#A Well-Behaved Woman

[isure-hopeso]

12.31.2023

48 books this year. My hunger never ends. I am insatiable. Here's my reviews:

Five Classics by Agatha Christie 8/10 Started the year off strong with a handful of Christie's shorter classic mysteries

The Fortune Teller by Gwendolyn Womack 4.5/10 Super super cool story idea with very poor flow and had a cheating trope

Mountain Mama by Axsom & Pelham 6.5/10 A depressingly realistic look at life on the frontier for a single mom

A Well-Behaved Woman by Therese Anne Fowler 8/10 Alva Vanderbilt was so incredible

Followers by Megan Angelo 6.5/10 One of those books where you really don't care the first 2/3 and then you can't get over it for the last 1/3

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien 10/10 my annual reading of one of the Big Four, as always

"Kitchen Princess" Omnibus 2 by Ando & Kobayashi 9/10 I'm pretty sure I learned my love languages from the Kitchen Princess series as a kid

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas 5.5/10 A little tropey and the riddle was stupid easy, but I love me a Beauty & The Beast retelling

Homeland: The Legend of Drizzt #1 by R.A. Salvatore 5.5/10 It really didn't need to be that long, but Salvy loves his extra DnD context

The Black Poets by Dudley Randal 10/10 When I tell you how often I think about the poetry from this book. When I tell you.

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen 6.5/10 Witty and wild for it's time, like all Austen novels, but she's boring and falls in love with her cousin

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas 7.5/10 Turning the Beauty and the Beast retelling on its HEAD and using tidbits from the previous novel to change everything - but also very very smutty

Tithe by Holly Black 7/10 Rereading an old book I love in high school and finding that I still like it quite a lot

The Big Four by Agatha Christie 8/10 One of her biggie Poirot heists, super thrilling

"Kitchen Princess" Vol. 6 by Ando and Kobayashi 9/10 I have dreams, actual dreams, about these stories for weeks after reading them. Good dreams.

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chianani 7/10 Decided to read this after watching the movie -- it might not be incredible storytelling but it's a fun story-world, so I decided to read it all

A World Without Princes by Soman Chianani 4/10 S for G&E 2 -It had some good bits, but was overall way too clumpy

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien 10/10 This was actually my first time reading it, and I LOVE getting all the universe context!!

To Weave a Web of Magic by Delacroix, Kurlana, McKillip, and Shinn 8/10 This series of short stories had some real bangers and some ehh

On The Incarnation by St. Athanasius 7/10 the deconstruction never stops, love that for us

Unfinished Tales by J.R.R. Tolkien 8.5/10 It was so cool reading some of his last unfinished works, it was really not cool reading a bunch of stories with no ending

The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn 5.5/10 Where the first Bridgerton book was much better than it's season, the second book was exactly as whatever as the second season.

"The Tempest" by William Shakespeare 7.5/10 really very odd, but the overall vibe was so good and exactly what I needed after Quinn

The Last Ever After by Soman Chianani 6.5/10 S for G&E #3 Thus begins my attempt to finish the whole series because I bought them and they were sitting there

"Sophist", "Statesmen", "Parmenides" and "Philebus" by Plato 10/10 What's the difference between is and is not? Is 'is not' a state of being? lol I dunno

Quest for Glory by Soman Chianani 7/10 S for G&E #4 Okay finally these stories are getting interesting again

A Crystal of Time by Soman Chianani 6.5/10 Really pulling out some wackadoodle things for this one, but I wasn't against it too much

One True King by Soman Chianani 6/10 An alright wrap-up, but my boi Hort deserved a more thorough ending

In the Flo by Alisa Vitti 6.5/10 I learned more about my period in this book than in any health class, but it also got a little woowoo with moon phases

The Green Witch by Murphy & Hiscock 7/10 I had a late-night book buying stint where I bought like 7 witchy books and this was the first to arrive

Acting on Impulse by Mia Sosa 2/10 I have nothing particular against this author, but this was the book that convinced me that I could get a book published

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas 7.5/10 Hoo boy does a lot of stuff go down in this spicy, spicy book.

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas 6/10 Just a fun little story about wildly traumatized characters

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody 9.5/10 One of the coolest things I've read, I learned so much about reading and writing

Walden and Others Writings by Henry David Thoreau 10/10 So much beautiful writing, this is going to be a regular reread for me

A History of Magic, Witchcraft, and the Occult by DK 8.5/10 Naturally one of my favorite books of the year was a literal textbook

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas 8/10 Apparently I didn't hate this book as much as I was supposed to, but also please mind your manners in shared eating spaces

American Brujeria by J. Allen Cross 6.5/10 It turns out Hispanic witches are super super Catholics, which I bet would make some non-Hispanic Catholics real angy

Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman 7/10 Practical Magic #1 it was such a lovely writing style, like an actual witch telling a prophecy

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas 8.5/10 A really cool story, standing ovation for Lehabah every day, but also weird that the big bad killer guy wears hats and watches basketball

Nevewhere by Neil Gaiman 9/10 Hadn't thought much of it while I was reading it, but this story had stuck with me like a bad cold baby

Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simmer 5.5/10 This one had been sitting in my TBR for too long, and it wasn't too bad

Well of Darkness by Weis & Hickman 8.5/10 Getting to read a fantasy story in the perspective of the bad guys? Heck yeah. So cool.

After the Funeral by Agatha Christie 6.5/10 This one had alllllllll the rich family drams

Ironside by Holly Black 8/10 my first time reading this finale of Black's trilogy, and I just feel like the main character could have been more logical or taken more action

A Writer's Notebook by Ralph Fletcher 2/10 I pretty much learned nothing, got nothing out of this

Search the Sky by Pohl & Kornbluth 8/10 Only took off points for misogyny, but it was from the 50s, otherwise a really cool story

The House Witch by Murphy & Hiscock 5/10 A follow-up from the first witchy book to arrive, this one didn't teach me as much about witches as I hoped it would

Approximately a 7/10 average for the whole year! I went out on a limb for a lot of books this year, and that was rewarding just about as often as it was disappointing, but I can at least say that I haven't DNF'd a book yet. I largely write these for myself, and I don't expect anyone to take the time to read it -- if you did, then you are a saint and a hero. May your pillows be cool, your blankets warm, and your eyesight always clear enough for reading.

#booksbooksbooks #books #bookblr #booklr #reading #agatha christie #tolkien #lord of the rings #lotr #kitchen princess #the fortune teller #a well-behaved woman #acotar #acomaf #acowar #sjmaas #sjm books #ra salvatore #jane austen #mansfield park #tithe #holly black #school for good and evil #soman chainani #the silmarillion #to weave a web of magic #unfinished tales #bridgerton #the viscount who loved me #julia quinn

[ooc-miqojak]

The State of AAA Games in the Modern Era

"Before the internet became a core facet of gaming, if a studio dropped an unfinished game, that game stayed unfinished." "If a game launched in a poor state, that became the game's legacy."

And a quote from the video linked in #2 in my sources below: "This corporate mindset has encouraged studios to ship now, fix later, and exploit the wallets of players for years down the road. And oftentimes we do see some of the lead developers from these studios even brag about how to pull off this scheme at GDC conferences: [Quote from developer] 'Overdelivery is actually dangerous. With every release that you put out there, you're setting a pattern for your community and for your players. Because it's hard to tell a team, a team that has extra cycles and they have energy and they wanna do something amazing and know how to do it and it totally would be amazing and awesome for the game! Sometimes we have to tell them, like, we shouldn't ship this because it's an overdelivery. Beware of overdelivery, overdelivery is actually dangerous.' "

These are objective facts that people were ready to tear my throat out about during what I thought was a fact-based, adult debate earlier today. Instead, I just had people repeatedly say the same thing to me over and over: "But games still had bugs on console!" Which was something I never countered. I even agreed! My point, however, was that bugs in games were much rarer, and far less impactful to the overall experience of the game - and modern games are often released in a half-finished state, with bugs that massively impact gameplay - just look at Cyberpunk 2077. It's notorious for that very thing! And yet, more than one person was willing to twist my words, and take things out of context (repeatedly trying to nitpick things like Pokemon Gen 1 bugs - things that were not relevant to the discussion, as they were not bugs even remotely comparable to those in modern AAA games upon release) to desperately cling to some idea that console games were released in as bad of a state as modern games are? I don't know why, when console games would have literally killed consoles and gaming as a hobby, if they had been regularly released in as bad of a state as current digital/online only games currently are. It's a fact, and not an opinion that more games in the modern era release in a half-finished, buggy state that makes games unplayable upon release. That is not an opinion. Here's another article about it! (There's lots of videos/articles about this very thing, with just a cursory Google search.)

Yes, console games had bugs - and the ones notorious for those bugs that made story or gameplay basically impossible... bombed! A modern game, like Cyberpunk, that releases with massive bugs? Simply promises to keep patching the unfinished product, which you could not do on a physical product. This is a fact, and not an opinion. Someone claimed that console games would just make a better version, and re-release the game... which doesn't amount to much, because the game already has a bad rep, and no one will pay twice for the same thing (were your parents going to buy you the same $40-60 game a second time back then? Doubtful. No one in their right mind would.), nor would you trust that publisher a second time. That's not the same thing as releasing Cyberpunk in a half-made state, unplayable and bug-ridden and missing core/promised features, and just... finishing it over the next couple years after taking people's money for the half-baked product that wasn't what you promised. They're not asking you to pay for the game twice, they're just making you buy an unfinished product that won't be complete for another year or so (if it ever is). As the video states, there were two years of class action lawsuits - which I don't recall hearing about with console games, because you simply couldn't release only a partial part of a game you claimed was complete, and hope people stuck around for patches, because you couldn't just try and clean up your mess once a disc or cartridge was purchased. If there were incomplete textures, and you couldn't progress the story/engage in gameplay due to game-breaking bugs, that was it. You were screwed.

The modern era and advent of online-only products has led to AAA publishers releasing more and more unfinished products with game-breaking bugs because "we can fix it later"/it's cheaper to fix after launch/because executives simply don't care how it impacts the players, because they have pre-order money in their pockets already/they continue to mistreat the devs of the games, and force them to release unfinished products, and move on to the next cash-grab. These are facts. Not opinions.

Anyways, here's more fact-based sources. One

Two

Three...this video is even from five years ago! (And quotes someone from 8 years prior to that stating that: "The answer for us as publishers is to actually sell unfinished games..."

Four

Five

Next time you find yourself heated by facts that aren't opinions, don't attack the person dealing out the facts, and claim they said something they didn't say - especially if it's the exact opposite of something they said multiple times. Once you start taunting and being childish in a debate, it becomes clear you're not an adult, and shouldn't be partaking in serious, adult conversations - no matter the topic. Objective facts may make you mad, but hey - I'm mad that modern games release in a shitty state thanks to being fully online these days, and not releasing in a physical state that encourages Publishers to release a full, and mostly bug-free game (free of bugs that impact gameplay or story in a serious way, at least. The occasional NPC glitched into a wall or the sky isn't a huge deal, and a wacky texture here and there is mostly hilarious.) Anyways, Donald Trump simply attacks people who use facts in a debate! Don't be like Donald Trump. Don't choose to attack the other person, instead of using objective-based-facts to debate/discuss things. Debates shouldn't make you mad - they should be interesting, and enlightening, and you (or the other person, or all parties) should learn from them. And inevitably, in fact based discussions...someone is wrong! I'm often wrong. I like learning new things. But letting your emotions guide you in a fact based discussion that is very literal and not rooted in emotional appeals... just makes a mess.

#AAA games #game development #anyways I remain baffled that people were willing to die on this hill and try to say I was wrong about objective facts #And then after being lied about and gaslit I was told *I* behaved childishly lmao! #and was given 0 reasons why #so basically 'I find your ADHD frustrating and can't give you a good reason' and 'toxic positivity is the expectation in XIV communities' #being bullied out of FFXIV spaces by toxic positivity has me sick and tired of trying to be active in XIV spaces and meet people #you can be the one being attacked and they'll still tell you that it's your fault and everyone was bad #I even defended the apparent 'four' other people they said were 'bad' - no one was wrong in that situation - #except the one person who made a shitty remark and taunted me... then gaslit me publicly #oh well I'm not afraid of defending myself - I'm a grown ass woman

[bookwormchocaholic]

I'm currently reading "A Well Behaved Woman," by Therese Anne Fowler. It's a Bio Fic of Alva Vanderbilt. Who shows up? Ward McAllister!

I can so clearly hear Nathan Lane's drawl coming through.

#a well behaved woman #therese anne fowler #alva Vanderbilt #the gilded age #ward McAllister #nathan lane

[abloris-the-plantriarchy]

Dog walk unsuccessful. One dog slipped his lead and ran into the road. Then dog toy was accidentally sent flying into neighbours garden when playing

#new level of fear unlocked #watching the old well behaved dog trot happily into the road while I stand there SCREAMING like a possessed woman #he was more like im not going near you when your elike that which fair BUT THERES CARS COMING AT YOU PLEASE

[76l0]

i love this picture so much i think about it all the time

#just epicness #btw i decided to yesterday to quit drinking again saying again makes it sound so bad ykno its always again but i think i can do it #i started yesterday wanting to drink ok not really started but it was before noon and i was wanting to drink and did not and umm. #then i saw things which made me decide to not drink that day or any immediate future days <3 #i was so well behaved!!!!!! the woman who will not make history!!! i really deserve a reward for not stirring the pot even a tiny little bi #no one will ever understand how well behaved and how much i did the right thing by just passing by!!!!!!! im too good im a failure #i will not be rewarded

[grinchwrapsupreme]

my dad is the kind of person who makes fun of things (mental illness, gender, sexuality, etc) until he encounters it at a close enough proximity to actually think of it as a real thing at which point he’s totally normal about it forever which means I get the honour of gently guiding him through conversations about Vico Ortiz now that he’s discovered they’re nonbinary in the same way a bull is gently guided out of a grenade-strewn china shop

#transphobia in the tags #his not mine #i introduced him to ofmd a while back and he really enjoyed it #to the point where he is currently watching it again #and we were driving together today when he brought up that he'd looked up the actor who played 'the woman' and discovered they were nonbinar #nonbinary* #cue kill bill sirens in my head as I recalled him posting transphobic jokes about nonbinary people on facebook #literally two weeks ago #and i was like 'uh huh? :)' #and made comments about how cool they were and how much i enjoy them to like set the tone of the convo before he could #and he did the thing he always does when he doesn't know how to behave about something where he'll #gingerly make a very neutral comment about it thats kind of bigoted but not maliciously #and he said 'the articles about them are very... PC. You can't even tell what they started out as' #and in the voice one uses to talk to a child i was like 'well yeah they're nonbinary that would have been rude' #literally like bare bones concepts in a way he can understand #and he was like '... yeah it would have been' #and then i redirected the convo back to ofmd #but like #this is exactly what happens when he gets used to ideas about like adhd and anxiety and sexuality #will my dad become less transphobic?? #could i be seeing the dawn of an age where coming out to my dad is like #a thing that wouldn't make me sick to think about??? #like this may seem small to people who don't know him but #i've seen him reconnect with his eldest daughter and promptly get cut off again because he doesn't know #when to stop being an asshole #the fact he didn't openly make fun of vico is like #genuinely a huge deal #buying party poppers to keep in the linen closet just in fucking case

[dragoncharming]

it's So funny that Zhang Zhe is framed as the "safe" option. like Sure he's not, you know,

but this man is introduced in both time periods In Prison. He doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut, in a period where the Rule of Law he loves so much says that kinda shit can get your whole family killed.

His unyielding temperament is both a pro and a con, depending on circumstance, but anyone who marries him is risking their life on a tree that does not bend in the wind.

#anna watches cdramas #i'm not saying this is a Bad thing. but it's the thing of ~he has to be lucky thousands of times. he only has to be unlucky once.~ #he is Such a good foil for the others who use whatever means at their disposal #thinking about both jiang xuening saying who knows if xie wei is good or evil but he is Effective #and that goes for her as well to the extent that her reach has extended #plus jiang xuening talking about how from zhang zhe's distant view yao xi was good bc she was faithful in not cancelling the engagment whil #he was in prison and danger of expulsion #but then the reality is that she's the one who looks honorable for defending his reputation and putting her life on the line to dispute #the false charges. his first impression of jxn is 'this is my kinda woman' which is So Ironic~ bc she wishes she was!! #anyway one of these days don't get me started on how ning'er has her ~reputation bc she's a woman behaving like these male characters

[blessedtwenties]

“Your clothes should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to show you're a lady”

— Marilyn Monroe

#classy #classy woman #lady #ladylike #successful woman #powerful woman #well behaved

[el-im]

How are you so classy

<3 <3 <3 <3 i read. i emulate the people i think are wonderful, and work toward adopting the qualities i find admirable in them (trying, always, to be kinder, to be more patient...)

#antonio would call it 'pretentious' but-- #asks #i don't know. stylistically i dress like an old woman. lot of brooches and clip on earrings and stick pins. so if you mean sartorially-- #my advice is to haunt antique shops and wear neutral tones. #if you mean the things i'm inclined toward ! i don't know. when i was a kid i'd read a book and would then write stories where i adopted #the author's writing style #lots of how i behave comes from emulation. and being awestruck by people and wanting to be like them. #and now that i've sort of become my own person (an amalgamation of all the things i loved in other people) i just... read. write. #try to go to plays often and get new books oftener. #also thank you. this is very sweet and i'm happy i come off this way but. i hope you know i embarrass myself all the time too. #try to teach myself to mambo from youtube videos and listen to the austin powers soundtrack more than anyone should. #have fun with it!!! it's nice to look nice and to speak well but it means nothing if you aren't a little eccentric about it. #<3!!!!

[blazingjackdaw]

Went to the hairdresser after procrastinating for months and lost like 7 cm of hair. I feel so light! It was so worth the 30 minutes of small talk

#my hair has shape again #well until I wash it anyway #wish I knew what kind of black magic that woman exercises to get my stupid locks to behave #blaze babbles

[lesbian-choso]

Jotaro stans have got to be the most flexible people alive the way they’re constantly stretching to prove that he doesn’t exude misogynistic behaviour.

#tell me why I just saw a tiktok of someone being like naurrr you’re mischaracterising him…… as if he doesn’t call every woman in his #vicinity a bitch and he literally said to a group of woman in one of the early episodes of SDC that they were ‘well behaved’ for not yelling #when they were scared for whatever reason. like you can go ahead and say he loves his mum and Jolyne and whatever but just because someone #loves someone doesn’t mean they still respect them or anyone that shares that identity. its embarrassing to see ppl fall back on the ‘well #they’re related/have friends of x marginalised group surely that means they can’t be a bigot!’ like please shut up

[sawtual]

<- is down so bad for kim wexler

#u show me a complex morally grey woman with a deep voice and expect me to act normal? to behave? WELL I WONT #text

[doesnotloveyou]

the way other fanfic writers write boys and men tells me a lot of you have never observed men interacting in the wild much less had male friends of your own. he literally wouldn't do that

#not me studying male coworkers and classmates for “authentic behavior” #group of men just as dumb as a group of women though the brain cell count drops faster XD #however a mixed group where everyone's input matters usually gets stuff done and is a lot of fun #power imbalance in a mixed group is a palpable joy killer eg the guy/gal who thinks they're in charge #but if your guy friends and your gal friends are all equally down for hijinks #it is SO fun #anyway the best fics in any trope are ones where men actually act like men #straight gay bi it does not matter men by and large behave similarly with each other #sometimes you get the sensitive thoughtful types who read and philosophize #but they still watch sports and they still play in the dirt boys will be boys etc #writing fanfic #and even some of the best men will second guess a woman's testimony if another man has a shred of doubt #the boys club is real and it's everywhere #not even women trust each other that much ime #most importantly everyone is multifaceted and wrong sometimes #guys can mean well and mess up #they aren't knights in shining armor they're just dudes doing what they think is right or normal