#laurent sinclair

[pijulle]

i’ve bought an illustrated version of the Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Gray for my sister and the main reason it even caught is because Dorian Gray looks so much like Pacat’s deadly blonds??

Look at these and tell me it’s not James and/or Laurent?

Illustration by Benjamin Lacombe

[neuvogue]

[gojossotoru]

If your Bully Ocs were in Harry Potter, what would be their Hogwarts house?

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS QUESTION!!! 💖💖💖

______________________________

Frankie:

She would be either a Ravenclaw or a Hufflepuff

______________________________

Charlie:

This is kinda hard 😭 but she would be a Gryffindor

______________________________

Barbara:

She would be... Maybe a Hufflepuff :3

______________________________

Lynette:

A BIG GRYFFINDOR ENERGY!!! (and she would be a prefect ofc)

______________________________

Cecil:

He's a Ravenclaw (or a Slytherin?) for sure

______________________________

Joo-yeon:

She would be a Gryffindor

______________________________

Maxime:

A Gryffindor or a Slytherin

I can't decide 😭

______________________________

[tallysgreatestfan-art]

The "I need therapy but instead I got this lousy command/spaceship/space station" club. An oddly common occurrence in science fiction.

Featuring Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek TNG), Captain Laurent Zai (The Risen Empire - Scott Westerfeld), Commander Ash Tyler (Star Trek Discovery) and Commander Jeffrey Sinclair (Babylon 5).

[noirscript]

masterlist —

find your next favorite yandere here. Each fic contains warnings so proceed with caution coz they are unhinged af.

Quick Links: Navigation | Ask | Commission | Tip Jar | Dark Roast 50% OFF

Nicholas Sterling III —

✾ Descent Into Madness | one shot

✾ Chasing The Light | mini-series

part one | part two | part three | part four

✾ Domestic Bliss | one shot | commission

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

King Callixto —

✾ Sovereign's Reign | Series Masterlist

No matter how far you run, Callixto is never far behind. Freedom was never yours to keep—only borrowed before the inevitable claim.

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

Xavier Veluxe —

✾ Eclipsed Affliction | one shot

✾ A-J | yandere alphabet

✾ Yandere Heir | headcannon

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

Alastair Moreau —

✾ Mine, Oh Mine | one shot | sugar daddy

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

Valentine Sinclair —

✾ My Valentine | one shot

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

Harrison Velenzi —

✾ To Have and To Hold | one shot

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

Unnamed God —

✾ Cursed Covenant | one shot

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

Laurent Delacroix —

✾ Dark Roast | novel | grab your copy here!

You thought you were making your own choices. But Laurent was always there—watching, guiding, ensuring every step led you straight to him. And now, there’s no way out.

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

Cassian Veltre —

✾ Scripted Fate | one shot

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

Isaiah Hartwell —

✾ Lavender and Powder | one shot

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

Caelum Ashford —

✾ Curtain Call | one shot

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

Malcolm Harroway —

✾ The Good Wife | one shot

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

Dorian Shaw —

✾ His Silent Script | one shot

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

William Harrington —

✾ The Price of Legacy | one shot

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

Anselm Faer —

✾ Glass Garden | one shot | Son's POV

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

Zeiryn —

✾ Bride of the Abyss | one shot

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

Seraphim D'Aronn —

✾ Where the Ivy Grows | one shot

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

Elarion Vaelthir —

✾ Of Moss and Memory | one shot

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

Zaeral —

✾ Serpent's Claim | one shot

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

Luca —

✾ Lavender Snow | one shot

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

Azraël —

✾ An Offering of Skin | one shot

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

Rhett Valle —

✾ Made to be Seen | one shot

⋅ ─ ✧ ─ ⋅

Azriel —

✾ Heaven's Leash | one shot

Series

Yandere Hotline

You thought you've drawn the line hard enough for them to notice, but it seems like the concept of boundaries are far beyond their understanding.

Seven Days of Devotion | Holy Week Special

Every day, you wake to a different kind of devotion. Some call it love. Others call it madness. But in the quiet spaces between reverence and ruin, you begin to understand—this was never about salvation. It was always about possession. And now, during the holiest week of the year, they will each find their own way to claim you.

Sanctum | Holy Week Special Series

You came seeking peace. But Father Caelestis has been waiting—ready to crown you his divine bride in a paradise that was never meant to let you go.

Braindump

Headcanon | LADS Caleb | Thirst post

[rainbowbeanart]

I have so many characters and so few last names for them ;; Please leave suggestions for last names and I'll update this list as more get figured out.

Clement, Ali (Alice), and Oop (Ophelia), all need to have the same last name, but otherwise it's a free-for-all. This list is in order of appearance on the image above:

Clement Katz

Moose Armstrong

Marlon Laurent

Peanut Peterson

Priscilla _____

Charlotte Sharp

Dannie (I don't need one for this character)

Blair _____

Rex _____

Angelo Deville

Duchess _____

Lyall _____

Huxley Deville

Devon Smith

Porter Sullivan

Callista Sinclair

Egg Benedict

Jingle Bingham

Dusty Ruckus

Ronnie O'Donovan

Sybil _____

Ali (Alice) Katz

Oop (Ophelia) Katz

If you'd like more info about the characters, you can view their reference sheets here!

[queerazonbooks]

The Woman From The Waves, Roslyn Sinclair

Love and hunger are not the same.

Six years ago, on a remote Scottish island, a mysterious woman saved Sister Madeleine Laurent from drowning. Now, after leaving her convent, Madeleine crosses the ocean again to find the rescuer who changed her life. Instead, her search is disrupted by Hæra North, a brazen, provocative local who stirs Madeleine's repressed desires-and keeps a secret out of legend.

Hæra has one dream: to become the first female Stormhorse, a powerful leader in her clan of fearsome ocean horse spirits. To do so, she must capture, drown, and eat a worthy human. When she first saw Madeleine, she knew she'd found the one. So why did Hæra save her instead?

Now Madeleine's back. All Hæra has to do is remain in human form, earn her woman's trust, then devour her.

But Madeleine is awakening another kind of appetite...

The Woman from the Waves is an epic sapphic romantasy about the power of unleashed desire, the courage it takes to change, and a love so vast it spans the sea, earth, and sky.

[phantom-shell]

ALL MY ARTFIGHT 2024 ATTACKS!! :D

Rowan for N0t_Enderman

Life for KitkatBirdOwO

Annette Noé for sunflowerhour

Loomie for EKKO_IDK

Aura for KitkatBirdOwO

Sinclair Sárkány for sunflowerhour

Marco for Ruffled

Ed Fellowes, Life, Death and Destruction for KitkatBirdOwO

Sparky for SUSHIROLLED

Winnie Donahue for Halicanth

little green thing for acelaw

CH1P for Gluestikx

Ed Fellowes for KitkatBirdOwO

Xochi for eelixir

Fly for legobatjokesfan

June for Toddmycat

Feivel for emery_aislinn

Laurent for quietlament

AAAAA THIS WAS SO FUN!!! I haven't drawn this much in a LONG time woww

I've known about art fight for years, but I was always too nervous to participate... until now, and I am so so SO happy I did, because this was an absolute BLAST (especially the revenge chain, that was my favorite part) I can't wait for next year's artfight hehe

anyways GO TEAM STARDUST WOOOOO!!!!!!

[mourning-city]

Fanfiction Requests:

Rules:

Please be specific about the request, as well as what season/event you want the oneshot/drabble to be set in. 

I will do fluff and angst. I will do NSFW speech (jokes, but also think hellaverse/Chainsaw man), but NO SPICE/SMUT

Characters cannonly 14 and below will only be platonic. 

Characters that are 16+ can be requested for romantic.

If a character you want is not on this list, feel free to go ahead and submit a request for them, as well as an alternative that is on the list just in case

☆Fandoms and Characters I write for listed below☆

My Hero Academia

Shota Aizawa

FatGum/Taishiro Toyomitsu

Hawks/Keigo Takami

Mirio Togata

Tamaki Amajiki

Deku/Izuku Midoriya 

Eijiro Kirishima

Mina Ashido

Kyoka Jiro

Tsuyu Asui

Hanta Sero

Mezu Shoji

Hitoshi Shinso

Haikyuu

Shoyo Hinata

Yu Nishinoya

Asahi Azumane 

Koushi Sugawara

Daichi Sawamura 

Keishin Ukai

Kenma Kozume

Yaku Morisuke 

Tetsuro Kuro

Keiji Akaashi

Takanobu Aone

No Guns Life

Chainsaw Man

Juzo Inui

Mary Steinberg

Denji

Aki Hayakawa

Angel Devil

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic

Power

Kobeni Higashiyama

Kishibe

Himeno

Hirokazu Arai

Alibaba

Morgiana/Morg

Sinbad 

Ja’far

Masrur

Judal

Sharrkan

Spartos

Magi: The Adventures of Sinbad

Sinbad

Mytras

Helluva Boss

Blitzo

Loona

Stalos

Stranger Things

Octavia

Moxxie x Millie (together only)

Verosika Mayday

Striker

Sallie May

Steve Harrington

Robin Buckley

Eddie Munson

Hunter X Hunter

Gareth Emerson 

Jonathan Byers

Eleven/Jane (platonic/familial only)

Max Mayfield (platonic/familial only)

Will Byers (platonic/familial only)

Lucas Sinclair (platonic/familial only)

Erica Sinclair (platonic/familial only)

Mike Wheeler (platonic/familial only)

Gon Freecss (platonic/familial only)

Kurapika Kurta

Leorio Paradinight

Killua Zoldyck (platonic/familial only)

Illumi Zoldyck

Shalnark

Chrollo Lucifer

Kite 

Ging Freecss

K project

Misaki Yata

Mikoto Suoh

Yashiro Isana

MushiShi

Ginko

The Case Study of Vanitas

Vanitas

Noe

The Great Pretender

Roland

Jeanne

Dominique De Sade

Dante

Makoto Edamura

Laurent Theirry

Vinland Saga

Abby/Abigail

Paula Dickins

Canut 

Enar

Thorfinn

Ylva

BNA

Snake

Bjorn

Askeladd

Thorkell

Asgeir

Soul Eater

Shiro Ogami

Marie Itami

Pinga

Alan Sylvesta

Soul Evans

Black Star

Demon Slayer

Death the kid/Kid

Maka Albarn

Tsubaki Nakatsukasa

Blair

Crona

Eruka Frog

Justin Law

Tanjiro Kamado

Inosuke Hashibira

Genya Shinazugawa

Giyu Tomioka

Kyōjurō Rengoku

Tengen Uzui

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead

Akira Tendo

Kenichiro Ryuzaki

Higurashi Kanta

Shizuka Mikazuki

Wind Breaker:

Jo Togame

Haruka Sakura

Hajime Umemiya

Hayato Suō

Kyōtarō Sugishita

Akihiko Nirei

Death Note

L Lawliet

Light Yagami

Touta Matsuda

Laios

Dungeon Meshi/Delicious in Dungeon

Namari

Marcille

Shenshi

Chilchuck

{List will be updated/added on to through out time}

Kabru

Blue Eye Samurai

Mizu

Teigen

Akemi

[mia-nina-lilly]

James isn't Laurent, but they could be friends.

James St. Clair and Laurent d'Vere, besides being intentionally irritating and very handsome, have similar pasts in the sense that both have gone through traumatic experiences and have been shaped by them. James was betrayed and probably nearly killed by the Stewards, ending up in the hands of Sinclair and raised in an environment highly toxic to anyone, especially one who was desired by all for who he was in a distant past. Laurent lost his entire immediate family, and his uncle took over his upbringing, creating in Arles his own den of evil and decadence that made Laurent who he became.

Both were desired and courted, but while James was never touched in that sense and long for it – even being more respected than Laurent among his people – Laurent was severely abused by his own uncle and would have been repeatedly if not for Damen or some other stroke of luck in his life. Laurent was not respected at all, not even by those loyal to him. In another direction, James was taught that he would belong to someone at some point, whereas Laurent was taught the opposite – the speed with which his uncle discarded each of the boys who crossed his path probably taught him that he would never truly be desired except for his beauty and position, or even for the vanity of whoever was trying to win him over.

Here is a similarity stemming from these pasts: it only made both develop a similar mindset. Both James and Laurent seem to believe that they cannot truly be seen as protagonists in relationships that are romantic. James thinks his life will be devoted to someone, to a master. Laurent thinks he is secondary in any sexual relationship and that it will not go beyond that – because no one could truly love him for who he was.

However, while James is pure fire, Laurent can be classified as ice – although his anger sometimes makes him burn even more than James. James is more extroverted and open to new experiences, as evidenced by how easily he adopts Will's thinking. Laurent definitely is not, and if he is, it's out of sheer necessity or strong will, as when he decides to sleep with Damen. That's how he discovers things he likes, too – a moment that illustrates this clearly is the rooftop race in Nesson-Eloy. Furthermore, it is a fact that James would love to have someone by his side, while Laurent is reluctant to trust anyone, even the men most devoted to him.

So, if James were to discover Laurent, and if James knew about Laurent's past, he would probably go to our prince just as he went to Will, maybe even provoking him along the way until Laurent poured his raw fury over him and said something to keep him away as he did with Damen, Nicaise and Aimeric. However, if James persisted, and it's very much like him to insist given the developments in his relationship with Cyprien, trying to convince the empty-headed Steward of his point of view, Laurent would give in at some point, perhaps even in an unexpected way – with both gradually revealing each other's softer sides. It is a fact that, before that, there would be a lot of fights and disagreements. Who knows, perhaps even some sort of Force hanging of James towards Laurent, however, it could eventually work out.

[nursesharkinfirmary]

ִֶָ࣪𓂃 * -` 🌸 ´- perfume npts 🪻 ㅤׂㅤ⭒

─ 𖦹 ˙ ̟Names

Vera, Chloe, Dior, Fumette, Flora/Floralle, Lavvy, Spritz, Pwuff, Ellis, Emiliya, Mauve, Sinclair, Myra, Jasmine, Yves, Valentino, Briar, Rosalyne, Violet, Augustine, Laurent, Salvatore, Cordelia, Antoinette

─ 𖦹 ˙ ̟Pronouns

Scent/Scent's, Fume/Fume's, Puff/Puff's, Musk/Musk's, Mist/Mist's, Vani/Vanilla's, Par/Parfum's, Berry/Berrie's, Frage/Fragrant's, 🪻/🪻's, 🌷/🌷's, 💐/💐's, 🧴/🧴's, 💨/💨's, 🍓/🍓's

─ 𖦹 ˙ ̟Titles

(Prn) of Scents Wafting, The one that Smells of Flowers, The Fragrant (Pref Royal Title), The Gift of Enticing Mist, The Sweet Smelling (Pref Supernatural Creature)

[gladyssite]

Trying out some cc ....

Alize:

Mini Dress Logo Metal Belt by @sunberry-sims4

Earrings & Necklace Chromium Set by @bradfordsims

Fendi Kan Bag by @simsmilasmith

Over the Knee Suede Boots by @jius-sims

Carla:

Necklace Thorium Set by @bradfordsims

Moschino TV Dungarees Outfit by @idsims

Dr. Martens Sinclair Platform Boots by @charonlee

Chantal:

Earrings & Necklace Iridium Set by @bradfordsims

Judi Hoodies by @helgatisha

Style Jeans by @babyetears

Destinee:

Cassie Hair by @dogsill

Necklace Argon Set by @bradfordsims

Danielle Top Heart by @helgatisha

Moschino TV Dungarees Pants by @idsims

Suede Heel Sandals by @jius-sims

Monika:

Nyx Hair by @aladdin-the-simmer

Earrings & Necklace Titanium Set by @bradfordsims

Danielle Top by @helgatisha

Bag Saint Laurent Monogramme by @theslyd

Harley Pants by @missvalentine142

Sandy Liang Mary Jane Double Strap by @charonlee

Saskia:

Hair & Outfit from Sharp Night Coll. by @aladdin-the-simmer

Fukkie Bag by @fukkiemon

Patent Leather Ankle Boots by @jius-sims

Saya:

Teresa Hair by @dogsill

Balenciaga Swing Collar Dress by @idsims

Love What You Have Shoper Bag by @rimings

Socks Wedge Hill Sneakers Boots by @sunberry-sims4

Alisha:

Versace Medusa Earrings & Bracelets by @idsims

Denim Butterfly Top by @serenity-cc

Versace Virtus by @simsmilasmith

2K Low Waisted Pants by @idsims

Suede Lace-Up Flats by @jius-sims

Thanks to all cc creators ♡︎

[mothmorality]

ꜰᴇᴀᴛᴜʀᴇᴅ ʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ᴀ ꜰᴇᴡ ᴏꜰ ᴍʏ ᴘʀᴇᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴍᴜsᴇs, ᴀʟᴏɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀ ᴍᴏᴠɪᴇ/ᴛᴠ qᴜᴏᴛᴇ ɪ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ᴍᴀᴛᴄʜᴇs ᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇᴍ. ᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀ ᴄᴀɴ ʙᴇ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇᴅ sʟɪɢʜᴛʟʏ ᴛᴏ ꜰɪᴛ ᴅɪꜰꜰᴇʀᴇɴᴛ ɴᴀʀʀᴀᴛɪᴠᴇs

---

"without the self-criticism, i'd be lost."

aurora hirsch // wanderer. early to mid 20s. stoner living in her van out of choice, not necessity. lover of the spontaneous and dramatic.

faceclaim/talia ryder.

---

"i know these will all be stories someday."

sylas kit sinclair // mediator. early to mid 20s. soft-spoken and witty, non-confrontational, inexperienced.

faceclaim/thomas weatherall.

---

"i will not accept a life i do not deserve."

juliette rose holloway // manipulator. mid to late 20s. borderline narcissistic, overly sexual, non-commital.

faceclaim/ella purnell.

---

"i want to hide in a place that makes me comfortable."

camille jean burkeley // waif. early 20s. outwardly cowardice and gullible, inwardly cunning and calculating. all around bubbly.

faceclaim/elle fanning.

---

"how is it possible to feel nostalgia for a world i never knew?"

valentine 'val' crawford // perfectionist. late 20s to early 30s. professional, nerdy, experienced.

faceclaim/tom hughes.

---

"i'm a girl, i should do as i like."

juniper eve wallace // gossip. early to mid 20s. mean girl, uncaring, lover of hook ups and drama.

faceclaim/maddie phillips.

---

"i'm sorry? what the hell am i sorry for?"

jasper august laurent // thrill-seeker. early to mid 20s. outgoing, loud, honest, and a bit rude.

faceclaim/oktay çubuk.

---

”no, i’m not afraid to disappear.”

georgia leclaire // survivor. early to mid 20s. strong-willed, final girl, insomniac, jumpy, resilient.

faceclaim/sadie soverall

—-

“the world isn’t that good.”

kinsley elowyn drummond // rogue. early to mid 20s. princess of the kingdom of celestoria. can be rude, often in disagreement with the other royals in her kingdok, gets along better with those who have no royal connections.

faceclaim / lily james

—-

“for as long as the sun and the moon shall endure.”

clyde emerson // guardian. mid to late 20s. obsessive, compulsive, posessive, and gentle only with who he is seeing.

faceclaim / simone baldasseroni

—-

”all i have to say is, some people will be sorry someday.”

vivian everly fitz // innocent. early to mid 20s. girl next door, bright eyed, bubbly, emotional.

faceclaim / diana silvers

—-

”i want to fall in love. but, i’m bored of everyone i meet.”

diana isla winslow // manipulator. mid 20s. two-faced, self serving, survivalist.

faceclaim / halston sage

—-

”you dream in a language i can’t understand.”

clara sutton golding // traveller. early to mid 20s. commitment issues, trouble staying in one place, bright disposition.

faceclaim / maia reficco

—-

ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴇᴅɪᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴀᴅᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴏᴠᴇʀ ᴛɪᴍᴇ. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ ᴀɢᴀɪɴsᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇᴍ, ꜰᴇᴇʟ ꜰʀᴇᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇssᴀɢᴇ ᴍᴇ﹗

[saltykinglove]

Introduction and characters

Desde joven, Scarlett Devereaux aprendió que el mundo no es un lugar justo. Criada en el lujo, pero marcada por el desprecio y la crueldad, sufrió el peor de los tormentos en manos de Jeon Jae-jun y sus amigos. Ser extranjera en Corea solo la convirtió en un blanco más fácil. Humillada, rota, pero nunca vencida, juró que volvería... y que haría que cada uno de ellos pagara.

Años después, Scarlett regresa con un nuevo nombre: Celeste Laurent. No es la chica frágil que alguna vez se burlaron, sino una mujer que aprendió a jugar con las reglas del poder. Con una belleza imposible de ignorar y una inteligencia afilada como una daga, su primer objetivo es claro: seducir a Jae-jun hasta que se obsesione con ella... y luego destrozarlo desde adentro.

Pero la venganza nunca es sencilla. Park Yeon-jin, la mujer que lo tiene todo, no soporta verla brillar. La envidia la consume, y Celeste usará cada una de sus inseguridades en su contra. Mientras tanto, Ethan Carter, el presidente de Estados Unidos, la quiere para sí mismo, dispuesto a cualquier cosa por poseerla.

Cuando el amor y la obsesión se entrelazan con el poder y la venganza, la línea entre el juego y la realidad se difumina. Celeste pensó que tenía el control, pero... ¿qué pasa cuando los fantasmas del pasado se niegan a desaparecer? ¿Y cuando su propio corazón se convierte en su mayor debilidad?

En este mundo de traiciones, secretos y deseos inconfesables, solo los más fuertes sobreviven. Y Scarlett, o Celeste, no piensa perder.

Scarlett Devereaux

Jeon Jae-jun



Dante Sinclair

Ethan Carter



Park Yeon-jin



[magicalyaku]

Happy new year! After the slump of the previous months and my last artist alley of the year, I finally had a lot to read in December! I bought so many books in November, I had to get at least through a few in order to include them in my yearly awards. xD Work was still shit but reading was fun again. :D

Dark Heir (Dark Rise 2) (C.S. Pacat): This was my last book of 2023 and easily my most anticipated. And did it deliver! Left me emotionally devastated for days! xD Seriously, I don't want to know what my neighbors thought what was going on, in case they heard me going "Aaah! No! No no no nooooo! Kya! NOOOO!!" during two certain scenes. /D The nice thing about this series is that I have absolute faith in Pacat's ability to write it well und give me an outcome I am satisfied with. I mean, go look at Captive Prince. The way the relationship between Damen and Laurent develops (even after MAJOR shit going on between them!), the political threads and all that, it's just done very well. And now, here's the Dark Rise series and I sit and watch the spiral of doom the characters are caught up in it and apart from maybe Sinclair not a single one of them is fully good or bad. And it's sooo interesting (and emotionally devastating)!! Hng!! I would actually like to write much more about what I loved and suffered through, like the whole thing with the Visander situation and how Sarcean made all of his worst enemies because he just couldn't keep it in his pants. And James. James. And Cyprian! And everything. But I can't because whenever I try I still feel the excited giggles in my brain and can't have a coherent thought. It's great, but also ... Hnggg!!

The First and Last Adventure of Kit Sawyer (S.E. Harmon): This was fun! At some point early on I looked up what other books the author has written and it's more than ten and I thought "Yes! It feels like being written by someone with a lot of writing experience!" There's just something about the liveliness of the characters and the dialogues. Also so much adventure with a slightly different flavor than usual being set in the jungle and all, I loved it.

By any other Name (Erin Cotter): I wonder why all of my historical fiction books are set in England. This is another highly adventurous story. I was a bit surprised as one thing that's mentioned in the summary already only appears like after half the book. But other than that it was pretty good. It has spies and theatre and pretty nice characters. And I did not anticipate everything that happened which is good!

Wren Martin Ruins it all (Amanda deWitt): The author's previous book Aces Wild: A Heist was one of my top books in 2022, this one does not quite reach those heights but it was still very good and very enjoyable. Wren is such a messy and fun character. As reader I absolutely knew what was going on and who was writing with whom but it was nice to follow the characters' path to awareness. In a way Wren's aceness is not as heavy as in other books (see the next one for instance) but at the same time it deals with a few of the social issues a_spec people are faced with which was nice.

Just Lizzie (Karen Wilfrid): This is a middle grade book about a girl coming to terms with being ace. The heroine has a really nice character arc. And the other characters are sometimes what you expect them to be and sometimes they are not. And maybe … that's ok, right? And I loved it and I cried through half of the book. I guess, it hit home a little more heavily than I expected. :'D (Like that one time where Lizzie is wondering how she will spent Christmas when her parents aren't around anymore? Haaa. It had just been Christmas when I read this and I'm in my 30ies and my Dad is above 70 now so that is a concern I actually have, you know. It's not nice to be reminded. :'D) It's a really good book, I think, thoughtful and well put together and empowering, too.

A Hundred Vicious Turns (The Broken Tower 1) (Lee Page O'brien): Now this was difficult. The cover is gorgeous. Easily my favorite one this year. I only lament that there's no real gold printed. The wasted opportunity. yAy The content is … difficult. I like the story on a whole. The premise and the magic system are really interesting. The characters … were interesting as well? They're fine, their motivations are not easily seen which, in a plot full of mysteries, is actually quite okay. I just didn't build the emotional connection. There's also a lot of anxiety, especially on Rat's part. There was one bit in the writing style that irked me a little. The overuse of pronouns. Because Rat was the only one with 'they' and in most scenes it was only one other person with them, so there often really long stretches where only the pronouns would be used instead of the names. It wa snot confusing because you could easily tell the characters apart, but it felt weird. I'm very used to reading the names a lot. Oh well. It's not a fun read, but it is intruiging and I will read the next volume to see where it goes.

A Magic Steeped in Poison (The Book of Tea 1) (Judy I. Lin): I managed to squeeze in a YA heroine inbetween all the gay boys! And I liked it better than most other female-led YA fantasies I read recently. Doesn't mean I loved it, but Ning was pretty okay as a heroine. The thing is, the circumstances under which I started this book weren't the best and that probabbly reflected on the whole experience. I picked up the German audiobook for a very long bus trip, but listened to it only later while doing some hours of very boring tedious work. The audiobook itself was okay, except that the reader could not decide how to pronounce some names. For instance, Kang was Kong first, then Kuang before she settled on Kang. And that kind of thing drives me mad. How am I to connect with a character when I am left this uncertain how their name is?! The German translation also decided to leave some of the names in English (especially the teas) which in my opinion doesn't make sense because why would the teas in Fantasy-China have English names when everything else is either translated into German or left Chinese? D: I couldn't stand it and finally switched to my printed edition (in English). /D It got better from there, but it's hard to forget the echo. As for the story, I don't really like court intrigues. Cruelty and injustice are just things I really struggle with to read about. (They make me angry and I don't want to be angry at my books.) But it never tipped over the edge into annoying area. I have the sequel at home as well, so I'll it. The covers are beautiful after all.

That was 2023! Next up is my big Best and Worst award ceremony! uAu~

[tallysgreatestfan]

Laurent Zai is such an interesting protagonist. His trauma and body dysphoria about his prosthesis, and how tactically smart and creative he is... He reminds me quite a lot at Jeffrey Sinclair from Babylon 5.

Also how cool is it to not just have a black man as the protagonist in a space opera whoes ethnicity is never an plot point or concern at all, but also who is lanky and physically weak and vulnerable both emotionally and physically, and who instead has as his strength that he is a compassionate and intelligent leader?