#monster number two

[bluegiragi]

new handler.

early access + nsfw on patreon

[astralhope]

Utopia protecting and worrying about Astral

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: July Wrap-Up.

This month, I picked my knitting back up with a vengeance, started a Three Sentences Writing Challenge, AND participated in several work-adjacent Social Events (who am I, even), On Top Of accidentally nerfing myself with several brick-like books, so! This little stack isn't half bad. Photos and/or reviews linked below:

ORDINARY MONSTERS - ★★ This was a miss for me, y'all, AND it was a brick, so it took a hot minute to read. I wanted it to be better than it was, but it rambled and wandered Too Much (which, coming from me, you KNOW is bad). Salty also-rambly 1.5k review linked.

IF FOUND, RETURN TO HELL - ★★★½ Way cuter than I was expecting!! I had a good time with the second person. Hugely relatable (which. wild. all things considered.).

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE - ★★★½ Funnier than anticipated, and very readable for something out of the '50s! I see why it's a cornerstone of the (sub)genre. Glad I have a copy on hand now.

THE ACTOR AND THE TARGET - ★★★★★ This Rewired My Brain. It took me three (3) weeks to get through. It was so good. If you're a writer, definitely check this out, 10/10 recommend.

WHEN AMONG CROWS - ★★★½ I checked this out from the library because hardback novellas are Expensive if you're not sure you vibe with the author's style, but I had a good time! Witcher fans should descend on this, I think.

ALWAYS COMING HOME - 76*/618 pages read; will report back later. I asked the People about this one, and the People have Spoken (read: this won my What Do I Read Next Poll), but I may or may not have miscalcuated how many brain cells I have available lately between work and writing, so I may or may not be cutting this with library books. I'll finish it. Eventually. (*asterisk because she keeps referencing Other Pages In Line, and every time she does I jump ahead to read those pages instead and then come back to where I was. I'm dual wielding bookmarks through this tome, it's an Experience™ so far!)

Under the Cut: A Note About ~*★Stars★*~

Historically, I have been Very Bad™ about assigning things Star Ratings, because it's so Vibes Heavy for me and therefore Contingent Upon my Whims. I am refining this as I figure out my wrap up posts (epiphany of this month: I don't like that stars are Odd, because that makes three the midpoint and things are rarely so truly mid for me)(I have hacked my way around this with a ½). Here is, generally, how I conceptualize stars:

★ - This was Bad. I would actively recommend that you do NOT read this one, no redeeming qualities whatsoever, not worth the slog. Save Yourself, It's Too Late For Me. Book goes in the garbage (donate bin).

★★ - This was Not Good. I would not recommend it, but it wasn't a total waste or wash--something in here held my interest/kept my attention/sparked some joy. I will not be rereading this ever. Save Yourself (Or Join Me In Suffering, That Seems Like A Cool Bonding Activity).

★★★ - This was Good/Fine/Okay/Meh. I don't care about this enough to recommend it one way or another. Perfectly serviceable book, held my interest, I probably enjoyed myself (or at least didn't actively loathe the reading). I don't have especially strong feelings. You probably don't need to save yourself from this one--if it sounds like your jam, give it a shot! Just didn't resonate with me particularly powerfully. I probably won't reread this unless I'm after something in particular.

★★★½ - I liked this! I'll probably recommend it if I know it matches someone's vibes or specific requests, but I didn't commit to a star rating on Goodreads. More likely to reread, but not guaranteed.

★★★★ - I really enjoyed this!! I would recommend it (sometimes with caveats about content warnings or such--I tend to like weird fucked up funny shit, and I don't have many hard readerly NO's). Not a perfect book for me by any means, but Very Good. This is something I would reread! Join me!!

★★★★★ - I LOVED THE SHIT OUT OF THIS, IT REWIRED MY BRAIN, WILL RECOMMEND TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE AT THE SLIGHTEST PROVOCATION (content warning caveats still apply--see 4-star disclaimer). Excellent book, I'll reread it regularly, I'll buy copies for all my friends, I'll try to convince all of Booklr to read it, PLEASE join me!!

[batplushies]

thinking about Laios and Marcille... the parallels. the bait and switch.

them both having early childhood traumas that shape and influence their lives but hers being the loss of a loved one and his being the abuse him and his loved one suffered... both of them having a deep interest in something that subjects them to persecution from others... both of them growing up intensely lonely...

THEIR SINGLE IMPORTANT BOND BEING FALIN...

[discordkittenterumi]

miles’ “i’m better therefore it’s my responsibility to care and protect for others and make the decisions that are too morally questionable for them to make” vs neil’s “i’m worthless therefore it’s my responsibility to try as hard as i can to be useful and lessen my burden”

that shit is crazy actually

[beastmode-daily]

A Hydra has, on average, 1-3 heads when hatched. Get it? One to three, like one two three, like the number on th

[theres-whump-in-that-nebula]

There’s a real paranormal attraction near me open at night!!! :D

…but everything is done in such a tourist-attracting way that the whole business appears to hinge upon sensationalized exploitation of the mentally ill >:(

[sealer-of-wenkamui]

Had to see the fucking. Limbo was genuinely helping Danzou by restoring her memory rancid take again (helped me add to my block list I guess) and ughh, yes he DID mean what he said when he’s doing it to hurt her, I mean how else do you hurt an unfeeling machine? She doesn’t even feel physical pain! It wasn’t even her full memory he recovered, and she doesn’t even so much as have conflicted thoughts about them for doing so because it’s fully malicious!! I don’t get how anyone can go through that interlude and see that sort of overt cruelty and think otherwise!!

ALSO SHIMOUSA WE LITERALLY HAVE PROOF IN SHIMOUSA…. The part where he makes her fight against the companions she’s come to care about to the point she was willing to turn against him, and she was even beginning to remember her son (and I do think he was involved there because he mentions messing with her mind). And not in a mind control way but having her be conscious of her own body moving against her will AND THEN MAKES HER SELF DESTRUCT, KILLING HER… her interlude isn’t even the first time he’s done something like this!!

[monster-noises]

Okay so i tried to explain something to a coworker recently and I wanna see if this makes sense to any of ya'll cause she didn't Super get it..

In the store i work at most, if not all, of our extra merchandise is stored in the upper half of our shelving units (called Overheads) and often in plain cardboard boxes identified only by a small sticker with an item number on it.

We spend a lot of time craning our necks to look for things in the overhead reading all these tiny numbers and I have found it most useful and efficient to look for the Shape of a number instead of trying to read the Actual Number

For example;

Say i'm looking for like... 6452. I Could carefully scan and read every number on every box for 6-4-5-2 Or I could do a quick scan over the boxes and look for... (And this is where explaining the concept gets a little wonky cause how do describe seeing a thing but not the thing you're seeing) the distinct visual Pattern created by the number 6452, which on paper would I Guess be something like; SoftTriangleHard/SoftSoft/Flat ??? Cause it's just.. seeing the number but it's seeing the Whole number, the Compiled Form of the number, not the component Number String? which is Much Easier to See than trying to actually Read everything.

At least to me

Because I can eliminate whole Swathes of numbers so much Faster than reading each individual box, and as such i can find things (or find things are not where they Should be, as is Often the case) quicker than most.

Will still straight up just miss things sometimes though, but at about the same rate as trying to read every number so it's not more prone to failure as a strategy at least...

But please; do tell if you see what i'm getting at here! I wanna know!

[omarwolaeth]

It's such a tiny innocuous thing that really doesn't matter, but I feel like calling duel monsters a children's card game (when it's fundamentally baked into everyday life, and your social existence is judged by what you play and how you play it so very intensely, for everyone in-universe) is an absolute injustice to what it is for that universe of people.

[thetoonster]

I wanted to draw my Hunters in various scenarios sometimes based on the insanity that takes place in game lol.. But they all had the same face, and name.. Because they were named after my alias. I bit the bullet and gave them their own faces and traits. These two are from GU (Ailith) and World (Hoshiko), Ailith is a blend of GU and Rise.

DISCLAIMER! THERE ARE CREATIVE LIBERTIES INVOLVED! NOT EVERYTHING HERE IS ACCURATE TO CANON. Ok I thought that was important. 

Extra details... Ailith once wore the armor of White Fatalis (Since I wore the armor in game in the past) and was able to fight off its possessive influence before the armor took over, but she bears scars from the early process of it all, in more ways than just marks. She despises White Fatalis for the agony it caused, but she’s a strong Hunter who respects the monsters she slays. The Grand Tempest set she has on now gives her this sense of inner peace.

Hoshiko is hot headed, but the leader of my group of Hunters. Being an A-Lister as stated in World itself.. she’s no joke. And the Everstream’s influence made a difference. Fighting off Safi’jiiva, Alatreon AND Fatalis? That’s insane, and while she lost her eye as a rookie, she remains confident in herself and beloved kinsects. Their names are Maple and Flakes btw lol.. Hoshiko is the one who snaps off Ailith’s horns as she requests.  These are just random rambles that don’t mean much in the grand scheme of things, but like.. I think their looks came out p cool c:

[sad--tree]

kinda assumed ppl were overstating the drums or w/e being Like That on st anger but. oh my god no they. they really are very very much Like That

[its-to-the-death]

Glasses Swag Tournament Preliminary Round #4

Only one of these characters will make it into the bracket so vote for your favorite!

[dvoyd]

i genuinely think its a crime how few decent video games there are that let us play as dragons / monsters instead of fighting them.

[doggytail-duck]

9 37 and 98 for them spotify!!

Thank you!!

9. Monster by Skillet

37. Everyone is Gay by A Great Big World

98. The MegaSIX from Six The Musical

I love the whiplash of 9 and 98 lmao

[skeletalheartattack]

I went on your blog to see which fictional men you were getting your boobs big for and I immediately saw Zarbon. Very valid

everyday i play back every episode of DBZ with him in it in hopes hes angled a specific way to look at me through the screen and see. like hi sir yeah 🤗✨

honestly im a sucker for a lot of fictional dudes. i just tend to talk about Zarbon alot because he's the whole reason i'm gay the way i am. though i have made a list showing off a lot of other key dudes id get my boobs big for. <- normal thing to say. i should know. im the one who said it. normal normal.