skidamarin-blog

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on survival

-// @aridante // @orivu // @buzzkillgirls // ? // ? // richard siken// @cemeterything // moomin, tove jansson// @disenchanted-killjoy // isn't that enough, shawn mendes// @ prettytheyswag on twitter// @ coletyumuch on twitter// ? // ? // bird by bird, anne lamott// undertale// @strawberrycircuits

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these are all the doctor who audiobooks i've hoarded until then :) big thanks to @nat-20s for sharing "donna noble: kidnapped!"

Enjoy all that!

Featured:

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Having parents who aren't as bad as they used to be is crazy cause they'll be sitting there doing some normal shit and you're like kubrick staring at them

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Has science gone too far

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RIP the ninth doctor you would of loved therapy

RIP rose Tyler you would of loved vapes

RIP jack harkness you would of loved gay bars

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A new chapter of MISSION:MEMORY is up!

And Ao3 is back!

Find chapter 4 here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/66143713/chapters/173382193

Start from the beginning here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/66143713/chapters/170468857

Summary:

Rose Tyler wakes with a splitting headache, sharp pain in her abdomen, and a life that feels like it belongs to someone else.

Last she can remember, she was traveling the universe with the Doctor. Now, she’s trapped on Earth, living in a house she doesn’t recognize, surrounded by people acting like everything’s normal.

But it’s not.

Flashes of the Doctor’s past on Gallifrey haunt her. The TARDIS is gone with no hint as to where.

And there’s a baby she can’t remember- but feels strangely, achingly familiar.

What happened to her? Why does nothing make sense? And why won’t the Doctor or her mum tell her the truth?!

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Just Tell Me You're Sorry...

Seriously, Doctor?! Father’s Day is Rose Tyler’s gaslight, sad eyed, time-travel girl boss moment. She completely manipulates the Doctor. First she appeals to his sentimental side (oh he's got one when it comes to Rose!), then turns on the tears, and the next thing you know, the guy who literally destroyed his planet to protect time is like, "Yeah sure, let’s pop in and watch your dad get pancaked."

Spoilery Stuff below the cut...

And when she actually saves Pete, creating a massive paradox that threatens the entire timeline? the Doctor's mad — but not mad mad. Like, mildly inconvenienced mad. More “I forgot to put the milk back in the fridge” than “you just unraveled the fabric of space-time” mad.

Any other companion? Toast. But Rose? The Doctor simmers for five minutes, then helps her clean up the mess, and at the end, they’re walking away together like it was just a cheeky little whoopsy-daisy apocalypse.

You don’t get away with that unless the TARDIS herself is whispering, “Let her. She’s special.”

And she is. Because beneath all that chaos, it’s a love story — twisted through time, stitched with grief and devotion. Rose broke time for her father, and the Doctor let it break for her.

Iconic. Messy. Totally Rose. 🕰️💞🌌✨💔🌀👩‍🦰💙🧣⏳🌠🌍🚪🛸🧭💫

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A good rule of thumb for AI is "would you trust a trained pigeon to do this?"

"We trained a pigeon to recognise cancerous cell clusters and somehow they're really good at it" okay great, that's something that could plausibly be a thing.

"We trained a pigeon to recognise good CV:s and left it in charge of sorting through all our job applications" uh perhaps consider not doing that.

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“I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words. I scatter them in time, and space. A message to lead myself here.”

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licensed from @morggo

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Every few steps she looks back to check on her little kitty cat 🐈🥺

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Cats getting caught doing crimes

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every writing tip article and their mother: dont ever use adverbs ever!

me, shoveling more adverbs onto the page because i do what i want: just you fucking try and stop me

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im so sure of your good taste that i want to hear your recs for p&p variations. books, fanfic, whatever, i trust you <3

I am so honored and yet intimidated by this ask 😅 It's broad and I am terrible at decisions but here we go!! Full disclosure, I have mostly read ones published on Kindle Unlimited. I'm sure there are absolutely incredible ones out there on the internet that I haven't even touched because I like to binge read and scrolling on a phone makes me queasy (in my kindle app I can turn pages). And I know there are incredible ones out there for purchase NOT on KU, but I simply can't afford to fund my book-a-day habit otherwise! The first time I ever read a book again the very next day, it was Mr Darcy and the Murder at Rosings, by Lin Mei Wei. Imagine if right after the terrible Hunsford proposal, there was an intense rainstorm. The party at the parsonage goes to visit Lady Catherine, but the storm meant her nephews couldn't leave. And then... there's a murder. All the classic whodunnit tropes are there - trapped in a large house with an unknown murderer, secret passageways, midnight confrontation, race to safety - set against the delicious backdrop of the highest emotional tension between Darcy and Elizabeth as they are forced to work together on the mystery fresh after their argument. And it works. (oh man. I think it might be time to reread it again)

Another book I love - and this is a popular favorite - is Mistaken by Jessie Lewis. Or as I like to call it, Bingley Makes Just The Worst Fuckass Decisions Possible. He's not mean or evil, it just turns his fecklessness up to 11 in a very believable way. It starts after the failed proposal, but this Darcy admits his mistake to Bingley right away, causing him to go back to Netherfield alone and visit the Bennets frequently. There's some angst in the first third (I'm an angst weenie), but I swoon over this Darcy. I adore how he's characterized here. (Honestly? Can't go wrong with Jessie Lewis. Speechless & Unfounded are also incredible.)

Then there's Tact, by Jeannie Peneaux. What if Elizabeth had tact? What if she thought before she spoke, and used her words influentially? That's the only change in this premise, but it leads to a lot more, notably with the Collins proposal and then really changes the outcome of Darcy's proposal simply by preventing the argument and instead making him realize what a big oopsie he made and allowing him to try to win her. I love that it points out that every time they antagonize each other - and this Darcy is consciously doing it - she's thinking "he's the most vexing man I've ever met! this'll show him!" and he's thinking "teehee we're teasing each other :)"

I also find myself rereading One Last Chance: to begin again by A. L. Ward. After the failed proposal (look it's a popular turning point okay 😂) Darcy falls asleep in the carriage leaving Kent and inexplicably wakes up on his way to Netherfield for the first time the fall before. This time he's determined to do it right and courts Elizabeth from the off. I'm gonna be honest - it hits a lot of the tropes that annoy me (so-and-so is hiding legitimate insanity! The Bennets are secretly rich! The entail is solved! There were no real impediments, everyone was just simply misunderstood!) but most of it is SO CUTE that I go back to it even knowing I'll be rolling my eyes by the end.

Speaking of cute, Snowbound by Joanna Starnes. Elizabeth and Jane travel with the Gardiners during the winter and narrowly avoid a carriage accident between their carriage, a falling tree, and another carriage that turns out to be the Netherfield party. Darcy has been trying to forget Elizabeth but then has a near-death experience and immediately runs into Elizabeth practically on his doorstep? He sees it as a sign from the universe! They all remove to Pemberley to wait out the snowstorm, Darcy courts Elizabeth without her family getting in the way, it's all very sweet.

Now we're getting into ones that I maybe haven't read on repeat, but still really enjoyed:

The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch by Melinda Taub. One of the few ones not on KU but I was able to read through my library app and I am so glad! Lydia has a secret - she is a powerful witch, and her sister Kitty is actually her familiar that as a child she unknowingly influenced the entire town into seeing as her human sister instead of the cat she is. She is writing her version of the events of Pride & Prejudice - so we get the original story through a new lens, plus the events that are unfolding around her as she writes this down. It is clever, engaging, and I love love love what they did with Wickham here. It's not about Darcy & Elizabeth, but you will love it anyway and cheer for the romance. (In the same vein, More Than He Seems by Renata McMann & Summer Hanford retells the story but George Wickham is a spy! His persona is lie but the estrangement from Darcy is real - Darcy is a terrible liar and would give it away, so Wickham is forced to let Darcy think the worst of him.) Both books I was hesitant to try because of my love for Darcy/Elizabeth, but thoroughly enjoyed anyway.

Unhinged: The Darcy Madness by S.J. Nixon. This one is long and I usually hate first person narrative - I almost backed out of this one but the writing was so engaging that even when it gets repetitive, I was still enamored with the prose. If you like your variations paranormal/supernatural - not sure which word applies better - this was so different of a read. It has its flaws for sure but I'm gonna be honest, I think about it sometimes even though I've only read it once and I'm a little nervous to put it here. Maybe I was blinded by the novelty of it, but oh well, maybe it's your thing!

Simply Cute: Rain & Retribution, L.L. Diamond. Mr Bennet insists on Elizabeth marrying Collins, so she runs away - but gets caught on the road in the rain. Darcy, leaving Netherfield and Elizabeth behind forever so he thinks, finds her on the side of the road. Early marriage where they're allowed to fall for each other even though at first she doesn't realize his feelings are strong, but don't think there aren't any bumps in the road for our lovers. Honestly, L.L. Diamond is always a solid choice for me - romantic, steamy, and very often Darcy & Elizabeth vs the world instead of each other. To The Advantage of Both, Lory Lillian. An uncle of Darcy's comes to Netherfield, intervening and allowing Darcy and Elizabeth to openly develop affection together at the same time, which is just adorable. Plots, Ploys, and the Art of Matchmaking, Sarah Courtney. A farcical romp that changes things drastically - what if Mr Bennet and Darcy's uncle the Earl are old school chums that have a longstanding prank war? Life has interfered with their younger generation of family knowing each other before now, but the Earl invites himself to Netherfield right at the beginning and the two men are up to mischief. Made me laugh! A Sense of Obligation, Rose Fairbanks. (I tried to re-read it recently and it wasn't on KU, but someone gave me a link to find it on a fan site) Poor little virgin Darcy gets uh... very drunk, has a shall we say vivid dream, and wakes up with fuzzy memories and all the signs pointing to him having taken advantage of Elizabeth. Horrified at his own behavior, he offers for her. They talk at cross purposes and it's so amusing, honestly. Ridiculous premise? Oh yes. I loved it anyway.

Honorable mention: The Bewitchment of Mr Darcy, Valerie Lennox. If you want steamy, this delivers and then some - don't go into it unless you want details. Demisexual Darcy is experiencing feelings for the first time, and it goes into it. Valerie Lennox is interesting for me - sometimes I dig it and sometimes I don't, because her Darcy and Elizabeth are both very... blunt. They tell each other exactly what they're thinking, no couching it in polite language or needing any subtext ever, which sometimes annoys me because it can read VERY flat (but it makes it easier to read when you're high, so, there's that). In this variation, Darcy was injured in an accident and didn't show up to the events of P&P, so Jane and Bingley are happily married when Darcy and Elizabeth meet for the first time during the meeting at Pemberley - think 1995 wet shirt version, because that's how they meet.

Some of my go-to authors, in no particular order and I can't even guarantee this is a comprehensive list: Jessie Lewis, Abigail Reynolds, Heather Moll, Elizabeth Adams, Alix James, L.L. Diamond, Melanie Rachel, Grace Gibson They're all pretty consistent and if a new book drops, I know I'm gonna be in for a good time.

I have another disclosure to make, and it's that I haven't actually read any variations in a few months, new or not... because I've been writing and posting my own on A03 😅 I haven't talked about it here yet, buuuut since I'm pretty sure it's gonna be marked finished in the next week, maybe it's time for my courage to rise. Time Involuntarily Kept puts Darcy in a Groundhog's Day style timeloop on the day of the failed proposal.

I could honestly go on and on and on. Some of these are fantastically written! Some of these just made me happy. It's completely subjective hahaha hopefully you don't look at this list and go "hmm. I was wrong about their taste." 😆 If there's a particular trope you enjoy, feel free to ask and I can give some recommendations in a specific vein - these are just some of my overall favorites or ones that I think about sometimes. There have been a ton more that I enjoy, and I also want to challenge myself to switch things up and explore the amazing ones on AO3.

Thanks for listening to me ramble!