#seriously though if you haven't read this book i highly recommend it

[lamentable-comedy]

John Updike, "Afterword", Gertrude and Claudius (2000)

Okay. Okay, yeah, I'm fine. Mmhm. I'm fine. This is fine. "Hamlet pulls them all into death. Coolcoolcoolcoolcoolcool. Cool. I am,,,,,

Fine.

[melit0n]

what do you think of vampires?

Oh I could go on and on about them (apologies for the ramble you're about to read anon).

I read Bram Stoker's Dracula back in April/May of this year since my friend bought it for me for Christmas, and I finally had time to read it. I finished all of the Puffin's addition of 614 pages in under two weeks, and I've been hooked on vampire content from then on. In general, I have a undying love for Gothic horror books (Frankenstein and the OG Le fantôme de l'Opéra started my obsession lol), and the idea of Vampires/Vampyres in general really interest me.

Of course, you have the original vampires from Slavic folklore, then Sheridan le Fanu's Carmilla, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Nosferatu, Interview with the Vampire, Vampire Diaries and, of course, the dreaded Edward Cullen from Twlilight. For literally thousands of years people have had interest in Vampires; they're a peice of folklore that has trancended, well, folklore, and I think that's awesome.

As characters, they have massive plot points as well! Like, don't get me wrong, I love a horrific vampire who hates their existence and their immorality is a form of punishment, but at the same time...blood-suckers coming in the middle of the night to feast on my blood? Oh, would you look at that! My neck is completely exposed, would be a complete shame if I were bitten.

Overall, vampires are super cool both as folklore creatures that stalk the night as well as Gothic horror monsters (especially when they're used correctly).

Thank you for the ask anon! I appreciate it <3

[restlessmaknae]

2023 drama recap

Note: these are dramas (webdramas & one cdrama & one Western show as well) that I’ve watched this year, but not all of them were released in 2023.

Shadow&bone s2: not gonna lie, this one felt messy and a bit all over the place, but I guess when you read the books and the TV show is a mix of different book series, it's expected

My review: 6/10

Use for my talent: the supporting couples carry this show on the back, I have nothing more positive to say because the main leads' love triangle is super annoying and the kiss scenes are so forced and unrealistic, it's not even funny anymore :') I haven't yet watched it until the end, but so far:

My review: 6.5/10

When i fly towards you (cdrama): this was a charming drama that got me until the second half of it when it lost its charm, and I realised that it's way too unrealistic, there were a lot of cringey scenes, the end felt dragged and repetitive, and I didn't really see any character development even though we saw the main leads growing up (but props to the second leads, I really loved their dynamics!)

My review: 6.5/10

User not found (webdrama): it was more enjoyable than annoying, but overall, it did have some unnecessary drama and the main female lead's acting wasn't up to my liking

My review: 7/10

Tracer: I'm pretty sure it would have been more enjoyable if we had managed to find good subtitles for it because the acting was really good, but I didn't get the plotline fully because of the Google Translate-like subs, so yeah, that's why it's only 7.5 (but Im Siwan's acting is 10/10 as always)

My review: 7.5/10

The witch store reopens (webdrama): it was perfectly fine considering that it was a webdrama (so expect some overexaggerated acting and such), it was cute, funny, and the leads (Yonghee and Yerin) did well

My review: 8/10

The heavenly idol: I've watched it for Kim Minkyu, but it was unexpectedly serious at times (touched upon bullying, double standards for idols, the nasty parts of the showbiz industry), so it did surprise me positively - however, the special effects were a bit odd at times, and you can't take the storyline seriously, but if you let go of reality, it's pretty enjoyable

My review: 8/10

Revenge of others: it was pretty dramatic at times and I didn't necessary like the big plot twist at the end, but I really loved the investigating part of it and the whole storyline wasn't that predictable

My review: 8.5/10

Seasons of blossom: this definitely delivered some emotional punches (read: I cried), and the acting was really good on the leads' part, some other acting was kind of forced, but overall, it was a meaningful drama

My review: 9/10

Crash course in romance: me and my mother both really enjoyed this show, we were waiting for the episodes to come out week after week. It was really funny, had some serious topics to touch upon, and the acting was overall really good. I deduct 0.5 point because sometimes I didn't feel the balance between the crime part (yes, there's one like that) and the main storyline, it wasn't that annoying, but I have to mention it

My review: 9.5/10

King the land: it was similar to Business Proposal to me in terms of how much I enjoyed it and why I deduct 0.5 point - it was funny, it was cute, the acting was really good, but there were a lot of clichés that you can't help but shrug off because it was really enjoyable

My review: 9.5/10

Castaway diva: I have 3 episodes left, so this is not my final verdict, but it's been really good so far, I really love the way they touch upon such sensitive topics, and the acting ranges here on the three main leads' parts are just wow! (I only deduct 0.5 point because of Yoon Ranjoo and her whole showbiz team, it's like they can't decide which side they want to be on)

My review: 9.5/10

Twinkling watermelon: my favourite drama this year, genuinely a 10/10, it was funny, heart-warming, heart-breaking, and very meaningful, would highly recommend

My review: 10/10

[blindrapture]

ugh, 45 hours in, and I'm nearly done with Talos Principle 2.

my opinion of the plot got a lot more mixed the deeper in I got. not really because of any problem with the plot itself, but, it was... not a well-kept mystery at all, yet treated itself like it was. (I figured out the truth after the first puzzle, 43 hours ago. it only got confirmed by the narrative about 30 hours later. it's still getting confirmed now.) kinda wish there was more to occupy my Plot Brain while I'm spending hours and hours and hours on puzzles, y'know!!!

but the puzzles are smart. fun. some of them get real satisfying. I am proud to say I have solved every damn one of them all by myself. didn't look a damn thing up. even got all the stars. though those were kinda easier than the actual puzzles, which is.. different than how the original did it. I dunno. I have 4 endgame puzzles left, and then maybe a little bit more of story, and then I predict the credits. and I'll be all done.

I... preferred... the original! and I highly recommend the original. maybe I'll warm up more to this one with time. the start of this game was a mindblowing experience, it is absolutely a brilliant premise for a sequel. and maybe... the rest of the game is more mindblowing to other people??? I think I just... I've read many many books in my life, and not the same ones the developers had read, and I am not wowed by Greek mythology either, and I am really fucking good at navigating mazes (literal and psychological!). so, like, the misdirection in the plot did not work on me. and all the calls to the authority of Great Books fell flat on me, because I have read Greater Books that put those ones in their place. (thank you, finnegans wake.) I came into this game already in agreement with its ending, it... did not engage me in the middle. and it is a very long middle.

weird.

but uh, I'm taking a break from the endgame puzzles right now. the one I'm on is a real stumper. but I am pretty much done with the game. I'm sure of it.

if you like first-person puzzle games (if you like the puzzles in Portal, like really really like putting cubes on buttons and redirecting light! there will be many of you out there who do!), seriously, don't mind my weird cerebral grump, you will have a good time. but if you haven't played the original Talos Principle, holy shit play that one.

[vampkitty66]

BL Recommendation: Semantic Error

Status: Ongoing

About a few months ago I started reading my first bl (boy love) and people weren't joking when they said once you start reading bls that you're going to be hooked. I can't believe I was missing out on all these great stories for such a long time! Anyways I thought I would start a little series where I talked about some of the bls I've read so far.

Starting off basic and strong we have Semantic Error, its an enemies to lovers trope which is probably one of my favourites and this book is seriously so good. Its popular for a reason, they even made a K drama which I have also seen and even though there are some differences between the two I absolutely loved the drama. If you're a fan of this but haven't seen the drama yet, I highly recommend that you watch it.

For anyone who is reading this post right now and doesn't have a clue in the world what this is, then let me explain. It follows Sangwoo Choo, a college student who gets stuck working in a group project. Sangwoo is very adamant on following rules and being a good student, his partners for the assignment end up not doing any work and so to spite them, Sangwoo does all the work himself and leaves them with no credit. Jaeyoung Jang, one of his group project partners, ends up failing the class and because of that he can't graduate. After figuring out Sangwoo was the cause of him not graduating, Jaeyoung constantly bothers Sangwoo in an attempt to get back at him.

This is one of my favourite stories, i just think their dynamic is so good and the art is also very pleasing to the eye. Please read this if you haven't yet, its worth the hype.

[pertinax--loculos]

Books Read in 2024 (so far)

(Looking at my Goodreads, where I've been keeping track of this, I apparently only started keeping track in March? But I guess that's fair, there's a chance I didn't read anything before that. So let's go with that. ^_^)

The Foxhole Court, Nora Sakavic

The Raven King, Nora Sakavic

The King's Men, Nora Sakavic

-> These kicked off my reading binge for the year. Also, how have I never read them before? Because my god. Instant favourites. Don't talk to me.

Like Real People Do, E.L. Massey

-> My attempt to recapture the All for the Game vibes. It failed. The book was okay, though.

John Dies at the End, Jason Pargin

This Book is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It, Jason Pargin

What The Hell Did I Just Read, Jason Pargin

If This Book Exists, You're in the Wrong Universe, Jason Pargin

Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits, Jason Pargin

Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick, Jason Pargin

Zoey is Too Drunk for This Dystopia, Jason Pargin

-> Some of these are technically rereads; JDatE, Spiders, and the first Zoey book. Regardless, Pargin is an insta-buy for me.

Leech, Hiron Ennes

-> Tumblr recommendation off a random post. Very good.

American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis

-> I enjoyed this. If you can say that about this book. Taking it as what it is, I thought it was very well done.

Dead Girls Don't Say Sorry, Alex Ritany

-> Go check out @aritany if you haven't already! Wonderful human, incredible writer, new book coming out soon!

Tales from the Gas Station: Volume One, Jack Townsend

-> Trying to recapture some of Pargin's bizarre humour. Pretty similar, and I did enjoy it, but I was starting to move away from that vibe, and to be honest this just wasn't as good as Pargin.

Maze-Born Trouble, Ginn Hale

-> My only complaint with this book is it was too fucking short. 😠 Astonishing worldbuilding and a very rich story for what amounts to a novella. Love.

Altered Carbon, Richard K. Morgan

-> Following on from the scifi of Pargin's Zoey series and Maze-Born Trouble. This was good. I doubt I'll read more in the series because from the blurbs they're quite disparate, but holy hell the world that was built was incredible.

Mystic River, Dennis Lehane

-> Complicated reason why I read this that actually has to do with OOC. Also technically a reread, from a while ago. Love Lehane, though, and this as a standalone is very good. Has some examples of omniscient POV that I would almost classify as head-hopping that actually works, and as a thriller, so an interesting read for a writer as well.

Educated, Tara Westover

-> The beginning of my brief nonfiction binge.

I'm Glad My Mom Died, Jenette McCurdy

-> Because, obviously.

Eggshell Skull, Bri Lee

-> Highly HIGHLY recommended. Some heavy stuff regarding sex offences and the legal system, and quite centred in Australia, but a brilliant nonfiction read.

The Sunshine Court, Nora Sakavic

The Foxhole Court, Nora Sakavic

The Raven King, Nora Sakavic

The King's Men, Nora Sakavic

-> Why yes, I did see that The Sunshine Court had been released and immediately read it, then immediately reread All for the Game, because what the fuck else was I gonna do? Not reread it? C'mon.

Icebreaker, A.L. Graziadei

-> Note the author there, cuz I know there's another book by the same title. This one was excellent. Still not the AftG vibes I was seeking, but closest I've found reading something immediately after finishing that series.

The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley

-> I know everyone's talking about it. Read it anyway.

Summer Sons, Lee Mandelo

-> currently reading. Currently loving.

...and that's 27 so far this year -- 23 if you don't count rereading books I read for the first time this year. 0.o Still, not a bad effort!

If you'd like more info or just wanna chat about any of this books, feel free to hit me up. Also if you've got this far without being intimidated by my awful formatting choices, congrats! And thankyou. ^_^

[fairysbookshelf]

Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid

Book Stats:

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐(5/5)

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️(2.5/5)

Tropes: Modern Take Retelling

Publisher: Random House Publishing

Review: *Thank you to random house publishing for giving me a copy of this book for free in exchange for a honest review-It really means a lot to me that you trust little old me!*

What do you get when you when probably one of the greatest dark academia writers of our generation to write a retelling of one of the most controversial plays in history, you get a whirl wind of magic, love and fighting for what you truly believe in. When Roschella is sold off to Macbeth as a political gain, she isn't thinking much. She is the cursed bride-any man who looks into her eyes will go insane. But over time, she realizes how much power she truly has and starts to play her own game.

The diction in this book is amazing. Ava Reid with her words builds a world of renaissance chaos. I don't think I have ever had read a book with such good world-building. Seriously, It had me hooked on page one. I wasn't struggling trying to understand what was going on or anything. The whole think just had me wrapped in its claws. Also, THE MAGIC SYSTEM???? I generally wonder how some one comes up with the idea for something like that. It also didn't break my allusion at all. Typically with retellings I feel as though the magic system fits outside of the original time period(typically with Greek retellings), but the way the author set it up here was just perfect, and fit perfectly well with the medieval Scotland and the way the characters would think about such a thing.

`The Shakespeare references in this? Made both my theatre kid and my literate side of my heart very very happy.

There was such good character growth in this book. The MC you could see really had to change in order to make her situation change. She had to realize that she was powerful enough to do so(if that doesn't have you hooked to pick up this book, I don't know what will).

Yes, there is a romance sub-plot. It was written just perfect. Enough so I think the book stands perfectly by itself alone without it, but it certainty was a very nice touch that had me screaming and kicking my feet like the teenage girl that I am.

Honestly, If you just like powerful stories, this is one I highly recommend. Macbeth is such a interesting play and I think Ava Reid did a wonderful job with this retelling. This book really brought me back to that love of reading and literature that I haven't felt in a very, long time. This book made me want to get back into english class and discuss the true meaning of power. It's everything you could want in a book: drama, lots of magic, and a girl trying to find her own destiny-without it being assigned to her. Even if you hate Shakespeare(Like I know most teenagers do-thank you for that school!) I highly, highly recommend picking this one up! Read it like a fantasy novel!

[tomegnome]

2023 Book log: Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett

Monstrous Regiment satirizes themes of gender, war, and religion in the fantastical setting of Terry Pratchett's wonderfully irreverent Discworld. Barmaid Polly Perks lives in the charmless and highly conservative country of Borogravia. Seeking her lost soldier brother, Polly disguises as a "Oliver" and enlists alongside a cast of colorful characters including teenage runaways, a vampire, and a troll...who all have secrets of their own. Wink wink. Hijinks and gender fuckery ensue!

🍄Ratings based on the five core gnomish literary values🍄

Characters - 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻 Camp - 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷 Queerness - 🌼🌼🌼 Style - 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻 Feeling - 🌷🌷🌷🌷

I read this book 10ish years ago and remembered it being an absolute delight, and golly, it really held up. If you haven't read Terry Pratchett before you can totally jump in with Monstrous Regiment since it stands perfectly fine on its own weird little legs (btw anyone who tells you to read discworld chronologically is a teacher's pet and not to be trusted).

I have dog-eared the ever loving shit out of this poor little paperback. First of all this book is so funny, laugh out loud funny. But also has these poignant, beautiful little moments. It gets surprisingly dark in places, but in a way that feels necessary and is really in service to fleshing out the characters. It really grounds the book in the midst of all this absurdity and gives it this real life human quality.

Many writers write characters and then, quite separately, female characters. Pratchett just wrote interesting characters. He saw humans as flawed and weak, but also brave and hopeful and that shows in the way he writes these really silly, lovely characters.

Paul, Polly's brother, is BARELY in the book. He speaks maybe once. But through Polly telling you these little memories about him you become really come to adore him and by extension, learn about and appreciate Polly even more. And the books doesn't even need it! Paul could've just been a call to action, but instead he has his own little arc. Someone please talk to me about Paul and his birds.

And Jackrum. And Maladict. And Lofty and Tonker. Any of them really. Because my heart is so full of love for these characters.

Which is why this book works when there are more contemporary novels exploring gender much more seriously and doing a worse job, imo. I am probably biased, but ultimately it felt to me like this book was saying: Oh gender? What a funny little notion. What a silly little human invention. Grab onto it with your grubby gnome paws and do with it what you wish.

For more information and detailed content warnings I highly recommend thestorygraph.

🍄Sample passage - may be light spoilers🍄______________________________________________________________

"Bloody Jackrum left me surrounded by armed men!" Polly hissed.

"And?"

"Well, I… knocked two of them out," she said, feeling as she said it that this rather spoilt her case as a victim. "One went over the road, though."

"I think we got that one," said Maladict. "Well, I say 'got'… Tonker nearly gutted him. There's a girl with what I'd call unresolved issues." He turned round. "Let's see… seven horses, seven men. Yep."

"Tonker?" said Polly.

"Oh, yes. Hadn't you spotted her? She went mad when the man charged at Lofty. Now, let's have a look at your gentlemen, shall we?" said Maladict, heading for the inn door.

"But Lofty and Tonker…" Polly began, running to keep up. "I mean, the way they act, they… I thought she was his girl… but I thought Tonker… I mean, I know Lofty is a gi - "

Even in the dark, Maladict's teeth gleamed as he smiled. "The world's certainly unfolding itself for you, eh? Ozzer? Every day, something new. Cross-dressing now, I see."

"What?"

"You are wearing a petticoat, Ozzer," said Maladict, stepping into the bar. Polly looked down guiltily and started to tug it off, and then thought: hang on a moment...

"The captain looks bad," he said. "What did he try to do to poor little you?"

"Patronize me," said Polly, glaring at Maladict.

"Ah," said the vampire.

[kimium]

Hey friend, I love you so much and thank you for supporting me when my anxiety tries to take over. What are some book recs from what you’ve been reading lately?

Hi friend! You're welcome! I'm always here to be your support! Love you tons too!

Book recommendations! I am super excited to talk about those! Some maybe books I've talked about before. Sadly, even though I have a ton of books on my shelf, I haven't had time to read them.

Book Recommendations in no particular order

-The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

If you have not read this book, go read it now. Easily my favourite book in recent times, the retelling of the myth of Achilles and Patroclus is breath taking. The care, passion, and knowledge of Greek myths woven into the book is excellent. Achilles and Patroclus's love for one another, even if it is doomed, will keep pulling me back to the book.

This book has some of the most breath-taking, heart-wrenching lines ever. Seriously, so many sentences live rent-free in my brain.

(Also, every time someone uses a quote from this book for Satosugu my heart leaps twice in size.)

-The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

First, the entire premise of two magicians with actual magic performing magic and pretending they don't is amazing. Next, the imagery in this book is so beautiful. The scenery and magic is described is so vividly crafted and the enchanting element to a circus is captured well within the pages.

-The King of Infinite Space by Lyndsay Faye

Look, it's a modern day retelling of Hamlet where everything is the same except Hamlet (renamed Ben) is suffering the loss of his Broadway baron theatre father, Horatio and Ben 100% hooked up, and Ophelia has more of a role along with three sisters adding a Macbeth reference. What more could I want? I love this book and I highly recommend it, even if Shakespeare isn't your thing.

-The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

I always love stories where the main premise is a character exploring the endless alternate dimensions where they can see how one decision altered their reality. Also love this as a story telling device for people to explore themselves and who they are as a person.

-The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

A murder mystery novel where it's a time loop and each reset of the loop the detective finds himself in the body of another character within the mansion? Sign me up. I Love this book so much.

-Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Yeah, I know most people recommend Good Omens, but this is my first Neil Gaiman book that I ever read, so it has a special place in my heart. (Not the first of his stories though: that was Stardust and Coraline.) Anyways, I love this book and the radio play is amazing too.

-Gideon the Ninth/Harrow the Ninth/Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

It's lesbian necromancers in space with a sci-fi magic system that breaks my brain and a narrator in 2/3 of the series that also breaks my brain. I ended Nona the Ninth going "OH NO" and also "My brain needs an 8 hour break NOW".

-The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefavter

I love the characters and I love the story. I love the magic in this series too. I highly recommend this series to everyone and its sequel with Ronan as the narrator.

[happybookowl2]

Book Review - Two Wrongs Make A Right by Chloe Liese

Fair warning here. I am VERY picky about my romances, and I'm normally not a Chloe Liese fan. The snippets I've read of her other books have not interested me at all, no thank you to the Bergman Brothers, and that's why I initially overlooked this book when it first came out. But then it kept reappearing in my suggested reads and I read the summary and though ooo, this sounds interesting. Which led to a very long and thorough search of it's reviews, preview snippets, and any other details I could find.

And surprise! I took the plunge and LOVED it! Bea and Jaime are one of my favorite couples now.

Jamie

- Looks on the outside like a handsome snob, but seriously an anxious mess who overanalyzes everything inside. I relate to his anxiety so much.

- Adopted elderly cats in need and named them after his favorite characters.

- Loyal and true with every breath he takes.

- Such a sweet cinnamon roll. Doesn't blink at Bea's jumbo pads, researches and makes her special veggie soup because her senses don't like the regular texture, and tries to save her from wardrobe malfunctions.

- He speaks french AND does it during the spicy times.

Bea

- So colorful and creative. I loved how she knew what certain shades of colors were, even making her own mask for a party at the beginning. And her getting lost in her thoughts while doing every day things was pure icing.

- Introvert awesomeness. Seeing her hide in a closet and stress eat and drink during her sister's crowded party was another thing I really related to. Along with her struggles to understand some social cues and behaviors.

- So sweet and loving that it oozes out of her. 

- But so competitive. It was so much fun to see her get riled up on game night. :D Which also makes their spicy times extra nice.

As with everything, there was a few things I wasn't as crazy about. Bea's sister Juliet and her friends really felt rude pushing them together so roughly at first. I think I would have preferred a more gentle approach for getting and failing two such shy individuals to get along. But even with their in person meetings being chaos, letting themselves get to know each other online under screen names was a wonderful idea. <3 The breakup at the end was a big kicker on a lot of reviews I read, and I seen several people say they didn't understand why Bea behaved the way she did, but even though it hurt to see these two sweeties to through that. I do understand it. Bea's family is such a big part of her life, especially her twin sister Juliet who she shares everything with, and when she gets hurt in a similar way to how Bea did in the past. Her desire to take care of her sister overrides everything, including her beautiful love with Jaime. The reunion was lovely of course, but I really didn't find the breakup so terrible. It was totally believable to me.

Also, I really didn't care about the side characters of her friends. Some reviews I seen wrote about how charming they were, but I didn't think so. Bea's boss and coworker friends were very bland and kinda felt like someone was checking a box off for tropes and character styles.

 I'm still on the fence about reading the rest of the Wilmont sisters books. So far I'm not too crazy about her sisters characters, but I know that will change once we see inside their heads. But this book is one I highly recommend. Five stars for flaws and all.

 I haven't seen it mentioned so I don't think it's widely known. But the author has another extended epilogue for Bea and Jaime that you can download from her website.

[kingsonne-zedecks]

Song: Wouldn't You Like by Jorge Rivera-Herrans from Epic the Musical. This is just where I left off while listening to the whole thing in the car yesterday. Everyone should listen to Epic. Though the chances you haven't heard about it already if you like Greek Mythology and Musical Theater are slim.

Book: Blackflame by Will Wight. I'm rereading Cradle again, sue me. Or not, maybe just read Cradle yourself. Or reread it for my Cradle mutuals.

Film: Howl's Moving Castle. My wife and I don't watch movies super often, but we've been building up a bit of a blu-ray collection since streaming has become more unreliable for finding specific movies.

TV Series: Digging for Britain. Time Team's latest dig is done, so we've been watching Digging for Britain with Alice Roberts on youtube in the evenings. Highly recommend both for anyone with even a passing interest in history or archeology. Support Time Team on Patreon. They are going to be doing a dig at Sutton Hoo in June, which is very exciting.

Video Game: Modded Minecraft, specifically Fantasy MC Fabric. My wife and I have been playing through a new (to us) mod pack lately. Which is always fun.

Google Search: Ken Burns American Buffalo Streaming. I was having a conversation with my dad about Indigenous history and we ended up talking about the new Ken Burns doc about the history of the relationship between the American Bison and Indigenous people as well as the American extermination of the bison and current efforts to reintroduce populations. We wanted to see if it was streaming on any platforms we could watch it on since we haven't seen it yet.

Food: Everything bagel with too much cream cheese. Breakfast of champions

Sleep: 7 ish hours. Pretty normal for me. The cat's felt like they deserved breakfast an hour early today, like they often think, and woke me up early.

Current Read: Skysworn by Will Wight. Seriously. Read Cradle. It's available on Kindle Unlimited for those that subscribe. Or listen to it. My current read is through the audiobook fantastically narrated by Travis Baldree, author of Legends and Latte's. Read that too.

Now I've never actually tagged people on Tumblr, but I am trying to preserve the traditional social structure of my new social media site, so please forgive me if you don't actually want tags. @politelydisagreeing, @althearaseri, @mattercoil, @sharpasanaro

Tagged by @bagadew (Also tagging in @waermeflasche because you tagged me weeks ago and I didn't get back to you)

Last song I listened to: Soap by The Oh Hellos. I burn CDs and listen to them in my car. (The first few I tried to give themes and titles, and select the perfect song orders, but ended up kind of bad and the other was cursed and wouldn't play even though I remade it three times, so I just switched to throwing a ton of songs together on "Random Mixes" and enjoying.) I was listening to my very first random mix on the drive home from work and this one came up. It's a pretty snazzy song. I think Theseus and Hello, My Old Heart are my favourites from the band.

Last book I read: Can I do a couple? I just recently finished Play of Shadows by Sebastien de Castell. It's the first book of Court of Shadows, the sequel series to his Greatcoats series. Greatcoats is one of my favourite series, filled with swashbuckling action, clever humour, and an absolutely miserable protagonist, Falcio val Mond, who always manages to get back up and keep going anyway. I read everything de Castell writes, and after a string of books with severe pacing problems (check out The Malevolent Seven for a book that doesn't have a second act) and other problems (I have a hard time seeing any book topping Crucible of Chaos as the worst book I've read this year), he finally seems to be back. The book didn't pack quite the emotional punch of some of his other books, but it definitely made me want to jump up and cheer for the heroes at the end.

The other book I just finished is The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden. I liked her Winternight Trilogy (look it up and be prepared for some absolutely gorgeous covers, with prose to match), so I was excited to see something new from her. This book was about World War I, with some fantasy elements used for magic realism. (Portraying a soldier's struggle with addiction and PTSD through the lens of him losing his soul to the devil was a brilliant idea.) I most subsist on a steady diet of fantasy books, but this one had me hungering to read a few more historical books. I might have to pick up some books about the Halifax Explosion.

Last film I watched: I haven't watched much on my own for a while, but my friends do a movie night every Sunday. The last two times I tuned in, we watched Jesus Christ Superstar and Pokemon 3: Spell of the Unown. They were both fairly cute movies. I liked Judas's actor.

Last TV series I watched: I've been making my way through The Office for the first time. I'm on Season 3 and this happened to me, actually. There was some stuff I was like, "Wow, that was funny. I should tell my coworkers about it," but then I realized that I can't be the guy who tells his coworkers about this funny new show called The Office.

Last video game I played: If visual novels count, Umineko. I've been working my way through it slowly for about five and a half years and I'm finally closing in on the end. It's peak fiction and the greatest love story of the twentieth century. It's also funny I picked a game this insanely long for my first visual novel. Other than visual novels, I just finished Pokemon Legends: Arceus, after putting in 104 hours this year. Completing the Dex is my favourite part of any Pokemon game, so having it be more involved and include a big checklist made the game basically crack for me. I've also been casually playing some Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005) with my brother. Every time we play it, I'm always amazed by how good it is and how much content it has. I want to take command posts forever.

Last thing I googled: "Dandadan Aira". I just started the manga the other day and I like her best, so I wanted to double check her full name, I think? Other than that I'm mostly looking up when books are available at my local stores. I've been religiously checking when The Book that Broke the World will be available and I'm not even sure if I'm buying it.

Last thing I ate: A few snacks from my snack drawer. I also had a Quaker yogurt bar at work. I bought a big box of them last year, but I had to throw them out because of the Salmonella. (Chewed through a lot of them before that came out, though, including eating three on an airplane.)

Amount of sleep: Supposedly seven hours, since I went to bed right after finishing The Warm Hands of Ghosts last night. The only problem is that if I get to bed at a good time, I sleep fitfully, so I'm either sleeping poorly or sleeping well, but not getting anywhere near enough sleep.

Currently reading: I started Empire of Silence, the first book of The Sun Eater by Christopher Ruocchio, at work today. I've had the first three books sitting on my shelf for a year or two and I finally got around to starting it. (I'd resolved to do both this series and Kushiel's Legacy this year, after having both for so long, and I got that one done at the start.) I'm not very far in, but I enjoy the writing style a lot, even if a lot of the worldbuilding is obviously cribbed from Dune. (Whoa, look, mentats.) I've heard it picks up a lot in the second book, so I'm excited for what's in store for me.

Passing this on, I'll tag @somerunner @lyssq @soulsinshadow @lunawithsocks and @dancerladyaqua. (They also have currently watching and sweet, salty, or savoury as questions, which I didn't do.)

[galacticlycoris]

Hi @galacticlycoris As I am starting to get used to Tumblr (as this is my first social media account), I am enjoying doing these Q&A things! So, I thought it would be fun to ask some friendship questions to you, as you seem like a very lovely person!

1. What is your favorite season and why?

2. What is your favorite genre of music and why? (If you have one, what is your current favorite song/artist?)

3. What are your favorite top 5 relationships you ship?

4. What is your favorite book genre and why? (If you have one, what is your current favorite author/book?)

5. When did you first get interested in drawing? How did it come about? (Your drawings are so cute and you can see that you have great talent in drawing, by the way! 🤩)

Thank you for taking the time to read this!

Thope we can become friends in the near future as I follow you on this platform! ❤️❤️

Hello to you, and to new followers who know me only from Tumblr! You can call me Shuuya! I used to post my art on Twitter only. Although I haven't been drawing much lately (most of the stuff I've been posting here recently are older art), I'm hoping to draw more next year and be more interactive over here. So please don't hesitate to comment, send asks, etc! (｡◜‿◝｡)

1. What is your favorite season and why?

We only have summer and Lots of Fucking Rain where I live lmao but I've experienced spring and autumn in my travels and I think I like spring the best!

2. What is your favorite genre of music and why? (If you have one, what is your current favorite song/artist?)

I wouldn't say it's my favourite, but I do listen mostly to pop? This year I got into Stray Kids! I've been listening to their latest mini album MAXIDENT a lot recently.... but since it's Christmas season, I recommend their song 24 to 25! "((∩´︶`∩))"

3. What are your favorite top 5 relationships you ship?

I dont really have "top" ships, I dont think? Uh I guess we can base it on ships I drew a lot for throughout the years... xicheng (mdzs), emuhiiro (kr exaid), sarumi (k project), wenzhou (shl). there's also da qing/ye zun (guardian); while i haven't drawn them as much as i have the others on this list, it's a very special ship to me ꉂ(ˊᗜˋ*)

4. What is your favorite book genre and why? (If you have one, what is your current favorite author/book?)

hmmmm I guess I like fantasy stuff? My favourite books is Howl's Moving Castle. Recently I finally read The Song of Achilles and Circe! I highly recommend, even though both broke me 😭😭😭

5. When did you first get interested in drawing? How did it come about? (Your drawings are so cute and you can see that you have great talent in drawing, by the way! 🤩)

Thank you! I've always been interested in drawing since I was a kid because I have always been into anime and stuff like that? I drew a lot in high school, stopped during uni, and picked it back up seriously sometime around maybe 2016? (yes, i am old lmao) Although we had art classes in grade school, we weren't really taught about the things that would actually make a difference in your art, like the type of paper to use for certain mediums, etc. So when I decided to pick up watercolors as an adult, I had to learn from scratch. Thankfully unlike when I was a kid, there's now an abundance of information on the internet.

Thanks for the questions! I hope you found my answers interesting. I like these q&a stuff but no one really sends me anything and I'm a p boring person anyway, no juicy story to share around here hahahahaha

[shinonometrash]

How are you learning Japanese? Are you self teaching or taking classes? If you're self teaching what are you using? I want to learn but I'm not sure where to start and classes are both expensive and not available to me

Hi Anon! I personally believe that college/school Japanese courses are trash and it's much better to self study! This is gonna be a kinda long post, so I hope it's helpful!

The first thing you need to do (if you haven't already), is learn hiragana and katakana. There's tons of resources out there for learning those, but I personally like these videos. Once you've learned those, you can start learning a lot more things!!

For grammar, I've got a few different recommendations. 1. To get an actual grasp and core understanding of the way that Japanese functions, I highly highly highly recommend watching these videos by Cure Dolly. She breaks things down to the basics so that you understand how Japanese grammar functions, instead of just teaching you that ___ phrase/grammar structure = ___ english structure. So you actually understand how things piece together and work, which helps SO SO SO much. As a warning, the doll in the videos is a bit jarring at first and she talks really slow, so I usually play the videos on 2x speed and I promise you'll get used to the doll after a little bit. It's definitely worth it. 2. If there's specific grammar concepts you're unclear about and want to learn more about, you can check out the youtube channels Japanese Ammo with Misa and Miku Real Japanese. 3. I'm not a big fan of textbooks, but if you do want to use some, I like Soumatome. It's technically a JLPT prep book, but it gives you the bare bones of things without all the excess textbook junk that isn't actually helpful. I know Genki is a super super popular textbook series, but personally I've found more use for it as something to prop my computer up with rather than actually learn Japanese from...

For kanji and vocabulary (yes, you DO have to learn kanji, but once you start learning you'll realize they're not as scary/annoying as they first seem, and sometimes they're actually very helpful!):

1. I very very strongly recommend WaniKani. It does cost money (I think like $9 a month?), but only after the first three levels. It's on a spaced repetition system, so you can't binge a ton and then end up just forgetting it later. So, the first three levels takes about 2~ish weeks, which should give you plenty of time to figure out if it works well for you! Plus, not only does it teach you the kanji, but it teaches you a ton of vocabulary with those kanji! After a few months of that, you'll be surprised at how many words you've picked up. After about six months of that, I was able to dive into reading some otome stories of the stories I've read in English already. It was still super difficult, mind you, and I didn't understand a ton of it, but I could get enough bits and pieces to put together what was happening. 2. Another decent program is iKnow! which is an app on iPhone and I think Android as well. This does cost as well, though, I believe it's like $11 a month? They've also got a Mandarin Chinese course, which you would also have access to if you were to get the subscription! 3. Seriously, don't worry about being able to handwrite kanji. It's a waste of time unless you just personally like to write kanji because they're pretty and stuff. Daily life we've got smartphones and computers, so you really don't need to be able to handwrite any.

Private tutoring sessions. This probably sounds expensive, but it's actually not! Like, compared to college courses and stuff, it's incredibly cheap. I use iTalki where I can find native speakers to tutor me in whatever language I want to learn. If you want to check it out, here's my referral link. Right now I have like four tutors that are just for conversation practice, one who helps with grammar and conversation practice, and one helping me prepare for the JLPT! I also have two different Mandarin tutors, although I've only been meeting with one lately. You get to look through the list of different tutors and choose whoever you think seems best for you (and fits your budget), and then scheduling is up to you! You want to only have classes once a week? That's cool! Once a month? Also fine. Five times a week? As long as the tutor has the openings in their schedule, that works too! Don't like the tutor? You can always find another! It takes a lot of pressure off, in my opinion, cause if you get busy you can take a few weeks off or whatever, which you can't do with a school course and if you hate the teacher you aren't stuck with them for the whole class. In addition, not being graded makes things SOOO much better when it comes to learning a language. The fear of making mistakes is reduced dramatically.

Just get as much daily exposure to Japanese as possible, whether it be listening to music, watching dramas, etc etc. I set my phone to Japanese and then I primarily listen to music in Japanese, and then I also read otome stories in Japanese on a daily basis. Music though is one of my favorite ways to learn a foreign language. It's an easy way to pick up words and grammar without really thinking too much about it, because you'll naturally start singing along which helps pronunciation a ton! Vocaloid songs are pretty neat because there's such varied topics you can learn a tonnnn of stuff. I usually look for covers of the Vocaloid songs, though, since it's easier to understand. Deco*27 is my favorite vocaloid artist for sure. I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve learned most of my Japanese from just listening to music and reading otome stories, haha. 

It's also important to figure out why you want to learn Japanese and what your goal is. Do you just want to be able to watch anime and understand without subtitles? Do you want to be able to read stories? Do you want to be able to write stories? Hold conversations in real life? Depending on what you want, you can focus more on the certain areas that apply! If you only ever want to be able to understand stories, then you don't need to place as much attention/worry about your conversation skills as much as if you want to be able to get a job in Japan, you know?

Alright I think that's everything I have for now? I hope this helped! If you have any questions, or just want to practice your Japanese, my inbox and direct messages are always open!!

[sinumaki]

okqay so this is like the third time im trying this, my ask keeps disappearing it's so annoying. anyways, HELLOOO MY LOVEE!!! HOWW ARE YOUUU?? I HOPE THAT YOURE WRAPPED UP ALL WARM AND COZY BEACUSE ITS THE WEEKEND AND THE WEATHER IS DOING TOO TOOOO MUCH. its actually so bloody cold.

I'd like to request a matchup if that's okay with you. please dont feel pressured or anything to do this and take as long as you need. like seriously, please make sure you're taking care of yourself and drinking water!! go drink some nowww!!! your health is top priority :)) thank you so muchh!!

fandom - sinumaki jujutsu kaisen pleaseee <33

preferred gender - you i don't really mind whatever, but slight preference towards male :))

love language - act of service, gift giving,, and i am very touch starved ;-;

tbh my love language is teasing you as a joke even though you know i don't mean anything i say and making up for it by being extra loving in private

personality - i am an intp-a, my star sign is aries and i am really impulsive and do a lot of dumb shit sometimes and then as soon as i do it, i pause and im like, probably shouldn't have done that. but oh well. but at the same time i can be really serious and mature and most of my friends come to me for advice. i am very sarcastic, like people sometimes don't know if I'm being serious or not because of it, I LOVE puns, puns are the best, especially good puns. and dad jokes, I love dad jokes. i hate to admit it but my humor is really lame. also im into gilfs

hobbies - some hobbies i have are reading (it's actually becoming a problem, im going broke buying books but i want more books but i still haven't read the ones ive bought),, baking - my brownies are famous, everyone loves them and my cousins still talk about the brownies i made for them 4 or 5 years ago. i also like cooking, very much so. as you can see, i am a very domesticated person. oh wait i forgot lmao, another hobby is annoying everyone i love, it's a really fun pass time and I highly recommend it, 10/10

so yeahh, please feel free to not do this if you don't want to, again babes, your well being and health is the top priority!! please make sure you're drinking enough water and eating as well! i hope you have a lovely lovely day and thank you so much!! I love you wifeyyy 💕💕

I MATCH YOU WITH...

note. im stealing u from yuuta Sorry not sorry

☆ MASTERLIST

☆ — YUUTA

yuuta was the first thought that came to my mind

acts of service? gift giving?? physical touch??? oh my god. yuuta will be the perfect man for you

honestly, when yuuta loves, he loves hard. (we've seen rika) he would go to the moon for you

yuuta sadly doesn't get too spend as much time with you as he'd like - considering he's constantly on missions and such - but when he does finally get to come back to you? expect his hands to be filled with gifts

ps. you no longer have to worry about going broke from buying books - yuuta will be getting you any books you want (need) and no. he will not be taking no for an answer.

every time he travels to go on a new mission, yuuta always likes to take some time to look around the area, especially in foreign countries! anything that reminds him of you, or anything that he thinks you'd even remotely like - he will buy for you. price be damned.

you may or may not have to tell him to stop (or at least slow down) on the gifts when your cupboards start overflowing and your bed is taken over by the 5 foot teddy bear he'd brought back for you

he means well, truly!!

acts of service too - expect to wake up to breakfast in bed when yuuta's back, chores that you may or may not have been procrastinating on for the last week done and dusted

he'll wake you up gently too, kisses to your forehead and sweet nothings whispered in your ear as he brushes the hair out of your face - he feels truly guilty waking you up when you look so angelic

yuuta doesn't mind your teasing - i mean, he's got maki as one of his best friends - he can handle it

especially when he knows you'll make it all up to him in private - he really can't wait for your apology kisses (although he thinks you have nothing to apologise for, but he's not going to tell you that now <3)

although yuuta is a cancer - which usually don't mould well with aries - he is also an infj

infj's and intp's are highly compatible - and oftentimes called a golden pair!

your opposing functions don't deter you away from each other, but rather attract you two together even more

especially since you're both mature - the conflicting ways in which infj's and intp's handle things draw you in, both intrigued by the other

yuuta doesn't necessarily love your impulsiveness - but he's quite emotional himself, often times causing him to act out on his own impulses especially in stressful situations

the fact that both of you can take in after that maybe it wasn't the best idea helps strengthen your bond - while one is acting on pure impulse, the other can ground you and help you take a step back for a moment before you do anything you'll regret

yuuta may not get your sarcasm at first - but he'll learn overtime! just make sure to reassure him or let him know when he gives you that cute confused look

yuuta does not think your humour is lame!! (his is probably worse, anyway)

he will cackle and laugh like you've never heard him before when you tell him a pun that wasn't even remotely funny enough to pull out a laugh like that - but hey, you'll take it!

he'll look up "puns" or "dad jokes" and memorise them - at least he thinks he did, when the time comes for him to actually tell you the joke, yuuta completely fumbles, and you don't even know what the poor boy's saying anymore

please just stop him from talking with a kiss or a hug - anything to save the boy from any more embarrassment

BAKE FOR HIM!!

if you ever send hima care package with your brownies while he's away on a mission - he will be proposing to you when he gets back

what do you mean he can't do that because he's still in high school?? they clearly haven't tasted your brownies

yuuta's not too bad of a cook himself!

ie. he got tired of eating convenience store food every time he travelled and had to learn to cook for himself

but even so! please do teach him any recipes you may have <3 whenever he's particularly missing you, he'll try and cook it himself remembering the way you'd moved around the kitchen as he kept his arms wrapped around your waist

although his doesn't taste exactly like the way you cook it - it's still enough to warm his heart until he can finally be back in your arms

© SINUMAKI 2022 — do not repost, plagiarise or translate my writing.

[imaginationintowords]

Folklore [song series]

invisible strings

Modern Day AU! Bucky Barnes x Natasha Romanoff; Steve Rogers x OC!Reader

Plot: Inspired by Taylor Swift’s new album Folklore. The story follows the timeline of Bucky and Elizabeth’s life throughout the years

Word count: 3401

[ a/n: thank you so much for all the love and support. We’re almost done with this series! If I forgot to tag you please let me know! Also the ending is a bit lackluster but decided to save the best one for something special for the last chapter]

Age: 21

Year: June/July 2015

Location: CA & NY

"Thank-you all for coming and christening our new place," Thor thanks everyone, as he and Loki stood up at the dining table in their lit up backyard.

"Now there's one person I want to thank, my love," Thor said, reaching his hand out to Wanda who was sat to his left, Loki took his seat back down, "My love, I just want to thank-you for being by my side these last two years. I have never been as happy as I am with anyone else. Now I'm not very good with my words, but what I do know is how I feel about you. The love I have for you exceeds anything else."

"So, I just need to ask you this one question," he says, bending down on one knee, holding Wanda's left hand, while holding the ring box in the other, "Will you, Wanda Maximoff marry me?

"Yes," she cried out, throwing her arms around Thor's neck.

Everyone got up to cheer the newly engaged couple.

Steve and Elizabeth laid naked in her bed, comfortably in each other's presence after the night's activities.

"I can't believe Wanda and Thor are engaged," Elizabeth said, as Steve rubbed her arm as she laid on his chest.

"He's been talking about it for the last year," Steve tells her, "Said he didn't want to scare her off."

"Guess I'm going to have to find a new roommate," she jokes.

"Well actually, I was thinking."

"You better not be proposing to me post sex, while we're naked in bed," Elizabeth playfully jabbed his chest, looking up at him from his chest.

"No, no," Steve lets out a hearty laugh, "Not yet. We still have time for that."

"I was actually thinking, why don't we get a place together. After graduation," Steve suggests.

"What about your job?"

"I can commute," he says, "I'll be done with school in May. You still have law school after graduation, and I have no doubt Stanford is going to accept you into their law program, so you don't have to move."

"What if I don't get accepted?"

"I highly doubt you won't, but if you don't, I'm sure Columbia will snatch you up. And I'd follow you, wherever you go."

"Really?" Elizabeth asked, surprised he would even say that.

"Yeah. There's a lot of architect firms out there, and I'm sure my boss will give me a nice recommendation."

"I couldn't ask that of you Steve," Elizabeth said, getting off of his chest to sit up, grabbing the blanket to cover her chest.

"Which is why I'm offering. I want to do that Liz. This right here," he sits up, and gestures to the both, "This is all I want. So please, if it comes time for that, just let me."

"Okay. Promise you won't resent me?" She asks, feeling overwhelmed with emotion.

"Never," he seriously says, pulling her in for a kiss, and back into his arms.

As they laid in bed, Steve notices Liz is lost in her thoughts.

"Whatcha thinking about?"

"Us, and everything that's lead us to this moment. Like there were some invisible strings leading me to you," she tells him.

"Yeah, you're correct," he ponders.

"Like everything that's happened, happened for a reason. We weren't supposed to be with each other then otherwise we probably wouldn't have made it out of high school."

"You don't think?" Steve asked.

"No, because we wouldn't have been the people we are now. Let's be real here Steve, you and I are not Bucky or Peggy. We're dreamers. Full on happy ending believing people who happened to be with realists at the time. We would've been so naive about the world outside of Brooklyn," Elizabeth says.

"We had never truly experienced pain in the way that we did. If we didn't go through senior year the way that we did, we wouldn't be here. Not specifically together or in California. But we would be stuck in a life where we forced ourselves to be happy. Where we didn't have room to grow. Room to experience a different way of life. We would've been who we were as 16 year olds. And don't get me wrong but that's no way to be."

"I'm glad this happened when it did," she says tilting her head to look at Steve's face.

"Me too," he smiled kissing the top of her head.

"Wow, my arm is so tired from lugging this ring around," Wanda announces walking into Elizabeth's room where she was packing things into a suitcase.

"Must be so exhausting," Liz teases as Wanda takes a seat on her bed.

"Incredibly," Wanda smiled, "How's the packing going?"

"Good, I have everything I'll need for the next two weeks," Liz tells her, "You guys are flying in two days before Steve's birthday right?"

"Yup! Thor seems to be more excited about Steve turning 21 than he is," Wanda laughs, "Next up will be you next month. Vegas won't be ready for us."

"Thor really is going out for all of our 21st birthdays, is he."

"He's excited we're all legally allowed to drink," Wanda says.

"So," Wanda shifted in her seat, "Are you guys going to the baby shower?"

"Yeah we are," Liz nodded her head, "Things have been better, and Steve really wants to be there for Bucky, and so do I."

"How are you feeling about it all?"

"Honestly, if Bucky is happy then so am I."

"It doesn't bother you even the slightest that he's having a baby with the woman he cheated on you with?"

"No," Liz shakes her head, "We've both moved on and grew from our situation. I'm happy with Steve, truly 100% happy. I know in my heart that Steve is the one."

"Whoa, wait, back that up," Wanda immediately shot up from her spot on the bed, "He's the one?"

"Yeah," Liz bascule smiles, her cheeks turning a slight pink.

"I mean, I knew that you loved him, but I don't think you've ever said out loud that he was the one."

Elizabeth shrugs her shoulders trying to fight off the huge grin that wants to spread across her face, "Well he is."

"Wow, umm this is great news," Wanda says looking around the room.

"What's wrong?" Liz asks taking in Wanda's sudden mood change.

"I just," Wanda coughed, trying to fight back the ball in her throat, her eyes tearing up, "I'm so happy for you. God this ring is making me incredibly emotional."

"Aw Wands," Elizabeth pulled her into a hug.

"You just deserve to be with someone who truly thinks the world of you and would move those worlds for you," Wanda cries in Liz's shoulder, "I just remember you telling me all about the shit you went through with Bucky in high school, and then the crap he put you through freshman year. You were just so over the idea of love. Even with steve you were so cautious, so just to hear you say that he's the one. I'm just so incredibly happy."

Elizabeth hugged Wanda tightly, tears streaming down her face. It meant the world to her to hear Wanda say those things. She felts so incredibly lucky to have a friends like her in her life.

"I better be your maid of honor," Wanda teased pulling away and wiping her tears, "Because you already know you're mine."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"We still need to get a baby shower gift for tomorrow," Elizabeth told Steve as they lounged around his childhood bedroom. Steve was sat at his desk sketching, while Elizabeth laid in his bed reading a book.

"I can do that if you want," Steve offered, not wanting to make Elizabeth uncomfortable no matter how many times she's told him she was fine.

"Somehow I don't think I can trust you getting the correct gift," Elizabeth teased.

"Babies like legos right?" He teased back, getting up to join her on the bed, laying his head down on her stomach.

"We can go together, I still need to get a few things for the party next weekend," she said playing with his hair.

Steve hummed in response, feeling himself getting tired, "A quick little nap and we'll go."

"Sounds good," she smiled at the man snuggled up on her.

The next day the couple were walking into the Barnes' backyard, hand-in-hand with a gift bag.

They were both instantly greeted by Bucky's mother Winnie.

"Oh you two made it!" She enthusiastically greeted them, pulling them both into a hug.

"Of course. We wouldn't have missed it," Steve smiled at her.

"Thank-you," she turned to Liz and grabbed her hand, "both of you. James really appreciates it. We all do. Especially with everything that has happened, he's going to need his best friends."

"You don't have to thank us," Liz says, "We'll always be there for Bucky. No matter what happens."

"Well thank-you," she smiles, and then turns to Steve, "Steve the men have been sent inside, so you can see your way inside."

"Already getting pushed aside," he jokes.

He placed a kiss on Elizabeth's cheek, "I'll be inside if you need me."

She nodded her head, then glanced around the yard and caught eye contact with an old high school classmate, Natasha's friend, rolling her eyes at the couple.

She cleared her throat, "Where do the gifts go?"

"Over at that table where Rebecca is at," Winnie smiled, and pointed to the table to the right where Rebecca was organizing all the gifts. Liz thanked her and made her way over.

Liz couldn't help but start to feel a bit uncomfortable. She hadn't planned for she and Steve to be separated for the entire party. She didn't really know anyone here, aside from Bucky's family, where things were still a bit awkward after last summer.

Even though things were good between Steve, Bucky, and her, it was still awkward. She and Natasha don't have the best history, they still haven't talked everything out, clear the air. Not that Nat owed Elizabeth a conversation, she just thought that now that things were okay, maybe them two can work on their relationship, for the sake of Bucky. But whenever Liz tried to reach out Nat would just say that she was busy, so she didn't push it. Not with Natasha being pregnant, plus she figured now that she was in town for two weeks that maybe they could get together for a quick chat.

"Hey Liz," Rebecca greeted her, a sigh of relief to see a friendly face.

"Hey Bec," she smiled, hugging the teen.

"God, I'm so glad to see you," Rebecca said pulling back from the hug, "Some of these girls are real bitches."

Liz was taken back for a second hearing Rebecca swear, it's sometimes hard to believe that tiny little toddler is now this young lady about to enter her senior year of high school.

"I'm sure they're not so bad," Liz said trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.

"Really? Because they're looking at you like you just murdered their entire family," Rebecca said.

Elizabeth turned around to see Natasha's friends huddled in a semi-circle around Natasha, all whispering and glaring at her. She turned back around to Rebecca and gave her a force smile.

Rebecca felt bad at bringing that to Liz's attention. Liz was always so nice to her, and even continues to keep in contact with her especially when Rebecca needs any help or advice.

"I can take that," she said trying to change the subject.

"Thank-you," she quietly said, handing over the gift bag to Rebecca.

"They're just jealous," Rebecca tells her, "Even with having my brother's child, Natasha still can't find it in her cold hearted heart to be nice to you."

"She doesn't owe me anything."

"Now that's not true. She owes you a lot, and the least she can do is be nice, especially with my mother throwing her this baby shower and allowing her to live with us until she and Bucky find a place."

"She's living here?" Elizabeth asked, surprised to hear that. Bucky never mentioned Nat living with them, they did know that they were looking at places closer to his job and school.

"Yeah, she moved in probably two months ago, when she really started to show," Rebecca tells her, "Apparently she hadn't told her dad, and once she started showing she had to confess. He kicked her out. Said she was ruining her life."

"That's intense," Elizabeth said.

"Yup. So my mom and Keith are letting her stay until they find a place of their own," Rebecca says, "And as much as I love my brother I can't wait til she's gone. He's an idiot for knocking her up."

"She can't be that bad," Liz said trying to give Nat the benefit of the doubt.

"Trust me Liz, she is. Being pregnant has made her a complete devil," Rebecca stresses, "My mom is way too nice to have that be the mother of her first grandchild."

Before Liz could respond to that, someone came up behind her.

"Oh Becky, I wanted the gifts to be color coordinated," Natasha remarked, with her hand on her belly.

"My mom told me to do it by size," Rebecca rolled her eyes, "And my name's Rebecca."

"But Becky is so cute."

"No it's not," Rebecca argued.

"Hi Natasha," Elizabeth awkwardly greeted, breaking up the conversation.

"Oh hi Elizabeth," Natasha stiffly said, forcing a smile on her face as she rubs her belly, "Didn't think you would show up."

"Oh, well Steve told Bucky we were coming," she explains.

"Of course he did."

"You look pretty," Elizabeth complimented her to try and break the tension.

"I know. I'm absolutely glowing carrying Bucky's child," she replied with a snarky tone.

"I'm really happy for you both."

"Sure you are," she rolled her eyes.

"No, I truly am. That's why I actually wanted to talk to you about. I was wondering if maybe we can get together sometime this next week, to talk," Liz suggests.

"There's no need," Nat tells her, "I get what you're doing. You think that getting on my good graces will put you in Bucky's good graces, but I hate to break it to you, that's not going to happen. I'm trying my best here to be polite to you, but once this baby is born, I'll make sure Bucky no longer makes time for you and Steve. I am his life now, and we don't have space in it for you both."

"Nat-"

"Thanks for the gift, hopefully the gift receipt is in the bag," Natasha fake smiled, "Enjoy the party."

"Fix the gifts Becky," she turned to Rebecca enunciating 'Becky', before walking away to go back to her friends.

"Told you she was the devil," Rebecca commented, ignoring Natasha's request.

"Yeah, you weren't lying," Elizabeth turned to look at Nat who was laughing with her friends.

Steve and Elizabeth said their final goodbyes a couple of hours later, and walked back to their rental car.

"That went well, don't you think?" Steve commented on as he started the car.

"Yeah it did," she lied.

Elizabeth decided it was probably best not to bring it up to Steve. He and Bucky just fixed their relationship, that she was afraid if she told Steve that Bucky wouldn't believe them. She would just have to hope that Bucky wouldn't allow their friendship to take another hit. She had faith that their friendship was stronger than that.

"Do you mind if we made a stop somewhere?" Steve asks her as he pulls away from the curb.

"No, of course not."

"Perfect. We just have to make one quick pit stop before," he says a few minutes later, parking in a parking lot of a cafe.

Steve walked back out of the cafe with a picnic basket.

"What's that for?" She asked smiling as he got in, putting the basket in the backseat.

"Just wait and see," he winked.

15 minutes later they were pulling up to a park.

"A park?"

"Thought we could have an impromptu picnic date," he smiles, "Wait here."

He got out of the car and grabbed the basket from the backseat. She heard him close and open the trunk. He then opened her door.

"Mi lady," he held his hand open for her to take.

"Oh why thank-you kind sir," she giggled taking his hand.

He led her to a nice spot on top of a hill, overlooking the park.

"Can you hold this for me real quick," he asked, holding out the picnic basket for her.

She took it from him as he laid out the blanket. Steve took the basket back and started to unpack the contents and laid them out on the blanket for them.

"A little dinner at sunset," he offered his hand so she can sit down next to him on the blanket.

"This was perfect Steve," she kissed his cheek, as they finished off their little dinner.

"Just thought I'd thank-you for coming with me today," he says wrapping his arm around her, as she leaned into him.

"You don't have to thank me."

"I know I don't, but I want to. I know you say you were fine with today, and I completely believe you, but I also know that even if you're okay with it, it's still can be uncomfortable," he says, "So I just want to show you how appreciative I am of you."

"I love you," she leans her head up to capture his lips with her's.

Age: 27

Year: 2021

Location: Brooklyn, NY

"Steve whats with the blind fold," Elizabeth giggled in the passenger seat of their rental car.

"It's a surprise," he laughed, "Now just be patient, we're almost there."

"Steve, come on you know I hate surprises."

"You liked the last surprise I gave you," he teased.

"It was a kitten, that's different," she smiled.

"You still loved it," he said, "Plus we're here already."

"Oh that was quick," she said reaching to take her blindfold off.

"Don't," he warned her, "Not yet."

Steve helped her out of the car, and linked their arms together as he led her to the surprise.

"Okay, we're here," he nervously said, he took her blindfold off.

Liz adjusted her eyes after being in the dark for the past 30 minutes. When she opened her eyes, she was greeted with a lantern lit up picnic on top of the hill at the park.

"Surprise," Steve said behind her.

Liz turned around to find Steve down on one knee, with an opened ring box.

"Steve," she gasped.

He took her left hand into his own.

"Elizabeth Carolina Sanchez, words can't even explain how much I am in love with you, but I'm going to try. I don't think i can remember back to a time where you weren't a part of my life, and honestly i don't want to. You've made me so incredibly happy these last almost seven years, and no matter how much I say I'm appreciate of you, i don't think it's ever going to be enough. Getting to wake up to you every day to you smiling at me, honestly i don't think there's a greater thing in the world. I'd give the entire world, if it meant that I got to see you smile every day of my life. I don't ever want to imagine a life without you. You've made me the best person I could ever want to be. There's not a day that doesn't go by where you don't continuously tell me how proud you are of me, and the endless amount of support and love you've given me. There's no one I'd rather spend my entire life with. Start a family with. Be a family with. So, Elizabeth, will you do me the greatest honor of marrying me?"

"Yes," Elizabeth choked out, as the tears streamed down her face. She lunged herself into Steve's arms and kissed him.

"I love you so much," she cried.

"I love you too," he said, pulling her into another kiss.

They pulled away, and Steve placed the ring on her finger.

"I love you," she said again.

[junmail]

right?! the animation is soo good. I don't usually watch series that are that intense (my heart is very fragile I'm seriously considering if I can watch season 2 lmao) but I kept going because well 1. It was good lmao but 2. The animation was awesomeeeeee.

okay cannot relate to wanting to read psychological thrillers (see above ajdnwjwkw) but I'm a sucker for ya romance too! I haven't been reading too much lately though bc life 🥴 I remember the days where I would borrow stacks of books from the library and then return them the next week and borrow more, it honestly felt like the best time ever. were there any must read ya romances that came out this year? Ooh, anime!! I've never really been able to get into anime although I just looked up your name and it looks so pretty! do you have any animes you'd like to recommend if I like romance (I can't do sad ones pls) 👉👈

also akdjskaka the creative side of your brain really works huh. I can never get into short stories or poems because I just can't comprehend them lmao. Plus your drawing and writing and THEN the edits you make which involves fitting music to video?! Can I ask..what would your dream job be??

- secret carat

I will definitely have to check it out !!!

I think it’s so cool that someone’s written words could scare me as if I’m watching a scary movie. it’s insane 🤯 omg yesssss I remember those days too😭 man I felt so cool standing there in the YA aisle like yes I have read most of these books

oh my gosh, most animes i watch are like thrillers, mysteries or sad ones 😭 but there are a couple i like that are pretty mild

HAIKYU!! - not necessarily romance or anything but I think a very good anime !!

KIMI NI TODOKE: FROM ME TO YOU - okay okay this does mention 2000s horror movies mainly bc the main character is compared to the girl from the ring but likeeeeeee cute nonetheless!!!

5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND - VERY VERY FITTING FOR THESE TIMES !! a bit sad :/ sorry 😭 it’s about trying to maintain relationships through long distance

CLANNAD - it’s a tear jerker 😭😭😭😭 but it’s soooooo good !! and the soundtrack 😭

WEATHERING WITH YOU - it’s by makoto shinkai !!! need I say more ? (makoto shinkai wrote and directed for your name) also it’s about a girl who can manipulate weather, what I would do to have that power 😭

poems took me awhile to get into ! def some words or imagery that I can’t comprehend lmao but I fell in love with the books I’ll leave you with this and sea of strangers !! highly recommend ! the edits I make are very cathartic to me, bc when listening to music I always picture movies or scenes to go with them so to have the visual aid 🤤 my dream job would be to get paid to do that lmao, like cut movies and make a soundtrack to them