My Piece of the Internet

A Retrospective Look at my Reading in 2025

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 19:48:14 GMT

I am once again completing my Year in Books meme! I had so much fun with this meme last year and I really enjoyed going back and reviewing my answers again as I prepared for this year's reflection. So without further ado...

In 2025 I made a New Year's Resolution to commit to rereading favorite books, which you'll see that I was very successful with! Rereads will be marked with a *.

2025 Book List:
1. The Rifter Book One: The Shattered Gates by Ginn Hale *
2. Yield Under Great Persuasion by Alexandra Rowland
3. The More You Do The Better You Feel: How to Overcome Procrastination and Live a Happier Life by David Parker
4. The Day the World Stops Shopping: How Ending Consumerism Saves the Environment and Ourselves by J.B. MacKinnon
5. The Rifter Book Two: The Holy Road by Ginn Hale *
6. The Uses of Illicit Art by Wendy Palmer
7. Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat *
8. The Rifter Book Three: His Sacred Bones by Ginn Hale *
9. Prince's Gambit by C.S. Pacat *
10. Halfway Human by Carolyn Ives Gilman *
11. Kings Rising by C.S. Pacat *
12. Westmark by Lloyd Alexander *
13. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien *
14. The Kestrel by Lloyd Alexander *
15. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Beggar Queen by Lloyd Alexander *
17. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy *
18. The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop
19. Talking As Fast As I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (And Everything in Between) by Lauren Graham
20. How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing by KC Davis
21. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner *
22. The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner *
23. The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner *
24. The Fire's Stone by Tanya Huff
25. A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner *
26. Holes by Louis Sacher *
27. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card *
28. Sunrise On The Reaping by Suzanne Collins
29. Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman
30. Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare

The first book you read in 2025:
Although I started it in December of 2024, the first book I finished was book 1 of the Rifter trilogy by Ginn Hale.

The last book you finished in 2025:
Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare

The first book you will finish (or did finish!) in 2026:
Probably The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. I read like 90% of it over the summer but got distracted and just need to go back and finish it up.

How many books read in 2025
30!

( Lots more (including some hot takes) under the cut! )

comments

Sewing Plans

Fri, 30 May 2025 17:33:29 GMT

The sewing bug bit me last week and now I'm dying to get a few projects started! I have plans/tentative starts on a few things and I wanted to catalog them to set some goals for myself:

1. Sew a pair of summer shorts for my toddler. I've downloaded and printed this pattern. It looks super easy so if these fit well I might try to make a few. I'm most interested in finishing this because I think it will be pretty easy and quick AND I truly do need shorts for my daughter. So it's this or buy some. I bought slightly less than a yard of vintage Mickey Mouse fabric that I was thinking of using, but the print is very big and widely spaced so I'm a little worried it's going to be like... half of Mickey's face on each buttcheek. XD I'll lay the pattern out on the fabric and see how it looks.

2. Sew a party dress for my toddler's birthday party (which is in a little over a month). I got the cutest vintage panel from Jelly Bean Junction that has a bodice design printed and laid out on the fabric so I just need to measure her and determine her size, cut the fabric, make a corresponding skirt, and do the sewing/construction. I bought the panel at a local fabric store, but you can see (or buy) it here if you're interested.

3. Sew a Petal Wrap Dress.

4. Make a matching Lorien Lace Up Skirt for myself. (I bought a set of king-size bed sheets that would be great for a matching set.)

5. Sew this Halter Top, probably in white linen. I bought this pattern years ago and never got around to starting it.

6. Sew some heating pads out of a few vintage pillowcases I bought. I want to try sewing some channels in them and make a kind of "seat cushion/lap cover" style of heating pad. I like to put flax seeds in mine. I read a lot about the different options for filling at some point and flax seemed like the best.

And that's it so far. At some point though I need to start thinking about a quilt for my toddler. She's still in a sleep sack so she doesn't need blankets, but time is ticking! I've made quilts for two other babies so I don't want my own kid to be the one who doesn't get one!

comments

20 Books that Influenced Me: Part 4 of 4

Thu, 15 May 2025 14:13:17 GMT

Challenge:

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

I'm trying to finish this before the end of Three Weeks for Dreamwidth so we're going for 5 books a day for four days.

Books sixteen through twenty:

The color group is a little more disjointed today, but each cover has a yellow element! I love how every group had some color cohesion. :D

Previous - Part 3

comments

20 Books that Influenced Me: Part 3 of 4

Tue, 13 May 2025 16:17:48 GMT

Green/blue color group today!

Previous - Part 2
Next - Part 4

comments

20 Books that Influenced Me: Part 2 of 4

Mon, 12 May 2025 19:01:16 GMT

The color scheme continues!

Previous - Part 1
Next - Part 3

comments

I decided to go ahead with the Sunshine Challenge revival

Fri, 09 May 2025 17:33:13 GMT

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post about the Sunshine Challenge. I got a lot of positive feedback so I decided to go forward with a revival of the concept.

I created sunshine_revival since the old community is not open for posting and the mod is inactive. I hope we can spread the word far and wide enough to get a good turnout. If you're interested in modding, but sure to request membership at sunshine_revival_mods and I'll get you in!

Read more and follow the new community!

comments

20 Books that Influenced Me: Part 1 of 4

Fri, 09 May 2025 14:18:12 GMT

Challenge:

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

I'm going to try to finish this before the end of Three Weeks for Dreamwidth so we're going for 5 books a day for four days.

The first five books:

I didn't initially intend to have a color theme but they fit so nicely together!

Part Two

comments

Is the Sunshine Challenge Still Alive?

Tue, 06 May 2025 14:51:14 GMT

I believe the mod of sunshine_challenge is inactive. It looks like the comm hasn't updated since 2023. Does anyone know if the challenge is still hosted elsewhere? Or, if not, would people be interested in a reboot? I loved modding the Snowflake Challenge so much, I'd consider picking up the Sunshine Challenge too!

comments

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Day 4

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 20:47:03 GMT

Is this day 4 or day 2, since I didn't get a post up at all over the weekend? I'm going to say it's day 4 regardless.

One of my goals is to eschew perfectionism, which has often stopped me from getting better at hobbies. I'm really good at researching hobbies, buying all the tools, organizing my workspace, etc. But then I get too nervous about "messing up" that I don't even want to start. Coloring has been like that for me. I hate to waste my supplies or "ruin" a pretty coloring page if I make a mistake. But isn't a book of pages that are never colored in so much worse than a book that shows improvement?

I'm committed to just starting, trying to enjoy the experience of coloring itself, and not caring so much about the outcome. And I'd like to start sharing some of my results as well. Mainly because I think I'd enjoy looking back on them and being proud of myself for taking that leap.

So here's my progress so far (most of these were done a while back but I just finished the most recent one a few weeks ago):

( Art is back here - cut for large images! )

comments

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Day 1

Fri, 25 Apr 2025 20:34:38 GMT

3weeks4dreamwidth is celebrating Dreamwidth's anniversary!
Come join in for fun, memes, activities, and more ♥

It's here and I'm pumped! I want to try and post... frequently? I would love to post every day but realistically I probably can't keep up a schedule like that.

Today, since I'm a little late getting started, I'm going to kick off by briefly answering one of the questions from ysabetwordsmith's 2024 list of questions:

If you could have the attention of the world for one minute, what would you say?

Having the attention of the world for one minute is an interesting concept. I guess it means that people will listen to what you're saying for one minute, but it doesn't mean they will care or internalize it or even remember it after you've had your time. There are plenty of things I have paid attention to but disagreed with or disregarded. So I think the best strategy would be to use my one minute to pique enough interest that some subset of people might be willing to pay attention to me on a long-term basis. I'd probably say something like:

"Why are you spending your time on bullshit that doesn't matter to you? Time is your only finite resource. You can theoretically acquire anything else that exists on earth, but neither you nor anyone else can ever buy or make additional years of lifespan. When you realize that your time is precious you begin to find ways to steal it back from the systems that try to own you and your time. Less working, more living. Fewer obligations, more community."

comments

Heyyyyy

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 19:25:31 GMT

I heard Tumblr is exodus-ing again? I hope it means new friends to play with over here! :D

March was, as usual, a pretty rough month for me. I live in a cold, dreary place that has the most soul-crushing "spring" known to humankind and my seasonal depression always starts to kick into overdrive in March. And this year it's been a cold, rainy April too so it's been pretty unrelenting honestly. The "feels like" temperature right now, according to my weather app, is 23F. Weather is morally neutral, but I do feel personally victimized by it at times like these. :P

I haven't felt motivated to write much in the past 2 months. My attention has been focused on the terrible and terrifying state of the world and trying to learn more so I can take more effective action. It's hard to know what to even focus on when there are 1000 fires all raging at once. That, of course, is the aim of the despots. For now my goal is to learn, to disengage from the economy in every way I possibly can, to support my local community, and to focus on one political issue that I think will move the needle. For me, that issue is Ranked Choice Voting.

With that being said, let's do a Reading Wednesday I guess!

Just Finished

King's Rising by C.S. Pacat
This was a re-read for me, but I have to admit I enjoyed it MUCH more this time around than I did the first time. I attribute this to my skill as a reader actually having developed a lot in the 8 or so years since I first read the trilogy. I picked up on a lot more nuance this time around and I think this series is especially lovely in its use of nuance and subtlety.

Currently Reading

Silver Blood by T.L. Morgan
This is a vampire fantasy homage to Castlevania (but make it gay!) - I really like the concept but I'm 20% into the book and desperately hoping that the protagonist gets a little less whine-y or I'm going to probably DNF.

If We Burn by Vincent Bevins
This is a history of the mass-protests movements of the 2010s decade (Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, Movimento Passe Livre in Brazil. etc). I'm only halfway through but from what I've read and heard from the author, I think the conclusion will be about why these protests failed to obtain much if any of their aims and what lessons can be learned for future activists.

Mutual Aid by Dean Spade
Really, really good primer on the concept of Mutual Aid and a super-interesting couter-weight to what I *think* is going to be the advice of Bevins, which is that movements without leaders will inevitable be co-opted by those outside the aims and goals of the activist organization. Two opposing viewpoints and I'm excited to hear the arguments for each!

Up Next

I'm honestly not sure. I'm feeling very drawn to the ridiculously long two-volume biography of Joseph Stalin by Stephen Kotkin (the total page count is like 2000 pages and there's actually a forthcoming 3rd volume apparently). However, I kind of think I should read about the revolution before I get to Stalin so that I have more context. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good Lenin biography or just a history of the Bolshevik revolution?

comments

Fannish 50 - Angst that Worked, Part 2

Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:43:55 GMT

This is Part 2 of 2 offering some examples of books containing angst that "worked" for me. These aren't summaries, they're just brief descriptions of some of the tropes and themes that I found angsty and satisfying. Part 1 with the first three books is here.

Dragon's Winter by Elizabeth A. Lynn
A lot of psychological angst dealing with guilt and questions of loyalty and personal identity. Karadur struggles with the idea of loving people who have betrayed him; Azil struggles with guilt while hiding his physical and emotional pain from Karadur. Azil also deals with his identity as a harpist after his hands are badly damaged. The way that Lynn writes is so sparse, it leaves a lot of room for the reader's own interpretation to be fitted in between what is said (and of course MY mind is going to interpret the maximum amount of angst possible). There are themes of imprisonment as well.

Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat
Book 1 angst was all James for me: magical healing is a trope that just invites the character to be heavily tortured and everyone around them takes their suffering for granted because… "eh, they'll heal". Then the aspect of the collar added a level of restricted freedom, coercion, and humiliation to James' whole situation that I found really satisfyingly angsty.

Book two brought Will angst to the table. I won't go into spoilers, but his backstory got dark *quick* and then the coup de grace at the end was great. I like when sad characters get a tiny glimmer of hope and happiness and then have it all dashed in one dramatic rug-pull.

Some additional themes that I think added to the angst are the question of fate/pre-destination, social rejection, and objectification (in particular of James, seeing him as a powerful tool instead of a person).

The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
It's almost impossible to discuss the angst/whump in this series without spoilers but I'll try to be as vague as possible. There are characters who are incredibly devoted to their chosen leaders and willing to risk anything to serve them and their interests. When a character suffers because of devotion to another, that seems to be a big angst trigger for me. I also love hyper-competent characters, which we get a LOT of in this series. There are also themes in the series about restricted freedom, but in this case it's due more to circumstances of birth and a sense of duty than being physically imprisoned, although there is that too.

I've got a ton more angst books that I could analyze but I think this is a good starting point. Next post will be about books that DIDN'T tickle my id, despite looking on paper like they should.

comments

Fannish 50 - Angst that Worked, Part 1

Sat, 15 Feb 2025 18:07:04 GMT

I'm going to start out my series by introducing a few works that contain angst that "works" for me and then a set of works that contain similar elements or themes but that didn't tickle my id (see my intro post for a long discussion of what that means).

This is the first part of my "Angst that Worked" set of books. Next time I'll do three more. I want to briefly consider some overall themes that each book contains that I think contributed to the angst and why I felt it was emotionally effective.

The Rifter by Ginn Hale
Self-sacrificing characters who are struggling to do the right thing and maintain their own morals in a crapsack world full of violence and oppression. Both POV main characters are very self-reflective without being maudlin. Ginn is very good at highlighting the vulnerability hidden beneath each character's veneer of strength. For example, Ravishan is incredibly strong and talented as a fighter but through John's eyes we see him when he is tired, when he's emotionally wrought, or when he's injured. Same goes with Kahlil observing Jath'ibaye, seeing through the leader-god and knowing him well enough to know that he's also human and suffers. The angst is very subtle but definitely suffuses the narrative, conveyed by body language and references moreso than anything shown outright.

The God Eaters by Jesse Hajicek
The characters in The God Eaters aren't self-sacrificing or morally upstanding persay. They are, however, resilient. I'd say most of my angst-related enjoyment in this story is focused on Kieran. Kieran, especially through the eyes of Ash, is incredibly strong and confident but has a lot of emotional baggage weighing him down. There are a lot of themes in this novel of restricted freedom: right off the bat the two main characters meet in prison and even aside from that there is oppression within the fantasy society (which is kind of a magical Wild West).

Halfway Human by Carolyn Ives Gilman
The way that Tedla is written is pretty much perfect angst in my opinion. Tedla is a beautiful, intelligent, thoughtful, kind person who is reflecting throughout the book on the horrors that they've been put through by systematic oppression within their society. There are themes of restricted freedom, dehumanization, and class dynamics. Tedla is traumatized in many ways throughout the story but their affect is very flat when they talk about what happened to them, which I tend to read as a coping mechanism. I appreciated the way Gilman wrote from three different points of view but all filtered through one narrator; in this way we get to see Tedla through their own eyes via their recounting, through Magister Galele's eyes as Val reads his field reports, and through Val's eyes as she observes Tedla directly. It sets up a lot of opportunities to see the ways that Tedla has suffered and been changed by what they've gone through.

Keep reading - Part 3

comments

Fannish 50 - What Tickles My ID: The Introduction

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 20:05:56 GMT

Welcome to my Fannish 50! The theme of my series is called "What Tickles My Id" but you could also think of it as an investigation into writing strong angst and hurt/comfort in fiction (both publishing and fan works) and why it sometimes works for me and sometimes doesn't. This is going to be very much a personal take on angst; it's going to be what tickles MY id. I recognize that many people undoubtedly feel differently about pretty much all the opinions I'm going to express. That's why I want to take the opportunity, in this post, to level set by defining some terms and introducing what I'm going to be talking about.

Everything I write about in this series is my opinion. If I say something that sounds like a crazy generalization, please feel free to mentally append "for me" to the beginning of any sentence. It will save me having to repeatedly type it out. But yes, the global caveat, here it is: this is all IMO.

I've struggling with exactly *what* I want to examine in this series, but I kind of envision it as an exercise in close reading and analysis to figure out why a scene written by one author can provoke an intense emotional reaction from me when another very similar scene leaves me cold. I'm hoping that by teasing out the nuances in the writing, maybe I can take away some lessons on how to write emotional, intense angst that is something that I, as a reader, would enjoy. And maybe I'll also be better able to identify what will/won't work for me as a reader so I can find more angsty faves!

One thing I want to clear up for myself is my terminology. I tend to say that I enjoy "angst" fiction but there's more to it than just being angsty. It has to be emotionally powerful.

When I'm reading discussions around these topics I hear the term "angst", sometimes I hear "hurt/comfort", and sometimes I hear "whump". None of the terms on their own is enough to convey exactly what I'm looking for as a reader. Angst probably comes the closest because of the three I think it implies the most psychological suffering, which is an important component (I'll be diving into that a lot I imagine). But angst is subjective. What is angsty to one person, another might not even notice.

Hurt/comfort is a popular tag and many works I enjoy get tagged as hurt/comfort. But hurt/comfort can be so broad of a term and it's often the case that the comfort side of the equation is given a lot more significance than the hurt. And even with tags like "hurt, no comfort" I find that it's often about the MC being physically harmed. Which can be angsty, but isn't always. Whump is another term like "hurt, no comfort" but I see whump used a lot more in TV fandoms than in book fandoms. Also, for no logical reason I'm aesthetically opposed to the word whump lol.

So if none of these terms is perfectly accurate, what exactly AM I trying to write about in this series? It's hard to put a finger on, to be honest. But I know it when I feel it because it's a literal physical feeling that I get when I read the exact right combination of words at the exact right moment in the exact right frame of mind. The bottom of my stomach drops out and my head gets fuzzy. The blood drains from my face. I suspect it's some kind of empathy response because I get a really similar feeling when I look at another person's wound. It's most similar to the feeling of a roller coaster going down a big hill.

So I guess that's it. I want more stomach-dropping, deep, dark angst fiction, and this series is going to analyze where that feeling comes from so that I can hopefully find more and maybe someday write some into existence for others.

I guess it is probably prudent to also warn that I will be discussing dark topics in this series. If you're not into that, no hard feelings. I will put all spoilers and triggering content under a cut!

Keep Reading - Part 2

comments

Wednesday Reading

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 19:51:01 GMT

Just Finished

Yield Under Great Persuasion by Alexandra Rowland
The first half of this was really enjoyable, if far outside my usual comfort zone. It was a spicy cozy fantasy with lots of humor and some impressively done world-building (a lot of interesting detail conveyed in an enjoyable and non-infodump-y way). The second half however really lost me and I ended up more annoyed the more I read. I don't tend to like grouchy protagonists and Tam was very, exceedingly grouchy. I DID appreciate the message that it can be hard to get out of a rut of your own making and sometimes you've gotten so used to acting a certain way with people you're comfortable around that it can be hard to change even when it's in your best interest. Yeah, I liked that message a lot. But that didn't redeem the total boredom I had with the non-plot and the perpetual whining of Tam.

Currently Reading

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
I'm listening to the audiobook of this and really enjoying the accents. The story is good so far. I like that Mungo is a bit older than Shuggie was through the first half of Shuggie Bain. I DNF'ed that, and I think it was mainly because I don't love reading fiction books from the POV of children.

The Uses of Illicit Art by Wendy Palmer
I just started this but I have high hopes based on a recommendation from a reader on Reddit who also loves The Rifter. So they obviously have good taste!

The Day the World Stops Shopping by J.B. MacKinnon
Another audiobook, this one a non-fiction thought experiment about what would happen in the entire world reduced consumption by 25%. I'm enjoying it but it's also quite bleak.

Up Next

The Crack at the Heart of Everything by Fiona Fenn
I actually got this *in paperback* from my library! It's pretty rare to find indie mm romance at my local library so this was an exiting discovery. I want to try to finish it before I run out of renewals.

comments

Snowflake Challenge #14

Mon, 27 Jan 2025 18:03:56 GMT

Challenge #14

In your own space, create your own fandom challenge. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

My challenge is called "Raise Your Ratio".

On your Dreamwidth profile there is a statistic:

Comments posted and comments received. If you divide these numbers, you get a ratio. I've posted 557 comments and received 605 comments so my ratio is .92. The aim of this challenge is to raise your ratio. My personal goal is to get above 1. But maybe your ratio is already above 1 so your goal is to get to 1.4 or 2. Or maybe you're a super popular blogger with an active comments section so your ratio is .25 - maybe then your goal is to get to .3. Whatever you want your goal to be is great, as long as you're raising your ratio of comments posted/comments received. So go make some friends and leave them some comments!

comments

Snowflake Challenge #12

Fri, 24 Jan 2025 15:49:35 GMT

Ok I'll admit it, I spend a LOT of time on Youtube. Youtube and Reddit are my primary social media platforms. I have a love/hate relationship with Youtube because I think they're greedy and their algorithm is getting worse and worse every year. But regardless, there is a treasure trove of amazing content there that isn't available in any other format. I decided to focus all my recs on music. I love Youtube as an archive for music that doesn't really *fit* anywhere else. Old recordings from televised performances, bootleg broadway, clips from DVD special features, fan made music videos.

I apologize in advance that the tones of these videos are all over the place! Some are funny, some are sad, some are really serious. I hope it's not too jarring.

One last thing: Support musicians you love by buying their albums or going to their shows. I watch all these videos with adblock turned on lol.

( 5 SNL Original Songs )

( 4 Tiny Desk Concerts )

( 3 Tony Award Performances )

( 2 Fan Music Videos )

( 1 Short Film )

As a bonus self-rec that isn't music, I did record the first 8 chapters of Westmark by Lloyd Alexander if you want to check that out. The playlist is here!

comments

I Made a Graph: New Dreamwidth Users by Year

Wed, 22 Jan 2025 19:43:11 GMT

I was curious about how many people actually use Dreamwidth, and I found a lovely stats page that shows how many users have joined on every day the site has existed. I love the transparency!

So I downloaded the data into Excel and made this graph:

Thoughts on the decline of new users joining? Has anyone noticed a dropoff in traffic? Are people concerned or is having a larger user base not much of a priority for those of us who like our quiet internet corners? I personally would love to see Dreamwidth have more users and be more active.

The platform has limitations of course; many users these days don't want to use HTML or have to self-host their images. And while I understand the reasoning for not having an app, it's probably a limit to drawing in new users as well. I wonder what, if anything, it would take for this site to actually grow it's user base instead of maintaining/losing users year over year. I'm also not sure if the owners actually want growth either. There's something to be said, of course, for a business model built on sustainability rather than growth.

comments

Snowflake Challenge #11

Mon, 20 Jan 2025 18:21:59 GMT

Did I mention that I like Dark themes and Angst? Well if I haven’t proven that yet, we’re going there today! Also note, this post will contain spoilers for some of the books mentioned (particularly The Song of Achilles). Also, as a self-proclaimed trope lover I had to cheat a bit. I did my top 5 tropes instead of just one.

How We Got Here

As seen in: Half Bad by Sally Green

This trope is one of my favorites. You start at the end of the story and give a weird, tantalizing situation. Then the rest of the book is explaining how you got to that point. It’s popular in movies (Deadpool) and television (the first episode of Breaking Bad), but I also love when it’s used in books. It’s basically a way of working in extensive backstory and flashbacks, which I usually love.

Half Bad starts with teenaged Nathan in a really brutal situation: kept outside in cage, manacled, and forced to train by Celia. When he tries to escape, the manacle on his wrist releases acid that melts his skin to the bone. He’s doing his best to cope with the abuse, using his “trick” of not caring about anything (dissociating, basically). And then suddenly the first section is over and we get to see exactly what led to this messed up situation in the first place.

Undying Loyalty

A seen in: Dragon’s Winter by Elizabeth A. Lynn

I love books where the primary ship is solidified before we even meet them, or at least where the couple gets together early. I love seeing the love and the bond between characters tested by hardship, especially when they are deeply devoted to one another.

One of my favorite examples of this trope is Dragon’s Winter, because we start out with Azil and Karadur already as friends and lovers, but then we get to move forward in time to after Azil has unwittingly betrayed Karadur, been kidnapped, tortured, and finally returned. To see their love survive that kind of test is so beautiful!

Despair Event Horizon

As seen in: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

This is a very specific and weird trope that I love, but it’s basically when a character has a complete and total breakdown after having something really horrible happen to them. Specifically I love it when they just absolutely lose their shit when their partner or lover dies. I love happy endings, but if I’m in the mood for tragedy I want balls-to-the-walls, no-coming-back-from-this-shit kind of tragedy.

Which is exactly why I love The Song of Achilles so much. After Patroclus is killed, Achilles loses his fucking mind. It’s not healthy to give up on life after a partner dies, but this is fiction and, for me, this is the just so damn romantic.

Break the Cutie

As seen in: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Break the cutie is a great trope, because it takes a character who is defined by their positive aspects and allows the stark contrast between their optimism and the gritty reality of the world to come into conflict.

Hunger Games is a great example of Breaking the Cutie, especially when it comes to the character of Peeta. There’s a lot to complain about with The Hunger Games, but one thing I think it did really well was being super mean to Peeta. If you like books that heap suffering on your favorite characters, The Hunger Games is where it’s at.

Also seen in: Halfway Human by Carolyn Ives Gilman

If you're not familiar with this book, check out my fandom promo for it!

Tedla's story is particularly sad because we see how idealistic and sweet they were as a child. Getting to know the thoughtful, loving, kind-hearted child version of Tedla via flashback does make the jolt back to present day Tedla exquisitely painful to experience. The way that Gilman writes a traumatized character - quiet and withdrawn, intelligent yet full of self-doubt, wise but wary, self-deprecating as a defense mechanism - it all the more poignant when we know how it all came to be.

Food Porn

As seen in: Redwall by Brian Jacques

What’s not to enjoy about authors lovingly describing plate after plate of savory, juicy, ripe, tender, roasted, sizzling, candied, overflowing… everything. Food porn is just fun and it’s a great way to do world-building.

I love food porn in general, but as a vegan the feasts at Redwall Abbey have stood the test of time for me as a food porn favorite. Brian Jacques makes vegetables sound so damn delicious. I loved this series as a child and to this day I fondly remember learning how to bake scones to pass out in elementary school while I presented my book report on Redwall.

comments

Snowflake Challenge Catch Up - #5, 6, and 10

Mon, 20 Jan 2025 17:37:15 GMT

Challenge #5

( How has fandom improved your life? )

Challenge #6

( Share your favorite piece of original canon )

Challenge #10

( Fandom firsts )

comments

Snowflake Challenge #8

Thu, 16 Jan 2025 03:17:04 GMT

Challenge #8

In your own space, write a promo, manifesto or primer for a beloved character, relationship or fandom. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Here we goooooo!

The Rifter - Fandom Promo

Elevator Pitch for the Series

The Rifter is an epic portal fantasy featuring dual POV gay MCs, slow-burn romance, incredibly creative world building, and a mysterious plot full of twists and questions that will keep you confused but very interested.

( Logistics - How Do I Get My Hands on This? )

( Spoiler-Free Summary )

( The Fandom )

( 10 Reasons to Read The Rifter )

comments

Snowflake Challenge #7

Mon, 13 Jan 2025 13:52:55 GMT

In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, something you've wanted but were afraid to ask for - a wishlist of sorts. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your wishlist if you feel comfortable doing so. Maybe someone will grant a wish. Check out other people's posts. Maybe you will grant a wish. If any wishes are granted, we'd love it if you link them to this post.

I wish I may, I wish I might...

1. Recommendations for good Baby-Sitter's Club fic set when the characters are adults. My favorite when I was a girl was Claudia, but any ships and characters are fine! I'm totally new to the fandom so I'll go in any direction.
2. Book recommendations that feature an older sibling acting as a surrogate parent or raising younger siblings. Bonus points if it's angsty!
3. Book recommendations for books that reward second time reading. Essentially, books that take on a new meaning or have hidden easter eggs that you find once you have the full context.
4. Fanart or fanart recs for any of my fandoms (The Rifter, Halfway Human, Half Bad, Dragon's Winter, and/or Dark Rise).
5. Please read The Rifter or Halfway Human and come squee about them with me. If you've already read them, that counts too. (be mindful of TWs - I love sad books with crapsack worlds.)

comments

A Retrospective Look at My Reading in 2024

Wed, 08 Jan 2025 19:37:23 GMT

I got this amazing year in books prompt from hamsterwoman. Thanks for letting me snag it!

2024 Book List:
1. Dark Heir by C.S. Pacat
2. How Not to Age by Michael Greger
3. A Place Called Winter by Patrick Gale
4. The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
5. Witch King by Martha Wells
6. Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh
7. The Antidote by Oliver Burkeman
8. Catherine the Great by Robert K. Massie
9. The Wager by David Grann
10. The Organized Mind by Daniel Levitin
11. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
12. Slow Productivity by Cal Newport
13. The Enneagram Made Easy by Renee Baron and Elizabeth Wagele
14. The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland
15. Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin
16. The Enneagram by Helen Palmer
17. Meet the Frugalwoods by Elizabeth Willard Thames
18. Quit Like a Millionaire by Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung
19. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
20. Know My Name by Chanel Miller
21. Fool's Errand by Robin Hobb
22. Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte
23. Golden Fool by Robin Hobb
24. Dragon Bones by Patricia Briggs
25. Fool's Fate by Robin Hobb
26. Empire of Illusion by Chris Hedges

The first book you read in 2024:
Dark Heir by C.S. Pacat

The last book you finished in 2024:
Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle by Chris Hedges

The first book you will finish (or did finish!) in 2025:
The Rifter Volume 1 by Ginn Hale

How many books read in 2024
26

( Much more under the cut )

comments

Comment Bingo Card

Wed, 08 Jan 2025 14:41:22 GMT

I'm excited to be participating in comment_bingo. One of my goals this year is to be more engaged with the works I'm reading and reviewing is a great way to do that.

(I did actually remove one prompt that I was assigned, which was "leave a comment on twitter" because: fuck no. I swapped it out by picking a random number and going with that prompt from the list.)

( See my unfilled card! )

comments

Snowflake Challenge #4

Tue, 07 Jan 2025 19:30:34 GMT

Challenge #4

Since this is the start of a new year, this challenge will be to set your own goals! Of course we can all make large or ambitious goals, remember that small and/or short goals are also good! Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I already posted about my new year's resolutions, so let's get a bit more specific with some of my Dreamwidth and fandom related goals:

1. Hit 1000 comments posted - I want to leave more comments and I think 1000 is a realistic and very attainable goal to start out with. (If you want to know how many comments you've left, it's in the first section of your profile page.)
2. Participate in the Fandom 50 - I'm going to get started on this as soon as Snowflake is over! But my goal is to make 50 posts about "what tickles my id" aka why some angst works (for me) and some doesn't.
3. Post at least 1 fic of over 1000 words I know this is a very modest goal but I haven't posted a single fic since 2019 so I want to go easy on myself and make it fun.

comments