#TFGOC

[thoughtfulfangirling]

“They don’t experience mixed emotions. The ability to feel mixed emotions is a sign of maturity. If people can blend contradictory emotions together – such as happiness with guilt, or anger with love – it shows that they can encompass life’s emotional complexity. Experienced together, opposing feelings tame each other. Once people develop the ability to feel different emotions at the same time, the world ripens into something richer and deeper.”

— Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay C Gibson

#tf reads #2023 reads #books #Lindsay c Gibson #adult children of emotionally immature parents #quotes #tfgoc

[thoughtfulfangirling]

9 year old nephew got a Switch for Christmas and is now playing Untitled Goose Game. We're all hanging out in the living room while he plays, and we're all just cackling at the antics. Just, such a delightful game. 🥰

#untitled goose game #personal #tfgoc

[thoughtfulfangirling]

There's seriously no fanfiction for Meru?! Tumblr search in general showed me some reviews but people have moved to AO3 okay, so I go to AO3 and all results are Deep Space Nine and a couple random other things that have some reference to a 'Meru' word. (Yes I put Meru into the fandom box.)

I am so disappointed. The book does fade to black but has a romance between a non-human and human! Even if most others, like me, can't even begin to figure out how to imagine smut between the human and the space-ship sized body of her lover, ze has a humanoid body that sounds stunning and that is certainly imaginable!!

SO WHERE ARE THE MERU FICS?!

#tfgoc #I don't need it to be smut but how is there not smut?!? #I haven't been able to write in ages and don't have anything in particular in mind #but like I was curious to see what people would have done #the ground is ripe for so much fic!! #Meru #books #silly tfg #La de da

[thoughtfulfangirling]

Okay, after hearing for ages about how good The Holiday is, I finally watched it. I didn't have it on any streaming services, so I took a giant (for me) leap of faith and purchased it on sale on Vudu and finally watched it, and y'all are right. It's really cute. The pacing could have used some work (mainly cutting down A LOT of the beginning background stuff that they tried much harder than they needed to to convince us of their situations), I really really enjoyed it.

Arthur was absolutely my favorite part. His and Iris's interactions were so great. I really really loved it. My one complaint at the end was that they hadn't established how they are going to continue to be in each others' lives, but I finally realized that the implication is probably that they're going to continue swapping houses a bunch for a while. Or at least they better. Iris needs to continue to sometimes be neighbors with Arther because those two were the best!

I'm also surprised that the only relationship I really heard about on here were Iris and... Jack Black's character. Of the four main romantic leads, I seriously think he gets by far the least amount of screen time, but I will admit the romance was cute. But Amanda and Graham had a really lovely romance too! I LOVE their being straight forward right away and honestly communicating about their fumbling. I loved the constant bluntness. I know Graham kept that secret or whatever but that doesn't undercut how raw and honest he was with her aside from that throughout and I REALLY REALLY adored that. That sometimes yeah it's okay to just be like fuck it, we both want this right now, we're okay with it, and we can handle it like adult AND THEN PROCEED TO ACTUALLY DO THAT (even if fumbling). While Amanda was likely my least favorite of the Characters, I perhaps loved that romance the most.

Still wasn't better than Iris and Arthur's relationship hehehe

#the holiday #tf watches #movies #christmas movies #arthur is the best #so many feelings #and his group of friends!!! #God what a lovely seen #tfgoc #la de da

[thoughtfulfangirling]

Finished Song of Achilles and while I can't say I like it more than Circe, it's probably right there with it. They feel so different to me despite being the same author and the same sort of thing that I find it hard to compare.

Man I love Patroclus so much.

And man can Odysseus be insufferable 😂

#the song of achilles #Madeline Miller #tf reads #books #great narrator on this one #I didn't do the audiobook for Circe so can't speak to that #but Frazer Douglas did fantastic #I wasn't sure about him to start but he really pulled it off #tfgoc

[thoughtfulfangirling]

I'm 20% into Plain Bad Heroines and there are so many stories in this weirdly plain and yet totally creepy book. I love this narrator and am really interested to see if we find out who she is. I have a guess but I'm not sure it's going to tell us even tho she's clearly part of the story itself.

The early 1900s story being told by the narrator but adapted to a book in current time and following the writer and actors who will turn it into movie is going to be so interesting as I wonder how the story will change. I imagine we're not likely to focus too hard on that aspect tho as we've come this far before the first table read. But man the creepy elements innocuously inhabiting the story and lives of these various characters is so deliciously chilling.

It just feels so good to be so excited about a book where I have no clue what's going to happen but is so promising. So little has even happened?? I'm finding it so hard to describe why I'm liking it so much but man the vibes! Perfect for what I'm going for this time of year.

#the narrator helps a lot #she's doing an excellent job #plain bad heroines #Emily danforth #tf reads #horror #books #tfgoc

[thoughtfulfangirling]

I just finished The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek which is a historical fiction piece following the life of Cussy Mary, a blue Appalachian woman based off of the actual blue people in the Appalachians.

When I read that in the description, I did a double take. Actual blue people? I was skeptical, but it is apparently a thing. Just look up Blue Fugates on Wikipedia if you really want to know. I had to look it up. This is besides the point though.

What struck me reading this, was that a couple of days ago, I started Meru. It's a sci fi book that takes place in the far future where, while genetic diversity is valued highly, a lot of major diseases no longer happen. By a fluke chance, one of the main characters, Jayanthi, ends up with Leukemia however when her parents (sentient robots with organic parts but not human reproductive parts) let her genes be truly random out of human archives.

Cussy Mary from the first book is different in that she is blue, and because of this, society has rendered her disabled by this genetic difference. Something that she lives with completely healthily with becomes a disability entirely because society had decided it has no value.

Jayanthi, however, is incredibly affected by her Leukemia and is truly disabled in that it affects her health, how her body navigates the world, and the medications she needs.

Cussy starts and ends the book on the fringe of society, though she has a happy ending of sorts nonetheless, because of her arbitrary disability.

But Jayanthi is going to be able to visit the first discovered planet, Meru, only because of her actual disability. Meru's one problem for human habitation is its higher oxygen levels, something that is being used to treat Jayanthi's Leukemia and which she already takes some sort of treatment/supplement/whatever to counteract the corrosive effects of. No other human exists with this opportunity she has because of it, and for that, she has great value (not just that obviously but I'm clearly doing some contrasting here).

It's a contrast that's sticking in my brain. It happened completely by chance that I would be reading these books back to back, but it's incredibly fascinating and gives lot of food for thought. And because it has been swimming in my mind so much, I needed to get it out just a little by putting some words to it... here I guess. XD

#tfg reads #books #2024 reads #thinky thoughts #tfg rambles #la de da #don't mind me #lolol #the book woman of troublesome creek #meru #Book Woman was a good book! I'm glad I chance grabbed it #tfgoc

[thoughtfulfangirling]

Ugh I just really can't get over the idea that the spirit of earth loved humans so much that when shoved into the body of one, she kissed herself in the mirror and just... loved! She loved her human face and human hair and human companions. Is there anyone she didn't like other than Gideon's body? A corpse and descendant of the man who forced her into an idealized body that was never human??

#spoilers #if could have been so easy to make the embodiment of earth bitter towards the humans who ate her up #but instead she loved #Nona the ninth spoilers #Gideon the ninth spoilers #harrow the ninth spoilers #the locked tomb spoilers #Nona the ninth #tf reads #I love Nona so much #what a beautiful story and character hers is #la de da #will I sleep tonight? we shall see we shall see #tfgoc

[thoughtfulfangirling]

I finally finished Owl House. About damn time! And looking through fanart and thinking about the ending, I just... I love how dedicated the show was, at least at the end, to depict change. Not necessarily to any of the characters as who they are at their core, but just that... time and experience changes you. Yes that's shown largely in how all their appearance alter quite a bit in that closing sequence, but I think that's just the exclamation point on the theme.

Eda and Lilith lose their powers at the end of season one, and they don't get them back. Their eyes change to show this change. In the meantime, King begins to grow into his!

Luz gets scarred at the end of season two because you don't go through so many battles, especially as a human, without coming out the other side with scars, both physically and emotionally, and she does have to cope with the fallout of the ravages her battles wrought on her in season 3.

Amity changes her hair as she... not so much grows into herself, but demands the space for herself, when she pulls out the plants her mother wanted to grow and sets down the ones she wishes to cultivate.

Eda has to embrace the darkness inside of her and that changes her. She does is, because she will do whatever she has to in order to protect her family, which causes her to lose her wild magic, embrace her beast, gain beastly powers/transformation, and lose half an arm.

And no, Luz doesn't get to keep the transformation she takes on near the end, but she chose to accept the power to be a hero, but no one is a hero all the time--nor should they be. That's what she learned from Belos. After the heroing is done, it's time to community organize and rebuild, and that's what she did.

I usually hate stories that leave female protagonists without their powers, but that's mostly because I saw those stories when the message was that those women should go back to living their normal, domestic lives afterward. That's what that would mean, and it did make it so that it's harder for me even to this day to accept such storylines, but I am getting better, and I think Owl House did it well. Her life was still magical, and hey, in the end there will be magic for her again. She just has to relearn, just like Eda, and just like Lilith. Because we never stop growing and changing, and neither does the world around us.

#and part of that growth ofc #that we see in the show #part of those changes #are who we let into our lives #and accept from them both the hurts of that relationship but also the good! #la de da #don't mind me #owl house #owl house spoilers #the owl house #the owl house spoilers #toh spoilers #tfgoc

[thoughtfulfangirling]

So I just bingeread all of your madoka liveblog which was very good, very insightful and god I can relate to your feelings about Sayaka. She was my favourite character, was replaced by Kyoko once she screwed up, and is now back to my favourite for a variety of reasons. Did you ever get around to Rebellion, because based on your commentary I think you'll really enjoy it

Thank you! That is so nice to both say and to just let me even know. Unfortunately Rebellion got away from me. For the longest time, the struggle was access to it (not that that isn't still a problem) that would allow for screen captures, so for a while there I was planning a liveblog, but it's not something I'd be able to record and post for anyone who would miss it and I guess some of those interested aren't in good timezones for it. Streaming it still seems like the most possible, but it's just never something that manifested. My good friend @rosepetalrevolution is still pretty determined I watch it though, so it probably will happen one day, but I don't expect anyone to be holding their breaths at this point XD

#asks #senaryon #pmmm #tf watches madoka #I'm so sorry everyone DX #tfgoc

[thoughtfulfangirling]

Know what a great feeling is? Seeing handful of notifications suddenly, and it's all a friend/mutual catching up on your blog 🥰

#rhio I see you and ily #I have the coolest friends #tumblr things #silly tf #La de da #tfgoc

[thoughtfulfangirling]

Finished the audiobook Legends & Lattes today which is like if a D&D party wanted a domestic, coffee shop story instead of an adventuring one and it was so cozy! I kind of wish I'd have known to save it for a winter read. It has that feel of wrapping up in blankets with a hot drink in hand and feeling the warmth of when humans do community right (even tho most of the story takes place in summer).

Also big strong lady orc MC? Yes thank you!!! Such a damn fine feel good read. Loved it!!

#tf reads #books #legends & lattes #travis baldree #la de da #it's a pretty quick read too #I could have been okay with it being slower paced and longer Ngl haha #tfgoc

[thoughtfulfangirling]

This year I have plenty of spoopy books in paperback form to read, but I'm low on audiobook suggestions. Partially bc I'm picky with horror as I don't like much body horror or gore.

That being said, I could use some recs for good October reading books. I've done a lot of the classics now like Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde etc. I tend to veer away from King just bc I've gotten the impression the gore can be a bit much sometimes...

Any thoughts? 😅

#rec request #tf reads #reading #Dracula and A Winter Haunting I rate highly #also the exorcist was quite good #la de da #tfgoc

[thoughtfulfangirling]

Oh this is good! A ghost story where the horror is in becoming alive rather than becoming a ghost. Amazing

#tf reads #books #now that's some fun horror #tfgoc

[thoughtfulfangirling]

I didn't expect to read more this year than I did last, but so far, I'm way ahead of schedule for reading more books than I did last year. Granted though, I know I've had some shorter books. I've done mroe nonfiction this year, and those tend to seem to run 300 or less pages.

Let's see some actual stats hmm.

2021: 62 books read, 34% books were <300 pages, 56% 300-499 pages, and 10% 500+ pages read

2022: 60 boos read (so far): 33% <300 pages, 57% 300-499 pages, 10% 500+ pages.

Huh, very similar stats. Okay yeah, just reading a fair amount more this year. I'm pleased.

I really liked the 'let people choose books for me to read' thing I did this year. It was nice to try some stuff I normally wouldn't touch. I'm wondering if maybe next year I might once again steal ideas off Doc and see if there are any people who would actually like to pitch me books and I can make every so many books be one of those reads (unless I have a theme for a month like spooks for October). Just wondering if anyone would actually send me stuff XD

#tf reads #books #2021 reads #2022 reads #2023 reads #la de da #just musings #tfgoc

[thoughtfulfangirling]

"Two of the behaviors that set early humans apart were the systemic sharing of food and altruistic group defense. Other primates did very little of either but, increasingly, hominids did, and those behaviors helped set them on an evolutionary path that produced the modern world"

— Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger

For the next time someone says it's in our nature to be only out for ourselves. No, actually, it's really really not.

#reading #tf reads #tribe: on homecoming and belonging #humanity #tfgoc #quotes #reject veneer theory