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ash-morgensterns · 1 year

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Post Chain of Thorns Rant pt.2

[pt.1]

Now that she no longer was busy treating Ari like shit and using women like objects, Anna was a lot more tolerable. I even liked the glimpses of her relationship with Matthew we got. Maybe if she could react like a person whose brother just died in her arms I would like her a lot better. And if we got to see her mourning in her own POV rather than in Ari's buried between paragraphs of her wanting to kiss Anna.

Jesse came back from the dead, literally everyone and their mother knows it, yet his literal family barely bats an eyelid. The very same folks who had begged him to come live with them when he was a kid. Now to them, he's just 'Jesse the new strange boy'. The whole Jeremy Blackthorn plan was just cheap, I cannot believe it worked for as long as it did. This guy here is the spitting image of his father, yet when he showed up at a party full of people who had known him for years, they just drink up the American relative excuse just because apparently all Blackthorns look the same???? Also wouldn't they know Jesse as well considering he was running around London, possessed by a Prince of Hell and murdering Shadowhunters just yesterday??? Nobody found it even a little suspicious that a new Blackthorn just showed up right after that??? Whatever, the necromancy plot was just an afterthought and it showed. #Jesse and James best brothers-in-law.

I absolutely loathed how everyone villainized Charles just because he wanted to keep his relationship with Alastair and homosexuality a secret. And then, to make things worse, he was literally forced into coming out by his own brother and his friend, and got treated like shit because he dared prioritize his career over any relationship he might have in the future. God forbid someone doesn't put romance in the first place right??? And don't even get me started on how everyone just dismissed him after he did come out. Because apparently 'nobody cares if he fancies men'!!! Where did Charles get the impression he would get ostracized if the truth ever came out??? That's so silly of him!!! I'm raging.

A few more thoughts about the book/plot in general:

Elias' funeral anyone???

CC totally forgot one of the characters was supposed to end up exiled at the Scholomance.

The Carstairs owe the Herondales because????

Wasn't there supposed to be a surprise baby that needed adoption?

Ariadne changed her name to Ari/Arati but we never get a last name. Does she keep Bridgestock since she made up with her mother?

After four completed series and six (that I can remember) dead siblings, I can safely say that the one who got the most (and better written) amount of mourning is Sebastian, of all the people.

These characters have such a black and white perception of the word and it's just annoying.

How TF did Charlotte manage to get pregnant, she is like 50… And twins.

Bridget coming into the fray last minute and starting to slay demons was insane. I love her for it.

New Belial's pact about him and Herondales staying away from each other is totally tying in either the last TEC's book or TWP.

Anna and Ari already planning to adopt a baby feels incredibly rushed.

Forever be bitter that we never got to see Gideon's reaction to Jesse resurrection and them interact.

Congratulations to Sona for making it out alive when so many people (me included) gave her for dead.

Cordelia's relationship with both Herondale is totally rushed and built around nothingness. I wish CC would stop trying to sell either as "childhood friendships turned into more" because… it's simply not that. It's blatantly obvious that despite writing to each other for years (plus the occasional meeting) Lucie and Cordelia barely know each other, and James doesn't even have that… Am I really supposed to believe that it took him as little as her reading to him when he was nearly comatose with fever to make him fall in love with her?

It was very nice to see all the characters finally come together and interact as a group.

Lucie and Jesse best ship.

If Tessa hadn't been so stubborn about keeping her head under sand about the identity of her father and had acted accordingly (especially when Jem did all the research work for her and clearly warned her that her father was one of the Princes of Hell) all that mess about getting the Institute removed from their custody would have been avoided. Not to mention, she could have had her children learn how to defend themselves, insead of leaving them to fend off alone until the problem became too big to ignore.

The falling out for the necromancy plot was incredibly underwhelming.

I don't think we are ever getting another (accurate) family tree.

#the last hours #the shadowhunter chronicles #chain of thorns #chain of thorns spoilers #anna lightwood #jesse blackthorn #charles fairchild #tessa gray

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dionetaofavalon · 3 years

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How to Write a Jejune Love Story - Rule #1:

Insist - believe to the core of your being - that a romantic arc is vital. Supremely vital. That the entire narrative will collapse under the pressure of its own emptiness if a love story isn’t included.

And prioritize the romantic relationship above all other relationships - indeed, this is why the story will collapse without romance, because only romantic relationships are real relationships. Friendships, familial relationships, mentors and proteges, these are only stopgap pretenders. Only romance can be the keystone holding the structure together.

Okay, I might have to post my entire lecture series about driving questions of narrative and their relation to tension and suspense and keeping audience interest, but here’s the short version: the audience sticks around because their curiosity is piqued. The audience will watch a spectacle because it’s shiny, but they invest in The Hobbit because what is Bilbo getting out of this? Will Smaug be slain? Will Thorin reclaim Erebor? Will whatever the fuck was going on with Thranduil in the prologue be resolved? Will Dwarves, Humans and Elves find peace in the Erebor/ Dale region? Why is Gandalf so interested in Thorin - or is it Smaug - or is it Bilbo? And so on. Ignore the driving questions, you leave threads hanging, and the story fails to satisfy.

Bilbo’s journey is psychological, internal, which is hard to grasp for many people. The movie has him shout,”I’m going on an adventure,” which means that Bilbo is after adventure. That’s his motivation - but what’s adventure? It’s an abstract concept and shifts meaning depending on the situation and personalities involved. So in order to answer whether Bilbo gets his adventure, the movie must establish what ‘adventure’ means to Bilbo. This is the A-Plot.

Thorin and his quest for the Arkenstone & Erebor is the B-Plot (and maybe also the C-Plot, if you’re doing something psychological with him as well). After that, we have Bard slaying Smaug, so an arc needs to exist around that otherwise it’ll come out of nowhere. Then we have the sociopolitical affairs between Dwarves, Men and Elves in the region of Erebor, which, like a great supporting plot, ties in with Thorin’s B-Plot. And then, the movie decided to do shit with Gandalf and the White Council and the Necromancer of Dol Guldur - which needed a hell of a lot more than they put into it in order to be relevant (if they weren’t actually going to commit to the subplot, they shouldn’t have bothered).

But at least the White Council drama had potential relevance. Potential. Tauriel’s and Kili’s love life has zero relevance to Bilbo’s story, zero relevance to Thorin’s story, and zero relevance to contextualizing both in the world events of Middle Earth (which is where the White Council could have value). It doesn’t even illustrate something about Dwarf or Elf culture.

There is no room and no need for a romance.

Especially given all the platonic relationships that need care and consideration: Bilbo and Thorin; Bilbo and Gandalf; Bilbo and various Elves (Elrond & Thranduil, because what the movies ignore is that Bilbo is an Elf fanboy - how does that affect his relationship with Dwarves btw?); Bilbo and Bard; Bilbo and Bofur (since the movie gave them some moments); Bilbo and Balan; Thorin and Balan; Thorin and Fili; Thorin and Kili (yes, those need to be two separate relationships); Thorin and Dwalin; Thorin as leader in relation to his company; Thorin and Gandalf; Thorin and Bard; Thorin and Thranduil; Thorin and his grandpappy (since the movie wanted to do something with it); Gandalf and Elrond; Gandalf and Thranduil; Thranduil and Bard; Gandalf and Bard (and the relative absence of a relationship can also be significant); Thranduil and Legolas (and yes, Legolas does belong since he’s a Mirkwood Elf); even Thranduil and Tauriel.

There is no room and no need for a romantic subplot.

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sebastianshaw · 3 years

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Let's go wide and predictable... Tell me about the different WoD incarnations for Shaw. :>

OK SO First thing I am glad you are also a nerd for this so I don’t don’t to explain all these terms. Secondly wow I need to be better about tagging/organizing, I couldn’t find all the other posts on this I was SURE I wrote. SO HERE’S A BIG FAT POST, RIP YOUR EYES

VAMPIRE Lasombra: This is the clan I typically default to in answers for him AS YOU HAVE NOTICED. I mean, they’re dark aristocrats who are all about Social Darwinish, preying on the weak, and the strong reigning. They primarily enforce this subtly through political games, but they have NO PROBLEM throwing an elegant Potence-backed punch. While one would think that these proud predators demanding sniveling obedience---and one would, in a way, be right---they certainly don’t RESPECT it, and it can even induce violent rage in them. Fits Shaw to a T. Sure, the Catholicism/Church control and Spanish origins and attraction to the sea and Abyss mysticism aren’t for him, but hey, he fits the outlook of the Clan perfectly aside from the religious aspects, and no one fits EVERY stereotype of a clan anyway. Most Lasombra are Sabbat, and he could be too, but he would be in it for personal power, not true belief in being the Sword of Caine. I can equally easily see him going antitribu for the political power and stability of the Camarilla. My other choices for him are VENTURE which is pretty obvious, but also Gangrel, which sounds counterintuitive but I HAVE A REALLY GOOD ARGUEMENT FOR IT! WEREWOLF Shadow Lord. Total Shadow Lord for pretty much all the same reasons as Lasombra. Like just LOOK AT THIS QUOTE: “ The Shadow Lords are a fictional tribe of Garou (werewolves) in White Wolf Game Studio’s Werewolf: The Apocalypse role-playing game. […] The Shadow Lords’ lives are like a daily game of chess and a constant struggle for power […] Shadow Lords respect power and condemn weakness, any cub who’s not strong enough in their eyes is banished from the tribe [… ] None of the other tribes like them very much, or at all, but even the ones who hate them most don’t question their ability to get things done. […] perhaps the largest camp, the Lords of the Summit tend to be the stereotypical Shadow Lords - power-hungry, manipulative, ambitious, and arrogant. This by no means makes them less dangerous foes.” And like. . . .they focus on political and intellectual power FIRST, and that sort of character is typically physically weak. But as with the Lasombra, nope, the Shadow Lords had bodily power too; they’re described as looking more like over-muscled pit bulls in lupine form than wolves. So....yeah, that’s perfect. Because Shaw does fight “smart” first, he ideally never touches his opponent, but when he has to? BOY CAN HE PULVERIZE. So, Shadow Lord Shaw is a Homid, probably an Ahroun but maybe a Philodox, and he has a lot of Glass Walkers following him as well as fellow Shadow Lords; he finds great use in their technological talents and ability to adapt to an urban environment and OWN it (rather than just SURVIVE in its fringes like a Bone Gnawer, as he sees it) and they organize themselves in a corporate-like structure where he takes a natural lead. While the Shadow Lords are stereotypically/traditionally Eastern European, they can be of any race today. Shaw’s dad is English, but since we never see his mom in canon, for this version I’m saying his mom was a great big Eastern European Shadow Lord, and that’s why he never knew her, because the Garou aren’t typically raising their own young. He’s just. . . .big brutal wolf boy. And has like a billion puppies/Kinfolk kids. I DREW HIM FERA Ok, so I picked a BUNCH of Fera for Shaw, and you know why? I could. Literally just because I could. I don’t have a DM to tell me no! I even picked extinct ones, BECAUSE I WANTED TO! Cat-wise, I like him as a Khan or a Khara. Are the Khara extinct? Yes. Do they really suit him, the way they’re described less as warriors and more just secret-gatherers? Not at all. I picked them because I just like the idea of him turning into a massive, massive black smilodon. Because I think it’s cool and I don’t have to respect canon here. He can be the last of the Khara and not fit them at all if I say so. And hey, he LOOKS like a prehistoric man already! As for the Khan. . . .of the extant Bastet, the Simba and Khan fit him best. And if I am being honest? The Simba probably are a better fit for him. And I’m fine with that. I’m fine with Shaw as a big ol werelion with a black mane. But I also just really, really like the Khan. And as I have made clear, I am running this show. So my first choice for him that isn’t a Shadow Lord, is a Khan. They’re most typically Indian, Chinese, or (due to breeding with colonizers in India) English, so he could be one of the English Khan, and hey, fighting the Wyrm gives him a good outlet for. . . himself. Their human forms are also typically tall and HUGE, upwards of 300 lbs, and they’ve sired some of the most beautiful kittens and powerful bloodlines. T “ The Simba may declare themselves nobility, but the weretigers fit the title. Regal hunters and warriors, these Bastet evoke the respect the lions demand. From the snowy mountains of Asia to the cities of India, the weretigers hunt the spawn of Asura and defend the last of their Kin. They’re solid, dependable, smart and strong. Their weaknesses, such as they are, come from being too trusting or too sure of themselves. Khan are straightforward and action-oriented, not clever schemers. Whatever a Khan does, he does full-tilt — fighting, romancing, hunting, studying, even contemplating. These Bastet throw themselves into all tasks with vigor and passion, and their bodies, in any form, bristle with vitality. Most Khan love company; though few of them can stand the presence of another of their kind for long, they often enjoy companions. And who would deny a tiger’s friendship? It’s said the Khan were brought forth to battle demons, and many of them take that charge literally. Vampires, Asura and fomori have few enemies more relentless than a tiger. Perhaps that’s why the Khan have been brought to the verge of extinction: They made too many of the wrong kind of enemies.” “ The tribe’s traditional cultures stress honor and obedience. The treachery of Nagda was worsened by the stain it put on the tigers’ pride. While solitary in nature, most Khan establish protectorates where they defend a given family or land against corruption. The fact that “defense” occasionally includes killing certain people doesn’t detract from the tribal purpose. The Kahn were created to war against demons. Those who court the darkness must die “ “ While many Khan tend to be bad-tempered and aggressive, others love company of all kinds (and are powerful enough to demand respect). “ So, is that ALL Shaw? No. He’d be a particularly nasty, scheming Khan, in fact, a little unusual for his breed. But that’s hardly unheard of. After all, the famous English Khan named Lord Clouster “had cobras for a heart; he tossed his own kuasha beneath the wheels of a train, fed his wife to a suttee fire by pretending to be dead, then killed his children when he found they did not carry the Changing Touch.” And another Khan, the Indian sultan Nagda, got into a feud with another Khan and “ taken over by his rage, the Sultan Nagda betrayed his race and used a tribal secret. During an eclipse, his assassins struck all over Asia, slaying nearly 100 Khan and many Kinfolk outright.” So, Khan can be bad too. But not as bad as the Simba. “ “The Lords of Sunlight.” That’s what they call themselves. Like the blazing mane around the heads of their kings, werelions liken themselves to the sun. All things have a place and an order and rebels must be reminded of this fact. The real fact, of course, is that the other tribes dislike the lions; the Simba may call themselves “Lords of Sunlight,” but many other cats give them another name: “The Dark Kings,” an unflattering comparison to the Khan. The Simba aren’t villains; they’re magnificent lords, slayers of demons. Things are simply out of order. When the balance is restored, when the humans know their place and the cities become graveyards, the lions will be proven right. The demons of the modern age can be traced to the end of the Impergium and the laxity of the Changing Breeds. The Simba mean to put things in order, and if that requires bloodshed, so be it. Warfare is the sport of kings” “ Werelions value strength and order. Despite their bloody reputation, Simba adore their loved ones, and watch their Kinolk closely. Children and kittens are raised within the pride and must constantly prove themselves to survive. “ “ Each pride has one Mtolo (“father”), or dominant male, and several Kirii (“wives”) and Anwana (“young hunters”). Small prides defer to larger ones, and may owe allegiance to a Chakuva (“High King”) like Black Tooth. “ So, Simba are very patriarchal, very hierarchal, and want to run everyone else and feel they’re entitled to do so by birthright, and the more I talk the LESS it sounds like Shaw actually? Like don’t get me wrong, he’s proud and power-hungry AS YOU KNOW, but what sets him apart from Apocalypse or Magneto or Xavier is that Shaw has never sought to have mutantkind follow him. He has his own ideologies, but he has never sought to lead others or enforce it on them. So really, the Simba mentality of “we should be in charge because it’s us” DOESN’T work for him, nor does the idea of being entitled to do so, as Shaw’s “power first” mentality is all about EARNING your position, not deserving it automatically. It’s all very Fabian though! So I’ll leave that here as a bonus for you instead of going back and deleting it lol. yEAH HE’S A BAD KHAN, BASICALLY And his Pyrio, no matter what cat type he is, would be Night. Each Bastet has a “Pyrio” meaning a classification of their general personality and what fields they’re likely to pursue and be talented in. “Like the Dark Father Cahlash, the favor of the Night indicates a sinister or hidden nature. Most Bastet with this Pryio tend to withdraw from others, concentrating on their own business unless interrupted. Although they might not be actively malignant, they have short tempers and quiet ways, and fiercely guard their privacy. Night Bastet prefer occupations such as assassin, scholar, scientist and dark mystic. In the wilderness, the Night cats are hidden hunters and man-eaters, with nasty dispositions and an eerie reputations. These are the cats whose deeds are told around campfires for years to come. If you’ve got a disposition toward the Night, activities that cause others discomfort, reinforce your private space or protect some valuable secret from outsiders can refresh your Willpower.” So yeah. Shaw is a night kitty. Rats are not the type that fit him the MOST, but I drew him as a RATKIN WARRIOR anyway. Because rats. Also while I drew him as a Warrior, he could also be an Engineer or a Plague Lord (specifically sylphyllis; every Plague Lord contracts with a disease spirit and embodies its most horrific symptoms and I just love the idea of this hideous terrifying syph-ridden Shaw) And hey, he can get into the “culling humanity” and “survive so that you may breed” deal! Most wererats also have very little kindness towards the weak either, despite being the underdogs of the Fera themselves. Likewise, hyenas aren’t the breed that fit him the most but I kinda dig the idea of him as an Ajaba? Their role was choosers of the slain, tasked with culling the sick, dying, and unfit. They were called rainmakers because of the tears their task brought to others, and they did not spare even their own. Then, the Simba came to their lands, and enacted genocide against them. They left Africa and spread across the globe, now breeding indiscriminately to survive and can be any race. What holds them together now first isn’t any duty, but the desire to simply stay alive. And both those things---culling weakness, and being knocked off his pedestal and now forced to fight for scraps in the shadows to survive---seem fitting for Shaw. The philosophy is obviously what he’s always had, and the degraded position reflects where he currently is in canon. He’s not usually the underdog, but he is here---but doubtlessly a brutal one, the Fera equivalent of a gang leader, recruiting Also they’re matriarchal and I kinda like the idea of him having to deal with that, as....that kind of fits too? Shaw was the only MAN of note in the Hellfire Club. All the other most iconic, powerful, threatening members were women, and Shaw’s never really had a chance (or tried to fuck with) any of them. He’s USED to being around a ton of badass ladies who are calling the shots, that’s just TUESDAY for him. Finally---FINALLY-- I could see him as the odd human-born Rokea. A Great White, of course. Again, it was probably his mother who was the Fera, some monstrous creature who came on land and mated with his human father, only to spawn this boy while still out of the water. All Rokea are ugly in their human state, but Shaw looks better than most due to being born on land and as a human, and he is also able to move through---and thrive---in human society. Since he is seen as a Betweener---one of the Rokea who “betrays” the Sea by living on land instead---stepping into what should be his natural habitat is always risky for him, as other Rokea WILL kill Betweeners on sight. And the single-minded nature of sharks leaves little room for explaining oneself. Oh did I say finally SURPRISE I HAVE ONE MORE. The peaceful, matchmaking, extinct Apis don’t really fit SHAW aT ALL, and they’re EXTINCT, but I love the idea of him turning into a HUGE BLACK BULL. So here’s my explanation. The deal with the Apis is that when their numbers reached the single digits, a last handful of young Apis called Last Hope went into the Deep Umbra and haven’t been seen since. The “hook” in the 20th anniversary Changing Breeds book for their return is that maybe they finally came out the Umbra and back to the physical world. My idea is that he and HAVEN are mebers of Last Hope who have re-emerged in modern times to bring back their kind---something that rests entirely on SHAW’S shoulders, since Haven’s womb was cursed by the Wyrm. So it’s up to him to just breed with as many women and cows as possible. So he’s got an excuse! And as for why he’s so un-Apis, my explanation is that the trauma of their species being wiped out and the time that was allowed to fester in them during their long sleep in the Deep Umbra, drove Haven and Shaw to two extremes of Apis behavior. Haven took on the gentle caretaker side to the extreme, becoming so pacifistic she can’t fight or defend herself. Shaw went the other end, becoming so enraged and resentful that he’s become more like a bloodthirsty predator himself. Eventually, they both fall to madness after re-emerging, but in the opposite ways that everyone expect. It’s the sweet gentle Haven who ends up Frenzying other of control in a berserker rage, rampaging across the city in massive bovine form, causing untold death and destruction until she’s put down. . . .while the cruel violent Shaw falls to a “cow version of Harano” sinking into a depression so profound he goes catatonic up until Haven’s own loss of sanity, at which point he throws himself on her horn. The story ends with the last of the Apis truly dead, but with a new hope for the species living on in Shaw’s children, who are showing signs of being Kinfolk or Apis themselves.

#world of darkness #vampire the masquerade #werewolf the apocalypse #wod #wta #vtm #episomalvector

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immortalpramheda · 3 years

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The 100 Rewatch ‘1x03 Earth Kills’

I love the flashbacks on the Ark with Jake. The Jaha and Griffin families watching a 147 year old soccer game, and seeing all the little things they did for fun up there is nice to see.

Oh Charlotte… I know Bellamy and Clarke had good intentions, trying to help her through her trauma and make the nightmares go away. But Bellamy… giving her a knife and telling her to slay her demons is not what you should say to a traumatised kid.

The acid fog. Which we later learn is not a natural occurrence, but a weapon created by the Mountain Men.

The drama between Clarke, Wells and Finn stuck in the car. Fun times.

Atom… Bellamy couldn’t kill him and looks on in awe as Clarke hums as she does it. He is so smitten with her by that point. This is a girl who’s willing to make the hard choices and he admires her for that.

And then he completely changes his attitude and announces that Clarke get whatever medical supplies she needs. The beginning of a beautiful friendship/partnership (and romance).

Jake being floated never gets easier to watch. Absolutely heartbreaking. He gave his ring to Abby and his watch to Clarke. It’s nice they keep those mementos around - the ring is there all the way to S7, although the watch is kinda forgotten in the later seasons.

Wells is the best friend anyone could ask for. Willing to let Clarke hate him for the rest of her life so she wouldn’t know the truth and hate her mother.

Clarke and Wells hug!! Unfortunately, for the last time.

And then Charlotte slays her demons and kills Wells, stabbing him in the exact place Clarke stabbed Atom. I was IN SHOCK the first time I watched this. Wells was one fo the main characters??? And they killed him 3 episodes in??

Wells death does have repercussions going forward, well at least in the early seasons. But just imagine how different things would be if he’d lived? I also really liked Atom, who also died this episode. So did a few other members of the hundred who were killed by the acid fog. Wow there were a lot of deaths in the beginning.

#the 100 #1x03 #the 100 1x03 #earth kills #the 100 review #the 100 thoughts #the 100 rewatch #rewatch #t100recap #t100rewatch

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need-a-new-hobby · 4 years

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dead man’s party

s1 e03

‘how can shadowhunters be better than what you call mundanes?’ well, the leather jackets and badass tattoos for one thing.

‘kay, clary kinda does have a right to be salty right now, but i gotta defend izzy. she left simon in the van to protect him. bringing a mundane into a fight would have been worse. but alec’s response to her salt is so funny

‘there is some truth to the idea that human beings should have a modicum of common sense.’ this is so in character with him, but seriously he could have a little compassion for the guy abducted by vamps

i don’t like clary’s salt anymore. i dunno how to explain it but she’s very hyper. (see ‘oh but there’s like this magic cup i hid on the planet bongo)

‘i can’t turn into what you are overnight’ the first correct thing she’s said all day, well all night really, but who cares? in this universe it’s day for like 5 minutes

alec just wants the mundanes out of his institute right now. ‘what are you, her spokesman now?’. i don’t envy his position, all he wants to do is just report back to the clave so they’re safe from scrutiny. he still hasn’t reported any of this.

RAPHAEL!!!! sorry, i get very excited but s1 raphael doesn’t live up to expectations (possibly cause he dead)

‘kay, i know clary wants to find simon asap but she can’t run into things head-first without a plan (which she keeps doing throughout the show). and if anyone really needs to know why i prefer alec, it’s cause he’s so level-headed, though to be fair, it’s not his best friend that’s been kidnapped.

‘right, seelies have their charms apparently.’ cue jace’s stupid grin. ‘izzy can tell you about them, she’s got a thing.’

raphael has had simon for 10 minutes and he’s already 100% done with him. ‘i really hate fidgeting.’ what would raphael look like with squirrels?

‘kay first point, did simon just throw a knife perfectly right into raphael’s chest? second, has this kid not watched vampire movies?

aight, camille is super creepy but her lines are gold. ‘how sweet. you’re bleeding.’ WHO COMES UP WITH THIS STUFF?!?

‘typical mundane failure of imagination’ hahaha, s1 alec is so salty. where’s magnus, alec needs to light up?

izzy’s so done with her brother being miserable and i love it.

oooh, alec got in trouble with jace.

‘kay, this episode kinda sets the tone for the rest of the season, especially with clace. i mean most of this season is just alec and izzy doing their jobs and jace ‘being there’ for clary. literally every 10 minutes, clary pulls jace from her job to talk about how miserable her life is becoming. whiny clary is boring and annoying

wooah. ‘are you so desperate to get laid that you’d risk killing us?’ yikes, alec, even i know that was a low blow.

‘beloved servant? who puts that on a headstone?’ - yeah, clary wouldn’t know anything about serving others.

‘don’t touch that, you don’t know how to use it’. haha, that sounds like something i’d say to my brother if he tried to use the electric whisk.

‘what, like in pandemonium, when i killed that demon?’ technically you held a sword and freaked out when jace shoved the demon into it.

first thing i noticed was alec’s dialogue is super clipped. i replayed the scene a couple times and you can kinda tell that alec’s really resigned to helping clary, probably because he knows it’s only gonna get them into trouble.

okay, jace training clary is giving me pain. its so cliched ugh

also is using a sword really that complicated?

‘could i even do this without you?’ jesus clary, you’re just waving a glowing sword and if she’s friends with simon, chances are she’s watched star wars. personally, i played with mock swords all the time as a kid. it ain’t that hard. but that might just be me.

‘alec doesn’t like anybody’. for the record, that’s true. i’m not sure where, but in the books, cc kinda mentions that alec doesn’t really like people, they just annoy him until they don’t, which is what happened with clary and jace (although personally, idk why she doesn’t annoy him anymore). the cutest thing though is that magnus never annoyed him. so technically, he likes magnus, ‘cept he hasn’t met magnus, yet...

‘why would he help me?’ who’s gonna tell her?

‘there’s no human bond that compares to what alec and i have.’ clary proceeds to compare that bond to her and simon. though, technically in the books, they become parabatai, but that whole plot-line is non-existent in the tv show since simon never becomes a shadowhunter.

simon apologising for trying to murder raphael is really funny

haha, subtlety is not alec’s best asset. no-one would doubt the acting head of the institute if he didn’t look so damn shifty. also, why not just grab the arrows and start runing them literally anywhere else?

hold on, clary can see jace even though he’s using a glamour but not the vampires?

noooo, simon, not camille ugh. watching camille and simon is painful.

again, alec with the unsubtlety. for someone so used to being responsible for jace’s misdemeanours, you’d think he’d be able to lie better. also for someone who’s meant to be like family, no-one seems to really care about hodge’s punishment rune literally scorching him. alec kinda just looks like the guy deserves it (which he does.)

omg, now he’s antagonising jace and alec’s relationship? bold move. also hodge slapping alec’s neck sounds so painful. like you can literally hear the slaps. but also, i feel like hodge does poke at a very central aspect of alec’s relationship with jace. alec’s always been responsible for his siblings and i can’t blame him if he’s frustrated by it. jace and izzy constantly get to do whatever they want, damn the consequences. except the consequences always seem to damn him, not the others.

how is it that jace can ride a motorbike, but can’t drive a car? i’d assume motorcycles are harder to ride than a van?

again, the soundtrack is flawless and ruelle is a goddess; the song for when they’re on the flying bike is invincible by ruelle

hahah, alec’s little ‘okay’ is slaying me. ‘great job izzy. you have fairy dust on your dress. and i hate being the distraction.’ cue dreamy sighing at grumpy lightwood.

also i love when emeraude toubia’s voice has that accent but the way she says frigging with the accent, chills.

they keep cutting to simon and camille making out, and i don’t wike it. it is gross and creepy. also her neck is bleeding and i’m very unhappy as to where this is going.

i have to admit, it’s surprising how well clary takes to the runes considering jace is literally burning her skin. although, at a certain point, if the heat is high enough, it just feels numb, or cold even. anyway, just to point out that in the books clary doesn’t get any runes until the city of glass. guess that’s impractical for the tv show.

surprise surprise, clary’s ‘not your typical girl’ and doesn’t see the romance in vampires. although it’s not really vampires as much as robert pattinson and i was always a jacob gal. i haven’t really watched all the movies though so don’t @ me, i don’t know enough. on top of that, it’s hard not to see clary as a sort of bella swan. having to deal with a love triangle between a childhood friend and a tall blond stranger and being practically useless in battle, even after she becomes a vamp. nope, no similarity whatsoever.

oh noooo, jace has never been in love. reeally heart-wrenching huh. and it’s not like clary has either. in the books, jace is like her first boyfriend, other than simon but we don’t talk about the disaster that is climon here. call me cynical but falling in love isn’t really that big a deal anyway. a lot of the time it’s just sexual attraction and i really don’t see the fuss. i dunno how to phrase it but clary feeling pity for a loveless jace is kinda icky.

haha, he doesn’t understand friendship? what’s alec, a distant cousin? cue her comparison of having a parabatai and having a best friend (see ‘there’s no human bond that compares to what alec and i have.’) and besides, you don’t know you’ll die for each other until you actually do. alec would actually die for jace and you see it multiple times throughout the show and vice versa.

i’m assuming the seraph blade works a lot like a normal sword in which case, again, i think he’s exaggerating the trick bits of it. but again, i grew up playing with pretend swords so....

i love how izzy talks about alec’s feelings while they’re trying to find vampires to distract. a lot of people tend to see this as a complete flip of normal priorities, but casual banter during what would normally be a very stressful situation is really important for me, personally. you finally get to see how izzy, alec and jace have grown up in situations like this, where they don’t know if they’re gonna make it to the next day. and yet they’re talking about their feelings. aaah im overanalysing again. sorry.

again with the banter! i love it. ‘whoever said the pen was mightier than the sword was an idiot.’ ‘when you’re right, you’re right.’ i love one pair of lightwood siblings

izzy looks way too excited to be killing vampires

ALEC WITH A BOW!!!! I LOVE MY ARCHER BOY 😍😍😍

also kudos to whoever came up with the idea of a whip as a bracelet

alec looks so happy with his arrows. aaaaaaaaaa!

okay, i love how clary kicks that vamp in the balls, but why doesn’t she just stab him? and why doesn’t she have her blade out yet? jace has to literally remind her, ‘hey you have a glowy sword in your back pocket’. this matchstick irritates me so much.

my archer boy has returned. am i the only one who thinks he was tempted to just shoot through clary? maybe it’s just me. also, you have to commend how alec thinks on his feet. i mean who’d have thought to nail an arrow through the wall to kill that vamp.

‘i killed him.’ ‘he was already dead.’ THAT’S STILL MURDER JACE! that’s what i don’t like about the shadow hunters, and it’s not just jace too. they all think that downworlders are somehow lesser beings because of their blood, but im guessing that most of them didn’t ask to be vamps or werewolves or warlocks and most shadowhunters (i.e. jace) were brought up to believe that blood somehow makes you a lesser being. that’s what i hate about shadow hunter society. but clary? she just falls into the same beliefs despite her father figure being a werewolf and her best friend being a vampire. she’s introduced to this world of angels and demons, she sees the discrimination that occurs and is silent about it, until simon becomes a vamp. reason #14 as to why i dislike clary

im sorry, but i laughed so hard when clary said, ‘thanks, but it’s not about me.’ for the record, alec had to save her from that vampire and the second one had already been punched to the floor by jace. also my tol bean is just standing in the back, waiting for this shitstorm of a mission to be over.

simon keeps punching the wrong people man. stop messing with raphael. also i love how raphael keeps thinking of the long game. camille is going to endanger the whole clan with the way she keeps breaking the accords and antagonising the clave. for non-book stans, raphael doesn’t particularly care about...well, anyone. except his clan. he cares about his own vampires, protects them like they’re his family and that’s only part of the reason why i love raph. the other reason is that his annoyance with other people is really funny for me.

i know the scene of the 3.5 shadowhunters walking in sync is meant to be like this cool badass scene, but i can’t help laughing at how they’re all dressed in black and izzy’s in this hot pink mini dress. we stan one queen.

watching climon is physically painful for me. i hate unreciprocated love.

watching jace and alec fight is physically painful for me. i hate family conflict

izzy just walks away, which is such a youngest sibling thing to do.

‘i’m older than you jace. i’m not in your shadow.’ aaaaaaaaaa my baby, noooo

‘if you really feel that way about her, why’d you help us tonight?’ JACE, YOU ACTUAL MORON. now that that’s out of my system, he is such a moron. first of all, if that mission went south, that would all have been on alec. this episode actually had me start disliking jace. in his race to help clary, he’s undervaluing the role alec plays in saving their asses. sure, alec’s not the strongest, or the fastest, or the fiercest. but when the clave comes down to rip them a new one, jace can’t save them. shadowhunters, just like police officers, have to follow the law. they have to think objectively and so far, alec’s the only one who’s been doing that. jace can fight vampires and demons all day, but he can’t fight the clave.

well, that episode was a hot mess. numero 4 coming up soon.

#shadowhunters #tsc #alec lightwood #alec #jace wayland #jace #izzy #isabelle lightwood #clary #clary fray #clary fairchild #anti clary fray #anti clary fairchild #anti clary #anti jace

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marlettwrites · 5 years

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11/11/11 tag

I was tagged by the lovely @marie-writess! Thank you! Sorry this took me so long, I was really dragging my feet on writing my own questions.

1. How heavily do you plot before starting your story?

I like to make sure most, if not all of the details are planned out. I may change them later as I write, but it helps me a lot to know exactly where I want the story to go. If I don’t do this, I end up getting stuck. A lot.

At the very least, I like to have all my major plot points planned. Where are the characters starting? Where are they going? How do they get there, and what major obstacles do they encounter along the way?

2. Do you have writing schedule? If so, what does it look like?

I wish. I probably should start planning one. Right now, I write when I have the time and/or energy.

3. What are some common themes in the things you write? Is there anything that you almost always seem to include?

Okay, so found family. Always.

I’ve also been noticing a theme of family in general in most of my works. Often, there will be some form of familial conflict that is integral to the story. In A Curse of Healing, Jude is fleeing an abusive family and Kul is at odds with his dad. They find family within each other. In another story, a closeted trans teen is living with his anti-LGBTQ+ parents and siblings, in another one I have an Asian-American teen born to immigrant parents who doesn’t really understand everything his parents did for him and he’s kind of a little shit about it, and in yet another story I have a stay at home mom who feels like she’s losing touch with her husband and daughter.

So yeah, there’s a bit of a theme of a huge family divide that can either be fixed through mutual understanding, or ‘he/she/they is toxic, get the fuck out of there now’.

Also, not to be cheesy or anything, but I totally have a running theme of the power of friendship going as well.

4. What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever had given to you?

Writer’s Block? Don’t know her.

If you can’t think of what happens in your story next or how to word it, just write whatever is on your mind so you can blow your metaphorical nose. Once the clog is gone, you will be breathing freely.

5. What are some of your writer dreams? fears?

For dreams, I want to inspire people (specifically LGBTQ+, disabled, and POC youth) by showing them that they can be the hero of the story too. Really, I just want to help build a world where there is no ‘default’ character and a story with any kind of representation isn’t met with cries of ‘THAT character can’t/shouldn’t be a POC/trans/disabled/gay/a woman/muslim because *bullshit excuse for bigotry*!’

My biggest fear is that my ability to write won’t match up with what I want to do, and I’ll end up harming those groups instead of helping them.

6. When it comes to writing love are you more drawn to platonic or romantic love?

I love me some good platonic love. I adore sweet, wholesome friendships in stories. However, that doesn’t mean I’ll shy away from romance.

Although I can only think of two stories I have planned where a romance takes center stage

7. What weakness in your writing are you currently overcoming or have overcome?

I’m working on both writing and reading more regularly. I’ve had my nose stuck in a book since I first learned to read, but after my sophomore year of high school, I just kind of... stopped reading.

I don’t fully understand why that happened, but I think a big part of it is that I pick up books based on how similar they are to the ones I want to write (because they’re all I want to read) and then I feel disappointed when it’s not MY book.

I know, I know, it’s stupid and paradoxical.

8. What do you see as your greatest strength as a writer?

I can do a grammar and spelling real good.

Okay, but seriously though. I try to make my characters complex beings that feel real. I want complicated relationships, moral quandries, and ‘oh shit’ moments of self-discovery.

People better be able to spend hours psychoanalyzing the characters up in this bitch.

9. Is there a genre you thought you’d never write in that you have? What are the genres that currently you feel you’d never write?

Honestly, not really? I’ve always loved reading fantasy and sci-fi, and that’s all I can think to write right now. If we’re counting subplots, I never thought I’d be able to write anything romantic, but then Jude and Kul came along and whOOpS!

Currently (and probably forever and ever until the end of time) I will never write erotica. Not because I think the genre is ‘inferior’ or whatever (it’s certain to present its own unique challenges, and I’d assume is as difficult to plan and execute as any other genre), but because I am extremely sex-repulsed. Just reading about two characters making out makes me extremely uncomfortable. I wouldn’t be able to do it.

10. What kind of characters do you struggle to write? Why do you think that is?

Oof, uhh... probably really crafty inventive characters. I don’t know enough about the way things work to come up with a rube goldberg on the fly.

But I’m going to have to learn, because guess what kind of character Kul is?

11. Who or what was your biggest motivation to start writing? Is it still the same today?

Okay, so this was a whole process for me, and I kind of have to write out the whole story now. Sorry not sorry.

I hated writing up until one particular assignment in the fourth grade. It was a very specific turning point for me. I had been creating fan characters for awhile before this happened, but what I didn’t realize while crafting their (not so) carefully thought out backstories, was that I was moving along the writing process.

So we get an assignment. We have to write a story about a quest in the fashion of a Greek myth. There must be a character who is sent on a heroic journey to do a thing, and there must be exactly three obstacles that get in the way of the hero’s goal.

I don’t remember exactly what I wrote, but I do recall that it involved my Sonic OC, Crystal Amber Fox. She was an anthropomorphic fox with ice powers and pieces of amber embedded in her body because I thought it looked cool, I guess. She was also the princess of the ice kingdom, and her parents sent her on a quest to... I think slay a dragon? I think she also had to take the prince of the fire kingdom with her (a black hedgehog with flame designs on his quills. Aptly named ‘Flame’, if I’m remembering right. Also, I think he was actually someone else’s OC that I saw on DeviantArt and subsequently went ‘Hey! Crystal should date him!’ To the creator of Flame the hedgehog, whoever you may be, I am deeply sorry for stealing your OC and putting him in a Greek-inspired epic without your permission).

Anyway, there was a swamp and a magic sword and a dragon that they were supposed to slay, but I doubt they actually did because I’ve always had a huge soft spot for dragons.

So it was fourth grade, and the teacher was probably expecting like, two pages.

I turned in twenty and got the elementary school equivalent of an A+.

It was while writing out that story that I first started to think ‘gee, maybe writing could be fun, actually’. Thanks, Mrs. Burpee. I owe you one.

To answer the second part of your question, in a way, my motivations are the same. I write because I like writing and that’s all there is to it.

My questions and tag list will be under the cut. :)

How old were you when you first realized you wanted to write?

What was the first story you ever wrote about?

What are some of your writing goals?

How often do you write, and do you have a writing schedule?

Who is your favorite OC that you've created?

Which is your least favorite OC?

What are three things you like about your writing?

What are three things you want to improve in your writing?

Tell me a bit about your current WIP!

What are you most proud of about your WIP?

What is your favorite scene that you’ve written in your WIP so far?

Tagging: @kai-writesstuff @quilloftheclouds @practising-writer @imaghostwriter @caz-writes @angelolytle @planets-and-prose @runningonrain

#ACOH #11/11/11 tag #tag game #writing #my writing #writing about writing #marlettwrites #marlett

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bran-writes · 5 years

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Eleven Questions Tag

I was tagged by @sad-witchy-writeblr thanks!

1. How long have you been writing?

Probably about 14 years now. Since I was in the 7th grade.

2. What are the major themes of your current wip(s)

From the Void deals with a lot of teen mental health issues, relationships with parents, and trauma passed between generations. And I guess friendship and loneliness play a huge part as major theme.

3. What do you want people to take away from your story once they’ve read it?

For one, I’d like for them to understand that my main character, Kwin, was a hero long before any of the conflict of the novel takes place. In a decision between ending his own life or seeking help, Kwin chose to seek help and that’s always made him a hero in mind!

4. Would you be excited if people write fan fiction about your wip(s)

Well, Kwin and Jonah’s friendship alone is a factory for possible fan faction. And yes, I would be excited, cause if I can inspire somebody to put their ideas down on a document or piece of paper, that’s phenomenal!

5. What’s your go-to writing beverage?

Coofffeeeeeee

6. Who is your favorite OC? Tell me about them?

I’m probably gonna stick to From the Void on these to keep it narrowed down and simple lol. Uh.... My favorite has to be Kwin. He’s my MC, he’s an excellent fighter and has trained to do so since he was 7. He loves to draw and has been doing that for even longer than he’s been fighting. But I think the best parts of Kwin are how much he loves people, and how much he’s willing to stick his neck out for his friends, and how he never wants to make anyone feel unwelcome or uncomfortable. And like how much he adores and respects his mom and best friend. He’s an angel tbh. A snarky, cheeky, flirty, axe wielding, inter-dimensional demon slaying angel.

7. Do you feel that mistakes are important learning tools in the writing journey?

Always

8. Rank your OCs by their capability in a foot chase(either running after or from something, your choice)

Since my characters do a lot of running away from things in From the Void, I know this answer... somewhat lol. I’ll stick with the Outliers.

Zig-Zag: Runs like the wind. Kid’s gifted.

Kwin: Very athletic.

Gabi: Matches Kwin’s athleticism.

Jonah: Hates running but does it to stay in shape.

Holly: Also hates running. Doesn’t do it to stay in shape.

Harlo: Tallest of the bunch, slowest of the bunch. Also the most likely to turn around and fight whatever’s chasing them before long to try and hold it off.

9. Does your wip have a romance? Tell me about it!! If not, tell me about a friendship/important relationship in your wip!!

I guess there are two romances in From the Void. Kwin’s romance subplot with Jonah is there, and it’s basically two best friends coming to terms with the fact that they have always had feeling for each other, but they also rely heavily on each other emotionally and to risk losing family by getting together and possibly breaking up later is a terrifying concept for the both of em. So we’ll see how that plays out I guess. Kwin also has sexual relationships with girls in the story, but those aren’t romances, I don't think.

Another POV character of mine is Lori! And she’s a young investigative and true crime writer married to Jamie, who’s the newest and probably youngest homicide detective in their town. So there's this really fun romance between Lori and her husband. And I get to write their fun, witty, supportive and mature relationship while Jamie helps Lori with her new book on American Cults! And I can’t wait for that!

10. Do you believe in the advice, “Kill your darlings”?

For one, I don’t always take it literally. I usually take it as “Put your characters through the ringer. Show no mercy.” In which yes, I do believe that. I’ve mostly given my characters what they need to beat anything I can throw at them... But I’m still gonna throw everything I can at ‘em. Y’know... Just to make sure they can handle it.

If we’re actually talking about killing characters, I think it depends on who your audience is and why you’re writing. If you’re writing a survival horror or disaster with overarching themes, sure, take a knife to your character list and keep the reader on their toes. But if you’re writing a YA fantasy or sci fi ensemble series, and you’re selling readers on the fact that they’re gonna get to join this cast of characters on adventures over the course of a series, I don’t know if you necessarily need to kill them off. Like, we know what we’re here for and it ain’t always Game of Thrones. Sometimes I want The Last Airbender-- which is just as valid lol.

11. Do you prefer plotting or world-building?

Depends on the project, but mostly world-building, cause it gives me so many plot ideas anyways that I can usually use the world-building as a launching point for plotting.

Tagging @the-violet-writer

#ask game #writeblr #writing questions #my wip

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courtreadsmostlyfiction · 4 years

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Best books of 2019

I read 179 books in 2019 (and finished the 179th, The Handmaid’s Tale, on 12/31, so I can watch the series and read The Testaments). This is the most I’ve ever read in one year (in 2018, I read 173). I was sharing this update with my grandmother, and she asked me if my goal was to read as many books as possible. I thought about it for a bit, and it’s not but it is? I told her how I knew I only had so many books I’d get to read in a lifetime, and I probably think about that fact too much. I don’t want to read just for quantity’s sake, yet I know that I find some of the best books because I have an insatiable appetite for reading. Too many books, too little (life)time.

I also read instead of watching TV (generally), and love when I’m reading something that pulls me away from social media. I love reading when Grant is reading next to me (on the couch, in bed, across from me at a restaurant on an introvert date).

And last but not least, books have saved my life before many times, and making time for reading helps keep me sane.

...now onto our program - my favorite books of the year! This year I also blogged more, if not *regularly*, so some of the books below were suggested before. If you got my Christmas card, some of these might not be surprises, either, since we had the fun idea of listing our family member’s favorite books. Some of mine are different, though, since I had to have that done in early December, and there was so much good reading time left in the year! I went on holiday break on the 17th and had saved a lot of good books for my vacation.

TOP ELEVEN (I wrote about all except the last three -- thanks December reading for those books that made this list! -- in previous posts, so will try to capture in one sentence why you might want to pick it up):

Good Talk (graphic memoir) - I bought my copy at The Strand, and have bought at least 10 copies to give to friends who are parenting in the age of Trump.

(posting this pic to prove my point, even though I’ll likely get shit from Grant about our Amazon bill)

The Most Fun We Ever Had (literary fiction) - a book with a dysfunctional family (yes, please!) and a character who cusses a lot PLUS a ginkgo biloba tree.

Fleishman Is In Trouble (literary fiction) - I want to reread this, and I rarely reread things; a rare 5-star rating from me that made me think about how I participate in misogyny without even realizing it.

Speak No Evil (literary fiction) - a queer, black immigrant high schooler in DC grapples with his identity.

The Nickel Boys (literary fiction) - a fictionalized story of real history: a disciplinary school in Florida where black boys are sent (and often “disappear”); the ending had me crying. (Also on Obama’s list of his fave reads of 2019)

Red, White & Royal Blue (romance) - more romance with bi relationships and politics, please!

Educated (non-fiction, memoir) - it wasn’t what I expected at all, I couldn’t put it down, and ultimately I think it’s about surviving.

Heads of the Colored People (short stories) - stories (and usually I hate short stories) about black identity that I’m STILL thinking about.

Disappearing Earth (mystery) - this was on so many best of lists (including the NYTimes top TEN for the year), and the hard cover had been sitting on my shelf for two long. I had it first on my read-during-winter-break list. As soon as I read two pages, I was sucked in. Two young sisters disappear in Russia’s Far East, and then the story unfolds, told by the perspectives of folks directly and indirectly connected to the crime.

All This Could Be Yours (literary fiction) - I requested this at the library before it even had a cover :) because I’m a Jami Attenberg fan. A dysfunctional family’s patriarch is dying, and his son and daughter are called to his bedside, where the whole family grapples with his life of crime and abuse.

Juliet Takes A Breath (YA) - Juliet (Nuyorican lesbian) gets a coveted internship with hippy, white feminist author, and white feminism rears it’s ugly head.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Nothing To See Here (literary fiction) - one time, a guy in Chicago had a job at a newspaper where he was the Biblioracle and he would recommend books to folks who wrote in if you told him favorites and what you read recently. 1) I need that job! and 2) he recommended Kevin Wilson’s The Family Fang to me, and I loved it. I was excited to read this, and it felt like such a real representative of politics and friendship even though people literally burst into flames.

The River (literary fiction / mystery) - in Grant’s top 5 of the year, and one of my favorite Peter Heller books (which is saying something, since I loved The Dog Stars and Celine). Two high school boys go for a graduation trip in the boundary waters, and there’s a brushfire growing and possibly a woman missing.

The Chain (thriller) - I keep picking up thrillers that people swear are the next Gone Girl or even better, and nothing is. This didn’t make my top ten, but if you want a page turner with a twist and also think about the banality of evil and what you might or might not do, try this.

Royal Holiday (romance) - Jasmine Guillory is always on point! I couldn’t even save this for Christmas reading!* A personal stylist gets to go to England to style the Meghan Markle (shout out to Suits!) fictionalized equivalent, and her mom goes along and finds romance.

Intercepted, Fumbled, Blitzed (romance series) - have you read all of Jasmine Guillory? Pick up Alexa Martin next! It’s funny and captures the nuance of being a football fan or former football fan; the book doesn’t deny how it exploits men of color or the traumatic brain injuries.

They Called Us Enemy (graphic memoir) - I don’t think that I would have ever picked up a graphic memoir if I didn’t already love Mira Jacobs (see Good Talk, above) and George Takei (LOVE him on facebook) already. Now I might seek them out. It’s George’s story of the Japanese internment camps that America likes to not remember.

Slay (YA) - Q: Do you need a YA version of Ready Player One written by a black woman? A: YES! After all of the racism she experiences in gaming, a black high schooler creates a video game only for black folks. No one knows she’s the creator. When a young kid is killed supposedly due to the game, she faces being revealed and wonders what she created.

The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali (YA) - I couldn’t put this book down; it’s about a young, queer Muslim woman whose parents want to marry her off. It’s never the right time to come out, and when they find out unexpectedly, she’s sent off to Bangladesh.

Heaven, My Home (mystery) - The follow up to Bluebird, Bluebird, and just as wonderful. Black Texas Ranger Darren Matthews is back, and is tasked with finding a missing 9 year-old boy from a white supremacist family.

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed (non-fiction) - I asked my therapist if she had read this, but she hadn’t yet. She did tell me that she sees a therapist, though. Reading this (and hearing that) made me feel less alone and less crazy. It’s also pretty funny. (AND you know I don’t like non-fiction!!!)

What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About (non-fiction, essays)

Southernmost (rural fiction) - did I just make up a genre? Yes! If you liked Plainsong or anything by Kent Haruf (and if you don’t know what I’m talking about, read that instead), I think you’d like this. A rural town, where a preacher decides not to turn his back on a gay couple, and then faces the consequences. I found it thoughtful, nuanced, and real.

The View from Penthouse B (light fiction) - hmm, can’t stop making up genres! This is witty and well written, and I think is the book equivalent of a warm bath. I loved these sisters who end up living together in an NYC penthouse (the sister who owns it: separated from her scandal-ridden husband and lost her fortune in a Madoff-like ponzi scheme, and the sister who moves in is fairly recently widowed and everyone but her is ready for her to get over it).

Daisy Jones & The Six (historical fiction) - I think this was Grant’s favorite of the year, and it was definitely in the top 5. I loved it, too. It felt like the book version of Almost Famous.

American Spy (spy thriller) - it has so many things I’m looking for in a book all-in-one: excellent writing, fully developed characters, and moving plot. The premise is a black woman in U.S. intelligence during the Cold War, and the book grapples with racism and sexism and patriotism and family. So good!

To Night Owl from Dogfish (middle grade fiction) - I picked this up because Meg Wolitzer is one of the authors (wrote The Interestings) and because I’ve seen it on so many (non-middle grade) lists. It didn’t disappoint! Q: Do you need an LGBTQ Parent Trap-like book in your life (A: Yes, obvs). Pick this one up! I will try to read it with Ox in a year or so.

WHEW!

In 2020, I’m hoping for more 5 star reads (only five in 2019 - Good Talk, Fleishman Is In Trouble, Educated, Speak No Evil, Heads of the Colored People), more mysteries to make this list (bonus if it’s a new series [or new-to-me series] I can get lost in), and that I find the time to paint more book covers.

BONUS MEME

*Gah this meme is me, but this is my blog, so whatevs! Also a lot of these memes, too, which I hadn’t seen before!

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pdavis136 · 7 years

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In all my years.

This is my first stab at fanfiction in a long time, so let’s see how this goes. Daron, this is for you, for so effectively plunging a feels knife right into my heart.

In all my years, in times where she needed a comforting hand, when I would care for her in the castle, I would have never expected this.

I prepared for the job as anyone would: by reading up on the history. The Butterfly family had rich traditions of nobility, grace, and sophistication, with a dark past to hide behind of course, but then again, Moon was the center of it, after all. She was a vision of beauty and grace ever since she was a princess, and the entire kingdom looked up to her.

She was the one to turn the family into something for the rest of the multiverse to see.

I was tasked with seeing Star onto the same path.

She grew up much more like her father, of course, pretending to slay monsters, hanging around and growing fond of the castle guard, and becoming much more personable to be around. Hell, I even enjoyed hanging around her, and I’m 25 years older than her.

But after her excursion to Earth, now that she’s back, things are much different.

I always knew she wasn’t going to be a prim and proper princess. Moon and River saw this from a young age. That’s why they sent her to Earth, after all. Culturally heterogeneous, primitive yet advanced in its society, the perfect training ground for a princess to flesh out her potential without having any effect on the kingdom. It was nice and secluded.

And she had gone through a boyfriend or two, that was nothing new. I never liked Tom, but he is who he is, and I see him making a change, and that’s good for him.

But this… Marco Diaz. He captured her heart in a way that was so pure it could have come right out of the fairy tales humans base off of monarchies like our own. ‘A princess under true love’s spell,’ I believe was how Ruberiot put it. From what I’ve seen, he’s exactly right. He has all the makings of a good prince, but also a best friend, one so easily fallen for I’m surprised it didn’t work the other way around.

But as I have read, friends to lovers doesn’t realistically happen on Earth. Friends often stay that way and lovers skip friendship, for whatever reason. Really, if they thought about it at all, they would realize it made no sense. Without the strength of a bond of friendship, love won’t always stand the test of time. I guess that tradition was why the Diaz boy didn’t requite her feelings.

This… I was not prepared for this. A heart broken as it has been, being torn away from what became her reality in an instant, only to be thrust into the spotlight of an angry public and a dangerous world, where a familiar evil lurks.

I don’t blame the Butterfly’s for keeping that a secret. Look what happened. They recognized that reaction as a very real possibility, and now we have riots. They’re contained for now, but for how long, I don’t know.

In all my years of training, I was told to comfort the princess and make her feel good. But I don’t know how to do that. It appears only the Diaz boy can do that now. She’s inconsolable, giving up her best friend, her one true love, because of an evil her mother failed to destroy. That type of burden placed upon one who constantly feels she is not a worthy heir must be devastating.

I don’t have to make the decisions around here, luckily. I just help the princess. I got rather bored during the year she was gone, but luckily I’m just useful enough for the royal family to keep me around even when my use isn’t so useful.

My job is one that is being put to the test right now. I have not seen Star since she has returned to Mewni, and I suppose that’s for the best. Moon’s word of mouth and Song Day told me all I needed to know at the time. But now, it is my job, especially without Glossaryck, to help her through the hard times.

Her magic is unstable, her life and friends are gone for what must feel like forever, and there are more evil forces still at bay. Toffee isn’t the only problem she must worry about. Her own family, for one. But that is not my place to speak.

Will the kingdom pull through? I have my doubts. No question that some of the peasants are getting fed up and would much rather have a democracy in place. Personally, at least a parliament to aid with decisions would be good, if only to take some responsibility off the shoulders of the Queen. But at this time, a revolution is the last thing we need.  The Butterfly family is so inextricably tied to Mewni. They have the power to tap into magic few others have the ability to. But the instability is growing, and it is only a matter of time.

It is time for me to do my job, which as of now, may very well be the most important job in the universe.

Keeping Star alive, well, and on the side of the monarchy.

There’s no telling what an emotional Star could do. I have heard whispers from some in the royal family that suspect she may have the highest magical abilities since the days of old, when magic was more concentrated and unstable. Hell, she could have already caused a rift to open, given all of the trauma she’s been through.

But her inner peace is our kingdom’s outer peace. And until we figure out what is going on, I can only go along to get along. And hope.

I cared for her as a child, and I’ll care for her either until I lose this job or I draw my last breath. I wouldn’t have expected such turmoil, but I can’t change the past. I can only do what I can for the future.

There’s only so much I can do. I will comfort her, just as I always have. It’s Marco Diaz’s call now. Only together can they win such a fight as I see and hear coming. The two must become one once again.

Damn all the romance. The universe seems to hang quite comfortably in the balance of their unity.

Butterfly and Diaz. Star and Marco. It’s all up to them. I’m just here to help. That’s what I’ve always been good at. This is what I prepared for.

For what it’s worth going forward, I hope I did enough.

#star vs the forces of evil #svtfoe #star butterfly #fanfic #short story

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paul-patts-blog · 7 years

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Lauryl’s Wishlist and Resolutions

Berlioz

More Music Stuff: I’ve gotten to do stuff with Ber/music in the past but a lot of it has been me rping with me and sending him to festivals and concerts. I’d like to see him interact with some of the musically-inclined people in town-- maybe even collaborate? I have some subgoals for this:

Go to concert/festivals with another character: I think rping an arc would be so fun and I personally love concerts/festivals so.

Produce someone else’s music: Ber will be starting uni and having school projects...he will need guinea pigs.

Write more music blog stuff: I’ve done very few, rather casual posts in the past about artists Ber likes-- reviews etc. I would love to post more of this (maybe even through BDRP radio? /looks at radio)

Anxiety Arc: I really want Ber to start learning about his anxiety and working through it. Specifically, he needs to go to a therapist, haha.

Sexuality: Ber’s come a long way since I got him, but he still feels majorly ‘out of place’ in the LGBTQIA community. I’d like to explore more of those feelings somehow. I got a few ideas.

Kiara

Discover her passions!! Kiara doesn’t really know what she wants to do with her life and I want her to try a bunch of stuff as she figures it out. So does your character have a cool hobby? Let Kiara do that cool hobby with ur character!

Race and Identity: one important thing for me when I got Kiara and picked Halsey was dealing with her struggle with her appearance and how she felt ‘out of place’ with the Lyons and as a POC in general. I’d like to explore this conflict more.

Continue to deal with her issues: Kiara needs to keep going to therapy and she needs to admit to herself she has problems that she is denying please my daughter.

Best Friend to lovers: I think this trope would be rly good for Kiara because too often she sees people as “romantic options’ first and not as the people they really are. I would love a slow burn romance for Kiara that surprises both her and me, really.

Hades (oh boy)

Re-learn how to use his powers-- and maybe the way to do this is to like.. do something heroic tbh? instead of always burning people up and fuckin’ everyone UP. Yeah, I want Hades to do something heroic.

Leave Swynlake: I want Hades story to take him away from Swynlake and back again

Chester

Pending tbh you will all see

Milla

Board stuff: specifically, I’d like to see Milla start enacting new strictures for magicks. I’d love for her to try to manipulate this type of stuff through the other board members

Get a magical object or something magical: Whether through the Merlin’s objects or otherwise, I would love Milla to actually seek magic herself.

MILF Reigns Supreme: I love exploring Milla’s sexuality-- it’s one of my fave things that i’ve done with her. I’d love her to get more boy toys (maybe even girl toys) and tbh, I would be open, if it’s right, to have that relationship get more complicated than just sex.

Miscarriage: That being said, this is a rather dark storyline but Milla is obsessed with control and to miscarry would be-- the opposite of having control. Anyone up for it?

Nala

RP her more in general lmao

Get her more female friends!! She really doesn’t have a lot of good female relationships (part of that is because many of her relationships have ended up dropping). But Nala deserves more friendships

Take Nala on dates! I also want Nala to try to date a little. She’s so work-focused, like lots of my characters, so this would be a new side to her that I haven’t gotten to explore

Have Nala literally kick ass/para with some sort of physical/action element to it: Okay so we say it jokingly, but after Nala’s surgery and recovery I’d love for her to actually whoop somebody’s ass even if it’s just while going back to kickboxing. Nala’s identity as an athlete is super important to her-- whenever I write about Nala’s relationship to her body, I get chills, because she loves her body so much and is so centered in it. So it would be fun to do a physical-heavy para.

Smut tbh for the same reasons as i just said.

Milo

Also rp him more in general lmao

Finish merlin’s objects/write more essays

Finish Cave Excavation-- find a Merlin’s object

Desk sex

Wow these are all so specific unlike my others

Explore his sexuality: Milo is definitely somewhere on the ace spectrum (gray, demi what have u) and so exploring that with his girlfriend Jane (maybe she’s into it one night, he’s not, she wants to try stuff that he doesnt’... u know, just those kinds of conversations) would be really complicated and fun. As someone who is on the ace spectrum myself, It’s also kind of important to me to try to honor that side of him and acknowledge it in play-- along WITH the smut.

Slay a demon/be a hero: ok bc just think about nerdy milo thatch with his glasses all askew having accidentally saved the day. I love it.

Kiki

Get kidnapped: Kiki has powerful magic blood come get her

Break her broom

Best Friends to lovers/ slow burn romance: mentioning this for kiki too, since Kiki hasn’t been kissed ever and is very romantic, I’d love to play out a good ol’ teen romance with someone. But consideirng Kiki’s crazy hectic life, yeah, it’s gonna have to really evolve.

Rajah

TIGER OUT IN FRONT OF SOMEONE: For whatever reason-- to save them or because he’s scared or stressed or loses control.

Get injured: That being said, I’d love to have Raj get shot or get hurt while trying to do his job, mostly because Raj is a charge first, ask questions later type of guy but also because-- since he heals faster-- if he’s in the hospital, it could give him away. (Can anyone say hospital bREAK)

More friends! Raj has a few, but he needs 2 get out more smh

Introduce Jyoti to people: I want his little sister to come see him and I want Raj to have people to introduce her to! Jyoti will bring a lot of the past back to Raj’s life which he currently keeps super hidden.

Anita:

Biwakening. Make it happen.

Night on the town

One night stand tbh

Dating around-- specifically, blind date/double date with someone this would be hiLARIOUS for me

Stand up to someone (tbh Cruella)

Anita Explores Her Painting: Anita doesnt’ take her talent seriously and I want that to change. I’d love to do some more stuff with her art including--

Nude portraits anyone?

Anita teaches fingerpainting!! Anita gets her very own income and is thus empowered thru painting !!! ah!

Paint fight :D

More Volunteering: what i like about anita is that though she is an introvert, she loves to be involved in her community. If you have any town projects or somethin’ you need volunteers for, ask Anita!!

The Great Prince

Also get into a physical fight of some kind; i’d love for him to defend the forest or Bambi or somethin’ as the deer. I think RPing that would be really fun for me

Explore more areas of the forest: I’ve already started to invent some parts of the forest as I go, but I’d like to try to see if I can’t put Prince in some of these deeper parts. If your character wants to get lost in the woods-- hit me up.

Make more human connections/get in touch with his human side: Hopefully, Prince will be in town more and can make friends with people who are not animals haha.

Explore comic timing/situations with the Prince! The Prince doesnt’ know a lot about the human world-- like how to work technology-- so i want to put him in more situations where he is totally out of his element. The best way to do this will probably be with “The Great Prince Vs. Human-thing-here” starters. Be on the look out. (Or if u really want to have ur character help my poor deer son, message me).

Paul Pongo Patts

Okay he’s my newest babe so these r kinda repetitive from his app--

Start studying to maybe get into uni maybe ahhh my babe

Let himself go on dates: Paul kind of thinks that part of his life is over now that he has kids and he feels kind of guilty about that kind of stuff and so I want him to go easy on himself. He deserves a night out and to feel like he is handsome, young and romantic bc darling u ARE handsome young and romantic.

That being said-- get wooed. Paul is a woo-er. Someone woo my woo-er.

Also mend things with Perdita/ rp them growing back together as friends and as two people who respect and care for each other and maybe-- just maybe-- lovers again.

DAD THINGS-- shopping for his kids, dealing with baby spit-up, babyproofing his apartment wow im like turned on by this lauryl calm ur eggs

Interact with Magicks: All KINDS of magicks please throw them at Paul

Consider illegal means of getting money… Paul has grown up around shady ppl and has since stayed clean of shady business himself. But that doesnt’ mean he doesn’t feel temptations. I’d like to exploooore those temptations.

My Character’s Personal Resolutions:

Ber: “Don’t fuck up...anything.”

Kiara: “lol” (tbh kiara is so lowkey depressed she liek?? has no resolutions help her)

Hades: “Fix my mistakes.”

Chester: pending

Milla: “Make Swynlake Great Again”

Milo: “Spend as much time as I can with Jane.”

Nala: “Get the Lyons Foundation off the ground / kick my physical therapy in the ass / be running by spring”

Rajah: “Repair things with my family. Live honestly-- be proud of who I am.” (ow raJJJ)

Kiki: “Make my family proud. Make Howl proud.” (ughh)

Anita: “Cause no more harm.”

The Great Prince: “Be there for my son if he will have me.”

Paul: “Be the greatest dad / provide for my kids.”

#bdrptask #bdrptasks #i always forget which one tbh

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afoolsingenuity · 7 years

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Looking Forward // March 2017

Looking Forward is a feature where I get to take a look at the books I am most excited to be released each month. The books I cannot wait to start reading and want to remind you all about being released. It’s really a kind of torture because I am meant to be employing a spending ban and I can’t quite help but sneak a book into my basket when I do this post because I forger how many good books get released each month! This month’s collection is very YA heavy (when is it not?) and features a couple of my most anticipated reads.

The Song Rising (The Bone Season #3) – Samantha Shannon

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Release Date: 7th March 2017

You’re Welcome, Universe – Whitney Gardner

Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult

Release Date: 7th March 2017

Following a bloody battle against foes on every side, Paige Mahoney has risen to the dangerous position of Underqueen, ruling over London's criminal population.

But, having turned her back on Jaxon Hall and with vengeful enemies still at large, the task of stabilizing the fractured underworld has never seemed so challenging.

Little does Paige know that her reign may be cut short by the introduction of Senshield, a deadly technology that spells doom for the clairvoyant community and the world as they know it . . .

A vibrant, edgy, fresh new YA voice for fans of More Happy Than Not and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, packed with interior graffiti.

When Julia finds a slur about her best friend scrawled across the back of the Kingston School for the Deaf, she covers it up with a beautiful (albeit illegal) graffiti mural.

Her supposed best friend snitches, the principal expels her, and her two mothers set Julia up with a one-way ticket to a “mainstream” school in the suburbs, where she’s treated like an outcast as the only deaf student. The last thing she has left is her art, and not even Banksy himself could convince her to give that up.

Out in the ’burbs, Julia paints anywhere she can, eager to claim some turf of her own. But Julia soon learns that she might not be the only vandal in town. Someone is adding to her tags, making them better, showing off—and showing Julia up in the process. She expected her art might get painted over by cops. But she never imagined getting dragged into a full-blown graffiti war.

Told with wit and grit by debut author Whitney Gardner, who also provides gorgeous interior illustrations of Julia’s graffiti tags, You’re Welcome, Universe introduces audiences to a one-of-a-kind protagonist who is unabashedly herself no matter what life throws in her way.

Why Am I Excited?

I have been excited about this book since finishing The Mime Order when that was released. I mean, I have been excited about reading this series ever since I read The Bone Season. It’s just a really interesting fantasy series and one which I can see getting better and better with each book. I remember rolling my eyes at the 7 book series when it first was released but was intrigued like all the rest and I have to say I don’t regret buying that first book in the slightest, even if I am being forced to buy the special edition covers so my book collection will match.

Why Am I Excited?

I had never heard of this author or this book until there was a post at New Year on Pop Goes The Reader by Whitney Gardner and the artwork and the story was just perfect and I knew I wanted to read whatever she had written so hearing that she had this book coming out I knew I needed to get my hands on it. It was nothing to do with the fact it ticks all the diversity boxes (it does and I love that) but it was simply the fact that the author had such a unique voice and I wanted more so the fact she also writes books which are diverse and interesting is just a plus for me.

The Bone Witch – Rin Chupeco

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult

Release Date: 7th March 2017

Queen of the Geeks – Jen Wilde

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Release Date: 14th March 2017

The beast raged; it punctured the air with its spite. But the girl was fiercer.

Tea is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy makes her a bone witch, who are feared and ostracized in the kingdom. For theirs is a powerful, elemental magic that can reach beyond the boundaries of the living—and of the human.

Great power comes at a price, forcing Tea to leave her homeland to train under the guidance of an older, wiser bone witch. There, Tea puts all of her energy into becoming an asha, learning to control her elemental magic and those beasts who will submit by no other force. And Tea must be strong—stronger than she even believes possible. Because war is brewing in the eight kingdoms, war that will threaten the sovereignty of her homeland…and threaten the very survival of those she loves.

When BFFs Charlie, Taylor and Jamie go to SupaCon, they know it’s going to be a blast. What they don’t expect is for it to change their lives forever.

Charlie likes to stand out. SupaCon is her chance to show fans she’s over her public breakup with co-star, Jason Ryan. When Alyssa Huntington arrives as a surprise guest, it seems Charlie’s long-time crush on her isn’t as one-sided as she thought.

While Charlie dodges questions about her personal life, Taylor starts asking questions about her own.

Taylor likes to blend in. Her brain is wired differently, making her fear change. And there’s one thing in her life she knows will never change: her friendship with Jamie—no matter how much she may secretly want it to. But when she hears about the Queen Firestone SupaFan Contest, she starts to rethink her rules on playing it safe.

Why Am I Excited?

I’m pretty sure I saw the cover and then the word witches in the summary and decided it was a must read for me. Thankfully, when I went back and read the summary in full I knew it sounded like a good book, but the cover was mostly to blame.

Why Am I Excited?

It’s another case of the cover getting me first, I mean pink hair! It’s little things like that which get me. The book itself totally feeds into the fangirl in me though, it’s another book set at a convention (I need to read Unconventional!) and it just makes me want to read. I’ve not heard much about it yet but I hope to read it at some point this year.

Madly (New York #2) – Ruthie Knox

Genre: Romance, Contemporary

Release Date: 14th March 2017

Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer #1) – Laini Taylor

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Release Date: 28th March 2017

An impulsive trip to New York City, a heartthrob from London, and a scandalous to-do list turn a small-town girl’s life upside down in this sultry romance from the New York Times bestselling author of Truly and About Last Night.

Allie Fredericks isn’t supposed to be in Manhattan, hiding in the darkest corner of a hip bar, spying on her own mother—who’s flirting with a man who’s definitely not Allie’s father. Allie’s supposed to be in Wisconsin, planning her parents’ milestone anniversary party. Then Winston Chamberlain walks through the door, with his tailored suit, British accent, and gorgeous eyes, and Allie’s strange mission goes truly sideways.

Winston doesn’t do messy. But after a pretty stranger ropes him into her ridiculous family drama with a fake kiss that gets a little too real, he finds out that messy can be fun. Maybe even a little addicting. And as the night grows longer, Allie and Winston make a list of other wild things they could do together—and what seems like a mismatch leads to a genuine connection. But can their relationship survive as their real lives implode just outside the bedroom door?

A new epic fantasy by National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Laini Taylor of the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy.

The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around— and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he's been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance to lose his dream forever.

What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?

The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo's dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? and if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?

In this sweeping and breathtaking new novel by National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor, author of the New York Times bestselling Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy, the shadow of the past is as real as the ghosts who haunt the citadel of murdered gods. Fall into a mythical world of dread and wonder, moths and nightmares, love and carnage. Welcome to Weep.

Why Am I Excited?

I wanted to read this because of Nick (like so many of my books) but I wanted to read even more after I bought Truly after realising this wasn’t out yet! Truly was a fantastic romance read. It was perfect for me at the moment of reading and is a book I could see myself reading again. I really liked the characters and the story and the setting and so I’m thrilled to read about another of the characters in this book. I have pre-ordered and I will hopefully read not long after it’s release.

Why Am I Excited?

I was a massive fan of Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone series (why have I not reread that lately?) and have been waiting something new from her for so long. It may be one of my most anticipated reads of the year and so I cannot wait for it to be out at the end of the month. I have my copy pre-ordered I will happily take the day off of work to read this. I need it in my life ASAP.

We all have books we look forward to, what are your most anticipated reads of March? Are there any I’m missing or have you been lucky enough to read any of these already and want to convince me to buy?

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#a fool's ingenuity #books

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