#must love hockey

[libertyreads]

March Wrap Up 2024--

What a month that was. Did I read more than what I was supposed to? Yes. Am I mad about it? No. My goal for the year is to stay between 52 and 104 books read which means I need to read roughly 8 books per month (technically 8.6 or something like that) at the maximum. All this basically means is that I have to stick to reading 8 books next month. I blame the fact that my library hold came in 2 weeks early and I really didn't want to get back in line for it since it took so long to come in. Let's get to what I read and what I rated what I read.

Comics/Graphic Novels-- 1. Teen Titans: Raven by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo--3.75 stars (original rating).

Novellas-- 1. Must Love Hockey by Sarina Bowen (Kindle)--3.75 stars.

2. The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djeli Clark (NetGalley)--4 stars.

Novels-- 1. No Coincidence by Rafat Kosik--1.75 stars.

2. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu--3 stars.

3. The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah--3.75 stars.

4. Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson (Library)--4 stars.

5. Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes (NetGalley)--3.25 stars.

6. The Foxglove King by Hannah F. Whitten--4.25 stars (original rating).

The average star rating for the month ended up being 3.5 stars which was such a surprise given that this is the month with my worst rated book of the year so far. Not too shabby though.

[larsnicklas]

🚨 svechigan (svech michigan) alert 🚨

[tiger-in-the-flightdeck]

Leonard 'Cold As Ice' Snart: Huh. It's been almost twenty minutes since I explained to a murderer just how much Flash and I like each other. I better do something about that.

[zetterbabe]

giggling on the bench after all the misconducts (02.17.24)

[yarrummal]

There are 3 axes on which a sports RPF prospect may demonstrate value: conventional attractiveness, good at their sport, and demonstrable personality, where personality can be interchangeable with "has a guy best friend". To begin gaining traction in the fanbase (definition: you make a post about them and at least one other person agrees), a prospect must have at least two of the above listed traits. These main variables, along with several co-variates such as size of fanbase or success of team, dictate the ever changing, ever expanding, race to the top of the most popular ships. In this essay I will

[boxwinebaddie]

HI Uncle Nina <3 Can we hear about how your Rm!Style met as kids?

listen, you guys. i am SO excited for this!!! words cannot express how excited it makes me when i get to talk about the prequel, like they are sooo stikin' cute in the prequel!!! ilysm baby raven and jersey. MWAH!

*eldritchhorror!kenny!nina cracks knuckles n opens up a portal* okay girls, gays n gays, we're going on a field trip,

TO THE PAST!

( i’m chaotic bi ms. frizzle in the pink y2k hello kitty bus )

so, i gotta be honest, my friends, i don't know EXACTLY how old the boys are, but i am gonna say they are anywhere between 6-8 y/o. it's summer time and the broflovski's have just moved to southern park, colorado from sheila's hometown in new jersey...and have moved in right next door...to the marsh family, namely:

ravenstanley r.w. marsh.

who i am using as a primary narrator...FOR ONCE!

because to tell you this was the best day of his life was an goddamn understatement...to tell you that this changed his life, even, is a fkn understatement because this moment, this fateful day GAVE HIS ENTIRE LIFE MEANING. meeting kyle broflovski...was Everything.

again, it wasn't just like 'oh, this boy who moved next door to me is kinda cute, i might have a crush on him'

It Was Dead Serious, Guys.

a teeny tiny, itsy bitsy, ickle ravenstanley marsh heard a single loud, angry, brutal note of the kyle broflovski new jersey slaughterhouse and was immediately irreversibly head over heels IN LOVE with him.

fresh from jersey kyle asked stan if he could open his fresca and the man's synesthesia was flashing, spinning, ringing and dinging like he was playing the world's biggest slot machine and just hit JACKPOT.

and that was before he got a good look at him because...

Wooooowza. <3

all the hundreds of little freckles speckled over his skin like sun-stars, his big, beautiful curly red hair, his gorgeous, glowering mean, green eyes ravenstan was legitimately Breathtaken by kyle's beauty, omfg.

however, the funniest part abt all of this to me is that poor sweet pre!rm rae is legitimately having divine visions and hearing angelic choirs, meanwhile pre!rm jers is just staring blankly at this weird, giant-eyed freaky mouth-breathing rural colorado kid ( who ig is his neighbor now, smh ) that's just staring up at him and sweating and shaking and looks like he's having a Stroke.

edit: i forgot to describe what they looked like so know that ravenstan had come out of the house because his mom told him to say hi to the neighbors and help them with boxes and stuff, say hi to their son, etc.

i think his hair is shoulder length, but its in a lil ponytail, he's in randy's gigantic black sabbath t-shirt, probably has a gigantic edgy boy temp tattoo of a skull or a snake on his neck, smh, little like hot wheels, boy section of target-esqe stickers all over his face and arms, little other edgy elementary school boy marker tattoos on his arms because he literally has always been a rockstar.

meanwhile, jersey, in canon ncu baby kyle fashion, is wearing his gigantic kyle signature orange coat and green ushanka IN THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER because he is self conscious and sheila bought both on sale at the mall during summer when the winter stuff is all half up because she's a thrifty queen and wants him to get wear out of them and break them in...smh.

so he is sweating like hell and just wants to get his fresca open, which is very vintage and still comes in the bottle.

but regarding The Fresca Of Fate,

stan Does eventually ( open / it. )

...in the most chaotic, unhinged way possible, btw.

which is that baby ravenstan bites, rips and twists the cap off with his teeth like a feral fucking animal ( which i think happened because he was legitimately panicking like holy shit, what do i do, what the Fuck do i doooo?!?! i don't know how to get this open but the beautiful spotty boy w/ the perfect voice asked me to do it, so ¡oRALE! )

note: it is this party trick that he'd seen randy do a couple of times and just replicated, but totally ripped his lip open in the process, btw.

anyways, rae hands the fresca back to baby jersey and because he is a fkn idiot but also a superstar ( i love u raven ) shoots kyle the signature stanley marsh wink-peace sign-finger gun combo wombo.

and jersey is just SHOOK because that was, in fact, criminally insane, but also...kinda cool? and an oddly touching gesture because he could have just handed the bottle back or said go fuck yourself, new kid! because he didn't give a shit about this kid from next door and his parents were both busy...but wanted kyle to have his little drinky poo so bad that he literally busted his lip open turning into a can-opener for ky...and did the cutest, weirdest most awkward hand-sign ever.

tldr; it was brave and reckless and boyish and radiant. and kyle, who usually is highly disgusted by the germs of other people...finds that brings the lip of the fresca bottle to his with ease, sips his drink, which tastes like victory and probably a bit like cinnamon red hots, watches his weirdo neighbor give him the wink peace sign finger gun combo and is so weirdly endeared by this that he...

gives stan a rare kyle smile and even rarer kyle laugh. :’)

and this is so glorious and gorgeous to ravenstan that he literally cannot breathe, his heart is pounding in his chest, he is fkn shaking, goes to say something and immediately THROWS UP ALL OVER KYLE AND PASSES OUT. skhdlksahdsh HEEEEELP NO.

but yeah...that's how dad and dad met. please note that in canon ncu fashion ravenstan followed jersey around like a lovesick puppy, ignoring all of the kids trying to get his attention and play with him, desperate for kyle to acknowledge his existence for literally five seconds or accept his offer of being super best friends...

all the while, jerseykyle is trying to get away from him because he doesn't like other people, doesn't want to be friends, just wants to be left alone and be alone skhdld and is like weird kid with the giant eyeballs PLEASE FUCK OFF ( this does make stan fall more in love with him, stan i need you to go to therapy for the type of guys u like ) and this apathy and disinterest continues until...

stan takes the stark's pond hockey puck for him.

and suddenly, kyle's cold dead heart starts beating again, he sees ravenstan in the hospital recovering from slicing his face and mouth open again, who smiles so hard he RIPS his stitches open again, smh and from that moment on, they are Super Best Friends.

but both secretly want something more, legend says.

-uncle nina, obsessed with the prequel <3

[hussyknee]

You know you've gone too deep down the ice hockey romance hole when you, 37 years old, start thinking of Sidney Crosby (also 37) and Alex Ovechkin (39) as old-timer legends who should retire soon.

[setaflow]

I hate being a hockey fan with my entire core because I can't muster a positive middle ground. My team wins 7 games in a row and I'm like "Well I mean great job but are they REALLY this good" and then they drop 1 fucking game (they are up 3-1) (they haven't lost on home ice) (they weren't even blown out they lost in the final 3 minutes on a bad penalty) and I'm mentally preparing myself for the reverse sweep to come there is NO WINNING WITH THIS SPORT.

[dogwittaablog]

are there any other nhl players that you like besides nolpats that you enjoy as a player or find them attractive??

There are a few...

Brock Boeser honestly I never really cared much for him or his looks but its the fact you can tell he's a genuine sweet heart that makes me fuck with him... Also love what hes been doing for the Canucks have been seeing him thrive throughout the games I've watched.

Vince Dunn heard he's problematic but ong he seems like such a fun time lmao.

Matt Rempe has grown on me I think I'm just a sucker for big ass dudes... and hands... I can't forget the hands... seems like an actual softy.

Connor Dewar is handsome as hell... simple as that.

Tyler Seguin I gotta throw him in there because I got to pay homage to the OG man candy of my adolescence.

[puckpocketed]

"The coaching staff here, the first day I got back, you know, they challenged me. They challenged me to be a better player out there, and to be a difference maker. And you know, that can come with scoring goals, assists - but it could also come with hits, drawing penalties; all the things that maybe not everybody notices but, you know, since they've come in, the message is: I can do a lot better. And I know, and I knew that, but - to have it laid out like that, it's a fun challenge."

10/2/2024 - LA Kings Postgame Media

Pierre-Luc Dubois comments on his turnaround performance during the Oilers match.

[libertyreads]

March TBR--

I'm hoping the month of March goes a little better for me reading wise. I felt like I got a decent amount read in February (while still sticking to my goals for the year) but a lot of it was so mid. I'm ready for any of these books to just grab me by the throat and keep me hooked. I have two rereads in preparation for new releases later this year. I also have two NetGalley ARCs and a hockey romance (because I've read one every month of the year so far, why not keep that going?).

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah-- This is one of those books you hear about a ton on the bookish spaces of the internet and I decided it was finally time to see what all of the hype is about. In this one, we follow Loulie al-Nazari as she and her jinn bodyguard are forced to help the sultan find an ancient lamp that has the power to revive the barren land. There is a ton more in the synopsis, but like a lot of reviewers these days, I feel like synopses are starting to give too much away. I'm hoping for some City of Brass vibes and lots of adventure.

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten (Reread)-- I read this one a year ago and I'm excited to dive back into it before the next book comes out. In this one we follow Lore who escaped from a cult beneath the city of Dellaire over 10 years ago. Lore's job as a runner sustains her, but when a run goes wrong and her power is revealed she's forced to work for the Sainted King to find the person in his court responsible for the deaths of entire villages on the outskirts of the country. Thrust into the Sainted King's glittering court, Lore becomes tangled in politics, religion, and forbidden romance. This was my favorite book of January last year so I'm excited to reread.

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu-- A first contact with aliens story that's been translated from the original (and set to be released as a Netflix show soon) and follows the outcome of a secret military project that sent signals into space to establish contact with aliens. Will the alien civilization on the brink of destruction be welcomed on Earth or will there be a fight against an invasion?

Teen Titans: Raven by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo (Reread)-- Before the next in the graphic novel series comes out, I plan on doing a quick reread of this one. Number one in this series introduces us to Raven who is forced to move to New Orleans following the accident that takes her foster mother's life. But that accident has also taken her memory. Then strange things start happening. This is a fun series and I'm glad I get the chance to reread it.

No Coincidence by Rafat Kosik-- Translated from the original Polish, this is the first novel in the Cyberpunk 2077 series. Apparently, this series includes collected editions of limited series, standalone graphic novels, and also full length novels. There are four authors who have contributed to it. It is all based on the game Cyberpunk 2077. My understanding is that you can start in a few different places. I hope it's true. Let's talk about the actual book now. This one appealed to me because of the cover. But the synopsis really got me. A misfit group is forced to do a heist thanks to some good, old-fashioned blackmail. The gang includes a veteran turned renegade, a Militech sleeper agent, an amateur net runner, a corporate negotiator, a ripperdoc, and a techie. They must come together to pull off the deadly heist. Also...is this the third book in this TBR about people being forced to work for people above them??

Must Love Hockey by Sarina Bowen (Kindle)-- This short hockey romance follows a woman who has an allergic reaction at a hockey game and is rescued by an equipment manager whose name she doesn't manage to catch. I've read and enjoyed Sarina Bowen before so I'm hoping this is a fun and quick read.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djeli Clark (NetGalley)-- The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats. Nor do they have tails. But they are most assuredly dead. Those sworn to the Matron of Assassins--resurrected, deadly, wiped of their memories--have only three unbreakable vows. First, the contract must be just. Second, even the most powerful assassin may only kill the contracted. Third, once you accept a job, you must carry it out. And if you stray? A final death would be a mercy. Eveen's newest mission brings her face-to-face with a past she isn't supposed to remember and a vow she can't forget.

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes (NetGalley)-- When I tell you that I was squealing the day I found out I got access to this book, please, do picture it as a cute and dainty squeal instead of the insanity that actually unfolded. I loved Dead Silence from this author so when I saw they had a new space horror novel I HAD to try to get an ARC. Space exploration can be lonely and isolating. Psychologist Dr. Ophelia Bray is assigned to a small exploration crew and she is determined to make a difference. But as they begin establishing residency on an abandoned planet, it becomes clear that the crew is hiding something. Her crewmates are far more interested in investigating the eerie planet and unraveling the mystery behind the previous colonizer's hasty departure than opening up to her. That is, until their pilot is discovered gruesomely murdered. I cannot wait to read this one.

This TBR is giving me such a good feeling. There's Sci-Fi, there's Fantasy, there's Romance, there's Sci-Fi/Horror (a beloved genre pairing for me), there's a graphic novel. I'm just hoping March is such a good reading month. I kind of need it.

[human-trainwreck]

JARVY IS ON HATTY WATCH 15 MINS INTO THE GAME??

[dougiewonderland]

My condolences to Adam's friends, family, and teammates. This is such a terrifying thing to have happen, and I can't imagine the shock and disbelief everyone is going through. Incidents like this seem like such an outlandish idea until they happen, until they become way too real. After Teddy passed away last year, you would think that greater precautions would've been taken on all players. I hope leagues around the world look at these incidents, these innocent lives cut short, and work toward better player safety from things like this.

[ratatatastic]

haunting this side of the ice damn thats crazy i wish ekky was real :/

[mothertkachuker]

29 DEC 2023: Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov allows the overtime game-winning goal in a 6–5 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Two days later, he would be placed on waivers. Because no team claimed him, Samsonov was sent down to the Leafs’ AHL-affiliate to die. 

24 JAN 2024: In his third appearance after being called up from the AHL, Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov shut out the Central Division-best Winnipeg Jets. Samsonov allowed zero goals on 32 shots in the overtime win. Since his resurrection being recalled, Samsonov has gone 2-1-0, allowing only four goals on 72 shots faced.

• • •

[ MURDERED The writing continued until the driver's side glass was clear, entirely swept clean by an invisible finger, until there were so many words that none of them could be read.

Until it was only a window into an empty car with the memory of a burger on the passenger seat. 'Noah,' Gansey said, 'I'm so sorry.' Blue wiped away a tear. 'Me too.' Stepping forward, leaning over the hood of the car, Ronan pressed his fingers to the windshield, and while they watched, he wrote:

REMEMBERED.

— Maggie Stiefvater, The Raven Boys ]

[estapa94]

is anyone else getting this on umichs new post or is it just me 😭