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#I did love the poem and adored many fragments but yeah this one specifically keeps coming back. I guess it's the singsongey air
ifyoucouldholdme · 5 years
Text
Brave Angel
Words: 2735
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Bill had a collection of journals. It began with a large lined composition notebook from his little brother, Georgie.  The cardboard cover, ornamented with a menagerie of sailboat stickers and blue stars drawn in crayon.
“It’s for you to keep track of all of those stories you tell me,” the boy had cheered when Bill tore away newspaper wrapping. Bill smiled softly in gratitude, but Georgie knew it was the perfect gift when he discovered that Bill had filled over half of the notebook over the following week.
That was the last present Georgie had given him before that summer. Before the sewers. Before It. While the pages were now yellowed and lovingly worn, the journal remained unfinished. Bill couldn’t bring himself to add to it, leaving it preserved in a time when that precious child still smiled, much as his parents had preserved his room in the years after.
So Bill bought more journals. Over the years, he amassed quite a collection of folios and notebooks. Leatherback, spiral-bound, handcrafted, and dollar store brand alike overflowed the shelves of his dorm in no particular order.
 “Damn Bill,” an already tipsy Richie whistled when he spotted the piles. “I know you’re a writer, but do we need to hold an intervention? Eds has been binge-watching Hoarders, so I’ve absorbed some stuff through osmosis.” Stan, gliding past the louder than usual Trashmouth, to the one and only actual chair in the room, threw him a “Beep, beep. This is Bill’s personal space, don’t be rude.” Bill shot him a grateful look. He absolutely adored Richie. Out of all the Losers, the lanky goofball understood him the best. He was even the first person that Bill spoke to after they lost Georgie. But it was nice to have Stan nearby, since he could maneuver Richie like no one else. Just a given glance and a soft spoken word was all that he needed to let Richie know when teasing was close to drifting into inadvertently cruel, and Bill admired about him. In fact, he admired more than Stan’s interpersonal skills.
The look had lasted long enough that Bill knew no one would believe him if he called it anything but a stare. Stan didn’t seem to mind though, smirking and sending an unexpected wink in reply.
           Bill’s breath caught in his chest. His fingers twisted knots into his bedspread. How could Stan not know the grip his existence alone had on the boy, much less such a gesture.
           “Have you thought that maybe he has so many journals because he wants to be an author?”
           “Well yeah,” Richie muttered, “but that’s a metric shit ton of books.” Bill chuckled softly at that. “I guess I do have quite a collection now. It’s mostly just fragments of stories and ideas.” That was only half true. Sure, some were just a place to dump the random assortment of thoughts and inspiration that he discovered throughout the day while others he reserved for more specific purposes.
           Stan gracefully swiveled around in the chair to face Bill, his gaze landing directly back into his own. “Have you ever thought about doing anything with them?” he inquired, absently toying a stray curl around his finger, on which Bill refused to fixate any further than he already had. As much as he tried to repress is growing infatuation with Stanley Uris, the author in him continued romanticize every little thing about him. He dreamt of those slender fingers intertwined with his. He yearned to wrap his arms around the boy and bury himself in that mop of autumn curls. An added touch, Stan had worn Bill’s favorite of his kippahs this day, sky blue to complement his somber eyes and embroidered with a small flock of turtle doves. Beautiful and swift, just like Stan.
           “Paging Big Bill! Hello?” Richie’s booming radio announcer voice, which had improved considerably since high school, blasted Bill back into the moment with an actually articulated, “Huh?”
           Richie, scrunching his brow a little in confusion said, “Stanny boy asked you something and you just stared at him.”
           Dammit Richie, shut up! Bill thought. Instead of shouting that and outing himself right then and there, he turned again to Stan. His gaze had not fallen, however Bill thought that there might have been a slightly rosier tint sprinkled across his normally pale cheeks. “Sorry St-Stan. What did you s-say?”
           “I asked if you planned to do anything with them. Like publish one or enter something in a contest. “Bill automatically reacted with a light scoff. “Nobody would want to publish those. I’m nowhere near good enough f-for that.”
           “Don’t do that, Bill.” Stan’s face wore a calculated blank expression, but he could see the dull frustration lingering just behind those glistening irises and the corner of his mouth. “You are more than you think.”
           He still disagrees, but he would do anything if it would make Stan happy, so he bites back any rebuttal.
           Richie, noticing the tension, jumps in to alleviate the energy hovering between the two. “ You ever show them to your professors? Maybe they could help you submit something to some creative writing shit or whatever.”
           Bill drops his head to stare now at his hands tracing invisible patterns in his bedspread.  “Except for G-Georgie, nobody ever cared enough to ask if they could read anything.” The silence that followed didn’t help the boulder he felt in his stomach.
           Richie didn’t even crack a joke, and he always had something to say regardless of the situation. Why didn’t Bill just agree and steer the conversation towards something less uncomfortable for the others? Maybe finding a party somewhere nearby or what all Richie had already drunk, or-
           “I’d like to read them.” Bill had never heard Stan’s voice so timid since they emerged from the sewers in their receding childhood. “I mean, if that’s ok,” Yes Stan, please, anything you want. “S-sure, Bill managed, “I g-guess so.” Richie leapt to the shelf with a “Hell yeah, man!” and grabbing the first few he saw, dropped onto the floor, fidgeting into the perfect reading position. Stan on the other hand, scanned through the books, tracing his fingers across every spine. The reddening light drifting in the only window outlined every contour of his face, even the pocked craters of scar tissue lining each side from temples to jawline. Normally he was acutely aware of these souvenirs left from that summer, actively avoiding his reflection and constantly rubbing the marks as if he tried hard enough then he could wipe them away like a splattering of mud. Today must have been one of his better days, because Bill had only caught him once briefly brush a small scar on his left cheek. Stan eventually settled on a small pocket journal, one filled with fragments of a fantasy novel Bill had attempted a year or two ago. The room hushed again, this time they welcomed the shared silence in amicable comfort.
             By night fall, they were still deep in the mass of Bill’s literary work. Richie lay upside down on the floor skimming through his fifth selection, pausing intermittently to give his commentary. Stan had finally finished the first journal, now absorbing a collection of short horror stories. Over time he had gradually moved to a new perch on the foot of Bill’s bed, his posture still as straight as if he had still been in the desk chair. Bill curled himself against the headboard with his favorite sketchpad. Stanley’s rapt expression and relaxed half smile had inspired him too much to ignore, plus he had the perfect match to the blue of Stan’s kippah in his pastel set. He wished every moment could be like this. Special peace spent with his oldest friend and his…crush? Or whatever he could call the boy in his bed. The boy on his bed. That realization forced him to slump behind his sketchpad. He would be mortified if Stan discovered the furious blush radiating from his cheekbones. “What the hell, Billiam?” Richie suddenly erupted from underneath a somewhat forgotten collection of Bill’s attempts at poetry, startling the other two from their silent focus. “You told me you were finally over Bev!” At this point Stan would inevitably see Bill’s flushed face, for now he grew even redder in embarrassment.
           “Yeah,” he growled through a clenched jaw, “and I also told you that in confidence.” He tried to glance silently to see Stan’s reaction, but that infamous Uris poker face was back. “Seriously Bill, writing a whole poem about how beautiful she is and wanting to protect her and never leave her and shit doesn’t sound like being over her.” What love poem was he talking about? Although he had fallen for Beverly when they first met, he never really wrote anything about her.
           “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Stan interjected, “Beverly is definitely amazing.” His gaze held still, but there was a hint of something in his voice that Bill couldn’t quite comprehend. “You two would be good together.” His eyes stayed glued to the bed beneath them.
           “It’s much cheesier than I would’ve thought for a Denbrough original. Check it Stan, “ Richie continued then, putting on a voice he claimed as his Masterpiece Theater voice and read an excerpt.
 “My Brave Angel.
How can I show you what you mean
You hide your face
When all I want is to see your smile”
             Bill didn’t remember writing anything like this about her. He didn’t ever feel anything more than an adolescent infatuation with Bev or anyone. In fact, the only person he could say he ever truly loved was-
           “Here’s the part I don’t get,” Richie said in his own voice before jumping back into his recital,
 “When the doves rest in your hair
I wish that I could grow wings
Wrapped inside your autumn locks
I wish that I could live there.”
           Oh shit, THAT poem.
“But Bev doesn’t have curly hair, at the most it’s a little wavy, not like Stan’s frigging tumbleweed of a mop over there. That’s what curls look like Bill.” Richie jerks to a halt, the puzzle in his thoughts clicking together into the full image. For once, his words left him, his rant defaulting to a low, “uhhh…”
The boys tentatively look to Stan. “Oh please, let him not understand, “Bill futily prayed to God or the turtle or whomever was listening, “Please let him!”
Stan’s hand was timidly grazing the raised figures of the doves adorning his kippah, a dreadfully endearing braille.
“Shit, he understands.” Bill desperately wanted to deny everything, to say it was about a girl in his Bio lab, Ha ha Trashmouth, you’re too drunk to know what you’re talking about. Stan, isn’t he crazy? But his throat sealed shut and his tongue grew enormously heavy, just waiting for a laugh or sound or anything from Stan. He didn’t expect the trembling insecurity in their heartbreaking eyes or the wet trails slowly tracking down from them. Richie’s grown jumped to a buzzing hum upon seeing Stan’s tears. In a gangly mess of limbs, he leapt off the floor and with a frantic, “I need another drink,” bolted down the hall. Neither of the remaining two acknowledged the puzzled yells of “Shit, shit, shit, Eddie! I fucked up bad!”
They just sat on the bed, each unable to look the other in the eyes. Bill’s pulse drowned every other sound in his ears. He hates me now. He’s going to leave me behind and never speak to me again. Why do I have to write down every fucking feeling? “S-Stan. P-p-please say s-something” he managed despite his mouth repressing his words. He flinched as Stan met his gaze. Those beautiful eyes held even more of that undescriptive thing, forcing such an anxiety upon him as he hadn’t felt since the poor child disappeared into the mass of sewer pipes they’ve tried to repress.
“Is it true Bill?” Stan asked, his lips tight, but a barely noticeable tremor breaking through his voice. “Did you write this about me?”
Say no Bill. Say no and let him forget it. Dear God, I can’t lose him. Instead all of the fear and embarrassment and shame rushed up and vomited out in a frenzy of stutters and sobs. “I’m s-so sorry S-Stan. N-n-nobody ever r-reads my journals. S-so I thought it’d b-b-be s-safe. P-please d-don’t hate m-me.  I just l-like you s-so much, p-please d-d-d-don’t, “Spit it out Bill, spit it out before he runs away, “p-please don’t l-l-l-“ Then his panic overcame him and the only noises he cried out were violent sobs as he lost any dignity he had left. “Oh God, he’s never going to speak to me again.
In the throes of his shaking, he vaguely noticed arms embracing his crumbling frame and supporting his head. The warmth pressed against him soothed his manic hyperventilation, and Stan’s voice, although breaking in tears itself, brought him back down to relative stability.
“You’re ok, Bill, you’re ok. Please don’t cry. Just breathe with me, ok?” Bill obeyed, inhaling the scent of peppermint embedded in his crush’s dress shirt. After what felt like days, he finally whispered, “P-please don’t l-leave me…” The warmth and the mint receded much to Bill’s dismay, but Stan’s arms stayed. He leaned into the hand wandering through his hair, against his own better judgment.
“Bill, look at me.” Unwillingly, he did. Stan’s face looked just as disheveled as his must surely be. The boy looked hurt, striking pain through Bill’s shuddering chest.
“Why would I ever leave you?”
“B-b-because I’m g-g-g-“ he sputtered beginning to work himself up again when Stan pulled them flush against each other again. Bill let himself sink into that pressure and scent, shamefully enjoying the fingers gently stroking short trails across his shoulder blades and the crown of his scalp. Stan’s heart played a rapid pattern against his own ribs. His breath pressed against Bill’s beet red ear as he whispered so softly it may have been only a thought. “Me too, Bill.”
Everything stopped. The world froze and fell away leaving only the warmth and the mint and the rhythm. Bill lifted his head just far enough to connect their eyes, finally comprehending that mystery in Stan’s gaze. It was that same secret desire that tormented him.
“Did you mean it? Do you really want to see my smile?” The question dripped with such a self-deprecation it crushed Bill to think that Stan loathed himself to this degree. Throwing his own self-pity aside, he boldly put his hands on either side of Stan’s cheeks, thumbs tenderly sweeping over the dreadful marks laid there. With a strength and calm he forgot he knew, he said, “Scars or no, your smile is precious to me, and it kills me to see you try to hide it.”
This broke the calculated façade and Stan disintegrated in Bill’s hands. He cried at length, almost screaming as he finally let himself feel all those years of fear and abuse and longing. He sobbed until his voice gave out and only fell as rasping heaving sighs.
When the deluge ended, the two just lay on Bill’s comforter, drinking in each other’s embrace. Wrapped in the tangle of their arms, they tried to comprehend all that had happened over the past few hours. “Bill,” Stan was the first to disturb their quiet, “After…after I got there, I always thought that no one would ever be able to love me. Like even my own reflection is a constant reminder that I’m… I don’t know, broken”
Bill leaned closer into his…whatever Stan is to him now. “Stan,” he whispered, “You are even more beautiful now. You f-faced It alone, and you’re still here. And you still hit It with a f-fucking pipe.” He chuckled lovingly at the imagery. “You are the bravest of all of us. How could anyone see you as less than perfect?”
Stan hummed a still disbelieving yet pleased hum, snuggling against Bill. “You know, “he barely said, quietly giving himself over to exhausted sleep, “You’re reading the rest of that poem to me later.” Bill smiled the brightest smile he has since Georgie was alive.
“Of c-course I will, Stanley.” He quickly buried his face in the mass of curls like he always dreamed. “Of course I will.”
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angclhyunjin · 6 years
Text
of light and verse | jaebum
desc: you literally end up falling for the boy who sits at the back of your uber hard lit class. college!jaebum litmajor!jaebum. all the fluff. just super fluffy
word count: 1.913
requested by: @jaebums-sunshine​ [Jaebum college au/domestic au fluff!]
note: i wrote this at lit 4am but ummm my love as a lit major was too cute to pass up
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oh my god ok COLLEGE JAEBUM
setting my heart on fire at the thought of my lit nerd headcanon for him
lets get into it!
so its freshman year and ur walking into your first lit class, a bit intimidated bc its like,, a course no first year dared to touch but u just wanted a cool sounding course so bad u jumped at the opportunity
its GREEK MYTHOLOGY!! who wud not hello
and ur excited until the professor opens her mouth
and ur blown away by how,,,,,,, interesting and riveting the whole thing is but shit is it going to be this hard throughout??
the first few classes involves you frantically taking notes and trying to keep up w the impossible pace this class is going
but theres this BOY
he sits right at the end while ur in front so u could pass him off as uninterested,,, taking the course for extra creds??? wrong
this BOY quips in between the lecture with the most fascinating comments, connecting the odyssey to so many modern works, to poetry and to music
and ur like,,, who made u,,,, how r u like this
ur kind of annoyed by how smart this boy is
its not like you dont get wtf is happening here, but how can he get it and SO MUCH MORE
and tbh ur kind of jealous but u didnt hear that from me. also he has the softest voice that creeps up behind u and makes ur body stir
wait what
so u work super hard
and like super hard, u finish all ur readings and do ur own research
but u still feel like its not enough
like idk who u think u are, u start living at the library
cup of tea in hand and a book in the other, it sounds optimal but the stress is lowkey making you lose ur mind
ur looking for a book in the aisles, a VERY specific one on sappho’s fragmented poems
and FINALLY u see it............on the top most shelf
ur 5′4″ self is SCREAMING
and u could ask for help but help is for losers
so u make the very intelligent decision to climb the shelves what?? no ones looking
ur almost there when
a hand
reaches at the same time as urs
u almost scream for real this time, shutting ur eyes real tight, letting go of ur meager hold on the shelf and falling back
like u have accepted ur death at this point
until???? wait??? you feel two hands around you and suddenly you’re not falling
“my god, are you okay??” how tf do i know this voice
you open your eyes to be met with the softest brown eyes, framed by these wire glasses
oh
its him
of c o u r s e
u literally dont know what to say until he laughs a little at you (an adorable, light noise that fills you up)
“this is probably not one of your greatest moments” ur cheeks are on FIRE
suddenly he notices his arms are still around u and he hastily places u on ur useless jelly feet
“were you going for the book on sappho? i didn’t know anyone else here knew it existed”
you’re about to stammer out a reply, not really ready to explain to the lit prodigy that ur trying to be at least half as insightful as him but he
squints at u
“wait, aren’t you in my lit class?? you are, aren’t you?”
he REMEMBERS ur invisible ass??? ok??? what doesnt this boy notice?????
u finally find your tongue, stammering out a “y-yeah, i was planning out my paper and needed a second reference”
wow is he lowkey impressed he stares at u for a bit
ur now hyperaware of ur messy bun and glasses, the old t shirt you’d tucked into mom jeans feeling so inadequate in front of him in his stylishly messed up hair n button up,,, how could someone be this pretty at 4pm on a sunday
“honestly, me too. but its okay, you can have this” 
he barely needs to reach up to get this book and ur like, looking at his shoulders as he faces away from u for a split second and man is he built
“are you sure???” you let out in an almost whisper “don’t you need this?”
“nah its okay i read it over the summer already” o yes of course
“i’m jaebum by the way” he smiles at you and ur stomach JUMPs
“i’m y/n” you try, and then blurt out “and also really sorry for this i’m like,, dumb as hell-”
“its no issue, y/n” his voice is HONEY as it says your name and you can feel urself turning redder
“i’ll see you in class then” hes gone as quickly as he arrived and ur still in shock because what the fuck
did that really happen or did u doze off after a caffeine crash again???
so the next day in class u walk in, heading towards your seat when  ur eye catches jaebum’s
and he gives u the BIGGEST SMILE
WHAT AN ANGEL
ur blushing furiously and manage a quick smile back
and thru/o ur so distracted bc u swear u feel his eyes on the back of ur neck but ur also too scared to look bc WOW WHY IS THIS BEAUTIFUL BOY STARING AT ME
so at the end of the class ur throwing all ur books into ur mess of a backpack when u hear a voice 
“so did you end up finishing the book”
its god jaebum, beanie hiding his tousled hair and trademark glasses on his nose
“no i still have some stuff to cover but its fine!! you can have it u want-”
“no, no i was going to suggest we do the paper together?”
is this ,,,, really happening
“i mean, sure” WHY ARE U AGREEING WHY DO U WANT TO DIE
“okay great! i’ll meet you in the library at 4?”
“okay see you then!!” u squeak out and dash
wtf was that
this man did not need ur help, he is a lit GOD
but ur there at 4, a little thankful for the heads up bc u managed to put some semblance of makeup on urself
and he walks in and ur heart is on fire again bc hes so pretty and he’s also so excited to do lit, lit makes this boy
u slowly ease into conversations w him, sappho being taken over by more personal deets
ok first of all, this boy has 5 cats
5
he shows u pictures of all of them, names and all, like a mom showing off her children
ur heart is so so full of this endearing boy
you keep meeting thru the rest of the week
on tuesday, he asks you ur favorite color
on wednesday, he convinces u to tell him ur favorite memory
on thursday, you tell him how vanilla ice cream is everything to you but u cant stand strawberry
on friday, he asks u for ur number
on saturday, he randomly texts you 6 pictures of his cat sitting on two legs
on saturday, you realize u have fallen for the boy at the back of ur lit class
u dont know what to do
this boy is so so dumb at heart but can also recite all of shakespeare’s sonnets by heart
like hes the cutest idiot u have ever seen
and ur falling super hard for him
ur friendship goes strong for a while
gradually u blush less frequently and get comfortable w him, going over to his place at times
the first time u go (for lit probably) he opens the door and ur greeted w the smell of disaster
like really it smells super bad
and hes frantic and panicky bc “i didn’t know how hard cooking was the tomato sauce is all burnt what did i do”
poor perfect boi is bad at cooking???
even surrounded w smoke and in a dirty apron he looks ADORABLE
and ur laughing and taking the saucepan off the stove for him, throwing his failure out and suggesting u just get some chinese
and he agrees w a sigh and ur like ur so dumb
and no ur definitely not trying to think abt how he wanted to cook for u
when u call him over u make spaghetti
red sauce
“wow so ur really out here triggering me like this”
“is it my fault ur an idiot sandwich”
“w o w”
he probably pouted and u probably made fun of it tho ur heart was crying 
so it goes on like this for a while
and ur always wondering ‘does this boy even like me like that’ bc he out here giving u so many signals but never making the move
like ur ass is never sure if he’s into u or just being nice
bc lets face it - im jaebum is the definition of nice
and its honestly getting kind of annoying
like pls tell me if u like me my heart cant take it much longer
u guys are at his, doing ur readings
you glance to the side and see jaebum reading intently, eyes flying over the words, relaxed and so sweet, a ray of light from the window falling on him and making his eyes radiate a dark brown
you dont even notice how long you’ve been staring until u hear his voice
“hello what r u doing”
fuck
“nothing! just,,,, you looked really pretty with the light falling on ur face. no i mean, look!! like, you’re pretty”
OK
WHAT
did u JUST 
SAY THAT
"not that that means you’re not pretty at other times!! i mean,,, you’re pretty all the time and its honestly really crazy” WHY ARE U STILL TALKING
hes just.... staring at u in wonder
and ur lik e wow this is it, this is when the ground acc swallows me up and i die
when his face breaks into this beautiful smile
“you think i’m pretty?”
his voice is so soft and pure
u r, on the other hand, about to collapse from embarrassment
and just nod and its like the day in the library all over
and he’s still smiling when he says “y/n, i think you’re the most beautiful person i’ve ever seen”
your stomach SWOOPS
IS THIS REAL LIFE
“i’ve wanted to say that for the longest time” he breathes and you notice just how close he is
“thats just,, i mean wow i didn’t know...” u manage to say
he leans in a little closer and his hands r burning a hole resting on ur thighs
the light is very brilliant as his head dips lower, breath on ur lips until he fills the gap between you
and im jaebum is kissing you
you barely remember to respond, but when you do, he leaves light kisses on ur lower lip, hand coming up to cup ur cheek 
ur entire body is on fire as he draws you closer, your hands going into his hair and feeling for the first time how soft it was 
wow u had really dreamed about this huh
he draws back a little bit, face incredibly close to yours and asks u “is this okay?”
,,,,,,,boi
“more than okay, this is perfect” you press him closer and all else is forgotten
send in requests!
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midnightliar · 7 years
Text
the beautiful, luminous, inimitable @violaeade​ tagged me for 50 book questions!
1. What is your favourite book and/or book series of all time?
oh maybe everything leads to you by nina lacour! it just really gets to me
2. What is the longest book you have ever read? How many pages?
uhh idk what’s the longest harry potter book bc probably that? i dont... read books that long usually
3. What is the oldest book you have ever read? (Based on its written date)
ummm i think and then there were none by agatha christie? i dont keep track by time tbh but i dont read that many old books bc i tend to have trouble reading them
4. What is a book series that everyone else loves but you do not?
the raven cycle lol
5. What book or book series would you like to see turned into a film/ TV series?
oh god most of them? 99% of the lesbian ones for sure. percy jackson would make an excellent animated movie series imo. i’m clearly biased but tasu/teota would be great on screen. 
6. What is your favourite stand-alone book?
most of the gay ones i read are standalones and theres so many good ones... i already said everything leads to you but we are okay and you know me well are also extremely good! of fire and stars killed me as well. 
7. What is a book that you feel glad for not reading?
god. straight ones? ones that i heard are racist or homo/lesbo/bi/transphobic, but in general i’m picky abt what i read bc i don’t read that many books.
8. What is a book that you feel guilty for not reading?
i was gonna say i don’t feel guilty about not reading books i don’t like/don’t want to but that’s a lie- babe if ur reading this i am SO sorry i never finished the last chaos walking book
9. What is a book you have read that is set in your country of birth?
most of them lol that’s what i get for living in america. i read we are okay pretty recently which takes place in new york, the state i was born in, so that’s a bit more specific.
10. What is a book that you own more than one copy of?
i have 2 copies of redwall for no reason other than my high school library was selling one for a dollar so i bought it even tho i had it already. i have a couple copies of some of the a wrinkle in time books bc i got some of them as gifts a bunch. 
11. What horror book made you really scared?
omg i don’t read horror but that one skulduggery pleasant short story about bubba moon or whatever freaked me the fuck out tbh
12. What book do you passionately hate?
um i haven’t read enough terrible books to say i hate them that passionately? but i rly kinda hated trc. oh yeah i read the first c*aptive pr*nce book in hs on the recommendation of a friend and it just made me so uncomfortable the entire time i really. did not have a good time with that one and i wish i hadn’t read it
13. What is the biggest book series you have read? How many books are in it?
skulduggery pleasant! theres 9 books plus short stories i still can’t believe i read all those
14. What book gives you happy memories?
aw sabrina answered this with the flywheel by erin gough and i have to say the same bc she sent it to me for my birthday, full of annotations of thoughts and jokes she made herself AND got it signed by the author, and i’ve uhhhh never felt so loved in my life
15. What book made you cry?
oh the book thief for sure. everything leads to you made me cry a bunch while rereading it even tho its not sad? thos were love tears. that happens a lot actually.
16. What book made you laugh?
skulduggery pleasant! there’s so many good lines in that one. my dad used to always hand me a book he’d just read and tell me to read a certain chapter he found hilarious but i never read the whole book but he always found hilarious memoirs too.
17. What is your favourite book that contains an LGBTQ+ character?
lmaoo like all the books i read are gay? the abyss surrounds us/the edge of the abyss have really unique lesbian characters because they’re so angry and vindictive and dumb and interesting and DRAMATIC so that one gets a shout out
18. Have you read a book with a male protagonist? What is it?
what the fuck is that (ok i legit just finished reading when the moon was ours by anna marie mclemore tho bc my gf rec’d it and it was p good)
19. Have you read a book set on another planet? What is it?
does fantasy count? bc then of fire and stars. uhh chaos walking is on a new planet. a wrinkle in time involves other planets too! wow i’m crushing this one
20. Have you ever been glad to not finish a series? Which?
the raven cycle lol i thought it was a finished trilogy when i started the first book so i just never read the last one and i am so relieved
21. Have you ever read a book series because you were pressured?
not really? i don’t really feel pressure, i value recommendations from my girlfriend friends way more than things that are trending or popular. i’ve read a couple that i blindly picked from internet lists that i didn’t care for tho but that was really a while ago
22. What famous author have you not read any books by?
pretty much any author we were supposed to read in high school. any classic or even modern famous author i probably haven’t read. i’ve read like a dozen books ever
23. Who is your favourite author of all time?
tbh nina lacour is really up there. when i was really young it was definitely gail carson levine. i rly loved anne ursu’s books as well.
24. How many bookshelves do you own?
only one! and a bunch of boxes that i never unpacked after we moved like 3 years ago. my mom wants to put a big wall bookshelf in our house somewhere bc this one didn’t come with any like our last house did but who knows if that’ll happen.
25. How many books do you own?
are u trying to make me count?
26. What is your favourite non-fiction book?
ohhh i don’t read much of this genre. i always avoided it as a kid and i’ve been meaning to get into it more but i haven’t yet. i’m really looking forward to reading a sally ride biography tho
27. What is your favourite children’s/middle-grade book?
the chronus chronicles by anne ursu were my JAM in elementary/middle school omg. i also really loved the may bird series which i didn’t read until high school.
28. What is your next book on your TBR?
i’m about to start georgia peaches and other forbidden fruit finally! my gf bought me 10 things i can see from here and i love her so whenever that arrive i’m probably gonna devour that. i want to reread a wrinkle in time soon since the trailer comes out this weekend! plus a million others
29. What book are you currently reading?
i literally just finished when the moon was ours which felt like it took me ten years to read and i haven’t started another yet but it’ll be georgia peaches bc thats the other one i got from the library and i already had to renew them haha
30. What book are you planning on buying next?
um this old west lesbian novel called backwards to oregon! i’ve been craving westerns lately but as always i’m also craving gay content
31. What was the cheapest book you bought?
i used to buy a ton of old paperbacks, usually goofy looking sf or fantasy novels from library sales for dollars or quarters so definitely those.
32. What was the most expensive book you bought?
i can tell u the most expensive book i got for free was a beautiful bound collection of hg wells stories that i just got from some book at bea before it was bookcon lol
ones i actually paid for... do art books count??
33. What is a book you read after seeing the movie/ TV series?
nah i usually have no intention of reading the book if i watched the show/movie first
34. What is the newest book you have bought?
akdjghksjgh a lesbian western novella called from the boots up for a few bucks on kindle
35. What three books are you most looking forward to reading this year?
the rest of the gay books i’ve bought but haven’t read yet! not your sidekick and labyrinth lost, i’m VERY excited to reread a wrinkle in time and i also really want to read stone butch blues
36. What is a book you love that has a terrible trope? (Love triangle, etc)
crush by sr silcox has the cutest lesbian teen summer romance AND one them is secretly a rock star avoiding her fame bc her controlling dad was turning into HIS dream instead of HERS akdjghksdjgh its fantastic i adored it
37. Have you read a book in a different language? What was it?
oh no i’m dumb as hell
38. What is a book you’ve read that is set in a time period before you were born?
for some reason dave at night by gail carson levine popped into my head first? that was my favorite as a kid and i reread it all the time and i think it took place in the 20s or 30s with all that good good jazz shit
39. What book offended you?
hm not sure how to answer this one
40. What is the weirdest book you have read?
idk the may bird series was pretty weird. gone by michael grant? i read the first for a high school book club and i just could not get into it or understand it even a little
41. What is your favourite duology?
ditty the abyss surrounds us & the edge of the abyss !!
42. What is your favourite trilogy?
wow i really haven’t read that many trilogies esp ones i loved. i guess may bird or the chronus chronicles then!
43. What book did you buy because of its cover?
the maze runner! also bc i heard it was good but i hated that book so
44. What is a book that you love, but has a terrible cover?
honestly i can’t think of one rn
45. Do you own a poetry anthology? What is your favourite poem from it?
nope! i also hated poetry as a kid and have only tried to get into it recently. i have a book of sappho’s fragments and i want to get tracy k smith from the library but thats about it
46. Do you own any colouring books based off other books?
nope
47. Do you own any historical fiction?
thats possible
48. What book made you angry?
the maze runner really did?? for some reason and i don’t get mad that much but it just really had me steamin. sabrina also said grasshopper jungle and i’m inclined to say same lmao. i haven’t read it but seeing all the lesbophobia in not otherwise specified recently made me really mad and also upset
49. What book has inspired you?
aw inspired is a serious word to throw around. the miseducation of cameron post, idk if it “inspired” me but it was my first lesbian novel and that really did a lot for me.
50. What book got you into reading?
i think it was a wrinkle in time! or maybe roald dahl books before that, but a wrinkle in time was definitely up there, and maybe the shadow thieves by anne ursu
i’m tagging @reading-takes-you-places and @mywomensworld and anyone who wants to! i don’t talk to many people here but if you follow me and want to, go for it!
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