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verycharismaticdragon · 3 years

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anyw decided to make an extras post for wz wedding art bc im kinda stupid proud of it

I said it before when posting a wip, I really don't usually care about characters getting Properly Married but WenZhou? They want to be married, is the thing. This is something set up in the novel; that wistful 'even if tomorrow awaited death, I'd still be willing' when ZZS talks about WKX's parents being a perfect couple, and ZZS getting flustered by WKX's 'want to spend the rest of my life with you' and thinking back to it when Ping'an mentions marriage, and of course how eagerly they both jump into their 'husband Zhou and wife Wen' rp, and WKX's '...you'd want to keep me?', and WKX looking at A-Xiang's dowry with wonder... They want it, ok! Both the commitment and the claim of ownership on each other's hearts, they want it, and you know what? I think they should have it, in whatever shape it takes. Ofc they don't have any relatives left as far as we know... but hell, they have friends! Some of those friends are loaded! (Yes I'm thinking of potential pure hilarity of Jing Beiyuan simultaneously trying to throw his best friend a proper wedding he deserves and desperately wishing 'the flea couple' would just go away and stop haunting his house.)

anyway, to the art! first, no make-up version of wkx who looks even softer and more whipped, godbless

and no kissy marks zzs to match...

tho tbh i'm partial. im partial to zzs covered in kiss marks. remember that post that went like '*walks into the bar covered in kiss marks* this is nothing you should've seen the other guy'? thats zzs.

also it was such a pleasure to draw healthy, nail-free zzs. i do love the pale, gaunt-faced version of him that i use in novel-timeline fanarts but like... the thought of him getting better! holy shit.

moving on! the amount of gender(tm) thoughts i put into this is frankly unreasonable but you know what? im a nonbinary artist and i do. have. thoughts on gender dynamics as projected onto danmei couples so sue me.

so the idea i had was that in costuming, zzs's presentation is p much entirely masculine, while wkx's is a mix of masc and fem. like, looking at hair ornaments, zzs's is a fairly simple guan, while wkx has a whole ensemble, which if you look at pictures of wedding hanfu it's easy to see that first is typical for a groom and second for a bride. At the same time, their robes are both masculine/unisex cut, though i pushed it even more masc for zzs by adding vambraces (which ended up barely visible in the art but like. they were in the design ok). then there's obviously that wkx is wearing a veil, his hair being a mix between the bride's updo and the half-down look that matches zzs's, and ofc his make-up, but!

Their poses turn the suggested gender dynamic on its head, w wkx clearly leading & doing some typical gong Looming, while zzs is getting pushed down and not even pretending to be upset about it at this point.

So the idea I had was that for the... 'public' part of the wedding, zzs is clearly presenting as a groom, while wkx is (still noticeably male but) clearly a bride; but that gets thrown out as soon as they are alone.

This is all based on their dynamic in the novel. WKX has no compunctions about being the wife in the streets as long as he gets to be the top in the sheets, you know? At the same time, ZZS still has some leftover ideas about Roles in the Society and what Being a man is and entails. Like ppl joke about him being h/mophobic in the novel but that's not it: he was able to clock the, you know, love triangle in qi ye, and it didn't affect his view of any of the ppl involved. What throws him for a loop is how LOUDLY gay WKX is: zzs is used to homosexuality being something Not Discussed In Polite Society even though it obviously exists but Wen Kexing will just! Let random people know he's queer af! Who does that?! And of course this is because Wen Kexing doesn't give a shit about maintaining appearances past the 'not being recognized as the Ghost Valley Master': what for would he conform to society's standarts? What does he care about what he's 'supposed' to act like; who can make him conform anyway? He doesn't see 'acting like a wife' as encroaching on his masculinity; he'll happily play along with Zishu sending him off to 'warm husband's bed', as long as he gets to touch and kiss him in private afterwards. They are a very fun contrast this way, and I thought that WKX would definitely go above and beyond even his usual level for the wedding. He'll be the best damn bride, as his A-Xu deserves! He'll wear the veil! Full make-up! Elaborate hairdo! Perfect image! (For the bows and the rites, anyway. Afterwards, somebody is getting bitten in that marriage bed. Most likely both. It'll somehow be romantic anyway, you know how these guys are.)

So this is it on gender(tm), im going back to the art to point the silly details I put in WKX's design.

Ok so it's not super obvious bcus. uh. above my art level but - both the gold foil make-up on his cheeks and the hair ornament birds are meant to be pairs of mandarin ducks, a symbol of loyal couple and all.

Also, note the braid over his left shoulder which looks cut? that's based on a tradition of marrying couple both cutting a lock of their hair, tying the locks together, and keeping them.

I draw WKX with huadian and eye make-up often enough, as a shout-out to the previously discussed 'wkx doesn't really care about presenting society-imposed masculinity and does whatever he wants', but as for the lip make-up, I thought about it for a while and decided this is something he does on rare occassions, mostly for the pleasure of marking Zhou Zishu in a way that Zhou Zishu would be less inclined to hide; but he puts it on for the wedding as a part of pulling out all stops to create that perfect image. (But also it looks damn good tbh, I didn't expect it to enhance the art as it did.)

And the last thing, I hope y'all noticing the light in WKX's eyes because he's looking at the light of his life! I adore the visual cue of having a character with 'lightless' eyes suddenly get those highlights when they get emotional and the fact that TYK described exactly that for WKX!!! Made for me!

#charismaticdragonarts #this is extreme rambling and i hope you understand this is what my metas look like before i streamline them into readability lmao #tian ya ke meta #(thinking i might use some of this at some point)

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godsofhumanity · 3 years

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here ill go easier on you: poseidon and aphrodite (+ the s/o's) headcanons?

okay so when Aphrodite first came to Olympus, Zeus was like,, “she’s so pretty, she’s gonna cause fights everywhere so she can’t stay here” and Poseidon is like “no problemo, because she’s practically already my best friend so she’ll stay with me”

so Aphrodite first lives with Poseidon and Amphitrite in their sea palace

and Amphitrite and Aphrodite do cool things together like braiding each other’s hair and shit

and Aphrodite is so amazed by it all, but Amphitrite is used to having sisters (i.e. the Nereids) so she’s just like “yeah this is what having sisters is like”

anyways,, Amphitrite is totally the most amazing older sister you could ever want <3

for Aphrodite’s first marriage (to Hephaestus), obviously since she didn’t exactly have a “home” or “family” as such, they just celebrated the proaulia at Poseidon’s palace

and Poseidon would have held the wedding feast too <3

i also think Poseidon would have paid Aphrodite’s dowry (i assume that the gods’ weddings would have been similar to traditional Ancient Greek weddings, so yeah, there’d be a dowry and all that)

and tbh, i think Poseidon would have done it all again for her second marriage (to Ares)

i think that when Ares and Aphrodite started their *furtive* relationship, Poseidon and Amphitrite would have noticed immediately because they know Aphrodite too well

also when Hephaestus pulled off his absolutely brutal humiliation plan where Ares and Aphrodite got caught in the net and everyone was watching, Poseidon is the first to demand that Hephaestus release them because he loves them both and is absolutely sickened by having to see them on display like that

needless to say, i think Poseidon probably gets along better with Ares than with Hephaestus...

it’s known that Aphrodite and Poseidon have children together, and unlike Hera for example, i think Amphitrite is less pissed off about Poseidon’s “extramarital” affairs.. i don’t think it would effect Amphitrite and Aphrodite’s relationship too much, because i think Amphitrite is quite confident and knows that her husband’s affairs are just the way it is (i can’t imagine that she’s completely fine with it, but at the very least, she doesn’t hold any grudges because she thinks it’d be a waste of time, and she knows that it’s common practice)...

#this is me pulling out storylines from my comic lololol #greekschist #poseidon #amphitrite #ares #aphrodite #poseidon x amphitrite #hc #asks

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teamsarawatshusband · 3 years

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Word Of Honor - 1st watch insta thoughts - Episode 6

First of all, as I gained a lot of new followers, just an FYI: This is me watching Word of Honor for the first time and writing down my thoughts as I go. Mostly it's me being confused as hell and giving all the characters weird names, because I can't remember the real ones. If this is not your thing, feel free to skip these posts and maybe blacklist "smirklord"

If you do choose to read along, please know that these are the most important characters:

Zhou Zi Shu = Baby Zi Shu/ Zhou Xu lord guy/alcoholic tanned tragic hero lord guy Wen Ke Xing = Smirky Xing/Smirky fan guy Gu Xiang = Purple Girl/my Purple Love/my Purple Queen Smirklord is my personal ship name for Zhou Zi Shu and Wen Ke Xing.

Previous episodes are here.

To anybody who was here before: Sorry that it took me so long to continue this. I accidentally came across a spoiler about my purple queen and I was pretty bummed about it. So I stopped watching for a while. Also, the show is getting more complex and I'm having a harder time remembering who everybody is. But anyway, let's go!

Episode 6:

LOL, Smirky Xing called Baby Xu Mom and wants to be carried. He's so cute when hallucinating.

Anyway, I'm glad Smirky Xing saved Baby Xu. Now, what's the thing he captured?

Baby Xu is hurt, thankfully he's also like a travelling pharmacist.

Oh, Smirky Xing, can I just point out that I have never before seen anybody accuse another person of being a serial killer with such a lovestruck expression on their face. And why do you keep insisting that you’re a good guy when nobody accused you of anything?

Oh, so the zombies and mummies weren't dead, but... living people controlled by someone? What?

LOL, "Do you have a dagger?" and Smirky Xing instantly pulls one out of his sleeve like it's no big deal, and who knows what else he keeps in there.

Ewww, is Baby Xu going to go stabbing at his own wounds? Please no.

Ewww, ewww, ewww. Oh, he's sucking out the poison I guess.

Waaah, what is Smirky Xing going to. - Oh. OMGOMGOMGOMG, eww, but also YESSS, you go for that shoulder kiss, honey, YES! (Sorry, I had to rewind that moment a couple times). Let's rename Smirky Xing to Kissy Xing.

Oh, and this once and for all gave Baby Xu's diguise away. He didn't put make-up on his shoulder.

'Can you show me your real appearance' my ass. He wants to see you naked. And Baby Xu reminds him of consent. I mean, trust. But, really... consent.

OMG, "you can touch it." Yes! Touch it Baby Xu! Touch it!!! Kissy Xing gave his permission!!!

Oooooh, they're dancing again!!!

OMG, they're going to the lake. Is this gonna turn into the dirty dancing lifting figure scene? PLEASE?

I don't even care, this 100% counts as the lifting scene.

Dude, what? Can you not swim? Baby Xu? You okay? He fell into the water, okay. But why doesn't he get back to the surface?????

Does he want to be saved? Please tell me he's not drowning. :O Kissy Xing looks so worried.

Whoa, where did his mask go? :O :O :O

Okay, okay, okay. Clothes on the drying rack, they're basically in their undies. And kissy Xing can't stop staring at Baby Xu's real face.

Real face baby Xu looks so much softer. Still pissy though, did he seriously just wipe the bottle neck? Come on, man. You had his lips suck on your skin already. I'm sure you can take his spit.

So kissy Xing's name is really Wen Ke Xing. And his face is really his face. I do wanna trust him so much. His voice is so soft all of a sudden. Wahhhh.

Oh, so the item they captured was from hanging ghost? But not the real one?

Kissy Xing, you killed the ghost guy while Baby Xu wanted to interrogate him. You say it was a mistake cause you were worried, but you could still very well be nuts guy and make sure nobody gives you away!

I feel a bit like Brad Pitt in Seven. WHAT'S IN THE BOX???!!!!

Zhou Zi Shu! Kissy Xing said the name. HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT!!! He recognized him!!!! He knows who he is. But he doesn't say so to his face. Why is everything so confusing???

Should I call Baby Xu Baby Zi Shu from now on?

Noo, don't cut away from smirklord, I wanna keep watching smirklord!

Meh, some stupid guitar guy doing a Jimmi Hendrix impression and lots of dead guys, who might not actually be dead standing in line for the concert tickets.

Some tall hat guy. Who is he? He gets VIP acess.

Is it just me or do you also find it annoying when they're playing instruments and the music doesn't match the finger movements?

Ok, Hendrix guy is scorpion king. Is he related to the scorpion assassins? Anyway, he's got really cool hair. Total rockstar vibes.

Tall hat guy is trying to be charming and coming across like a record label manager.

Okay, so they both don't know what happened and who killed the other ghost guy. Oh, wait, is tall hat guy the one who stole the glazed armor from uncle Zhao? Is the item that Kissy Xing and Baby Zi Shu captured a piece of glazed armor??? :O

Ok, tall hat guy is changing ghost.

Back to Smirklord! YES!

Okay, Baby Zi Shu figured out the item box thing? Is the blue glass thing the glazed armor??? Tbh, it looks a bit like the plastic part of some kid's braces.

Yooo, Kissy Xing coming in hot with the rabbit dowry.

Whoa, Baby Zi Shu just throws the glazed armor over to Kissy Xing, like it's no big deal. He really really doesn't want it. Nice return gift, though.

Okay, what is this flirting? Baby Zi Shu keeps stating that he's a bad guy you need to be terrified of, much like Kissy Xing kept saying he's a good guy. And now he's calling Kissy Xing a trouble.

LOL, Kissy Xing agrees on the gift idea. He wants to carry it on his body. Nice.

K, k, it's uncle Zhao's glazed armor. The kid must have his own armor somehow. And the ghost guys are trying to play all the other parties and make them doubt each other. I see.

Kissy Xing is so whipped, wow. He'll do anything, including gutting the rabbits.

LOL, they're trying to give the kid food. Like that EVER worked before at all. No, uncle Zhao, you dimwit, he does NOT have a good appetite, lol.

Why is everybody giving the kid a hard time about crying. His family got murdered, his two adopted dads left him all alone with the two weird uncles... Of course he's gonna cry. Duh.

Ah, geez, Uncle Shen, just shut up. You know nothing. (he's not smart enough to be called a-hole guy anymore, sorry)

Okay, so, three glazed armor pieces have been stolen from their owners. But Uncle Zhao still has his? Then whose piece was stolen the other night? What? And who is brother Lu? Was that the kid's dad?

Now there's two more older guys, who are they? Oh, one is Lord of Broken Sword Manor. Wait, wasn't that magenta guy? Or was that his son? Somebody PLEASE fill me in here.

The other one is brother Yu, whoever that is.

Seriously, every time pleated skirt soldier boss jerk uncle shen a-hole guy opens his mouth I wanna slap him.

Kissy Xing and Baby Zi Shu are wearing new clothes. When and where did they change? Were they together when they changed? Hehe, I need to know. For science.

They are returning to the bamboo woods and the bodies from the previous night are gone. Kissy Xing asks why Baby Zi Shu had the antidote to the hallucination drug. Actually, good question. Baby Zi Shu, why DID you have the antidote? Oh, it's a Window of Heaven thing?

WHATWHATWHAT? The illusion makes people see what they WANT THE MOST? And Baby Zi Shu drops this knowledge just like that while WE know that Kissy Xing called him by his real name, i.e. saw HIM, whilst under the illusion??? WHAT???

Nooo, Kissy Xing, why are you lying? Why won't you tell what you saw when you hallucinated? I wanna know too, gah!!!

Yo, Baby Zi Shu DEVELOPED the illusion drug? As a sleep remedy, lol. Nice.

K, who's the guy in the carriage at Sanbai Manor? Han Ying. Who is that? Have we seen him before?

Did Baby Zi Shu just tell Kissy Xing the truth about himself killing people, setting them on fire etc.? That came out super smooth.

They're talking about this heroes conference that was mentioned before, but I have no idea what it is, and what it relates to. I'm so bad at remembering TV series plotlines... I'm assuming that this conference is where the uncles take the kid to.

Aww, Baby Zi Shu keeps close by and watches over the kid.

Kissy Xing wants 30 copies of the glazed armor piece. And he is freaking rich, man.

Waaaah, my purple queen! I've missed her so much. And she's kept the other girls around. And they're playing strip mahjong, apparently, lol. Yes, good for her! Also, Bechdel test passed! Nice.

Where are they anyway? Which town is this? Was this mentioned, did I miss it?

K, so Kissy Xing wants to pay the two girls out so they'll leave (very obviously), but they don't want to. Is he going to make my queen kill them after all? And she gives him nuts in return. Hmm. I mean, seriously. He MUST be nuts guy. There were SO MANY hints.

Oh, he lets them stay and become My queen's servants.

What? What is this secret plan? What are they gonna do with the fake pieces of glazed armor?

Noooooo, don't end here!!!!!

Wahhh

Okay, what have I learned: Baby Zi Shu's real name! And that Kissy Xing knows him from somewhere. Also learned what glazed armor pieces look like. My queen loves playing strip mahjong. And people are meeting up for some heroes conference.

Goals for future episodes: Find out how Kissy Xing and Baby Zi Shu know each other. Finally finish that name chart thing and add all the new people, omg.

#word of honor #1st watch insta thoughts #word of honor ep 06 #smirklord

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bronanlynch · 3 years

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bi-weekly update

it sure has been a wild time here and tbh I had enough to do one of these last week and just. didn’t?? for some reason?? anyway

listening: the Promare soundtrack went on sp*tify recently so I’ve been on Promare soundtrack lockdown over here. I know Kakusei is the iconic Promare song but Inferno (the opening song) always makes me tear up??? love to experience emotions about a movie in a reasonable and normal way. so anyway my standout track from the OST is Piromare because I am so very not immune to sad soft piano renditions of a motif that is usually triumphant/cheerful/etc

youtube

reading: I have, for once, read a bunch of books. I got a giftcard to my favorite local indie bookshop for Christmas and finally got around to using it to buy two books I’d been looking forward to, Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson (bi polyam Dracula retelling, kind of) and Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell (gay arranged marriage space opera)

Dowry of Blood was very satisfying to me, someone who has lots of opinions about how vampires ought to be sexy and also terrifying, and I really enjoyed this specific take on vampire lore. also the formatting/pagination was really really cool and reminded me more of poetry books than prose usually does. for the first couple of pages there’s only text on one side of the page and then there’s one line on the back of a page and it hits really hard. extremely good and cool printing choices. would def recommend, but it is also explicitly an exploration of getting into and then out of an abusive relationship so. warnings for that in addition to the murder/blood warnings

also look at how sick this cover is (by Marlowe Lune, an artist whose work I really like in general)

I previously read Winter’s Orbit when it was on ao3 as an original work (called Course of Honour) and it was really cool to read a familiar story that I uh. read several times on ao3 but with added layers, because the author added a bunch of worldbuilding and an entire overarching higher-stakes political plot. I really really liked the added worldbuilding, and for the most part I enjoyed the new plot stuff, though at times I felt like it distracted from what I liked the most about the original, and there was one specific scene that was taken out that I was disappointed about. fave thing about the worldbuilding is when something is referred to by normal familiar words (like pigeons or bears) and then the actual thing is like, a fucking dinosaur that only vaguely resembles the word that’s used for it. very fun

also slightly mixed feelings about the framing of empire in the book, since there is some discussion about the consequences of imperialism and the resolution of the plot involves getting more rights and political sway for colonized planets. but the majority of the plot is about preserving an unjust status quo, and the representative of one of the colonized planets is working for the interests of the empire so that they can appear unified in the face of a larger-scale potential threat, which I’m not sure I love. and I also didn’t really care for the way the resistance movement (whenever it came up, which wasn’t often) was portrayed. so. on one hand yes there is a message of ‘empire bad and we should maybe try to be less Like That’ but on the other hand sometimes it did feel like the imperialism was an under-examined backdrop for a romance. like don’t get me wrong, I love the romance, I love the characters, it’s just that some of the politics didn’t quite do it for me and I think I just wanted More of things that just. weren’t the focus of the story

warnings for discussions of abusive relationships in this one, except this time it’s backstory for one of the characters, not something that’s present in the central relationship. and for all of the things that I wasn’t quite satisfied with, the parts of the book that are about like, learning how to be a person again after being in a situation where you’re not allowed to be yourself are still very well-handled and hit me real hard.

I also read a whole bunch of KJ Charles because sometimes all my brain can handle is marathoning romance novels, but I’m not gonna talk about all of them because this is already long enough (have not read the new one that came out today yet though that’s what I’m gonna do after this)

watching: Supernatural season 13 is incredibly boring and bad in ways that aren’t interesting or fun to talk about so I haven’t watched any recently. I did watch the first episode of Lupin, and really enjoyed it! will definitely watch more, though slowly because it takes too much of my brain to marathon it, partially because I know just enough French to almost not need the subtitles but having to read and also automatically trying to translate as I’m listening takes more brain energy. love a good heist though, and it has some good social commentary on race and class and crime

also the main character is very good. fucking superb you funky gentleman thief

playing: still making my way through the last mission of Knife of Dunwall. I made a bunch of progress since I whined at my friend about how hard it was and they told me to just stay in the building that has places to hide (the one you have to make your way through as Corvo, so I already know the layout, which helps lol) instead of the one that’s falling apart with nowhere to hide. who would have thought.

have also watched my roommate play lots of games and have thoughts on those too. Final Fantasy games (or at least the ones I’ve seen anything from, which is 7, 14, and 15) really appeal to me on a character/aesthetic/plot level but the gameplay looks like it would be bad for my brain. and yes all of those have very different gameplay but they would all be not fun for me in different ways. my roommate showed me like an hour of cutscenes from 14 last night that was basically a movie of tropes I love but holy shit I could never play a game where I have to wait for other people to be ready to also play the same part of the game before I can advance the plot

they’ve also been playing Persona 5 Scramble/Strikers (I don’t know which one the S stands for and at this point I’m too afraid to ask), which I do intend to play myself some day. it’s a sequel to Persona 5 with the same characters and damn they really nailed the feeling of seeing your friends again after not seeing them for a while, both in terms of. I care about these characters and am happy to see them again and also, they haven’t seen the protagonist in a while and they’re so happy he’s back and it makes me very soft. would love to reunite with friends whom I haven’t seen in a while

making: haven’t worked on cosplay but we did make some very tasty tortellini soup last weekend, and then last night we made fish & chips which was a lot easier than I was expecting and turned out pretty well? we just used frozen fries instead of like. frying them ourselves but we did make some very tasty lemon-garlic green beans

writing: well. I have a couple of things I’ve been noodling away at for a bit, and then a couple days ago I had a little bit of a breakdown and wrote 3000 words of angst in one sitting for an entire different new fic (Persona boys having a miserable time), and then yesterday decided to get in on a thing in The Untamed fandom of people writing short ““boring”“ domestic oneshots, and I love domesticity so I wrote one, which various reviewers have called “very sweet” and “a callout post” (it is both of those things)

I’m also organizing an event for P5 trans content because someone was shitty to one of my roommates over a trans headcanon and I got so pissed off that I’m running a prompt week now. love to have reasonable emotional reactions to things that happen in my life. why would I think about my actual problems when I could get petty and spiteful over someone saying that a fictional character couldn’t possibly be trans

#this one is real long i'm sorry #contains pictures of food under the readmore #tuesday no problem extended universe #dreaming.txt

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mercutial · 3 years

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bridgerton ep 4 thoughts and spoilers below

asking Marina to show her teeth - once again another comparison between marriage and buying a horse (first one was from Nigel’s dialogue with Simon)

AHAH I really appreciate the eye candy from Simon, and Daph’s reaction to it

but OH NO the prince is totally down for marriage and kids and settling in England close to her family and that’s exactly what Daphne wants!!!

there’s this running thing here of Mr. Featherington losing bets and gambles... I’m guessing that the reason he has to take care of Marina is because he owes a ton of money to Mr. Thompson

i liked the little scene with Benedict and the artist... all the little side plots are fun, short and sweet. if you think about it, there’s a ton going on, but each plot is pretty easy to understand and feels like it fits within the overarching plot and themes of the show.

OH SHIT racial integration is part of the plot??? what!! i thought it was just “how it is” but it makes sense given what Simon’s father said about how they had just been given the dukedom recently... honestly makes him a more understandable character even if he’s still horrible

guessing that Mr. Featherington is trying not to get his daughters married because then he’d have to help pay for their weddings? yikes. i feel bad for Mrs. Featherington tbh

NO poor Penelope ahh Colin don’t break her heart pls

AHHHH THEY DID THE HEDGE MAZE SCENE WITH ANTHONY BURSTING IN YES that was my favorite from the book lmao

aaaaa poor Pen trying to deal with Marina speaking glowingly of Colin nooooo ahhhhh and Marina has no idea aaaaaaa

OH i called it Mr. Featherington can’t pay their dowries... damn his crying seemed so genuine and full of guilt :(

damn, I really like the detail of Anthony seeing the duel as an escape from a life of societal restrictions. and then shoving all the responsibilities onto Colin, who only just started self-actualizing...

man, the duel scene was great. the suspense. the sadness. Anthony shaking, unable to fire, Simon completely refusing to

#bridgerton #my reactions #personal

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vaellinn · 2 years

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3, 10, 13, 16

What were your top five books of the year? this is difficult because i've only given 4 books 5 stars :^) 1. Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga (non-fiction about the murders/deaths of Indigenous youth in northern Ontario) 2. Bad Blood by John Carreyrou (non-fiction about wild blood/technology scam that you recommended lmao) 3. The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey (adult sci-fi? speculative fiction? also recommended by you) 4. Red Rising by Pierce Brown (adult sci-fi, cheating because this is a re-read) 5. Mask of Mirrors by M. A. Carrick (adult? fantasy - i liked the beginning more than the end but it was fun)

What was your favorite new release of the year? Mask of Mirrors by M. A. Carrick probably?? The beginning was so full of promise, still gonna read the sequel tho (it just came out!!); or The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey but in order to choose something ELSE - Neon Gods by Katee Robert (smut, basically lmao) just because it delivered exactly what it promised and i appreciated that. people don't like it but i think they're just possessive of "hades and persephone" retellings and i don't think it deserves the low rating it has tbh. was it Good? no. but honestly who was expecting Great Literature from this. i'm so tired of people gatekeeping hades and persephone retellings like get a hobby bro. her safe word was "pomegranate." that's exactly what i expected lmfao

What were your least favorite books of the year? :)

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (adult? snoozefest tbh) this was the WINNER for women's fiction and it was The most pretentious thing i read in a long time and i hated it. i feel like people who had their education paid for by their parents would like this book. people who exclusively drink earl grey tea. people who correct others' pronunciation. people who still like harry potter. people who were told they're gifted in second grade and never developed a personality beyond that. you know?

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendricks (adult.... horror???? idk man). This was frankly racist. i'd expect nothing less from this author who is, and I cannot stress enough, a White Man who thinks he understands what women are afraid of. his books are bad and he should feel bad. i'm not convinced he's ever spoken to a woman before (or any non-white person). people love this and they're... wrong lmfao. him and riley sager are both on my shit list

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson (non-fiction) i hate this man

A House at the Bottom of a Lake by Josh Malerman (???????? mystery??????) this should have stayed in the drafts, Josh. My favourite quote: "She thought of James's sperm fanning out, a slow-mo explosion, how cool it looked..." i read this with my own two eyes

What is the most over-hyped book you read this year? Dowry of Blood by S. T. Gibson (adult fantasy? romance? horror technically? idk) the beginning was really good but I didn't like the characterization by the end. very over-hyped

The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L Armentrout - (YA? fantasy/romance) did I expect this to be good? no. i did expect a plot and the author took that as a challenge to write a third book in a series with over 500 pages with absolutely no plot or character development and the most repetitive writing i ever did see. i have no one to blame but myself

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J Maas - this series and the books are Too Long and the characters are....... to put this delicately...... regressing. will i continue? i have no choice, i'm in too deep. miles to go before i sleep.

Still 2 weeks left of the year tho so maybe i'll read something better!!! one hopes :^)

#ask meme #books #thank u i love u

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