#iain is such a short king

[beachesgetpeaches]

yknow what when Agents of shield did away with grant ward as the cool tortured hot guy you might want to bang they could have given us another hot hunk but like they just made fitz into the cuntiest hotest bloke also giving him some extra past baggage and some newfound issues

like s1 fitz was babygirl but later season fitz is just... chefs kiss. hot af cunty af wonderful oneliners like man

[0shewrites0]

Chat to your fav LI’s | LITG edition

Will update as new LI’s come in!

If you have a request for a LI you’d like to chat to (female or male!) please send me (@0shewrites0) or @libelle949 an ask 🤍

If you have a request for another fandom (like RC for example) send them in too! @libelle949 and I will do our best to set all of them up step by step 🥰

LI’s available to chat with so far (30+):

Just tap on the character you want to chat with!

Angie Chandrasekhar

29. paramedic. scorpio. tattoos. proud lesbian.

Arjun Khatri (by anon)

24. dog groomer. influencer. loves cheeky winks.

Bobby McKenzie

24. baker. happy kiddo. loves to laugh. weirdo.

Bruno Kaminski by @libelle949

25. standup comedian. jokester. sweet. positive.

Carl Sullivan

29. tech entrepreneur. geeky. loyal. quiet.

Chelsea Edwards by @notaviirgo

24. interior decorator. charismatic. fun. diva.

Dylan (whatever) (by anon)

28. swansea. ambitious. pro volleyball player.

Eddie Harris (villain!)

24. model. feminist. no time for boring. flirty.

Gary’s Nan

73. charity work. temper of thunder. heart of gold.

Gary Rennell

23. crane operator. down to earth. blokey bloke.

Harry Zhong

21. student. nerdy and proud. gamer. ambitious.

Hazeem Salmani by @notaviirgo

25. landscaper. plant daddy. early exitee himself.

Henrik Bergstrom

23. climbing instructor. relaxed. goofy. weirdo.

Hope Biala by @notaviirgo

26. retail ambassador. hotter than a spark.

Iain Stirling by @mrsbsmooth

hilarious narrator locked in shed. has got tea to spill.

Jake Wilson by @mrsbsmooth

29. chef. strong silent type. deeply romantic.

Jakub Zabinski by @ariendiel

*grunt*

Johnny by @libelle949

21. theater student. drama king. momma’s boy.

Kassam Maleek

26. DJ. cynical. cold. passionate about music.

Lottie Campbell by @notaviirgo

24. makeup artist. obsessed with the color black. dramatic.

Lucas Koh

27. physiotherapist. passionate. loves danger.

Marisol Lopez Trujillo by @notaviirgo

24. law student. latina goddess who likes both genders

Noah Alexander by @ariendiel

25. librarian from romford. loves books. quiet.

Oliver Tan

26. tattoo artist. drama-free. “friendly giant”.

Priya Kumar by @notaviirgo

29. real estate agent. bisexual bad gyal.

Suresh (Frazer) (by anon)

27. an Edinburgh based corporate lawyer. wanderlust.

Tai Kahu

28. rugby coach. proud kiwi. 193cm of love.

Tim Burton (Big T)

23. DJ. wannabe rapper. loyal. funny. short king.

Tom Beresford-King by @notaviirgo

22. finance worker. people’s prince. little bit nervous.

Willem (Will) Kimura by @libelle949

26. artist. free spirit. creative. aloof. cute.

Youcef Nassiri by @libelle949

27. french. model. charming man. philosopher.

Characters by @thisiskhayeanne - tap here to get to them!

Rocco, Hannah, Blake, Elisa, Shannon, Ibrahim, Jo, Meera

[neoneun-au]

A post for my book recommendations, to be continuously updated as I read and remember more. Because without reading, I would not be writing. 

All time favourites are marked with a ☆

All are sorted by genre and will be linked (if able) to their Goodreads pages so that you can dig deeper into whatever catches your eye.

(ps if you have a Goodreads account, you can add me here)

Anthology/Short Story Collections

Behold This Dreamer - Walter de la Mare ☆

Love Letters of Great Men - Ursula Doyle

Difficult Women - Roxane Gay

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories - Ken Liu

The Elephant Vanishes - Haruki Murakami

Essays

Bad Feminist - Roxane Gay ☆

Bluets - Maggie Nelson ☆

On Freedom - Maggie Nelson

In Praise of Shadows - Jun'ichirō Tanizaki

Malleable Forms - Meeka Walsh ☆

Fiction (Classic)

Persuasion - Jane Austen ☆

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

The Awakening - Kate Chopin

North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell ☆

Siddhartha - Hermen Hesse

The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera ☆

Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

Fiction (Modern)

All’s Well - Mona Awad ☆

Bunny - Mona Awad

Jonathan Livingston Seagull - Richard Bach

The Pisces - Melissa Broder

White Oleander - Janet Finch

For Today I Am A Boy - Kim Fu

The Vegetarian - Han Kang

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova ☆

Fall on Your Knees - Ann-Marie MacDonald

A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing - Eimear McBride

No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy

The Road - Cormac McCarthy ☆

Under the Hawthorne Tree - Ai Mi

The Song of Achilles - Madeleine Miller ☆

After Dark - Haruki Murakami ☆

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage - Haruki Murakami

1Q84 - Haruki Murakami ☆

Hamnet - Maggie O'Farrell

The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje

Boy, Snow, Bird - Helen Oyeyemi

Mr. Fox - Helen Oyeyemi ☆

A Tale for the Time Being - Ruth Ozeki

The Overstory - Richard Powers ☆

The Godfather - Mario Puzo

Blindness - José Saramago

How To Be Both - Ali Smith

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt ☆

The Secret History - Donna Tartt

Ru - Kim Thúy

Brooklyn - Colm Tóibín

Big Fish - Daniel Wallace

Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto

Horror/Thriller

The Exorcist - William Peter Blatty

Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton

Gerald’s Game - Stephen King

The Shining - Stephen King

Audition - Ryū Murakami

I’m Thinking of Ending Things - Iain Reid

Manga/Graphic Novels

Basilisk - Futaro Yamada, Maseki Sagawa

Death Note - Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata

Eureka Seven - Jinsei Kataoka, Kazuma Kondou

Nana - Ai Yazawa ☆

Paradise Kiss - Ai Yazawa

Uzumaki - Junji Ito

xxxHolic - CLAMP

Memoirs/Journals

Speak, Okinawa - Elizabeth Miki Brina

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness - Susannah Cahalan

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - Caitlin Doughty

I’m Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books - Azar Nafisi

Henry and June - Anaïs Nin ☆

The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls ☆

Non-Fiction (General)

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking - Susan Cain

The Red Market - Scott Carney

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern - Stephen Greenblatt

Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right - Jane Mayer

The Psychopath Test - Jon Ronson

The Elements of Style - William Strunk Jr, E.B White

Non-Fiction (Philosophy/Spiritual)

The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge - Carlos Castañeda

Silence: In the Age of Noise - Erling Kagge ☆

The Kybalion - Three Initiates ☆

The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo - Chögyam Trungpa

Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu

Poetry Collections

I Love My Love - Reyna Biddy

Let Us Compare Mythologies - Leonard Cohen

The Prophet - Khalil Gibran

The Anatomy of Being - Shinji Moon

The Beauty of the Husband - Anne Carson ☆

Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth - Warsan Shire

Night Sky with Exit Wounds - Ocean Vuong

Speculative Fiction

Dune - Frank Herbert

Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel ☆

Battle Royale - Koushun Takami

True Crime

Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders - Vincent Bugliosi

In Cold Blood - Truman Capote ☆

Young Adult

A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray ☆

The Diviners - Libba Bray

The Sun is Also a Star - Nicola Yoon

[2minutes2midnight]

Iain de Caestecker as Arthur in The Winter King 1x02

Not a lot of Iain in this episode, but he was amazing even if he was in screen for short moment. He’s so pretty 🥰

[dear-indies]

full list of biden letter 2:

Aaron Bay-Schuck Aaron Sorkin Adam & Jackie Sandler Adam Goodman Adam Levine Alan Grubman Alex Aja Alex Edelman Alexandra Shiva Ali Wentworth Alison Statter Allan Loeb Alona Tal Amy Chozick Amy Pascal Amy Schumer Amy Sherman Palladino Andrew Singer Andy Cohen Angela Robinson Anthony Russo Antonio Campos Ari Dayan Ari Greenburg Arik Kneller Aron Coleite Ashley Levinson Asif Satchu Aubrey Plaza Barbara Hershey Barry Diller Barry Levinson Barry Rosenstein Beau Flynn Behati Prinsloo Bella Thorne Ben Stiller Ben Turner Ben Winston Ben Younger Billy Crystal Blair Kohan Bob Odenkirk Bobbi Brown Bobby Kotick Brad Falchuk Brad Slater Bradley Cooper Bradley Fischer Brett Gelman Brian Grazer Bridget Everett Brooke Shields Bruna Papandrea Cameron Curtis Casey Neistat Cazzie David

Charles Roven Chelsea Handler Chloe Fineman Chris Fischer Chris Jericho Chris Rock Christian Carino Cindi Berger Claire Coffee Colleen Camp Constance Wu Courteney Cox Craig Silverstein Dame Maureen Lipman Dan Aloni Dan Rosenweig Dana Goldberg Dana Klein Daniel Palladino Danielle Bernstein Danny Cohen Danny Strong Daphne Kastner David Alan Grier David Baddiel David Bernad David Chang David Ellison David Geffen David Gilmour & David Goodman David Joseph David Kohan David Lowery David Oyelowo David Schwimmer Dawn Porter Dean Cain Deborah Lee Furness Deborah Snyder Debra Messing Diane Von Furstenberg Donny Deutsch Doug Liman Douglas Chabbott Eddy Kitsis Edgar Ramirez Eli Roth Elisabeth Shue Elizabeth Himelstein Embeth Davidtz Emma Seligman Emmanuelle Chriqui Eric Andre Erik Feig Erin Foster Eugene Levy Evan Jonigkeit Evan Winiker Ewan McGregor Francis Benhamou Francis Lawrence Fred Raskin Gabe Turner Gail Berman Gal Gadot Gary Barber Gene Stupinski Genevieve Angelson Gideon Raff Gina Gershon Grant Singer Greg Berlanti Guy Nattiv Guy Oseary Gwyneth Paltrow Hannah Fidell Hannah Graf Harlan Coben Harold Brown Harvey Keitel Henrietta Conrad Henry Winkler Holland Taylor Howard Gordon Iain Morris Imran Ahmed Inbar Lavi Isla Fisher Jack Black Jackie Sandler Jake Graf Jake Kasdan James Brolin James Corden Jamie Ray Newman Jaron Varsano Jason Biggs & Jenny Mollen Biggs Jason Blum Jason Fuchs Jason Reitman Jason Segel Jason Sudeikis JD Lifshitz Jeff Goldblum Jeff Rake Jen Joel Jeremy Piven Jerry Seinfeld Jesse Itzler Jesse Plemons Jesse Sisgold Jessica Biel Jessica Elbaum Jessica Seinfeld Jill Littman Jimmy Carr Jody Gerson

Joe Hipps Joe Quinn Joe Russo Joe Tippett Joel Fields Joey King John Landgraf John Slattery Jon Bernthal Jon Glickman Jon Hamm Jon Liebman Jonathan Baruch Jonathan Groff Jonathan Marc Sherman Jonathan Ross Jonathan Steinberg Jonathan Tisch Jonathan Tropper Jordan Peele Josh Brolin Josh Charles Josh Goldstine Josh Greenstein Josh Grode Judd Apatow Judge Judy Sheindlin Julia Garner Julia Lester Julianna Margulies Julie Greenwald Julie Rudd Juliette Lewis Justin Theroux Justin Timberlake Karen Pollock Karlie Kloss Katy Perry Kelley Lynch Kevin Kane Kevin Zegers Kirsten Dunst Kitao Sakurai KJ Steinberg Kristen Schaal Kristin Chenoweth Lana Del Rey Laura Dern Laura Pradelska Lauren Schuker Blum Laurence Mark Laurie David Lea Michele Lee Eisenberg Leo Pearlman Leslie Siebert Liev Schreiber Limor Gott Lina Esco Liz Garbus Lizanne Rosenstein Lizzie Tisch Lorraine Schwartz Lynn Harris Lyor Cohen Madonna Mandana Dayani Mara Buxbaum Marc Webb Marco Perego Maria Dizzia Mark Feuerstein Mark Foster Mark Scheinberg Mark Shedletsky Martin Short Mary Elizabeth Winstead Mathew Rosengart Matt Lucas Matt Miller Matthew Bronfman Matthew Hiltzik Matthew Weiner Matti Leshem Max Mutchnik Maya Lasry Meaghan Oppenheimer Melissa Zukerman Michael Aloni Michael Ellenberg Michael Green Michael Rapino Michael Rappaport Michael Weber Michelle Williams Mike Medavoy Mila Kunis Mimi Leder Modi Wiczyk Molly Shannon Nancy Josephson Natasha Leggero

Neil Blair Neil Druckmann Nicola Peltz Nicole Avant Nina Jacobson Noa Kirel Noa Tishby Noah Oppenheim Noah Schnapp Noreena Hertz Odeya Rush Olivia Wilde Oran Zegman Orlando Bloom Pasha Kovalev Pattie LuPone Paul & Julie Rudd Paul Haas Paul Pflug Peter Traugott Polly Sampson Rachel Riley Rafi Marmor Ram Bergman Raphael Margulies Rebecca Angelo Rebecca Mall Regina Spektor Reinaldo Marcus Green Rich Statter Richard Jenkins Richard Kind Rick Hoffman Rick Rosen Rita Ora Rob Rinder Robert Newman Roger Birnbaum Roger Green Rosie O’Donnell Ross Duffer Ryan Feldman Sacha Baron Cohen Sam Levinson Sam Trammell Sara Foster Sarah Baker Sarah Bremner Sarah Cooper Sarah Paulson Sarah Treem Scott Braun Scott Braun Scott Neustadter Scott Tenley Sean Combs Seth Meyers Seth Oster Shannon Watts Shari Redstone Sharon Jackson Sharon Stone Shauna Perlman Shawn Levy Sheila Nevins Shira Haas Simon Sebag Montefiore Simon Tikhman Skylar Astin Stacey Snider Stephen Fry Steve Agee Steve Rifkind Sting & Trudie Styler Susanna Felleman Susie Arons Taika Waititi Thomas Kail Tiffany Haddish Todd Lieberman Todd Moscowitz Todd Waldman Tom Freston Tom Werner Tomer Capone Tracy Ann Oberman Trudie Styler Tyler James Williams Tyler Perry Vanessa Bayer Veronica Grazer Veronica Smiley Whitney Wolfe Herd

Will Ferrell Will Graham Yamanieka Saunders Yariv Milchan Ynon Kreiz Zack Snyder Zoe Saldana Zoey Deutch Zosia Mamet

[scotianostra]

On October 26th 1327 Elizabeth de Burgh, Queen Consort of Robert the Bruce died at Cullen Castle, Banffshire.

Note sources disagree and some say October 27th.

In 1302 Elizabeth de Burgh married Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, at Writtle, near Chelmsford in Essex. Bruce was a widower with a young daughter. He had first married Isabella of Mar who died, in 1296, a short time after giving birth to a daughter, Marjory Bruce. Elizabeth's father was one of the most powerful Irish nobles of the period, Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster.

When The Bruce first stood up to English rule he was beset by defeat and he sent Elisabeth, Marjory, his sisters Christina and Mary Bruce, and Countess Isobel to Kildrummy Castle in the north, where his brother Neil was to protect them. Unfortunately the castle was laid to siege, the Royal women escaped but were captured not long after at the sanctuary of St Duthac at Tain in Easter Ross where William II, Earl of Ross violate the sanctity, later handing them over to the English. He seems to have been forgiven by The Bruce for this as his name appears on The Declaration of Arbroath in 1320, perhaps showing a merciful nature to King Robert.

Isobel was held captive in an iron cage at Berwick Castle. Robert’s younger sister, Mary Bruce, was locked into an iron cage at Roxburgh Castle. She was just 24 years old. Mary spent the next four years caged and humiliated. Her older sister Christian Bruce was shown more compassion and was imprisoned in a Gilbertine nunnery in Lincolnshire. Christian’s husband, Sir Christopher Seton, was hanged, drawn and beheaded at Dumfries.

Elizabeth was held prisoner in England. It is thought that she was better treated because her father Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, was a close friend of King Edward I. Elizabeth spent the next eight years in captivity in Burstwick, Bisham Manor, Windsor Castle, Shaftesbury Abbey, Barking Abbey and Rochester Castle.

Marjory Bruce, Robert’s daughter, was only 12 years old when she was captured at Tain. At first King Edward decided that she would be locked into an iron cage and hung for all to see from the walls of the Tower of London. Edward relented and Marjory was held in a Gilbertine nunnery in Yorkshire.

After the Battle of Bannockburn the Bruce was able to trade English nobles for his family. Mary Bruce went on to be twice married and had a son, Iain. Christian Bruce married Sir Andrew Murray who later became guardian of Scotland. Christian later led the defence of the besieged Kildrummy Castle at 62 years old and lived to 84.

Elizabeth de Burgh and Robert the Bruce were reunited and went on to have four children - Matilda, Margaret, John and David, who would become David II, King of Scots. Elizabeth died on this day 1327 and was buried in Dunfermline Abbey.

[pechebeche]

need me some aa wlw playlists please (lanamia, franmaya, faraskye)

the thing about lanamia and franmaya is that short skirt/long jacket can apply to both of them and what more could you possibly ask from a ship (i did end up doing lanamia simply because i am Thinking About Them)

Short Skirt/Long Jacket, Cake

Iain and Deanna, Flight of the Conchords

Ain't Together, King Princess

ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?, Tyler the Creator

Ya'aburnee, Halsey

[assfcrdays]

a few potential short king fcs under the cut

Charlie Gillespie

Cody Christian

Darren Criss

Dylan Sprayberry

Finn Cole

Gavin Leatherwood

Iain de Caestecker

Jake Borelli

Michael Provost

Nick Jonas

Tom Holland

[maoist-mizer]

Mid-Year Book Freakout 2023

tagged by my beloved, @hauntedmoors 🫀

1. Best book you’ve read so far this year?

Probably We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. I was already familiar with her since I remember reading The Lottery in high school, but this story really blew me away. I can’t wait to tuck into more of her writing, and just in general more gothic fiction, and just the weird and freakish overall.

2. Best sequel you’ve read so far this year?

I haven’t read many novel sequels this year, and none of them stuck out so I can’t really list anything. But I would say the second saga of Chainsaw Man, as a sequel, has been a highlight.

3. New release you haven’t read yet?

I’m such a loser, I literally got A Day of Fallen Night signed in person by beloved Samantha Shannon and I still haven’t read it yet 😭😭😭

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year?

I don’t really keep up to date with upcoming releases, I just find out Somehow like through tumblr or my Goodreads mutuals, but I do know that the next Heartstopper volume is out sometime this year, so I’m looking forward to that.

5. Biggest disappointment?

I have three for this: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Pet Sematary by Stephen King, and Vengeful by V. E. Schwab.

BtCGC was immensely boring, especially the writing — I guess you could say it’s own hype killed it for me. I heard that it was initially a play, or something along the lines of that? If so, then I think I can confidently say that with how it was written, it did not suit the medium.

Pet Sematary also disappointed me for not living up to its expectations as there’s this short section before the story starts where King basically says it’s one of his darkest stories yet and blah blah it chilled him so he had to put it away for a while before publishing it, so, obviously, I was quite excited!

But, once I actually got stuck into it, it just didn’t really stick out to me as anything special, well, at least compared to coming off reading Shawshank Redemption and ‘Salem’s Lot. Plus, ableism is quite rooted into this one so at times it just was difficult to enjoy, personally.

As for Vengeful, I felt that it was an unnecessary sequel. It didn’t add to Vicious, if anything I’d say it detracted from the overall story by following around all these new characters when what made Vicious so fun was the dynamic between Victor and Eli.

6. Biggest surprise?

I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid was quite unexpected. It wasn’t one of my favourites so far from this year, but, regardless, was a big surprise since it deviated far from my expectations.

7. Favourite new author (debut or new to you)?

Sayaka Murata. I loved Convenience Store Woman and Earthlings so I’m intrigued for any future projects of hers! It was interesting how fundamentally similar these two books, like two sides of the same coin, but told in two very different ways. Fantastic stuff.

8. Newest fictional crush/newest favourite character?

Merricat my beloved <3 (also Fami and Asa)

9. Book that made you cry?

I’ve never cried while reading soz

10. Book that made you happy?

Love & Autism by Kay Kerr. I just felt very seen reading this, being able to identify myself within the pages. It also felt special to me since for once it’s not a book about autism addressed to allistic people, it’s a book about autism, written by an autistic author, for an autistic audience.

Tagging: @swordfaery @ignorantsackofeyeballs @moodymika @sarenite (no pressure if you don’t want to do this, also if you just see this post and want to do it feel free to continue the chain)

[curieincali]

Year In Review - BOOKS - 2022

Audiobooks read:

• Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir • The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett • The Big Short by Michael Lewis • Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto • The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman • The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis • The Minority Report and Other Stories by Philip K. Dick • 4:50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie • Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie • The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie • The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie • They Do It With Mirrors by Agatha Christie • A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie • The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side by Agatha Christie • The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin • The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, Bill Moyers • Be a Triangle by Lilly Singh • Atomic Habits by James Clear • The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke • Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier • A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher • The House of Gucci by Sara Gay Forden • The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien • The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien • The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien • I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy • How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis • The Communist Manifesto and Other Writings by Karl Marx • Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks • Book Lovers by Emily Henry Regular books read:

• Shot by Shot by Steven D. Katz. (FINALLY FINISHED THIS AFTER ~3 YEARS) • Princess Jellyfish Volume 2 by Akiko Higashimura • Several floppy comics (catching up on years worth of FCBD haul)

Overall a good year for reading. As usual, this list isn’t necessarily an endorsement, just a list of everything I checked out from the library. (Some of these I don’t even remember reading, for the opposite of an endorsement - maybe I should make a GoodReads account lol).

I started reading Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple series for a palate cleanser between every other book. Can’t go wrong with sugar-coated murder mysteries. LOTR was a re-read since I haven’t read them since I was 11. I’ve heard good thing about Iain M Banks’ The Culture series but I really didn’t like Consider Phlebas, so I’ll mark more books down as a “maybe” for 2023.

I’m so glad I can finally say I finished that giant Storyboarding textbook (Shot by Shot). I have now started....another art textbook, lol. I’m going to stop putting my “In Progress/Incomplete” books on here - just what I’ve finished! Also gonna try to read more physical books in 2023.

Happy New Year!

[darthmaclunkey]

since I did it with films, woe: all the books I've read so far in 2024 and my brief thoughts on them be upon ye:

some desperate glory (emily tesh) - very underrated (so far), great debut sci-fi with a very well crafted MC. highly recommend if you're into space opera

hurdy gurdy (christopher wilson) - looked funny, was kinda funny, but contemporary references were a bit unsubtle. immediately gave to my dad after reading. it's a liberal dad kinda book

the doloriad (missouri williams) - I got #influenced by an instagram book account to read this because they said it was too gross for them. it was interesting and very poetic, but by talos did it need a paragraph break or two

tender is the flesh (agustina bazterrica) - subtle as a brick. didn't really like the way it was written but I'm never really sure if that's a valid criticism when something is translated

eileen (otessa moshfegh) - actually loved this. more gross woman protags pls

the mother tongue (bill bryson) - I had the original edition (library book) so some of it was a bit out of date but still interesting and fun to read

the terraformers (analee newitz) - worldbuilding was decent but man was this badly written. I ended up speedreading just to move onto another book and immediately donated it to the local free library shelf

hell bent (leigh bardugo) - very enjoyable, but I think it should have been hornier, actually, considering how much word count was spent on darlington's glowstick dick

on writing (stephen king) - genuinely great advice. my copy has about 1000 sticky tabs and notes in it now

system collapse (martha wells) - i ♥ murderbot forever and always

in ascension (martin macinnes) - this was so boring. rip to all the ppl who loved it but what was it saying, really, that couldn't have been said in a sub-5,000 word short

cursed bread (sophie mackintosh) - enjoyed, but I don't really remember much about it. probably because I read it in a crowded airport while waiting for a heavily delayed ryanair flight

camp zero (michelle min sterling) - didn't feel like it fully explored all the routes it should have, but the chapters written from the collective perspective of the researchers were interesting

klara and the sun (kazuo ishiguro) - oof ouch owie my feelings

the beauty (aliya whiteley) - technically a short story but I read it in book format. it was fun

shadow and bone (leigh bardugo) - if I'd read this when I was 12, you best believe I'd have spent my teenage years writing fanfiction about the darkling. as a 29 year old, wasn't really for me tho

the player of games (iain m banks) - talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, showstopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, shit on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it. RIP iain banks, you are sorely missed

lord jim at home (dinah brooke) - visceral read. probably best read in one sitting if poss, the pacing is breakneck

the word for world is forest (ursula k le guin) - to paraphrase a shelf label under her books in my local indie bookshop: "JUST READ HER!! READ ANYTHING BY HER!!!!"

children of time (aidrian tchaikovsky) - really good. I will never look at spiders the same way

giovanni's room (james baldwin) - astonishing. one of those classics where you're like 'I'm sure this will be good' but then you read it and you're like 'nobody quite conveyed just HOW good tho'

red rising (pierce brown) - hated this tbh. the hunger games for redditors. darrow is a textbook mary-sue but ppl in the goodreads reviews don't seem ready to have that conversation

for thy great pain have mercy on my little pain (victoria mackenzie) - interesting speculative history, very beautifully conveyed

brutes (dizz tate) - do I know what was going on? no, but I really liked it, so well observed

the discomfort of evening (lucas rijneveld) - another one where I was #influenced because an instagram book person said it was too gross for them. I think it was actually a bit too gross for me too, but I can appreciate that it was well written

pride and prejudice (jane austen) - only read it because I'm going to a p&p themed party but my god, they're not lying, it really is THAT good

currently reading: islands of abandonment (cal flyn)

I am on storygraph if you find my taste in books compelling; I'm always looking for book recs: storygraph

[naugahydes]

Tagged by @officialcameronfrye​ !!

relationship status: single! and happy to be

favorite color: red for sure

favorite food: lasagna!!! or really any kind of pasta

song stuck in my head: I’m currently listening to Harsh Augmented Reality by Strawberry Mountain- I’m guessing it’ll show up pretty high in my spotify wrapped

last thing i googled: probably something like “adobe illustrator how to do x” cause I’m learning how to use it for a class but boy can it be frustrating sometimes lol

dream trip: I think Paris would be really interesting plus I just want to visit more and more museums

time: 4:33pm

last book you read: Foe by Iain Reid, I think I enjoyed I’m Thinking of Ending Things more cause the twist in Foe was a bit obvious but it was still written well and I had a good time! Apparently it will also be turned into a Netflix movie but that was announced a while ago and I haven’t heard more info since? I think it would make a good movie I hope it’s still going ahead.

last book you enjoyed reading: Currently reading the first Dark Tower by Stephen King and it’s pretty good so far! love books with short chapters lol

last book you hated reading: Almost done with The Love you Make (book abt the Beatles) and I did not hate reading it, it was v interesting and I learned a lot!! It was a bit of a slog through some of the more intricate business stuff so that’s why I’m putting it here.

favorite thing to cook: hmm I will admit I am not an experienced cook at all but I will make chocolate chip cookies any time :] Going to make some rly good garlic chicken sandwiches w my roommates tonight tho

favorite craft to do: embroidery!!! I have so many hoops that just sit around in my house I’d love to be able to sell them someday. I need to get back into it though I’m procrastinating finishing this project cause I screwed it up but i WILL pick it back up again!

most niche dislike: thanksgiving food hater....sorry

opinion on circuses now and in history: I mean the ones now that function with just people doing acts are neat but yeah historical ones weren’t great on animal welfare so I’m glad the general circus opinion has changed

do you have a sense of direction and if not what is the worst way you ever got lost: I base everything on “the sun rises in the east and sets in the west” so it takes me a minute but if i wanted to i can pretty much always figure out which direction im facing

Not sure who to tag so take this as an open invitation! This was fun thank u for tagging me Megan <3

[seriously-buck]

My Year in Books (Part 10)

This is the final 2020 book review post. We did it. I read 51 books in 2020, and here are the last six reviews. 

Here’s part 1 if you like things in order. Here’s part 9.

46. The King's Men by Nora Sakavic This is easily the best of the trilogy. It's also the one where you find out that Neil Josten (the protagonist) is 5'3"??? But it was a really satisfying conclusion to the series as a whole. This is the gayest one as well.

47. Shockwave by Lindsay Buroker This is an intriguing first book in an EIGHT(?!) book sci-fi series called Star Kingdom. I won the first three in a goodreads giveaway, and I'll admit I had no idea what I was getting into. It took me a while to get through the first half, but the second half was really engaging. Seems like it has the potential to be gay, but so far is definitely not. The characters are cool and not all average and action-y, if that makes sense? There’s an older lady starship captain, protag is a naïve robotics scientist, etc. 

48. NOS4A2 by Joe Hill This is a good horror book to read around Christmas time! I started watching the AMC series and really liked it, so I picked up a copy of the book. We all know I liked Horns, so I figured I'd give it a go. Turns out Joe Hill is currently one of my favorite horror writers and this book is super creepy and good. Charlie Manx is a villain who is just plain fun. Big TW for sexual assault though (which is my main gripe about Joe Hill -- it’s been in both of his books that I’ve read and that makes me uncomfortable).

49. MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood So this . . . is the last of the MaddAddam trilogy and good riddance. I used to list Margaret Atwood as one of my favorite authors, and I think she'll now just get a mention as a former favorite. The thing about this trilogy is is feels disconnected. If you loved the first book, the second book kind of gives you whiplash. If you loved the second book, this third installment will do the same. A few storylines are wrapped up really nicely in this one. If you care a great deal about Jimmy, the protag from the first book, YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED. If you loved Toby in the second book, SHE'S CHANGED A LOT and I don't know what to make of her. Ren basically is just ignored. It was fine. I'm glad it's over.

50. We Contain Multitudes by Sarah Henstra THIS BOOK IS SO GAY. I think I said it best in a text to one of my best friends: "It buoyed my heart like the tide rushing in and then fucking ripped it out of my body but the end was beautiful." It kind of . . . picks your heart back up and places it lovingly back in the bloodied, gaping hole it left when it ripped it out. But it's so good. If you like gay epistolary novels, you'll effing love this one.

51. I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid This was a weird way to end my reading journey of 2020, but honestly? I think that's appropriate. This one is not gay, but it is spooky and weird and short. So I do recommend. I would say more but it’s better to go into it not knowing anything. 

I will start doing the 2021 set soon! I’ve set a goal of 55 books and have a TON of to-reads lined up so here’s hoping grad school doesn’t kill me and/or prevent me from succeeding with my reading goal this year. 

[the-essex-serpent-tv]

Apple TV+ release new images and a release date for The Essex Serpent, its upcoming period drama series starring Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston. The photos focus on Dane's and Hiddleston's lead characters, teasing how the two will get romantically entangled while searching for legends.

Inspired by Sarah Perry's bestselling novel of the same name, the six-episode series adaptation will follow Cora Seaborne (Danes) as she enjoys her newly gained freedom after her abusive husband dies. Set in London's Victorian Era, Perry's novel underlines the weight of tradition that Cora needs to lift from her shoulders before deciding to dedicate her life to amateur paleontology instead of just being a good housekeeper and looking for another marriage. So, Cora's recently discovered passion leads her to investigate ruins and carvings connected to the Essex Serpent, a legendary beast supposedly awakened by an earthquake. Instead of following tradition, Cora abandons her stable London life to search for mythical creatures in the countryside.

Cora's research about the Essex Serpent leads her to the small village of Aldwinter, where she meets the local Reverend and community leader William Ransome (Hiddleston). The two form a quick friendship, and even though Cora is not looking for love, she soon realizes she has strong feelings for the married man. Perry's book explores the complicated relationship between Cora and William while also discussing how the power of faith affects people's lives. William's faith in God and the locals' faith in the existence of the Essex Serpent often clash, and the period drama also dives deep into how superstition feeds conflicts. The series' short description also reveals that "when tragedy strikes, locals accuse her [Cora] of attracting the creature," teasing that the adaptation will focus on the matter of faith.

The Essex Serpent cast also includes Frank Dillane, Clémence Poésy, and Hayley Squires. The series is directed by BAFTA Award-nominee Clio Barnard (The Arbor) and written by BAFTA Award-nominee Anna Symon (Mrs. Wilson). The two of them will also executive produce The Essex Serpent alongside Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Patrick Walters, Iain Canning, and Emile Sherman, while Andrea Cornwell will serve as a producer on the project. The Oscar-winning production company See-Saw Films (The King's Speech, The Power of the Dog) produces The Essex Serpent for Apple TV+.

The first two episodes of The Essex Serpent will hit Apple TV+ on Friday, May 13. Check out the other image below.

[everydayhybridity]

“You can’t be careful on a skateboard”

Skateboarding is notoriously difficult to write about. Iain Borden flags this in the introduction to Richard Gilligan’s work on DIY skateparks, underlining how the visual medium works so much more effectively than the scribed word. Similarly Kyle Beachy crafts a magnetic novel on skateboarding in patiently describing the art while also painstakingly pushing away the cringe that so often creeps in to so many attempts to render the board in literature. Skateboarders are all too familiar with the quick spike of pleasure when a board appears in a film, TV show, or music video. This sudden excitement cools rapidly as we observe the way our precious toy is depicted. It is almost always wrong.

I was therefore taken by surprise at the treatment afforded a skateboard by Stephen King is his now iconic novel IT. Originally published in 1986 the year that Animal Chin was released, the book sits before the modern rise in skateboarding. The boom of vert and well in advance of the heady days of street skateboarding. Yet King taps into both the peculiar and the authentic. Over a few short pages that come just over midway through the hefty text, the central character Bill Denbrough encounters a young boy with a fibreglass board. Stood over the very drain where Bill lost his younger brother to the murderous clown from the id some 30 years prior.

During their brief exchange Bill asks if he can have a go on the young boy’s board.

“The kid looked at him gape-mouthed at first, then laughing. “That’d be funny” he said. “I never saw a grownup on a skateboard.” 

This is the first reckoning with time. Back in 1986 adults on skateboards were an amusing rarity. Indeed that prejudice may well linger now. A skateboarding adult may be a source of amusement, but rare they are not. It would be difficult to imagine a 10 year old kid being so bemused by an adult skateboarder in 2022.

The next description is material, sensual, and emotional. Bill handles the board and inspects it before he attempts to ride it.

“He turned one of the skateboard’s scuffed wheels with his finger, liking the speedy ease with which it turned - it sounded like there was about a million ball-bearings in there. It was a good sound. It called up something very old in Bill’s chest. Some desire as warm as want, as lovely as love. he smiled.”

This description resonates. The pleasure in the sound and the way it conjures a feeling of warmth and love, strikes as authentic. Bill appears to be connecting not so much with the joy of skateboarding, but of the skateboard itself. He recognises it as some kind portal to freedom. Or as Lefebvre comments, children’s toys appear to be ‘cosmic’ objects demoted in status some way status.(Critique of Everyday Life Vol1.1991, p 118).

As Bill proceeds to stand on the skateboard he becomes fearful of the practicalities of falling. He imagines a doctor chiding him for attempting to use a skateboard at the age of forty. He imagines that the kid rides the board with no such fear, as an attempt to “beat the devil” like no tomorrow.

He surrenders the skateboard to the kid and gives up on his attempt to ride it. He tells the kid to be careful on the skateboard and gets a more powerful rebuke than the one in the imagined exchange with the doctor.

“Be careful on that,” Bill said.

“You can’t be careful on a skateboard,” the kid replied looking at Bill as if he might be the one with toys in the attic.”

“Right,” Bill said.

He then watches him push away down the hill. This is another evocative passage that I will only repeat in part. It does once again chime with the emotional experience of riding a skateboard and the longing for the freedom of youth.

“But he rode as Bill had suspected he would: with lazy hipshot grace. Bill felt love for the boy, and exhilaration, and a desire to be the boy, along with an almost suffocating fear. The boy rode as if there were no such things as death or getting older. The boy seemed somehow eternal and ineluctable in his khaki Boy Scout shorts and scuffed sneakers, his ankles sockless and quite dirty, his hair flying back behind him.”

The exchange with the skateboarder resolves when Bill stumbles across his old childhood bike ‘Silver’ in a second hand store. Something of the freedom and love expressed toward the skateboard translates to his childhood memories of recklessly speeding through town on this mammoth bike. The two elements of the chapter complement each other sweetly.

In the 2019 film adaptation of the book. IT Chapter 2 the scene is included and is stripped of all emotional content. The young skateboarder no longer has the old fibreglass board but a modern popsicle replete with subtle Overlook Hotel carpet graphics. In the film Bill has already found Silver before he encounters the boy and has his moment of rekindled youth riding the bike. Remarkably the film from 2019 gets it all wrong and the book from 1986 gets it right. To underline this fact, the skateboard kid in the film become a victim of Pennywise, the boy in the book survives.

[scotianostra]

On October 26th 1327 Elizabeth de Burgh, Queen Consort of Robert the Bruce died at Cullen Castle, Banffshire.

Note sources disagree and some say October 27th.

In 1302 Elizabeth de Burgh married Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, at Writtle, near Chelmsford in Essex. Bruce was a widower with a young daughter. He had first married Isabella of Mar who died, in 1296, a short time after giving birth to a daughter, Marjory Bruce. Elizabeth’s father was one of the most powerful Irish nobles of the period, Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster.

When The Bruce first stood up to English rule he was beset by defeat and he sent Elisabeth, Marjory, his sisters Christina and Mary Bruce, and Countess Isobel to Kildrummy Castle in the north, where his brother Neil was to protect them. Unfortunately the castle was laid to siege, the Royal women escaped but were captured not long after at the sanctuary of St Duthac at Tain in Easter Ross where William II, Earl of Ross violate the sanctity, later handing them over to the English. He seems to have been forgiven by The Bruce for this as his name appears on The Declaration of Arbroath in 1320, perhaps showing a merciful nature to King Robert.

Isobel was held captive in an iron cage at Berwick Castle. Robert’s younger sister, Mary Bruce, was locked into an iron cage at Roxburgh Castle. She was just 24 years old. Mary spent the next four years caged and humiliated. Her older sister Christian Bruce was shown more compassion and was imprisoned in a Gilbertine nunnery in Lincolnshire. Christian’s husband, Sir Christopher Seton, was hanged, drawn and beheaded at Dumfries.

Elizabeth was held prisoner in England. It is thought that she was better treated because her father Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, was a close friend of King Edward I. Elizabeth spent the next eight years in captivity in Burstwick, Bisham Manor, Windsor Castle, Shaftesbury Abbey, Barking Abbey and Rochester Castle.

Marjory Bruce, Robert’s daughter, was only 12 years old when she was captured at Tain. At first King Edward decided that she would be locked into an iron cage and hung for all to see from the walls of the Tower of London. Edward relented and Marjory was held in a Gilbertine nunnery in Yorkshire.

After the Battle of Bannockburn the Bruce was able to trade English nobles for his family. Mary Bruce went on to be twice married and had a son, Iain. Christian Bruce married Sir Andrew Murray who later became guardian of Scotland. Christian later led the defence of the besieged Kildrummy Castle at 62 years old and lived to 84.

Elizabeth de Burgh and Robert the Bruce were reunited and went on to have four children - Matilda, Margaret, John and David, who would become David II, King of Scots.  was buried in Dunfermline Abbey.

Elizabeth died aged approximately 43 years old, on 26/27th October 1327, after falling from her horse during a visit to the royal residence at Cullen, Banffshire, she was buried in Dunfermline Abbey.

The first pic is of  Robert the Bruce and Elizabeth de Burgh, from the 16th century Seton Armorial, the second is  Florence Pugh as Elizabeth, from the film Outlaw King.