#we really in it now [redacted] truthers

[willgrahamscock]

The real saw trap is reading an incredibly wrong take about your blorbo and seeing that it’s actually very popular

[dillydedalus]

for the book asks: 3, 4, 11, 12, 16!

3. what were your top 5 books of the year? i feel like i had a kinda solid-to-good reading year where everything is p good but few things really stand out so this list is cheating a lil

1. JJEU (james joyce extended universe): rereads so they shouldn't count BUT by far my favourite reading experience of the whole year was reading ulysses (novel of all time) along with burgess's book on joyce & frank delaney's lovely lovely lovely podcast re:joyce (& a bunch of other stuff). also i'm pivoting from portrait to ulysses but stephen is still my babygirl. i haven't finished finnegans wake yet but we don't talk about that. 2. palliser/parliamentary series, anthony trollope. technically read half of these last year. i don't think this series is as consistent as barsetshire but it's also in some ways more interesting (especially re: women). but like i'm mainly here for silly soapy victorian comfort reading about thee #1 iconic girlboss/malewife couple of all time, lady glencora & planty 'most principled & delicate of men' pal (blorbo from my books) 3. solitud, víctor català. no freedom as wide-reaching & no captivity as total as the catalonian mountains (& being a woman, but that's mainly column b). don't remember this in great detail but remember loving the landscape writing & interiority of main character mila. 4. games without rules: the often interrupted history of afghanistan, tamim ansary. just a really good, compelling history of afghanistan that i enjoyed & learned a lot from. 5. broken earth trilogy, n.k. jemisin. everyone in the SFFsphere already knows this series rocks but yeah it really really does. also it allowed me to be a [redacted] truther & be right which is always fun.

4. did you discover any new authors that you love this year? i've had jo walton on my radar for a while but she literally wrote a book (tooth&claw) that can only be described as 'trollope but everyone's a dragon' bc trollope pissed her off so much. i love trollope obviously but that's valid & it was fun, so i shall read more from her. i also had a lot of fun with t. kingfisher's nettle & bone so i will be reading more from her as well.

11. what was your favourite book that has been out for a while, that you just now read? 'out for a while' is so broad how do i even answer this. the posthumous memoirs of brás cubas by machado de assis has been out long enough to become a newly rediscovered gem several times over and it is genuinely a lot of fun (& much shorter than tristram shandy) so that's one

12. any books that disappointed you? the undercurrents by kirsty bell combines memoir and the history of berlin through one specific building next to landwehrkanal (where the author lived for a while) & there's some interesting stuff in it but also the memoir parts feature a lot of complaining about how her altbau apartment (which she owns) is too big & has bad vibes and leaking pipes bc of historical trauma or whatever & sorry but in this economy???

16. what is the most over-hyped book you read this year? cursed bunny by bora chang (tr. anton hur) is a fine if not especially memorable collection of short stories. it's fine - *single pistol shot*

[stickers-on-a-laptop]

For the character meme, Shouichi Agito and Tsukasa Decade if possible :D

Shouichi:

First impression: nice dude that likes teasing

Impression now: COOK! FOR! EVERYONE!

Favorite moment: him fooling houjou with that magic trick. get his ass.

Idea for a story: rn? nothing at the moment.

Unpopular opinion: i dunno. if he comes back give him 2001 hair because i've seen his actor with 2020s hair and it looks AWFUL. that an unpopular opinion? does that count?

Favorite relationship: him and hikawa and also him and ryou. he canonly takes care of ryou. and yet. for nonromantic, him and mana!!! big brother!!!! let's goooooooooooooooooo!!

Favorite headcanon: mmmmm he has to keep making beds because [redacted]? sorry that just seared itself in my brain. he knows how to makes beds. also he princess carried both ryou and hikawa they were just too cowardly to show this (like there were definitely moments in the show where that could have happened)

Tsukasa:

First impression: cocky motherfucker

Impression now: TRAGIC DUDE OF TRAGEDY THAT HAS HIS FAMILY AGGGGGGH (i haven't seen zi-o)

Favorite moment: when he takes that picture with yuusuke real early in the show and he's just so much taller than him

Idea for a story: again. rn. nothin. but him and his gang will get brainworms for me i'm sure

Unpopular opinion: shut up about how it's magenta and not pink shut up about how it's magenta and not pink THAT IS NOT CANON TO THE SHOW. IT'S IN A NET MOVIE. AND THEN ZI-O. NOT IN DECADE PROPER.

Favorite relationship: OT-FUCKING-FOUR LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. i am such an ot4 truther it's not even funny.

Favorite headcanon: i dunno if this is specifically him or not but i really enjoy sending him to ar sentai worlds i think that's really fun. and ar kamen riders we didn't see. put this man in situations!

[lysolbabey]

oh god i have so many thoughts on the valentine’s day episode i am going to cry-

(spoilers/reactions in tags)

[thetigerisariver]

The feminist conference that invited me to a panel in September moved the date to next year, which is a huge load of worry off my back - I didn't want to bail on them but like. It was a conference. In a different city.

Prague colleges are switching to distant learning, and I hope my office will yeet us to full home office soon, so strangely we will be back to our lock down comraderie... My other roommate plans on traveling home though :l I hope he didn't go full covid truther on this. Idk, can't imagine why he would want to travel rn.

I don't want to flake out on [redacted] this time. I am really worried for houseless people honestly, I think Prague should reopen the hotels! The situation is possibly even more dire now than in Spring.

Anyway, I also picked chairs to buy, bc I can't fucking work from home on my exercise ball... I hope a normal chair will be fine but I have also considered getting an office chair from ikea. But I don't really have the space so I hope a normal one won't obliterate my back.

I am setting up for the long haul honestly... I just hope I will be able to get examined for allergies/asthma, I really really want to go into winter medicated! Last year I got *viral* bronchitis doing nothing special really so I don't want to set my lungs in their winter state against Ms Rona...

That's what's been up, I guess...