#bespelled

[miithridatism]

Book Aesthetic

↳ Bespelled by Laura Thalassa

"I look at the sorcerer’s face, and my heart feels like it’s caving in, and my lungs can’t quite draw in enough air. I cup the side of his face. Beloved. I remember when he was beloved by me. I can feel the emotion right there, waiting to sweep back in."

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 3/5

Book Blurb:

From bestselling indie author and TikTok favorite Laura Thalassa comes the next installment of a witch fantasy set in the world of the Bargainer series. Only the dangerously handsome Memnon the Cursed can help Selene find the answers she seeks...if she doesn't lose her heart first.

No one told witch Selene Bowers having a soul mate would be so difficult. Nor did they warn her that he might be a vengeful, ancient sorcerer who would frame her for murder, force her to remember a past life he swears she lived, and then coerce her into an unbreakable marriage pact. But that's exactly what happens the night of the Samhain Ball, when Selene finds herself in a jail cell.

After waking from enchanted sleep, Memnon swore to discover why Selene betrayed him long ago. But when his soul mate's memories return, the truth reveals something else entirely. Horrified by his own actions and desperate to make amends, Memnon offers Selene the unthinkable: a magic bond that will give her full control over his will. And Selene is desperate enough to accept it.

But other enemies still haunt Henbane Coven, Selene's magical academy, and they've taken a keen interest in her. If she wants to stop them, she'll need Memnon's help. But partnering with the sorcerer is a tricky business, especially when he's dead set on winning her heart. And that can't happen…because the bond controlling him will break the moment she falls in love with him.

Review:

The sequel to the witchy fantasy featuring a witch who is the soul mate of a 200 year old cursed Memnon... who is determined to wake her past life memories and take her as his wife again, even if it means coercing her into an unbreakable marriage pact. Selene Bowers is a witch, she is also the soul mate of Memnon the Cursed, and was his wife in their previous life together. Picking up from the first book, Memnon has now forcefully awoken Selene's past memories and entered into a unbreakable marriage bond with her. Selene hates that she has to feel her old memories... but with these old memories she can finally show Memnon why she did what she did to him... and now that he knows, he'll do anything to earn her forgiveness. Memnon thought she betrayed him all those years ago but when the truth comes to light he is horrified by his own actions and desperate to win back her love. He gives her a gift: full control over his will in another magical bond... and Selene needs to accept it since she is desperate to find the witch who is killing other witches and after her. Yet the more time she spends with this newly remorseful Memnon the more she finds herself caving into her feelings... and maybe just maybe they can get back what they lost. I will say this book was so weird, like the plot doesn't actually pick up until the 70% mark of the book and nothing actually happened until that last part of the book. Also I will have to say, Selene is the most annoying, naive, girl there ever was. Like please, come on now, we are grown women, please I BEG GIRL GIVE ME SOMETHING. She really doesn't change until that last 30% mark but ooohhhhh no we have to once again end on a cliffhanger with the implication that she'll hate Memnon again and that their relationship will once again face another road block. Please Laura, I'm begging you, HELP ME OUT HERE. I JUST WANT SELENE AND MEMNON TO BE HAPPY. I am interested in seeing where the next book goes and how it wraps up.

*Spoiler: Selene and Memnon make up, they kill one of the fortuna family,( who were responsible for creating bonds on witches and killing them, they were after Selene). Selene and Memnon pronounce their love for each other (in turn dissolving the bond of control over will Selene had over Memnon). They are going to get married (but like minutes before the wedding, Kane, werewolf who was interested in Selene tells her that Memnon is named the sole heir to the Fortuna family fortune, implying that he killed all of the fortuna heirs and took control over them. Selene is literally always so "oh no we can't hurt people" "Oh nooooo we can't do this" like girl YOU KNOW WHO YOUR MAN IS JUST ACCEPT IT AT THIS POINT. The relationship was just finally getting good and now we end on a cliffhanger that is going to lead to her either calling off the wedding or FINALLY accepting Memnon for who he is. He literally has told her over and over and over that he'd give her the world. Babe he spelled it out for you, why do you constantly act surprised??? *

Release Date: May 28,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books | Bloom Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[heart-broken-heretics]

He might not reply to you

But Memnon said to Selene

“My queen, since I woke, I have desperately dreamed you might say such a thing. That you might feel a shadow of what I feel for you. But you need not to worry I’d sooner burn every last remnant of Fortuna’s dynasty then let something come between us. You’ll never lose me. I swear it to you. “

Don’t settle for less…

[biscuitfairy]

I just finished bespelled by laura thalassa and the next book isn't out yet!!!! Let me back in!!! I'm not ready to leave that story yet!!!

[jessread-s]

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC exchange for an honest review*

✩🌙🐈‍⬛Review:

The sequel to “Bewitched” not only exceeds all expectation, but is more magical than its predecessor!

“Bespelled” picks up where book 1 leaves off—with Selene Bowers trying to make sense of her restored memories and the unbreakable marriage pact she was coerced into by her soul mate Memnon. However, once Memnon learns the truth behind why Selene betrayed him long ago, he is horrified by his own actions and desperate to make amends, Memnon offers Selene the unthinkable: a magic bond that will give her full control over his will. And Selene is desperate enough to accept it. There’s still a killer out there targeting the witches at Henbane Coven and if Selene wants to stop them, she’ll need Memnon’s help.

I love books with groveling and grovel Memnon did! Once Selene retained her memories, she put him in his place and I thoroughly enjoyed watching him make up for his mistakes. While I didn’t necessarily like that Memnon relinquished his free will to Selene (it made me question what was consensual), I did like how he gave her the space she needed to sort through her feelings while also being by her side when she needed him most. He is protective of her, but also constantly reminds Selene of how fierce and capable she is on her own. Their dynamic of being caught between hate and love is incredibly entertaining and I adored that they eventually found a way to unite their pasts and present selves to rekindle their romance. 

Heartbreaking as it was, I really liked the direction this book took with regard to the murder mystery sub-plot. Thalassa handles sensitive subjects (specifically pertaining to the victims) with care and adds elements of suspense, both of which further invested me in the storyline. With the introduction of new supernatural creatures and villains, I am interested in seeing how things play out in book 3. 

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

[lilibetbombshell]

[marzipanandminutiae]

it’s very interesting to me that, based on comments in the r/CabinetofCuriosities subreddit, the only two episodes of the show based on actual Del Toro stories- Lot 36 and The Murmuring -seem to be the most controversial

the first one got some criticism for leaving too many loose ends and, in some cases, being “too woke” (ah yes famous apolitical filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro, who never includes social commentary in his work </s>)

the second for being “boring and un-scary”

and I find it curious that the most Del Toro-inspired episodes of a show that banks on Del Toro’s name to draw in viewers are the ones that have taken the most flak. and in ways I’ve heard his movies criticized, too

people seem to consistently expect things from GDT that he has never given them in the past, then get upset when they receive...well, Classic Del Toro instead

[emberfaye]

Prince Lir is so valid and important for this tbh

[tigersharks]

i know this is an AI thing but it's still about the funniest thing i've ever seen

[skelingtonsderek]

Yknow before this whole plague thing and economic explosion happened I used to take solace in thinking that perhaps there was only so much misery to go around and that I was using up some of it so others didn’t have to endure the type of hardships I have and now I catch myself being confusingly hipster about it like “well I experienced great personal and systemically caused despair Before it got popular”

[miithridatism]

"Goddess but I’d love nothing more than to stab this man with a spork."

— BESPELLED BY LAURA THALASSA

[nzbookwyrm]

[blirbie]

Day 4 | Gendered Reimaginings Day (Trans or gender retelling)🐇

I often think abt wwx creating a bespelled binder so lwj(trans man) can comfortably bind while having as flat a chest as he desires

[elisabethdeep-blog]

Gotta make a post about my best DunMeshi neurospicy boi

Lotta content out there about Laios' autistic traits but where o where is the Senshi rep?

Senshi's dedication to Dungeon trophic systems makes Laios' special interest look like a well-thumbed pamphlet. (Granted Senshi has had significantly longer to cook; Laios is a baby).

Senshi's limited emoting is baked-in to his character model- that thousand yard stare, most of his face occluded by his habitual helmet (masked, even...... How many folks pine for covid masks obviating the need to manage their faces constantly?)

He overheard someone mention his special interest and Walked Right Up to a Group of Strangers to brazenly asplain them a thing. Marcille makes a bridge-mending bid regarding the mosses in the scorpion hotpot (after her previous truculent outbursts) and he totally deadpans her, because he didn't even notice.

He is VERY COMMITED to his ethical position on dungeon ecology. More than once he's disrupted Marcille Right at the point of release of a spell, after she's been chanting for like a paragraph, because she's going to contravene some principle of his.

Also

Speaking of Marcille, he demonstrates some pretty rigid, black-and-white thinking around magic, that doesn't seem internally consistent. He's repeatedly reanimating magical constructs (golems), an explicitly controlled magical act, but is Very Very reluctant to submit to being charmed with WaterWalk; his spoken reasoning about this just doesn't hold water.

Oh and he's totally neglected his personal hygiene for basically ever. He's averse to cleaning up for the sake of being bespelled, but other than magic, seems fine with getting the salon treatment. This isn't a Toph Beifong 'protective layer of earth', he's just forgotten to care about not being covered with monster gore.

PDA? The fellow has one (1) social skill, namely, he exercises any discretion on opening his mouth to argue. But that holds him back exactly NONE when he decides he's done listening. The first time we see this is gathering Mandrakes, when he doesn't SAY he's done with Marcille's opinions, but he Does just go ahead and exercise his damn autonomy. a MUCH stronger example is when Chilchuck is guiding them through the trap rooms. Senshi gets roundly (and rightly!) chewed out by Chilchuck, and his response isn't the sensible 'sorry Chilchuck, maybe I could walk more directly behind you so I can more closely match your steps', but to BRAZENLY DANCE ALL OVER THE TRAP FLOOR! the only reason that doesn't kill the whole party is The Plot. It's not even that he doesn't appreciate Chilchuck's skill- he just don't like getting chastised! Same with Anne the Kelpie! Senshi's gonna do what Senshi's gonna do! He WILL not be rushed, he WILL not be chastised, he WILL not be directed! How do we think he came to be living in a dungeon all by himself in the first place!!

AND THE BREAD!

THIS IS NOT THE DEMAND OF A NEUROTYPICAL DWARF

Look there's more. After Chilchuck's impassioned and heartfelt plea, Senshi suggests they should return to the surface because they're 'low on seasoning'.

He's a dwarf who turned his adamantium shield into a cookpot.

He can meticulously maintain his mithril cooking knife but not his axe.

He responds well to other characters meeting him halfway but initiates few (no?) such bids himself. There's rarely any guile in Senshi, and when he is being shifty, he's Bad At It- and again, usually its in service of demand avoidance, like when he capitalises on Marcille's toilet break to reanimate his golems.

Senshi is the monomaniac that society has spent Decades trying to iron out of my wrinkly brain.

I hope to see him also find a place in the neurosparkly constellations.

[doumadono]

YA KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS, IT'S SINFUL SUNDAY BOIIS🥰

Aged up todoroki who's starting to have the baby fever due to the kids that adored him while on patrol. At first he ignored it but whenever he comes home and seeing his innocet little wife greeting him ever so lovingly, he can't help but to fight the urge to bury himself deep inside of her almost every single day until he puts a baby in her😌

Warnings: aged-up Shoto

SINFUL SUNDAY

His lips trailed sensuously along your shoulder, each kiss a promise of restraint as he fought the urge to delve too deeply and too quickly in your dripping cunt.

Your resounding moans filled the air, a symphony of desire, but you weren't content to just receive; you moved with a fervent purpose. Shoto's throbbing arousal became your instrument, and you played it with an irresistible allure.

As you managed to envelop almost the entirety of his throbbing manhood in your sopping cunt, the rhythm of your fervent connection became a passionate, flesh-on-flesh melody. A cry of ecstasy escaped your lips, and you pleaded, "Shoto, take me harder. I need more. I crave your seed inside me."

A feral growl escaped his lips. His grip on your hips tightened as he roughly compelled you to impale yourself on his entire length, each thrust met with your cries of pleasure. The rhythm of his balls slapping against your glistening folds, the harsh, wet sounds of his length plowing into your sex was bespelling. Your sounds were like music to his ears and he was mesmerized at the sight of you touching yourself while he was pounding in you. "Fuck," he growled.

"I crave it," you murmured repeatedly, your voice a sultry whisper. "I ache for it, Shoto. I want to feel it flow between my parted pussy lips, cascading down my thighs, and staining this very floor."

In this moment, the concept of endurance had lost its relevance. His stamina was no longer a concern, for what consumed him entirely was the desire to immerse himself as profoundly as possible within your warm, slicky cunny. Shoto longed to hear your passionate cries of his name, echoing in the room, and to pour every ounce of his cum into you. So, he surrendered to that urge, thrusting deeply one last time, his body collapsing onto yours as he released his seed into your eager cunt.

"Let me overflow with your semen!" you exclaimed, your cry resonating like a siren's call, truly deafening in its intensity.

He couldn't stifle a soft chuckle as your body started quivering beneath his, a symphony of sensations dancing through you in response to his touch. The world seemed to blur and blend as he delved deeper into you, your connection extending into an endless horizon. He gently eased himself off you as your trembles continued, his hand tracing down to your sex, where he tenderly twirled your clit. "You're such a delectable, little treat," whispered Shoto, kissing your shoulder. "I hope you'll be round with my child."

[givethispromptatry]

"Do you wish to know how they do it?" She jumped and looked away from the gardeners bespelling the flowers into bloom.

"It looks like they're just talking to the plants."

"Yes. Nature listens to no commands, but she can be gently convinced."