#black cats and robinettes

[whilereadingandwalking]

As always, my favorites of the year list was beset by last minute changes, doubts, and decisions, especially because this year I forced myself into a top 10!

Second photo is my honorable mentions...I literally already have regrets! Ask me anything about these top choices—I'm happy to share my reviews, thoughts, and more!

My Top Ten of 2023:

Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki Shikibu tr. Seidensticker

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon

Ace by Angela Chen

Babel by R.F. Kuang

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez tr. McDowell

Honorable mentions:

Now Go: On Grief and Studio Ghibli by Karl Thomas Smith

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami tr. Gabriel

The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang

White Cat, Black Dog: Stories by Kelly Link

The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin

When the Hibiscus Falls by M. Evelina Galang

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal

Bleed: Destroying Myths and Misogyny in Endometriosis Care by Tracey Lindeman

Never a City So Real by Alex Kotlowitz

The Crown Ain't Worth Much by Hanif Abdurraqib

Sons of Darkness (Jan ’24) by Gourav Mohanty

The End of August by Yū Miri tr. Giles

(Unpictured): Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

(Unpictured): The Thick and the Lean by Chana Porter

[darkpeacemusic]

Creepypasta Headcanons: Theme Songs

Jeff the Killer - Numb by Linkin Park

Homicidal Liu - Never Too Late by Three Days Grace

Sully - I Can't Decide by Scissor Sisters

Randy - Psycho by Hardy

Keith - Stressed Out by Twenty One Pilots

Troy - Welcome to my Life by Simple Plan

Ben Drowned - Discord by The Living Tombstone

Jane the Killer - GRRRLS by AViVA

Mary Vaughn - Wrap Me In Plastic by Chromance

Masky - Hide 'n Seek by J-honny

Hoodie - Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day

Toby - Freaks by Surf Curse

Kate the Chaser - Mad Hatter by Melanie Martinez

Charlie Matheson Jr. - Thanks for The Memories by Panic at the Disco

CR - Nowhere to Run by Stegosaurus Rex

Lulling Lauren - Secret by The Pierces

Cat Hunter - Kill the Lights by Set It Off

Third Base - Little Swing by AronChupa

Rouge the Prowler - Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace

Wilson the Basher - Another Way Out by Hollywood Undead

Skully - Sleeping Powder by Gorillaz

Chris the Revenant - Where the Lonely Ones Roam by Digital Daggers

Slenderman - Come Little Children by Eurtan

Splendorman - Buttercup by Jack Stauber

Trenderman - Fashionably Late by Falling In Reverse

Tenderman - Death Bed by POWFU

Offenderman - Teeth by 5SOS

Zalgo - When You're Evil by Voltaire

Laughing Jack - Left Behind by DAGames

Eyeless Jack - Cannibal by Kesha

Doctor Smiley - Happy Pills by Weathers

Nurse Ann - Dark Horse by Christina Grimmie

Doctor Pain - Dr Sunshine is Dead by Will Wood and the Tapeworms

X-Virus - Drugs by Falling in Reverse

Dr. Locklear - God Syndrome by Madame Macabre

Lifeless Lucy - Cradles by Sub Urban

Lily Kennett - Dollhouse by Melanie Martinez

Sally Williams - Hide and Seek by Lizz Robinett

Sam Williams - Little Game by Benny

Lazari - Monster by Mia and Dia

Slendrina - Killing Butterflies by Lou Bliss

Nightmare Ally - Whisper by Evanescence

Vailly Evans - Control by Halsey

Lulu - Alice by Avril Lavigne

Nina the Killer - Pretty Little Psycho by Procelain Black

Kagekao - Aishite by Kikiuo

Clockwork - Lotta True Crime by Penelope Scott

Smile Dog - Lion by Hollywood Undead

Grinny Cat - Get Out Alive by Three Days Grace

The Seedeater - I Will Find You by Moikkz

Mr Widemouth - Cartman by SPBeams

Will Grossman - At The Huts of the Underworld by Korpiklaani

Laughing Jill - Carousel by Melanie Martinez

Jason the Toymaker - Hypnotic by Zella Day

Candy Pop - Balloon Animals by Madame Macabre

Candy Cane - Circus by Britney Spears

April Fools - Cirque by Sub Urban

Nathan the Nobody - A Match In Water by Pierce the Veil

The Puppeteer - Cigarette (duet) by Princess Chelsea

Emra - Bloody Mary by Lady Gaga

Zachary the Proxy - Hayloft II by Mother Mother

Sonic.exe - Monster by Skillet

Tails Doll - Can You Feel The Sunshine from Sonic R

Dark Link - Someone Must Get Hurt by She Wants Revenge

Herobrine - Andromeda by Dance With The Dead

Lost Silver - Game Over by Falling In Reverse

Glitchy Red - Haunted by Laura Les

Strangled Red - I Bet On Losing Dogs by Mitski

Oliver Henderson - Dumb Dumb by Mazie

Stripes - Limbo by Freddie Dredd

Rosie - Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani

Scarecrow Girl - Rät by Penelope Scott

The Skroll - Sarcasm by Get Scared

The Rake - Night of the Hunter by 30 Seconds to Mars

BOB - Six Foot Deep by Creature Feature

Bloody Painter - Heathens by Twenty One Pilots

Judge Angels - Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift

Suicide Sadie - Goodbye to A World by Porter Robinson

Roadwalker - The Zombie Song by Stephanie Mabey

Zero - Everything Black by Unlike Pluto

Hobo Heart - My Demons by Starset

Dollmaker - Creepy Doll by Jonathan Coulton

Killing Kate - Not Nice by Megan the Stallion

Ted the Caver - Blood // Water by grandson

Frankie the Undead - Coming Back Down by Hollywood Undead

Evan - I Don't Care by Fall Out Boy

HABIT - Boogie Woogie Wu by Insane Clown Posse

Jeff Koval - Somebody's Watching Me by Rockwell

Alex Kralie - Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People

Jessica Locke - No Surprises by Radiohead

Amy - If You Seek Amy by Britney Spears

Sarah - Sarah Smiles by Panic at the Disco

Seth - All I Wanted by Paramore

Screaming Dawn (oc) - I Hate Everything About You by Three Days Grace

Queen Blackheart (oc) - Bring Me To Life by Evanescence

[forestwhisper3]

Tagged by @joyfuladorable but I don't know how to link their post. Sorry.

Share your wallpaper:

Laptop lock screen

Home screen

Phone lock screen

Just a turtle emblem on a black background

Phone home screen

As you can see, turtles are still in my brain rent-free.

Last song you listened to: Not counting the instrumental stuff I put on to help me write? YT music says it was Yasashi Kiss by Hitomi Shimatani, but before that, it was Adoro by the Broncos, The Guiding Key by Liz Robinett, Passing Through by Kadan Mackay, Feel it Still by Portugal. The Man, and a remixed version of I Love You Baby by Gloria Gaynor. I also listen to a lot of electro swring and stuff with a good bass beat, as well as jazz and classical.

Currently reading: nothing specific at the moment, just different fanfics, haha. My sister really wants me to start reading one of her favorite series, but I can't ever seem to dredge up the willpower to do it.

Last movie you watched: The whole way through? The Mario movie. I've seen bits and pieces of others since then whenever my mom's watching one, but not the whole thing.

I'm not counting the Rise movie since that's just a permanently open tab on my laptop now.

Craving: Frozen yogurt. Or a bacon avocado cheeseburger. Or steamed buns. Or all of them. It's been a while since I've had them, and I want some.

What are you wearing right now: Stitch pajamas when I started this, but work clothes right now since I'm at work.

How tall are you: 5'3"

Piercings: I guess my ears? Pretty sure one or both of them have closed over by now, though.

Tattoos: None. At most, I've done those fake paper ones that used to come with packs of gum, but nothing permanent. Don't really plan to, either.

Glasses? Contacts?: Both. Since middle school. Used to hate glasses, but now I love them. Only thing I don't like is the poor vision that comes with it, haha. Contacts are for work or trips to places like theme parks where I'm afraid they'll fall off on a ride or something.

Last drink: Water. If we're talking alcoholic...I don't even remember. I'm not a big drinker.

Last thing I ate: Pizza for dinner. And breakfast since I was too lazy to make anything.

I don't even know what toppings were on these but they were delicious.

Last show: TMNT, specifically, "The Real World" from the 03 series. I need my reference video.

Favorite Color: Red and purple. Green is nice too.

Current obsession: I think it's pretty obvious, lol. TMNT.

Unrelated obsession: ... I'm not sure what to put here. Fluffy things? Cute things like penguin stickers? ...Pokémon?

Any pets: 4 cats, 2 dogs, all rescues. We are very much a "You're coming home with me" family.

Crush on anyone?: No one that's real, lol, and my fictional "crushes" are said more as a joke more than anything. Am I opposed to the idea of romance and being in a relationship? Not at all, but I'm not gonna go out of my way to find one or stress out about it either. If it happens, it happens, and if not, that's cool too.

Favorite fictional characters: Now these I have a lot of. Yusuke Urameshi, Yagami Taichi, Gary Oak, Roronoa Zoro (although I love all the strawhats really), Michelangelo (though again, I love pretty much all the ninja turtles), Knuckles, Tails, Professor Layton, Donald Duck, Sora, Cloud Strife, Vincent Valentine, Zack Fair, Maes Hughes (and most of the FMAB cast), Luigi, and many more. These are just some of the first ones that come to mind, but it would take too long if I did all of them, lol.

Last place you traveled to: ...What is this traveling you speak of?

Joking aside, probably Tucson, Arizona, to visit my brother. Not counting that? Mexico, but that was ages ago.

Tagging...uh...*checks to see who actually interacts with me on here* @klonoadreams and @eldritchgray I guess?

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (12-18 Feb 2023)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

😊 "List of People Who Disappeared Mysteriously at Sea" (Jen Myers) - nicely eerie short story

😊 In The Market For Murder (Lady Hardcastle Mysteries #2) (T.E. Kinsey, author; Elizabeth Knowelden, narrator) - again, I'm a fan of the breezy 'not-super-serious-about-historical-accuracy-in-the-small-details' tone; I really like that Flo & Lady H have this backstory/history that we only find small bits about here and there

😍 Same As It Ever Was (QuokkaFoxtrot) - 62K, Steddie - EXCELLENT time-loop fixit AU

🥰 Cabin Pressure - Series 1: Abu Dhabi to Fitton (John Finnemore, author; Stephanie Cole/Roger Allam/Benedict Cumberbatch/John Finnemore, voice cast) - entertained again by the crew of MJN Airlines

😍 Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Steve a Match (BlueSimplicity) - 209K, shrunkyclunks - omegaverse (but fairly nontrad, no mpreg) - the slow burn tag is not inappropriate but also it kind of doesn't FEEL that slow! deep worldbuilding, excellent epistolary component, incredible OC's, the differences/subversions of trad omegaverse tropes gave me clowfish AU vibes, which I loved

😍 Will Wonders Never Cease (PorcupineGirl) - 56K, zimbits AU, You've Got Mail/She Loves Me fusion - magic's real, Bitty's a tech witch with a very cute familiar - read this in one sitting and my face hurt when I was done from smiling so much

🥰 Luke and Billy Finally Get a Clue (Cat Sebastian) - novella, set in 1953; to paraphrase the official description: two best friend pro ball players finally figure their shit out, featuring: inclement weather, only one (real) bed and some hurt/comfort. Technically this is set in the Cabot Universe but there are zero Cabots in this one. Cat continues to score home runs on vibes alone. I love her books so, so much!

💖💖 +189K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

I Want You to Find Me (PorcupineGirl) - Check Please!: zimbits, 23K - canon-divergent AU where Bitty's a camboy that catches Jack's attention (while also still being his former teammate and all)

Ruin me (rainbow_nerds) - Stranger Things: steddie, 11K - absolutely cannot get enough of a reunion/2nd chance fic!!!!! fluffy AF!

Critical Feline Mass (Kryptaria, zooeyscigar) - MCU: stucky, 39K - no-powers AU where they're both retired military, Steve rents an apt to a still-struggling-to-reintegrate Bucky & sparks (and feelings) fly. also there are a lot of adorable kittens.

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Tom Scott & Gavin Free - "We tried the Hot Ones sauces. It was painful."

Queer Historical Romance panel with KJ Charles, AL Lester & Lex Croucher presented by The Portal Bookshop

Poker Face - s1, e5-7

Our Flag Means Death - s1, e8-10

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

⭐ Vibe Check - NFL = National Fenty League

Digital Folklore - Monsters and Mental Healthcare - Vivian Asimos & Kathleen Hale

The Sporkful - Alan And Arlene Alda Bonded Over A Fallen Rum Cake

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Henry Miller Memorial Library

You Must Remember This - 1984: "Vioporn," Body Double and Crimes of Passion (Erotic 80s Part 7)

Switched on Pop - “Flowers” and the art of the response song

Digital Folklore - Hidden Meanings (Haunted Videogames, ARGs, & Folk Groups)

Strange Customs - Katie Lowes and Adam Shapiro—The Rock

It's Been a Minute - Unlocking desire through smut; plus, the gospel of bell hooks

⭐ Vibe Check - There’s Dog Years, and Then There’s Queer Years

ICYMI Plus - The Internet’s Black Emo Renaissance

99% Invisible #525 - The Chinatown Punk Wars

⭐ Fated Mates - S05.22: Trailblazer K.J. Charles

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Pushkin’s Duel

Welcome to Night Vale #222 - Makarov the Magical

Shedunnit - Bonus: Tana French on Josephine Tey

Fated Mates - S05.14: Band Sinister by KJ Charles

Writing Excuses - 18.07: Deep Dive into THE SPARE MAN

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Cactoblastis Memorial Cairn

Writing Excuses - 18.05: An Interview with Mary Robinette Kowal

Ologies - Melaninology (SKIN/HAIR PIGMENT) with Tina Lasisi

You Must Remember This - 1985: Fear Sex. Jagged Edge & AIDS (Erotic 80s Part 8)

Endless Thread - The Journeys of Two Russian Anti-War YouTubers

Strong Songs - From Bach to Miles Davis, with Emily Reese

You're Dead To Me - Early Medieval Papacy

It's Been a Minute - Kelela's guide for breaking up with men

Dear Prudence - My Partner Might Be in Conversion Therapy. Help!

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Rihanna

The Celtic Spirit

my 'Thumbs Up' playlist

Tropical Dance Pop

Hi-Scores

[reddy-reads]

state of the bookshelf: 5/9/23

may!!! who authorized that?

april:

Book of the month: Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang: didn't finish it. I grabbed it because I heard the world building was super interesting, both on its face, and also from a craft perspective. (because it's a novella, i heard that it was impressive it fit such good worldbuilding in such a small wordcount.) and the worldbuilding was fine, but i didn't click with the plot. so that's that.

Other book of the month: On Teaching Children by Philip Done. I loved this one, and also didn't finish it. But I will finish it!

Hamilton by Chernow: finished it! This was my second try. I made it a lot farther in this one than I expected. It's pretty good, but I am grateful that I borrowed the audiobook from the library. I doubt I would have finished it otherwise.

The Real Macaw, Donna Andrews. I LOVED this book. It's a cozy mystery. I was hoping for a lot of bird stuff, but there was only minimal bird stuff. BUT this book had some great, great stuff. 1) There are bits with dogs (and cats) and they read exactly like "oh yes this author has experience with cats and dogs." 2) There is a scene with a bunch of 5-year-olds playing T-ball that SENT ME. I was laughing so hard because it was so true to both child-behavior and parent-behavior. 3) The protagonist does a reasonable job of trying not to stick her nose into the mystery and call in the cops when appropriate, but still ends up in the thick of things. Loved this one.

A Wrench in the Works, Kate Carlisle. This was another cozy. The protagonist is a handyman(lady), and her sister comes into town to film an HGTV show with her. And there's a mysteryyyy~~~ This one was a lot of fun. I liked the interactions between the sisters. It was interesting because the first body doesn't drop until about halfway through, but I wasn't impatient for the murder to start because I was enjoying the sister-sister reunion.

Reread: Monstrous Regiment, Pratchett. This book is still fantastic. I felt so many things. I LOVE the reveal with Wazzer's place in the story vs what Polly expected.

The Island of Doctor Moreau, HG Wells. I read this in anticipation of reading The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, but then I ended up not finishing that one. Whoops.

The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal: This one was SO GOOD!!! SO GOOD! I recommend it. (it's a whodunnit set on a luxury cruise IN SPACE. the protagonist is really well-developed, she feels like a living-breathing person. the setting is great. the ratcheting up in tension is amazingly done)

The Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman. This one was okay. There were some good, poignant character moments, and there were some good, funny lines, but overall it was just okay. Many of the characters felt like caricatures, and the plot could have been developed and organized better. I wouldn't recommend it.

ANOTHER GREAT BOOK: How to Draw Birds by John Muir Laws. This is a nonfiction drawing book about drawing birds! It's really great. There are lots of illustrations and examples. There's also great notes about bird anatomy & behavior & bird ID. STRONGLY recommend!

What's ahead

MAY!!!!

I haven't even picked out my next Book Of the Month

Parental Book Of The Month is The Teacher Wars by Dana Goldstein, which I'm expecting to be a huge discouraging bummer.

I have a STACK of books from the library, including Cinder from the Lunar Chronicles

I finally finished writing a post about pronouns & personhood in Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, so I will post that soon. SOON. This month. I should just post it already.

[silverwhiteraven]

MariBat DamiNette AU Prompt

So @scribble-blog answered a cute get-to-know-me prompt via 4-Truths-and-a-Lie, and whoever spotted the lie could give a DamiNette prompt. This is the one I brainstormed, here to share it as potential writing fuel for any other Maribat/DamiNette fans!

(I'm calling it the Black Cats and Robinettes AU because why Not? Couldn't think of anything else.)

The set-up is a bit of a Role-Reversal type deal with Bio!Dad/Adopted AU and Black Cat!Damien. (Original prompt is a First Meeting and this is the background I thought up.)

Damien is NOT the Son of Batman, rather, Marinette is, either biologically (potentially and maybe preferably with a different Mother as well) or via adoption like the other Bats. So Robin!Marinette, sweet! Still called Robin because thats the mantle's name, Robinette is just a nickname and, maybe, her future mantle if she decides to be like Tim and not fully change the name (sorry Red Robin). (Don't even ask me about the Dupain-Cheng parents, I don't feel like hurting them so they can simply exist as a seprate and happy entity away from all this.) She's still good, creative, and worthy of being Ladybug, since this isn't a personality-swap nor a full background-swap, she's just not Ladybug (yet? Maybe someone is a Temporary Ladybug or the Ladybug is not active due to no suitable potential holders) due to not living in Paris (yet??). Additionally, and again preferably, she's been raised by Bruce her whole life, so, if he's her Bio Dad, she wasn't a long-kept secret by whoever her mother is, if said mother is even in the picture.

But! Damian is still an al Ghul from still being Talia's son, and rather than his father being Bruce, it's a previous Black Cat holder (its perfectly logical to assume the Miraculous were still being used before Hawkmoth came about, seeing as they were being sought after during a war, meaning they had to have been active at some point during or just before said war for anyone to even know they existed and seek them. Plus, I trust that Master Fu still stuck to his duty of not just protecting the Miraculous, but also making sure they were used in times of need where they were needed). If not a Scary Bat to father an Assassin Demon Heir, then what else would be better but a Black Cat of Destruction? So Damien is likely either brought to Paris when Hawkmoth becomes active in order to get the Ring and take up his father's title, or, when the event that first gets Damien given to his father when he's 10, he's possibly given to Master Fu instead (because his father no longer has the Ring or Black Cat title to pass to his son himself). Maybe both since Hawkmoth appeared somewhere between our MCs' ages of 10 and 14 (canon does a terrible hob with timelines, I'm sorry). Bonus points if he gets adopted by the Dupain-Chengs.

THAT'S the background info I came up with, and the First Meeting can be caused by either the classic "Paris Class Takes Trip to Gotham or Vice Versa" or the slightly lesser known "Bats go to Paris and Stay to Help Because They Belatedly Learned About Hawkmoth Either from Being There Themselves or from a Received Message for Help". "Transfer Student" is also a wonderful option.

And, additionally, both 'Love at First Sight' and/or 'Slow-Burn via Distrust but Clear Foreshadowing of Future Love' are both valid vibes to have within a First Meeting deal.

Not sure what else to have so I hope y'all like it!! Stay tuned for any additions or future writings for this~!!

And, on a final point, Salt is optional, too!! Easy to slot it in or out of it, to each their own~!! 💛

(P.S: I also have a Kryptonian Marinette idea, yell at me if anyone wants to hear about it.)

[petersonreviews]

Chan Marshall photographed by Gretchen Robinette, 2014

[elusivemellifluence]

Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag

Stolen from @ninja-muse

How many books have you read so far?

81, including 5 rereads, and currently reading 2.

What genres have you read?

Fantasy (38), science fiction (15), historical (9), contemporary (8), nonfiction (6), mystery (5), horror (4), thriller (3) and magic realism (1)

Best books you’ve read so far in 2021:

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (lesbian necromancers in space, pov fuckery, memory wiping, self-styled God-Emperor quoting memes)

Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland (bisexual and aroace Black girls fighting zombies, becoming outlaws and adopting kids in the Old West)

Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston (12 year old recruited by Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, has delightful adventures, searches for missing brother)

The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate (the tragic gay story of a background character from Dracula)

All the Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe (unputdownable thriller, reformed teenage conartist channels all her skills to save girlfriend and ex-boyfriend from bank robbery gone wrong)

Space Opera by Catherine M. Valente (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy shaken vigorously, drenched in body glitter and shoved on stage for intergalactic Eurovision)

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (mind-sharing friends, first contact with aliens, learning/inventing a whole new form of communication in order to ask said aliens ‘please stop killing us’ before the military starts blowing up planets, political intrigue in space empire, cute lesbian romance with ‘will she ever really, truly see me as fully human and equal’ angst)

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo (story about stories, clan of tiger shapeshifters are pissed off that humans are telling the story of the lady scholar who married the tiger queen all wrong, damn it)

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells (grumpy, anxious cyborg learns what it means to have free will and be cared for)

Warrior Moon by K. Arsenault Rivera (third in trilogy about epic sapphic love reshaping the world in fantasy China/Japan/Mongolia)

I’m 2/3 through The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal but I’m already pretty sure it belongs on this list

Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2021:

A lot of the ones of my previous list - Harrow the Ninth, Deathless Divide, A Desolation Called Peace, When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain and Warrior Moon are sequels. Out of those, I think probably A Desolation Called Peace was the best book (it’s beautiful, though-provoking science fiction that I can’t wait to vote for in next year’s Hugo awards) and Harrow the Ninth was the best sequel (the way it interacts with the previous book, adshfk).

New release you haven’t read yet, but want to:

So many!

The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters (Southern gothic, angry sapphic witches, the mystery of a missing sister)

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan (queer fantasy about the founding of the Ming dynasty, described as “Mulan meets The Song of Achilles”)

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim (retelling of The Swan Princes with a Chinese twist)

Eat Your Heart Out by Kelly deVos (zombies attack a weight loss camp, pissed off teens fight back, has snark, horror and body positivity)

A War of Swallowed Stars by Sangu Mandanna (third in a series about the Mahabarata in space)

The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison (sequel to the lovely The Goblin Emperor, kindness and decency and solving murders)

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (princess and handmaiden/priestess holding knives to each other’s ribs, kissing under a waterfall and reshaping an empire)

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian (former highwayman teaches a nobleman how to do a heist, with sexy results)

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston (sapphic time travel romance)

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year:

The Sisters of Reckoning by Charlotte Nicole Davis (sequel to the story of indentured sex workers escaping the ‘welcome house’ and striking out across the desert to make a new life, I’m told the rivals-to-friends dynamic I adored is gonna add -to-lovers)

Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko (sequel to epic African fantasy about empires and free will and telepathic harems)

No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull (monsters reveal themselves to the world, chaos and hate crimes ensue)

The All Consuming World by Cassandra Khaw (all girl team of broken, bitter former criminals get back together for one last mission)

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (giant robots, mind melds and polyamory)

Noor by Nnedi Okorafor (disability, biotechnology, Nigerian science fiction)

Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen (The Little Mermaid story with West African mythology)

The Nobleman’s Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks by Mackenzi Lee (much-anticipated third in a trilogy about queer disaster siblings in slightly magical 18th century Europe)

Biggest disappointment:

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. A supposed classic that disgusted and infuriated me. I tried to read it for book club but rage quit 120 pages in, and reading up on the rest of the story made me so very glad I did.

Biggest surprise:

Daughters of Frankenstein: Lesbian Mad Scientists! by Steve Berman. A fantastic array of sapphic science fiction that gave me surprise after surprise as I encountered a Scooby Doo parody, a Jeeves and Wooster parody, a Pgymalion and Galatea love story between a scientist and her robot wife, psychological horror about wildly unethical experiments, lesbian outlaws building armoured getaway vehicles to rob banks, middle-aged wives fightng ice weasels and adopting a kid, chaotic genius invents hot new drug and accidentally starts the zombie apocalypse ...

Favorite new author (debut or new to you):

Martha Wells - I read the first five Murderbot books and fell head over heels in love

Underrated gems:

The Myriad Carnival by Matthew Bright (dark and delightful anthology of queer stories revolving around a magical carnival, has only 12 ratings on goodreads) and Stone and Steel by Eboni J. Dunbar (African fantasy novella with sapphic soldiers and queens that manages to feel both epic and satisfying despite being only 92 pages long, has only 100 ratings on goodreads)

Newest fictional crush:

Guet Imm from The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho - a female Chirrut Imwe type who leaves her nunnery and cheerfully forces her way into a group of bandits. Sunnily chaotic weirdos are most definitely my type. Though considering the way she responded to a guy hitting on her with a pleasant “Oh, sure, we could sleep together, but I’m very religious so I’d have to make sacrifice after” (Tet Sang translates: “She’s not agreeing, you fool, she’s threatening you, when she says ‘make sacrifice’ she means ‘cut your dick off’”), perhaps it’s best to just Look Respectfully.

And perhaps also Iktan from Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. Xe’s the spymaster, protector and ex-lover of one of the protagonists. Sure, xe may be ruthless, amoral and more than a little terrifying, but it’s in a really hot way.

Newest favorite characters:

Murderbot and all its friends

Book that made you cry:

None have actually made me cry (my tears are difficult to provoke, I can only name like five books that have ever had me actually crying), but the closest I came was probably The Old Lie by Claire G. Coleman. It’s science fiction where Earth gets caught up in a war between alien powers, and humans join the army to fight in a horrific war for a Federation that doesn’t even consider them citizens, get their children kidnapped to become servants and pets for wealthy alien families, and have their homes destroyed in weapons testing. All these things echo the real history of how white people have treated Indigenous Australians, and it both is and is not a metaphor, since the protagonists are all Aboriginal and very aware of the paralells.

Book that made you happy:

Amari and the Night Brothers is a warmhearted delight.

Most beautiful book cover of a book you’ve read so far this year:

Either The Winter Duke by Claire Eliza Bartlett or The Citadel of Weeping Pearls by Aliette de Bodard

How are you doing with your year’s goals?

81/100 books

going strong with ‘two authors of colour for each white author’ 

doing good with ‘read from a wider variety of contries’ (so far I’ve read authors from 20 different countries)

doing good with ‘I don’t want straight protagonists to be the majority’ (41 queer or indeterminate protagonists versus 31 straight ones)

doing OK with ‘include some translated books’ (6 books originally written in other languages)

could do better with ‘read some books that aren’t from the last two decades’ (I’ve read one from the 1990s, one from the 1970s and one from the 1960s, but that’s not a lot - I used to read books from centuries ago)

could do better with ‘more trans authors’ too - I’ve read three nonbinary authors and no binary trans folks so far, but I do have several on my to-read list

What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter and Love and Other Thought Experiments by Sophie Ward, because they’re my book club’s picks for August and September

Not tagging anyone because I wasn’t officially tagged myself, but if you see this and want to do it, go ahead, and tag me!

[thenighttrain]

books read in 2020

i’ve been keeping a list and decided i want it on my blog too! everything is on my goodreads too. follow my book blog @thesonofneptune​! bolded are my favourites 

Middlegame by Seanan McGuire ★★★★

Stardust by Neil Gaiman ★★★

Into The Drowning Deep by Mira Grant ★★★★

Heart of Flames (Crown of Feathers #2) by Nicki Pau Preto ★★★★

Reverie by Ryan La Sala ★★

Crown of Feathers (Crown of Feathers #1) by Nicki Pau Preto ★★★

Soul in Darkness by Wendy Higgins ★★★

The King’s Dragon (Fire and Valor #1) by W.M. Fawkes ★★★★

Blue on Blue by Dal Maclean ★★★★

The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut #1) by Mary Robinette Kowal ★★★★

The Watchmaker of Filligree Street (The Watchmaker of Filligree Street #1) by Natasha Pulley ★★★

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow (The Watchmaker of Filligree Street #2) by Natasha Pulley ★★★★

The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley ★★★

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Garcia-Moreno ★★★★

Girls of Paper and Fire (Girls of Paper and Fire #1) by Natasha Ngan ★★★

The Prince’s Dragon (Fire and Valor #2) by W.M. Fawkes ★★★★

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig ★

The House of Binding Thorns (Dominion of the Fallen #2) by Aliette de Bodard ★★★

The House of Sundering Flames (Dominion of the Fallen #3) by Alliette de Bodard ★★★

The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy #1) by S.A. Chakraborty ★★★

The Catch Trap by Marion Zimmer Bradley ★★★★

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games #0) by Suzanne Collins ★★★

Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders (Dominion of the Fallen, #3.5) by Aliette de Bodard ★★★★

The Last Smile in Sunder City (The Fetch Phillips Archives #1) by Luke Arnold ★★★★

Northern Wrath (The Hanged God Trilogy #1) by Thilde Kold Holdt ★★★

The Unspoken Name (The Serpent Gates #1) by A.K. Larkwood ★★★

Infernal by Mark de Jager ★★★

The City We Became (Great Cities #1) by N.K. Jemisin ★★★

Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb #1) by Tamsyn Muir ★★★

Deathless (Leningrad Diptych #1) by Catherynne M. Valente ★★★

The Poppy War (The Poppy War #1) by R.F. Kuang ★★★★★

The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War #2) by R.F. Kuang ★★★★

Foundryside (The Founders Trilogy #1) by Robert Jackson Bennett ★★★

Rivers of London (Rivers of London #1) by Ben Aaronovitch ★★★

The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi ★★★★

The Deep by Rivers Solomon ★★★

Ashes of the Sun (Burninngblade & Silvereye #1) by Django Wexller ★★★

The Century’s Scribe (A Fantastic Decade #1) by Brendan Walsh ★★★★

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuistonn ★★★

The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lembergg ★★★

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi ★★★

Blazewrath Games by Amparo Ortiz ★★★★

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune ★★★★

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang ★★★★★

Jade City (The Green Bone Saga #1) by Fonda Lee ★★★★

Jade War (The Green Bone Saga #2) by Fonda Lee ★★★★

The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo ★★★

The Rage of Dragons (The Burning #1) by Evan Winter ★★★

The Goblin Emperor (The Goblin Emperor #1) by Katherine Addison ★★★

The Conductors by Nicole Glover ★★★

The Wolf of Oren-Yaro (Chronicles of the Bitch Queen #1) by K.S. Villoso ★★★

When The Moon Is Low by Nadia Hashimi ★★★

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow ★★★

Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro ★★★★

White Silence (Elizabeth Cage #1) by Jodi Taylor ★★★

The Rook (The Checquy Files #1) by Daniel O’Malley ★★★★

The Vicar and the Rake (Society of Beasts #1) by Annabelle Greene ★★★

Lava Red Feather Blue by Molly Rinngle ★★★★

The Bone Shard Daughter (The Drowning Empire #1) by Andrea Stewart ★★★★

Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson ★★★

Carter & Lovecraft (Carter & Lovecraft #1) by Jonathan L. Howard ★★★

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (A Good Girls’ Guide to Murder #1) by Holly Jackson ★★★★

The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy #1) by Katherine Arden ★★★★

The Girl in the Tower (Winternight Trilogy #2) by Katherine Arden ★★★★★

The Winter of the Witch (Winternight Trilogy #3) by Katherine Arden ★★★★

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab ★★★

Tower of Mud and Straw by Yaroslav Barsukov ★★★

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Garcia-Moreno ★★

Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children #1) by Seanan McGuire ★★★

The Changeling by Victor LaValle ★★★

Ring Shout by Djeli P Clark ★★★★

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid ★★★★

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson ★★★

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour ★★★

Dead Man in a Ditch (The Fetch Phillips Archives #2) by Luke Arnold ★★★

The Nightmare Thief (The Nightmare Thief #1) by Nicole Lesperance ★★★★

A Time of Dread (Of Blood and Bone #1) by John Gwynne ★★★★

Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1) by Sylvain Neuvel ★★★

Dry by Neal Shusterman ★★★

Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse ★★★★

The Searcher by Tana French ★★★★

Ink and Bone (The Great Library #1) by Rachel Caine ★★★

The Burning God (The Poppy War #3) by R.F. Kuang ★★★★

The Drowning Faith (The Poppy War 2.5) by R.F. Kuang ★★★★

The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar ★★★

Long Bright River by Liz Moore ★★

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton ★★★★

Smoke and Stone by Michael R. Fletcher ★★★

A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan #1) by Arkady Martine ★★★

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan ★★★★

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke ★★★★

The Familiars by Stacey Halls ★★

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman ★★★★

Kings of Paradise (Ash and Sand #1) by Richard Neil ★★★

Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor #1) by Mark Lawrence ★★★★

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig ★★★★

The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu ★★★

Not Even Bones (Market of Monsters #1) by Rebecca Schaeffer ★★★

Real Life by Brandon Taylor ★★★

Godshot by Chelsea Bieker ★★★

The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale ★★★

The Humans by Matt Haig ★★★★

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell ★★★★

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa ★★★★

A Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra Rowland ★★★

The Empress of Salt and Fortune (The Singing Hills Cycle #1) by Nghi Vo ★★

The Survivors by Jane Harper ★★★★

The Dry (Aaron Falk #1) by Jane Harper ★★★★

The Lost Man by Jane Harper ★★★

[authorofemotion]

My Physical TBR (under the cut)

because @bookdragon1811 enabled me :)

Currently Reading:

The ‘One Thing’ is Three by Michael E Gaitley; The Power of Silence by Robert Cardinal Sarah; Daughter of Redwinter by Ed McDonald; Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Middle-Grade

- Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier

- White Cat by Holly Black

- The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

- The School for Good and Evil (and books 2 and 3) by Soman Chainani

- The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

- The Inquisitor’s Tale by Adam Gidwitz

- Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynn Jones

- KOTLC: Exile by Shannon Messenger

- KOTLC: Everblaze by Shannon Messenger

- KOTLC: Neverseen by Shannon Messenger

- The Water and the Wild by KE Ormsbee

- The Thing About Leftovers by CC Payne

- The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands

- Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz

- The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

- Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

Young Adult

- The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

- Children of Blood and Bone (and Children of Virtue as Vengeance) by Tomi Adeyemi

- The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry

- Frostblood by Elly Blake (and Fireblood and Nightblood)

- The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

- When Wishes Bleed by Casey L Bond

- Sky Without Stars by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell

- A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A Brown

- Graceling (and Fire) by Kristin Cashore

- A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

- The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli

- House of Dragons by Jessica Cluess

- A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Davis

- Ruthless Gods by Emily A Duncan

- Blessed Monsters by Emily A Duncan

- Wolf by Wolf (and Blood for Blood) by Ryan Graudin

- River Secrets by Shannon Hale

- The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alice E Harrow

- Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

- Sea Witch by Sarah Hennings

- A Thousand Nights by EK Johnston

- These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner

- The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

- The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman

- Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

- Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim

- Warcross (and Wildcard) by Marie Lu

- A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

- People Like Us by Dana Mele

- Splinters of Scarlet by Emily Bain Murphy

- Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven

- Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

- The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson

- Bone Crier’s Moon by Kathryn Purdie

- Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

- Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

- The Steelheart Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson

- Scythe by Neil Schusterman

- Ink in the Blood by Kim Smejkal

- Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerill

- The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

- An Ember in the Ashes (and A Torch Against the Night) by Sabaa Tahir

- Strange the Dreamer (and Muse of Nightmares) by Laini Taylor

- The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala

- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

- Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

- Fable by Adrienne Young

Adult

- The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

- Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

- The City of Brass by SA Chakraborty

- A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett st Clair

- All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

- The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

- the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon

- The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

- The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin

- The Calculating Stars by Marie Robinette Kowal

- The Poppy War by RF Kuang

- The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

- The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell

- Daughter of Redwinter by Ed McDonald

- The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

- The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (and A Wise Man’s Fear)

- Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

- The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson

- Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

- The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

- Vicious by VE Schwab

- A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab

- The Near Witch by VE Schwab

- Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

- The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

- The Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

- The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

- The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks

- Shadow’s Edge by Brent Weeks

- The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

- The Bird King by G Willow Wilson

- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

- Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang

Classics

- Emma by Jane Austen

- Persuasion by Jane Austen

- Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

- Peter Pan by JM Barrie

- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

- Whuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

- Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie

- Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

- Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky

- The Count of Monte Christo by Alexandre Dumas

- The Odyssey by Homer (i’ve read parts but haven’t read it through in full)

- Les Mis by Victor Hugo (yes i do have a death wish)

- The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

- The Last Day of a Condemned Man by Victor Hugo

- A Minstrel in France by Harry Lauder

- The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

- The Space Trilogy by CS Lewis

- The Call of the Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories by HP Lovecraft

- Dracula by Bram Stoker

- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

- Death of Ivan Hych by Leo Tolstoy

- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

- The Aeneid by Virgil

- The Epic of Gilgamesh

Theology/Church History

- An Exorcist Tells His Story by Gabriele Amorth

- Pope Francis: His Life In His Own Words

- The Little Flowers of St Clare by P. Bargellini

- Church Fathers by Pope Benedict XVI

- Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI

- This Tremendous Lover by M Eugene Boylan

- Orthodoxy by GK Chesterton

- Rome Sweet Home by Scott Hahn

- The First Society by Scott Hahn

- The Holy Bread of Eternal Life by Peter Kwasniewski

- The Secret of Mary by St. Louis de Montfort

- The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis de Montfort

- A Theology of the Body by Pope John Paul II

- Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist by Brant Pitre

- Love & Responsibility by Harol Wojtyla

- How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization by Thomas Woods

Nonfiction

- Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

- Faith and Treason by Antonia Fraser

- To Kill the Devil by Herbert Malloy, Jr.

- The Queen’s Conjurer by Benjamin Woolley

[bluerosette23]

Maribat MASTERLIST ~ Pg4

Fourth Part of the masterlist. (Updated: Feb 1 2020)

< Page4 >   [Daminette December Masterlist]

by @persephonebutkore [Masterlist] Daminette Soulmate AU Revenge Is Sweet  ~  AO3 Fate Goes Both Ways  ~  AO3 Background Info ~ CH1 ~ CH2 ~ CH3 ~ CH4 ~ CH5(Pt1 ~ Pt2) ~ CH6 ~ CH7 ~ CH8 ~ CH9 ~ CH10 ~ CH11 ~ CH12 ~ CH13 ~ CH14 ~ CH15 ~ CH16 ~ CH17 The Sword and The Sweets CH1 ~ CH2 ~ CH3 ~ CH4 ~ CH5 ~ CH6

by @peskygirl13 Bruce “I’m Never Going To Have A Normal Family” Wayne

by @pl-panda Damienette Arranged Marriage Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5 ~ Pt6 ~ Pt7 ~ Pt8 ~ Pt9 ~ Pt10 ~ Pt11 ~ Pt12 ~ Pt13 ~ Pt14 ~ Pt15 ~ Pt16 ~ Pt17 ~ Pt18 ~ Pt19 ~ Pt20 ~ Pt21 ~ Pt22 ~ Pt23 ~ Pt24 ~ Pt25 ~ Pt26

by @ranger-gothamite (Paladin_Willa) A New Hero  ~  AO3 CH1 ~ CH2 Daminette  ~  AO3 Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5 ~ Pt6 ~ Pt7 ~ Pt8 ~ Pt9 ~ Pt10 ~ Pt11 ~ Pt12 ~ Pt13 ~ Pt14 ~ Pt15

by @realrandomposts Amnesiac!Damian Happy Birthday Damian Kisses Fic Misunderstandings Tamaranean!Mari What If?: Mari Arrives in the Fictional DC World Chances Masterlist ~ Pt1.1 ~ Pt1.2 ~ Pt1.3 Penpal Therapy  ~  AO3 Materlist ~ Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5 ~ Pt6 ~ Pt7 ~ Pt8 ~ Pt9 ~ Pt10 ~ Pt11 ~ Pt12 ~ Pt13 ~ Pt14 ~ Pt15 The Assassin’s Lady  ~  AO3 Masterlist ~ Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5 ~ Pt6 ~ Pt7 ~ Pt8 ~ Pt9 ~ Pt10 ~ Pt11 ~ Pt12 ~ Pt1 ~ Pt14 ~ Pt15 ~ Pt16 ~ Pt17 ~ Pt18 ~ Pt19 ~ Pt20 EXTRAS: Felix Agreste As Chat Noir? No, Thank You  ~  AO3 Happy Birthday Babs! ~  AO3 Pregnancy Scare  ~  AO3 Holy Trinity AU There Was One Bed (Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3) They Were Roomates (Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3) Childhood Friends (Pt1 ~ Pt2) Totally Correct Maribat Chats Prompts/HC (1) 

by Redwolf999 Where is Marinette?  ~  AO3   

by @rhub4rb Home Is Where The Heart Is [MariJon]  ~  AO3 CH1 ~ CH2 ~ CH3 ~ CH4 ~ CH5 ~ CH6 ~ CH7 ~ CH8 ~ CH9 ~ CH10 ~ CH11 ~ CH12 ~ CH13 Of Birds and Bugs  ~  AO3 Prologue ~ CH1 ~ CH2 ~ CH3 ~ CH4 ~ CH5 ~ CH6 ~ CH7 Project:Null Initial Post ~ Continuation Post ~ Meeting YJ ~ The Miraculous ~ The Team Finds Outby @rubixchick Miraculous Souls The Kents

by @sage-sam Ignorance by Paramore Songfic Lucky Me CH1 ~ CH2 ~ CH3 ~ CH4 ~ CH5 ~ CH6 

by @shewhoridesonrainbows Words Upon Your Skin  ~  AO3 CH1 ~ CH2 ~ CH3 ~ CH4 ~

by @scribble-blog A Bird In The Hand (Is Worth The Bee In Your Bonnet) [ChloDami] Akumatized Ladybug AU  Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4  Black Cats And Robinettes Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3  Soulmate AU  Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt2.5 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5 ~ Pt6 ~ Pt7 ~ Pt8 ~ Pt9 ~ P10 ~ Pt11 ~ Pt12 ~ Pt13 ~ Pt14 ~ Pt15 ~ Pt16 ~ Pt17 ~ Pt18 ~ Pt19 ~ Pt20  Giveaway Drabbles 1 ~ 2(Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3) ~ 3 

by @shmowlwrites How to be a Heartbreaker Like That The Tattoos of Fate NaNoWriMo D2 ~ D3 ~ D4 ~ D5

by @shyestofhearts Little One-shots/Blurbs I Write  ~  AO3 Dead Hearts Songfic ~ Angelic Rest ~  Fade Away ~ Alone ~ Breaking Point (Timari) Getting An Angel  ~  AO3 Info ~ Rules ~ CH1 ~ CH2 ~ CH3 ~ CH4

by @slytherinsheashire 7th Year DADA  ~  AO3 From Nightmares to Daydreams  ~ AO3 Look Who I’ve Run Into, Crowed Coincidence  ~  AO3 Snowfall  ~  AO3 When the End Meets the Beginning 1 - The Final Call  ~  AO3 2 - The End and New Beginnings  ~  AO3

by @snowhirl Confident ~ Field Trip ~ Mom?Dad?Chaos ~ NETi Childhood Friends AU Characters ~ CH1 ~ CH2 Ladybug’s Uniform College Francoise Dupont’s Talent Show CH1 ~ CH2 ~ CH3 ~ CH4 ~ CH4.1 ~ CH5 ~ CH5.1 Instagram AU Pt1 ~ Pt2 Pack AU Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5 The Soulmate AU Pt1 ~ Pt2

by @someone-ev All Part Of The Job [Jasonette] ~ Green [Timari] ~ I Think I Love Robin ~ Idea:Part One ~ Marinette’s Power ~ Marinette’s Date With Damian in the Snow All My Bonds Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5 ~ Pt6 ~ Pt7 ~ Pt8 ~ Pt9 ~ Pt10 ~ Pt11   Playing House CH1 ~ CH2 ~ The New Lady of Gotham Idea ~ CH1 ~ CH2 ~ CH3 ~ CH4 ~ CH5 ~ CH6 ~ CH7 ~ CH8 ~ CH9 ~ CH10 ~ CH11

by @soulmate-game​ [Masterpost] My Soulmate Stabs People ~ Dickinette Crack Brucinette Series Pt1 ~ Pt2  Taken In By The Kents Pt1 ~ Pt2  The Heroes’ Game  ~  AO3 THG Spin-Off Oneshots Reverse Uno Card ~ crack ~ If they were older ~ If they were younger

by @sparkle9510 Baby Robins and Tiny Ladybugs CH1 ~ CH2 

by @spiritofchaoticdreams Life Swap Daminette AU Songfic LS: Discovering Hawkmoth LS: Meeting Lila (1 ~ 2 ~ 3)

by @stareyedmoonchild Alfred’s Fanfiction Maribat Meets Scooby Doo When Marinette Met Goliath Late Night Ideas ( I ~ II ~ III ) Midday Thoughts ( I ~ II ) Who Are You Calling “Robinette” Preview ~ Pt1

by @starry-bi-sky Behind The Mask: Gotham Ed, Gotham Fashion:Disaster Buzzfeed Unsolved AU Good Omens AU Marinette Joins The Circus AU

by @starshine583 Travels of Passion Masterlist ~ Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5 ~ Pt6 ~ Pt7 ~ Pt8 ~ Pt9 ~ Pt10 ~ Pt11 ~ Pt12 ~ Pt13 ~ Pt14 ~ Pt15 ~ Pt16 ~ Pt17 ~ Pt18 ~ Pt19 ~ Pt20 ~ Pt21 

by @t-nikki10 Angels and Demons Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 

by @thanks-captain-obvious How Damian Realized How He Loved Marinette Pt1 ~ Pt2 

by @the-navistar-carol Daminette Songfic Invisible Thread by Matt Gould  Stronger from Finding Neverland  Summer of ‘69 by Bryan Adams  Garmari Fics King of [My] Hearts ~ Intervention ~ Rainy Days 

by @the17thtearoom (LucyyJ26) Miraculous, Darker Origins:Daminette AU  ~  AO3 Masterlist ~ Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5 ~ Pt6 ~ Pt7 ~ Pt8 ~ Pt9 ~ Pt10 ~ Pt11 ~ Pt12 ~ Pt13 ~ Pt14 ~ Pt15 ~ Pt16  ~ Pt17 ~ Pt18 ~ Pt19 ~ Pt20 ~ Pt21 ~ Pt22 ~ Pt23 ~ Pt24 ~ Pt25 ~ Pt26 ~ Pt27 ~ Pt28 ~ Pt29 ~ Pt30  A Vision Softly Creeping Panic(On the Street of London)  ~  AO3

< Page4 >  [Daminette December Masterlist] 

[inclineto]

Books, November - December 2020

The Relentless Moon - Mary Robinette Kowal [I...was not prepared for an eating disorder to drive as much of the plot as it does; maybe you should be]

How to Read Water: Clues and Patterns from Puddles to the Sea - Tristan Gooley

Spoiler Alert - Olivia Dade [This could have gone so wrong; honestly, I expected to ditch it in the first two chapters, because usually I HATE giddy novels about fandom...and yet! it turned out to be wish fulfillment in the best possible way, somehow despite the inclusion of multiple tropes that I also dislike (least spoilery: “I betrayed your trust by not telling you my terrible secret that involves you when I had the opportunity, and now you can never know,” when that will obviously only make the eventual inevitable reveal much worse). Anyway: if you wanted actor RPF/fandom AU for a canon that doesn’t exist, here you go.]

Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait - Bathsheba Demuth

Desire and the Deep Blue Sea - Olivia Dade

The Way Past Winter - Kiran Millwood Hargrave [dnf]

Sisters in Hate: American Women on the Front Lines of White Nationalism - Seyward Darby

Swordspoint - Ellen Kushner

Jeoffry: The Poet’s Cat: A Biography - Oliver Soden

Gaudy Night - Dorothy L. Sayers *

Yes, I’m Hot in This: The Hilarious Truth About Life in a Hijab - Huda Fahmy [I introduced this artist to a former boss, whose reaction was to immediately purchase and lend me every book she’s published; I’m overdue to mail this one back (and if your thought was “that book exchange sounds backwards,” well, ...yes)]

One by One - Ruth Ware [it’s fine, I didn’t have anywhere to go the next morning, I didn’t mind staying up until 2:30 to finish this, it’s fine]

A Deadly Education - Naomi Novik

Solutions and Other Problems - Allie Brosh

The House of the Four Winds - Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory

There Is No Good Card for This: What To Say and Do When Life Is Scary, Awful, and Unfair to People - Emily McDowell and Kelsey Crowe [self-help is not usually my genre, but given that I’ve written so many condolence cards this year that I’ve run out of condolence card-appropriate stationary - archives love using scenes from Hamlet on their exhibition giveaway cards, and they’re absolutely not okay to use for...really any occasion, but especially death - and am utterly unable to tell whether anything I’m writing is any good, and that my standard How To Be A Better Person manual is an etiquette book from the 1930s, what could it hurt?]

Orlando - Virginia Woolf

Around My French Table: 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours - Dorie Greenspan

Return of the Thief - Megan Whalen Turner

Spectred Isle - KJ Charles [still really fond of this one; still really want the lesbian ghost sequel]

Division Bells - Iona Datt Sharma [there’s one scene that threw me out of the world, and I’d kind of love to see whether it got editorial notes and if so, what...but on the other hand, I wasn’t expecting this to make me cry, and it did]

Serpentine - Philip Pullman, illustrated by Tom Duxbury [the story is slight; what you want to read this for are the illustrations, which are delightful]

The Rakess - Scarlet Peckham

The Midnight Bargain - C. L. Polk

The House of Green Turf - Ellis Peters

Beach Read - Emily Henry

Not the End of the World - Kate Atkinson

World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments - Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Eleventh Hour - Elin Gregory

Ahab’s Rolling Sea: A Natural History of Moby-Dick - Richard J. King [Let’s get this right out there: “Cetology” is my favorite chapter in the entire novel; I think it’s brilliant and fabulously funny and I loathe the lazy “everybody hates ‘Cetology’” trope that shows up everywhere - looking at you, Dave Malloy! - (although my mother tells me that her students did, indeed, universally despise it, which I find incomprehensible), so I’m always a little salty on approaching any Melville criticism: will they disrespect ‘Cetology”??? Sure enough, it’s there, but at least it’s on the way to explaining why you ought to appreciate it.]

Rereadings: Seventeen Writers Revisit Books They Love - ed. Anne Fadiman [the essay to read is Diana Kappel-Smith on the Peterson Field Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern and North-Central North America]

Why Birds Sing - Nina Berkhout

Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country - Louise Erdrich

Barn 8 - Deb Olin Unferth

Black Sun - Rebecca Roanhorse

Where the Wild Ladies Are - Aoko Matsuda, translated by Polly Barton * [completely won over by this linked collection of present-day yōkai stories]

Ammonite - Nicola Griffith

Or What You Will - Jo Walton

Vesper Flights - Helen Macdonald

La Belle Sauvage - Philip Pullman [I’m fascinated to discover that the sequence I remember from reading this the first time doesn’t start until more than halfway through! He can tell a riveting story, so I wish I trusted Pullman even a tiny bit...but I don’t.]

Written in the Stars - Alexandria Bellefleur

A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (and Some Bears) - Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling [some of this would never be funny; it’s possible I’d find parts of it funnier if libertarians didn’t make me so damn angry]

The Glass Magician - Caroline Stevermer

[theawkwardterrier]

Chill Book Recs

It’s a tense time (obvious) and for all those who are social distancing (which should be as many people as possible!!) as well as those who are out there keeping essential services running and caring for those who need it (thank you!!), sometimes we need a chance to relax with a book that’s somewhat low stakes. So I’ve put together some of my faves which are light and funny (and, not coincidentally, often romantic and/or tropey - not sorry!) for you to download as ebooks or audiobook, or order from a bookstore (especially recommend that you check if your local indies are still shipping, or look at Biblio, or the Bookstore at the End of the World collective). Not saying that all the selections below are without obstacle or issue, but I’ve tried to keep it pretty upbeat and noted what I can. Feel free to add your own faves like this, and happy reading!

(Sorry for the abundance of parentheses.)

(No, I’m not.)

Analee, In Real Life by Janelle Milanes (fake dating, MMORPG, Latinx MCs, own voices, family drama, YA)

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (boarding school, friends to romance, Paris, cancer cw, YA)

The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson (humor, fantasy, enemies to friends, fantasy political intrigue, illustrations, confusion!, middle grade)

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell (semi epistolary, company approved spying, early 2000s, newspaper, best friendships, Getting Yourself Together, very good food descriptions, miscarriage cw, romance, adult)

Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie (enemies to romance, chicken marsala, a familial yikes but very good friends, did you adopt the cat or did the cat adopt you, snow globes, shoe descriptions, fat MC, this is my favorite romance tbh, adult)

The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan (Scotland, power of books, side romance, small town, precariously balanced large vehicle, running your own small business, misunderstanding the role of libraries but I’ll overlook it, job loss cw, adult)

Bossypants by Tina Fey (humor, short chapters, memoir, “Mrs. Fey's change of life baby,” Jimmy Fallon getting owned, adult)

Boy Meets Girl by Meg Cabot (epistolary-ish, baking, complaining about NYC real estate, labor disputes, eating disorder cw, romance, adult)

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal (historical fiction/alternate history, math/physics/science, supportive husband, Jewish MC, awesome women, worldwide catastrophic event cw [I know but try it], side romances, adult) 

A Countess Below Stairs/The Secret Countess by Eva Ibbotson (historical fiction, WWI/Russian Revolution trauma cw, eugenics cw, quirkier Downton Abbey, romance, YA/adult) 

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn (historical mystery, side sexiness, butterflies, I keep talking about this series, adult)

Don't Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno (Gilmore Girls but make it Florida, Latinx MC and LI, bi MC, family curses, own voices, character death cw, romance, YA)

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (fantasy/fairy tale retelling, classic, curses, you’re allowed to like the movie I guess but read the book for real, romance, middle grade)

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes (small town Maine, overcoming past trauma, spousal death cw, depression cw, The Yips, friends to romance, adult) 

The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone by Jaclyn Moriarty (fantasy, cool aunts, journeys, middle grade)

Faking It by Jennifer Crusie (con men/people, messy family, murder?/fleeing the scene/technically I’m homeless, delicious sounding muffins, art theft, romance, adult)

Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith (train journeys, sextuplets, romance, YA)

The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez (zines, music, Latinx MC, middle grade)

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman (graphic novel/available as a webcomic [@heartstoppercomic], cute, gay MC, bi MC, school uniforms, bullying cw, romance, YA)

How Not to Ask a Boy to Prom by S.J. Goslee (fake dating, gay, bad boy?, YA)

I Wanna Be Where You Are by Kristina Forest (dance, road trips, Black MC and LI, dog, parental death cw, own voices, enemies to romance, YA)

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (statistics, autism/Asperger’s, escort, Asian/biracial MC, family owned restaurant, own voices, romance, adult)

Louisiana's Way Home by Kate DiCamillo (quirky small town, funnier than she knows narrator, a little bittersweet, middle grade)

Lucky Caller by Emma Mills (radio programming, family drama, neighbors, banter, contest mistakes, romance, YA)

The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson (marriage of necessity, Holocaust/WWII cw, Jewish MC, scientific sheep, paleontology, quirky side characters, romance, YA/adult)

My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger (epistolary-esque, Boston, gay MC, Asian MC, Latinx MC, musical theater, friendships!, baseball, romance, YA)

The Next Great Paulie Fink by Ali Benjamin (multiple POV/semi-epistolary, new girl in school, contests, small town, middle grade)

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang (graphic novel, fake fantasy but make it fashion, genderfluid MC, middle grade)

The Princess Bride by William Goldman (uncategorizable, funny, classic, fake politics, satiric genius is at its fullest flower, fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles, etc., YA/adult)

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (politics, royal family, Texas, Latinx/biracial MC, bi MC, gay LI, everyone’s already talking about it but I listed it anyway, enemies to romance, adult)

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald (pen pals, small/rural town, translated, character death cw, power of books, side romance iirc, adult)

Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson (graphic novel, roller derby, friendship, finding yourself, middle grade)

Sorcery & Cecelia, or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer (historical fantasy, Regency, cousins, side romances, estates, The Season, epistolary, middle grade/YA)

The Summer of Jordi Pérez (And the Best Burger in Los Angeles) by Amy Spalding (fashion, burger bros, lesbian MC, fat MC, queer LI, Latinx LI, own voices, romance, YA)

To All the Boys trilogy by Jenny Han (fake dating, baking, sisters, Asian MC, own voices, romance, YA [I mean, if you’ve seen the movies...])

To Night Owl from Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan (epistolary, enemies to friends, matchmaking youth, gay dads, sleepaway camp, middle grade)

[weirdletter]

The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2019, edited by Paula Guran, Prime Books, 2019. Cover art by Tithi Luadthong, info: amazon.com.

The supernatural, the surreal, and the all-too real... tales of the dark. Such stories have always fascinated us, and modern authors carry on the disquieting traditions of the past while inventing imaginative new ways to unsettle us. Chosen from a wide variety of venues, these stories are as eclectic and varied as shadows. This volume of 2018's best dark fantasy and horror offers more than five hundred pages of tales from some of today's finest writers of the fantastique--sure to delight as well as disturb...

Contents: “Down Where Sound Comes Blunt” – G.V. Anderson (F&SF, Mar-Apr 2018) “Hainted” – Ashley Blooms (F&SF Jul-Aug 2018) “The Empyrean Light” – Gregory Norman Bossert (Conjunctions: 71, A Cabinet of Curiosity, Fall 2018) “Raining Street” – J.S. Breukelaar (Black Static #63) The Black God’s Drums – P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com) “Faint Voices, Increasingly Desperate” – Anya Johanna DeNiro (Shimmer #43) “Big Dark Hole” – Jeffrey Ford (Conjunctions: 71, A Cabinet of Curiosity, Fall 2018) “And Yet” – A.T. Greenblatt (Uncanny #21) “Second to the Left, and Straight On” – Jim C. Hines (Robots vs. Fairies, eds. Parisien & Wolfe) “He Sings of Salt and Wormwood” – Brian Hodge (The Devil and the Deep, ed. Datlow) “Just Another Love Song” – Kat Howard (Robots vs. Fairies, eds. Parisien & Wolfe) “Four Revelations from the Rusalka Ball” – Cassandra Khaw (The Underwater Ballroom Society, eds. Trent & Burgis) “Rust and Bone” – Mary Robinette Kowal (Shimmer #46) “The Thing About Ghost Stories” – Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny #25) “A Man Walking His Dog” – Tim Lebbon (Phantoms, ed. O’Regan) “Honey” – Valya Dudycz Lupescu (A World of Horror, ed. Guignard) “Big Mother” – Anya Ow (Strange Horizons, 1 Jan 2018) “Fish Hooks” – Kit Power (New Fears 2, ed. Morris) “The Governor” – Tim Powers (The Book of Magic, ed. Dozois) “True Crime” – M. Rickert (Nightmare #72) “Sour Milk Girls” – Erin Roberts (Clarkesworld, Jan 2018) “Every Good-bye Ain’t Gone” – Eden Royce (Strange Horizons, 30 July 2018) “Tom Is in The Attic” – Robert Shearman (Phantoms, ed. O’Regan) “When We Fall, We Forget” – Angela Slatter, (Phantoms, ed. O’Regan) “In This Twilight” – Simon Strantzas (Nothing Is Everything) “The Crow Knight” – Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, 11 Oct 2018) “Thanatrauma” – Steve Rasnic Tem (New Fears 2, ed. Morris) “Sick Cats in Small Places” – Kaaron Warren (A World of Horror, ed. Guignard) “Blood and Smoke, Vinegar and Ashes” – D.P. Watt (The Silent Garden, Vol. 1) “The Pine Arch Collection” – Michael Wehunt (The Dark #36) “In the End, It Always Turns Out the Same –” A.C. Wise (The Dark #37) “Asphalt, River, Mother, Child” – Isabel Yap (Strange Horizons, 8 Oct 2018) “Music for the Underworld” – E. Lily Yu (Terraform, 29 Mar 2018)

[aromantyczno-liryczna]

My Top Summer 2020 Songs

(disclaimer - just songs I listened to the most, #1-50)

None Of My Business · Cher Lloyd

Not Another Song About Love · Hollywood Ending

You Are The Reason · Calum Scott

Sofia · Alvaro Soler

Nero, The Black Cat · Ki Chan Lee

More Than Survive (Reprise) · Will Roland (from the musical Be More Chill)

I Knew You Were Trouble · Taylor Swift

Titanium (feat. Sia) · David Guetta

How Would You Feel (Paean) · Ed Sheeran

One In A Million · Bosson

Czterdziestolatek (”Czterdzieści lat minęło...”) · Andrzej Rosiewicz

Lost (feat. Savoi · Kontinuum

Little Me · Little Mix

I Don’t Love You Too · Olly Murs

If I Killed Someone For You · Alec Benjamin

Collide · Rachel Platten

Netflix Trip · AJR

Hola Señorita (feat. Maluma) · Maître Gims

Wciąż Arka Noego · Urszula Sipinska

Toothbrush · DNCE

Firework · (Major to minor cover by Chase Holfelder)

Love Is an Open Door (From “Frozen”/Soundtrack Version) · Kristen Bell and Santino Fontana

Tomorrow · BTS

Stand By You · Rachel Platten

Killing Our Memories · Fable

Everyway That I Can · Sertab Erener

Devils Don’t Fly · Natalia Kills

Here We Are · Gloria Estefan

NO · Meghan Trainor

Bad Apple (From Touhou)

Criminal (Britney Spears Remake) · The Pop Princess

Undo · Sanna Nielsen

Hello · Adele

King and Cross · Asgeir

Cold Water (feat. MØ and Justin Bieber) · Major Lazer

Hide and Seek · Lizz Robinett

Clocks · Coldplay

It’s Like Summer (Theme Song From Minute to Win It) · Lux

Old Town Road · Lil Nas X

We Will Rock You · Queen

Wannabe · Spice Girls

Good Enough · Little Mix

Hooked · Why Don’t We

In My Cabana · Margaret

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together · Taylor Swift

If I Can’t Have You · Shawn Mendes

Chasing (feat. Max Landry) · Dominick Soth

If You Don’t Love Yourself · The Script

Are You Bored Yet? (feat. Clairo) · Wallows

He’s a Pirate (From “Pirates Of The Caribbean”) · Klaus Badelt

[scribble-blog]

Black Cats and Robinettes part 2!!

First

BACK AGAIN WITH THE ROLE REVERSAL EVERYBODY!! As some side notes, despite trying super hard to keep Damian and Marinette’s core personalities intact despite them having very different origin stories, I’ve definitely made Marinette- a bit tougher I guess? This Marinette isn’t going to curb her words, especially not for people she doesn’t know at all (who are hanging off a liar hurting her friends). Likewise, Damian is definitely a bit softer around the edges. It comes from the years of having loving and present parents without a super hero life to keep his edge. That being said, I hope you enjoy!!!

“Lila!” He watched as Marinette approached their class, the bulk of them looking over towards her distrustfully. So, Lila has already been spinning bullshit about the girl, despite the fact that she was the Wayne heiress Lila claimed to be practically a sister to. “I don’t know why you didn’t tell me you were in town. I would’ve made sure to clear up my schedule to spend time with you!”

“Just watch this, Damian. She’s vicious.” Adrien told him, leaning over.

“I’m sorry? I think you’ve got the wrong person,” Rossi simpered.

“No?” Marinette tilted her head slightly. “I mean, I know it’s been a while, but surely you remember me. Marinette Wayne?”

Rossi’s eyes went wide.

“I thought you said her name was Maria?” Kanté questioned.

And then, before Damian’s eyes, Rossi did the stupidest thing he’d ever seen her do.

She doubled down.

“A childhood nickname,” she explained away, eyes narrowing slightly at the girl who’d come to cast her from her throne. “I’m so sorry, Maria, it’s just been so long! I didn’t recognize you.”

“But- like you said, it’s only been four months since your mother brought you to Gotham.” Marinette’s eyes had blown wide open, innocence dripping from her every word. “I haven’t changed that much, have I? I haven’t even gotten a haircut...”

Lila tried to laugh it off, but Damian saw several of the class giving her confused looks.

“Remind me how we met, Lila.” Marinette said suddenly. Her tone was still sweet, but something in her face had shifted.

“It was- at a Wayne Gala,” Césaire volunteered. “When you were both five. Your parents let you play together.”

“An incredible feat, given that my usual bedtime was right when the gala started until I was twelve, and I wasn’t even allowed to attend the gala until age ten.” Marinette’s voice was still honeyed, but she spoke like a cracking whip. The class was silent. “And about the “work” you’ve done with my family? Those green initiatives you helped us plan in coordination with Prince Ali of Achu?”

“The- the green initiatives?” Lavillant trembled. “The ones to plant trees in deserts and man made wastes to combat the destruction of ecosystems?”

“Oh, poor girl,” Chloé crooned lowly. Damian snorted.

“They don’t exist. The Wayne Enterprises website can direct you to a full list of every charity act committed by my family’s company. It lists every fundraiser and nonprofit organization that is founded, funded, owned or supported by us. You will not find those initiatives there.” Marinette was lethal. Whatever inner sunshine she carried within her seemed to have frozen over.

“Every word about knowing me or being my friend. Every word insinuating that she either is dating or is being courted by my brothers. Every implication that she has any sort of sway in this building or any connection in the slightest to my father- all lies. Despite what Lila has been telling you, I’ve never met her before she started lying about me and my family in front of my face today.

“I don’t care what else Lila has told you. I don’t care what she has promised to do for you. I don’t even care that you believed her. But if I ever hear another word about my family slip from your venomous mouth, snake,” Marinette spat contemptuously, “you will be served with several lawsuits for defamation from my family alone, ignoring what I’m sure I could rustle up from the plethora of names that you tried to claim a connection to in this building in my range of hearing.” She finished with the air of someone who knew she hadn’t landed the final blow, but was waiting for one last misstep to give her a reason to deliver it.

“How do we know that you’re actually Marinette Wayne?” Alya called out angrily. “You could just be someone who’s jealous after hearing about Lila and all of the things she’s done and the people she knows!”

There it was. He watched the unrestrained glee in Marinette’s eyes as she dismissively delivered her last shot.

“I don’t know. Try googling me.”

And then, without another word, she turned and walked very neatly back to their table, ignoring the attention she had garnered from the rest of the dining room. “So guys, do you have any free time during your trip? I feel like we should do dinner? We should do dinner.”

“That was incredible,” Damian breathed.

And then to his complete surprise, she flushed bright red. “Oh my god. I shouldn’t have-“

“You absolutely should have,” Chloé cut her off. “Rossi’s been lying about you for days now. It’s a miracle this is the first actual consequence.”

“Are you sure I wasn’t too harsh on everyone else though?” She asked. Her eyes were still on him.

Damian shrugged in response. “We’ve tried to tell them before. They chose her. This is their reward.”

“Think about it this way, Mari,” Adrien consoled her. “At least with your put down they have the chance to start being better people. If you had been nicer Lila could have turned it around somehow, like she always does.”

A sudden eruption of shouting came from across the room, and Damian looked over just in time to see Césaire throw a strong punch straight across Rossi’s cheek.

“Oooh, that’s gotta hurt,” Adrien said sympathetically. “Skulls are hard. Alya’s fingers could’ve broken.”

“I think she’s fine,” Chloé said dismissively as Césaire wound up for another, to be held back by Lahiffe.

“Dick’s gonna kill me,” Marinette groaned.

“I’m gonna do what, Sunshine?” Their other tour guide’s voice said brightly. “Congratulations, I sent a video to the family chat and now everyone is losing their minds.”

“Ghhhhhhh,” she moaned further, head sinking into her hands. “Tell my sisters I love them. Cass gets everything. Every brother is disowned.”

“Heartbreaking,” he said dryly, reaching out and snagging a french fry from her tray. Her hand stopped him with a quickness that startled Damian.

“Don’t touch.”

“Sheesh, Mari, alright.” He turned away, to face them. “Adrien, Chloé, good to see you again. Who’s this?”

“Damian Dupain-Cheng,” He introduced himself. “It’s easier to just say I’m their friend than it is to explain everything.”

“You are our friend, idiot,” Chloé threw a fry at him. “Honestly.”

“Hmm.” Richard- Dick? Marinette’s brother’s eyes lingered on Damian. He could feel himself being judged.

“Tell you what. I’m sure Alfred wouldn’t mind a few extra plates at dinner tomorrow, and honestly, I think any time spent away from that group is probably better-“ he sent a look over towards the class, now being barely restrained by Mme. Bustier, stepping between everyone. Her quick, quiet plaintive words were followed by an even louder, “You KNEW?” from Alya - “so how about I okay it with your teacher and you all come visit with Mari at the manor for the evening after your tours tomorrow?”

“You’ll okay it by Bruce too?” Marinette gave him a grin.

“It’s usually Dad,” Adrien said. “Why the name switch?”

“She’s upset with him for something, and since she’s the only one of us who actually calls him that, this is her best weapon,” Dick said with a grimace. “Yeah, yeah, Sunshine, I’ll get the okay for it.”

“Thank you!” She gave him a hug that looked bruising but Dick seemed to give what he got. A few joints cracked.

“Siblings,” Adrien sighed longingly.

“No thank you,” Chloé said disparagingly.

“Do I get a say in this at all?” Damian wondered to himself.

And he was resoundingly answered but four very emphatic No’s.

TAGLIST:

@thestressmademedoit @noirdots @ash-amg @ranger-gothamite @persephonebutkore @zalladane @athena452 @mewwitch @vixen-uchiha @redscarlet95 @mochegato @justafanwarrior @catcusxx @indecisive-mess-named-me @resignedcatservant @marinettepotterandplagg @myazael @mochinek0 @shizukiryuu @loveswifi @gm-nasai @peachedpocky @whatthefox22 @jardimazul @ladybug-182 @schrodingers25 @athena452 @dramatic-squirrel