#wilmington years

[thereadingcafe]

[reviewsthatburn]

As a sequel to MAGIC TIDES, MAGIC CLAIMS picks up not too long afterwards, when Kate, Curran, and their son, Conlan, are settling into the new rhythm of their lives away from the Keep, the Pack, and Kate's frequently murderous family. The specific storyline related to the town in the forest is new. While it is jump-started by a small connection to the previous book, as soon as it gets going it introduces and resolves a new storyline with a town to rescue. This is definitely not the last book in this series, and there are several very clear indications of what might happen in the future. They're trying to prepare for what will happen when the fractures in the Atlanta pack hit a breaking point. Curran is older and wiser, able to imagine something much more nuanced than get all the shape shifters here and protect each other. At least partly due to his relationship with Kate and their adoption of Julie in the original series, he has more nuanced and less xenophobic ideas about family, belonging, and protection than he did when he built the Pack as a teenager, finally ready to create a place where many kinds of people, not only shapeshifters, can live and thrive.

Full Review at Link.

[whumprecs]

I've been telling friends about one of my favorite shows, Magnificent Seven, from late 90's, which was also probably my first foray into fandom. I don't even know why I or even how I found fanfic back in 1998 - but I did, and I have loved them ever since. But it's not just the show that I love, it is the fandom. Maybe because it was almost all older women, or maybe people were just nicer back then - there were no ship wars. None. Not even a thing. 99% of the fandom is genfic A++++ Found Family, but the ones who did ship characters together Shipped and Let Ship. Nobody bothered anybody. And there were like 7 or 8 widespread AU's that everyone agreed on - there was the OG Old West where the show was set, but then there was the WILDLY popular (to the point I thought THAT was the actual premise for the show, and 10 year old me was very shocked to find it was a western) ATF AU where the characters were federal agents. There was Lil Britches, which had several of the characters are children and the rest are adults, there's Star Trek and Star Wars, and them as private detectives, WWII soldiers, etc. The lists are endless. And none of them are bad.

And almost every single one of them is whumpy as fuck.

So I'm going to recommend my favorites:

The South Wind Series by Beth aka Midge

Replaced by Heather F

Pied Piper by Kelly A

Rough Beginnings by Shawna

The Devil's Bargain by Sue Necessary

Aftermath by BMP

Black and White by Violette

Abandoned by Jean

Ezra, In Between by MAC

Tuesday's Child: Lessons of Grace by Joy K

Run Like Hell by Beth aka Midge

Don't Know From Adam by Jordan Mckenzie

Bearing the Pain by Angela B (crossover with Big Valley)

All Things Considered by Nilah H

I could list pretty much every one I've ever read - I don't actually know that I read an M7 fic I didn't care for. However, almost all of these listed authors have more than one fic (some have a LOT more). So if you like them, more are easier to find. I haven't actually looked to see what's available on Ao3 or even ffn.net - because neither site existed when the fandom was in its heyday and everyone had their own web page for posting.

[antaresisntmars]

Magic Tides by Ilona Andrews - 7/12

Such a cute contained Kate adventure! With maybe a couple hints of what the future holds. :) 5/5

✨2023 Book Thread✨

[yellowlaboratory]

The way jj and kie looked at each other when she got on his motorbike at the start of episode 5. The song choice and everything made me scream

don’t even say this to me because I’ve been playing kilby girl non stop and it’s becoming a problem. i was on a plane yesterday and I was crying as i entered the plane, then i sat down, started playing kilby girl, and immediately started vibrating at the speed of sound. i think my seat buddy was worried for my sanity (and rightfully so).

LOOK AT THEM.

(gif credit to @kiekiecarrera because wow)

[nyhne]

..

[spookyfoxdreamer]

[cidnangarlond]

two days ago was the 125th anniversary of the only successful coup on U.S. soil and I just wish the event was more widely known. obviously there are bigger, more important things going on currently but it's one of those important historical events no one talks about let alone even knows about

[chickrawker]

TWY at The Queen 3/26/23

Went on a little adventure to see The Wonder Years at their (ostensibly) hometown show at the end of their tour. As usual, set list first.

The Wonder Years

The Queen

Wilmington DE

3/26/23

Doors I Painted Shut

Wyatt's Song (Your Name)

Dismantling Summer

Local Man Ruins Everything

Cardinals

Cardinals II

You in January

I Don't Like Who I Was Then

A Song for Ernest Hemingway

Heaven's Gate (Sad & Sober)

Cigarettes & Saints

Melrose Diner

Sister Cities

Songs About Death

Low Tide

Old Friends Like Lost Teeth

Laura & the Beehive

There, There

Passing Through a Screen Door

You're the Reason I Don't Want the World to End

Encore:

Came Out Swinging

TWY were out in support of their excellent new album The Hum Goes on Forever. The set list was full of these new songs that fit in seamlessly with old faves like "Cigarettes and Saints", "Old Friends Like Lost Teeth", and "There, There". This was my first time at the venue which is an old art deco theatre. I had no idea that I had bought fancy tickets but we had VIP tix in the second row of the balcony which really were fantastic. It was loud and there were so many sing a longs. We sounded so good! The floor was NUTS!

I took advantage of our nice seats and took a lot of video which you can find on my insta.

[sephie-books]

Magic Tides (Kate Daniels series) by Ilona Andrews

First off, head's up - this is a novella so it's only 163 pages. However, it's so jam packed with excellent writing and tightly written story, that you really don't care and it really doesn't feel like some short ass book.

This picks up a few years later as Kate, Curran, and their son Conlan have moved away from Atlanta and the Pack, to Wilmington, NC, trying to start a new life, away from being Kate, the Daughter of Nimrod, and Beast Lord, First of All Shapeshifters.

It didn't last long lol

Conlan is now 9, who is soon to start school, however his new friend's brother is kidnapped and Kate can't have kids being kidnapped in her new homeland.

This is an introductory novella to their new life and new adventures away from Atlanta, and it's so so good. I loved every moment of it. You get hints of the other series threads that the authors are working on with Hugh's story and Julie's story (tiny tiny hints) but it makes me hopeful for when those stories are eventually published.

Really really good, I highly recommend this for fans of the series. Some good fucking food. Even if it's only an appetizer.

And if you haven't read the Kate Daniels series yet, I HIGHLY recommend you read that series asap. :)

[sandythereadingcafe]

REVIEW

MAGIC CLAIMS (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years 2) by Ilona Andrews at The Reading Cafe:

‘a fantastic, exciting, intense story, with lots of action and magic‘

https://www.thereadingcafe.com/magic-claims-by-ilona-andrews-a-review/

[thereadingcafe]

[reviewsthatburn]

I like this more mature version of Kate, I’m not quite sure how old she is here, but it’s been at least a decade since MAGIC BITES. She’s at least in her late thirties, possibly in her early forties, and she makes a few references to what she would’ve done before and how she’s changed. She’s consistent with the threads of that earlier self, but she’s older, wiser, and has a very different set of resources and connections than she had by the time the main series ended. I hope this can be a good starting point for new fans, and I’m excited to see where it goes.

Full Review at Link.

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

Review: Magic Claims by Ilona Andrews

Series: Kate Daniels #12, Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years #2Author: Ilona Andrews (Ilona and Andrew Gordon)Publisher: NYLAReleased; June 13, 2023Received: NetGalley Book Summary: So the plan for lying low isn’t exactly working out. Given that this is Kate Daniels and Curran we’re talking about – nobody is surprised. It all started with a missing child; now, the word is getting out. So it’s…

[xninetiestrendx]

for several years my brain told me “chicago is perfect for you, that’s where you’re meant to be, you’ll move there one day and have a fabulous life”

and then yesterday it goes “no. you socially anxious, claustrophobic, noise sensitive dummy. you’re grandma one tree hill loving ass has to go to wilmington. get a cute little house with a garden.”

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #27

July 12-19 2024

President Biden announced the cancellation of $1.2 billion dollars worth of student loan debt. This will cancel the debt of 35,000 public service workers, such as teachers, nurses, and firefighters. This brings the total number of people who've had their student debt relived under the Biden Administration to 4.8 million or one out of every ten people with student loan debt, for a total of $168.5 billion in debt forgiven. This came after the Supreme Court threw out an earlier more wide ranging student debt relief plan forcing the administration to undertake a slower more piecemeal process for forgiving debt. President Biden announced a new plan in the spring that will hopefully be finalized by fall that will forgive an additional 30 million people's student loan debt.

President Biden announced actions to lower housing coasts, make more housing available and called on Congress to prevent rent hikes. President Biden's plan calls for landlords who raise the rent by more than 5% a year to face losing major important tax befits, the average rent has gone up by 21% since 2021. The President has also instructed the federal government, the largest land owner in the country, to examine how unused property can be used for housing. The Bureau of Land Management plans on building 15,000 affordable housing units on public land in southern Nevada, the USPS is examining 8,500 unused properties across America to be repurposed for housing, HHS is finalizing a new rule to make it easier to use federal property to house the homeless, and the Administration is calling on state, local, and tribal governments to use their own unused property for housing, which could create approximately 1.9 million units nationwide.

The Department of Transportation announced $5 billion to replace or restore major bridges across the country. The money will go to 13 significant bridges in 16 states. Some bridges are suffering from years of neglect others are nearly 100 years old and no longer fit for modern demands. Some of the projects include the I-5 bridge over the Columbia River which connects Portland Oregon to Vancouver Washington, replacing the Sagamore Bridge which connects Cape Cod to the mainland built in 1933, replacing the I- 83 South Bridge in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Cape Fear Memorial Bridge Replacement Project in Wilmington, North Carolina, among others.

President Biden signed an Executive Order aimed at boosting Latino college attendance. The order established the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through Hispanic-Serving Institutions. Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) are defined as colleges with 25% or above Hispanic/Latino enrollment, currently 55% of Hispanic college students are enrolled in an HSI. The initiative seeks to stream line the relationship between the federal government and HSIs to allow them to more easily take advantage of federal programs and expand their reach to better serve students and boost Hispanic enrollment nationwide.

HUD announced $325 million in grants for housing and community development in 7 cities. the cities in Tennessee, Texas, Alabama, Florida, Nevada, New York and New Jersey, have collectively pledged to develop over 6,500 new mixed-income units, including the one-for-one replacement of 2,677 severely distressed public housing units. The 7 collectively will invest $2.65 billion in additional resources within the Choice Neighborhood area – so that every $1 in HUD funds will generate $8.65 in additional resources.

President Biden took extensive new actions on immigration. On June 18th The President announced a new policy that would allow the foreign born spouses and step children of American citizens who don't have legal status to apply for it without having to leave the country, this would effect about half a million spouses and 50,000 children. This week Biden announced that people can start applying on August 19, 2024. Also in June President Biden announced an easing of Visa rules that will allow Dreamers, Americans brought to the country as children without legal status, to finally get work visas to give them legal status and a path way to citizenship. This week the Biden Administration announced a new rule to expand the federal TRIO program to cover Dreamers. TRIO is a program that aims to support low income students and those who would be the first in their families to go to college transition from high school to college, the change would support 50,000 more students each year. The Administration also plans to double the number of free immigration lawyers available to those going through immigration court.

The EPA announced $160 million in grants to support Clean U.S. Manufacturing of Steel and Other Construction Materials. The EPA estimates that the manufacturing of construction materials, such as concrete, asphalt, steel, and glass, accounts for 15% of the  annual global greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA is supporting 38 projects aimed at measuring and combatting the environmental impact of construction materials.

The US announced $203 million in humanitarian assistance for the people of Sudan. Sudan's out of control civil war has caused the largest refugee crisis in the world with 11 million Sudanese having fled their homes in the face of violence. The war is also causing the gravest food crisis in the world, with a record setting 25 million people facing acute food insecurity, and fears that nearly a million will face famine in the next months. This aid brings the total aid the US has given Sudan since September 2023 to $1.6 billion, making America the single largest donor to Sudan.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau put forward a new rule that would better regulate popular paycheck advance products. 2/3rds of workers are payed every two weeks or once a month and since 2020 the number of short term loans that allow employees to receive their paycheck days before it’s scheduled to hit their account has grown by 90%. the CFPB says that many of these programs are decided with employers not employees and millions of Americans are paying fees they didn't know about before signing up. The new rule would require lenders to tell costumers up front about any and all fees and charges, as well as cracking down on deceptive "tipping" options.