#thornbound souls

[liliallowed]

l.o.v.er

#tw suggestive #suggestive #tw blood #tw gore #tw detailed excessive gore #tw knives #thornbound souls #crimson x dust #tw body horror #dust sans #dusttale player #dusttale sansanomoly #dead dove do not eat

[ladyherenya]

Books read in March

An unexpected month all round.

I didn’t read everything I planned to read because life was busy and the news was hugely distracting. I ended up looking for other things to read -- books that sounded comforting.

Favourite cover: No strong feelings about any of these covers.

Reread: Some of The Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker.

Still reading: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams.

Next up: The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas.

(Longer reviews and ratings are on LibraryThing and Dreamwidth.)

*

Moontangled by Stephanie Burgis: A romantic novella about a couple of minor characters from Snowspelled and Thornbound. It’s a slighter story than I was expecting… but I’m not sure whether dragging out the misunderstanding between Juliana and Caroline into a longer story would have given it more depth or just been annoying. And as this story stands, it fits thematically right in with the rest. I hope Burgis returns to this world someday.

A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer: This follows on from one of my favourite books from last year, A Curse So Dark and Lonely, with different POV characters: Grey, a former guardsman to Prince Rhen, and Lia Mara, who has been overlooked as her mother’s heir in favour of her younger sister. I very much enjoyed spending time in their company. The dilemmas they faced -- about loyalty and leadership and being at odds with loved ones -- were engaging and thoughtfully-explored; tense without being stressful. My enthusiasm is somewhat muted because the ending offered less resolution than I was anticipating, but I’d prefer that Kemmerer took another book to deal with things properly instead of rushing. I trust her to have another story worth telling.

Elizabeth and her German Garden (1898) by Elizabeth von Armin (narrated by Nadia May): I had heard of this long before I read The Enchanted April last year, and I don't know why I hadn't seriously considered reading it... maybe the description didn't grab me or I had confused it with something else? It is utterly, unexpectedly, delightful! There's very little plot but I loved the descriptions of Elizabeth's garden, of her experiences gardening, of her small daughters and her observations about being introverted. I was less entertained by details about an irritating guest but that's a minor quibble.

The Two Monarchies Sequence by W.R. Gingell:

Spindle: After four hundred years, a princess is awoken with a kiss -- except that she wasn’t the princess and the curse isn’t fully broken. This reminded me of Diana Wynne Jones in the best possible way. Like Jones, Gingell doesn’t explain everything and expects her readers to keep up. It’s a style which particularly suits Poly’s story -- scrambling to retrieve her memories, catch up on major historical events and work out why she was targeted in the first place. The wizard who woke her isn’t inclined to stop and explain everything! It also fits with Poly’s experiences of magic. I loved this.

Blackfoot: Annabel, her cat Blackfoot and her best friend Peter are pursued by a sinister figure and hide in the ruins of a castle. I had an idea of who Blackfoot was, and Peter too, and knew what Mordion was capable of, but Annabel doesn’t and this is very much her story, as she discovers more about herself. Once again, Gingell’s style of not explaining everything works really well because Annabel is caught up in something confusing and magical and weird. Less compelling than Spindle but I loved Annabel and the way this captures her reactions to things.

Staff & Crown: Three years after Blackfoot, Annabel is sent to finishing school, where she and her new friend Isabella get up unexpected -- and sometimes unexpectedly dangerous -- adventures. Annabel and Isabella are an utterly delightful combination. I enjoyed their friendship, and the way Annabel renegotiates her relationship with Melchior. The latter relationship is important and, given their history, not exactly straightforward. I thought Gingell handled that deftly. (My only quibble is that Annabel’s adventures with Isabella are so lively, so much the focus, that other parts of Annabel’s school experience began to feel a bit too vague and misty by comparison.)

The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff (narrated by Charlie Simpson): As I suspected, listening to the (unfortunately, abridged) audiobook pulled me right into this story. I found it vivid, captivating and intriguing... which was not my experience of trying to read the book myself. I don't know how abridged it was but if the story was leaving out important bits, it wasn't obvious. (Although I did wonder whether I would have understood some of the character's choices better had more of the story was included.) The abridgement felt smoothly done and the audiobook was well narrated, with nice use of music.

Uptown by Ruby Lang: A trilogy of short romances set in New York.

House Rules: Seventeen years after their divorce, Lana and Simon run into each other at an apartment inspection. With some reluctance, they become roommates in order to rent a decent place. I liked the bits about their careers (she's a noodle maker in a restaurant, he's a music teacher), their ease with each other, and the sense of place. Things resolved very quickly in the end, and while I wanted more, given their history, that felt believable. This was a comfortable distraction in a week when I really needed it.

Playing House: When Oliver runs into Fay, an acquaintance and fellow urban planner, on a tour of showcase homes, she needs him to pretend to be her boyfriend. Just for a few minutes. I like how Oliver and Fay share a passion for architecture and enjoy each other's company -- I think Lang has a knack for portraying a couple who are very comfortable around each other but still feel excitement and uncertainty about their developing relationship. This is a slight story but I enjoyed reading it. Sometimes that's enough.

Open House: As a romance, this was my least favourite, probably because I'm much more interested in couples who know each other than in rivals: Magda is a broker responsible for selling a vacant block while Tyson is an advocate for the illegal community garden currently on the block. But even though it doesn't involve one of my favourite romance tropes, I found Magda's experiences in selling real estate and everything about the community garden interesting. The only thing I felt was really needed was more about the aftermath of Magda standing up to her (well-meaning) family.

Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett (narrated by Stephen Briggs): A cleverly constructed story. My favourite parts, the parts which struck me as particularly insightful or where the humour appealed to me the most, were Susan as a schoolteacher and the conversations between Lu-Tze and Lobsang. I don't care for the Auditors but suddenly in the middle I started hoping that their part of the story would play out in a different way -- and then I was disappointed when it did not.

#Herenya reviews books #Stephanie Burgis #Elizabeth von Armin #W.R. Gingell #Brigid Kemmerer #Terry Pratchett #Discworld #Ruby Lang #Rosemary Sutcliff

[liliallowed]

Houdini in chains

#dusttale player #thornbound souls #chains might as well be decorations for them

[liliallowed]

skedaddle skeedoodle your spine is now a noodle.

with great strife they lost their knife and he will end their fucking life.

okay I'm done rhyming have some more of my sins.

it was at this moment crimson knew. the fucked up.

#dust sans #dusttale player #thornbound souls #suggestive #he's a fucking bad ass and i refuse to see it any other way #i know I've been on the fanonizing sude of dust but this us FUN! #im having fun :3 #that's all thats about

[liliallowed]

new thornbound souls crimson design

fun fact. they CHOSE too keep this appearance as a sentiment to a "bet". any scar and battle mark from him? they'll treasure it.

and yes this au IS the thorn of my stp crimson variants.

all the way to the tiny detail that the two kiss and pull each other down the stairs and die. :3

but like... in the opposite order... what can I say dust is out of options and crimson is a sucker for getting new reactions out of him. so why not use it to his advantage.

#thornbound souls #dusttale au #yes this au is still a thing

[liliallowed]

crimsondust headcanons:

there's sometimes a brief glimpse of genuine attachment there. whether it's Stockholm syndrome or their mutual self hatred that fuels them to stick tougher like glue is up for debate.

crimson is terrified of their mask slipping but he already knows they like him. he knows and will exploit that weakness until there's nothing left.

they know it. they know he knows and they still keep up a facade. as does he.

dust often flirts with them and is often even the one engaging in advances which usually confuses or flusters crimson for a brief moment before they regain composure.

crimson sometimes acts sadistically out of boredom and other times they're nurturing soft and almost ALMOST kind when he's sick or just depressed.

they both have mood swings and due to the soul bond it affects BOTH of them. they'll both be grumpy or annoyed even if they're far apart.

they WILL know if the other is in danger. both WILL show up to the rescue. crimson because they love him and dust because an unscheduled death would mess up his plans he has in store... and the soul bond instinctively makes him confuse crimson as "his kill(???)" it's like a twisted version of datemate but his LV also fks it up aswell so it's a mosh mash of feelings he doesn't want nor like to have... and his passionate hatred for them. if crimson is in danger he'll be there. only he's allowed to kill them.

they can transfer LV into each other's soul when they're near each other. not very practical for crimson but it's very effective at pacifying dust when he's about to blow crimson up to smithereens... he'll just slump down a lil and glare at them.

crimson can use telekinesis. not bones though.

dust can access crimson's saves and fucks with their save files constantly.

dust also has a higher tolerance to liquid DETERMINATION. it might burn him like acid but it won't melt him.

most timelines they're the only ones hanging out in the underground but sometimes dust kills them so far back and soul bonds them there AGAIN (crimson is too intrigued to refuse lol) just to anchor them that far in the past. so each time they die THE WILL come back at a time HE'S set.

crimson will probably have a strange tendency to tackle him or just hug him when they aren't stabbing him.

they like the fuzzy weird feeling!

dust does not. he wants to rip out his soul (at least a part of him does, the other part is kinda appreciative)

#crimsondust #thornbound souls

[liliallowed]

just a smoothie of red and blue swirly colors with absolutely no implications!

#thornbound souls #crimson wants a divorce 😔

[liliallowed]

crimson holding a sign with a smug face:

[I sold my soul to get pummeled to death by my nemesis, my resets for his attention and my immortality to get laid]

dust holding a sign:

[listen. it's not a perfect plan but it works?]

#suggestive #tw suggestive #thornbound souls

[liliallowed]

this is me when someone is teaching something boring

productivity rizes beyond comprehension.

yes I did make a helluva boss reference w blitz "stealing" the book.

yep totally legit. nothing else is going in.

#thornbound souls #they definitely don't make out and then dust kills crimson

[liliallowed]

I'm so fucking sorry.

#thornbound souls #crimson is scarous- #*gets shot*

[liliallowed]

the dove is dead but what if we revived it and ate it over and over again-

#thornbound souls #im up to some fked up shit #I'm cooking evil things hehege

[liliallowed]

"we deserve each other because we're both horrible people. we cause that retribution for one another don't we?"

#thornbound souls #two self destructive idiots sitting on a tree #K.I.L.L.I.N.G

[liliallowed]

crimson when dust will literally just steps on their chest, chokes them and killd them.

#thornbound souls #crimson my beloved #tw choking

[liliallowed]

thornbound souls in a nutshell

mandatory threats <3

I fucking love this ship. I had no idea how many checklists it ticked with my fave ship dynamics tbh XD

#thornbound souls #draw the squad reference #not my art #i made sure to include the lil signature there

[liliallowed]

crimson has a lot of cuts and bruises on them besides missing an eye.

it's mostly esthetic anyway they don't "see" with their eyes but with their soul. their eyes just help them see further.

they'll be sad when the bad ass battle scars fade with resets.

#look they just like looking badass #thornbound souls

[liliallowed]

when you hate yourself so much that you actively pursue toxic partners that'd hurt you to punish yourself...

it feels GOOD. weirdly enough it feels GOOD to hurt like that. And it's SO FUCKING hard to break free. the pain is GENUINELY like... idk how to describe it. it's like when you get a bruise and you kinda press it to feel it more or like when you have sore muscles that hurt when you stretch but you do it anyway cuz it's pleasant?

that but on an emotional level like you're venting out stress. like there's two of you, one the punisher and one the guilty. you endure the pain of it to Feel Like a vindictive heroic judge of justice for yourself...

which is just your mind coping....

like I'm just saying I'm not just going by cliche and saying dust is a sadist/masochist.

I'm not sure if he is either but he DOES hate himself. he hates himself A LOT.

he would even try to destroy himself in the process of the ordeal just for a petty one up over crimson.

he'd feel GOOD over this toxic relationship. he'd feel like he's deserving of it he'd feel safe and in control...

god I wanna hug him.

I wanna tell him that it's going to be alright. that he deserves happiness. that he deserves to let himself grieve.

#getting emotional over my own au again lmao #dejavu? #thornbound souls