#cursebreakers

[gothoctopus]

my dnd group made the mistake of saying they wanted to see our CoS party in the Adventure Time style.

#friends ocs #cursebreakers #dnd #c: val ravencarver #original character #art tag

[magicalyaku]

Hello and welcome to another reading year! Following the devastation Dark Heir cause in my heart at the end of 2023, I didn't really feel like reading much for about two weeks. I did catch up on a few manga series, most notably 8 volumes of Yona of the Dawn by Mizuho Kusanagi. While it's still very good, I think binge reading helped quite a bit to keep me invested. :'D After that, I read one book that will definitely go into my worst books of 2024. Refer to the later half of the post if you want to know more. Let's focus on the good ones first!

Cursebreakers (Madeleine Nakamura): This one was really good! I was positively surprised. The world is magical, not medieval but futuristic! The story around the conspiracy is interesting and intense and the main characters are difficult people that might be hard to like in real life but they complement each other so well and it's so nice to see their relationship grow (no love story here!). I also really liked the way it is told. The protagonist has bipolar disorder which is a huge factor in the story but he recounts the story from a later perspective, so rather than being right in the moment with every dramatic and sometimes questionable decision we get a little bit of distance and insight into his actions and thoughts which works really well.

Twelve Bones (Sixteen Souls 2) (Rosie Talbot): The first volume was a already a little dark but all the bad stuff involved a limited circle of people (most of them ghosts), this one takes a full dive into the swooping dark threatening the entire city, living and dead! The stakes, my dear. Ugh! Based on that I wouldn't call it fun ... would I? I liked reading it, though! The cast of characters is really endearing. The story is good. The struggle felt warranted. The ending is kinda mangaesque but I like manga, so I don't mind. xD I wonder if there'll be a third volume. If not, I'll look forward to the author's next work. :)

The Necromancer's Light (Radiance 1) (Tavia Lark): I picked up the set of the trilogy which has a much better cover than the indivual books. :'D This one is very simple and straightforward, it's cute. The characters are likable. The hurt/comfort in here is indeed comforting. I think I like the first part with the pining best. This story's animal is a horse! (I read half of the auther's Perilous Courts series and there's friendly animals in every volume there as well. Nice touch.)

And now for the first book of 2024 I did not like. Heir to Thorn and Flame (Court of Broken Bonds 1) (Ben Alderson): I read the author's self-published Darkmourn series last summer and quite liked it despite its issues with the writing. Now this one has a tradtional publisher so I wanted to know if that made any difference. On a whole, the writing feels a little bit smoother than Darkmourn. But it's still long, repetetive, and tries to hard to sound fancy by exaggerating a lot. The premise of the story isn't even that bad. Boy finds out he has magic, accidentely kills the prince, has to take his place and political stuff occurs with two countries on the cusp of war over him and his magic. The first thing that annoyed me: The story feels unnecessarily cruel. It literally starts out with attempted rape which is already the second time protagonist Maxiumus is assaulted in his life. People are killed right in front of him, he is forced to shoot someone he cares for. People violently dig through his memories and still don't believe his story afterwards. And the villains are just caricatures. They have the balding hair, yellowed teeth, bony fingers, stinky breath, and leering eyes. They're ugly and evil! It was so over the top that I couldn't care at all. The other characters have nothing going on for them either. I don't like Maximus at all. He's whiny and indecisive and only worries about his parents. He does have that superstrong magic he uses to rip people apart when he's angry, wow. He also has two love interests and I don't see the chemistry with either of them (I suppose it tries to be Slow Burn but not very good). But they're so good-looking, the strong arms and nice smell, so tall! (eyeroll) The second one of these guys is named Simion. He's the only one remotely nice to him in the beginning, so Maximus likes him. Then he hates him. Then he likes him, then Simion reveals stuff and Maximus hates him again (even though he's just the messenger). But then he's suddenly attracted to him again to the point they even kiss … but oh no, Maximus can't kiss anyone, because he is married to the other guy by magic (against his will)!! And everyone treats it as this big thing "oh old magic you are bound to each other now for life" etc, but nobody explains what the handfastening (as they call it) even does for 80% of the book! Until Maximus kisses Simion and the magic causes him pain because he's cheating!!

Here my mind went on a tangent. The magic seems to have a conscious in this story, alright, but I want to know it's moral values then. Does it only detect kisses and sex? Physical acts? Can it differentiate between consensual und non-consensual? Who is doing the touching? Does is only clock sexual attraction or romantic attraction as well? What if he has a crush and never acts on it? Would it still cause him permament pain? What's with platonical kisses? Now you ask, do we have to explain all of this in a book like this? No, we don't (there's also two sequels), but I sure hope the author thought about it when he introduced a complex thing like this. Oh, also Simion forces his way into Maximus's mind via telepathy several times. Such a nice way to get to know each other. And speaking of the morality of the magic, it counts how many people are killed with it. On the wand. As tally marks. How does it know? Why does it only count humans, not animals? Why does it care?

Two more things I found annoying (there's more, but this is long enough already): First, the parents. Everything happening in the story hinges on their whereabouts, it's back and forth and very tiring. The Red King has them so Maximus has to stay with him, then the Blue Prince has them, then they get kidnapped so Maximus follows, then it turns out they've never been kidnapped and the Blue Prince kept them all along! In between he freaks out over his father not being his father and when they're reunited, but before they can talk, the father dies. Yay. Tragic. Not. The same thing happened before already. The one lady Maximus was forced to kill? She survived! She was saved and he goes to meet her, they talk for 30 seconds and then she's eaten by a dragon. :D I was pissed for wasting my time.

Which is a sentiment I kind of share about the whole book, but also not. It made me angry but sometimes it's good to have an outlet for the rage. :'D

#yaku reads #january wrap up #books #queer books #queer lit #lgbtq books #bookblr #cursebreakers #twelve bones #heir to thorn and flame #the necromancer's light #tumblr kept telling me it couldn't save my post because I made my paragraphs too long ...? #you're weird sir

[cosmichighpriestess]

Chosen Ones, Cursebreakers, Black Sheep, God wants you to be happy. God doesn't want to see you struggling or going down those dark trains of thought. What is something you can do today that is going to make you happy? Can you think of one thing that would comfort you and make you happy? Maybe it's going down to a restaurant or your favorite fast food you've been craving. Maybe it's going on a walk with your favorite music blasting. Maybe it's relaxing and watching your favorite trash tv with tea and your favorite snacks. Never feel guilty for taking care of your nervous system and resting whatever it takes to get there and get your body relaxed.

Maybe you can create a vision in your mind of your highest version of yourself and do something today to be that version of yourself. Maybe you can go buy something nice for yourself that you've been dreaming of. Maybe you should go get another piercing or get an idea for another tattoo, get your nails done or dye your hair. Do something that's going to make you smile today and all this week, it's time to treat yourself and demand more. You deserve it after everything you've been through.

They don't want you to heal because your healing is their greatest threat. They don't want you to be happy, they just want you to pretend to be happy because your potential to outgrow them is triggering for them because then they can't control you, use you and manipulate you anymore. They affected your sense of safety, they betrayed you, gaslit you, manipulated you, they crossed your boundaries, they lied on your name and they attacked your character- those are very traumatic experiences to go through all your life without any real apologies. You deserve to process those heavy feelings. You deserve space and time to heal from those experiences that led you to stop trusting and over giving to people. Your anger is valid. But remember that's exactly what they want.

They want you to lower yourself for them to get you out of character. Stay in control of yourself but stand firm on your boundaries if they keep testing them. Oops they didn't know you were a chosen one who's highly protected. They don't need to worry about you. They need to worry about all the powerful beings watching them and their every move and word they say about you. God doesn't play about you at all. God saw everything. God watched them as they continued to try their old outdated, toxic, tactics on you again. God saw as you forgave them and moved on but the anger kept coming back up to burden you again because you never received justice. Your justice is coming. God didn't forget about you.

This is the natural way of existence and the way the Universe works, the scales have to balance out by law. On top of it, there are powerful higher dimensional beings that make justice their business and take great pleasure in teaching harsh lessons, remember they are not human. They have no mercy even at times. You probably show more mercy than an archangel would. They don't play about you because they see all and hear all that you didn't, especially for chosen cursebreakers who are here to raise the level of human consciousness and be a light in the darkness. These karmics in your life were so inconsistent with their love, they had you questioning if you were even deserving of love. Nonsense. How could they love you when they don't even love themselves?

That's not your responsibility or your problem. You are not the problem. You are the solution to all their problems and their key to evolving but they wanted to stay repeating the same levels and they wanted to stay toxic. What they did for you in the physical was not for you at all but for their own insidious need to control and manipulate you. When you cut them off or saw through it you became the problem. Again, no need to concern yourself with nonsense. While you keep passing levels and evolving they stay the same avoiding their ego deaths. But some will have no choice but to confront their ego who is messing up their entire life. Your pain is valid.

Your anxiety around that person who abused you is valid. You are utterly betrayed by people you gave everything to. But you must look deeper at your programs and reprogram yourself. To attract what you want you must become the person you always needed. That means, no more beating yourself up, negative thoughts do not serve you. They only serve you to see that you don't need them. God knows it's been hard but God is moving on your behalf behind the scenes. You deserve peace, but you must make it a practice everyday to decide you are going to be at peace. It is always a decision, every single moment you have choices. Your ego makes those choices clear for you to see, that is the ego's job, to help you see things and see your choices.

But it's up to you to decide which choice you're going to make. You can either be happy and rebel against the system or you can let them take your joy and peace and cross your boundaries. It's your choice. I hope you know how loved and worshipped you are by God unconditionally. You deserve to be happy period. Follow your highest excitement each moment, speak your truth and never let them dim your light again. Remember the Universe is celebrating you and watching you in awe. 🙏

#chosen Ones #Cursebreakers #black sheep

[maricanread]

(A curse so dark and lonely - chapter 53)

Harper's finally got it

#a curse so dark and lonely #Harper #Rhen #Grey #ACSDAL #books #ya #ya books #quotes #book quotes #a curse so dark and lonely quotes #cursebreakers #curse so dark and lonely

[dayasan]

📷 The Atrium + The Mess + The Shelves, The Hideaway, Bennumere, Central Storm Deadlands + The Golden Stables, Martha's Rest, Central Rosaria

Allies III

#final fantasy xvi #midadol telamon #gav #martha #cursebreakers #ffxvi gav #gav ffxvi #ffxvi #final fantasy 16 #ff16 #final fantasy #ff #virtual photography #vp #ps5share #dayasanxv #ffxvi martha #martha ffxvi #i wish there were an actual list of all npcs cause i unfortunately dont know if the two cursebreakers here have names or not

[bookofdani]

"There is blood under my fingernails. I wonder how many of my people I've killed this time." - Rhen

#currently reading #first lines #booklr #a curse so dark and lonely #cursebreakers #book rec #rhen #book quotes #booktok #ya fantasy

[primeastrolatry]

does martyrs reach have aquariums? and if so what are adrien and co’s favorite sea animals :D

HMM they're not super common, but there are definitely a couple large aquariums! i think they would be seen by most people as a kind of research/learning space more than a place to go for an outing.

i'm gonna say: adrien—cephalopods, particularly nautili and cuttlefish, also nudibranchs (outside of sea animals, he likes koi) malise—deep sea anglerfish, deep sea stuff in general, jellyfish, particularly moon jellies gennady—gennady doesn't think about animals besides raches that much, but he probably would say something like a leopard seal is his favorite

also i never decided what exactly was in those murky tanks of water that marsilio kirchoff had in his office, but definitely not actual fish

#cursebreakers

[nonbinaryharrowhark]

i am going to have a breakdown now, and you are all cordially invited!

(click on him 4 the full, tumblr hates pictures :3)

i’m OBSESSED with @primeastrolatry ‘s novel cursebreakers and have wanted to teach myself how to draw for a very long time so i figured this would be the perfect chance because it is a goddamn SHAME there is not more attention on this book. i will drag a fandom out of the depths of the internet with my bare hands if i must. i’m very new to art but i wanna get better at it so i can draw more of these characters 😭😭 especially adrien, i haven’t had so much gender envy for a book character since like… ever

fr. it’s so good. i NEED somebody to talk to about it lol my brain so stuck on it

#cursebreakers #madeleine nakamura #book recommendations #art #beginner artist #bookblr #adrien desfourneaux #might steal his name… #i’ve been looking for a new one for a while and naming myself after a character whose arc revolves around mentally healing feels fitting

[tiredandadventurousnerd]

A Grey Rant

I reread the Cursebreakers trilogy last month and then read Forging Silver into Stars.

Grey was and is my favorite character in that series/world. I really enjoyed A Heart So Fierce and Broken because his POV was one of the main ones.

And anytime I see the word grey, I think about him. And I can't get over him.

Back when I was reading the books, I posted a couple of posts about a couple of his lines that got to me.

Just...Grey is stuck in my mind and I have a crush on him. And I don't think I'd have it any other way.

That is all.

#grey #a curse so dark and lonely #books #books and reading #booklr #reading #cursebreakers #a heart so fierce and broken #a vow so bold and deadly #forging silver into stars #fantasy

[gothoctopus]

My DM offhandedly mentioned wanting to see a dating sim with our Curse of Strahd characters, so I went ahead and made some fake dating sim screenshots! Part one of two :}

Set One (Main Party) | Set Two (Backup Characters)

#c: val ravencarver #cursebreakers #curse of strahd #dnd #friends ocs #original character #art tag

[cursebreakers-ops]

Hello World!

Join us on our mission of creating a brighter future.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxygGjppNjG/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==

#helloworld #cursebreakers #usa #launch

[afoolsingenuity]

You’d think I’d learn never to trust a YA trilogy. I’ve just finished A Curse so Dark and Lonely and it was great. It had a nice romance and lots of action and drama. But then I picked up book 2 and it was obvious from chapter 1 author was about to do me dirty and totally change the MCs I’ve grown to love. Harper is stepping back and unwilling to challenge Rhen (wtf) and Rhen is suddenly bloodthirsty and ready to turn on Grey for no apparent reason? Like wtf? It makes no sense! I’ve hopped into the reviews for books 2 and 3 and it’s safe to say the Cursebreakers trilogy goes down hill fast and I now have deep regrets buying the third book. I just wanted a good fantasy YA read and this series looked like it would deliver until it all went wrong.

I should know better, ya trilogies rarely end well for me. It’s like I forgot about the Divergent fiasco.

#reading #cursebreakers #a heart so fierce and broken #a curse so dark and lonely #a vow so bold and deadly

[sahana-draws]

Tycho and Jax, from Forging Silver into Stars, by @brigidkemmererwrites ❤️

[I'll also be posting this on my booksta account @/books_and_draws_eclectic tomorrow in case you want to see it there!]

[My depiction of Tycho and Jax was inspired by @/whimsicalillustration 's art of the same (IG handle)! Do check out the original character art pieces done by Micheline, they are truly wonderful 🤍]

#forging silver into stars #tycho #lord tycho of rilisk #jax #brigid kemmerer #jax and tycho #a curse so dark and lonely #cursebreakers

[roseunspindle]

What I Read in December 2022

I’d had a bad night at work and wanted a comfort read and grabbed this. ^_^

Not bad, seems like it’s going to be an interesting series. 

My older brother is obsessed with this series so it’s nice to at least start it. I enjoyed the book overall but weird that our main character sort of disappears from the narrative for the last part of the book. 

Start of a fun/silly isekai series. 

I’ll admit, I wasn’t enjoying the book at first, I liked Harper but there was a lot of “not like other girls” and the two main guys in the book were kinda dicks, but the writing itself was good and I remained curious as to the outcome and was hooked by the end. 

Very fun

Have enjoyed this on webtoons and so was very happy to get it when it was published. 

My friend got me this for Christmas and I couldn’t resist reading it right away. Very good decision on my part. ^_^

Totally picked this out of my tbr to try to meet my goodreads reading goal, I was like three or so away from it, and this is nice and short. Just a random sci-fi I had floating around from a thrift store or something but actually a delightful ya read. 

Another “complete goodreads challenge pick” but also a very fun read. 

#December 2022 #Booklr #Reading #Spy x Family #Tatsuya Endo #Chainsaw Man #Tatsuki Fujimoto #Magician: Apprentice #Riftwar Saga #Raymond E. Feist #crossdressing villainess Ceceilia Sylvie #Hiroro Akizakura #Shino Akiyama #A Curse so Dark and Lonely #Brigid Kemmerer #Cursebreakers #Deadpool Samurai #Sanshiro Kasama #Hikaru Uesugi #My Gently Raised Beast #Early Flower #Yeo Seulgi #Ray Bearer #Jordan Ifueko #Exiles of ColSec #Douglas Hill #The Clue in the Diary #Carolyn Keene #Nancy Drew

[maricanread]

"You know all the ways to make me yield"

(A vow so bold and deadly - chapter 15)

I don't even know what to say about people who don't like them. This is so good...

#a vow so bold and deadly #cursebreakers 3 #grey and lia mara #grey #lia mara #reading #books #quotes #ya books #romance books #book quotes #romance #romance book quotes #a vow so bold and deadly quotes #cursebreakers

[gh0stedvhampir]

Nazire

3, 5, 11, 14, 20, 34

3- What is/was your character’s relationship with their father like?

Nazire had a great relationship with his father during the time he knew him in Winterfjord. Meeting the spirit of Argynvost has made him yearn for speaking with his father once again. It's a little piece of home in a place inherently hostile, and honestly it makes him kind of sad.

5- On an average day, what can be found in your character’s pockets?

Usually spices, his bag of spice, and a note that he keeps to himself.

11- In what situation was your character the most afraid they’ve ever been?

Honestly, the near-death in Barovia at the very beginning in which they mistook another member of the party for someone else (...hehe...) and felt like he was going to die in front of that person.

14- Does your character remember names or faces easier?

Names, probably. Faces are difficult to discern because of blindness.

20- In what ways does your character compare themselves to others? Do they do this for the sake of self-validation, or self-criticism?

The monologue his mother instilled in him during the cursing has stuck with him for life. "Too big to help", "Too clumsy for delicate work", "Too likely to fail", "Too likely to get others hurt". It's legitimately part of the reason he has trouble asking for help. If he can't do it himself, then....

34- Is your character more likely to keep trying a solution/method that didn’t work the first time, or immediately move on to a different solution/method?

WELL.... I CAN ANSWER THIS.. UH.. WHEN NAIZRE GETS BACK.. OK :) DEYJA MIGHT BE PROUD!

@pallasbrothena

#Nazire-tag #cursebreakers-tag #cursebreakers #my sad lad