#I went on a ramble about this in my last rb and decided it needed its own post

[kalak]

Luke/mara fic rec list

These are some of the best mara/luke fics I've read - feel free to add more in rb/comments!

Repair by BananasAreForParties - Graphic Depictions of violence, fluff and angst, whump. 20k complete. Mara Jade came to Aran to trade. She acquires nutcakes, Imperials, and one Luke Skywalker, condition: damaged. Hurt/Comfort fic.

Reccer's note: Their awkward but geniune flirting in this is so cute

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, You Aren’t Even Stuck In Your Tower by PrinceJakeFireCake - fluff, secret identity, 6k complete. Mara Jade, an ex-spy for the dragon, Emperor Palpatine, now a knight of Princess Leia Organa, is on a mission to rescue the princess’ twin brother from the tower he was locked in.

A.K.A.

Someone had to write Luke as Rapunzel and I am someone

Limpet AU series by frodogenic - humor, family fluff, 89k complete. Newly returned from the Unknown Regions with Darth Vader, Admiral Piett doesn't expect much of a welcome from the New Republic. And not in a million lifetimes would he have predicted that their very first guest would be Luke Skywalker. After all, Skywalker and Vader are still mortal enemies...right?

Reccer's Note: this series is so good, like, insanely good. I keep rereading it.

Take My Breath Away by atamascolily - hanahaki disease, 1k complete. Luke collapses during a sparring session, coughing up blood--and flowers? A concerned Mara drags him to Cilghal for medical treatment, but the answers aren't what either of them expected.

Catch and Release by frangipani - rated E, sexual experimentation, 10k complete. So let me get this straight," Mara says."You decided that to entertain yourself while I'm offplanet you're going to get licensed to pilot a Mon Cal cruiser?"

He frowns. "You say it like it’s ridiculous.”

"Those ships aren't even made for human pilo--" She narrows her eyes. "Oh no, it's the challenge thing, isn’t it?"

Or the one where Luke and Mara try to bang while keeping Luke's pulse within a specific range. Absolutely 0 science knowledge went into this. Consider yourself warned.

Who Needs a Cover Anyway? by JediDryad - misunderstandings, jealousy, 1k complete. Against his better judgment, Luke agrees to act as "Jedi Ambassador" on a mission with Mara and Lando. Will he be able to keep his feelings to himself or will observing their relationship be too much?

Miscommunications by JediDryad - misunderstandings, 849 words complete. Luke sends Mara a nervous rambling message inviting her for a visit. What she receives is something quite different.

Family Planning for the Force-Sensitive by beautifultoastdream - domestic, fluff, 13k complete. Two years after Exar Kun is defeated, Mara Jade and Luke Skywalker are married. Mara is uneasily settling into life as a Jedi trainee and as the New Republic's representative to the Smugglers' Alliance. But when Karrde's vornskrs have a strange reaction to her during a routine meeting, Mara learns that something else is about to happen ... And it scares her more than C'baoth.

Slight AU from Star Wars Legends, fluff and angst.

The Trouble with Bootie Comms by frangipani - 3k complete. "I have an issue with my apartment right now," Luke said. Mara was pretty sure why.

Luminous Creatures by celinamarniss - daemons, action/adventure, enemies to friends to lovers, 30k complete. Mara has never been prouder when Asyr settles early. He shifts into the form of a night felinx when Mara is thirteen, a whole year early. It’s a good body for stealth, her trainers tell her, and praise them for it.

Luke is the last of his friends to have his dæmon settle. Speculation drifts through his childhood. What sort of animal do you think your dæmon will choose? asked by adults with indulgent smiles and between children as their dæmons flit from form to from in impromptu races across the desert sand.

Strange Bedfellows series by celinamarniss - action/adventure, humor, light angst, 37k complete.

Reccer's Note: this series has a very domestic couple feel to it and I love that.

Under the cover of Darkness by randomlyimagine - time travel, fix-it, 57k complete...ish. (there's a sequel that is tbc.) Being pulled back through in time, getting to see the Old Jedi Order, Ben, even Anakin Skywalker, before he Fell…it was an opportunity Luke had never dreamed he’d have.

If only he and Mara hadn’t been pulled back in the middle of a mission where they were undercover as Sith.

slipping into the ground or into your arms by BananasAreForParties - rated E. Fluff and angst, mutual pining, implied/referenced child abuse, 41k complete. More than colleagues. Less than friends. Better than acquaintances. They remain in balance. The Command, the dark whisper, slumbers and Mara has no desire to poke a sleeping rancor. To dance with Skywalker. . .could it ever be worth the risk?

Mara and Luke succumb to the gradual formation of their Force bond through an activity far more pleasing than fighting for their lives.

the history books forgot about us by celinamarniss - happy AU, 2k complete. Jedi apprentice Asha is sent on a quest to find the legendary Luke Skywalker. She thought he was a myth!

better tell 'em while they're here by philthestone - 4k complete. Jacen discovers a Fish in the new fountain just outside of the Old Palace's reception hall, which obviously means that the Imps are planning to take over the galaxy. Jaina thinks that everything would be alright if only Nik could remember where he put his pants.

And of course, Uncle Luke's getting married today.

(AU for the EU)

Reccer's note: recommend reading the whole series. This fic has such a human warm fuzziness to it.

Boundaries series by frangipani - rated E, smut, 106k complete. A year after the events of the Last Command, Mara is still in Coruscant attempting to fulfill her Smuggler's Alliance duties while continuing her Jedi training. Former Emperor's Hand, turned smuggler, government liaison, and Jedi apprentice...she's long known that the only way things work in the new life she's made for herself is through clearly delineated boundaries.

It's really too bad Luke Skywalker unwittingly keeps taking them apart.

The Son of Suns trilogy by blank101 (link to each installment: Into the Storm, in shadows and darkness, at the Brink of the dawn and the darkness) - graphic depictions of torture, psychological torture, sith!Luke. 721k complete. Darth Vader captures the passengers of the Millennium Falcon after their attempted escape at Cloud City, sure that Luke will convert to his cause and aid him in overthrowing the Emperor. When his plan is rebuffed he falls back on more desperate measures and hands his son over to Palpatine, who begins to systematically take apart Luke’s life to create a new Sith, turning him against his allies, his father and his beliefs with devastating consequences for both the Empire and the Alliance, as events cascade beyond anyone's control.

This is a completed trilogy, featuring Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Palpatine, Han Solo, Leia Organa, Mara Jade, Mon Mothma, and Crix Madine.

Reccer's note: I really love this one - both for the sith!Luke portrayal, and the conflicts luke and Mara go through.

Drive You Mild by obaona - sith!Luke, drama/romance, 70k complete. How do two powerful, individualistic people who were formerly enemies unite? Emperor Luke Skywalker, meet Jedi Knight Mara Jade.

Misc - archive sites/author recommendations

Mara and luke archives

Utopicworld.net

LiveJournal community

Jedimordsith, frangipani, JediDryad, celinamarniss, BananasAreForParties, and evilmouse are all great writers and you should check them out!

[localfanbaselurker]

First time watching Voltron: Legendary Defender and documenting my thoughts

This is Season 4

S1-2 | S3 | S5 | S6 | S7 | S8 |

———————————————————————

<this one is going to be shorter, as I have only recently finished this season, and the grief is still fresh (lol), so the thoughts are only just starting to simmer. strap your asses in>

Pre-Season 4 Thoughts

-> Keith joining the blades is going to be a huge plot device, I feel

-> PLEASE for the love of CHRIST let that poor little girl find her brother and father. If they are dead dreamworks better be ready to catch these hands

->I’ve heard people claim this is the “last good season”, but i stay strong 💪 and will watch till the end

->wouldn’t the paladin switch not make sense now? Cus shiro is back as the black paladin and it makes no sense for Lance to be red like it originally had? If anything, he should’ve gone back to blue, and Allura to red, because Allura is very accepting/encouraging of shiro’s role as leader. I guess they didn’t wanna do it all over again. But I digress 🤷‍♀️

->im gonna miss my Pookie (🤍❤️🤍)

Post-S4

->do they do this every two seasons?? Have an epic battle where they have a big preparation and say it’ll 100% end the war but it doesn’t and something crazy happens after they win and it sets up the next season??

->FUCK YEAH PIDGE GOT HER BROTHER BACK IM SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP 💪💪🔥🔥‼️‼️‼️🙏🙏🙏🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️

->^genuinely cried so hard during this scene. would’ve cried more if I wasn’t recovering from the initial shock.

->^cried during this one too, but it was happy tears. I could actually just do a whole reaction post to this episode alone. (if you want me to js say so in the rbs/replies)

->the callback to s1! “color-coded of course, because what are we? animals?” AHHH! I’m going insane I love these siblings sooooo much

->okay I’ll stop gushing over them now

->^only valid reaction to meeting Allura. Homegirl is beauty incarnate

->I LIED. im not sorry im never shutting up about them. SHE SHOWS HIM AROUND THE CASTLE AND TELLS HIM EVERYTHING AND EVERY DETAIL AND SHES SO EXCITED CUS SHE JUST GOT HER BRO BACK AND IS JUST RAMBLING ABOUT HER NEW HOME AND ALL THE COOL STUFF SHES BEEN DOING AND HES JUST LISTENING AND IS SUPER EXCITED WITH HER AND ITS SOOOO AMAZING AND ADORABLE AND I COULD DIE

->AND THEN HE TELLS HER HOW THEIR DAD WOULD BE SO PROUD IM DYING IM LITERALLY DEAD STOP.

->AND AND AND THEY WERE ALL WORKING TOGETHER W HUNK TO MAKE THE GALRA TRACKER THING AND THEY WERE BEING SO COOL WITH EACH OTHER AND BEING NERDS TOGETHER AND AND AND AJEUWNDUWJEBEURBDGWUDKAODHD

->okay. ive calmed down. i am normal and can be trusted to simply watch a show.

->^Get his ass, Zarkon. I needed his smug ass to be humbled so bad. Only time I will agree w Zarkon fr.

->i do NOT like Lotor. Can you guys tell already??

->THE SCENE WHERE THEY TRIED TO GET MILKSHAKES AND WERE SHOCKED TO FIND OUT THAT YOU NEED TO MILK A COW STOP.✋ 😭. My high-score on the giggle-meter went up by 300%

->bro I SWEAR shiro looks different. there’s just something about him. the hair gets a pass cus how good of a haircut can you give yourself in space, yk? but that nose scar is definitely a different shade #notmyrodrickshiro

->THE VOLTRON SHOW.

->^Just. That entire episode. It’s getting a whole post actually I need to yap about it.

->^her armor is colored in a way which makes it look both pink and red while making it look like a trick of the light in a way to symbolize that she is acting as keith yet while being a paladin herself and that being unknown in the public eye and showing how they have to cover that up, any suspicion being thrown as a trick of the light. Oh vld animators ily 🫶

->on another note tho why do they always draw lance and shiro to have 30 pounds of ass. what.

->loved when those lesbians decided to take down lotor. Queen shit 💋 we stan 🙇‍♀️🙏

->Lotor is so stupid and pathetic and annoyingly smug and sus and admiral-zhao-y and I hate him but he’s SOOO FREAKING HOT and I can’t hate him completely because he’s so attractive but that just makes me wanna hate him more. He’s a walking red flag but the flag is heart-shaped and honestly idk what to do w that.

->^WHAT. stop. honestly that’s the real reason he was banned from the empire my ass would not want that fucking FREAK within a 30 light year radius of me either

-> while s3 was the klance season, s4 is apparently the allurance season, they have a lot of sweet moments. (granted all started by lance but still, you can almost see allura swooning)

->^pookie. what are you doing… pookie.. no. stop. i don’t like where this is going…

->^POOKIE NO. STOP. ✋ STOP. SAY SIKE RN.

->^oh thank fuck for Lotor.

->^^wait what. why Lotor.

->^^^heartbreaking: worst person you know doesn’t something good for once.

->he definitely wants something out of this. I don’t trust him.

These are thoughts I’ve had compiled for some time now. I will continue to post my thoughts on the tag “laura’s first vld”

I finished this season on 06/30/24. I am on S5E3 as of today (07/06/24)

[youngpettyqueen]

hi! just saw your rb about the fanfic director's cut soooo I'll just drop a ⭐ (and thanks for writing the sick hawk fic, hope you're getting well, too!)

hiya!! and thanks so much, im doing leagues better, the covid's gone and im pretty much back to normal. it was brutal, but luckily for me it was short-lived

ill use the sickfic for rambling purposes, cause I love it a lot. specifically this section-

"Trapper huffs softly, unable to stop a crooked smile of his own from creeping up on his face. Hawkeye’s right- he’ll be fine in a couple days, back to bouncing around camp, terrorizing the Majors, and putting people back together like puzzles. Still… it’s hard not to worry when he’d worked himself to the point of collapse.

Hard not to worry when he can’t shake the feeling he should’ve done more.

“I’ll never stop worryin’ about you,” He tells him, getting close to a bit too sincere for the tone of the conversation they’re having, “That’s my job. Anything else I can get you, sweetheart? I’ve got post-OP duty in…” He checks his watch, “5 minutes, and you know how cranky Frankie gets when I’m late.” That’s a complete lie, seeing as he was due in post-OP 15 minutes ago, but Hawkeye doesn’t need to know that."

I went for a very soft tone with this fic specifically because I was feeling very unwell and wanted to keep things light and fluffy, but I still wanted some emotional element to this so I decided to keep it brief and contained to this section. the goal was to acknowledge that Trapper was worried, is still worried, without letting that worry dominate everything and make this into something angsty

I think there's just a lack of Trapper taking care of Hawkeye content overall, but really. I just love Trapper taking care of Hawkeye. this isnt my first time writing it, and it won't be my last, but I did specifically want to write it for Carry On, Hawkeye both because I just felt sick and miserable and wanted to project comfort to help with my mood, but also because its just one of my favourite episodes. there's that short scene where Trapper tries to get up out of bed so that he can help Hawkeye out when he knows he needs it, but he cant because he's too sick, and he has to just lie back down while Hawkeye has to go and, well, carry on. its a very short scene, but its a very good one for showing Trapper's protective/caring streak when it comes to Hawkeye, and its what I latched onto for this particular section

in my head here Trapper is worried, and he's upset that he couldn't do more, but for now he's just focusing on taking care of Hawkeye because that's the best he can do. he'd rather focus on what he can do rather than what he couldn't do. he's trying to avoid really thinking about how bad he feels about the whole thing, cause he knows that isnt going to help anybody right now, but some of it still slips through here. hence there's a brief moment of something very tender and sincere that doesnt quite match up with the rest of the conversation, because Trapper cant really help himself in the moment, and it quickly passes because he's still avoiding dealing with everything he's feeling

it didnt make it into the fic itself but there was a scene that explained that Hawkeye's in the Swamp because he refused to stay down in post-OP and kept trying to check on patients because he was really anxious about anything he might've missed in his sick state. there was gonna be a lot more Trapper reflecting on Hawkeye's resiliency and devotion to the point of detriment, with him thinking about how he had to carry Hawkeye out and to the Swamp after one of the nurses came to get him cause Hawkeye collapsed trying to check on a kid, but it felt so much like the other Hawkeye/Trapper fic ive posted (lay your weary head to rest) and clashed so much with the tone I was going for with the rest of the fic that I ultimately scrapped it

but yeah this fic was both to make me feel better and to find a way to write something fluffy and tender with a hint to more emotional depth underneath. I wanted it to be light and easy to read, but to hint at that worry I think Trapper felt, and some of that blame im sure he put on himself for how bad it got, without overpowering how soft and light the tone was supposed to be. overall im really pleased with the result, and im impressed that its even coherent cause again I was. very very sick when I wrote it

[adhdvane]

Talking about GW/U&F Under the Cut because it’s gunna be a long ramble

S here’s my rankings (I want to save these and post them in this entry for myself, I want to better keep track of how much I do so I can keep a log of how much stupid effort I end up putting into this godda.mn event each time to see how my progress goes) Individual:

i’m like both proud and dead (ignore dark team, this was fire favored but final rally zeus is light, so kill him with dark team). i could solo nm 100 just fine, like much better than pervious events, including the last wind gw in June 2020 (which does tell me hey, you’ve improved a lot on your fire team in the past year), it’s just soloing nm 100 took like ~10 minutes and required me paying attention. by day 3 burn out was real (despite there being no 24 hours interlude this year because of server issues delaying prelims, lol let me tell you when i went to check the prelims on my break to find out oops sorry we’re delaying prelims a day bc ppl had issues last night when we started at 3 am your time, rip). nm 95, you see, that i could make a full auto team for and just summon the devil and skill cast a couple of the skills click attack and then full auto, and ignore the game for like 4 to 4:40 minutes. so while i did do some nm 100 runs, i mostly defaulted to nm 95 (on another note i could 1 turn nm 90 with my break/od team bandit tycoon/5* tien/summer bea/5* zeta and so during prelims and round 1 that felt really good). on the one hand it hurts that i ignore my main fire set ups for favor a full auto team (rb/sieg/heles/izmir) but like how else do i survive doing that many godda.mn raids without total burn out (and i mean the only difference is playing relic buster instead of lumberjack so no using my prized ullikummi and swapping tien out for heles bc tien is less full auto friendly bc you don’t want her buff skill activating before her damage. also i mean it was nice to let heles get exp so i got her to lv 100 during the event bc i’d leveled her to 95 prior. she has some good damage nukes, and her additional atk/def down stackable meant coverage when sieg or izmir’s didn’t land properly). besides i still got to use my main fire set up and ullikummi when i did the nm 100 runs (look i love my fire ullikummi + lumberjack i will never shut up about how good it is and how happy i was i went through with it originally for a harp memeing only to discover WOW ITS JUST REALLY GOOD FOR MAINHAND PERIOD EVEN WITHOUT HARP MEMEING GRID). sure running nm 95 was. technically not optimal in terms of time/meat/tokens/honors but it was fckin optimal for my SANITY.

crew (day 4 at top - day 1 at bottom):

first of all slkdfsjk can’t believe i actually stayed above top 30,000. WOW THAT IS DEFINITELY A FIRST. third slkdjgsldf 3 of 4 won, one day i’ll get 4 of 4. tbh surprised i managed to win the last one (THE ONE AT THE TOP) (i was... i was raiding from 3 pm - 4:40 am it was bad... i wanted to hit the 400mil individual mark for the reward bc i was close and like it would suck if i was only a little bit away)... it did feel good to actually win some though, i haven’t had victories in a while because despite the fact every gw i was definitely getting more honors than i had the previous one it was getting harder to solo shit when i’m against crews with multiple ppl participating. (HELL LAST GW, THE WATER BOSSES, WAS THE FIRST TIME I ACTUALLY MANAGED TO GET BACK INTO FCKING MAKING THE SOLO C TIER AFTER SEVERAL GW WHERE IT DIDN’T HAPPEN BECAUSE THERE WAS A BIG LEAP IN HOW MANY HONORS THAT 36,000 CREW HAD AT THE BOTTOM. also like lol at work so i can’t really start doing prelims until i get home bc i decided i wanted sleep in the morning)

other:

:) oh boy a single sunlightstone shard that’s going to sit there forever and never do anything bc how the fck am i ever going to do this 10 times. draw box fcking 50 is what i’m on. it takes 10k to empty. i would need 8k more tokens. i would get 100 tokens per extra zeus run.... im not doing 80 more zeus runs... i’ll .... just have to hit “toke draw 100 times” 21 times to use the rest of the tokens which is annoying. i guess. AND NOW WE COME TO THE REASON WHY I PUT SO MUCH GODDAMN EFFORT INTO THIS GW. gbf is a bastard man that wants me to 5* the rest of the eternals (5 of them) before i can transcend shisu to 140 ( ´•̥̥̥ω•̥̥̥` ) i hate it. so in order to get enough rev weapons to work on my next 5* i needed to 36 box for fif (i have 1 fully uncapped copy of her rev from when i was initially going to have to recruit her normally but then seeds of redemption happened in 2020 and i got her free + 50 five-star fragments, since i already had a fully uncapped copy i thought fine she’ll go next bc less weapons needed and also i have one of every other element 5* so i wanted to do her or song either way. plus maybe if i can 5* her i can actually go do that gilbert quest lol). i WOULD HAVE LOVED TO BOXED NW QUARTZ. I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO HAVE BOXED NW QUARTZ AFTER I 36 BOXED HER. BUT I KNEW IF I DID THAT, I WAS PROBABLY GOING TO INEVITABLE HIT BOX 46 BC OF THE RATE I WAS GOING AND IT WOULD FORCE ME BACK TO REV STAFFS AND I’D END UP WITH EXTRA COPIES WHEN I COULD HAVE BEEN STARTING THE NEXT SET I NEED. so instead of boxing the quartz i wanted after i switch to harps and IT sUCK. also depending on if i get the harp draw from the 2000 token i have left... i might continue zeus farm until i get it bc then at least i’ll have an even uncap on my harps (4 fully uncapped, bc i actually had a 1* harp in stash already.... bc those were FROM RANDOM DROPS I’D GOTTEN FROM GW IN THE PAST)

uhg anyways... this was like one of the first times in like a very long time that i didn’t fully burn out by day 3/4. i pushed through to the end like a godda.mn maniac. even in my early days i often just went lol im done on day 4... last gw i thought i was insane bc i got like ~158mil total honors (and EARTH IS LIKE ARGUABLY MY LEAST DEVELOPED). and this time i got over 400mil :) next one is going to be hell because my wind has be improved to 100% double tia crit and i have a my developed full auto team. oh fcking boy. 

[thebookishgoddess]

ELLA’S MONTHLY WRAP-UP: SEPTEMBER 2018

I’m not going to lie. September was a slow month for reading, in my most honest opinion. Mainly because I’ve only just gotten used to my work schedule. And lo’ and behold, that schedule changes right into October. Life’s never really simple in this industry I work in--making it hard for me to read my beloved books. But it’s not to say it hasn’t been a great month overall! I’ve received a few amazing books from some close bookish friends, and I can’t wait to share it with you all!

Also, September was the month of The 39th Manila International Book Fair here in the Philippines and let’s just say it’s been a semi-blast (mostly because I didn’t get to see my #LadyBirds because arghhh work), but it was fun because I got to go with two of my co-workers! More on that in this wrap-up, so let’s get right into it!

So if you guys followed my August Wrap-Up, you all know I just got a job last month and it was super new to me. It still feels a bit new even after a month of working for the industry I’m in. It’s not the first time I worked in this industry, but it is the first time where I managed to get a decent dayshift--just very crappy rest days. But overall, I’m slowly getting used to it, and the whole month of September working in my job just proves that I just needed time to adjust to it.

And adjusting to work also meant adjusting my reading schedule. Let me tell you, it has not been easy. The best I could do on a regular work day is read my books/listen to my audiobooks during break time or when there’s no work to be done on a particular day. I mostly do my reading on my rest days, though two days really isn’t enough to read as many books as I wish in one go. Ya girl’s gotta get her decent shut eye at some point.

But less into that, and more into some of the actual bookish things that’s happen this month!

39TH MANILA INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR

September was, as I’ve mentioned in the intro, the month for The 39th Manila International Book Fair. It is the biggest book fair in the country to date, the closest we can get to a YALLFest or BEA here, mainly. I normally go with friends to this yearly event, though sadly, with my schedule being Thursdays to Mondays, I only managed to go on the first day of the event (which was on a Wednesday). But it’s not to say I didn’t have fun!

I went to MIBF with my co-worker, RB, and my Team Leader, Ces. You guys could not believe my delight when I heard that a few people at work loves to read books as much as I do. The moment I told them there was a book fair, they were stoked to come with--and am actually surprised they’ve never heard of it before.

We went on the first day (Wednesday) and bought just a few books because we were into the second week after payday so we had very few funds to start with! Here’s my mini MIBF haul:

Mini MIBF Haul: An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir & A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

I was so frustrated because Book Binge Bazaar happened on a day when I was at work. Luckily, I was able to go because the BBB at MIBF is up until 12 midnight. I come out at 8 in the evening, and I just knew I had to go to the BBB event even if I was only left with leftover books after a whole day of bookworms hoarding every P175 book they can find. I managed to get three for myself, one each for my co-worker and Team Leader, and one for my little brother.

Mini BBB Haul: The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead, The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid and The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine.

It was not a lot, but it felt good to at least get a few books from this amazing sale!

BOOK TRADE WITH BOOKISH FRIENDS

After the big #BookishWish event on Twitter had slowly died out into September, I thought that it shouldn’t end this way. So I started up a little trade train on my Twitter account. Granted, I was only able to offer up two books from my pile--but I was happy to give those two books new homes.

I was also able to receive one of the books on my #BookishWish, plus a lil’ gift from one of my #LadyBirds friends from the BBB event that I wasn’t able to get much into.

I traded out my copy of These Rebel Waves with #LadyBird Shai (@themeanderingsoul) for her Throne of Glass copy. Then I traded my Don’t Look Back with #LadyBird Angel (@whimsy_wanders) for her Beauty Queens copy.

Mini Book Trade Haul: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas & Beauty Queens by Libba Bray.

And a little (or not so little, considering how big this hardcover was) post-birthday gift from one of my #LadyBirds, Ailla (@MioneJeanPotter)! She snagged me a gorgeous hardcover of A Court of Misty and Fury from the BBB event. I cannot thank her enough for this precious copy!

Post-Birthday Gift: A Court Of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Last, but not the least though, the last #BookishWish granted from the event. The Scorpio Races PLUS a little Matthias Helver from the Six of Crows Duology magnetic bookmark from one of my closest and dearest friends in college, Clare (@thebookishpoppet)! I traded my copy of An Ember In The Ashes (one that I got from Shai) over to hers because she wanted to read it after she saw how I raved about it. I’m super excited for her to dabble into the beauty that is the Ember Quartet.

#BookishWish: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

BOOKS READ THIS MONTH

Adjusting to this month with my reading was very difficult, so I was only able to read a handful of books. I mostly just finished the rest of the ACOTAR books and decided that I will do one reread this year of the amazing Harry Potter series.

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Now, you guys may be wondering why I haven’t written a review for the ACOTAR books yet, especially since I’ve expressed several times that I enjoyed reading this series and even went as far as to purchase merch for it.

The honest answer? I was too lazy to write one out. I had planned on writing a review for ACOTAR the moment I finished it, but September was a difficult month to get book reviews out.

Will I ever write a book review for the books? Probably not. My thoughts for the books are long overdue. But to give an overall impression of the books, let’s just say that I absolutely enjoyed all of it. Also, ACOFAS is lowkey not canon because that book was a disaster POV wise and plot wise. I think majority of the fandom can agree with me on that. But I do look forward to more ACOTAR books! I have all three of the series’s books (not intending to buy ACOFAS at all lmao), so that says a lot. I am excited to see where Maas takes the rest of these characters to. I heard there were going to be spinoffs for each character/ship, so we’ll see!

When will you start reading new books? Riiiiight after I finish Harry Potter. I wanted to cheat on my Goodreads a little bit after I made a bloody fool of myself by changing my reading stats of 30 books to 50 books, so I must pay the price. But I will say that I’ll get into Escaping From Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco right after! I just purchased the book on my second salary and I’ve been tempted the whole way home to read it. But I have to wait just a little more for it.

SEPTEMBER BOOK HAUL

It’s an amazing month for filling up my bookshelf! I can’t thank my friends, MIBF and BBB enough for lessening my shelf space. To be honest, my bookshelf is more of a book trunk at this point. I’m still asking my dad to make me a bookshelf. He said he might have one made for on Christmas, so we’ll see!

Thanks for tuning in to my little rambles for September’s wrap-up! I look forward to writing something out for this blog again, especially with NaNoWriMo looming ever closer. But that’s another story to tell right before October ends.

Happy October and autumn, everyone!

[yahoo-roto-arcade-blog]

Booms and Busts: Navigating a world without Aaron Rodgers

We spend most of the day sorting through the winners and losers on an NFL Sunday. But when the slate includes a major injury to an inner-circle Hall of Famer like Aaron Rodgers, no one feels good. It gut-punches everyone.

I don’t have a lot of Rodgers stake this year, for a few different reasons — but I feel depressed just the same. Just a week ago Rodgers was underscoring his greatness, orchestrating a letter-perfect game-winning drive at Dallas. Forget rooting interests and fantasy plays for a second — if you couldn’t appreciate that brilliance when you see it, nothing can make an impression on you. (I rewatched that final drive four times, myself, taking advantage of the indispensable NFL Game Pass package.)

Rodgers didn’t last long Sunday at Minnesota — a first-quarter hit to the turf resulted in a broken collarbone. It’s feared he’s done for the season. Third-year quarterback Brett Hundley took over in the 23-10 loss, looking like the inexperienced quarterback he is. He threw three picks, absorbed four sacks, and finished with a messy 39.6 rating.

Everyone can see the downside of the situation going forward. I can’t imagine any Packers skill player will be better off without Rodgers. All the passing options obviously take a hit, and even if the offense relies on the running game more going forward, it’s going to be a running game that no longer has Rodgers to keep the offense afloat. One of the pinball machines in the NFL just went tilt.

Is there any silver lining to all this? Let’s strain our eyes and try to find something.

— Quarterback isn’t a difficult fantasy assignment

Obviously the next Rodgers isn’t walking through that door. But just a month ago, Deshaun Watson was a rookie quarterback with limited expectations. We can keep streaming against lousy defenses (the Patriots wave hello; Josh McCown cut them up Sunday). Quarterback is the easiest of the four major positions to fantasy fill. Unlike real football, where the quarterback is king, fantasy owners can usually navigate the wire and at least land a credible QB replacement, for the short term or the long term.

— Your opponents will get major injuries, too

I’m not saying we have to feel wonderful about this, but it’s a fact of life. Someone in your league lost David Johnson in Week 1. Someone in your league accepted a partial day from Jameis Winston on Sunday. Someone had to play without Stefon Diggs. No one gets through a fantasy season unscathed, and while it doesn’t completely eliminate the sting, it does make it somewhat easier to accept.

— The NFL remains a chaotic, snow-globe league

Just a month ago, many fantasy scribes were writing the obituary for Carson Palmer. This past week, you surely read a number of emphatic pans for new Arizona RB Adrian Peterson (I’m raising my hand; I thought he’d fall on his face in the desert). Jordan Howard was a flop through two weeks; he’s been a league-winner since then. If you don’t like the shape of the current NFL, just give it another week. We’ll feel differently about a number of things when they play the next fresh slate of games.

Try to keep your wits about you. We’re a long way from the conclusion of this fantasy season.

— Maybe Hundley (and the Packers) will be better than we think

We can’t take too much from Hundley’s relief appearance at Minnesota — the team obviously put zero effort into getting him prepared ahead of time. Starting quarterbacks take all the first-team reps. Perhaps Hundley will be able to morph into a capable quarterback once he’s given adequate time to work with the first-string talent in Green Bay. The Packers play the Saints next week — always good for fantasy production — and then receive a well-timed Week 8 bye.

That’s my best effort in trying to whistle a happy tune. We’ll get through this together, gamers. Let’s stay the course, keep making the best decisions we can.

Cleaning up the New Orleans backfield

For the first five weeks, the New Orleans backfield was a case of “you can’t always get what you want.” But a surprising midweek trade cleaned everything up nicely — in Week 6, all three backs got what they needed.

Mark Ingram was the biggest winner of the new world order, as he rambled for 150 total yards and two scores in the crazy 52-38 victory over Detroit. Running mate Alvin Kamara was also effective (10-75 rushing, 4-12 receiving), though he didn’t have any touchdowns. But the shocker of the afternoon came later — Adrian Peterson exploded for 134 rushing yards and two touchdowns as the Cardinals rolled past Tampa Bay.

Ingram’s day was projectable and Kamara was at least expected to do what he did, if not a little more. Peterson’s production was difficult to forecast (don’t look at me, I panned him all week). The Arizona offensive line hasn’t played well all year; Peterson didn’t get anything going in New Orleans (or with Minnesota last year); and the Tampa Bay rushing defense had strong stats into Week 6. Was Peterson’s outburst a story in motivation? A fluke? A sign of things to come? You decide.

I’m going to double down on the Peterson fade and suggest it’s a good time to shop him in trade. His Arizona breakout is going to garner plenty of attention, but he’s still dealing with a spotty run-blocking line and a difficult set of run-stopping opponents. Andre Ellington had zero touches and just one target for the day, a residual of Arizona grabbing a quick 24-0 lead. That’s not going to repeat very often. It’s a perfect time to see what type of trades might be available to you.

Pianow on the Take

• Antonio Gates is probably a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but the Chargers need to make Hunter Henry a centerpiece of their passing game. Perhaps the torched was passed in Sunday’s win at Oakland, with Henry posting a 5-90-0 line on seven targets, while Gates was thrown to just once. I don’t care about Henry’s erratic usage in the first month; I truly believe the Chargers have seen the light. Hopefully the burden of 16 straight road games doesn’t hold down this LAC offense.

As for rookie receiver Mike Williams, forget about him. He played just nine snaps in his rookie debut, coming back from a back problem. There’s a major learning curve for most rookie receivers (the 2014 explosion was a generational fluke, not something to chase after). And the Chargers have plenty of proven pass-catchers already ahead of Williams.

• Pierre Garcon has shown flashes of greatness during his 10-year career — he even led the NFL in catches in 2013 — but there’s a legitimate reason why he has just 37 touchdowns in 138 games, with a high of six. The Garcon/Kyle Shanahan angle was modestly overrated in the summer, especially with the quicksand the Niners have at quarterback (mediocre Brian Hoyer, inexperienced C.J. Beathard).

I give Shanahan and staff major props for keeping the 49ers competitive in most games, especially the recent stretch of three straight road games. But Garcon is merely a low-end WR3 for PPR formats, nothing past that in our fantasy world. He’s not an automatic starter by any means.

• Don’t look back, Mike Gillislee, something might be — well, is — gaining on you.

Gillislee has been under four yards a carry for the year, he still doesn’t have a target, and he lost a key fumble in Sunday’s first half in New Jersey. He wound up benched for a considerable chunk of time after that, while Dion Lewis (11-52-1) surfaced as New England’s primary runner. Lewis also punched in a short touchdown, generally the handiwork of Gillislee.

Gillislee’s value could be cratering soon, with Lewis reemerging and Rex Burkhead probably not far behind. And James White is always going to have some role in this offense, though he only had seven touches in the comeback victory over the Jets.