#the fascinators

[aurorawest]

Reading update

White Trash Warlock by David R Slayton - 4.75/5 stars

Urban fantasy with a protagonist from a trailer park, who, for bonus points, got sectioned by his older brother as a teen. Daddy issues, mommy issues, and brother issues, what's not to like? I ordered everything else by this author I could find when I finished the book, including the other two books in this series.

The Fascinators by Andrew Eliopulos - DNF

Boring.

The Revolutionary and the Rogue by Blake Ferre - DNF

Boring, with the added crime of actual plot happening but still, somehow, nothing actually happening. I kept reading whole pages and realizing I had no idea what I'd just read.

The Red Scholar's Wake by Aliette de Bodard - DNF

OMFG CAN I CATCH A BREAK. This was such a disappointing DNF, too, because I'd really been looking forward to it. One of the characters is a spaceship and it bills itself as a space opera? Yes please. But after the initial marriage of convenience setup, it's just all a bunch of pointless, boring conversations. Nothing happens. I flipped ahead. Still nothing happening. Not a space opera but definitely cozy sci-fi, which I think I officially hate.

Honeytrap by Aster Glenn Gray - 5/5 stars

An FBI agent and a GRU agent get assigned to work a case together in 1959 and they fall in looooove. But oof, this book was so good. I'm not sure I've ever had a time skip hit me in the gut so hard. I really can't recommend this book enough, it fits squarely in my niche interest of mid-century America or Britain m/m romance. I think Natasha Pulley also awakened something in me with The Half Life of Valery K, because I seem to be a sucker for gay Soviet men. Speaking of, if you liked The Half Life of Valery K, I bet you'll like this too! Anyway, read this, but be prepared to be hurt by it.

Ordinary Monsters by JM Miro - 4/5 stars

X-men meets Strangers Things with a dash of English boarding school, set in Victorian Britain.

Human Enough by ES Yu - DNF

Promising until it devolved into boring, pointless conversations and tumblr posts on neurodivergence.

Olympic Enemies by Rebecca J Caffery - DNF

I put this down on page 12 and my wife grabbed it to flip through it, cackling at the amateurish prose.

Frost Bite by J Emery - 4.5/5 stars

Snowed-in cabin fic with an enemies to lovers romance between a vampire and a (former) vampire hunter. It was cute and a quick read.

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner - DNF

Very Not Like Other Girls. Also read a review that said pregnancy was a huge focus of the book, and that's a squick for me.

Reverie by Ryan La Sala - 3.75/5 stars

This book didn't quite live up to the promise of its beginning (missing memories, bizarre disruptions to time and space) and the writing was a little twee at times, but overall I enjoyed it. This was the author's debut, so I suspect subsequent books will probably be better. I did feel like the teenage main characters were weirdly inured to death, which also contributed to me knocking of a quarter of a star from what would otherwise have been a solid 4 star book.

All Souls Near & Nigh by Hailey Turner - 3/5 stars

If you like The Tarot Sequence by KD Edwards, this series might be worth picking up. I will say, though, that it's nowhere near as good. I think it's a combination of pacing and too many characters that detracts from my enjoyment of this series. This is the second book and I enjoyed it more than the first, probably because I sort of remembered the massive cast of characters from the first one. It's one of those things where I really don't think they're all necessary and some should be combined with others. The pacing is also...weird. It's pretty much nonstop action. At one point I think the main character drove back and forth between various crime scene locations and his office like 5 times in a day.

That said! Despite the issues, clearly I still picked up book 2, and I'll probably read book 3 at some point. I really like the two main characters.

#white trash warlock #david r slayton #honeytrap #aster glenn gray #the red scholar's wake #ordinary monsters #jm miro #human enough #olympic enemies #the fascinators #the revolutionary and the rogue #frost bite #j emery #reading tag #the lost apothecary #reverie #ryan la sala #all souls near & nigh #hailey turnter

[thepeculiarbird]

I've been thinking of my next read and still can't figure out which book I wanna read so that's why I'm doing a poll.

I couldn't find the english title of the first book so here's the cover.

#book #poll #readers #reading #reader poll #alice oseman #iwbft #sarah sprinz #leigh bardugo #grishaverse #the grisha series #the raven cycle #maggie stiefvater #young blood #sasha laurens #wranglestone #darren charlton #the fascinators #andrew eliopulos

[thumbedpages]

Andrew Eliopulos - The Fascinators

#andrew eliopulos #the fascinators #books read 2021

[aroaessidhe]

2022 reads // twitter thread

The Fascinators

YA contemporary fantasy in an alternate world with magic, set in a small town where it's less accepted

a boy's last year of school is thrown off course when his friends - the only ones in their school's magic club - get tied up with a dark magic cult

#The Fascinators #aroaessidhe 2022 reads #I enjoyed this! #good vibes #good mix of friendship over romance #(and it's gay i assume people already know this)

[lautakwah]

EDIT: CHECK MY LATEST ADDITION BEFORE YOU START SHIT IN THE NOTES, THANKS.

warning for discord users

If you're on the app, immediately go to your dms and then "add friends". After the latest update they allow your contacts to find you and have that option turned on by default, so make sure it's unchecked!

This is very obviously not great for a multitude of reasons, but especially for people in vulnerable positions who do not want people in their contacts to see who they are on discord and/or know they have discord in the first place. I've also tried finding out if this is a thing on desktop but haven't been able to find any mention of it, so either it's not a "feature" (yet) or they've hidden it. Either way, stay safe, and turn off finding friends via contacts!

[ID: three screenshots from the discord app with circles around the buttons to press to get to this "feature". 1: the messages/DM button, 2: the "add friends button", 3: in the add friends page, the "allow contacts to add me" checkbox. /END ID]

#ling.txt #discord #fascinated by people seeing the edited post and then not even bothering to click on the bolded underlined capslocked link #in huge letters at the start of the post #tumblr is full of idiots god bless <3

[lostonmyroad]

jessica really said “god forbid women do anything” and doomed an entire people to war by installing her twink son as a false prophet by stealing her cult’s 10,000 year old breeding program propaganda

#dune #dune part two #dune 2 #jessica atreides #chani kynes #paul atreides #oh jessica u are so strange and yet i find u endlessly fascinating

[menderash]

i have no words. worlds first terf monk returns from a thirty year hibernation on top of a mountain i guess.

#put this reply under a microscope its fascinating

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Dog Meshi.

#dungeon meshi #falin touden #marcille donato #laios touden #The foreshadowing of the laios's barking is so funny. It isn't even just Marcille's flashback. It's everywhere. #It's the love of dogs. How he intimidates the basilisk. General fascination with creatures and their behaviours. #This is a man who is would not be a furry per say but would own a fursuit for the fascination of the craft. #Laios is the guy in the forums rating people's hybrid fursonas for nothing but the love of creatures. #Dog Laios would use his powers to go into dog-free restaurants. #That human impression is so good. One might say 'Woah who's that confident hairy guy? Alright boss; in you go.' #He would be the no.1 customer of a New York Deli that has no legal business license but makes the best sandwiches in the city. #“Would Senshi run it?” I think he would also be a dog in this theoretical AU. Which...makes the scene even funnier actually. #A comic in which everyone is dogs was never something I thought I'd make but here we are! #Marcille is a borzoi (elf of dogs). Tolden siblings are golden lab-retrievers. #Senshi is a scottish terrier. Chilchuck is harder; I need to think on that one. Another terrier perhaps. #Happy Thistle Thursday once again. I hope this comic makes someone laugh half as much as I did while drawing it.

[astraskylark]

this man's moral compass is probably a roulette wheel

#dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi spoilers #kabru #hes so fascinating

[aspiringwarriorlibrarian]

You know, it's kinda funny how much of high fantasy centers around kings and nobility and courtly intrigue considering that the archetypal high fantasy, Lord of the Rings, had the rather explicit moral of "saving the world is up to this backwater hick and his gardener because no politician, least of all inherited nobility, would have the ability to see past their own ambition and throw away a weapon". Oh sure, Aragorn is a great king and all, but there's a reason he's over there running a distraction ring while the hobbits do the real work. Sauron loses because he gets distracted by kings and armies and great battles (i.e. typical high fantasy stuff) letting Frodo and Sam sneak through his back door and blow it all to hell.

Just saying, maybe old Jirt knew what he was saying when he said that the small folk doing their best and holding to each other was more powerful than a dozen alliances and superweapons and we should respect him for it.

#high fantasy #tolkien #lotr #lord of the rings #to be clear i don't mind courtly intrigue high fantasy #it's fascinating and it's fun and it is absolutely still high fantasy cause JRRT doesn't have a monopoly on how high fantasy should be writ #what i object to is the idea that it is the only or the best way to write high fantasy when we have such a stunning counter example

[annacaffeina]

I'm stealing this from Twitter

Here's the link

I am a high-definition gateway drug body double!

#A LOT of fascinating stuff on my list

[goldensunset]

did you know? if you do your laundry you can get your clothes back

#fascinating stuff. let’s see if i (person with the worst executive dysfunction when it comes to doing laundry) remember it #i literally have this issue where i’ll let dirty clothes pile up in the laundry basket for an entire month #like it takes me that long to get around to it #and then- who would’ve thought- i find that i don’t have anything good to wear. strange! #finally did it last night and i’m like ohhh that was so difficult but the payoff finally #augh #peach rambles #hall of fame i guess #shut up about socks. idc. #this was a fun positivity post of sorts it’s about overcoming executive dysfunction #derailing into jokes about losing socks is. it’s not horrible but just boring and annoying #it was supposed to be celebration!! and encouragement!!!

[prideprejudce]

this whole oceangate submarine fiasco has actually led to a lot of interesting talks and debates about the grey area of human empathy vs the inclination to recoil at the bizarre behaviors of the ultra wealthy and how people struggle with both ideas and is actually very interesting to watch play out in different types of people

#like some people are on polar opposite sides where they have no empathy for the passengers and have moved on #while others are in tears over the likely death of these people #well everyone else in the middle is struggling compartmentalizing both at once in their minds #yes for this wondering I do have submarine fever this is the most fascinating thing that’s happened in a long time #oceangate #titanic

[fodsley]

#fascinating things going on in youtube reccs today

[notherpuppet]

How the old timey prick got his pet

#FREE HUSK #i need to see the psychopathic freak go down for trapping husk #their dynamic is soooo fascinating to me #hazbin hotel #alastor #hazbin hotel spoilers #hazbin hotel fanart #husk is singing when you’re smiling the whole world smiles with you #headcanon that his voice saved his life but locked his fate #husk #husker #husker hazbin hotel #radiohusk #hc; alastor was hunting overlords and husk was next but then alastor saw his show #my doods #alastor…when i catch you alastor 👊🏽💥

[wizard0rbs]

when the academic article is so good it has you giggling and kicking your feet

#im sitting in my uni library trying really hard not to jump around with joy #this article is soo fascinating and has so many interesting points ugh #also itll be very helpful for a paper im writing so double yay #its 'the trick of the runes in the husband's message' by john d. niles btw and its available on jstor #in case anyone is interested #OE studies #aca #studyblr