Heads Will Roll by Josh Winning
"'Listen,' she says, 'this is the best piece of advice I can give. As long as you're kind, and unprejudiced, and haven't hurt anybody: Refuse. To. Be. Ashamed. Wear your mistakes with pride. Look them in the eye and own your space on this Earth. Own it shamelessly, without regret, and no fucker has any power over you.'"
Year Read: 2024
Rating: 3/5
About: After a fateful Tweet that went viral in the worst way, Willow's life is falling apart. She's been fired from her sitcom, her fiancé's left, and the internet as a whole is calling for her head. A retreat to Camp Castaway, where adults who want to put their mistakes behind them and disconnect from their phones, comes at the perfect moment. But Camp Castaway hides a dark history, and when campers start to go missing, it's clear someone wants to cancel all of them… for good. I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Penguin/Putnam. Trigger warnings: character death (on page, graphic), decapitation, child abuse, gore, cancer, severe injury, addiction, homophobia (countered), strong religious themes, bullying.
Thoughts: This is a perfectly fine adult slasher novel and a nice addition to the genre. Winning doesn't skimp on the gore or the body count, and, not surprisingly, the horror scenes were my favorite parts. They're nicely cinematic and well-paced, as well as a loving (bloody) homage to slasher films of days gone by. There are a couple of powerhouse Final Girls as well, and I especially loved Juniper as the aged, tough Final Girl who takes no shit and offers wisdom to the younger generation. It's harder to get a read on Willow since she's having a bit of an identity crisis, but she's a worthy heroine who always tries to help her fellow campers, even before the heads are rolling. There's also a sweet but complicated wlw romance, representation that still isn't as prevalent in horror as I'd hope.
One of my favorite things about horror and what basically cemented my love for George Romero movies in high school is horror's natural ability to be a vehicle for social commentary. Winning targets cancel culture with Head Will Roll, and one has the sense many influencers would rather be chased through the woods by an ax murderer than be "canceled" on Instagram. Not being much of a social media person myself, it's not an issue that particularly resonates with me, but it's nicely developed throughout the novel. Occasionally, I did feel like the issue was overshadowing the story and the horror a bit, but had I connected more to it, I might not have felt that way. All in all, it's fun, gruesome, and meaningful, as horror should be.
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Ivy and Ulf from my story The Captive Wife
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Rhythm and Clues by: Olivia Blacke
Published by: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: 3/26/2024
As always, I’d like to start this review by thanking NetGalley and SMP for access to this eARC in exchange for an honest reviewe.
I would also like to note: SMP has been boycotted due to their horrible handling of an employee’s racism and xenophobia , the queerphobia that has been happening as well as the way they’ve been favoring…
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"The Spirit Bares its Teeth" by Andrew Joseph White
Silas Bell, a young autistic transgender man living in the 1880s in England, wants to be a surgeon. Not a wife and mother. After a botched escape from a future devoted to a husband, he is diagnosed with “veil sickness,” a disease that causes violet eyed women to open the veil and communicate with the dead, an act that is illegal for women to do.
He is sent to Braxton's Finishing School and Sanatorium and engaged to a wealthy lord's son. But Braxton might not be what it seems. And Silas is the only one who can save the life of his new friends by uncovering the secrets of the school, all while fighting the voice in his head telling him to just do as he is told. For Silas, doing as he is told is not an option.
Andrew Joseph White has crafted an incredible story. All of the characters are complex and every character has so much depth. White is able to balance the main character, Silas, with all aspects of his identity. They are all woven throughout the story in an authentic way that gives him personality outside of those defining traits while still acknowledging how important they are. It is one of the best representations of autism I have ever read.
The setting and accuracy to historical detail makes the stakes seem real and send you to the time period. He uses the time period to bring light to the story he wants to tell. His use of imagery is terrific.
White is able to discuss so many important topics throughout the book, all of which apply in some way to our society today. He somehow is able to highlight and tackle each complex theme in one book while giving them each the space to be recognized for their individual importance.
Gory and dense while also romantic, The Spirit Bares its Teeth is an amazing novel with an incredible message to fight for your life and happiness, even if the whole world is against you.
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The Black & Blues: Part III, Chapter i
in which Danny meets someone he's really into, and Meara realizes he might not be as over his old feelings as he'd thought.
You’ve been in this slump for ages, it feels like. But finally, you get a piece of good news: Jaisyn got you a slot in the upcoming show. You’re smack in the middle, act number six!
It’s about a month out, but from the moment he tells you to the day you perform, your whole body buzzes constantly with excitement. You’re able to focus a little more on practice. At work you keep your head busy by going over your music, and you only have one other panic attack while working on the line. You have a few others, too, but you’re fortunate enough that you have them at home or in places where you can duck out to a bathroom to collect yourself. As fortunate as that can be considered.
The days go on: work, sleep, practice, Josselin. You keep considering what Monika said, about having a set date to hang out with people. The best you can do to make any sort of schedule is meeting with Morgan and Josephine on Tuesday afternoons, but you can’t always be there because sometimes you’re just too worn out to wake up any time before you have to. So you don’t ask them, because it’s not fair for them to put that time to the side while not knowing if you’ll even be able to be there until the day of.
At least you can see Danny most days, and Josselin works from home and has a ridiculous sleep schedule because of his insomnia. Frankie’s home sometimes when you go over. You’re trying to take what she said to heart. She cares about you. She wants to be your friend. You don’t understand why that’s so hard for you to accept.
Maybe you’re worried her friendship is conditional. Even though your relationship with Josselin is solid, that’s just right now, and if you lose him, you lose her, too.
You don’t know. But you’re trying.
read Part III, Chapter i, on Ao3 now!
or, if you're new, start from the beginning here!
Current taglist: @abalonetea @only-book-lovers-left-alive @poore-choice-of-words @leadhelmetcosmonaut @jasperygrace
@drippingmoon @magic-is-something-we-create @winterandwords
@revenantlore @mr-orion @idreamonpaper @theoddcryptid @thelaughingstag
Black & Blues taglist: @lynnedwardswrites
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I hate it when shows and games have two characters interact and be buddies but they don't even introduce themselves. Like a camera pan to a name tag will suffice I promise please just exchange names. The audience may know their names, but the characters don't.
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Sci-Fi Wonder in Yume Kitasei's The Deep Sky
Yume Kitasei’s The Deep Sky is a blockbuster of a novel set on a spaceship manned by the chosen few to save humanity. Akin to a mystery whodunit, The Deep Sky opens with a bang – well, an explosion – and throws everyone on board into a frenzy as the ship is blown off-course and the culprit is unknown. Things are just as complex and confusing back on Earth, and it will take Asuka every part of her…
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Book Review: The Fever (Replica #9)
Hello Blogiverse,
How are things going? I am so ready for fall I can almost taste it! I always start the celebration of the season in September, so I’m excited for me and the boyfriend to deck out our house to the nines and get some fun events going.
The grad school semester is still in its beginning stages, so I’ve been able to continue my binge of the Replica series.
This time I read The…
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On April 13, 1976, Fantastic Planet debuted in Portugal.
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fandom has a problem with viewing katara/zuko/aang as adults and not traumatized children.. kataang haters/zutara haters both do this if ya ask me and i think treating em as adults that know what they're doing misses the fact they are children fighting an adult war with severe trauma so they ain't gonna be always making the best decisions.. i'll call out zukos bullshit yes and aang bullshit kiss move too and katara being mean to sokka , but i aint out here to judge ficitonal kids over mistakes as bad as they can be cause they are.. traumatized kids and should be treated as such instead of consantly demonized or treated like adults that should know better
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Hi, soooo the antis found me (got any tips?)
Apparently shipping Sladick makes me the worst kind of person.
I'm sorry to hear that. Are you okay? Feel free to write me if you need to vent, I understand the feeling.
So a couple of tips. If you're getting hate asks/comments/reblogs, report them and block them (I also suggest checking out who comments on the posts on their blogs and block them too, doing this saved my ass a couple of times).
If you're getting anon hate, do not delete the hateful asks but do not publish them either. Report them (now you can report anons) and try going by the block feature, sometimes it works even on anon. Not always though, so if you want to, feel free to screencap the hateful ask and post the screenshot for public shaming. This also worked with me and the harassers sent some kind of explanation ask, outing themselves, and then blocked me (thank fuck).
More in general, try not to argue with these people. Yes, Slade and Dick meet the first time when Dick is certainly over 19 (might even be over 21, his age is written as an unspecified young adult because ages in DC continuity make no sense). But even if we were talking about TT03 it still wouldn't be p3dophilia, since p3dophilia means attraction to a child younger than 13. And not only these are FICITONAL FUCKING PEOPLE, but Robin is most certainly not younger than 13 anyway.
HOWEVER! Explaining things to this kind of folks, those who harass real living people to defend the "honor" of fictional characters is as useful as peeing in the wind. They don't care, they just want an excuse to harass people and feel morally righteous.
Do not engage directly, do not personalize (it's not you, it's them. You did nothing wrong, they're the ones with issues), try not to be too upset over that. If this doesn't work and you feel that the hate is overwhelming you, log off and deal with the situation when you have the strength to do it, it's really easy to feel burnout in this kind of situations.
Be safe. I'm here if you need anything. I'm really sorry these fuckers decided to take it out on you.
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✧ intro ✧( ˘ ³˘)♥︎
❤︎︎ hi !! i'm vee.
i write age regression stories and post them here!
most are criminal minds fan ficitons because it's just impossible not to pair my comfort show with my ultimate comfort (regressing).
i'm a regressor myself (due to trauma) and it's often involuntary . this will sometimes be shared here but otherwise, this account is managed by the adult side of me (who is 19).
i'm a big fan of bluey, my little pony, sofia the first and all things soft.
pls be nice and gentle here, share my stories, send in requests and interact ! i promise i don't bite hehe.
lots of love, enjoy ❤︎︎
✧ my master list ✧( ˘ ³˘)♥︎
❤︎︎headcanons
character headcanons
little!JJ mood board
her bedroom
jay's faves
jay's space
cg!penelope
cg!elle
more jj headcanons
more headcanons
JJ Q&A
JJ photo captions
HOH!JJ
caregiver!willifier
cg!will
❤︎︎cg!emily
come here, jay
smiles and giggles
shouted
shopping trip ft. garcia
promise
promise pt2
summer games
build up
not so nice surprise
accidents
mama's present
behaviour problems
theme park
poorly girl ft tara
overload
pizza and forts
girls night
superundies
sick and alone
❤︎︎cg!elle
headcannons
sleepy girl
nap?
derailed
brave baby ft. hotch
the butterfly effect ft. emily and the team
sad
icecream
jealous baby
hiding
no no no !!
little witch
❤︎︎pen and JJ
sisters to the rescue
monday blues
potions, fairies and mayhem
❤︎︎other cg
not so bad ft hotch
sick ft garcia
❤︎︎little!reader
don't want to sleep! (cg!jj and will)
late night calls (cg!jj and will)
misbehaving headcanons (cg!jj and will)
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I did write so much about cheating and infidelity but oh my god, there are so, so many facets to these complicated adult relationships that have not been explored.
real life really is more shocking than ficiton.
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OMG Hi thank you so much for even replying, it felt like I was venting but i love you so much for that haha! yeah I feel like a lot of this stems from the fact that my perception of adulthood and especially university was going out, socialising a lot and just being very serious and 'adult like' and not still centering my interests and hobbies around fictional characters, reading fanfics, watching edits etc. I am very fortunate to have made best friends who are on the same delulu level as me and can talk about video games and ficitonal characters for hours!! but also seeing a lot of women (even with kids and husbands or wives) who still enjoy things that I do is so comforting lmaoo!!
Bestie you are amazing no matter what, okay? I will always reply to you and your amazing asks and you are partially guilty for making me think game!Joel is hot af you know that? Love you so much 😘
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