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#but the original plan started to sound too much like dnf :
moo-moo-meadows · 3 years
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i have this AU idea sooo... George is a semi famous model and receives some criticism during his work. Wilbur, who is just a singer in this universe, picks him up in his car and tries to make him feel better. they live together. angst at first but then fluff because georgebur make me so soft.
*clapping excitedly* famous aus!! my heart! i lovee like, idol aus, actor aus, famous aus so much. i don't know it's just such a niche. i really like writing people acting?? hence why i also have a huge fondness for like, arranged marriage aus or fake dating aus :> idk idk, you guys have such good ideas!! oh my gosh! it feels like i'm being handed someone's child and i'm afraid to drop it (aka not do a good job with the prompt) but i shall try my best anyway!
send writing prompts pspsp
“Fuck, sorry.” George cringed as he shut the car door a little too aggressively, his frustration and anger from this afternoon receding to make way for a wave of shame and just a tiny bit of self-loathing. He shouldn’t take his emotions out on others or other things. In the end, wasn’t it him who was the problem which was why they couldn’t proceed with the photo shoot?
“You’re alright,” Wilbur’s voice seemed to smother all the thoughts in his head, gentle fingers finding their place on the back of George’s head where they massaged the tension away with practiced ease. George wanted him to lean over, or to lean over himself, and kiss him. But Wilbur’s windows weren’t tinted and who knew what the media was like these days. Neither of them would consider themselves famous, though when they argue about which one fits the title more Wilbur always ends up winning. Regardless, they both value their privacy and neither really want to take risks in something that could ruin that. “Rough day at work, hm?”
“A little.” George wasn’t ashamed to admit. Things just don’t go well sometimes. He has to live with that fact a lot, of course, since he’s not perfect and has never made himself out to be. But it’s also the way it all went down that made his mood even worse. He opened his mouth, about to rant about it, when he noticed Wilbur’s attire. As a model, he has an eye for fashion; which had been one thing that drew him to Wilbur in the first place. It isn’t hard to notice that he’s dressed fancier than usual. Realization of what day it was hit George like a sack of bricks. “Today’s–”
Wilbur chuckled and nodded, not sounding upset in the slightest, and it only makes George feel worse. They’ve both been so busy lately, George in getting a slight boost in fame and Wilbur in preparing for his  band’s new album, that they specifically set aside this weekend to take a break. Especially since it’s the anniversary of them moving in together. “It is,” he acknowledges, his hand still on George’s nape, lingering, as he always does. “Are you still in the mood to go out? Or do you just want to go home and relax? We can do whatever you want, love.”
“Didn’t you make reservations?” Wilbur shrugged.
“We can cancel. I don’t think you’re in the mood to get bombarded by your little fans if we get recognized.” Wilbur laughed again at the way George’s expression immediately soured.
“Right, but…”
“But you don’t want to go home yet.” Wilbur supplied, as though reading his mind. Being together for as long as they have does that to you, he supposed. After a brief moment and a slight squeeze that seemed more instinctual than anything, Wilbur took his hand off George’s nape and began starting the car.
“Where are we going?” George asked, buckling his seatbelt.
“Just trust me. Go ahead and call the restaurant to cancel our reservation, and after that, you can tell me all about the day you had at work if you want.”
- - -
“And then she had the nerve to tell me that I was just too difficult to work with when all the other photographers I’ve worked with in the past never had that problem!” Wilbur nodded, eyes flickering to George’s face scrunched up in anger for a moment before returning to the street upon the lights turning green.
“Sounds like she just has a stick up her ass. You guys just probably aren’t compatible. That happens sometimes, right?”
“Yeah, I guess.” George heaved a sigh. It feels stupid now that he’s gotten it off his chest. Part of him wishes he had just sucked it up and not ruined whatever plans Wilbur had for them today. Knowing him, he could either have had the entire afternoon and evening all planned out. Or, he could have had no plans at all. Considering today, it was probably the former.
“Well, forget about that for now cause we’re here.” George blinked. He hadn’t even realized that they were reaching their destination. Too caught up in recounting everything that happened. He looked out the window and noticed that they were parked by the side of the hill, the scenery familiar.
“I know neither of us are the sentimental kind.” George snorted at that. He may lean slightly less so, but Wilbur can be such a romantic with these sorts of things sometimes. It’s one of the things that made George fall in love with him. “But I figured this would be the perfect place to go to for a short break. I was already planning on taking you here after dinner, but well…”
George pulled Wilbur in by the collar and kissed him silent of his rambling, just like how Wilbur probably wanted to in the car earlier if the fervor at which he returned the kiss was anything to go by. George smiled to himself, thinking about how different they were now from how they were the last time they came up here, on their first date. Even the way they kiss now was nothing like the shy awkward mess of their first kiss in this very car, all those years ago.
He thought his heart would beat right out of his chest that night, under the stars. It makes him laugh now knowing that Wilbur was going through the same thing, confident as he seemed when he quietly cupped George’s cheek and brought him close, as though about to tell him a secret. In a way, he sort of did, and George would stop at nothing to keep their secret safe in his little pocket.
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vicea · 3 years
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dream merch discord recap (june 12, 2021) - disclaimer: i may have missed some things or mistakenly heard other things, apologies in advanced for that!
he has not played the new minecraft update
dream “knows” the date george is coming to florida but he’s not saying it :p
dream doesn’t have anyone muted on twitter
dream guesses his favorite disney princess is belle
sapnap has seen dream’s feet before
he’s not actually connor’s dad in the dsmp lore
dreamnap do not have nicknames for each other D:
dream likes olives but especially black olives
his mother makes homemade pickles
he doesn’t have a phone case
he has dropped his phone from his ear onto concrete in the parking lot before and the screen didn’t crack
dream has six fingers /j
he pours cereal first not milk when making cereal
dream calls sapnap nick most of the time :D
what’s your dream car? “idk the one that gets me to point A to point B consistently”
he finally fixed his sleep schedule, woke up at 8 am today
mrbeast owes dream a tesla because he never sent dream the audio file
dream is a very analytical person - he thinks with numbers/data
creativity is one his strengths that he is the most proud of
3 to 4 years ago, dream used to say george looks like shawn mendes a lot, now he doesn’t resemble him as much
patches is currently sleeping <3
swimming is very relaxing to dream, he swam the other day!
many houses in florida have pools than other places, even the cheapest houses in orlando have pools
dream has merchendise defects (misprints on merch) + milestone merch and he wants to give them away to those who live in orlando (probably to anyone but the event will be held in orlando) though he doesn’t want it to be a covid super-spreader thing so once you pick up your item you gotta dip. just all an idea though
he has been donating them to charity too though :)
dream has likely read Heroes of Olympus before a long time ago
he says that he’ll do a give away of his childhood books with his signature on it
he was obsessed with the series (Percy Jackson) 
he really liked the Alex Rider series
has all of Maximum Ride books, 39 clues books
has read the legend series, the twilight series, and the maze runner
has all/read of the harry potter books, divergent, eragon
he would read all the time, to the point he would read more than one book a day (a book worm he says)
dream had a goal to read 200 books in a year and he wind up reading about 150
he doesn’t want to call it a library but- growing up he had something like that that had 600 or 700 or more books in it (privileged he admits it)
he has not read a book since he started youtube (about 2 years)
dream has a folder called Book that has his own writing in it
word count: 76000 words for one of his stories 
another one he wrote 5 chapters of
he sounds very excited/embarrassed talking about the stories he wrote he’s so endearing
the very first paragraph of one of his stories (he was young when he wrote this) “What exactly is darkness? is it the lack of light? is it a pit of nothingness? ... your mind is full of darkness...” then he couldn’t continue.
the story is about a kid who wakes up in a cell and has no idea where he is with other people who are in the same situation
dream has a world building document
he has a sequel to the first book he has ever written
he found a query letter that he wrote because he wanted to get his book published- he finds it very funny
he’s calling himself a nerd but idk it’s kind of endearing
“as you can tell i’ve always been incredibly cool and not a nerd at all! ever.”
he cringes at his own old videos
dream took a lot of inspiration from witches and wizards by james patterson for writing
the story is written in a way where the main character is actually writing the story so you’re getting input from the main character during it. there’s a lot of sarcasm in it and it’s making dream laugh
very first person narrator
he feels like it’d be very cool if he were to publish his works he wrote when he was 16 on amazon or something but he probably never would because he’d have to read through all of it and it’s just embarrassing for him
dream used to video call sapnap fairly frequently- even before youtube
he strictly remembers, a very long time (at least 7 to 9 years) ago he was at his old childhood house he video called sapnap. he was wearing a (technically) suit and he remembers specifically that he was giving sap a tour... 
“snazzy in a suit”
he had no reason to put on the suit (wow time is a flat circle huh)
drista is pretty close to sapnap’s height, she’s like 5′7″ but sap is still taller than her
dream filmed the whole thing when he and sapnap met but... it’s... gone because when he was clipping that one clip for twitter... it edited the whole video
he’s sure when they meet up with george they will film that too :D
DREAM IS PRETTY SURE THAT HE AND GEORGE WILL MEET THIS YEAR-- HE SAYS A 95% CERTAINTITY the five percent is like either restrictions or visa issues
dream does not play any instruments but he had a guitar hanging on his wall when he was younger...
dream is convinced they’re the same height but also sapnap is probably taller??
they had george compare his height to a door frame and dreamnap were googling for any doorframes to find any possible chance that george is taller than 5′8″ ... nothing came up
there’s a chance they’re both lying about being 5′8″
sap and george will literally just show up in stilts to prove they’re taller than each other /j
dream without shoes is between 6′2″ and 6′3″ with shoes he’s 6′3.5″
dream is talking about awesamdude’s fake height arc again LOL
dreamnap are very private people so they don’t bother each other but george doesn’t care and would just barge into their rooms and start bothering them- they were all joking about that over a voice call
he will visit europe
he thinks that greece would be a cool place to visit because sapnap’s family is from there :) so it’ll be like a nice “treat” to go back with sap :D
dream isn’t entirely sure that the dream team meet up will happen this year but he’s working out the details because he wants to make sure it’s safe
he’s talking to youtube about his face reveal
it’s up to george if he wants to eat healthy when they finally move in
dream just has a lot of meat and vegetables in his house
spinach with chicken is good
not much fruit (only apples and tomatoes)
“DRISTA IS 5″ is trending on twitter LOL (her height got cut off)
dream doesn’t want people flying to different places because he doesn’t want to encourage travel so he wants to do all of the meet ups with a two day heads up at most
he thinks that it’s awesome that ranboo and tubbo are meeting soon !! :D
it’s very cool to dream to see how far everyone’s has come since the beginning of the dsmp. everyone has done so much
dream finalized his youtube plan a couple weeks before he uploaded his video and he was talking to drista about how he was gonna be a big youtuber in a parking lot :”)
she was the first person he really ever talked to about it
dream would love to teach george how to drive it’d be really funny :D (a very good video or a livestream idea) 
dream knows how to ride a bike, he used to have to bike to school
he can’t explain dnf.gay he has no clue he is not responsible. sapnap was the one who found it LOL. he is adamantly exclaiming that it was not him
dream doesn’t worry about views/likes/dislikes a lot- mainly views but that’s for the new uploads
he hasn’t uploaded in like a month and a half (*cries*)
he wants to stream at some point but he doesn’t know when 
he wants to play geoguessr but not now... he doesn’t want to alt stream rn- maybe tomorrow!
he is insisting that the splash text on his minecraft home screen is by callahan
he asked callahan to send him bunch of text files that are dream team related so that the splash can rotate through it but callahan thought it was funny (it is) to put only dreamnotfound <3 so it doesn’t ever change at all and dream doesn’t even know how to change and he has asked callahan to change it but he said no (even though dream pays him LMAO)
the video referenced in the padilla’s video is still in the works, it might be handed over to sapnap though !
he has no idea if he will be in MCC pride yet
padilla got dream’s input for the video, dream found him to be a very nice guy ! :) it’s the first interview that dream did that wasn’t by a person with a negative opinion of dream
dream felt relaxed doing the interview with padilla 
?????? he’s blaming callahan for his “dnfisreal” nickname in bedwars 
he’s blaming callahan for a lot of dnf-related stuff
callahan runs the dream fanart account thus the liking of dnf content
he’s so insistent that it was callahan
dream admits that he was lying about the twitter and other stuff but for sure callahan did code the splash text in LOL
dream liking that tweet “the chances of george doing a hot tub stream is the same of dnf dating” was “funny” he wasnt trying to do any commentary...
the inside joke of “oh it’s all just a joke to you” originates from george and sapnap actually always fighting (like them yelling and shouting at each other) and george said something really mean and sapnap was hurt then geroge said “it was just a joke” and sapnap replied with that line and ever since then it’s been a meme LOL
he says that everyone does the hand-on-the-passenger-seat-while-reversing thing
dream is offline raiding with his chat with 6k people
dream appreciates us and will talk to us soon! 
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ashesarrows · 3 years
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The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two by Catherynne M. Valente- FULL REVIEW
This review is the complete version of its counterpart on GoodReads.
This book really disappointed me. The roughest thing is that it’s right in the middle of the series, so you have to read it if you want to continue. There are bright spots (Ell! Saturday!), and I can sense the incredible book Valente was trying to write, but overall, this was a flop. Would’ve been a DNF if I hadn’t promised myself I’d finish the series. 
So, firstly: I’m a longtime fan of Fairyland, and I commonly list the first book and Valente herself as my favorite book and author. I had no negative preconceptions about the book going in. In fact, I know I have an irrational fear of series, and at first I thought my struggles with this book could be chalked up to that. 
But I loved the second book. It was entertaining, a good follow-up, and a unique new story to explore. When I picked up the third book and only got a chapter in before forgetting about it, I had a lot of excuses—I was burned out. I didn’t like the Blue Wind, and I didn’t want to read about her. I was busy with school.
As it turns out, having picked the book up three years later and finished it this time, none of that was true. This time, I was yearning for more of Fairyland, I quite liked the Blue Wind, and I had ample time to read in. 
It just wasn’t a good book.
I talk about planning/pantsing a lot, and that’s once again relevant. I’ll excerpt from my review of another book:
There are two types of NaNoWriMo writers: the planners, & the pantsers. Planners have an outline ready before they write, and pantsers go "by the seat of their pants"—very few, or even no, plans. Both have pros/cons; here I'll focus on a common pitfall for pantsers.
Almost every Western narrative… follows something akin to the 3-act structure. There is a main conflict which builds to a climax and is then resolved (think Star Wars’s Death Star.) For any good narrative, you need MOTIVATION-GOAL-CONFLICT—and occasionally stakes[.]
This book does not have a conflict.
So where do you find 300+ pages of writing? Just have something happen & see what comes next as a response!
The problem is that this makes an unworkable first draft. Things Happening =/= Satisfying Plot Arc. In editing, you have to take everything you've written and organize it into a plot shape, often cutting things that don't fit. (Planning is the opposite; tons of work upfront/you usually end up UNDERwriting.)
...The most common method of writing on Wattpad is pantsing. 99% of the time, writers write & then post chapters on a set schedule. Can't edit plot structure when you upload one chapter a week.
Now, I knew that Valente was a pantser before I read this book, and that she originally uploaded Fairyland one chapter a week. I was very impressed when I first found out; I don’t recall sensing any of these pitfalls in the two previous books. It is hard to write a book with no editing—it is damn well near impossible. Whether I liked this book or not, the first two are a triumph just for that. Valente has been writing this entire series with both hands tied behind her back and her eyes taped shut, and I have to commend her. Even my feelings of frustration are almost overshadowed by how impressed I am that it took three books for her to fail.
Valente herself acknowledged editing concerns in multiple / interviews. From the latter link:
I remember being at a convention right after it really hit, and somebody in the audience asked, “Well, you realize you can’t go back and change anything, because you’ve already posted it online.” And I said, “Oh, shit.” It had never occurred to me that that was gonna be a problem. I kept a couple weeks ahead of the posting schedule, but again, much like writing The Labyrinth in ten days instead of thirty, I just ran ahead with something without knowing that I couldn’t do it and it worked out incredibly well.
Did it? I feel differently, and this review aims to explain why.
This book lacks plot. Valente is attempting a 3-act structure, which relies heavily on a central conflict. There has to be some big mission; some big goal. First book example: September has to beat the Marquess (goal and conflict) OR ELSE everyone in Fairyland suffers (stakes/motivation). Every moment of the book ties back to this larger goal.
The central conflict of this book appears about halfway through. You know the moon, and the yeti, and splitting things? This comes up over a hundred pages in. September, and the audience, has no idea about any of that for a hundred or so pages, and so for that amount of time, the book is unconscionably boring. 
The beginning of the book sees September afraid she’s too old to go back to Fairyland, which is a great central conflict idea for the one chapter in which it exists. Aha! A book about growing up and the associated trials and tribulations. That’s a fantastic theme, and yet I forgot about it entirely until the end, where it briefly awakens again, after an entire book of Not That At All. More on this later.
For now, the book takes September back to Fairyland, which should be wonderful, but Fairyland seems to have become all exposition and no action. A whole chapter of The Blue Wind lecturing September, for example. This is a character we don’t know, have no reason to be attached to, and are being actively hindered by as she relentlessly slows the plot down. And then September gets talked at by an alligator or something, and then another something something… I don’t remember any of this, because it was not relevant.
This isn’t like Fairyland #1, where September might need to befriend someone to gain access to magic which would help her on her quest. In fact, for this first half of the book, September doesn’t even have agency! Someone hands her a MacGuffin (I refuse to recall its name) in the form of a box, and she Must carry it to some city or other on the moon. Why? Who knows. She just must. And she does. And you’re thinking to yourself, why isn’t September making her own ship and leading revels? We know, as an audience, that she’s more than capable. What on Earth has got her seeming so meek? She even sasses characters, but somehow always ends up doing as they ask.
The book also takes all this time to reach any characters we know and love. The readers want Ell and Saturday! We do not care about a horde of lecturing adults with no connection to a central plot or September! Looking back, I can see how Valente may have been hoping to pull off something similar to Alice in Wonderland, but in Alice nobody speaks for a full page. This is just one example:
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I’m hard pressed to even call this exposition, because it tells us nothing about the world we’re in. It’s just a sermon Valente wants us to hear. And worse, because I’ve read the last two books, I know she can pull this off. It doesn’t have to be this way. Many people said many things in Fairyland #1, and it worked because there was a plot that the speeches were part of. 
(If you just look at the quotes page for this book, you can see how many there are—and how repetitive they get. X is a Y, okay, alright…)
But this sort of thing reached its peak when it almost ruined Saturday. Don’t worry, he’s generally well-written, but when September meets him and he starts lecturing? It’s just awful to read. Suddenly it’s not Saturday talking but Valente speaking through his mouth, giving those sermons again, and it just makes you want to scream.
This made me recall an old writing rule—“never remind me of the author’s existence.” I want to feel as though real people are really saying these things, and when all of them speak identically, it’s really difficult to believe that. I won’t deny Saturday his right to say poignant things, obviously, but in this case due to the volume of lectures, and the proximity of his to the others, and the obvious preachiness of all of them, it really got in the way of my even enjoying the scenes with Saturday. And come on; that is unforgivable.
But there is a plot. There is an, ahem… other MacGuffin. A paw? A yeti’s paw. Something about time. Look, at this point I just wanted to finish the book. The original MacGuffin had become a new one, which would lead them to the third, and all this because at 100 pages in someone said “hey there’s this yeti we really hate around here,” and September went “sounds awful I’ll go hunt him right now.” And of course she can, because she has been DOING NOTHING FOR THE LAST HUNDRED PAGES. What is she going to do, something else? There IS nothing else to do in Fairyland apparently. Again, what this book does to the world & inhabitants of Fairyland is near criminal.
So the plot starts here, and it’s not great—September takes it up because there’s nothing else to do, and of course her friends come along, but (at least to me) it seems obvious that Valente invented the moon’s political situation and the Yeti just to come up with SOMETHING for this book. It never felt convincing that this had really been happening behind the scenes in the other books. On top of that, since we get very little context (despite the lectures!), it feels less like a vital quest and more like September (again) doing something because someone else told her to. We really don’t get any other perspective on the issue until the very end.
But talking about the end will require a spoiler tag, so I’ll avoid it for now. Let’s take a break to talk about how confusing the book was overall. I often didn’t know where the characters were heading or why, or what role a new character played, or even if they were there or not.
After seeing a GR query about this particular issue, I went back and researched it. The character Candlestick allegedly leaves the party on page 189:
Candlestick had not come with them after all, turning up her peacock tail and refusing to speak further with any of the lot of them.
But then shows up in not one but two lines in the next chapter anyway:
The Tyguerrotype, the thirteen bouncing Glasshobs, the quivering houses—and September and Saturday, A-Through-L and Candlestick—had a little thickness, but no more than a thick sheet of paper. (201)
“Did we see what?” called Candlestick. (204)
I understand why Valente wouldn’t want to make major plot edits to the books after posting them, but why didn’t an editor read through this even once? It would have been easy to fix—delete one line, or even just a word. It seems clear through surrounding context, looking back, that Valente intended to leave Candlestick out of these chapters, so why didn’t anyone confirm that for readers?
It’s just not fair to your audience to leave things like this in. It’s not professional. It makes me look down on the publisher, to be quite honest, because they apparently couldn’t take the few months necessary to re-read the draft and offer Valente edits on these bare minimum issues.
So you can understand why I wasn’t sure what was going on most of the time. Especially in the beginning, when multiple characters existed just to lecture, it was hard to get attached to any one addition to the party because I could expect them to be gone without incident or importance within two chapters. 
For example, the Periwig (whose name I refuse to look up) who works with Ell in the library says she has cursed him to stop him from flaming around the books. Yes, Ell is having uncontrollable flaming issues now. As a reader pummeled by random lectures, watching September ferry around MacGuffins, this just felt like an “oh shit we have to come up with a NEW conflict for these characters” ploy, without much thought or logic. And I had no idea what the curse was for over fifty pages, until on page 173 there’s a specific reference to Ell getting smaller after he shoots flame. I’m sure there were more earlier on, but I missed them, and who can blame me after a hundred pages of content that was not relevant to the story.
This plot point is never satisfyingly wrapped up, either. Why did the Periwig think this was a good idea? Could she have undone it? Why did nobody address her about it? And why was it solved the way it was? Nothing made sense.
What’s really frustrating is what could have been. Near the end of the book, I turned to the back cover just to avoid continuing to read, and I looked once again in total bafflement at the two starred reviews of the book pictured there. Booklist’s back cover quote reads as follows:
As usual, Valente enlightens readers with pearly gleams of wisdom about honesty, identity, free will, and growing up. September often worries who she should be and what path she should follow, but the lovely truth, tenderly told, is that it's all up to her.
And, despite having read roughly two hundred pages of this book, it was only once I saw this quote that I understood what Valente was trying to do.
This is a great idea. And there are ELEMENTS of it here, and even elements I quite like. Occasionally, the lectures September hears do in fact correspond to some aspect of this theme (“you become what you are called” is one example of a line I could tell meant something, but needed to be expanded to accomplish anything.) It’s hard, as a reader, to differentiate between lectures addressing a vital theme in the story and lectures that are just talking.
Returning to Ell’s curse, it turns out that [SPOILER] Ell was just flaming for what is essentially dragon puberty, which is a GREAT opportunity to build on this theme! Somehow, though, we don’t get that.. I would have loved to see Ell have to deal with, essentially, a sexual awakening, and that did not happen, and it feels like the cure scene is random and therefore wasted. [END SPOILER]
It doesn’t help that Valente also wastes a scene with FANTASTIC potential where September literally destroys her fate by giving it no prior context, no weight in the plot, no relevance to the conflict, and fifteen tons worth of expositional lecturing to drown in. I want to love these scenes; some of these scenes utilize my favorite tropes! I just can’t get around all the ways Valente is leaving her story out to dry.
Then there’s the clothing September wears, her new designation, Aroostook the car, the attempted blossoming romance between September and Saturday: so many elements which could have made that theme great. It’s like a broken puzzle.
This brings us to the Yeti. I’m just going to go full spoiler, because I’m mad.
[SPOILER]
The Yeti is a reverse twist villain?? Can we stop with this? It’s not interesting & not an engaging surprise & also feels like going “ha ha I fooled you.”
From the moment September set off to beat him, I was wondering—are we really doing this? Based on one random person’s complaint? September has made it very clear that she doesn’t understand the politics of the world she’s inhabiting, and yet: this. Unlike in the first book, where the Marquess’s evil is confirmed by every person she comes across and September ends up fighting her out of personal connection, this just seems like meddling. September has no skin in the game; it’s almost a white savior trope—especially when the history of the Moon parallels colonization!
And then The Gang sees future-Saturday helping the yeti, and instead of thinking “maybe we got this wrong based on one person’s lecture” they think “ah FUCK maybe Saturday is going to be evil” and manufacture totally unnecessary conflict.
But it’s not even that they misunderstood, or that their source was biased; the end result is that the Yeti was seen as evil because he DIDN’T CARE THAT HE WAS. He gives this “none of their business” answer that is fundamentally unsatisfying (and makes no sense—had he explained, THEY WOULD NOT HAVE BOTHERED HIM) because at the end of the day, it means none of September’s actions in Fairyland were necessary. She just showed up and left. Nobody, not even the story, needed her. I guess September and Saturday have now kissed (twice!) which is great for them but not something that makes the whole book worthwhile.
[END SPOILER]
And on top of this, there are typos. I already covered the issue with Candlestick, so here are the others quickly:
 “All of us,” September said gently, and held out her hands. “I know what you said, Miss Candlestick, but however you count it, our fates are stuck together and stitched up good.” She paused for a moment, looking down at her flowing black silks and her own small hands. “Closer than shadows, she finished.” (170)
“If you’re not to tired after your cannonades.” (179)
The full moon rose passed the high barn windows, spilling in like milk. (248)
(First sentence ought to have put the end quotation mark after the word “shadows,” but accidentally places it after September’s dialogue tag. The second sentence should use “too” instead of “to”. The final sentence needs to either say that the moon “rose past the high barn windows” or “passed the high barn windows”, likely the former.)
What gets me is that this last sentence is on the last page. Even if Valente and her editors never flipped through most of the book, surely someone would’ve noticed this? It just drives home how little anyone cared. About Fairyland, of all things!
And then Valente, who DID NOT EDIT THIS BOOK, has the audacity to include lines like these.
September reached inside and took out the red book. It was heavy. A girl’s face graced the cover, finely embossed, but it was turned away, gazing at some unseen thing. Perhaps it was her own face, perhaps not. A miniature version of herself, after all. Was it an answer? Was it everything already written?  “You can’t argue with something that’s written down,” she said, stroking the red locks of hair on the cover. “If the heart of my fate is a book, there’s nothing for it. Once it’s written, it’s done. All those ancient books always say ‘so it is written’ and that means it’s finished and tidied and you can’t say a thing against it.”  Oh, but September, it isn’t so. I ought to know, better than anyone. I have been objective and even-tempered until now, but I cannot let that stand, I simply cannot. Listen, my girl. Just this once I will whisper from far off, like a sigh, like a wind, like a little breeze. So it is written—but so, too, it is crossed out. You can write over it again. You can make notes in the margins. You can cut out the whole page. You can, and you must, edit and rewrite and reshape and pull out the wrong parts like bones and find just the thing and you can forever, forever, write more and more and more, thicker and longer and clearer. Living is a paragraph, constantly rewritten. It is Grown-Up Magic. Children are heartless; their parents hold them still, squirming and shouting, until a heart can get going in their little lawless wilderness. Teenagers crash their hearts into every hard and thrilling thing to see what will give and what will hold. And Grown-Ups, when they are very good, when they are very lucky, and very brave, and their wishes are sharp as scissors, when they are in the fullness of their strength, use their hearts to start their story over again.
(page 184).
Like... all of that, and then she didn’t edit September’s story? I’m appalled.
At this point, you might well say I’m being far too harsh. I understand that. These next five paragraphs are for you.
For the first few months of (re)reading this book, I genuinely felt like I must be a bad reader, or my attention span was gone, or I just didn’t like Valente or her work enough. Looking at all the incredible reviews here, I felt jealous—and frustrated. Why couldn’t I just enjoy this book the way everyone else did? 
Obviously, I never want to dislike a book, but this was one that I almost feel betrayed me. I know there’s a significant amount of entitlement there; Valente doesn’t owe me any stories, let alone good ones. 
At the same time, I made every effort. I owned all the books, was working hard to read a series despite my long-time struggles with them, and, well, I LOVE Valente! I constantly talk about her work! And even someone like me—someone who’s usually a pretty fast reader, loves the series/author in question, and was determined to finish this book—struggled throughout. 
So I’m frustrated that the book made me feel like an idiot. I’m frustrated that, for the apparent crime of being devoted to Valente’s work, I was put through this. This book would be one star if not for the world of Fairyland and the returning cast—if this had not been a Fairyland book, I would not have finished reading it. For that first half, I was bribing myself (with better books) to read one or two pages at a time. Really.
Like I said, it didn’t have to be this way. I know damn well that Valente can do better than this. If Valente had been given the opportunity to edit this draft into a polished book, she could have done it. It’s only because of these restraints that she chose—and she is a grown woman who may choose what she likes—that the book came out this way. It’s genuinely hard to review, because I understand why she wrote the book this way, and I understand why she did not later edit the majority of the text, and I also have the perspective of a disappointed reader. It’s hard to balance all of that.
So two stars it is. I’m a little sad it took so long to review this book, because I was REALLY pumped to review it when I first finished, but I hope that on the contrary letting it sit has allowed me to be more objective and less emotionally upset by it. 
I hope to pick up the fourth book soon, but with the combination of it being unrelated to the main cast and the letdown that this book was, it’ll be a while before I feel up to it. Don’t worry, though, because I will come back to update you as to whether the series overall is worth continuing. I have every hope that it will be.
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mubal4 · 4 years
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Black Canyon 100K – Race Wrap Up – Part 11
 Last week I wrote about the upcoming race from last Saturday, and how it was the only race I was going back to for a 2nd time; “The Sequel” was the title and it was about the Black Canyon 100K put on by Aravaipa Running.  Another big THANK YOU to Aravaipa, the staff, aid stations workers, volunteers, local and regional police, fire, and medical folks, fellow competitors, crews, pacers, and spectators.  Seriously folks, if you are looking to do a race in AZ, and it doesn’t have to be an ultra, Aravaipa puts on one, it seems like every week, mostly trails, distances for everyone. They do a first-rate job with all components of the race, logistics, and making it safe and fun for everyone.  I’ve done a number of their races since I moved here and they have all, yes ALL, been awesome experiences.   Last Saturday at the BC100K was no different and yes, the sequel, for me, was better than the original 😊.  
 Last year’s race, as you can read in the linked post, was a challenge for me and I had to dig deep.  Overall, it was a great experience and I learned a lot.  This year, there was some slight differences. To begin, the start was at a different location, the original, Mayer High School in Spring Valley, AZ.  We started with a loop around the track and then winded our way through the town of Spring Valley before picking up the Black Canyon Trail.  At that point, it was roughly 60 miles south until we hit the finish line at New River, AZ! Last year, because of heavy rains the week of the race, the course was rerouted back up north from the mid-point and we retraced our steps for the final 22+ miles.  This year, although we had a big rainfall last Monday, we were able to run the traditional, point to point course.  It is interesting, I have done the final 25 miles of the traditional course a few times during training runs.  I was aware of the terrain and the climbs; however, I had never done it before with 38 miles already on my legs.  There were a few sections of that last part that I wad dreading going in because the first 38 is mainly downhill with a few small climbs and a bunch of flat areas. Whatever the case, I was excited to get things rolling last Saturday and grateful to be doing the traditional point to point course.  I learned last year from going out to fast and not being patient and conservative the first 38 miles.  It bit me in the ass last year and that lack of patience almost caused me to DNF!!! This year, I had my plan to go smooth and steady until I saw Robin at mile 38 and then it was time to pick it up a bit.  Oh, the other thing that wasn’t in play this year was my crew. Isabella had gymnastics in the AM and Alaina’s soccer coach called a last-minute scrimmage for 4pm so, rather than have Robin driving all over the place, like last year, we bagged the idea of them being at a number of the aid stations.  This was the 2nd year for us doing this race, I new the course, so there wasn’t that tremendous need.  Of course, I always want to see them and have them there; it is certainly a pick-me-up, and this is a tough course, with the heat too, it was going to be another challenge, but, we decided Robin can just meet me at mile 38, roughly the mid-point aid station, and then she can gather the girls to see me at the finish.  I also had my buddy, Jeff Beck, packing me for the last 11 miles so after discussing it, this made the most sense.  Hell, I was going to be spending several hours running one of the most beautiful courses that I’ve had the great fortunate to run, with over 700 others on a beautiful February day.  I was in my happy place 😊.
 The 3am alarm went off and I actually had a good night’s rest.  Got into my race day morning routine and Robin was gracious enough to drop me off at the shuttle, not too far from our house, to take us all up to the start line, about a 45-minute drive. On the bus, I had a cool conversation with a younger dude, from New Mexico, who drove over the day before, camped out, and was doing the same that night after he got done before driving back home in the AM. I will say it again but a thousand THANKS to Robin for supporting me through this wacky and wild sport.  Well, and again to Aravaipa for hosting so many races close to our home 😊.  We arrived at the high school and this was so much better than last year.  We were in a big tent, with a few heaters last year prior to race start trying to keep ourselves sheltered from the snow.  This year, although it was 32* at start, we were inside the high school gym.  I was stretched out on the floor, getting a good rest and relaxing, shedding my layers about 5 minutes before heading out to the start line.  I was in a calm and chill place which certainly gets your mind right before tackling 62 miles.  With a few pre-race announcements, we were off taking our lap around the track, hearing cheers and support from the folks that were lining the course, and several minutes later, we began seeing the beauty that is this course.  I shared a few pictures of my favorite, the Bradshaw Mountains; you can see a bit of snow on them from the storm earlier this week.  At this point, so early in the race it was smooth, slow and steady.  Even though there was a chill, I got rid of my long sleeve and gloves less than 20 minutes in and was feeling great in a t-shirt.  The majority of this race is single-track; to a point where it is tough to get by one another.  You have to be very patient or very polite to get by folks.    My plan was to just stay smooth and steady and my fellow runners helped me with that plan.  I kept coming up on groups every so many miles and hitching onto their train as the caboose, just keeping stride with them.  This worked great for the first 25 miles or so then people started to get a bit fatigued and the passing began.  Over the course of the first 37+ miles, I had the chance to run with a number of groups, most had cool stories to tell and their own reason for being out there.  I did have the great fortune to run with a few folks running their first 100K and many from out of state, which was cool.  Shared a few miles with a woman from Wisconsin that shares that same love for Spotted Cow beer as my wife.  Even after running 62 miles, the sound of Spotted Cow beer doesn’t get my juices flowing; more on that later 😊.  The first aid station is probably my favorite, just for the views.  You get there, stop to fill up your water/hydration, maybe get some nutrition in and then look out over the valley you are about to run into. At this point, you are at almost at the highest point of the race and it is mostly downhill for the next few hours. It is an epic view.  The next aid station, around mile 12-13 is worked by a running group out her, the Arizona Traileggars, that I have run with a few times. There are a number of great folks that we’ve become friends with over the last year + and it was great to see them there.  Thanks Meghan, Brian, John and all of the Traileggars for being there.  You guys, as always, were wonderful throughout. The next stop was Bumble Bee Ranch.  This aid station last year, was the favorite of Alaina and Robin.  It goes through a small ranch town (population 11) and the aid station is the actual ranch.  It is beautiful and very, very western.  This year there was no stopping or seeing the family. I basically ran right through, grabbed some water, and was on my way.  
 Heading into the second 3rd of the race, I knew the next aid station would have some more friends at it volunteering but this section was the toughest part of the first half.  Although it is short, there are a few climbs and you are very exposed to the sun, just above.  It was great to see Rich and Erin at the aid station. They got me in and out quick, fueled up, and on my way.  I was excited to get moving because in another 13 or so miles I would be hitting Black Canyon City aid station and seeing Robin for the first, and only time, until the finish.  Prior to reaching her though, there were a couple of climbs, and a water crossing. This part of the course we didn’t see last year because the rivers where to high.  I will say though, crossing those this year, there were 4 totals, was fantastic.  The highest was about just below the knee (well, for me, I am 5’6” 😊).  These crossings gave us time to dip our head in the water, soak our tired knees and muscles, and cool down from the rising temps. It seemed that everyone I was running with at those crossings, at the time, were refreshed leaving them, at least for a few miles. 😊 At this point last year is when the dark spot, the pain cave, was reached.  This year, although my knees where definitely sore and I can feel the pain coming; I knew, after a few more hours, I would be sitting down having a beer and sleeping in my bed.  Seriously though, that was the thought going through my head.  Yes, my knees where hurting, just like pretty much every race I do. There were some other inconveniences too, but nothing out of the normal for a race like this.  And, in those races, I was fine; acknowledging that pain, but also realizing that pain would go away soon enough.  Actually, I did learn, from a race in October, TO SLOW DOWN!!!! I slowed my pace quite a bit, even going down hills, did some hiking at some points, and after several minutes, my knees felt better.  I would run for a few miles, the pain would come back, I would repeat the process. Before I knew it, I was heading into Black Canyon aid and seeing Robin.  She was good to go with my hydration, had some suggestions for food, change of clothes, headlamp, and some more sunscreen.  In and out quickly and the best part was the kiss and mental support. My mind was in such a better place at this point compared to last year.  Robin saw it, fed off of it, and used it to keep me moving through the aid station.  There were no thoughts about DNF-ing.  We were discussing logistics and the potential meeting time at the finish line. We came to an agreement and said I would notify her once I picked up Jeff at mile 51 and go from there.  
 At this point, mile 38, the race was going along as best as I could have wanted.  I was where I wanted to be timewise, and I was feeling good.  However, the next 25 miles are the toughest of this course.  And yes, although I had tackled these miles in the past, never before with that amount of mileage on my legs….and my knees. There are a few nice climbs, tough climbs, and much of the terrain is technical.  My mind was running though a self-check just to make sure I was good to go.  I had about 13+ miles before I was to pick up Jeff and my head was trying to notice the western sky as the sun began to grow closer and closer to the horizon.  The next 7 + miles to the next aid station was smooth.  I caught up to two folks, a man and woman, running at a nice pace so I tagged along.  We had a conversation about where we were from, the girl was from Pittsburgh and went to Temple University, so we had a lot of PA stories to tell.  The miles were ticking off quickly and before we knew it, we were at the aid station and I breezed in and out.  Next stop was picking up Jeff and I was really looking forward to tackling some miles with him. It had been two months since he and I did the McDowell Mountain Frenzy 50 mile together and we also have good conversations on the trails.  A little less than 2 miles from meeting Jeff at the aid station, there was another river crossing followed by a nice climb; one that gives you some time to think. After wading through the water, which felt great on my body….and knees, I started the climb up the mountain.  As you climb, you can look back and see the canyon and the river, seeing people tackle the crossing.  It was just getting to 530pm and my mind just thought of the folks that would likely be crossing that river, in the dark, at about 10-1030pm. Fortunately, the temps were not going to get lower than 50 or so, but still, once that sun goes down, the desert floor gets cold and that river was going to be frigid.  My thoughts went out to them.  Not sure where that had come from at that time but, your mind goes in all different directions during these races.  
 A few more steps up and some rolling downhills I was hitting the aid station, picking up Jeff, and, as a pleasant surprise, seeing his brother Greg.  We caught up for a couple of minutes, checked our gear, and then we were off to finish up the last 11 miles or so.  We would have one more aid station, a little less than 4 miles from the finish but once Jeff and I were together, in my opinion, we were hitting the toughest part of the course.  There are two, long, significant climbs, almost back to back, before descending down to the last aid station.  At this point the sun was behind the horizon, it was cooling down, and I was pretty damn tired. For the most part of the 51+ miles at this time I head my shit together and didn’t catch many toes and eat it.  Others on the course didn’t fare as well.  I can count about 20 folks that I actually saw fall during this race.  I may see one, maybe two, but over the course, at this point of 50 + miles, I had scene about 20.  And these weren’t soft falls, people got banged up, blood, bruisers, tears. It was brutal. Fortunately, I didn’t have a yard sale but did catch a toe a couple of times and had just about enough of that; so much so I was exaggerating lifting my knees.  Jeff and I were making good time; yes, I had an idea of what I wanted to do and, although my watch battery died, Jeff was making sure we were on pace to cross the line when I wanted to.  The slow and steady from several hours before picked up to a brisk pace.  Less than a mile out from the last aid station, we hit a smooth jeep trail, and surprisingly, my legs and knees were feeling real good.  We stopped real quick at the aid to top off some water, I sent a quick text to Robin, letting her know we were on our way, and……Jeff and I hiked, for a few moments. I am grateful for my friendship with Jeff.  We haven’t done a ton of running and we’ve only paced each other a few times but Jeff man, he knows when to say stuff, and when not to say stuff.  He gave me some words of encouragement and we were off to finish this thing.  The next 2 miles or so is on that smooth jeep trail and we moved.  We cruised into the single track again and Jeff gave me a “about 1.5 miles out,” included the time, and I knew we would be beating my time from last year easy.  About a mile out, with a little climb, Jeff gave me an update and at this point, it was running into the finish line.  I crossed to see Robin and the girls, got a great big hug from a friend giving out the finish awards (cools surprise and great to see him), hugs from the girls, and of course, a big thank you to Jeff. We did what we set out to do and for me, it was a great day, on a great course, with great people, creating great memories.  My body feels very good and my recovery is great.  Still feel some wonkiness in my knees but that is to be expected.  
 These races are weird, wacky, nutty, unwavering, unpredictable………for the most part.  Yes, there were moments that I asked myself why I continue to do them but that feeling you get, and I am not even talking about the finish; sure, that part is great; but the other stuff.  Robin at the Black Canyon aid station & Jeff the last 11 miles; saying what they did, not even knowing likely, that it is what I needed to hear at that present moment.  A smile or laugh from an aid station volunteer.  A high five from a spectator, you don’t even know, as you cruise into an aid station, saying “looking great runner.”  That connection you have with someone out there suffering like you are and dealing with that pain cave like you are.  Yeah, those are weird, wacky, nutty, and incredibly special moments that I have not been able to find elsewhere.  And, I am not yet read to give them up.  
 Oh yeah, and the PBR’s that Jeff and I enjoyed waiting in line for the shuttle (and maybe drinking on the shuttle back to the car) were fantastic.  Another perk of running 100K, ice cold PBR at the finish, and grilled cheese, fantastic grilled cheese.  Until the next adventure, coming soon in a few months.  Thanks again to Robin, Isabella, Alaina, Jeff, Meghan, Brian, John, the aid station volunteers, race volunteers, Aravaipa staff, fellow runners, spectators, and crews, pacers, all involved.  Thanks for making the BC100K another awesome experience.  See you next year!!
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whimsiesofanerdgirl · 5 years
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Bookish << Rewind + Fast Forward >>
2018 READING RECAP
Welcome back book nerd! And more importantly HAPPY FREAKING NEW YEAR!!!
I’m SO glad to be back here with you and today I’m going over a recap of my reading habits from the past year. Or should I say lack of reading? Maybe you’re feeling the same way and that’s totally okay, because now with 2019 we have a fresh clean slate to start anew! Keep reading on to see what my reading was like last year and how I plan to learn from it.
So as you’ve already probably guessed, I no where near reached my Goodreads goal that I had originally set for 100 books. I knew this was a huge goal to begin with, but I thought it would push me to read more due to the big number. Boy, was I wrong! I’ve learned about this from not only myself, but many other book bloggers that felt that the Goodreads goal ended up hindering their ability to read to their fullest potential which sounds crazy! Right?
Here’s the thing though, when we set ourselves up for such a big goal it kinda feels daunting instead of inspiring. The problem is we’re setting such a big number that it doesn’t feel achievable. Here’s what to do instead. Lower your expectations and your Goodreads goal. Or as some other people have done, DITCH THE GOODREADS GOALS. They’re more like guidelines anyway. Haha. Really, though, just erase last year’s number from your mind and set the bar lower or take it off the board completely. Your TBR shelf will thank you for it.
I only read 24 books last year. I KNOW IT. ONLY 24!?! YES! ONLY 24 FREAKING BOOKS! Tbh though, that’s a higher number than the year before. I may have mentioned this in a past post, but I had so much stuff going on in my life that I didn’t get to devote a lot of time to reading due to work, college, having a social life, getting a new job, moving into our house, etc. So every year so far has been an improvement and I’m super proud of that!
Here are some things I noticed from my own personal reading habits:
I only read 24 books
l READ 24 BOOKS!
I didn’t immerse myself, but I got more involved in the book community on Twitter
This is saying something considering I’ve never in my whole life thought I’d be participating on the Twitter platform EVER
Barely blogged
Again, I set too high of a goal without putting an action or workflow into motion, BUT I did figure out my blogging process so I’m considering this another win for me
Social media played too big a part in my life
It’s time to knuckle down and either block it or set my phone to airplane mode
No schedule was set for my reading or blogging
I’m still getting into the habit of updating on my blog and reading again, without setting high standards for myself
If you follow me on my socials to get my updates on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook you’ll know that my grandpa passed away in the middle of December. I took it pretty hard, especially so because he was the first person in my immediate family to pass away so it was a hard pill to swallow. Even though this was such a huge unfortunate event in my life it helped drive a point harder into me - that we only get so many days on this earth and we should try to make the most of it. Whether it be reading more, bookish adventures, and other non-reading events. We need to live in the moment.
BOOKISH GOALS
Now that I’ve gotten to know my tendencies and habits I can learn from them to set myself up for 20 even bigger goals this year:
Read 50+ books
Read books from my favorite genres as well as ones I’m not so familiar with:
Adventure
Classics
Contemporary
Culturally Diverse
Dystopian
Elfpunk
Entrepreneurship
Fairytale
Fantasy
Folklore
Historical Fiction
Horror
LGBT+
Mental Health
Mythology
Nonfiction
Paranormal
Personal Development
Poetry
Retellings
Romance
Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Seasonal
Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
Sister Reads (Optional - any books I can con my sister into reading with me whether it be mutual interest or stories about sisters)
Buddy Reads with my friends
Spirituality
Steampunk
Western
DNF books (After 50-100 pages? This is something I’m still learning to do)
Actually START booktubing (I literally have one video on there so far and it’s just a tutorial on Goodreads)
Be consistent with my blog and socials
Request ARCs from Authors/Publishers
Receive physical ARCs
Reread HP? I’ve been wanting to do this for a really long time now. I’m curious to know what it will be like to read them as an adult.
Write my story consistently (weekly)
Reorganize our books that have just been moved from the spare ‘oom into the living room
Utilize my local library more
Read more often -> limit myself on social media apps - they don’t serve me as much in the time that I have
Create a (NEW) 2019 Frontlist + Backlist TBR list
Become a bookish merch rep
Plan + Publish content (consistently) for an entire year
Sign up to be an affiliate seller
Try out the Book in a Jar TBR method
If I don’t feel like doing a full blown out review for a book do a mini review instead
Take more pictures/videos/vlogs of me and my books
Become more involved in the book community - whether that be through social media, challenges, readathons, or book clubs
And that’s it for today’s blog post! So far I’ve got about 5 of these checked off so far - so psyched! How did you do with your own goals last year and what new goals are your setting for 2019? Will you be taking part in the Goodreads challenge? Leave me an answer in a comment below!
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