#stuff like actually reading the full end poem for the first time in actual years

[juneboat]

so anyways the latest rtgame video makes me want to cry /very pos

[geode-crystal]

Writeblr Interview tag game!

Wooo thanks for the tag @tildeathiwillwrite this looks like fun!

Open tag for anybody else who wants to answer these :)

Short stories, novels, or poems?

Yes, yes, and yes lol.

I tend to write novel-length things purely because I just... keep going XD I usually get more ideas than a short story allows. I do need to work on keeping things to the point sometimes!

But I have written short stories and one-shots (mostly as responses to promts) and I am very technically a published poet, since a few of my poems were published in a collection thanks to a writing competition back in high school .

What genre do you prefer reading?

Fantasy, full stop. I also love books that play on fairy tales and folklore.

Are you a planner or a write as I go kind of person?

I usually like to have a general idea of where I'm going, and figure the rest out along the way. Sometimes I make full outlines when projects get Really Big.

What music do you listen to while writing?

I either put on one of my incredibly random playlists or go to youtube and look for "relaxing [insert video game here] music." Pokemon soundtracks are actually really nice to write to.

Favorite books/movies?

Soooo many lol.

I'm a big fan of Disney and Pixar movies (as one of my previous posts made pretty obvious lol), particularly the Disney renaissance. Adore The Princess Bride. Love Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Love Studio Ghibli movies, personal favorite being Castle in the Sky. Of course, we have the classic Muppet Treasure Island as well. And I love every version of Scott Pilgrim out there, the movie, Netflix anime, and graphic novels are all amazing.

And for books... oh my gods there are too many to list here, but shout outs to Catherynne M. Valente's Fairyland series, the Chrestomanci books by Diana Wynne Jones (as well as Howl's Moving Castle), Raybearer and Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko, and the Hero's Guide series by Christopher Healy. Percy Jackson, too.

A lot of my favorite whump moments come from the good old Deltora Quest series by Emily Rhodda and The Mage of Trelian by Michelle Knudsen.

Any current WIPs?

So many. Too many. I need to escape lol.

Do you like incorporating actual people you know into your writing?

I've based a few characters off of people I know before. Mostly my close friends. One of whom I write with a lot, so we've used each other as inspiration several times lol.

Are you kill happy with your characters?

No no no no no, not at all lolol. It's exactly the opposite. I have so much difficulty permanently killing off characters, to the point that my first novel-length project way back in my first year of high school ended with the villain getting polymorphed into a fish instead of dying. XD

I only do permadeath when it is absolutely necessary for the story. But... well, to quote The Return of Jafar: "You'd be surprised what you could live through."

Coffee or Tea while writing?

Don't usually drink or snack while writing.

Slow or fast writer?

Completely depends on the project, but I would say fairly slow. Especially compared to my writing buddy they're an absolute speed demon lol

If you were in a fantasy world, what would you be?

Depends on the fantasy world, really. Definitely some kind of musician and/or storyteller, like a troubador or something. Maybe some kind of minor nobility, with all the "fun" I've had with the burden of expectations. I would love to have some kind of magic, especially if it's music-based. So..... basically a bard!

I'd also be very likely to be something not fully human, be that an elf or fairy or mermaid... or even a changeling.

Most fav book cliche:

There's a long list! But I really like Found Family stuff, and any time magic comes with A Price.

Least favorite cliche:

Characters getting pointlessly killed off just for the sake of Extra Drama.

Favorite scene to write?

Hurt/comfort, both ends! I especially love anything with added Guilt for one or all parties!

Reason for writing?

To paraphrase Brian David Gilbert: stories come to me in my dreams like a prophet receiving visions from an angry god.

I write because I'm always coming up with different ideas. I write because I was basically designed to study and create stories. Even if I don't physically write anything down, I will always find a way to tell some kind of story, be it just piecing together ideas in my head or through singing Broadway-style songs or even just attempting to draw a character. I write because it's just what I do!

[tufzy-baybey]

Hi hi! Welcome to my first official post on my account!

S

I only had time for a few characters this time since I just want to get as much out as fast as possible :3

ʚ♡ɞ ʚ♡ɞ ʚ♡ɞ ʚ♡ɞ ʚ♡ɞ ʚ♡ɞ ʚ♡ɞ

This post contains:

Child! Reader x Reaper (platonic obviously)

Child! Reader x Zenyatta (platonic too)

Child! Reader x Cassidy

(All these are platonic obviously lol)

Anyways enjoy my little babies!

Something about Gabriel Reyes/Reaper makes him feel like an angsty father figure XP

Reader is a child/minor here! :3

Honestly a chill dad/father figure

Barely any patience tho :'3

If he's a father figure or adoptive father, he definitely wasn't planning on taking care of you full time, he knew his limits, after all.

Life turned out to really force you two together though, as you ended up being in his care for two years when he had the chance to find a family for you.

He decided to officially adopt you/let you stay when he had accepted to fact he had gotten attached to you (he'd never tell you though, he'd use your attachment as the excuse to keep you around)

Usually tired.

Has not patience but let's you get away with a lot more stuff than with everyone else

Of your having trouble with grades he would help to some degree, but he'd come with you to visit Moira if you need help with any scientific or mathematic subjects. (Or any, actually)

Extremely protective over you.

If he took care of you when you were younger, he'd so read you bed time stories.

Just don't tell anyone or tease him about it, or he'll give you the cold shoulder for a bit

And no bed time stories ˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º·˚

Sombra found out about you, she's like and older rebellious sister who tries to get you to join her in her shenanigans.

Expect sombra to get scolded by Gabriel (or yelled at by reaper, depending on the timeline) if she ever gets caught being a bad influence.

Not very physically affectionate :'3

He is verbally affectionate, but only when he thinks you are asleep or otherwise don't hear him <3

Zenyatta is so perfect for gentle parenting it's so canonnnn (includes a little of Ram, genji, kiriko and hanzo)

You were adopted by zenyatta as he took you in

You were just a baby when you were abandoned by your own kin, left in the front of the temple where zenyatta spends most of his time at.

Zenyatta was more than happy to take you in, as he's Genji's mentor, he's already experienced in some fields, but you were so young, so raising a human from practically the start of your life was a learning experience.

Ramattra didn't exactly hate you, you were just a baby after all, but he still would avoid you, he felt that deep down you were just like the others, whether or not he was mistaken or correct is up to you :3

Your abandonment is just another excuse for Ramattra to hate humanity.

When you had tantrums, Zenyatta was extremely forgiving to you, and patient, but still a little awkward having to deal with you screaming, rolling, kicking around and punching the air in the middle of meditation session with a group of omnics

This caused him to decide on meditating some place else, just you and him and who ever wanted to visit you two at the time.

He taught you how to handle your emotions better, and how to meditate without feeling weird about it.

Star gazing was definitely a #1 calming activity you two did if you had a bad day.

He is physically affectionate, always with permission though

Also verbally affectionate, honestly sounds like he's reading a poem of a loving father it probably would make any sensitive person tear up a little <3

As a kid you were pretty mischievous, but also well behaved, Ramattra was a little more comfortable with you, as when Zen was busy he'd leave you with Ramattra to keep watch on you.

The most you two do together is talk, literally about anything.

If your having a bad day and a human is making it worse, Zenyatta would advice to not tell or worry your uncle Ram, you don't know why though.

You still scare Ramattra at times, you know how kids are, sometimes they just say creepy ass shit >w<

Genji is definitely an older brother figure.

It's nice to have a sibling figure that actually has a good relationship for him :3

Kiriko and you are literally so mischievous together in the most wholesome way.

You don't know hanzo, and you hope one day you 4 can finally reunite, become siblings and live your live happily ever after :3

Yes I counted kiriko because she's so genji's sister you can't convince me otherwise.

When your a small child genji's or kiriko definitely play with you 24/7

Probably hold you up and pretend your an airplane lol

I wanna be a cowboy, bayyybeyyyyy!!!

He found you as an orphan roaming around the streets, you could barely walk, it'd haunt him forever if he just left you there to fend for yourself

He didn't know how to take care of a toddler, much less how to parent you into becoming a good child

Honestly tries to be more of a cool young uncle, kinda fails at that though.

He stopped smoking as much since you were near him most of the time, but he definitely had cigar breaks from the added stress of taking care of a child.

Definitely washing planning on keeping you around but every family open to you had.... Problems that he wouldn't feel comfortable leaving you to their care.

Not like he could give you a better life though, at least that's his insecurities talking.

Maybe he was being selfish, not leaving you at an orphanage or to foster care, maybe he was looking for excuses where you would be better off staying with him.

Not like you wanted to get adopted anyways, you felt comfortable in his care, of course you weren't spoilt, but you live a humble if not exciting childhood, you got more than you can ever ask for, even if you weren't in the safest of situations simply because of your connection with Cassidy.

Cassidy feels extremely guilty for any instance where you got hurt or in trouble because of him.

If you didn't smile at him anymore after everything you two have been through it would eat him alive.

Once you fall asleep after he had tucked you in, he's most definitely stressing about how you're both going to get by or survive.

Life's definitely a lil rough, but he's definitely a good dad, even if he doesn't agree :3

Piggy back rides! Lots of em

Loves to annoy you with physical affection.

He loves picking you up and hugging you while your kicking your feet in the air as he tickles you with his beard rubbing on your cheek!

Plays tickle monster a lot!

Loves playing pretend whenever you two can, that's actually how he gets you to stay happy and calm or quiet when you two are in danger :')

Let's you wear his hat for fun.

Definitely stole a horse plushie just for you.

You two have a specific diner you two go to, as it's hard to find on maps and lowkey in general, you guys can go there and order food when ever needed.

The owner is also in hiding so he's no snitch :3

When you were a toddler, you would hold on to his index finger since your hand was so small, it honestly made his heart melt.<3

[daydadahlias]

19, 32, 35 for the writing prompts! :D

hi!! thank you for asking :D i talked a lot in this warning in advance <3

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

Ooo how fun!! Now i get to tell you my life story lol <3 well, I’ve always really loved writing and I honestly can’t think of a time in my life that I wasn’t writing in some form? I was always writing weird short stories or poems in elementary school and I wrote little (horrible) picture books from about 1st through 3rd grade. And then I wrote my first “full book” when I was in 4th grade (it was called One Wolves World <3 because I didn’t understand plurals <3 and it was like 80 pages). And then I started a bunch of books I never finished (mostly about personified dogs because I was a Warrior Cats kid). Then, I wrote my fantasy novel (as all young writers must) when I was in 6th-8th grade. And that ended up being 80k and it was dogshit. So I wrote my next book (50k) in 9th grade and I actually had some fun opportunities with that one! For a little while, I sold self-printed copies of it at two local bookstores and I sold about a hundred copies of it :) which is NOT a lot lmfao but to a freshman in highschool it was a super big deal! And from there I wrote two more original books in 10th grade. And during that time, I started writing fanfic! Originally, I wrote a few unfinished fics on Quotev (which are still up and you can find them if you really dig lmfao) when I was in middle school. And my first fic on ao3 was a stucky one (which I wanna say I posted in, uh?? My freshman year?? Maybe 8th grade… I can’t remember tbh, I took it down years ago at this point). In 10th grade, I wrote this original novel called “Sorrow or Silence” which was soooo bad oh my godddd lmao but I liked the premise so I ended up entirely rewriting it as a ryden fic (panic! At the disco was my original fandom on ao3) and that ended up being a whopping 270k which is crazy in hindsight!! Like 16 yo me really wrote that in just a few months!! That’s crazy in hindsight!! Anyway, from there, I was writing original fiction and panic! Fic at the same time (I posted 4 fics for panic!, one of which was chaptered that i never finished uwu and I’ve since privated all of those). I ended up getting into 5sos during quarantine in 2020 and started posting fic about them!! And now I’ve been here for four years lol! I still write original stuff (creative writing minor woo) but not so much fiction anymore. A short story here and there but I’ve been largely into poetry during college! And in terms of where I’m going now it’s finally the era of my life where I’m going to start pursuing publishing eek. This year, I’ve started actually submitting things to journals/magazines so… here’s to hoping! I haven’t heard back from any yet (I submitted in March and it takes a long time for them to get back to you) but I’m gonna keep submitting where I can and, hopefully, things will stick eventually!  

32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you?

Ooo i love this. Honestly, this isn’t a written material, but that line from Bojack Horseman “when you look at people through rose tinted glasses, all the red flags just look at flags.” I just think it’s so powerful. I also love that line I have in my bio!! “Too groovy to be so goddamned grave” is from a poem by Patrick Rosal who I had the opportunity to introduce at a reading he did on his tour and also meet! He’s really fantastic and I just love that poem and the concept of being too groovy to be grave. It just eats. 

35. What’s your favorite writing rule to smash into smithereens?

Hmmm. Well, you’re told not to use “purple prose” in creative writing because it muddies the meaning. That’s, like, overly flowery writing for no reason. But to be honest! I love a metaphor! I love a simile! I love consonance! I’m going to use fun words because they sound nice! A sonic experience is just as valid as, like, an experience of just understanding something idk if that makes sense. But yeah, I like to use flowery language more than some writers recommend.

[magnus-sm-writes]

February Wrap-Up!

It’s the shortest month of the year, and it’s time for the monthly wrap-up (which I haven’t done in some time). One of my main goals this year is consistency. Expect more monthly wrap-ups!

February is my third favorite month (March > October > February, I have opinions on the months), and it’s been the month where I’ve decided to attempt to get my life in order. This has everything to do with attempting to not get stuck in my seasonal depression hole and attempting to make myself more comfortable following my biannual neurodivergent meltdown (realizing the world isn’t made for me and freaking out about it). The world is difficult to live in if your brain isn’t built correctly for it.

Anyways, I’m quite pleased with how this month has gone for me.

Let’s move on to the neatly-organized categories!

Writing journal

I made an Instagram post about this, but I ended up with two bullet journals, so I use one for work and one for… work. Writing, that is. The work that I don’t get paid for but still love. (Yes, I love my full-time job, too, but it’s more of a side piece to me.)

My writing journal has been essential for keeping me consistent and accountable. (Except for the eleven days I forgot my journal was in the living room. ADHD for the win.)

But when it comes to my goals, I would say I reached more this month than I did in January.

My layout for February was super simplistic and based on the bare-bones functionality of my work journal. It’s not pretty to look at. I changed that in my March layout, so please bear with me.

The goals I reached this month were:

Continue re-writing a novel

Keep word count & submission journal

Make monthly wrap-up

Write in a café

I read three books: Teaching my Mother to Give Birth by Warsan Shire (twice), Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link, and In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Macahdo. I loved all of them. In fact, I resonated so deeply with In the Dream House that I actually purchased it.

The next page is just a couple short stories I was working on: “Communion” & “The Boy & the Hag Stone”. I did not finish “Hag Stone”. In fact, I didn’t finish a single short story this month.

My “words written” page is prettier, but still incredibly functional. Then my “poetry written” page. Overall, a very simple layout.

My writing journal is crucial to keeping me on schedule. If you are riddled with neurodivergence like me, the advice is true: keeping track of what I do has actually helped me stay with my goals and get some major work done.

Word Count

I’m rather happy with my word count this month! I’ve recorded writing 27,748 words, though I did forget to record my word count for about 11 days, as I accidentally lost track of my writing journal (as mentioned above).

What have I been writing?

In early February, I wrote 12 poems. That’s fantastic, in terms of poetry-writing. I wrote a little bit of Greenest and some stuff for OC Kiss Week, but a great chunk of my word count comes from my Hamish rewrite. It seems like I only want to write Hamish in the more wintry months, as February seems to be the month I’m most inspired to write it.

If you don’t know about Hamish, I encourage you to visit my WIP post about it. Basically, it’s a modern interpretation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In short: it’s a gothic horror told in first person referral (I to you).

It’s an older work, compared to what I’m currently writing. A relic from the days where I believed that I could only write contemporary literary fiction instead of what I tend to write now (fantasy, horror, & sci-fi). However, I can now add my own spin to what was originally a work grounded in reality. (That is, make it more like a gothic horror novel.)

I’m hoping to make an update post about it, since I’ve doubled my typical 10,000 word goal. I’ve been pretty busy with trying to meet all my goals as of late, and posting has taken the back burner as opposed to attempting to overcome my seasonal depression.

(Maybe writing Hamish isn’t the healthiest option, but the vibes are there.)

I am a little burnt out at the moment when it comes to Hamish. I’m in what I call the “27k slump”, which is where I get demotivated at around 27,000 words in a project. The end of Act I tends to be difficult for me. This problem results in sagging middle, which is an issue I struggle with in a lot of my novels. I’m still trying to find a way to circumvent this.

In March, I hope to play with some sci-fi!

Publications

I don’t have any publications to show for February, but I did get my novelette Body rejected by a publisher, so I’m proud of myself for putting myself out there.

Looking forward!

(Hopefully I’ll remember to take a picture of my journal layout for March. If not, check out my Instagram for some updates. Gotta self-promote as much as possible in this wild west that is the writernet.)

My March layout is more complex than the February one, which is an upside of a bullet journal format. I can modify it whenever I need to.

My biggest goals in March are:

Finish 1 short story

Go to the library 2 times

Write in a café 2 times

Maintain submission & word count journals

Read 10 pages a day

Finish 2 audiobooks

Submit 2 stories for publication

I think these goals are me realistically pushing myself. I probably won’t reach all of these goals, but that’s okay. The point is to foster good habits instead of reaching perfection.

On the lower corner of my “big goals” page is a “best poems” section, where I will write down my favorite poems of the month. Like a monthly playlist of poems. I’m hoping I’ll use this a bit this month, but if not, it’s no sweat.

Then it’s my “books read”, “stories written”, and “want to read” page. My “want to read” section is a lot of books that James Clear recommended, because I’m on a self-help kick right now and I like reading his articles. I’ve also got some general books I want to read this year or month. Since it’s Women’s History Month, I want to include some more female authors.

My “books read” and “stories written” section for February were far larger than they needed to be last month, so I made them smaller for March.

Next is my “words written” and “poems written” page, which I will definitely be using the most. I’m attempting to write every day and note it. It’s easier to write a poem than a short story or novel, so I made the section just a little bigger. Mostly, this is a word count tracker.

The next page is blank. I think I might do a tracker or brain dump page, or both. I’m constantly brainstorming ideas, so having something with me all the time is essential.

Personal Life

As some of y’all might know, my birthday is in March! I am doing a Golden Birthday Bonanza, where I do a little retrospective on my eleven years of writing with the intent to publish. Let me know if you have anything you’d like to hear about during my week of birthday fun. Q&A is officially open!

[carlos-tk]

nice ask week

hi D! it's nice ask week! What made you start watching LS and what was it about the show that made you spiral into fandom?

Hi Rae! Thanks for the question! 💗 Apologies for how long this took me to answer. Work took over my life this week 😢 Now buckle in for a stupidly long story 😅

Firstly, I had watched the original 911s first and half of its 2nd season whenever they aired (2018/19 thanks Wikipedia) and then totally forgot all about it because again #life 😅 I did hear about a spin off whenever they announced it but I guess the only info was that it was coming soon. Wikipedia is helping out and it seems it was May 2019. I didn’t really pay it much mind because by then I had already stopped watching the og.

So I move on with my life and don’t think about either series until September 2022. I saw a youtube clip of a scene: the throwing each other against the wall hookup from 1x02. I watched it and I was like.. OH?!👀🔥🥵 Saved it to my YouTube watch later and again forgot all about it because back then I was doing full time shift work and had no time to breathe let alone watch anything new 😂 (kicking myself because I could’ve been here a year ago) 😭

Cut to this year. I can give you an exact date i rediscovered 911 verse. May 17th 2023!! 🥳 All because of the Tarlos wedding.

Twitter is probably the platform I use the most cos it’s got all my sports content😅 Anyway I happened to be on the discover/trending tab and one of the top hashtags was #TarlosWedding which was airing that day. I clicked it to investigate and scrolled through. It was full of pics and fanvids of the wedding and again I was like OH 👁👁. I liked a bunch of the tweets to revisit and moved on with my day. A few days later because I had liked all that stuff, Twitter keeps recommending me more content. So I find myself back on YouTube and watched these:

and then a series of random scenes and I was like... okay I need full context for all of this. Another month passes and it’s probably end of June/early July and I’m like let me see if this is available anywhere to watch in Australia. I find it on Disney+ and they have seasons 1-3. This is finally when I watched the show. And then I could not stop thinking about it. S4 is no where to be found though. So I google and see it’s halfway through airing on Channel 7 here which means it won’t be uploaded to Disney+ for a while. So then I’m like UGH 😒😩😤 I wanted to binge the whole season like I had for the others. I kept tabs on when it would finish airing on TV and eventually the finale airs August 14th. The next day I start it and binge the whole season on 7Plus over a few days.

Now that I had seen their entire story so far, I was full blown hyper fixating. Like they’re on my mind ALL the time. I’m reading a book or watching a movie/show and thinking about Tarlos in place of the characters. I’m listening to a song or reading a poem/lyric and being like oh that’s so Tarlos coded😂😂 At this point i’m like oh no 😅😅 The fandom life is coming for me.

Then the biggest surprise of all I start getting the urge to write fanfic again! Which is insane because I had not written anything in (redacted) years. Like nearly every time as I was about to sleep, I start having ideas and rambling it out in my notes app at stupid hours like 2am 😂😅

Next we have the writers/actors strike and I’m like 👀trust me to find a new obsession and everyone is on strike and I’m gonna get nothing new for ages. Then I remember AO3 is a thing that exists and find my way to the 911 Lone Star tag and start reading fic again. Any spare moment I had I was itching to read whatever I could get my eyeballs on. I said to you the other day that I read your gym!AU first and look I might’ve read a random 1k word one shot or two but nothing I can actually remember like yours 😂🥵 I think the added pictures and texts made it so memorable because 1. I did not know you could do that on AO3 2. Rafael is like the hottest guy I’ve ever seen 😅😅 and 3. It was just so damn good 🥵 Sm*t with feelings and I am there. You teased the feelings a little and if/when (no pressure btw) you decide to revisit this universe just know I’ll be first in line 🙋🏼‍♀️ and the reason I can recall it as the first is it’s the oldest AO3 tab saved to my safari reading list 😅

By this point I’m reading fic through the end of August and September constantly. A few I read had peoples Tumblr links in the end notes so then I remember that Tumblr also exists 😂 I come over and lurk, explore the tags, look at all the beautiful gifs, look at a few peoples blogs and make a mental note to maybe join Tumblr again. I had 2 blogs back in hs, 1 fandom specific blog that got abandoned during my last year of hs and a sports/tv-series one I used a little in the years after hs but then again #life and I didn’t touch it after like 2016.

Come September 2023. I made a new email, signed up to Tumblr again, and requested an AO3 invite. Learning how to use this site again was wild because so much had changed since I last used it. I saw something about getting mistaken for bots so I spent a little time making the blog look nice and like an actual person exists before I bothered to follow anyone or any tags. October rolls around and I finally start using it every day and now I’m here with all of y’all 💗

Sorry for the extremely long story and again sorry for how long it took 😅😅

[pencilxpaper]

Mostly FREE Vampire Books

I am not as well-read with vampires, but I'm making up for lost time. Here are the vampire books I have read and my take on them.

In this, Carmilla, Dracula, For the Blood is the LIfe, Already Dead, I am Legned, and the first three novels of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. For all books, I will try to include a link to either a free version or to a borrowable version from the internet archive. You can make an account and check out the books legally.

Carmilla by LeFanu, Joseph Sheridan

The classic. The one, the only. It's a short read, which is disappointing. However, the ending is very gory with a scene that would have looked amazing in a modern movie. If you want a steamy reading of the novel on audio book, Audible has THIS beauty with a full cast and some heavy breathing. However, this audiobook version is provided free by the internet archive.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

I love this book. I did Dracula Daily this year, and I'll probably do it again next year. I'm going to listen to the audiobook of it for funsies. The beginning is, i think, the best part. The ending was disappointing, but the novel is still very exciting and scary.

For the Blood is the Life By F. Marion Crawford

I feel like this short story is actually a better example of a "modern" vampire story. I've read a lot of older vampire stories, and they all are a little too steeped in old lore to be really satisfying as a modern reader. However, this one has everything. A really creepy beginning. An exciting story. A romantic vampire seduction leads to potential death. The vampire is a woman and justified, so in a modern retelling, I think she would be the hero.

I am Legend by Richard Matheson

I read this on audiobook at 2x speed, because the POV character is kind of a jerk. An interesting look at trying to explain vampirism from a scientific perspective. It does not have the same ending as the movie by the same name. Misogyny abounds. But a woman ends up winning in the end so... maybe? I will admit, I'm still not sure how I feel about this one. On the one hand, it was engaging. I enjoyed the author trying to explain away the lore from a logical perspective.

Interview with a Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and Queen of the Damed

Interview with a Vampire was a fine book. I read it at the same time I was reading Dracula for the first time, and there were definitely moments where Dracula outshined it, but then others where Interview was obviously more interesting because it was more modern. The movie is more engaging and a shorter investment of time. However, Armond is different in this one, so you kind of have to read it to get the next book (OR, watch the movie and read the Wikipedia summary of the book to get the differences). Vampire Lestat is a really good book for the most part. It lags after the middle but picks back up for the ending. I could have read more about Lestat's early days, and I could care less about all the exposition. Queen of the Damned was not a fun read. I can not stress this enough. It was mostly boring. I only read it because I've been told you have to read it to enjoy the rest of the series, which gets better. Lots of exposition. Any chapter in Letsat's POV is great. Everything else is not very exciting. Overall, I don't like Anne Rice. I HATE that her vampires communicate telepathically. It's cool and all, but it makes for very boring reading. Entire chapters where the characters are standing still in a room, not saying anything, not doing anything, while one of them "talks" to the other about the past with their mind. There was real potential here to "show" us what was happening, but oh no. It's all done through exposition. It was really innovative for its time, but because so much of her lore has been incorporated into modern vampire stuff, it doesn't feel fresh anymore. Especially when we get to Queen of the Damned, Anne feels very pretentious in her writing. She includes poems from her husband that I don't feel like add anything to the text, and in fact take you right out of it because you're reminded that she's literally including her husband's poetry. ALL THAT SAID, the books provide that FEELING of wanting to read vampire fiction. They're very atmospheric, so I will continue to read them and enjoy them for that aspect.

Already Dead by Charlie Hudson

The only non-free one on the list. I included it, because I read it. Main character is a vampire detective, but he doesn't have fangs. I think vampirism is a stand-in for AIDS, but that's a guess. An interesting concept and I did sort of enjoy the read, but it lacks (for me) the classic vampire lore to make it really fun.

That's all for now. More later as I can pull them to gether.

@rinniiart, I hope this wasn't too much. I wanted to take some time and find free versions of things as I went so you and others wouldn't have to shell over a lot of money.

[mytastessuck]

Bo Burnham: what. (Full Show)

Welcome to my first live show review and the last (sort-of) album review I'll do for this era of the blog.

I've been a fan of Bo Burnham since I saw the "Words Words Words" music video on Comedy Central when I was in my teens. Then I saw the live show for that and I was hooked, making a channel for him on Pandora (remember that) and looking up everything he did for music. I even got the Egghead poetry book for Christmas. I'm proud to say that, while his older stuff really doesn't hold up, he's more than noticed and has evolved to stay with the times, which I'm certain he's proud that he still meets my high standards for performers. And speaking of performers...for this review, I will be going by the tracklisting on the album instead of events as they happen in the show because the jokes are...pretty decent actually but I don't feel like stopping to rank each and every one, especially when they're so quick and simple. I want to go into his songs instead of his actual moments of stand-up because, like Kaiser Neko (or maybe it was Lanipator?) once sort of criticized, I think he's a better performer than a comedian. He knows how to sign, compose and play to a crowd better than carry an entire show with just jokes. So that's what I'll be focusing on. Thanks for reading the ramble and enjoy this review of the free show.

Intro

Like I said, better performer than comedian. Watch him do a bunch of pre-planned gags to a great track and make it all work with little moments of prop humor. Best bits include "Prolonged Eye Contact" and the moment where he spits up the invisible water.

Track Score: 10/10

2. A World On Fire

I don't care if it's quicker than his jokes. This is a solid gag.

Track Score: 8/10

3. Sad

As a person with empathy issues, I know exactly how debilitating it is to possess when the world sucks so much. So good on Bo for making a song that makes fun of it. Good on him.

Track Score: 9/10

4. I Fuck Sluts

Didn't need the purpose of the poem explained at the end but I get that's part of the joke. Excellent show of how misogyny can develop in others though.

Track Score: 9/10

5. What Did I Do Last Night?

Better quick joke. Love it lots and it's always what I think of when I hear the title phrase.

Track Score: 10/10

6. Let Brain, Right Brain

Cool song with a cool concept. It's interesting to see a guy therapize himself on stage and he gives life to both parts of his brain in interesting ways. This is why he acts now on occasion.

Track Score: 9/10

7. #deep

#justsmartassthings. Funny song. I forgot how well he could sing while still messing around.

Track Score: 9/10

8. Beating Off In A Minor

Really need to see this one on video to appreciate it. Even those without a penis can barely handle the second-hand cringe...

Track Score: 10/10

9. Poems

They're alright, though you're better off just getting the book. I personally recommend Perfect.

Track Score: 7/10

10. From God's Perspective

Alright, the crown jewel of the show. Still holds up today, even the rape line surprisingly. Although getting so judgemental over people abstaining from pork might offend Haram or Kashrut followers...either way, still worth a listen.

Track Score: 9/10

11. Andy The Frog

Bit of a meh shaggy dog story. Not even bad, just not on the caliber of the other parts of the show.

Track Score: 6/10

12. Out Of The Abyss

See, on the CD, this is Bo interacting with a fourteen year old attending the concert with his mother by using the joke we see in the video of a pedophile trying to lure in a child with a candy bar. He also tells a girl who loves him that she doesn't and explains what a parasocial relationship. So listen to that when you have the chance instead of the show which is just the pedophile joke by its lonely self.

Track Score (live show): 7/10

13. Repeat Stuff

This was a single and it deserved to be because Bo went off with this one. Pop, idol music, teen bop? They've apparently had it too good for too long because Bo tears them apart and still has time to get the audience to participate in a mini-rally while he does so. Probably his best work...and still relevant!

Track score: 10/10

14. We Think We Know You

Damn...greatest way to end the show. You know, for a while, TV Tropes had a entry called Becoming The Mask on Bo's page that accused Bo of becoming lost in his stage persona for a while. Their sources? Some fans...yeah, remember to stay woke on stupid wikis, guys. It's still there...so this song will always be relevant.

Track Score: 11/10

Show Score: 8.9/10

Gonna take a break for the rest of the week then, and I might be lowballing here, but I think I'll have the rest of the songs taken care of in a few weeks. See you then!

[fairytalesandfandoms]

well folks, first Wicker Man (1973) complete

thoughts below (mostly silly, contains spoilers)

Despite having come across quite a few spoilers for this film over the years, I had somehow missed the memo about them all being Scottish, so I was VERY surprised when I heard Howie's Rs during his reading at the start

The start was all very Rocky Horror in that it reminded me of Brad and Janet's wedding.

He flew over Skye and I was like I'VE BEEN UP THERE (Old Man of Storr). And it would be so much fun to be in a plane on water

Chocolate babies, totally normal thing for a shop to have. Gives a new meaning to the phrase ‘aw you're so cute I could just EAT YOU UP.’

When they started singing in the pub: well this is all very awkward for the poor girl

*Christopher Lee appears* HE

And for those of you who also like kilts.... there you go, double whammy

I don’t know what kind of red flag all this Aphrodite stuff is but it sure is one

is that a metaphorical snail

(I meant symbolic but anyway)

THAT'S A FLIPPIN POEM I KNOW THAT ONE

...they were indeed metaphorical snails

‘yes, in comparative religion’ the boot’s on the other foot now or however the saying goes

Ye Ancient Lawnmower

The POOR FROG having to go in the girl's mouth

(seeing the picture in the registrar's office) Oh there’s Rabbie Burns

(when Lord Summerisle's castle/house appears) Now I should know where that is. But do I? No. Could be Dunvegan if it was filmed on Skye

Inside it just looked like a posh stately home which isn't really what I expected for a pagan dude [edit: what I meant was a movie pagan dude]

Lord Summerisle popping out of the chair like

What is his hair doing

He's more affable-seeming than I expected (I know he's actually not)

‘It’s much too dangerous to jump through the fire with your clothes on’ I hate to say this but he does have a point

Something something tension between Christianity and nature/paganism, but alas I am distracted by Christopher Lee

(body falls out of the wardrobe) OH SHIT

Oh they’re all just messing with him now. Is this turning into a comedy

(Howie hits McGregor with a candlestick) Here we go

Okay the 70s guitar music really isn’t lending itself to the atmosphere

(they appear on the cliff) Oh fuckin’ ‘ell

Er, technically is it now not his own free will, since clearly he doesn't want to be sacrificed?

'Willing-king-like-virgin-fool' that’s a lot of words put together

They could’ve just thrown him into the sea right there but I guess that wouldn’t fit their ceremony

Oh come on, you didn’t need to put ducks in there. And a goat!

Lee is going full Saruman now I see

And with the wisdom of someone who has read A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil: that’s gonna take a while

I wasn't expecting the whole Christianity thing to be so pronounced, it did make it more interesting at the end

I should have watched this instead of Midsommar. I was able to be silly about this one. (That is not a criticism!) There were some 'oh shit's fucked up' moments but it wasn't as unsettling to me

I'm watching the second one for Nicolas Cage (and the meme) but I definitely watched this one for Christopher Lee. I wish he'd had more screen time.

[cilantrospirit]

orchid & sage for the get to know me asks pls!

oh yeehaw!

orchid ⇢ what’s a song you consider to be perfect?

I don't believe in perfection in anything, but Come On! Feel the Illinoise! (Sufjan Stevens) is an ideal song to me, South Side (Moby) is also really well timed(?), Bodys (Car Seat Headrest) is so well done in every aspect that I wrote an essay on it last year❗, I consider a lot of Orville Peck songs as-close-to-perfect-as-possible, including but definitely not limited to Drive Me, Crazy and Turn to Hate, Frontier Psychiatrist (The Avalanches) is perfectly designed to cause me pain 👍, and this is a very cold take by now, but Bohemian Rhapsody is very good. <3 Sorry that this is a long list instead of one song but I love music and talking about it!! My cross to bear this summer was knowing and listening to a lot of Harrison coded songs but knowing that you probably wouldn't enjoy them because of the tism. Meanwhile I have the kind of tism that makes me love listening to new and jarring sounds teehee!!

sage ⇢ what ‘medium’ of art (poetry, music, fiction, paintings, statues etc.) is the most touching to you? why do you think that is?

oh poetry always! I'm a big believer that all mediums of art are equally valuable, and I try to be audience to a variety of forms and use them creatively, but poetry is usually the most affecting to me. I think that's because I think in words! not just in the sense of my inner monologue, but when I see something I instantly think of it in terms of its description, etc. and when I hear people speak I process it by first turning it into written words that I can "read" in my head, if that makes sense. so poetry is closest to reality for me, and almost all other art gets filtered into a poem for my mind to absorb it. example of what I mean by this: here is how I currently am experiencing the room I'm in: great wobbling yellow-white beaming and the vague insect whir of manmade light. a flat smoothness like balsa wood, wide plastic surface disinfected -- then beginning again its dry erase degradation (more dries than is erased). footnote: wouldn't you love to be a table? the accumulation of stains and scratches from work and purpose left to pile up without oils or bacteria mandating a bath? you need a bath. slight drowning feeling of chapstick and forehead grease. slight hunger inside, the sort that feels round. the sort like a painting of a calm ocean. cold knees. great growling squeal of a bus out the open window. thamp of dumpster overturned. humans talk like hyenas at play. bark and yap and yowl. almost full moon but it can't be seen -- only the parallel glowing sphere of campus streetlight. the sound of a whole floor of lights on, only for me. curtain closed. human dogs outside. sound of typing. sound of hunger like a cape. [I need to go eat so ending this to have a walnut <3] how I would describe the room if asked: It's got pink walls and one big table in the middle, with hand sanitizer and my stuff on it. There's a dry erase board and an open window with the curtains closed. [but the way I feel it has to be something more like a poem at first.]

anywho if someone actually reads this much nonsense from me then hi ^_^ and thanks Rachel for the ask! I can't believe I missed your birthday woe is me 😞 but you saying your top two mediums are poetry followed by music from this ask game 🤝 me agreeing in general but specifically me using this ask to talk about music and poetry... I love our minds and how they overlap <- normal thing to say (gaslighting you) normal people say this to internet people and it's normal (convincing myself)

[revasserium]

i love your replies to the writer’s ask! about the compliment you gave yourself, yes. i do agree. i’m trying to recall which HQ fanfic of yours i first read. i’ve read so many of your works from that era. as i’m sieving through my memories, a few works of yours pop up like kageyama & the world responding?? daichi’s story with the prompt on goodbyes? adore the way you hook and drag. without looking at your masterlist, which story immediately comes to mind when you think of “time”?

about driving, since i’m still new i haven’t driven much. i’m very excited to cruise on the roads, but i’m also really bad at overtaking (i.e. i can overtake—or else how would i have passed my driving test—but i haven’t done it when cars are going fast & when it’s crowded… road conditions for my test were milder). it’s scary… SJDJSJDJSJ. i’ll hopefully be driving soon with my parent who can instruct me. i think for the time being, as i get used to the car, i have to focus, but i look forward to blasting music while driving 👍 — @anonymilk

also the poem you gave me was so great 🥹 thank you!! are there any poems from that author you like as well?? why do you like them specifically?? — @anonymilk also what happened the past 2 weeks r u alright :( — @anonymilk

combining ur asks! <3 hope u dont mind and sorry i take so long lol but answers in the cut!

uGH that reaper!kageyama x angel!reader fic is still one of my all time favs u__u im so happy you remember that one. sldkfjasd and the daichi story T^T -- i realized that pre-hiatus i was so so so kagehina biased with a hard sprinkling of suga but then post-hiatus i came back and suddenly i'm a daichi stan like is this..... IRL character dev bro. am i just into the Greenest of Green Flags now. not that i dont still adore kagehina bc i do. u__u they are my babies.

in terms of "time" -- i think the one that comes to mind most immediately is the hinata "length of daylight" fic i wrote! it remains one of my fav hinata fics i've written to date :D

for driving -- it def is something that needs lots of practice! but you'll get there!!! i'm excited for you!!!! and yeah to this day, i hate overtaking ppl but it's a necessary evil LOL

re: agha shahid ali YES oh my god okay. i love his stuff. i actually found him when i saw a poem of his on the new york subway lol im not even kidding. and it still remains one of my favorite poems of his to this day -- it's called Stationary, and it goes like this:

The moon did not become the sun. It just fell on the desert in great sheets, reams of silver handmade by you. The night is your cottage industry now, the day is your brisk emporium. The world is full of paper. Write to me.

i think the reason i fell so in love with it is because every single line is so vivid. not to say that most of his other poems aren't like this as well but like. idk something about this just spoke to me so much? i love love love metaphors about like irl things turning /into/ paper or ink or like... writing-related stuff. it's just such a beautiful image to me. also like there's a phrase in every line that strikes me "reams of silver", "brisk emporium" -- and something about the sentence "the world is full of paper" makes me like want to yell bc it's so??? GOOD??? bc yes!!! the world is full of paper!!!!!

and obviously, the ending just SMACKS you doesn't it? write to me. ugh. UGH. ugh its so good.

sometimes this poem still comes back to me in random moments and it makes me happy.

and now for some not so fun stuff. tw for like... ilness and death but yeah uh.

this entire summer has just been kind of ass tbh??? like. during the single month of july, we had 4 people in my family/friend circle pass away -- 2 grandparents, 1 uncle, 1 friend of a friend (who was literally only 24yrs old!!! bruh!!!! WTF!!!). we thought August was going to be chiller, but nope. last day of Aug, last thursday, my boss's wife passed away after battling with cancer for 2+ years.

it hit hard for our entire team at work bc like. she was younger than my mom. and my boss is such an industry veteran, and he and his wife have been married for 17 years, they have a 13yr old son like... it just sucked all around. we all went to the funeral this past wednesday. it was a beautiful service, but obviously really freaking sad. half our entire office was there, everyone was crying. i was crying like. it was a mess.

and then right after, i think my body had had ENOUGH of this nonsense, and i got a really bad fever literally ONE HOUR after i got home from the funeral. and i've been sick since then.

it's just been... unreasonably rough... i'm really hoping that this is the last big bad thing that's gonna happen for the rest of the year. like. im so exhausted -- pls @ the universe LOL. take it easy on us okay.

so yeah. i try to keep the heavy stuff off this blog bc it's supposed to be a place where i come to be happy and write things that make me happy so i haven't talked about this much but u__u since you asked, i didn't wanna just be like "oh yeah everything is fine" when it's not LOL

i do hope that the summer is treating you better though! <3

[edwardastormwrites]

A History Lesson on Amy Lowell, Gangsta Rappers, the 1920's, and The Greatest Generation (of poets) written by Edward Storm

The year was 1921 and Harriet Monroe has been on the scene for almost a decade with her new magazine called Poetry. Ms. Monroe has become a major figure in American Poetry. Poetry is published in a rough blue collar city known for the hog butchers and the dirty lake that it sits on. She is one of the lead proponents of the "new school" of poetry. This is no old school English style magazine that she runs nor is it published in a cosmopolitan city like London or Manhattan. No, this magazine is full of modern speech and the poems lack the end rhyme and measured types of rhyme of the past decades. The free verse movement is now at full speed and our first leader and super star is a woman named Amy Lowell. Amy was as radical a figure in poetry as someone like Nicki Minaj was several years ago when she burst onto the scene in hip-hop. Actually, that isn't true. Amy was probably even more radical than Nicki. Maybe not quite as radical and bold at Cardi B walking about her WAP, or was she? Comparing the 1920's with the 2020's is challenging. However, one thing is for certain. Amy Lowell was forever changing the status quo of female independence. Her poem "Patterns" reads somewhat like a rap song in which the rapper is strutting her stuff and telling her audience about her decked out clothing and jewelry.  “I walk down the patterned garden paths/In my stiff, brocaded gown/With my powdered hair and jeweled fan/I too am a rare. Yup, don't get in this beauty's way. She is a woman and she is unique as any man and she is independent.

The 1920's were the beginning of a major revival of interest in American poetry. The coming decades would see the emergence of some of the greatest poets in history. Amy Lowell is one of them for sure, but there are many others, both female and male. What a time to be alive for poetry lovers. The same can be said for hip hop today. There are so many amazing rappers all producing work that is is hard to keep up with all of them. Lowell was leading the new poetry movement but other outstanding poets from different different movements. Ezra Pound and TS Eliot stand out more than anyone. World War I was a tragedy beyond all tragedies and the entire English speaking world was affected in a major way as were all the other centers of western poetry like Paris. The world grew up quickly as the result of WWI. The world seemed much smaller than it had just a decade before. No nation was safe from international disputes. The United States had always tried to be an independent place that lived in isolation from Europe's problems and conflicts.  Leadership in the United Stated failed to stay isolated and was to put back together all branches of the military after huge cuts in the years of economic prosperity which the nation has enjoyed ever since reconstruction has ended. The wonders of the modern age where upon us and so were the horrors of the modern age. Cars and airplanes began to connect all the states together in America. However reports of the brutality of the war front in Europe made humankind seem less sophisticated than ever before. TS Eliot wrote his masterpiece "The Wasteland" about WWI during this time period. Lowell wrote another masterpiece during this same decade about a fallen husband who dies in battle during the war. " And I answered, “It shall be as you have said/ Now he is dead" and to end the poem she wrote "In a pattern called a war/Christ! What are patterns for?".

Who was out there making a name during these years and in the few decades to come? Well, Robert Frost, Carl Sandberg, Wallace Stevens, Weldon Kees, Elizabeth Bishop, WIliam Carlos WIlliams, Dorothy Parker, ee Cummings, Paul Dunbar, and many others. A large class of poets were born in the 1880's and 90's and would live long lives into their 80's. Frost, WIliams, Sevens, Sasson, Parker, Bynner, Sandberg, and Eliot would all live into their 70s or 80s. This is pretty amazing considering that America was just at the dawn of modern medicine. This group of men and women made modern poetry what it is today. WHen this generation of poets was born no houses had electric lights in America and transportation was via the horse. When this generation died off America was putting men in space and had endured and won two world wars. Poetry written before this time period and after this group of poets had died can often seem stiff and lacking action. Well, there is a reason for that. The world was transformed into modern times in the lifespan of a single man. Some of the greatest literature in world history came out of this time period.  Hardship inspires great art.  This is a sad truth is it not?

[meowmageddon]

August Reading Check-In!

Is it a little late? Yes, mind your business 😹

I want to move my bookish updates back here since I'm not about training Elon Musk's AI. This update is gonna be a mix of mini-reviews, the current reading list, recent acquisitions, and a few upcoming releases to watch out for.

It's gonna be long, so keep reading if you dare. Or jump around to the bits you like!

Mini Reviews for July's Reads

Black Ghost of Empire by Kris Manjapra - 5 stars

A look at slavery and the emancipation processes across North America and the Caribbean in particular, as well as some of the colonization of Africa itself. Examines the way emancipations prioritized compensating slave-owners for lost "property" rather than restoring justice and reciprocity to the enslaved people who lost their labor, lives, and histories. Super informative, super vital, because they didn't teach this in US history. Just be prepared for an emotionally tough read.

The Veiled Throne by Ken Liu (The Dandelion Dynasty #3) - 3 stars

This is where the series finally ran into pacing issues for me, as many multi-POV epic fantasy series do. Mostly in the latter half. We had a very high-stakes storyline getting a slim chapter between multiple thick chapters about an all new setting and characters with a much lighter tone. I know heavy stuff needs to be broken up, but this was more frustrating than cathartic.

I am keeping in mind that TVT is technically the first half of what was supposed to be the final book, but the trilogy became a tetralogy because a 2000-page book would be ludicrous. Still, I feel it could've been broken down further, and we really need to allow more BIPOC writers the freedom to have sweeping, several-book-long series the way white authors can.

Get In Trouble by Kelly Link - 4 stars

These stories were quite a ride. Many featured messy people, places, and things. If we're being honest, the rating could bump up to 5 stars on a reread. There's just so much to unpack, and I'd need a closer reading, like studying scripture.

Current August Reads

• Trans-Galactic Bike Ride ed. by Lydia Rogue - As the subtitle reads, it's "Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories of Transgender and Nonbinary Adventurers," written by queer authors. Technically I've actually already finished reading it, but I'll post about it separately at a later time!

• Babel by R.F. Kuang - BookTube's darling about a department at Oxford dedicated to translation and working silver- and translation-based magic for the glory of the empire. Problem is, some of the students and faculty are people from places on the receiving end of the empire's injustice. Down to the last 100 pages of this one!

• Speaking Bones by Ken Liu (The Dandelion Dynasty #4) - Despite my frustrations with the third book's pacing, I wouldn't dream of DNFing the series. The world is so lush and full, and the characters endearing. But there's another 1000 pages ahead, so this'll be on Current Reads lists for a while. 💀

• Lone Women by Victor LaValle - A young woman leaves her family home in flames and seeks a new life homesteading in Montana, a mysterious trunk in tow. I read LaValle's The Ballad of Black Tom a few years back, and really needed to read more of his stuff.

• Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection Vol. 1 ed. by Hope Nicholson - Was very excited to see this at the library, as I've wanted to read it for a long time. The stories vary in genre, and I believe there are illustrated stories, individual art pieces, and even a song or poem by Buffy Sainte-Marie in addition to regular comics.

Recent Acquisitions

• Loot by Tania James - I actually won this print copy in a Goodreads giveaway! This is why I encourage those who are able to enter for anything they're interested in; it can happen to YOU lmao. Anyways, it's a book about a boy in India who constructs an automaton tiger for the Sultan, only to have it seized in war by the British. He goes to England to try to retrieve it.

• Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas - My August Book of the Month pick. I enjoyed her debut, The Hacienda, and look forward to this one. Described with "Vampires and vaqueros face off on the Texas-Mexico border." I've seen reviewers describe it more as magial realism/historical fiction with vampires, rather than horror, though.

Upcoming Releases

No guarantee I'll pick these up... but here's some cool stuff coming out in the next month or so!

• From A Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi (August 29th) - Third collection of 40 short stories celebrating the 40th anniversary of Star Wars, this time inspired by elements of Return of the Jedi! I realized I still have to pick up the second collection, from The Empire Strikes Back, oh no!

• The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White (September 5th) - YA horror featuring a trans autistic teen protagonist who can commune with the dead. He attempts to escape an arranged marriage, is sent to a Sanitorium & Finishing School, and is urged by the institution's ghosts to expose its dark secrets.

That's all for now! If you read all this... just know that I love you. 🥰

[catnerdenby]

I don't like Christmas. But I do love how it brings people together. I love seeing the joy of unwrapping a present in my cousin's eyes. It makes. me happy hearing my brothers shriek in joy when they get a new present.

But it all ends so quickly. One second they're beaming with delight, the other screaming with anger.

I don't like Christmas because of people. But I also like Christmas because of people.

My country celebrates Christmas on the 24th, and normally the Santa actually visits kids. We even have an official union of Santas.

In my family, we get together, and depending on the year, we either eat the Christmas dinner (cooked potatoes, ham, blood sausage, cabbage salad, meat pudding (idk what it's called), bacon, apple cake/ cheesecake) first or the Santa comes first and EVERYONE has to read a poem, or sing a song to get a present. Except pets and toddlers. They can do a trick.

After that we unwrap the presents, and get a bit of time to play. Then we take a big family picture.

Sometimes my family stays overnight (as do my uncle's and aunt's. families) or we stop torturing everybody and go home after.

It all sounds jolly and good, but in reality everyone is stressed, someone's piece of a gift goes missing, my brother finds the remote and blasts Minecraft videos full volume, someone is in the phone, when they're supposed to socialise with the family instead, etc.

Sometimes my uncle has a new gf so they bring her children, as well as my eldest cousin. He's pretty fine but they can be assholes with my oldest younger brother towards my middle younger brother. Which creates a lot of noise and my mom gets a lot more stressed.

There's also the entire religious stuff, which none of us actually believe (atheism is largely dominant here), but creates a load of unpleasant contradictions. The initial 'idea' of Christmas is absolutely forgotten at some point and we just wait for an old man to deliver 2-3 bags of presents, which make us happy for 2 days and are then forgotten.

I don't even know what irks me off so much about Christmas. I'm atheist myself but for some reason the religious aspect of Christmas being absolutely forgotten pisses me off.

Here, Santa Claus (Saint Nicolaus if you will. Fuck I hate saying Santa, like it's a name), is actually called Yule-old in translation. Jõuluvana. And I just feel like...some shit got mixed up in cultures??

And can we talk about the line "He watches when you're sleeping" WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH THAT?!?!?! IT RUINED MY FUCKING CHILDHOOD. I literally can't not think of Santa as a pedophile now.

I'm sorry, being wished a "Merry Christmas!" just really makes me lose my shit, because if I had the option to, I personally wouldn't celebrate it, but be home, read a book by the fire, and drink hot chocolate. The spruce and candles can stay.

ALSO- Christmas concerts. Christmas songs. That stuff makes me irrationally angry. I want to enjoy a "Merry Winter!" I want to jump in the snow with my family and friends together. I actually don't even want any presents. I want genuine joy. I want to enjoy the time with my family not with presents and hot air, but a snow war and 3 meter high snow man.

Thank you and goodbye.

[summers-pratt]

Tell me all your best wholesome Spuffy headcanons

This is an insane ask and you are going to get an insane answer, I have so many floating around in the ten vegetable soup that is my brain and I'm just gonna ladle out a bowl right now, I hope you're hungry

-Spike obviously writes Buffy poems all the fucking time, sonnets, odes, limericks, rambling streams of consciousness, about how her hair catches the light, all the different smiles she gives him throughout the day, absolutely filthy descriptions of him going down on her, how she is a warrior and his hero, how she fills him up and makes him and remakes him and how deeply she has become a part of him, what just sitting next to her on the couch in their home feels like, and he fills notebooks with them, he scribbles them on napkins and the backs of receipts and post its and whatever paper he has on hand, he leaves them in her pocket or under her juice glass in the morning, softly recites them to her when she's falling asleep or when they're having (relatively tame (for them) and therefore easy to speak during) sex, she notices him scribling away at one and he lets her read them, and every time he doesn't expect anything and for her to laugh or say they're not that good and every time she is completely floored by the depth of his feeling for her and the things he sees in her and the way he sees her and every time he can't believe she actually likes what he writes, that she understands what he means and is touched and affected by it the same way he is

-they share jewelry. She still absolutely has the skull ring and sometimes she wears it on her finger and other times it's on a chain around her neck. I like the idea that Buffy has a name necklace like Dawn has in Tabula Rasa (maybe they were Christmas gifts from their parents one year), and Buffy gives hers to Spike and he wears it every single day. He thinks it marks him as hers and he fuckng loves it.

-they take so many pictures. With cameras, in photo booths, once they figure out cell phones they use them non stop. They have the normal smiling ones of them and their friends and Dawn at birthday parties and dinner and day to day nice moments, and then they also have ones of Buffy beheading a demon on patrol, Spike making fangs out of onion blossom, each one tries to catch the other one crying at movies. Also they absolutely sext each other all the time and it's filthy and they love it

-when Dawn teaches them how to text, Spike's first text is to Buffy and it's "what are you wearing" despite her sitting right next to him on the couch. She takes a full two minutes to type out what underwear she has on and he keeps trying to peek over her shoulder but finally she manages it and they race off to their bedroom and Dawn tries very hard not to think about anything as she leaves

-Buffy finally gives in and listens to Spike's carefully curated playlist of Punk Songs To Show Buffy To Get Her To Like Punk Rock, and it fucking works

-Spike rents every ice skating movie he can get his hands on and they make a movie night out of it every time

-Buffy helps Spike bleach his hair. Obviously.

-Spike takes Buffy and Dawn to the ice capades when it comes to town every year after learning she used to love going when she was younger and he actually ends up having a great time and Dawn cannot believe how lame her parents are

-Buffy buys weird spicy sauces at the store for Spike to try just because and he almost cries helping her put the groceries away

-they go through a lot of furniture, from demons coming in and smashing stuff to sparring going to far to getting so wrapped up in their crazy super-powered sex that they don't notice they broke their third coffee table of the month, so the local secondhand shops LOVE them, they think they're interior designers or realtors or something and think it's just lovely a young couple also work together, and so successfully if they keep coming in

-Buffy wears Spike's button up shirts over her tank tops and bralettes all the time

-so we know Spike has a hair kink so of course he loves running his fingers through her hair, he does it absent-mindedly, but Buffy also love running her hands through Spike's hair and he also loves it and he purrs whenever she does it for awhile

-they have monster movie nights with Dawn where they watch horrible cheesy vampire movies and make fun of them

-Buffy makes Spike tea. It is the worst tea he has ever had but she has a special mug she uses and a tea strainer that is shaped like a heart and she buys all kinds of weird spicy teas that she thinks he might like and she proudly presents it to him and it is his favorite tea he has ever had

[literary-illuminati]

Books I Read In August

38. When the Tiger Came Down The Mountain by Nghi Vo

I’m an increasingly big fan of Vo’s work. The Empress of Salt and Fortune was good, but honestly didn’t really stick with me nearly as much as this did. 

Part of that is just the increased centrality of the framing device, honestly. I mean first of all I don’t really tend to have much patience for wish-fulfillment characters, but very hard to overstate how much Chih is just living the dream life (and my university indoctrination was thorough enough that the association of the study/preservation/gathering of history and sacredness seems very right and fitting to me. 

Also, I just absolutely adore when the story makes a thing of unreliable narrators. Like, when someone’s telling a story and as the scene’s ending someone else interrupts and goes “You’re telling it all wrong!” and gives a completely different version that’s at least as biased in another direction? Poetry. 

The actual myth with the lesbian romance and the were-tiger warlord and stuff was also a lot of fun don’t get me wrong, but like, would have been a bit forgettable without the framing device stuff around it. 

Anyway, give Chih a tv show. Or at least a half dozen more novellas like this. 

39. Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky

This is the first actual full book of poetry I’ve read….I mean ever, probably, if we’re taking cover to cover. Certainly since I finished high school. So there’s some Culture achieved. 

I was…not especially impressed, if I’m being entirely honest? Or, properly - “We Lived Happily During The War '' and “In A Time of Peace '' were both really affecting, but also I had already read both (posted here on tumblr, actually). They’re what sold me on the book. Everything between them did, well, not really live up to it?

I mean, I’m sure that there’s all manner of genius in craft and stuff that flew right over my head, but it just seemed so focused on being clever with line breaks that it failed to do much else. Like, most of the books on the list have plenty of lines that are more poetic by my (doubtlessly irredeemably philistine) definition than any of the poems that made up the middle of the book. 

40. The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon

I honestly forget where I first heard about this book, but it’s been very vaguely sitting on my mental tbr list for the last few years,and the library happened to have it in, so. 

Anyway, the conceit (an alternate history where WW2 went slightly differently, and also Israel lost in 1947, and through a bunch of political compromises there ended up being an autonomous federal district carved out in Alaska as a temporary national home for the Jewish people - ‘temporary’ meaning expiring on the near year as the novel takes place) is just fascinating, and Chabon had a lot of fun with little offhand references to how different the rest of the world has gotten, too. The fact that everyone speaks Yiddish but with occasional catch phrases and curses called out as being said in American was cute, too.

The story itself was just incredibly, almost painfully noir - genius of a police detective with a ruined marriage, crippling alcoholism, and no future is woken up in the middle of the night because a heroin addict who boards in the same hotel as him was found dead by gunshot, discovers that the victim was the firstborn son of a prominent underworld/religious authority, disowned and ostracized for being gay, through this he stumbles into a sinister conspiracy involving the CIA and the death of his sister. He can’t stop the conspiracy but he might just be able to get justice for the murder, etc, etc. The commitment to the genre is fun,but the late night diners and descriptions of hangovers do begin to get old eventually.

It was also kind of dated, in an interesting way? Like, the Federal government spooks being clean cut bible college boys, all polite and well mannered and sincere Christian Zionists trying to get America into a war to help bring about the End Times, really feels like the sort of thing that only gets written during the Bush Administration. (The single tragic too-good-for-the-world dead heroine addict gay guy and the constant jokes about every less-than-perfectly-feminine woman being mistaken for a lesbian, also somewhat dated).

Anyway, think my vocabulary of random Yiddish words about doubled from reading this, and also many themes about Judaism that I am not even slightly qualified to comment on. 

41: Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

This books are so fun. And just about perfectly bite-sized, too.

Or tv episode sized, really - each has about the perfect amount of plot for an hour long episode of network tv, I think. Pity they’re basically unadaptable. 

Anyway, not too much to say about this, really, except that Murderbot’s complete inability to understand their own emotions would probably be annoying by now if it wasn’t so funny, and reading it really left a grin on my face. 

Or well, also, I do really enjoy all the little hints that the ‘corporate rim’ is actually kind of a galactic shithole, and Murderbot just treats it like the hegemonic default because its all they know. Certainly nowhere else seems to be nearly as bad about synthetic life (nowhere’s exactly good either, mind, but).

42. Radiance by Catherynne Valente

Oh I adored this book. 

I mean in large part because I’m a big fan of Valente’s prose when she gets all grandiloquent, and also the basic aesthetic of the setting (High Victorian Space Age by way of the Golden Age of Hollywood on the moon) is just utter catnip to me. But the whole epistolary pretension, telling the story through interviews after the fact and remaining scraps of documentary footage and different drafts of a dramatization made a decade latter that are each completely different genres and occasional clips of Severin’s previous films? 

It’s all just showing off to an incredible degree and I’m sure if I didn’t love the book I’d find it unbearably pretentious, but I do, so it’s absolutely great. 

The amateur historian in me was kind of irked by the sort of political stasis - it does the fallout thing where the fin de siecle kind of just continues uninterrupted for another fifty years bit with stranger and more wondrous tech, the apocalypse of the Great War put off by all the virgin lands to colonize and everything just kind of continuing as it was (except for the development of the film industry). But that’s kind of a theme. (Much more minorly, the world only seems to have gotten weird in the late 19th century, except that there are sovereign and internationally significant Seneca and Iroquois nations that get mentioned several times, which kind of require a fundamental change to the nature of the American state significantly before then.) 

The ending also didn’t really land for me - anything about infinite multiverses honestly makes it difficult for me to stay invested, and anything where the fictional setting tries to encompass/include the ‘real world’ almost always loses me instantly (qualified exception for actual portal fantasy, if it’s good. But introducing the real world in the third act has basically only ever worked for me exactly once).

Which is a pity, because aside from those bits the ending could have been designed to appeal to me in a lab. Was so close to perfection. 

43. How to Invent Everything by Ryan North 

I took a three week break in the middle, so this technically took me a full calendar month to read. Library was getting pretty angry. 

Anyway, I think I said it before but I stand by it  - this book would be a significant improvement over the majority of currently existing middle/high school science curriculums. (In the same way that Magic School Bus and Bill Nye taught me more than science class ever did until high school (and even then)). 

Anyway, did pick up a lot of interesting trivia, and the author is apparently the dinosaur comics guy(?), which really shows through in the writing (not ALL the jokes come anywhere close to landing, but the ones that don’t are mostly dad-joke like enough that it’s kind of endearing). 

Also learned the exact limits of my understanding in (in decreasing order of) mechanical engineering, electricity, and computers. (I really do need someone to gently take me by the hand at some point and explain how basic logic gates doing addition and subtraction ends up with, well, tumblr, or triple A video games, or any of it. Like on a mechanical level.) 

Anyway, I should take up sewing. And write the half-essay floating around my head about how horrible mines are and how morally uncomfortable that is.

44. Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach

Okay I forget who on here recommended this to me, but thanks! Was a ton of fun, great light morbid summer read.

Roach has a great sort of chatty style, and she does the thing I normally rather dislike working personal anecdotes and descriptions of people she interviewed into everything, but she honestly actually makes it work. 

It came out in the early 2000s and was endearingly dated at times, and vaguely racist in a ‘the strange and exotic Orient!’ way at others, but like generally mostly holds up, I think? 

It’s not nearly as difficult a read as you’d expect given the subject matter (‘the human corpse, how it decays, and things we do to it’, essentially). Or, well,that might me a be mostly a me thing, but I found it a trove of fun trivia, anyway. 

(The one exception being the section on the history of the pursuit of the human head transplant, and specifically the animal experiments done on the subject. That made me more queasy than anything I can remember reading recently, which is I suppose a useful thing to know about myself.)