#s.j. kincaid

[gnome-minion]

"Say dalton. Ever wonder what if feels like to be reprogrammed?"

[templegate]

Last two hyperfixations ive had had these main character trends

-inferiority complex because they are surrounded by talented people. (Which they are not)

-got brain surgery to make them smarter/better or to cure some kind of imperfection

-repressed memories cause of brain surgery

-has an alter ego (or just alter) that's literally just the main antagonist of their story

-terrorists

-responsible for apocalypse

Like damn back to back.

[everliving-everblaze]

so should we like. start an insignia discord server or something. because there are more of us than i thought there were

[bookwyrminspiration]

when Tom first jokingly called himself Mordred I assumed he'd destroy camco via joining and then being himself and (potentially accidentally) tearing it apart from the inside out. that it would become his insignia.

but it never did. tom didn't outright destroy camco, and his impact wasn't only limited to camco. he destroyed it by enabling the destruction of the system that created and perpetuated camco's existence--and not even on purpose. it's just how thinks worked out

i'm not an expert on camelot mythology, but from what i've looked up mordred and arthur mutually destroy each other. and I cannot help thinking of Blackburn crashing his ship in assured mutual destruction. and I cannot help thinking of how it was first Tom who was the Ghost in the Machine before Blackburn took the title. and how maybe that means the foreshadowing of Mordred was only partially meant for Tom. that the Ghost wasn't the only title Blackburn took

[bookguide]

Currently Reading:

The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid

[hekatadoll]

Currently on The Nemesis and I'm only 100 pages in and already feeling stressed and insane. I'm so normal about this series

Just me pondering my sanity over starting the Empress by SJ Kincaid. I started reading commentary and everyone that has finished it is in need of therapy. I am scared. But also i love Nemesis Dan Imerian so im finishing this trilogy

[who-do-i-know-this-man]

⚠️Vote for whomever YOU DO NOT KNOW⚠️‼️

[the-writing-mobster]

Because I constantly get hate for WDYW Chapter 49,

(I get it, it's polarizing) allow me to like,,, explain why I went with the plot point? I don't really owe anyone an explanation, and literally fuck any of my haters, they're ants, but I think my readers/people who actually like my writing would like to know the lore behind my choices.

So, context, in chapter 49, Frisk is drugged into obedience by Muffet and Muffet, being the money hungry cunt that she is, sells Frisk's body on the black market. It's a really uncomfortable concept, and when it happened it caused a lot of readers to drop the fic or rant at me in the comments, talk shit about my fic in private forums behind my back, or even imply a bunch of horrible things about me as a person lmao.

So why did I decide to go with this plot?

Well, for one, it all stems from two books: The Hunger Games, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins and the Empress by S.J Kincaid.

In both of these books, there is a pivotal character who is drugged, manipulated and used for political gain by a dastardly authority figure. In The Empress, this plot point was ESPECIALLY devastating, because it completely changed and corrupted the character into a horrific shell of their old self to where they were actively antagonistic and irredeemable!

This plot device has intrigued and fascinated me ever since. Drugging a protagonist to make them wholly dependent on their abuser/villain, manipulating them, having them at rock bottom is, in my opinion, one of the worst things that can happen to a character... And seeing how the character can overcome it is the greatest triumph!

Ever since reading these books, this plot device has buzzed in the back of my mind and there is a part of me that always tries to recreate it, but I can never come close to perfecting it.

Either I always miss on the addiction part of the manipulation, or I can never commit truly to character corruption. Either way, the closest I've ever gotten to scratching this itch has been in WDYW part 3, but even then, I barely came close to getting it right.

My second reason for choosing the route; In WDYW, Frisk's whole arc is about having control over her own agency/autonomy/fate. What happens to her in Part 3 is the culmination of everything she's ran away from, fought against, and her greatest nightmare come to life. It was the lowest point I could bring her character, and make her face her past demons in a horrifically evil way. But my plan had obviously been that despite all of the torture she survives, that she not only survives but fucking WINS!

That was the whole point, but when I wrote it I was like,,, 17/18 😅, so there was definitely things I wasn't as graceful about.

With that said, would I change anything? Yes. If I could change anything I wrote about part 3, I would do a couple things:

1. Take out that obedience spell Muffet puts on Frisk. The reason I made that was because it was like a catch all spell to keep Frisk in Muffets clutches? But it was pretty OP and seemed like a hand wavey excuse to brush aside plot holes. I should've just simplified the spell to where she was simply tethered to Muffet's soul so Sans couldn't kill Muffet, or teleport Frisk away.

2. Frisk's "obedience" to Muffet should've been entirely addiction based, which would make the plot point of Frisk using determination to burn out her addiction in Part 4, and then eventually Determination becomes the addiction instead, (because overcoming addiction is really fucking hard actually and a constant struggle) a lot stronger.

3. I would probably be much more careful with my word choice in chapter 49. Some of it comes off as sexualization. Not my intention, but it was because I was writing in the creepy photographer's pov and he was objectifying her. In my head I was like, "surely people can read between the lines right???" (They can't. Only a select few fanfic readers have media literacy apparently)

So, TLDR, No chapter 49 was not some author's barely disguised fetish (that's honestly a really gross way to think about my writing and about me as a person) it was my genuine worst nightmare as a woman, and one of my favorite plot devices from two of my favorite books 😭 Please lay off me about chapter 49, and Part 3.

Last but not least... Some art is meant to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed.

.

.

.

[critical-quoter]

May Books

It's been a kind of rough year so far. Bills are tight and mood has been low. Not dangerous levels low, but low enough that I find little joy in most everything. I've been doing a lot more vibe reading rather than just random pulls from my TBR.

Unholy Vows - Mila Kane ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Bourbon & Secrets - Victoria Wilder ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Dom - S.J. Tilly (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Wolf.e - Paisley Hope ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Hummingbird and the Hawk - Thea Landon ⭐️⭐️ The Huntress - C.M. Hano ⭐️⭐️ Mother Pucker - Swati M.H. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Northern Twilight - Samantha Young ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Little Bird - Taylor Jade ⭐️ Bratva Prince - T.J. Maguire ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Out of the Gate - Elsie Silver ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Falling for Irish - Katie Reus ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Pretend - Lexie Axelson ⭐️ Hans - S.J. Tilly (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Forgotten Dawn - Laura A Blake ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Broken - Sadie Kincaid ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Accidental Marriage - Nadia Lee ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Secret Baby for the Italian Mafia Don - Lia Zari ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hank - Tilly H. Colson ⭐️⭐️ Fragile Sanctuary - Catherine Cowles (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Beautiful Exile - Catherine Cowles ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Dear Rosie, - S.J. Tilly ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Shoot Your Shot - Lexi LaFleur Brown ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Need You to Choose Me - Anna B. Doe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Wrecked by You - Tracie Delaney ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Where's Molly - H.D. Carlton (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ All the Missing Pieces - Catherine Cowles ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Dirty Damage - Naomi West ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Dirty Grovel - Naomi West ⭐️ Shoot Your Shot - Hannah Gray ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Twisted Love - Ana Huang ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Wild River - Laura Pavlov ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Stand and Defend - Sloane St. James (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ranchers Only - Elle Christensen ⭐️ King of Envy - Ana Huang ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Unholy Vows - Mila Kane ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Bourbon & Secrets - Victoria Wilder ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Dom - S.J. Tilly (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Wolf.e - Paisley Hope ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Hummingbird and the Hawk - Thea Landon ⭐️⭐️ The Huntress - C.M. Hano ⭐️⭐️ Mother Pucker - Swati M.H. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Northern Twilight - Samantha Young ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Little Bird - Taylor Jade ⭐️ Bratva Prince - T.J. Maguire ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Out of the Gate - Elsie Silver ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Falling for Irish - Katie Reus ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Pretend - Lexie Axelson ⭐️ Hans - S.J. Tilly (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Forgotten Dawn - Laura A Blake ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Broken - Sadie Kincaid ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Accidental Marriage - Nadia Lee ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Secret Baby for the Italian Mafia Don - Lia Zari ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hank - Tilly H. Colson ⭐️⭐️ Fragile Sanctuary - Catherine Cowles (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Beautiful Exile - Catherine Cowles ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Dear Rosie, - S.J. Tilly ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Shoot Your Shot - Lexi LaFleur Brown ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Need You to Choose Me - Anna B. Doe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Wrecked by You - Tracie Delaney ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Where's Molly - H.D. Carlton (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ All the Missing Pieces - Catherine Cowles ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Dirty Damage - Naomi West ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Dirty Grovel - Naomi West ⭐️ Shoot Your Shot - Hannah Gray ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Twisted Love - Ana Huang ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Wild River - Laura Pavlov ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Stand and Defend - Sloane St. James (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ranchers Only - Elle Christensen ⭐️ King of Envy - Ana Huang ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hating You - Kelsie Rae ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Crave - Luna Mason ⭐️ Mother Hater - Daphne Elliot ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reckless - Elsie Silver (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Glimmers of You - Catherine Cowles ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Heist - Julie Weaver ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Pucking Wrong Rookie - C.R. Jane ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Chosen by a Sinner - Michelle Heard ⭐️⭐️ Rope the Moon - Ava Hunter ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Mr. Sin - S.J. Tilly ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Love on Tap - Kali Hart ⭐️⭐️ Thin Ice - Nichole Greene ⭐️⭐️⭐️ King of the Cage - Mila Kane ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Live for Me - Brittany Ann ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sleet Kitten - S.J. Tilly ⭐️ Created the Destroyer - Warren Murphy & Richard Sapir ⭐️ Bright Dead Star - Caitlín R. Kiernan ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Garden - Elsie V. Aidinoff ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Unsteady - Peyton Corinne (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reckless King - L.M. Dalgleish ⭐️⭐️⭐️ All Systems Red - Martha Wells ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Right Move - Liz Tomforde ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Artificial Condition - Martha Wells ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Dealing with a Desperate Demon - Charlotte Stein ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

61 total books read for May 2025.

[lexalovesbooks]

Top ten best books of all time????????

Too TEN… anon I thought about this so hard. In no particular order:

Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor (sequel to Strange the Dreamer): This book. God. Amazing worldbuilding and storytelling, left me fully satisfied in a way fantasy series rarely do, also laini Taylor’s writing is just… so beautiful and unique. She’s one of the authors who I aspire to write like.

The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake: I don’t talk about this book enough. Twelfth Night retelling, beautiful and messy and hit really close to home at the time of reading, made me cry. 10/10

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik: El Higgins my beloved!! Nothing to say except that these books are masterfully put together, funny and heartwarming and great social commentary and some of the most entertaining info-dumping I’ve ever read

Sword and Pen by Rachel Caine (final book in the Great Library series): putting this one on the list because the stress reaction I was having the entire time I read this book was genuinely unrivaled. I was on the verge of tears for 80% of the twenty-four hours I spent reading this book. 10/10, I never want to experience that kind of stress again.

Insignia by S.J. Kincaid: putting this on the list because any book series that’s had a grip on my brain for as long as this one has deserves it. They’re 100% aimed at middle school boys, i was that age when I first read them and can’t really guarantee that I’d have loved them or found them as deep as I did in the same way if I’d read them later, but man. When I finally gave into nostalgia and reread them for the first time in years as a college student, I really just had to sit there like… hang on, the silly funny books I was obsessed with in middle school are good? These books have social commentary and themes and all the things I learned to analyze in English class? It’s probably the nostalgia bias talking but I’m still inclined to say that these books are really well-put together for a ya series of it’s time.

Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray (book two of The Diviners): still my favorite book in this series… they’re all pretty good but the creepy vibes of this one were unmatched… two of my fave characters got the spotlight and I just love the brand of ghost we got in this book and the spookiness of the dream walking and dream worlds

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang: holy SHIT this book. Kuang somehow managed to fit an entire trilogy into just this one book. And then wrote two more full books after that. It left me wrung out and in shock, the rest of the series was fantastic too but the tone shift in this one + the choice Rin makes at the end… this one has to be my favorite for sure

A Memory Called Empire + A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine: these books. They’re about aliens and hiveminds and the experience of watching your culture be subsumed by another that you love but that will never be yours. They’re about language and imperialism and lineage and ghosts and they’re some of the best books I’ve ever read

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan: this book is just a super fun time, and Elliot is one of my favorite main characters ever. He’s rude and snappy and hard to like and he knows it, he’s an unwilling jock, and he’s the most terrifying pacifist you’ll ever meet. He’s in love with his best friend, he’s not sure where he belongs, he’s trying his best. I’d die for him

The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler: this book gave me nightmares. Like, actually, multiple nightmares. It’s dark and horrific and awful, but towards the second half this shift begins and this little seed of hope starts growing, and it left such an impact on me. One of my favorite books I’ve ever read for school and also, seeing as it’s on this list, probably one of my favorite books just in general.

That’s ten! Thanks for the ask :D

[gnome-minion]

Simplifying Blackburn to "Programming Teacher" is so funny because it removes all of the important context. Like yeah the main character gets tortured by his programming teacher. Yeah the programming teacher starts carrying out assassinations against the elite class. Yeah. The programming teacher blew up his kids.

[templegate]

Oumota Week Day 1: Dystopia AU

This was heavily based on a few scenes from Vortex by S.J. Kincaid. Specifically in that book there are these skyboards. Giant advertisements that block out the stars. Also i wanted to explore Kokichi and Kaito's approaches towards the fame of Danganronpa.

Aka Kokichi commits terrorism to get Kaito to be a little less depressing.

[everliving-everblaze]

a compilation of all @bookwyrminspiration's insignia asks i didn't answer in time! so that they aren't lost to the void, but i don't flood my followers' dashes

(spoilers ahead if you haven't read, and i apologize, quil, for being so slow on the draw)

(you saying he lost "very important personal possessions" made me LOSE MY MIND, and yeah. the escalation uh. starts and doesn't stop. and here's to elliot's character arc!)

(the escalation continues! truly NO ONE ever expects the planet explosion. and yeah! the imane thing is thankfully a very small part of things and just serves the narrative by showing tom's in a Bad Place, i think.)

(the Blackburn emotions are SO. REAL. his character is insane i'll never be over it)

(for the record, i think those were the best possible first words. KAPOW! I'm on Mars! :D)

[bookwyrminspiration]

very very few people who’ve read insignia please tell me you call the group TomCo. actually I don’t care the answer is I’m going to be doing that regardless of what everyone else does

[bookguide]

“Artwork is the very expression of the human soul. That is the power of it, Nemesis. That’s the reason every petty tyrant seeks to censor, control, shame, or dictate to artists. If you can control them, you can control ideas of the human soul.”

— S.J Kincaid, The Nemesis

[opalwatchbooks]

Intro

Hello! You've stumbled across my blog for everything related to reading. Expect me to post and keep track of my reading lists, share my thoughts about books while I'm reading them, and write reviews of books after I finish them.

Before you follow, read this post from my main account Link to my main blog: Opal Link to my blog for tv/movies/manga/anime reviews: Opal's Entertainment

Favorite Books: -"We Were Liars" and "Family of Liars" by S.E. Lockhart -"Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley -"Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens -"The Hunger Games" Series by Suzanne Collins -"Insignia" Series by S.J. Kincaid (I have not read this since middle school so I cannot say for certain if this is still good)

Happy reading! <3