#Re-read Saturday

[alemanbarbecue]

Become A Better Communicator! Smart Brevity, Re-read Saturday, Week 1 — Overview and Introduction

Overview and Logistics: Today, we begin our re-read of Smart Brevity. The recommendation for this book came from a discussion I overheard during a break in class I taught in Philadelphia in 2024. I ordered the book during the next break. I am currently reading the book a few chapters ahead of the re-read. You will see my style change as we roll through the re-read cycle. Smart Brevity, written…

[sepia-mahogany]

Lan WangJi replied, "We will wait until we find them. After all, we do what we must." Wei Wuxian, "Just by using nets?" Lan XiChen, "That is right. Does the YunmengJiang Sect have other methods?" Wei Wuxian smiled but didn't respond. Of course, the YunmengJiang Sect used nets as well. But, because he was a good swimmer, he had always jumped into the river and dragged water ghouls out. However, this method was too dangerous; he definitely couldn't do it in front of the Lan Sect's people.

....I'm sorry, what

[arkarti]

I AM LOOOOOOSING MY MIND

GGRHRHG GGRHRHGHHRHGHR GGRHAHAGTHEGGHHDHFHRHGBDN

SEEING YOUR SPICY ART HAS MADE ME REMEMBER HOW MUCH I MISS YOUR STUFF POPPING UP IN MY EMAILS

Please oh pleaseee tell me you’re working on another chapter

ajkfghfjk oh my - I appreciate the enthusiasm 😳💖 very sweet of you

I am in fact working on a chapter! don't worry - there will be more soon!

letting it simmer till it's done~

[bennetsbonnet]

I don't often read contemporary fiction but my friend mentioned she had enjoyed a book called Falling Hard for the Royal Guard by Megan Clawson, so when I saw it the other day (in Aldi of all places) I thought I'd pick it up and give it a go if ever I needed an easy read. And after feeling emotionally devastated after finishing The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot earlier... I thought it seemed like a good idea. So I gave it a go.

As well as not reading many books written by authors who are... well... alive... I also usually stick with anything I pick up to read until the bitter end because there is usually something that I can learn from it... even if it's something along the lines of, 'well, I never want to read anything like that ever again.'

It's safe to say that I do, indeed, never again wish to have the misfortune of reading something that would fit right in on Wattpad circa. 2012, with such wonderful descriptions of the male love interest's eyes as 'Catherine wheels of jade and pietersite that sit like gemstones behind a fanning of dark lashes.'

Ooft. I was cringing... but I sort of zoned out and continued to skim read until the author demonstrated in the most infuriating ways that their familiarity with Jane Austen does not extend further than (presumably) the plot outlines of Austen's novels on Wikipedia and certain adaptations:

'I remember being fifteen and mentioning in passing that an acquaintance in my class at school was throwing a party whilst her parents were away, and that was it - Mum was bundling me into the car to get a crate of alcopops... Those nuclear-coloured drinks stayed in the pantry for a good few years and moved between at least three of our houses. I did stay up until 4 a.m. the night of the party, but that was because I was three-quarters of the way through Northanger Abbey and there was no way I was falling asleep before I knew whether Henry Tilney would rise up against his father to marry the woman below his station.'

Not really sure how Henry Tilney, a clergyman, marrying the daughter of a clergyman counts as marrying 'below his station.' I feel like the author wanted to write a character who is Not Like Other Girls and stays in to read classics instead of partying because she's just so quirky! but didn't have the necessary knowledge to write such a character because they have never actually read a Jane Austen novel in their life. Anyone with even a basic familiarity with the character of Henry Tilney (often thought of as the most romantic and instantly likeable of all of Austen's heroes) knows that his appeal comes from his knowledge of muslin and his kindness.

Anyway, my suspicion that the author had indeed never read a Jane Austen novel (and has only watched one adaptation. Yes, that one) was only furthered during this bizarre conversation between the Not Like Other Girls protagonist and her male love interest with the Catherine wheel eyes, where he insists she must watch LoTR with him (because all women cannot possibly have nerdy interests themselves and must be shown them by a man), while all women love romantic films:

'If I watch the Lord of the Rings then you have to watch a documentary with me. Or Pride and Prejudice! Has to be the 2005 version though, with Matthew Macfadyen as Mr Darcy. The better Mr Darcy. And I will die on that hill.' Getting a little too passionate about my Jane Austen adaptations, I blush, averting my eyes from Freddie. "You're not wrong.' When I look back to him, he is smiling. 'Macfadyen was a far more true likeness to the book than Colin Firth being all sexy clambering out of a pond in only his shirt.' And just like that, Freddie is, to me, sexier than any man in period costume, dripping wet and head over heels in love. He watches - and reads - Jane Austen? This man really is a mystery, but more than ever he's an enigma that I must solve.

Perhaps many do wish that Colin Firth's Mr Darcy was indeed wearing 'only his shirt' but that is obviously not the case, nor do we actually see 1995!Darcy 'clambering out of a pond' (isn't 'clambering out' actually a Bridgerton thing? I feel like I've seen a gif somewhere, perhaps that's where that misconception stemmed from.)

But to say 2005!Darcy is 'a far more true likeness to the book' is objectively one of the funniest things I've ever read because that particular pathetic specimen is barely even recognisable as the conceited, arrogant snob that is Mr Darcy.

Look, I'm not going to compare the Darcys or say which I think is superior. That's up to you. But what I will say is that one iteration of Darcy's worst offence is that people watch him and come away thinking that he jumped into a filthy body of water... while the other makes viewers believe that he was a poor socially awkward shy boy who stumbled over his words in front of his crush and has done perhaps irreparable damage to the perception of his fundamental characteristics in the popular consciousness. I leave it for you to decide which is which.

Anyway, to conclude, I think the author could have spent some more time reading those classics that they want to make their characters have a knowledge of. If they did, perhaps the author would have realised that there are more important elements to a good story than throwing in an obscure gemstone like pietersite, that not many people would even know what it is without the help of Google, to describe a character's eye colour.

I don't know what colour eyes Henry Tilney has, but he's an infinitely better written character than any that I encountered in this absolute abomination.

[skijumpingf1]

Spent half my day, re-reading @trialround schlierenwald saga. God - their dynamic is so good. It still hits as hard as the last time and the first time reading it

[compacflt]

wip wednesday: the final wip wednesday :’)

bonus:

[appleseltzer]

I’m re reading little weirds by jenny slate and coming across all the notes I wrote in it when I was 18. six years later I am still waiting for someone to come into my kitchen and be hungry for me. i am still dying from being eager to use my heart and get my body touched

[swiftsaltsweet]

Hunt's next chapter.

I'm legally not allowed to write anymore. u_u My doctor said no.

[freepassbound]

Lavender and Soup

Lavender: Name something that relaxes you.

Had to consider briefly whether I am ever truly relaxed... 😅

Re-reading a good book, I would say, takes pride of place here.

Soup: Comfort food?

My favorite meal! Tuna onion casserole. It's warm and gently tasty and... home.

[jinhyun]

finally figured out what to do with watercolor.

[alemanbarbecue]

The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People - Conclusion, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Week 8

Over the past few weeks, I have chronicled my re-read of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. As I noted when I began this endeavor, this book and the advice it has provided have been helpful for me as I have addressed the turning points in my life. The habits that Stephen Covey posits are a framework that reminds me that decisions and growth come from my core values. Individually, we own our…

[supercantaloupe]

getting a migraine today of all days was so evil

[mdemn]

😔💔

[telvayns]

what’s ur ao3?

you can find me here!

for anyone who didn't know, in a couple days' time i will be posting the first chapter or so from my fitzier pale rider (1985) au, revelation 6:8, for cowboyshowfest!! i'm very happy w/ how it's turned out so i'm really excited to see what people think of it.

you can get a taster for it from the first art i did w/ this au right here!

[possum-tooth]

i can hear them yelling about us again