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yazthebookish · 4 months

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Hello my loves❤️!!

I've said that I do not intend to discuss anything HOFAS-related since I haven't read the book and I only know a few details I specifically asked.

But I read the beautiful, beautiful Bryce, Nesta, and Azriel Walmart chapter and I need to just gush about something. It's not the whole chapter but just small parts of it mostly relating to Azriel.

Disclaimer: I have no interest in engaging in ship discourse (annoy me and it's an immediate block) nor do I want someone to change my opinion because it will not be changed. I stick by what I read and interpret in these books and am quite happy and content with it 😉

⚠️ Bryce, Nesta, and Azriel Bonus Chapter Spoilers Ahead! ⚠️

And with each mile onward, she could hear Azriel humming softly to himself. The rolling, wild melody of "Stone Mother" flowed off his lips, and she could have sworn even the shadows danced at the sound.

Do you realize that the entire time Bryce was playing the songs on her phone, she made no comments on Azriel's shadows but towards the end when her phone's battery died and Azriel started humming to himself, then she made a note of the shadows dancing at his sound.

They did not dance to her songs, they dance to Azriel's humming and I find that so endearing!!

It proves my point again at the instances we get descriptions of Azriel's shadows singing are with positive connotations. Their dancing is not written to be nefarious or odd.

Pray tell, in the entire series when Az's shadows are described to be dancing, which scenarios triggered those actions? Mostly when it comes to Gwyn because if you search in every book you won't find a description of them dancing around someone except Gwyn. This is a point I've been making since ACOSF came out and I'll highlight them below:

• These excerpts are from Azriel's bonus chapter

"How was the party?" Her breath curled in front of her mouth, and one of his shadows darted out to dance with it before twirling back to him. Like it heard some silent music.

Gwyn wasn't singing here, they were reacting to some silent music... which we can suspect as much is the mating bond? A bond Sarah described in ACOSF as music between souls?

Azriel entered the warmth of the stairwell, and as he descended, he could have sworn a faint, beautiful singing followed him. Could have sworn his shadows sang in answer.

His shadows sang in answer. We don't know for sure if Gwyn was singing or it was something else but I'll bet on the latter since she was training and one of his shadows earlier darted out to dance with her breath as if it heard some silent music. It still reaffirms to me that it can hear the music between souls, the mating bond.

• This is from ACOSF (pg. 623) and keep in mind this is post-Solstice/Azriel's bonus chapter

Azriel clapped his hands, and all the females straightened. "You'll work in groups of three."

Gwyn asked Az, her teal eyes bright,

"What do we get if we finish the course?"

Az's shadows danced around him. "Since there's no chance in hell any of you will finish the course, we didn't bother to get a prize."

One of the things I absolutely love when it comes to SJM's romances is she creates a common ground for the couple and gives them some things to bond and connect to.

In this instance, it's not only about Azriel's shadows but the fact that he also is fond of music. He doesn't express his fondness through dancing like Nesta, he hums to the tune. He sings.

Who else adores music and sings? Gwyn.

Who made Azriel admit that he sings? Gwyn.

These are not a coincidental connections.

And the author is a big fan of music so I think it's such a beautiful connection to create between two characters that have had such a dark and tragic past and are still processing the trauma they experienced.

The chapter did not give us much in terms of ships or who is Azriel into, but it did elaborate more on Azriel's fondness for music. It did elaborate on the genuine reactions of his shadows which were sometimes always framed in a negative way.

It also kind of proved my cute headcanon about whenever Azriel sings, his shadows dance around him.

I honestly can't wait for his book!! But first we have to tackle HOFAS so look forward to my reading updates in a few days!

#hofas #hofas spoilers #gwynriel #yaz reads hofas #yaz the bookish breaks her silence #okay yaz didn't read hofas I just want to keep it in that tag for future reference Lol

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csykora · 3 years

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hi! i'm sorry to bother you, i was wondering if you could rec a few books on the russian 5 / soviet hockey in general? language does not matter, english or russian is fine (pref. english so i can throw them at friends but either work). your posts are the best thing on this site.

Thank you, that’s a great question! I go back to first-person accounts for stories about the players themselves and use a lot of non-book materials for facts like tournaments and statistics, so most of the these will be autobiographies, but there are a couple more general books too.

Please let me know which if any of them you read and what you and your friends think!

I'd recommend anybody start with Igor Larionov’s 1990 book, “Larionov” (originally written in English, but I believe also available in Russian).

It’s a fast read (150 pages). You can dive in, spend an hour with your new best friend Igor in the bathroom at a party listening to him spilling his feelings and relationship drama, and get up to speed on what/who you need to know.

Igor at that age is funny, insecure, over the top, and telling (sometimes on purpose, sometimes not) about his pain. There are bits that might make you want to hold up a finger and ask if he’s sure a conversation went down like that or if maybe his friends remember some things differently--those are some of the bits that made me look for more books.

He writes more on the psychological weight of his experiences, but does discuss some of the physical abuses (more of that is in Fetisov’s book, which I’ll get to below.) It’s one of the most intimate portraits of Viktor Tikhonov—Larionov admits to taking notes on his coach just like his coach did on him. In that sense, it is radically different than the books and articles I’ve read by North Americans.

(Note that he talks about disordered eating, from the perspective of someone who at that time believed this was positive. The passages where he describes his own and his teammates’ diets can be difficult to read. Consider reading Alyonka Larionova’s essay in the Athletic after; it’s not an easy read either, but I found it reminded me there’s the possibility of change and healng even for older people from generational trauma.)

Then try either:

Home Game, Ken Dryden, 1989 (English), the chapter “No Final Victories”

A lot of Canadian men have read Ken Dryden books and thought, ’if I’m looking down anyway, why not navel-gaze about the meaning of life and measure my dick?’ This is, I think, not his fault. He’s writing from a very Canadian perspective, but he’s quite good at writing about that perspective and its gaps.

In this chapter he talks about what Canadian players or the public thought they knew about the Soviets between the 70s and ’89. It lays out a thorough, engaging play-by-play of how Larionov, Fetisov, and others worked toward leaving, and is a nice balance for the raw Igor experience.

This is one of the most popular all-time hockey books, so it’s worth looking for it in your library if you want to just read that chapter.

The Russian Five, Keith Gave, 2018, about 300 pages

I like the heart behind this book. There’s good information in it. Keith Gave wrote short, quick, newspaper and radio sports-news for 15 years—he has a deep knowledge of the Red Wings not just on the ice but as an organization, a very interesting personal adventure story, and a sort of eagerness to understand and empathize with the Russian players.

It’s his first time doing historical research or writing a book, so I do think he has trouble telling the things you need to know in the order you need to know them in order to care about them, if you don’t already have a good sense of the timeline.

Hard to find but keep an eye out for:

The Red Machine, Lawrence Martin, 1990

A much longer discussion of Soviet hockey focused on the national team from the early twentieth century to 1989. Has more context, vignettes, and details on the backstory of the ’70s/early 80s team and life at the Soviet training compound than many other books in English.

It’s widely cited by other books but it’s out of print and a bit rare—I think I might have just bought the only copy that was up for sale this year, so I’ll post about it in more detail when I can!

Russian options:

Овертайм, Slava Fetisov, 1998, reprinted in 2016 (Russian), about 400 pages

This is where the really rough details are. Fetisov writes about his childhood, life in CSKA, and leaving. He mostly talks about his own life, rather than saying much about other players, but includes lots of little details about daily life and how it was intertwined with his friends. He has time to get a lot more detailed about the physical strain of training than Larionov’s book, including injuries, players who died in training, the deaths of his brother and injury of Konstantiov in car accidents, and the corporal punishments and other violence, including the time he alleges Tikhonov arranged to have him tortured by police.

I think his writing is very evocative and enjoyable to read, so that helps, at least.

(It’s a bit hard to find, but if you have access to a Russian library or second-hand store, keep an eye out. It was re-released as part of a series in 2016, which is after he talked with Alexei Kasatonov and became official BFFs again, so I don’t know if the text was updated at that point.)

Tretiak: the Legend, Vladislav Tretiak, 1987 (originally written in Russian, but widely available in English!)

This one’s very interesting to think about the psychology/culture of Soviet players. Tretiak writes heartbreakingly about his own personal experiences, especially his relationships with older players and his relief at retirement. But there are also a lot of ‘missing’ details that probably reflect how he wrote it before Larionov publicly discredited the system—he only writes quite vague positive things about Coach Tikhonov, which are completely different from how he speaks now.

Хоккей в моем сердце, Boris Mikhailov, reprinted 2016 (Russian)

I will never come up with a book title as good as Boris Mikhailov’s ‘Hockey In My Heart’.

Mikhailov is very witty and sharp. While he doesn’t tend to talk about the details of his conflicts with Tikhonov, he has great little stories about lots of the people in Soviet hockey. He also played and coached in St. Petersburg and smaller regions as well as Moscow, so he has some interesting information on the contrasts.

Viktor Tikhonov: Life in the name of hockey by Tatiana Tikhonova

Sasha Mogilny once commented that the only people who could stand Tikhonov were his wife and his dog, “and I don’t know how they do.” Would you like to read his wife’s book of pictures of him with the dog? Would you like to read about how she thinks Tatiana Mikhailova is a bitch, which immediately makes Mikhailova seem cool as hell? Try this book.

Xрустальные люди/ Crystal People, Stanislav Gridasov

A detailed portrait of the hockey community in Saratov (where the young Boris Mikhailov played before CSKA). Completely different than the rich Moscow system, it seems like a great counterpoint, showing the regional tensions in the Soviet Union. I was just recently tipped off to this, but you can find excerpts of in English in Bruce Berglund’s new 2020 book The Fastest Game in the World: Hockey and the Globalization of Sports, which itself looks pretty good.

#I'm...trying to talk my friend into a book podcast #I have a couple more I haven't had a chance to read even an excerpt from but look promising; I'll update

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toozmanykids · 4 years

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Am I allowed to do a Six Sentence Sunday on Friday??? Last week's that @myoxisbroken started got me so pumped up and inspired, and I'm so excited anticipating all these exciting works in progress that y'all teased us with!

Last week @just-the-hiddles had teased us with an OFC struggling to get the attention of our lovely Magnus Martinsson who was far too engrossed in his work to take notice of her efforts.

I have an idea! In fact my OFC may just steal your Magnus right from under your nose my dear @just-the-hiddles . You see, all of the "Sex Pollen" fics y'all have been churning out recently has gotten me fit to be tied! Holy fuck! Especially the one @frostbitten-written wrote. Blame it on the Pollen. OMG! I think that was the hottest "Sex Pollen" story I've ever read! And I have read a LOT these past two years.

So I couldn't resist getting distracted from what was supposed to be working on, and started a "Sex Pollen" fic of my own. I haven't named the OFC yet, but she encounters s beautiful Magnus Martinsson on her commute home one Friday evening. Here are my seven sentences from this WIP.

The moment she sat down, the vibrations of the train immediately caught the attention of her newly awakened inner slut. She slid her ass over a few inches to center her cunt directly on the hard metal hump that divided up the seats and purred from the heavenly stimulation. Subtly adjusting the pressure point with minute angle changes in her posture created the most pleasant feeling of warmth that began to extend up into her chest.

A whimper slipped out with each jolt that broke the gentle rumbling rhythm. A sneaky smile slipped onto her lips, yet she remained unaware of her expression, only focused inward, eyelids drooping closed, and anxiously waiting for the next flaw in the track.

She had completely forgotten about the few people still occupying this train car, including that devastating Mr. Angel-face who had a Masters Degree in Observation. His gaze hadn't left her since she sat down.

What do you think??

................

By the way, last week's Six Sentence Sunday gave excerpts of WIPs by some great authors who you will want to keep an eye on. I didn't get a chance to comment earlier, so I will now. And I beg you all to tag me!!! Please! Just add me to your whole enchilada tag list if your lists are still open?

@myoxisbroken teased her fic with a gif of Pine holding Jeb with a knife to her neck. Holy shit! Any fic inspired by that has got to be exciting! I can't wait to read your Jonathan Pine!!

@caffiend-queen teased us with the most evil gif of Chris Evans in a bright purple shirt that someone must have just painted onto him. I don't know what the hell he's actually doing in that gif, but the gif alone does freaky things to my... But the point of her participation was to tease the next chapter of It'll Be Good For You. This is a DELICIOUS entry in the "My Landlord is a Vampire" Challenge. SQUEAL!

@imanuglywombat teased us with delicious seductive thoughts for her Alpha/Omega WIP. *grrrrowl..... My interest is so piqued to read one with Danvers involved. Oh yes. *Wicked thirsty smile.

*SCREAMING WITH EXCITEMENT!!! Another chapter of Bottom of the Hourglass was in the works last Sunday by @nildespirandum . She teased us with six sentences of our brooding musical creature of the night getting swept away with his music. Good god, the images she conjured up in my mind left me mesmerized as well.*swoon.

@rauko-art is working on an Inuyasha fanfic with Sessoumaru!!! My kids and I just recently discovered Inuyasha this summer. It is a really fun anime set in medieval Japan filled to the brim with mythological gods and demons. The possibilities are endless. The show is so rich in story with beautifully developed characters. I highly recommend it for everyone. I CAN'T WAIT TO READ @rauko-art 's fan fic!!!

@mermaidxatxheart 's tease for her WIP hooks me immediately with one my biggest kink. The character wakes up thinking something is "integrally wrong." *SQUEAL!!! Blackouts or amnesia or losing time are a huge guilty pleasure of mine. I have no idea where this is going, but I definitely need to hop on for this ride! Please?

(Psst....Throw in gaslighting and a little bondage or trapped to go with that amnesia and you'll put me into a trance from being so turned on. I just wanted to put that out there on case anyone was looking for ideas. *Wink)

@pagesoflauren 's teaser has me bouncing in my seat needing to dive into this fic!! OH WOW!! I need to I find a link to this!! Please please tag me! Are you up on AO3?

@threeminutesoflife used a gorgeous gif from Knives Out (2019) of Ransom all stabby with the knives sculture in the background. Omg, the gif alone has me so on the edge of my seat! I can't wait to read this fic!

Some of these fics may be DARK fictions.

ALL links above are in blue.

ALWAYS READ THE TAGS!

Be a responsible reader!

I have been trying to get more organized with tag lists. I threw this list couple weeks below mostly just of people who l thought might be interested to hear when I actually get my butt in gear and post something or write something. Let me know if you want on or off any lists, my everything list, versus included dark fics that may have noncon/dubcon, versus Tom characters only, versus no RPF aka no Real!Tom, plus a list for heads up when i reblog @nildespirandum , bc she SUCKS at self promotion and y'all are missing out if you haven't read her works yet. She is aka Misreall in AO3.

@ladyoftheteaandblood @ladyfluff @bellesque @reine-sigyn @archy3001 @pedeka @lettalady @cursedcursingviking @just-the-hiddles @yespolkadotkitty @myoxisbroken @imanuglywombat @villainousshakespeare @wolfsmom1 @vodka-and-some-sass @boredbrooder @maniploki @fadingcoast @evieplease @fandom-and-feminism @writernotwaiting

@lokislastlove @myraiswack @petitefirecracker10 @littletime67 @memenerdlover @tehgvicious @scatteringlikelight @what-just-happened-bro @the-undecided-compass

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