Christmas gift for @blue-eyes-white-privilege69
I’ve been wanting to draw Lucky more and since I already did a Lucky/Isabela/Merrill piece I figured Fenris and Lucky should have a time in the spotlight too! For some reason I lowkey played dressup with Lucky cause everytime I see some cool modern outfit, my brain goes “Lucky should wear this” so uhhh mesh shirt for lucky and this transparent fabric top for Fenris became the name of the game. I also decided to add direction to Lucky’s curls instead of accidentally keeping it stationary. Another favourite of mine is working on Lucky’s eyes cause of the new colouring style I’m doing on eyes. I really wanted something playful and happy for this piece and I hope you like it, Jonzen!! Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon!
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Summer Reading Update (part 1)
Teach the Torches to Burn by Caleb Roehrig - 4.75/5 stars
This was a really well done retelling of Romeo and Juliet. I read another book from the Remixed Classics series, Dear Henry, and while that one was also good, it felt like it adhered too slavishly to The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, so sometimes things seemed to be happening only because they happened in the original. And I haven't actually read the original book, it was just...easy to tell. Teach the Torches to Burn never felt like that, and I loved how it fleshed out so many of the characters from the play.
You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian - 5/5 stars
I feel like tumblr sings this one's praises enough that I don't really have to, but—everyone should read this. Everyone should read all of Cat Sebastian's books. I think I liked this one better than We Could Be So Good, but that could just be because I've found myself becoming more and more of a sucker for sports romances.
Unhallowed by Jordan L Hawk - 4.75/5 stars
Sad to say goodbye to the Whyborne and Griffin series, but I already love this spinoff!
Soul of Ash by HL Moore - 3.75/5 stars
Crow's Fate by Kim Fielding - 3.75/5 stars
The Sleeping Soldier by Aster Glenn Gray - 5/5 stars
I sound like a broken record re: Aster Glenn Gray, but please read her books. If you like Cat Sebastian's mid-century romances (like You Should Be So Lucky!) you like Aster Glenn Gray. This one is ostensibly a Sleeping Beauty retelling, but one where the sleeper actually sleeps for 100 years. In this case, it's a Union soldier who is put in an enchanted sleep in 1865 and wakes up in 1965 and oh my god, it's so good. It examines racism, it examines toxic masculinity, it examines homophobia, and how same-sex platonic affection became taboo. I'm pretty sure this woman has never written a bad book, but this may be her best.
Alec by Kaje Harper - 3.75/5 stars
Artemis by Andy Weir - 3.75/5 stars
Oak King Holly King by Sebastian Nothwell - 4.75/5 stars
I loved this one! There are so many books about Faerie and they can be pretty hit or miss for me, but this one struck just the right balance of otherworldly, inhuman creatures and characters I could root for. Shrike and Wren were lovely.
Imperfect Illusions by Vanora Lawless - DNF at pg 56
Orchestrated Love by AJ Buchanan - DNF at pg 1
Razorblade Tears by SA Cosby - 4.25/5 stars
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern - 5/5 stars (reread)
The Only Light Left Burning by Erik J Brown - 5/5 stars
Excellent sequel about what happens after you make it to the last bastion of civilization after the apocalypse.
Unwieldy Creatures by Addie Tsai - DNF at pg 12
A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles - 5/5 stars
Oh man. This may have displaced the Will Darling Adventures as my favorite KJ Charles book. Wonderful MCs, A+ side character arcs, and villains you really loved to hate. I rambled on a lot about this book to my wife after I finished it.
Stars in Your Eyes by Kacen Callender - DNF at pg 156
His Lordship's Secret by Samantha SoRelle - 3.75/5 stars
Us, Et Cetera by Kit Vincent - 5/5 stars
Cinderella retelling with androids but Christ on a bike was this a painful read. Really, really well done. Highly recommended.
Charming Young Man by Eliot Schrefer - 5/5 stars
My 5 star rating diverges pretty sharply from the average Storygraph rating for this book, and I'm not sure why, other than maybe people thinks it's PrObLeMaTic. It was definitely not a super happy book, though it ends on a good note (that's a pun btw!). I thought it was a great book about a period that isn't often written about (1890s Paris) with a fascinating protagonist (who was a real person).
Dark Heir by CS Pacat - 5/5 stars
It's a CS Pacat book; it's the sequel to Dark Rise; obvs I loved it. I don't understand why this series is shelved under YA except that Pacat's publisher thinks more people will buy them. This series is the gay Lord of the Rings you always wanted and somehow is an even slower burn than Captive Prince.
Of Knights and Books and Falling in Love by Rita A Rubin - DNF at pg 50
Cover Story by Valerie Gomez - DNF at pg 176
Letters to Half Moon Street by Sarah Wallace - 4/5 stars
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Your love is like the sun
That lights up my whole world
I feel the warmth inside
Your love is like the river
That flows down through my veins
I feel the chill inside
-Your Love by Erik Santos
My half of an art trade with my amazing friend, @enby-hawke!
Ze asked me to draw Lucky with Isabela and Merrill and then I asked if I could do a Modern AU picture cause I saw some cute outfits I’ve been wanting to draw that would fit the three of them! (and dammit I’ve been wanting to draw friends’ OCs rn) so cue me having a blast working on this throuple piece, also I was struggling trying to find a way to do kinky hair until I decided to use my Fluffy Watercolor brush on Medibang.
Merrill was a bit of a challenge cause of her vallaslin but it all sorted itself out the moment I got the right references thankfully! Altogether, just a sweet fluff piece with the three of them strolling through Hightown on Market Day together. (ofc my fave warm overlay is put in too cause I love making warm moments warm)
It was such a joy to be able to draw Lucky again and in a romantic scene cause I’m a sucker for those, thanks so much for agreeing to do an art trade with me!!
Also pls listen to Erik Santos, his romance songs are v good, hell I’ll rec Filipino love songs to all your ships if you guys ask I thrive off of listening to them and even discovering more romance songs dammit
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I've seen people criticise triangle strategy's golden route as too convenient, too naïve, and one time as "the centrist choice", and I couldn't disagree more.
sure, it's annoying that you can only get the perfect option if you make some very specific choices earlier, some of which really don't fit together (I can't imagine why someone who would otherwise so consistently choose the (feasible) moral option would so easily choose to help smuggle salt with no knowledge of who's buying it or why). and it's extra annoying that roland's and benedict's absolutely disgusting takes are just swept under the rug like that.
but the fact that serenoa refuses to pick one of three questionable options because they're the ones presented to him, comes up with a way to deal with every issue at hand, and then convinces everyone else it can't not be attempted simply because it seems hard? I really, really loved that. I don't think there's anything centrist about it, I don't think it's so convenient if feels like a reach, and I don't think it's too naïve for a video game. maybe things would never work out like that in reality, but I don't subscribe to the idea that stories have to be as bleak as reality is or might seem, and if anything I think it's better when they aren't.
TLDR my smart kind and brave video game blorbo isn't a dirty centrist and there's nothing wrong with a happy ending 😤
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