#icarus falls review

[aziraphales-library]

Hellooo,

Thank you for everything you're doing for this fandom <3

I wanted to ask if you might have any recommendations in which either Crowley or Aziraphale are hurt/injured and trying to hide it from the other (with the other finding out eventually and taking care of them)?

Thank you, again, for all the work you guys are putting into this

Have a lovely day/night!

Hi! Here are some fics where one of them hides an injury from the other...

My Feelings Beneath by EdosianOrchids901 (T)

After a run-in with an angry human, Crowley tries to hide his injuries from Aziraphale. It doesn’t take Aziraphale long to notice that something is wrong.

I may bear my evils alone by Cuppa_Rosie_Lee (M)

Crowley returns from a particularly violent review in Hell. Broken and battered, he just about manages to get himself back to his flat alone, but when Aziraphale calls Crowley can't hide how bad it is any more. Aziraphale immediately worries and insists on coming over to take care of him. Hurt/comfort with a calm and fluffy ending. CW: implied violence, and graphic descriptions of internal injury. Title taken from Twelfth Night II i

The Day that Icarus didn't Burn by theRavenMuse (T)

Crowley gets himself into a spot of trouble. It's a good thing that he has a patient angel determined to help him. AKA Crowley has grown accustomed to hiding his pain for six millennia and Aziraphale finally convinces him that it's safe to share.

There's no healing the wound by meridian_rose (T)

Crowley gets hurt but when he can't heal the wound he doesn't do the sensible thing and tell Aziraphale. Instead he hides the truth, tries to fix it himself, and when it looks like the wound might be fatal drags Anathema into the situation. When Aziraphale does find out he's furious as only a angel at risk of losing his beloved demon can be.

I'll Think About Tomorrow If I Can Get Through Tonight by asparkofgoodness (T)

"Rain pounded like fists on the shop’s windows. The shelves and stacks of books sat in silent darkness, the sign on the door turned to 'Closed.' Suddenly, with a small popping noise, Aziraphale appeared, breathing heavily. After glancing around, lights clicking on all at once in every room, he let his eyes fall closed with a tremulous exhale. He was safe. The steady patter of the rain masked the sound of thick golden droplets falling from his left sleeve onto the threadbare carpet. His hands shook." Trouble finds Aziraphale while he's outside of the protective circle of London and Crowley's company. Fearing Crowley would put himself in harm's way if he knew what happened, Aziraphale tries to recover on his own.

the cutting edge of eternity by gazing (T)

When Aziraphale begins to fall from heaven, he tries to hide it for as long as possible. But Crowley has been through this before. He knows the signs. And he's sure as hell (pun intended) not going to let Aziraphale go through it alone.

- Mod D

[goodfish-bowl]

The Thermos

Kwan stared at Danny in confused horror from across the classroom. He watched as Danny cracked open a can Mountain Dew and poured it into what was definitely a Fenton Thermos. The entire can went inside, and Kwan watched as a strange vapor that couldn’t be explained as carbonation seeped out from the rim of the container before Danny snatched it up and chugged what had to be at least half of its contents before slamming the lid down on it. He placed it gently on the corner of his desk as if he hadn’t just attacked it like a dying man. A shiver forced itself down Kwan’s spine.

“You know, Dash, sometimes I wonder how Fenton is still alive,” He commented, more to himself than Dash.

Dash huffed, “If he was going to kick to bucket, he would’ve done it by now. Between his wack job parents, the ghosts, and the toxic sludge punch he keeps in that thermos, Fenton is just something else.”

Kwan hummed in agreement. “What did he put in there earlier?”

“Two different Red Bulls.”

Kwan shivered, “Pretty sure that whatever is in that thermos is the only thing keeping him alive.”

“Sounds about right. Still doesn’t stop the looser from passing out in the middle of class.”

Kwan sighed. He could practically see Danny drooping onto his desk already. Class hadn’t even started yet. Sam smacked him with her notebook right upside the head and Danny startled back awake, flailing and falling from his desk, crashing into the ground with a loud bang. Mr. Lancer walked in.

“Mr. Fenton, while you’re inspection of the ground is greatly appreciated and on topic, I do believe it’s time for class.”

There was a round of laughter as Danny pulled himself off the ground. Kwan noticed him favor his right leg, far too much for it to have just been from his fall from his desk.

“Sorry, Mr. Lancer,” Danny apologized timidly as he fixed his desk and slid back into it, shooting and irritated glare at Sam who just stuck out her tongue in response.

“And with that, we’re going to be reviewing ‘The Fall of Icarus’ before we jump into our analysis of the Iliad,” Mr. Lancer continued.

Kwan pulled out his book and flipped to the page. “Yeah, it’s definitely what’s in the thermos,” he muttered.

Focused on their books and covered by the sound of pages, no one caught Danny pulling out two vials of viscous green liquid, open them up with a soft ‘pop’, and add them to the Thermos, taking another large gulp, before giving the thermos a small swirl to mix the contents. He pulled out his own tattered mess of a book and focused the best he could for the duration of the class, passing out by the half-way mark.

Kwan watched as Danny rushed out of the class as soon as the bell rang, Dash close on his tail over a failed Bio test. No limp whatsoever. Kwan huffed to himself, he must’ve imagined it.

[canmom]

thinking about Deus Ex Human Revolution because I stumbled over its soundtrack in my game OST folder.

it got good reviews in its day but with hindsight it's not really remembered as a great game to endure the way the first one did. there is stuff to praise - art direction for example - but equally, you can criticise plenty: the clumsy handling of the 'augments' theme, the shallow orientalism of the China chapters, the watering down of the immersive sim elements. the clumsy outsourced boss fights and the rubbish ending.

if it's remembered today it's mainly for the "i never asked for this" meme, and the 'Icarus' trailer.

watching it again in 2024, the soundtrack is doing a lot of the work of carrying this. most of the dialogue in this trailer is really corny cyberpunk-isms, and a lot of its visuals are blatant riffs on Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed and Blade Runner (though I'll credit that it has a great sense of mechanical design in its robots and stuff). but the opening visual motif - the Renaissance dissection tableau transitioning into the flight of Icarus - is just the right level of pretentious for a game like this. that, combined with the wordless vocals rising and falling around the synth line, does so much work to sell the idea of 'this is grand and important'.

cyberpunk has a pretty specific sound associated with it - the electronic sounds are obvious, but in some of the best remembered cases it relies on contrasting the human voice and old school percussion against those synths, typically in some unusual vocal style that is likely to be unfamiliar to viewers - most notably Indonesian gamelan in the Akira soundtrack, and Bulgarian choir in Oshii's Ghost in the Shell. the other major genre touchpoint, Blade Runner, does not generally use vocals in the same way, but still plays the synth off against percussion sounds. in the simplest terms, it's a contrast of 'natural' and 'unnatural' right? what humans were and what we're becoming.

here we're not importing quite such an unfamiliar sound, but we have a lot of long, held notes by a solo singer (either Ariel Engle or Andrea Revel going off Soundcloud, but I'm having a hard time figuring out the specific credit). it's not unrelated to what Emi Evans was doing with the 'chaos language' in NieR, and indeed to the sound that J'Nique Nicole would bring in the sequel there. I really like wordless vocals, the human voice is such a versatile instrument and brings so much texture.

against that the synth here is actually keeping things really simple. it's mostly just repeating phrases, often simply arpeggios. I haven't really learned enough to keep track of the chord movements here, I'm sure someone more well-versed in music theory could easily take them apart because I doubt it's doing anything overly complex. but it's in a minor key, it's gradually rising for the first half of the track, dropping a bit every so often so it can keep climbing for the most part... and then the final third introduces a second synth line with a slower descending motif - goddamn it's literally just the Icarus metaphor again isn't it, rising and then falling? but it's not too obvious with it, like it doesn't climb all the way back down.

against that the trailer plays a montage of General Cyberpunk Stuff, notably Adam killing people in sicknasty ways, robot limbs doing robot limb stuff, newscasters with interesting fashion sense, and protesters getting gunned down by cops. the weakest parts are the ones that refer to the game's plot and aren't just pure vibes tbh.

that trailer wrote a lot of cheques that the game couldn't really pay, but it is interesting to look back at it with a more analytic eye. it makes me wonder how to really get that human voice texture in music I make. I mean the obvious answer is 'learn to sing', and I'm working on that and making progress, but my voice is pretty testosteron'd and inevitably that limits my range. vocaloids are great but mostly for a different kind of sound. ah well, I'll figure it out. the erhu at least has a sound that's pretty close to the human voice, so maybe that can be the ingredient I need to get that Atmosphere(TM).

[intersexbookclub]

Welcome to Intersex Book Club!

Why we meet: Our goal with the book club is to provide a social opportunity for intersex people, people questioning if they're intersex, and allies, to meet and explore intersex-oriented literature together.

When we meet: On the last Friday of the month, at 16:00 Eastern / 20:00 UTC. Meetings are usually 1.5 to 2 hours long; latecomers are welcome.

How we meet: On Microsoft Teams, with links posted on our discord: https://discord.gg/U8ZucKwGPK (See our code of conduct)

Book picks & meeting information In inverse chronological order - bookwyrm list

NOVEMBER 2024: Just Ash, by Sol Santana (Nov 29)

OCTOBER 2024: Rosalind's Siblings, edited by Bogi Takács (Oct 25)

SEPTEMBER 2024: Cripping Intersex by Orr, chapters 0 and 7-9 (Sep 27)

AUGUST 2024: Intersex (for lack of a better word) by Hillman (Aug 30)

JULY 2024: Cattywampus by Otterloo (July 26)

JUNE 2024: Bodies in Doubt: An American History of Intersex by Reis (Jun 28)

MAY 2024: Icarus by K. Ancrum (May 31)

APRIL 2024: The Trans Space Octopus Congregation by Bogi Takács (Apr 26)

MARCH 2024: Envisioning African Intersex by Amanda L Swarr - second half (Mar 29)

FEBRUARY 2024: Power To Yield and Other Stories by Bogi Takács (Feb 23)

JANUARY 2024: Envisioning African Intersex by Amanda L Swarr - first half (Jan 26)

DECEMBER 2023: Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire (Dec 22)

NOVEMBER 2023: Critical Intersex, edited by Morgan Holmes, chapters 4-7 (Nov 24)

OCTOBER 2023: Queen by JS Fields (Oct 27)

SEPTEMBER 2023: Chapters 1, 4 and 5 of Transgender and intersex: Theoretical, practical, and artistic perspectives, edited by Stefan Horlacher (Sep 29)

AUGUST 2023: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin (Aug 25)

JULY 2023: The Deep by Rivers Solomon (Jul 28)

JUNE 2023: The Fortunate Fall by Raphael Carter (Jun 28)

Book summaries/reviews Sorted by genre then by reverse chronological order; 🟣 indicates the author is openly intersex

Fiction:

Power to Yield and Other Stories by Takács 🟣 (Feb 2024)

Across the Green Grass Fields by McGuire (Dec 2023)

Queen by Fields 🟣 (Oct 2023)

The Left Hand of Darkness by LeGuin (Aug 2023)

The Deep by Solomon 🟣 (July 2023)

The Fortunate Fall by Carter 🟣 (June 2023)

Non-Fiction:

Chapter 4 of Critical Intersex, on the history of ISNA (Nov 2023)

Chapters 5-7 of Critical Intersex, on intersex legal rights in Europe (Nov 2023)

Chapters 1, 4 and 5 of Transgender and Intersex 🟣, on the relationships between the intersex & trans communities (Sep 2023)

[eddieandbird]

Flight of Icarus - Chapter 1

synopsis and reactions

The story is told from Eddie’s perspective and starts with the Hellfire club in the middle of a campaign. He just brutally killed off Gareth’s character and the club is discussing it hilariously. Right now the club consists of six members:

Eddie - senior

Gareth - freshman, newest member of Hellfire

Dougie - senior

Ronnie Ecker - senior, started Hellfire with Eddie

Jeff - sophomore

Stan - junior

Most of the members are also in Corroded Coffin, including Eddie, Ronnie, and Dougie (Gareth joins at a later date?)

Ronnie (Full name: Veronica Ecker) seems the closest to Eddie at this point. They both moved to the trailer park at the same time and have been friends ever since. Eddie seems very protective over her, even though he tries to look like he’s reluctantly helping her out with rides home and stuff. They have similar backgrounds; didn’t grow up with a whole lot of family. Eddie also said when they were 13, he considered that they were dating. (This falls in line perfectly with my head cannon that Eddie wouldn’t have the balls to ask his crush out, he would just assume they were dating and let them figure it out eeeeee!!!) After Eddie had his mind made up that they were dating, he goes in FOR A KISS and she gets freaked out and pulls away lmao. (I honestly love Ronnie as a character and might even use her for a couple Eddie fics)

After the Hellfire meeting, Ronnie reveals to Eddie that she got a full ride law scholarship to NYU. I think this sends Eddie into a spiral, considering he doesn’t really have plans for college and he also might be afraid of losing his friendship with Ronnie when she moves, but like the compassionate, sweet boy that he is, he lets her know how proud he is of her.

I’m not sure if we got this information before, but Eddie’s Dad’s canon name is Al Munson. (Eddie doesn’t give us a full name, but I’d like to think it’s Albert Munson). Just like he was hinting in season four (y’know the scene where he’s talking to Steve and hot-wiring the camper van?), Al Munson seems like a typical deadbeat dad, but Eddie only discusses this briefly. 

The chapter ends with Eddie getting pulled over by a cop, Officer Moore. He’s obviously being annoying, giving Eddie shit for his driving and insinuates that Eddie has drugs in his car, but ultimately leaves him and Ronnie alone. 

Review~

So far the writing is charming. I’m not sure if it’s just too early in the book to tell, or I’ve been reading too many fan fictions or what, but I do feel like Eddie’s voice is lacking some of the whimsy and pizzazz that I picture him to have. That being said, I do appreciate the author showing off Eddie’s softer side and hiding his emotions in the internal dialogue.

[andromedaexists]

IT'S PUB DAY 🗣️‼️

HAPPY 10/10 ΔΆΙΟΣ (my baby) IS OUT IN THE WORLD!!! Δάιος is the first book in the Call Me Icarus trilogy! It is an Anti-Establisment retelling of the fall of Icarus.

It's also what I've made my entire about! The whole reason I joined writeblr! It is my everything, I have chronic CMI brainrot at this point. Icarus is a rotisserarie chicken in my mind

Are you a fan of trans men being the worst? Queer people making bad decisions? Blood?? Good, ΔΆΙΟΣ has it all!! Just check out this nifty little graphic I made:

ANYWAYS I just got confirmation that the Hardcovers and paperbacks are on their way to me so that I can do some signed editions with ✨goodies✨

Hopefully that means hardcovers will be available on like amazon and b&n soon (idk how these things work), but at the very least paperbacks are available on amazon!!

idk what else to say here, i'm just super excited that my word baby is out in the world. Have some links i guess?

Δάιος on Amazon Δάιος signed copies on my website Goodreads page! The most beautiful image of my book in existence (and a review of it) a secret 5th link

[nitrokiraru]

finished the final chapter of uuultrac! (and on the last route finally figured out how to get rid of the text box LOL)

as always thoughts and spoilers under the cutttt

man. ill say my thoughts abt the entirety of this vn later but this route was PAIN (in a good way)

juurou and yomi probably have the most complicated relationship in the whole dam game. first of all. yomi is apparently a weird alien lookin EYE thing which is a little complicated there. second of all it had the "i have to push you away..." trope which kills me everytime and juurou is just like well no. idc what i have to do im gonna be with you. crazy how chapter 1 and 2 had these like happy endings where they get to b happy together and then they just throw you a god damn CURVEBALL on the very last one. to be honest i cant exactly grasp what actually happened in this ending but it broke me regardless. good stuff

ok to talk abt things besides the depression i received from the angst i wanna go to a lighter note and say that the icarus squad is hilarious and i love them. also love this cg a lot yomi's tummy has me thinking nefarious thoughts that i cannot disclose.

i also rly liked tarou he was SO adorable. hes just a little guy.

also love how every route connects because i got to hear akira gush abt shou to the icaruses... im very not normal about akishou so i loved hearing abt him talk abt his "gf" to the group and being like !!!!!!!!!!!! HES TALKING ABT SHOU!!!!!!!! I KNOW THAT GUY

to review the entire game, i actually loved this so much. genuinely think it is one of my new favorites. everyone's chemistry, the humor, the soundtrack, the amazing cg art, the lovable characters; everything just WORKS i got attached with just chapter 1. ive said this a few times before but i rly think that after playing this and hashihime, i like uuultra c a lot better. not that hashihime is bad, i just think kurosawa improved a lot when it comes to the art and storytelling

if i were to rank the routes in this game i think it would be 1 = 2 > 3. I liked chapter 1 a lot, reason being because Akira is my favorite character and i also really like akishous dynamic. I like 2 about the same amount, with 3 falling a bit behind just because of some parts that i felt nitpicky about so im not gonna mention them, but regardless as a whole it is a really good vn. technically it's more of a kinetic novel but idk im still gonna call it a vn #lazy

definitely going to revisit this later, maybe replaying a chapter once in a while. i almost wish it was longer bc now i just miss the characters LOL

[analog-cottage-gore]

Ivy finds out a little bit more than expected.

Ships: Lyrassir/Ivy/Raphaella/Marius (tho Marius is just implied tbh)

Gace myself the challenge of "Don't use the same pronouns for Lyf twice"

While reading please invision @/reegis 's designs <3

Also @hurtmionedanger you were excited so-

Ivy was not having the best day. Or, well, couple of months really.

Both Lyf and Raph had been having near constant nightmares that Ivy couldn't soothe, and though Marius was mostly helpful, he could only do so much. The only information she had was that both were having nightmares of their families and death. So, Ivy did what she always did; took to her files to find answers for these nightmares so she could be better equipped. It always went at least somewhat well!

It wasn't going well.

Ivy was reviewing her files over and over, but coming up empty. Sure, it helped that she had her guilty pleasure playlist on, but she was still stumped. She hummed along to bubblegum bitch whilst translating old norse and copying pieces of asgardian police reports to a document full of clues.

She'd figured out that Lyfrassir wasn't a midgardian when they were back in Yggdrasil, and she'd recently gotten the information that he was half jötunn, which were normally restricted to the planet Jötunheim, however that clearly wasn't the case for her dear (ex-)inspector. So pan must have at least one partially non-Jötunn parent, which made the scope both bigger and smaller for potential family members.

Gently singing Dollhouse (one of these days she was going to cover some of these old earth songs even if Johnny complained), she finds an… interesting picture.

"D-O-L-L-H-oh, what's this?" She mutters, examining the photo.

It's distorted and damaged, but nothing she can't fix with some time. The caption reads, "Family Photoshoot Before The Trip!". It shows three people, two adults that are sloppily scribbled out, and a child. The adults are standing on either side of said child, who has the biggest and proudest grin on their face. That child is, as expected, Lyfrassir Edda. This is what Ivy thought she would find, what she hoped to find, even. But this isn't what catches her off guard.

What makes her falter is the fact that the adults are wearing Midgardian Resistance uniforms.

Now, she'd known Lyf had asgardian blood in her, xe were relatively open with the fact even in Yggdrasil, so ae being a child from the time before Odin fucked it all up with her train made sense, given asgardian life spans. But a child of the midgardian resistance? She hadn't even considered it, let alone had a percentage in place. The up-tight cop who had seemed just as pro-asgardian as the other cops (an issue Ivy and the others in jail had known would be worked past), was from the resistance. Okay. Sure.

Ivy set the photo up for restoration, to find out who Lyf's parents were, and got to looking through Raph's oldest sketches to distract herself.

There were a lot of designs for medical stuff and toys, the latter likely due to her being younger when designing them. What's interesting is that Ivy finds designs for wings. No, not wings… wing extensions, designed for underdeveloped wings, sort of mobility aid for flight, with a note in Raph's handwriting on what seems to be the finalized version;

To my father,

I feel these new designs I've made could have massive impacts on life for people with conditions like mine. I hope that you might see the same potential in my work.

Your child, Icarus.

Icarus.

Oh.

It all starts to fall into place in Ivy's mind.

Raph would wake up screaming in the middle of the night, and would immediately check to make sure her wings were there, not letting anyone touch them. Of course she wouldn't let anyone touch her wings after those nightmares. Ivy could almost see what had happened in her mind, based on what she had heard of "Icarus", now Raphaella, and the records of Raph pre-mechanization flashing through her mind.

Wing Status: Cut Off At The Top Of Back

Nine words brought far too much anger than they should have, but Ivy didn't care. If they ever got back to The City, Ivy would like to personally strangle Daedalus-

Ding

Ah. The photo was restored. Well, it'd provide a good excuse for Ivy to calm down a bit. She viewed the newly restored image and-

…

......

.........

what the fuck.

why were Loki and Sigyn there.

what.

Ivy took a few moments to process before reflecting on the past few minutes and her newest data, before concluding she really didn't want to just walk away because what the Hel-

In all honesty, maybe she should have expected this. Maybe the utter disdain in "extorting quicker tyranny to midgard", and awe for Loki and Sigyn being on the Ratatosk that was shown in Lyf's voice in the original transmission should have given it away, but fuck it if Ivy wasn't shocked by it anyway-

Well. At least she could help her partner's with nightmares now...?

[meancaroline]

Bride, by Ali Hazelwood

Ratings:

GoodReads Rating: 4.05 ⭐️

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️

Spice: 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Purchasing:

Can be found at most bookstores in various formats. Prices vary.

Length:

399 pages

Review:

Misery Lark (yes, that is her real name) has been there, done that as a symbol of peace between humans and vampires…sorry, Vampyres. Essentially abandoned by her kind, she has made a life for herself among the humans that is instantly shattered when a Vampyre takes her back to her father.

Things have been difficult for Misery’s father. The Vampyre councilman sees trouble on the horizon: the humans have elected a new governor, and she will not meet with him. But she has met with the Alpha of the Werewolves. An alliance between humans and Werewolves would be devastating for the Vampyres…so her father is proposing an alliance of his own: an alliance between Vampyres and Werewolves, through marriage.

Misery is 0.3 seconds away from saying “no.” Then she notices the name of the Werewolf Alpha matches a name she found in the apartment of her (only) human friend Serena, who has vanished, without a trace.

Misery needs to find her friend. And if she has to go into the territory of her people’s greatest foe, she’ll do it. Even if her new husband thinks she stinks.

Misery’s story reminds me of the story of Icarus, son of Daedalus. In case you need a reminder, Icarus and Daedalus were held captive in a tower in order to keep the secret of the Minotaur’s maze. In order to escape, they must fly out of the tower, and over the sea, using wings made of feathers and wax. Both Misery’s story and Icarus’ wings fall apart through the sustained application of heat.

And it’s unfortunate. I went to an actual store, the local Barnes and Noble, to buy this book. I’d heard good things. I read the back, and was interested in the idea, I read the first several chapters and enjoyed where it was going…but, and I could not tell you when, at some point, Bride became a bore.

It’s a shame, really, because Bride had a lot of good ideas: political marriage between enemies, supernatural factions on the verge of war, a societal outcast trying to save their friend, a missing person mystery, it’s all there! Unfortunately, Hazelwood’s focus on the relationship between Misery and Lowe, the Werewolf Alpha, puts everything else to the wayside. These ideas are then left underdeveloped.

Misery too feels underdeveloped. She tells us a lot but we see very little of anything that happens/happened to her. Anything seemingly building toward problems and tension is hand waved/deus ex machina-ed away. Even the final confrontation with the final villain is left unseen by the reader.

I will give “Bride” this: it has one of, if not the best, conversations about knotting I have ever read.

Seriously, Hazelwood goes to great lengths to discuss how a Vampyre and a Werewolf might not be sexually compatible. Spoiler alert: they totally are. And, as Misery’s werewolf husband is *so* concerned she won’t be able to handle his knot, he satisfies her needs with several non-penetrative sex acts. We love to see it.

So, while I can’t say Bride is for everyone, I can say if someone has read Hazelwood’s other works, enjoyed them, and wants to give monster romance a try, this could be for them.

[brainrotarchive]

‘cause reading is what? fundamental! (15/30)

I’m at the halfway point of my 2024 reading goal so here’s the unserious book review nobody asked for! I’m so proud that I read that many books already despite the all consuming urge to read fanfiction every single day.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: 4/5 ✨

objectively an amazing read I just went through a rough time and didn’t enjoy it the way I could’ve?

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman: 4/5 🦇

kind of the same problem here but I also didn’t fully get it. I still had a really good time while reading and some scenes seriously shocked me. like sir, this is a children’s book. I was scared.

The Big Reveal by Sasha Velour: 5/5 💅

This was artistry at an insane level and it came to me at exactly the right time. A wonderful read and also beautiful to look at. I got to see the live show as well and it was everything I could’ve wished for and more. knowing this book has changed me. no notes, go read it!

Coraline by Neil Gaiman: 5/5 🪡

do i have to tell anyone that neil ATE with that one? my only issue is that I got really sad because I never read it when I was a kid. groundbreaking, stunning.

Narayama by Shichiro Fukazawa: 3.5/5 ⛰️

very short read and very different to what I’m usually into but I still enjoyed it. interesting read for sure but it didn’t have an impact like some of the others.

If Cats Disappeared From The World by Genki Kawamura: 3.5/5 🐱

It was all in all a fun read, a bit funny a bit sad but sometimes a bit cringey. Don’t want to imagine a world without cats.

Die Physiker by Friedrich Dürrenmatt: 5/5 👨‍🔬

reread this because I love it. the superior german classic, funny, murderous, critical. the best book I was forced to read in highschool.

How Much Land Does A Man Need by Leo Tolstoy: 4/5 💸

interesting, short, anti-capitalist - slay.

This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mothar & Max Gladstone: 4/5 ⏰

lesbians in time and space? I live. I will probably read it a second time instead of listen to it as an audio book and savour it more. It’s beautifully written.

The Fall of Icarus by Ovid

impossible to give a star rating for me. It was a nice excerpt from the metamorphoses and a nice literary translation.

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde: 5/5 🔥

I’m obsessed with this book, I think about her words all the time and can’t stop talking about it. My most stimulating feminist read in a long long time, maybe forever. I will write an essay about this and I’d slither over just to watch this book eat cake.

Lessons by Ian McEwan: 3.5/5 🎹

I finished it today and I was trying to get through it since march. my rating might change but it didn’t have to be that long. Ian McEwan is my nemesis ever since I read nutshell. his style is good and i can’t deny that but his mind is twisted. I found some of the themes in the book fascinating but overall I think a book about a man’s life will just never actually speak to me personally. I’m very conflicted because despite all that it did trigger some thinking and during some scenes I was invested.

Rubinrot/Saphirblau/Smaragdgrün by Kerstin Gier: 💎

no star rating because I will never be able to look past the obsessive love I felt for this book series when I was 10 years old. kerstin but crack for my brain in between these pages. Revisiting the story brought me so much joy and I was mothering my inner child. sadness is temporary, enemies to lovers time travel romance is forever. go read your childhood favourites, it’s so much fun!

feel free to recommend books for the second half of the year and fight me if you want.

[figothynewton]

First listen thoughts of Unreal Unearth!!

Disclaimer: when it comes to his music I am literally incapable of thinking it’s bad all of these reviews are good and I don’t take criticism ps sorry for the long post oml

De Selbys: part 1 STUNNING the fuckin gorgeous Gaeilge vocals at the end???? The tranSITION TO DE SELBY 2 COME ON !!!!!!

First time- SOME PART OF ME MUST HAVE DIED THE FIRST TIME YOU CALLED ME BABY??????????? FUCK!!!!!!! God the rhythm his fucking voice the instrumentals !!!!! So good

Francesca- phenomenal as we already know

I, Carrion- Girl I already knew I was gonna like I, Carrion cause like hello I am a whore for Greek mythology and especially Icarus like sunlight is one of my favorites BUT “if we fall I only pray you don’t fall away from me” I am weeping it is so so beautiful oh my god

Eat your young- as fucking amazing as always

Damage gets done- Brandi Carlile and Hozier’s voices blend beautifully and this song feels like something you’d hear in like a coming age movie when the main character is having her realization that her life is changing for the better like full on perks of being a wallflower car tunnel scene (and yes I fucking love it)

Who we are- are the fucking vocals in that middle part him??? How is he physically capable of doing that???? Holy! Shit!

Son of Nyx- I think the best way to describe this is that my sister sent me the gif of Pinocchio from shrek rising out of the bed cause. Yeah.

All things end- remaining probably my favorite from the eat your young ep

TSFAWC(U)- Y’all. I had to replay the intro of to someone from a warm climate about five times “a joy hard learned in winter was the warming of the bed you’d shake for minutes there and move your legs wrap the blanket over you and keep your head within let your breath heat the air until you’d feel it getting thin” FUCK I need help PLEASE Ohp ok and now I’m crying again wow I almost choked from crying I’m not doing well

Butchered Tongue- girl I’m just gonna not stop crying am I ? it’s still singing here above the ground ??? Screaming crying yelling throwing up

Anything but- ! So fun!! But still so like melancholy like I’d give anything to run away! Clapping reminiscent of almost (sweet music) and it just feels like they were having fun dining the background vocals just so good

Abstract (psychopomp) really be making me fell that post about not being able to understand him cause if he wanted me to know the words he would have enunciated but lord I still love it. upon hearing there’s a part of me I’m afraid will always be trapped within an abstract from a moment of my life and I wish I could go back to not understanding the lyrics that fully made me cry all over again

Unknown/Nth- so the album hasn’t been out long enough for me to decide what my favorite out of the whole thing is but this has been my fav if the early/single releases so this one is for sure up there

First light- wow just wow wow so like I don’t even know how to describe it like I hate the word epic cause it’s so 2000s but like it truly is so like epic and powerful the sheer strength of his voice is genuinely jaw dropping just wow wow wow wowowowoowowo

So it was just a first listen through I don’t know which my favorite is yet but wow they are all just stunning it’s just an incredible album so so so good

[zradfordhq]

Nobody Is Listening is the third solo studio album. It was released on 15 January 2021 through RCA Records. The album features guest appearances from Syd and Devlin. It follows his previous album, Icarus Falls, which was released in late 2018. The album was preceded by the release of the singles "Better" and "Vibez". Upon release, Nobody Is Listening received generally favorable reviews from critics; the album peaked at number 44 on the US Billboard 200 and number 17 on the UK Albums Chart.

The album's artwork is designed by ZAYN himself and is inspired by expressionism and graffiti. The cover was revealed on his website along with the CD pre-order on 8 January 2021.

The album contains eleven tracks including the two singles. ZAYN said to have "total creative rein" on the project, as well as "making the music he has always wanted to". In an interview with Entertainment Daily, Zayn described the album as his "most personal project to date".

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Tuesday, November 21

Tector: You afraid of the girl? Lyle: I'm just playin' it safe. We're just gonna follow her around a little while, find our time. 'Cause this ain't over. Tector: I think you *are* afraid of the Slayer. Lyle: All right. I'm gonna beat you like a redheaded stepchild. Throw your ass out in that sunlight. C'mon. Tector: You think you can? Lyle: Giddy-up, son.

~~Buffy Episode #24: "Bad Eggs"~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Changes (Buffy, Willow, T) by veronyxk84

Laundry Day (Spike, Giles, T) by veronyxk84

Angelus's Mercy: Part Two (Buffy/Angelus, M) by MCorey1317

[Chaptered Fiction]

Vamp for Rent 10/18 (Spike/Xander, M) by Forsaken2003

Hope is the thing with feathers Ch. 1 (Buffy/Spike, unrated) by wildflowerr_wildfire

With You CH. 8 (Jenny/Giles, M) by Bobbie23

hit rewind Ch. 19 (Buffy/Spike, M) by untiljanuary

A Call From Beyond Ch. 2/7 (Ensemble, G) by https://archiveofourown.org/works/51722902/chapters/130822738

Goodbye to Everything That I Knew CH. 8 (Buffy/Spike, M) by My_Barbaric_Yawp

New York Ch. 18/43 (Xander/Giles, M) by drsquidlove

Love Letters To Spike Ch. 2 (Buuffy/Spike, G) by CecyTheRomanticist

1632 Revello Drive Ch. 10 (Buffy/Faith, T) by A Most Sovereign Lady

A Darkened Night of the Soul, Chapter 4-20 (Buffy/Spike, E) by In Mortal

Surviving Together, Chapter 9 (Buffy/Spike, E) by ionlylikebadboys

Amara Time, Chapter 8 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Joan963z

I remember who you are , Chapter 13 (Buffy/Spike, T) by Desicat

What the Drabble?, Chapter 43 (Buffy/Spike, M) by VeroNyxK84

Fake Blood and Real Tears, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, T) by violettathepiratequeen

Icarus, Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, E) by HappyWhenItRains

More than Crush , Chapter 1-36 (Buffy/Spike, E) by all_choseny

A Legacy of Chaos Ch. 26 (Willow, Xander, M) by ajw

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork:Gender Nonconforming Spuffy () by LivintheJungle

Artwork:"Two Sides Of The Same Coin" (Buffy) by CoffeeMilkLvr

Artwork:Cangel Sketches () by artsying-ifer

Manip:Banner for "Drive" by Holly () by MillennialCryBaby

[Reviews & Recaps]

an update from Angel After the Fall (Chapter 3, Volume 3) by absolutely-wretched

PODCAST: ATS 203 - First Impressions by Another Buffy Podcast

PODCAST: Episode 4 - A Cricket and Mayo Sandwich (Teacher‛s Pet) by The Sunnydale Diaries

[Fandom Discussions]

Joss' Self-Insert by [personal profile] itsnotmymind

I’m doing a season 7 rewrite and can’t get past the first episode by thepunkmuppet

a big reason as to why Giles is so harsh on Willow by jennys-calendar

buffy was always right about everything. by alewifed

I continue to make new Headcanons as I rewatch Buffy!! by smmagill

Anya Jenkins by cardassiangoodreads

Is there any reason to believe that Faith didn‛t go through the Cruciamentum with her former Watcher? by coraniaid

Did Buffy (or anybody else) tell Faith about the Cruciamentum? by coraniaid

What Would a Buffy the Vampire Slayer Revival Look Like? - A MLC Retrospective by DeloresMLC

Make the comments look like Willow's search engine history by jdpm1991

Who do you think would be playing at the Bronze this day and age by flowermateman

Spike and Angel were both good for Buffy by Ordinary_Pumpkin8110

You have ONE episode to get someone into Buffy… by llamacorn89

How come the cops didn't show up and when Buffy and Tara got shot by Warren? by serialllama

Struggling to get through Angel Season 1 by Coneskater

Joss by Luluspond

Unpopular Opinions: Buffy Summers edition by jdpm1991

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[apollos-boyfriend]

I posted 22,076 times in 2022

7,908 posts created (36%)

14,168 posts reblogged (64%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@apollos-boyfriend

@xpoolboy

@starsandfluff

@mellointheory

@noobsomeexagerjunk

I tagged 13,303 of my posts in 2022

Only 40% of my posts had no tags

#icarus speaks - 5,887 posts

#muse talk - 3,383 posts

#anon - 2,363 posts

#icarus liveblogs - 1,126 posts

#ask game - 400 posts

#fave - 210 posts

#loganprobably - 162 posts

#core tags - 144 posts

#icarus draws - 136 posts

#dorm life - 131 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#they’re best friends they’re soulmates they’re enablers they’re disasters they’re in love they’re a family they’re forever vowed to each oth

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

i’m drawing icarus and apollo waltzing for my illustration class and my professor told me to make the dip more dramatic because “the sun god should not support icarus in his fall” like you fool. you absolute buffoon. you think apollo didn’t support icarus? you think apollo didn’t shine down on icarus every day, even in that accursed tower, offering him what little warmth could be found in such a prison? you think daedalus would’ve founded a temple to the sun god if he was malicious in his compliance in icarus’ death? icarus wouldn’t have flown so close if the sun wasn’t so welcoming, so loving, so captivating. if the sun was cold and uncaring, icarus would not have burned. it was not apollo’s fault icarus fell. he could not curb his warmth, just like how icarus could not curb his curiosity. apollo loved icarus as much as icarus loved him, and that is why their story is so tragic. apollo was not a malicious force in icarus’ death, the fates were, and that was out of both of their controls. do not slander his name like this.

5,935 notes - Posted October 3, 2022

#4

tommy told crumb “she was like an npc” and when she asked for him to elaborate he just reached out and just grabbed her entire face with his hand.

crumb of course batted it away and covered their face, to which tommy went, “see, that’s an npc reaction!”

and crumb was like, “no?? that’s a normal reaction to someone grabbing your face???”

to which tommy went, “no it’s not.” and turned to the side and did the exact same thing to ranboo, who apparently just fucking stood there and accepted his fate

6,476 notes - Posted October 23, 2022

#3

ctinarose in gay love. reblog if you agree

10,930 notes - Posted July 17, 2022

#2

19,579 notes - Posted September 14, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

crumb cuptoast. reblog if you agree

136,892 notes - Posted November 6, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[manonamora-if-reviews]

Neo Twiny Jam - bite-sized review

The Neo Twiny Jam (@neo-twiny-jam) is an interactive fiction game unranked jam where participants could not write more than 500 words per entry.

You can find every submitted piece on the jam's Itch Page.

=============

TERMINAL VELOCITY by 30x30

Entry -  More by 30x30 - @thirtybythirty CW: suicidal ideation, unreality

Icarus, the myth, the man, the fall "You will fail." "Inevitable." The game tells you from the start. No matter your questions, no matter you determination, no matter... You will fail. It is inevitable. This retelling through a minimalist and almost sci-fi formatting adds onto the tragic myth of Icarus. Really well done.

[neeliepsrecs]

FROGS Awards Round 2 2018

Awards hosted here

Best Reviewer Joint First Place: Felpata Lupin Joint First Place: justawillowtree Second Place: Stella Blue

Most Versatile Author Joint First Place: abhorsen Joint First Place: nott theodore Second Place: BlackPixie

Best Angst First Place: Gods Without Grace by dirigibleplums Joint Second Place: Beyond Repair by MugglesMaybe Joint Second Place: Silence, death by poppunkpadfoot

Best Dark/Horror First Place: The Skull Beneath the Skin by esmeraude Second Place: Erasure by AbraxanUnicorn Third Place: Spiral by Rumpelstiltskin

Best Humor First Place: When Dahlias Bloom by dirigibleplums Joint Second Place: Immortal Miscoceptions by AbraxanUnicorn Joint Second Place: Hormones by dirtydeedsdonedirtcheap

Best Original Fiction First Place: From by Stella Blue Second Place: I am by Rumpelstiltskin Joint Third Place: The Wind Chimes are Calling Me by Alexis Black Joint Third Place: Fall in Love with a Writer by manno-malfoy

Best Romance First Place: Nights Like These by banshee Second Place: The Time That Bleeds (Into Tomorrow) by abhorsen Third Place: When I Go Out With You by Dojh167

Best Non-Harry Potter Fanfiction First Place: Silence Cuts Loudest Through the Chaos by 1917farmgirl Second Place: Hero by Banshee Third Place: An Age of Change by M C Crocker

Best LGBTQA+ First Place: When I Go Out With You by Dojh167 Second Place: And the World Went On by manno_malfoy Third Place: Before the Sun Sets by toomanycurls

Best Depiction of a Mental Illness/Disability First Place: The Department by poppunkpadfoot Second Place: Keyframe by forever_dreaming Third Place: (I won’t) Shut My Eyes by abhorsen

Best Major Harry Potter Character First Place: Beyond Repair by MuggleMaybe Second Place: Icarus by Stella Blue Third Place: After Life by MegGonagall

Best Minor Harry Potter Character First Place: Liar by Felpata_Lupin Second Place: Jigsaw by nott theodore Joint Third Place: First Lit, Last Burning by MuggleMaybe Joint Third Place: Lightning Love by toomanycurls

Best OC First Place: When Dahlias Bloom by dirigibleplums Second Place: Hero by victoria_anne Joint Third Place: Love, Not War by RoxiMalfoy Joint Third Place: House of Stone by Winding Arrow

Best Family, Friendship First Place: Secret Keeper by poppunkpadfoot Second Place: Shenanigans, capers, and hi-jinks by abhorsen Joint Third Place: Prisoner by Crimson Quill Joint Third Place: Red Luck by justawillowtree

Best Rare Pair First Place: Parisian Scars by Crimson Quill Second Place: Logarithmic by val Third Place: War & Mint by sihaya