#kate reads threads of power

[brynnmclean]

I dropped everything on my to read list to get to the Fragile Threads of Power and lemme just say in no particular order,

- still obsessed with Kell/Lila and how fucking STUPID they are about each other, case in point: Kell trying to get them matching rings, Lila PANICKING about it, the two of them arguing, Kell stubbornly wearing his ring, Lila wearing hers as a necklace but not letting Kell know so he thinks it's likely she chucked it into the sea. Idiots in love. You both are so stupid (affectionate)!!!!!

- love Lila bullying Kell into getting good at using blades since he can't use magic without excruciating pain (don't talk to me, I hurt for him still)

- (I am also mildly obsessed with Kell having a whole new persona as Kay, both Kell and Lila give me such gender fluid feelings and this is not helping that situation, lmao)

- love how the narrative is like, Kell eventually got discouraged enough to give up on the hope of regaining his magic, but Lila still! Without telling him! Is looking for solutions and would have!!!!! Made another open ended deal!!!! With Maris!!!!!! When she HATES being in debt

- inability to communicate Feelings sometimes drives me up the fucking wall, but I am SAVED from this by Lila being unable to sleep until she finds the bed Kell is in and she just. Tucks herself in next to him.

I have MANY other feelings about stuff in this book and I'm a little over halfway through but I JUST. My babies are back and they are so GOOD.

[chirpsythismorning]

This is everything the Stranger Things writers have posted publicly about the WGA strike:

TIMELINE

May 3rd:

Stranger Things writer Caitlin Schneiderhan tweets picture from personal Twitter account of sign from the strike that reads 'Pay us or Steve Harrington is toast'

May 6th:

Official Stranger Writers Twitter account makes post on behalf of the Duffers Brothers. They have since pinned this tweet to their profile. "Duffers here. Writing does not stop when filming begins. While we're excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then -- over and out. #wgastrong

Bonus:

May 12th:

Stranger Things writer Kate Trefry posts picture from personal Tumblr account of sign that reads, 'Byler won’t write itself'

As far as I know, the two writers that posted on their personal socials are the only writers from ST that even have personal accounts that are public, whereas the rest of the writers do not.

What does make me take a pause though, is that, while yes they did post these pictures from their personal accounts, which is about as official as it gets, they also cryptically did not include themselves in said pictures...

This just got me thinking about how Stranger Things is quite literally Netflix and vise versa. They are practically one in the same, where one without the other just doesn't make sense.

While this conflict of interest might run deep for many writers out there fearing to speak out against their employer, for us, the consumers, the fans, we as a collective have so much more power than we realize.

In contrast to the writers, streamers can't just fire their consumer base sometime down the line, out of spite for speaking out. Without consumers, neither Stranger Things nor Netflix would be what it is today.

We have the affordance of being able to speak up the loudest of anyone. And so why wouldn't we take advantage of that?

There are so many people out there protesting: writers, actors, others in the industry and even outside of it who are also taking a stand, many who need support so that they can continue to fight in the upcoming days, weeks, months, without being deterred by corporations that are making them feel greedy for demanding a contract that at most, asks that they be paid fairly.

And so I want to encourage anyone that is reading this, but fellow fans of Stranger Things especially, who have so much power in this strike when it comes to getting Netflix's attention, to consider taking the time to do whatever you can individually + with the masses as a community in order to best support the strike.

Follow the Strike! If you're active on various social media already, please be sure to follow the official accounts advocating for the strike via Instagram (@writersguildwest/@wgaeast), via Twitter (@WGAWest/@WGAEast). Engage with posts from folks that are out there daily, many with whom you can find by following tags like #WGAStrong, #WGAStrike and #WritersStrike. Although most fans are not able to join in picketing themselves, we can at least recognize all of those out there's individual efforts and do our best to show that we're paying attention and listening!

Spread the word! Show support any way you can by sharing posts and articles about the strike, or even fun memes to inform others in a more engaging way. This is the official site for the WGA strike if you want to learn more about what’s going on before diving in! And make sure to stay up-to-date here as things continue to unfold!

Donate! The Entertainment Community Fund is endorsed by the WGA for anyone that wants to support those affected by the strike financially. And this thread on Twitter is an incredible resourse, as it provides an ‘easy, one-click, stress-free, accessible-to-all-budgets’ ways you can support folks on the front lines.

Also! Consider donating through this link for the Entertainment Community Fund, where the money donated still goes directly to that fund, this is just an organizing page for Stranger Things fans specifically! By allowing fans to see how much of an impact we make as a collective, in real time, this could encourage even more ST fans to want to contribute. In a best case scenario, if this GoFundMe were to reach impressive proportions of donations from fans, that could lead to news outlets reporting on it, which could allow an opportunity for even more eyes on the strike, while also even more importantly being able to provide financial support to those that need it.

Trend! On social media, use #StrangerFansforWGA to trend or even just to reach other fans also looking to come together to support the strike!

While I know this post probably wont reach anywhere outside of Tumblr, I want to make a point to encourage those of you that are on other platforms to inform fans in those spaces about the strike and what they can do to help!

We might not all agree on everything, but I think we can agree on at least one thing... @Netflix & all major streamers and networks out there, who are still refusing to make a fair deal: PAY YOUR WRITERS!

In the mean time, if you're interested in working on different ideas for initiates we can carry out as a fandom, please reach out to me! I might only one person and I might not have all the answers and solutions, but I do know that with more of us working together, our odds of making an impact are much greater!

Over and out!

[angel-of-the-moons]

A Rose Under The Moon

Moon Knight System (Marc, Steven, Jake) x Fem!Reader

TW/CW: Annnngsssstttttt, mentions of sexual abuse but nothing is depicted, Steven being the bean that he is, Reader does a smort, knowledge is power, and knowing is half the battle lol

A/N: Finally! Things are falling into place! Will Steven reveal the truth? Nah.

Taglist: @bad4amficideas @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @shirukitsune @lokisremainingsanity @mundivagantsoul @furblrwurblr @zoleea-exultant @latenightcravingz @daygirl26 @thelastemzy @leahnicole1219 @marsmallow433 @crazyunsexycool @oscarissac2099 @littlenosoul @animechick555 @capsiclesworldsblog @cloudroomblog @lov3vivian @princessakirika @fog-sama @cheshire-salvatore-mikaelson @badbishsblog @lillycore555 @stardream14 @meowmeowyoongles @kate-ohara @kittenlover614 @patchesofwork @enheduannasposts

Chapter 15:

Sphinx of Black Quartz

"Steven?"

Steven winced when you said his name, almost shrunk away when your hands squished his cheeks as you peered into his eyes; your gaze full of confusion, concern and... maybe a little hurt?

"I, uh... well... I..." He blathered, tugging on his sleeves anxiously, his nails pinching the threading in an effort to ground himself.

"Wait, what?" You released his face pressing your finger to the sides of your head as you gawked at him like he'd grown a second head. Not that that wasn't too far off the mark...

Technically speaking, we could be considered Cerberus then, couldn't we? Steven had asked himself.

"No, what?" You asked again, blinking at him as your brain struggled to catch up. One minute, you and Marc and Puck were just relaxing and chatting over some coffee, and then... The moment you got that phone call about the shipment you'd gotten approved for, and then Marc was just... screaming, yelling at the air. "Stay away from her!" He had cried, "She's our friend!"

Did he have a psychotic break? Had something happened on that trip he had taken--

Wait.

The "trip"? Was that even the truth? How was it, that Steven Grant sat before you know, where just moments before, Marc Spector had stood?

"Steven?" You repeated.

His throat bobbed as he swallowed at the lump there, and he nodded, a few stray curls bouncing free as he hunched over a bit on himself, continuing to pluck at the long shirt you'd loaned him.

"Y-Yes." He replied softly, his eyes shying away from you. Looking anywhere but you.

He was... he was afraid. Steven was afraid of you?

"I..."

Steven had taken a scant second to lock eyes with you again, taking in the depths of your gaze with lucid intensity--before darting away again.

"Steve." You breathed, rubbing your temples. "I... what? What happened to--did Marc--I... Can you please explain before I have an aneurysm? Did Marc have a psychotic episode?"

"Not... not far from it, actually." Steven mumbled again. His posture stiffened when Puck meowed at him, sauntering up to crawl into his lap, rubbing herself along his chest.

"Oh, hello... who're you?" Steven asked, getting distracted by the furry critter. His hands stopped plucking and tugging on his sleeves in favor of stroking Puck's silky black fur, "You're a sweet one, eh?"

You blinked for the millionth time at him, your brain abuzz with confusion, wanting--no, craving--some sort of explanation. You watched for another moment as Steven was suddenly laser-focused on Puck, speaking softly to the cat, petting her with his shaky hands.

"Steven.." You said gently.

His shoulders jumped when he remembered you were staring at him. "O-oh, s-sorry, luv."

Puck curled up in his lap, loafing as she blinked up at you slowly. Oh, you wished you could read her little kitty mind to hear what she thought of the situation...

Steven swallowed roughly once more, his hands petting Puck again--likely in an effort to relax himself from suddenly being brought to the forefront of this situation. His tongue swept across his lips before drawing it between his teeth; trying to think about where to begin.

"Marc is... W-We are..." He began to murmur, staring intently down at the soft black cat occupying his lap.

"It's difficult to explain, um... But we--Jake 'n me--we... We live in Marc's head. S-Sort of? We--we share the body, we... Uh. B-But it's not all the time, er... Sometimes not all of us are aware of what goes on when one of us is in control of the body, and..." He pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead while the other continued to almost frantically stroke Puck.

"Oh, bollocks! We--we didn't want you to find out like this, but Marc..." He hissed out an upset sigh; "He was--he was upset, and... I tried to calm him down from inside, but he just... he checked out, and..."

You stare intently at him, his nervous posture, how he just seemed more... Submissive in the moment. A complete change from the guarded, stiff Marc you'd come to know. And the rather calm and carefree (almost) Jake, at Steven's admission.

Your brain began connecting the dots; one by one. So... Jake had been in control of the body these past few weeks. And... Marc and Steven weren't aware. You remembered how shocked Marc had been when you'd told him about having dinner with Jake in your flat; how Marc--and now Steven--didn't recognize Puck.

You always thought the three of them looked too similar to be triplets--they even had the same scars on their hands.

They "shared" the body. But at times weren't aware what was going on when one of them "checked out", as Steven had plainly put it.

Jake was apparently nowhere to be seen, Steven was trying to be a calming influence on Marc...

"Steven..." You said slowly, watching as his deep, soulful eyes finally crawled up to lock with yours. "Do you--do you have dissociative identity disorder?"

Steven rocked his head back, shaking it slightly as he gawked at you, bewildered, "How do you--"

"I own a bookstore, Steven," You said to him, your voice rather deadpan. "I've definitely read a few of the dozen and a half of the psychology textbooks and studies on psychological disorders."

"Oh... right. Heh..." He coughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"So..." You reached out and clasped his fingers in yours, making Steven's heart leap with anxiety once again.

Puck jumped from his lap as you took his other hand, gently guiding him to his feet and leading him back to your sofa. "...explain it to me, okay? If I ask a question that upsets you... please tell me. You won't have to answer it. I just... I'd like to know who I've been making friends with."

Layla groaned as she crawled back through the window, cursing as she bonked her head on the windowsill. Yeah, she had the helmet, but it was still annoying to have her proverbial eggs scrambled.

She spent most of the day hammering down on a cruel scheme begotten by a group of rather cruel landlords and real estate agents--they would find legal loopholes in contracts and leases, they abused the power they held over their tenants--in some cases sexually in return for "breaks" in rent--some, they would evict with little to no reason, sell out the rentals from beneath the feet of others...

Taweret had pleaded with Layla to put a stop to it. Even Khonshu had helped her for a bit, watching from the sidelines and giving his (not really wanted) input. The truth was, it was a sort of criminal gang behind it all, they just paid the landlords and agents to get a hefty chunk of the proceeds from their illicit goings-on. But... somewhere during her mission, Khonshu had left. Taweret had seemed miffed; annoyed that Khonshu would up and leave after being so bothersome and insisting that they "needed his help"...

She arched her back, groaning as the helmet slid away; vanishing to free her curls with a bounce. Pressing her hands against the curve of her spine, she looked around as the rest of her holy garb melted away.

"Marc?" She asked the empty flat.

No answer. Strange. She left him here earlier. He'd expressed no interest in going out today; especially given the weather outside.

Layla pulled her cell out of her back pocket and unlocked it, dialing the boys' phone. As she held it up to her ear, she became aware that the ringtone buzzed from somewhere in the flat.

"Marc?" Layla asked, not hanging up quite yet as she walked through the proverbial minefield of Steven's books, DIY'd desk, past Gus & Co's fish tank... to the bed in the back of the room.

It was made neatly--Marc's habit, definitely. Steven always left the bed in a mess, often forgetting to make it until just before he settled down for the night. Odd, how he would leave it a tangled nest all day and only be able to sleep in it if it were made up just before cosying down to sleep.

She shook her head and furrowed her brows as her eyes settled upon their cellphone, laying tossed at the edge of the bed, ringing.

"Lonely is A Man." Steven's favorite little jingle that she'd be lying about if she didn't say it got caught in her head every other day since coming back to London from doing Taweret's work in Cairo. It annoyed her how often she would find herself humming the tune...

She picked up the phone and hung hers up, sliding it back into her jeans, staring at it curiously as she walked back into the main area of the flat, and into the kitchenette.

She sighed, frowning even deeper. Khonshu's work, no doubt. The old bastard always had something to do with it when Marc (and by extension Steven and Jake) would vanish with no word. But why leave their phone? Did Khonshu have them doing something dangerous? Shady?

"Gods, what have you gotten yourselves into, Marc..?" Layla groaned, pressing her hands to her forehead as she leaned over the counter.

As she opened her eyes, she looked over the granite countertop, staring at the abandoned phone. Something was wrong. Something she didn't quite like. She--

Her long eyelashes batted for a moment, sweeting her cheeks as she tried to fathom what else her eyes had just landed on. Mail. Not just any mail, but bills in Marc's name. The address for some of said bills being...

She and Marc's old address, from when they had been married.

Her fingers quickly snatched up the envelope and used the letter opener to get a look at its contents. As she unfolded the paper, her eyes scanned the writing with lightning efficiency.

It was a receipt. A receipt for paid rent and utilities. Had he really been paying the rent and electric at an apartment he no longer used..? Why? Why wouldn't he mention that?

Taweret suddenly appeared, her ears flopping about in concert, "Layla? Something the matter, m'love? I sensed you were upset."

"Marc is gone. Left his phone." She replied on a mumbled breath as she continued to read through the other receipts, blindly walking through the flat until a sparkle caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.

A keyring. Marc's keyring, glittering under the buzzing fluorescent lights of the flat.

"Layla?"

"He's been paying our old bills, still." Layla further explained, setting the receipt on the end table by the door as she plucked the ring off the hook on the wall.

Her thumb caressed the scratched-up colorful key once depicting a rather cheery cartoon house; faded writing that said "home" at the flattest end of it, making her heart twinge slightly.

Some things Marc just really couldn't let go...

"He must still be doing mercenary work. Or, Jake is at least, to be able to afford both flats on his own."

Taweret frowned, tilting her head to the side, "What are you going to do?"

"Well, I'm going to see if he's been by the place, today... and when I get back--assuming he's back home by then--lecture him for letting me sleep in that sofa of his. I got a crick in my neck from it!"

The goddess giggled, nodding, "Be careful, Layla. Oh! And grab your umbrella!"

The woman grinned up at her, grabbing her scarf Jake had knitted for her, and her coat; before snatching up said protection from the sleet outside, wiggling it.

"Way ahead of you."

"So... Marc was arguing with... one of you?" You asked, your brows pinched as you try to make sense of thr fragmented story Steven was unfurling before you.

"Well, er... kind of. He was having a bit of... panic?" He laughed anxiously, his fingers carding through Puck's fur. The little cat seemed content to let Steven work out his nervous energy by petting her; her silky fur being a very nice texture for his hands to fiddle with while he rambled on for you.

"He has been having a bit of internalized guilt, lately, over... things."

""Things" being..."

"Things that, um..." He scratched Puck's chin as he thought carefully of what to say. He couldn't just spill the proverbial pot of beans to you. Like you'd believe him, anyway. Having cursory knowledge of the psychological... problems that they suffered with was one thing, but he sincerely doubted you believed that Egyptian gods were real, or that they and Layla were Avatars to two of said gods...

"I don't know if Marc would be comfortable with sharing much of it, 'm afraid."

"Does it... have something to do with him being a Marine? I know how common it is for soldiers to develop PTSD." You murmur softly, your eyes casting down into your half-empty mug. You and Steven had switched to decaf tea; the gravity and air inside your flat far too tense for the caffeine-loaded drinks you and Marc had imbibed just before.

Your eyes looked back into his, and, uncharacteristically, Steven was gazing right back, connecting with you.

"Is... that how... you know. You and Jake..?"

Steven shook his head, his curls flopping about, "No, DID sort of... it typically happens during traumatic events during childhood. In some people it isn't obvious until much later, and is sometimes misdiagnosed as schizophrenia or multiple personalty disorder. Marc has just been feeling... guilty, lately. Over people he... couldn't save."

As he uttered that last phrase oh so meekly, you could see that poor Steven was feeling Marc's internalized guilt as well. Your heart broke for them. You reached out and placed your hand on his shoulder, feeling how tense he was.

"Does Layla know?"

"Yes. That's part of why... why Marc has been so upset lately." Steven replied softly, nuzzling into Puck as she stood with her front paws on his soft chest, sniffing at his hair.

"He had an... episode. He woke up and... he was on top of Layla and he was--he was going to hurt her, and--he snapped out of it, but--"

"He feels guilty about it." You finished for him, your heart sinking in sympathetic despair.

Steven nodded and looked up at you, practically hiding behind Puck, "Yeah. Layla told him it was okay, that it happens, but Marc is just so... stubborn. He tries to handle everything himself when it comes to stuff like this; doesn't want the help Jake and I try to give 'im."

"And what does Jake have to say? Is he... listening right now?" You asked.

"No. He and Marc are..." Steven forced out a sigh as Puck settled down again, rolling to show her his belly that he was more than happy to rub for her, relishing in how hard she was purring, the vibration soothing as it thrummed through his hands.

"Sometimes we... we recede into the background. Into our own little "rooms" in the headspace." He explained difficultly, your poor brain trying to follow. "When we're in there, we aren't really aware of what's going on, or even feel each other. It's why I didn't know Marc or Jake existed--why I didn't know the body wasn't actually mine."

"Your headspace is where you share things with each other..?" You tried, tilting your head.

"Yes! Well, in basic terms. It's... I don't know how else to explain it to you, I'm afraid." He muttered awkwardly, poking at Puck's toe beans one by one.

"That's okay... I think if you try to explain anymore my head is going to explode." You chuckle softly, sipping at your tea.

Steven finally cracked a smile.

"It is quite a lot to absorb, innit?" He asked you, smiling a bit wider as Puck grabbed his hand with her paws and tugged it closer to her body.

You smiled affectionately as Puck seemed so intent on helping Steven relax, pulling out every ounce of cute feline charm her tiny body could muster. "Puck really likes you guys... Y'know when she first met Jake she snatched his glove and ran off with it? Stuffed it right into her little cubby where she hoards her toys I keep buying for her."

"Oh, no!" He laughed quietly, booping Puck on her little nose.

"Mhmm... that's kind of why I named her Puck." You explained, setting your mug onto the coaster on your coffee table.

"After the trickster fae from A Midsummer Night's Dream?" He grinned widely.

His knowledge of folklore didn't surprise you one bit; you nodded, grinning right back. "She doesn't spoil milk or lead people astray at night... But she certainly has her moments."

Steven sighed, smiling fondly at the fluffy little terror currently occupying his lap, "No, I'd say she does a very good job at bering very sweet when she wants to be..."

A comfortable, pregnant silence stretched between you, only interrupted by Puck's very loud purring. Until, Steven cleared his throat, rolling his shoulder as he looked away briefly.

"So... you invited Jake up here, too..?"

"Oh, yeah. That goof! I walked in on him at the market trying to buy one of those cheap microwave meals!" You huffed, rolling your eyes.

Steven seemed appalled at the news, but not at all surprised, "He didn't!"

"Nope, 'cause I didn't let him." You told him, "I finished my shopping and dragged his butt back here and made him eat an actual meal."

Steven was quiet for another moment, fidgeting awkwardly in his seat. His face seemed to get a little flush as he cleared his throat once again, the sound rough and forced.

"What's wrong?"

"Jake didn't... oh, bloody hell." Steven wiped a hand down his face, unable to meet your eyes as his face heated up, "Jake didn't... didn't try to... to..."

He swallowed, "...do it with you or anything?"

You could just hear the record scratch on an antique vinyl player as your brain came to a halt. His words sank in, and you couldn't keep down the laughter that bubbled out from inside of you, rocking back onto your side on the cushion as the humor of his question overtook you.

"I--! I'm only askin' because he's--he's kind of done it b'fore!" Steven squawked nervously, confident his face was eight shades of red right now. "Bloke thinks of himself as a bloody Casanova, he does! Damned bellend..."

You giggled again, sitting up to look at him, mirth overtaking the glimmer in your eye, happy the tension in the air was finally alleviated, "No, Steven, Jake and I didn't "do it". We had dinner, and Puck annoyed him for a bit. That's it."

He seemed to deflate and relax at your admission, trusting you wholly, "...Oh. Well, good. We'd rather him not ruin one of the relatively normal friendships we have by... boinking you."

His choice of words once again made you break out laughing, tears burning in your eyes as he floundered about nervously.

"Oh, my god--Steven! What are you, twelve?" You snorted, trying to gasp for air. ""Do it"? "Boinking"?! Pfsh!"

"H-Hey! The more vulgar language is usually Marc and Jake's territory, not mine!" He sputtered. "I try to stay more civilized, thank you very much!"

You snickered as he began to get all huffy, defending his quirky and conservative way of speaking rather haughtily.

"Right... right. Steven Grant, a man of absolute--snrk!--rectitude!" You squeaked, covering your mouth as a tear beaded in one of your eyes.

"Exactly! I'm the most sensible of--" Steven jerked his head to look at you, his mouth open wide.

"Wha--hey! You're still havin' a go at me, aren't you?!"

You just rolled back onto the couch, crying tears of laughter at the absurdity of your day as Steven fretted, muttering under his breath with a faint glow to his cheeks.

Chapter 16: Link

[lgbridgertonqa]

The Great Queer Bridgerton Ship Poll: THE RESULTS!!!

First off, we’d just like to thank everyone for taking part in this silliness. We clocked in at 204,232 votes when we closed the poll with votes still coming in. Deeply unserious, we’re very touched.

That being said this is also VERY serious. Lives are at stake.

Onto the numbers for places (under the cut - cos it's LONG!)

Or read the results thread here on our twitter.

31. Daphne Bridgerton/Alice Mondrich - 0 votes (0.00%)

Sorry girls!

29 =. Colin Bridgerton/Harry Dankworth - 1 vote (0.0005%)

The Danklin nation were not assembled for this fight. One noble voter stood proud!

29 =. Harry Dankworth/Lord Fife - 1 vote (0.0005%)

The vote is entirely anonymous so we will never know who this one brave soul was that swung for the only Fife ship in the poll. It will ever remain a mystery…

23 = . Siena Rosso/Mme Delacroix - 2 votes (0.0010%)

Maybe next time, ladies.

23 = . Violet Bridgerton/Portia Featherington - 2 votes (0.0010%)

The Mama’s did not do it for the voters.

23 = . Mary Sharma/Queen Charlotte - 2 votes (0.0010%)

Not enough follow through on this tension to capture more votes.

23 = . Mme Delacroix/Lucy Granville - 2 votes (0.0010%)

The girls are taking a hit in the polls.

23 = . Gregory Bridgerton/Richard Abernathy - 2 votes (0.0010%)

Our first book character on the list! He fought valiantly.

23 = . Lord Haselby/Neville Berbrooke - 2 votes (0.0010%)

This niche book only fanon couple did this against all odds. Respect!

20 =. Kate Sharma/Sophie Beckett - 4 votes (0.0020%)

A previous fan favourite has slipped down the rankings in this poll!

20 = . Eloise Bridgerton/Edwina Sharma - 4 votes (0.0020%)

A similarly previously popular ship has fallen on hard times this year!

20 =. Will Mondrich/Simon Basset - 4 votes (0.0020%)

MIA since season 1, but sorely missed.

19. Hyacinth Bridgerton/Felicity Featherington - 5 votes (0.0024%)

The show may have forgotten you Felicity, but voters haven’t

18 =. Queen Charlotte/Lady Danbury - 6 votes (0.0029%)

Too many people afraid of the power of these two women kissing.

18 =. Anthony Bridgerton/Thomas Dorset - 6 votes (0.0029%)

Apparently two men holding each other and falling into a lake isn’t homoerotic enough for some.

16. Lucy Abernathy/Hermione Watson - 9 votes (0.0044%)

Another book ship taking on show giants.

15. Eloise Bridgerton/Marina Thompson - 11 votes (0.0054%)

Some people hate to see lesbians winning!

14. Brimsley/Reynolds - 38 votes (0.0186%)

Our first canon queer ship taking a hit! Only scraping top 15!

13. Francesca Bridgerton/Edwina Sharma - 96 votes (0.047%)

The votes are starting to pick up now with this outside contender!

12. Daphne Bridgerton/Cressida Cowper - 211 votes (0.1033%)

A very respectable 12th place for Daphida!

11. Eloise Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington - 236 votes (0.1156%)

A perhaps shock result to not crack the top ten!

10. Gregory Bridgerton/Gareth St. Clair - 403 votes (0.1973%)

Huge result for a book character not yet in the show! Top ten!

9. Colin Bridgerton/Michael Stirling - 636 votes (0.3114%)

A now book based pair on the shortlist from last year, coming into the top ten as an underdog!

8. Francesca Bridgerton/Michaela Stirling - 677 votes (0.3315%)

Michaela Stirling didn’t throw the first brick at Stonewall for 8th place.

7. Simon Basset/Anthony Bridgerton - 737 votes (0.3609%)

Homoerotic tension legendary enough that it brought this show into infamy. You’ve served proudly, kings

6. Francesca Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington - 970 votes (0.475%)

Another outsider in the top 10! The Fran/Pen shooters were not messing around!

5. Colin Bridgerton/Phillip Crane - 1,052 votes (0.5151%)

One olive oil joke and discussions about Ancient Greece, next thing you know -

4. Benedict Bridgerton/Paul Suarez - 1,713 votes (0.8388%)

Congrats on all the sex you had boys! It translated into votes!

3. Kate Sharma/Daphne Bridgerton - 15,911 votes (7.7906%)

Kaphne were leading the way for 5 days this week, only to be pipped to the post in the last few days. Well done on bronze!

2. Benedict Bridgerton/Henry Granville - 84,285 votes (41.2692%)

Voters gave it their all in the last 24 hours, but ultimately couldn’t take the win. A very worthy silver!

1. Eloise Bridgerton/Cressida Cowper - 97,204 votes (47.5949%)

Unreal rush at the end, nearly breaking the poll. The sapphics take the crown of Best Queer Bridgerton Ship!

[tiktaalic]

what are the 3 good books u have read this year.......i'm nosy 🧐 mb if u have said them before also. peace and love

so im going thru my storygraph and i have a lot more 4/5 star reviews than i thought. ie more than 3. my fives:

freshwater by akwaeke emezi! first book i read this year and liked ... beautiful prose i just liked it. nothing really happens in it it just puts you somewhere for a minute.

rabbit hole by kate brody. very gillian flynn. imo. which is awesome because i've already worked my way thru all of gillian's books so i get another one for free.

just like home by sarah gailey. only horror novel i've read this year and liked! i almost didn't read it bc of the cover but i really really enjoyed it.

cloud cuckoo land. it's so lovely. i enjoyed all the threads individually and i enjoyed trying to piece them together and puzzle them out.

my fours:

the god of endings jacqueline holland. i liked it! first vamp book i've read in awhile and it's definitely earned that.

a separate peace by john knowles. im soooo glad i didnt read this in school im so glad i got to read this on my own as an adult and enjoy it.

the overstory by richard powers: v much reminds me of cloud cuckoo land. if i'd read it before cloud cuckoo land it would be the 5 and cuckoo land the 4.

the wave by susan casey: nonfiction, about giant waves. mostly about surfers which is interesting but also tangents into tsunamis and climate change.

[threadfall]

Pern Resources

This is an ongoing collection of links* that should cover a whole range of bits and pieces relating to Dragonriders of Pern and Anne McCaffrey – from interviews to interesting articles!

* I check these regularly, but I cannot vouch for if the domains still exist and, if not, what is currently on them. A lot of resources relating to Pern are from the 90s/early 2000s and liable to be replaced by random hosting spam. EDIT: walks-the-ages has added some excellent comments about the Wayback Machine! (And many thanks for backing the pages up on it.)

World Building – Canon

Dragon Lover's Guide to Pern, by Jody Lynn Nye – Link

Hosted by peoplepern.narod.ru, this website is in Russian but has a full English digitised DLG complete with pictures.

All the Songs of Pern – Link

Song Lyrics and Poetry – Link

Music From the World of Anne McCaffrey's Pern by Tania Opland and Mike Freeman – Link

It's worth noting that while the songbooks and CDs are available to buy, all the music is also available through Spotify.

Curses, Oaths, and Maledicta – Links

Pernese Sayings/Curses from Pern Etc. – Links

Anti Fandom Wiki – Link

World Building – 'Fanon'

News From Bree – Multiple links below!

Threadfall Patterns – Link Pern Demographics – Link Can Menolly Outrun Thread? – Link Dragon Demographics – Link Bargaining for Bubbly Pies – Link Originally a Tolkien fanzine between 1970-1988, the site is now a resource that covers multiple topics of interest to Hartley Patterson.

On Impression, by Faye Upton – Link

A multi-part essay on Upton's thoughts about how Impression does/should work, and its relation to the canon of the fanwork Dragonchoice.

Kadanzar Weyr Handbook – Link

While no longer active (since 2013 as of 2024), Kadanzar has multiple articles talking in depth about the 'canon' of their site, which are interesting reads for how Pern may have functioned. The link is specifically to a text page sharing all of the files uploaded to Kadanzar, and may take some time to load. Not all of the files are world building information (some are just site lists), however many are.

Living On Pern – Link

Shoulder Knots by Wicked Zoeygirl on Deviantart – Link

Oath Roleplay Resources – Link

Notable for its page on dragons and its 'non-canon' charter, which collects or infers mentioned rights from the books.

Xanadu Weyrlinghood – Link

Possibly a wiki page for the Xanadu Weyr MU RP, it has a collection of links relating to weyrlinghood.

Dracogenetics - Link (Google Doc)

Apparently a compilation of work by McCaffrey and Dr Jack Cohen, the site still exists on Geocities but is riddled with spam/virus pop ups: here.

Fandom Topics

A Dragonlover's Guide to Pern Fandom from Kadanzer Weyr – Link The Tentpeg Interview (TW for homophobia and rape mentions) – Link

The Renewable Airforce Document – Link

Alliance Atlantis Dragonriders of Pern 'Making Of/Trailer' - Link

Hosted on Youtube, this is apparently from a CD showcasing the short trailer for their version of Dragonriders of Pern

Ronald D Moore on his cancelled Pern adaptation – Link

Anne McCaffrey – Interviews

Luna Monthly #56, November 1974 – Link

Hosted by FanAc.org, a fan history archive, and conducted by Paul Walker. This heavily discusses gender in the Sci-Fi genre.

Princessions #14, Summer 1983 – Link

Hosted on Google Drive, by this blog runner. Princessions was a Wonder Woman newszine, but switched to being about uplifting women's voices in the Scifantasy space. The interviews take place during the White Dragon book tour.

The Power of Science Fiction and Fantasy with Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Ann Scarborough – Link

Hosted on Youtube by A DISCUSSION WITH National Authors on Tour, conducted by Kay Drache of Hennepin County Library.

Collaborating with Anne McCaffrey: An interview with Elizabeth Moon – Link

Hosted on katemacdonald.net, conducted by Kate Macdonald. This talks at length about Moon writing the Planet Pirate series.

Anne McCaffrey - Women Writers, Channel 4 1988 – Link

Hosted on Youtube by Nearrrggghh.

Anne McCaffrey: Norwescon 16 Interview & House Tour – Link

Advice from a Master: Anne McCaffrey – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 Time Out of Mind Episode 4 – Link

Hosted on Youtube, Time Out of Mind was a 1979 BBC 2 series about science fiction.

An Interview With Anne McCaffrey by Lynne Jamneck – Link

[ogradyfilm]

Recently Viewed: Twisters

Despite its title, Twisters isn’t really about tornadoes. Don’t get me wrong; they serve a vitally important narrative function. They are not, however, the primary subject of the story; they are simply a convenient plot device—catalysts at best, mere props at worst. Director Lee Isaac Chung instead emphasizes theme and characterization, lending the drama personal stakes beyond the obvious physical threat posed by natural disasters. In this movie, the act of chasing storms is a powerful and versatile metaphor. Sometimes, it symbolizes confronting your fears and overcoming past traumas; in other instances, it signifies rediscovering and embracing one’s forgotten passions and ambitions. And occasionally, it’s even a substitute for flirtation—reading the wind can be a romantic meet cute; driving straight into the heart of a violent vortex might as well be a first kiss.

Of course, this raw material would collapse under its own weight without the support of great performances; fortunately, Twisters has plenty of those to spare, challenging the current theory that the archetypal Movie Star is an endangered species. Glen Powell ignites the screen as Tyler Owens, an arrogant adrenaline junkie with hidden depths and a heart of gold; the effortless chemistry that he contributes to every scene is palpable. At the opposite end of the spectrum, David Corenswet is quietly brilliant as Scott, an unapologetic corporate stooge; essentially playing the role as the most aggressively bland and boring man to ever exist, his deliberate lack of charisma makes him a fantastic foil for Powell’s endearingly rugged, masculine charm. Somewhere between these two extremes lies Anthony Ramos’ morally complex Javi, a tech entrepreneur whose genuinely good intentions have been corrupted by the merciless realities of capitalistic exploitation; his gradual redemption arc is the film’s most compelling, cathartic thread.

The true MVP, though, is Daisy Edgar-Jones. As protagonist Kate, she carries a tremendous burden; the conflict revolves entirely around her character’s insecurities, anxieties, and survivor’s guilt—and she absolutely delivers, conveying both vulnerability and perseverance through the subtlest gestures and glances. Her work is nuanced, emotionally honest, and thoroughly captivating.

And that is what makes Twisters an old school Hollywood blockbuster of the highest caliber: it never loses sight of the humanity amidst the spectacle. If you’ll pardon the (unerringly accurate) cliché: they just don’t make ‘em like this anymore—visually stunning, consistently thrilling, and irresistibly sexy.

[prythianpages]

I know I said the next part to my Like An Angel series with Eris would be fluff and lighthearted but I couldn't help myself with some angst✨ I also wanted to drop more clues/context as to what's to come. I'm currently working on finishing it but here's a sneak peak, if you'd like to read:

"Who does he think he is, making demands of me?" Beron seethes, his voice laced with frustration, as he paces back and forth in his study.  “I’ve graciously taken in his daughter. I’ve even granted him half of his money upfront. And yet where is his end of the bargain?”

Eris, standing nearby, observes with cautious eyes, gauging the storm brewing within his father. The amber hues of his eyes mirror the leaves that rustle in the court's eternal autumn and he prays his father can’t hear the rapid beating of his heart as he says, “Call off the wedding...”

And wed her to me, he wants to add but the words stick in his throat. The painful truth lingers deep in his chest, nestled next to the strings of fate that bind him to you. It’s best if you leave this court and go somewhere far. Far away where happiness might embrace you. Far away from the cruel clutches of his father’s power. Far away where you may free him of this torment…but the more time he spends with you, the more precarious the thread his honor hangs on becomes. He fears that nowhere would be far enough now.

“Call off the wedding?” Beron laughs in an incredulous manner. The gold and crimson tapestries adorning the walls seem to shiver in response to his father’s simmering frustration. When Beron abruptly turns to face Eris, the younger male can’t help but flinch. “When you were the one who suggested this arrangement to begin with.”

Eris’s throat tightens. He had been the one to suggest this arranged marriage. 

Your father, a respected merchant, extended an offer to Beron – an offer that, even now, Eris grapples to comprehend fully. It was a proposal that was lured with promises of enhanced power for the High Lord of Autumn in exchange for wealth and elevated status.

With no available Vanserra daughters to marry your father to and Sawyer's nightly endeavors tarnishing the family name, it led Eris to suggest an arranged marriage between you and Sawyer. A futile attempt to protect his younger brother from a fate similar to Lucien’s…but at what cost?

The Cauldron must be bubbling with amusement at the irony of it all. For, unknowingly, Eris orchestrated the union between you, his mate, and his brother.

Eris wills himself to maintain an outward appearance of calm. “What’s so important about this exchange anyway?” He asks with a measured voice.

“Jareth has access to something precious,” Beron responds, his words chosen with deliberate care. "Something that may hold the key to immortality."

Eris's eyebrows furrow in contemplation, his mind racing to grasp at what special thing your father could be harboring. "What if Jareth is bluffing?" 

Beron's eyes darken, sending a shiver down Eris's spine. His heart sinks to his stomach as he can already anticipate what his father is going to say.

 “Then, I’ll kill his precious daughter.”

**

(A/n: i made a little bridgerton reference in here 🤧 couldn’t help myself, I love Kate & Anthony 💕)

[buckybarnesss]

so. motel california. do you have thoughts?

I know the doylist explanation is just that jeff wanted to do a fun spooky episode and didn't give a fuck whether it made sense, but from a watsonian perspective?

did jennifer crash the truck that causes the traffic jam? did she cause the tornado? if she didn't cause the tornado, what was her plan? if she did cause it what was her plan?! why are none of the humans affected by the wolfsbane? why did she just give up after the werewolves had emotional breakthroughs, was this some kind of deeply unethical therapy? why does teen wolf take place in the same universe as psycho?!

i really like the horror-lite aesthetic, it's a fun episode, but it makes so little sense, and it's driving me crazy!

my apologies that this took me so long to answer but it took me a while to gather my thoughts. as with a lot of things in teen wolf it's hard to give a straight answer without breaking down some things first.

the simple answer is: jennifer is good but she's not that good and teen wolf wanted a halloween episode despite airing in july.

but i can never just give a simple answer.

i'm just gonna read more this now because like always i get long goddamn winded about what was going on in 3A.

the thing about 3A i think that is sort of missed is that it's the closing moves of a chess match that began long before wolf moon. the chess metaphor is deep this season, okay. there's a reason derek is the king on stiles's chess board and it's not just because stiles is unhinged about derek.

in 3A there's plot threads that happen in the background that are easy to miss because it's never outright stated and one of those things is that both jennifer and duecalion scoped beacon hills out long before they showed up.

marin morrell shows up for the first time in abomination. much like jennifer she's presented at first as benign and largely unthreatening. we learn later morrell is anything but.

while we don't know if morrell was already working for the school when we meet her it does make her a direct parallel to jennifer.

duecalion's interest was piqued by what happened in season 1. with laura hale's murder, peter's revenge spree ending with the death of kate argent and than derek subsequently becoming the alpha duecalion sees an opportunity.

people have asked what was duecalion's motivation initially and my answer is that it was simple.

duecalion is a collector and he wanted to collect the last hale into his pack.

the events of season 2 only served to interest him more due to the kanima but likely also because of gerard argent's involvement. duecalion and gerard are set up as a lot like kate and peter were in season 1.

they're different sides of the same coin. duecalion and gerard are shadow actors for much of the series both before and after their appearances.

we have to remember that marin morrell is there before peter's resurrection and before the alphas got ahold of erica, boyd and cora.

i fully believe that derek was not only aware that there'd be more hunters coming to beacon hills but also he may have guessed the alpha pack would come too.

derek's desperation for a pack throughout season 2 isn't just because of the kanima it's because he knows he needs a power base and he needs one fast. i don't think he would've pressed scott as hard as he did otherwise.

it should also be noted that deaton (and morrell) were keeping scott's potential of being a true alpha on the down low. deaton tells scott in currents he believed scott would be a true alpha when he learned he was bitten.

i have a whole theory about deaton and morrell having their own conspiracy surrounding scott becoming a true alpha. they definitely kept it as an ace in the hole.

derek was also trying to keep scott away from everything relating to the alphas but his motivation was straight forward. derek wants scott to be a normal teenager.

this is all but said in tattoo.

scott: hey, are you gonna tell me who that was back there? that alpha? derek: a rival pack. it's my problem. i know you wanna help, and you did-- i owe you one. now, go home. go back to being a teenager.

we know deaton was aware of duecalion and his pack coming at least by raving due to the conversation he and morrell have after derek brings scott to him after victoria tries to kill him.

marin: i can't decide if i admire your sentimentality or despise it... deaton: if i want your opinion, i'll make an appointment with the guidance office. marin: from the state of things, i think you could use a little guidance. are you really going to leave all of this up to a couple of kids? deaton: they're more capable than you think. marin: and, are you going to tell them what's coming? deaton: they've got enough to worry about...

there's also an argument to be made that victoria argent was bitten by one of the alphas and not derek like we are led to believe.

duecalion doesn't really change focus off derek until he meets scott and realizes what scott can become. again, he's a collector and a true alpha is rare.

jennifer in turn is also focused on derek. he is central to her plan.

there are two things at play with jennifer being that she is obsessed with derek and she does the absolute most to get under his defenses.

jennifer is obsessed with derek because she views him as her savior.

jennifer: you didn't know what you were doing back then, but killing paige in the root cellar-- sacrificing her there-- gave power to the nemeton. you gave it power again. you gave me power. Just enough to hold onto life a little longer. long enough to be found.

she uses her ill begotten power from virgin sacrifices to assist in her seduction of him and her glamour as jennifer is visually similar to both pagie and stiles. there's even moments where she seems to purposefully emulate stiles's more endearing, curious and less threatening behavior to lure derek into a false sense of security.

derek was supposed to be the guardian. jennifer says as much in lunar eclipse

jennifer: i need a guardian... and that's a role that can either be filled by the three parents i was forced to take, or by you.

derek was always jennifer's first choice but poisoning cora and jennifer taking melissa, the sheriff and chris was insurance not just for cooperation but just in case she needed them for the guardian sacrifice.

what she didn't count on was her magic not being enough against the tears of stiles stilinski.

so how does any of this answer your question about what the fuck jennifer's plan was?

let's just say teen wolf played fast and loose with this because it doesn't make a lot of sense when you examine it too closely but i shall try.

i think it's far too easy to say she was going to sacrifice the werewolves but if stiles's theory is true she planned on removing scott, isaac and boyd off the board so she could have free access to derek.

however i wonder if jennifer was planning on sacrificing them in a three fold death than what was she looking to gain from it? possibly their advanced healing as the next episode is when she does the one for healers but i think there was more than one thing at play in motel califnornia.

there's jennifer's plan of completing her seduction of derek and than there's lydia's banshee abilities.

jennifer's surprise when derek turned up at the school parking lot in frayed is genuine. fortuitous for her but unplanned as getting derek alone to complete her seduction was her plan which is where the cross country meet comes in.

as a teacher she would know about the cross country meet and have access to finstock's whistle. there obviously wasn't enough to really affect the humans in the group as the wolfsbane wasn't ingested like at lydia's party but rather inhaled randomly when the whistle was blown which really just makes it less reliable.

so her targets seem to be scott, boyd and isaac over ethan. she wants them out of the way and distracted and them thinking derek is dead is a bonus for her.

jennifer didn't know about the mall rumble nor could she have known they'd stop at the motel glen capri.

i mean, sure maybe she did cause the torndao warning and than also caused the traffic jam to slow them up but that seems like way too many variables for her to control in my opinion.

glen capri seems to have it's own weird magic that the wolfsbane in the werewolf's systems was exacerbated by.

she also didn't know lydia and allison were following them and she definitely didn't know lydia was a banshee yet.

lydia's banshee abilities is what allowed them to figure out what was going on with the motel and prevent deaths.

so to me the whole plan was to get derek alone and scott, isaac and boyd away from him.

[variousqueerthings]

doctor who specials thoughts!

spoilers for most everything below:

obvs the plot was banging -- my partner didn't know the meep's a full-on war criminal evil emperor carnivore and I was trying not to giggle every time they called the meep so cuuuuute

the concept of transgender saved London! and donna noble's life! remember to thank a trans person in your life toay for saving people through the power of transgender!

but also specifically Donna's love for her daughter!

also Doctor preferred pronouns as any but specifically also "The Doctor" (definite article), fuckn good and correct

"you have weapons in your wheelchair!?" "of course, we all do" (from memory)

I know this is OG comic already, reallyreally enjoy the big bug beings aren't evil, and use stun guns -- an important way of gauging their character and whether the Doctor trusts them and solves the mystery. also the desiiiign of them!!!!! PRACTICAL CREATURE DESIIIIIIGN BOTH THEM AND THE MEEP!!!!!!!!!!

THE DOCTOR flopping about, RUNNING AROUND, CLIMBING UP THE WALLS, GETTING KNOCKED OUT! having just watched the entire of Eleven with all the "has a speech about how cool I am which makes the Bad Guys just give up for some reason" having this Doctor stalling for time and solving a mystery and then immediately knocked TF OUT!!!!!!!!!!

DoctorDonna BEstiESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! they're so!!!!!!!!!!!!! they're SO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! next two episodes are gonna kill me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

still got the mystery of why the Doctor came back with this face, teaser about the Meep's "boss" (assuming Toymaker), and of course we know next to nothing about what will happen next week!

ohhhhhhh the new Tardis, she's so FLASH, she's so CLASSIC, she's so HAMSTERWHEEL!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know why I assumed Wilfred would be dead (well, they definitely counted on us assuming it), but it makes so much sense he wouldn't be when they fucking filmed with Bernard Cribbins!! Wilf will be coming up soon!

my couple of gripes are my feelings about UNIT as "uncomplicatedly good guys." I know there's a lot of different depictions of them throughout who (I've seen Two and Three + nu!who's depictions, and I prefer early seasons making it a more tempestuous relationship, especially with Three being sort of forced to work with them but really challenging their decisions and structures), but I watched the 50th anniversary the other day and that sees Kate Stewart almost blowing up London... once a military organisation, always a military organisation, and I'd like to see some future exploration of that. not that this episode was the episode to do so necessarily, but certainly in the future...

and the "male presenting" moment -- I see where it came from, it was the one misstep in threading trans/gender political and philosophical ideas into the text, had the vibes of "women and non-binary" type gendering, and makes you (me) go "what does male presenting mean? who is male presenting to you? do you mean man? do you mean "read as man"? are you talking about non-passing tans women, non-binary people with beards, trans men? and what does that have to do with your innate self?" it's some basic gender essentialism dressed up in progressive language. I'm going deep into this Moment, but it's also the only Moment, and I feel like it's interesting to hold it to a higher standard than I have previous Who. good intentions, this one is a miss

on the whole it's fucking BACK!!! TRANSGENDERS SAVE THE WORLD AND THE DOCTOR IS A BABY LOSER WHO FEELS SO MANY FEELINGS AND IS NO LONGER AFRAID OF EXPRESSING THEM AND DONNA IS ASKING WHY THEY CAN'T JUST HANG SOMETIMES AND SPILLS COFFEE ON THE CONSOLE AND THE TARDIS IS SO FLAAAAASSHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dangerouscommiesubversive]

Fic Stats Meme

Rules: Give us the links to your fics with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and your fic with the least amount of words.

One more thing I was tagged in by @materassassino, even longer ago, because these past two days I've just. Really been in the mood to clear out some of my drafts and do fun stuff?

Most Hits: Make A Wish (Young Avengers) - 17,527 hits

Wealthy scientist Nate Richards has been shot, and the legendary sapphire he owned stolen. Noh Varr, a private investigator, is hired—not to track down his killer, but to exonerate one of the suspects. It all gets much messier than he'd expected.

This is a Young Avengers noir AU that I wrote for the Young Avengers Reverse Big Bang and one of my very few attempts at first-person narration, and frankly its hit count mystifies me. I guess people re-read it a lot or something? I'm glad that it has staying power, I'm just puzzled.

Second Most Kudos: Lay That Heavy Trick On Me (Guardians of the Galaxy) - 1,248 kudos

The Guardians take a job robbing an expensive resort, and their floorplans indicate that the best access point to get to where they need to be is in the honeymoon suite. Which means that two of them need to play like they're married. Peter's not quite sure why he has to be one of the lucky newlyweds. Drax doesn't understand subterfuge. Gamora just keeps laughing at them and it's terrible.

This was actually my most kudos'ed story until fairly recently, when it was overtaken by hard work. It's a fun story--not my best, but it's in a much bigger fandom than I normally write for and it has a couple of super-popular tropes in it, so I suppose it's not so weird that it's up there stats-wise.

Third Most Comments: Gaiden: Neo-Heisei Kamen Rider (Kamen Riders W through Zi-O) - 133 comment threads

Not bothering with the summary because this one's a collection of short pieces, mostly from Tumblr prompts, and it's got 108 chapters. Some people comment on every piece they read! It's very gratifying!

Fourth Most Bookmarked: Lay That Heavy Trick On Me (Guardians of the Galaxy) - 297 bookmarks

"Heavy Trick" again! I mean, for real, this one used to be my leader in everything, for a while it was by far my most popular fic.

Fifth Most Words: Into The Black (Young Avengers/Firefly) - 44,537 words

Mercenary space captain Kate Bishop's got a loyal crew (mostly), an unreliable space ship (hey don't you say that Dawn's Archer is perfect), some unresolved anger issues (some faces that need grinding that is), and a lot of moral gray areas that she likes to play around in as she roams the galaxy, taking whatever jobs she can find. When her ship takes on some unusual passengers, however, everything goes completely off the rails.

This one--my tragic forever-unfinished Young Avengers/Firefly mashup--is genuinely surprising to me. I had no idea I'd written so much for it. I ought to be honest with myself and everyone else and update the tags/summary/chapter count to indicate that it's unlikely to ever be completed, but I haven't got the heart. And who knows, maybe at some point I'll rewatch Firefly and re-read YA Vol 2 and get inspired for it again. As I recall, the next chapter I'd had planned before I got distracted was the "Objects in Space" one, which was going to have Deadpool as the bounty hunter.

Fewest Words: various fandom poems

Discounting my few podfics, which naturally have low word counts because they have no words, I have 12 poems up on AO3, 9 of which are between 100 and 200 words. It doesn't seem pointful to link any specific one, they're all short.

---

Instead of tagging anyone I hereby encourage literally anybody who read this far and who has fic up on AO3 to do it, it's an interesting exercise. For me it's also very funny--I've been posting fic to AO3 since 2012, so with the way these questions are scaled they tend to duck around almost all of my most recent work and hit the older stuff that's been up longer and had more time to accumulate numbers. My AO3 account is a bed of oysters, and these are their little embarrassing pearls.

[ladyaislinn]

31 October 2024

Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell talks nerves, fame, and The Diplomat

Rufus Sewell may seem to perfectly personify calm and confident characters in the acting world, but he admits he still struggles with public speaking.

"There's nothing more terrifying," he tells Sky News. "I remember having to do a reading at a church when I was very young and I was so nervous. I was at drama school, so people knew I wanted to be an actor, and as I was walking up towards the lectern I heard someone say, 'this will be good', and I completely froze."

After portraying Prince Andrew in Scoop, which told the story of the royal's infamous Newsnight interview in 2019, the British actor can now be seen on screen playing political superstar Hal Wyler in the second series of The Diplomat.

Despite his ability to inhabit his characters, both real and fictional, the "idea of speaking as myself" he says has always been "a horror".

Even playing confident characters is nerve-wracking, he says, as it creates an internal battle between himself and the role. "I naturally, if left to my own devices, become very, very self-conscious, so I have to find ways to trick myself out of it."

In The Diplomat, Sewell's character is the estranged ex-husband of Kate Wyler, the US ambassador to the UK, played by Keri Russell.

She spends the first season navigating political minefields trying to prevent a war before it happens, after a British aircraft carrier is blown up off the coast of Iran.

The series ended on a cliffhanger that saw Hal and other political figures involved in a car explosion in London, and season two picks up following the threads of evidence left in the aftermath.

Russell credits the show's creator, Deborah Cahn, with making the series such a thriller.

"That is the gold of our show, 100%," she says. "She has this uncanny ability to portray political intrigue and the world of diplomacy, but also has this innate understanding of what makes people human and all the idiosyncratic weird things that make people normal.

"Even though they're in this really seemingly powerful position, they still have bad days and are cranky, or get mad when their food is the wrong thing, or when they have to wear something they don't like, and they still deal with all the embarrassments of daily life."

[yukine-sakamoto]

Shadows House Season 1 Review

I really liked this show, even more than I thought I would, actually, and I’m surprised it has so few members on my anime list. I want more people to watch it so they make more of it. I don’t think they can finish everything in the one more season that exists right now.

First, the mystery was done so well. The pacing of the small reveals that just lead to more questions. The way the world of the show slowly opens up to us. It just pulls you in. I love a show with really deep lore. And the characters were so well made. I came to love all of them, even though/because each has faults. The outfits of the shadows were each unique and beautiful, and despite having no features, the shadows were all so expressive. Honestly, the whole show is beautiful. They managed to do one of my favorite things which is blending fantasy/action with bits of slice of life. You have the mysterious soot stuff going on, but you also have these occasional cute moments of just life in the mansion. It’s difficult to get the pacing right, which is why I think it’s not often attempted, but this felt very smooth, and did a fantastic job of contributing to the character arcs. It wasn’t too scary either. There were definitely some unsettling scenes that set the dark undertones for the show, but it was still very palatable for me. The ED is fantastic too. Really captures the mood of the whole show. The last two episodes are apparently anime only, and they definitely felt a little different. I haven’t read the manga, so it didn’t really bother me, and the manga author is involved in the show, so I’m willing to believe they have a plan. I still thought the ending was satisfying. It ties up some smaller threads from earlier, while still leaving the broader questions open leaving you wanting more seasons.

I gave it 9/10, and I don’t give out a lot of nines. I actually think this show has become one of my favorites.

Now, some more detail on the last two episodes (spoilers)

The whole kidnapping thing felt very rushed. Edward had very little to go on to prove that Kate was involved in any kind of misconduct, so it seems odd that he would go straight to kidnapping Emilico as a plan. He is shown throughout the debut arc to be a meticulous planner and schemer, so this is fairly out of character. I saw some manga readers that were quite frustrated with this as it’s apparently well out of line for his manga character as well. I wasn’t too bothered by that aspect. I was more peeved by the way Ricky and Lou were cured of the soot coffee. It felt way too easy compared to what Emilico and Shawn went through. I don’t think the coffee effects would fade so quickly as to lower the bar that much.

I did like seeing all the kids work together to figure out how to save Emilico and get Kate into the other wing. John’s veiled doll impression was hilarious. I feel like Gerald and Aileen didn’t do anything all season, but it was especially painful that they did the same “they must be disguised as veiled dolls” bit twice. I liked that we got to see Kate’s wings again, but it felt like a stretch of John’s powers to push them like that. I found it an odd choice to have Kate and Emilico land on top of the boys. I don’t know, maybe it was supposed to be funny? I don’t get it. It was also very convenient that John was able to escape via the soot bird without any kind of difficulty or anyone noticing. Felt like the writers wrote themselves into a corner and had to make do. Honestly I’m kind of nitpicking though. I enjoyed the little arc overall, it was nice seeing Edward get caught (It was also clear that it was anime-only so they couldn’t give him any real consequences, but anyway). Still, I feel like they could have ended things in a fairly satisfying way right after Kate notices the soot coffee effects to leave a good cliffhanger, maybe when they’re meeting lord grandfather. Or maybe after Kate cures her. That would still leave the other three’s condition open ended. It felt like a very awkward transition right after that emotional scene to jump right into the kidnapping. I guess they wanted to get to a full cour.

Biggest reveal of that arc is that the little morph with a bow actually is Shirley. I thought I was deluding myself, but no somehow she survived. I can only imagine the reveal was done differently in the manga; the Shirley-morph had a surprisingly large roll in the rescue. Also, we see Shirley-morph seems to stay with Rum, which is adorable and heartbreaking. We know she’s alive, which is expected since we knew the plan was to make her a veiled doll, but we never see her face. We don’t know her mental condition right now, and we were told that the veiled dolls undergo some kind of extra soot coffee treatment. I’m not sure Rum will be able to be brought back like the others. It’s clear the coffee has different strengths as it was used to wipe memories in the very beginning. Rum might be saved but not be able to remember any of the events thus far. Also, Shirley-morph hasn’t taken her form again, so there must be more going on with her.

Other questions still open: How does Kate know so much and why does she seem to harbor such a personal hatred towards the house? Why is Edward so obsessed with getting to the third floor? How has he been watching Kate and the others? What’s his next move? Why does he suspect Kate so much? Why does he suspect the others in the third floor crew? What are their goals anyway? What is lord grandfather’s end goal? World domination? What do the star bearers do? What other types of soot powers are there? What’s in the box Kate found when searching for Emilico? What happens in that soot room we saw in the intro? Actually, I think we see it again in the outro. I really liked the parallelism of having those two montages book end the show. It looked like Kate, John, and Louise were getting instruction on soot powers in the same room. Also there were a couple shadows that were working on Emilico’s cage in the intro that we see again in the outro in some kind of workshop. I want to meet them. I want to meet all the characters. I think I will take a break before watching season 2, though, as this show has genuinely affected my sleep.

[jeanmoreaux]

*✧ — january 2024 wrap up

i truly had a reading journey this month; peaks and valleys. a mixed bag for sure. i mean olivie blake made the list with a new favourite AND the first one star of the year. at least schwab delivered with TFToP!!! it was So. Good. like. So So Good. other than that i really do not have much to say. i am currently rereading aftg so. you know. head empty.

2024 goal: 25/100 books

as alway, feel free to drop book recs, questions, or opinions in my inbox; i am always happy to talk to you about books!

* –> newly added to my favorites shelf

follow my goodreads | follow my storygraph  | previous wrap ups

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske | 3.5★

Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer | 3.5★

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan | 4★ | review

Almond by Sohn Won-Pyung (transl. by Sandy Joosun Lee) | 4.5★

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna | 3★

Penguin's Poems For Love (edited by Laura Barber) | 5★

The Curse of Saints by Kate Dramis | 3.5★ | review

Shanghai Immortal by A.Y. Chao | 2★

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid | 3★

* Masters of Death by Olivie Blake | 4.75★ | review

Dream Work by Mary Oliver | 5★ | comment

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo | 4★

Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo | 3★

All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks | 4.5★ | review

The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake | 1★ | review

* Coriolanus by William Shakespeare | 4.5★ | comment

* The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab | 5★ | comment

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

short stories

A Royal Affair by V.E. Schwab

A Life Erased by V.E. Schwab

Sacred Hospitality by Olivie Blake

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

rereads

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab | 4★ | review

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab | 5★

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab | 5★

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake | 3★ | review

The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake | 2.5★ | review

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan | 4.5★

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan | 4.75★ | comment

The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan | 4.5★ | comment

[seesgood]

lia i missed u sm 💙

will you pls enlighten the dash on what you read???

oh my friend, my lovely love, apple of my eye, you have no idea what you ask of me ---

so right now i'm reading from blood and ash ( bc of @polymusepotion ), but i've also read:

you, again - kate goldbeck

too many sports romance novels

fragile threads of power - v.e. schwab

the quiet tenant - clemence michallon

fourth wing - rebecca yarros

killing me - michelle gagnon

divine rivals - rebecca ross

butcher & blackbird - brynne weaver

assistant to the villain - hannah nicole maehrer

and those are just the ones in the past 3 months that have given me considerable "i miss writing things" brainrot

[shy-fairy-levele3]

2023 Book List

Unbelievably I read a staggering 70 books in 2023! The most ever! My only disappointment is NOT finishing Dracula Daily, I came so close...

Wolf Brother Michelle Paver

Skin-Walker Michelle Paver

Be the Serpent Seanan McGuire  

She Who Became the Sun 

Soul-Eater Michelle Paver

Nona the Ninth Tamsyn Muir 

The Girl in Red Christina Henry

As yet Unsent Tamsyn Muir   

Outcast Michelle Paver  

Leonard Cohen: On a wire Philippe Girard

Oath Breaker Michelle Paver 

Ghost Hunter Michelle Paver   

 Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life Alan Cumming

M is for Magic Neil Gaiman

Silverwing Kenneth Opal 

Last Violent Call Chloe Gong

Malice: Malice Duology #1 Heather Walter  

Pandora Susan Stokes-Chapman

A Lady for a Duke Alexis Hall                                    

Boyfriend Material Alexis Hall

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries Heather Fawcett  

Motorcycles & Sweetgrass Drew Hayden Taylor

Conventionally Yours Annabeth Albert  

The Unbalancing R.B Lemberg  

Stone Blind Natalie Haynes

The Winter Soldier: Cold Front Mackenzi Lee 

Ruby Nina Allan

The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter Theodora Goss

Husband Material Alexis Hall

The Secret Service of Tea and Treason India Holton  

My Dear Henry: A Jekyll and Hyde Remix Kalynn Bayron

The Monsters we Defy Leslye Penelope

Travelers Along the Way: A Robin Hood Remix Aminah Mae Safi

Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman Alan Rickman

Morgan Is My Name Sophie Keetch

Threads That Bind Kika Hatzopoulou

European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman Theodora Goss

Feeling Sorry for Celia Jaclyn Moriarty

Daughter of the Pirate King Tricia Levenseller

A Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix C.B. Lee

Harley Quinn: The Animated Series: The Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour Tee Franklin

Magic for Liars Sarah Gailey

The Story of Owen Emily Kate Johnston

The Brilliant Death A.R. Capetta

Circle of Magic: Sandy’s Book Tamora Pierce

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror Daniel M. Lavery  

Death's Detective- Malykant Mysteries #1-4 Charlotte E. English

The Salt Grows Heavy Cassandra Khaw

A Touch of Darkness- Hades & Persephone #1 Scarlett St. Clair

Mortal Follies Alexis Hall

Witch King Martha Wells

The London Séance Society Sarah Penner

A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future David Attenborough, Jonnie Hughes

A Game of Fate- Hades Saga #1 Scarlett St. Clair

Immortal Longings Chloe Gong

Hooked Emily McIntire  

Foul Heart Huntsmen Chloe Gong

Signal to Noise Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Daughter of the Siren Queen Tricia Levenseller  

Starter Villain John Scalzi

The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl Theodora Goss

Starling House Alix E. Harrow

A Marvellous Light: The Last Binding #1 Freya Marske   

A Restless Truth: The Last Binding #2 Freya Marske 

Thornhedge T. Kingfisher

What the River Knows Isabel Ibanez  

The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life's Final Moments Hadley Vlahos

Misrule: Malice Duology #2 Heather Walter

The Raven and The Reindeer T. Kingfisher

A Power Unbound: The Last Binding #3 Freya Marske

I started some series, and I finished some series. I found new favourite authors and revisited some old favourites. Please take them as recommendations, or if you have read any of the same books come talk about them with me!  

Reminder you can also follow me on The Storygraph to see what I am reading in real time, where I am simply shy_fairy   

Previous Years Reading lists can be found here: 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015