glitteryv: (Default)
[personal profile] glitteryv
Under the Moonlight (YouTube)

A 2025, 36-episode historical drama.


The premise

It's the story of Luo Shu (played by Hu Bingqing) who was abt to debut as a courtesan. Due to ~plotty reasons, she got a job with Han Munzi (He Peng), the new local magistrate, as a kind of consultant detective of sorts. (I know, I know. Just go along with this.) Then, Qi Menglin (played by Zhai Zilu), the governor's son, showed up and SOMEHOW ended up tagging along in the investigations.


I'd heard some rumblings abt this drama and was confused as to why it wasn't more popular.

Hu Bingqing as Luo Shu gave a solid performance: her pragmatic view of things and cleverness w/r/t the way ppl behave. As for the rest of the cast, the majority of them were good. Especially the actors for the secondary characters.

The mysteries (well, I only watched the first two out of the 10) were actually cool. They were complicated enough to warrant a few episodes per case. The solutions were logical too. NGL, the mysteries are a big part of the reason why I stuck with the show (even as I had soured on other things.)


Do I have any criticisms?

Well...😬

My ability to suspend my disbelief was nearly broken. I understood that the premise was pretty ridic to begin with. But then, for reasons, Luo Shu (once she stared consulting) did a crummy job in disguising herself as a man. Which included her fake persona being given the rank of captain which EVERYONE IN THE MAGISTRATE OFFICE (down the lowest ranked officer) was A-OK with... 🙃

What makes this so OTT was that the crimes were V. SRS BIZNESS (including sexual assault and grusome murders). At times, I had to ignore the fact that Luo Shu (despite her good powers of observation) had received ZERO training for this kind of job, but OK, drama. XD

THEN, there's the casting of Hu Bingqing as Luo Shu. OTOH, she could convey a character who's ultimately optimistic, focused, smart, and dedicated. OTOH, however, the show made it v. clear that her character was EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD. This was brought up many times during the first 2-3 eps.

Unfortunately, though, Hu Bingqing looked (at best) to be around 10 yrs older. FTR, she was around 31-32 when they'd filmed this drama. In an ideal world, the character would've been aged up OR the production team could've cast someone closer to the character's age.

After all, Zhai Zilu as Qi Menglin was 21 when the drama was filmed (the character's supposed to be 24, IIRC.) This meant that, when the characters are together, Hu Bingqing looked like an older relative of his or someone who is deffo older than him.

Again, Hu Bingqing acted the fuck out of that character, BUT she carrieed herself as someone who is way more mature than the character was supposed to be (given the whole 'SHE'S 18!" thing.)

And then, there's my SECOND issue: Qi Menglin. He's handsome and had some charisma. That said, his personality in this drama was so childish that it put me off. I think this character would've fit better in another type of drama (a romcom one) vs. plotlines that go IN abt how someone killed someone else. So, seeing him bumble his way and act all jokey rubbed me the wrongest of ways. .

AND FINALLY, I didn't believe the CP at all. At first, Qi Menglin was v. rude and bratty toward Luo Shu cuz he thought she's a guy. Once he discovered the truth, he decided to court her cuz why not? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I didn't like how hard the show tried to make the CP happen. ALSO BASED ON

SPOILERS FOR THE ENDINGhe never really grew out of that jokey/prankster mode? And eventually they get married, but not cuz she fell in love with him. Instead, it's more like he wore down her resolve
Which NO, THANK YOU. I'M NOT HERE FOR THAT. As I understand it, the romance was supposed to be a slow burn. Unfortch, there's ZERO chemistry cuz there's NO attraction between them, LOLsob. Instead, they had sibling energy. IJS


What's the FMC's plot armor level?

Fairly strong. Bad things have happened to her (such as being sold to a brothel when she was young, almost getting sexually assaulted onscreen, etc), but all of the terrible things happened to other characters and not her in the end.


How does the show handle the inevitable "Oh noes, the emperor's in danger of losing his throne!" storyline?

NO IDEA! I bounced before any of this was brought into the story. BUT, I'm sure there's some dramarama afoot in the latter half?


Do I recommend it?

No. It's not a terrible drama, but all of the things I complained abt added up to a big "let me stop here and move on." I only watched 6 out of the 36 eps. The series is available on YouTube.


Queerness level

There's a ~vibe between the Magistrate and his second in command that's sort of explained as the two of them being lifelong friends? Though they deffo have MARRIEDS vibe, IMO.. FTR, the show makes it v. clear that neither character is queer (but when has that stopped anyone, LOL?)

Le trailer

I could only find this version of the trailer. It has Portuguese subtitles. Trigger/Content Warning: The first 25 seconds show people getting murdered by different methods. It's graphic enough (there's blood (no gore, tho) and violence) for me to give a heads up.

(no subject)

Sep. 28th, 2025 04:51 pm
turps: (Mikey/Frank (crazybutsound))
[personal profile] turps
Sadly Bluey has had her first bump.

Driving down a road in town that's terrible for people illegally parking on both sides so they can easily get to the nearby Greggs, we were driving behind a lady, who stopped, and then reversed, when a car going up didn't stop, taking up all the available space in the middle of the road. How she didn't see our car behind hers I don't know, but apparently she didn't.

Thankfully, the damage is cosmetic only with a few scratches, and if it wasn't a mobility car we'd probably just leave it or try and get some matching car paint. But, that's not an option, so an insurance job it is.

Pauline's 80th birthday party went really well yesterday. We picked Corey up at 2, and were at the venue for 2:30, Pauline wanted a late afternoon/early evening party so she'd get home in good time, and it worked out nicely. All her family was there, and my aunt and uncle came too, the first time I'd seen them for over a year.

The catering wasn't the best as the chef at the pub we were at had walked out a few weeks ago, and they'd had to arrange outside catering, and instead of the big buffet that was paid for, there were only platters of sandwiches, crisps and cut up cheese. So, Pauline had to buy extras herself, arranging for people to bring 5 large cakes, sausage rolls, cheese rolls and quiches. But, at least the hot beef sandwiches were provided as ordered, and while there wasn't a huge variety the cobbled together buffet was tasty. Plus, we got to bring leftovers home, and is it even a family party buffet if you can't do that and eat slightly stale leftovers on the night/next morning?

If you're interested I posted a couple of photos of us and the kidlet on my instagram here

Unsurprisingly, my brother didn't turn up. He did send a beautiful bouquet but I wish he'd realise Pauline would always appreciate seeing him more than an actual gift.

It was great spending time with Corey, and he was telling me he and his girlfriend have managed to get MCR tickets which made me so happy for them. If I can't go, at least I know they are and will have a great time.

By the time we'd taken him back to Gateshead and got home it was getting toward eight, and it took me about five seconds to get in my pjs, get under the heated blanket with the cats and watch Strictly. After all, it's what Saturday evenings are made for.
beatrice_otter: (Falcon)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: Hawkeye, MCU
Pairings/Characters: Clint Barton, Kate Bishop, Bucky Barnes
Rating: teen
Length: 5k
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] aimmyarrowshigh 
Theme: food, team,

Summary:

“I’m not saying you need to decide right now. Or any time soon. But someday, you might want to walk away. And you’re luckier than most of the… superheroes… that I’ve ever known because you know what normal looks like. You know how to be normal. You can go back to normal if it’s what you want. And I know it’s not what you want right now, and I respect that, but I’m glad that it’s an option.”

Or, Clint and Kate challenge each other to prove they're the better New Yorker because they know the best food spots. Truths about superhero life and life in general come out along the way as they eat through the five boroughs.

Reccer's Notes: I love the humor and the support, and the way Clint mentors Kate.

Fanwork Links: Slice of Life

Batman: Scheherazade by Cerusee

Sep. 27th, 2025 10:26 pm
beatrice_otter: Batman Begins--Batman flying with bats (Batman Flying)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: Batman
Pairings/Characters: Jason Todd, Alfred Pennyworth
Rating: Gen
Length: 12k
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] Cerusee 
Theme: food, trauma, family, angst,

Summary:

Alfred angles himself so he can stir the diced pancetta, sizzling away in the pan, and watch Jason at the same time. “You’ve never shared the particulars of your…missing years.”

"Yeah.” The rhythmic thunk thunk of the knife against the wood falters. “The missing years."

"I wish you would.”



Or, the one where Alfred drags the tale of Jason’s death and resurrection out of him piece by horrifying piece.

Reccer's Notes: There are a lot of stories about Jason reconciling with his family and them learning all the things that happened to him from his death and resurrection onwards. This has a lovely focus on Alfred, and the trauma that Jason suffered, and their relationship

Fanwork Links: Scheherazade

DS9: Hunger Pangs, by AuroraNova

Sep. 27th, 2025 10:15 pm
beatrice_otter: DS9 wormhole (DS9)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: Deep Space Nine
Pairings/Characters: Kira Nerys
Rating: Gen
Length: 871 words
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] AuroraNova 
Theme: food and cooking, worldbuilding, trauma & recovery, old fandoms, gen, female characters, backstory

Summary: Starfleet personnel mistake minor inconveniences for real suffering. Kira knows the difference all too well.

Reccer's Notes: This is short, but it packs a punch and explores the differences in perspective between Kira and the rest of the command staff in a very visceral way.

Fanwork Links: Hunger Pangs

Heads will roll... by ffrancavilla

Sep. 27th, 2025 08:14 pm
kingstoken: (Crowley SPN)
[personal profile] kingstoken posting in [community profile] fanart_recs
Fandom: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Characters/Pairing/Other Subject: Headless Horseman
Content Notes/Warnings: slight horror themes
Medium: Digital
Artist Website/Gallery: Artist's Bluesky
Why this piece is awesome: Great art of the Headless Horseman, prefect for getting you in the mood for spooky season 
Link: Bluesky
garryowen: (sherlock loveseat)
[personal profile] garryowen posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: Sherlock BBC
Pairings/Characters: Sherlock/John
Rating: Mature
Length: 3044 words
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] coloredink
Theme: Food and cooking

Summary: He just wanted John right down to the amino acids that made up his body, and he wanted them in his own body.

Content notes: Cannibalism. Sort of.

Reccer's Notes: This fic exemplifies what I loved about Sherlock fandom: the potential to explore rather uncommon ideas and concepts of love. Like Sherlock wanting to actually consume a physical part of John because he loves John so much. Coloredink is a fantastic writer on the sentence level, and they perfectly capture the energy of the Sherlock/John dynamic while also being funny as hell.

Fanwork Links: you are what you eat (and you know what that is)
mific: (RWRB)
[personal profile] mific posting in [community profile] fanart_recs
Fandom: Red White and Royal Blue (RWRB)
Characters/Pairing/Other Subject: Alex/Henry
Content Notes/Warnings: they're bare from the shoulders up
Medium: digital art
Artist on DW/LJ: n/a
Artist Website/Gallery: seanchaidh7 on tumblr
Why this piece is awesome: A lovely romantic piece - I especially like the sunlight slanting through the trees and David the dog running madly in the background.
Link: maybe next summer we could come back
birdylion: picture of an exploding firework (Default)
[personal profile] birdylion posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: Leverage
Pairings/Characters: Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer
Rating: M
Length: 61264 word long series (first work with 20345 words, second with 40919)
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] vexedquestion
Theme: food & cooking, bisexual/pansexual characters, polyamory, series

Summary:
part 1: you do not have to be good.
Come hell or high water, Eliot is going to figure this out.

part 2: your place in the family of things
He's here, he's queer, he's sort of getting used to it, or, Eliot realizes that he still has some work to do on understanding himself. With bonus new!team members.

Reccer's Notes:
Bisexual/pansexual Characters
This story features an Eliot Spencer who might have, in the back of his mind, known that he wasn't fully straight, but didn't let it sink in until he got close to having a relationship with Parker and Hardison. Growing up with the background homophobia of his childhood, and then the Don't Ask, Don't Tell of the military, he didn't think about it, didn't apply labels such as "bisexual" to himself. So realizing that he indeed wants a relationship with Parker and with Hardison leads to some serious reconsidering and soul-searching as he works through that. It is very much a "coming out later in life" story. The first part focuses on coming out to himself and his partners, and the second part focuses on finding his place in the wider queer community.


Food & Cooking
These stories feature a copious amount of food metaphors in the likes of "bretzels", actually co-owning a brewpub, and Eliot working through his feelings in late-night visits to the kitchen, and showing Parker and Hardison he loves them by cooking them food. The second part of the series especially is set in the brewpub as kind of a home base and develops the location as a legit place of business. For example Eliot creates longdrinks for the pub that convey his feelings, and they each are described at the end of chapter, it's delightful.


Polyamory
I like how the story portrays it as a multidimensional three-way-relationship: Each of the duos have their own relationship, and also the three of them function together in a way that's different than their two-way-relationships. Much like in canon, actually. Eliot is the POV character, and he has important scenes with Parker along, with Hardison alone, and with them both.
The first part is about figuring out how they work as a relationship together, about Eliot figuring out his queerness in relation to Parker and Hardison. The second part is about how that interacts with the outside world, portrayed through some very nicely flashed out side characters from the brewpub as well as another group of (rather young, very queer) criminals they're recruiting. In the second part especially, the focus is on their polyamory in that outsiders learn about it, and especially Eliot learns to show his love for his people.


Fanwork Links:
simple machines series link, ao3-locked
you do not have to be good. part one, ao3-locked
your place in the family of thingspart two, ao3-locked
full_metal_ox: A gold Chinese Metal Ox zodiac charm. (Default)
[personal profile] full_metal_ox posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: À Rebours by Joris-Karl Huysmans; Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
Pairings/Characters: Gen; Duc Jean des Essientes, Gray Mouser
Rating: General Audiences (although most of the beverages might be deemed Mature, depending on your country.)
Length: 542
Creator Links: Idlewild Designs (archived); I’ve not succeeded in recovering a name for the site owner.
Theme: Food & Cooking, Book Fandoms, Meta, Pre-AO3 Works, Research, Old Fandoms, Small Fandoms

Summary: The two literary passages cited serve that purpose:

Dining off black-bordered plates, the company had enjoyed turtle soup, Russian rye bread, ripe olives from Turkey, caviare, mullet botargo, black puddings from Frankfurt, game served in sauces the color of liquorice and boot-polish, truffle jellies, chocolate creams, plum-puddings, nectarines, pears in grape-juice syrup, mulberries and black heart cherries. From dark-tinted glasses they had drunk the wines of Limagne and Roussillon, of Tenedos, Valdepeñas and Oporto. And after coffee and walnut cordial, they had rounded off the evening with kvass, porter and stout.

— a black feast held to mourn the loss of the Duc des Esseintes's virility in A Rebours, by Huysman

The collation on the little ebony table beyond the coffin consisted entirely of black foods. By sight and then by nibbling and sipping the Mouser discovered their nature: thin slices of a very dark rye bread crusted with poppy seeds and dripped with black butter; slivers of charcoal-seared steak; similarly broiled tiny thin slices of calf's liver sprinkled with dark spices and liberally pricked with capers; the darkest grape jellies; truffles cut paper thin and mushrooms fried black; pickled chestnuts; and of course, ripe olives and black fish eggs—caviar. The black drink, which foamed when he poured it, turned out to be stout laced with the bubbly wine of Ilthmar.

— Fritz Leiber, "Bazaar of the Bizarre"


Reccer's Notes: With Halloween impending, this seemed an apropos topic.

Idlewild Designs was a 2000’s Geocities purveyor of Gothic, fantasy, literary, occult, rustic, Art Nouveau, and otherwise Bohemian aesthetic living tips; here they expand and elaborate upon the two literary feasts described, with potential ingredients listed by category and outlinks to recipes. (The site was still very much under construction by the time Geocities shut down; I’m assuming the business, at least in that stage, is by now as dead as Bela Lugosi and that this post doesn’t violate the OTW’s advertising ban.)

Literary_context. )

So what items might you add to the list? Some suggestions of my own:

Continue. )

Fanwork Links: Black Feasts, by Idlewild Designs (archived.)
glitteryv: (Default)
[personal profile] glitteryv
A little under a week ago, Le Sserafim posted this cover of Selena's "Amor Prohibido" alongside a cute MV.

OK, firstly, kudos to them for tackling one of the most well-known songs for a Tejano LEGEND. Secondly, they did AMAZING--especially when it came to rolling their r's! Finally, it's pretty clear that they understood and respected the song AND Selena's legacy. <3 to my FIMMIES.

(no subject)

Sep. 25th, 2025 09:34 am
turps: (bite me)
[personal profile] turps
The gym was offering free Personal Trainer taster sessions this month, so I did one yesterday. cut for exercise and weight talk )

I've an ongoing situation atm where someone is fly tipping bags of rubbish near my house. The way things are set up, you walk out of my garden gate onto the public path, on the other side of the path there's a metal fence, then a steep bank with mature trees that goes down to the dual carriageway. For ages now someone has been coming and dumping rubbish at that spot, probably because between the trees on one side and the thick ivy on my fence, it's a place that's relatively hidden from view.

At first, it wasn't much, but lately it's been multiple big black bags full of rubbish, and pee'ed on puppy pads. I've had to add signs on the gate, and my neighbours has too, saying no flying tipping, CCTV in operation, and if it doesn't stop I'm seriously considering actually getting another ring doorbell for the back of the house.

I've talked to many neighbours about it, and we're all pretty sure who's doing it, it's just getting proof. The rubbish gets reported every time, and last time the council said they'd check through it to see if there's anything identifying. Hopefully, there is, as it's just scummy behaviour.

We went to see A Big Bold Beautiful Journey at the cinema a few days ago. Coming out the cinema guy asked people if we'd liked it, I said, it was okay, another woman said, that it was interesting and yeah, that sums it up.

James is back at work today, just a four-hour shift today, then two four-hour shifts next week, then gradually increasing time as the weeks go on. I'm walking to meet him at Home Bargains at lunchtime as we need cat litter, and I'm not about to carry a sack of that home by myself. But first, a catch-up on here.
runpunkrun: spock holding a furry alien in his arms (actually a dog in an alien suit) (spock says fml)
[personal profile] runpunkrun posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: Star Trek: The Original Series
Characters/Pairings: James T. Kirk's nipples
Rating: Not rated, but G+ for fondant nipples
Creator Link: [tumblr.com profile] jb612 & [tumblr.com profile] violetnebula19
Theme: Food & Cooking, (Not Really) Character Death

Summary: A birthday cake.

Reccer's Notes: Our founder [personal profile] jerakeen once lamented that we hadn't ever had a fancake recced on the comm. Now that we've had The Untamed cupcakes, it reminded me I've had this rec sitting in my drafts for literal years, so: Please enjoy this beautifully rendered cake of James T. Kirk's nipple window as seen on TV in the episode Amok Time, 1967.

Fanwork Link: Star Trek Amok Time Cake
full_metal_ox: A gold Chinese Metal Ox zodiac charm. (Default)
[personal profile] full_metal_ox posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: Mo Dao Zu Shi, Chen Qing Ling
Pairings/Characters: Gen; Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, Jiang Cheng, Lan Xichen, Jiang Yanli, Jin Zixuan
Rating: General Audiences
Length: 26 photos
Creator Tags: char: jiang cheng, char: jiang yanli, char: jin zixuan, char: lan wangji, char: lan xichen, char: wei wuxian, fanwork: other
Creator Links: (AO3) [archiveofourown.org profile] Technomancer28; (DeviantArt) [deviantart.com profile] Abyss-Valkyrie; (Dreamwidth) [personal profile] abyss_valkyrie; (Tumblr) [tumblr.com profile] abyss-valkyrie

Theme: Food and Cooking, Non-Fic Recs: Crafts

Summary: So I spent all of yesterday and the night before making cupcakes and I wanted to try making some MDZS/Untamed character themed ones so these were very self indulgent and made me happy,lol.

Reccer's Notes: Exactly what it says on the tin: various characters from The Untamed, as symbolized by a photospread of fluffily ornate cupcakes; my own favorite is the Jiang Cheng one in fluorite swirls of violet and teal.

Fanwork Links: The Untamed cupcakes

More books. IDEK know myself, LOL.

Sep. 22nd, 2025 12:18 pm
glitteryv: (Default)
[personal profile] glitteryv
Re-Reads. HUH.

None for now.


I DNF'd

I actually finished everything I started. O__O


Had an awesome time at first (but it all went downhill from there)

* Away Games by Misha Horne (M/M Romance) - A 35k novella that takes place a few months after the ending of Book 2. It has too much football (including an excess of practice and game scenes). The last chapter is a ridic (yet sweet) long porny scene between Caleb and Logan that segues into them talking abt their futures post-high school.

To me, the whole thing read like an epilogue draft since it didn't add anything new to Logan and Caleb's story and it wasn't far enough in the future (say, during their second year of university) to make any kind of impact. I gave this a 2 out of 5.


* She Didn't See It Coming by Shari LaPena (Mystery) - Bryden is happily married to Sam. They have pretty good careers, are the parents of a sweet 3-y.o., and seem to have a fab life. That is, until Bryden disappears...

Extremely readable novel. Good writing (no typos or weird turn of phrases.) Having read most of this author's books, I knew that I was in for domestic suspense, a whole lotta POVs (10 different characters in this novel), and some O___o kind of drama.

I wasn't AS taken with the mystery as I was with the MESSINESS of everything else.

Starting with 2 super chaotic evil characters who were fun to read abt. Even though they gave me the impression to have come in from a totally different book. There's also a 3rd character whose life went off the rails at some point...and that whole thing was never resolved?

Finally, a fourth character had a v. late in the book turn that made me ?????. And, to explain why, I gotta
dive into FULL SPOILERS
This fourth character is not only an abuser, but also a functional drug addict (Oxycontin). This is revealed in the next-to-last chapter and grants that character a full alibi (?!). This character--who has their own POV chapters--is never shown to be thinking abt drugs and/or getting high nor experience any type of physical withdraw from, again, their everyday usage.


It was v. odd that there were no hints abt this from the fourth character or anyone else who also had POVs. This was so UNBELIEVABLE that I 🙄 as the book came to a close.

Had I not been familiar with this author's usual style and that I had borrowed this from the library, I'd have probably DNF'd this book. Although I'm not quite putting this author on 'reader probation' yet, I will reconsider after reading whatever she publishes next. I gave this a 2.3 out of 5.


* Those We Run From by Fiona Zedde (F/F Romantic Suspense) - After finding out that Tilly, her ex-girlfriend from 20 or years ago, is on a hit list, almost-retired assassin Sterling heads to Miami to protect her and find out who wants her ex dead...

OTOH, this book had a v. diverse (in terms of race, sexuality, and gender) cast. I also really liked that the majority of the characters were 39+ years old. Oh, and the author can write actions scenes (including gunfights, knife fights, etc.) really well. She's got a knack for timing and describing the goings on.

OTOH, I had three issues with this 120-page novella.

1. The worldbuilding was incomplete. This story takes place in Miami (FL), the Bahamas, and southern Georgia. But there was no actual sense of place. Like, whenever the story moved to Miami, characters would inevitably think or say "wow, it's so hot/humid." And that was abt it. Same with the Bahamas.

2. Given the premise, i was ready for some goofiness plotwise. But then, a little near the halfway point, when the reason why Tilly has been targeted is revealed, the book moves on permanently to DEEPLY UNSERIOUS LAND. I mentally threw my hands in the air and said "I guess?!", NGL.

3. This last thing is the main reason why I gave it such a low ranking. This involves a mild spoiler w/r/t one of the MCs, but I don't consider it worthy of hiding behind a spoiler tag. Though, again, this is gonna be a MILD SPOILER.

So it turns out that Tilly has a twin sister named Nora. They've never gotten along and it's been a while since they've spoken with each other.

The book never uses words like autistic, autism, etc. However, it's clear that Nora is neurodivergent. The issue is the extremely negative way autism is shown. Especially when the chapter is from Tilly's POV.

Examples from Chapter 21 after Nora shows up. This is 100% from Tilly's POV (Emphasis mine):

It was bizarre seeing her sister again. Hearing her talk. They were identical in looks, but in temperament, in the way they processed things, were as different as dawn and midday. No doctor had been able to explain why. Nora was the analytical and brilliant one their parents never stopped praising. The one who was an ice cube but excelled at everything academic from her very first exam.


They start talking:

Tilly swallowed a few times. "What exactly do you mean by showing up here?"

"I made a gamble I shouldn't have and didn't factor in that I might have been gambling with your life, too." Nora faintly grimaced.

The scream crawled higher in Tilly's throat. "you talking to me like a robot isn't making the situation clearer."

"This is how i talk. There is no other way I can express myself."

That much was true. Tilly let out another sigh. [...]"


And the conversation continues with Nora talking and Tilly being judgy and on the defensive for no reason at all. The book does show Nora interacting with other characters just fine? There's one specific (but v., v. spoilery) convo Nora has with another character in which the other character never remarks on how 'odd' or 'robot-like' Nora is talking to them. So it's basically a Tilly-only issue, IMO.

At best, the way this book approaches a neurodivergent character is quite off-putting and, at worst, is truly worrisome and weird.

On top of that, it simply does not make any sense that Tilly, a 39-y.o. character who works with a variety of clients (she's a boudoir photographer) AND who has a really colorful group of friends AND gives the impression of being quite a worldly character wouldn't know or even consider the existence of autism. Especially in relation to her twin sister. Keep in mind that the story takes place in our world in contemporary times. That's all I'm saying.

ETA: I think I wouldn't have had as much of a problem if one of two things had happened:

1. If Tilly and Nora had been raised in an ultraconservative and super religious community. Since those types of groups tend to avoid/disregard anything that wouldn't be considered "normal".

OR

2. If the story has been set anywhere in the 1970s to 1980s. At those times, the general population's awareness of ADHD, dislexia, autism, etc was v. limited and prejudiced.

But that's not what happened here.


FTR, I was super grossed out by this part of the story, but it was such a short novella that I ended up. No idea if I'll read anything else by this author. I gave this a 1 out of 5.


Good vibes all around

* Comfort Me, Daddy by Misha Horne (M/M Romance) - the 444-age sequel to Hurt Me, Daddy. Logan has moved in with Caleb. There's a big chemistry test he HAS to pass if he wants his scholarship to continue AND some v. important football games he's gotta train for...

The writing continued to be good (no typos, no weird turn of phrase, etc.). There was enough space in the book for Logan to get some more character development. Which isn't to say that he became suddenly mature, but that he had changed (for the better) when it came to his self-esteem and relation to the world. Another thing that was v. clear was how much care this author had in creating all of the characters. Logan, Caleb, Walker, Ellis, and the rest of the guys had distinct personalities and behaviors and that made all of their interactions pretty interesting to follow along.

Most of the Logan/Caleb scenes (both in and out of bed) were fun and/or spicy.

OTOH, the author could've deleted 100-150 pages. Like, the author could've gotten rid of 8 or so chapters (out of 40) and tightened the story a lot.

Then there's a late-in-the-book dramarama involving Logan's mother. It felt kinda spliced into the book because there hadn't been anything working up to it. That said, I figured the author felt it necessary to give Logan some kind of closure regarding that aspect of his life? IDK.

Finally, I finished the book feeling quite dissatisfied with Caleb as an MC. There was so happening (and a lot of it being terrible) to Logan in the first book, that Caleb's steady and focused presence was v. welcomed. However, this book really showed that Caleb (both as a Daddy and as himself) had an infinite amount of patience (as well as all of the answers, I guess.) It flattened him as a character. I wish there had been at least one scene, moment, chapter in which Caleb had an off/bad day. If only to balance out all of the scenes of him being the perfect boyfriend.

Because, even though his care, love, and support of Logan made him a likable character, he didn't have anything else to him as a person. YMMV. I gave this book a 3.5 out of 5.


Current fic tally

Have picked up 160 fics, DNF'd 78


Some Thoughts

Not much in terms of satisfying reads, but I'm not actively regretting picking up most of the books (I still 😒 at Those We Run From, tho.) Thankfully, i have avoided falling into a reading slump, so I'm calling this a win (of sorts, LOL.)


Up Next...

Last time: "I'm now halfway thru the second book of the "The Brat and The Beast" duology, a mystery/thriller, a queer femdom (?) M/F set in space, and a historical paranormal that is NOT cozy."

Finished the first two books, am halfway thru the third one (which is NOT set in space)--though IDK if I'll finish it, and ended up renewing the fourth book before it was due back to the library. I'm also in the middle of another book which is the last one in a series. 🤞🏾 for good reading ahead!
mific: (Ray vecchio)
[personal profile] mific posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: due South
Characters/Pairings: Benton Fraser, Ray Vecchio, Diefenbaker, Francesca Vecchio, Ma Vecchio, Vecchio family
Rating: Gen
Length: three-panel comic
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply
Creator Links: ArtConundrum (SpaceTimeConundrum) on AO3
Themes: Food and cooking, Family, Domestic

Summary: Dinner at the Vecchio house is always an adventure.

Reccer's Notes: An excellent set of panels with Dief and Ma Vecchio cooking, Fraser feeding the smallest Vecchio, and all of them at the dinner table. It's cheerfully domestic and perfectly captures the warm chaos of a Vecchio family dinner.

Fanwork Links: Sunday Dinner
mific: (Mcshep yeah)
[personal profile] mific posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan, Radek Zelenka, Elizabeth, Carson, and other Stargate characters
Rating: General (later works in the series are explicit)
Length: 8467
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply
Creator Links: Cesare on AO3, anatsuno on AO3, rhea314 on AO3, rhea314 on Audiofic Archive
Themes: Food and cooking, Friendship, Friends to Lovers, Series, Comfortfic, Complete AU

Summary: Grounded by an injury, John Sheppard leaves the Air Force and, at loose ends, takes up running the bakery he inherited from his mother's family in Colorado Springs.

Reccer's Notes:
This is the first story in a long series called Foster's Bakery. It's a "coffee shop" AU in which John's a baker, and Rodney is of course drawn in by the coffee he serves and becomes a friend, and then a lot more. The relationship is established in this initial fic, and is deepened in later stories in the series. It's a charming story, with the usual Stargate characters as regulars at the bakery - Radek even does a bit of matchmaking. The whole series is very much recommended.

Fanwork Links: A Place On The Corner, and the podfic read by [personal profile] rhea314 is here

mific: (RWRB)
[personal profile] mific posting in [community profile] fanart_recs
Fandom: Red White and Royal Blue (RWRB)
Characters/Pairing/Other Subject: Henry/Alex
Content Notes/Warnings: none
Medium: digital art
Artist on DW/LJ: n/a
Artist Website/Gallery: xxnelli on tumblr
Why this piece is awesome: The boys holding hands, out for a walk. An impressive level of detail, lovely work.
Link: You know I love a London boy
glitteryv: (Default)
[personal profile] glitteryv
Like most Kpop groups, Le Sserafim has their own variety show called Leniverse. There are almost 70 eps so far and I've enjoyed all of them.

This 2-parter (which first aired a few months ago) is a DELIGHTFUL way to spend some time for days when in need to watch something gentle (yet still funny.) The premise is that Le Sserafim takes care of 5 of HYBE's employees' doggies for a day. There are puppies and senior dogs with each doggo having introverted or extroverted personalities.

You legit don't need to know ANYTHING at all abt Le Sserafim and/or Kpop and just sit down to watch a LOLARIOUS 2-parter episode where the doggies are the stars.


Part 1




Part 2

(no subject)

Sep. 21st, 2025 10:06 am
turps: (beach)
[personal profile] turps
It was a day yesterday.

To start with there had been really heavy, non-stop rain from the early hours. It was also our first craft fair in our town, one we'd been trying to get a spot at for ages. Then Murphy started showing signs of having cystitis again, and not being able to pee, which of course would be an emergency if he had a blockage.

With it being Saturday, our own vet was closed, so we had to get him an appointment at the out of hours vet, which would mean an expensive bill. He's got excellent insurance, but what happens at the out of hours is we'd have to pay, and the insurance would eventually reimburse, as opposed to our vet where they bill the insurance company directly. cut for length tldr, Murphy is on the mend )

Friday was nearly a day, too. We've said we'll take my MiL out at least once a fortnight, so picked her up on Friday and had a drive to Barnard Castle to get eggs from the honesty stall at the farm and get delicious bread from a bakery we like. All was going well until we stopped for a coffee, and my SiL phoned saying her electric had gone off so my MiL would have to stay at our house that night.

Obviously, she would have been welcome, but none of the furniture had been moved, she had none of her meds or oxygen generator, and it just seemed to make more sense to wait for a bit to see if things could be fixed before taking her to our house.

To cut a long and frustrating story short, they managed to get the meter sorted and the electricity was back on within an hour, but not before a lot of stress from everyone.

Thursday we'd gone to see Caught Stealing. It's a bit more violent than my usual tastes, but I can say, Austin Butler is a very beautiful man.

One good thing about yesterday, Strictly was back, let the Nikita admiring begin for another year.

Profile

xojemmaxo: (Default)
xojemmaxo

April 2013

S M T W T F S
 12345 6
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930    

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Sep. 29th, 2025 01:44 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios