#reading problems

[hopelesslysleepy]

If I could only tear myself away from GO fanfiction long enough to read another one of Neil's books that's waiting on my nightstand.

But every time I see AO3 right now I'm like...

[norcumii]

I continue my amble through free e-books of questionable quality, and the best way to get them continues to be signing up for the right author's newsletter because sometimes you get a lovely e-mail that's just straight up "The summer edition of Stuff your E-reader day is today. 1600+ free books"!

(note: some of those books remain free for more than one day, if you are slow to peruse or, FOR AN UTTERLY RANDOM EXAMPLE, your internet connection goes out for most of the day in question, you can still find them. Alternatively, if they were free once, if you are patient and put them on a "peruse later" list and then sort by price, you can easily find out when they go on sale again. Just sayin'.)

There IS some wheat in those reams of chaff, but what this DOES lead to is a better understanding on my part about tropes and styles and suchlike.

I am, however, mildly confused as to why "there's only one horse" is now a common enough trope to list (yes, yes, I get it; Forced Proximity + There's Only One Bed with the addition of it's moving too and thus implied hints of sexy times!) - in my mind, you might as well list "there's only one motorcycle". Like, ok. Maybe I'm too Ace for this, I guess.

There is however one trope I've just encountered, and...look, I do not know what this is. For reference, the book is a "Why Choose" trope, ie "three-somes/moresomes within". It also lists a trope of "reverse cucking."

.....

....isn't

isn't that just sex?

Maybe exhibitionism? Is this like consensual non-consent only somehow involving your partner(s) role-playing cheating on your other partner(s)? I get what the normal version is, how do you reverse that???? Maybe it's like "reverse harem", so it's the normal version but somehow gender swapped -- ewww, is that term gendered?

ANYway.

Much like my weird vehemence about "if you're gonna write centaurs then don't with the shapeshifting; be brave enough to actually have someone bang a centaur!", I don't actually want to read it or know, I just need to vent and gesticulate confusedly into the void.

[howifeltabouthim]

'Although I should warn you that she really only seems to get romantically excited about books.'

Jenn Lyons, from The Ruin of Kings

[deadghostgirl12345]

[theitcharchives]

Me: I want to read

Brain: the to-be-read pile is all over the room

Me: no easier dopamine

Brain: fanfic?

Me: no it's not tailored enough to my tastes

Brain: read your own writing

Me: no I'm sick of it and not feeling its vibe

Brain: we could practice drawing

Me: no I don't want to do that

Brain: what do you want to do

Me: I want to read

[libby-for-life]

Finding a good fanfiction with over fifty chapters and then realizing that it's by your favorite author on Ao3: orphan_account.

[the-librarian-geek]

One chapter was it … two hours ago 😅

[vae1bixy]

Me: "I'm not addicted"

Also me: Ao3 goes down while on it and loses her mind.

Me: "Still not addicted"

[lemonintrovert]

How do you stop reading for a couple of hours to do some chores around the house that really need to be done? I just can't put down the book I'm currently reading😩 I know I could switch to audio while doing chores but I just really prefer reading it physically.

[ayearofbookswithme]

https://www.instagram.com/p/DEnfExGSWRU/?igsh=eGNsbjdhMzV0MXVq

[selenekallanwriter]

Sometimes a 600-page one if I start while I'm working.

Oops.

[in-dire-read]

Me trying to read past 11pm:

[defeatistwriter]

I'm just a writer living in a constant state of frustration because I want to read things but no one is writing it the way I want. And knowing that I will have to write it if I want to read it is a certain type of agony.

[angst-buritto]

If my iPad could have the same battery life as my Kobo, the world would be a happier place.

[poetry-protest-pornography]

You ever read something that takes such a left turn at the very end that you're just

[theschizotypalsolilquy]

Been in a terrible reading slump

I've got 408 bookmarks (some of those are there for rereads but at last the first 10 pages are ones I need to actually read).

My kindle tbr pile is also growing and...

I'm just not in the right mental place to start something new. Don't feel like I've got the emotional fortitude to invest in it. So now I'm rereading or only reading things with absolutely NO ANGST

Does anyone else ever go through this?