#she also didn't like gregory imo

[cosmic-walkers]

Idk if I shared this addition but yes, I agree.

There are so many things pointing to him being gay, and with Thomas' anti-sodomy lie, admitting what he did would be a death sentence. And even if it *wasn't* a death sentence, Gregory would lose everything and i mean everything, from his titles, to his children, to his lands, etc. It would also make thomas look awful. How could you come up with a law to target sodomy, and there is sodomy going on under your own roof?

Like I was talking about to others, a man having a mistress or being unfaithful to his wife, is not enough to have his children taken away, it's not enough to have a marriage dissolved, because he still has the power and the authority. Noble men had their mistresses live with them while their wives were still there, and noble men were able to keep their lands, titles, homes, etc., with a mistress or if they committed forms of adultery. Regardless of what it was. When a man was unfaithful or when he targeted a woman, he was not very affected if he was noble.

Being gay, was the one thing that could undo a man, especially if it was figured out. And especially if there was a law the made sodomy punishable by death.

That was the one thing that could render a noble man powerless, and I do think that was almost Gregory's reality, if Thomas didn't step in.

sometimes, i wanna talk about how Gregory cromwell was probably a closeted gay man, and was charged with buggery for more than likely being caught with a man, and the irony of the buggery act being pushed into parliament/law and more than likely drafted by his own father, thomas cromwell.

but then i'll have to deal with people trying to argue down and claim that, 'actually buggery didn't just mean sodomy, it meant cheating/rape/etc, so gregory wasn't gay he was just a rapist'.

and while cheating on your wife with a man wasn't an ideal thing to do, i do think there is more evidence leaning toward that, than rape/adultery - as rape/adultery would've more than likely been recorded and brought up explicitly, especially during the downfall of the cromwell family. i would go more into this, but i just dont have time.

whereas, it would make a lot more sense if a gay relationship was hidden because a.) this was thomas cromwell's son, and that would shame the family and b.) thomas cromwell, who came up with the buggery act - England's first unofficial anti-sodomy law - would not want anyone to know that his son was actually gay lol.

and the buggery act wasn't officially recognized as an anti-sodomy law until years later, however, it was basically viewed as such as it was drafted, because it did go after gay people in england.

i always thought thomas did it specifically to go after the catholic church, but never actually realized how it could impact his own son because well...he didn't know

[therealmaquaroonie]

it's my favorite gal, CATHERINE!!!!! I adore her so so much she's such a silly goof. i stan her so much

i am glad Gregory Horror Show is seeing new entries and all but i am extremely disappointed in her 'modern' design (ahem, Soul Of Roses)

look at how they massacred my woman. they made her SKINNY. TOOTH PICK. and her colors are all too similar!!!! they also removed her nostrils which makes her look even MORE weird imo and gave her hair for seemingly no reason other than to make sure people know she's a Girl. the nerve!

aaaaanyways, in my AU thing, in addition to being her normal silly goofy 'I will drain all the blood out of your body teehee' self, she is an actual doctor and will care for those who reside alongside her in the hotel. when Judgement Boy (decommissioned) comes to her and is like 'hey sooo i see you know body parts and stuff could you like. do a dr frankenstien and add biological parts to my body?' and because Catherine has Not Much Else To Do, she's like 'yeah sure why not'. when she isn't absolutely annoyed by JB (like in my drawing of him), she will sometimes gossip with him or other members at the hotel. I didn't draw it too much but she has a side pocket on her apron to hold medical equipment!!! you can kinda see a sliver of it- maybe i'll draw it a bit more in detail later (maybe i'll even add a hypothetical inventory)

[mable-stitchpunk]

Do you reckon there’s still a way for Steel Wool to make Mimic an interesting villain? Much as I also dislike his book lore (and the books in general), i will say imo his presentation in Ruin especially the ending reveal and chase was legit cool. Had to do my best to ignore the books in the back of my mind, but it made him more creepy and I’m glad SW didnt try to give his backstory - woulda been a super awkward exposition dump most likely.

I ask, because it seems likely the books are going to remain the source material you need in order to know where Mimic came from, and maybe this is a good thing? Not for the storytelling of FNaF as a whole, that’ll never not be a problem. but for SW and their games specifically, could this approach maybe give them the creative liberty to really *do* something with this villain? Or am i just grasping at straws here for a character that doesn’t deserve it?

The ending reveal was, admittedly, waaaay better than I was expecting. Because it didn't involve an info dump- save the little one Gregory had at the end- and it worked into the plot of Ruin. It felt a bit hasty and probably would've worked better as its own game- like as Security Breach proper- but it actually worked relatively well.

But I'm not entirely sure... The problem with the Mimic is that it's just sort of not that intimidating. In the books it's portrayed as an endoskeleton that blindly runs around and kills with an empty head, just vibes mentality. That could make an okay villain for one game, but... but if it's just going to turn into a constant guessing game of, "Oh, is this suspicious animatronic actually Mimic?" then it's going to get tired fast.

It's sort of the same issue I had with Eleanor. Save that at the very least, Mimic is more tangible. He climbs into suits and acts like various characters while Eleanor straight-up broke reality by just looking like whoever or whatever she wanted. Therefor inserting herself into scenarios where there was no indication she had ever been planned to be there.

Plus, after the Vanny situation, I don't exactly have faith that Mimic won't abruptly get abandoned for a completely different other villain. Switching villains isn't exactly a bad thing, but building up a character for games and then dumping them for the next idea is extremely anticlimactic.

At least Mimic's design doesn't allow for him to become as much of a merch magnet. That might actually do him well.

[aurorawest]

Summer Reading Update (part 2)

Fall for You by AJ Truman - 3.75/5 stars

Should have read this in the fall since it's fall themed.

By Any Other Name by Erin Cotter - 2.5/5 stars

In His Sights by KC Wells - 4/5 stars

The Bell in the Fog by Lev AC Rosen - 5/5 stars

LOVED this one. I enjoyed the first in the series as well but this one was much better IMO—just a tighter mystery. I actually gasped at one of the reveals.

Lightning Strike Blues by Gayleen Froese - 5/5 stars

I was really pleasantly surprised by how good this book was. It looks like a superhero book but the vibe was more Fringe to me. Fringe meets Letterkenny. And it was really well written! Another book with a good twist. I highly recommend this one.

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid - DNF at pg 108

The Misfit Mage and His Dashing Devil - DNF at pg 8

In Plain Sight by KC Wells - 3.75/5 stars

Planetfall by Emma Newman - 4/5 stars

Before All the World by Moriel Rothman-Zecher

I didn't know how to rate this one, so I didn't. It was pretty experimental, and I just didn't think I could rate it fairly. Its Storygraph average is 4.2/5 and it's definitely an interesting read.

Somewhere in the Gray Area - DNF at pg 32

Kit & Basie by Tess Carletta - 4/5 stars

Fence Vol 6: Redemption by CS Pacat and Johanna the Mad - 5/5 stars

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White - 4.75/5 stars

I haven't had good luck with Rainbow Crate books, to the point that after I canceled my subscription, I went through all the ones still in my TBR, read the first page, and got rid of most of them. I kept this one because it's highly praised, and I ended up loving it. It probably would have been a 5 star read, except I thought the epilogue really undercut the effectiveness of the rest of the book.

Time to Shine by Rachel Reid - 5/5 stars

I think Rachel Reid was the first m/m hockey romance author I read, and I still think she writes some of the best.

Paladin's Hope by T Kingfisher - 4/5 stars

One Wicked Night by Colette Rivera - DNF at pg 136

10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall - 5/5 stars

I was really apprehensive about this book. A few years ago I LOVED Alexis Hall, but I haven't enjoyed several of his new releases. I'm so glad I gave this one a chance because it's probably my favorite of all his books now. It's hilarious and cringey (good cringey) and romantic.

After the Forest by Kell Woods - DNF at pg 63

Lord Garrington's Vessel by S Rodman - DNF at pg 5

Alike as Two Bees by Elin Gregory - 4.25/5 stars

Dragged to the Wedding by Andrew Grey - 3.75/5 stars

His Lordship's Master by Samantha SoRelle - 4.5/5 stars

Fire from the Sky by Moa Backe Åstot (translated by Eva Apelqvist) - 5/5 stars

Gorgeous YA book about a Sami teenage boy who's struggling to reconcile the fact that he's gay and in love with his best friend with the fact that he doesn't want to leave his town and reindeer herding, even though he'd find more acceptance in a city. Also the translator lives in Minnesota.

[lizbethborden]

did you watch the new abbott ep? thoughts?

I did! I was kind of 50/50 on it. Sorry in advance for rambling LOL

I feel like the double episode format just... Really messed up the pacing. Way too much happened in way too little time, so there was nothing satisfying and the stakes didn't feel very high. I think there were also some big missed opportunities.

"New Ava" gets resolved in like the first 10 min with 0 impact on the overall story or the characters... like why. This should have been dragged out for the whole episode IMO, it would have been so fun. But they just wanted to get it out of the way to race to the Janine-leaving-Abbott story. Also Janelle looked fucking amazing and pretty much stole the episode, so they should have just let her run away with it instead of confining the humor and drama to the very beginning.

"Oh no Janine went to work for the district, oh no Teddie isn't going to happen maybe, omg Janine is working with a new cute guy" doesn't generate any emotional tension because it all gets talked through by the characters in a short time span and Janine and Gregory are friends again by the end of the episode thanks to the timeskip. The will they/won't they was timed really well throughout the first 2 seasons so where is that sense of timing now yk...

Barbara like... did not do much to be honest... She resolved the New Ava problem, but after that mostly stood around and was a sounding board and complained about the district/changed her tune after ONE conversation where Manny said what could reasonably be, pardon me, just bullshit, bc we don't know him well as a character yet, and somehow Barb was like yay :) I like the district now :). She felt really underutilized. She deserves a PLOTLINE this season. I feel like Sheryl gets a lot of praise and attention, but the show doesn't always give her opportunities to match what she really contributes.

The Gary/Melissa situation ground my gears a lot, like it's super great that Melissa stands her ground and rejects him with everyone's support, but tbh "Gary does a massive misogyny using the Philly Eagles and the whole school as a prop" seemed like a moment for Melissa to be angry, not just sad. Like why did she end up comforting HIM? I feel like every time the show brushes up against misogyny something dumb like this happens

Jacob is Jacob and does Jacob things which is fine.

I'm also wondering: where is the charter school storyline??? Have they not been able to get Leslie Odom Jr back? They set him up as a Big Bad and the threat of Abbott being forcibly turned charter as a serious concern and then that completely vanished. Does ABC have some charter school people on its board...? Lol. I would love to find out if maybe Manny and his weirdos could play into this and turn out to be charter school villains but rn this just feels like a major loose end.

It's hard bc I have such a sentimental attachment to the characters and seeing them all back again was so nice. But this felt like a super clumsy start to the season. I'm sure there was a lot of pressure on the writers as well, not just in terms of the double episode format, but because the show has gotten so many awards and so much press, they may have felt they HAD to throw absolutely everything out there to build up the premiere as huge and explosive.

I'm hoping the return to the half hr format will help smooth out a lot of the wrinkles and help bring back some of the structure, because IMO there were definitely hiccups and missteps in past seasons, but you could really feel an underlying story structure for many parts of the show (Teddie, Barb and Janine's relationship, Ava's growth, Melissa and her personal life). Fingers crossed ig

[heydranga]

Okay just finished watching 8bitryan play Fnaf ruins. Multiple things I like:

Cassie, she's not instantly a dick like Gregory, she sees the mascots destroyed and becomes more worried then scared. She also didn't trust the mask and spring trap the minute she saw them so bonus for a smart girl.

The dilapidated building, makes sense due to all the endings and the problems Gregory caused from being a little shit.

Freddy isn't the same Freddy he's a prototype and Roxy is proven to not have any I'll intentions for others just Gregory which makes sense since he took her eyes.

Eclipse no more no less. Moon isn't really evil and sun can be annoying and Elcipse shows us the best of them both.

Things that i COULDN'T stop thinking about:

Gregory is a little shit!!!

Literally is the reason the place closed down, still didn't solve any problems just made them worst.

This little bastard was willing to leave his bestest friend who LITERALLY WAS READY TO GO TO EXTREME LENGHTS TO FIND HIM. He abandoned her for Glamrock Freddy (Michael theory imo) like he was all she had and was the entire reason she was tricked into going there.

Not only that but why was Gregory even in the pizza plex past dark? I hate seeing people act like Gregory is innocent, nah muthafucker was near William afton levels of pissing me off and psychotic. (Love to hear more ppls opinion on Gregory)

Second thing I couldn't stop thinking about:

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ANIMATRONIC CHASING CASSIE AT THE END!?! WAS THAT SPRINGTRAP did the shell officially go away? I NEED ANSWERS!!

Anyway thank you for coming to my Ted talk hope you have a nice day. 😉😁

[supercreig]

🗣 Gregory

Send '🗣' + a character to hear the mun's opinion about that character.

Sadly he was only shown in the SP movie. Kinda wish they brought him back to the show at some point along with Christophe, but SP seems to never bring back these minor characters. Maybe it's best that way.

I didn't think or care a whole lot about Gregory until when I first started writing Craig on here, I came across Blaze's blog and was like "A Gregory RPer. Never thought I'd come across one. And it's active! -reblogs promo and hopes kouhai notices me someday-" I already expected SP to have such a small RP community since it's not everyone's cup of tea with the crude humor and all.

There's not that much to go from with canon-Gregory since he's not given that much screentime, so I can't say a whole lot. From what I saw of him in the movie though I thought he was neat too and thought him being around Wendy as Stan gets jealous was funny. I'm not sure if Gregory had a little bit of a thing for Wendy, but I tend to think he kinda did maybe when he told Wendy to hold him while she literally went "Noooo. Gregory nooooo" LOL. Or maybe he didn't have a little thing for her but just wanted to be a good friend and offer her to hold onto him so she feels less scared. idk.

Let us not forget how if it wasn't for Gregory, La Resistance would have gotten nowhere. He's definitely a smart kid (he legit says he has a grape point average of I think a 4.0). He's well-educated enough to have even help start the revolution group, even called Stan out on only wanting to lead the revolution to impress Wendy. And even though Gregory went out of his way to help with the revolution, what does he get in return?

"Fuck Gregory! Right in the ear!"

I honestly don't take that part seriously though cuz it's South Park and nothing it meant to be taken so seriously, and anything can be up to our own interpretation.

TL;DR

I'M SORRY BUT IMO "FUCK GREGORY" WAS FUNNY BUT AT THE SAME TIME DAMN THE POOR KID. HE GOES HIS WAY OUT TO HELP Y'ALL, AND WHAT DOES HE GET IN RETURN?

"FUCK GREGORY."

ALSO HIS FACE AT THE MOMENT WENDY SAID THAT FIDVJBDFLVKJG.

THIS POOR KID DESERVES SO MUCH BETTER THOUGH LOL.

Also he's the parody of Enjolras, and his song provider is the guy who played Prince Derik, I'm sure. Howard McGillen, I think that's his name.

[siroetosu]

WOW okay this has been sitting in my drafts forever but I just rented the next few episodes from the DVD store and I'm ready to CONTINUE THE SERIES WITH THE EVER ICONIC:

episode 8: ice

or as I call it, the puffy jackets episode

okay so, before we even get into it, this has absolutely got to be The Thing inspired right? there's a dog wandering through the wreckage of a remote research outpost... "we are not who we are..." like??? the first time I watched 10 years ago I had not seen The Thing but now I have and I feel like a dummy for not making this connection sooner lol

the repetition of the cut to the exact same snowy exterior shot over and over again got me

okay omg this small plane pilot named Bear... from my brief experience up in Alaska with flying on one of these tiny planes this is 100% accurate. my pilot was also just some dude who didn't give a fuck

okay I'm also currently watching The Walking Dead for the first time and frickin this actor is GREGORY the worst guy I was like why is just his face putting me off rn. to be fair his character in this episode is also kind of a shit bag

okay aaaaaaaaaaaaand of course we all know the STRIPPING, the INTIMATE TRUST AND BELIEF in each other OOOOOWWWWEEEEE. truly an iconic moment. them against the world. Scully standing up for Mulder against the mistrust of another logical, medical mind, feels like a metaphor for the conflict within her own mind between her logic and her blossoming and deepening trust and belief in Mulder, externalized into and represented by Mr Gregory doctor whatever his name is.... truly a brilliant episode

episode 9: space

I remember absolutely nothing about this episode... they look so damn cute in that little golf cart scooting around mission control

honestly this episode's biggest win for me is the dope cgi mars creature face phasing in and out of existence. we get to see Mulder being pretty sweet towards the mission control lady but overall not the most standout ep

episode 10: fallen angels

max the NICAP tin can RV ufo nut says "trust no one" ummmmmmmmmmmm so are we meant to believe this is a commonly traded ufo enthusiast phrase?

god I fucking love Scully.... "where do I scrub up" no hesitation she's such a boss

overall a frustrating episode imo, I'm realizing through this rewatch so far I'm mostly into the monster of the week episodes and as soon as we start encountering standoffish government and military personnel I begin to check out. this may be a controversial opinion or even feel like a contradiction to the overall spirit and ethos of the show but that's just how I'm feeling so far... we shall see

[so-bitya]

Results are in!!! Here are my thoughts about it:

I'm so relieved Sieglinde won 🎉🎉🎉. imo she deserves a comeback the MOST out of everyone. girl delivered one of the best arcs in the manga and she brings so much to the story, i would hate it if Yana treats her as just a one-off character!!

Same for Francis Midford, she feels like such an important existence in the manga, she deserves a time to shine. its hard to see kuro coming to an end without at least one scene from her perspective.

I will say im shocked that Tanaka is in third. i didn't realize yall missed that old man so badly. he's important for sure, but I prefer to see Rachel make an appearance over him (shes the one i voted for) like its such a shame she's always pushed aside compared to Vincent, and i'd love to see her perspective in all this!!! she's just been a perfect dead wife, but im sure she has more to bring to the table!!

other results im surprised about, im happy yall want to see Othello and Gregory again! they showed up in the blue cult arc, but it felt like a shame they didn't have more to do right?? having them appear must have been building up to something in the future, right Yana??

also my joke option sebastian the dog had quite a few votes, more than double charles, and fred abberline who got zero votes (no rights for cops!!!) lmao i would be happy to see the dog again.

anyway! i hope Yana does include everyone in the future. Here's to the new season!🎉🎉🎉

kuroshitsuji's chapters have been padding for time for a longtime now, but im just as afraid the manga will rush it's conclusion towards the end (ive seen it before) and not spend anytime on characters we do like. So which characters do yall want to have a major character moment before the story ends?*

*Im not counting major characters like Lizzy, Soma, the Queen, etc, who i'm certain will get focus eventually. this is more for characters whose importance in the the plot is a little shaky atm and could change at a moment's notice (aka Yana's whims)

[somehowmags]

IMO, the Sandman show is anti-Black, perhaps inadvertently, when you look at who most of the dead minor characters are. I haven't seen a lot of talk about that, but it bothered me.

Also, what the hell is going on with Nada and why are people still stanning Dream after that? Horrible. What's in the canon is definitely a bigger problem than what fans are writing about (the only obvious ship bait, which is Dreamling). It's AO3, so a m/f ship with little chemistry is unlikely to be super popular, and Dream is the main character and one of the only characters to consistently appear on screen, so any popular ship will feature him, for better or worse.

your first point is a valid criticism. i, as again a non black poc, can't really judge whether or not it's anti-black, but i did have the same thought myself when watching for the first time. but i do think that sort of tapers off by the second half of the show. there were a lot of minor characters who were black and who died, but also a lot of characters who were black and had a lot of focus and didn't die, like lucienne, rosemary, rose, jed, and death. i don't think it's intentional, but it is a problem and something i hope they fix in the second season.

as for your second point, i do actually have to disagree. we are supposed to think that dream is a bad person, especially after nada. he's grouchy, mean, rude to lucienne, cold to rose, and comes off as arrogant and unfeeling a lot. he is a major fucking asshole. but the sandman (the show, at least, i haven't read the comics) is about him learning how to be a better person. he's not compassionate towards cain and abel after the loss of gregory- but he gives them the egg. he insults lucienne by insinuating that he can handle the work of the dreaming on his own- but he has to apologize, recognizes she was right, and by the end lets her do the administrative work of the dreaming. he's cold and cruel to rose, lyta, and hector after he gets what he wants- but after, he recognizes rose as a power in her own right, and allows her and unity to solve the problem their way. yes, he left nada in hell, but i have no doubt that if sandman is continued, they will address it, and he'll fix the situation and apologize. and i believe they do in fact address it in the comics! (again, haven't read them yet, so forgive me if i'm wrong)

there's a quote i'd like to add here from allan heinberg, one of the executive producers and showrunners of the show, about the making of it: "...The Sandman is an exploration of what it means to be human. To be mortal and therefore vulnerable. Capable of being hurt, but also capable of loving and being loved. The Sandman is the story of an honorable, arrogant king who slowly—very slowly—learns how to love. How to be a loving friend, a loving brother, a loving father." yes, dream is an asshole and a bad person for what he did to nada. but that's the great part about the sandman: we get to watch him have to choose, again and again, to be better.

[mermaidsirennikita]

What would you say is your favorite HR series? Like ravenels or maiden lane or bridgertons etc each series has a stand out book and then some duds but which one would you say has the least ...duds?😂

Definitely not the Ravenels or Bridgerton lol. I can only say that I WHOLEHEARTEDLY recommend 2 Bridgerton books. The other ones I find fair to bad; like there's nothing wrong with Romancing Mr. Bridgerton or It's In His Kiss, exactly, but they don't work for me. The Ravenels I like a lot more, but I'm not as... passionate? About most of them? As I am about other Kleypas series.

I think as a WHOLE The Wallflowers is one of the strongest HR series there is. I loooove Autumn and Winter. Summer and Spring I like, but am not passionate about; however they fit and slide in soooo well with the other two and the quartet (plus the Christmas novella) is so cohesive and you really believe in the friendship between these women (and the men for that matter; part of why the Sebastian St. Vincent Fuckery is so good is that you feel like he and Westcliff have known each other a long ass time).

I also think that The Wallflowers reads the most like it should be read as a series? The Bridgerton books, as a contrast, are about siblings, but imo they're pretty easy standalone reads. The only ones that may benefit a bit more from reading them in sequence are like... Romancing Mr. Bridgerton and... for a bonus...? On The Way To The Wedding? Because Gregory wants what Kate and Anthony have? But I didn't emotionally attach to Gregory... at all.. so. Idk that it worked well in my case.

With The Wallflowers, you get the setup of the girls' friendship in Summer, pluuuus the very obvious hints that Westcliff wants to fuck Lillian so bad he literally doesn't know what to do with himself (the rounders scene). In Autumn you of course have the Greatest Villain to Hero Introduction Of All Time with Sebastian. (Also! Annabelle is pregnant! A baaaaaby!) If you're completely lame, you read that book and you're like whining about how he's just tooooo baaaaaad but if you're a fun bitch, you read that book rooting wholeheartedly for Westcliff and Lillian but also kind of enjoying that bit where she makes out with Sebastian because he can very obviously fuck. And then he kidnaps her and it's great.

Spring is probably the least set up of the books following Summer, but you do have the benefit of the context of the Bowman sisters' family history. And it all eventually loops in with Lillian and Westcliff having a baby~ and St. Vincent slooooowly but suuuuurely being let back into everyone's good graces because Evie is knocked up and there's no getting rid of him now lol.

Other than The Wallflowers, I'd say Maiden Lane. For its length it has a shocking amount of legitimately good, compulsively readable books. Even the ones I'm not as big a fan of typically have classic Hoyt Moments. Like I remember Duke of Pleasure being one (that I ironically own a signed copy of) where the tropes aren't my typical thing? Widower, girl who pretends to be a boy a lot. But there's a scene where instead of like? Doing a fakeout makeout? He's like "people are coming let's do a fakeout blow job because everyone will think you're a sex worker and leave us alone". And she's like "lmao sure" but then actually bLOWS HIM TO COMPLETION AND SWALLOWS???? IN A PUBLIC VENUE? I'm not even sure if they'd like... done anything more than kiss at that point. Like it goes from kissing to swallowing his cum in the street.

And that shit is so wild that I have no choice but to absolutely stan.

So. Maiden Lane is good.

[alrightsnaps]

I started following you because of Amber and all I know about bridgerton is that I couldn’t care enough to finish the first season but absolutely loved season 2 but now I kinda want to read the books because we have similar taste in all the things you reblog lol should I read them? The fandom seems to be a wild ride

Aaaw I love this intersection of interests with a fellow Amber supporter!

Most of the time I'm mad at Shondaland for the way they handled s02, but every now and then I come across someone from the “i didn't care much for s01 but loved s02” crowd and I'm reminded that even sidelined Simone and Jonathan took the world by storm as Kate and Anthony because that's the power they hold and can't help smiling 🥰

As a genre regency romance (and historical romance in general) can be a mixed bag cause they sometimes have misogynistic elements that can be off-putting, especially when it comes to older books. Personally, I'm into Julia Quinn's writing for the banter and family camaraderie but she's not an exception in that aspect– I think she's improved in later books, but in the Bridgerton saga it's more notable. In general though I think they're worth a go!

That being said I wouldn't read the books in order. Since you loved Kathony TVWLM (#2) is definitely the place to start. I don't think you'll have an issue since you're already familiar with the Bridgerton universe and while the series follows a chronological order (except maybe books 4-6 that roughly take place over the same period of time), each book can be read as a standalone, and plenty of fans started with Anthony and Kate's book after watching the show. It's the most popular Bridgerton book for a reason and unlike s02 you'll get way more married!Kathony and you'll adore Edwina, who's just the sweetest human being (and no one deserved her more than Kate Sharma but the producers just hate my girl I guess 😭)

Then I'd go for Francesca's book (#6)– a character whose existence you may or may not be aware of from the adaptation because she appears for all of 1:40 minutes, but I guarantee you'll love once reading When He Was Wicked (not to mention you'll fall in love with the book's male lead!).

An Offer From a Gentleman (#3) is Benedict's book and features one of my favourite female characters in the series that we've yet to see on screen. Some people are not much into it because book!Benedict is...not always the best, but having watched the show before reading it I was already biased because of Luke Thompson's rendition of Benedict so let's just say that I was willing to overlook certain aspects of it lmao. It's also a Cinderella retelling which, again, some people aren't much into but I personally liked a lot!

I also have a soft spot for Hyacinth and Gregory's books (#7 and #8).. Hyacinth is pretty much my favourite Bridgerton sister, my girl is just an agent of chaos. And Gregory's book is hilarious, not to mention contains the most adorable domestic!Kathony tidbits.

The weakest books for me are #1, #4, #5, so I'd leave them for last. Daphne's book infamously contains a rape scene which is however not acknowledged as such (while partcipating in the sex act after being roused, Simon is blackout drunk at the time). Romancing Mr Bridgerton (#4) is actually a fan favourite, but I personally found it kind of bland. It could be because I'm not crazy about show!polin as a couple or individual characters so I went into it with a bias? In the books Colin is supposed to be this charming rake character (which is definitely not reflected in the show lmao) who's always meddling in his siblings' love lives (imo he was annoying af in his own book but his appearances in his siblings' stories are kinda cute). Penelope is way more likeable in the books, since her girlboss, destroying-people's-lives-for-personal-interest persona is mostly a show invention (though she's still LW in the books). Eloise's story (#5) was the biggest disappointment for me because the show made a big deal out of trying to give Eloise this “feminist” characterization while in her book she pretty much goes and gets herself compromised with a stranger (who's an asshole that treats her like a nanny/sex object combo) because she's dreading the prospect of becoming a spinster. On the plus side, it has a hilarious scene of the Bridgerton brothers and domestic Benedict/Sophie!

Feel free to share your thoughts if you end up reading (any of) them!

[missbrunettebarbie]

Honestly TVWLM is pretty overrated as well. Like sometimes I feel like the fact that since so many of the other Bridgerton books aren’t that great it just looks better. Like lol I couldn’t picture Anthony as a rake - he was way to uptight & hysterical. And tbh I never understood how someone who seemed as fun as Kate was ever interested in a guy who lost his mind over a dog just acting like a dog. Also her being constantly called a menace to society was a bit of a reach. Aside from arguing with Anthony she didn’t really do anything menacing.

Although honestly I’m mostly annoyed that I was promised enemies to lovers but they were clearly into each other the moment they met!

The word 'rake' is thrown around so carelessly in Bridgerton, it had lost all meaning to me. I think only Phillip, Gareth and Gregory don't get the title and thank God for that!

You are totally right Anthony could have never been a rake with his attitude. But I guess the author thought it would make him cooler? It didn't. The guy was just ridiculous.

I am reading Daphne's book right now, and considering how Anthony reacted to Simon courting his sister, he is the true menance to society. Kate was positively tame when he was courting Edwina and she had a lot more reason to not want him near her teenage sister.

I am always a bit suspicious of ships that start off antagonistic in romance novels, it can go wrong so easily. Still, I preferred Kate's dislike of Anthony to Sophie's lovesick attitude towards Benedict.

Anyway, yeah, Book 2 of Bridgerton was not that great. IMO, the last 2 books is where JQ was at her best.

[fictionalpeter]

While I definitely prefer the original Roswell tv series to the remake, I think find they improved on one thing:

Isobel.

On the original show, my opinion of Isabel ranged from irritation to outright hatred of the character. Book Isabel was somehow worse, though her emotional drama somehow made the times she acted like a brat a little easier to tolerate.

But RNM version of Isobel was awesome. She's smart, funny, clever, shows she cares about Max and Michael without being borderline possessive about them, has her priorities straight, and never makes everything about herself. Her storylines even managed to support the main plotlines, rather than trying to replace/push it out of the way like the original show did at times.

I'm still kind of bitter they felt the need to eliminate the Isabel/Alex romance when they could have easily redone it with a new character(Gregory Manes was pretty much early book Alex, IMO), but they did follow through with the Iz/Kyle relationship the original teased but never developed, so I'm willing to forgive them.

I also really enjoyed Rosa's character, as she was someone who never really got any development in the books due to her dying long before the Crashdown shooting, and didn't even exist in the original show. I kind of wish we got to see a more positive dynamic between her and Max than what we got, but the idea of someone being resurrected and making the most of their second chance sends a really hopeful message. Especially when you consider the dour, cynical atmosphere the first season started with.

[robustcornhusk]

okay no, now i get to complain about the overall book.

i get the sense that each chapter was written separately from the others; the most egregious being the chapter Non-Dairy Dairy, which was literally a previously-published article with a few paragraphs added... but also like.

Why, though, has [Lappé's] Diet for a Small Planet been updated and re-released for its fifth, tenth, twentieth and now fiftieth anniversary editions instead of Dick Gregory's Natural Diet for Folks Who Eat? Why has the concept of "white veganism" had such a strong cultural hold?

[the cover for the new fiftieth anniversary edition of Natural Diet for Folks Who Eat is a really nice piece of design, imo. to be clear the author knows about the fiftieth anniversary edition of the book, too, just it's sorta besides the main point of the quote]

and then, at the very end:

The future is possible, as has been imagined by the hippies at The Farm, by Frances Lappé, by punks and anarchists, by vegans and vegetarians, by fighters for food justice.

what, did you forget? you were arguing that it was an influential book in its own right, and you forgot about it?

i went to take a look at Natural Diet for Folks Who Eat and, well.

maybe the nutritional claims made aren't going to hold up to modern knowledge.

---

weirdly, the author's own blog has much better writing (re structure, having a point, etc) than their book, at least in the handful of posts i looked at. i also understand that they have/had a podcast, and i would speculate that the process/prep/editing/etc for that could have influenced their writing style in a way that's fine for shorter pieces and fucking sucks for longer pieces, but i haven't listened and don't plan to.

[tangent: cynically, i wonder if the reason that more podcasts don't have transcripts is that they just look fucking awful in transcripts. in the ones i've read, there's a lot of superfluous-in-writing language, phatic bits, etc.]

they do have a post about beans. for whatever reason they didn't stick it in the book as well. it reads a little too much like an advertisement for a certain brand.

For big food personalities, using beans from companies like Rancho Gordo is a mark of pride that is loudly proclaimed in a way meat or other foodstuff origins are not [...] One company that’s trying to make beans cool but not too cool is Primary Beans. [...] Because while smaller-batch beans have become cool in culinary circles as a rarefied product, that’s not the demographic Sykes [the fonder] wants to appeal to: She just wants dried beans of high quality to be more accessible to anyone looking to bring new beans into their diet, and has some standard guidelines for sourcing. (At $7 to $11 per pound, depending on the bean, they of course are still fielding complaints [)...]

... so the same price as rancho gordo and similar. it comes across to me as credulous, like they're just believing the marketing.

My pantry is packed with nice Primary Beans (because they sent me some; they don’t yet ship to Puerto Rico)

so it was paid (in product).

---

from a review of the book in the atlantic:

One of the pleasures of reading this book is that it prompts us to think about nature’s variety and abundance, and about how that abundance can show up on our plates.

did i miss a chapter or something? is my copy of the book 25 pages shorter where the author actually talks about some good fucking food?

---

re lionfish, i wanted to link to the wikipedia page for perverse incentives.

okay, fine, i'm reading No Meat Required.

What is compelling about making the default decision? Nothing, at least not to me. [...]

i worry that the blurb is going to be accurate to the spirit of the book but at least it's short!