#like i picked it up because it was on a list of books reccomended for ppl who like Radio Silence

[remyreadsrandomly]

i’ve been reading Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating and omg it’s been destroying me!!! like i think it’s gonna be one of my favorite books by the time i finish it. so far it’s a highly recommend, especially for fans of queer ya books and Alice Oseman fans

[higgsbison]

where can i start reading disc world?

(tl;dr version: Either with Guards!Guards! if you want angry urban fantasy or Wyrd Sisters if you want angry rural fantasy, then follow the list for that sub-series)

Oh anon brace yourself, there are in fact several ways people have big opinions on.

These are mine:

1. My least favorite way is from the start in chronological order

the trouble here is the first few Discworld novels were written as these kinda silly goofy fantasy/dnd parodies that weren't even supposed to be a part of a bigger thing and they honestly aren't that good, especially not compared to later books. That's the way I started and I just dropped the series for a few years cause of it, so I really don't recommend it. The author himself said he wasn't that good of a writer back then which is understandable, cause it was like 40 books ago.

2. What I reccomend is in chronological order based on different sub-series

Discworld novels all happen in the same world, but they follow different groups of characters, so you have several sub-series.

I'll post a list here, but it's pretty confusing so I'll also explain two of my favs below.

City Novels (Watch novels and Industrial Revolution novels)

About a huge, terrible metropolis and the people that help it run, stumble and sometimes trip over the years.

People normally split this into watch novels which follow the city watch and are crime procedurals/adventure books with a ton of social commentary and industrial revolution novels which are about the city speedrunning from medieval to industrial era via several inventions and follow different main characters who are mostly all there against their will.

To me, the main character is the city itself and I super recommend reading these from start to finish in order to see how it changes with time.

starting book: Guards! Guards!

Witches Novels

About three witches doing witch things in a small mountain kingdom, unless they're going on a trip somewhere.

Incredible horrid old lady characters, a lot of exploration of fantasy tropes, some deep emotional beats, very warm human phlosophy and personal responsibility themes.

There's a semi-seperate "YA" series about a younger witch (Tiffany Aching novels), but don't let that fool you, because those hit just as hard as the "adult" ones.

starting book: Wyrd Sisters (technically Equal Rites, but that's also in the awkward early books period for me)

As for the others, the death novels are also very very good, Small Gods is an amazing standalone book and I'd literally just avoid the Rincewind novels until you're already hooked on the series, but they probably have their fans too.

3. Just pick up a random book you see in the library

A tried and tested method a lot of people swear by, most of the books are standalone enough for this to work, BUT my personal opinion is at least the city books should be read in order (especially Night Watch) and there's several less than stellar books you could pick up first by mistake this way (Color of Magic, Light Fantastic, Interesting Times and Faust being the worst imo).

[anulithots]

9 people you want to know better!

Thank you to @squarebracket-trickster for the tag!! (her post here)

Current book: Jujutsu Kaisen light novel: Thorny Road at dawn. IT IS EVERTHING I'VE EVER WANTED SLICE OF LIFE JJK AAA- Also also, fills in a few narrative gaps and helps with my overanalyzing. Part of the reason I love books and have to take my time with shows is because my brain tends to wander to overanalyze while reading/watching something. So books work with that better.

Current fic: None rn, but Carry me home Is so ridiculously good. Time travel suguru-centric fix-it-fic that doubles as a character deep dive. It's absolutely amazing.

Currently watching: Just finished watching Murder Drones episode seven and... holy herbs... holy herbs... what.

Next on my watch list: Rewatching Jujutsu Kaisen with siblings. Then rewatching the promised Neverland with siblings.

Current hyperfixation: JUJUTSU KAISEnNNNN! I want to do full analysis's of all the major characters soon... maybe when the manga ends?? ALSO EDITS GALORE I'M GOING TO LEARN HOW TO EDIT MANGA WHOOPDEEDOO. (I think my brain is slowly detaching from overanalyzing Gojo and will go back to overanalyzing the Tokyo Trio, specifically Itadori because he's my absolute fav.)

Last song:

On repeat. Also 'Is this what Love is' by Waisia Project has been on repeat before this. THEY ARE BOTH SO SO GOOD HIGHLY RECCOMENDED

Fav colour: Green and purple. The soft ones. Sage green with a rich purple or a soft dark purple compliment. I like warmer purple. And forests have the most lovely shades of green. Soft brush taps upon the treetops and patches of purple flowers beneath the richest red I've ever seen. (Japanese maple)

Sweet/spicy/savory?: Noo idea honestly. Sweets are nice. I'm slightly more spicy tolerant than average where I live. But compared to my family members? I'm mild tolerance. Savory is wonderous. I like chickpeas and rice the best for those.

.... Overall, I'm a fan of texture over taste.

Relationship status: Is it romantic feelings? nope. Is it a friendship squish? nope. It's a secret third thing. (the longing for a comfort person to obsess over and talk to for hours and have a queer platonic relationship because I don't want to be alone and I like making other people feel seen and heard. I don't care for the whole feeling labels when it comes to this sort of stuff. I just like fluff <3)

Last thing I googled: Something either biology or JJK related. I'm hoping my biology hyperfixation picks back up before the exams in a month.

Copied from @squarebracket-trickster:

I love when the people I tag @ me and/or link back to my post. I love it when you reblog my post with questions, compliments, words of encouragement about my WIP, or even no comment at all. But please make your own post to complete this tag. Please do not turn my post into a reblog chain.

Lovely people I want to dissect under a microscope,/aff therefore gentle tag: @awleeofficial @holdmyteaplease @bygeto @waitingforthesunrise @gummybugg @imslowlydisintegrating @bassguitarinablackt-shirt @littlebookworm69 @forthesanityofstorytellers

[docilepillow]

MARCH 2024 MEDIA DIARY 2

I ran out of embed space on the first post i had slotted in for this!!! So i'm making two posts!!!!!!! They belong together!!!! Okay!!!!!!! PIZZA TOWER < this game is soggy goop >

Even though I cleared a good portion of this game nigh a year ago now, i still feel compelled to put it on my media diary now, as i've only just got around to finishing the game properly! I believe the point i dropped off the game before was at Pig City, which, i think , is kinda understandable given how big that level is, but, was probably a real bummer for the whole of my friend group who were super into the game when it was new and i probably missed out on talking about it alot with them... POOP!!!! just because this game is popular enough to actually warrant talking about it with my friends later, instead of saying stuff like how i enjoyed the silly cartoony art stlye and the games general charm, im just going to post a level tier list i made the second i beat the game at like near midnight kinda hazy-minded without thinking on it too hard without thinking too deeply in a way thatll be completely inflamitory bc im mostly satisfied with the experience i had and dont really feel the urge to P rank anything --

The stats are saying my total hours round up to 6 hours 50 and pepinno is pointing at me Aughh

My , , Errr, " CRITISISM " of this game is that the funny pizza man is a little, erm, STICKY? Kinda gross. a little weird. Partially my fault. I'm sowwy. I'm not very good at this game but i absolutely respect everyone's opinion on it . Go watch my friend @shoppncart's speedrun, by the way, it's cool :

Speedy! THE MARIO MOVIE < the bario boooby geheheheheheheh >

this is probably a tired opinion but since i was subjected to this movie for the fifth time in a voice call my take is thaat this is probably more enjoyablel then the safeass illumination film. like. yea. that films probably objectively better but. id rather watch something thats an actual adaptation. like this movie. where basically nothing mario happens outside names . Aw. i honestly think this movie has intrigue to it genuinely maybe im saying this bc its one of the movies ive actually watched repeatedly before, like roger rabbit, but i think the history behind this movie and the old anamocity turned-endearment are what make it worth watching. that and its a little goopy You Guys Wanna See Some MM2 Proggys? not a new piece of media technically but ive been playing a fuckton of MM2 recently still as of the end of the month and its absolutely dominating my time as of late, and i kinda wanna show off a small amount of the progress ive made on it, as much as the world map, at least --

It's a media diary. it exists to document MY gaming life. Deal. anyway in regards to it i'm almost finished with the world 4 castle, which is crazy, because before i hadn't even finished world 2, but now i got all of this creative energy in me... If i finish this soon enough, i'd be able to upload it on NSO, so keep your tumpler eyes peeled, mutrals :J I personally like it because theres a theme of aescending on the world map. The space theme in this looks the best, i think.. THE ALCHEMY OF US - HOW HUMANS AND MATTER TRANSFORMED ONE ANOTHER < what the fuck ????? a book ??????? >

yea thats right im reading books this ones actually pretty good apparently a 2020 bestseller though im not in the habit of reading those often so i'll just have to take their word for it on that aspect. i think lifes all about trying new things so around halfway through the month i picked up this cool book i found at my library and got a library card. After reading through it all, i think anecdotally that this book is a very neat read. theres a few sentences that're a little offputting to my young mind but overall the book is filled with alot of cool insight i reccomend checking out if youre the boooky type of person! i think its very good and im glad i picked it out :) i donnu how many of these will be going onto my media diary in the future or anything , but maybe i will if i end up reading more! I'll have to make it up to a friendd for waiting till now to put up something i read here first before that thing she likes. oops.

Volp. OUTSIDE of the traditional media format again, also, are things i largely started on this month but don't think i'll be making all too much more progress in, or if i'm unsure i'll finish what i was doing all in one month- CASTLEVANIA THE ADVENTURE- REBIRTH

POINT OF DROP OFF - STAGE 4 END BOSS REASON BEING - UMMM SORRY I GOT DISTRACTED AND DIED TOO MUCH

castlevania rebirth is a really really cool game. its really cool and im not typing this as fresh as everything else because it was something i picked up for one big sitting earlier in the month. i probably couldve finished it at any point during the week, but simply was too distracted and wanted to do other stuff. It's very cool though, i love the vector sprite art, and there ARE silly stock sound effects everywhere, which is always a big positive for me . I mostly just like how snug the wii classic controller is , and this is a cool game to play it with considering its one of the only non virtual console or old game collection style games available for wii in this exact style ( Not counting the good handful of games that choose to use the wiimote on its side instead. )

over all ill probably sit down and finish this someday soon i just gotta like find time for it whenever next my wii u is plugged in ( it fights for an hdmi slot with my switch and ps4 all the time...! ), and ill probably end up trying to play punch out wii at the same time, given one doesnt dominate my attention over the other. From my understanding they're both short, though, so it shouldnt be too big a deal or obstacle no matter how long i put this off. RANDOM TERRARIA PLAYTHROUGH terraria playthru 1million

ii just really want to see the new terraria update Waaaah... i stopped having fun because i self imposed myself to not use setbonus armor sets at the part of the game where that stops being acceptable anymore so im stopping i think i did get to make another terraria pet though that makes me happy POINT OF DROP OFF - the mechanical bosses

also the most recent thing is

i got too tense and needed to excuse myself after like an hour 30 i cant take too much tension in movies i was really uncomfortable and had to leave to take a breather bc the main character gets put in a really really shitty situation and it was getting hard to watch for my autistic ass

thats enough i think thanks for coming see you next month lol

[i-hate-liking-batman]

⭐️10 Characters, 10 Fandoms, 10 Tags⭐️

I was tagged by @just-an-enby-lemon which I can't see on the actual post which I blame tumbr but I was curious to see who I prioritize! The order I do these characters in probably isn't listed in the most to least favorite but they will be top 10 characters!

1. Percy Jackson- The Lightning Thief

YES I am the simpleton who likes main characters but in my defense they were made to be liked!!! This is not my fault. I loved his humor and the way he cared for his friends and the series is still my favorite book series!!!

2. Asagiri Gen- Dr. Stone

YOU GUYS! I'm so obsessed with this man I bought a figure!!! I'm a sucker for people who seem suspicious but are good people and Gen is just so cool! I love him literally using psychological tactics so they can save the day! The manga has ended and I'm devastated but the new anime season is coming this January so I'm looking forward to that!!! (I have soooo many Gen pics I've saved that I had to look through)

3. Reigen Arataka- Mob Psycho 100

THIS MAN IS SO GOOD. HE'S BEEN MY FAVORITE EVER SINCE HE DID HIS STUPID "HYPNOSIS PUNCH"!!! WHAT A LEGEND. Honestly he's such a dad and collects espers like currency as he BS's his way through life. I love him so much and I wrote a fic for this fandom and he is definitely in it because I love him. It's almost done too! Had a 5k writing session and now I just have to edit this monster and I'm done!!!

4. Suzuki Iruma- Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun

THIS MANGA IS SO UNDERRATED AND IT IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE ONE!!! I have a hard time picking my favorite character in this manga so main character it is. He's a good boy and I love him learning how to have dreams. I don't like the anime as much as the manga, but I highly reccomend both!!! Season 3 is coming this October and I'm soooo ready!!!!

5. Sung Hyunjae- The S-Classes that I Raised

GUYS. THIS MAN IS SO GOOD. Not like in a moral sense but I love him. I loved him even before he was handsome through art because the novel gives him so much great content. He's literally so gay for the main character I was genuinely confused if the author was going to have them end up together. He's such a little shit but he's funny and that's all I need from him. Also can confirm that he's pretty, which is also a plus.

6. Howard Link- D.Grayman

This was a huge battle between Allen and LINK but Link has slowly crept into my heart and taken it hostage. He's a complicated character who you can't tell is going to side with at times, but he does his best even if his decisions are wrong and he trusts the wrong people. Also. He's pretty. I'm a sucker for pretty people i'll be truthful here.

7. Hulk- Avengers Earth's Mighest Heroes

A lot of people haven't seen this version of the animated avengers show, and that's devastating! Usually Spider-Man is my favorite Marvel character overall but this show really put my love for the Hulk on max. The entire show was a gem, but I loved the interactions Bruce and Hulk had in this show. They had a deal. Hulk would be out, and Hulk would do good. He wanted freedom but he was used to not getting it and had trouble trusting people. HULK WASN'T JUST MUSCLE. He had his own thoughts and feelings. Anyways watch this show.

8. Billy Batson(Captain Marvel)- DC

I didn't really choose a specific place for where Billy is my favorite character, but he is for sure my favorite! Second place is Dick Grayson because he's Damian's dad BUT ANYWAY. I loved his bright view on the world and the way he kept to his morals. They've changed him a bit from that first impression, but it'll always be my favorite. I also loved the Shazam movie so I guess I'm not too picky lol. He's a good kid and I think he should just not be found out by the Justice League and they can just be confused as Batman tries to figure out why Captain Marvel thinks it's fine to talk like a 10/14 year old.

9. Phoenix Wright- Ace Attorney

I have never actually played this game but I watched a playthrough through the first one and just got the rest of my knowledge from fanfic lol. But he's a fun quirky guy who means well and I like that about him! Also he's totally in love with Miles Edgeworth so they should really just get married.

10. Kozume Kenma- Haikyu

I love this anime to bits and this man had my heart from the start. Suga is number two but Kenma is the ultimate favorite. My best friend painted me a haikyu poster with him as the center and I love it to bits. I love his friendship with Hinata and I just think he's neat!

This was a lot of fun but I started blanking around for favorite characters around number 8 whoops!!! I either went for pretty obscure or well known so there isn't any in between whoops! I can't tag many people bc I have no courage so here is some (you don't have to if you don't want to!) @irumaismybaby @alyss-spazz-penedo @humangerbil @mostlyinconvenient

[sreegs]

Feel free to ignore since I imagine it’s not the focus of your blog, but do you have any fav recipes or fav recipe sources you would be willing to share? I always love to hear about recipes from folks that work with a lot of fun spices and your chile collection already has me jealous!

I don't have one source but I pull from a ton of places and cobble them together in Paprika (the app). After you start to get familiar with a cuisine and their core ingredients you learn how to spot recipes that are bunk and recipes that are legit and authentic.

Usually what will happen is I find one recipe that I like that introduces a new ingredient in my pantry. Then through experimentation through similar dishes I expand in that. You're not gonna know how to flavor a dish until you make it a few times, trying other approaches for the same dish, and adjust it to your liking. You just gotta experiment.

This Mapo Tofu recipe has been a recent addition that I've been tweaking to get just right. I tried the homemade chili oil linked in the ingredients list and I'm still trying to tweak that to my liking, and I haven't settled on the tofu firmness I like the best. I gotta try some new tofu brands still because I haven't found a happy firmness middle ground with the brand I've been using.

I can recommend a few places to get started if you know nothing at all, but these are for general cooking knowledge, not specific cuisines:

Samin Nosrat did a great job with Salt Fat Acid Heat and I picked up a lot of her recipes and techniques to add to my collection. She's got a lot of good foundational knowledge about, well, salt and fat and acid and heat for getting started. Good building blocks for understanding flavors.

Anything from James Beard or Julia Child still holds up, even if it's a bit old fashioned, they still have good knowledge for home cooks.

i'd always reccomend anything from America's Test Kitchen or Serious Eats too. These books are my most often used (i copy recipes rather than use the books in the kitchen, hence the lack of stains:

Oh, and keep some MSG around. It's not bad for you, that's a myth, and it's great for taking foods over the top.

Use bullion too! Either make your own broths or use bullion. Store-bought canned/boxed broths are a waste of money. Similarly, always keep dried mushrooms on hand. You can rehydrate them or just grind them into powder for extra mushroom flavor.

I also wrote about my cooking techniques that keep me organized here.

[the---hermit]

I wasn't expecting to finish And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie so quickly, but now I need to pick a new book to read, and I can't settle on anything. These are a few books on my current tbr:

Blood Of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski. I read the first two books of The Witcher series last year and loved them, this is the first novel in the series, after two collection of short stories. I would like to read it before the second season of the series hires.

Gli Eredi by Wulf Dorn. (I couldn't find the English title anywhere sorry). I haven't read one of his books in so many years, but there's one thinf I know for sure, the way his stories pull you in it's insane. I am a slow reader but I have only binge read his books cause I couldn't put them down. Plus he writes psychological thrillers, which means it would be the perfect vibe for spooky season.

Toil & Trouble by various authors. It's a collection of 15 short stories about witches, do I need to say more? My brother got it for me a couple years back, and I have never found the right time to read it, again it would be perfect for spooky season.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. I know, I am the only one who hasn't read it yet, which is even more unbelievable if you consider that I am constatly speaking about The Humans by the same author. I have heard amazing things, I also feel like it could be very helpful in its themes for my current situation. Then why am I doubful? Because I am scared that reading about things that might resonate with me at the moment will trigger more anxiety. If I don't end up picking this up now, I will surely do before the end of the year though.

The Secret Life Of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. I have been wanting to read this book for so long, I finally got it a while back, but I am not sure if at the moment I am in the rifht headspace for some non fiction, since I am reading a lot for my uni classes.

The View from the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman. Non-fiction again. I got this book as soon as I found out about it, since Gaiman is one of my favourite authors, if not my favourite. This book has been calling me for months now, and for some reason it gives me a cozy vibe, a trip into the mind of an author I admire so much. The only thing that it's keeping me from starting it is my dread for long books.

So here I am starring at my bookshelves in confusion. I might end up picking something off this list, I might atart one and then change my mind, we'll see. In the meantime if you have read this books of have any reccomendations, please let me know, I really need help this time.

[yelenasdog]

talk to me? (spencer reid x fem reader)

genre: fluff 

summary: cold nights and warm coffee can be so compelling.

words: 2.2k 

warnings: mentions of having intrusive thoughts and spence being insecure, reader and spencer sleeping in the same bed. that’s all i can think of, lmk if there’s anything else!

a/n: yo! so uhhh i kinda love the start of this and dislike the end of it, but idk i think it’s still pretty snazzy!! also SPENCER IN GLASSES HAS MY HEART ok bye enjoy!!

🂦∙🂦∙🂦

It was the type of cold where no matter how brightly the sun was shining, you could still feel the fresh molecules of coolness linger on your skin, hiding under the tip of your nose. It made horribly irritable little dry patches that would have to be remedied with some form of lotion, but that wouldn’t quite return back to complete normal until the end of the winter time.

But despite this, Y/n and Spencer were out and about, doing their jobs in total normalcy.

Minus being stationed in France, that is.

Although it was rare that the BAU was called overseas, Emily had needed the team’s help, and who would they be to decline a trip to the beautiful France, no less to see Prentiss as well.

So after a grueling day of blood and bad-guys, the pair made their way back to their Parisian hotel room, walking (quite wobbily, Y/n would add) along the cobblestone walkways, both of their boots clicking loudly against the rain coated stones.

It was ironic, as Spencer had attempted to wear his converse, but was denied by a worried Y/n, hearing her say “You’re going to get those things soaked, and you’ll freeze your toes right off, Dr. Reid!”

And as not to disappoint the girl, never wanting to see her mood turn as gloomy as the French sky, he complied begrudgingly. Though Y/n could swear she always saw a hint of a smile at her telling off.

Spencer was also advised by her to wear his contacts, to avoid the fogging up of his readers, but he refused, not wanting to bother with said contacts. He grew to regret that as he walked, every so often and reaching a large hand up to wipe his glasses, almost like the wind shield wipers of the bug that had been driving them around.

He chuckled at the not so distant away memories, thankful for the girl and her requests, as it turned out.

The hotel was far different from the usual dingy motels the team usually occupied when traveling, that was for certain. This one happened to be a master suite with ivory walls and silky sheets, quite opposite from the thin and scratchy yellowed covers they usually made do with.

And even though It was early in the day, the mixture of odd sleep schedules and just the heavy weight of sleepiness pressing down heavily on their shoulders, they opted to go to bed at the oh-so late time of 1:37 PM.

Daredevils, those two are.

Ignoring the first bed by the door, Spencer made a beeline for the plush queen size mattress he knew Y/n and himself would be sharing in an effort to cuddle up for warmth, sinking down into it. (After removing his shoes, of course.)

He was originally donned in just a grey Caltech shirt and some blue pajama pants, but due to the chillier weather (that he couldn’t quite seem to shake despite the thermostat in the hotel room being turned up to 76) he layered on a maroon MIT hoodie, one that he was aware Y/n would try to thieve from him, perhaps even sneaking it back in her own suitcase.

Y/n walked out of the bathroom in pale green shorts and a large and worn Led Zeppelin shirt, earning a very confused stare from Spencer. She simply shook her head and continued on her way over to the large window that was currently projected bright streams of melted gold through the glass, that would have been heated if it wasn’t for that damn cold.

“I get warm when I sleep, it bothers me.”

He nodded, watching intently as she opened and shut the blinds a few times, soft krrrrs and clicks sounding through the room as she did.

“You doing alright?” He asked, his eyeline never faltering. She turned and he picked up his copy of “A Farewell To Arms,” something she had been the one to reccomend to him, ranting on and on about Ernest Hemingway and his precious 6 toed cats. 

It was one of Spencer’s more realistic goals in life to take Y/n back to Key West to visit the Hemingway House, after her having said a childhood trip there was one of her happiest memories.

He quickly flipped to a random page, not wanting her to catch him being what he considered to be creepy, even though Y/n thought it was quite adorable.

She bit back a giggle and a smile, settling on leaving the window half open half closed. She padded over to where Spencer was, laying back onto what she imagined a cloud would feel like.

She reached over, taking the blue colored book from his hands and his thickly rimmed glasses off from where they were resting on his perfect button nose. 

She smiled to herself fondly at the items in her hands, particularly at the novel. She placed them on her bedside table (why hers and not his, Reid wasn’t too sure, but also was not going to complain), and then moved to slide between the slick tightly-tucked sheets.

“Our options were A, not be able to sleep because of Mr. Sun being out right now, or you freezing to death because Mr. Sun was blocked totally by the curtains.”

He looked over at where she had been messing around with the heavy drapes.

“I see you went in between.”

She smiled graciously, which Spencer returned immediately.

“That I did.”

A few more awkward moments of silence (not including the occasional yelling and honking from those riding on motorbikes below) passed, before she finally settled into the sheets.

She turned to the side table to her left and tugged on the chain of the old timey lamp. The room went quiet, but the pair’s minds were anything but.

Y/n’s head was swimming in intrusive thoughts, while Spencer’s was a hazy cloud of self deprecations and his own voice keeping him awake, staring at the painted ceiling.

“Spence?”

“Mmhm?”

“Can you talk to me?”

Spencer’s brows furrowed. He shifted around in the creme sheets of the bed, finding a cold spot quite quickly.

“What do you want me to say?”

Silence.

“Anything.”

She turned over to now be facing the lanky boy, their noses nearly touching. She held her breath, sucking in a bottom lip.

He looked to her eyes, to her lips, and back to her eyes again, quickly gathering a list of things to ramble about.

“Well,” he began, “Paris was originally founded in the 3rd century BC, and was a Roman city called Lutetia, and to prove it, there’s even remains of Roman ruins in the capital. And speaking of monuments, in total, there are 1,803 of them, and 173 museums in Paris alone- Y/n?”

To his surprise, Y/n’’s idea had worked. Spencer looked over to see a sleeping Y/n, a peaceful expression resting upon her features.

He smiled at the idea that he had played some role in that, closing his own eyes. The cloud that was previously keeping him from long awaited slumber was now a light film, nagging at the back of his head quietly. 

He simply told the voice to quiet down and was then able to lull himself to sleep, Y/n’s presence calming him to no end.

It wasn’t until 8 hours later that they had woken up, first Spencer, followed by Y/n. She peeked open her eyes, pleasantly surprised by the lack of light shining through the curtains. 

She wiggled around, stretching from her neck down to her toes. Spencer smiled at this, finding her resemblance to a cat who had been sunnapping, quite endearing.

She moved to her side, placing a hand under her chin to get a better look at the Doctor who was nearly finished reading her copy of “A Farewell to Arms”.

“Did you at least mark my spot?” She asked, voice raspy from sleep.

He scoffed, flipping to and then showing her the bookmarked page of the story.

“What do you think I am, a monster?”

She chuckled, sitting up next to Spencer.

“I mean, I don’t know, sometimes it seems like it”.

He rolled his eyes, setting down the read and hopping out of bed.

“What are you doing, Spence?” She asked, not amused in the slightest by the idea of having to get out of bed.

“We are going to get coffee.”

She shook her head of messy hair, the wispy bits flowing around her like a halo in the hotel room lighting.

“You can go get us coffee and bring it right back over here, alright? Thanks, you’re a doll.”

He did that thin lipped smile that seems to be his equivalent of a smirk, grabbing a hoodie from the inside of his suitcase that was perched on top of a dresser.

“Come on, we’re going on an adventure. Use this and the idea of coffee as an incentive.”

He tossed her the hoodie, the jacket landing by her feet with an audible plop.

She loudly groaned, shrugging it on and pulling herself out of bed. She also managed to tug on some jeans and an overcoat, as well as her boots, shaking her head at Spencer’s lack of preparation for the cold temperatures, as always. 

“Spencer, I am not about to go to this and have you complain about being cold the whole time, put on your coat, please.” She gestured to where it was hanging in the closet with her hand still concealed by her trench coat’s pocket, her eyes shutting and her head lolling to the side.

“If you insist.”

“Yes I do, put it on, lets go.” She said drawing out the “o”.

Spencer’s eyes widened and he lifted his hands in mock surrender. “My apologies, good morning to you too.”

She only rolled her eyes and smiled, opening the door to the room and leading the way.

By the time she had found a coffee shop on Yelp that she had deemed satisfactory, (which was extremely difficult due to the language barrier) the time had passed even later, and the temperature was even lower.

The lights on the streets sparkled, reflecting in the puddles of the water that lined the asphalt. Y/n was quite enchanted by the little light shows, slowing the journey to the shop significantly. Spencer didn’t mind, though, he enjoyed every second he got to spend with her to the absolute fullest, and found her fascination with every part of life inspiring.

When they finally reached the quaint little coffee shop, they walked inside, finding refuge in the warmth of the establishment.

Spencer ordered for them, and Y/n found a table (as that’s what they always did, taking turns between ordering and scouting a place to sit).

She located a cozy little corner by a window, a perfect place to observe those who bustled about at night, watching them and coming up with back stories, whatever they may be.

She enjoyed doing that, it made her believe she had a better understanding of the world around her, why those she works on catching every day behave in the manner they do.

And what better place to do so than Paris?

So she flagged Reid (who now was in possession of the two drinks) over, taking hers from his hand. 

“Latte with two creams and 4 sugars for the lady.”

She smiled graciously, allowing the heat of the cup to spread through her system.

“And what did you get? Let me guess, a shot of espresso with 12 sugars?”

Spencer rolled his eyes, not wanting to admit she was more correct than he had hoped.

“Ha ha, very funny, Y/n.”

She smiled over her small mug, quirking a brow.

“Oh, I know.”

He shook his head and glanced out the window with a low chuckle, watching as people from all walks of life went about their business, some with dogs, some with children, some of them even walking along with a cup of coffee in their hands, similarly to Spencer and Y/n. Some of them, in fact, had all three.

As the two sat observing, sipping away at their respective concoctions, Y/n spoke up, her voice soft, although considering they were the only two in the shop, it didn’t need to be.

“Spence?”

“Hmm?”

Only then did she tear her glance away from those on the street, her full focus now on Reid. She admired his bone structure, in awe over the way the soft light reflected off his strong jaw and high cheeks. At that moment, he looked like he belonged in the Louvre.

“Thank you.”

“What for?” He finally looked towards her, his hand never moving from where it was positioned under his chin.

She simply shrugged, wrapping her coat tighter around herself.

He darted his eyes to the table and then her eyes, taking a deep breath. “Well, you’re welcome, I guess.”

She smiled and nodded at once, satisfied with his response.

While she looked out the window once more, she began to wonder about those around her. If they felt the same strong emotions that she did, if they held the same hope and desire for the future that she did.

And as she took another sip from her drink, closing her eyes and slowly was drifting off with the sounds of the city, she could only hope that they did.

🂦∙🂦∙🂦

i hope u enjoyed that bc i feel like the imagery in the first paragraph was immaculate 😁 also! i ask that in the reblogs no cussing (and on my blog now in general) is used for personal reasons :) kk luv u bye bb! go take an electronics break and drink some water+ eat some protien (cashews, cheese, whatever ur feeling!)

xx hj 

[larentsbr]

thank you @skyyneverlookedsoblue for tagging me <3

I really loved doing this one, it's a really good way to know the other better :))

🌵 what do you prefer to be called name-wise?// como voce prefere ser chamada?

some friends calls me Ma and others Mari... I dont know which one I prefer, I like both. // alguns amigos me chamam de Ma e outros de Mari... Eu não sei qual eu prefiro, gosto de ambos

🌵 when is your birthday? // quando é o seu aniversário?

january 28th

🌵 where do you live?// onde você mora?

brasil

🌵 three things you're doing right now // três coisa que você está fazendo agora

right now I'm on break from psychoanalysis class so I'm just laying in bed and answering this // agora eu estou no intervalo da aula de psicanálise, então eu estou deitada na cama e respondendo isso

🌵 four fandoms that have piqued your interest righ now // quatro fandoms que me atiçaram interesse

My answer is the same as Bia's. One direction/Solo careers already take all my energy, so only them. // minha resposta é igual da Bia. One direction/carreira solo já consome toda a minha energia, então apenas eles.

🌵 how is pandemic treating you? // como a pandemia está te afetando?

well... I think the pandemic affected everyone, specially affected negatively. It depends on the day, sometimes I'm ok and sometimes I'm not, sometimes I'm very active and sometimes I'm not, and it's ok to not be ok all the time. I'm just tired of the same routine, I do exactly the same thing every fuckig day. I wake up, eat breakfast, start studying, eat lunch, study again, eat dinner, take a shower, watch class, go to sleep, I wake up, eat breakfast... I am living in a loop. So it's a mix of feelings that it's hard to process and accept some things. I love having a routine, but it is different having a routine when you are locked at home and it's different having a routine when you can leave the house and do other things. So Idk, right now I'm just ok. // bem ... eu acho que a pandemia afetou a todos, especialmente afetou negativamente. Depende do dia, às vezes estou bem e às vezes não, às vezes estou muito ativa e às vezes não, e é normal não estar bem o tempo todo. Estou cansada da mesma rotina, faço exatamente a mesma coisa todo santo dia. Eu acordo, tomo café da manhã, começo a estudar, almoço, estudo de novo, janto, tomo banho, assisto aula, vou dormir, acordo, tomo café ... estou vivendo em um loop. Por conta disso, é uma mistura de sentimentos que é difícil processar e aceitar algumas coisas. Amo ter rotina, mas é diferente ter rotina quando você só fica trancado em casa e ter rotina quando pode sair de casa e fazer outras coisas. Então, sei lá, agora estou ok.

🌵 song you can't stop listening to // uma música que não consegue parar de ouvir

Religion - Isak Danielson

🌵 reccomend a movie // recomende um filme

Green Book

🌵 how old are you? // quantos anos você tem?

19

🌵 school, university, occupation, other?

I'm in college studying psychology and sending resume to companies... but it's hard and I'm little sad about not receiving good news, only bad or complete silence. // Estou na faculdade estudando psicologia e mandando currículos para empresas... mas está difícil e eu estou um pouco triste por não estar recebendo notícias boas, só ruins ou silêncio total das empresas.

🌵 do you prefer hot or cold?

springs and autumn, Its not too hot and neither too cold, its just good. I can leave the house wearing shorts and a sweater or pants and t-shirt. // primavera e outono, não é tão frio e nem tão quente, é apenas bom. Eu posso sair de casa usando shorts e um moletom ou de calça e uma camiseta de manga curta.

🌵 name one fact other may not know about you // fale algum fato que outros possam não saber sobre você.

I have scar near my left eye because when I was 3 a girl bit me because I didn't want to share a toy that I picked up first and hadn't played for 2 minutes. // Eu tenho uma cicatriz perto do meu olho esquerdo porque quando eu tinha 3 uma menina me mordeu porque eu não queria dividir uma brinquedo que tinha pego primeiro e nem tinha brincado por 2 minutos.

🌵 are you shy? // você é tímida?

yes! But if you give a green light I will start talking and talking and I wont stop. But I dont like bother people, so I just keep myself in my bubble. // sim! Mas assim que você me der um verde eu vou começar a falar e falar e não vou parar. Mas eu não gosto de incomodar pessoas, então eu fico bastante na minha e na minha bolha.

🌵 do you have any prefered pronouns? // você prefere algum pronome?

she/her // a/ela/-a

🌵 any pet peeves? // o que mais te incomoda?

hypocrisy // hipocrisia

🌵 what is your favorite "dere" type?

??? I dont know what it means

🌵 rate your life 1-10. 1 being really crappy and 10 being the best you could ever be. // avalie sua vida de 1-10. 1 sendo uma merda e 10 sendo o melhor momento da sua vida.

I don't know... Maybe 6 // Eu não sei... Talvez 6.

🌵 what is your main blog? // qual é o seu blog principal?

this one :) // essa daqui :)

🌵 list your side blogs and what there used for // liste os seus blogs secundários e para que você usa

I only have this one // Eu só tenho esse daqui

🌵 is there anything you think people need t know about you before becoming friend with you? // tem alguma coisa que as pessoas precisam saber sobre você antes de vocês começarem a amizade?

I am really shy, I do like a lot my space and I will disappear at some point. I will take a time to answer, I don't like to do things in a hurry, I like to think, I like to analyze. But if you really need me, I will try my best to be there with you, to give support, to listen what do you need to say. // Sou muito tímida, gosto muito do meu espaço e vou desaparecer em algum momento. Vou demorar para responder, não gosto de fazer as coisas com pressa, gosto de pensar, gosto de analisar. Mas se você realmente precisar de mim, farei o possível para estar com você, para dar suporte, para ouvir o que você precisa dizer.

I'm tagging @justalarryblog @larentsgirl @twofghosts @kissybrve @skepticalarrie @chrisltomlinson @greedy-queen @dragmedown @loutays-m I would like to know you better :) But if you dont want to do it that's totally ok! Feel free to ignore it! And whoever wants to do, feel free to do and tag me :)

[solange-lol]

hiii in celebration of AUctober, what are some of your fav solangelo AUs?

Anonymous said to solange-lol:

Hi! Kinda a random question: do you have any favorite riordanverse fanfics that you’d suggest reading? I’m looking for ones to read, but I’ve been having trouble finding new ones! Thanks!

rec list #1 | rec list #2

all recs can be found under the tag ‘lizs solangelo fic recs’ on my blog!

technically its past auctober now, but better late then never to drop my third solangelo rec list!! especially considering the state of the world rn ... lets just say its a celebration of me actually participating in sw for the first time in a while

rec under cut as always!! its not all aus but its the count that thots

Find Another Place to Stay by @unwieldyink

personally i think breakup fics are incredibly underrated, and i also think annie is incredibly underrated, so enjoy ur little cry if you read this one (tw // violence in this one)

Hershey’s kiss by @unwieldyink

we love a godswap!! it’s actually been a while since ive read this one and i reread this while making this rec list and can i just say that zeus!nico and hermes!will are both such valid concepts and this just has a rly good dynamic to it

Actors by @buoyantsaturn

i could talk about this fic for hours but lets just say ao3 has told me ive visted this fic 40 times. im not kidding. fake dating is just a godtier trope

start of something new by jinniefic

if you know me, you know that i fricken LOVE high school musical, and this is literally just the start of the first movie but solangelo and honestly a little more iconic please read even if ur not a hsm fan

paper/plastic by @rosyredlipstick

the fact that this is from 2018 and took this long to get into my rec list is tragic because i think about this fic a lot... a lot. mortal au. very chill, strangers to lovers, very good vibes, will be rereading soon (everything rosy writes is amazing we already knew this)

10:37pm by @buoyantsaturn

surprise another cj fic! fun fact she debated with us for a good half hour about what to title this fic so go read it so you can tell her you like the name (and the fic itself... its a very good fic) (tw // alchohol and drug use for this one)

Sunflower by ChiseHatori

3 days in the infirmary is probably the easiest trope u can find in the solangelo tag but i have to say this one really made me soft just bc it feels a lot more in character than some of the others ive read, and it basically picks up right where they ended in the books

Will You, or Will You Not? by @thebluesideofmyworld

marriage fics... also very soft. just boys bein boys. dual engagements. mortal au. all that good stuff vv soft i loved it

let your heart win by @justanothervampiregirl

this one is short but its also probably one of the most in character fics ive ever read and i really like this style of writing mixed with canon compliance so :)

The Magic of Naomi Solace by Sweetymomo

naomi solace, underratted legend. i aspire to have her relationship with will. lots of familial background if you like that!! and its set at a bnb!!

forget all the shooting stars and silver moons by itotallyreadthatbook

when i saw this in the tag i was SO excited bc we love high school aus here and it was!! very good indeed!! this trope is one ive never seen before and i recommend 10/10 good banter

They won’t always live by Phantomxlegend

will overworking himself and coping with loss always makes me :(( so if ur okay with some will angst then buckle up

“I am fully capable of kicking your ass” by @unwieldyink

i remember i saw the email notification for this one and immediately was like yup absolutely im in and it 100% lives up to its title we love capture the flag solangelo

the night we met by peachyytomlinson

a lil ooc but also very angsty and did make me emotional when i read this late at night. i think i wrote something similar a while back but i just aaaaa will angst man

“look how hard i can cry FWSHHH”  by @buoyantsaturn

call me biased bc i like to claim that i originated the idea of demeter!will and cj dedicated this fic to me but like BRO its so soft and i love it here nico leave the plants along challenge failed

femboy hooters, or the time percy jackson failed to keep a secret by luciethebean

its all fun and games until the fic turns out to genuinely be really good. like, yes the title is exactly what you think it is but it doesnt matter bc its so fricken well written im^@*#&(*)($_$#&^@$(@*)* yeah

Of Ties and Significant Annoyances by seokjinvilla (@thechampagnecocainegasoline)

we dont support jkr in this household but what we do support is this bc this plot is genius and i love it

everything’s going swimmingly by tsunamiroll (@catboy-ethan)

fun fact i posed the idea of a sports/team prompt to the sw mod crew literally just so someone would pull through and write a swim au and ethan DID without even knowing. i love them and their writing style is so !!!! please read it

when you smile (the whole world stops) by tsunamiroll (@catboy-ethan)

another ethan fic!! this is the perfect fic for a rough day where u just want some cuddles bc thats literally the plot of the fic. i love this one with my entire heart its very fluffy 10/10 do reccomend

pumpkin spice (i hate it, it's not nice) (ok maybe it's a little nice) by tsunamiroll (@catboy-ethan)

ethan fic part 3!! bc i binge read these all in one night!! literally again their writing style is so amazing and the witty banter!!!! also we love a retail bookstore au 

Burnt Plastic (and Other Bad Ideas) by More_of_This

so this one isnt exactly romantically solangelo but it is hilarious in my opinion and i absolutely adore well written college aus and while i know nothing about college this fic is so funny to me (if you read the tags there is, in fact, a raccoon involved) (tw // drinking for this one)

all because you kissed me goodnight by @buoyantsaturn

i have been WAITING for a mortal counselors au and im sure theres some out there already but y’all already know im a cj stan! lots of slowburn, friends to lovers, coworkers, all the good stuff (and i named this one and offered cj a lot of materials from my own camp so this one especially hits!! i reccomend for those good ol summer vibes!!) (tw // drinking for this one)

Waiting With You by @buoyantsaturn

oh boy buckle up if u want an angst ride because this fic tore me apart. i keep threatning cj with “dont pull another waiting with you”. that being said, very much feels like a movie while youre reading it, very fluffy in the middle, we love mutual pining. 

Little Italian Boy by @buoyantsaturn

stream little italian boy by grace gilmore. youll get it. thats it.

The Clues by @thebluesideofmyworld

secret dating when done well is legit one of my favorite tropes of all time and this!!! this!!!!!!!!! its outsiders perspective also which is another one of my favorite tropes, and just little views on nicos life and i love it

So Come On, Talk it Out (your voice brought me back from the dead) by @buoyantsaturn

will solace, sponsered by kitkats, cj edition

no but if you read tower of nero you’ll really like this missing pieces pre-ton fic this is a really soft little fic with a bunch of easter eggs from the book in it, so i highly recommend! if you havent read ton yet and are still avoiding spoilers, come back to this one!

reaching for the sun (you, you, you) by moonswords (@tortadelimao)

i just read this one about 2 hours ago for the first time and i am Still thinking about it. its like the getting together that i literally feel like is canon and the vibes are Immaculate (also william “what about me looks straight” solace)

“Are we on a date right now?” by @unwieldyink

overworked will, nico helping out in the infirmary, first dates & hikes, canon compliant, we love to see it (also its an annie fic so ur required by law to read it)

Outrunning karma by Phantomxlgend 

more will angst! featuring angry overworked will!

Everlasting Ring by minyoongurt (@blueblackslowtown)

i was Very excited when i read the summary of this one, and i think minyoongurt did a really good job!! healer will, injured nico, the whole dynamic. also i love the idea of nico only knowing “thank you” “go away” and “fuck you” in sign language. im pretty sure thats canon

The Little Thing by Rainbow_Mess

i belive this is also a pre-toa fic thats just exploring all the stuff we found out about will in ton and its very short and sweet :)

and of course, a few of my recent works for your consideration

who is he (and what is he to you?)

just doing my silly little tasks

i don’t need three bars to tell me we’re meant to connect

truly, madly, deeply

[aal-archaeology]

Summary of my first term of my Ph.D. at Stanford during a global pandemic and an extremely controversial election year (Anthropology, yr. 1, she/they, 25y/o) with some toggl data analysis

Well this year was a doozy if I don’t say so myself. But we survived it, and its okay if that’s all you were able to do this year because that’s enough.  As an offical 18th grader, I feel like I can speak pretty well to the toxicity of the academic environment. There is always a pressure to be working all of the time, people compete with each other with how few hours of sleep they got, every conversation with fellow students is just listing off all of the different assignemnts you have to do by the end of the week. On top of all of this, this is 2020. So, I decided that this year I’m going to give myself some mental slack. 

I decided that this is the year that I’m not going to try to impress anyone. I’m just going to survive and do what I have to do to move onto the next term. I think I did a pretty good job at that for the first term, so I’ll share a bit about what I observed in myself and those in my cohort. Coming into term one having to choose classes, many of my peers were packing their schedules full of 5 Unit seminars. For those who don’t know, theoretically, a 5 Unit course is supposed to take about 5-6 hours of work outside of class hours. For Stanford Anthropology, most PhD students take as close as they can to 18 credits, and anything over that you have to pay extra for the courses. Taking more courses doesn’t really put you any further ahead in terms of completing your degree, and you’re expected to complete about 45 Units each year for the first two years of the program. 

I decided to take 2 seminars (typical), a language course, and a couple filler credits that we are given the option to use if we need 1-3 units to hit 18 total. I,  fortunately, tracked every hour spent outside of the classroom working on each course using toggl (i highly reccomend): 

In a typical week, I spent about 5-6 hours/week outside of class on my Anthro seminars, and about 6-7 hours on Japanese. Japanese was a “for-fun” class so I would usually study more of that when I didn’t feel like reading dense archaeological theory. 

Toggl was a really cool way to see where I was spending too much, or not enough, time on my classwork. If it was taking me more than 1.5 hours to get through a single article, I knew I was probably spending too much time on it and should move on to the next thing. My goal for the term was to stay true to the 5 Unit idea of 5-6 hours, and not over-work myself. 

Toggl was also useful in tracking my mental health throughout the term, as it is very obvious to see when I just was not physically capable of ingesting 400 pages of reading. For example, election week:

Election week was really hard for me, and everyone else in the world honestly. I had various family things I was dealing with, typical existential dread, plus it was week 8-ish of the term when everything was already on fire in terms of workload. For one of my seminars (purple), we had to read a book for the following week which I was able to do the sundar after election day. However, for the days leading up to and surrounding the 4th, the only thing I could mentally handle was mindless Japanese vocab studying. One of my seminars really sufferend this week, and I straight up just didnt show up to the smaller Anth 310G class because I had only read the title of the pdf. Fortunately, I emailed my professor of my Theory class and was like “yo dude I cannot” and he replied that he understood and wouldnt call on me during that day of class. 

I didn’t do a whole lot of journalling at all this term, but for this week I just wrote “pain” on most days and then YAY BIDEN at the end of it. 

Weekly Schedule

Above is what a typical week looked like, some were a lot lot lot more dense, others not so much, but this was pretty average. Not all things on the calendar are work related, some are extra lectures from visiting professors that sounded interesting, or “Free Boba & Snacks Pick Up” put on by my residence. Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday were my big work days last term, where I didn’t have a whole lot of classes so I would do most of my reading then. On Tues and Thurs I had one 3-hour seminar, and M-F I had a 50 min Japanese class. 

I woke up every day around 7am-ish, made a green tea, and sat at the computer to work, filter through emails, etc. On particularily open days I would go grocery shopping, go for bike rides/walks around campus, go buy food/boba. 

On class-heavy days, I wouldn’t leave my computer for 8-12 hours, which is extremely ridiculous but that’s the new norm in school in 2020. This kind of stunk because all of the socializing was also on the computer, so even if I wasn’t working I was doing screen related things. 

EVERY day I stopped working at 6pm. Rarely did I do readings past 6pm unless I was really slacking somewhere. From 6pm onwards I would do things like play Among Us or League of Legends with my discord friends, eat, watch movies with my partner, etc. And then most nights I would try to be in bed by 12am at the latest. 

Social Life

Despite the online nature of things this term, I was suprisingly able to meet a lot of great people on campus. We were all being tested at least once a week, which made in person gatherings with 1-4 people a little less scary, especially when half of the people lived together in one household. 

In the first week of school, some of the grad programs put on a “speed friending” zoom event, where I was able to connect with two people really well. We ended up doing a “slow-friending” zoom event afterwards and then created a FB group chat and added all of the people we had met into it. The group ended up being about 15 people, and we would message the group for park hangouts, going to get food, or going on walks on campus. We also had a huge get together in a park for Mid-Autumn Festival, where we sat in a socially distanced circle, chatted, and ate mooncakes. 

Most of my socializing came from my online friends, and amongus was a huge savior to my mental health this term wher emy group would play literally every night. I also made a really good friend off of Bumble BFF this term, who I’ve hung out with a good amount for plant shopping and board games. 

I’m very fortunate to be in a situation where I can get tested for COVID on a days notice, and very grateful that I could use that to stay a little sane.  My Biggest Accomplishment this term, was not school related. but instead I hit my 365 DAY STREAK on duolingo. This was celebrated with cake. This streak has lived through literal hell and for that I am very proud. 

Overall reflection:

This term was super rough, there were a lot of days where I just napped through it and a lot of days where I couldn’t bring myself to do any work. However, I think the courseload that I took was very manageable and I’m going to continue to go light on myself in that regard. 

I really liked the boundaries that I set for myself this term, not working after 6pm and making time to do some fun things in the midst of chaos. I never felt like I was too far behind on work, or that I wasn’t doing enough, because I had a literal reminder in front of me that I had already put x amount of hours into something with toggl. 

Sometimes in class I would feel like I didn’t know how to productively contribute to conversation, but I think thats a skill that will get better over time and not being so great at it should especially be expected in the first term of a program.

Socially I met a lot of wonderful people who also made me feel more comfortable will myself. I started using She/They pronouns which feel really comforting to me. I made a lot of little origami cranes every time I was feeling sad. I drank a lot of boba. Watched a lot of She Ra. Played a lot of games. It all ended up being okay despite the weight of everything around me. 

I’m proud of all of you for making it through this year, I know it was really difficult for a lot of people in more ways than it was for me, but we’re still here! Sometimes all you can do it make it to the next day and thats such a big accomplishment on its own.  Please feel free to reach out with any questions about time-management, toggl, phd stuff in general, archaeology, etc! Always happy to help out. :’) Thanks for reading! Lyss

[lady-plantagenet]

What are your top ten novels about the Wars of the Roses? And why?

I think it’s obvious by the length how enthusiastic I was to answer this ask xx thank you for asking me and giving me also an opportunity to make a masterlist of some sorts of all my reviews xx. But you know? I speak like quite the expert but in reality I’ve read very little histfic about TWOTR because I just newly got back into this hobby (about a year ago) and have little time in general so tbh the last three books on this list I do not personally care for but since I’ve read so little novels of this kind they are here nonetheless hhh (so please people, give me no angry asks asking me why I am endorsing PG, I’m not).

1. The Last of the Barons by Lord Edward Lytton-Bulwer

This is quite possibly the best book I’ve ever read in my life. The gap between these books and the rest is a chasm the size of the world and I wpuld genuinely reccomend this book as an actual piece of literature to anyone, not just TWOTR fanatics. It is written in 1840, in quite old timey lingo and it centres around Richard Neville 16th Earl of Warwick, but in the true tradition of a real classic it is more than just a character drama, it astutely showcases the purpose of Warwick and what he did in the context of his wider world and doesn’t just chalk it up to personal greed. There is also this fascinating subplot about courtship, science and such. Hell, you even get this eccentric ‘natural philosopher’ guy called Adam Warner who tries to make something like a steam engine and gets employed as an alchemist by Jacquetta and Edward IV.

From a historical standpoint it is quite biased as the author himself was a politician (and an actual baron) and tbh I don’t completely agree with his interpretation of history and I can see some of the Victorian inluences slip in, but some of his takes are very refreshing and he clearly consulted the primary sources. I am much interested in his philosophy and life outlook though and while I don’t think his Warwick is the Warwick, I think he (Lytton-Bulwer) understood him like no other novelist could. As for the writing style... here’s an excerpt of a good reads review that I agree with and tells you all you need to know:

“Of course, such a style of writing no longer exists. The language used is essentially foreign to us. But the nobility, the pride of this story work their ways into your bones, your heart. You will yearn for honor once you have left it.“

Basically, go type it into google and see what I mean. You don’t even need to purchase this book it’s all online at the first click on Gutenberg.

Nevertheless, I’ve posted excerpts of it here, here and here =)

2. The King’s Grey Mare by Rosemary Hawley Jarman

This book (unlike the latter) has zero actual historical value. Actually, it sort of does in the way that it hilights certain real events that most people are unaware of when it comes to its protagonist: Elizabeth Woodville, eg the whole Cooke tapestry affair and the whole Desmond affair. Both things which I still stand on the fence about (if you don’t know what I’m talking about send em another ask or pm me). But like, it isn’t political, philosophical or such in any way like the first book, yet you still feel like you are *there* in the 15th century - by the time I finished reading it my heart was wrung dry and I kind of fell into a down for a couple of days because I just wanted to feel the magic again. If anyone would ask me I would give this 5 stars because it perfectly achieved what it set out to do (I can’t expect all books to go above and beyond like #1), it made me feel for the characters who were super complex, was accurate historically and even when it wasn’t it made sense, it got very creative with its themes (which I like to see because I am not interested in reading the exact same story over and over again) and the prose was absolutely magical and brought all the depth to this novel. I’ve read classics with less flowing and poignant prose, yes actual classics!

This book also switches POVs quite a lot (basically it headhops because it’s written in omniscient- but whatever, rules are meant to be broken), so you’ll get to see many of your faves in there, Edward IV, Margaret of Anjou and Grace Plantagenet feature quite heavily. One thing that disappointed me is that it wasn’t really Edward IV/Elizabeth Woodville (at the time I bought it for that), she never really likes him and his love for her kind of wanes towards the end. If you’re not too bothered about that then I say go buy it.

3. The Daisy and the Bear by K L Clark

I put this here because we are already going into shakier territory when it comes to this list. This is kind of the last *really* good, truly five star one. It is a long spoof about TWOTR but god it’s smart! Yet, It does not take itself seriously and has Margaret of Anjou/Warwick the Kingmaker as a crackship and centrepiece and had me in stitches the whole time. I’ve written a long detailed review for it here.

4. Death be Pardoner to Me by Dorothy Davies

This is a novel about George Duke of Clarence. Quite possibly the only novel ever written about him in existence and boy is it a trip - the author claims to have channelled him (she’s a medium). I’ve written a detailed review for it here. I read this last spring and my views have unfortunately changed, the thing is, I’ve come to find out through my research that this was quite possibly a hoax as there are some indisputable inaccuracies (Ankarette Twynyho’s age, the details of Isabel’s death - we *know* she did not die from childbirth, Isabel did not reunite with him after Tewksbury 1471, but right before Christmas 1470). It’s also quite Richardian (the author admitted) and she could have *had* me had she not chose to divulge it in the foreword. Nevertheless, I still like this book because it did get to me at certain points and it’s good quality as a novel, I remember shedding a tear at one point even which is extremely rare for me but I think that says more about my sentiment for the subject matter than the book itself.

5. We Speak no Treason by Rosemary Hawley Jarman (not yet finished, so ranking may vary)

I haven’t finished it yet, so I’ll leave it here for now. This book is a Richardian book about Richard III, but I can’t get enough of this author, I haven’t found anyone to replace her with. The prose is magnificent as usual and I must confess that I’m happy that this book is told through the POVs of three OCs and not Richard, he remains rather elusive and tbf I find the three OCs very interesting and at this point I’m more interested in their stories than anything else. Of course, Richard III is still a fairly prominent part of this novel (even when he doesn’t appear) and it has led to me getting annoyed quite a bit. Given who I am I fumed massively at that one aside that Clarence and Edward have bastards whereas Richard isn’t like that... like are you serious?? At one point the author reassociated the Games and Playes Chesse book to Richard when it was in reality dedicated to Clarence and I got even more annoyed. Leave the poor figure something ma’am? Whatever, as a book about three medieval commoners it’s fantastic and that’s what I pretend it is.

6. Wife to the Kingmaker by Sandra Wilson

Nothing more to add than what I wrote in my (super-long) detailed review on here. This is the case because I read it very recently. This is a novel about Anne Beauchamp 16th Countess of Warwick, it’s ranked higher than Sunne because though it’s less accurate it’s got panache.

7. The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon K Penman

I feel very strongly about this Richard III book and what it represents. I wrote a long detailed review about it on here and a follow-up post on the discussion is here ft my awesome mutual @beardofkamenev ‘s insights also thrown into the mix. Xx

8. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

This is a step higher than the other two because this book pretty much changed my life. The thing is, I read it translated into my own language by an extremely talented translator and I was also only about 11/12 years old so it was all very impressive to me then. This book about Elizabeth Woodville effectively introduced me to the TWOTR; an interest that has never really left me these past ten years (though at one point (ages 14-19) it was quite wane). It’s not a good book by any standard (I was quite shocked when picking it up at a bookstore, I had found that when read in the original language it lost all its magic), but I owe a lot to it and some people who now endlessly discourse about how bad PG is need to recognise their debt of gratitude and be a bit more respectful, I think. That is of course unless you came into this era via different media, but you got to admit that a massive part of us got to this place through TWQ, though we outgrew it.

10. The Red Queen and The Kingmaker’s Daughter by Philippa Gregory

Exact same commentary as above, just objectively not good books. Flat characterisation, misunderstanding of the era, historical innacuracies which don’t add anything, lack of nuance in prose which often dances too close to *gasp* YA prose *shudders*. But these are lower because I don’t owe them a debt of gratitude as I do TWQ. Funnily enough, they are still better than the series.

[ettawritesnstudies]

December Website Announcment!

~lookit me being an Official Author~

I spent a few hours this afternoon getting my life together and making a schedule for the posts on my website, not for this week, not for this month but all the way through August 2021. 

If you've been following the blog for a while, you'll know that I've recently finished uploading all of the relevant links and introductions for my main WIP, Storge, which you can find here. I'm also working on the sequel series in the rest of the Laoche Chronicles, but for now, a lot of that is brainstorming and I don't want to post it until I've outlined some more so that way I can avoid redactions down the line. So I’ve got a new plan! You all seemed to like my other informational posts about the writing process, like this interview with @maxgraybooks about starting an author's platform and this one about staying creative when life gets busy, so I thought it would make sense to continue that trend. 

I’m keeping to my once a week on Fridays update schedule, with the first week being the usual monthly goals recap. The rest of the month will have a theme and pattern:

The 2nd week of the month is going to be a post about my writing process, not really as a “how to” post but rather just sharing another way of developing a different aspect of the story like worldbuilding or characterization. 

The 3rd week will be a resource reccomendation! These will be links of books and other media that I think really exemplify the theme of the month and a brief analysis of each on how to learn from them, as well as a chance for you to give me your reccomendations. I’ll feature those in the following week’s post. 

The 4th week of the month will be some of my writing that keeps with the theme of the month - probably either a Storge excerpt or introduction to the main trilogy of The Laoche Chronicles. I’m excited for this, because it’ll force me to do drills and learn certain skills I need more practice on, in addition to helping me make progress on my stories.

Months with 5 Fridays will get special bonus content revolving around the community - hopefully either interviews/collabs with other writers, shoutouts, or something else fun that you pick! I’ll have polls up here and on my IG account (@ettagraceauthor) for that. If you’re interested in being featured, DM me so that we can set something up! 

Now that that’s been explained, here are the themes for the next several months that I have figured out so far! If there’s something not here already that you want to see, leave a comment and I’ll add it to a future month. 

January: Character Voice/Characterization

February: Outlining and Complex Plots

March: Worldbuilding

April: Editing and Prose

May: Research and Adaptations

June: Developing Strong Themes

July: Poetry

August: Short Stories

I’ll still be around tumblr doing minor updates and talking about stuff on a daily basis and interacting with people, but I do want to start moving my major updates and content creation efforts over to my main website and taking this seriously in anticipation of editing, beta reading, and one day publishing Storge. That way I can keep Tumblr and IG around as fun social media sites in addition to that, and do both in a way I can sustainably keep up even with working and going to school full time. 

I’m going to add the Storge taglist becasue this is a relevant update about where content will be posted, but if you see this, boosts are appreciated! Thank you so much for reading if you got to the end of this loooong post! I hope you have a nice night <3

Taglist! ask to be added or removed - this will be the taglist used in relevant Storge updates (mostly on the 4th Friday of the month). I’m thinking about making a website-post taglist too so people know when the posts go up, but that’d be something seperate, so if you’re interested in that, leave a comment or ask or something so I can add your url to a list. 

@inkwell-attitude @re-writing-h @thescreamingtwenties @siarven @kittensartswriting @yearlyaquariace @abalonetea @andiwriteunderthemoon @the-starlight-chills @davey-in-a-minivan @the-great-teller-of-tales @a-smol-biblophile @scxundress @overlap @isanyonetoknow @piyawrites @viawrites-andacts @zielenbloesem @thiscrypticfangirl

[purplesurveys]

1158

survey by vandalisedsheep

When did you last run and why? Last night; I was chasing Cooper around the house since he likes that.

Does your house/flat/whatever the hell you live in need cleaning? Mmm, not really. My mom regularly cleans the house; she’d otherwise go nuts if she’s not able to.

When did you last have a real good sort out/tidy up? I took down some paintings from my wall a couple of weeks ago. Technically not a big change, but it was a big step forward in my personal life so I’m counting it.

What turns you on most (if anything) about the opposite sex? I don’t think there is anything. I like when I see TikToks of boyfriends being sweet and soft, but that’s about it.

What turns you on most (if anything) about the same sex? Thighs.

Would you rather live with a man or a woman? I’ve never experienced having a roommate but if I had to answer this on the spot, I’d pick living with a girl. I’d feel safer that way.

Do your ears ever itch like crazy for no apparent reason? :| Eh, sometimes but it’s never been a recurring issue.

Do you enjoy cooking? I probably would if I knew how to.

How often do you eat out/order in/consume convenience food? Almost never. I’d rather order from restaurants so I can be assured of its quality. I remember having to survive on 7-11 lunch meals when my mom and dad went on a month-long cruise and that to me solidified the fact that convenience store food isn’t particularly the best.

What are you having for dinner tonight? (If you've decided yet that is.) Dinner to me is always a surprise, so I’ll have to wait to find out. Given that it’s Holy Week, though, we’ll probably have something light and nothing too grand.

When did you last have people around for dinner? I think it may have been New Year’s Eve.

Do you like entertaining? Yeah, it’s nice when we have guests because most of the time we’re the ones coming over to a relative’s or family friend’s place.

Is there anything you're pedantic about? What is it? Anything to do with work. My eyes get super attentive as soon as I’m working on a Powerpoint, press release, etc. I wanna make sure everything is aligned, there are no copy errors, etc.

How often do you read? Never. I grew out of my reading hobby years ago, and even as I try getting into it these days I usually get distracted after a few minutes/pages.

Reccomend a good book (in your opinion) please: I can’t, but I know there are a number of people on here who’d be more than happy to suggest some. :)

Do you have any payments that need to be made soon? Hahaha yeah. So one of the e-wallets I use has a new credit line feature and I decided to try it out for funsies and got some Japanese food hahaha. I’m supposed to pay for it sometime this month.

Do you have any phone calls you need to make? Not really.

When did you last buy soap? My parents went to the grocery last Wednesday so I’m guessing they also restocked on soap and other toiletries then.

Are you a nail biter? A nail biter and picker, yeah.

Do you play with your hair a lot? Only when I’m attending mass and get bored. It’s an effective time-killer.

Last time you ate out, what did you order? I went to La Creperie and got their truffled sausage and mushroom pasta and their San Gines hot chocolate.

Do you have any dependents? I guess so? When I was filling out some HR stuff after I got employed, one of the forms asked for my dependents so I just listed my immediate family.

Are you currently saving up for something? Yeah, my birthday blowout for my family hahaha. I wanna order a shit ton of all my favorite food for my birthday. Once that’s done, I’d love a pair of white Nike Air Max 97s.

Do you like it when you get pins and needles? No, I find it uncomfortable and weirdly ticklish.

How about when you bang your "funny bone?"  I hate that.

What's your body temperature, right now? I don’t feel like checking right now lmao, our thermometer is all the way in my parents’ room.

Was your last relationship with a man or a woman? Woman.

Are you currently in a relationship? Nope.

Do you ever play the "what if" game? No, and not too familiar with that, actually. Is it just a game where I have to answer hypothetical situations?

When did you last eat cereal? Maybe a couple of years ago when we last stayed in a hotel; I don’t really remember as I don’t eat cereal.

What do you think your next achievement will be? Turning 23? Hahahaha idk I don’t want to jinx anything.

Are you thirsty? Not particularly.

Do you love getting all hot and sweaty from certain activities? No. It’s a big reason why I stopped working out lol. I hate getting and feeling sweaty.

Do you like having your hair pulled? (If you have any) TMI answer, but only during sex. Otherwise I would hate it.

Do any of your clocks/watches need new batteries? No, I don’t use any that need batteries.

When was the last time you did some real physical activity? Two Thursdays ago at our media event. It included a 20-minute workout session so we had to join in.

What is the smallest object close to you? Probably the USB-C connector I need to connect my earphones to my iPhone 8. That thing is so tiny and easy to lose.

When will you next have a bath? Either later in the evening or tomorrow morning; I already did this morning.

When will you next go swimming? No idea. We might have to set up our inflatable swimming pool soon once April weather comes around, and I might take a dip by then.

When was the last time you were really horny and could do nothing about it? I can always do something when I get horny loooool

What does your hair smell like currently? (If you have any!) My conditioner.

Do you know how to navigate your way through a PC using only the keyboard? Enough to get by and not damage the computer by accident.

My nose is itching now as well as my ears, does your nose currently itch? No.

[luci-cunt]

this is the same anon from the book rec ask! i originally followed you bc i kinda fell in LOVE with Avoiding War (bones... absolutely adore them) but seeing how u post abt aftg n how u just rec'd it hmmmm i might actually read it!!! i only know a lil bit abt the series (they play a made up sport??? exy and neil is apparently a whore for it jhgbdk) although i do tend to skip over the posts. i'll definitely have to check it out !!!!

AHH!!! Oh my god well Anon I already loved you but if you like Bones then you’re like akjsd;flajsdfl literally my favorite person on the planet. 

ALSO!!! I would 100% reccomend AFtG EXCEPT: here’s some warnings XD

First though: here’s your hook: 

Neil Josten has been on the run for almost his whole life, he can barely remember a time when he wasn’t running from demons hiding in his past. Before, he had his mother by his side, but after a close call in Seattle he leaves her in a burning car on a sandy California beach and has to go it alone. With his mother gone and life feeling helpless he turns to Exy--a fictional sport that’s a bit like if Hockey and Lacrosse had a hate child. He’s good, good enough to catch the attention of one David Wymack, also known as Coach of the Palmetto State Foxes, a team infamous for their questionable choice in players. Wymack gives people second and third and fourth chances, he uses the team to recruit people who otherwise would be left face down in gutters and pulls them out. 

With his entrance and the  possibility of a new life Neil has to make a choice--toss aside everything his mother taught him and put his life on the line, or ignore his only opportunity to gain a real home. 

He picks, but if life was easy he wouldn’t be Neil Josten. 

Why you should read!!

FOUND FAMILY!!!

NEIL IS A SNARKY BASTARD BOI WHO IS 100% AN EXY WHORE

Gays!

Really cool complex characters

The fandom is fucking AMAZING

You WILL fall in love with the characters

The first book is $0 on amazon as an ebook and the other two are $0.99 what have you really got to lose?

Why you might NOT want to read:

It’s graphic and dramatic and ridiculous and over-the-top and a bit... we’ll say interestingly written

Don’t get me wrong I love these books to DEATH but the first book especially is a bit of an exposition slog fest XD. There is QUITE a bit of violence including a character who deals with sexual abuse + multiple, pretty damn explicit, torture scenes. I couldn’t find it but somewhere around her there’s a completed trigger warning list for the series and--yeah it’s LONG. 

I ripped through all three books in about a dayish (reading overnight too) because I legitimately couldn’t stop. It’s just gripping and intense and in my top ten favorite books of alltime. 

Anyways, if you’re sold here’s the Amazon ebook links, happy reading!!!

Book 1: the Foxhole Court 

Book 2: the Raven King

Book 3: the King’s Men

[r0sequarks]

Hiatus Classic Who Watchlist

so, you’ve got a 10 month hiatus and need more doctor who...why not give the original series a try?

Classic who is a bit hard to get in to - the pacing of the episodes is much slower - but it’s still well worth it. This list is seperated by doctor, with ‘must watch’ and ‘reccommended’ if you don’t want to watch every episode ever. 

First Doctor 

Must Watch:

An Unearthly Child: the very first episode. Even if you skip the entirety of the first doctor, you should at least watch the episode where Doctor who began. 

The Daleks: the second episode - that’s right, the daleks are the first villains of doctor who, ever! I think this is probably the best episode of the first doctor, and one of the best to show people. 

The Gunfighters: All I’m going to say is that I watched this, and so y’all better watch it too. 

Recommended:

The Edge of Destruction, The Aztecs, The Sensorites, The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Rescue, The Chase, The Time Meddler, The Tenth Planet*

*The Tenth Planet would be on the Must Watch, because it’s the introduction of the Cybermen and the First Doctor’s regeneration, but the final episode is missing, so ymmv. 

Second Doctor 

Must Watch:

The War Games: The only ‘must watch’. Very long - the longest serial ever, but if you’re only watching one episode with 2, it may as well be this one. Features the first appearance of Gallifrey.

Recommended:

The Tomb of the Cybermen, Ice Warriors*, The Enemy of the World, The Invasion*, The Seeds of Death

*Partially animated due to missing episodes

(lowkey i recommend basically every episode from here on out, but ...)

Third Doctor

Must Watch:

Spearhead from Space: Introduction of post-regeneration Hijinks, UNIT as major characters, and autons. 

Terror of the Autons: First appearance of the Master

The Three Doctors: First ever multi-doctor episode.

Recommended:

Doctor Who and the Silurians, Colony in Space, The Daemons, The Curse of Peladon, the Sea Devils, Frontier in Space, Invasion of the Dinosaurs, Planet of the Spiders

The Fourth Doctor

Must Watch

Genesis of the Daleks: This is maybe one of the important episodes of Doctor Who of all time. 

The Deadly Assassin: Gallifreyan politics! What more can you want.

The Invasion of Time: Gallifreyan politics, part 2. 

The Key to Time Arc: all of season 16 is a single arc, introducing new companion Romana. While still individual episodes, they’re best watched all together. 

The Keeper of Traken/Logopolis: Final episodes of the 4th Doctor.

Recommended:

Robot, The Sontaran Experiment, Pyramids of Mars, The Face of Evil, The Robots of Death, Destiny of the Daleks, City of Death, Full Circle, State of Decay, Warrior’s Gate

The Fifth Doctor

Must Watch:

The Five Doctors: Crossover episode but this time there’s 5 of them.

Planet of Fire/Caves of Androzani: the finale episodes, with one of the best regarded final episodes of classic who. 

Recommended:

Castrovalva, Kinda, Earthshock, Timeflight, Snakedance, Mawdryn Undead, Terminus, Enlightenment, The King’s Daemons, Resurrection of the Daleks

The Sixth Doctor

Must Watch:

The Mark of the Rani: First appearance of the Rani. 

The Two Doctors: It’s not my fault, the crossover episodes are really good.

Recommended:

The Twin Dilemma, Attack of the Cybermen, Timelash, Revelation of the Daleks

Trial of a Timelord: season 23 is also a season long arc and introduces a companion, but it’s not all that great or important, so it’s going in Reccomended instead.

The Seventh Doctor

Must Watch:

Time and the Rani: Regeneration episode + the Rani. 

Dragonfire: introduces Ace.

Remembrance of the Daleks: introduces Dalek Politics.

Survival: the final episode of Classic Who. 

Recommended:

Paradise Towers, The Happiness Patrol, Battlefield, The Curse of the Fenric

The Eighth Doctor:

Doctor Who: The Movie. The only 

Bonus! The ... ninth doctor?

Scream of the Shalka was a 6 episode animated web series produced by the BBC in 2003 in the hopes of getting a new Doctor Who series on the air. They were planning to have Doctor Who continue in this format, but instead we got nuwho. 

Still need more Doctor Who? Don’t worry, the extended universe has got you covered, in both book and audio format:

The Novels! 

The Past Doctor Adventures + the Virgin Missing Adventures are the main series for the 1st through 6th doctors. 

The Virgin New Adventures are a continuation after the show ended, focused mostly on 7 and Ace. There’s also the Bernice Summerfield spinoff series for a well regarded companion.

The Eighth Doctor Adventures are where most of the Eighth Doctor’s personality comes from, so if you’d like to meet him check out those books. 

You also have the New Series Adventures for nuwho doctors, as well as Torchwood novels, and a bunch of other series you can find a full list of here!

the Audios!

Big Finish Audios are mostly in one series, the BF main range - Doctors 1-8 with various companions, no real order. there’s tons of lists, I’d recommend picking out serials based on doctors + and companions you’re interested in.

They’ve been doing more and more nuwho stuff recently, so you can find quite a bit for 9-12, including a series focused on the tenth doctor. A fairly comprehensive list of all the big finish series is here and a few of them are on spotify so you don’t even have to buy them!

There’s also the spin offs, most notably Gallifrey, a series that focuses on 4th Doctor companions Romana & Leela doing Gallifrey politics on Gallifrey in the direct lead up to the Time War, and which I highly recommend (it’s what got me into the eu stuff)

Oh, and Torchwood. There’s quite a few Jack and/or Torchwood audio series, including some with Ianto, so. you know. go check those out.

and if you’ve watched all 17 days, 4 hours, and 55 minutes of Classic who, and listened to all 7 weeks worth of Big Finish Audios, and read all 450+ books, and still need more Doctor Who,

...try ao3? sorry, dude, i’ve done my best.