#margaret bray

[dweemeister]

Alice's Wonderland (1923 short)

One hundred years ago today, Walt Disney screened to Margaret Winkler his hybrid animated/live-action short film, Alice’s Wonderland. If the name Margaret Winkler is unfamiliar to you, that is in part due to the fact that much of Hollywood’s mythmaking has obfuscated the impact of certain female creatives during the silent film era. A former secretary to Harry Warner at Warner Bros., Winkler was the premier animated short film executive in the early and mid-1920s. Her company, M.J. Winkler Pictures, flourished at a time before the oligopoly of the soon-to-be-major Hollywood studios, mostly on the backs of Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer’s Felix the Cat series. At the peak of Felix’s popularity in 1923, a series of arguments between Winkler and Sullivan/Messmer soon meant Winkler was looking for an animated series to replace Felix. She would also be losing the rights to Max and Dave Fleischer’s Out of the Inkwell series, starring Koko the Clown. By the end of 1923, Winkler would sign a deal with Disney to distribute the Alice Comedies.

Impressed by the handiwork of Alice’s Wonderland, Winkler’s deal gave Walt Disney a much-needed infusion of cash. Disney, who founded Laugh-O-Gram Studios in Kansas City, Missouri in 1921, had just barely emerged from Laugh-O-Gram’s bankruptcy. Instead of heading to the then-center of the American animation world of New York City, Walt instead found himself in Los Angeles, partly to help his brother, Roy O. Disney, recover from tuberculosis.

Though a continent away from the major animation players in the U.S. at the time, Disney nevertheless took inspiration from those figures – Bray Productions under John Randolph Bray and especially the animator Winsor McCay (who, by 1921, was forced by employer William Randolph Hearst to stop working on animated film). McCay and Bray were pioneers in gifting animated characters basic personalities and the development of those personalities, growing animated cinema beyond modest gag comedy and simplistic figures. McCay’s Little Nemo (1911) and Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) and Bray’s Bobby Bumps series (1915-1925) may seem quaint to modern audiences, but these films were wildly popular across North America and were instrumental stepping stones to the explosion of American animated innovation in the late 1920s and 1930s.

Alice’s Wonderland was never screened for the public, but it nevertheless spawned a series that lasted for fifty-seven short films. None of it would have been possible without the inspiration Disney and his animators took from the most acclaimed American animation at that time.

With no relation to Lewis Carroll’s two Alice books, Alice’s Wonderland stars Virginia Davis as the title character. Davis, as Alice, is four years old at the beginning of the Alice Comedies series. She visits the animation studio where she sees Walt Disney in the process of drawing some “funnies”. As she sits down, the cartoons on the drawing pages come to life. Most important among those animated figures is Julius the Cat, created by Disney and Ub Iwerks and a predecessor to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Mickey Mouse (unlike Oswald and Mickey, Julius has not appeared in an animated film since the silent era). Walt then brings Alice into the animators’ room, where Ub Iwerks, Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, and others are also enjoying their work acting out various scenarios (remember those names – we will mention them again later). Alice, still giddy after her visit to the animators’ studio, later drifts off to sleep that evening. And, after dozing off, she finds herself welcome to a Cartoonland of her dreams.

At the time, Alice’s Wonderland was the reverse of what the Fleischers’ Out of the Inkwell series and some of the Bray and McCay shorts attempted. Instead of animated characters inhabiting a live-action world, we have here a live character traipsing around in an animated world. In some of the hybrid animated/live-action short films at the time, the reactions of the characters can be noticeably off. Not so much here. Davis’ reactions to the animated animals are timed with admirable precision. But given the technological constraints at the time and how small Walt Disney’s animators’ team was, Alice’s Wonderland makes heavy use of recycled or looped animation. Viewers who know their Looney Tunes or Hanna-Barbera works probably recognize the effects of a wraparound background and identical walking animation. The effects tend to make certain scenes – such as Alice’s celebratory procession during her dream – last several seconds too long.

Yet, Alice’s Wonderland still charms. With synchronized sound still four years away, the animators of the early twentieth century set the visual slapstick language that continues to course through modern animated cinema. Julius’ hidden fight with a dog within the latter’s doghouse, an animator using a pen holder as a de facto boxing bell, and a hungry lion cleaning and sharpening his teeth are just previews to the absurd humor that will define the next few decades of American animated short films. So too the tubular limbs from the animated characters. The film’s humor came not just from the films of Bray, McCay, and the Van Beuren Studios, but also the comic strips popular at this time – titles which probably read as quite unfamiliar to most today: Bud Fisher’s Mutt and Jeff (1907-1983; Fisher ceased involvement in 1932), George Herriman’s Krazy Kat (1913-1944), and Winsor McCay’s Dream of the Rarebit Fiend (1904-1925). These comic strips, largely unknown quantities to yours truly while researching for this write-up, influenced the comedic pace and tone for the bulk of American animated short films – a near-forgotten legacy, and one worthy of honoring.

Alice’s Wonderland would solidify the careers of all of the animators involved – all of whom were originally based in the Kansas City area. Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks stayed onboard what would be deemed the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio (after several name changes, it is now the Walt Disney Animation Studios of today). Disney’s namesake studio is the most visible animated studio in all of cinema, and undoubtedly the most historically and currently significant, for good and ill. For the Alice Comedies, Iwerks experimented with a “matte” – in which a cutout background would be placed over a camera lens to hide where animated figures might be. Iwerks also developed Mickey Mouse with Walt, was one of the leading hands on the Silly Symphony series, and was integral in developing the special visual effects that made animated/live-action hybrid movies like Song of the South (1946) and Mary Poppins (1964) as convincing as they are.

Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, who developed the story of Alice’s Wonderland alongside Walt, honed their craft under him. But after Disney sold the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to Universal in 1928 in a dispute with Winkler’s husband, producer Charles Mintz, Harman and Ising’s time with Disney came to an end. Now on their own, Harman and Ising created Bosko. The Bosko shorts impressed Warner Bros.’ Leon Schlesinger and, in 1930, the trio founded the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series. Harman and Ising would eventually leave Warner Bros. in 1934 to develop the Happy Harmonies series for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer alongside William Hanna. Animator Isadore “Friz” Freleng also followed Harman and Ising to Warner Bros. and MGM, and was central to the creation of the likes of Porky Pig, Sylvester, and Yosemite Sam. Also following Freleng was Carman Maxwell, who spent the bulk of his career as a production manager for MGM’s animated shorts.

Actress Virginia Davis also moved out from Kansas City to Southern California to join Disney to star in the Alice Comedies. Davis appeared in fifteen of the fifty-seven Alice Comedies, ending her tenure with Alice in the Jungle (1925). She was able to nab the occasional minor child actress role and ended her career in the 1940s as uncredited dancers or chorus girls. She married in 1943 to a Navy airman and became a real estate agent active in the areas around Irvine, California and Boise, Idaho.

Margaret Winkler could be an exacting critic to Walt Disney and his animators, but she nevertheless sent words of encouragement, making suggestions where she saw fit to the rough cuts of the films. Her critiques plus the relatively expensive cost in making an Alice short saw Disney struggle to meet deadlines at first. But when Disney was able to convince Harman and Ising to move from Kansas City to Los Angeles, the pace of production hastened. Winkler retired from the film business in 1926 after the birth of her first child, with shockingly no one thinking to interview her about her work in the silent era before her death in New York state in 1990.

The Alice Comedies, beginning with Alice’s Wonderland, set the stage for American animated film in the early and middle twentieth century. Several figures involved in the series’ animation and storytelling paved careers that would deeply impact the direction of what today is Walt Disney Animation Studios. Others, like Harman, Ising, Freleng, and Maxwell, took with them Walt Disney’s artistic vision and guidance and spread that to two of the studio’s soon-to-be rivals in MGM and Warner Bros.

A century since Walt Disney screened Alice’s Wonderland for Margaret Winkler, Walt Disney Animation Studios has grown and evolved. The modern-day studio, I will argue, does not adhere to Walt Disney’s vision of making animated movies as dramatically and emotionally powerful as any live-action movie as faithfully as it could – and, in my opinion, has not consistently done so in at least a quarter-century. But the studio, and its legacy, started humbly, just hoping to please a crowd with sharp visual gags in the wild early days of animated silent film. Such were the initial hopes of John Randolph Bray and Winsor McCay. From the Alice Comedies to the Silly Symphony shorts to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Walt Disney and his fellow animators added to the foundation that their predecessors built.

My rating: 7/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog. Half-points are always rounded down.

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, check out the tag of the same name on my blog.

[novococain]

I don't know how to stay tender with this much blood in my mouth.

PRIDE., Kendrick Lamar / Title Unknown, Igor Skaletsky / Pie Fight Study 2, Adrian Ghenie / Nightwood, Djuna Barnes / Fire & Blood, George R. R. Martin / Unequal Marriage, Vasili Pukirev / Bloodsport, Yves Olade / Akahana, Akahana #2914014 / No Children, The Mountain Goats / The White Hart, from the Wilton Diptych / Fire & Blood, George R. R. Martin / The Demolition Lovers × The Torn-Up Road, Richard Siken / Not Here, Hieu Minh Nguyen / Jen Mazza × In Short, I Have Nothing That Can Express My Life but My Death…, César Vallejo  (tr. by Margaret Sayers Peden) / The Death Notebooks, Anne Sexton × The Lovers, Deftones Major Arcana / Nightwood, Djuna Barnes / Dillon Samuelson × unknown × The Wilds, Julia Elliott / WNQ Writers / Eurydice, Anastasia Shevchenko × How Festive The Ambulance, Kim Fu / These Violent Delights, Micah Nemerever / Salomé, Jean Benner × Not Here, Hieu Minh Nguyen / Judith en Holofernes, Jan de Bray × After The Movie, Marie Howe / Power Politics, Margaret Atwood × Skin to Skin × Not Here, Hieu Minh Nguyen / Reflection of You [opening credits] × Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys × unknown / Jeanne d'Arc, First Horseman of The Apocalypse, Anato Finnstark × Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys / Title Unknown, Tahir Tanis × Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys / Love Slowly Kills, Adrian Borda / PRIDE., Kendrick Lamar.

[displayheartcode]

hi! do you have books recs similar to six of crows?

yes, yes i do!

do you want to read SFF stories about making rich people miserable?

scavenge the stars by tara sim (ya, duology)

little thieves by margaret owen (ya, trilogy)

the drowned woods by emily lloyd-jones (ya, stand-alone)

book of night by holly black (adult, duology)

black water sister by zen cho (adult, stand-alone)

do you want to read SFF stories about a plucky group of people doing the right thing - teeth gritted and all?

murderbot by martha wells (adult, series)

the scholomance by naomi novik (adult, trilogy)

ninth house by leigh bardugo (adult, trilogy)

we shall be monsters by tara sim (ya, series)

foul days by genoveva dimova (adult, duology)

do you want to read SFF books about angry teenagers taking matters in their own hands because the adults - and institutions and the system - have failed them?

now entering addamsville by francesca zappia (ya, stand-alone)

the hazel wood by melissa albert (ya, duology)

bad witch burning by jessica lewis (ya, stand-alone)

the rise of kyoshi by fc yee (ya, duology)

legendborn by tracy deonn (ya, series)

wrath becomes her by aden polydoros (ya, stand-alone)

the spirit bares its teeth by andrew joseph white (ya, stand-alone)

the diviners by libba bray (ya, series)

shadowshaper by daniel josé older (ya, trilogy)

lore by alexandra bracken (ya, stand-alone)

lockwood and co by jonathan stroud (middle grade, series)

hope this, helps, anon!

(people are free to add to this list)

[obsessioncollector]

inspired by @iloveyoumorethangod here are 9 book recommendations!! these are my fave novels atm, limited to what i've read in the past 2.5 years or so (since beginning of 2021) so not counting some old faves i need to revisit. i think i like stories about obsession... also these are not in order btw!

ALSO would love to see anyone's faves!! also also feel free to add me on goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/9264448-peyton) or storygraph (https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/ghosthardware) bc i love keeping up w what people are reading! (i use both sites)

Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih (trans. Denys Johnson-Davies); Beloved by Toni Morrison; The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie; The Lover by Marguerite Duras (trans. Barbara Bray); Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë; Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov; The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood; The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky (trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky); Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? by Lorrie Moore

Honorable mention: Sweet Days of Discipline by Fleur Jaeggy

[dayscapism]

Read this instead of Harry Potter - part 3/ 3:

Young Adult (YA) recommendations under the cut:

Part 1 - Adult books

Part 2 - Middle grade/children's books

Arrows of the Queen (Heralds of Valdemar trilogy) by Mercedes Lackey (high fantasy): There's actually multiple series in the same world. In this trilogy we follow Talia, a young girl who lives in a small community that misteats her. She doesnt know any different, this is the only life and people shes ever known, but then is chosen whisked away by a mystical horse and taken to a school to become a trainee Herald, destined to become one of the Queen's own elite guard. For Talia has certain talents of the mind only her horse companion can sense. Here, as she works to master her abilities, she also begins to learn to trust for the first time in her life, connect with other people, and understanding her trauma. Meanwhile, conspiracy and trason is brewing in the realm, and only the Heralds can help protect it from its enemies.... This first book is very heartwarming and classic fantasy. In the sequels we follow her as she gets older and the sacrifices and darker, heavier moments that come with that. Honestly thos one sounds like the same brief for the main character as HP. Lackey has great LGBTQ+ representation too.

★ Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson (novel + novella): About a warrior-librarian who finds herself entangled in an evil plot in a world where magic books, called grimoires, have sentience and can turn into monsters if they're not properly taken care of. These grimoires are created by magicians whose magic comes from demons linked to their old-blood families, and these magicians' houses are full of magical artefacts, strange curses, hidden rooms magically folded up between walls and sentient gardens, all very reminiscent of Hogwarts' ever-shifting magical corridors.

★ Lockwood & Co. by Jonathan Stroud (series, British): Teenage ghost-hunters, magic bureaucracy, dark vibes, historical artefacts, death discussions, found family, haunted houses, suspense, and more.

The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin (standalone): In this world, witches maintain the climate, but when this control starts faltering, a witch with rare magic, connected to every season is the only hope.

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo (duology): Mermaids! For Goblet of Fire fans.

Raybearer by Jordan Ifuenko (duology): Tarisai was raised in isolation by a mysterious, absent mother until one day she sends her to the capital, to be chosen as one of the crown prince's council and kill him. This is a story about friendship and the love and warmth of family.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas: Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can't get rid of him. This story is about a Latino, trans young wizard, who battles with his family accepting his gender.

★ Legenborn by Tracy Deonn (trilogy): Arthurian retelling with a black protagonist who enters a secret society in her university to solve the mystery of her mother's death but she finds it more full of magic and secrets than she expected. Secrets that might even tie to her own heritage and bloodline...

The Diviners by Libba Bray (quartet, paranormal, mystery, horror): It's set in 1929 New York, the protagonist, Evie, comes to the city to live with her uncle, who has an unhealthy obsession with the occult and she worries he will discover her greatest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought problems so far. When a girl is murdered and branded with a cryptic symbol, she realizes her power might help solve the murder. Great alternative to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Scythe by Neal Shusterman (trilogy, sci-fi dystopian): This has themes about death and mortality/immortality. Set in a world where humanity has conquered hunger, disease, war and misery, now a group of select people called scythes are tasked with ending life to keep the population size under control. We follow two apprentices to such a vital profession, a role that neither wants.

This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab (duology): In a city overrun by monsters created out of acts of violence, there's no such thing as "safe", a young woman and a young man on opposite sides of the divided city, must decide if they will become enemies or friends, heroes or villains and what means to be one. (I mean if that premise is not the analogue to a Horocrux or werewolves idk what is.) I also recommend City of Ghosts by this author (set in Edinburgh, where the protagonist's parents host a TV show about haunted places. But the protagonist can enter this world of spirits ever since she almost--or did drown.)

The Little Witch by M. Rickert (short story): Every Halloween an elderly woman hands out candy to a young trick-or-treater girl who's always dressed as a witch and looks the same age every year. She grows more and more curious and attached to her and her oddness.

One Dark Window by Rachel Gilling (duology): To stay safe in her eerie, mist-locked kingdom, Elspeth needs a monster. One day she meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, and her life takes a drastic turn, thrusting her into a world of shadow and deception. Together with the highwayman, they must gather a set of magical cards that are keys to cure the kingdom from the dark magic infecting it. But Elspeth is forced to face a dark magic taking over her own mind. This sounds great for people who liked the horrocruxes as a magic device, who like exploring evilness corrupting a character from the inside out, and for fans of the dark forest in Hogwarts.

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco (series): Set in London in the 1880s, we follow Audrey Rose Wadsworth, born a lord's daughter, who yearns for more than social tea parties and dress fittings. She has a secret life working in her uncle's laboratory, studying the gruesome and fascinating practice of forensic medicine. Then a string of savagely killed corpses begin appearing... Deliciously creepy horror novel inspired by the Ripper murders.

School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani and illustrator Iacopo Bruno (series): This year, best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. As the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, Sophie has dreamed of pink dresses, glass slippers, and devotion to good deeds all her life, she knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and graduate a storybook princess. Meanwhile Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks, wicked pet cat, and dislike of nearly everyone, seems a natural fit for the School for Evil. But when the two girls are swept into schools, they find their fortunes reversed... Is this really a mistake? Or is it a clue to discovering who they really are?

Into the Labirynth by Jown Bierce (series): Hugh is the worst student the Academy of Skyhold has ever seen. He can barely cast any spells without them failing explosively. He is an outcast in the school, and he definitely doesn't expect a mage to choose him as an apprentice, but when a very unusual mage does, his life starts taking a sharp turn for the better. Though, he still has to get ready for his final test in the labyrinth below the school.

Fireborn by Rosaria Munda (trilogy): post-revolution/overthrowing the government plot, with dragon riders and maybe a child of the old regime survived... This is perfect if you were unsatisfied by the infamous HP7 epilogue.

Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch by Julie Abe (duology + prequel): Eva Evergreen is determined to earn the rank of Novice Witch before her thirteenth birthday. If she doesn't, she'll lose her magic forever. For most young witches and wizards, it's a simple enough test, but Eva has only a pinch of magic and always gets the spells backwards. But she comes up with a plan: set up a semi-magical repair shop to help her town and prove she's worthy. But the biggest magical storm in history threatens the town. Will her little bit of magic be enough? If you wanted justice for the squibs in HP!

The Magician's Guild by Trudi Canavan (trilogy, adventure, epic fantasy): Every year, the magicians gather to purge the city of undesirables. Cloaked in the protection of their sorcery, they move with no fear, until one angry girl hurls a stone at them; there is someone outside their ranks who possesses raw magical power. She must be found and schooled before she destroys herself and her city with the power she can't control.

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger and illustrated by Rovina Cai (standalone, mystery, magical realism, LGBTQ+): Set in an alternate USA with magic, monsters and legends. Elatsoe, an indigenous girl, can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed by generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered and she will protect her family and unveil the secrets of this town.

★Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead (YA, series): A magic school but for vampires instead of witches. Still has magic in it, with the dark vibe that goes with vampires. It's a trashy teen vampire series in the best way, tbh. Great to pass the time.

Graphic novel recommendations:

Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama

Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol

⚠️The following books are often recommended too, but some or their authors are problematic, so tread with caution: ⚠️

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater: Has racist Asian stereotyping/jokes in the third book of the series. The author has some problematic behavior on Twitter but I don't know the details.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell: Asian racist stereotypes of the character Park. Carry On/Fangirl could be options, I suppose.

Scholomance series by Naomi Novik: The first book, A Deathly Education, had damaging racist passages and stereotypes of black people's hair. The book was later reprinted to fix the issue.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card: This author is staunchly homophobic.

Skyward & Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson: This author is a Mormon. By this religion's rules, they have to donate a percentage (aka tithing) of their net earnings to the church (around 10%), and the Mormon Church actively funds anti-LGBTQ+ initiatives. Sanderson has been asked before about this, but he hasn't given a clear answer on his contributions. He is presumably paying the tithes, though he will tell you he is pro-gays if you ask him. His books also have heavy religious preaching and his world-building is often very cis/hetero-normative. He is doing great work fighting against Amazon's book monopoly though, using his popularity and power for good, which is great. (I have read his books before but nowadays I would rather read other authors and I will never BUY any of his books.)

Happy reading!

★ Books I've read and personally recommend.

Supporting Sources:

https://www.aspiraldance.com/middle-grade-and-young-adult-books-to-read-instead-of-harry-potter/

https://missprint.wordpress.com/2022/09/01/back-to-magic-school-harry-potter-alternatives-booklist/

Goodreads for synopses.

[period-dramallama]

What's your opinion on The White Queen and the other shows in the PGCU?

*stares out of the window, eyes full of memories* The White Queen… now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time…

Ah, 2013. Springtime. I was excited for the White Queen to air through the Beeb. Since 2011 I had devoured the first four books of PG’s Cousins’ War series: The White Queen (loved it) The Red Queen (loved it even more) The Lady of the Rivers (you mean best girl Jacquetta gets her own book? RESULT!) The Kingmaker’s Daughter (whaaaat the story is completely different from another person’s POV? MIND BLOWN!)

Yes, people don’t like the role of witchcraft in the story, but I didn’t mind it at all. It made sense to me that women might practice white magic, because medieval people really did believe magic could work. And if the Tudors felt special by claiming descent from King Arthur, it made sense that descent from Melusine would feel special to Elizabeth Woodville and her family. After all, as far as back Julius Caesar people were claiming descent from heroes gods and mythological figures. And yes, it’s a cliché to have your Empowered Woman practice herbology or witchcraft etc Divine Feminine etc, but Margaret Beaufort was a HBIC while explicitly rejecting magic, and the same goes for Anne Neville.

The tabloids were already grumbling about how the show filmed in Belgium because the medieval architecture there was less intruded-upon. Then the first episodes aired and the tabloids were grumbling about zippers, straight teeth, concrete steps, guttering, handrails, Rebecca Ferguson’s accent. ‘It’s not as good as Game of Thrones’. What was this show, ‘Game of Thrones’? I felt rather envious/jealous. I wanted my show to be good. I wanted my show to get good reviews and have people enthused about it and be genuinely objectively well-made. Now I’ve moved beyond this attitude; and if a show is better than ‘my’ show I don’t resent it because there’s nothing to stop me enjoying the better show too.

(….mostly moved beyond this attitude).  

Funnily enough it was because of the White Queen that I landed upon this strangely-formatted website called ‘tumbler’. Sorry, ‘tumblr’.

Ah, the cast! I wouldn’t change a single person. Janet McTeer! James Frain! David Oakes! Rupert Graves! Amanda Hale! Veerle Baetens! Eleanor Tomlinson! Faye Marsay! Aneurin Barnard as Richard the Frodo!

Also, Leo Bill as Reginald Bray, he was great! I remember at the time saying that Reggie B and Maggie B should have their own sitcom spinoff called Saints’ Knees.

Episodes 6 and 7 were my favourite because I was a big Richard/Anne shipper. Even the reviewers came around to the show with episode 9 ‘the Princes in the Tower’.

And then the finale….how I hated it. Bosworth FIELD in a wood?? In winter?? Bullshit! Torpedoing the Richard/Anne ship with INCEST? UGH.

I particularly hated the last scene because it was such a damp squib. The show should have ended on a high note, with Margaret’s triumph, with her dream coming true, with her sheer relief that her only son has gambled his life and won. With mother and son gloriously reunited. But no, it ended with Elizabeth of York, the least interesting character in the whole show. SNORE.  I have the White Queen on DVD but idk if I’ll ever rewatch it.

Then the book The White Princess came out and W-T-F? I loved the first 4 books but the 5th book was a SLOG to get through. What was PGregs thinking?? This wasn’t Henry VII. This wasn’t Elizabeth of York. This wasn’t the Margaret of the Red Queen, with her flaws, her loves, her fears, her strength, her dreams, her humanity. I finished the White Princess but I only got through 2-5 pages of The King’s Curse before I gave up, suspecting that the book would be another 500 pages of whining about the Tudors and nothing else. Yes, it’s unfair to call Margaret Pole whiny as she had legit reasons to be unhappy, but it felt whiny.

Years passed. Empires rose and fell. Ironically, I got into Game of Thrones and read all the books. Then 2015 arrived and I watched the first episode of series 5, realised they made a huge mistake killing off a certain major character, and I was right because it was DOWNHILL ALL THE WAY.

2017. I didn’t watch the White Princess but I followed the Discourse, especially the excellent analysis by MelinaPendulum (now Princess Weekes). In theory, the show should be right up my street. A vengeful princess in love with her shady king uncle? Her shady king uncle is killed in battle and she must marry the conqueror? Vengeful princess vows to be ‘hidden and patient’? It’s enemies to lovers? The conqueror reveals hidden vulnerabilities? She realises she wants her son to be king after his father? She’s torn between her ambition, her mother’s ambition, her brother’s ambition, and her burgeoning desire for her husband, a sexy mop? She destroys her brother, the Rightful King ™? She executes her brother, just as her father executed his own brother? She finds her own power but loses a tiny and precious part of her soul in the process? SIGN ME UP.

The show should have been historically inspired fantasy. Just change the names! The costumes were more fairytale than medieval anyway! Change Richard III to Gorlois, Elizabeth to Igraine, Henry VII to Uther Pendragon.

I loved the posters for The Spanish Princess series 1 but I had no reason to watch it.

And then… The Spanish Princess series 2. What an event that show was! We didn’t know what Fraham would give us each week but we knew it would be illogical, hilarious, terrible, TASTELESS. Reading everyone’s reviews and liveblogs each week, the endless meme potential, the consensus that the show was utter shlock, so lowbrow that it made The Tudors look like Breaking Bad in comparison. The show was so stupid that it was almost beneath contempt. And there were unironically good things about it: Georgie Henley and Sai Bennett acted their socks off and I wish them all the best, I hope they get good parts in better shows. Their characters were genuinely interesting and engaging: fun, sassy, flawed. Me gusta. Maggie Pole, Lina, Oviedo… sympathetic characters with little to do, but it was nice seeing POC and ‘middle aged’ women and I wish they were the protagonists instead of poor Charlotte Hope desperately struggling to speak Spanishly. (Ruairi O’Connor also tried hard, he just wasn’t well-cast or well-written.) In a way, maybe it was more fun than Becoming Elizabeth because at least there was no wasted potential and no frustrated expectations: we expected shlock, we got shlock. The show wasn’t good but the community around the show livened up the end of a….not terrible but definitely WEIRD year of my life.

[bookcub]

24 please!

Favorite Young Adult book(s).

uhhhh

SO MANY

beauty queens by libba bray

legendborn by tracy deonn

in other lands by sarah rees brennan

ophelia after all by racquel marie

with the fire on high by elizabeth acevedo

elatsoe by darcie little badger

graceling by kristen cashore

the storyteller by antonio michaelis

strange the dreamer by laini taylor

a very large expanse of sea by tahereh mafi

little thieves by margaret owen

the scapegracers by h a clarke

the mirror season by anna-marie mclemore

this is absolutely an incomplete list i could go on and on for ages. my ya shelf on goodreads has over 700 books on it actually

[justdonotaskmewhy]

The Crown fact-checked. Part 1/60

Before we begin I have to say a few words:

I understand that The Crown is a work of fiction and my goal is not to say "It's all lies!", we know it is full of stuff that has never happened, I just want to "do my own research" and see which facts were changed

I will try to be as unbiased as I possibly can. I can't promise you will like my stuff or agree with me, but my thoughts are just my thoughts, you can always decide for yourself

This being said, let's start our journey

Season 1. Episode 1. Wolferton Splash

King George's VI illness

The Crown's opening scene is that of the king spitting blood and coughing heavily. This theme of illness is recurring for the rest of the episode.

King George VI was a heavy smoker. The cigarettes were rather cheap after war and it is no wonder he developed such an unhealthy habit. Note: i phrased it badly but he started smoking much earlier than after the war ended, the cigarettes were just cheaper so it was even easier for him to get access to smoking.

Due to his smoking he had a lung cancer and coronary artery disease. Both of his illnesses appeared in the series.

2. Prince Philip renounces his royal titles

The series is true to the reality here. On the eve of his wedding to princess Elizabeth Prince Philip renounced his "foreign titles" of Greece and Denmark and was styled as "His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh,  Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich of Greenwich in the County of London"

3. King stutters

It is no surprise to anyone who has ever watched "The King's Speech". King George stuttered ever since he was a child and attended speech therapy to get rid of it. He almost get rid of it and it is hard to notice it in his public speeches. You can listen to this if you're interested, the real speech King George VI delivered on September 3rd, 1939 addressing Britain's involvement in World War II.

4. Prince Philip gave up smoking because princess Elizabeth couldn't stand it

As any loving daughter would be, princess Elizabeth was preoccupied by her father's health. Seeing that smoking did not do him any good, she insisted prince Philip should give up the habit. He did and some sources state he didn't smoke once after his wedding day.

5. Limericks

As fun as it may sound the king was fond of dirty limericks. However The Crown faced a controversy as the king says the word "cunt" in the opening episode.

The full limerick is as follows:

There was an old Countess of Bray,

And you might think it odd when I say,

That despite her high station, rank and education.

She always spelled "Cunt" with a K!

6. Princess Margaret at princess Elizabeth's wedding

Princess Margaret was one of princess Elizabeth's bridesmaids. However she was shorter than her sister (Elizabeth was 163 cm tall, Princess Margaret was 155 cm).

7. Winston Churchill at princess Elizabeth's wedding. I Vow To Thee My Country

He and his wife attended the wedding and, in fact, caused a "false alarm" of applause by their arrival as everyone thought it was the princess who was cheered with such an enthusiasm.

However I Vow To Thee My Country apparently never played upon his arrival. But This song is indeed regarded as synonymous with Churchill, and it played at his funeral.

8. Hatred towards Mountbattens

Lord Louis Mountbatten was the last Viceroy of British India. In 1947 the partition of Pakistan was inevitable but it resulted in a blood bath. Million was killed, 15 millions were displaced.

Churchill was unsatisfied with Mountbatten's hurry to operate the situation and called it "a shameful flight" which was shown in The Crown.

9. Peter Townsend

Group Captain Peter Townsend was an equerry to King George VI. He indeed had an affair with Princess Margaret, the king's youngest daughter.

A gross fact but may I remind you: he was 33 and she was 17 in 1947 when their romance presumably began. We will discuss it further in later posts.

10. Nazis and the British Royal family

The British Royal family is notorious for its connections to nazis. We are not going to talk about Edward and Wallace (because we will talk about them later), but Prince Philip had four sisters, all of whom married members of the German aristocracy—three of those men became Nazis. One sister, Princess Theodora married Berthold, Margrave of Baden; they tried to keep their distance from Nazism.

His eldest sister, Princess Margarita, married Gottfried, the 8th Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg—a German aristocrat who joined the Nazi party and served in World War II. He was involved in Operation Valkyrie, the plot to assassinate Hitler in 1944. 

Princess Cecilie, another sister, married German aristocrat Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse. They joined the Nazis in May 1937, but died in a plane crash months later. At her funeral, Prince Philip marched with their relatives who wore Nazi uniforms.

His youngest sister, Princess Sophie, married Prince Christoph of Hesse, an Oberführer in the Nazi Party and a director in the Third Reich's Ministry of Air Forces. Sophie said in her memoir of Hitler, "I have to say here, that, although Chri [Prince Chrisoph] and I changed our political view fundamentally some years later, we were impressed by this charming and seemingly modest man, and by his plans to change and improve the situation in Germany."

It is worth mentioning that Philip served Britain during World War II and did not himself support the nazi regime.

11. The royal family was against princess Elizabeth's marriage to Philip

It indeed happened but for an unexpected reason. Royal courtiers said that prince Philip "was too funny and had too many gaffes".

12. Lilibet

Lilibet was a nickname for princess Elizabeth. It is said that it was given by Princess Margaret who couldn't pronounce "Elizabeth" at a young age. Now it is prince Harry's daughter name, what a sweet continuity.

i stand corrected: according to this source its origin can be different. Elizabeth used to call herself Lilibet when she was a toddler.

13. Waving

Royalty way much slower than everyone else. This waving is easy to recognise, you've seen it multiple times. It is supposed that this particular style is safer for articulations, and this can be one of the reasons they wave like they do.

14. Princess Elizabeth's passion for filming

Though it is not clear whether she liked filming herself, she was clearly fond of watching clips filmed by her family members as it was shown in "Queen at 90"

15. Princess Margaret smoking habits

Princess Margaret had a reputation of a heavy smoker. Rightfully so, as she could smoke up to 60 cigarettes a day. Allegedly she started smoking in 1952 after the death of her father (she was 21 at the time). Smoking excessively could be a sign of untreated depression and mental health troubles which we will discuss in later posts.

Side note: Margaret's smoking was first noticed in her late teens when she became famous on the party circuit for her turtle shell cigarette holder.

16. King's operation

The operation to remove the lung indeed took place at the Buckingham Palace.

When the King's chest was suspected as the cause of his ill health, Sir John called in Geoffrey Marshall, 64, an expert on lung diseases, and Sir Robert Arthur Young, 80, grand old man of British chest experts. X rays by Radiologist Peter James Kerley and others showed what seemed to be a growth in the left lung. Australian-born Brigadier Sir Thomas Peel Dunhill, 75, who enjoys the title of Sergeant Surgeon to the King, agreed that an operation was necessary. The doctors decided that another Welshman, Chest Surgeon Clement Price Thomas, was the man to do the surgery.

17. Princess Elizabeth's curtsy to her mother and grandmother

A sweet gesture and a nice tradition to show respect which lasts up until this day.

Here is a clip of prince Harry bowing to his grandmother followed by kissing her on both cheeks.

18. Churchill elected the second time

Churchill became PM for a second time on October 26th, 1951. Fun fact: it happened month away from his 77th birthday.

19. Princess Elizabeth's Commonwealth tour

As the following episode will show the prince and the princess were on Commonwealth tour in 1952 when they received the news of king George's VI sudden death. They were in Kenya when it happened.

20. Carolers at Sandringham

Even though I can't find any reliable source about this scene, it is a decent metaphor. The king who learnt he is dying welcomes villagers who offer him a crown.

They sing "In a Bleak Midwinter" which I highly recommend to listen to closely.

The poem was written by an English poet Christina Rosetti.

What can I give Him, Poor as I am? — If I were a Shepherd I would bring a lamb; If I were a Wise Man I would do my part, — Yet what I can I give Him, — Give my heart.

21. Prince Philip and Navy

Prince Philip's naval career began when he was 17. The Duke of Edinburgh’s active naval career ended as a commander in January 1953, after almost 14 years.

Despite his retirement from active service, Prince Philp remained both interested and involved in the Naval Service through official visits, patronage of, and association with, naval charities and clubs.

Useful links:

[bloody-wonder]

23 Books in 2023

thanks for the tag @mrs-storm-andrews 📚✨

the rules are to name any 23 books you read in 2023. i was thinking about naming the best ones but it just so happens that i read exactly 23 books since doing my mid-year tag so here they are in reverse chronological order

loved it | was disappointed by it

Die Wunder des Lebens by Stefan Zweig

En l'absence des hommes by Philippe Besson

The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Nimona by N.D. Stevenson

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin

Die spät bezahlte Schuld by Stefan Zweig

Witch King by Martha Wells

The Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold

Family by M.C.A. Hogarth

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Dreamstorm by M.C.A. Hogarth

Die Reise in die Vergangenheit by Stefan Zweig

The King of Crows by Libba Bray

Vergessene Träume by Stefan Zweig

Dreamhearth by M.C.A. Hogarth

Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles

tagging @counterwiddershins @fugitoidkry @magpiefngrl @oliviermiraarmstrongs @pinkasrenzo @sugarbabywenkexing @fandomreferencepending @pemberlaey @hello-jumping-in-puddles @thehalcyonharbinger @beeblackburn @weirdsociology @veliseraptor @theodoradove @sixappleseeds @doh-rae-me @venndaai

📚goodreads📚

[lyricityhq]

você sabia que é mais educado tirar os fones de ouvido para dar boas-vindas aos novos moradores?! venham, se aconcheguem, pois as maravilhas de bray esperam por vocês.

Se a vida de GRACE-LILY DUBBS fosse virar um filme, YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN, KID de TAYLOR SWIFT com certeza faria parte da trilha sonora, tocando em seu aniversário de VINTE E OITO ANOS e acompanhando-a durante sua rotina como TATUADORA. Quem sabe até não justificaria o motivo DELA ser tão ALTRUISTA, mas ao mesmo tempo tão TEIMOSA? Isso eu já não sei, mas acho que MARGARET QUALLEY ficaria ótima no papel!

Se a vida de LIAM PARK fosse virar um filme, LIVIN' ON A PRAYER de BON JOVI com certeza faria parte da trilha sonora, tocando em seu aniversário de TRINTA E UM ANOS e acompanhando-o durante sua rotina como SOUS CHEF no OONA'S TEMPLE. Quem sabe até não justificaria o motivo DELE ser tão ESFORÇADO, mas ao mesmo tempo tão TEIMOSO? Isso eu já não sei, mas acho que KIM MINGYU ficaria ótimo no papel!

Se a vida de AYLIN YILMAZ fosse virar um filme, WALK de FOO FIGHTERS com certeza faria parte da trilha sonora, tocando em seu aniversário de VINTE E CINCO ANOS e acompanhando-a durante sua rotina como GARÇONETE NO ROCK & CLOVER. Quem sabe até não justificaria o motivo DELA ser tão RESILIENTE, mas ao mesmo tempo tão TEIMOSA? Isso eu já não sei, mas acho que ASLIHAN MALBORA ficaria ótima no papel!

Se a vida de EDHELAN BOUER fosse virar um filme, CONTROL de HALSEY com certeza faria parte da trilha sonora, tocando em seu aniversário de VINTE E TRÊS ANOS e acompanhando-a durante sua rotina como ATENDENTE NA GROOVE RECORDS, COMPOSITORA E CANTORA. Quem sabe até não justificaria o motivo DELA ser tão CRIATIVA, mas ao mesmo tempo tão VINGATIVA? Isso eu já não sei, mas acho que AVITAL LANGER ficaria ótima no papel!

Se a vida de JOHN ABBOTT fosse virar um filme, BUG LIKE AN ANGEL de MITSKI com certeza faria parte da trilha sonora, tocando em seu aniversário de TRINTA E CINCO ANOS e acompanhando-a durante sua rotina como POLICIAL na SENTINEL POLICE STATION. Quem sabe até não justificaria o motivo DELE ser tão EMPÁTICO, mas ao mesmo tempo tão PESSIMISTA? Isso eu já não sei, mas acho que OLIVER JACKSON-COHEN ficaria ótima no papel!

[sporadiceagleheart]

Childhood Cancer Edit for honor and rememberance Ana at age 5, Destiny Arianna Kay Riekeberg, Lily Rose Diaz, Colby Curtin, Stacy Leigh Black, Riley Faith Steep, Kenzlee Marie Cook, Jane Eilish Preston, Grace Elizabeth “Amazing Gracie” Ekis, Ellie Walton, Sophie Walker, Elowyn Ivy "Winnie" Pollard, Zoey Catherine Daggett, Stevie Lynn Stock, Gentry "Gents" Morgan Terrell, Eliana Rose Lara, Haylie Marie Chmela, Aria Hodgkiss, Adalynn 'Addie' Mae Jessen, Madelyn Marie Anderson, Rylie Nicholls, Olivia Mariam "Oli" Pineda Arevalo, Sarah Atif, Finley Nicole Miller, Kailey Lawson, Connor "The Crusher" Michalek, Daniya Abdulhamid Ketchman, Jaida Nancy Claire Chartier, Trinity Riley, Hailey Elizabeth Acevedo, Liam M.C. Huggler, Nova May Baker, Lila May Smith, Addison Bell, Elle Adriana Caruso, Sophia Margaret Nielsen, Evylah Gao Chia Xiong, Paula Golik, Hailey Janya Olson, Victoria "Tori" Kay Maree Binnie, Delilah Love Loya, AnnaBella "Bella" Rose Kirby, Elayna Grace Sandeen, Grace "Gracie" Anna-Lynn Williams, Eliza Adalynn Moore, Kinsley Adelynn Wilkerson, Summer Kathryn Allen, Molly Richards, Raelynn Shay Velarde Fronczak, Adaline Rose Cowley, Lily LaRue Anderson, Dillan Ramsey-Aksehir, Miss. Addison Carolyn Bryan, Kinsley Marie Winn, Nicole “Coco” Sweis, Avery Linn Handrow, Cheyanne Rae “Chey” Brant, Emma Grace Smith, Zamora Moon Martinez-Lusinchi, Amelia LaRee “Millie” Flamm, Miesha Amaya (Amaya) Alguno, Charlotte Grace York, Anastasia Konstanze Ermakov, Everly Mae Settlemyer, Evelyn Grace Jackson, Lily Kate Williams-Brola, Brayleigh Louise “Bray” King, Annabelle Potts, Taliyah Baptiste, Colton Armstrong White, Kinley Nicole Sexton, Luna Zoe Cristobal, Amyah Joye Brown, Emily Grace Navarra,

[uarmeimu]

20 books challenge

If you could only keep 20 books (physical/ebook/audio), which would be the ones you would keep?

Rules are simple:

1 book per author. 1 book per series. Tag #twenty books challenge

i saw a challenge from @theinquisitxor and tagged myself to do it

book names are below the cut

magic for liars by sarah gailey

american gods by neil gaiman

the silver chair by cs lewis

lirael by garth nix

the return of the king by jrr tolkien

jonathan strange & mr norrell by susanna clarke

we are okay by nina la cour

house of hades by rick riordan

the magician king by lev grossman

assassin's quest by robin hobb

crooked kingdom by leigh bardugo

black leopard red wolf by marlon james

words of radiance by brandon sanderson

dracula by bram stoker

squire by tamora pierce

a swiftly tilting planet by madeline lengle

just ella by margaret haddix

wuthering heights by emily bronte

the sweet far thing by libra bray

ptolemys gate by jonathan stroud

[dillydedalus]

women in translation month wrap-up

here's what i read this witmonth, faves marked with *

das verbotene notizbuch, alba de céspedes (translated from the italian by verena from koskull, english translation: forbidden notebook, by ann goldstein)

salomés zorn, simone atangana bekono (translated from the dutch by ira wilhelm, no english translation yet)

witches, brenda lozano (translated from the spanish by heather cleary)

*three summers, margarita liberaki (translated from the greek by karen van dyck)

breasts and eggs, mieko kawakami (translated from the japanese by sam bett & david boyd)

im park der prächtigen schwestern, camila sosa villada (translated from the spanish by svenja becker, english translation: bad girls, by kit maude)

*boulder, eva baltasar (translated from the catalan by julia sanches): READ BOULDER BY EVA BALTASAR

sweet days of discipline, fleur jaeggy (translated from the italian by tim parks)

the wandering, intan paramaditha (translated from the indonesian by stephen j. epstein)

my pen is the wing of a bird, anthology of short stories by afghan women, translated from dari & pashto

all your children, scattered, beata umbyeyi mairesse (translated from the french by alison anderson)

*waking lions, ayelet gundar-goshen (translated from the hebrew by sondra silverston)

*the lover, marguerite duras (translated from the french by barbara bray)

*trieste, daša drndić (translated from the croatian by ellen elias-bursać)

evil flowers, gunnhild øyehaug (translated from the norwegian by kari dickson)

*empty wardrobes, maria judite de carvalho (translated from the portuguese by margaret jull costa)

die tochter, kim hye-jin (translated from the korean by lee ki-hyang, english translation: concerning my daughter, by jamie chang)

still reading:

the books of jacob, olga tokarczuk (translated from the polish by jennifer croft

mister n, najwa barakat (translated from the arabic by luke leafgren)

[daechwitatamic]

Jo, feel free to save and answer this ask whenever you have the time, but I love your writing style so much and I'm curious to know what your favorite books are? I used to be such an avid reader as a kid, but I find it so hard as an adult to find books that really hook me. It's like I need something more enjoyable than Faulkner but not anywhere near as formulaic as Nicholas Sparks, but those are the type of books that fill up many recommendation lists!

I love a nice, long novel that follows a character and their development over timen (can you tell why I like your work?). Some of my favorites are East of Eden, Vanity Fair, and I Know This Much Is True.

What have you read that you couldn't put down?

🌴

ohhhhhhh what a question. This is gonna need a read more.

I will admit to being a huge fan of young adult lit, despite being 33. A group of my friends and I go to YALLFest every fall to shout at our favorite authors. Some of my favorites from this category are Taherah Mafi (specifically her stand-alones "An Emotion of Great Delight" and "A Very Large Expanse of Sea"), Libba Bray (The Diviner's Series!!!! The Gemma Doyle Trilogy!!!!), Leigh Bardugo (specifically the Six of Crows duology and the Ninth House series), Sarah Dessen (though I'll admit this is mostly out of loyalty and nostalgia at this point and I think if I read her books fresh as an adult i would not love them like i did growing up), Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles!!!!!!!!!! but another that idk if i would love if i read them NOW instead of at 20), and E. Lockheart (WE WERE LIARS!!!!!).

As far as fiction meant for real adults lol I haven't been a fan of any of her books since the early 2010s but Jodi Picoult was really formative when I was a teenager and is honestly the reason I went for a writing degree. I thought I'd be her when I grew up (haaaa). I really liked Sara Gruen (EXCEPT for the one about monkeys WHO LET HER WRITE THAT), Tara Conklin, Kevin Brockmeier, Margaret Atwood (i once tripled the page assignment for a paper on Handmaid's Tale about a decade before it was a show and got a B for going over the page limit >:( true story). I am a HUGE HUGE HUGE fan of Brunonia Barry - can't recommend The Lace Reader or The Map of True Places enough!

Ok, for my ults - in the YA category it's Maggie Stiefvater (Raven King series, again - not sure how this will read as an adult person but I read them first in my early 20s and I was DEEPLY attached and she's one of the smartest, most wonderful people and I've met her several times and gone to her writing seminars and she's just..... a god tier human and great writer).

For adult fiction ult... N.K. Jemisen. I named the Professor in MFFMHH after her!!!! Nora is like........ literally a genius in our generation. Her trilogy The Broken Earth Trilogy fucked up my brain so bad I'll never recover (and it's also the key inspo for This is a Love Song, my WIP! It's technically a crossover of parts of the world from this series, plus bangtan lmao). It's a GUTTING analogy of colonization, racism, slavery, oppression... hidden behind an almost sci-fi/apocalyptic backdrop. It is SERIOUSLY so so so so so so so good but it will break your brain and fuck you up.

let me know if you end up reading any of these!!!! i love to talk about books!!!!

<3 <3 <3 <3 i hope you're having a good week!!!!

[capinejghafa]

BOOKS

tagged by @saritasoyyo thank you!

Rules: in a text post, list ten books that have stayed with you in some way. don’t take but a few minutes, and don’t think too hard — they don’t have to be the “right” or “great” works, just the ones that have touched you.

ok, so i’ve read a lot crap... and sometimes i question my taste in books. so, don't think of this as recommendations. what so ever. Also, I don't tend to read solo books, and 9 out 10 times I accidentally pick up a series.

ASOIAF by grrm. I have a tattoo of the House Martell sigil enough said.

Six of Crows by leigh Bardugo. I first listened to this on audible and I know shocking... but if you've never experienced the audio version, it's such a good listen to. But also it's good on it's own too! I read/listened to this after reading a miserable series and it helped me out my depression. So say what you want about audiobooks lol

Wallflower verse by Lisa Kleypas. Did the series age well? No. But did this insp my love of historical romance? Yes. Also, I have read all of this series... there's a lot. I'm unashamed.

Scarlet Scars Series by J.M. Darhower. Tbh this is a spinoff of a pretty awful series and none of this should work for me... but there's something about reading this when you're in a depression or self-destructive mood that put things in an interesting pov.

Sweep series by Cate Tiernan. I read this when I was 14 going on 15. And oof reading it now it tough but I did love it as a kid and have three complete editions of this specific series.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. This list doesn't have to be good lol I have the longest history with this series and it's just part of me... whether or not I like it.

Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones. Such a promising start that left me hate reading by book 8. but did i finish the series? yes.

Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray. I debated on adding this because I don’t know if it stuck with me for the right reasons, but i think about it sometimes and I even did a reread a few months ago.

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot. I read this as an adult™ and the entire time I was like Meg definitely didn’t know how to write a character with depression respectfully and it shows. But I think for what it’s worth, as I’m not the targeted audience, it’s a fast and somewhat charming read. And the reason why I can never watch PD2 again lol

Beautiful Creatures Series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. This is another one that i was not the targeted demo, but it stayed with me in a way that some of the books I was reading around this time didn’t *coughs in romance novels*. I love the potential of the world and what it could have been. And I think about that potential a lot.

did you all need an explanation? no. but i was in a mood to talk about my weird book choices lol i did not follow the rules *looks away*

tagging (no pressure): @totchipanda @linearao3 @whatanybodygets @genuineformality and anyone who wants to talk about books