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endless-season · 13 days

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9 Fandom Peeps to Get to Know Better

tagged by @defeateddetectives /o/

3 ships you like: *looks into void* do I even have 3 proper ships

1) MikoIzuTotsu (Suoh Mikoto x Kusanagi Izumo x Totsuka Tatara) - K

And no one was surprised. I MEAN ITS BEEN OVER TEN YEARS. BUT A GOOD CHUNK OF THOSE TEN YEARS WERE DEDICATED TO HOMURA TRIO (well technically... the real answer is Totsuka Tatara however we will ignore that for the sake of this meme). Get yourself two others who will go through it all with you thick or thin. Get yourself a leash i mean what. Get yourself a Kusanagi-san! Settle down in a bar and raise i mean gather a gang family!

2) Qin Jiu x You Huo - Global Examination

Felt obligated to include them since I'm currently trying to drag ppl to read this lmao. Also bc i have no ships to answer with, help. BUT THE CHEMISTRY! I mean, this is probably the first time I clearly see what people mean by the word ~ chemistry ~. Qin Jiu is such a chaotic menace, You Huo is such a chaotic menace, they are similar but also different and then put them together and everyone suffers, it's beautiful *wipes tear*. But they are also so so so soft together (i was going to say, in private.... but also in front of people's salad so!!!) *clutches heart*. The author, 木苏里 just does a create job exploring the two throughout the story, READ GLOBAL EXAMINATION! THERE'S ALSO AN ONGOING MANHUA THAT COVERS LIKE A THIRD. DO IT. and then send me liveblogs pls and thanks.

3) H-h-help... ships... are hard... I... don't ...

first ship ever: IzuTotsu (Kusanagi Izumo x Totsuka Tatara) - K Shamelessly links to that post where I sobbed over everything #Actual Marriage Goals The trust! The intuitive understanding! The communication! (sorry Mikoto, your grunting fails you) The ~ G o S s i P i n g ~ ! The mutual support and comfort ;_;! The domesticity of it all! The quipping and doting! The we're all in this (this = Mikoto doom but with matching wing tattoos) together! The seemless division of labor haha

last song you heard: i turned on my playlist when i saw this question so that by the time i finish answering the meme and come back to this question, i will have an answer… Anyways, so the answer is…. ~ wHAT A coINcindENce ~ Dark Night Fireworks, Lucien's season 1 theme from MLQC.

favourite childhood book: Uh........ idk.... Deltora Quest? Alex Rider series? If manga counts then maybe Detective Conan? lmao.

currently reading: I’m Not Shouldering This Blame (这锅我不背) Current novel in my danmei binging spree. 40 chaps in, enjoying it so far. Synopsis gives a pretty good idea of what to expect. Hordes of book transmigrators trying to derail or benefit from knowing the plot, military dealing with the supernatural mess and notifying MC and ML who are supposedly the villains, MC... just trying to work in peace cmon, ML... just trying to seduce MC cmon.

currently watching: Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Just finished it over the last few days hence why there's a few posts in my queue. It’s nice and chill. I admit I was eyeing Himmel the moment he appeared in the first episode and didn't know whether to laugh or cry at his instant transformation / flashforward to old bald man. Was pleasantly surprised to see him appearing constantly in flashbacks haunting the narrative ethereal dead wife style lmao.

currently consuming: I waited for dinner to write this! Was lazy tonight so just a bunch of easy to prep in 5 min sides. Rice, Prawn dumplings, Chilli Bamboo (Fu Chi brand), Century Egg + Tofu + Pork floss, Smashed cucumber salad that I managed to ruin :/

currently craving: A reason to live A shiny new satisfying fandom obsession... Motivation and energy and wisdom to adult... A yakult and WangLaoJi... ... ...... *walks to fridge and grabs yakult and wanglaoji*

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A rare meme where I'm gonna actually tag!!! See what ppl are up to and eating these days >:)

@qserasera @chiaki-c @nervous-sheep @alice-chan-chan @jelly-cooperation

@laxmiree @caesurables @pu-san @vanishing-apples @dijeh

@ittybi @ellie-winthrope @bloomingmitsuri @a-justaway-is-just-a-justaway @constastan

As usual feel free to skip if tagged or do even if not tagged :> Edit: why is tagging not working *squints*

#askbox #k stuff #i havent used that tag in ages #stuff i post #placeholderrrrrrr #k project #global examination #frieren

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oakashandwillow · 29 days

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20 Questions for Writers

Tagged by @bywayofmemory

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 91. A couple of those are 3SF compilations.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 115,642

3. What fandoms do you write for? Narnia, mostly. Used to write some Supernatural, Doctor Who but mostly in crossovers. Once we get into 3SF or "i've written this like once" - Star Wars (Mandalorian & Andor/Rogue One in particular), Battlestar Galactica, original stuff, Alex Rider, The Locked Tomb, Mass Effect, DC Comics, Middle Earth (movies, all books, Rings of Power), MCU - a lot. Twilight because of my "what if Renesmee was not... what Meyers wanted her to be" series.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Whose Other Side Is Salvation. Narnia/Doctor Who. Susan and the Doctor run.

we have to go on living. Young Justice. He can't hold it together forever. Robin, post-Failsafe.

to go nowhere with you. Torchwood/Narnia. "Minotaur," Edmund corrects automatically. Edmund/Ianto, time loops, minotaurs, coffee, and rift archaeology of sorts.

give me a world, you have taken the world i was. Hardy Boys. Joe wakes up alone in the dark. Things get worse from there, which sucks, because Frank is supposed to be home from college for Christmas break today.

Secrets Kept. Young Justice. Artemis knows Robin's secret. Spoilers through Young Justice 1x08.

5. Do you respond to comments? I... am nowhere as good as I would like to be at it.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? ... considering all the Narnia and specifically Susan Narnia stories I write that is a hard call. Probably we have come to our real work. AU. When Peter and Lucy hunt the White Stag, Susan and Edmund are in Archenland. Things go downhill from there. It's pretty early in my fic career so it could be a lot better in terms of quality but it is probably the saddest ending I've written. In terms of saddest story that I'm actually proud of? Probably we should take warning, we should forgive each other. Narnia, Prunaprismia, the bitterness of loss and pride and decisions it seems like are the only ones you can make even though they aren't.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Do I.... do I write happy endings.

I suppose my Renesmee series has a pretty happy ending! between one June and another September. Twilight, Renesmee/Leah. Renesmee Cullen comes full circle and falls in love. Does not make much sense without having read the previous works in the series though.

OH wait i gave edmund/bacchus (Narnia) a happy ending in one year since i've seen the mountains. I can write things that are happy!

8. Do you get hate on fics? I am extremely under the radar for almost everything honestly so no! And tbh I just don't have patience for that so would probably just delete and block if it was properly hate.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I've written some, though it's pretty mild!

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? Look, what haven't I crossed over with Narnia. Merlin (BBC), Doctor Who / Torchwood, Mary Poppins, The Dark Is Rising, The Library Trilogy. I've done Leverage/Supernatural and I don't even know what I've done in various 3SF rounds. If we're counting my RP days I had some WILD character interactions while playing Padme Amidala in particular.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? I doubt it? Never checked.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Once or twice! And podcasted once.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Several times! Only one is actively published and available as a fic though. Winds To Catch, Narnia/Mary Poppins, with @siterlas and animus in the city on A03. A Very Long Time Ago @bedlamsbard and I did like... an alarming amount of words on a BBC Merlin/Narnia crossover in commentfic. (Alarming for me who mostly writes like, maybe 1-2k a fic, not for Bed who's chapters number easily in the multiple thousands of words.) @siterlas and zempasuchil and I once wrote a bunch of AU BBC Merlin RPF commentfic where we wrote both the actors as if they were in a show about Marx and Engels instead and also parts of the fake show that they were in. Definitely various Supernatural and Narnia commentfic across the years. Probably more? Have also written friend fic for Las with Animus and Z. I also did a lot of RP stuff over the years! Which is cowriting though not in the sense we think of with fic.

Actually I really miss commentfic. It's so fun. I sometimes get to do it a little in 3SF but most people don't even know it's a thing you can do these days I think alas. Very informal collaboration is delightful!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Yeah I can't answer that. I'm very bad at picking favorites, ever. If we're talking ships I actually write, Susan/Edmund (Narnia), Bo-Katan/Din (Mandalorian) and Kara/Lee (BSG) are probably my top three? But I love... so many ships.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I started a follow up to my Hardy Boys story and I've noodled with it occasionally and don't think I'll ever properly finish it.

16. What are your writing strengths? I have been told I'm really good at ending lines! I like to think I'm good at just character study.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Plot. Who needs a plot. What is a plot.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I do not trust myself to get it right at all so I just don't overall.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Depends if we count doing RP in which case it's Lord of the Rings. If it's straight fic, Narnia.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? My favorites land in very different categories, so I think I will pick the first fic I wrote that I properly felt "wait, I think I can be good at this writing thing" and still gets received well. this temporary flesh and bone. Narnia. Susan/Edmund. Susan, Edmund, and the zombie apocalypse in England.

I shall tag. @svgurl410 @lyntergalactic @liminal-zone @callowyn @ravenlilyrose

#fanfic #writing #narnia #it me

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f1-birb · 8 months

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29 42 and 43 for the ask game if you've not done them yet!!

29. favourite film(s)

oooo I have a lot, I'm a huge fan of the lotr trilogy and once did a movie marathon of the three hobbit movies directly followed by the og trilogy

a knight's tale is a great movie, four brothers I've seen like 9 times, treasure planet is another one, nightmare before christmas is a big fave

42. favourite book(s)

Tolkien is up there, the hobbit and the three lotr, when I was younger I lived the Alex Rider series and also the young James Bond series by Anthony Horowitz

currently I'm reading the Thursday murder club series by Richard Osman and really enjoying it

43. favourite song ever

this is probably the hardest question for me to answer because I have music on pretty much 24/7 and it all depends

if I have to choose I'll go with september by earth wind and fire because it always puts me in a good mood

get to know me

#get to know me asks #thank you anon!#birb speaks

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sugarcarnation · 1 year

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i’m bored. so you get an alli trivia quiz! made by yours truly. let’s see how strong this alliance really is (no pressure but this will determine the rest of our relationship)

1. what type of characters tend to be my favourite?

2. who’s music do i listen to the most?

3. who is my favourite male character in bsd? female character?

4. what’s my favourite crime?

5. why did i stop watching the latest show i started?

6. what book series am i currently rereading?

7. what au idea do i attach to frazel?

8. who’s at the bottom of my bsd character ranking?

9. which taylor swift song did i assign to alex rider?

10. why do i find yassen’s (from alex rider series) name so funny?

and bonus question: what is something that i’m afraid of that many people keep in their homes?

love that you decided to do this publicly. gotta make it embarrassing for me if i fail to answer anything

(answers under the cut to not make this get too long lmao)

what type of characters tend to be my favourite?

main characters!!! i know that one. you also generally like a character who suffers™️

whose music do i listen to the most?

okay idk if i can say who you listen to the most but you do listen to a lot of taylor swift. and ariana grande tends to end up in your spotify wrapped as well. and i think you used to (still do?) listen to little mix

who is my favourite male character in bsd? female character?

i can confidently answer this. dazai has been your favorite from literally the first day i decided you had to join me on this journey. i was trying to tell you about atsushi and you went yeah what about that guy in the river though?

and your favorite female character is yosano. even if i’m pretty sure you keep forgetting that that’s her name since you only refer to her as akiko

basically you have great taste in characters

what's my favourite crime?

🔥🔥🔥 ARSON 🔥🔥🔥

why did i stop watching the latest show i started?

the last show you started from the beginning was how to get away with murder and you stopped it because they killed of wes (your favorite character 😔)

what book series am i currently rereading?

alex rider!! the book series about people repeatedly traumatizing a child

what au idea do i attach to frazel?

i know we talked about this but i don’t remember 😔 that being said while trying to think about what it could be my mind repeatedly went hades and persephone au so here’s my au proposal where hazel rules over the underworld and starts dating flower boy frank

who's at the bottom of my bsd character ranking?

lmao it’s verlaine. my extensive chuuya backstory essay really didn’t paint him in the best light

which taylor swift song did i assign to alex rider?

had to think about this but i believe it’s dear reader. i remember this because i texted you like i think dear reader is an oda song because ✨vibes✨ and you were basically like well i think it fits alex and you wrote an entire essay about it where you analyzed the lyrics 😭

why do i find yassen's (from alex rider series) name so funny?

because it rhymes with assassin. and he is an assassin. he’s yassen the assassin

what is something that i'm afraid of that many people keep in their homes?

idk if i’m gonna give the right answer to this 😔 i think there was something else but i can’t remember so i’m gonna have to go with dogs. that counts right??

i hope my answers were satisfactory and this won’t be the end of our friendship <3

#this was fun #i didn’t know i would get quizzed on our conversations but i think i did well #sugar alliance

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ratmonologue · 1 year

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Top 5 characters whose stories you would rewrite, given the chance =)

ok I was not ignoring this I just needed like 3 days years to think about it because GREAT QUESTION, this will get long and progressively more unhinged, let's go-

5. Holland Vosijk ADSOM: Debating whether he belongs on this list, because on the one hand his part of the story would not be as impactful as it is if it wasn't completely soaked in tragic dramatic irony, but on the other hand, :,((. So I'll just change one tiny little bit at the end, to make it so he.... how to not-spoilers things.... so he Realizes certain consequences of certain actions. He deserves that much, at least. Also ice cream. I'll write the existence of ice cream into his world.

4. movie!Faramir LotR: I get what they were they were trying to do here, to give him a bit more of a character arc re juggling the pressures/responsibilities/legacies of Gondor and his father and Boromir and his own moral compass. And I actually don’t hate most of it! I don’t mind that he was tempted by the Ring at first - even the kindest, most level-headed person in such desperate circumstances is at least going to spare a glance at the supernaturally-alluring desperate measures, and imo that doesn’t make him less level-headed or kind. Therefore what DOES feel out of character, and what I’m changing, is how much of a dick he is for a bit there. No gratuitous Gollum abuse allowed.

3. The BBC Merlin knights: For the purposes of this list, they count as one. If it were up to me this would be less of a rewrite and more of a plain old write because I think they deserve a proper spinoff series full of more wacky Arthurian hijinks (Green Knight, anyone? questing beasts? the Holy Grail?) in which Merlin and Arthur and co. only have brief, humorous, and completely irrelevant cameos. The rest of those dunces deserved some character arcs too. If a full spinoff is out of the question, then at the very least keep Lancelot alive longer and give us some Ramifications re Guinevere and him knowing about Merlin’s magic and whatnot, give Gwaine his potential depth back and don’t just reduce him to comic relief, give Leon the respect he deserves for saying no to certain death so many times, etc etc yeah basically I just want more of all of these idiots. I love them.

2. Kai Leng Mass Effect: Yeah, ugh, I know, but hear me out: what if... he was an Actual Not-Pathetic Secondary Antagonist who DIDN'T completely suck shrimp balls?? Have him cameo in ME2 while you're "working for" Cerberus, establish him as a halfway competent sort of rival who's actually like, plotting things or whatever, so then when he comes back in ME3 it's like "oh shit, it's THAT bastard!" rather than "this is SO FUCKING STUPID [punts controller through screen, while crying over Thane (yes, I'm fixing that part too)]." I hate him, you hate him, we all hate him, for good reason, he sucks SO HARD, he can't even land a single hit on me until the goddamn cutscene has to give him the win on Thessia, but! It did not have to be this way! He could have been marginally competent with some writing tweaks, and fellow ME players everywhere could have rolled their eyes significantly fewer times! I want to hate him the way I'd hate an actual adversary, not the way I hate a piece of gum that refuses to un-stick from the bottom of my shoe!

And, in the #1 spot because all these years later, thinking about it STILL fills me with rage... Yassen Gregorovich's Alex Rider Prequel Book.

Context: The Alex Rider series, action/mystery novels about a 14-year-old James Bond expy, was not THE most formative childhood book series for me, but it was up there. In the top 5. Seeing as how I have been the exact same brand of predictable my entire life, 10yo me's favorite character was Yassen, the opposing-team assassin with maybe 20 pages of screentime over a 9-book series. It was obvious that he had... morals is too much of a stretch, but there was a sense of still waters running deep. He was played as a 'darker side of the same coin' sort of deal re Alex himself, and had some Complex History(TM) with Alex's father and uncle, both of whom were, like Alex, MI6 (double) agents, both dead prior to the series' start, one so by Yassen's hand. Yassen also dies young halfway through the series, of course, but his ghost hangs around.

Fast forward a decade or so, well after the series proper had ended. Find out Yassen's getting a prequel book, aptly titled Russian Roulette, tracing how he went from an orphaned nobody to one of the most yikes most competent secret agents in the world. Get HYPE, because he's a goldmine of potential for fleshing out both himself and Alex's past. If you're going to do a spinoff/prequel, this is exactly the kind of character you want for it.

Unfortunately (and this is where we shift from Context to Rant), in my excitement I’d forgotten one crucially important fact, and that is that Anthony Horowitz is completely incapable of keeping track of his own books’ canon.

I’m not gonna rewrite a play-by-play here (that’s stored in a probably 6 page word doc I vomited up shortly after finishing the book wherein I attempted (failed) to rewrite it all to make it make sense), but the short version is that 1) sometimes the timelines and/or events just straight up contradicted what was established in the main series; 2) Horowitz apparently chickened out of the fact that Yassen is kinda sorta definitely a villain and/or he just didn’t know how to write a corruption arc; which together led to 3) Yassen has virtually zero agency in his own book, and in the moments he does have agency, the decisions he makes don’t make sense, in that they are straight up impossible to reconcile with both this perpetually-victimized younger version of himself and the calculating hitman we know he becomes. That’s another thing, we didn’t see him evolve from one to the other, he just kinda. clumsily flipped a switch at the end there. I don’t have to explain that that kind of writing is stupid and lazy. And I know, this is a middle-grade Bond ripoff, I’m not gonna get fuckin, idk, Black Sails levels of character nuance or anything, but like. We can still have a little nuance in this nicely complex premise? Just a smidge? Please...? Apparently not.

(And I’m not even going to get into whatever the FUCK was going wrong with John Rider’s character, except to say that he was hands down the most important person in Yassen’s life and something in his characterization was Definitely Going Wrong as compared to what we already knew of him, which in turn fed into Yassen’s whole everything feeling Off, etc etc why is this entire book made of Nonsense Hell)

In conclusion, there was SO MUCH POTENTIAL and it was SQUANDERED by author laziness and yes I am angry but I’m also just Sad. the entire point was to show all these different people and events and overarching themes (which did actually exist, believe it or not) from alternate angles, but instead we just got a mess. it could have been amazing. and while I clearly haven’t figured out how to make it amazing yet, at least I’ve identified the problems, and that’s step one.

And yeah, there was a russian roulette scene (the gun kind) in the book. Two, actually. They were horrifying and should not have been in a middle-grade series. But they’re honestly among the least of my issues here.

You’re not remotely a great person, Yassen, but for some reason I love you and you deserved better. And Anthony, if I ever meet you: it’s on sight.

#I answer stuff #(and answer and answer and answer and Answer...)#long post #exlibrisfangirl #honestly this was hard bc while there are Many characters that I'm like 'I wish they hadn't died :((' I'm also like. I get why they had to.#to further the themes and stuff. sure rewriting their stories would be happier but it would also be less interesting/impactful #hence my racking my brain to find the intersection of 'who got done dirty and who do I actually care enough about to fix' lol #and on the Extremely Slim Chance that anyone else wants to commiserate over blorbhov from my mediocre books: hmu </3 #I would tag koala but. well. we've been around this track many times already

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numberonedragonmagazine · 1 year

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This December, or starting November, actually, I'm going to try to make a dent in my TBR book pile. I haven't read probably half of my books and bought four more today, so it's time to get reading.

I don't have as many books as someone who likes reading probably should have, I only started collecting books after high school so it's a fast growing pile.

This is a list of all the books I have. I marked the ones I did read with ✅, the ones I have to read with ❌, and the ones I started reading but didn't finish yet with 🔶.

I'm restarting this blog to post updates, talk about the books, and hopefully get some encouragement to keep reading.

Listing Rick Riordan's stuff first because I have most of the books and read nearly all of them.

Percy Jackson

✅ The Lightning Thief

✅ Sea of Monsters

✅ Titan's Curse.

✅Battle of the Labyrinth

✅ The Last Olympian

✅ Greek Gods

🔶 Greek Heroes

Heroes of Olympus

✅ The Lost Hero

✅ The Son of Neptune

✅ The Mark of Athena

✅ House of Hades

✅ Blood of Olympus

Magnus Chase

✅ Sword of Summer

✅ Hammer of Thor

✅ Ship of the Dead

❌ 9 From the Nine Worlds (Shorts)

The Trials of Apollo

✅ The Hidden Oracle

✅ The Dark Prophecy

✅ The Burning Maze

🔶 The Tyrant's Tomb

❌ The Tower of Nero

That's it for Uncle Rick. I want to finish Apollo's series first, because of the new books releasing next year. I will add the Kane Chronicles to my collection at some point, but because of them being so unpopular, they're very hard to find.

Divergent

✅ Divergent

✅ Insurgent

❌ Allegiant

❌ Four

Stopped reading because at the end of Insurgent the book kind of went into a totally new direction. It felt like I was starting to read a different story and everything just fell apart so quickly. I did enjoy the story up until then, just never felt the need to continue reading. But I'll finish the series. Sometime.

The Hunger Games

✅ The Hunger Games

✅ Catching Fire

✅ Mockingjay

Loved it. Will read again. I know there are more books by Suzanne Collins that need to be bought, but I need to get through my TBR pile first.

Gone

✅ Gone

🔶 Hunger

Absolutely loved the first book. Read it within one weekend, which is great since I'm a pretty slow reader. I stopped reading Hunger because I wanted to buy the rest of the series before I continued but I could never find a store that sold them all and now it seems they're off the shelves. I'll have to buy the full box set and just donate the two books I have.

Alex Rider

✅ Stormbreaker

✅ Point Blanc

✅ Skeleton Key

✅ Eagle Strike

🔶 Scorpia

❌ Ark Angel

❌ Snakehead

❌ Crocodile Tears

❌ Scorpia Rising

❌ Russian Roulette

Love this series too, not as much as others but it did inspire a book I wrote in lockdown. Going to finish it. There are more books now. I think there are three or four new ones, I don't know, but I'll get them (My grocery list is getting LONG. How am I to afford all this?)

Poison Study

❌ Magic Study

❌ Fire Study

❌ Shadow Study

❌ Night Study

❌ Dawn Study

Those who are familiar with this series will notice that the first book is missing. I bought this set in a thrift store, brand new, not even a crack in the spines, but the first book is missing and I can't find it anywhere. There is one at our local version of Amazon, but the cover doesn't match the others.

Death Note

❌ I

❌III

Watched the anime until L's final appearance. These books are basically just a collection.

Game of Thrones

✅ A Game of Thrones

✅ A Clash of Kings

🔶 A Storm of Swords: 1

❌ A Storm of Swords: 2

❌ A Feast for Crows

❌ A Dance with Dragons: 1

❌ A Dance with Dragons: 2

❌ A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

❌ Fire and Blood

Making my way through these books at a snail's pace. I only read them in December because that's the only time I have enough free time to really sit down and read them. There are so many characters and plot lines that I can't keep track if I read just a few chapters at a time.

Dragon Blood (Kindle)

❌ Balanced on the Blade's Edge

❌ Deathmaker

❌ Blood Charged

Snatched when it went on sale. Free or almost free, I don't remember.

That's it for the series's.

🔶 Merde in Europe

Very funny. Loaned it to a friend who loaned it to his uncle who loaned it to a friend. By the time I got it back I was already reading something else.

✅ Good Omens

Everybody loves Good Omens. Whoever doesn't like it is a liar.

🔶 The Hobbit

I know this is a children's bedtime story, I just didn't know it's as childlike as it is. Need to finish it so I can get the rest of the series.

🔶 Dark Lover

Part of a series. Don't like. Won't finish. Will Donate.

❌ 1000 Years of Annoying the French

A history book written by the same man who wrote Merde in Europe. I paged through it before buying but haven't gotten to reading it yet.

❌ Monstrous Devices

No idea what it's about. Bought it today on clearance. Something about a magic robot.

❌ Reaper of Souls

Bought today because I've seen it around stores and kept on thinking that I should buy it someday.

❌ The Language of Thorns

Bought today. No idea what it's about. My mom showed it to me when I was at the front of the line to pay, it looked like the kind of thing I would buy. It's a hard cover and it was really cheap.

❌ Some TikTok book about some kind of trial. A navy blue book with constellations on the cover. My sister wanted to read it. She never wants to read anything so I bought it so she can borrow it.

✅ Travelling Without Moving (Kindle)

Was a good book, very imaginative. Not the kind of thing I would normally read.

❌ The Oath and Blood Price (Kindle)

Used to be Twitter friends with the author. He's pretty cool. Read the first few pages, we have a very similar writing style.

These are the books I have. I used to read a lot as a kid, but I don't have those books anymore. Read mostly Wattpad stuff as a teenager, it's what we could afford at the time.

A few books I did read but don't own:

Maze Runner. Book one.

A School for Good and Evil. Halfway through book one, trying to ignore Netflix's prompts to watch the series (movie?) instead.

The Last Five Swords. A new release. I was one of the late beta readers but unfortunately didn't have enough time to finish. It's an amazing book and part of my TBR pile now.

Harry Potter 1-3

A few more I can't think of right now.

Then there are the books I said I would buy at a later stage.

Lord of the Rings

The Silmarillion

The rest of the Gone series

Rest of the Alex Rider series

The Kane Chronicles

Poison Study

Rest of the Death Note books

How to successfully rob a bank

That last GoT book to finish the collection

Maze Runner, probably

Those assassin books by Robin Hobb

Something by Suzanne Collins

I need to write a paper list that I can check.

#books #booklr #fantasy books #percy jackon and the olympians #heroes of olympus #alex rider #lotr #game of thrones

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esamastation · 2 years

Text

Few months back I asked for fandom recs and got a whole bunch. Here's my progress going through the list so far. Mostly posting this because I keep thinking I'm running out of things to watch/play/read but nope, haha

1 Mass effect legendary edition

gonna do this later

2 Scum Villain's Self Saving System

sorta there

3 Alice in Borderland

watched live action season 1

4 Murderbot Diaries

first book done

5 Untamed

watched live action drama version

6 King's Avatar

watched about half of live action drama version and I think I used to read the comic way back when

7 All for the game by Nora Sakavic

8 Kingdom (on Netflix)

done 👍

9 Grishaverse

watched the Netflix series

10 Witcher

Watched the Netflix series, played small amount of the games, read minimal amount of the books

11 Final Fantasy XV Kingsglaive

12 Bofuri (short for I'm scared of getting hurt so I'm going to put all my points in defense)

13 Fate/nasuverse

14 Mashiro no Oto, or Snow White Notes

15 Fear Street Trilogy (on Netflix)

16 Girl Genius

17 Lego Monkie Kid

18 My Hero Academia.

Read the comic a bit

19 Old Guard

done

20 Megalo Box

21 Umbrella academy

watched the first season

22 So I'm a Spider So What

I've read some of the comic

23 The Locked Tomb

24 Alex Rider

25 Link Click

26 Kaleidoscope of Death

27 Goblin Emperor by Sarah Monette

28 Control (the game)

Bought the game haven't played it yet

29 Legend of Frizzy

30 Dresden files

read few of the books way back when gonna call it done

31 Ib

32 The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty

33 My Roommate is a Detective

34 Fire's Stone by Tanya Huff

35 Psy/Changeling Series by Nalini Singh.

36 Cardinal's Blades trilogy, by Pierre Pevel

37 The Vlad Taltos books by Steven Brust

38 Beware of Chicken by Casualfarmer

Done and still following this 👍

39 Heaven Officials Blessing

watched the animation, read bit of the comic

40 the Bright Sessions

listened to bit of this

41 Les Miserables

seen a couple of versions of this

42 the 1632 series.

first book done

43 anything by Honor Raconteur

44 The Matthew Swift Series by Kate Griffin

45 Krull and Fantastic Planet

46 Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint

Read the comic

Plus stuff I've watched that wasn't on the list like Squid Game, Arcane, Nirvana in Fire, Word of Honour, Ghost Bride, bunch of movies I've lost track of...

So yeah. Getting there. 😤

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jedinightsister · 2 years

Text

So uh, my rereading journey sorta kinda got halted a little, but I got back into the swing of things and WEW, another amazing book.

Special shoutout to the folks who replied to my inquiry about the similarities of the novels with the show. Now that I've re-read it, I do see the influences of Eagle Strike and Skeleton Key, but honestly, also of Stormbreaker. I actually think there was more of Stormbreaker on season 2 than in the first.

More of my thoughts, ramblings and whatnot below. Fair warning for those who haven't read the novel because I will take them into account (as well as my murky recollection of the books that will follow and how they all tie in).

My messy, lengthy ass thoughts in no particular order:

(1) I kinda prefer how the book characterized Cray because of the pun/satire that comes with his name, his motives. The comical, outlandishness of it all that comes with a good fun spy fiction. That said, I love how Guy Burt adapted not just Eagle Strike, but Skeleton Key and Stormbreaker's villain origins into a sensible live action portrayal. Instead of being a pop star, Damian became a tech mogul who lost a brother to drugs, which some posts I've read, is a mirroring of General Sarov losing his son. I agree.. And personally, I see Sayle's background focusing on tech and being "friends" with the prime minister is shown thru TV Cray's connections with the US president.

(2) I also prefer how the books characterize Mrs. Jones. She's colder (?) in the novels compared to the show version, but they both care for Alex. And I like that she reveals that side of hers to him gradually.

(3) There's not much notable difference between Blunt on either media lol, he's truly stone cold and honestly, it's part of his appeal. It's also in his name: he's blunt and to the point.

(4) Yassen...ah, my dearest Yassen, I just got excited to pick up Russian Roulette again eventually during my reread of the series haha. He's a truly intriguing character and one thing I love that the show did not kill him off. I always thought that was a waste of his character, but at the same time, one of the things I love about Alex Rider is the deaths. They really ground the series and say, "Hey, this whole spy shit is dangerous as frick".

(5) Smithers. There are barely any things I have issue with the show adaptation, but tbh, this is one of them. Smithers was supposed to be the friendly representation of MI6. I feel like they end up putting that onto Mrs. Jones' characterization instead. I also miss the fun of the gadgets that Alex would receive. The show, for either seasons, didn't show much of that, but I'm really hoping for a new season *fingers crossed there WILL be a new season pls pls* they can look into that.

(6) Sabina. I remember being annoyed with book Sabina, and tbh, I kinda still am lol. The TV show version was so much better IMO. Even the changes into her family's background was an intriguing change, but it works.

(7) John Rider. Oh boy, I won't lie, I was STILL surprised by Yassen's reveal to Alex about his father. Like, I know they worked together, but that prologue with Hunter and Cossack was John and Yassen really threw me off haha. Goes to show how poor my recall is, but I'm so glad I get to re-experience the novels with basically the same intrigue and excitement. xD And this is more of a personal question to myself, no need to answer but feel free to do so if you want, but wasn't John actually an MI6 undercover that infiltrated Scorpia?????? Or is that also something my terrible recall got wrong lol hahaha only time will tell.

(8) Tom. I know that Tom was from the books, but I actually haven't read any of the new stuff yet (Never Say Die & Nightshade). But I just think he's a brilliant addition to the main roster and brings a true balance to Alex. He, along with Jack, is the grounding force, whenever MI6 decides to swoop him away to Big Danger TM.

(9) Jack. I love both portrayals hehe. I think they're also very similar in helping Alex with missions while also keeping a distance and like I said, grounding Alex, so he has that safe space to return to after all the spy BS. I'm reeeaaallly not looking forward to Scorpia Rising (IYKYK)

(10) Kyra. Another excellent addition to the main roster. She doesn't take from the essence of the novels, in fact, adds more to it. She brings techy smarts into the table and, God willing, there be a new season, we see more of her as Alex takes on Scorpia.

(11) okay yeah I realize I haven't keyed down on Alex himself, but I think that deserves an entire post in of itself lmao. I'm just gonna say, after all these years, he hands down remains my favorite fictional character ever and I just wanna hug him and protect him from MI6. Yes, MI6.

#alex rider #alex rider tv #stormbreaker #point blanc #point blank #skeleton key #eagle strike #txt #txt post #ramblings

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xserpx · 3 years

Note

Book Recs Ask Game: 4, 9, 10, 13, 15, 16, 19, 24, 28, 32, 51, 54, 59, 71, 75, 77, 83, 87, 88, 89, 91, 92, 95, 119, 120, 121, 124, 126, 131, 132, 133, 134 (of course, you don't have to answer them all, just the ones that particularly interest you!)

4 a poetry book that reads like a story - Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight. I read the poem bc the gifs of Dev Patel were so pretty, but now that I have I so vastly prefer the story of the poem that I don't have any interest in seeing the movie.

9 your favourite book of 2020 - The Trouble With Peace by Joe Abercrombie. One of the best books by one of the best authors, it'll be a while before I read something that tops this.

10 a book that got you through something - Gosh... I would say it's mostly fanfic that gets me through the tough times. There's no book in particular that I remember helping me through a rough patch, but writing and reading and the sense of community and generosity in fanfic has helped me a hell of a lot over the years.

13 your favorite romance novel - North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. It's Pride & Prejudice with gritty social commentary. The BBC mini-series is incredible but the book is better.

15 a book rec you really enjoyed - Middlemarch by George Eliot, which was recommended by you! It was a fairly daunting prospect to read it, but I love the feeling of it, I especially adore the characters. It's like walking round a museum, a beautiful, baffling, sometimes unsettling but ultimately fulfilling experience. ❤

16 a book you'd recommend to your younger self - Alex Rider. I really wish I'd gotten into this series sooner!

19 a book that put you in a reading slump - I don't blame books for putting me in reading slumps. Because I listen to audiobooks, I'm sometimes more interested in listening to podcasts or music between books. Sometimes when I find a good podcast, it can take weeks to listen to the back catalogue.

24 a book on your nightstand - The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie. I don't currently have an electronic version, so if I want to look up quotes I have to do it the old fashioned way!

28 a book you wish you could read as a beginner again - Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett. Although I do still enjoy reading the book knowing all the revelations, going in cold is an amazing experience that I would love to relive.

32 your favourite nonfiction novel - I haven't read many... Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe was a solid read, though.

51 a book that you found underwhelming - Gideon the Ninth. After all the hype I'd seen I went in expecting wonders and got... a confusing mess. I wish I liked it more, but I don't.

54 a book with the best opening line - Blood Rites by Jim Butcher. "The building was on fire and it wasn't my fault." Flawless. Only to be outdone by the book's last line: "Why did you buy large breed puppy chow?"

59 a book about city life - Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. I adore his depiction of London and how multi-racial the cast is.

71 your favourite LGBTQ+ fiction - Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston warms my heart and is the queer utopia in which I would like to live please and thank you.

75 a book featuring the I'm not like other girls trope - Thud! by Terry Pratchett features a pretty great subversion of this trope.

77 a book so useless that you could use it as a coaster - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

83 a book featuring the fake dating trope - I don't think I've ever read one tbh.

87 a book with a predictable ending - A Frozen Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick. It's a retelling of the Frozen movie, so unless you're one of the 0.1% of people who read it without having seen the movie, the ending is very predictable!

88 a book that made you angry - Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. I just felt like she threw the cathartic heist magic trick ending away for shock value.

89 a book that disappointed you - Peace Talks by Jim Butcher. Stretching the Ethniu storyline into two books was a mistake, IMO. After waiting 5 years for the book I have to say I was definitely disappointed.

91 the shortest book you've read - I mean... the Very Hungry Caterpillar?

92 a book about a redeemable villain - Artemis Fowl. Forget Zuko, this is my favourite redemption story ever. I love how Artemis is the unequivocal villain of the first book, I love how much stock it puts in him earning Holly and the fairies' trust.

95 your favourite coming of age novel - Oof, by and large I hate coming of age stories, I find them extremely hard to relate to, but A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess is a phenomenal book.

119 your favourite summer read - The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie is my go-to beach read. I think Gorst's grim, bitter inner monologues are best enjoyed when the sun is shining, with Mr Whippy in hand.

120 a book about childhood friends - The Song of Achilles by Madeleine Millar. Does that count? I feel like it counts.

121 a book that makes you nostalgic - Peter Rabbit by Enid Blyton. Loved it as a child, my favourite stuffed toy was a bunny called Peter. 🥲

124 the book you're currently reading - I finished it but I haven't yet jumped to a new book, so The Fowl Twins: Get What They Deserve by Eoin Colfer. Absolutely mad, I'm left with a big sense of 'wtf did I just read?!' I love this series!

126 your favourite spring read - Hmm... Spring calls for something light and lively... Carry On, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse, perhaps?

131 tag somebody with whom you would want to buddy read a book - @sapokanikan, I wanna buddy read some George Eliot with you 🧡

132 who is your favorite person to go to for book recs? - My twin sister knows me best. She recommended me both Dresden and The First Law, so her taste is immaculate.

133 a book that you came across randomly and fell in love with - The Complete Works of W. B. Yeats. My copy is old and battered and belonged to one of my eldest sister's originally. One day it ended up in the bathroom, and suffice it to say Yeats is now one of my favourite poets. 😆

134 unreccomend any book you like! - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Emphasis on cursed.

#phew that was a lot of questions 😆

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experiment-000 · 3 years

Text

My Top 10 Ships of 2020

It's been a weird year but I've seen other people doing this. Plus this year I've been way more into gen fics (love a bit of found family especially in clone wars and marvel) than anything shippy. So I genuinely don't know what imma put on here aside from two ships for sure. Sorry this post is super long idk how to do the below the cut thing and I've had this app for 5 years...

10) Viktor Nikiforov and Yuuri Katsuki - Yuri!!! On Ice

It was a real toss up between this, supercorp, kanera and wolfstar cos they're all very integral ships to my fan heart but this son because of the Yuri on Ice fandom's rebirth this year. I've never stopped shipping this, never stopped reading fanfic of them for any extended period of time, they're still my most bookmarked ship on ao3 (although I think now star wars - all media types may have overtaken them for fandom). They were one of the first things I watched where the queer ship I loved became canon and I can't wait for the film (and hopefully someday a season 2). Heck I even made my mum watch Yuri on Ice with me so I think that says it all.

9) Edelgard Von Hresvelg and female Byleth - Fire Emblem: Three Houses

My first fire emblem game was fates when I was like 14 (and finally gay awake lol). I was so disappointed that I had to be with a guy character because the only female option was kinda creepy and also I wouldn't get the character of kana. So when three houses came out I was so happy because finally there were beautiful incredible female characters my female byleth could romance (I'm so sorry mlm you deserved so much more than you got). I got the game as soon as it came out (had to search a lot of shops let me tell you) and started on black eagles. I was actually kinda disappointed back in 2019. I didn't like the explore the monastery bit (still find it kinda tedious) and the battle mechanics weren't quite the same as fates (no pairing up?! Aka my main battle technique for protecting the weaker units). So I got like 20 hours in and put it down. Came back to it in lockdown and finally finished it! I'm so proud of myself I virtually never finish games. And I fully fell in love with the useless lesbian edelgard in the process. When I started back playing in 2020 I was like eh I wish I'd picked a different character to romance (like shes an emperor that's morally very shady) but then the romance stuff started with edelgard and I fell the heck in love.

8) Cory Matthews and Shawn Hunter (and Topanga Lawrence) - Boy Meets World

Disney+ was released in the UK this year and I finally got the opportunity to watch boy meets world in its best quality (aka not on YouTube). I watched it back when I was like 12 or 13 and it's such a nostalgic show for me. Watching it again I still absolutely adore it (and my bi ass was low-key crushing on Shawn especially in chick like me - I'm 18 btw and I got so scared for a sec but rider strong was 18 when chick like me came out so it's fine woah). And of course now I see the possibilities of the beautiful Cory and Shawn relationship like they were so bromance it was basically romance and throw in topanga it's the perfect ot3 (but I'm also fine with just Cory and Shawn or just Cory and Topanga). Read some good fanfic for them this year. My favourite was one about Shawn stealing makeup and stuff and exploring gender (need more fics like this I'm biiii).

7) Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes - Marvel Cinematic Universe

I rewatched all the MCU films this year too. And got really into Peter parker whump and irondad. Plus my eternal obsession with identity and relationship reveals of course led me from Spiderman identity reveals (and found family cuteness) to stucky coming out. Especially when it involves the internet and social media. Not my favourite ship but it's been significant to my year due to the sheer amount of marvel stuff I've read.

6) Satine Kryze and Obi Wan Kenobi - Star Wars

I rewatched clone wars in prep for season 7 and wow Satine's death was sad and sudden. She first appeared in S2 E13 I think and just the sheer sexual tension of their bickering. "The sarcasm of a soldier. The delusion of a dreamer." Just ugnnhhh my bi ass can't take much more of this. And Anakin just sipping his wine in the background grinning. And I fully believe korkie is a Kenobi.

5) Commander Cody and Obi Wan Kenobi - Star Wars

I am very much an Obi wan multishipper. I don't really have a favourite but I fully believe he was with satine and Quinlan in his life. I don't think be would've actually done anything with Cody because of the whole superior officer thing. And this probably isn't even my favourite Obi wan ship - that honour probably goes to quinobi or obitine. However the most popular ships in the fandom are codywan, quiobi and obikin. No offence to anyone who ships these they're just personally not to my taste, but I can't stand quiobi, and obikin I find only slightly more tolerable and I think that's just because there's so much obikin content so if I like the concept of a fic that happens to be obikin I'll read it. I'm just not a fan of the mentor/student relationships. So I generally favoured the codywan fics when there was shipping involved meaning I read a lot of them this year. Needed that nice fix it content post season 7.

4) Zuko and Katara - Avatar: the Last Airbender

Again I am a multishipper I have nothing against zukka it's cute. But I'm a zutara shipper first and foremost because when I first watched avatar I was like 13 and denying my gayness and gayness in general so I shipped the straight things and the straight things only. Most of these ships I stopped shipping - dramione, spuffy, some my little pony ones which we don't talk about. Zutara stayed. (I have nothing against any of the things I used to ship I just stopped shipping them so much/shipped new things more). I've continuously shipped zutara since I first watched avatar even if I didn't necessarily spend that much time on it it has always been here as one of my favourite ships. It has such good fanfic I swear including my favourite ever fanfic from any fandom - love thy enemy. Plus like the black games (reread this for the millionth time this year), a delicate subterfuge (which I read for the first time this year and damn it's so good) and so many more. With the avatar resurgence this year I haven't actually rewatched avatar aside from my normal random episode every now and then when I feel like it. But there's been a lot of avatar on my dash from people I follow getting into it and people I followed for avatar returning so naturally I returned to the fandom and read quite a lot of fanfic. I also read just a lot of avatar gen fics which were great at the whole found family thing I've been so obsessed with this year.

3) Catra and Adora - She Ra and the Princesses of Power

Catradora is canon! They kissed! What more is there to say. Arguably they should've been top but I never shipped them that much since I was always very much a multishipper when it came to she ra so yes I was very happy it became canon because we actually won for once but also I've never read much fanfic for them etc. But they are very much a dynamic I love and watching she ra all again in prep for season 5 I really enjoyed the build up of their relationship. The other two only go above because Buffy is my favourite show ever and damn there's some good fuffy fanfic and Aphra and Tolvan is both fresh in my mind and star wars owns me. Would love some catradora fic recs btw if anyone has them tho.

2) Buffy Summers and Faith Lehane - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I didn't realise it was last year that I got super into them but according to my ao3 bookmarks it was lol. 2020 I swear it's lasted an eternity. I got into them about a month before lockdown (which feels like another lifetime). I've loved Buffy since I first watched it when I was 13. It's arguably still my favourite TV show. I've been through a lot of ships for Buffy - bangel to spuffy and now fuffy. I still think angel and her were a beautiful ship back in season 2 and especially in the angel episode I will remember you. But faith and Buffy had so much chemistry in season 3 - she would've been a fresh start for Buffy and the amount of fix it fics I read I swear. My favourite has to be one where they met in LA during Anne and how that changed everything feat Buffy's internal homophobia.

1) Cheili Lona Aphra and Magna Tolvan - Star Wars

I read Darth Vader (2015) and Doctor Aphra (2016) for the first time at the end of 2020 (got a comic subscription which has served me very well already I've nearly finished the star wars canon comics). Just to see canon queer ladies in star wars was so magical for me as a queer lady. I didn't think star wars would be so overt yet as to have a queer kiss in canon (even if it's in the comics) and especially not with the main character of arguably their main comic series. Now we just gotta hope that we'll get it in live action someday soon. They weren't the ship I consumed the most content of in 2020 but they were the highlight of my 2020 because star wars did that and I finally found out about it

Honourable mentions: Vivian and Elle - Legally Blonde, Candace and Vanessa - Phineas and Ferb, Stevie and Alex - Wizards of Waverly Place, Xander and Spike - Buffy the Vampire Slayer (I actually don't ship this but damn some authors are good - this was the ship that made me realise I don't need to like a ship if the author is good enough to write it well), Eli Vanto and Mitth'raw'nuruodo - Star Wars (started reading the books last year but finished this year and only started with fanfic this year), Villanelle and Eve - Killing Eve, Kanan and Hera - Star Wars, Barriss and Ahsoka - Star Wars, Remus and Sirius - Harry Potter, Kara and Lena - Supergirl (let's hope this becomes canon next year!) (Those last four are ones I've shipped forever some of my og ships but nothing particularly big has happened for me this year with them so)

I got Disney+ this year so rewatched a fair few things from my youth and though hey my obsession with that character may have been a little gay.

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oneawkwardcookie · 4 years

Text

Tagged by @prodigalleverage (I forgot bout this then had to scroll back to try and find it!)

Rules: answer 17 questions and tag 17 people (if you want to)

I've missed out questions 2 and 3 (zodiac and height) but feel free to answer those

1. Nickname

I don't really have one, other than the one my parents called me when I was young or the massacre of my surname.

4. Hogwarts House

Ravenclaw, but I defo have some Hufflepuff leanings

5. Last thing I googled

Enrique Iglesias Tonight (someone mentioned the song in a post and I ran a complete blank on what it was)

6. Song stuck in my head

Ali Sethi - Ranjish Hi Sahi (Coke Studio)

7. # of followers

256

8. Amount of sleep

Lately? About 5.5 hours, but normally I'm a 7.5 hours kinda person

9. Lucky number

27 (3 to the power of 3)

10. Dream job

Don't have one (I don't dream of labour)

11. Wearing :

Black and white stripy top, and pink slacks

12. Favourite song(s) currently

No Rome - Talk Nice

The Weeknd - Blinding Lights

Doja Cat - Boss Bitch

Fickle Friends - Cry Baby (mainly for the intro music and the little bit from 2:47 onwards and the bass run from 2:56)

K/DA - Popstars (because beat saber)

13. Favourite instrument

To listen to is bass guitar, to play is keyboard

14. Favourite author

I don't really read now, so my default answer is my childhood one: Roald Dahl. William Nicholson also gets a shout out for the Wind on Fire series, plus Robert Muchamore (CHERUB), Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl) and Anthony Horowitz (Alex Rider and Power of Five)

15. Favourite animal noise

I'm really too much of a city girl at this point 🤦🏽‍♀️ I like the gentle twittering of birds (NOT pigeons) and the purring of cats.

16. Aesthetic

I don't really know what this means, but : Comic book t-shirts, big headphones (with bollywood music leaking out), purple sunset, full moon peeking through clouds, rockpools and the open ocean, wildflowers wrapped in brown paper, rose gardens, antique jewellery stores

17. Random fact about me

I was getting predicted a C in my GCSE Art until the spring term of year 11, and then spent every spare hour after school scrambling to write some insightful annotations and fill my books up and ended up with an A*: the biggest shock of my life

Tagging: @pyou @milverton @theladyandthewolves @zeethebooknerd @justsmilestuffhappens @e-e-e-s @doesthismakemelookhuman and anyone else that fancies talking about themselves 😄

#ask answered #prodigalleverage #thanks for the tag!

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xserpx · 2 years

Note

For book asks, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 23?

3. What were your top five books of the year?

1. The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie 2. Middlemarch by George Eliot 3. SCORPIA by Anthony Horowitz 4. Dune by Frank Herbert 5. Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

4. Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

Anthony Horowitz and George Eliot

5. What genre did you read the most of?

Fantasy, what with all the Discworld & First Law rereads. I kinda hoped I'd have read enough Alex Rider to tip the balance into spy novels, but nnnope!

6. Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to?

Mostly classics. I wanted to read more George Eliot and want to at least give Tale of Two Cities a go. Also more fantasy - if the Farseer audiobooks weren't so diabolically dreadful I would likely have read the whole trilogy, I still want to try Lies of Locke Lamora even though I've heard mixed things. I'll hopefully get to them next year. There's also some I put on my tbr that I might take off. Still half-way through Left Hand of Darkness, and I'm wondering whether maybe Wizard from Earthsea isn't for me after all...

9. Did you get into any new genres?

Not really, though I don't tend to care about genre when looking at what to read, so much as style & characters. I read an autobiography (Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain), which I very rarely do, but I also don't class one book as 'getting into' a genre. "I dipped a toe in," is probably more accurate.

10. What was your favorite new release of the year?

I think the only new release I read was The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie.

12. Any books that disappointed you?

I rated Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir the worst book I read this year (2 stars), and I stand by that. It's a good book for the right person, but I am not that person by any means. The Poppy War by RF Kuang was also a big disappointment, I just didn't jive with any of the characters or the plot despite hearing good things. Circe was disappointing too - Madeline Miller can't seem to live up to my lofty expectations for these Greek myth stories, her prose is gorgeous but her characters are severely lacking. I still rated that one 3/5. God, all of these books are super popular and I feel bad for not enjoying them more! 😭

13. What were your least favorite books of the year?

Aside from Gideon and The Poppy War, Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz wasn't great, but I didn't expect it to be, and sure enough the rest of the Alex Rider series really takes off after the first book. The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson was also very meh IMO, which I kinda expected too.

14. What books do you want to finish before the year is over?

Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula LeGuin. I feel like since I said semi-mean things about it I should probably finish it, but it's really kinda dull. I should endeavour to finish The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic, too. I started it ages ago but I think the audiobook is just not great and it's hard to tell characters apart. Also I put Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb on my Christmas list, so if I get that I would like to read it before Jan 1. Unfortunately I don't have many hours of work left in which to listen to audiobooks this year, but I think I could manage a good paperback. Having read 49 books (and DNF'd 4) I really wanna make it to 50 complete books.

15. Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)? What did you think of them?

Was The Wisdom of Crowds nominated for anything? If not, then no and also why not? If yes, then see below.

16. What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?

Gideon the Ninth, all the way. I also thought Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire was god awful for its ace rep, and honestly if anyone puts that on an 'ace rep' list I will personally scrunch it up into a ball and stomp on it. Not a bad story overall, but that part made me cringe and groan at the same time. I would maaaybe say Red, White & Royal Blue is over-hyped too, but I fucking love it.

18. How many books did you buy?

I am not in the habit of buying physical books. The only ones I bought were A Trouble With Peace in paperback and The Wisdom of Crowds hardback.

20. What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations?

The Wisdom of Crowds, and honestly? No it didn't. I thought it would be a rough ride emotionally, and it really was, probably more than I expected, but overall I think there are some genuine issues with it - it's certainly far from the near perfection that is The Trouble With Peace. Some of the plot lines turn out to be pretty contrived tbh, there's a fair number of wasted opportunities to bring most of the characters to more thematically satisfying conclusions, Risinau was a mistake, and... it was that person, really, Joe? Did you have to? But I can't deny that the main thing I wanted from the book was for Leo to be amazing, and oh my god did Abercrombie deliver on that score. He's probably one of my favourite characters of all time at this point, I just think he's so rich and complex that he warrants some kind of GOAT sticker 🦁. So yeah, for all my gripes - and there are many - the whole book is still 5/5, because I couldn't stop yelling the whole time, and considering just how ridiculously high my expectations were, I'm good with how it turned out. 😊

23. What’s the fastest time it took you to read a book?

A Christmas Carol took me 2h23 at 1.15 speed. Or, if you count it, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, which took me 15 minutes.

#book asks #xserpx #TWOC is really difficult to talk about succinctly #it's... a LOT

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