#i thought about a couple of audio drama books

[pixeldinostorytelling]

zombies run novel when.

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

looking at the 13 era books and audios like do we have to do everything our fucking selves around here

[specialagentartemis]

thinking more about trigger warnings and. Bluntly, I think except for a couple specific types of things—like a rape scene in a book, or gunshot noises in an audio drama—content warnings are almost impossible to be useful when they come from somebody who doesn’t know you.

I talk about a really good horror movie I saw to my mom, and she asks, “Would I like it?” and I can say, “there’s one pretty bloody and gross scene, and one scene of a chimpanzee attacking somebody but it’s mostly offscreen, and otherwise, it’s mostly suspense and psychological, I think you’d like it.” That’s a content warning. It’s also only really possible because I know my mom and I know what makes her uncomfortable (gore and excessive violence, mostly). I was reading one of the bleakest, most depressing, most unsettling books I’ve read in my life, and chatting about it with a friend, and I said upfront that it’s bleak and upsetting, and also went into the background of the author a little bit—he wrote it as he was in and out of hospitals, dying of cancer. My friend’s dad was at that point in the hospital with cancer. Because I knew that I wanted to contextualize the book if he was considering reading it. A lot of the time when I’m talking about sci-fi books with another friend who reads a lot more of them and faster than I do, they will often let me know, “It developed a really bad straight romance halfway through,” or “the romance arc wasn’t awful but was annoying,” or “I actually didn’t mind the romance in this one.” These can be thought of as content warnings, telling me that kind of content to expect and brace myself so I don’t get disappointed by another stupid romance subplot in a book a otherwise was looking forward to. “It’s got SO much body horror” can either be a warning or a recommendation, depending on who you’re talking to. We trade our assessments of books, and let each other know what we might like and what we won't like. That's super important—and impossible to impersonalize.

Especially when it’s stuff like “yeah it was uncomfortably sexist” or “the author writes Asian people in a really uncomfortable way” or “there’s just random fatphobia consistently throughout” or “one of the magic things in it relies on the idea that love is what makes you human and people who don’t fall in love are monsters” which the author obviously isn’t going to warn for and is going to hurt some people more than others, and some people probably aren’t even going to notice. You kind of have to know somebody before you can assess what they might need to know going into something.

[britt-kageryuu]

Leo was a bit bored and rambling. Though the audience and chat were enjoying him talking. His model was dressed in a white shirt with a blue flannel overtop it, bluejeans, sneakers, and his mask with one gay tail, and one pride tail. His model is seated in a version of his train car.

"I don't really understand those ASMR videos, or those voice packs I heard other VTubers do. While I get that some of them are kinda like those audio dramas that are published for popular amime/manga, games and light novels, it's still just a bit weird." He pauses to grab something, which was apparently a book.

"Like in the back of this book is the scripts for a couple audio dramas for this one series. They're from the main girls fiance's pov, but when he talks to her, they didn't record her talking. You just have his thoughts on what she's saying. Actually give me a sec." Leo mutes his mic, and the audience can see he's doing something.

After a few minutes he turns the mic back on, and starts talking with a slightly different tone to his voice, "Hey, sorry if I kept you waiting! I got caught up in traffic... Oh you just got here? You're not just saying that to make me feel better are you?" Leo's model has a bit of a playful look, and he switches the background to a park with sakura trees in full bloom. "I hope you don't mind us having a picnic instead of going to that anime café. They were booked full. But hey the weather is nice, and I made us some lunch." His model holds up a big fancy stacked bento box.

"What?! You didn't think I could cook? Just because I don't do the fancy stuff like my brother, doesn't mean I can't cook. Trust me, you'll love this. But first let's find a place to set up our picnic... Oh you like this spot?" Leo pauses, and then switched back to his train car.

When he started talking again he was back to his usual tone, "Okay, that wasn't that bad, but it's got to be a pain in the butt to write this stuff out, or improve it in a way that sounds natural if a bit cliche. That was just me rehashing some popular romance story tropes, and I couldn't get very far before I started to kinda hit a road block." Leo pauses to take a drink of his tea, "Maybe I could get Dee to try reading some stuff like this. Maybe frame it as, 'I bet you can't read this in a non flat voice!' Or something." He starts to read over the chat, and scrolls back to about where he started to read off his quick script, just reading some of the reactions.

"While this will definitely not be a big thing, and we might never do this again, it would be interesting to see you guys reaction to us posting a couple videos like that. No Promises Though!! We may be creative, but we do have day jobs." Leo continues to read through the chat, before something catches his attention.

"What in the name of Pizza Supreme does that mean? Is that some new thing, or slang? I'm gonna look this up real quick." Leo then goes down a rabbit hole of searching, and kind of forgot he was streaming, and the audience if just listening to his random mumbling about whatever it was he looked up, and then got sidetracked by.

----------------

Masterpost

Really I personally don't fully understand ASMR. The closest I ever got, was listening to a song while reading, and the song just kinda resonated with how I was reading the story, and I got a shiver up my spine.

[dialovers-translations]

DIABOLIK LOVERS GRAND EDITION Stellaworth Tokuten Situation CD ”Date Escapades ~ Ruki・Azusa ~

Original title: デートハプニング ~ ルキ・アズサ ~

Source: Diabolik Lovers GRAND EDITION Stellaworth Tokuten Drama CD

Audio: Ruki / Azusa

Seiyuu: Takahiro Sakurai & Kishio Daisuke

Translator’s note: Similar to the Reiji & Subaru scenarios which I uploaded last week, these tracks are fairly short but sweet. I found it rather ironic how Azusa’s scenario features him buying band-aids and new shoes for the MC after her current pair gives her blisters because I’m pretty sure there’s a scenario in his MB route where he forces Yui to wear tiny shoes because he wants to see her in pain lol. I suppose that’s what you’d call ‘character growth’? :p

RUKI’S SIDE: NURSING

*Knock knock*

You enter Ruki’s room.

“You’re finally here. We have to leave any second now. How strange for you to be tardy when you were the one who invited me along. I was just about to come to your room to call you. ...Hm? Your cheeks are flushed. Do you have a fever, perhaps?”

You insist that you’re fine. 

“No fever, huh? Then let me rephrase my question. ...What exactly were you doing in your room, staying there up until the very last second?”

You avert your gaze. 

“What’s wrong? You can’t give an answer?”

You remain quiet.

“I suppose that also answers my question. ...Come here.”

You shake your head. 

“Why are you acting so stubborn? ...Haah...If you won’t come to me, I’ll go to you instead.”

*Rustle* 

“Come on, look at me. I need to take your  temperature andーー”

You nearly fall but Ruki catches you in time.

*Rustle*

“What are you doing!? Watch out. If you’re this shaky on your legs then...”

He presses his hand against your forehead.

“Hmー Just as I thought. You’re running a rather high fever. It’d be reckless to try and head out in your current condition.“

You protest.

“You can protest all you want, but the answer is no. We aren’t going out today. You head back to your room and rest.“

You shake your head.

“Why are you so insistent on it? Ahー Now that you mention it, the Christmas lights you wanted to see so badly will be taken down after today, won’t they? ...Is that why you’re so stubborn?“

You explain. 

“Limited edition phone straps? Apparently it’ll bring happiness to couples who ue them? ...Do you actually believe that? Haah...Just think rationally for a second. What if you force yourself to head out and collapse like you nearly did just now? I doubt you will be able to enjoy the event in your current state either, so just give up on it.“

You frown. 

“...So you finally understand. I’ll escort you back to your room. There’s no way to guarantee you will actually make it back there safely after all.“

*TIMESKIP*

*Rustle rustle*

“...Ah. You’re awake?“

You ask Ruki how much time has passed.

“Hm? Two hours, I suppose?“

You don’t seem to remember much of when you got to your room.

“Yes. By the time we made it to your room, your consciousness was already fading. You were gripping onto my shirt and I could barely hold a conversation with you. Your fever seemed to be quite high, so I stayed here to keep an eye on you.“

You apologize. 

“No need to apologize. I’ve been reading that book over there while you were asleep. I do not blame you for falling ill. Nor do I mind that we aren’t able to go on our outing as a result. We can always go out another day. ...How do you feel? If you still feel illーー“

You tell him it has gotten a lot better.

“I see. Your complexion looks a lot better too. ...It’s almost time for dinner. If you have an appetite, it’d be best to try and eat something.“

*Cling*

“I made a risotto beforehand but...Do you think you’ll be able to keep it down?“

You nod.

“Mmh, I see. Haah...“

Ruki brings the spoon to your mouth.

*Cling* 

“Huh...? What’s wrong? Open your mouth. ...I am willing to feed you. It’s not that embarrassing, is it? So shut up and open up.“

You protest.

“‘But’...? What? Tell me what you think.“

You give up.

“...So you finally gave up. You should have just done so from the very beginning. Now open your mouth.“

*Rustle* 

“No need to rush. ...Hah. I see. I guess you are embarrassed after all. However, keep still for a second, okay?“

He leans in close. 

“...You had some stuck on the corner of your mouth. Heh. That’s what you get for scarfing down your food. Take that as a lesson to slow down a bit. Once you’re fully recovered, we can try again to go to today’s event.“

You tilt your head to the side.

“A different place? Oh no. Did I not say we would plan a repeat of today? ...You should always keep up with the latest news. Apparently the duration of the Christmas lights you wanted to see today has been extended by two weeks.“

You seem very pleased with the news. 

“Heh...So hurry up and get back, okay? You made a big fuss even while running a fever, so I can imagine just how badly you want to go. I promise that next time, we’ll make it there for sure.”

ーー THE END ーー

AZUSA’S SIDE: HAPPINESS FOUND IN AN UNKNOWN CITY

The two of you are walking in town.

“Eve...We’ve been walking for over an hour now but...This popular restaurant specializing in spicy dishes you spoke of...is nowhere to be found...huh?“

You start to panic.

“No need to rush...We’ve never been to this city before after all...I was really happy...when you invited me along today...So I don’t mind that we got lost...“

You nod.

“Hey. Can you hand me the map for a second?“ 

*Flip* 

“Thank you...Let me see...Right now we’re...“

*Rustle* 

“...around here, so... Mmh. It’s probably this way.“

*Rustle* 

“Let’s go. ...Oh. My bad. ...You were trying so hard to take me there...I shouldn’t have infered, should I? I hope you didn’t mind too much...?“

You shake your head. 

“Thank god...Then, let’s go.“

The two of you continue walking but you seem to be limping a little.

“Oh...Is something wrong with your foot...?“

You shake your head.

“It’s not ‘nothing’. ...Show me, please?“

*Rustle rustle* 

Azusa takes a look at your foot. 

“Ah...A blister...? ...Looks painful.“

You wince in pain. 

“Right. ...Can you wait here one second? I’ll be right back.“

Azusa leaves for a bit.

*TIMESKIP*

“Haah, haah...Sorry...for the wait...I went to buy band-aids for you.“

You frown.

“Eve...?“ 

*Rustle*

“...Cheer up? ...It’s fine.“

You apologize for ruining his day. 

“You looked up this restaurant...for me, didn’t you...? Besides, you chose to wore cute shoes...because today’s like a date, right? So...I’m happy. Thank you.

When I consider that...you thought of me while picking out this pair of shoes...I get this warm feeling inside my chest.“

You cheer up a little. 

“Heh...You finally smiled, huh? ...I get to have you all to myself today...That alone is enough to make me happy but...I believe I’ll be even happier...if I can see you smile.“

You point out a bag he’s carrying with him.

“Ah, this? On my way to buy these band-aids...I spotted this pair of sneakers which I thought would look really good on you...so I bought them for you...Let’s take off your shoes and put these on instead, okay? Just grab onto me.“

You change your shoes. 

*Rustle rustle* 

“Those don’t hurt?“

You nod.

“I see...I’m glad to hear that...“

He reaches out one hand to go.

*Rustle* 

“Come on...Mmh, exactly. Let’s hold hands so you don’t trip?“

You grab hold of his hand.

“Well then...Let’s go, Eve? ...Don’t let go of my hand, okay?“

You walk away hand-in-hand.

ーー THE END ーー

[kingwithpaintedfingers]

As promised!! My recommendations for Warhammer 40k reading

So, rayshell22live asked me what I thought GW was doing wrong vis a vis Warhammer 40k, and I responded with a rant about Black Library instead.

Oops. (Listen, a lot of this is pent up...)

But! I promised (myself) I would list my favorite stuff I've read from Warhammer 40k. For ease of access, I have divided it into several categories.

XENOS

There are not enough stories about Xenos. And apparently a lot of them aren't good. But here are a couple I read and liked!

The Infinite and the Divine by Robert Rath: Everyone recommends this, and for good reason. Fun, sometimes lighthearted, sometimes deep, it's the story of two old robots who hate each other but are forced to work together. It's a tale of two opposing forces, the past and the future, and what they both could mean for the present of the Necron race. Come for the dinosaurs and enemies-to-friends, stay for the old man fights and pranks gone horribly wrong.

War in the Museum by Robert Rath: Basically a deleted scene from The Infinite and the Divine. A short story.

Brutal Kunnin' by Mike Brooks: Orks vs. Tech Priests. Turned out to have way more humans than I would have liked, but still fun! Includes some hell-yeah moments and very quotable lines AND includes TWO non-binary characters! Very nice. Introduces two heroes for the ages: Ufthak Blackhawk, and his squig. The best squig.

Road Rage and Where Dere's Da Warp Dere's a Way by Mike Brooks: More Ufthak shenanigans! Both short stories.

Da Gobbo's Revenge by Mike Brooks: A Grot, tired of being abused by Orks, takes up the role of the ancient Grot hero Da Red Gobbo and begins a revolution. A novella, not long but fun.

The Hand of Darkness by Gav Thorpe: A lovely audio drama about Yvraine, the last hope of the Aeldari, on a mad quest to deprive Chaos of a dangerous asset. (Or, when I want to pretend to be bitter, "Rob's Not Actually Girlfriend (Seriously, She's Just An Ally) Breaks Into Mort's Basement and Ruins the Only Piece of Art He's Ever Made" It is a fantastically emo piece of art, I can't believe I've never referenced it in a fanfic before.) It's a good audio drama, I like it!

The Child Foretold by Nicholas Kaufmann: This one. This one is so. So freaking. GOOD. I just. It's so good??? A man adopts a baby. He has no idea what he's gotten himself into. Warning, it's also from Warhammer Horror.

And, recommended by friends, though I haven't read them yet:

The Twice-Dead King by Nate Crowley: A series of novels about a Necron phaeron trying to save his dynasty. Supposed to be really good, if less humorous than The Infinite and the Divine.

Day of Ascension by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Supposed to be a really good sci-fi novel all around, it tells the tale of a genestealer uprising.

THE CIAPHAS CAIN SERIES by Sandy Mitchell

Listen, you're either going to love this series, or you're going to hate it. Most people can get over the stylistic choices (seriously, there are a lot of phrases that are repeated over and over and over and over and over again by the author), but others find those phrases grating after a while. Give the series a try (personally I think the series gets really good with the second and third books) and decide for yourself. If you like it, you're in good company, and if you don't, that's okay, you're still in good company. Personal highlights for me include The Traitor's Hand, Death or Glory, Cain's Last Stand, the audio drama Dead in the Water, and the novella Good Soldiers Never Die.

BOOKS THAT MENTION MORTARION

There is probably at least one person out there who wants to know what books I recommend for the way I write him. So I included this in its own section.

The Buried Dagger by James Swallow: my first Horus Heresy novel, and the last one before the Siege. Aka "Oh Fuck, We Forgot to Give Mortarion an Actual Personality and Now He Needs to Do Some Emotional Heavy Lifting." And let me just say, Swallow knocks it out the fucking park on this one. I cried. Then I found out he's not written like this in almost ANY other story, even ones by James Swallow, and I cried even more. Do yourself a favor, pick up the audio book, because the way Jonathon Keebler says "I know" in Interval Two is heartbreaking.

"Lantern's Light" by James Swallow: A lot of BL books have what I like to call a "companion short story" that goes with it. This is the one for Mortarion's half of The Buried Dagger. It elaborates Mort's relationship with the Emperor and why it's so bad (hint: it has nothing to do with the Emperor killing his adopted dad).

Unification by Chris Wraight: One of Mortarion's sons reflects on why he follows Mortarion into battle. A companion short story to The Lords of Silence (see below).

Mortarion Pale King of Barbarus and Verdict of the Scythe by David Annandale: While I wish they had gone more in-depth with his character, they both provide us with some intriguing details into how Mortarion wages war in the Great Crusade, and why he does it in the way he does. As well as what his brothers think of him, and how that weighs on him and his actions (a lot more than he's willing to admit).

The above are really good for Mortarion as his own character, and the tragic protagonist of his own story.

Scars, the Path of Heaven, and Warhawk by Chris Wraight: Whereas these stories are good at depicting Mortarion as his own villainous character. Most stories twist and turn Mortarion's personality to depict him as the Jungian shadow of whatever character is the protagonist of this series. Not so the Jaghatai Khan trilogy. Here he is still (mostly) recognizable as the same character as the Buried Dagger's Mortarion, but now he's a villain. Kind of. He's not the main villain of the first two books, but he kind of is for the third one? He doesn't show up often, but it's interesting when he does.

Daemonology by Chris Wraight: There's only one paragraph from his perspective, and it's the last paragraph of the story. Regardless, it provides us with a rare look at how people weaker than Mortarion who aren't on his good side see him. And it shows us that, like the witches and sorcerers he hates, Mortarion has more brains than sense.

Honorable mentions:

Grandfather's Gift by Guy Haley, because Mortarion enjoys a garden in it and it mentions how much pain Mortarion's transformation is (also, he's mostly naked for most of it, make of that what you will). Flight of the Eisenstein by James Swallow has one or two good scenes with Mortarion, but he's barely in it.

HORUS HERESY AND PRIMARCHS

Saturnine by Dan Abnett: Some people hated it, some people loved it, personally I'm in the Loved It camp? It had some memorable moments and some interesting battles! On the other hand, if you're a Fulgrim fan, skip it, it does him no favors. If you're a Perturabo fan, give it a try! He gets some great Only Sane Man moments (and a shirtless scene. That's not important, but it's there.)

Magnus the Red Master of Prospero by Graham McNeill: It's a Magnus book, but it's a fuckin' banger for Perturabo. Good stuff. Petition to have McNeill write all the Perturabo stuff? Just...not the War of Rust, please.

Lorgar Bearer of the Word by Gav Thorpe: Holy shit, did Lorgar not have a happy childhood. Depicts him very sympathetically!

Fulgrim the Palatine Phoenix by Josh Reynolds and Ferrus Manus Gorgon of Medusa by David Guymer: Both of these go on the list for having scenes that live rent-free in my head, most of them involving either Fulgrim or one of Fulgrim's sons. Josh Reynolds is a really good writer in general, though I think he might be the one who doesn't write for GW/BL anymore.

A Lesson in Darkness by Ian St. Martin: Creepy, serial killer fun starring Konrad Curze doing creepy, fucked-up Night Haunter shit. An Audio Drama.

Angron Slave of Nuceria by Ian St. Martin: a grim look at Angron's backstory, and how the suffering he experienced in his past doomed his entire legion. There's a companion short story called "Ghosts of Nuceria," but I'm saving that one for when I really, really need to cry as if the world is ending, so I haven't read it yet. I've read part of it already and man. Man.

OTHERS FROM 40K

The Lords of Silence by Chris Wraight: Generally agreed to be one of the best Chaos Space Marine novels, it follows the story of a warband of Death Guard, the titular Lords of Silence, as they wage war and have existential crises. Introspective and philosophical at times, and always careful to make everyone a well-rounded character, has mystery elements. The story is told out of order and in the present tense, so if those are dealbreakers for you, you'll have to sit them out. also includes a great scene with Mortarion okay thanks bye

The Way Out by Rachel Harrison: part of the Black Library's Warhammer Horror line, it's an audio drama that will keep you guessing until the end. Spooky and creepy and mysterious.

A couple more honorable mentions to round things out. The following all have scenes that live rent-free in my mind, all are either short stories or novels from Warhammer Horror, all take place in 40k:

The Deacon of Wounds by David Annandale; The Bookkeeper's Skull by Justin D. Hill; Imperator Gladio by Richard Strachan.

AND A FEW FROM AGE OF SIGMAR Not very many, though, because I haven't read very many...

Hallowed Knights: Plague Garden by Josh Reynolds: the only AoS novel I've ever read. Loved it. If Torgun dies, I'll fucking riot. Part of a series that may have been stopped, sadly.

The Vintage by David Annandale: a Warhammer Horror short story I hated the first time, loved the second time. Got a really killer premise, pun not intended. From that one year where Games Workshop decided that all of the Warhammer Horror Week stories would be about vampires.

Anyway, some of the stuff I enjoyed.

[burgeoning-ambition]

Language Study Methods I've Been Using

(When I don't want to look at my textbooks)

I haven't wanted to work out of my textbooks the past couple of weeks (and I've wanted to do more natural practice that isn't generic textbook-speak), so here are the main 3 methods I've been using to give myself better practice than just using a workbook or a textbook!

If anybody decides to try any of this because of this post, let me know how you like them! I'm working in Japanese for all of these, so occasionally parts of my description are specific to working in Japanese, but of course you could do these in any language.

Audio Transcription: This one has by far been my favorite activity recently! Since I like video games, I choose a game I like to do this, but anything with speaking lines in it (anime, dramas, movies, plays, etc.) works well! I just pull up a voice line that I can repeat a few times (I've been using Project Sekai dialogue- specifically tapping on them on the character rank screens so I can't see the translated dialogue pop up), and play the audio a few times as I write down what I hear in hiragana and katakana (no kanji). After I've gotten the entire line transcribed based on what I hear, I go back through it with the English translation the game gives for the line pulled up and write the kanji for words and correct words that I can tell are wrong. I do my best to get it as completed and correct as possible just using my own knowledge and the English translation before doing a final check by pulling up the original written Japanese dialogue to see how I did. It's been incredibly fun and a huge confidence booster for me, as it's shown me my listening comprehension is better than I thought!

Journaling: I mentioned in a small update post that I wrote myself a python code that generated Japanese writing prompts with grammar points and vocab to use based on Genki 1 and 2, and I've been using it regularly to give me prompts! It generates three grammar points, and I try to incorporate all three grammar points into my journal entry somewhere as I talk about my day and what's on my mind. Sometimes I'll run the generator a couple of times to get a better suggestion that works better with things I know I want to write about, and it's been really effective in getting me to use a variety of grammar points instead of just using the ones I remember the best! I feel more confident producing things that use more complicated grammar structures the more I use them, so having this generate grammars that I skip or forget that I've learned helps me get more confident in more things! It's nice getting to write a little bit every day, too.

Looking at TL Websites: This is my lower-pressure version of reading books, haha. I find a Japan-only game or audio drama or something (or, if I can access it, view the Japanese website for a game I've played or can play) and just... Read it! I usually do this while in a call with my partner to give myself some pressure to prove my comprehension by translating it or roughly explaining what it says to my partner as I go. This one is nice because it leads to finding cool stuff! I've found some cool series/games/etc. that were only released in Japan that I can use to practice comprehension and practice translating so I can get my partner involved in it too. Searching for kanji can be difficult with this one sometimes, since a decent amount of the time the kanji I need to search is an image and not text that I can copy, so if it's difficult to recognize the radicals or how I'd write it... Difficult. But overall it's still fun! It's the slowest method of the three I've been using, so I have to be in the mood for searching for kanji, haha.

If you're sick of a textbook, I'd definitely recommend trying one of these out! There are also a lot of other methods thrown around across langblr and studyblr, so there's plenty of exploration you can do if you're sick of just practicing with stiff textbook exercises. Happy learning!

[maskedemerald]

First A Curiosity Piqued Novella Is Out!

I did it! It's real and in my hands! I still can't believe it!

Fantasy! Mystery! Slice of life!

Explore an alternate world where magic and science go hand in hand. Aelfraed a soon to be detective, and currently over stressed university student is having a very bad weekend.

Expect: Worldbuilding, characters out of their depth, family drama, supportive and distinctly less supportive family, murder, deception and the beginning of an arc of self discovery for our protagonist!

Buy it here: A Curiosity Piqued – The Last Straw Novella – Masked Emerald

Paperback and E-book are currently available, give me a couple more weeks and there will be an audio book version if that's more your speed!

Want to hear about the adventure of chaos that was getting this thing out over the last month then look below the cut!

Editing takes longer than I thought that's the first thing I'm taking away from this. Definitely leaving more time for that with the next book. I had meant to be done before going away for my birthday (oh man that was a chaotic adventure all on its own) instead it took a whole extra week after I got back.

Finally I got it sent to print only for the layers on my cover to go really weird on the proof. Loads of extra lines and the layers were out of order. It was weird but we worked out how to solve it.

Then just to add to it there were delays with the printing, however the company I was getting them printed with was great in getting some to me for the first of my Xmas markets. So 50 books turned up half way through the market and it really brightened my really cold day when I saw them. I had been so worried but they looked great! I was grinning all day after that and full of excitement.

Then I learnt something about E-books... or at least that PDFs from word are messed up when converted to Epub. Tiny images moved all over the place, chapter breaks not where they were meant to be and the text in general was a choppy mess. So I've spent the last two days throwing the text back into Scrivener to output on their Epub compile and then just adjusting it a little in the editor. Basically don't trust software did it right, check it.

Today the rest of my print order arrived and now I have to find somewhere to store the boxes of books. Had a little scare when the second big box was badly bashed on arrival but the smaller boxes inside were fine so all good there. Its strange to think that all this is my book!

[siena-sevenwits]

Jan 4 - Day #5 - A Fortnight of Books

Most thrilling, unputdownable book of 2023?

Sherlock Holmes: The Voice of Treason by Cavan Scott & George Mann

I was at first uncertain whether to count this as a book, as it truly is a long audio drama with lots of Watson narration in between. But Goodreads counts it as a book, it is standard novel length, and I have occasionally counted dramatized books in the past for my challenges. So I am going to include it. This was a fun work, faithful to the original characterizations and time period, though not the kind of mystery Conan Doyle would be likely to write (which is not a must, as far as I am concerned. I was amused that the plot centred around Queen Victoria being kidnapped shortly before her Diamond Jubilee (ahem... sounds familiar...)

But the plot ends up turning on a lot of varied things. Anarchist uprisings in London, Watson's estranged brother Henry's return, a mysterious Australian lady whose letters have all gone missing, and one of the most enjoyable takes on Moriarty I've ever seen. I will say, the plot contrivance of the Prince of Wales ordering Holmes and Moriarty to work together strained suspension of disbelief terribly, and the novel had to cruise on the reader's good will that it was fun to see. I didn't end up minding terribly because Moriarty's scenes, especially with Watson, were very enjoyable (and thank you for giving Moriarty his Irish-isms!) Now, this was NOT a well-structured mystery. It broke a thousand rules. I usually give works inspired by the Holmes canon a pass on this sort of thing, because Doyle doesn't write fair mysteries either, at least by the standards of the Golden Age. I know this is an anachronistic standard to hold them to, but I get on best if I just act like "Sherlock Holmes" is a particular setting and type of adventure story, rather than detective fiction. On this level, the story succeeds, and certainly kept me listening. There were a couple of things I really didn't like - some scattered language, and the author failed to stick the death of an important character in a meaningful or emotional resonant way. But on the whole it was fun and set me off on one of my Sherlock Holmes kicks.

Book that was most outside your comfort zone/new genre exploration?

Le Road Trip: A Traveler's Journal of Love and France by Vivian Swift

I don't read much travel literature as a rule, but I was intrigued by this one. It's a short memoir/art journal of the author and her husband's slow trip through France, interspersed with memories of her experiences there in her twenties. What I liked best about this book is the love of savouring places it communicated - Swift models well how travel should include love for the little things rather than only the spectacular. Her sketch-paintings are evocative too. However, there was nothing that really stayed with me from this memoir, and there was a bit of language midway through that was completely unnecessary. I'd love to experience some really well-written, thoughtful travel literature.

[dargeereads]

My top reads of 2023

I honestly have reached a point where I read books from the same authours, either to get through their back lists, or keep up with their new releases. I still try out someone new, but it doesn’t happen as much as it used to. That was a factor when I went to figure out my top reads of 2023, there were several books by the same authours that I loved, so I decided I had to pick my favourite

There is quite a selection here: fantasy, MM, DD/lg, womens lit, fake dating, hockey, alien angels, and former service men. They deal with prejudice, abuse, addiction, homophobia, disabilities, and PTSD. Not all were new releases, some had been on my TBR, and made it out this year. They were the stories that stuck with me, brought me into their world and took me along with them, the ones that made me remember and think about the characters long after the I finished. It wasn’t easy wheedling this list down, I started with over 20, but I ended up with these eight because I was immediately drawn back to them time and time again. So, in no particular order, my top reads of 2023

The Rising by Kristen Ashley. I am crying just thinking about this book as I write this. This is a fantasy read, a four book story arc that ends with The Rising, the name of the series. It follows 4 couples, destined to be together, to save the world. It has a rich and full cast of characters, and even more, side characters that are just as important as our couples. I listened to it on audible, and each character has their own narrator, with one narrator for the common story threads. Alternating POV’s, flawed and broken, proud and strong, this whole cast will take you through a myriad of emotions and situations. The audiobooks are only on audible, but the ebooks are available everywhere and in Kobo Plus

The Tragedy of Felix and Jake by J Daniels. Don’t let the title turn you away, this is a heart wrenching story of two addicts, trying to keep their lives together, while falling for each other. It was smart, it was sexy, and it ran the gamut of emotions more than once. It didn’t shy away from the struggles and pain, and the joy and the fun, that life alternately gives to you, and depending on where you are, how it affects you. Ebook available in KU

Act Your Age by Eve Dangerfield. Kicking myself on this one, because I had it on my TBR forever, and when I finally dove in, I completely understood what all the fuss was about that I heard for years! This is a workplace romance. This is a journey of self-acceptance for both our hero and heroine, and the DD/lg dynamic they crave. Add in their age gap, family drama, and possible conditioning elements, and there was a lot for them to unpack, know themselves, and accept their desires. I listened to this with Kobo Plus (with Australian actors narrating), and both the ebook and audio books are available everywhere and in Kobo Plus

The Sunshine Girls by Molly Fader. When Molly writes a story, I know she is taking me on a journey. This book covers the friendship between two women, who take very different paths in life, yet, stay connected throughout it all. It consumed me, my thoughts, my feelings, and all my moments while I was listening to it, and, long after I finished. Not only do we get our two friends, we get the daughters of one of them, as they try to figure out the connection and why they didn’t know about the friendship. Available everywhere in ebook and audio

Three to Get Ready by Skye Warren. This is the third book in a trilogy, and what made it stand out for me was that everything wasn’t wrapped up in a neat “life is wonderful” bow when it ended. There is an HEA, there are two people deeply in love and living life, it is just life has some adjustments and situations as a chronic disease is part of the package. Over the course of the three books, which starts with fake dating, we learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of our characters, as the maneuver in uncharted waters. Audiobook available at audible and ebook in KU

I’m Your Guy by Sarina Bowen. The irony of this book, featuring a gay hockey player, is it came out during the real-life ban of pride tape in the NHL. This book highlighted the homophobia the LGBTQ2+ players would be presented with, and the scariness, of being able to be who you are, in those conditions. Our main character has hidden who he is all his life, conditioned by his family and society, to not rock the boat. It doesn’t mean he wasn’t abused, ridiculed, or mocked, he just learned to accept it. His outside persona doesn’t match his inner turmoil, which skewers peoples perceptions. When he can’t hold back his feelings or actions, he becomes even more conflicted. Loved how it worked through it all, without fanfare or comment, just deciding to live his life. Audiobook available at audible, ebook available everywhere and in Kobo Plus

Elija by Eve Langlais. I love how Eve can take preconceived notions of religion and turn it on its’ head! Her space angels series, Elyon’s Warriors, is a serious take on that, with devoted angels to heavens cause, with a twist. Elija was the one book that I loved a little bit more than the rest, though they all were on my top list. For a bit of a paranormal/alien/angel story, with all of our angels finding love with a human woman, you need to check this series out! Ebooks and audiobooks available everywhere. Ebooks in Kobo Plus and audiobook available in Everand

Deserving Henley by Susan Stoker. The series, The Refuge, is all about having a safe place for people suffering from PTSD to go and be themselves. Deserving Henley takes one of the owners who is the most reclusive, and letting him be himself. That was what made the book for me, he didn’t need to change, he just needed to have a life that worked for him. Audiobook available at audible and ebook available everywhere and in Kobo Plus

[nobleriver]

tag 9 people you wanna get to know better!

tagged by: @spacewives-in-spacetime in this post (who already knows I'm wordy as crap so all of this is your fault)

three ships: OTP: Doctorriver (from Doctor Who, all incarnations), BatCat (Batman/Catwoman), SasuSaku (Sasuke/Sakura from Naruto/Boruto)

I am a huge romantic. Romance, to some capacity, is required in almost every story I read or watch. As a result, I have a lot of couples I like. But shipping is another level of interest. So I decided to go with these three because I spent the most money on them lol. I've bought comics, audio dramas, books, and boxsets. And for those wondering why I didn't put Klaus/Caroline from TVD...they broke my heart that's why. :(

last song: Over the Love by Florence and the Machine

last movie: Avatar 2

currently reading: *takes a deep breath*

Ariadne: The Novel. Literally just finished this morning, so my frustration is still fresh. I absolutely adore the story of Ariadne and Bacchus. I almost wrote a novel based on them when I was 19 but I decided not to continue. But because I am so familiar and fascinated by them, I should not have bought this book. The book itself is fine. It was just a mismatch of expectations.

Yes, in the Greco-Roman myths, there is a running theme that some individuals are heroes to men but dogs to women. And there are few variations to Ariadne's story, so one never knows which direction the author will go. But there is more to Ariadne than being a perpetual victim to all the men in her life. At least, to me, there is. This is why, if I have doubts, I usually check the middle of a book before I buy it. I checked this time too, and I thought I was safe, but it was actually the last pages that ruined it for me.

I wanted to read the liberation and empowerment of Ariadne, her conversion from the naive, discarded princess to the triumphant Libera, the ascendant goddess whose name literally means free; the woman who latched hold of a once in a lifetime opportunity and carved a place for herself in the halls of Olympia after her lover, Theseus, abandoned her to starve to death on the shores of Naxos; the Libera who watched, enthroned, as her would-be killer suffered a series of mishaps and fell from grace in the eyes of gods and man.

And were all those mishaps accidents? Or curses? And if so, by whom? Her? Bacchus? Another deity? Is Ariadne foolish or cunning, haughty or generous, vengeful or forgiving? There are so many routes her story can go. However, this book does not take the route of the empowered Libera. It has a negative character arc, which - again - is fine, just not for me. Unless it's about the protagonist turning into the villain in which case it's 100% for me.

Other books I'm currently reading because I do not read one book at a time: Francine Rivers's The Lady's Mine; Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None; Tom Baker's Scratchman; James Patterson and Emily Raymond's The Girl in the Castle; and Jacqueline Rayner's Legends of Camelot.

And don't get me started on the endless list of ongoing manga/manhua I read monthly.

currently watching: Nothing really. I've been meaning to watch the latest season of You. And I've rewatched a couple Doctor Who eps for research (fanfic) purposes. But I don't really watch tv anymore, at least I don't regularly follow any tv shows like I used to.

currently consuming: electrolyte water as prescribed

currently craving: Food. I'm hungry but I don't want to cook. But guess who promised to cook today? Me.

@iceinherheart-kissonherlips @livingdeadblondequeen @expelliarmus @wibblyowzah @whogirl42 @benoitblanc @nostalgia-tblr @watson-emma @clarabosswald

[whimsicaldragonette]

Audio ARC Review: Right Girl, Wrong Side by Ginny Baird

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Publication Date: March 28, 2023

Synopsis:

Busy flower shop manager Evita Machado can't wait to get to Nantucket. With a bad breakup behind her, relaxing at the shore with her folks and her brothers and their families sounds like the sure cure for heartache, and their vacation destination looks like an amazing place! But when they arrive at the quaint rose-covered cottage, another group has already put down stakes: the Hatfields. Ryan Hatfield was Evita's former crush from high school, but their business rival moms refused to let them date. Now history professor Ryan is here for a week with his parents, who won them this oceanfront rental in a society silent auction. Once it's clear there's been a double-booking due to a bidding mistake, Ryan's mom digs in her heels, meaning to stay. When Evita's mom won't back down either, both sides tepidly agree to share the luxury accommodations by dividing the cozy space. With the boisterous Machados livening things up and the strait-laced Hatfields tamping them down, can Evita and Ryan keep the peace between the warring factions while fostering a growing chemistry between the two of them?

My Rating: ★★★★★

*My Review below the cut.

My Review:

I was slow to warm up to this one. The premise was cute and amusing, but I found the writing in the first 20% or so lackluster. Then the characters really started to shine and made up for it. In the end, I loved it. I really enjoyed how the romance itself almost took a backseat to the family drama. It's clear that the whole impetus for reconciling the Hatfields and Machados is to make it possible for Evita and Ryan to be together. They crushed on each other in highschool, drifted apart because of their families' long-standing feud, and then instantly fell for one another when the two families showed up for the same beach-house getaway due to a charity auction mixup. Even so, there were very few scenes of them being romantic, and the story mainly focused on the two of them as mediators in the family drama and scheming together over how to get everyone together. All of the characters were so amusing and endearing and just felt real. There was such a contrast between the uptight, secretly unhappy Hatfields and the gregarious and loving extended family of the Machados. This created endless opportunity for humor and conflict. I listened to the audiobook and thought it was great. I did end up speeding it up quite a bit, but the Spanish accents felt natural and believable and the characters' voices were all easily distinguishable and pleasant. The kids' voices were incredibly unnatural sounding which I found jarring, but it did add some humor. The narrator really brought the story to life and I think I enjoyed it a lot more than I would have otherwise. Ryan and Evita were so sweet together, falling easily into their familiar highschool lab partners bond and enjoying one another's company from the beginning despite their families' antics. They were incredibly believable as the sort of couple who lasts. They were easily the most mature members of their families, and both had to have serious talks with their parents about respecting their boundaries and choices as adults. They also both were very good with the children. *Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for providing an early copy of the audiobook for review.

[daybreakx]

✄ pairing: frenemie’s ex! Seonghwa x gn! reader.

✄ genre: break up au, angst, fluff.

✄ summary: after being made into the villain, you don’t see an out of the drama you began other than breaking up with seonghwa, however, he’s not letting you go so easily.

✄ word count: 3.08k

✄ warnings: people being nasty to mc, drama drama drama, mentions of food, cyberbullying. this is unedited and i apologize in advance for any silly mistake.

✄ a/n: thank you so much to everyone who asked for a part two to The Rule Book, here it is! I hope you like this part as much as the previous one♡

✄ rule #1

It’s like high school all over again. Except for the fact that, instead of getting sent to the principal’s office, you got a meeting with HR and instead of detention, you got to an office of your own which you are sure was a utilities closet two days prior. 

And you are shunned still, even after two weeks. People who had meaningless conversations with you while on a coffee break are now avoiding you, whispering every time you walk by about how they never thought you could be so heartless. 

The worst part is that they don’t even like Eunhee, they just dislike you even more. 

Okay, maybe the worst part is that you haven’t even told Seonghwa about how making your relationship public has turned out to be much worse than you expected at first. When it hasn't even crossed his mind that things could be like this. 

He’s too busy with work, something that doesn’t bother you at all, if anything you’re grateful you don’t have to explain why you come back home on the verge of tears practically every day. Half the time it’s tears of rage, because Eunhee is thriving on this.

You see it in the way she smirks when she passes by your office, making the most to catch your eye. You see it in the way she celebrated when your boss suggested you spend more time writing posts rather than filming videos “for the sake of the work environment.” And you see it in the clearest way possible, when she decides to make a story out of you.

“Story time about how an ex-friend stole my boyfriend just to spite me…” 

The audio narrated by Eunhee blasts from your phone and, after giving a little jump, you turn the volume down hurriedly. You’re alone in your apartment, but the embarrassment overlooks that tiny detail. You shouldn’t be looking at Eunhee’s profile, much less at her videos. But you can’t help it, because you know what’s coming, you know it’s about you. It’s the third video in a row where she tells the story of how she was ‘so in love with a guy…’ who she insists on calling “Mars”, and how a person messed their relationship up because they have always been jealous about her: Because she’s pretty, smart, creative, etc. At least she hasn’t given you a nickname. But her followers have, they call you all sorts of things in the comments, things foul enough to make your eyes fill with tears and your jaw clench just by reading the top three. 

You wipe your tears and lock your phone. You can’t keep torturing yourself like this, you can’t bear it anymore. Are you really that much of a bad guy? 

The phone rings and you jump again, clearing your throat to dissolve the knot in it before trying on a cheerful ‘Hi love!’ as Seonghwa greets you. 

“Are you okay?” he asks, you can already picture the little furrow between his brows, the most obvious gesture of his concern, and a pang of guilt runs through you. This is childish, so fucking childish.

“I’m all right, why?” you chuckle weakly, but don’t give him a chance to follow up with an answer. “How are you? Are you getting home soon?”

“In a couple hours,” Seonghwa replies, his voice already tired. “Are you sure you’re okay, babe?”

“It was just a bad day at work,” you admit finally, biting the tip of your tongue to keep yourself from spilling anything else. “But it’s good to hear your voice.”

Seonghwa laughs softly and you chat a little more about your days before he has to go back to work, him still trying to cheer you up as best he can. 

You’re grateful for him, and moreover, you feel your heart swell with love for him every time you’re together. You are in love with Seonghwa and he’s in love with you too.

So why are you thinking about leaving him?

+++

Seonghwa places a piece of cake in front of you, making a whole show of scooping icing on his fingertip to rub it in your nose gently. You force laughter distractedly as your eyes search for a napkin, you’re not in the mood to be playful, you shouldn’t even be at this party. 

“Is everything okay?” He asks, passing you a napkin himself, suddenly bashful about annoying you. “Are you not having a good time?”

“It’s not that,” you rush to reply, wiping the icing with enough force to leave your skin irritated. “I’m just–” tired? stressed? overwhelmed? You don’t know which word to pick this time to describe how you’re feeling, having overused them already every time Seonghwa asks how you’re doing. 

Your boyfriend frowns, running the tip of his finger down your sticky nose and feeling sorry again for bothering you. It’s clear you don’t even want to be here, and he doesn’t know what to do to change that. Maybe it’s been his fault from the start, for insisting that you come to Yeosang’s birthday party to introduce you to most of his friends and colleagues as his partner. 

He’s ruining everything again.

“I think i’ll just call it an early night,” you decide before putting a spoonful of cake inside your mouth. “I’m not feeling well.”

“We can go home sure,” Seonghwa runs his hand down the back of your head, too conscious about his gestures now. 

“No! I wouldn’t want you to miss the rest of the party.”

The music starts booming again because people have swallowed their tiny pieces of cake and are back to drinking and dancing. It’s fun, you think, most of the people present are doctors and nurses and you can tell they’re making the most of their night off. 

“Are you sure?” 

You nod, swallowing more cake before getting up from the seat you’ve occupied most of the night. “I’ll just grab an Uber, and call you when I’m home.”

Seonghwa lets you go after saying goodbye with a kiss on the cheek. Maybe giving you space is for the best, maybe it’s what you both need. 

But he knows it’s not. 

Maybe he is in fact fucking everything up again, you’ve probably already had enough of him not calling or texting for great spans of time, of him being too tired to hold a proper conversation, of him getting sulky and preoccupied. Or to put it in a more simple manner: You just don’t like him anymore. 

“Where’s y/n?” Yeosang asks as he approaches, San follows him closely with the camera of his phone aimed at both of them. 

“They just left,” Seonghwa explains,feigning lightness. “They didn’t feel so good.”

San raises both eyebrows at this. “Are you two fighting?”

Seonghwa shakes his head, although unsure. “It’s nothing.”

But San is the person that knows you best, maybe this nothing is something and you have told him. Seonghwa just has to get him alone for a bit, try to get him to talk. He discards the idea as soon as he gets it, what the hell is he thinking? Harassing your friends in common for answers to a problem he hasn’t bothered to bring up directly with you? He’s an idiot. 

“You two look great together,” Yeosang blurts out awkwardly. 

“Thanks,” Seonghwa chuckles, suddenly overwhelmed with exhaustion. He should go home too. 

It finally happens one Friday when you’re on the subway. Your stomach is already roiling with anxiety as you approach the stop that will leave you two blocks away from your workplace. You used to love your job, even with the slightly long commute and the lack of respect to your actual working hours. But now the mere thought of setting foot on your office makes the back of your head hurt and your tongue dry, it’s torture. And you know today will be worse because it’s finally happening: Eunhee is going to reveal who is the foul person who ruined her relationship with the love of her life. 

You should have blocked everything about her 10 part story the moment she started spewing lies (which was the very first second of part #1) but something made you addicted to knowing what else she said. The regret that you still felt about potentially hurting her, maybe. Or the fear of confirming every time that people thought you were the scum of the Earth. 

But if Eunhee actually tells everyone who you are, things are going to get real bad. Worse than they have been for the past month. People have been vile to this, so far, unreal person who made little innocent Eunhee so sad. When they can put a face to this villain, when they know their name—your name, they’re not going to stop until they see blood in the water. 

Eunhee smiles as she crosses you in the hallway, her pink mug filled with coffee to the brim, which she spills in a small puddle at your feet. The splash stains your shoes and manages to burn your toes a little. 

“My bad,” she says with a small gasp, the smirk still on her lips. 

You bite the tip of your tongue so hard it almost bleeds. You want to yell at her to stop, you wish you to have an actual fight. Not even over Seonghwa. Over how exploitative and manipulating she’s always been, how self-centered and selfish she acted through the poor excuse of a friendship you two had. You want to erase that smugness wholly, you want her to know what it feels not to get away with everything, just for once. 

But things are so fragile right now that you know the moment you confront her, your face will be all over her 20k follower page. 

You’re letting her bully you, and it’s so humiliating you step out of her way and rush to the bathroom, where you clean your stupid shoes and cry.

There is one solution to this, and you don’t need Eunhee to tell you what it is. You have to break up with Seonghwa. Seonghwa who probably has started to dislike you anyway. Thanks to your prickliness and avoidance, and the huge abyss of miscommunication you single-handedly created. 

“I think we should break up,” you break the bubble of awkward silence that surrounds you by making things worse. You’re at your apartment, sitting on opposite ends of the living room, Seonghwa with a cardiology book on his lap while you scroll through your phone, anxiety driving you to refresh Eunhee’s page every three minutes. 

You want to pause though, the moment the words leave your mouth. You break up with Seonghwa and then what? Tell Eunhee the deal is done and that she please, please, leave you alone? Let you enjoy your job again and not talk about this whole telenovela she has written by herself ever again? You know she won’t take it, it has earned her the attention she has always wanted. The attention she never stops craving. 

Seonghwa closes the book slowly, gaining time to gather his thoughts, yet the only thing that comes out of his mouth is: “What did I do wrong?”

“Nothing!” you gaps, which is a stupid thing to say. You don’t break up with someone who has done nothing wrong. “I just– I don’t think this is working.”

Seonghwa gets up from his seat and crouches in front of you. “Seriously,” he lowers his voice. “Please tell me what I did wrong.”

Your heart aches at the fact that he’s taking the whole blame, and you want to yell at him to not be an idiot and admit that you’ve been the worst partner to possibly exist. Especially this last month. 

“Was it my job? I’ll try my best, y/n. I promise I’ll try harder–”

“It’s not you,” your eyes burn with unspilled tears, “How can you even think it’s you?”

“It’s usually me,” Seonghwa says lightly, but you can tell it hurts him to admit he’s always the one to ruin his relationships. “I– I’m sorry, what can I change? I–”

“It’s me, Seonghwa, are you serious?” you don’t even know if you’re sad or angry anymore. You hate him a little bit at that moment for thinking he’s to blame. And you hate yourself too, for not telling him the truth. 

His eyes examine you for a whole minute, trying to figure you out, break you out into little pieces as if that way he could finally get into your brain. But your phone buzzes on the table and both your focus breaks, you jump to grab it, dread coming over you. 

“Tell me what it really is then,” Seonghwa says, his hand closing his hand over yours, the one that’s holding your phone shakily. 

And it is about time you break down. Because you feel so goddamn stupid. This isn’t high school anymore, yet you’re letting a mean girl step on you without telling anyone. You feel bullied and scared and alone. 

So the only thing you do as you sob is give your phone to Seonghwa, open in Eunhee’s newest video where she finally says your name and reminds everyone of where you two work. 

The worst is coming.

Seonghwa tends to feel inadequate very often. Which is very surprising for someone who appears very self-assured most of the time and whose job is to be confident in his decisions. But he doesn’t think he’s ever felt worse than at that moment, as he scrolls down the horrible comments that people are so quick and brave to make about you. The best ones, if they can even be called such, call you a homewrecker, the worst ones threaten to harm you with their own hands. He has left you to deal with this all alone. 

“I’m so sorry,” he mumbles, holding you as you still cry. “I am so, so sorry.”

In the end it is his fault, his frankly insane ex-girlfriend is making your life an actual living hell and he had no idea.

“Please quit your job,” he begs next, shaking his head. “We’ll figure something out, but please quit your job.”

The hate messages have started to pile up in your personal profiles, and people don’t take long in finding out who Seongwha is. But he’s not getting the same treatment as you are. You manipulated him, he’s not at fault here. He’s a handsome doctor who didn’t know any better. 

Seonghwa feels physically disgusted as he keeps reading everything these people have said about you. Everything Eunhee has made up. Honestly he has no idea of how you’ve managed to put up with them. And with him, because guilt is starting to eat him up, he feels responsible for putting you through this. 

“I love you,” he whispers once you’ve calmed down, his arms still wrapped around you. “I’m sorry you’ve had to go through this alone.”

You want to shrug, but it’s been enough of trying to downplay it. This has hurt you deeply, more than anything else in a very long time. But you’re grateful Seonghwa doesn’t say ‘you should have told me,’ or ‘you could have stopped this.’ 

He takes a deep breath, running his fingers through your hair. “We’ll figure this out together, y/n.”

San wants to tear Eunhee apart. And he might have, had he not known it would mortify you even more that he caused a scene, but as he enters your workplace, Seonghwa has to place a hand on his shoulder to bring him back to Earth. 

They’re picking your stuff up, you sent your resignation letter a couple days back and your boss and HR sighed collectively. Those cowards. So they said it was okay if you didn’t show up yourself to clear your desk and finally free the supply closet, but they also didn’t think you’d send your (still) boyfriend to get your stuff. It wasn’t your plan either, but Seonghwa needs to clear a lot of things up with Eunhee. 

Both guys make themselves busy with putting your things in a cardboard box, trying to rush through it until Eunhee shows up at the door, ready to feign surprise until she realizes it’s Seonghwa who’s standing in front of her. 

Suddenly she’s not so brave. 

Yena is looking above her shoulder at San and Seonghwa, and grimaces when the latter walks toward the door, but doesn’t let Eunhee slip away. This might get interesting. 

Seonghwa wants to say so many things. Things that will hurt Eunhee the way she has hurt you and your relationship. Things she will not forget in a long time and will keep her up at night, the way they keep you up with anxiety and overflowing thoughts. 

But this evilness isn’t really in him. At this point he just wants Eunhee to leave you two alone, so he turns back to the desk and finishes cleaning it up. 

Eunhee lets out a sigh and a sufficient appears on her face, she’s won. 

“You’re a liar,” Seonghwa calls before she’s able to walk away. “You are a crazy liar, and if you ever talk about y/n again, I will make sure you regret it.” He's probably digging his own grave, knowing Eunhee, but someone needs to stop her. And he doesn’t care about whatever she’ll make up about him. 

It’s San’s turn to hold Seonghwa back, they’re finished here. And she’s not worth it. 

“Crazy bitch.”  he whispers anyway, because it’s the least he can do.

+++

The hate messages have become less and less over the course of weeks. There are people who have come out in your defense, yours and Seonghwa’s friends. Other ex-boyfriend’s of Eunhee, more people she has bullied and stepped on to get her way. They have exposed her as crazy, manipulative, as the snake she truly is. But the worst one yet is Yena. Eunhee completely forgot they were two sides of the same coin, and Yena exposed every single lie she told about you and Seonghwa, not because she wanted to clear your name, but because she knew she’d get every ounce of attention Eunhee lost. 

You don’t care anymore. It’s a miracle your relationship has survived this craziness, and you don’t want to get involved with them ever again. 

Your relationship with Seonghwa isn’t perfect, actually. But you have made rules of your own, and these ones you follow perfectly. 

[dreamsclock]

Sparrow, you usually keep my anxiety in check when it comes to dsmp. People are telling me that CC!Dream gave up on his pov lore video, could you give me some facts that could ease my worries over the rumors being true? -Fish Anon

of course fish anon !! glad to try and help !! so cc!dream did a discord stage only about a month ago, where he spoke animatedly about his lore stream !! i don’t have the video at hand but i remember most of what he said so i can tell you :]

— started recording his lore stream back in march, before realising he hadn’t recorded sam’s audio so got demotivated and stopped working on it

— picked it back up over the past few months !! planned almost all of it and has been editing some too

— coded a few things onto the smp specifically for his lore :0

— has spoken to a couple of people involved to help him with it

based on this only being around a month ago, and the fact he’s a) talked to people about it and b) coded things onto the smp specifically for his lore stream, that doesn’t sound like he’s given up on it to me !!

he’s planning on uploading the lore stream eventually to dreamXD which is his second youtube acc. he originally planned to make another channel specifically for dream smp stuff where all dream smp members could upload their dsmp content, but then dismissed that idea because he thought he’d forget about it.

but even if he does end up not giving us a lore stream (though i’m confident he will), here are some other things to remember:

— dream loves that smp potentially more than all the members combined (exaggerated, but he spends so much time working on lore with people and reviving the smp and getting things coded for streamers and planning plots and just generally keeping the smp alive and running)

— he’s a big fan of writing and tried to write books as a kid so even if we don’t get a lore video, we’re gonna get lots of lore that will have been co-written by dream !!

— dream’s character is INTEGRAL to the plot. without a lore video, his character won’t disappear and be irredeemable: instead we’ll hopefully get to see his character from other perspectives like c!techno’s and c!ranboo’s (enderwalking) that will be more sympathetic :D

lore is slowly but surely coming back: lore will come back with a boom when c!dream escapes prison. cc!dream is a drama queen, like he’s said — you really think he’ll miss the opportunity to have all eyes on his character as he escapes prison in style? /j /lh

[amaya-chwan]

Aaaaand another THERAPY GAME Mini Story SURPRISE!

Hello again everyone! 🥰❤️💛

It is week 3 of lockdown for me 😭😭 and I am now 90% finished cleaning my entire room! (Is this Amaya-chwan's lockdown journal now? hahaha!) And I have unearthed yet another mini story that I'd like to share with you all~ 🤭

Quick overview: Shizuma asks Minato about his tattoo! 🐍🌹

This story is also featured as track 3 on the mini drama CD with the "Workplace Visit" mini story. I think I also posted a translation of the audio here, but I can't quite remember, ahha! But my thoughts were the same as the WV mini story--I wanted to share in the dorkiness and cuteness of our favourite couple with you all~ ❤️💛

⚠️Please do not reupload or repost these images anywhere else! Especially not manga hosting sites! Thank you~⚠️

Without further ado, please enjoy the mini story after the cut~ 🥰✨

And that's it for this mini story! THANK YOU FOR READING AND I HOPE YOU ENJOYED! 💜❤️💛 I shall see if I can find more bonus papers in my collection ahaha! (But don't quote me XDDD)

📢  Please support Hinohara-sensei by purchasing her books, CDs, and merch! 📢

Thank you again for reading this far! Take care of yourselves and your loved ones~ ❤️💛💜

[aseriesofvariousevents]

Darkest Powers Series

I read/listened to these books way back in elementary school and have a vivid memory of trying to Google fanart of Derek while my friend and I were having a sleepover. I listened to the first book on those mini, portable audio book devices at my sisters soccer game, and absolutely devoured the other two books. This time around was no different. These books obviously aren’t perfect, but they are wildly entertaining to read straight from the get-go. 

I remembered loving these book (or maybe just Derek) when I was in middle school, but I hadn’t expected it to hold up this well. The discussions on mental illness sometimes ventured into pretty tactless territory, but other times, they had a degree of self-awareness that I found surprisingly refreshing. Chloe, while a tad annoying at times, was a genuinely exciting protagonist to follow, and the side characters felt complex and diverse and overall just really added to the atmosphere of the Lyle House. The story was kind of unsettling in the best way for bits and pieces, while still managing to remain lighthearted during others. The plot never seemed to slow down. Kelley Armstrong truly put her all into this one.

Favorite Quote: If I was two guys on the sidewalk, one in a wheelchair and one talking to himself, which one would I rush to open a door for? And which would I cross the road to avoid?

Still a solid story, but it was lacking much of the bite the previous book held. I wanted to see Chloe come into her own a bit more in this one. It was nice to watch the group kind of form a stronger bond as a whole, but it felt like the same thing over and over again at times. Reading these books is a battle between my limited memory and the actual story, but I enjoyed reading it regardless.

Favorite Quote: When adults patted me on the head and told me I was so grown-up, what they really meant was that they were glad I wasn’t grown-up enough yet to question, to fight back. 

A solid conclusion, but I really don't think any of the books will quite be able to live up to the masterpiece that was the first one. The end seemed very abrupt and even though I liked the suspense of their days at the safe house, everything werewolf-related seemed so cringy that I almost needed to avert my eyes while reading it. I honestly remembered Chloe and Derek being a couple for a lot longer than they actually were, but I'm not mad about it. This one definitely had a darker feel to it, which I thought suited the characters since they've really had to grow since the beginning of the first book, but I think the story could've benefitted from a longer time span since the difference between the beginning of the second book and the end of the last is literally one week. Despite all of that, this was still a pretty fun book and I really liked the feel of the elevated stakes.

Favorite Quote: Let’s just say friends are really better when they’re fully dressed. 

I’m honestly impressed by how well Kelley Armstrong mentioned some issues in these books. Even though two of the main characters were boys, Armstrong really focused on women/girls in these, briefly mentioning rape, militant prolife groups, periods, misogyny, etc., along with mental illness and other broader topics. The books themselves were super fun to read and even though Chloe could be kind of a boring protagonist, she still was a badass a lot of the time. The romance was sweet and the drama/intrigue was super captivating. These books were definitely written for a younger audience, but they can absolutely be enjoyed by people of all ages. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Books in Series: The Summoning; The Awakening; The Reckoning

Author: Kelley Armstrong