Six Sentence Sunday

Eternally grateful to @kiwiana-writes for the tag, look at me actually doing the thing on the day it's supposed to be done! Thank you, thank you, please, you can hold your applause 😂

This week has seen more of that slow, plodding progress with the Charm Offensive AU, and we're still in Henry's POV for this week's six(ish) sentences!

“How’s it going, love? How was the first night of filming?” Agonizing. Eternal. Completely demoralizing. “It was fine,” he says. Pez looks at him pointedly, and Henry remembers how hard a sell that might be sporting two black eyes that make him look not unlike a panda bear. “Okay, so parts of it were worse than others.” “Clearly. How about the parts with the women? Can I safely assume that it, at least, wasn’t one of them that did this to your gorgeous face?” Henry shakes his head. “You’d be correct. It was one of their jealous cavemen exes, but I suppose that’s on security more than it is any of the women.” “You’re damn right it is! It sounds to me like a well-timed phone call to Mary Mountbatten might be a good idea.” It’s the most legitimately angry he’s ever heard his best friend, and it warms the pit of his stomach, settles something that’s been roiling since the moment he landed at LAX.  “Please, don’t do that. You and I both know I need this, and besides. The women aren’t terrible!” Henry says, although he very much wishes that he could let Pez tell the show’s executive producer exactly where it was she could shove her promises of increased security. But, what he wanted — what he needed — more than that was to prove to the world, and to the board at his future publishing house, that he was perfectly capable of being just your average guy.  Your average gorgeous, wealthy, literati nepo-baby who’s skeletons had come roaring so gloriously out his closet at his televised book announcement that he’d been immediately in danger of losing the entire deal.  “Ah yes! ‘Not terrible’, exactly the rousing romantic endorsement Quest for Love has built it’s empire on.”

Tags are below the cut, and as always I'm absolutely rabid to know what y'all are working on, so if I missed you in the tags, feel free to participate anyway! Just make sure to tag me so I don't miss it!

@dumbpeachjuice @cheesecurdsgravyandfries @orchidscript @everwitch-magiks @happiness-of-the-pursuit @indomitable-love @celaestis1 @cricketnationrise @rmd-writes @inexplicablymine @welcometololaland @smc-27 @celeritas2997 @clottedcreamfudge @lilythesilly @sparklepocalypse @nontoxic-writes @tintagel-or-cockleshells @inexplicablymine @hgejfmw-hgejhsf

Wallace Polsom, Life During Wartime: Charm Offensive (2022), paper collage, 18.7 x 24.5 cm.

*entering a fandom, seeing only two other people there*

*cracks knuckles* I’ll do this myself, I guess

My top 5 books of 2022

(from someone who struggles to get motivated to read and only read about 15 books last year)

5) Heartstopper 1 & 2 - Alice Osman

The first two Heartstopper books really spoke to me and my experience as a bi person when I was in high school. They're SO easy to read, and they really got me out of a slump. I found that after the second book I didn't enjoy the next two as much, although they were still good. Be warned that there are mentions of EDs and suicide after the first book. 7.5/10

4) Sorcery of Thorns - Margaret Rogerson

This book perfectly captures all of the elements I love of a mildly cheesy fantasy romance. We've got forbidden love, mystery, and some good plot twists. ALSO, IT'S A STAND ALONE BOOK!!!! HALLELUJAH!!! My one complaint is that the.last quarter of the book feels very slow, and ultimately it has a bit of an anticlimactic ending. However I still think it's worth reading. 7.6/10

3) Howls Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones

Okay. A classic. But an easy to read one. Such a cute and welcoming story, and if you're a fan of the movie, this will give you so much more context for what's going on (the Ghibli film is one of my favourite movies of all time, and watching it again after reading the book I saw so many things I'd never noticed before!). There is one point where the story got a tad confusing but it honestly didn't bother me at all. 8/10

2) The Charm Offensive - Alison Cochurn

I finished this book in less than 2 days. Absolutely adorable LGBTQ love story. I love the concept of the Bachelor-esque TV show. I was entertained the entire way though and genuinely laughed at certain parts. The characters feel loveable and real, particularly Dev, who I found super relatable and just a very well rounded character. However upon researching, some Indian-Americans have said that his character fell a bit flat when it came to representing their culture. Overall, super duper easy to get through, very in-a-slump friendly. Highly recommend if you're looking for an easy rom-com read. 9/10

1) Ninth House - Leigh Bardugo

My god. Stunning. In her lane. Absolutely thriving. This book made me love reading again after such a long time of it feeling like a chore. The world feels so magical and the characters are all so loveable in their own ways. The mix of fantasy, crime, mystery (and potentially a sprinkling of romance in later books) just works so well in this story. As you read the main story which is happening in Alex's present day, there are also bits and pieces of her past woven through, and you start to put pieces together of what's actually going on here. Highly, highly recommend. I can't wait for the next book in the series. 12/10

Book #28:

Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun

This has to be the cutest meetcute ever! Dev has been in love with the idea of love, Prince Charming, and happily ever after ever since watching his first episode of The Bachelor type reality show Ever After at the age of 10. A he currently works at as a handler for the female contestants. Well, this season he’ll have to be the handler for Charlie, the current Prince Charming.

Charlie is only using the show to help him get back into the tech world, which he’s been blacklisted from after having an “episode” which the board of his company used to get him ousted. He’s hoping this show will be his redemption to help him get back what he lost and makes him feel “whole”.

The final “rose” ceremony is the cutest thing over! If every Bachelor and Bachelorette ended like this, I might actually watch this show. If they can make a movie out of Red, White, & Royal Blue (which of course I’m going to watch) then they should make a movie out of this which I would happily watch. Can we get Dev Patel play Dev cause I am here for it. Who could play Charlie?

Overall: ⭐️ 4.5/5 🌶 4/5

Can y’all guess what I’ve been reading?? Prob not

Poetry Corner

No wonder they're fascinated in Polynesia Uncharted by the very sight of Peter Potamus underwater, "doing what the natives do" by their nakedness, diving in a rather graceful style (even for a hippo) as makes the natives rather endearing of him.

And whose very presence even attracts the attention of dolphins in the local waters at their most affectionate and most friendly, the irresistable sort which can have dolphins attract such natives for some "quality time" of an especially romantic sort. One bound to confirm such an interspecies friendship in as most wonderfully magical manner.

And to see Peter Potamus glide naked over coral reefs primeval, feeling satisfied as much as delighted at the sensation--especially in and among the company of equally naked gals-- can't help but reveal Peter's charm having an aquatically-driven side as well.

*************

@warnerbrosentertainment @joey-gatorman @ultrakeencollectionbreadfan @theweekenddigest @funtasticworld @railguner34 @archive-archives @themineralyoucrave @thebigdingle @thylordshipofbutts @screamingtoosoftly @zodiacfan32 @groovybribri @jellystone-enjoyer @indigo-corvus @iheartgod175 @warnerbrosent-blog

Finished the Charm Offensive. Loved everything except the ending. I didn't like how it just ends on live television. I wanted it to be private between just the 2 of them.

Ep. 37 A Song of Salt

Tony Robles speaks with poet, Keali’i MacKenzie, The Mana of Salt, and visits a reading in Greensboro, NC where he speaks to Caroline Cottom, about love and nuclear testing and Ross White about EKG’s, poetry, and banned books.

Keali’i Mackenzie, Caroline Cottom, Ross White NEW TIME!!! L&BH is going back to being a one-hour show beginning Wednesday, November 29, at a new time: 4-5 PST: WPVMfm.org or 103.7 fm on your radio in Asheville, NC. The Podcast, will now be available on Wednesdays instead of Thursdays. Thank you for listening! Listen & Be Heard Episode 37 Subscribe at Spotify Subscribe at Apple Subscribe at…

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...okay, so its technically a Thursday, but who's counting? Yesterday was one of those days I was laid out by hormonal fatigue, so any kind of in-progress anything simply wasn't happening! Luckily, today is better, which means I'm back on that Charm Offensive AU bullshit!

He stretches his left leg behind him to join his right, and inhales as he sinks his hips, exhales as he presses his body up and back into down dog.  “You look unfairly attractive when you do that,” his best friend and manager Percy “Pez” Okonjo says wistfully, and Henry looks at the screen of his ipad with one eyebrow quirked.  Sitting in front of a giant picture window featuring a stunning view of a pre-dawn downtown London, Pez throws his hands up in helplessness. “I am simply a man with eyes, H, it’s not my fault that in that process I’m able to assess and appreciate the absolute stellar ass you’ve been blessed with.” That startles a little laugh out of Henry as he swings he bends forward and presses his nose to his knees, inhales as he presses his palms flat to the floor and swings his legs through so that he’s sitting cross-legged on his mat. He reaches for his water bottle and takes a long drink before he sweeps the sweaty tendrils of bangs off his forehead.  “So, is there a reason you’re calling me before the crack of dawn? Other than to violate several HR policies relating to sexual harassment?”

As always, I'm feral for everything y'all are working on, so I'm just going to tag a whole bunch of folks regardless of the fact that I'm a day late!

@dumbpeachjuice @cheesecurdsgravyandfries @orchidscript @everwitch-magiks @happiness-of-the-pursuit @indomitable-love @celaestis1 @cricketnationrise @rmd-writes @inexplicablymine @welcometololaland @smc-27 @celeritas2997 @clottedcreamfudge @lilythesilly @sparklepocalypse @nontoxic-writes @tintagel-or-cockleshells @inexplicablymine

2023: PRC Charm Offensive Takes Shape

Is a PRC charm offensive gathering force? Now the first rule of a charm offensive is not to be offensive. Today’s page three Halloween commentary in People’s Daily is by the Voice of China commentator. Like a lot of things in these tea reading days with general political tightening and fear as Secretary Xi continues to tighten the screws, with fewer foreign correspondents on the ground reporting…

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oh, isn't that one of the loveliest things ever?

—Dev and Charlie, from The Charm Offensive

Album Review: Slyder Smith & The Oblivion Kids - Charm Offensive (Cargo Records)

An apt title because this music is undeniably charming and Slyder Smith & The Oblivion Kids know exactly how to deliver a boisterous rock experience.

Slyder Smith takes centre stage leading his new power trio, Slyder Smith & The Oblivion Kids (featuring Tim Emery on bass and drummer Rik Pratt). Their debut album ‘Charm Offensive’ will be released through Ray Records on 12” black vinyl, digipak CD and digital download on 19th August 2022, and is distributed worldwide via Cargo Records. An apt title because this music is undeniably charming and…

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*me finding myself relating to the love interests of the romance novels that seem like they got everything together and think they’re fooling everyone into thinking they got everything together but no one is fooled and nobody calls them on it so it’s one long ‘I love this anxious dumbass who won’t tell me any of their secrets because they think I don’t know they’re an anxious dumbass’”

Me: “Wait.”

this one goes out to all the canon-accurate dca truthers out there. also yeah hi these fuckers have me in a chokehold

Have a bunch of cute little chibis that I drew for Dazzling Bookish Shop! These are all designs for acrylic charms included in their monthly subscription (and sometimes their special editions!)

In order the books are: Wolfsong, Ravensong, Cemetery Boys, The Sunbearer Trials, All That's Left in the World, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Icebreaker, AFTG, Gideon the Ninth, The Charm Offensive, The Darkness Outside Us and Legend & Lattes ♥