#in lieu of a

[dvar-trek]

January Romance

hello friends i have not slowed down, and perhaps i have maybe even sped up. in the. shotgunning queer romance novels department.

i am mostly on a hockey kick lately. i know nothing about hockey. i have probably watched a grand total of 5 minutes of hockey in my life. i do not care about any sports at all. but i figured that if i can get invested in a sports movie without caring about the sports part (such as Hoosiers (1986) or A League of Their Own (1992)), i could get invested in a sports romance novel without caring about the sports part. and i was correct. thank fuck, bc i think i've read all of the historical romances that there are.

nothing i read this month was like. perfect. it's very hard to measure up to my KJ Charles faves. but there was still some good shit!

the best of:

Hockey Ever After Series (Winging It, Scoring Position, and Unrivaled by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James- each book follows a different couple. the characters are so good and well fleshed-out, the team dynamics are fun, the plots are engaging, and the sex is hot. you really don't have to know anything about hockey (especially if you start with the 2022 edition of Winging It, which is definitely, definitely the correct choice), but also apparently their hockey shit is pretty accurate, which i always appreciate. overall, the complete package.

the rest of:

loved | liked | okay | didn't like

historical

 ��Undressing the Duke by Erica Ridley (a duke falls in love with his valet who is also his best friend. couldn't finish it. i know KJ Charles has me spoiled for historical accuracy, but i yelled 'WHAT!!!' so many times at so many things that i finally gave up. also it's just not very good in any of the other respects.)  ●The Campion Square series by Adella J Harris (three romances taking place in the same little neighborhood. the series is essentially just sweet and sedate and wholesome, and there is nothing wrong with it, but it did not make me feel a single emotion. the definition of 'okay'.)     ○Mr. Wilkins and the Lodger     ○Mr. Montague and the Pineapple     ○Mr. Jenkins and the Necklace  ●Best Laid Plaids by Ella Stainton (simply not that good, and not even in a fun way.)  ●Mr Warren's Profession by Sebastian Nothwell (clueless son of a wealthy baronet falls for an impoverished clerk. it's nothing special and requires so very much suspension of disbelief that it stops being fun.)  ●One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny (it has its problems and isn't going to make the faves list, but is basically a lovely and heartfelt romance. two men who don't know each other's identities travel together through the winter. requires a normal-mid amount of suspension of disbelief.)

hockey

 ●Him series by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy (guy falls in love with his straight best friend in high school and cuts him out of his life. they reconnect 4 years later for one last summer together. i loved 90% of the first book, but did not love the direction the authors take things. this series is a genre-wide favorite for tons of people though.)     ○Him     ○Us     ○Epic (novella)  ●On The Brink by Kate Willoughby (there's nothing fun wrong with it. it's just not good.)  ●Puckboys by Eden Finley and Saxon James (these are fine for what they are--just enough plot for hockey boys to have a lot of sex and fall in love, in that order. there are a ton more of these but i had no desire to keep going.)     ○Egotistical Puckboy     ○Irresponsible Puckboy  ●Light Up the Lamp by Kit Oliver (i cried my fucking eyes out. and then i listened to a bunch of songs that i knew would make it hit harder and i cried some more. the writing is... not that bad but also not that good. the premise destroyed me. childhood best friends who fall in love and then life takes them in different directions and they fuck it up so stupidly because they are nineteen years old. and then they go through life with this. chasm. where the love used to be. and then 15 years later they are forced to work together and they decide they will simply never speak of it even though they never resolved any of their shit and it is breaking them open. if you read this book you are contractually obligated to talk to me about it thanks!)     ○Biscuit in the Basket (epilogue novella)

other

 ●Hard Feelings by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James (artist/graphic designer and software developer who can't stand each other are forced to work together, and they have a lot of hate sex about it. i do not think the authors know anything about design or coding. several parts of this book are cringe. it still had its moments that made my fucking chest hurt. possibly worth it just for that.)  ●The Rock Star's Guide to Getting Your Man by Ashlyn Kane (another one where a guy is in love with his straight childhood best friend. he goes back to his hometown 15 years later to hide from drama with his bandmates, and finds his former best friend still lives there. this one also made me cry, but mostly the dead dad parts. a little bit cheesy and awkward. some funny moments, and not, like, heavy, but also not exactly lighthearted. i appreciated the fact that most of the conflict was with the band and not with the love interest.)  ●The Inside Edge by Ashlyn Kane (tv cohosts who annoy each other and bicker on-screen -> casual sex -> fake dating -> real dating. just a delightful little bonbon of a romance. does go zero-to-i-love-you, which is a pet peeve, but you can't have everything in life.)  ●All the Right Notes by Dominic Lim (composer's dad asks him to come home and put on a charity performance, and to convince a former classmate, now a famous movie star, to perform in it. nice amount of focus on the asian family dynamics without being too heavy-handed. engaging story, and sweet, but clunky. it's a debut novel though, so i'm looking forward to seeing what else this author will put out in the future.)  ●Winter Ball by Amy Lane (i don't even know what to say about this book. i think it is from an alternate universe. the story and the dialogue both feel weirdly out of time, and the author uses phrases in the sex scenes that probably have never have never even been thought by another human. anyway it's about two best friends who discover their sexualities together, and decide to build a life together in spite of familial and societal disapproval.)  ●Iris Kelly Doesn't Date by Ashley Herring Blake (the third book in a series that unfortunately peaked at book 1. all of the things that were awkward about the first book have only become more pronounced as the series progresses. i gave this the old college try, but could not finish it.)  ●Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin van Whye (YA book wherein a popular boy agrees to pretend to date his gay classmate for a week. it is. not well-written, but it is basically a sweet story.)  ●The Best Men by Sarina Bowen and Lauren Blakely (this one just felt aggressively like a book by straight women for straight women. also they didn't do the anal research. also also they didn't research the jobs they gave their main characters.)  ●Top Secret by Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen (what if you were a straight guy in college and you were anonymously sexting another guy to set up the threesome your girlfriend requested. and then it turned out you were really into him. and then it also turned out he was the guy in your frat house that you hate. would that be fucked up hot or what. i will not lie to you, this book is kind of cringe. like one of the main characters insists approximately 500 times that he's only sexually experimenting because he's a scientist and it's scientific. but it's still fun and i still enjoyed it. there's also a bonus epilogue available.)  ●Heels Over Head by Elyse Springer (incredibly repressed olympic diver falls for his new teammate. full of heartache and shitty families and tenderness and choosing joy.)

[luna-andra]

Nanami naturally puts on a little more weight in the winter months. For a man with his build, he has a bit of pudge when he's relaxed in front of you. But when he puts on that winter bulk, his abdominals are less defined unless he's flexing or sucking in. And you are constantly begging him to not hide any bit of it because God it's so fucking delicious. "Nooo, don't take your belly from me, Kento~" you whined as your arms snake around his waist to cop a feel. And when you have him naked and you get that rare chance of having him beneath you? You're damn right you're taking that golden opportunity to suck and leave love bites on all the places you can get away with. What a fucking blessing to have more of him, even if he feels internally insecure about it. But when you lavish him with that much affection, giving him physical and verbal reassurance, he can't help but fall harder in love with you.

JJK Masterlist Discord

[inkyami]

Something wicked this way comes

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[princip1914]

A little hopeful moment which I missed on the first watch, but which I think is so important. Nina and Maggie come to have their talk with Crowley. Now, we all know that Crowley is Maggie—yes, sure, Nina is sarcastic and suave and cool and calls Maggie angel—but it’s obvious that Crowley is Maggie and Nina is Aziraphale. Crowley even admits it himself in the very beginning of this conversation when he tries to justify meddling to get Maggie and Nina together:

“Nina needed rescuing.” Yeah, you know who else always “needs rescuing”? Anyway, moving on.

Nina says she just got out of a relationship and it would be a disaster to get into another one right away. And then this happens:

Nina says she hopes Maggie will still be around, but she knows she can’t ask Maggie to just wait while she figures out her own baggage. There's no guarantee. And then Maggie interjects—

The parallel between Maggie/Nina and Crowley/Aziraphale is so intentional as to feel heavy handed. So what does it mean that we get this exchange in at this particular moment in the script—buried within the conversation which is the catalyst for Crowley confessing his feelings, occurring in the lull immediately before the spectacular dissolution of everything the first two seasons were building towards?

“We could have been us,” Crowley says. Crowley walks out of the bookshop. Crowley turns off their song in his car. Whatever tentative blooming thing has been building between him and Aziraphale for six thousand years appears to be very clearly over. Aziraphale presses the kiss to his lips and knows there is no guarantee they will ever have a chance to be together. There's no guarantee that Crowley will ever want to forgive him, that he will keep on waiting for him.

But.

There is.

[tarobii]

TRANS RIGHTS STARLIGHTS!!!! 🏳️‍⚧️

I'll also take this opportunity to state in clear words: I am transgender. Non-binary. They/them. All that jazz.

This blog is a safe space for all my transgender siblings. We are who we are. 🏳️‍⚧️

idolverse by @zucchiyeni idol dream by me

[sammygender]

girlcoded sam readings are like. his arcs are so tied up with control and bodily autonomy and sexual assault and otherness and cleanness and a desire for freedom and rebellion against oppressive masculine forces to the point where an examination of his show-long arcs looks like a thesis on The Female Gothic. he’s never afforded the respect or the power of characters like john and dean and is in fact narratively punished whenever he isn’t subservient to them. both the show itself and the fandom surrounding it treat him like dean’s bitch wife. he is textually compared to female characters multiple times, by the narrative and by dean.

and then meanwhile girlcoded dean readings are like. Eldest daughter core! (his father handed down ultimate control over every aspect of sam’s life once he died like a family heirloom)(he is THE patriarch). Yes he does the cooking yes he does the cleaning (which he doesn’t even…. and even if he solely did all the housework how does that make him Girl Coded unless it’s being delegated exclusively to him like its his role and he’s punished for not conforming to it… which is not happening…).

like girlcoded dean readings rely on stereotypes about women in real life. girlcoded sam readings rely on noticing how much the narrative constructed around sam falls into tropes used in fiction almost always about women. even things like his psychic powers! the way people are always swarming around trying to ‘corrupt’ him! the fixation on his purity and innocence! the two readings are very different things

[shoomlah]

A COUPLE WEEKS, BABY😎

[littleblondesoprano]

Happy 21st Birthday, Fluffy!! She’s officially a legal adult now!

[cha-melodius]

Not the Hero

When Alex landed his first job as a stuntman, his dad had sat him down to pass on some advice. Don’t take on more than you can handle just to impress someone, he’d said, and never hide injuries. Always speak up if you’re concerned about safety on set. Make sure to always get enough sleep. And never, ever, get involved with the actors. He never said anything about directors, though.

(When Alex agreed to take a job doing stunts for a movie directed by his ex, all he wanted was to make it out in one piece. After a rocky start, they figure out a way to work together again, but that new equilibrium is tested when the film’s lead actor goes missing and Alex finds himself thrown into a world of secrets, blackmail, and people actually trying to kill him. Saving Henry’s movie just might be his most dangerous stunt yet, but can he play the hero, or is he destined to be the fall guy?)

E, 61k. Fully written, chapters posting weekly on Fridays.

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

[fullcravings]

Irresistible Ube Mochi Cake Recipe

[virsancte]

[pomeg-glitch]

A collection of Palestinian fundraisers I’ve received and been asked to spread the word for — updated 24/11/2024:

🍉 VERIFIED:

Sahar and her family, whose campaign is verified and had to restart their campaign from scratch: $1,453/100,000 CAD, only 59 donations so far. Can be found @fahedshehab-new.

The Baalousha family, whose campaign is verified: $61,546/70,000 USD, over 3,100 donations so far. Can be found @mahrahpalestine. This campaign is almost complete.

The Alanqar family, whose campaign is verified (#174): €9,208/40,000, almost 500 donations so far. Reached out from @fatooamaahed.

Heba Matar and her family, whose campaign is verified: $3,740/30,000 CAD, just 191 donations so far. Can be found @hebamatarsblog.

Amal Musa and her family, whose campaign is verified: €2,754/53,000, just 168 donations so far. Reached out from @helpamalsfamily. This campaign is stagnating.

Mohammed Al Deeb and his family, including @robarabah, whose campaign is verified: €1,092/65,000, just 74 donations so far. Can also be found @mohammedrabah2. This campaign is severely stagnating.

Doaa abu Helal and her family, whose campaign is verified by association: €1,331/20,000, just 70 donations so far. Reached out from @hanyfamily. This campaign is severely stagnating.

Afaf Masoud and her family, whose campaign is verified (#034): €110,904/150,000, over 4,400 donations so far. Can be found @afafmasoud. This campaign is stagnating.

Eslam Gheelan and her family, whose campaign is verified (#308): $40,835/50,000 USD, over 2,300 donations so far, almost complete. Can be found @eslamfamily3.

Amal Ashour and her family, whose campaign is verified (#175): €55,943/75,000, over 2,800 donations so far. Can be found @amalashuor.

Nour Ashour (Amal’s sister) and her family, whose campaign is verified: £10,183/80,000, with only 608 donations so far. Can be found @noor-y-ashour. This campaign is stagnating.

Ali and Manar Jundia and their family, whose campaign is verified by association: SEK 8,789/550,000 ($796/53,027 USD!) with only 67 donations so far. Reached out from @alipal83. This campaign is stagnating.

Ahmed, Eman, and their children, whose campaign is verified: €15,853/22,500, over 788 donations so far. Reached out from @children-gaza.

The Rania family, whose campaign is verified by association: $3,286/35,000 USD, with only 187 donations so far. Reached out from @omarfamily80. This campaign is stagnating.

Ahmed Al-Habil and his family, whose campaign is verified by association: €7,852/50,000, with only 429 donations so far. Reached out from @ahmedomar3. This campaign is stagnating.

Asmaa and her family, whose campaign is verified: $11,263/50,000 USD, with only 465 donations so far. Can be found @asmaamajed2. This campaign is stagnating.

Ahmed Khalil and his family, whose campaign is verified: €16,078/50,000, with over 842 donations so far. Can be found @ahmed0khalil.

Walaa and her family, whose campaign is verified: $13,712/50,000 CAD, with 720 donations so far. Reached out from @ahmed79ss. This campaign is stagnating.

Ghazal Nasser and the Al-Kafarna family, whose campaign is verified (#355): £14,369/25,000 & $16,206/25,000 USD, with 898 and 899 donations so far, respectively. Reached out from @fayezjadallah.

Ayman Al-Habil and his family, whose campaign is verified (#305): €9,440/60,000, only 471 donations so far. Reached out from @malak4ayman.

Ahmad, Eman, Zain and Leen, whose campaign is verified: €15,853/22,500, almost 800 donations so far. Reached out from @leengazaps.

🍉 NOT YET VERIFIED:

Mohammed Alwadiya and his family: $13,630/35,000 USD, almost 800 donations so far. Reached out from @mohalwadiya. This campaign is stagnating.

Ahmed Matar and his family: €2,250/64,000, just 96 donations so far. Reached out via Heba Matar. This campaign is stagnating.

Hossam Al-Sir and his family: €1,683/42,500, just 85 donations so far. Reached out from @husamalserr. This campaign is stagnating.

The Saleh family: €385/50,000, only 28 donations so far. Reached out from @doaasalh. This campaign is stagnating.

[awkward-pause]

Kien Lieu, 1995

[eeldritchblast]

Baldur's Gate 3 DLCs I would pay for:

Avernus quest with Wyll and Karlach where we fix Karlach's heart for good and absolutely obliterate Mizora

[cyphyra]

A thing for @lilymoriya I did last month :3c

[hoofpeet]

Faun parents leaving their baby behind the red ball thing at target while they get groceries inside <3