#and again i don't remember a good chunk of the novel as well as i do the jgy parts (because i don't care) but i'm firmly of the opinion that

[leatherbookmark]

a friendly reminder that jgy doesn’t “tell nmj that he’s more important than all those people he’s killed”.

nie mingjue asks two questions.

one, “are you saying your life is more valuable than theirs?” (高贵),

and second, “are you saying you’re different from them?” (不同)

to which jin guangyao says, “yes. of course we’re different!”

he doesn’t say, “of course my life is more valuable!”, note.

these are two separate questions, and he only answers the last one that, in my opinion, is the most mindboggling one.

nmj asks a son of a sex worker, reviled, harassed and bullied just for existing, if he’s any different than other people. nie mingjue, who’s SEEN the way he was treated and stepped forward himself to confront those people.

the same nie mingjue who thinks he’s a l w a y s killed people for a reason, and that it’s fair for him to kill, but when jgy kills it’s always cruel, needless spilling of blood. yknow, despite the saber.

this nmj gets so furious at jgy stating that he’s not like other people that he kicks him down the stairs.

🆗🆒👍

[lazycranberrydoodles]

its prosecutor jiang wanyin!!!! oh fuck!!! / gifs + au rambling below the cut / follow for more mdzs x aa crossover stuff :3

all the gifs i made (poses traced off franziska):

hes so similar to franziska when you think about it. theyre both deeply insecure tsundere adoptive younger sibling of successful main characters. who carry whips. something something edgeworth choosing death and wwx actually dying also

his share code is HWFEFF if you wanna use him in a trial! you can't share backgrounds but heres the scenery from the donghua i used.

the easiest way to put custom stuff into objection.lol is to send it in discord and then use the link from opening it in your browser :)

a whole lot of AU stuff

the art im making is for if mdzs was an ace attorney game, playing from WWX's POV to solve various mysteries/cases over the course of the plot. so this scene would be from turnabout goddess, which would loosely cover the dafan mountain mystery.

cases include:

Turnabout Revenge (Mo Manor, quick introductory first case)

Turnabout Goddess (Dafan mountain, the good times flashback)

Turnabout Saber (the man-eating castle (omg hiii nhs))

The Blind Turnabout (Yi City arc)

Turnabout Deviation (the Koi Tower conference, Empathy on NMJ ala turnabout memories or beginnings. opening cutscene is his qi deviation)

The Blood-Soaked Turnabout (second Burial Mounds siege, flashbacks: Xuanwu, Sunshot, YLLZ, Nightless City massacre)

Turnabout Lotus Seeds (testimony about JGY, tree scene, golden core reveal, bathtub scene. opening cutscene could be JGS' death but that would make it canon rather than ambiguous)

Turnabout Confession (Guanyin temple)

the problem with splitting novel!mdzs into turnabouts is that flashbacks are a huge chunk of the book but they don't have mysteries/ cases to solve so they've gotta be lumped together with present day stuff. imo? many of the flashbacks would likely have to be abridged so they could be retold ala DL-6, SL-9, or the fourth grade incident, where characters talk about it over some pieces of art. this is really difficult when theres a metric ton of unspoken, complex, and signifcant history between every character lmao

there's not as much of a problem with the cql timeline but i have not finished it. so.

the opening cutscenes in ace attorney always show the murder and/or the murderer plotting. the first cutscene of the game would be MXY summoning WWX, muttering about getting revenge on his family (it would also be good for him to mention the yllz being dead because that's how the novel starts.) cut to WWX's POV as he wakes up covered in blood and the investigation segment begins.

for investigations of monsters (goddess, saber, etc) the cutscene would be a scene of some poor throwaway cultivator getting their shit wrecked.

it would be cool to make a breakdown for JGY but again I need to review that scene cause I don't know who I'd base him on. maybe Vasquez or Dahlia.

tell me your thoughts!! i'm working off of a mdzs summary/ skimming the novel because i don't remember it too well so if i get anything wrong please yell at me

Jin Ling's sprites & Nie Huaisang's sprites / masterpost

[mcgrillzdumpinc]

I'll likely make a more in depth post once I've read through all the translated light novels but

Hello Apothecary Diaries fans I am in volume 8 and would like to reassure you about the choking scene from volume 5

Spoilers under the cut!

Okay so there's a scene at the end of volume 5 (the manga is not there yet) that many have interpreted as sexual assault. For the sake of those sensitive to such topics, I'm going to give a light on spoilers version of the scene and then an in depth analysis. Personally, I do not view the scene as sexual assault, but it is very forceful and carries A LOT of very sad subtext. You'll understand what I'm getting at in the more depth part.

So, the general gist of the choking scene.

MaoMao and Jinshi are in the garden to escape a banquet. They talk for a bit about a very scary incident that occurred that day (thankfully nobody was killed) and share casual conversation. Then Jinshi brings up that they're at this banquet to find him a wife. I won't spoil the specifics, but fyi MaoMao has been wearing an accessory this whole time that loudly announces (to everyone except herself, of course) that She's The Favorite™. Despite how obvious Jinshi has been with his intentions, including holding her hand and combing his other fingers through her hair while mentioning the whole wife thing, MaoMao evades him while thinking "I'm not capable of love". So, she tries to dodge him by offering up another woman. This is what causes Jinshi to snap and choke her, as well as hold one of her arms behind her back to stop her from fighting back.

He doesn't kill her. As far as damage to her throat, the text doesn't indicate any. He then leans his weight on her. MaoMao then remembers how she was taught sex techniques against her will be the Verdigris House women & decides to use those techniques against Jinshi. She then promptly leaves and Jinshi feels like the most pathetic man in world.

The two don't interact beyond official matters until towards the end of volume 6. Jinshi brings more rare medicine in lieu of an apology. The two talk around the wife situation again and MaoMao gets tickled. It isn't until volume 7 that they have an actual conversation breakthrough.

That's my light on spoilers version of the events. Now I'll give a more in depth version, that's honestly a good chunk of my own meta-analysis around the events of volume 5.

Honestly, volume 5 is full of really interesting scenes regarding Jinshi and MaoMao. This is the first volume after Jinshi has been forced back into Imperial Brother status, yet the first thing I noticed that actually changed between JinMao is how MaoMao takes initiative with him now. As soon as she learns an insect plague might be on the horizon, she dives into unprompted research and delivers her findings to Jinshi. She's no longer working at the palace or for Jinshi, but she still takes on the extra burden. She also takes initiative to get Jinshi some extra sleep (though she misinterprets his desire to not sleep alone). And later in the novel, when they're in the paper makers' village, MaoMao acts so cute when reapplying Jinshi's burn scar makeup. I'll let screenshots talk for me.

Like man. She's so cute. And I wonder, if these two didn't have to deal with social standing and imperial drama, would we get way more of them just being cute and companionable? If MaoMao wasn't an unwitting member of the Who Wants To Be An Imperial Princess race, would her feelings for Jinshi have grown without so much pushing and urgency on his end?

But I digress. I think a lot of volume 5, especially once they reach their travel destination, is MaoMao trying her best to keep her blinders on even though she is in the thick of imperial drama. She's especially desperate with regards to the blazingly obvious fact that a certain someone of very high status is in love with her. I think the end of chapter 6 does a very good job of driving home one of the major reasons why MaoMao is reluctant to trust Jinshi's feelings.

To add fuel onto this unfortunate fire is that MaoMao, as an unmarried courtesan's daughter, was attacked as an infant by her mother, sought after by fucking Lakan of all people, ignored while crying as a baby, and forcibly taught sex (to the point of tears!). She also had to cover for Luomen's own eccentricities, specifically ensuring they had enough money to feed themselves. MaoMao, to put it shortly, has been taught not to believe she can attain anything beyond her very simple life of being a lowly apothecary.

And then here's Jinshi who, as a prince, has been forced to grow up fast & have all his favorite things taken away from him. I think MaoMao is the first time he ever wanted a person. He is, for lack of a better word, obsessed with her. I think a lot of his pushiness & tendency to be clingy with her is him desperately trying to make sure he doesn't lose her. If he makes her his wife, then, well, she can't leave.

And I think the choking scene is him finally at his breaking point. At this point, he has lavished her with gifts, been very forward sexually with her twice, and given her a new hairpin that is essentially this story's version of a promise ring. It's MaoMao's repression/reluctance vs. Jinshi's desperation and so far she's winning.

But then she pushes him past his breaking point and he takes physical action against her. MaoMao responds by performing an unspecified sexual act on him.

So why don't I personally take this scene as sexual assault?

Mainly because I think the people actually guilty of sexual assault her are the Verdigris House women who forced MaoMao to learn sex.

As far as I understand it, whether MaoMao can actually say no to Jinshi is left up to interpretation. If we're talking on social status terms, she can't say no. But if you look at Jinshi's overall treatment of her, both before and after this scene, I very much think MaoMao can say no and instead chooses to defuse the situation.

Because what isn't for interpretation, however, is MaoMao's abysmal impression of what love and sex can actually be for her. So she defuses a situation by using sex, something she herself doesn't like, and doesn't allow Jinshi to reciprocate, which leaves him feeling terrible, too.

I want to be clear. I do think Jinshi is in the wrong for physically attacking MaoMao. But the sexual portion of the scene, at least to me, falls squarely on the shoulders of MaoMao's fucked up backstory.

Anyway, I think I've typed for long enough. I am using the official translations of the light novel for this analysis, so if any fans have access to alternate translations or WN only knowledge that throw my analysis in the trash bin, please let me know (fyi puedo leer el español).

[multifandombitxh]

Liar, Liar

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

Genre: Soft/implied smut

Warnings/plot points: Make-out, teasing, adult themes, pre-established friendship, shy!Eddie, slightly dom!Eddie(?)

A/N: boy oh boy I never thought I'd be back here writing again lol. Eddie has me feeling some sort of way, gang. Please enjoy, I may write a part 2. :) Go easy on me, it's been a few years since I actually wrote anything so I'm a lil rusty lmao

**Reader and Eddie are both adults, please keep this in mind. NOT FOR MINORS.**

It had been fifteen minutes and still no one had shown up yet, leading you to believe that maybe Eddie was pulling your leg. Did he lie about the time for this? You vividly remember him telling you 2:30, so you knew you had it right. And yet, there you were, alone in the dimly lit theater room of your old high school with Eddie Munson.

The last time you were here, you were picking up Mike and Dustin to give them rides home at the request of Mrs. Wheeler. You used to babysit Mike, were friends with Nancy up until about 10th grade, and even babysat Holly once Mike was old enough to not need a sitter anymore. You showed up to the high school with Holly to pick up the boys, shocking everyone in the room with the sweet little girl.

"Who is this little angel?" Eddie had said, approaching the two of you and gently poking Holly on the tip of her nose. You remember how much she giggled, and when she reached out to yank on Eddie's long hair. She was old enough to know better, but you weren't about to scold her for it.

The memory made you smile a bit, remembering back to Eddie's reaction, laughing along with Holly instead of being irritated that she was pulling on his beautiful locks. You recalled him asking when you had a kid, and how much you blushed when you realized he thought she was yours.

It took Mike jumping in to explain that Holly was his sister, and that you were a family friend, before plucking the little girl from your arms to carry her to the DND table. You watched carefully as she toyed with some of his DND figures, shocked at how unbothered he was by it. You could remember a time where he would absolutely lose his shit if Holly ever touched his things. Oh, how times had changed.

This gave Eddie the chance to strike up a conversation with you, using his good-looks and dreamy eyes to convince you to join their next session. You had protested at first, but he reassured you that you didn't even have to play, he just wanted your company. That alone was more than enough to get you to give in, but now you were regretting it.

"I can't believe I agreed to this," You groaned, leaning back in your chair and running your hands down your face. "Eddie, I'm already bored and no one's even here yet. Can I please just go home and pick up Mike when he's done?"

Eddie let out an offended gasp, turning swiftly to shoot you a look of utter betrayal. "You're bored? With me?"

"Yes, Eddie, I'm bored," You repeated, then lowered your voice to mutter, "I don't even know why you wanted me here in the first place."

Eddie seemed to have picked up on what you said, so he crossed the room in quick strides to kneel in front of your chair. He crossed his arms over your thighs and rested his chin on them, looking up at you through his lashes and dark hair. You had to pry your eyes away just to straighten out your thoughts.

"I wanted you here because I haven't seen you since before you graduated," He explained, sticking out his lower lip in a pout. "Didn't you miss me?"

You thought back to your time in high school, recalling how shy Eddie had been back then. It was well before he was held back for the first time, and he was as sheepish and awkward as ever. Even still, you spent a decent chunk of time with him, seeing as you were a bit of an outcast back then yourself. You found common interests in fiction novels and fantasy books, and he even mentioned the Hellfire club on more than one occasion. It was still pretty new back then, but oh, how he loved it.

"Maybe that's because I grew up, Eddie," You stated, avoiding his gaze. You didn't mean to come off as harsh, just honest- but the comment seemed to strike a chord with him.

"What makes you think I haven't?" He asked, lifting his head. "Just because I'm still here, you think I never grew up?"

You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose. "That's not what I meant, I just-"

"Just, what?" Eddie interrupted. You met his gaze once more and instantly felt remorse for the comment, seeing just how hurt he was behind the anger. You thought back to your friendship with him again, remembering just how difficult high school was for him, and let yourself soften up a bit.

"Nevermind," You said, "Forget I even said anything. When is everyone else supposed to be here?"

"About that," Eddie said, sucking in through his teeth and offering you an apologetic smile. "It'll probably be another hour."

"An hour?!"

"Yeah, I kind of lied to you before. But I had a good reason, I swear!"

You rolled your eyes and stood from your chair, grabbing your bag and keys off of the table. "I think we're done here, Eddie. I'll be back to get the kids when you're finished."

You were only a few steps from the exit when Eddie managed to catch up with you, grabbing you by the wrists and spinning you around to face him. He all but slammed you back against the door, a loud thump ringing out throughout the theater room. Pinning your wrists beside your head, he locked eyes with you, his chest rising and falling quickly. Even he looked shocked by his own actions. "Just wait a second, please!"

"What the hell, Eddie?" You cried out, trying to wriggle free from his grasp. When had he gotten so strong?

"Listen," He said quietly, "Just let me explain, okay?"

"Start talking, or I'm going to kick your teeth in," You threatened.

Eddie laughed softly, his mouth turning up in a dangerously handsome half smile. You swallowed hard and waited for his explanation.

"I don't doubt that. Look, I wanted to be alone with you for a little while before the rest of the group got here," He explained, "I missed you. I haven't seen you in two years, and I never got to-"

Eddie stopped himself, clearing his throat and letting go of your wrists. Once he realized just how rash his actions had been he took a step back and lowered his gaze to the floor. Despite his shy retraction, you could still see the blush creeping onto his cheeks and forehead. "Forget it, you can leave if you want to. I didn't mean to scare you, or make you think it was going to hurt you or anything. I guess, I dunno, I just missed feeling like I did when you were around, that's all. You always made me feel like I mattered, I guess. But, yeah, just forget it, I won't stop you if you wanna go."

You stood watching him for a moment, taking in his features and trying to steady your own breathing. You'd be lying if you said you didn't get a little excited when he pushed you against the door like that. He was always so soft and gentle by nature, seeing him act up a bit was kind of hot.

"I'm really sorry," He said, unable to bear the silence between you. "For lying to you and rushing you like that, I mean."

"I'll forgive you," You said softly, your tone playful. "On one condition."

Eddie perked up at that, lifting his head again and nodding so hard his hair was bouncing around his shoulders. "Sure, anything. Tell me."

You felt this foreign sense of confidence wash over you, so you gestured with your finger for him to come closer again. Still blushing brighter than a stop light, he took a few steps in your direct. You were still feeling rather excited by his actions, so you draped your arms over his shoulders and met his gaze. His entire body tensed up and you could swear he was holding his breath.

It was always obvious that there was something there, hiding between the lines of your friendship. In a way, you both knew, but back then you were both awkward, weird little teenagers who had no idea what the world had in store for them. Now, things were different- you felt that connection even more strongly- and you were ready to see where it took you.

"Why did you really want to be alone with me, Eddie?" You asked in a sweet voice.

"I- what?" He asked, a little taken aback by your change in demeanor.

"I know you know where I live, and you have my phone number," You went on, "You have for years. You also know I see the Wheelers all the time. You've had plenty of chances to reach out to me and catch up, so why did you want to be alone with me now?"

Eddie stuttered for a bit, trying to laugh off his embarrassment. He knew he had been caught, because everything you said was true; he'd seen you around Hawkins many times, even watched you pick up Mike and Dustin from school before. But he never said anything, because you were always in public, or with others. There was no way he could ever approach you like that to confess his feelings, or even do half of the things he wanted to do to you. The thought alone of his fantasies about being alone with you made him blush and stumble over his words even more so.

"You can be honest with me," You said, "Really. We're alone, Eddie, so why don't you tell me what you really want to tell me?"

With a deep breath for bravery, he finally met your eyes and felt the same rush of confidence that you yourself had felt before. Something about the way you looked at him with hooded eyes and a soft, inviting smile sent his heart into hysterics and his brain into instinct mode.

So, instead of using his words, he decided it best to use his actions.

Eddie leaned forward and pressed the softest, quickest kiss to your smiling lips, lingering there for a moment with his eyes closed afterwards. His forehead was gently pressed against yours, and all you could hear was his labored breathing and his racing heart. He smelled of smoke and ash, with the softest hint of hairspray. Just like you remembered.

As if the kiss had sparked something inside both of you, he was on you in moments, his hands grasping at your waist to pull you in as closely against his own body as he possibly could. His mouth was on yours in a frenzy, leaving you feeling dizzy and intoxicated. You welcomed his advances warmly, melting into his touch and lacing your fingers through the hair on the back of his scalp as he kissed you with a desperation you didn't know he was capable of.

It made you wonder just how much he was truly holding back.

Eddie was quick to keep things moving, nudging his knee between your legs to part them. He was flush against you then, his thigh pressing against a spot that was almost too much to bear. You could feel something pressing hard against your hip and you felt a jolt of anticipation run up and down your spine. His hands left their place on your waist, one travelling under your shirt to grip your bare hip while the other made a home on the base of your neck.

You let out a soft whine when he pressed his thigh harder against you, breaking the kiss for only a moment. He carried on with his movements, teasing you over your clothes and latching onto one spot on your neck. You arched your back against him, your chest pressing into his own and making him growl softly against your neck.

"This," He breathed into your ear, "This is why I wanted to get you alone. God, I've wanted this for so fucking long, Y/N, you have no idea."

"That's all you had to say," You responded, equally as breathless. The hand that had wandered under your shirt was now at the waistband of your jeans, unhooking the button and slipping inside effortlessly. It was almost as if he had been planning this for years, and knew exactly what his next moves would be. In a way, that made it even more exciting, knowing he had thought this through.

You gasped when he ran his middle and ring finger over that ever so sensitive spot between your legs, squeezing your eyes shut and biting down on your lower lip. His rings were cold against your hot skin, making you jump once and writhe against him. You could feel his eyes on you, watching your every reaction as he teased and toyed with you. It wasn't like this was the first time either of you had done something like this before; but this was different. With others, it wasn't anything like this. This was more intense, more real.

Eddie studied your features as he rubbed small, soft circles, letting out a quiet moan of his own when you gasped and choked and whined at his every move. He pressed himself harder against your hip, trying to gain some form of friction. You took this as a sign to reach down and graze over his hardness with your fingertips, smiling as he faltered in his movements and let out a heated groan.

"Do that again, and I'm canceling tonight's session and taking you home with me right now," He said, his voice low, rough, and unsteady.

"You say that like it's supposed to stop me," You replied, giving him a gentle squeeze.

With that, Eddie pressed one more long kiss to your lips and stepped away, grabbing his keys and his bag. You took a step aside from the door and took a few deep breaths, trying to gather yourself. Just as you did, the door opened up beside you and a few of the older boys walked in, noisily lost in conversation.

"Hey, guys!" Eddie greeted them loudly, using his jean jacket to hide what was going on downstairs. "You're uh, you're early!"

"Study hall got boring, so we ditched," one of them explained. No one had noticed you quite yet, so you took the opportunity to slowly zip up and re-button your jeans.

"Well, funny story," Eddie said with an awkward laugh, "I actually have to, um, take Y/N home! Her car broke down in the parking lot, so, uh, the sessions canceled today."

"Canceled?? You never cancel! What the hell!"

"Sorry, guys," You said with a shrug from your spot beside the door, "My bad."

Eddie finished gathering his things and gave the guys a few pats on the shoulders with more apologies before making his escape with you. Once you were in the safety of the hallway, he grabbed your hand and began speed-walking to the parking lot.

"My car broke down, huh?" You said with a laugh.

"It was the most believable excuse!"

Once you made it to his van, he opened the passenger side door for you, then quickly ran around to the driver's side. You buckled your seatbelt and tried to hide your excited smile, knowing exactly what was going to happen when you arrived at his trailer. Eddie reached over and placed his hand on your upper thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Don't worry," He said playfully, "I'll go easy on you the first time."

[riotstarruika]

Top 5 reads from 2023(ish)

Tagged by @earthly-apples ♥ Some of these may be from 2022 because I don't remember and time is fake anyway :P

Les Mis Unsurprisingly this book continues to consume my thoughts. I'm very behind on Les Mis Letters, but it was great to read through a good chunk of it again with the knowledge and necessary context to understand some of the things that went over my head the first time. Truly, a work that rewards hyperfixation XD (Honourable mention to the Arai manga as well, which was published in English this year)

Orsinia How could I refuse an Ursula K. LeGuin novel about student revolutionaries in a fictional central European country in the 1820s? It has good synergy with les mis as it references some of the same political themes and events, though the tone is more 'grounded' and small scale compared to Hugo's very grand symbolic one. Its characters are more accidental revolutionaries who have sort of stumbled into being figureheads of their movement rather than deliberately setting out to be so, but it's super interesting to see the main character try to balance his family life and wants with what he wants to achieve, and the danger it involves. It's also pretty sad in places, but with a less depressing ending les mis (low bar, I know). Ursula K LeGuin's prose is a delight, as ever.

Piranesi I've been really enjoying books that do interesting things with prose lately and this was one of them. It's difficult to say much about this one without spoiling it, but even though I guessed most of the plot very early on, the way the story was told made it feel fresh and interesting, and the vibes of the main setting are immaculate. I've also been liking alternative art histories and art / literary 'memoirs', one of which is Deaths of the Poets. It's part history and part travelogue, documenting the journey of two modern day poets visiting places that famous historical poets died, with a view to exploring the mythos and mystique around the idea of poets as tragic, romantic 'tormented artist' types. I liked that it explored not just the biographical 'facts' of the poets lives, but how they were received by the public at the time, and how the cultural expectations of what it means to be a poet shapes how their artistic work is perceived. Outrageous! The Story of Section 28 and Britain's Battle for LGBT Education A history of the UK's own 'don't say gay' law in the late 1980s/ early 90s and how it was eventually overturned that somehow manages to be more hopeful than depressing. I'm not old enough to remember any of the events the author discusses, yet I can still feel the law's impact on how the people around me discussed (or didn't discuss) LGBTQ+ people when I was a kid. A lot of the same rhetoric that was used against gay and lesbian people in the 80s has been repurposed to attack trans people now, and a few of the names in it may be familiar (derogatory), but it also highlights the actions of the people who fought against it and eventually won out. Zero-pressure tagging @fremedon, @upatreewithoutaharness and @thevagueambition because I feel like you'll have interesting recs 😊

[stainlesssteellocust]

Names in the Laundry Files books are interesting because a good chunk of them might just be made up. Total in-universe lies.

The protagonist for most of the series is explicitly using a fake name, supposedly for magical real-names-are-dangerous purposes, combined with a 'don't use your real name online' gag courtesy of the series' technomagical parody elements. He isn't actually called 'Bob Howard', that is in fact just a meme name cause he's a nerd and chose to name himself after the guy who wrote Conan the Barbarian and Kull the Conqueror. And that whole Bastard Operator thing too, but Conan's the main one.

But it's a fair bet that he does this to other people, too. Including the other leads.

If he believes there's a risk to using real names (nobody else seems to care except the elves, my draft fic compares it how he doesn't like using his name on social media either), he'd change the names of the people who come up in his stories too, right? And there's evidence - if I remember right, in one book he spends time in a police station where the guy on the desk is called Fred Colon.

Of course, doylistically, that's Stross homaging Discworld. But from a watsonian perspective, that could well be Bob homaging Discworld, because he's British and a meme loving fuck*. That cop wasn't really a Sargeant Colon, Bob just reread Feet of Clay recently. His spymaster is called 'Angleton', but James Angleton was a real guy and this bloke isn't him, he's not even...Well, spoilers. Again, cutesy fake homage-name to hide dangerous knowledge.

The other leads don't do this. Explicitly, they don't bother. And you'd think that was that, right?

Except all of the other protagonists are introduced in Bob novels. Where Bob is, presumably, giving them fake names.

Is his wife Mo O'Brien really called that? Her narration says she uses her real name when she gets a solo outing, but we met her in a Bob story where he could have just made something up to sanitise people's identities and her real name is like, Sandra or something. Maybe her book is just continuing that convention because swapping names six stories in is confusing. She never tells us Bob's real name, after all.

A mutual who I won't tag 'cause they've gone quiet for a while once picked up how there's at least four guys called Alex across the series. One becomes a protagonist who does in fact use his real name, but again, he first appeared in a Bob-narrated novel so the 'real name' he's mentioned as using in story could be totally different, and the novel is just keeping 'Alex' as...legacy code, sorta. Maybe there's multiple Alex's because it's just the first name Bob jumps to? Starts with an A, Alex, Bob, A B C...

Same goes for Mhari 'Bob's psycho ex cliche rehabilitated into an actual character through the wonders of unreliable narration' Murphy/Grey, who rounds out our core narration cast. Introduced by Bob. Again.

About the only ones I'm sure of are those who were introduced in non-Bob novels. Jim is presumably an actual Jim. Maybe that Anekka girl, because it was a combo-narration outing. Cassie is...well that's its own can of worms, she's not originally called Cassie but the girl she abducted, mind-merged with like a perfect lyctor and flung into a portal to be eaten by vampires probably was (oh Cassie you're so problematic lmao). The guys in the spinoffs I still haven't read. Etc.

Of course this is very much me thinking too hard about things, and it can be safely ignored as a snarl of the setting conceit. in my fics i ignore this; their names are their names. Similarly, I don't actually think that when the leads write their case reports in-universe they're producing novel-length and professionally edited stories with dramatic flow, or are putting in lurid descriptions of their exes sex lives to fill in the gaps, or going on pop-cultural tangents, or what have you. You can usually tell when they're 'actually' delivering a report or whatever because the style changes. None of this is real; the style and naming stuff is just a quirk of fictionalisation.

But it's fun to think about, sometimes.

*it could also be fuel for fanfic in that 'people like Fred, Nobby, Dibbler, Jackrum etc are archetypes who show up all over the world and multiverse' sort of way, of course. When he makes a joke about apes in the library, maybe that was just the Librarian taking a shortcut through L-Space...

[capesandshapes]

Your bio says you write books do you have any tips for someone who wants to write and finish their own?

!!!!!!!!! Yes, yes, yes! I do! I'm so excited to talk about this!

CapesandShapes's tips and tricks to writing books and other long things:

To start off with, I can not recommend an outline enough, especially if you're prone to forgetting things or getting lost while writing a scene. You can make your outline as vague as you like, but what I like to do is have a chapter by chapter breakdown of what needs to happen over the course of my story. I very rarely adhere to my exact outline, but having it on hand lets me see various other paths I can take with my story if I get lost while writing it.

I live by the rule of write first, edit later. You're not always going to be writing beautiful prose when you write a novel, you're going to have off days and change your mind on things pretty often, but here's the most important thing to remember: you can't edit what's not there. Focus on writing the story first and fixing it later. Side tip here, though: if you get stuck while writing a book, one of the most effective cures I've found is to edit what you already have and refresh your memory of the material. A lot of the time when you go back and edit, you'll change your mind on what's important in a story or how you'd like it to go and, to be honest, that's good! Looking at something with a newer perspective can help a lot with writer's block.

Sprints are the best for building word counts and actually getting books done. I'm not a book making scientist, so don't quote me on that, but a lot of people find that having set aside a large amount of time for writing actually makes the task itself more daunting. Splitting things up into smaller chunks and challenging yourself to see how far you can get in that amount of time is fun and encourages you to get more done. Some people even do sprints with friends, and that can be really encouraging! Also, with sprinting, I sort of timed myself and figured out when I was the most productive writing wise in an hour long chunk and then made that the amount of time I sprint for. I'm pretty active for the first twenty minutes of writing, so I do twenty minutes of writing and twenty minutes of something else, which really helps to make everything less dread-worthy.

The worst author is one who consumes nothing. If you don't read, don't watch tv, don't play video games, and don't do anything then you're going to have a harder time crafting stories. The nice thing about consuming media is that in doing so, we give our brains examples of conflict and various ways to solve them. If you don't think about or enjoy anything but your book for a whole month, you risk becoming so blocked creatively that you'll likely not try to write a book again. (At least for a while)

All nighters are cool, but bad for writing quality. I once knew someone who tried to write a book in one day and it just did not go well. I know I said write first, edit later, but consider this: Don't do things that makes your brain sad. You will regret it later. Not only will you become burnt out quicker, but you'll likely drop more words mid sentence and have typos galore. A healthy, well cared for brain is where it's at. Also your problem solving skills are completely different when you're sleep deprived vs. when you're not, and a lot of people find that they actually write less wpm when on the brink of exhaustion.

Don't try to write the next Great American Novel, just try to write a novel, and one that you like. Your chance of becoming classical literature are pretty slim, but you can write something that you like and enjoyed making! That's easy and doesn't require dozens of high society connections or a stunning talent unlike that which the world has never seen before. Making yourself and others happy is a valuable thing too, and while having grand artistry and deeper meaning is appreciated sometimes, you could also just make someone's life a little more enjoyable.

Writing styles change over time, and our understanding of plots evolves as well. Be kind to yourself and understand that while you may not be fully satisfied with the quality of your work when you're finished, there is a point where we enjoy what we have while taking the lessons we've learned for tomorrow.

Also, very important:

For the love of all that is good, PLEASE WRITE DOWN ALL CHARACTER NAMES AND PLACES SOMEWHERE EASILY ACCESSIBLE SO YOU KNOW HOW THEY'RE SPELLED AND WHAT THEY ARE. Have. A. Note. Sheet.

[cup-of-blue-rose-tea]

"What a drag , I can't believe I've been isekai-ed to be a therapist . I better be compensated ."

[Template by @unfinished-projects-galore ]

Name : Yuuri (Can't remember a last name)

Gender Orientation : Demiboy (He/They)

Grade : 1st Year

Class : 1A (No.17)

Birthday : February 1st

Age : 18

Height : 181 cm

Dominant Hand : Right

Club : Fashion Society

Best Subject : Art

Hobbies : Reading Manhwas , Crossdressing , making patches

Favourite Food : Sweet Crepes

Least Favourite Food : Salad

Pet Peeves : People who try to sugarcoat their words

Talents : Patching up clothes

Twisted loosely from Katarina Claes and Melissa Podebrat

The strange otherworldly student who resides in Ramshackle , known to have a sharp tongue that is usually tactless . Yuuri is also known to often make remarks to certain media tropes as well giving other students nicknames since their memory is hazy .

Personality

Scatterbrained , blunt and awkward is often used to describe Yuuri . As someone who seems to have completely forgotten large chunks of their own life , their personality can be a bit all over the place .

Yuuri is someone who wears their heart on their sleeve , often expressing their emotions for all to see . If you've upset them , they'll let you know .

Yuuri is neither extroverted nor introverted , he marches at his own pace . He doesn't mind social interaction , just rather not start it himself .

He tries to make a pleasant first impression but if you talk to him again , he will not remember your name , instead you'll get a nickname . These nicknames can vary from being affectionate to hateful .

Yuuri hates being the center of attention , so often they appear to be shy or annoyed when a large crowd forms around them .

They're very honest , if you ask them for feedback on anything they won't hesitate to point out everything that seems lacking , sometimes this is a good trait of theirs , but most times they don't know where to stop.

He can a bit dense at times though , since he may be good at giving feedback , but unless you're very clear with your words , he may not fully understand you .

He's also the self-sacrificial type , I won't be elaborating on this much but he's someone who would use himself as a meat-shield to protect others in a fight.

Backstory

Yuuri can't remember much from their previous lives , only certain things pop up to their mind when they think about it . But there are certain large events that they can recall .

1.His school life . Yuuri remembers that he was bullied heavily by his classmates , things like provoking them by drawing over his locker or stealing his things . Things never got physical , it was always just taunting him by taking his belongings or ostracizing him from the rest of the crowd . Yuuri thinks the bullying started because of his preference for what society labels as "feminine" but is unsure .

2.His violent streak . There came a point where Yuuri had enough , and he can recall being in an office where his parents had to apologise for him causing harm to other students.

3.Online-schooling . His moms decided to let him learn virtual after the " incident " as they called it . Yuuri doesn't remember much about this event.

Other tidbits he can recall are his family and his interests back at home . Things like fashion , games or manhwas/mangas were his primary source of escapism . He fully immersed himself into his favorite rpgs and visual novels , the line between reality and fiction was slim for him .

His family on the other hand was something that Yuuri treasures a lot , they were always there for him , no matter what . Yuuri's family consists of his mom , his step-mom who he refers to as ma and his step-sister , Sara , who was the only name he remembered from his past .

Overall ,Yuuri feels as though something is missing from his memories , parts of the timeline he runs off on is missing . He can't think of anything though , god help him .

Trivia

He loves Mont Blanc , so his reaction to Riddle throwing out the tart in Ch1 was quite the sight

He enjoys making references to certain media he has consumed back in his world , often sharing the story with his friends

He hates hates hates the clothes left behind in Ramshackle , he wears the shirt , pants and vest but refuses to wear the blazer or tie

His glasses are tinted amber since he usually sits in front of a screen a lot

His favorite fashion style is menhera kei , but he's also a big fan of lolita styles

He only grew his hair out at his sister's request , he would cut it off in Twisted Wonderland but he's determined to return home with it intacted

The white ombre is just a bad dye job

Yuuri's eyes aren't naturally purple , something must've happened when he isekai-ed here

He works part time a Mr S's Mystery Shop since he needs money to purchase the materials he needs for his hobbies

His love language is giving gifts , you can expect to see some homemade patches or jewelry at your door if you're close with Yuuri

Yuuri doesn't wear the vest and the jacket when it's laundry day.

[mermaidsirennikita]

July 2022 Book Recommendations

I've decided to start posting a mini-wrap up of books I've read at the end of every month (or as is the case here the beginning of the next one, depending on my schedule). But instead of telling y'all everything I read and admitting that a few books here and there were meh or didn't work for me or made me mad, I'm going to keep it positive and list the books I would recommend.

With that being said, here's July.

A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera. A hot, heartfelt historical romance about a Caribbean rum heiress going to Paris to expand her late father's business and encountering a Scottish whiskey distillery owner who needs a wife. I'd rather a couple novellas by Herrera before, but this was the first full length novel I'd read by her and it was just kind of great. There's some sparring, some Scottish romance shenanigans (oh, those Scots and their shotgun weddings), a ridiculous will that requires that our hero gets married before he can have all he wants, and the promise of his hot brother fucking the shit out of one of our heroine's friends in the future. All classic historical romance traits, with some much-needed diversity and discussion of things like birth control. Also, he fingers her while they're ascending up the Eiffel Tower. What more do you want?

Indigo by Beverly Jenkins. One of Jenkins's foremost classics, this pre-Civil War era novel centers on Hester, who was enslaved as a child and lost her parents to the slave trade. Now devoted to fighting for the freedom of others, she takes in an injured man who turns out to be "Black Daniel", an infamous "slave thief"/freedom fighter, AKA the wealthy freeman Galen. As devoted to the cause as Hester, Galen is simply... a lot sluttier. This is kind of an epic romance novel of the kind you don't see as much anymore of anymore--it spans a good chunk of time, there is a lot of betrayal, a lot of adventure, and a fuckton of passion. Hester is a beautiful heroine. Again, of the "quietly dignified, cooly intelligent" persuasion, while Galen is just... For a short period of time, he just wants to get into her pants, but then the man wants to fucking marry her so bad. It's deeply romantic. If you love a "virgin tames the rake" romance, this is it. It also has one of the best grand gestures I've read in a while. Obviously, the novel deals with some very real and raw aspects of American history--Hester and Galen are literally fighting against slavery and subject to constant racism, especially Hester, who is not only a woman but dark-skinned while Galen is light-skinned and from generational wealth. But if you're up for it, I found this book to more than live up to the hype. It's incredibly well-written and a fantastic love story.

What Happens in Scotland by Jennifer McQuiston. Historical romance meets "oops we got married in Vegas" but it's Scotland. The recently widowed Georgette has gone to Scotland to visit her cousin, determine to never marry again. Only to wake up in bed, sans corset, with a very handsome Scot who calls her his wife. Neither of them remember the night before, and as they begin to piece together the evening's events, they discover that they may have entered into more than they bargained for. Such a fun book! A lovely, uptight hero who has to learn to let her hair down and enjoy being railed by a Scottish guy. A hot hero with daddy issues and a tragic past. Tons of fun side characters, including a slutty maid and the hero's "bad guy" friend who oops is totally the hero of the next book, I AM SHOCKED. It takes place over the course of a day, which is interesting and keeps it light, but I never doubted the romance. It's just a fun fucking book. That is also a fucking book.

Every Rogue Has His Charm by Susanna Craig (out 8/2). A spy accidentally compromises a young lady, forcing them to marry. Though they get along initially, his own damage leads him to leave her within a week of the nuptials, and they don't see or speak for another six years. Once back in each other's orbit, he struggles to reconnect with his now-bitter wife and protect her from his past. The rare espionage historical I enjoyed! Probably because it was less espionage, more marriage in trouble. The great thing about this book is that you immediately know that these two have a sexual connection--it's getting him to open up that is the problem. It's romantic and sexy, without getting away from the heart of his trauma. Plus, there's a pretty great secondary romance that involves a man who is younger than his lady love!

Ever Yours, Annabelle by Elisa Braden. Annabelle was always in love with her older brother's best friend, Robert. But when she accidentally causes a severe injury that robs him of his military commission and future, Robert banishes Annabelle from his life. Years later, he's out of seclusion and on the hunt for a wife, and the only woman who can help him? Annabelle. Who is also... of course... the only woman he actually wants to marry. This one was HOT. There is a "furtive fingerbanging in a closet" scene that is..... truly magnificent. But it also does my all time favorite trope of "childhood friends/sweethearts get divided by fate and must reunite and deal with the tension" thing so well. It's a prequel to Braden's Rescued from Ruin series, and I'm just dying to get at the rest of those. It's achingly romantic, kind of funny, and incredibly sexy, with a good helping of angst.

The Scoundrel Falls Hard by Sophie Jordan (out 8/23). Gwen is a lady blacksmith, which can be challenging in her small village. She's thrown off guard when Kellan, previously thought to be the son of the area's new duke, runs into her smithy looking for shelter. Turns out that Kellan and his father were never the heirs, conning the townspeople for a year, and the villagers now want to hang him. In an effort to save Kellan's life, Gwen claims to be in love with him--and they agree to marry. But of course, it will be a marriage in name only before Kellan skips town. Right. Right? Riiiii-- This is a quick, frothy, fun fake dating book. There is much "kissing to convince people we like each other". Kellan is a rake, and Gwen is a tall, big girl who's never been touched by a man before--and he's super fucking into allll of that. As per the usual Sophie Jordan antics, the sex scenes are quite hot--including a truly inspired voyeurism scene. This one does have a bit of a rushed ending for my taste, but if you're looking for a quick book that'll make you happy, it won't steer you wrong.

The Billionaire's Wake-Up-Call Girl by Annika Martin. After her boyfriend skips and leaves her at the mercy of loan sharks, Lizzie really needs to get her signing bonus before she leaves New York City and returns to Fargo. When her boss gives her the responsibility of arranging a wake-up-call service for the company's CEO, the chilly billionaire Theo Drummond, Lizzie puts off testing the service, only to be dismayed when it doesn't work the morning of. Worried she'll lose her job, she takes over being Theo's wake up call... and discovers that he enjoys a bit of brattiness in the morning. This was a super fun, hilarious, and yes, hot contemporary romcom. The chemistry between the leads is excellent, and it does indeed deliver. If you read this summary thinking "they better have phone sex"... yes. They do. It is very good. I was a satisfied customer, personally (not as satisfied as Theo, though). There were some interesting word choices at points--cucumber-y dick? But to be fair, if the general idea is a dick the size of a cucumber, sure. I would recommend.

When the Duke was Wicked by Lorraine Heath. Henry, Duke of Lovingdon, did it all right. He fell in love young, married at twenty-one, and had a child, settling into a respectable life of his dreams. But five years later, his wife and daughter died, leaving him to become a notorious rake incapable of ever falling in love again. Enter Grace, a young family friend who (unbeknownst to Lovingdon) has always loved him. Grace has her own past trauma, and she wants Lovingdon to help her find a man who will truly love her this season. EASIER SAID THAN DONE. Such a great book. Sensitive and dealing with some serious topics, yet also hot and kind of hilarious. Take a shot every time Lovingdon says something like "a man who truly loves you will do THIS, Grace" only to do that and then be like "sadly, I can never love Grace". A truly idiotic man who is prone to doing wild shit, like taking her out for a horseback ride in her parents' backyard and fingering her against a tree, just like, as a friend who wants to teach her the ways of men. What a guy! Anyway, I was delighted and charmed and I wish every historical romance TV show had this kind of unhinged energy.

To Catch A Raven by Beverly Jenkins (out 8/23). Grifter Raven Moreaux and tailor Braxton Steele must go undercover to catch the person accused of stealing the Declaration of Independence. Undercover... as husband and wife. She's a con artist, he's an upstanding man with a fat bank account. What could they possibly have in common? As it turns out, "being horny" is the answer. This is a super fun, romp of a book, with some seriously great foreplay. "May I have some cock now, please?"/"Would you like a quick orgasm before breakfast"? Bow down to Beverly Jenkins.

American Royalty by Tracey Livesay. Dani is better known as the successful rapper, Duchess--and she wants to expand beyond music. But her attempts at making a deal for her skincare line have stalled due to some recent bad press. So when she's offered the opportunity to perform at a charity concert hosted by the British royal family, she jumps at it. Prince Jamison, the queen's grandson, invited Dani without knowing much about her--but now that she's staying at his estate, walking temptation, he has no idea how this won't result in a scandal the likes of which the family has never seen before... What a good romance! It's clearly based on Harry and Meghan, by way of Megan Thee Stallion meets Rihanna. And if you love a haughty man who is so horny for a woman he can't breathe--this guy is IT. Jamison has an undeniably thirst for Dani and he can't stand it. But it's very much mutual. This is an extremely hot book, but it never shies away from the realities that come with a white prince falling in love with a Black woman. The British royal family is... really ripped apart in this one. And it's GREAT.

[rouge476]

The colors of soukoku

Finally the clothing analysis or commentary that i promised like a year ago, yay!

NOTE: So firstly because i don't know how to add the "read under de cut" this will seem kinda long, you can just scroll down if you are not interested, thanks and sorry for that.

There is a lot of rich symbolism in bungou stray dogs, either hidden or in plain sight in every single feature of the product, this time i'm going to analyze a very distinctive area in the design of the characters and that is: their clothes and colors. This post will separate itself in 4 areas for better comprehension: fifteen, sixteen, eighteen (dark era), 22 (modern era) and beast.

I could go on with everyone from the cast, sure, but i'm going to start with soukoku because they are the ones with the most changes in their clothing through the series (mostly chuuya, fashion king) with that covered let's start.

Fifteen

The age of changes and revolution, and also when the duo first met and continued to grow together, as we're going to see in their clothing:

See, layers and boton ups can be as well as some awesome fashion sense choices, a good metaphor for emotion, clothes help us show the world who we are and how we feel, let's start with chuuya:

Green leather jacket with a lot of zippers, a gray zipped sweatshirt and a bright red shirt under, black trousers with a cimarron head belt referencing the sheep and him being the king since he has he horned one, remember what i was saying about layers? Since the story also covers the unraveling of chuuya's secret being arahabaki, it makes sense that all this zipped layers are closed since he's keeping it a hidden through all the novel as well as his hands, onto the colors:

Acording to color psychology, green is the color of temperance, hope, peace, and freshness, is an earth color, but also combined with black or blackened can also mean ambition, seriousness and destruction, puting the green as principal color is showing sheep leader chuuya among all, ambitious with his protection and leader skills, template until enraged and serious.

Light Gray is the color of neutrality, estability, wisdom and moral neutrality, again we are seeing here sheep chuuya.

Bright red is the color of power, dynamism, passion, and often than not, danger, this is trademark chuuya color, but we dont see it in fifteen until the last layer of clothes, he was hiding his true personality in order to be a good leader for the sheep.

Black here is the color of elegance and mystery, the unknown, dark and even malice in some way, this color wraps up the entire scheme of meanings in chuuyas clothing while also making the outfit not straining to see.

As for the material, the first jacket is thick leather while the rest may be light cotton, another metaphor for auto protection.

Now onto dazai:

Here we have fifteen mafia dazai, unmotivated and wanting to die, but still young at the end of the day, he's wearing formal clothes and a monochrome color scheme, aside from the trademark bandages in the eye and the gauze what i find interesting here is the percentage of color in the design, we see a lot of black, yes, but also a large chunk of visible white in the shirt, very visible even under the coat that in the arts of the novel it mostly is fying in his shoulder and not bloking the white shirt, white is the color of purity, innocence, infantiliy, and even harmony and in this design, it shows us that he is, even in mafia black, still a kid at the end of the day.

Another thing i noticed while analyzing this design is that the underside of the cloack is light gray, so the ambiguous morality is there too, as for the material, i don't realky know but visually is a little stiff while soft, so it helps the feeling too.

Thanks for reading all this nonsensical analysis, in the next post, we will be exploring sixteen y/o soukoku with the addition of stormbringer design!

Next >

[funkymbtifiction]

Ok, here we go ... The last time I read your book I wasn't really paid much attention; well, I skim read. But now that I read it again after I get a chunk of my work (20 pages of fieldwork. An entire chapter) done. I read it again with fresher and markedly better mood....

I'm glad you feel like you have landed on your type. :)

-----------

As Ne-dom do you get inspirations from dreams, as in sleeping dreams? <- no, but I wish I did, it sounds useful. Most of my dreams have no plot, no deep inner meaning, and no structure; they are Alice in Wonderland levels of disconnected weirdness in which I am running through the woods from a T-Rex, and then wake up inside a strange house and then land in a garden party where I look down and realize to my horror that I haven't shaved my legs yet am wearing a skirt, and then wake up going "... huh?"

I often get a good idea from them. Like yesterday [... removed so no one steals your idea]. The theme of the whole story (dream) was ''Can't you look look and who I am and not what I am?" with a tired and apathetic voice. It's the actual 'movie' with plots, tones and a lot of subtle symbols. It's a really good story with nice dark urban cinematography. I was amazed because I've never produced anything of that level when I'm awake. My novel plot is far worse than this dream. And now I'm thinking about doing a casual screenwriting from this piece of dream I recorded. But only casually... Have you ever experienced anything similar?

Sadly, no. My ideas are often sparked at random from whatever I am thinking / reading / watching and the take on a life of their own and build themselves as I go; I will get a flash of a scene, or a climax, or the underlining theme, and build a story around it. It happens where it compiles itself while I am doing it. Good ideas stick around forever, bad or boring ones come and go in a flash. I also don't remember most of my dreams, which given their intense levels of weirdness, might be a good thing (one or two stuck in my mind -- there was the mashup of Henry VIII's court and the Phantom of the Opera, where Erik stole a child from the court, and I went on a boat down into the depths of the Paris opera house to get it; and there was the time I dreamed I was on the Titanic and trying to get off it, but couldn't make my way through the maze of water all around me -- like an actual maze made of walls of water, in which I could see things swimming! .... so cool/weird).

[talkfantasytome]

This got a little long, forgive me if this is tormenting you, but I really love to talk about this and I also loved your answers and would love to know your point of view on other parts of the story.

So, here I will show you my thoughts about what might happen in the next book with Azriel and also how I believe more people will know about Lucien and Helion in the next book. Let's go.

This is a thought of mine, but I think that probably in the next book more characters will learn that Lucien is Helion's son. I remember that either Rhys or Feyre said that they hadn't told anyone yet because it wasn't the time. I think that maybe something happens and in one of the meetings they have, in the search to find a solution to something Feysand can tell the IC, or something happens and Lucien unintentionally releases some power that makes other people suspicious. I think SJM is taking too long with this issue and it will get too rushed if she adds this only in the last book. Making a small comparison with TOG we saw as the books went by more and more characters knowing until they had the reunion between father and son.

I just don't know how this will be added in the story, because I believe the next book (using logic and the end of the book), will be about the Ilyrians vs Valkyries conflict, Ilyrians vs NC and the autumn court conflicts. Maybe Eris will use this to make Helion want to kill his father, we know he is looking for someone to kill him. As we know that Cassian and Rhys deal with Eris, I believe we will see less of him in this book as we saw in ACOSF but he will still appear in the Nightmare Court, on another hand, who gives information to Azriel is Lucien, so I believe we will see some conversation between the two.

I believe that the Ilyrians will plan something to hit the girls for getting out of the bloond rite alive, I believe that some Ilyrians will be inspired by them, probably Emerie will suffer something since besides being Ilyrian, she had her wings cut off and works and lives there, I am not sure but I think they will want them to stay training in the Ilyrian training camp. As Rhys and Cassian said it will be hard to make Azriel want to defend the Ilyrians because to him they could all die, I believe that will be one of the points to work on, maybe working with the Ilyrians he will feel the need to protect them and the fact that the Valkyries are connected to that makes me 50% sure that will be one of the triggers for him to defend them. (Just like Nesta who wanted the women to train to defend themselves and why it helped her with her trauma, I think this Ilyrianas training will mess with her feelings for being connected to her mother and the way she was treated). I also believe that the Ilyrian who did not kill the girls in the blood rite will reappear, probably mediating the problem between the Valkyries and the Ilyrians, to show Azriel that not all Ilyrians are bad and so on.

(I think this will be the first plot of the book, as it was in ACOSF, making this one want to go train, then her liking to train and wanting the other women to train as well. I think something like that will happen at the beginning of the book with Azriel).

The other plot I am not sure but I think it will involve AC again and Gwyn. I don't know how it will happen but I am really excited to read the next book.

Do you agree with this thought?

Hi Nonnie! No, definitely not tormenting me. <3

So, first, I just want to say this seems totally possible! Admittedly, that's not saying much, as I'm very open-minded to the possibilities of the next books and, also, considering what "possible" means, you really can't say something isn't possible. So, you won't find me saying something isn't possible unless it's like "I think Nesta and Rhys are going to go on a Bryaxis hunt, and they're going to fall in love and end up cheating on their mates with each other while Cassian goes off to Autumn to f*ck Eris and Feyre decides to explore her sexuality with Emerie." Like, okay, no, that's not gonna happen. 😂

But, with anything that really does seem to be thought of based on what's happened in the books and being foreshadowed - totally possible!

As for me, personally - I agree with a good chunk of this, but not sure on all of it, so I'm going to dive in to help explain better.

Lucien & Helion: Honestly, yes. I do agree more people will find out in the next book. I do hope it's saved mostly for the full novels over the novellas, as it's such a big plot point, so I really don't want anyone finding out in a novella, except maybe characters that would be completely unaffected by this. Like, for example, say people find out in book 5, then the Emorie novella comes out (that's my hope), and Mor reveals to Emerie about Lucien...unless Emerie and Lucien become besties in book 5, it really has very little effect on her life, so that's okay. But other IC members, for example - it needs to come out in a full novel.

That is, unless, it becomes the main plot point of a novella. But, since we know Lucien's story is likely to be in a novel, I find that unlikely.

So I do believe we'll start to see more. I think Cassian starting to see something in Lucien was a bit of foreshadowing, and my guess is that for the next book we'll see more of Lucien and E\ain, just like we saw more of Az in ACOSF - as the way to build up their book.

In terms of how it'll be added, I've added thoughts on that in the next section.

As for Eris & Helion, I honestly don't think we'll see Eris "getting" Helion to kill his father. Whether or not something happens between Helion and Beron, who can say? It's possible. But I don't see Eris playing much of a role in that, just potentially benefiting from it. XD

Illyrians & Valkyries: I also agree the next book will have more focus on this. ACOSF was about the creation/establishment of the Valkyries, and I think book 5 will have a focus - though maybe smaller - on the building up of the Valkyries more. I also agree, believing that makes it harder to understand how Lucien's story will come into play.

BUT. With the knowledge that Gwyn's grandfather was an Autumn Court High Fae, and since we do believe there's likely to be a focus on the Valkyries, that's possibly where it could come in. If the book really is Az-Gwyn, we will see more of Gwyn's story and development, and if there is any relation to Lucien, then I think we'll get to see their relationship grow and develop. And that would be a prime spot to bring in the other aspect of the story and reveal it a bit more. Similarly, if it's more Eris and Gwyn getting to know each other, that could still be an opening for this plot point.

As for the Illyrians planning something to hit the Valkyries - I'm, honestly, not convinced. They already did that in bringing them into the Blood Rite, so it would be a rather similar plot point to once again have the Illyrians secretly plan to hurt the Valkyries.

I DO agree there will be conflict there, for sure. I think there's already growing conflict in Illyria, so that's where the main focus will be - the Illyrians are discontent, I think there was growing belief of a possible rebellion or something? So I think that's likely what will have a focus, and the Valkyries will come into play in a way that, I think, will act as a catalyst.

I could see the issue being that the Valkyries come round, proving how females can be trained, now with two Carynthians and an Oristian (sp? 👀), and they could become a beacon for Illyrian females. Especially with Emerie, proving what you can do even with clipped wings (what a badass). And maybe they start to get the females training more. They'll still have their training at the House, considering the priestesses, but Nesta, Emerie, and Gwyn (hopefully), I'm guessing, will do stuff in Illyria with Cassian and Az.

Az & Illyrians: I definitely agree. One of the biggest aspects of most characters' emotional arcs is accepting themselves, who they are, who they were born to be. And that's going to be a HUGE part of Az's emotional journey, because we know he doesn't accept himself. Just as I believe E\ain's will be revolving around accepting herself as being High Fae, Az's will likely revolve around accepting his heritage. He tries to pretend on so many levels that he's not an Illyrian, but he is. He can't hide it. That's part of who he is.

And I get it. The Illyrians can kinda suck. Az and Cassian are two opposite sides of the spectrum of having a hard time with their heritage. Cassian hates the way they are, and wants to change it, but also desperately wants their approval (bby boi <3). Az, on the other hand, literally wants to never deal with them and act as if he's not one of them.

So I agree about that part of Az's emotional journey. I think it'll involve more, with him finally understanding he is worthy of love and accepting every part of himself, but the Illyrian side is a big piece.

Overall, I'd say I agree with a lot of what you've said. I typically don't think too much about possible future plot points the way I do relationships and other things, mostly because I generally plan to be surprised. LOL But, in thinking about it, that's sort of where I end up on possibilities, especially when thinking about ways in which we might see certain things play out. I definitely have no idea what the big climax will be, nor am I sure how it'll tie to the overarching plot. Plot is, admittedly, one of my weaker links - I'm not good at big climaxes...👀 So no way can I guess what another author would do. But in terms of build up to major plot points, those are my thoughts.

Thanks for the question! :)

[these-are-the-first-steps]

Hey I was reading your posts and don't know If I got It wrong but are you saying that the books are good and a lot better than the movies? I'm asking because I really loved the Second movie but they ruined everything in the third one 😔 so are the books different? Did they make the story better?

Hi there, friend! Before I answer your question, I'd like to go over (briefly) some points that make the books required reading regardless of how well/badly they're written:

-Book writers have access to the film scripts, meaning they get a ton of details and deleted scenes we do not.

-They also tend to have access to previous versions of the Official Script, meaning they may get to see dialogue or moments that got cut or changed, either for time or to make them more 'obscure' etc etc.

-They have access to production notes and other Show Bible material to help them write their book/s that we will never see, and so it's a unique avenue to try and get pieces of that information.

-All of the above then gets conveyed into the book material for us to try and re-piece together from the author's interpretation of it.

This, in a nutshell, is why the books are worth reading, regardless of whether they are good or not.

On a personal note, I thought the TFA novel was a solid C+. I didn't hate it, moments in it were interesting and novel, it included a nice chunk of what I detailed above (which is what I, and all of us, should expect to see in any movie novel), and I actually finished it and went back to re-read moments I liked. So maybe it's bump it up to a B-. For a fantasy book it was a little drab, but I brushed that off as just par for the course for a movie novel.

TFA also had a second novel- the TFA Junior Novel. This was an elementary/middle school version of the TFA novel but with some heavy re-writes in portions to add moments mentioned in the script and also clarify what is ambiguous in both the novel and the film. The TFA Junior Novel is a wealth of good info and was super useful to the fandom during a time of unclear information since it really spelled some things out (like Han blatantly forgiving his son as he died, etc.). Plus it was an enjoyable read that was quick to get through. B+

And THEN there was the 'Before The Awakening' novel which was shelved next to the junior novel, also geared towards the same age range. This novel gives us a prequel to Rey, Finn, and Poe and is a huge source of details and information- like how exactly Rey lived and what her first sweet treat was, who was in Finn's battalion and why that matters when you see the storm troopers who come to confront Finn throughout TFA, and also how Poe got roped into Leia's Resistance movement as a government pilot (spoilers: it's this book that completely invalidates JJ's writing in TROS that Poe was ever a drug smuggler. This book details Poe's timeline before the events of TFA and there was literally no time for him to have done that shit. JJ Abrams literally didn't read his own Show Bible and decided to be racist instead. whatever.). Anyway, it's a good interesting book. A.

The TLJ novel was so boring I actually stopped reading a 1/3rd of the way through and never finished it. Commentary from friends on tumblr seemed to suggest that it actually did have some nice juicy bits in it that were worth reading, so I always meant to pick it up again but just never did. Maybe I should? It's still on my bookshelf. No rating for lack of completion. I remember looking for a TLJ Junior Novel when the books started to come out but never found one. I'm not sure if they put one out for TLJ or not. If so, I'd love to buy it and give it a read.

The TROS novel I did not buy because I was so fucking mad at the movie. I should buy it, though. I meant to buy it. But every time I saw it in the bookstore I was so filled with rage I couldn't bring myself to throw money at it. HOWEVER!!! The TROS novel was written by a reylo supporter! Excerpts from it show very very nice moments with some nice detailing. However, due to the rushed production of TROS, the movie firing probably its entire AD department after their director got fired, and subsequent constant overhaul of the story up until the day before it premiered, I don't expect a lot of the points above to be included in this particular novel. TROS was a trashfire of a production, and if I remember correctly, this book came out WAY late as a consequence. However, I can't say for certain because I haven't picked it up yet. I do still want to pick it up, if only out of respect for the author who did her best after being handed a pile of shit and taking so many hits on twitter for being pro-reylo. It's the least I can do.

I also have no idea if TROS ever made a Junior Novel. My guess is no.

The comics are also pretty good. They follow the movies more closely since the panels mimic the frames from the films but then you have other one-off series that go off the beaten path, like 'Rise of Kylo Ren' where we finally find out what happened at the temple, etc. etc.

And then you have all the non-narrative stuff like the art books, magazine articles, PR interviews, twitter, etc etc etc So basically, all this to say that even if the books feel a bit bland to you, if you're there to mine all those sweet sweet gems of lore, information, and story clues, it doesn't matter! Read 'em anyway! xD This got long- sorry dude! But I hope this helps explain some! <3

[isaacdian]

hope you don't mind me asking, do you have any Isaac and Miria headcanons? i'd love to read some from you. you appear to have a good grasp on the characters, and great love for them. :)

aw thank you so much for the ask, sure thing!

some of these will probably get into theory territory as well, because i’ve had the novels sitting in my mind for years now, and there are a few details i’d like to mention (beware of baccano light novel spoilers, just in case).

this could get a bit long, so you can read it below the cut:

i’ll write my headcanons/thoughts in no particular order. more people might have come to similar conclusions, but i don’t think i’ve seen any posts or had any discussions with anyone regarding these (at least in depth), so!

- i like to think that miria and isaac ran away from their then (seemingly) unhappy lives after they got to interact with each other for quite a while, and not spontaneously upon meeting for the first time.

there isn’t much evidence to back this up beyond some characters commenting that they “were probably runaways” or that “maybe they eloped”, so they might have escaped together on the spot, since we already know they can be very impulsive. however, i get this feeling that their bond took some time to develop, and i’d love to see some of their interactions as isaac dian —and— miria harvent before they ever became isaac & miria, if that makes sense.

i doubt they met too long before their string of robberies, though? this is such a weirdly specific and probably meaningless thing to pinpoint, but in 1935 miria asks isaac if he’s ever been to the circus, and he responds that he does remember animals, but he doesn’t remember if that was the circus or the zoo. this hardly means anything, but their circumstances overall don’t really make me think that they’ve known each other since they were too young.

- whatever optimism and general exhilaration regarding life isaac has is innate. on the other hand, miria has mostly acquired her own sense of hopefulness over time, with isaac’s help.

miria is a 100% confirmed literal ray of sunshine and this indisputable. it just hasn’t/doesn’t always come to her as effortlessly as it may seem. bloody to fair isaac and miria magic show color page.png

this is somewhat related to the next one (and also the last point i’ll mention at the end of this post):

- when isaac gets arrested and he and miria get separated in 1934, they’re both having an equally hard time dealing with this.

okay this one is like. obvious ksjksk. but i wanted to talk about how they deal with this situation, because at first glance it looks like miria got the shortest end of the stick here. and in a way, that might be true! i’ve already mentioned that miria herself has been shown thinking about how much isaac helped her to be happy, and narita has been deliberately vague regarding the nature of their silliness, on top of hinting at the possibility of their shenanigans being a kind of mechanism to escape the harsh realities of life from the rolling bootlegs (very first novel), if i recall correctly.

(btw:

i recall that somewhere in the 1935 arc, graham starts talking with the usual “let me tell you a sad, sad story” prelude. however, isaac and miria are upset by this, and they tell him that he shouldn’t tell sad stories, because if you do it, your happiness will run away. meanwhile, this part in cloudy to rainy living rent free in my head:

i have to laugh..........)

that being said, i couldn’t help but feel like isaac was having an equally bad time, even if he displayed it in a different and not so blatant way. while i was rereading the novels after i got to buy the official english release, i felt very strongly that something was definitely wrong about their separation, which, again, is obvious to us readers and to the characters who know isaac & miria. but it extends beyond that. there was this general feeling of knowing that whoever came across an unaccompanied isaac would magically feel like there was something missing. i don’t know how else to explain this. he’s still full of energy and optimism and he’s fueled by his desire to reunite with miria, but every time he’s shown hesitating or doesn’t reach a satisfying conclusion while thinking about a frivolous topic, it hits you like “oh... right” (firo didn’t help much on that last front, either, so miria and isaac must have had to discuss what exactly happens to fellas who don’t believe in fairies after their reunion... lol)

in short, he needs miria just as much as she needs him. this is something i’ve seen other people mention as well: isaac might be the “force” factor in their relationship, but that force won’t amount to much without miria’s “direction”, and viceversa. the lift each other up, and they keep each other grounded, too.

i’m also remembering isaac and sham’s conversation and just. there’s a self-esteem/confidence factor in there. Fun Game of Spot the Difference

and this is getting ridiculously long, so i’ll spare you from having to read my dumb thots about isaac’s (possibly real) fear of miria not liking him, as the narrator implies, which i subconsciously ended up linking to that one impossibly crack ending in the ds game, where you pick the option of him not knowing frankenstein’s monster’s real name, so miria leaves him after realizing how “cheap and uncool” he is LMAO

- isaac’s father might have been an academic of some sort, as well as a stern man who disapproved of his son’s flighty and childish tendencies.

???????? besides miria’s implied tragic backstory, the most we know about both of their pasts is that isaac comes from a wealthy family with whom he seems to have a bad relationship with, so even though i’ve tried to work out other details (his parents’ provenance for instance?) i can’t really elaborate on this. even if isaac’s knowledge on the topic is pretty scrambled (to put it nicely lol), he knows a lot about “the orient” as he puts it, and the “dian” surname is pretty unique so who knows!👀 i’ve only mentioned his father because isaac, too, has only mentioned his "old man” twice so far in the novels, if i’m not mistaken. in my opinion, it also speaks volumes how flustered isaac got when molsa apologized to him, because it was the first time someone older than him has done this. and this is pretty arbitrary, but if isaac started robbing and getting into trouble before he and miria even met and/or before he got kicked out/ran away from home, that whole deal about “being used to dealing with policemen” (in the unofficial translation i read back in the day it was something along the lines of “this isn’t my first time being interrogated by the police”) in 1934 would make sense, i guess, considering that miria didn’t realize what was going on at the moment even though she’s a fairly perceptive person.

anyways it’s too bad we don’t know that much about miria on this front, also!! i get the vague feeling that she might have also come from a wealthy family (probably not a good environment, though), since in 1935 it’s mentioned that the closest they’ve ever gotten to working/having a job was when they were digging for gold, apparently. that’s why i can’t really think of anything too specific regarding miria’s past and upbringing... i have a feeling that she might have felt alone, trapped and/or overwhelmed. let’s just hope that when she said her bruises would heal up fine with ice in 1935 it had nothing to do with this “i should have died” business :(((

- even though isaac and miria love their friends and would do anything for them, they aren’t particularly attached to anyone (or any place) besides each other.

this is more of an observation than a headcanon, but i find it really interesting: they would definitely do anything for their friends, and they do enjoy life very intensely, but that’s precisely why they don’t seem to be fixed in one singular spot? basically, i feel like they’re the personification of “home is where the heart is” taken to the extreme. they could go anywhere and do anything as long as they have each other, and they will never make any attempts to actively do things that make it easier to label their relationship, such as getting married, which is heavily implied by firo (i think) in 2002 bullet garden (i think!!). that’s also part of the reason why i’m sure they’d never find themselves commiting to things like taking care of a pet, or a child; it’s more like they instantly “adopt” everyone they run into, as if they’ve always been friends, even if they won’t meet again for months, years, or ever again. anyway, isaac and miria are extremely good and they are literally going to be happy together forever and ever! they don’t need to prove that.

that doesn’t mean they’re not sentimental, though! i like to think that they keep some meaningful objects that remind them of fond memories of their friends. and this is hardly canon because it shows up in the anime And in a background at that, but shoutout to the rocking toy horse in their california mine lol.

- miria knew about her own immortality (as well as isaac’s) before the 2000s.

THIS IS PROBABLY MY SPICIEST TAKE and i tried to back it up in the next point of this list. i still keep thinking i’m reading too much, into this but

i can’t stop thinking about the implications, folks

which brings us to:

- miria is smarter than isaac is and actually has a fairly good idea of when he’s making stuff up, but is happy to let him take the lead.

i won’t deny that isaac and miria dedicate a huge chunk of their day to doing moronic stuff, and they are pretty dumb, but i feel like people don’t give them enough credit for how perceptive they are. even though that’s true of the two of them, i feel like this mostly applies to miria.

among other things, we’ve learned that she knows ronny isn’t human and has supernatural powers (wow), which is why she comes to him for help after isaac’s arrest. she’s very good at paying attention to small details, such as the kind of programs ennis watches on tv, or chané’s feelings, when the two talk in 1934. miria also “really knows her way around japanese” and has been shown to --apparently?-- multiply large numbers in her head in 1935... while isaac was talking about how good of an idea it would be to use the martingale betting system. not to mention how isaac stated he “doesn’t know how to count money” earlier in this arc. my god ksdjgjks. i want to know what’s up with this, if anything.

so, yeah! there’s probably more stuff that i could mention, but i am exhausted lol. thank you for your patience anon, i have no idea how long this has been sitting in my inbox. always happy to get baccano questions <3 i apologize for any typos/errors and the like.

bonus headcanon: miria grabs ennis with one hand and chané with her other hand and they go out with their arms linked and excited and they learn more about having fun, as friends do. no printer just fax

[scriptstructure]

Hello! My novel is a sci-fi/mystery/adventure story, so I'm trying to pack detail into an action-oriented plot. I've rewritten my first chapter at least 5 times now, cause I feel like it's just an info dump to set the story up instead of a slow release of relevant info. But I don't really know how to do that "gracefully", per-se, in addition to the other plot stuff going on. Tips on how to do this? And is one of these pacing strategies better than the other (info dump vs. slower)? Thank you! :D

I think that [THIS POST] about introducing details via action is going to be a big help to you.

Now, I do want to take a moment to talk about why exposition dumps are generally discouraged, because I think that when you understand the reasoning behind a lot of generalised creative advice, you’ll be able to see how and why it might be useful to you and also when and where it might be good for you to disregard that advice if you want to or if you think it will have good effect.

Most of the time, we avoid exposition dumping because, while it might seem like it’s a good way to quickly get the setting and premise on the table and understood, it usually does the opposite. A lot of times exposition dumps (the Bog of Exposition, if you will), make the description and scene setting feel much slower to the reader, as there’s no action to propel them through it.

Rather than having a character experiencing the setting, and interacting with it, the reader is presented with a static scene, or a list of descriptive elements for something that they aren’t yet invested in caring about. Starting off with an exposition dump can mean that you’re not getting out of the gate with a lot of readers because it means that you’re requiring them to invest time to get through something that they’re not yet sure they even want.

By giving setting and descriptive information through action packed passages feels slower when you’re writing it because it takes longer. It’s more difficult to get the balance between description and action, to manage to hash out how the character observes the world and how it changes around them as they experience it, but for the reader it means that absorbing that worldbuilding and setting and description is much more natural and seamless, because it’s being delivered via an active agent that they can become invested in.

As well, when exposition is delivered via action, it is easier to remember. If something important happens and the reader learns a new fact about the world of the story through that event, it’s going to be a lot more memorable than if they read one fact among many in an exposition dump. When you pair action and exposition, you’re less likely to have readers having to flick back to the beginning fifteen chapters in when something you’ve established becomes relevant again.

Nathaniel Hawthorne said “Easy reading is damned hard writing” and to my experience this can be very true. 

It’s easier to write your exposition all in one big neat package, but especially at the beginning of the story, the reader often isn’t committed enough to work through it. I’m sure you’ve often read that the beginning of the story should ‘hook’ the reader, which is a difficult thing to manage as well, and which is rarely explained.

Essentially you want to make the beginning of the story do a few things: Introduce characters that the reader will be interested in seeing more about, set up a world that makes sense, and raise questions that the reader will want to find out the answer to.

Now, the opening action of the story doesn’t need to be on a level with the main action of the narrative. You can have an ‘entry’ conflict to introduce things, and to establish the world, etc. Let’s look at a couple of examples of an initial conflict that illustrates much about the world of the story, but which is connected tangentially to the main body of the narrative.

The opening chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone introduces the Dursleys, and uses them as a vehicle to emphasise the strangeness of the elements of the wizarding world that are then introduced. The story of how Harry gets to the Dursley’s house and the events of that night certainly are connected with the main plot of the series, but they also provide a very small-scale conflict that contains enough action and raises enough questions to lead the reader into the rest of it.

The opening of The Fellowship of the Ring begins with the preparations for Bilbo’s eleventy-first birthday. Obviously the One Ring being part of his possessions and it being passed on as a part of the celebration is connected to the events of the rest of the series, but the birthday party preparations also give the reader the time and action to become familiar with the Shire as a setting, with the habits of hobbits, and with the idea of wizards, dwarfs, elves, and all the rest of it. 

So, generally, exposition dumps slow down the pace of the action, and can discourage readers who just want to move on to the juicy bits. By eliminating the Bog of Exposition, in favour of a action-with-exposition approach, we can break down worldbuilding and set-up into easily absorbed bites. It’s like grating vegetables into a spaghetti sauce so that fussy eaters won’t notice they’re there -- still get the vitamins, but don’t have to worry about the taste or texture of the big chunks!

I hope that helps!

–

Hi there, your friendly blogger Mason here!

At the moment I’m fundraising to cover the costs of my gender confirmation surgery, if you’re able to donate, please click [HERE] to give me a helping hand!

If you’re not able to donate, I would be really grateful if you would reblog [THIS POST] so that more people will be able to see the fundraiser.

Thank you for reading, and thank you all for being so kind!

[jeanlikestoread]

USE IT THEN...

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

It's very hard to write a formal and detailed review of any book in the Chaos Walking Trilogy without spoiling anything so please excuse my limited way of explaining certain moments in the story. I have huge respect for people who hate spoilers as I am one of them.

The novel centers around Todd Hewitt, a teenager desperate to become a man living in Prentisstown, a small town in the outskirts of New World, a planet where everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an endless stream of what is referred to as "Noise." In the past, all of the women have been killed by alien habitants called the Spackle. A hole of silence is found in Todd's Noise and the Mayor and his people are after him. On the run, he finds a girl with no Noise, the first he has ever seen in his life, and he realizes that everyone in Prentisstown has lied to him.

When I first started to read this novel, I was caught off guard by the grammar and vocabulary of Todd, the narrator, as the story is told from his first person POV. However, I immediately got used to it as it is explained very early in the novel that he was never educated, therefore his grammar and spelling isn't perfectly polished. The first 15-20 pages of the book are not very convincing, as they are pretty focused mostly on introducing the setting, but then the tension suddenly punches you in the face and after that, it just never stops.

Many people classify this as a science fiction novel though I would never classify it as one, even if there are spaceships and aliens briefly involved. There is so much character and adventure and action involved that it's a whole other type of book in the sci-fi genre. It leans more towards the direction of a YA dystopian action thriller and it has everything you might expect from one. Guns, fights, explosions, and 80% of running around in the woods like there's no tomorrow.

My main expectation when I picked up this novel was to get an unputdownable action-packed and character driven piece of work and I got just that in ways I couldn't even imagine. The word "conflict" is written all over this book and I love it. The character development and their choices are beautifully developed and flawless. It is furiously paced with  triumphant, violent, and heartbreaking moments. It  marks a great beginning to a great series.

Trust me, when I say that a piece of fiction that has a talking dog in it is worth the time, it truly is.

Here are a few of my favorite things in this book. (Not a Sound of Music reference.)

- Geez, that pacing! Just when you think things are gonna slow down, they just don't. It's very rare to find that in books nowadays. Ness is a genius at structuring a story and he adds a touch of suspense and conflict to every point of the story.

I believed and felt every emotion the narrator conveyed and that is something I really appreciate in a book and there was motive behind every decision that had to be made.

Viola. She is a strong character and a great helping hand and friend to Todd. The way she solved problems and helped Todd throughout their journey together was meaningful and sometimes hilarious to be honest. I could honestly relate more with her than with Todd, because in a way, she highlighted and commented how the reader would in a certain situation. She is just amazing. Yes, I think I may have a fictional character crush.

The climax and final confrontation was suspenseful and had me at the edge of my seat wondering what the heck was gonna end up happening.

Manchee. What the hell? He is just such a darn cute dog. I felt bad for him because Todd didn't treat him all that well though.

Now that we got all of the fanboyish love out of the way, here are the few cons I encountered throughout the book:

Todd's evolution and development as a character throughout the entire trilogy is beautiful, however in this book, this is his most annoying phase. I couldn't help but roll my eyes every time he whined about how he wanted to become a man so desperately and how he counted down the days until his 14th birthday. And I get that he wasn't educated but, dear Lord, is he stupid. I understand that to develop a character, you have to highlight their flaws first, but not to a point where I end up sometimes loathing the main narrator of the story.

There is an underwhelming amount of antagonists in here: Mayor Prentiss, Preacher Aaron, Davy Prentiss Jr., Matthew Lyle (this character shouldn't have existed AT ALL by the way). I wanted to slap them all in the face and tell them to take a hike. Like I said, there are many conflicts in this book and I get that a book should set obstacles for the main characters to face, however, I remember having felt at some point that the main characters should've been given a break. They couldn't breathe without getting harassed by someone the next second.

There is a good over 50 pages halfway through the book that shouldn't have been in there whatsoever. I'm not gonna spoil but if you want to see for yourself, anything with the word "Farbranch" didn't help the story at all if things were gonna go back to the way they were in the first place. I get what Ness was trying to do but it could've been presented in a different way.

Every Chaos Walking fan dreads page 350. Come on, now. That happened WAY too early. It just broke my heart and I couldn't help but cry.

And finally, here is the part that I find difficult to explain. There are a few underwhelming moments here and there where it felt like the story was kind of headed the wrong direction, and that brings me again to that unnecessary big chunk in the midpoint. There is also a moment near the climax after heartbreaking page 350 that I felt drove the story all over the place.

Overall, this marks a great beginning to the trilogy, and it brings people excited for the long run. It is my least favorite book in the series though, not at all because it is bad, but because of the few unnecessary characters and moments halfway and the tropes that made it seem like it is still slightly trying to figure out its place and genre. However, this doesn't stop it from being a great and suspenseful read.

Again, don't come to this book expecting a "space opera, alien invasion, laser gun" type sci-fi, because it barely resonates the clichéd tropes of the genre.

This gem is definitely worth the read. Don't let the unnecessary moments catch you off guard. Continue reading!

8/10