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ofliterarynature · 4 months

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DECEMBER 2023 WRAP UP

[loved liked ok no thanks (reread) book club*]

Mixed Magics • Chalice • To Shape a Dragon's Breath • The Haunting Season • Hither Page • The Henchmen of Zenda • System Collapse • The Phantom of the Opera • An Unexpected Peril • A Minor Chorus* • The September House • (The Dream Thieves) • The Fragile Threads of Power • The Pinhoe Egg • (Network Effect) • Some Desperate Glory

total: 16 (audiobook: 12 / ebook: 4)

Happy New Year booklr! Here's to actually getting my last monthly wrap-up post of 2023 out in decent time for once.

Some Desperate Glory - I'm getting myself off to a bad start here because I don't actually remember much from the book and I didn't write a review at the time. oops. But I do remember that once things got going I was hooked, and I couldn't wait to pick the audiobook back up. Definitely some content warnings to look out for, but an incredible read. I definitely need to go back and check out the author's other work.

Network Effect - the last book of my Murderbot reread, still great, glad to have finally read this in a text format! Also better suited to be read *after* Fugitive Telemetry, I wish I'd known to read them in chronological order the first time.

The Pinhoe Egg - a nice wrap up to the main Chrestomanci series! Though if anyone can tell me why on eARTH the 'recommended' reading order is like *that*, please explain it to me. I'd forgotten so many things by the time we got back to Cat, if I ever reread I'm going chronologically.

The Fragile Threads of Power - lord help me, I could do a whole rant. A quick summary of my relationship to this series: loved Shades of Magic when it first came out, did not love/was very annoyed by most of it when I reread them in 2023. Also have not really liked any of Schwab's other work. BUT. I was under the impression that this spinoff would have new main characters, and the old ones would be present but not in the center. If I didn't just make this up, it was LIES. The original MC's still dominate probably at least 60% of the book, and you'd think 7 years in-book and more experience on behalf of the writer would mature them, but a) no, and b) so many goddamn flashbacks. And Kel's assasin-sona was so cringe I wanted to cry. I did actually like the new main character which really is the biggest shame of all. If you see me contemplating the next book please stop me.

The Dream Thieves - I don't know that I have much to add yet to my thoughts about TRB in my Nov post, but I've been having a very strange experience where when I'm actively reading these, I'm having an incredibly good time; when I'm not I completely forget I was reading it. lol?

The September House - this is possibly the closest to my ideal horror book that I've ever found??!!? I have a weird relationship with horror, wherein I am not uninterested, but I almost never enjoy the ones I read (I think it has to do with my irl anxiety, idk). But THIS one. It's such an INCREDIBLE blend of like, mundane horrors and dark humor? I loved it. The "you can live with the horrors if you just follow the rules" is very much my vibe, and the way the author chose to have it integrate with the main character's experiences of domestic abuse was very smart. Deeply enjoyed, but probably won't be a favorite.

A Minor Chorus - this month's book club pick! I really really wish I'd liked this, and I'm torn between "thank god it was short," and "oh I wish this was longer." It's about a queer Indigenous doctoral student in Canada who's somewhat lost his way on his dissertation and is instead writing a novel (maybe), inspired by the stories of people in his community. On one hand, the writing was sometimes very beautiful and the different stories were interesting! On the other, my academic-speak abilities are limited, and the narrator did not hold back. He even explicitly states at one point, oh I can't describe my book this way to [character] because he won't understand my academic language. And...yeah. My brain got a little overwhelmed and I skimmed a lot of those parts. The hopeful part of me thinks if that if the book had been longer maybe I would have had time to "get it," but idk.

An Unexpected Peril - Veronica Speedwell is as Veronica Speedwell does. Had a good time with this even though it's proving to not be the most memorable. Mostly I remember intensely panicking over whether or not V had practiced forging the princess's signature, lol.

The Phantom of the Opera - this was a last minute sub for my classics challenge; I've never seen any of the adaptations, but I happened to see the book on tumblr when I was scrambling for a replacement and thought it might be fun. And it was! Quite ridiculous and dramatic, and I had a good time reading it. I was surprised by the outsider POV on the story, but it was good, just a shame that it didn't allow Christine to tell her own story. If anyone has a Christine-centered retelling I should read, let me know! And are there any adaptations I should watch?

System Collapse - new Murderbot! I was so excited for this, I'm irritated that my brain and work schedule didn't want to cooperate and let me read my nice pretty hardcover; I ended up getting the audiobook from the library instead. I had an incredible time, because it's Murderbot, how could I not? But it's also interesting, because Network Effect felt quite cohesive and contained on its own, but this feels very much like an in-between story (almost like Fugitive Telemetry), rather than a continuation of the same thread. I'll be interested to see where Martha takes us from here.

The Henchmen of Zenda - my last KJ Charles of the year! I did mean to get through all of her books, but things slipped by me these last few months so I still have a couple, but managed to fit this standalone in! It's not the only time she's pulled characters from works of classic fiction, and I admit, I'm now very curious and kind of want to read the original Prisoner of Zenda? Definitely this version had an exciting plot that was fun to read, though I don't think it'll be my favorite of her works (yay for a non-traditional relationship structure tho :)

Hither, Page - I don't think I've read Cat Sebastian before, but I've had this one recommended and it sounds right up my ally - historical/cozy myster/spy shenanigans/gay romance! And it was an incredibly pleasant read, would recommend, but I do think it could have been better as both a mystery and a romance.

The Haunting Season - I almost picked this up in October for spooky season, but put if off for Dec since it's meant to be wintery ghost stories - and only just remembered it in time! I almost wish I hadn't. The first two stories were so meh for me that I almost DNF'd it, I just didn't want the fuss of having to find a new audiobook for work the last day before Christmas break. Luckily Natasha Pulley showed up next with a good story (I really ought to read her books) and there was a good run of 4 stories with another 2 meh to round things out. It wasn't a total loss, but I wouldn't really recommend.

To Shape a Dragon's Breath - If you've seen people singing the praises of this book, they're not wrong! It's a very good if sometimes heavy read, and this is definitely the closest I've gotten to liking a boarding school story since Protector of the Small (I got burned out on them very quickly, lol). It does sometimes read like the debut it is, it's not perfect (lots of infodump speeches, lord save me from the technicalities of alchemy/chemistry, and I would have liked to see more done in her relationship with her dragon), but it's also doing some incredible and unique things that really make me want to see more books in this series and whatever else the author writes.

Chalice - I've read Robin Mckinley before and I've found her work ok, but this one has been repeatedly recommended in the HOTE discord server - I figured it would be a good one to wrap up the year with! And surprise surprise, the fealty-coded discord loves a book about... fealty XD and good stewardship, and magic bees, etc. It's incredibly on brand, and I had a lovely time with this fairy-tale of a book.

Mixed Magics - a collection of Chrestomanci short stories; I actually read one of the stories a few months ago due to the recommended reading order (bleh), and thought it would be fairly simple to finish it off before the end of the year, now that I'd finished the rest of the series. All fun, if not equally interesting, and a nice end to the year. Now I just need to find a new Diana Wynne Jones series to try (not on audiobook, alas, my library is all out of those).

(I did almost consider then binging the Hither, Page sequel on new year's eve, just so I wouldn't split the series, but decided against it :D)

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danielfeketewrites · 3 months

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Hellboy (2004)

First drafts, amirite?

As Ernest Hemingway famously said: "The first draft of anything is shit."

That's an exaggeration, of course. There are first drafts that are at least decent. There are first drafts that could be described as alright. Some writers can do it. Sometimes you just manage to mostly nail it on the first try. But it's a rare thing.

It's really weird, to read an early draft of a film you love. It's in a lot of ways like the thing you love, except... worse. Usually not a whole lot. Just a little. But definitely worse. But you can spot the bits that will be moved, removed, added, tweaked, or changed completely. And you realise that these changes are 9 times out of 10 what makes it the whole thing better.

The first time this has happened to me was probably while reading Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. It's a film I dearly love and reading the screenplay was great... except it was just a slightly worse version. (Might reread it this year for the challenge? Who knows?)

With Hellboy, the experience was maybe even a bit worse, because it's actually quite different at parts to the film I know I love.

And trust me, I love Hellboy.

I fell in love with Guillermo del Torro's two Hellboy films, then I fell in love with Mike Mignola's Hellboy comics. Both of these are very different, but I love them both so goddamn much.

But this script... clearly isn't there yet. Some parts of it are not very engagingly written, and there are some pacing issues, which I think were eventually solved. (Notice the date on the script. It's 1999. Five years before the film's release.)

Also, Hellboy is quite unlikeable in this script. And the one point where I think his dickishness is actually kinda justified, everyone starts acting like he's crossed a line. But by the time this evolves into the film, all of that is largely fixed. The remainders of Hellboy's dickishness are offset by Ron Pearlman's charisma.

And while I said a lot of this is very different, there is so much that made it to the final film: the loose adaptations of Seed of Destruction, agent Myers, Hellboy's relationship with Liz, and so much more of the stuff that makes the first Hellboy movie really enjoyable. You can see the seeds of an amazing film, it's just not finished yet.

It's also important to note how crucial Guillermo del Toro himself is to the film eventually being as good as it is. He's basically writing the roadmap for himself here, he can change the trajectory if he wants to. Eventually, his direction, the cast, and the mise-en-scène end up making the film genuinely memorable.

I love Guillermo del Toro.

And while I said that some bits of the script aren't particularly engaging, there are occasionally some great bits of raw imagery here...

"Rotting steel mills line the street like dead industrial behemoths." This line fucking slaps and you can't tell me otherwise. Raw as fuck, just hidden away in a scene description.

So yeah, there are some great bits. If you're interested in the background of the film, I can recommend it. If you just want some great Hellboy stories, go watch both of the del Toro films. Or go read the comics.

I've read the RaM script on my laptop, I've read the Hellboy script on my ebook reader.

I actually started reading it some time last year. Didn't get past the first act. For the challenge, I pushed myself a little, picked up where I left it and just read the remaining 3/4 of it.

It was ultimately worth it. I think I gained a better understanding of the film's conception and, more importantly, I learned something about first drafts and it's this: If your first draft is finished... No, it's not. Never stop striving to make something better. If you've made something and it's okay or bad or kinda good or whatever, it can always be better.

Suo Tempore.

#hellboy #SRC2024 #reading challenge #writeblr #screenwriting #scriptwriting #script #screenplay #guillermo del toro #mike mignola #dfpost

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freeuselandonorris · 8 months

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questions about books!!! the best kind of questions. thanks for the tag @boxboxlewis this was a fun distraction from pretending to write!

An estimate of how many physical books I own: oh jeez. I would say probably about 400 in my flat (it’s a small flat, too) and then maybe another 200 in storage at my mum’s? So yeah probably 600 or so overall. I’ve probably only read maybe two thirds of them, but I have problems with impulsive spending so they keep on piling up 🫠

Favourite author: Can’t pick just one, but JG Ballard, Donna Tartt, William Gibson, Eliza Clark and Bret Easton Ellis (shut up I know he’s problematic let me live) are my top five.

A popular book I've never read and never intend to read: Honestly probably anything else Sally Rooney brings out. I don’t get the big deal.

A popular book I thought was just meh: See above! But also My Year of Rest and Relaxation. Otessa Moshfegh should in theory be right up my street but I just find her writing is trying too hard to gross me out, it’s too edgelord for me. Which, if you’re familiar with some of the authors I’ve listed above, is really saying something.

Longest book I own: Ooh I’m not actually sure. Maybe The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton? I didn’t finish it though. Or the Succession script books are pretty hefty? OH WAIT no it’s probably Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellman but I haven’t even started it lmao.

Longest series I own all the books to: Probably Harry Potter, unfortunately. I don’t really read series books much!

Prettiest book I own: My copy of The Sick Bag Song by Nick Cave is pretty lovely. The Roads Editions paperbacks are all gorgeous, especially my copy of Venus in Furs. And idk if it counts but my first ever boyfriend (who was an asshole in all other respects) bought me a limited copy of Laments by Jenny Holzer for my 18th birthday which I treasure.

A book or series I wish more people knew about: Ooh, tricky one. I’m going to say Heroines by Kate Zambreno which is a really beautiful creative non-fiction essay about mental illness and the literary wives and mistresses of quote-unquote Great Authors (white men).

Book I'm reading now: The Weird and The Eerie by Mark Fisher, and The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer. Never let it be said I am not wide-ranging in my tastes.

Book that's been on my TBR list for a while but I still haven't got around to it: I mean like I said I have about 200 unread books and more in my TBR list and sometimes I lie awake at night getting stressed about the fact that I will never have time to read all the books I want to read!!! But the one that springs to mind is The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil which I should read for novel research but it’s a BRICK about the likelihood of machine intelligence destroying humanity. I’m fun at parties I swear. (Disclaimer: I am 34 years old I don’t go to parties anymore.)

Do you have any books in a language other than English: I mean, I have some poetry in translation and stuff but I can’t read it :(

Paperback, hardcover, or ebook?: I much much prefer paperbacks! But I read probably 50/50 paperbacks and ebooks these days since I got my nice shiny iPad.

tagging @lost-decade @zeraparker @formulatrash and @saintdevote if any of you want to fill in!

#tagged #books!!!

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hedgiwithapen · 2 years

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Wait, you believe me? Ezekiel and Cisco

The guy standing at the gate had a really great accent, Cisco had to admit. “I’m the Librarian,” he said, like that explained everything, when Cisco had spotted him on the cameras, very obviously looking for a place to climb the somewhat rickety chain link fence that surrounded STAR Labs. “This is a restricted area,” Cisco said, nodding at the signs while folding his arms in his best impression of Joe. He knew he wasn’t exactly the most intimidating as a civilian, but this guy was kinda scrawny too, so it was worth a shot. “Sorry, Mate,” the guy beamed, holding up a black ID wallet for a heartbeat. “I’m here to pick up an item on loan.” “Don’t you usually just send out a letter with a fine?” “Oh, Ezekiel Jo-Johns, Special collections!” he said brightly. Well, it’s certainly a unique way to try and rob us. Cisco thought, Better than bribing a janitor, anyways. He knew he should call Barry in, since he was in civvies and he couldn’t count on just blasting the guy and hope that the resulting concussion would give him a little memory loss but not actually hurt him much. But it was a fairly boring thursday, and Cisco wanted to know what the guy thought was here that was both so special and also remotely portable. “Special collections, huh? I thought that was just old books they didn’t let anyone touch without those acid free gloves.” Ezekiel gave an almost affronted look, casually checking the gate. “Nah. I mean, yes, some of it, but this isn’t the 16th century. Clearly. Because Time traveling is wrong. I mean, uh, impossible.” The way he said it before correcting himself sounded like he was quoting a lecture. Internally, Cisco wondered if whoever gave that kind of scolding might come pay them a visit here. “ Pretty much all libraries lend audiobooks, ebooks, movies, some special collections have, like, powertools, or 3D printers… video games, which is pretty sick, right?” Cisco nodded in agreement before the little voice that sounded like Caitlin in his mind hissed, do not agree with the thief.

“Yeah, well, that’s a good pitch for our tax dollars at work, but we didn’t borrow anything from CCPL.” “Oh, not that library,” Ezekiel smiled again. “Maybe it was your boss? I have the paperwork…” he rummaged in his shoulderbag. Cisco stopped him “How do you know I’m not the boss?” “Well when I hac--looked it up in our records it said Harrison Wells, and you sure don’t look like a paraplegic old white guy, so…” “Dude, he died like a year and a half ago.” “Oh. You should really update your website, then. And we should update our files. Still using the card catalog system, it’s a bit of an issue. Anyways, he borrowed a thing, we need the thing back, so if you wanna just unlock that gate--” “Sure,” Cisco said easily. More than ever he really wanted to know what this dude’s plan even was. He wasn’t a metahuman, his prop badge just said “ the Library” on it, and he sure didn’t have a getaway car idling nearby. “I’ll help you find it. What is it, exactly?” “Oh-- yes, good idea, you want to make sure I’m not here to steal all of your, uh… particles. Uh, wood box, about so big--” he indicated nearly his own height. “Got a stick in it. Pointy.” Cisco had a flash of memory--just regular recollection, no blue strobe. Sara had brought them a box like that, something that needed to be destroyed. Something they’d tried desperately to destroy. Something that couldn’t be destroyed, and so needed to be locked down with people she trusted, but where even she couldn’t get at it. Not Argus. She’d warned him not to open it, so of course he had. The Spear of Destiny had promised him power, had promised him his brother, had promised him a thousand things he had seen himself with in vibes. He had locked it back into darkness. Anxiety crept up the back of his neck. “Of course. I think I know where Dr. Wells put it. Follow me.” This was no longer a case of turn the thief away and laugh about it later. This was A Problem. Cisco mentally calculated the days since the last massive teamup and came out with well under a year, so hopefully whatever calamity this was, it wouldn’t require a full crossover. Ezekiel followed him, his footsteps almost silent as they went down one curving hall, past the cortex and further. Cisco smacked a scanner, opening one of the storage rooms that was eighty percent boxes of STAR Labs sweatshirts and the remaining twenty star labs mugs. “Right here,” he said with a gesture. The “librarian” grinned, looking a bit apprehensive for the first time. “Great. I appreciate it, really. Some people--all kinds of judgements, you know? That I’m too young or handsome to be a Librarian. So thanks for not making me call my boss and pull up my MyFace account and all that, you just believed me.” “Oh, I super did not,” Cisco said, pushing him in and closing the door hard and fast. It chirped as it locked. “You should have picked a better cover. FBI, MI6, literally anything else.” He heard some of the best cursing of his life from the other side of the door as he pulled out his phone, sending the trouble alert. No one was stealing the Spear of Destiny on his watch. Just ahead, the elevator doors glimmered with blue.

#Dammit Hedgi Day 2022 #Ezekiel Jones #Cisco Ramon #The Librarians #The Flash

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likes-words-and-shrimp · 7 months

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Small update on writing projects and other things so I can gather my thoughts and also hopefully feel more organized. Mostly about Symphonia, with small mentions of Adventure Time, Deltarune, Elden Ring and Dragonlance (tell me if you know this book series plz)

Still working on my Lloyd and Mithos fic which I shared a wip of here. It's slow going because it's going to involve some decent amount of dialogue and my brain is too ADHD right now for it. Thank you for those who shared interest in it! I want to finish this god help me.

Want to update my Wolf Bite fic (which is werewolf!Lloyd and Colette as Red Riding Hood) for this Halloween. I've started a chapter to continue the verse and also werewolf Lloyd is too cute. Plz look at this art by @frayed-symphony for my previous chapters that I still go crazy over.

I also want to write something for one of those October prompt events. There's a lot of them! Let me! Choose! One! I just want to make one, preferable spicy.

Speaking of October prompts, I still have this Colette time loop fic made for whumptober last year that I never finished, which was using all 31 prompts. I got over halfway! Then things happened. They always happen. 😔 I want to get to the happy ending already.

Finished Adventure Time with Sky, and now I am obsessed with a mentally-ill lemon guy. Can I write him?? Is there a point to write him?? But I also finished Fionna and Cake and now I have a small idea with the genderswap versions of him and Lumpy Space Princess (new ship). Might try it soon. And yes I will be reblogging a lot of art for this show, let me ride it out.

I am still thinking about that Deltarune Spamton fic I started like two years ago. I did have a plot but again, life happened. I'd need to reread it too. You'd think I had a problem with finishing multichapters!! Haha. 🥲 But I was able to finish my last multichapter fic so I can do it! Just gotta be lucky. I also had another short story idea with him and Jevil, and the main three. Maybe I can get to it when Deltarune finally gets chapter 3 in about five years from now lol.

The Elden Ring zine I was in finally arrived for me! It's cool seeing my fic in print 😭 I'll share later on but it's been fun being on these zine projects lately. My fic was about the Omen brothers because I have a thing for twins apparently.

Not fic but there is a new Dragonlance book by the Weis and Hickman duo?? After nearly a decade?? I saw the ebook for it on sale and immediately picked it up. This series was my gateway into writing so it does feel nostalgic to go back to this world. Only one chapter read so far (with whole new characters this time) but W&H have a knack for being really engaging in their writing. Even for their past stories when I didn't care for a plot, I still tend to finish their books.

Oh yeah, I'm also on bluesky. I use it sometimes maybe.

#shrimpy rambles #text #just wanted to get everything down so maybe i can actually focus #also I still have some fics I need to catch up on #my kindle is loaded with them lol #mine #writing

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magicalyaku · 1 year

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I forgot what I wanted to write as introduction (again), but who cares. To everyone’s surprise, I did read books in December!

Reverie (Ryan La Sala): To prepare for the end of the year I took a look at the TBR I posted in January and realised there's still quite a few books on it I did not touch this year, ahem. Reverie was one of them! It was an interesting read. Like not my favourite but damn, I am so starved for everything speculative fiction. So I ate it up. When I read in the author's bio at the end that Ryan La Sala watches anime and started out with Sailor Moon, suddenly a lot of the book made sense. The friends group with magical powers, the over-the-top battles, the flashy villain(ess). Very anime. But I like anime, so all is well.

Too Like the Lightning (Travis Beaudois): For Christmas I wanted to give my friend a cheap little gay ebook as a bonus to the other gift. On her wishlist though was only some strange book, apparently written by a 12-year-old and unedited and maybe it's still good, but I felt I'd rather give my money to a person who actually has taken the time and effort to edit their book. A while ago I read a recommendation for Too Like the Lightning here, so I picked it up to check if it might be something my friend might like. It's a cute book. Nice characters, nice development, really feel-good atmosphere. I liked it! But I also know my friend reads for the porn und I honestly couldn't remember the smutty scenes afterwards. 8D I mean, there were some. And they weren't bad. My ace-brain just does not remember. Cute book, though.

In the Middle of Somewhere (Roan Parrish): I decided against Lightning for my friend and thought about what other book I could pick instead. A review of Lightning compared it to Roan Parrish which was one incentive for me to buy Lightning in the first place because I really liked the one Roan Parrish book I read before. But that was vol3. Gifting vol3 would be weird. I should go with vol1. So I borrowed it from the library to test-read. xD And damn, it was good. Definitely a lot more spicy and intense that Lightning, but also funny and real nice to read. Daniel was more interesting than he appeared to be in vol3. And aw, when Leo had his first appearance! And then Will, too! That was fun. While reading Lightning and Middle of Somewhere back to back I noticed how weird it is to have stories with just two characters interacting and no one else around. Consequently my favourite scene of the book was when Daniel, Rex, Leo and Will spent Halloween together.

Where we left off (Roan Parrish): Afterwards I told my other friend how I'm done with the dirty books for the year and of course I lied, because the next day I started rereading the 2nd sequel to Middle of Somewhere. What choice did I have? I just like Leo and Will! (as in together but also as separate characters) D: This is an interesting one though, because there's so much character work going on. Leo is thinking and reflecting and learning about all these things like physics and yoga to the point he's able to apply something he learned there to something else in his life. Good boy. Also he has an actual group of friends to balance out his obsession with Will.

The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels (India Holton): Well. I read this because of a recommendation. It was interesting and entertaining. For a while. I like how it just rolls with the absurd ideas and behaviours. But it also uses a lot of words and at some point I was like "There's still 150 pages left?!" I was getting very impatient. The romance didn't help. For the first 6 chapters I was so confused. There's a bunch of badass ladies around, why would she fall for a man? And then I remembered, that this isn't a queer book at all. uAu" Wasted opportunity. And I hated the smut scene! Why was it even necessary?! Changing the perspective three times? Ugh. So yeah, entertaining for a while, but ultimately not my cup of tea.

I’ll be home for Christmas (Mason Deaver): A bonus story to I Wish You all the Best, hardly qualifies as a real book. But. I bought this in summer after finishing the main story and put it off to read it in-season. And then I almost forgot. uAub It’s cute and short and a nice follow-up.

Mirrored in Evergreen (B. Pigeon): This one was a little odd. In the beginning I was slightly confused to the order of events and wtf is going on but it's a short book so with just a little patience things are set in order. I did like the characters. The way Rowan is so no-nonsense about everything was very unexpected and welcome. Rosemary was also nice. And I definitely liked the overall atmosphere. That sort of despair, melancholy, nostalgia. That's what it felt like for me anyways. I don't think I understood everything. I'm surely still blind to half of the characters’ motives, but overall I did enjoy reading the book. And because of that remaining sense of mystery I can totally see myself rereading it in the not-so-far future.

Howl (Shaun David Hutchinson): Earlier this month I started reading You've Reached Sam because I had a hot melancholic second where I felt like I could use a little bit of pain so we can suffer in sympathy. The next day I was already over it und shelved the book because I didn't want to deal with the suffering. And then I picked Howl for my last book of 2022 and guess what I got! It's SD Hutchinson so it's not as straightforward and also not about the romance so it's easier to read for me, but goddamn the SUFFERING! Why can people be so shitty? Ugh! I do like his stories though and the way he tells them.

And that’s it! Stay tuned for my Best-of that I still have to compose (effort) and TBR (too easy)!

#yaku reads #december wrap up #books #booklr #queer books #queer lit #lgbtq books #reverie #in the middle of somewhere #where we left off #roan parrish #too like the lightning #the wisteria society of lady scoundrels #i'll be home for christmas #howl #shaun david hutchinson #mirrored in evergreen

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arwainian · 1 year

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My Reading This Week:

This is that stuff I have started, finished, or continued reading this wee! (So far not including articles for school, but maybe future editions of this style will) I'm trying to find something to do to catalogue the books I read for if twitter goes down sometime soon, but also to give myself a space to catalogue progress through things that take a while to read, or don't have a real point of being "done."

If I do this again, then the formatting will be subject to change as I do this more and come to conclusions about what works best about this for me! I also might move this to a non-tumblr blog, but right now tumblr suits me fine.

Started & Finished:

Delicious In Dungeon/Dungeon Meshi, volumes 10-11 by Ryoko Kui and translated by Taylor Engel

This manga delights me so so much. I love the art style and the tonal dissonance and all the characters and just... *chef's kiss* mwah. While reading these the other day I kept leaning over to my friend to show him panels I really liked. I'm actually considering tracking down where to read the chapters translated by fans before the official english volume translations come out bc i don't want to WAIT longer than I absolutely have to. But I also have enough to read already

A Restless Truth by Freya Marske

What's up, it's my brand, queer historical romance with fantasy elements! AND this has murder mystery elements too. This could not be more my shit. I don't tend to preorder books because I am... bad at buying books that I want to read? But I did actually preorder an ebook copy of this as a little gift for myself after I read A Marvellous Light, and I found this so delightful that I could not stop my hands moving. This books wins the coveted "made me jump up and down" prize, and the prize of immediately being recommended to a lesbian friend. Also @ Freya Marske's agent, I would have read the ghost threesome, how dare you keep it from me.

Started & Ongoing:

Boy Oh Boy by Zachary Doss

A very dear friend recommended this book to me after [redacted] last year and I finally got around to picking up a copy through Libby and starting to read it. It is very weird. But I think I'm enjoying it? And yeah, I can see why Tort recommended this to me in the wake of All That.

Ongoing Reads:

Blood Sisters: Vampire Stories by Women edited by Paula Guran

See it is big anthology books like this which are the first reason for the 'just plain ongoing' section. Tort also gave/recommended this one to me, if I am remembering correctly, because I am of course a vampire lover, of both the monstrous and scary-sexy variety. (Gosh this is a Tortoise heavy post) Anyway, I've tried reading a bunch of these in one sitting and can't really do it, so what I'll try is to read one short story from this collection per novella or novel that I read, so that I can make continued progress through it. So far I have read the first five stories in it:

A Princess of Spain by Carrie Vaughn Shipwrecks Above by Caitlín R. Kiernan The Fall of the House of Blackwater by Freda Warrington In Memory of... by Nancy Kilpatrick Where the Vampires Live by Storm Constantine

Aurora by Red (of Overly Sarcastic Productions)

comics with no end in current sight are the second reason for an ongoing section! This is fun, tropey fantasy fluff. This one updates three times a week and I do try to keep up, so to avoid being repetitive I probably won't mention it again unless i feel like there's something i Must say about it. but I feel good about finally having a place to say "hey! I'm reading this right now!"

There we go! Attempt number one of a non-twitter reading log, with all of the (non-school related) reading I did this week (and a bit before with that anthology). Also. this may or may not be the most formally formatted posts I have made to tumblr since I made those name-meaning posts for a bunch of homestuck characters, so please appreciate the effort I made

#bookblr #arwainian princessoid decrees #cal reading log

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ritualoftheancients · 2 months

Text

Ritual of the Ancients Chapter 15: Safe House

by Roan Rosser

This is a chapter of a complete vampire novel with a trans-masc main character and a gay romance subplot. New Chapters are posted every Sunday. If you like the novel and want to support the author, ebook and paperback copies can be purchased here.

*****

Surprised but excited, I closed my eyes and relaxed into the kiss. Jack was a very good kisser, lightly probing my lips with his tongue until I parted them for him. His short beard and mustache brushed my mouth and chin, sending delicious shivers down my stomach, and lower. After a few careful kisses, Jack pulled away, but as he did he gently caught my lower lip with his teeth and gave a little tug before breaking contact, which made me moan.

I opened my eyes. Jack was looking at me cautiously, his hands placed respectfully on my knees. “That was the best kiss,” I breathed.

Jack smiled, his eyes sparkling. “Good. Glad I haven’t lost my touch.”

This made me giggle. “God, no.” I stuffed the amulet back into my jeans pocket. Having it out in plain sight was making me antsy. “You make it sound like it’s been a while. Are you forgetting poor Officer Hubbs so soon?”

Jack’s smile widened and became a bit lopsided. “Oh, jealous, are you?” he said in a teasing tone that let me know he was joking.

“Maybe a little,” I said. “Or a lot.” My face burned.

“To be perfectly honest, I was jealous seeing you wrapped around Hubbs kissing his neck, even knowing you were eating him.” He shifted closer to the couch to lean his face closer, pressing his chest into the insides of my thighs and moving his hands to rest on the couch on either side of my hips. “Can I kiss you again?”

“Yes.” I barely got the word out before Jack pressed his lips to mine. I wasn’t sure who’d moved towards whom, but the kiss made me groan with need.

When we pulled apart a bit later, I was gasping and Jack’s shoulders were heaving. Jack’s eyes were half-lidded and he was grinning.

“Should we move to the bedroom?” Jack asked, running his hands up my side. He paused for a moment as he hit the edges of my improvised binder, but then his hands moved again back down to rest on my hips.

I had been all set to yell, “Yes!” and damn the consequences, but that pause made me suddenly self-conscious about my chest and lack of top surgery. “I’m…” I swallowed and my voice lowered to a whisper. “Can we just keep kissing and cuddling here on the couch for now? It’s been a while, and I’m not sure…”

Jack gave me an adorable half smile that made me reconsider my no, and said, “Sure. It’s been a while for me too. Can I?” His hands slid under to cup my ass, and he lifted me a few millimeters.

“Oh, yeah.”

I let Jack pick me up and hug me to his chest. He stood from his crouch and twisted around to sit on the couch, settling me down on his lap facing him. His erection pressed into my crotch and he squeezed my butt, making me gasp in pleasure. My underwear was already damp inside my jeans. God damn, why had I turned Jack’s invitation for sex down? I craned up and kissed Jack hard.

Both of us came up for air gasping, lips swollen. Jack slid down and twisted to lay down on his back on the couch so that I rested on my chest. I don’t know how long we lay there fully clothed and alternating kissing and staring into each other’s eyes.

By the end, I was on my side, squeezed between the back of the couch and Jack, my head resting on my bent arm. Jack was in a similar pose, facing me. Jack’s butt must have been hanging off the narrow couch, but he didn’t say a word of complaint.

Jack looked at me sleepily, a contented smile on his face. He reached over with his free hand to run a finger down my cheek, then draped his hand over my shoulder. “I moved out here a year and a half ago and basically threw myself into work. I didn’t want to date anyone. Guys all reminded me of Andre, and he thought I was dead. I stalked him on social media, and it broke my heart when he posted pictures of himself and his new boyfriend. You’re the first guy I’ve looked at twice since then. Thank you for breaking me out of my funk.”

“My story isn’t nearly so dramatic.” I smiled and put my hand on Jack’s chest. “I couldn’t even think of dating anyone before. I just never felt comfortable, but I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I turned down a lot of guys in high school. Everyone thought I was a lesbian—hell, even me, for a while. I went on a few dates with the only out lesbian at our school, even slept with her a few times before I figured out I wasn’t attracted to her that way. Once I finally came out and started transitioning, it was so chaotic with dropping out of school, moving, and hormones, that I haven’t dated anyone. This has been very nice.”

Jack bit his lip and gave me a lopsided smile. “No wonder you’re nervous. You’ve never been with a guy before.”

“Hey, Brooke had a strap on!” I blurted in indignation before I realized what I’d just confessed to. My face burned as Jack laughed.

“You ever try it on her?” Jack asked.

I wanted to sink through the bottom of the couch. “Once,” I mumbled. “That was the only time I really enjoyed myself. And what made me start to realize I was trans.”

Jack gave me a sincere grin and winked. “I’m a switch.”

I stared at him, and then burst out laughing. “It’s a date.”

“How about we adjourn to the bedroom,” Jack said, pressing a finger to my lips. “No sex, I promise.” Jack sat up and slid around to sit on the middle of the couch, then turned and extended a hand to me.

I let Jack help me up and sat on the couch next to him. “I’m not tired yet. What time is it?”

Jack glanced around and then pointed to a clock on the wall in the entry way. “4:00 am. You’re right, we still have time. So, what do you want to do instead?”

I sighed. “We need to come up with a plan, and, I hate to say it, but I need to see that presentation you mentioned. I don’t know enough about being a vampire.”

“You’re wondering why those vampires ran away from you after you ate their buddy?”

I laughed. “I mean, I had just almost killed their friend. They were afraid of me.”

“True. It’s also a bit taboo for vampires to bite or feed on other vampires.”

“Why?” I asked, remembering how strong I’d felt after. Much different than I’d felt after feeding on Jack or the officers. I ignored the reheated, bottled blood. That barely counted as food.

Jack shrugged. “Not sure. Despite the fact that we work together, the vampires and shapeshifters don’t really mix much. Stacy and Ted, the other vampire on staff, take care of the vampire issues, and Zoe and I deal with the shapeshifters.”

“I distinctly remember you quoting vampire law at me when we first met,” I teased.

Jack waved a hand and stood. “I know the basics. But you may have a point. I think there is a computer here for guests. I can VPN in to the office and pull it up.”

“Okay. Then what’s the plan to deal with Lady Ann? I can’t keep running forever.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Because I’m starting to think the vampire thing is just a fluke. Like, maybe a vampire found me unconscious outside after the attack, and—”

Jack stopped in the hallway leading farther back in the house and turned. “What, turned you? There’s not just the fact that it’s highly illegal to do that without the person’s permission, what’s their motivation?”

“Well…”

“Think about it while I look for the computer.” Jack disappeared down the hallway.

I groaned and flopped back on the couch. Jack had a point. Why? The only thing I could think was that maybe there was a vampire fighting back against Lady Ann and her mobsters. But why me? I was grateful to the unknown vampire, whoever they were, no matter their reasons, but I couldn’t help but be a little suspicious of the timing.

My thoughts drifted back to the amulet that she wanted so badly. I took it out of my pocket and stared at it, turning it over in my hands. Why all the fuss over this? It was gold, and old. Priceless, true, but then so were a lot of things in the museum.

The provenience papers for the amulet had been pretty bare. It’d been donated by a rich philanthropist who liked to collect old Egyptian artifacts. The artifacts themselves had mostly been looted during the Victorian era, and thus didn’t come with much information about where they’d come from. Archaeologists from that time hadn’t been the best about recordkeeping. And that was the best case scenario.

If they’d been bought from the black market, it’d be next to impossible to figure out where it had really come from—not that I had the resources now to research it. I hadn’t looked into it more before when I had the chance, because I figured it didn’t matter.

No, that was me lying to myself. I hadn’t wanted to research the artifacts I was stealing, because I wouldn’t have been able to steal them if I knew how much history I was taking from the public.

“Thinking hard or hardly thinking?” Jack joked as he came back inside the living room carrying a tablet in one hand.

I offered him a wane smile. “You’re right, I can’t think of a reason for the vampire to have turned me. So instead I started thinking about this.” I held up the amulet.

Jack sat down next to me and flipped open the tablet, folding the cover open to the back. Holding it one hand, he pointed to the amulet in my palm with his other hand. “That’s easy. Negotiate with her, give her that in exchange for calling off the hits.”

“No!” I yelled, recoiling away from Jack. Fangs pricked my lips, and I didn’t know when they’d come down. Anger hit me, sharp and hard, and I struggled to control my expression, to keep from snarling at Jack. Inside I screamed and raged.

Jack jumped and stared at me with wide eyes. “What the hell?”

My back pressed against the arm of the couch, yet I didn’t remember moving that far back. Even when I concentrated, my fangs wouldn’t go back up. “I don’t know,” I mumbled around the fangs. The burst of initial anger was cooling, but a voice in my head was screaming at me.

“It’s fine, Ev. Calm down,” Jack said in a quiet voice and slowly laid the tablet on the couch on his other side. He turned to face me, moving slowly with no sudden movement.

“I’m trying.” I shook, and my vision turned black at the edges. Oddly, Jack’s visible skin seemed to be covered in red lines that beat in time with an unheard beat.

“Are you thirsty?” Jack asked softly, extending his hands towards me. He froze when I flinched.

I ran my tongue around my mouth. I didn’t feel very thirsty. My mouth wasn’t dry, and I didn’t feel like I had when I was mad with thirst after I’d been shot. In fact, I felt less thirsty than I had when I’d been able to control myself around Emily in the car, even if that had been a near thing. “No,” I finally said, shaking my head. “I don’t know why they won’t go away.”

“It’s okay, Everett.” Jack reached out again with one hand, still moving very slowly, to touch my leg. “Do you feel possessive about the amulet?”

I nodded. “Why?”

“I think you’ll feel better if you put it in your pocket,” Jack said quietly.

I frowned, but did as Jack instructed. Even though it was only a thin layer of jean fabric blocking it from Jack’s sight, I immediately relaxed and my fangs retracted. “Huh, it worked.”

Jack smiled at me and scooted over the rest of the way to hug me. “You were right, you need a crash course. Even I’ve learned this year that vampires can get overly possessive over their possessions.”

“Oh.” I sighed and let Jack pull me back down onto the couch.

Jack pulled me up close to him and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. I cuddled up against Jack’s side while he propped the tablet on his lap.

“Now, I couldn’t get into work, but I asked Dave to email me recent copies of the Powerpoints.” He clicked on an email with his thumb.

“Wait,” I said and sat up. “How do I give Lady Ann this thing to get her to lay off me if I’m going to flip out?”

Jack laughed. “I don’t know. We’ll figure out how to cross that bridge when we come to it, okay?”

“Alright.” I cuddled back up to Jack.

Jack clicked the email from Dave and read it out loud in disbelief. “‘There isn’t one for new vampires; their Maker tells them everything they need to know before the change is even made.’ Well crap. At least he gave me the latest one for the shapeshifters. Want the full experience, or just the highlights?”

I looked at the clock and made a face. “Just the highlights, I guess.

Don’t want to be caught out. You made it sound ugly.”

“I’ll keep an eye out too, but sure, you don’t need the details since you aren’t a shapeshifter.” Jack grinned and opened the Powerpoint. It didn’t open right away; the PP logo rotated there as the presentation loaded.

“I guess my first question is about the memory I saw of yours. You didn’t get bit, but you changed.” I craned my head around to look at Jack.

“Yeah, that’s always everyone’s first question. That was my first question too.” He bobbed his head toward the screen, which had finally finished loading, and showed a shrugging cartoon werewolf with question marks over his head. A little thought bubble came out of his head that said, “But I didn’t get bit by a wolf. What gives?”

I snorted. “Woooow.” I drew out the word in disbelief. Jack hadn’t been kidding about how cheesy this was.

Jack tapped the screen to advance it. “Certain people are born with the capacity to shapeshift, but most never change,” Jack explained, flipping quickly through a few slides that talked about genetics. “It usually manifests for the first time after a traumatic experience.”

“So, I know yours…” I trailed off, not wanting to upset Jack further if I could help it. “That fox, Emily, what happened to her?”

“Single car accident on I-84.” Jack shrugged. “Most stories aren’t quite as dramatic as mine. Anyway, the ability tends to run in families. There are a few shifter families scattered around the world that have a 95% success rate in teaching children to shapeshift for the first time without the trigger, but most shapeshifters are having a bad day that gets worse. PCA was originally founded to help those individuals.”

The next slide had graphic of a brightly shining cartoon sun with sunglasses on, hanging over a naked cartoon human hiding behind a garbage can. The text was, “You can’t change or stay changed in sunlight.” “This slide’s pretty self-explanatory,” Jack said with a shrug.

“Night only?” I asked. “Like furry vampires.”

Jack lightly bopped my arm with a loose fist. “Very funny.”

“Can you change in shade, or a dark basement?”

Jack lifted his hand and made a see-sawing motion. “Depends on the person, but generally no. It’s a little more magic than science, like with the vampires, and our best scientists still haven’t unlocked exactly why it varies from person to person, or what about the sun prevents the change.”

“Or why it kills vampires?”

“Exactly. Either it’s magic, or our technology just isn’t at a point to be able to explain it.”

A phone rang from somewhere farther in the house, interrupting Jack’s speech.

“This place has a landline?” I asked in surprise.

“Yeah, so we can be sure we can reach the house no matter who is here. Excuse me, I bet that’s Stacy calling to check up on us, since I lost my cell to my abductors.” Jack set the tablet on the couch and got up.

I nodded while Jack went into the little kitchen that was directly off the living room. Jack picked up a cordless handset from the inside wall that wasn’t visible from my angle.

“Hello?” Jack said, leaning one hip against the counter facing me with the phone pressed to his ear. “Hey, Stacy, what’s up?”

There was a pause as he listened to Stacy talk. He rolled his eyes at me and mouthed “sorry”. I gave him a little smile.

“Yeah, he’s still here with me. He doesn’t have anywhere else to go, remember?” Jack furrowed his brow and frowned deeply, glancing at me. “Dangerous? He’s not—”

Stacy must have cut him off, because he abruptly stopped talking. “You’re not making any sense, Stacy,” he said after a moment.

Curious, I got up and drifted closer. Jack noticed and waved me over. “Look, he’s right here. I’ll put you on speaker, and you tell him what you just told me.”

Jack pressed the speaker phone button and set the handset on the kitchen counter.

“Jack, don’t— Look, he should already know this.” Stacy’s voice was a little distorted coming from the phone’s cheap speakers, but even still I could tell she was rattled. I’d only met her twice, but she’d seemed very put together and not someone easily upset.

I frowned and glanced at Jack, then said, “I’m just going to tell her.” Jack began to protest, but I held up a hand. “It’s fine. Maybe as a vampire she’ll have some insight that you don’t.”

“Tell me what?” Stacy said in a clipped tone.

I took a deep breath and blew it out. “I was changed two days ago. I don’t know who turned me into a vampire. All I remember is that I was on my way home from work, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in a dumpster covered in blood. And I was a vampire.” I paused to let Stacy say something, but the line stayed silent. I waited another beat, then shrugged and forged ahead. “Actually, I wasn’t sure I was a vampire until I ran into Jack on my way into our apartment building. Even then it took some convincing before I really believed him.”

“You… You’re only two days changed? How are you in the room with Jack without attacking him?” Stacy asked, stammering in disbelief.

I glanced at Jack and shrugged. “I’m not sure what you mean?” I asked. Jack bit his lip.

Stacy was silent for a moment. “It doesn’t matter right now. The reason I called is because of what you asked me earlier, about how to tell if a vampire is dead. I just got a call to report that a vampire was murdered earlier tonight by a visiting vampire, and I put two and two together.”

“Hey, that was self-defense! They attacked me,” I snapped back. Despite my protestations, my stomach twisted at the confirmation that I had actually killed him.

“The witness reports say you killed him by draining him dry.”

“Yeah, I was panicked so I bit him, and then…” I licked my lips as I remembered. “He was delicious. Everything happened so fast. Next thing I knew he stopped moving.”

Stacy gasped and said in a near-whisper, “I thought they had to have been mistaken.”

“Stacy, I don’t understand what the big deal is,” Jack said and glanced at me with raised eyebrows. I shrugged again, feeling as clueless as he looked. “Everett doesn’t either, so fill us in. Why are you so upset?”

“He should be dead!” Stacy raised her voice. It wasn’t quite a yell, but it was close. “Vampire blood is fatal to other vampires in anything more than small quantities.”

“What?” Both Jack and I said at almost the same time.

“I thought you felt weird,” Stacy said in a low voice, almost talking to herself. “And in the car, being so close to you was making me feel very unsettled.”

“I thought you were acting odd,” Jack agreed. “I’ve never seen you lose your temper so fast before.”

A rhythmic tapping sound came through the speaker, and I pictured Stacy drumming her fingers on a table. “We need to find out who changed you without permission. Besides being a huge violation of the rules of consent, we can’t have a rogue vampire in the city.”

“Where would we even start looking though? Everett doesn’t remember the attack, and we know nothing about this unknown vampire.” Jack groaned and massaged his temples. “Plus, we still have to deal with those human assassins after him.”

“How will finding the vampire who changed me help?” I asked. “I mean, I’m already a vampire, it’s not like that can be undone.”

“It’s your bloodline,” Stacy said. “There are different types of vampires. Just like shapeshifters turn into different animals, vampires tend to get different abilities depending on their maker or their maker’s maker. Without knowing your bloodline, we won’t know what effects your vampirism will have on you. The fact that you…” She hummed. “That’s got to be a rare one. I’ll have to do some research. In the meantime, Jack, I’m very disappointed that you kept this from me. You know how dangerous new vampires can be.”

“People were trying to kill him, Stacy, and I suspected vampires might have been involved. Although now we’re fairly sure the two events are unrelated,” Jack said, squeezing his eyes shut. “And he was able to control himself. He didn’t seem like a danger.”

Stacy sighed audibly. “Well, I can see why you might have thought that. Okay. I’ll allow him to stay at the safe house with you until we figure out what’s going on. I’ll look into what his bloodline might be. That should give us a clue about the possible identity of this rogue vampire. In the meantime, Everett you are not to leave the house, understand?”

“But—”

“I’ll have Zoe drop off some blood stores for you today,” Stacy continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “Jack, you should lie low for now as well. I’ll call you again after sunset.”

“Got it, boss,” Jack said. The line clicked off as Stacy hung up.

“That was weird,” I said. My hands shook. Stacy had a very powerful presence, even over the phone. “I feel like I just got reamed out by my mother.”

Jack let out a laugh as he hung the handset back on the wall-mounted base. “Yeah, she can be over-bearing at times, but it’s because she cares.” The phone rang again, and Jack frowned as he picked it up. “Hello?”

“Yeah, hold on.” Jack pulled the phone from his ear and gave it to me.

“Hello?” I answered hesitantly.

“It’s Stacy again,” she said without preamble. Jack leaned closer, cocking his head to listen in. “One more thing I remembered, and I’m not sure it’s important, but the witnesses stated that they felt drawn to you, and that they felt like you had something that they badly wanted. But none of them could articulate what it was or why they wanted it so badly once they were out of your presence.”

“Yeah, they said something like that to me too,” I said. “Is that how they found me? Cause I’d been wondering…”

“I think so,” Stacy hesitated. “I felt it too, now that I think about it. But those three that attacked you, they were all younger vampires, less than a decade old. Perhaps that’s why they felt it more strongly than me. The reason that I asked to speak to you privately is that I’m wondering if you might know what it was.”

“Maybe.” There was only one thing it could be, but I felt reluctant to tell Stacy about it. I shifted the phone to my other ear so I could trace the shape of the amulet through my jeans. A thought occurred to me: maybe that was what the rogue vampire wanted too. It could explain why a vampire might have been around me, but why change me yet not take the amulet? It had been hidden, yes, but a thorough search would have uncovered it, especially if they could feel it on me. The mugger hadn’t found it because they hadn’t known to look.

The line was silent for a moment, then Stacy sighed. “Everett, I realize you might have no reason to trust me, but being cagey is not going to help us find your maker. A rogue vampire is dangerous to all of us, not just you. Do you know what humans will do if they find out we exist? Because I do. It’s happened in the past, and many, many supernaturals died before we were able to contain it. In this day and age, with smartphones, cameras, and the internet, if the truth gets out, they’ll be no way to stop it.”

I groaned. “I don’t know for sure, but there’s only one thing I’ve consistently had with me the whole time. It’s…”

I hesitated again, glancing at Jack who raised an eyebrow at me, clearly understanding what I was talking about. Jack moved over next to me and squeezed my shoulder, mouthing “tell her”. I closed my eyes and gathered my courage.

“It’s a museum piece I stole from the storeroom the night I was mugged and then changed into a vampire,” I blurted out in a rush. Silence at the other end, so I kept talking. “But it’s just an old gold amulet, nothing really remarkable about it that I could see.”

“I see,” Stacy said after a beat. “I appreciate you telling me that, Everett. I share your puzzlement. I will look into it further. Now, I need to go if I’m going to get home before sunrise, and I suggest you turn in as well.”

Again the phone call ended with an abrupt click, and I switched off the phone, turning to Jack. “I couldn’t tell, was she mad, or just disappointed?”

Jack gave an amused shake of his head. “Definitely disappointed, but I feel like more of her disapproval was directed at me.” He took the phone from me and hung it back up. “But she had a point there at the end. Sunrise is coming, and we need to get you downstairs. I’ll make some calls today while you sleep, see if I can make contact with this mob boss and arrange to get that amulet to her.”

“No!” I said, remembering the dry patch on my jeans after I was shot. “I don’t… I’m starting to think we shouldn’t give it to her.”

Jack gave me a curious look and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I don’t want there to be any more secrets between us.”

“I agree,” Jack said with a nod.

“I need to show you something.”

“Okay, but make it quick.” Jack cast a meaningful glance at the clock on the microwave oven.

How could I demonstrate? I cast about the kitchen. There. I grabbed a decorative towel that hung from the handle of the oven and spread it on the counter, then grabbed a knife from the knife block. Jack frowned, but didn’t say anything as I held my left arm out over the towel and pressed the knife to the back of my forearm. Blood welled up from the shallow cut to drip down my arm. The cut healed over before more than a few drops had stained the towel, but I figured that would be enough for this demonstration.

“See my blood there?” I asked, adding to the spot by using the towel to wipe my blood from the knife and my arm before laying it back down flat on the counter.

“Yeah, you bleed when you’re cut. Big deal,” Jack said with a raise of his eyebrows.

“Now, watch.” I got the amulet out of my pocket and laid it on top of the bloody spot. The blood rolled towards the amulet and vanished. It was like watching a time-lapse video of a spill in reverse. I picked the amulet back up, and the towel looked as pristine as it had when I’d first laid it down. I turned to Jack expectantly. “Well?”

Jack was staring at the clean towel in shock. “That was unexpected,” he finally said.

“What do you think we should do about it?” I asked as the silence lengthened. “I don’t feel right giving this to a mob boss, even if I could get over my possessiveness.”

Jack groaned and scrubbed his face. “God, this is a mess. Honestly? I don’t know. Give me some time to think it over. I’m exhausted. I didn’t get much sleep yesterday, what with being held captive all day, and I’m sure you’re feeling the coming sun.”

I sighed, but acknowledged that I’d dropped this all on Jack rather suddenly.

“Alright.” I put the amulet away.

I wished I’d had time to ask Stacy more questions. For instance, my T shot was coming due, but did I still need it as a vampire? When I’d been human, missing a dose once and a while wasn’t a huge issue, so I decided it wasn’t urgent enough to risk Stacy’s ire by asking Jack to call her back.

“This way. I’ll get you set up, then I need to crash myself.” Jack crossed the kitchen and opened a door to reveal a dark staircase leading down to the basement.

“I’m actually not that tired. Can I take the tablet with me, for entertainment?” I pointed back to the living room where the tablet lay abandoned on the couch.

“Sure.” Jack shrugged, hiding a yawn. “Just be smart, don’t contact anyone from your old life. You know that mobster will be monitoring everyone you might know on the off chance of finding you.”

“No problem.” I shuddered. “The memory of being shot through the heart is still very fresh.”

Jack showed me around the basement. The whole bottom floor had been light-proofed for vampire guests, and included two small bedrooms, a little mini living room with television and DVD player, and a small bathroom with the most cramped shower stall I had ever seen.

After Jack went back upstairs, wishing me good night as he left—which I found just a touch ironic—I settled down with the tablet on the bed. I half wished Jack had stayed to cuddle, but I didn’t blame him for wanting his own bed that didn’t come with the threat of possibly waking up with a vampire sucking on his neck.

Jack’s reaction to my demonstration with the amulet told me that I needed to find out more about where it had come from. I knew it was ancient Egyptian, likely from early in the dynasties from what I could make out of the hieroglyphs. However, without access to the museum’s paid academic research databases, I wasn’t finding much more than I already knew. It was unusual that the amulet depicted a human face, since most jewelry from the dynasties featured animals or animal-headed deities, but search engines and the free databases weren’t very reliable.

The rich industrialist who’d donated the piece had been a social recluse, so the information available about him in the Portland histories that I could find online was sparse and far between. Another dead end. I might have more luck with a local historical museum.

If only I could just use the systems at the museum. Or ask my boss. I sat up on the bed. That was an idea. But then I slumped back down. Jack had been right. Lady Ann knew where I worked—she’d gotten me the job, after all—which meant she had pull with someone at the museum. Anyone I knew there would be monitored. Even email was a risk. She’d found me fast enough from just a phone call, and an email would have an IP address of origin attached to it that could be traced back to the house.

Sighing, I put the tablet aside and got ready for bed, chewing over the problem.

#original fiction #trans author #trans masc #urban fantasy #ftm #transgender fiction #vampire novel

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pastelwitchling · 3 months

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How's everyone's reading going? I always struggle to pick up more than kindle unlimited sports romances when school and work start, but I'm really pushing myself past that stress in small ways.

Here are the books I'm currently reading, just finished, and am hoping to get to soon that I really wanted to talk about:

The Sun and the Star (read): This book is pure serotonin. It's one of the longer Percy Jackson books, but I never felt the length for a single second. There were definite moments where I could tell someone other than Rick Riordan had taken over writing, but that doesn't change how fun and romantic the book was. What an absolute treasure.

Scoring Position (read): kindle unlimited mlm hockey romance. I just finished this today actually, and it ended up getting a lower rating than what it had been for most of the book, but I'm still glad I read it. It did offer a good palette cleanser, and though I didn't end up loving it the way I'd hoped I would, I would still recommend it for a nice time.

Under the Whispering Door (currently reading): I tried reading this a few months ago and DNFed after chapter five or something. I felt like the humor was hit-and-miss, I thought Wallace was a little too annoying, but I knew that I didn't want to DNF it for good. Why? I really liked Hugo, Mei, and Nelson, and the teashop. I thought there was some good potential there. I have to drive a lot to school and work, and I figured that since I couldn't enjoy reading this physically, then maybe I would have a better time on audiobook, annnnd... yeah. The narrator is phenomenal, I would highly recommend this audiobook if you couldn't get into the paperback. He has a way of reading in SUCH a funny way that I was suddenly laughing at lines I didn't think were funny the first time. I've got less than 3 hours of the audiobook left, and I'm having a great time. It's not anything groundbreaking, and I think the first half was very slow and repetitive, but it really has got me thinking about death and life a little bit more, and I really enjoy these characters. I now love Wallace, he's hilarious and becomes so easy to love, and I can't wait to see how this story ends.

House of Sky and Breath (currently reading): Anyone else really have trouble reading physical books when they're super stressed or overwhelmed? That's kind of where I am. I'm annotating and tabbing my paperback copy, I'm 10 chapters in, but I feel like I just don't have the strength right now to physically hold a book, you know? The first book in particular already took me so long to read because of its length (you're not Order of the Phoenix, STOP trying to be Order of the Phoenix, not every story can carry that kind of page count!), and now I just feel like I'd be going through it faster if I can read it digitally. I won't get my ebook copy from the library for over 2 weeks, so I might just try to read as much as I can now, and then finish with the ebook. I know the big spoiler at the end, but beyond that, I have no idea what happens in this book, and I can't wait to find out.

Books I want to pick up next:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part of last year's reread so that I can start this year's reread. I'm afraid, but it must be done.

Percy Jackson and the Chalice of the Gods: I think I was subconsciously waiting until after the show ended to dive back into this world, and I'm just ready to spend all day with my favorite demigod (and satyr) trio.

House of Flame and Shadow: Is this a shock to anyone? I should've read HoSaB sooner so I would be ready for this book now, but I overestimated by reading speed, so here we are. I hope to get to it before any spoilers start circulating.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries: I have more books on my physical TBR, but this is one of the lightest and I think I need that.

The Paladin's Shadow: 'Nough said. Anything by Tavia Lark is gold.

I love talking about books so much, so please do let me know what you're reading now, how you're feeling about it, what you'd like to pick up soon. It's always fun to me to discuss books, and I'd really like to talk more about them on my tumblr from now on. I still have it tagged rin reads if you want to filter that out though.

#rin reads #rick riordan #the sun and the star #under the whispering door #tavia lark #harry potter #hosab #book #books #booklr

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aurorawest · 10 months

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Reading update, part 2

Arctic Heat by Annabeth Albert - 3.75/5 stars

High Heat by Annabeth Albert - 3.25/5 stars

Burn Zone by Annabeth Albert - 3.25/5 stars

Proper Scoundrels by Allie Therin - 4/5 stars

I think I would have liked this one better if I'd read the series that it's connected to. This one stands alone, but there are definitely moments where I was like, this might hit harder if I'd read the other series. Which I would like to, but it's only available as an ebook, and I just don't read ebooks. Hopefully they'll get a physical release at some point.

Provoked by Joanna Chambers - 4.5/5 stars

So I only bought the first book in this series, primarily because the summary starts like this: "Tormented by his forbidden desires for other men..." But I ended up really enjoying it and bought the rest of the series.

Unfit to Print by KJ Charles - 5/5 stars

Ancient History by AJ Truman - 4/5 stars

History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera - 5/5 stars

Um????? I went into this with pretty low expectations, actually to the point that I kind of expected to DNF it. It's devastating. "Not more devastating than They Both Die at the End," I can hear you thinking. Wrong! SO MUCH MORE devastating.

Lore & Lust by Karla Nikole - 3.75/5 stars

I almost didn't call How to Bite Your Neighbor... cozy fantasy because this book is way more cozy fantasy. Cozy vampire fiction.

Withered + Sere by TJ Klune - 4.75/5 stars

You guys remember how I was like frothing at the mouth over Klune's Verania series and how much I loathed it? Oh man did I pick up this book (which I bought prior to reading any of the Verania books) with trepidation. Guess what though! It's really good! I'm not actually sure why I knocked a quarter of a star off? Possibly just because there were some turns of phrase that gave me PTSD flashbacks to Verania. Anyway this is a brutal, violent, post-apocalyptic novel with a bunch of Problematic protagonists and it's great.

Over and Over Again by Cole McCade - 3/5 stars

I would have rated this higher if it had been like 200 pages shorter. It just went on too long.

Band Sinister by KJ Charles - 4/5 stars

And I would have rated this one higher without the polyamory/open relationship stuff. It is not my bag, sorry.

A Fractured Infinity by Nathan Tavares - 4.5/5 stars

Hey. Hey MCU fans. Do you want a book that actually does, like, interesting things with the multiverse? Do you want to see a character meet versions of himself, but like, it's much better than anything the MCU has done? How about a guy who makes portals into different universes trying to save the person he loves, because the multiverse needs the love interest to die?

Yeah? Does that sound like some MCU properties that maybe you were less than enamored with? Would you be even more interested if I told you A Fractured Infinity is 1000% more gay than Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness or What if...? And maybe like, 75% more gay than Loki. The point is it's gay, and fun, and I really enjoyed it.

Part 1 (where tumblr cut me off at 30 images)

#proper scoundrels #allie therin #provoked #joanna chambers #history is all you left me #adam silvera #lore & lust #karla nikole #withered + sere #tj klune #over and over again #cole mccade #band sinister #kj charles #a fractured infinity #nathan tavares #reading tag

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jasminewalkerauthor · 1 year

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A sneak peek of 'The house of hidden miracles'

“Trust Tom and Charlie to be late” Amy says, drawing the rest of our attention. “They’re probably terrorising some first years somewhere” Will comments, mouth half full of food. “That or employing them as spies” I add, not looking up from my book, the others laugh. “Wait I think that’s them now” Georgia says, I look up to see her gesturing to the other side of the gardens where three boys are walking away. The third one I assume is this new mystery roommate.

Although the sun is in my eyes but he looks kind of familiar. I move my sunglasses upwards to rest on my head. It is then that I realise exactly why.

“You’ve go to be kidding me” I breathe out.

“Oh. My. God.” Amy says, picking up the same thing as I. Why is he here? This is the last thing I need.

“What? Do you know him?” Georgia asks. I want to disappear “He” Amy gestures to him “Is the only person alive that gets under Ivy’s skin” She smirks. Georgia quietly gasps “You’re joking”

“He wishes” I retort, oh god please tell me he isn’t coming here. Will leans towards Georgia, “Noah Pemberton, we’ve known him since we were kids, ridiculously rich, he was Ivy’s only equal when it came to their intelligence. Equally stubborn as well, they’ve been rivals for years.” He explains.

“Well maybe he wouldn’t be if he wasn’t such an ass” I reply.

I don’t know why he gets on my nerves so much, I shouldn’t care but something about him makes me wanna hit him. I hate to admit that Amy is right, he does get under my skin. Ever since we were kids we fought all the time to be the best, every competition, every test, even every race we would both compete in simply for the sake of beating the other person.

Although that all slowed down when I started attending blanchard. I believe the last time I saw him we were thirteen when we accidentally bumped into him in a library in our hometown.

And now somehow he’s here. Oh god he’s here and he’s my friend’s roommate. And he’s heading this way. Someone please save me.

“Hey, guys! This is Noah” Tom says as they approach the picnic blanket. “Yeah, we’ve met,” I say. Charlie and Tom give a surprised look “Really?” Charlie asks. Christ, I need to get a grip.

'The House of Hidden Miracles' is available for pre-order here:

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readingshenaniganss · 2 years

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They Both Die In The End

First on the list of books I read back in June but didn't actually write about, They Both Die At the End by Adam Silvera.

So I expected something titled like this to not be an exactly happy book. I was prepared for that. I however was not expecting it to reach straight into my chest, rip out my heart, then make direct eye contact as it crushed my still beating heart.

I loved it.

And yes, I know I’m late to the party, okay! But when I had heard about this book back when it first came out it sounded like an interesting but potentially devastating read and I wasn’t in the mood for trauma. So I didn’t immediately pick it up. I just went ‘oh yeah, I’ll definitely read that at some point.’ Cut to June of this year when I decided to start this blog, and I was browsing the ebooks my library had for queer books. I went ‘Oh yeah, this book! I meant to read this. When did it come out again? Oh dear gods, 2017… Yeah, you can come out of TBR hell.’

So for those who are also late to the party like I was, They Both Die at The End is a YA novel by Adam Silvera. It takes place in a world that is almost exactly like our world, except for one small detail. On the day you’re supposed to die, you get a call to tell you that fun fact about yourself. No information on how you die or exactly when you’re going to die that day, just that in the next 24 hours you will die. And on September 5th Mateo and Rufus, two total strangers, both get the call that makes their worlds collide.

This book was such a fantastic and wonderful read. I don’t even know if I have any complaints about it. Besides did it have to attack me like that but that’s besides the point.

They Both Die at The End was such a lovely, thought provoking read that I will highly recommend to everyone to be traumatized by. It’s a multiple POV story that never had me annoyed at the switch in perspective, had world building that was logical to how humans would react to this piece of technology being introduced to our lives, and was just in general a wonderful snapshot of people and what makes us tick.

Mateo is our first character we’re introduced to. He’s an anti-social nerd who likes living in his little bubble, but wants to try to break out and be someone else on his End Day. Rufus is a more adventurous person who due to a slew of bad circumstances has ended up with no one to be there for him on his last day. So the two both download the app Last Friend to find someone to spend their last day with.

Rufus I didn’t originally like just because he came off as an arrogant and self-centred person. But by the next chapter or two from his perspective you pretty much realize that our intro to him is him at his lowest, which he fully admits. It actually made me appreciate our intro to him because of this duality. I also won’t say he’s exactly a daredevil, throw himself into any situation out there kind of person, because he wasn’t. He was maybe a little more out there then the average person, but otherwise not the craziest thing to happen, which I felt was good. It wasn’t like the two had to meet for a chasm, more like a big river. Tough, but doable.

The two were a bit of a mismatch pair though, and I don’t know if I exactly saw the likelihood of them developing feelings for each other by the end of the story. That said I was still happy to see it cause once they were together they were cute. Also the two definitely went through more than enough together that while the personalities were a bit mismatched, I’m sure trauma bonding was more than enough to create fertile grounds for feelings that allowed them to get together. Plus they were on a timeline so not like there were a super lot of options.

I want to take a second to talk about the multiple POV’s that popped up in this book. I went in expecting it to be a to just be a dual perspective, but instead found numerous. This is a very risky move for me, as for many others, as you risk annoying the reader by ripping them out of one narrative to toss them into a completely different one. This did not make me feel that. Instead it made me appreciate all the different stories and how Silvera masterfully created a tapestry where they all connected to each other, from major events to the little ones that only gently brushed up against each other, making up the backgrounds of each other's stories. It captured both the experience of living in a bigger city where the population means there are going to people who you maybe meet briefly who you have no impact on their lives, you just make up the scenery. And others who, even though an interaction can be brief, it can change your day or evening you life.

I could maybe make a post just about that aspect, but I’ll control myself.

One of the things I do want to talk about is just that I was very intrigued to see not only the integration of the Deathcast, the name of the company calls people to ‘herald’ their deaths, but also the lack of focus on it. In this world this technology has only been around for a little under a decade, so it’s interesting to see how this world has adapted to it. There are hashtags for it, services designed specifically for people who have one last day, and apps. Our two characters meet through Last Friend, essentially a tinder account but for friends who want don’t want to spend their last day alone but may not have anyone near them.

But this story never explains how this techonology came about, how it works, nothing. Several characters even bring up the question of how this is even possible, but it’s never even hinted at. The most we get are the type of conspiracy theories friends make hanging out on a Friday night. Because the story doesn’t care about that. It’s not a sci-fi novel trying to unravel the great mysteries of the universe. It’s just a story about people.

I loved that Silvera really thought about how people would react to this new world, because he really thinks about all of it. The funny, ridiculous bits, like people using Last Friend to see if anyone wants to give their stuff away because it’s not like their going to use it, right? The hateful bits, where when someone gets the bad news they decide to make it everyone's problem. Even the cynicall, as we see from one woman how to get through her job at Deathcast where she gives people the bad news she admits that every person she calls she no longer thinks as a person, cause they’ll be dead soon anyway. And the wonderful bits, where people decide to still try to reach out and be there for people, like Gabriella, a girl who constantly uses the Last Friend app to be a spot of comfort for people’s End Day.

One of the last things I’ll note about this book is just how much it can get you to think and to wonder. About how people react and handle the news, about what our world would like like if this happened, about the possibility of it. For me though, my biggest question was is this a good thing? This story made no joke about pointing out how once people got the news they would then do things they wouldn’t normally do, in which case, was they’re death absolute? Or could it have been avoided? Some people do crazy things their last day, which then causes their death. Some people stay home to avoid the outside world, but then when they would have been out at work or school is when they’re home when an electrical problem happens at home and causes a fire.

The ending was brutal because of this, because if the two main characters had lived their lives as they normally would they wouldn’t have died. But then they wouldn’t have met at all, which they both said made the day worth it for each other. It leads to the question is it worth it if you get one day to be your authentic and realest self in such a way you never would have in the first place? For our protagonists, the answer is yes.

Silvera didn’t have to attack me like that though.

My last point is just that I really loved this book because of how much it seemed to be a love story not about the two main characters, but about human nature in generally. About how messy, caring, angry, depressed, loving, hateful, and hopeful people can be. It’s probably one of the reasons I like the POV’s instead of hating it. Silvera knows what the focus of his story is and that’s people. Ridiculous, despicable, wonderful people.

10/10 and a tissue box

As a side note, he has written a prequel that comes out this October and I’m not ready to be traumatized by this man again.

#reading shenaniganss #readingshenanigans #queue it #book blog #pride #booklr #pride 2022 #lgbtqia #books #book review #book reviews #pride month #pride read #queer #queer reads #gay #they both die at the end #adam silvera #spoilers

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