolbelt to stove away the shopping bags lol)

leo always forgets all of the important days because of his adhd (extreme even by demigod standards) and piper, having known him for long, understands this and never gets mad or anything but he'd always feel guilty about this and makes up for it in a completely random surprise gift he handdesigns for her. Of course, piper loves his stupid (affectionately) and most times, completely non-functional (cuz Leo himself doesn't know what they do loool but they are always weirdly complicated) gifts so much! like say a music box that goes moo! but bake out fresh cookies lmao

[gilgamushroom]

"Captain Nemo and I"

(or, I'm about to be very emotional and nonsensical about nemonnax)

So I didn't expect to cry this hard. Reading these last two entries, it strikes me so much how not once Aronmax shows excitement to return to land. Not once does he look forward to anything except his friends' safety. He's a marine biologist at heart, who never mentions any relations outside of these two; before the Nautilus his life was the joy he found in the sea and the freedom and happiness he expresses in so many entries contrasts so heavily with his silence on his normal life.

There's this outsider-ness so implicit in Aronnax, this unsaid thing (we talk queer allegory, we talk neurodivergency) that makes him so perfectly fit for the Nautilus and for Nemo's way of life. He talks about his pride for civilization, but his connection to it is as aspirational as Nemo's is bitter. He calls this life, this liminal space with no societal expectations and only homosocial bonds and unjudged room to explore his passion "his element"

Be it what it was, I think Aronnax connected very intimately with Nemo's outsiderness. He saw him as above human, as a force of nature, a savior, a mercenary, but above all, I think Aronnax saw him as a promise. Of understanding, of friendship, of bravery and exploration. And in the beginning Nemo seemed to deliver. He showed him the wonders of the sea, all his secret treasures. But what Aronnax really always wanted, and projected, was a soul akin to his own. A person who understood him in this unspeakable level.

Nemo never gave him that. He could never open up about his past or his trauma or his name. He chose to self-isolate, to give up on what could have been a genuine connection with Aronnax. He fell into despair and Aronnax had to finally accept that his offer of companionship was not gonna be enough to pull him out.

And until the very very end Aronnax was able to let go of him. It's so telling to me, just how many times in this second to last entry he debates whether to talk to him or not, to savotage his escape on the slim chance of Nemo opening up to him once and for all. He knows this man is different in a way he can't describe, in a way he's never going to find again, and because this IS a Gothic Romance, dammit, "whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same". He's still holding on to that promise.

And being honest? I don't think he ever really lets it go. This last chapter is all about his thoughts and hopes for Nemo. He was like him. And he knew him. And he vanished. Everything else bears no use writing about.

The end of this novel is so bittersweet and beautiful. Because Aronnax take refuge on what he did share with Nemo, instead of letting him go. They both knew the sea, the thing he loves the most, the thing that makes them both so different from everyone, like no one else. No one can take that away from him. Wherever Nemo is, I don't think Aronnax will ever be able to look at the ocean without thinking of him.

I hope it brings him comfort.