#anyways it's an arc that I absolutely adore for her especially in the books

[lady-corrine]

[triviareads]

ARC Review of A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles

Summary:

Rufus, Earl of Oxney, has dealt with multiple attempts by his uncle to take his title away from him. Now, his uncle is claiming that not only is Rufus illegitimate, but he has proof by way of Lucas Doomsday, a secretary who hails from a notorious family of local smugglers. Rufus hires Lucas to help him search through family archives for proof of his legitimacy, and Lucas agrees, in part because he has his own reasons for being at the estate...

My review:

This is the first book I've read by KJ Charles and I only wish I'd read her works sooner because this was a fabulous read. I adored both of the main characters: Rufus is an ex-soldier, honorable with a bit of a temper. But you can't blame the poor guy; he's trying his best to improve the estate after years of neglect while being constantly challenged by his terrible family. Luke is a secretary who comes from a smuggler clan, so he has a raffish edge to an otherwise (mostly) proper façade. He's a schemer who uses his powers for good when it comes to helping Rufus... and other times not so much.

I loved Rufus and Luke's relationship: it's one that comes from a place of mutual understanding and respect which initially makes them friends and allies, and that actually seems to fuel their emotional and sexual attraction. Rufus did read as demisexual to me just based on what he says (thinks) about not seeing the point of having sex with someone you don't care for. And he finds that with Luke fairly early on, even if Luke has to make the first move ("either fuck me or fire me"... he's a brat can you tell).

Both men have a good deal of familial demons, past and present, and the narrative does a great job of having the characters examine them, reconcile where they can, but otherwise creating their own found family they can be happy around. In a way, it's in direct contract to the villains of the story, mostly Rufus's own family, who are miserable with one another, and yet prize their (Norman... you'll see the word "Norman" many times) blood above all.

The mystery aspect (two mysteries, really, and then another mystery no one expected to find the answer to but stumbled across anyway) was mostly tight and well done. I do think the second half became a little too mystery-heavy at the cost of the romance, but it all tied up neatly at the end. At times I wish I'd read The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen just so I knew Luke's background, especially relating to Sir Gareth and Joss Doomsday, but KJ did a pretty good job of filling in those blanks for the reader.

The sex:

Raw. Intimate. Sexy. I can't write this review without including the droit du seigneur aspect, which starts as a joke between Rufus and Luke, but very much ends up as a kink of sort for them in that Luke wants to be taken in the manner of a feudal lord in the olden days sleeping with a vessel's wife first on their wedding night (possessive, a bit rough), which I thought was very hot, and very well done. Luke is a bit of a brat and wants to make Rufus work for it, but Rufus is absolutely willing to rise to the challenge (both Luke and Rufus seem to have a competence kink too). A relentless man, if you will.

Because of how the plot progresses, there's actually a lot more sex scenes in the first half of the book than in the second, but honestly the wait pays off because by the time they're reunited, the emotions are just that much heightened by the fact that they love one another now. I was actually near tears when Luke admits that when he first asked Rufus to "fuck him like he owns him", he really wished that he was his. It was so so romantic.

Overall:

I'd recommend this book to anyone, but specifically readers looking for a romance intertwined with a mystery or adventure, and anyone looking for a queer historical romance. I loved this book so much, and I'm looking forward to reading more KJ Charles.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.

[bookishbethanyerin]

• ARC Review: The Summer Girl •

When it comes to beach reads, I’m the kind of person who wants something that will charm me. I essentially want a fizzy Taylor Swift song in book form: meet-cutes and banter and sparks and swoons – but also some spice and drama for good measure.

And I am extremely pleased to say that The Summer Girl fits the bill exactly.

The story follows Cassie, a rising college senior who is spending the summer with her grandmother and looking for a fling, and Tate, the local golden boy and town playboy who somehow never breaks a single heart. I related hard to Cassie’s social awkwardness and rambling ways, and absolutely adored Tate – he may be a blond, but you’ll love him anyway.

While this book is largely a swoony, sexy, summer neighbors (!!)-to-lovers story, there is a dose of family drama, as Cassie’s mom is a textbook narcissist, and Elle Kennedy highlights the mental and emotional labor that dealing with a narcissist takes on everyone around them – but especially their family.

Though The Summer Girl is the third book in Elle Kennedy’s Avalon Bay series, it definitely can be read as a standalone – and honesty, I think it’s my favorite of the series.

It’s cute, it’s fun, it has banter and sparks and spice. All in all, it’s what I’d call a perfect beach read.

☀️A huge thank you to St. Martin’s Griffin for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy! The Summer Girl is out on July 18th!⛵️

4.75🌟

2.5🌶️

[justmybookthots]

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

4/5 stars

I finally found it! A book with a portrayal of fae that I liked almost as much as Holly Black’s!

Of course, that’s because Heather Fawcett’s depiction of fae is strikingly redolent of Holly’s. I could even dub them to be in the same universe and they would fit somehow. It is clear by now I only like a specific kind of fae (this is my personal preference)—the fairytale-esque / folklore version. I hate Gild or ACoTAR’s portrayal of fae; I do not see fae EVER as... macho men. The mere thought makes me gag. I will take Cardan’s goat tail over big, manly ‘alpha’ men that are also so-called 'fae', tyvm.

Sorry, I digress. But not entirely, because well, this book I’m reviewing, if the title isn’t obvious enough, is about fae. The way fae is categorised goes like this (I’m writing this down so that when the next book arrives next year, I still fucking remember):

Human-sized / big fae are called The Tall Ones or Courtly Fae. Tiny ones are called the Common Fae, further sub-categorised into Brownies (they strike bargains with mortals often) or Trooping Fae (they travel in troops and keep to themselves). 

One of my standout (if not my favourite) characters is Poe, who is a Brownie. OMG, he is so adorable with his sharp needle-fingers and his love for cooking. Also, that little thing makes fucking delicious bread, which is my absolute favourite thing to eat in the world. My heart broke for him when his tree got burnt, but yay that Wendell Bambleby fixed it for him!!! 

How is Poe not adorable? I heard from the reviews (LUCKY ASSES WHO GOT ARCS) that the next book will feature him again (and his lady), and I am so excited to read it.

Moving on from Poe, I’ll address a character much more important to the story: Wendell. I have to say that because everyone was saying the romance subplot is very small, I took it to mean that I would not see Wendell much, but I was wrong. Wendell is in the story most of the time. And while I can’t say I’m in love with him (the romance was too sudden IMO), I do love him very much. He’s hilarious. An absolute riot. I mean, just look at this part in his POV (do be mindful of spoilers in this snippet):

This man is clinically insane, lmao.

Random side-note: him having blonde hair is delicious. I just love blonde male characters. He is, quite literally, a ray of sunshine compared to Emily’s grumpiness. I usually absolutely despise the grumpy/sunshine trope because the man is almost always the fucking grump. But when it’s reversed? Utterly delightful. How can I not love a male character who is actually emotionally intelligent? Who on earth wrote into the romance fiction codex that an attractive male lead must have the emotional intelligence of a toothpick (Coughs at Love Hypothesis, coughs at Love on the Brain, cough cough cough)? Who???

Anyways.

This book surprised me in many ways, not just with Wendell. It’s dubbed as ‘cosy fantasy’ and many people complain that nothing really happens, so I was kind of bracing myself for a snoozefest.

Um, I was wrong.

I'm confused that this is what we consider cosy fantasy (I truthfully know next to nothing of this genre)? But… There is so much adventure and action that happens here. If anything, the stakes in this story feel higher / more engaging than in An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson, which I strongly disliked (even though I enjoyed some of its portrayal of fae). While the beginning was a bit rough, I was utterly hooked about a third into Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia. 

I was also A FOOL, because I read this thinking the next book was already out. T_T But no, it only comes out NEXT YEAR. Why are all the books I’m desperate for coming out next year? Okay, just two books including this, but whatever. 

One more thing to add before I close this entry: why do some people dislike Emily??? She was reserved, yes, but her kind heart really shone through her actions, especially in comparison to Wendell's indifference. She’s one of the many characters I adored in this book. In fact, I loved almost everyone in the cast; I was prepared to dislike Auds, the village headswoman, but I loved her in the end. It was lovely how the villagers rallied to support Emily later on, and also—I can't forget dear old Shadow!! Bless that baby.

Suffice to say, I will be sitting here, waiting for the next book very, very patiently.

- 11 Aug 2023

[ghostiewriter]

I finished KoA🥲

I fucking new gavriel was gonna die I had a feeling and I thought I’d prepared myself for it but I did not and I was fighting to hold in my tears cuz I was not by myself at the moment and it fucking hurt. All those years he could’ve had getting to know aeidon😩 l know it was like he finally accepted his dad after that but it still hurt.

Bro and the thirteen sacrificing themselves for Manon 😫😫😫😫😫 I actually couldn’t hold in my tears for their deaths. Idk if it’s because out of all the characters stories Manon was one of the most captivating for me besides aelin. I absolutely loved her character arc and development, I could never get enough of her chapters and hated when I had to wait more than 5 chapters for her to come up again. And asterins story was so incredibly sad but she’s no longer separated from her human love and child🥹 (not me talking about these characters like they’re actual people)

Also she and dorian better have gotten together after the book I was really rooting for them and I hate I didn’t get to see them finally fall into a romantic relationship with each other. They were so fucking cute 😭

Sorry this is all over the place but I hated reading aelin getting tortured I felt so helpless and was so mad at cairn and Maeve for all the shit they did to her but it’s ok cuz Rowan skinned him alive and maeve finally died in the end :)

Also my appreciation for Rowan and aelin’s relationship after she was rescued went way up. He was just perfect for her and I love them together. I felt for aelin so much, all the shit she gave up for everyone and when Dorian’s dad have her the message from her family 😫 and when she was breaking a little and her mom was comforting her omg my heart was breakinggg.

I loved seeing the soft and vulnerable side of lorcan when he and elide finally got together it was adorable. Idk what it was about their story though I just felt like it was a bit rushed in a way after she avoided him for the most part which was understandable I guess I just really wanted to see a whole conversation about what happened and for him to beg on his knees even though he couldn’t lmao. But it was understandable since they were in the middle of a battle and she was terrified she lost him. Also Lord Lorcan Lochan 🤣 I fucking love them

Lysandra is amazing I love her and I’m glad she didn’t immediately forgive aeidon for all the shit he said to her. I understood why he was mad but this mf took it so personally like my dude get over yourself and stop treating the woman you love like shit!! That being said when they finally got together I was very happy for the both of them😌

Also Yrene fucking Towers ending erawan😏 love her

Omg and them when aelin and chaol finally met up with Dorian 😭 I love all their friendships and it was actually so heartbreaking when the war was done and everyone had to leave back to their countries :(

There’s so much stuff I could say more about but that would be really fucking long and I feel like I’ve gone on enough for now. It was a good read even if it broke my heart over and over again

OH BESTIE I SOBBED DURING THIS BOOO I GET IT AHSHSBSJZBSNSB

The Thirteen sacrificing themselves and Gavriel’s sacrifice genuinely got me, I wasn’t expecting it to make me sob but they did😭especially Gavriel like he just started having a relationship with his son!!!!

ELIDE AND LORCAN ARE SO CUTE AND THEY ARE ONE OF MY FAVS!! Still pissed we never got that smut scene tho, we were robbed!!

But I adore Yrene and I need more Manon and Dorian and just everything was so🫠and the wee scene with Dorian realising he was named after his dad? KILLED ME

anyways, now you can move onto acotar🌚you’re gonna LOVE IT

[bookaddict24-7]

REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

Books I’ve read so far in 2023!

Friend me on Goodreads here to follow my more up to date reading journey for the year!

___

52. Nic Blake & the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy by Angie Thomas--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read this book as an audiobook from the library, but I also have an ARC from the publisher (full disclosure), which didn't affect my review in any way. I didn't know what to expect when I started this new MGLit title by the incredible author that is Angie Thomas, but I'm happy to say that I really enjoyed it!! Our MC is a young black girl who finds out some hard truths about why her and her father are always moving around. What happens after is a whirlwind of adventure and great dialogue, along with a very cute demon puppy. One of the things that stood out for me is how Thomas, like always, inserted important social commentary into her story. The comparison of her magical fictional world and our very flawed non-magical world will hopefully be a great way for younger readers (and the older ones who pick this up) to truly see the disparity with which certain people in society are treated in comparison to others. If you want a fun adventure full of magic and self-discovery, but also with some important topics being touched on, then I think you might really enjoy this one. I'm excited to see where Thomas takes this story!

___

53. Meet Me Halfway by Lilian T. James--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Re-read April 2023: I was on a re-reading streak this month, so I picked up another title I loved like hell when I first read it. I have to say that I STILL loved this. I loved how the gruff love interest slowly grew warmer with the MC and how their relationship developed. I don't have much else to say because this is still a favourite! I love this trope so much lol.

___

54. The Score by Elle Kennedy--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It has been five hundred years and I have finally finished this book. Despite how long it took me to read this book, I actually really enjoyed it. I loved the sexual tension between the two characters, even when they were denying it. I won't say much about this one because it felt a bit like a fever dream (once I started reading where I had left off before, I couldn't stop), but I absolutely adored how the MMC just completely fell so hard for the FMC, especially with how he reacted when she needed him during an emotional situation. Loved that ending too, since it really sets up the next book (which is a favourite trope of mine). Also, of course, can't forget the spice and how good it was. Gotta love that, too.

___

55. Mayhem by Jamie Shaw--⭐️⭐️

Re-read April 2023: Sigh. I changed the rating for this one because while I've chuckled at my past self about being so over the top in my annoyance with some trashy books, this one was something I was really surprised to see I had loved. The story itself is fun and I can definitely see why I loved that, but holy shitballs, this was a pool of slut shaming. So. Much. Slut. Shaming. Like, I lost count of how many times this MC called another woman a whore, a slut, or a hooker simply for having the audacity of trying to get with her crush, a literal rock star. "This bar smelled like sluts" was a personal favourite. I kept finding myself saying, as I listened to the audiobook, "wow, she is so mean. Why are you calling her that?" I get being jealous but like... come on. Anyway, like I said, I enjoyed the story of her falling for the rock star and hiding her identity from him, but it's definitely not the five star read I gave it years ago.

___

56. The Foxe & the Hound by R.S. Grey--⭐️⭐️⭐️

I finally listened to the audiobook for this after having it on my Kobo account for years. I've been intrigued by this author for a while because one of my friends really enjoyed her work (and binge read it a few years back). While this wasn't the best romance book I've ever read, I can see why there's hype behind R.S. Grey--the writing is fun, quick, flirty, and humorous. I loved the pup in this and how it had such a massive personality and was basically a main character alongside the FMC and the MMC. I also loved that the story did follow through with the idea of him being trained. I did like the characters together--the sexy new guy in a small town and the awkward beautiful girl who doesn't realize how many men actually want her? Sign me up. But a part of why this one wasn't super memorable for me was that even though I enjoyed these two characters, I didn't fully get the spark. It all felt very fast and the drama at the end felt forced. Would I read more books by this author? Definitely. But I will enjoy them simply as light and quick summer reads that won't linger too long in my brain after the fact.

___

57. Coach by Devney Perry--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Listen, a woman can only see so many people reading this and adding it to their TBRs before caving. Also, hi, I'm a sucker for a single parent romance...that is also lowkey forbidden. Not the biggest fan of second chance romances, but this one was delicious enough with angst that it wiped away that sense of frustration. I really enjoyed this--it was spicy, had a good few stolen kisses, had one hell of an office scene, and had two characters who oozed enough sexual tension to make your toes curl. I can see why so many people are jumping on this bandwagon. Honestly, it's always the football player and never the football coach. This was a nice change of pace. My main complaint is the awkward af prologue. I thought it was too quick and really, really awkward dialogue-wise. That alone could potentially be off-putting because the writing style is stilted and so different from the rest of the book--as if it was an addition during one final edit. There was some good communication in this one and the mother-daughter relationship in this broke my heart. I'm excited to read the next one in this series!

___

Have you read any of these books? Let me know your thoughts!

___

Happy reading!

[perexcri]

6,11,27 for the ask game 🩷

hello Lark!! thanks for the ask - i was in a book mood so it means a lot to me :D

also i had to look back at my blog to find the original questions and realized this will be my 1000 post on this blog so uhhh. congrats!!

6.) a book with a pink cover

just for you - my collection of Natalya Baranskaya short stories that i had to use my last semester of college!! i'm currently in the middle of another novella-length one called Lubka that's reading very much like Bernice Bobs Her Hair by F. Scott Fitzgerald, but they're all really good!! i love her writing style (as you know) and absolutely adore A Week Like Any Other :D i'm glad you enjoyed it too, and from what i've read of her other stuff in here, i would highly recommend checking out other stories by her too!!

11.) a book with a green cover

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

i went on a huge non-fiction reading stint while i was in college just because i was reading so much nonfiction for my classes that i couldn't get in the mood for fiction (sad, i know). but this one was fascinating because it's a book about the moral and practical questions of not consuming meat that deals with a lot more than just "killing animals bad." it's genuinely one of the only nuanced takes on vegetarianism/veganism i've ever interacted with that dives into questions of what food means to us socially and culturally as well as ethically and in matters relating to health. i ironically read this like,,,four years after i switched to a pescatarian diet for a few substantial reasons, but mainly Just Cause, so it was strange to actually read something that was giving different arguments for the diet i follow several years after i chose that diet (even though there is a chapter about fish and the mass production of fish in the US in here but alas. i'm not hardcore enough to commit. i love cajun food too much)

it's a really interesting book if you want to learn more about the topic though - i'd highly recommend it, especially because it's very sympathetic in tone

27.) a book with a purple cover

The Burning God by R. F. Kuang

this is the last book of the Poppy War trilogy, which i absolutely devoured last year. it's one of my favorite series of all time by one of my favorite authors of all time, and i can't recommend it enough. it's a fantasy series based on 20th century Chinese history that deals a lot with shamanism, classism, colonialism, and the role of women in patriarchal societies. Kuang actually wrote the main character's arc to follow that of Mao Zedong's in his rise to power in China and it's just!! so so cool!! especially if you've studied or read on the history of that time - one of the most fascinating aspects of reading this trilogy was trying to figure out up to what point the main character's life would follow this historical figure's. it was like i got a free mystery included in my delicious fantasy trilogy heheheh

so yeah, it's a great series if you support women's rights and women's wrongs, love fantasy settings not based on the kind of traditional European-influenced fantasy that tends to be really popular, and want to learn a little about Chinese history along the way :D

i will give a warning and say that this series is incredibly violent though. i don't mind a lot of violence in my reading material, but there were even some scenes for me where i was wincing just a little bit. so just be mindful of that!!

anyway thank you Lark for the ask i hope you're doing well :] 💜💜💜

[amtrak12]

Long rambles about my current fic project because I’m too excited but I promise it will be horrifically boring for all who follow me unless you also happen to like reading Lucifer fic so I’m putting it behind a cut.

Okay so I'm that person who actually loved S6 and the finale but who also loves reading all the alternate 'Lucifer stays and gets to raise Rory' takes that fic writers put out because, while I don't want kids in real life, I am such a sucker for a good baby!fic. I'm also a HUGE sucker for time travel shenanigans so all the 'Rory time travels to a different season' fics are mmm *chef's kiss* delicious. Right up my alley.

Time travel shenanigans are also right up my writing alley. So, if I was going to use Rory to change any season of the show, it would 1000% be season 3. I abhor season 3. It was so uneven. It doesn't flow from season 2. The timeline was inconsistent from episode to episode making it hard to follow the main arc. Cain is arguably the MOST boring antagonist of the series and yet he was also supposed to be sympathetic at times???? I HATE HIM!

(also his curse doesn't make any sense. Is he really the only person in the history of humanity to not feel guilty for his actions? THE ONLY ONE? That doesn't make any sense! YOU DON'T MAKE ANY SENSE!!)

Anyway, I have tried multiple ideas to shift the events of S3 but my favorites just weren't working out so I let myself play with an idea someone else did in a fic: time travelling TODDLER Rory. The original fic writer dropped her in S4 right after Lucifer learned about Chloe's plot to permanently banish him to hell -- so you know, the absolute perfect time to drop their toddler daughter from the future on them. It was AMAZING. That fic took me for all I'm worth and then some. I'M IN LOVE.

So I thought, time travelling toddler fic, what a perfect treat to give my brain instead of beating my head against the wall. Except when I dropped a toddler Rory halfway into S3... it worked? Like the entire plot just ran through my head, one event after the other, and the emotions were delicious, but not as delicious as the ones that came after the goodbye to Rory. The fic is done, Rory's gone home, but the GRIEF my friends, THE GRIEF!!!!! Like can you imagine? 'Hey here's your daughter. No she hasn't been born yet but you don't mind, right? Great.' *two months later* 'Okay time for her to go back to her own timeline now. Say bye Mommy! Bye Daddy! See you in two seconds for her and SEVERAL YEARS for you' like ????? Heartbreaking. Just absolutely gutting stuff and I must write about Lucifer and Chloe navigating that. Especially because they're not even in a real romantic relationship yet when Rory goes home? They're full coparents and have recovered their S2 'dancing on the line of a relationship' but they haven't actually crossed that line yet. Then the adorable creature tying them together is just.. gone. She's just gone. Now what are they supposed to do?

(Also my god, the pressure knowing the future would put on you. Like, hey we know we're going to have a daughter before we even start a relationship. How awkward is that? So weird. So delicious to explore too.)

And then of course after the time travel and after the grief, you have to change the timeline right? Like sure, sure you showed Rory triumphantly returning home to her family in the epilogue of book 1. The reader knows they changed the timeline and Lucifer stays. But S3 Lucifer didn't believe the timeline would change when Rory left. S4 Lucifer didn't believe it would change either even as he and Chloe figured out how to have a relationship with each other. So OBVIOUSLY we need a third one to finish the story out. And OBVIOUSLY -- given that toddler Rory accidentally invented time travel because Trixie was sad about her daddy and Rory was determined to go to heaven and bring him back for the 'best big sister ever' -- we show Lucifer moving from 'I'm destined to abandon my daughter :(' to 'oh shit we actually can change the future! I can stay! :D'.... by allowing them to save Dan.

Now, I didn't know if they would save Dan or not. I know it's fic, but I still worried it would feel cheap if I let the *entire* future get rewritten. But if it's a plot device, it's not cheap. It's just smoirt. *taps side of head* Also it would still have to be a close call so that they know they've changed the future. They need to know they've changed the moment that Dan died in Rory's original timeline.

(Also also, since they don't know how Dan died in the original timeline, I get to write things like Maze stalking Dan 24/7 as a protection detail and Dan finally catching her and being like WTF are you doing? It's gr8. I'm totally normal about this trilogy. I promise.)

(Also also despite my main rants about Cain -- he lives in this trilogy? And goes to jail for the Sinnerman crimes/murdering Charlotte instead? But I've also changed his curse to being tied to Abel's guilt instead of his own. It was my spouse's idea to make it God's response to 'am I a brother-keeper?' like yes. Yes you are Cain. And now you don't get Heaven until your brother does. AND this means I get to have Eve interact with her son which would be both interesting and useful because Cain can tell Eve about Chloe being a gift and then Eve can tell Chloe because 1) it would drive a wedge between Lucifer and Chloe and 2) Eve can relate to being created for someone else and thinks it's kind of shit that Chloe doesn't even know she was created but mostly 3) it would drive a wedge between Lucifer and Chloe so Eve can get closer to Lucifer again. \0/)

(I love my girl. She's such a shit-stirrer when she's got that tunnel-vision on. <3)

Um, so yeah. That's what I'm working on. What are YOU working on? Are you also being completely normal about a story idea? :P

[cadykeus-clay]

I always appreciate your cr breakdowns and thoughts, I would really appreciate your thoughts on the group dynamics in the latest episodes and where you think things may go from here. Hope you're having a lovely day!

I assume you're talking about the most recent 2 episodes (33 & 34) and if you meant anything earlier than that, don't read on because uhhhhh. Major Spoilers

I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and really think about this show or collect my thoughts because I'm working full time and a full time grad student making me incredibly busy. So this will be ... disjointed.

My first point is: I love tragedy in stories, I absolutely adore it. Liam O'Brien kin to the core, a story has got to have a vein of sadness in it to really be good in my book. So I was honestly excited to see how drastically Matt took that combat and how many people went all the way down. I might not have enjoyed it if I was a player at that table, but I'm not! I was just watching it, and I loved watching it, so that's that.

That's not to say I wasn't also sad! I love Fearne and I really love Orym, and then last week when Laudna went down too, my heart sunk. But like. I stand very firm in the fact that Molly dying was one of the best things that happened to the M9's entire plot, because of the way it fundamentally changed the character trajectories to have more weight and meaning. (I have other feelings about how Molly wasn't going to be a good long-term character anyways because of his stubborn refusal to change, and other other feelings about how bringing back Lucien/Kingsley for the final arc felt very hollow to me when Molly being Gone Forever was so vital to the direction the plot took until that point. But I digress)

So, I am fascinated to see where these deaths take the party in the longterm. I am selfishly glad that Orym is back, not only because I like his character a Lot (he's my 2nd fave), but I feel like there is so so much we haven't seen from him yet. He's by far the person in the party who is holding back the most still, even though he's shared the paper details of his backstory I feel like he's bottling up sooo much inside that I want to see bubble over. He's always playing the mediator, I wanna see him snap.

I also think Orym staying dead would have been the least satisfying narratively because (as many others have said more eloquently before me) "it's ok he died bc now he can be with his dead husband!!" is such a shallow ending for him, especially when Liam explicitly said his final thoughts were "I failed". Fearne was accepting in her final moments, and in her rez vision was curious about what lay beyond. Laudna has been prepared to die since the moment Delilah brought her back. But Orym had a bucket list of things to do before he went, and I think it would really be a disservice to his character to not let him go through with them when he exists in a D&D world where rez magic exists.

If Fearne had died, I would have been really interested in how the party was going to handle telling Birdie and Ollie, who had said goodbye to her just that morning, and the whole plot with the Unseelie Assassins. (Would Yu have believed them? Would they have thought Fearned went into like ... Fantasy Witness Protection? Would the party be as motivated to keep following the trail of Ira and Ludinus when those NPCs were so directly tied to their source of grief?) But I am also happy that she's back! There is absolutely no energy that could come close to matching her level of chaos and fun that she brings to the table.

Now with Laudna more permanantly gone than the other two, I am definitely sad. I'm going to miss so much about her character in the interim or perhaps forever. She was so genuinely kind and optimistic and she brought a very nice balance to this group of people who are constantly on the tipping point of their worst selves. But I'm equally interested to see what happens when that balance is gone. How quickly will they fall. Imogen is already down the path of do whatever it takes (which I am SO into, I've been a champion of Imogen corruption arc since day 1, please please please imogen betraying everything for the promise of getting launda back please), but Ashton I also really want to keep an eye on.

He and Laudna were quite close and were also pretty good foils for each other (both had been left for dead by people they trusted, come back from it with mysterious powers they don't understand and a terrifying woman looming over their shoulder as a puppet master, who were trying to channel their moment of loss and pain into something more productive) and without Laudna there to reflect off them, I really don't know where Ashton is gonna go. Is he going to let pain take over? Try and become a more optimistic force to cover for Laudna's absence? Idk but I want to find out!

On the other hand, I wouldn't be at all upset if Laudna gets resurrected. I'm not as staunch as some others in the camp of "I don't like reversing deaths because it lowers stakes", but I do hope it takes time for them to get one. For one, I'd love to freshen up table dynamic with Marisha introducing a new temporary PC, there's no way that won't be incredibly fun to watch.

For two, I think a sidequest to rez Laudna would actually be great for the plot right now. We've had like 5 or 6 episodes of intense, campaign-wide plot back to back to back. Major backstory drops overlapping and a billion things with this Ruidis plot escalating all once, and it's been thrilling, but I'm ready for a break. I want some time to digest all this information, put together theories, let the effects of everything show on players. They don't need to completely ignore the Ruidis plots but, like, how long did VM take to finish off the Chroma Conclave? 40 episodes? We can spare a little time to handle other things.

In short, I'm having a great time being sad about it, and I am very excited to see where all of this goes and how many of the PCs go off the deep end about it.

[viscountessevie]

Do you think that the Peneloise break up could finally give us Francesca and Eloise in action? I can't believe how she's not shown to be close to at least one sibling. And I heard that in the books it was Eloise who she was the closest with. This could finally be the perfect opportunity to let her shine. What is your theory about this?

Ohmygod anon you read my mind - this is exactly what I want in S3!! Thank you for this ask - it's a much needed break from all the Pelican and racial thinkpieces. Let's get into some S3 headcanons with these two!

Before I do the HCs, you're absolutely right that Frannie and Eloise are the closest in the books because they are Irish twins! They have the same birthday a year apart. They also look scarily alike in the books that in TDAI Simon actually keeps mixing up the two at the Bridgerton family dinner. It was hilarious. It makes sense with their age and also being witty in their own ways that they are close. I've always found it funny that the most outspoken Bridgerton and the quietly witty one were the closest in the books.

The lack of Frannie in the show is really sad because along with Kate, she's my favourite character and fave Bridgerton sibling - like yes I adore Anthony but mainly because I relate to him shshhs whereas Frannie truly is the BEST Bridgerton imo.

She deserves to shine along with her siblings, I just hope Bridgerton and Lockwood & Co. Are a bit more accomdating of Ruby for S3's filming. She was supposed to have a bigger arc and storyline in S2 but she got cast and started filming for Lockwood & Co. Tbh I was a little sad we missed out on a Frannie story (God knows it would have been better than Cousin Jack's storyline 🙄) but I'm just happy Ruby is busy and getting booked! Especially now as the lead in L&C.

Anyways onto the S3 headcanons/predictions under the cut because Frannie deserves more screentime and Eloise needs better friends next season!

- Eloise storms in Frannie's room once she's back from her crime ring in Bath (I still cannot believe they didn't even bother to give Frannie an in-show excuse this season 😭 so we'll maintain she was running her crime ring in Bath.) and immediately tells her about LW because if anyone can keep shit to themselves it's Frannie.

- Frannie is just like "I know."

Eloise goes 👁👄👁 "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"You're smart El I thought you'd figure it out."

[Btw we were robbed of Fran and El looking for LW in S1 and then halfway through Frannie figures it out and keeps looking at Pen pointedly while El is being a total dumbass about the signs right in front of her.]

- They basically bicker for a bit about Fran not telling her and El being smarter than that but having Pen as a blindspot. Also I feel like while they essentially have no connection, Fran did write to Marina a couple times to check in on her because she's just so lovely like that.

- Fran totally would have exposed Pen as LW once the Marina thing happened if she wasn't so busy with her crime ring sigh. She's also just really glad that El finally saw sense and got away from Pen.

- It was hard watching the sister you're closest to be best friends with an insipid wallflower who relished in ruining people's lives and reputations.

- The Pen of it all aside, Fran will be debuting this season and while Fran has seen both her sisters go through their debuts and knows how she'll handle herself, with grace and class as always, she welcomes the advice from Daph and El. Kate also gives her tips on how to avoid men who make her uncomfortable and to dress down rude ones. 

- El is the first person she goes to when she meets the Stirlings. She gushes about John and then at the next ball El accidentally points out Michael, "Oh dear, he is gorgeous. You picked well, Fran." Ehehhe the foreshadowing of it all

- Fran can't do anything else but blush and be flustered because "El, that's John's cousin."

"Oh, my mistake." Then they go to formally introduce El to the cousins.

Stellar Additions from Trivia @hptriviachamp :

- All of that is a B/C plot of course and Bridgerton really needs to start using the sideplots to prop and support the main plot because CAN YOU IMAGINE EL AND FRAN TRYING TO GET BENOPHIE TGT??

- Like of course Francesca Bridgerton, the smartest sibling, figures out immediately that Sophie is the Lady in Silver and keeps dropping hints for Ben to realise it

- Eventually one by one everyone in the family figures it out and they all stand by watching in amusement at Ben's face blindness.

- El and Fran with their hints and shenanigans to leave Benophie in rooms alone together. Them recruiting Kate too who ends up becoming Sophie's bestie and helping her out.

- S3 I'm begging you to give me the El, Fran, Sophie and Kate fiercesome four sisters/sisters-in-law. El needs better women and friends in her life as do the other women and also more screentime for all! And especially our main couple next season Beneophie!!

This was such a fun ask to answer anon, thank you so much!! Now back to answering ships I'm not super into; Philoise/Marina/Theo Edition.

[yue-muffin]

@mejomonster​ anime/manga rec list because ask and ye shall receive.

historical fantasy: altair: a record of battles by kotono kato. longer review here. very good war story with high tension political, economic, and tactical maneuvering. rare setting/focal point of the turkish/ottoman empire rendered with beautiful art and attention to detail.

fantasy: the heroic legend of arslan by yoshiki tanaka. recommend the novel over the new 2013 anime/manga, but that’s purely personal preference. I don’t prefer hiromu arakawa’s art style for anything but her own works. i prefer novel!arslan’s mix of maturity/nobility and naivety over the more childish arslan from the new anime/manga. the old ovas preserve the vibes of the novel much better imo, especially the unnerving fog in the opening scene. but very good story overall. a classic ‘dispossessed royalty and his band of fighters must escape and return to take back their country’. also set in ancient persia with the europeans as the aggressor a la conquistadores/crusaders.

honorable mention: yona of the dawn by mizuho kusanagi. shojo version of arslan? haha i’m only half kidding, but yona of the dawn stands on its own two feet. again the classic ‘dispossessed royalty and her band of fighters’ etc. except this one’s more obviously fantasy with the band of fighters having superpowers. anyways i love the writing, especially yona’s character arc from spoiled oblivious princess to determined to retake her country and do better for its people. set in ancient korea.

shounen: hunter x hunter by yoshihiro togashi. classic shounen that starts with four plucky adventurers and gradually ramps up violence and consequences of the protagonists’ actions. this series has an arc for everyone, and while you probably won’t like every one equally as much, it has a lot to offer and a super fun magic system with smart and creative battles. the world is zany, dangerous, batshit crazy, and charming.

honorable mention: jujutsu kaisen by gege akutami. for a new shounen (seinen?) that’s honestly lived up to the hype. it needs more seasons though, because the story’s just getting started. i really love the main trio and find they play off each other super well. also, though they’re not always the focus, there’s a great variety of female characters.

adventure: magi: the labyrinth of magic by shinobu otaka. inspired by the stories of one thousand and one nights (arabian nights). if i had to pick one anime or manga that embodies ‘magic’ and ‘adventure’, i’d pick magi. i found the setting very unique (middle eastern, plus countries analogous to ancient china, rome and others). it also goes deeper into topics like poverty, slavery, war, and discrimination. very underrated series tbh.

psychological: monster by naoki urasawa. undisputed master of the category. has a dynamic similar to the one i like in qianqiu; a battle of wits and wills between a doctor and the man whose life he saved, not knowing he will grow up to be a serial killer. dark, twisted, but so very human. that’s how i would describe monster.

slice-of-life: natsume’s book of friends by yuki midorikawa. ugly sobbing. the anime is so good, the music really adds to the emotional impact. this story is, at its heart, about the frailty, importance, and warmth of human connection despite featuring yokai and supernatural elements. it’s about healing, being kind to yourself. i absolutely love natsume. he’s like that adorable dog you find at the shelter who has so much love to give but is also withdrawn from being treated badly in the past. and believe it or not, his character slowly grows across the seasons, even though there’s not a strong overarching plot.

 sports: run with the wind by shion miura. i loved this anime more than i had any right to. if you’re the type who can’t relate to most sports anime set in high school, then this one’s for you. it’s about college kids, a very underused demographic, who decide to run in the hakone ekiden, japan’s most famous relay marathon aired nation-wide every new years. it’s an inspiring anime, not just about running. it speaks to anyone who has lost the spark and love for something, and rediscovering the spark and what made you love that something in the first place. it also speaks to just...doing something for yourself. accomplishing something that took effort and being able to pride yourself on that. has a novel, jpn only, i haven’t read it yet but there’s fan translations available.

honorable mentions: giant killing by masaya tsunamoto and ao ashi by yuugo kobayashi. i love soccer (football), so i had to throw these in as other examples of sports anime that aren’t about a high school team. both tackle the professional sides of the sport. giant killing is the actual adult pro leagues, ao ashi is the youth team of a professional team. i’d say, if you’re a soccer fan, giant killing’s vibes will speak to your soul. ao ashi is just a realistic take on what it actually takes to get to the top. i actually prefer the manga of ao ashi, but if you can’t visualize the plays very well (like i did at first), the anime is probably better.

comedy: barakamon by satsuki yoshino. ok, there are probably other good ones out there, but i don’t watch comedy often. barakamon was surprisingly good though. it’s about a young professional calligrapher who’s booted off to a small island town after offending an official at a competition. he’s there to improve his calligraphy and do some soul searching (unwillingly). i liked it because for one, it actually does kid characters right. they’re gross, disruptive, adventurous, sometimes cute, selfish, and sometimes amazingly selfless.

sci-fi: gundam 00. alright, it does get a bit preachy and weird at the end, but i liked 00 a lot because it starts off so strong. the first scene of the first episode will haunt me forever. it’s really about how we of the modern world all live interconnected lives, whether we like it or not, and turning a blind eye just because it doesn’t directly affect you doesn’t mean it won’t someday impact your life.

???: baccano! by ryogo narita. novel or anime, but the anime is excellent, the music sets the vibes of early 20th century america, and the dub is superb. i just can’t watch this one without the dub, which is a rarity. it’s zany, you’ll be so confused in the beginning, but i promise it makes sense and all storylines are connected. but it’s chaos. good chaos. the storytelling’s really unique.

movies: i could have picked a few, but one of my favorite anime movie series is garden of sinners by kinoko nasu. it’s dark, twisted, and paranormal mystery. my favorite movie of the series is probably paradox spiral.

[munsonboy]

Author’s note: I’ve been thinking about how Loki would act at a meet and greet, especially if he was a giant and what would happen if he met a tiny fan-...so here ya go!! Enjoy!😊

Oh! And before I forget to tell you all, this story is super long! I just couldn’t help myself ☺️

_______________________________________________

~“You’re a Fan of Mine?”~

The 2nd Annual Avengers Meet and Greet had started at last!

The team had decided to start this event when Thor and Loki returned to Earth after Asgard was destroyed. More specifically, it was for the sake of Loki’s reputation. He wasn’t popular whatsoever among the humans, especially not after the New York attack back in 2012, but Loki really was trying to become a better person. Didn’t anyone ever hear of the phrase ‘people change’?

Loki just didn’t see the need of being in a room full of tiny mortals to show that he had turned over a new leaf. That’s right. Tiny mortals.

His body grew in size, letting him stand at 90 feet tall. No one was sure why Loki had grown to be a giant, but Loki did. He believed it was because of Odin’s death. The spell that Odin had put on Loki centuries ago when he found him as a baby must have weakened. Loki had grown to the size he was meant to be as a Frost Giant. Since he was the rightful heir to the throne of Jotunheim, he surpassed the rest of the Jötuns’ height by miles.

A room designed and built was given to him in the Avengers Tower. It was a library fit for a giant-..well, fit for Loki, in this case. Book shelves covered the walls with novels that towered over humans, but fit perfectly in Loki’s grasp. He even had his own personal desk and, of course, a bed that was covered in silk green sheets. The meet and greets were always held in Loki’s room only because it was the biggest spot in the entire tower.

After the first successful year of meeting the team’s lovely fans, more and more people found out about it and showed up this year. It wasn’t successful for Loki, though. The previous year, Stark had all of the fans stay out in the common area. So it was up in the air for anyone to go see Loki. He stayed in his room the entire time, waiting to see if one brave soul would enter his bedroom and attempt to talk to him, but no one did. The whole point of the event was for Loki to talk with at least one person!

At the moment, Loki was sitting at his desk in his room, staring down at Tony Stark, who was decked out in friendship brackets and necklaces that the children had made him. Loki rolled his eyes just looking at how pathetic he looked.

The rest of the team was spread out throughout the whole room. Fans were practically everywhere. Most of the fans were little kids and teenagers. The simple sight of the younglings made Loki’s head spin. He was practically glued to his chair, not wanting to get up and accidentally hurt someone.

If Loki had to guess, he’d say there were about 300 kids there and still, not one of them came over to greet him.

“Stark, I really don’t see what all the fuss is about. I mean, what even is the purpose of this ‘Meet and Greet’ you speak of?”, questioned Loki.

“Quiet, reindeer games. You know why we started the meet and greet. Just smile and wave at everyone. Even if you don’t want to be nice, just fake it. And don’t purposefully scare the kids! I can’t deal with a parent scolding me about how a giant god with raven black rock n’ roll hair made their kid cry just by smirking at them. That was a nightmare last year”, said Tony rubbing his eyes.

Loki scoffed. “Well it wasn’t my fault the child walked into my chambers when I was reading. Who would interrupt someone during a Shakespeare reading session?” Tony laughed at how sarcastic Loki sounded. “That must have been a real good Shakespeare book if you brought the kid to tears. Let’s see-..was it Hamlet?”, asked Tony.

Loki grinned. “No, I read that last week. It was Coriolanus”, said Loki, chuckling, as he looked down at Tony, who started to join in on the laughter.

After the laughing died down, there was a pause between the two of them. “Obviously nobody was interested in meeting me anyways. Not one mortal came in here last year to talk with me”, said Loki sadly. He didn’t want to admit it, but Loki really wished that he had a fan. At this point, he didn’t even mind if his fan was a mortal. Loki wanted someone who admired him for who he was and the good that he has been doing with the rest of the Avengers. He didn’t want to be known as the Asgardian who tried to take over the world anymore. He wanted to be known as someone’s hero.

“Loki, listen to me. I bet you one of these kids are gonna come up to you and say hi”, said Tony with a reassuring smile on his face. Loki began to fiddle with his fingers, uncertain if he should believe the small human in front of him. “And what if one doesn’t? Then what am I left to do? Sulk around and remember that no one in this city likes me?”, he asked sounding even more sad than before.

Tony sighed. “Hey, don’t be too hard on yourself. The event just started! Just be yourself, Loki. And I promise you that you’ll meet someone today”, he said. Loki was about to contradict what Stark had just said, but a group of kids that were standing on Loki’s bed started to chant the name, ‘Ironman’.

Loki and Tony looked over towards everyone. “Well, I guess I should get over there, huh?”, asked Tony. He looked up at Loki, who simply nodded at him and waved him off. Tony smiled and said, “I promise. This is the year you meet a fan of yours.” And with that, Tony walked over to the edge of the desk and tapped his arc reactor two times. He was wearing his suit in a matter of seconds thanks to the nano tech he had invented.

Loki watched as Tony flew over to all the kids, getting hugs from each and everyone one of them. ‘I need a miracle to get that kind of attention’, thought Loki to himself. He was back to square one. Loki was all alone again.

‘I knew this was a terrible idea’, thought Loki to himself as he watched the Avengers interacting with all of their fans. They all made it look so easy. ‘Why can’t one of these mortals at least say hi to me? It can’t be that hard’, thought Loki to himself.

Little did Loki know, a human girl named Y/n, who was around the age of fifteen, was watching him from afar on the large bed that was next to the desk that Loki sat at.

Rather than joining the other kids in awing at Ironman flying around, trying to learn fighting combinations from Natasha, or even learning how to properly hold a bow with the help of Clint, she was standing by herself, trying to muster up the courage to go over to Loki and talk to him.

She was a nervous wreck just thinking about what the conversation would be like. Instead of fiddling with her fingers like Loki was doing before, she clenched the hand-made plush of the God of Mischief she held in her shaky grasp. Y/n had decided to make it when she heard that the Avengers were doing a second meet and greet. Y/n finally had the opportunity to speak with Loki! She wanted to show him her gratitude for protecting New York with the Avengers and to tell him that he was her favorite amongst the group. So, what better gift to give Loki than a plush of himself!

She could have written something in a ‘thank you’ card or even decorated a poster, but Y/n wanted to make him something special that took time to put together and this plush toy was perfect.

The plush stood at about 1 foot tall and it was very adorable. Although Y/n didn’t sew on a green cape like she wanted to, she had gotten her hands on a piece of yellow fabric and turned it into a horned helmet. Loki was, without a doubt, going to love it, but Y/n kept on hesitating on whether or not she should give it to him.

‘Oh gosh. What if he laughs at me when I hand it to him? ’, thought Y/n to herself. She couldn’t stop shaking. Her legs were barely holding her up anymore. Y/n just pictured herself standing on the desk in front of Loki and how small she would look compared to him.

“Hello little one! Why aren’t you with the others?”, said a voice from behind Y/n. She jumped, dropping the hand-made plush onto the mattress below her.

She spun around to find out who had snuck up behind her and startled her. Y/n’s eyes widened as she looked up at the tall, blonde haired man. “M-Mr. Thor! I-It’s a pleasure to meet you!”, said Y/n excitedly. Her face instantly turned red. Y/n was very shy around other people, so her burst of energy she got made her backpedal into her shell. She knows for a fact that she’ll be stuttering if she gets to talk to Loki.

Thor chuckled loudly. “It is an honor to meet you as well, little one. Apologies for scaring you.” His eyes trailed down at what Y/n had dropped. His mouth dropped open in awe. He bent down and picked the plush up before Y/n had the chance to hide it.

As Thor held the plush toy in front of him, he admired the precision of the details and traced his fingers along the lines of the stitches. When Thor realized who the plush represented, he gasped.

“Young one, is this-...is this Loki?”, asked Thor, astonished that he was holding a hand-made toy of his brother. Y/n lowered her head down, embarrassed about the whole situation that was happening. “Y-Yes, sir”, she said timidly.

Thor stared at the small girl in front of him and then looked back at the plush. “This is absolutely incredible, young one! Did you make this?”, Thor asked as he stared at the plush toy, looking at it in amazement. He couldn’t take his eyes off of it! Y/n nodded, too nervous to say anything else.

“We must get this to Loki right away! Oh, he’s going to love this! Let me go call him over here for you”, said Thor cheerfully.

Y/n’s heart stopped at the mention of Loki coming towards her. She wasn’t ready to meet him yet. In fact, she wasn’t ever going to be ready! “N-No Mr. Thor p-please! D-Don’t!”, exclaimed Y/n.

Thor stopped jumping up and down, a frown replacing the happy smile he had on. “Whatever do you mean, small one? Don’t you want to give your gift to him?”, asked Thor. He was highly confused as to why the child didn’t want to meet Loki.

“I-I’d love to, b-but-...I’m scared that h-he won’t like it. A-And that he w-won’t like me”, Y/n said sadly. “I-..”, started Y/n. She stopped before she could say anything else. Y/n was afraid that she would start crying. Thor knelt down in front of Y/n, giving her a look that mentally told her to continue on with what she was going to say.

“I don’t have m-many friends. A-Actually, I don’t have any f-friends at all. Loki is the one person that I look up to and-...I just wanted to let him know how much of an impact he’s had in my life”, said Y/n. She bit her lower lip, forcing herself to not shed a single tear in front of Thor. “But I’m too scared to talk to him. I don’t want to look dumb in front of the Loki. I-I’ll be a stuttering mess. I’m not scared of him, his size is just really intimidating.”

Thor didn’t say a word. All he did do, however, was sigh and hand back the plush toy back to Y/n, who immediately hugged it close to her.

He gently put his hand on her shoulder, causing Y/n to look up at him. “My brother needs to know about this, little one. I’m going to have him sit right here-...”, said Thor as he turned towards the edge of the bed and pointed at the vacant space where Loki would be standing soon. Y/n’s eyes became watery just imagining Loki looking down at her.

“I’ll only be a moment”, said Thor. And with that, he summoned Mjölnir and flew off to fetch Loki. As his feet left the bed, he heard Y/n begging him to stop. Thor did feel bad for getting Y/n all shaken up, but he knew in his heart that Y/n needed to meet Loki and Loki needed to meet Y/n. It was time that the two of them finally made a friend.

Loki sat at his desk with his one arm propped up on its elbow resting on the table as his chin laid in the palm of his hand while the other hand flicked through a few pages of a book. Loki was not interested in the meet and greet anymore. He was going to make sure that he informed Tony that he isn’t going to be a part of the 3rd event next year. Loki couldn’t handle not getting talked to for a third time.

Loki had somehow tuned out the noise that was coming from all around the room and focused on the book in front of him. That was until Thor landed on the page that Loki had just started to read. “Hello Loki!”, said Thor as he waved to his gigantic brother.

Loki rolled his eyes. When he said he wanted someone to talk to him, he was hoping that Thor would be the last to come over here. “What do you want, Thor? Have you come to gloat? To mock? Tell me about all the fans you’ve met in the span of one hour?”, chided Loki.

“As much as I would love to tell you about the fans I’ve met, I’ve come to inform you about something”, said Thor, trying to hide the excitement he was feeling so that Loki didn’t suspect anything.

Thor stood there practically bouncing up and down. He couldn’t wait to see the look on Loki’s face when he told him about Y/n. Loki, however, was getting annoyed at the anticipation that was building up inside him. “Oh by Odin, just spit it out Thor”, he said.

“You have a fan that wants to meet you!”, exclaimed Thor. He was more than happy at the moment, jumping up and down like a thrilled, little puppy on a sugar rush. Loki’s eyes widened when Thor revealed the news. “I do?”, he asked with hope in his voice. Thor nodded vigorously and said, “You do, brother! I am so happy for you! She’s standing right over there on your bed near the pillow closest to us.” Thor pointed over to where Y/n stood clutching onto the plush toy.

Thor couldn’t wait any longer to witness the interaction between Loki and Y/n. He was for sure going to ask Stark to take pictures just so he could remember this moment.

Loki slowly turned his head to where Thor had said the small girl was standing. Almost instantaneously, Loki made eye contact with the small, mortal child.

‘I do have a fan..”, thought Loki to himself.

She was staring at him with wide eyes. That’s when Loki realized something. ‘The poor child is visibly shaking’, thought Loki to himself. He looked back at Thor and asked, “Brother, are you sure that she wants to speak with me? She looks frightened.”

Thor laughed off what Loki had just said. “Loki, believe me. She has been meaning to meet you for awhile now. And she even made you a gift!”, exclaimed Thor.

Loki’s eyebrows raised. He wanted to believe Thor, but his conscience just wouldn’t let him trust the fact that someone came to this event to meet him.

Loki looked back at the tiny girl on his bed. Without taking his eyes off of her, he asked Thor, “What’s the little one’s name?” Thor smiled, loving how Loki was practically speechless. “Her name is Y/n.”

“Y/n-...”, said Loki under his breath. He wanted to hear how the little mortal’s name sounded when he said it, finding the name a perfect fit for the little one.

He went to get up from his desk, but looked back at Thor to see if he should go over to her. Thor smiled at him and said, “Go on, brother. Go meet your fan.” Loki partially smiled, afraid that he would scare the poor girl. But he desired to meet her, so he got up from his seat and made his way over towards her.

Y/n felt as if she was going to have a heart attack. Meeting someone you admired wasn’t easy. I mean, just picture meeting Loki. And now picture him being over 90 feet tall. You would be a nervous wreck as well, right?

She watched as Loki lowered himself down to her eye level, kneeling down so that he could see her properly.

Loki rested his hand next to Y/n and began to inch it closer to her. He desired to just hold her in his palm and see how tiny she was, but he froze when he saw her flinch back. “My apologies. I-..”, Loki stopped dead in his track and sighed, closing his eyes so he could concentrate. He wouldn’t be able to make any progress with the small mortal if a mere movement of his hand scared her, so what would be the point in continuing to try and earn her trust?

Loki retracted his hand back and let it hang at his side, offering a gentle smile. “How about if I head back to my desk and leave you be? I could see that you are too scared to talk, little one”, said Loki as he looked down at Y/n. Normally, Loki would have been laughing his head off by scaring such a small being, basking in their fear, but Loki felt horrible knowing that a small child was afraid of him. “I’m very sorry for frightening you, little Y/n”, said Loki softly.

Y/n watched as Loki began to push himself up off the floor to stand up. Her only chance of speaking with Loki was ending quickly. Y/n had dreamed of meeting him and she made him believe that she was scared of him! Y/n had to let him know how much he had changed her life and most importantly, she had to give him her hand-made gift. “W-Wait!!”, Y/n cried out.

Loki became as stiff as a board. He didn’t think that something so little could have such a loud voice. He stared down at her, waiting for a response.

Y/n’s breathing hitched, but she shook her head. She couldn’t let her nerves get in the way of this anymore. “I-I’m star-struck. N-Not scared”, she said shyly. Loki’s mouth hung open just a tad. He was incredibly happy that Y/n had started talking and found it absolutely adorable how she was stuttering when she spoke.

It took Loki a second to process what Y/n had just said to him. ‘Did she just say she’s star-struck?’, asked Loki to himself. “Star-struck, you say?”, asked Loki as he knelt back down in front of Y/n. Surely she couldn’t be referring to him, right?

Loki’s doubtful thoughts were wiped out of his mind when she nodded her head. “Y-Yes. I um-...I-I wanted to come last year and m-meet you, but-..I was too n-nervous”, said Y/n smiling diffidently.

His eyebrows raised at hearing that she was his fan. ‘Thor was telling the truth’, Loki thought to himself. He leaned forward a bit to get a better look at Y/n and asked in astonishment, “You’re a fan of mine?”

Y/n laughed quietly at how Loki wouldn’t believe the fact that someone was his fan. “Y-Yes, sir. I have been f-for a while n-now.”

“What is your name, child?”, asked Loki. He already knew what her name was thanks to Thor, but remember, Loki was a part of a royal family. Manners meant everything to him.

“M-My name is Y-Y/n, sir”, she said, stuttering through her words. Loki beamed at the tiny mortal and awed our loud. Her nervousness was quite entertaining and very cute. “It is lovely to meet you, little Y/n. I am Loki”, he said, still smiling.

Y/n returned the smiled. “I-It’s lovely to meet you as well, s-sir.” Loki’s eyebrows furrowed. ‘Why does she keep calling me that? She does know she could call me by my name, does she not?’, Loki asked himself.

He decided to tell her, “You do not have to be so formal with me, small one. Just call me Loki. I won’t mind.” Loki gently ruffled her hair with his index finger, laughing at the way she giggled when he did so.

Loki was surprised with what was happening in front of his very eyes. Someone actually was a fan of his. Loki was brought out of his shocked state when he noticed that Y/n was holding something firmly against her chest.

“What have you got there, little one?, he asked. He thought that it must be a stuffed toy that Midguardian children carry around, but Y/n spoke up immediately about the item she held in her grasp.

“Oh! I-..I-I have something f-for you”, said Y/n as she held up the plush toy so Loki could see it.

Loki squinted his eyes, trying to even out his vision so he could see the tiny item that his little fan was holding, but he just couldn’t make out what it was. He wanted to rest his head on the mattress in front of Y/n, but he didn’t want to scare her. “I’m afraid I can’t see it that well from up here, little one. Is-..Is that alright if I pick you up?”, asked Loki, nervous to hold a mortal child. She seemed so incredibly fragile from his perspective.

Y/n’s eyes widened. ‘P-Pick me up?’, she thought to herself. She would be extremely high off the ground if she said yes, but this was her shot to finally show Loki the plush she had worked on for weeks now.

Loki saw the immediate change in her facial expressions. “I will be very gentle with my movements, little one. And you won’t fall or anything like that. I promise”, said Loki softly. He wanted to come off as kind as he possibly could so Y/n could relax.

“O-Okay-..”, she said nervously. Loki rested his hand on the mattress next to Y/n, palm facing up, waiting for her to climb on.

Y/n walked over to Loki’s hand and as much as her mind was screaming at her to not go through with it, she boarded the huge hand and made her way to the center of it. She sat down, waiting to be lifted up high off the bed.

Loki smiles at the small girl and raised her up to his face, staring down at her with his large, green eyes.

Y/n was definitely scared at first, but she calmed herself down. She slowly stood up in the center of Loki’s palm, looking around at how tiny she really was compared to him. She had to tilt her head up just a little bit so she could see the tips of his fingers that loomed behind her.

“Now, what were you trying to show me, my dear?”, asked Loki as he held Y/n in front of his eyes. She was so tiny, not even reaching the height of his thumb.

Y/n held up the plush again so that Loki could see it.

“I-...I made th-this plush toy for you. W-Whenever I had the f-free time to work on it, I did. I-I know it’s sm-small, but I worked r-really hard on it and I wanted to show you my ap-appreciation for everything that you’ve done”, said Y/n. She kept her eyes locked on Loki’s green orbs

Loki admired the small gift that Y/n held. The first thing he noticed were the yellow horns and the fabric armor it wore. Suddenly, a lightbulb went off it Loki’s mind. “Is-..Is that me?”, asked Loki, bewildered.

Y/n hesitatingly nodded her head yes, shuffling her feet around nervously as she waited for Loki’s response.

“May I hold it?”, he asked, holding out two fingers on his opposite hand. Loki hoped that he didn’t ruin such a wonderful gift. He didn’t want to hurt Y/n’s feelings by accidentally ripping the fabric apart with his large fingers.

“Of course y-you can!”, said Y/n as her eyes lit up with excitement. She was more than happy that Loki wanted to see his gift.

Y/n watched as Loki’s other hand approached her. The forefinger and thumb reached out for the plush toy and she happily obliged in handing it over. The two fingers grabbed onto either side of the plush toy and ferried it away from Y/n.

Loki laid the plush toy in the center of his other palm and raised it up to his eyes. He slightly touched it with the pad of his thumb, moving it around to get a better look at it. The whole time he did this, Loki was beaming a wide smile. He looked up from the plush toy and at the small girl who was staring at him with wide, blue eyes. ‘Such an innocent child-..’, thought Loki to himself as he smiled down at her.

“That is very kind of you. This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. Truly. You do not know how much of an honor it is for me to receive such an extraordinary gift. Thank you, little Y/n”, said Loki.

“You-..You like it?”, asked Y/n, astonished that he liked the present she had put so much effort into making sure it looked similar to Loki.

“I don’t like it, I love it! You have an incredible talent, young one. I could never start from scratch with fabric and a few needles to create such a masterpiece”, said Loki as he ruffled Y/n’s hair gently.

Y/n and Loki spent the rest of the event taking to each other. They had moved back over to Loki’s desk for a bit of privacy. The children that were on the bed were all starting to get Loki annoyed. Every time Y/n would go to say something, she was interrupted by noise from the others her age. So, Loki had carried her back to his desk while the plush toy sat safely tucked away in his shirt pocket.

Out of now where, a feminine voice exclaimed Y/n’s name. “Y/n! Sweetie! It’s time to go home!”

Loki’s eyebrows slightly furrowed together, looking for the human that had called out to his tiny friend. He looked down to see a woman looking up towards the hand that held Y/n, who was holding onto Loki’s finger tips as she peered over the edge.

“Hi mom!”, shouted Y/n as she waved at her mother. Loki’s eyes softened at the adorable sight. He looked at Y/n’s mother and, of course, introduced himself.

“Hello ma’am. It is lovely to meet your acquaintance”, said Loki as he bowed his head. Y/n’s mother smiled up at Loki.

“I’m sorry to cut things short here, but Y/n, we have to head home now honey. It’s getting late”, said her mother.

“B-But..”, Y/n’s mother gave her a certain look to know she meant business.

“Okay.” Y/n turn towards Loki with sadness written all over her face. “I-I..I guess I have to go now. I just want to say thank you. I-I’ve dreamed of meeting m-my idol for a long time and this is by far the b-best day of my life.”

“I’m your-...idol?”, asked Loki. His heart had fully melted into a puddle when she nodded her head yes. Loki could see tears glistening in his little friend’s eyes, for she knew that they probably wouldn’t ever see each other once she exits his room. “I’ll m-miss you, L-Loki.” Y/n broke down at this point. She used the backs of her hands to wipe away the tears.

“Oh my little dove, do not cry. It’s okay. I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon”, said Loki.

He held Y/n close to his chest as he tenderly caressed her back. Maybe they would see each other again, but-..what was the probability of that? Loki came to the realization that they most likely would never see each other anymore. He’s constantly here in the tower and is permitted to always stick around his room. “I-…I’ll miss you as well, my little dove.”

“Oh for heavens sake you two!”, exclaimed a voice. Loki’s gaze shot upwards to find that Tony Stark was hovering way above the desk.

“Always with the perfect timing, Stark”, said Loki angrily. He held out the palm that cupped Y/n protectively and allowed Stark to land right next to her.

“Kid listen. The amount of joy that you’ve brought Loki in a span of two hours is unbelievable. He has been the worst debbie downer for the past few weeks, but you put a smile on the big guy’s face in a matter of seconds”, said Tony as he smiled at Y/n.

“Please, get to the point”, said Loki. He poked Tony in the back, causing him to stumble forward. Tony laughed it off.

“She can come visit you whenever she wants. Here, take this, kid-…”, Tony gave Y/n a card with a number on it. “This here is my phone number. Now whenever you want to come up to the tower and see Loki, you just call me up so I can let him know, okay? I’ll even have a limo sent to your house if you’d like”, said Tony.

Y/n couldn’t take her eyes off of the card. She was in complete shock. “Th-Thank you so much!”, she said happily. “No problem, kid. And no more tears, alright? Loki here looked like he was about to start crying himself”, said Tony sarcastically. He glanced up at Loki, smirking away.

Loki was about to retaliate, but kept quiet because he knew Tony was right. He probably would have started crying if Stark hadn’t come over to them. “Alright, I’ll let you say your farewells to each other”, said Tony as he flew over to the bed.

“L-Loki, could I come see you tomorrow? If that’s okay with you o-of course”, asked Y/n nervously. She really hoped that Loki would say yes because she had so much more to tell him about how she became a fan of his.

“Absolutely, sweetheart”, said Loki. He lightly tickled her stomach, causing Y/n to laugh.

After Y/n had left with her mother, Loki looked down at the plush toy in his palm. “This will never leave my side. Ever. I cannot wait to see my little friend again tomorrow”, said Loki.

Loki stayed true to his word as he as he slept later that night. Next to Loki’s sleeping form was the plush toy Y/n had gifted to him. It sat upright against Loki’s green pillow and sometime during the night in his sleep, Loki reached over and grabbed a hold of the plush toy, drawing it near him. He held it close to his chest, subconsciously smiling to himself.

_______________________________________________

Author’s note:

This is probably my longest story I’ve ever written! I hope you all liked it!! Do you guys mind if I post long stories like this? Or do you prefer short ones?? Let me know what you think!❤️

Also, here’s what the Loki plush looks like😊:

I bought this lil’ cutie off of Etsy! I’m so happy I finally got to include him into one of the stories somehow. The seller’s name is “MythfitCreatures” and they have different characters as well!

[dilfdoctordoom]

Been thinking about Hawkfire and why I don’t like it (beyond the obvious design choices) and I think it’s because it’s a microcosm of just... everything the Batwoman writers did wrong with Bette’s character, as well as a fundamental misunderstanding of her and what makes her so appealing. 

Bette’s an interesting character because there is no tragedy inherent to her story. Bruce Wayne’s parents have to die for him to become Batman; Bette Kane just becomes a hero because it’s fun. Because she genuinely enjoys it. She’s an adrenaline junkie, she wants to help people, and being a hero is the best way to deal with both of those. She’s never supposed to be edgy in anyway.

And that’s not saying you can’t tell serious stories with her, because you can, it’s just... this was not a good story for her character. Objective fact is, pre-52, Bette was competent. There was a whole thing in the Beast Boy mini series about it. And Hawkfire honestly feels like a far worse rendition of that arc. Like... a hero she admires tells her to quit, she doesn’t listen, she gets a new costume.

The difference with the Hawkfire arc is, it added on a step: Bette gets brutally maimed. It’s done pretty distastefully, IMO, with Bette having her guts ripped out intercut with images of Kate and Maggie having sex. I understand the juxtaposition the writer was presumably going for, but it... it’s just uncomfortable, to be honest.

Hawkfire’s entire existence hinges upon one idea; that Bette could not be a serious hero, because she had not suffered. That she would never compare to Kate, because she had not experienced a massive amount of trauma. And I hate that idea, I really do. It goes against who Bette is, against what makes her so fucking good; that she has no big, traumatic origin story.

Hell, the only outright origin we’ve ever gotten for her, was that she saw Bat-Woman, saw what she could do, and decided she could do it too. No dead parents, no exploding planets, just... boredom, really, but she still takes it seriously.

“As Flamebird, Bette was in her glory”, is probably one of my favourite lines about her, ever, because it’s surprisingly great understanding of her (which was not expected, in a story that retconned in the Robin obsession). Bette loves being a hero. She fucking adores it. It’s fun and it’s her passion and it’s a little refreshing to see.

But that’s not there in the New 52. The Batwoman series follows up a lot from what was done in Detective Comics, especially regarding Bette, and what was done there, was just weird. Bette’s given up being Flamebird (why? We’ve never told), she’s enrolled herself in Gotham University (not explained much, but easy to assume it’s because Kate was back in Gotham and she wanted to spend time with her) and she’s... well, to be honest, her competence takes a nosedive.

The 2011 Batwoman series just runs with that. I could make a whole essay on how that killed what could have been a great dynamic between Kate and Bette (Kate’s military knowledge and training vs Bette’s actual field experience) but. That’s not what this is about. (I may have forgotten what this was about).

Hawkfire! Right, so, it’s just... it’s objectively a badly written arc. Bette’s never given a chance to actually recover from what happened to her before she’s tossed back into field and there’s no reasoning behind her name. We never knew Bette’s in-universe reason for choosing Flamebird, but the out-of-universe reason was, the writers thought it’d be a fun little joke that referenced her original concept of ‘Dick Grayson love interest’.

Hawkfire, on the other hand, kind of just exists. There’s no history, no reasoning. Sounds like they picked a random bird and slapped fire onto it, to be honest. 

The arc is so empty and devoid of any motivation for Bette. Why does she abandon Flamebird? Why did she pick Hawkfire? We don’t know. It’s Bette, it’s her stories with Batwoman, so we never actually know her motivations, which is what makes it so damn frustrating to read.

Bette’s fun and flirty and flighty and she can be jealous and petty and kind and compassionate. She’s smart and she’s reckless and she doesn’t always think before jumping into a situation and she understands people very quickly and there is absolutely none of that in the N52. She’s just a generic snarky sidekick, who gets her insides ripped apart to service the arcs of the characters around her. She becomes Hawkfire in seconds and even faster than that, gets written off the book.

This is the series Bette has the most appearances in and it’s also the one that treats her the worst and the stupid Hawkfire arc is just... the summary of that.

[yeahhiyellow]

19, 22 and 23? :^)

19. What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

Tbh there are a lot of things I hate, although by this point it's only very certain parts of the fandom that have these problems, since most of the shitty people have lost interest by this point. If I had to choose just one thing though, it'd be the overwhelming focus on white, male characters over female and/or characters of color. And there are a lot of areas where this shows up. One major example is that a lot of people like the idea of Connor, Hank, Gavin, and Nines (all white, male characters, mind you) staying at the DPD even after:

The DPD was the one (along with Cyberlife) responsible for the deaths, arrests, and brutal treatment of androids, the main oppressed group in the game's world

Connor and Nines are a part of that oppressed group, and at least Hank is shown in game to support them

Connor has already worked at the DPD and was routinely called an "it" (which as someone who is nonbinary and has been called "it" knows how insulting that can be and understands the need to get away from situations where that happens), was allowed to be sent to his death by, and was routinely harassed and nearly murdered, or in some playthroughs actually murdered, by workers at the DPD (*ahem Gavin ahem*)

Hank (if he is your friend) risked his career just to cause a distraction for Connor to keep him alive

Just because the android revolution was successful doesn't mean the DPD was going to follow that. I mean, the androids were heavily compared to African Americans in this game, and we all know how the current police system treats them (and if you don't, pay attention to the news, like, ever. Also read Jim Crow as that book is very informative on the oppression of blacks in the entire incarceration system as well as before and after that)

So I hope it would be pretty obvious to any sane person that suggesting these characters would join/remain in the DPD after everything is offensive on all sorts of levels.

In addition to that, you also have some people saying that they only cared about Connor's story, or that his was the only good one. The female protagonist that risks her own life several times to save that of a child (no matter if she is human or android)? Not important. The (half) black protagonist who is shot by police, has to rebuild himself, and leads his own people to freedom? Who cares? The only important story to these people is the white, male, cop android who spends most of his time hunting down the good guys. And if some people honestly prefer Connor's story because of their own reasons, that's fine. And yes, Kara and Markus's stories have lots of problems. But Connor's does too, and none of this gives people an excuse to ignore the other characters, especially since they are the minority characters. Then, there are also the people who say Connor's machine path was better than his deviant path, or that him being replaced by Nines in the end was unfair. And... what the fuck??? I mean, I get it, it's fun to play through different options, and Connor is hella badass in the machine path. But he is also hella badass in the deviant path (killing the guards in the elevator, possibly the team at the bottom if he doesn't catch the security camera, fighting Sixty, walking in front of all the androids he freed, like, come on), and he also, like, has morals and isn't oppressive??? In the machine route, he kills his own people, including those who just want to be free and might have been completely pacifist the entire way through. So I'm sorry, anyone who thinks his machine path is better is just looking for an excuse to be oppressive without openly admitting it.

Then there's the Gavin apologizers. While fanon Gavin is awesome, some people have way overstepped the line of redemption and allowing oppression. I've seen posts defending Gavin's in-game behavior, just because he refers to androids as "he" on occasion. This is despite:

Suggesting "roughing up," or being violent to Shaolin (the HK400 in "The Interrogation")

Insulting his partner, Chris, when he doesn't forcibly move Shaolin against Shaolin's will

Pointing a gun at Connor after Connor rightfully says to stop touching Shaolin for both succeeding the mission and for Shaolin's sake, and only stepping down after Hank points a gun at him and even after insults Connor

Punching Connor right in the thirium pump regulator and then pushing his head right where his LED is in the break room if Connor refuses to get him a coffee

Insulting and threatening Connor in the same scene even if Connor follows all of his demands

Insulting Hank's alcoholism in the Eden Club "it's starting to stink of booze in here"

Purposely pushing Connor to the side in the same scene

Trying to literally murder Connor and admitting he'd wanted to kill him ever since he first saw Connor, sometimes successfully

Both physically and verbally assaulting Connor

I forgive very easily and strongly believe in redemption, don't get me wrong. But trying to excuse Gavin's behaviors is so inexcusable, especially when most of his aggressions are towards androids, the oppressed minority.

Now, let's look at Ao3, shall we? Let's see how many fics posted there are with each of the "main" (including Gavin and Nines since even though they are not main characters in canon they are in fanon) characters... (also, keep in mind, I gathered this data about a month ago so it might not be completely up to date):

Connor: 16,150

Markus: 5,395

Kara: 1,504

Hank: 13,135

Nines: 9,807

Gavin: 9,939

Amanda: 1,177

Chloe: 1,521

North: 3,056

Simon: 3,192

Josh: 1,965

Alice: 1,098

Luther: 848

Rose: 193

This means that certain characters get unequal amounts of attention:

White: 59,042

Black: 9,578

Male: 60,431

Female: 8,549

White, Male: 52,223

White, Female: 7,179

Black, Male: 8,208

Black, Female: 1,370

Well, this says a lot. Now, some people reading this might realize that there are more white and male characters to begin with, so it could be fair even with their numbers being higher. So, okay, let's see the average amount of works a single character in each of the above categories would have (so divide each of the values by the number of characters in that category) (also I rounded to the tenth place aka first decimal point):

White: 6,560.2

Black: 1,915.6

Male: 7,553.9

Female: 1,424.8

White, Male: 10,444.6

White, Female: 1,794.8

Black, Male: 2,736

Black, Female: 685

If anything, these are even more telling. And if you don't believe me, look on Ao3 and calculate these yourself, because you'll get the same thing.

To be clear, I don't have anything against Connor, Hank, or any of the white and/or male characters. I even like the way that the fandom has redeemed Gavin. But the fandom has not done the same job of redeeming other characters, especially the minority ones, and pays way less attention to them, and that needs to be called out with evidence by someone.

Anyway, I spent a LONG time on that first question, so I'll try to make the next answers shorter!

22. Popular character you hate?

There aren't any popular characters that I thoroughly hate. The only characters I hate are ones that are already highly unpopular (Todd, Zlatko, Perkins). If we're talking canon characters, I do hate Gavin with a flaming passion. I mean, he is meant to represent police brutality. But fanon Gavin is cool with me, so I'm not sure exactly how much this counts.

There is one semi-popular character that I dislike though, and that is Kamski. I'm half-counting him again because within the fandom there are very mixed opinions. I personally dislike him mainly because of his treatment of one of his Chloe's: he is willing to let her get shot in the head and killed just to find a dumb answer to his Kamski test just because he feels like it. If Connor doesn't shoot Chloe, he tells Connor he's deviant, knowing full well that Amanda and Cyberlife are watching being the one to design the program, endangering Connor. While he arguably is responsible for deviancy and wants androids to succeed, that doesn't make up for those facts.

Another character that half-counts is Daniel. There are mixed opinions within the fandom on him as well, with some arguing that he is only wanting to not get replaced and protect himself. However, since his first response was to kill the dad, and then he proceeded to shoot at least 3 more cops, killing 2, and hold Emma, the young girl he had been friends with for years hostage, even though she had nothing to do with his replacement. You can't argue that he didn't want to kill Emma and only used her as protection for himself, either, as there are multiple endings where he tries and sometimes succeeds in killing Emma, even when he is also killing himself. I'm not closed to a redemption arc for him, but his in-game actions are inexcusable. He's the one deviant who truly has no valid defense for his actions.

23. Unpopular character you love?

There are a few. I absolutely adore North, Josh, Adam, and Alice, even though the fandom has conflicted opinions on them. Then again, none of these characters are really considered unpopular, just not as popular as others with a select few that don't like them. With North, I've been in this fandom since a few months after its release, when there was a lot of North hatred, and was actually in a group called the North Protection Squad lol. However, now most people like her, and she's really grown in popularity. With Josh, it's less that he's hated, and more that he's ignored. People say that Simon was the peaceful option when he was really the neutral, and recently I've seen more people against Josh's opinions on the revolution. While I don't always agree with Josh being so passive and undemanding (neither do I agree with North's violence), he's still an awesome character with some very valid points. Then, I do understand why some people dislike Adam, as at first he's against androids and almost reveals Kara and the others. However, if you meet him at the border crossing, he apologizes to Kara and changes his mind, promising to help androids. While he may start out scared and not on the right side, he does have a good heart and ends up making the right decisions in the end. With Alice, I haven't seen many people hate her, either, although I have seen some saying she's annoying and lacks a personality. I agree that she lacks a personality, although I argue that's the writers' faults rather than her character's (as are problems with other characters, I mean David Cage wrote this so what were we expecting). I also don't think she's annoying, as after all she is only 9 (in human terms), doesn't admit she's an android because she's scared Kara will reject her (and Kara actually can reject her for being an android, leaving her completely on her own in a world that wants her dead. Also, living her whole life with Todd can absolutely not help her feel more secure with who she is or make her trust Kara to still love her for it), and she is only cold and feels sick because her model of android is literally designed to replicate human sickness and discomfort (and it's clear she doesn't know how to turn them off, because even after Kara knows she's an android Kara still has to help Alice not feel cold anymore. Also, this is November in Detroit, in which the average temperature is 42°F (5.6°C). There are also scenes where it is snowing, meaning the temperature is below freezing. Still, despite the temperatures, in some scenes not having a coat, and feeling sick, she says Kara and Luther can't stop because of her, risks her life to save Kara's if you fail QTEs, and says she's "fine" even when she's cold to comfort Kara. So if you think she can be annoying, yeah, all 9-year-olds can be. But if you think she's annoying enough to actually hate her, idek what to say).

In terms of characters that are really unpopular, I actually like Leo. His actions at first are inexcusable. I mean, accusing Carl of loving an android more than hin, insulting Markus and treating him as less than human, threatening him, breaking into Carl's house and attempting to steal his paintings for drug money, and framing Markus for Carl's death leading to him getting shot and nearly killed are obviously not okay things to do. However, he is clearly on drugs, specifically red ice, the most dangerous drug in the world. Also, if you decide to push Markus leading Carl to still be alive, when you return to Carl's house, you can find a message Leo sent to Carl in which he apologizes for everything and promises it won't happen again. In the extras section, you also find out Carl missed out on Leo's whole childhood, only first meeting him once he was much older. Given that Carl spends all of his days pleasantly conversing with Markus while ignoring Leo, not calling him, only talking to Leo once he comes around himself, and doesn't even argue when Leo says Carl doesn't love him, it's almost fair that Leo thinks the way he does. Since he's also high on drugs throughout the story, at least up until Markus gets shot, we also know that the Leo we see isn't the real Leo. Later, if Carl is dead and Markus visits his grave, he encounters Leo again. This time, when Leo sees Markus he is only shocked. Now, off of red ice, not only is he going to see Carl's grave, expressing love for his father, he also doesn't try to hurt Markus, insult him, or anything mean or dehumanizing. His expression lacks any signs of aggression. It was only when he was high that he was such an asshole. Although that doesn't excuse his behavior, it does give a reason for it, and by the end I consider him redeemed.

~~~

Wow... that was a long response to a very short ask. No need to read all that (although I would highly suggest reading my first answer, at least, since that does contain some very relevant points). Although then again, if you've made it here, you've probably already read all that. In which case I would love to hear your opinions if you're willing to share (as well as anyone who sees this!) I guess I just had a lot of opinions that I needed to put out in the world lol, so thank you sm for the ask!!!!! 💛💛💛

[carriagelamp]

Weirdly enough, I often find myself reading less in the summer, since I have more time than I do during the rest of the year to do other things. Also artfight has been eating up more than a bit of my free time! But here’s a collection a graphic novels I sat around on the hammock reading, and some novels I finished up...

(Everyone go read All Systems Red, holy crow guys)

A Whale of the Wild

The “sequel” to A Wolf Called Wander, though it doesn’t actually connect to the previous novel except in the stylistic/thematic sense. A Whale of the Wild is very much a standalone novel. And a pretty decent one! Personally, I think I liked Wolf more, but this one was a pleasant, informative read, with just the right amount of crushing dread sprinkled in. It’s about a young orca called Vega who is learning to become a new wayfinder for her pod but who still has a lot to learn, especially in an ocean that is becoming increasingly hostile to orcas and the other sealife that live alongside humans. When a devastating earthquake hits, Vega and her little brother find themselves separated from their family, lost in a now horrifyingly unfamiliar environment, and fighting starvation as the salmon that sustain them become more and more unreliable. It’s a desperate fight for survival as they search for food and their missing family. This book is written for a middle grade level, and does a really good job of putting the current environmental crisis into an animal’s perspective while giving the readers something to hope for.

The Adventure Zone: The Crystal Kingdom

Every July I eagerly anticipate the next Adventure Zone graphic novel. This one is for their fourth arc, The Crystal Kingdom, in which Magnus, Taako, and Merle respond to a SOS from a floating laboratory that is gradually being consumed by crystals and which threatens the entire world should it fall into the ocean. Carey Pietsch’s art continues to be absolutely fantastic, so beautifully and hilariously expressive, and this one delivers some great Merle moments, lots of Carey Fangbattle, and, of course, Kravtiz. Kravitz, my beloved…

Anyway, I obviously always recommend these. If you’ve never gotten into The Adventure Zone, I totally recommend either trying these graphic novels — or even better, just go listen to the podcast because it really is both hilarious and creates a shockingly good and heart-wrenching story by the end.

All Systems Red

I’ve seen The Murderbot Diaries on my dash occasionally, and it always looked interesting, but a friend’s recommendation finally compelled me to read the first novella of the series. And holy shit y’all. Absolutely the best book I’ve read this month, it’s amazing. Mind-blowingly good. Also, if you’re like me and want a good audiobook, it’s a nice three-hour listen, very chill!

Anyway, All Systems Red is about a Security Unit, an artificially created being that’s part-organic part-mechanical and all-company-owned-and-controlled. However, self-named “Murderbot” has managed to hack into the system that suppresses its own will, and is now coasting along, doing the least amount of work its job requires not to be noticed, while preferring to spend all its time watching the hours and hours of soap operas it has downloaded into its brain. And it’s a tolerable if somewhat dull life, until the science team that it's currently rented to is attacked and the whole mission goes pear-shaped. Suddenly Murderbot has to scramble to keep its humans alive… while its humans scramble with the realization that their “SecUnit” isn’t actually a mindless robot like they had all believed...

This story is both gripping and hilariously funny. Murderbot has such a unique voice and perspective and it’s an absolute pleasure to follow its story. I reallly need to read the next book...

Asterix and the Banquet

A classic. I was startled when I realized I hadn’t actually read this Asterix story… but hell I’m not gonna complain, it lets me read one of the originals for the first time again! In this Asterix volume, the Indomitable Gauls and the Romans end up arranging a bet — the Romans intend to keep them under siege, trapped in their village, while Asterix is confident that he can easily evade them… and will prove it by going on a tour around all of Gaul, collecting iconic foods from each region in order to return and put on a fine banquet. So we get a fantastic adventure in which Asterix and Obelix run all over the country, pursued the whole way, while making cheerful stops at the various eateries along the way. Also the first book Dogmatix shows up in! All around, a wonderful read, fun like all the best Asterix comics are.

Beauty Pop v4

A less impressive graphic novel. The first Beauty Pop is one of my guilty pleasure manga because… it really is pretty stupid but in the best possible ways. I mean, the whole thing is framed around hairstyling battles, like a shojo sports manga without the sports. It’s bonkers. Unfortunately, the series does not really manage to hold up, and it really begins to feel repetitive and dragging as it continues… as a lot of series like this do. *shrug* Unsurprising but still kinda disappointing I suppose. The building three-way romantic tension is mildly interesting if for no other reason than the main character Does Not Notice and Does Not Care about any of it, which is amusing and refreshing.

FRNCK v5

Now this series only gets better and better as it goes. This is the first book of the second arc, and somehow the danger just seems to be ramping up and up and up. The cavefamily have lost their home… as well as Léonard and Gargouille. Heartbroken, shocked, and angry, Franck is the one who ends up shouldering the blame for their presumed deaths as the others mourn. Things only get worse when Franck finds himself separated from the family, and in the territory of another tribe, this one hostile and cannibalistic...

Haikyuu v5

I continue to read this series because it continues to be charming… though it is beginning to feel, maybe, just a little repetitive. Kind of an inevitability with sports manga. But so far it continues to be good enough to overcome that. I’m not sure what I can say about this series that I haven’t already, so I’ll simply say it continues to be one of the most impressive sports manga I’ve read, and the author does a fantastic job of creating engaging characters, fleshed out teams, and really compelling relationships. I do genuinely adore all the main members of Crows, along with a number of characters from the rival teams as well. And of course it has some kickass volleyball scenes that are just drawn so dramatically they can’t help but take your breath away a little.

M*A*S*H Goes To Maine

Meh. The original book of the series was actually quite good in my opinion. This one… considerably less so. The first part I enjoyed more, since it was about Hawkeye, Trapper, Duke, and Oliver Jones trying to set up the FinestKind Clinic and Fishmarket in Crabapple Cove (which… is just the best premise I could have ever asked for). However, the book spends most of its time describing the quirky lives and times of other people living in the area and I… just… don’t care. It was funny at times but… I just don’t care. I wanted to hear more about the main cast. Also I found this book felt more racist and misogynistic than the first which also put me off :/ Wouldn’t bother if I were you. Go read the first book instead, or better yet just watch the TV show which is an obvious banger.

My Heart’s in the Highlands

I have had this on my “currently reading” list for so long but I’m officially giving up. It’s a really good book in theory but my god I can’t get over the pacing.

It’s about Lady Jane, a woman studying medicine in Edinburgh in 1888, and who suddenly finds herself back in the Highlands in the 13th century. Lost and confused, Jane is now at the mercy Clan Donald’s hospitality while she tries to adjust to this new world and hunts for her broken time machine. Fortunately, this hospitality include a burgeoning friendship with a red-haired warrior woman, Ainslie nic Dòmhnaill, who opens Jane’s eyes to the way the world could be.

Listen. It drives me nuts. This book should be completely up my alley, it has everything I like — IT HAS ALL OF ITS HISTORICAL FOOTNOTES CITED AT THE BACK, LITTLE EXTRA DETAILS ABOUT EVERY CHAPTER. THAT’S MY SHIT RIGHT THERE. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LIKE BEING ABLE TO GO OVER HISTORICAL DETAILS?? AND WELL RESEARCHED FOOTNOTES?? And yet it doesn’t. Fucking. Work for me. It has a kickass Scottish warrior lady as a love interest! It has a badass lady doctor! It has fish-out-of-water culture shock! But it also has a completely meandering plot, no sense of building tension, and a romance that just happens out of nowhere and feels completely unearned and uninteresting.

I would genuinely just rather read Outlander again, which I know has its own host of problems, but at least Outlander felt exciting and interesting and tense and funny. The romance built in fits and starts, it was complicated, and kept me interested. That book had me hooked (and has me hooked every time I reread it) whereas this book I’ve been sadly picking at for months like its a plate of overcooked spinach. This felt like an attempt at a queer, historically accurate knockoff which I would normally be super into but which just could not stick the landing.

Moomin on the Riviera

My first time actually reading anything from the Moomin canon. I have zero idea how to feel about it! It certainly is as feral as I’ve heard described! Overall, I think I enjoyed it but it sure made me feel strange emotions I didn’t know existed. I’m not even going to try to describe it. Read it if you want a batshit insane anti-capitalist comic.

Surviving the City

This was good in some areas, less good in others. It had a very interesting indigenous perspective on life in the modern city, the foster system, and The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women issue, which I’ve never seen handled in a book before. Something about the pacing did not completely click with me and I found myself getting easily distracted, but it’s definitely worth the read just to experience it and look at the issues it deals with through the characters’ (and author’s) eyes. It did give me a lot to think about and wrestle with, which is sometimes the best thing a book can give you.

Torchwood: Pack Animals

A really fun read, more so than I had ever expected! If you like Torchwood and want more stories about the team before everything goes to shit, this is perfect for that. It includes the entire cast, an interest mystery to be unravelled, lots of slavering monsters, Rhys being really wonderful and sweet (which I didn’t know I wanted until I read this book), and all the humour I expect from Torchwood. I had to send a lot of quotes to my long-suffering girlfriend who a) does not watch this show but b) needs to tolerate it because I find it too funny to keep to myself. It was good enough to make me go out another book of the series since this was the only one my library carried.

[bookaddict24-7]

REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

Books I’ve read so far in 2022!

Friend me on Goodreads here to follow my more up to date reading journey for the year!

___

25. In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I absolutely ADORED this book. I loved it so much more than I thought I would. I went into this expecting one story and got another. This is why I always highly recommend not reading a synopsis directly before reading a book. The moment I read the first chapter, I was hooked. I couldn't get enough of this duo and I was so excited to see what mischief they would get into. What followed were some really fast paced adventures and misadventures, and the MC going through a personal growth ARC. I find it so magical that this author was able to create such a fun and well-rounded book in such a tiny package. I really, really liked this one and it made me tear up a bit. Some might think that it's a little simplistic because of how the resolutions might be handled, but honestly, I enjoyed that aspect because it really helped with the "this is a standalone" vibe. I want to mention, too, that there were some SERIOUSLY cool moments, too. The MC just kicked serious ass with his power! Also, this book is just ridiculously adorable. I recommend it for fans of fairy tales, and magic, and the sea. This was a fantastic book with a fun mystery and a swoon-worthy romance.

___

26. She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott & Alyson Derrick--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TW: Some racial stereotypes, Alcohol Abuse, Child Neglect I have been blessed with fantastic books this month! Thank you to the publisher for an Arc of this one! Listen, I knew this book would be cute but I didn't know it would be THIS cute. The slow burn of these two characters falling for each other was worth the wait and the struggle. But one of the things I also loved about this book was how we are essentially learning about each character alongside the two MCs. Also, phew, that chemistry!! This book also touched on some really important topics. Social anxiety, Alcohol abuse, child neglect, and internalized racism cause by the trauma of being bullied as a child for being the Korean adopted daughter of white parents. I particularly think the last topic explored is important because it kind of explains so much about one of the MCs and her social anxiety. It's tough reading the comments her mother makes, but I think it's important to show that side because there ARE people out there who may relate to either the MC experiencing her mom's actions, or they may relate to the mother herself. Also, anyone who might be in a toxic relationship or has survived one, this might be triggering. We start the book with one of the MC's girlfriend really laying into her in such a toxic and horrible way. This alone says so much about her and that level of character growth was definitely worth the read lone. But it's not just that MC who has great character growth. There's a significant scene where one of the MC's sets aside a message from an important someone in order to keep texting the other MC's and it is small details like this that always excite me because you blink, or skim the page, you'll miss that moment. Anyway, this was REALLY cute and I highly recommend it if you want a cute contemporary set in the first year of college. Also, if you like enemies to friends to lovers, then this is the book for you!

___

27. Living-Room Matsunaga-san Vol. 9 by Keiko Iwashita--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was NOT expecting that to happen, but it’ll definitely make the last two volumes super interesting! Especially because of the advice one of the love interests got 👀 I’m also looking forward to seeing how this side romance forms—I just want all of them to be happy! Also, loved the uncle being a guess start in the bonus pages lol.

___

28. Komi Can’t Communicate Vol. 16 by Tomohito Oda--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m finally caught up on my physical Komi volumes!! I don’t know what it is, but these last two issues have been kind of tedious. I did enjoy a couple of scenes in this volume, because they helped push the slow burn romance a bit, but there was one really long chapter that was just repetitive and kind of annoying LOL By the way, there’s this one character that keeps saying “dats right” and they, in my opinion, are the funniest and weirdest character in this manga lately. Looking forward to the next volume!

___

29. The Royals Next Door by Karina Halle---⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I really enjoyed this for what it was and I’m happy I finally read it! I had no clue this was set in Canada (again, what is a synopsis?), but it was a nice surprise! This was also a lot more spicy than I expected and I loved that. And Harrison? Ooph. I also loved that this was an interesting parallel to a certain couple that has been attacked countless times by the media. And that the said older brother of one of the people in this relationship is portrayed as a player. 🌚 Anyway, this was really cute and I loved that it tackles the negative views of the romance genre. If you want a fun, summer read with royals and a few sexy romps, then you might enjoy this one!

___

30. One True Loves by Elise Bryant--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was sent a copy via the publisher because I will be interviewing the author on Feb 9th at 7pm EST over on Indigo's Instagram! This did not affect my review in any way. I am reading this series backwards. This was my first Bryant book and while I was wary at first (I honestly don't know why), I ended up really enjoying this. I love the commentary surrounding the topic of race, and the topic of parental pressures. I think this book does a really good job of approaching these topics in a way where readers might be able to relate to the MC and her struggles. While I first felt awful for the MC and her romantic troubles (I may have related to that feeling of never really being someone's first choice), I took a star off because of how the MC handles the situation with her love interest when crap hits the fan. My favourite part, however, was when the MC allowed herself the levity of taking a break to figure out just what she wants. I think that, while meant for her own good, it is quite troubling to expect an eighteen year old teenager to know what they're going to do for the rest of their lives. I think it's doubly troubling when you appear to compare one child to their siblings when it comes to accomplishments. In this, I saw a clear case of middle child syndrome. But I did like how everything was handled in the end (even if there's one bit that I was still raising my eyebrows at during the final few pages.) I'd recommend this one if you're someone who wants a light and summery read about a character who just wants to find herself, love, and maybe some form of familial acceptance. I will hopefully be reading the first book sometime this month or next month!

___

Have you read any of these? Would you recommend them?

___

Happy reading!