#ursula’s two birds

[ursulaincorporated]

The debate between having Phil confront Elena and having Baghera confront Elena is strong. And they are two entirely different vibes as well.

Phil would be angry that someone would do that to anyone, let alone someone he’s claimed as his child. They don’t call him the Angel of Death for nothing. He’s not Death’s favorite for no reason. He’s destroyed kingdoms and countries and he would do it all over again for the fun of it if he truly felt like it.

But Baghera would be soft. It’d be gentle. There’d be anger but there’d be defeat. She’s been through Hell, it’s called Purgatory, and now she can’t bring herself to be angry like that anymore. But she’d see this Fed worker who works in genetics, who stares for too long, and she’d know. She wouldn’t destroy kingdoms. No, she’d whisper a quiet “why?” And for the first time, calm the hatchling in her head on her own, and ask “why me?”

And both would be just as impactful as the other. Forced to answer to the child that Elena loved more than anything or forced to confront the person she wanted to be more than anything. In any other universe, she wouldn’t be here.

But this is the 1/1,000,000. This is the one universe she didn’t pick the right choice. Both would haunt her, both would follow her forever. Both would make her question her choices for the rest of her life.

But they can’t both happen at once. It’s one of the other. The effect is only that impactful once.

[apoemaday]

Kinship

by Ursula K. Le Guin

Very slowly burning, the big forest tree stands in the slight hollow of the snow melted around it by the mild, long heat of its being and its will to be root, trunk, branch, leaf, and know earth dark, sun light, wind touch, bird song.

Rootless and restless and warmblooded, we blaze in the flare that blinds us to that slow, tall, fraternal fire of life as strong now as in the seedling two centuries ago.

[nonaserpent]

Disney Villains as Birds

This idea just came in mind combining two fields I’m interested. Not just looking for the color but appearance, feeling and behavior also matters.

Very personal opinion you may disagree but friendly discussion welcomed :)

HERE WE GO!

Hans: Blue-breasted Fairywren (Malleus pulcherrimus)

Very cute and pretty-looking bird! Known for their unique courtship of delivering petals.

©Disney

©Laurie Boyle

Judge Claude Frollo: Demoiselle Crane (Grus virgo)

#That Hair

©Disney

©salis-

Hades: Steller’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)

HE HAS TO BE A CORVIDAE. And just look at that hairstyle and that…eyebrows?

©Disney

©Daniel Plumer

Queen of Hearts: Papyrus Gonolek (Laniarius mufumbiri)

Fun fact: Like shrikes, they impale their prey on thorns.

©Disney

©Nik Borrow

Queen Grimhilde: Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus axillaris)

Fairest bird of all

©Disney

©I Am birdsaspoetry.com 

Jafar: Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus)

One of my fav. Now Iago has someone his same class.

©Disney

©pilot_micha

Yzma: Lesser Florican (Sypheotides indicus)

#THAT EYELASH

©Disney

There’s no copyright restriction on the other pic from website so I guess I’m good.

Cruella De Vil: Houbara Bustard (Chlamydotis undulata)

She would see the bird as her greatest accessory.

©Disney

©Frank Vassen

Dr. Facilier: Long-tailed Glossy Starling (Lamprotornis caudatus)

The metallic effect of their plumage just matches Facilier’s shadow power and colorful effects made by his friends on the other side.

©Disney

©Nik Borrow

Mother Gothel: Long-tailed Paradise Whydah (Vidua paradisaea)

Known to be brood parasites like cuckoos.

©Disney

©Brian Henderson

Gaston: Western Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus)

No one makes that mating call like Gaston!

©Disney

©sighmanb

Ursula: Peruvian Pelican (Pelecanus thagus)

Those who couldn’t pay their price were devoured, FOR SURE

©Disney

©Rogerio Camboim S A

Maleficent: Common Raven (Corvus corax)

Need I say more?

©Disney

©Henry

Captain Hook: Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens)

Obviously

©Disney

©Andy Morffew

Lady Tremaine: Ruff (Calidris pugnax)

Her daughters would LOVE this outfit

©Disney

©Mibby23

THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING!

BONUS: Kuzco

©Richard Gibbons

[vanillesuiker]

(Finally) introducing my OC, Ursula Malfoy!

(Art by @bastaardsuiker as usual, it's so good ugh it's literally her.)

Ursula Alioth Malfoy is the second child¹ and only daughter of Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy. She is ambitious and a total perfectionist and comes across as rather arrogant (because she kinda is). A model student, Prefect and eventually Headgirl, who is very confident in her studies and will always do more than assigned. Because of this, Ursula and Percy were each others #1 enemy since the first day (pff try hards). After actual years of constantly mocking and insulting each other, they do start getting along (don't ask me how, I haven't written that part yet) and eventually develope feelings for each other. They start dating near the end of their sixth year, but they keep this very secret of course, because their families do not like each other. But after graduating Hogwarts, Ursula ends up running away from her family, which gets her disowned. After a few weeks at one of her best friends place, Percy ends up introducing her to his parents and she stays there for a while. And they're very happy and in love and even end up engaged.

(And then the war happens but that's too much to explain right now)

To almost everyone at Hogwarts, Ursula seems too perfect. She works hard to keep up her reputation as a perfect student, being raised under the constant pressure of "don't end up like your brother" does that to a girl. Behind the perfect appearance, she's rather damaged and in times of high stress she can seem a bit unstable.

There's so much more to her and her family relationships and her relationship with Percy but ugh it's too much to explain right now (I have a doc in my Google drive that is just multiple attempts at writing this intro). So have some random facts!!

She was born on November 12th 1976, making her a Scorpio!

Her name, Ursula, is based on the star sign Ursa Major, or the Great Bear. Ursa Major is located right next to the constellation Draco, so it seemed fitting.

Her middle name, Alioth, is the name of the brightest star in Ursa Major.

Major Ursula is also what Fred and George called her when she became a Prefect and would catch them in their mischief.

She has a raven! I think it's boring that Hogwarts students can only have owls, because there's so many more interesting birds (oh how I love little Kestrels). And I think a raven is much more fitting for her than an owl. The raven is called Orion, and she got him as a gift from her parents after her first year. He's been her companion for years and considering he's a raven living in captivity (magical captivity even), he'll be with her many more years.

For a while, Orion does not trust Percy, and pecks at him like he's attacking Ursula if they even hold hands.

Her personality has changed a lot since I first thought of her. Originally, she was waaaay more sad and depressing, but now she just internalised that.

She was also going to have an Augerey at first, but that was too complicated to think about.

Alright that's all for now, I've been contemplating making this post for so long because I feel like OCs can come across as sooo cringe. But then I realised that I really don't care how cringe she it.

Ursula (and literally any other character I mention in any post that might make you go "...huh?") is a part of the universe @bastaardsuiker and I created and called the Suikerverse. And in the Suikerverse, canon is whatever we want it to be. There are many OCs, there is a lot of OC x Canon, so many changes to canon, links back to Hogwarts Legacy era OCs, you name it. So if something doesn't make sense, it's probably just a thing we've made up or changed.

*In the Suikerverse, Draco is not an only child, but has two older siblings; Ursula and Altair (an OC of @bastaardsuiker ). In this universe the Weasleys are also just simply not related to the Black family.

[ghostieblr]

watching OUAT Season 4, Ep 17: "Best Laid Plans" (almost over) AND OH MY GOD CHARMING & SNOW ARE SO????

(i rant below the cut. not spoiler free. OUAT veteran fans pls help a girl out 😭)

they infuriate me so much. like Snow saying the egg is not a child ?? she is Snow Fucking White, does she not know about birds? Does she not know about birds laying eggs and the lil hatchlings being the babies?? How can she say the egg is not a child, it is, it so fucking is, AND MALEFICENT IS A HUMAN SORCERESS WHO TURNS INTO A DRAGON OF COURSE HER BABY WOULD BE THE SAME?

And Snow's best friend is Red!!! THE WEREWOLF. A human who turns into a goddamn wolf. STILL SHE DIDN'T THINK TWICE ABOUT THE EGG BEING A BABY UNTIL THE EGG HATCHED AND THE LIL HAND POPPED OUT?

(i'm sorry i'm yelling i'm just SO DONE WITH THESE TWO).

they're not heroes. they're two selfish people hiding behind a a wall of optimism and the general narc behavior of "the world revolves around us." they're ultimately the villains, because how different is the quest to ensure a happy ending than to the quest of revenge? to the villains of OUAT, revenge was their means to happiness; their purpose, their pursuit to a better life. to have their vengeance quenched so they can move forward with life, confident in their choices of past. but snow and charming literally stripped a CHILD of a potential good life for their OWN, to ensure a happy ending. if it was Mal doing it to them they would have let the whole world know what they did and then rallied the kingdom against her. Mal, though? she kept it to herself (side note: love that Ursula and Cruella tried to rescue Mal's baby) she didn't speak a word. not even Regina, possibly Mal's closest friend remaining (who was busy with her Dark Curse lol) knew about the HORRENDOUS thing these two did against her.

Seriously, OUAT fandom, how do you bear Snow and Charming?

[black-rabbit-razumikhin]

Raz Reads Les Mis (XXVI)

Saint Denis - Eponine

In which I am once again mad at the prison system

Marius has moved out and is now living with Courfeyrac

He doesn't want to be so close to the horror of the house and he doesn't want to testify against Thenardier

He goes so far as to borrow money from Courfeyrac to give to Thenardier when he's in solitary confinement

Marius?? Borrow money??

Also, putting someone in solitary before they've even had a trial? That's a little terrifying

Of course this recent scare does nothing to deter Marius from being obsessed with Cosette(?)

Going so far as to make routine walks to a certain field just because it's called the Field of the Lark

He's only getting away with this because he's pretty

Cut to how Javert is faring

His prisoners keep escaping him

This is an exaggeration, I think only Claquesous (the best one) disappears

So Javert is in a bit of a testy mood about this

The court decides to keep one of the members of Patron Minette out of solitary so that he can testify

This doesn't go particularly well for the justice system

A very fun little prison code involving baked goods is discussed

Next cut-scene! Let's check in on Mabeuf

Still reading - two books at once, the legend - still in love with his plants

One of them looks sad and wilted but there seems to be no rain to water it

What's this? A young woman come to water his garden for him?

And all she wants to know is where Marius is?

And disappears without a trace once she gets her answer?

This young woman (Eponine, it's Eponine) finds Marius at the Field of the Lark

He does know that a lark is a very common European bird right?

My poor Eponine has the biggest crush on Marius, and Marius is so cold and indifferent

She's so willing to make him happy, she's going so far as to help him find his Lark/Ursula/Cosette(?)

She gets so happy when Marius simply knows her name!

Now Eponine's story has made me sad. I can't imagine how she must be thinking about this whole situation. Does she know that she's helping Marius find her foster sister? Is she helping Marius find her foster sister?

Also, when Hugo says 'solitary' in prison, is that solitary that is around today? That seems like incredibly unnecessary torture in your prison system.

[missameliep]

Growing up, reading has always been one of my favourite pastimes. I was fascinated by books and read different genres and basically any book I would get my hands on.

To nobody's surprise, I ended up choosing two majors in college in which reading was (and still is) absolutely necessary, but over the years most of my readings were related either to my studies or work and rarely for pleasure... (except for fanfic which has been an absolutely self-indulgent thing since I've discovered the genre in 2017 and it saved me from boredom during many sleepless nights with breastfeeding my daughter. So thank you, fanfic writers, you amazing and generous people ❤️) ...over the years so many books were left unfinished because of other tasks and responsibilities...

Last year I took a literature course on Black female writers with the amazing professor Roberta Araújo @/justa.causa, and I read a few of the books recommended for the classes, and what an incredible experience to branch out and get know authors that I probably wouldn't have read if I didn't take this course. For instance, I've never heard of Maria Firmina dos Reis and her novel Ursula, the first abolitionist novel in Brazil, even though I've studied Brazilian literature in school and have a bachelor in History, and it hit me how little I've read beyond the classics (and if you know Brazil and our Academia Brasileira de Letras you know how white and male dominated that means).

When 2024 started and I was kind of lost and really wanting to focus on some goals for the year, I decided to challenged myself: I added to my to-do list 12 books written by female authors, some of the books were from the authors we studied and others were books I've been dying to read for a long time like The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

And to my utmost surprise, despite all the things irl and exhausting routine, I've realized that in July I had already completed the challenge.

12 books was the initial goal, that I wasn't certain I would reach... But... Whenever I found a new interesting book I added it to the list and since I was reading some books in parallel anyway... I decided I'm not stopping now and see how many more I'll read till December.

I'm currently reading the historical romance Nada digo de ti, que em ti não veja by Eliana Alves Cruz, and loving it, such an intriguing story, and have about 30% of Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings to read.

This may seem like a small thing, but it brought me so much joy that I absolutely needed to share, because I feel like I need to celebrate even the small things and to let myself be excited with things again. And I am!

And talking about books always makes me happy and apparently inspired others too. My father who doesn't have any hobbies and constantly complains how he could no longer read, that his eyesight is bad, his memory is bad etc, read The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments by Margaret Atwood in a spam of a few days and we talked a lot about the books too, which was really nice. Now I'm teasing him with the plot of Nada digo de ti, que em não veja, because nobody else read that one! 😂

And the more I read, the more I want to read and to write as well. Some days I was just like that writer who fell in love with Machado de Assis (and now Clarice Lispector too) all excited and wanting to read books in their original languages and all of that... but that'll be a challenge for another time!

[fictionkinfessions]

Canon Nicknames ask game, part 1 (names for myself). Might put Part 2 (names I gave others) in a separate post as not to make this one too long.

Bird Boy: I got this one across so many different kin lives it's actually kind of bizzare how often it came up. As Tobias, pretty much everyone of the main animorphs called me Bird Boy after Marco used it once and it just kind of stuck. I got it a few times as well in my Jason life too after Leo used it (the irony that both Marco and Leo are Hispanic jokesters with mother related Angst and an endless thesaurus of nicknames is not lost on me).

Bluejay, Jaybird, Jay, Jace: There are only two people allowed to call me Jay and those two people are Percy and Nico. Everyone else had to use Jace. Percy is the only one who's allowed to call me Bluejay though, that one was very personal and intimate between us. Piper occasionally got to use Jacey but that was more of a teasing playful thing. I also had a BUNCH of electricity and storm related nicknames given to me by Leo (Sparky-G, Thunderboy, Superman, etc.) but there's so many that I have legitimately lost count of them all.

Zapmeister: Admittedly I gave myself this cringey-ass nickname after I ended up discovering Techno World. It blew my mind that I could live a whole second life there, provided I never ran into my double and kept myself disguised on the down-low. Given the Techno World version of me was seen as a bit of a celebrity, I figured I wanted to inflate my own ego a bit as well, thus Francis Zapmeister was born. Certainly a better nickname than The Werrinup Thief, at any rate. Also side note, if anyone actually remembers this source (I have found exactlyOne fic on AO3 for the Australian TV show Parallax) then you are probably at least in your 30s by now and already agree that Hippie World Francis was a Mischievous Little Shit. No, I'm not apologizing for it either.

Sparrowhawk: Less of a nickname and more of a chosen name. Anyone who's read the original EarthSea trilogy by Ursula K. LeGuinn will remember the power of invoking someone's True Name, hence why I mostly kept it hidden once I became an Archmage. Even to this day I still feel a little weird about hearing my True Name for that source. Maybe it actually became a deadname of sorts for me in that canon? I don't remember much from this life though as it seems to be more of a minor kintype.

- Jason Grace (Heroes Of Olympus), Tobias Fangor (Animorphs), Francis Short (Parallax), Archmage Sparrowhawk (EarthSea Trilogy)

#🖤⚡️🦅

x

[martiemagic]

Books of 2024-'25📚

Hello everyone and Happy New Years!✨ Let's recap and get ready for another year of books~

Last year was a pretty busy year for me as I took two courses in literature from 17th century to 20th century; I read in total 27 books, where only 4+/- of them were for personal fun.

Here's my most outstanding reads of '24;

The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas (5⭐️)

Kristin Lavransdaughter by Sigrid Undset (5⭐️)

Anne of Green Gables by L.M Montgomery (5⭐️)

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (didn´t finish)

Disgrace by Coetzee (3⭐️)

Crime and punishment by Dostovieski (didn' finish) (The reason I didn' manage to finish said books is not because I didn't like them, only because I had to read so many other books for uni, so I couldn't dwell upon one book for too long or I would fall behind.)

My most anticipated reads for '25

Niels Lyhne by J.P Jacobsen

Victoria by Knut Hamsun

A Little Life by Yanagihara

(finishing) Crime and Punishment by Dostovjeski

(starting) Brothers Karamazov^

The Silmarillion (before I start reading LOTR) by J.R.R. Tolkien

Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

Tell me your thoughts on these books (no spoilers) or what you´ll be reading in the year of 2025!

You can also follow me on Goodreads, to see my recommendations and what I am currently reading~

Until next time,

-Martie💛

[the-hearth-and-the-wild]

"Kinship" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Very slowly burning, the big forest tree stands in the slight hollow of the snow melted around it by the mild, long heat of its being and its will to be root, trunk, branch, leaf, and know earth dark, sun light, wind touch, bird song.

Rootless and restless and warmblooded, we blaze in the flare that blinds us to that slow, tall, fraternal fire of life as strong now as in the seedling two centuries ago.

[ursulaincorporated]

Working on a “it’s getting better but better doesn’t always feel better” fic for Two Birds, which basically is the “two steps forward, one step back” kind of idea and I just… like love platonic relationships??? Especially when there’s a third party romance involved??? And they just accept it?

Obviously in Two Birds, Baghs and Cellbit are codependent on each other post-Purgatory. You see this a lot in Dying on the Inside specifically. Phil mentions that they are hardly ever without the other. Platonic cuddling my beloved, you know? I love the ‘literal sleeping together’ tag.

Because I decided to forgo the Doied plot line (mainly because I know nothing about it and it makes no sense in context), we have Roier and he’s just like “Yeah, my husband’s soulmate. She lives with us and sleeps in our bed most nights. She’s pretty chill.”

I kinda just love that for them. I love the just… found family of it. Cellbit and Roier are married. They are in love. They kiss sometimes. They hold hands when they feel like it. Guapoduo is everything. But there’s something so refreshing of just accepting that the trauma made them codependent and being fine with it? I love them. I love this AU.

[youareinlove]

c’s books 2024 📖

serious moonlight by jenn bennett - january 8

better than the movies by lynn painter - january 31

pride and prejudice by jane austen - march 28

do you take this man by denise williams - april 12

little women by louisa may alcott - may 9

one last stop by casey mcquinston - may 10

a pho love story by loan le - june 18

when dimple met rishi by sandhya menon - june 29

the two lives of lydia bird by josie silver - july 3

funny story by emily henry - july 6

the ballad of darcy and russell by morgan matson - july 27

how to read literature like a professor by thomas c. foster - august 20

happy place by emily henry - august 29

hamlet by william shakespeare - october 7

paper towns by john green - october 7

book lovers by emily henry - october 21

their eyes were watching god by zora neale hurston - october 23

frankenstein by mary shelley - november 18

the eras tour official book by taylor swift - november 30

the left hand of darkness by ursula k. le guin december 12

[lizard-reads-the-world]

My next randomized country turned out to be Germany. There's a decent amount in translation, so I thought I'd share the list! There is probably more, feel free to add. (I'm reading Boy in a White Room)

🇩🇪 YA from Germany in translation 🇩🇪

Series:

Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke: probably the most-known. A girl can bring characters from books to life. The author has 3 other series in English: Dragon Rider, Mirrorworld, and Ghosthunters.

Woodwalkers by Katja Brandis: Shapeshifting high schoolers

Arcadia series by Kai Meyer: A mafia saga set in Sicily. He also wrote the Dark Reflections series set in a magical medieval Venice.

Bibi & Miyu by Olivia Vieweg: German-original manga series

Erebos by Ursula Poznanski: teens get caught up in a shady computer game

Contemporary:

Why We Took the Car by Wolfgang Herrndorf: Original title "Tschick", two outsiders go on a roadtrip

Boy in a White Room by Karl Olsberg: a near-future sci-fi exploration of AI

Fantasy:

Sign of the Eight by Benjamin Lebert: A search for comrades in the Black Forest and an epic battle

Historical:

Beyond the Blue Border by Dorit Linke: Two teens try to swim the Baltic Sea to escape Communist East Germany, written by an East German.

The Edelweiss Pirates by Dirk Reinhardt: Fictionalization of an anti-Nazi resistance group

Traitor by Gudrun Pausewang: A German girl finds a Russian soldier hiding in her barn during WW2.

Max by Sarah Cohen-Scali: A boy born from a Nazi breeding program.

Old-School (20+ years old):

Tell Me What You See (2003) by Zoran Drvenkar: Teen gothic horror in a graveyard

The Bird is a Raven (2003) by Benjamin Lebert: Two boys share secrets in a train compartment

Crazy (1999) by Benjamin Lebert: a rebellious disabled teen boy

Girl from Mars (2003) by Tamara Bach: sapphic high school story

[foolishfoolsgold]

LORE💥💥💥

So I’m looking to get my fic printed when its done (and maybe but on a site too but we’ll see) and I have a big ass world building guide in there because I can’t be normal about anything! Here’s the section about common cell types that show up, all in black and white bc ooo official fancy. ID, mostly copy-pasted image text, below

[Start ID: first image showcases red blood cells and neutrophils alongside their real-life counterparts, reading “Red everything: cars, uniforms, markings, even their flagella are red more often than not. Membrane comes in shades of red or salmon. One of the two cell types not to have humanlike skin tones, the other being neutrophils. Red blood cells, also called erythrocytes (err-ITH-row-sites), are plentiful in the blood and function to exchange gases (02 and CO2) throughout the body. Then there’s an asterisk leading to: in the story, RBCs can be seen delivering nutrients as well, but it's not really in their job description. In real life, nutrients are just free in the blood plasma -which is nonexistent in the CaW world- and RBCs play no part in its distribution.” Reb blood cells have tails with two lobes at the end, long non frilled ears and their usual uniforms. For neutrophils, it says: “Black scleras. Handheld knives are their weapon of choice. Membrane can come in muted shades of blue or purple, but may be paper-white. Neutrophils are the most common type of white blood cell, taking up as much as 70% of immune cells in the blood. They will destroy bacteria or infected cells without selectivity.” Neutrophils also have their usual white uniforms and basic ears, but have skinnier tails with dorsal lobes.

The next image has killer T cells and neutrophils. Killer ts are anatomically similar to neutrophils but lack dorsal tail lobes. Text reads: “-Skinny tails with a pair of retractable stingers that can inject deadly perforin into victims. Markings are brown, black, or dark navy blue. Generally don't fight with weapons, prefer to use their tails or knee-jerk punches. Take their orders from helper T cells, who act as commanders. "Pack hunters" who form close bonds with their squadrons of about 6-10 cells, each led by an experienced squad leader. Killer Ts are lymphocytes born in the bone marrow and matured in the Thymus, where they face a rigorous selection process that primes them for targeted destruction of infected cells, cancer cells, and sometimes bacteria.” Eosinophils are also similar to neutrophils: “Wield two-pronged spears, the heads of which grow as proteins on the tips of their tails until they're ready to be changed out, keeping the weapon sharp and shiny. Pink uniforms and purple markings. Eyes have no scleras- the eye color, usually shades of purple, takes up the whole eye minus the pupils. Eosinophils aren't as swift as other non-selective WBCs with bacteria or viruses. They do, however, come into play during inflammation, allergic responses and parasitic infections.” The third image has B cells and macrophages. For B cells: “Fight using handheld bazookas or machine guns. Tons of bird inspiration because B cells were first discovered in chickens. Can't actually fly. B cells are especially important when it comes to known pathogens. During or after an infection, they're able to make antibodies to help speed up future encounters.” For macrophages, which have no legs and look a bit like Ursula body-plan wise, “Cephalopod-like body plan with long tentacles for snaring pathogens. Fight with giant cleavers and other heavy-duty melee weapons. Macrophages are one of the largest and most powerful non-selective immune cells and are very versatile. Along with nghting infections, they also help keep the body clean.” Next up are natural killer cells and dendritic cells. For NKs: “Four legs in a centauroid body plan. Green camo-style patterns. Have the most freedom of any immune cell when it comes to weapon choice. NK cells are "lone wolf" hunters who, like killer Ts, also use perforin stingers to take down all sorts of pathogens. They're not as supervised as killer Ts and act on their own judgement.” The bottom half of NK cells are clothed unlike traditional centaurs, and the top piece covers both the chest and front legs. For dendritic cells, “Also sport green markings. Generally calm and collected in the face of crisis. Often described as treelike, hence the plant features. Dendritic cells act as coordinators on the front lines of an infection. They also manage antigens (basically tangible memories of an attack that can set off a planned response in the future).” Lastly are enterocytes. Unlike in canon, they wear a scrub-like uniform with gloves and shoe bags. Also unlike previous cells, they have big frilled ears. Text reads: “Huge tails covered in microvilli. Enterocytes of the small intestine have bigger tails and pink patterns, while those of the large intestine have lighter tails and blue markings. Work in warehouses along the digestive canal. Usually have thick NYC accents. Also called intestinal epithelial cells, enterocytes work to extract raw nutrients from digested food and make it available to cells across the body.” End ID.]

[kanejw]

What was read 2024

What follows is works read in the last year, in order. Some collections of poetry in here and a couple of plays. Faust is broken in two as I read the supplementary works with it & needed a breather. Just one was abandoned (Arabian Nights). One huge disappointment in Neil Gaiman's collection. Some were loaned from libraries, some were bought new, some were recommended from people I admire, some were gifts, some travelled a great distance to sit on my shelves. Most enriched, some inspired and from all something has been learned.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Haruki Murakami (1994)

Tender is the Flesh Agustina Bazterrica (2017)

The Mamba Mentality Kobe Bryant (2018)

The Devil’s Cup Stewart Lee Allen (2000)

Of The Farm John Updike (1965)

A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole (1980)

Death on Credit Louis-Ferdinand Celine (1936)

Wilt Tom Sharpe (1976)

Odyssey - Homer (Samuel Butler translation 1879)

Hard Times Charles Dickens (1854)

A Good Man Is Hard to Find Flannery O’Connor (1953)

Lincoln in the Bardo George Saunders (2017)

Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel (2009)

Underworld Don DeLillo (1997)

The Turn of the Screw Henry James (1898)

The Satanic Verses Salman Rushdie (1988)

Trigger Warning Neil Gaiman (2015)

Child of God Cormac McCarthy (1973)

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit Jeanette Winterson (1985)

The Centaur John Updike (1963)

Porterhouse Blue Tom Sharpe (1974)

Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes (1605 & 1615) (Thomas Lathrop translation 2005)

Summer Lightning P.G. Wodehouse (1929)

Castle to Castle Louis-Ferdinand Celine (1957)

Purgatorio Dante Alighieri (~1321)

Plexus Henry Miller (1953)

Paradiso Dante Alighieri (~1321)

The Pale King David Foster Wallace (2011)

Don’t Look Now. Not after Midnight. A Border-Line Case. The Way of the Cross. The Breakthrough. Daphne du Maurier collection (1971)

Last Exit to Brooklyn Hubert Selby Jr. (1964)

The Bostonians Henry James (1886)

The Covenant James A.Michener (1980)

The Arabian Nights. Nights 1 through 10 & The story of Ali Baba and the forty thieves killed by a slave girl. Malcom C.Lyons & Ursula Lyons (2008)

Rebecca Daphne du Maurier (1938)

Faust Part I Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1808/29) Albert G. Latham translation with supplementary text 1908

The Vegetarian Han Kang (2007)

The Prague Cemetery Umberto Eco (2010)

The Stranger in the Woods Michael Finkel (2017)

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning Laurie Lee (1969)

The Exorcist William Peter Blatty (1971)

Faust Part II Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1832) Albert G. Latham translation with supplementary text 1908

The Road to Los Angeles John Fante (1985) published posthumously. (1936)

A Month in the Country J. L. Carr (1980)

The Winter’s Tale William Shakespeare (1609)

Candide Voltaire (1759)

Woke Up This Morning: The Definitive Oral History of The Sopranos Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa (2021)

The 120 Days of Sodom or The School of Libertinage The Marquis de Sade (1785) (published first in 1904)

UZUMAKI Spiral collection. Junji Ito (1998-99)

Vagabonding Rolf Potts (2002)

The Snows of Kilimanjaro et al Ernest Hemingway (1944)

Love Is a Dog from Hell: Poems 1974-1977 Charles Bukowski (1977)

Spring Snow Yukio Mishima (1969)

Mortality Christopher Hitchens (2012)

Disloyal A Memoir Michael Cohen (2020)

Orbital Samantha Harvey (2023)

Inside Story Martin Amis (2020)

Coleridge Poems & Prose selected by Peter Washington (1997) S.TC

The City and Its Uncertain Walls Haruki Murakami (2023)

V. Thomas Pynchon (1963)

Whiskey Words & a Shovel I R. H. Sin (2015)

Collected Poems 1938-83 Philip Larkin (1988/03)

Nexus Henry Miller (1959)

America at Middle Age Louis Galambos (1983)

Mysteries Knut Hamsun (1892)

Sylvia Plath Poems collection by C.A.Duffy (2012)

Experience Martin Amis (2000)

Sonny Boy Al Pacino (2024)

[gellavonhamster]

Tagged by @afoxnamedmulder (thank you!) to share 9 books I want to read in 2025 ✨

Tagging @kashilascorner, @lesamis, @balkanballad, and @fairyhagmother (if you want to answer, of course)

Notes on each book, which I didn't have to do but wanted to:

The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco - I had no idea it existed until recently, but someone left it in the bookcrossing cabinet we have set up at work (I'm so curious as to who left this one, Pratchett, and Ursula Le Guin among all the crime novels of varying levels of quality), so now it's waiting for its turn on my bookshelf, and I think I'm gonna pick it up next as soon as I finish The Left Hand of Darkness.

Books of Blood Vol. 2 by Clive Barker - I'm actually planning to read all the volumes I haven't read yet, that is, all of them except the first and the fifth ones. I started with the fifth one to read the short story Candyman (1992) is based on and found the entire collection so interesting that it made me wanna read the rest.

Jaufre: An Occitan Arthurian Romance - no idea what it's gonna be, I just saw a hilarious excerpt from it on Tumblr and decided I should read it.

Lays of the Round Table by Ernest Rhys - another find on the Arthuriana Tumblr <3 I don't read nearly enough poetry, so it feels like a good pick.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - I decided to reread it while I was watching the new adaptation. It's been at least 15 years since I read it, so in many ways it's probably going to be like reading a new book I've head a lot about. Quite excited for this.

One Piece Novel Heroines Vol. 2 by Jun Esaka - apparently both volumes are to be published in English next year, but I've already read the first one in French. Looking forward to it - the first volume was very sweet, and the second one is going feature some of my favourite girls; I'm particularly excited for Tashigi and Reiju's stories.

Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence - for no other reason than I keep stumbling upon various mentions of it lately and it makes me go "this might be a sign I should read it".

The Bird's Nest by Shirley Jackson - Jackson is one of the best, god-I-wish-I-wrote-like-that writers that I've read, and it's high time I let myself be disturbed by another book of hers.

Winter's Gifts by Ben Aaronovitch - another desperate attempt to keep up with this series; every time I think I've read all the books in it, it turns out that, in fact, there's more.

Not pictured: two books by two friends getting published next year <3 I've read both of them already, but owning and rereading a physical copy is gonna hit different. Can't post the cover for one of them because it hasn't been officially announced yet (but I've already seen it because I'm VIP like that) and the other I haven't seen yet, but if any Russian-speaking followers of mine are reading this, keep an eye out for the "Нарушители" cycle by Yelena Yadrenceva and "Хэллгейт: семья" by Astash :)