Warning: very brief reference to Anxiety, and a (thankfully unrelated) brief reference to drugging people
'“You can’t stay, the guards’ rounds are random at night and…”
They would have a heart attack if they saw Flash and Supergirl eating cookies in his cell.'
This was sweet and I needed it.
Sometimes, you need the sweetness in fanfic. And this wasn't so fluffy that I get a weird social Anxiety backlash (it's fun to be me sometimes.)
It was just really nice, y'know?
It's Thursday, I'm tired, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!
Warning: pet death, grief
Did I intend to make this a 2-month wrap-up?
No. No I did not.
Did it become abundantly clear that I wasn't gonna get April's post done by the end of May?
Yes. Yes it did.
April was awful.
Really.
You know how my criteria for a good month is one where no-one I care about - human or animal - dies, almost dies, or gets a life-changing diagnosis?
April was not a good month.
My beautiful cat died, dearest nerdlets.
And the world feels off without him. There's a hole in my chest.
So most of the rest of April + May has been trying to get used to life without him.
...It still hurts like hell.
That boy was my everything, and I have cried every single day since I lost him.
But I kept going, despite the urge to stay in bed and wail.
(Turns out I'm frighteningly good at wailing - with frighteningly being the key word. I... did not know I could make that kind of noise. I freaked my parents the hell out.)
So, y'know, if you've got the chance to check out the posts I somehow managed to write despite the separation of my soul from my body, that'd be great... 😅
Comics Wrap-Up
Was Not Expecting That! - Wenglish in Marvel's Echo and more
Iconic and Irreplaceable - Joker: Folie a Deux and more
I Can Already Tell - X-men '97 and more
My Fangirling Heart Is Singing Right Now! - Deadpool & Wolverine and more
You Learn Stuff, I Guess - Chibird and more
The Freaking Chaos - Marvel's What If...? and more
Actually Quite Lovely - X-Men '97 and more
Gracing The Waves of the Interwebs - Deadpool & Wolverine and more
Wholesome and Positive - The Cursed Princess Club and more
Friday Fics Fix
The Nature of the Void - A The Umbrella Academy (TUA) fic exploring the nature of death, grief, and the Void
Most of You Aren't Gonna Read This - A The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TFATWS) horror novella that is extremely well-written. I loved it. I hated it. It's so good.
Because I Am Trash - A TFATWS fic where Sam and Bucky are stuck in an industrial freezer. I stand by my life choices.
Cyberpunk Stucky - In a nutshell: Stucky (Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes from the MCU in a relationship,) as detectives in space. But it's so much more than that. I would legit. buy this as an original novel - it's that good.
Vampires and a Smidge of FrostIron - Everything's better with vampires, right? Plus a little bit of Tony Stark/Loki love.
Klaus' Ghosts In A Specific Trope - I like the fandom-specific trope of Klaus literally showing his demons to people who deny or minimise them - the emo goblin spaghetti brain very much likes, OK?
Bucky's A Literal Demon and Sam's A Literal Angel - TFATWS
So. Freaking. Beautiful - A TUA Klaus/Dave fic with Klaus noticing that, in some lights, Dave's eyes are the exact same shade of blue as his powers, the ghosts, etc. etc. Which leads to a whole lot of introspection from both of them and... it's beautiful.
Nerd Church
Can Books 'Talk' To Us? - Do you think books can send us messages?
It's OK (Just Keep Going) - Brought to you by the art of giving myself a pep talk and then posting it on the internet 😅
My Heart Is Broken... - My beautiful boy is gone. 💔
Random Audiobook Ramblings - Walking is boring and books are awesome
Unpopular Opinion: I've Never Liked Gavin and Stacey - Sorry, not sorry. It feels uncomfortable - like Wales through an English lens.
What Does 'Enough' Even Mean? - Has anyone ever reached ‘enough’?
Things Happen When They Happen - I'm trying to remind myself that, so long as I'm working on things, they'll be ready when they're ready.
I Quit Google AdSense - Because this is way too many hoops to jump through for £7
Other Non-Review Posts
Month In Review(s) - March 2024
So, that's April and May for yours truly.
How was yours?
Talk to me! 😊💬
You can follow me on Twitter @CeeDoraReads, on Pinterest, and on Dora Reads @ BlogLovin. For more ways to support me, check out the Support Me page
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| Image by André Rau from Pixabay |
'But, anyway, the point is….The vibes were off. Of this, Klaus was certain.'
Yes, this is The Umbrella Academy (TUA) again.
Because I'm complete trash and refuse to feel guilty about that 😅
It's Thursday, this is Dora Reads, so let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!
Whatever else happens, Trump is guilty.
Finally there are criminal, legal, marks next to his name which can be - have been - proved.
'Sometimes, Klaus can’t look at Dave.'
OK, now that the trailer's out for the very lastest series of The Umbrella Academy (TUA) - for which I am both excited but also sad, because, lastest - this week's F3 seems super relevant.
...Happy coincidences, and all that jazz.
(Or maybe I need to read fanfiction from a wider range of fandoms - rec 'em in the comments if you got 'em!)
It's Thursday, I miss having a boy cat around (no shade to my girl cat - she rocks,) let's get some superhero-y comics-y goodness!
'The first time Bucky laid his beady yellow snake eyes on Sam, however, he knew none of the other demons’ vices held a candle to his own.
He fell in love with an angel, after all.'
I don't know whether I liked this week's fic.
...I mean, it's good. I just don't know whether or not I liked it.
Happens sometimes *shrugs*
It's Thursday, I am totally not writing this last minute (shifty glances,) so let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!
I'm trying to remind myself that, so long as I'm working on things, they'll be ready when they're ready.
I'm an impatient person by nature - I want things done yesterday or earlier, thanks very much - but that's not the way to get sh** done in the long term.
'Five was scowling, “Try harder. We’re trying to figure out-“
“Blah, blah, how to get home. I know .” Klaus rolls his eyes. “I’d like to see you try to listen with all this noise.”'
I love it when there are tropes that are specific to the fandom.
Like, someone -
(or several someones, separately, in fandom harmony,)
- will come up with an idea - like, for argument's sake: Klaus from The Umbrella Academy (TUA) makes the ghosts visible to his siblings and they Freak. The eff. Out. -
(If you're new here - I can't swear, because my mother. If you're not new here - I still can't swear, because my mother. I can only swear in fiction, I don't know why. 😅)
- and then fandom will take this idea to their beautiful, nerdy, hearts, and freaking run with it.
It's Thursday, I'm tired, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!
'"Science waits for no man, Steve! Also Loki there's a welcome basket on your coffee table, let me know if you need help with anything!"'
This is some good, ol' fashioned, Avengers fanfic.
...Only Tony Stark is a vampire, because why not?
It's Thursday, we live in a ridiculous timeline, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness right here on Dora Reads!
...confessions of a rebel Welsh chick, I guess. 😅
OK - I know that there are international fans of this series, but since it's less well-known outside the UK, a little background:
Gavin and Stacey is a BBC sitcom about a Welsh woman from Barry and an English dude from Essex meeting on the internet, falling in love, and trying to get together despite being from opposite ends of the country.
It's also where James Corden hit the big time, in the UK at least. So... there's that. Make of it what you will 😅
'“Okay, get up, the both of you.” He took out his phone, typed Shuri’s address in, and sent it to Steve’s number. “You’re going to get blood all over the upholstery. And then I’ll have to set fire to it, and then to you for making me sacrifice my good sofa.”'
I love it when fanfic authors have the determination, the dedication, the goddamn verve to write full-length novels.
When those full-length novels are so freaking good - so well thought out, so fleshed out in terms of world-building, so passionate and compelling, that you would legit. buy this as an original novel?
OH MY GOD!!!
It's Thursday, somehow it's May now (? #Rude,) so let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!
...a post brought to you by my boredom with walking, and my doctor's insistence that, if I go walkies, it'll help with my mental health. (I'm not buying it - it's never helped before, but I'll try anything.)
When there's been no rain for a couple of days in a row, it's not so bad 'cos I can go to the woods, but otherwise said woods are like a very slippery mudslide.
So if it's been raining within 48-72 hours, then I have to walk around streets and shops and sh** so I don't trip, fall, and end up in the river/bang my head on a tree/anger one of The Fair Folk by falling into them or summat.
*Sigh* The woods are my natural habitat, dammit!
'"No, Sam, you're on vacation. Phone it in, let someone else do it."
"Bucky, it's an hour. We can go check it out, then stop at mine and get my stuff and be at the airport by five, half five at the latest. We've got time."'
Narrator: it did not take an hour.
...OK, so this is a The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TFATWS) fic because I am trash and have run out of effs to give. 😘
It's Thursday, I'm tired, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!
Warning: pet death
One of my cats died this week.
My beautiful boy had a seizure in my arms, and never fully came back. We had to take him down the vets to ease his journey.
It's Thursday, I have had a truly awful week, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!
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The world is a total mess, but it's OK, just keep going.
There's war and floods and famine and disease, but it's OK, just keep going.
The things that bump in the night are real, but it's OK, just keep going.
'He feels faint himself, his head swimming with a startling lack of oxygen. Stars peek through the leaves ahead, and he turns his eyes upwards, counting them over and over again.'
Never have I been tested so much by my 'if it's well-written, I must rec' rule...
...I genuinely didn't know whether to rec this fic.
It's Thursday, I am freaking tired, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness.
March wasn't great.
Not terrible - but then, the bar for terrible is pretty high (or low, depending on your perspective, I guess,) at this point - but not great.
Basically: my mental health sucks at the moment.
Do you think that books can send us messages?
I've been re-reading Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl -
so that I can finally move on to the second book in the series with some sort of familiarity with these characters because my brain is swiss cheese
- and I'd forgotten that there was a scene, in the library, where the books are 'talking' to the main character.
'He grieves quietly.
The world is ending in three days; actually, truly ending.
Odd, how it feels like his already has.'
This is well-written, and you know we have a rule around these parts - if I find a well-written fic, I have to rec. it.
So - here we are! Rec'ing the fic.
It's Thursday, it's somehow April, this is Dora Reads, so let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!
Can someone tell me how to assess your own writing?
Because I am not good at judging the quality of the stuff I write!
"Jesus Buck," Sam says, "I leave for three days. Three days, and I come back to find you half dead in our kitchen."
Hopefully by the time this post goes up, AO3 will be back online.
AO3, for those unfamiliar, is the primary place for fanfiction on the internet - it's the most user-friendly, covers the broadest range of fandoms, and has the most people (as far as I can tell,) actively uploading fanfiction.
It's also where I read 99% of my fanfiction - because of said user-friendliness, and also because I can download to my e-reader - and so 99.99% of my fic recs are from AO3.
It's Thursday, it hasn't been a great week for me, so let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!
The participation trophies were never the problem.
Fanfiction can open your mind to new perspectives, ideas, styles, explore ideas and characters and art forms...
...or it can 'just' be a lot of fun. (Which is pretty impressive in and of itself.)
So I figured I'd give you four fun fanfics to enjoy (because I'm nice like that.)
As always with these rec lists, please check the original rec'ing post for spoiler status and Content Warnings.
Because this is me doing the rec'ing - it's entirely possible that even the fun fics need Content Warnings 😅
It's Thursday, I'm tired, this is Dora Reads - so let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!
Warning: this post discusses racism, ableism, and general prejudice, including reference to dehumanising language and slurs
I've been re-reading* The Princess Diaries for a while now.
For those not aware: this was a massively popular YA series by Meg Cabot from the early 00s where a New York teenager named Mia Thermopolis finds out she's actually the Princess of Genovia. (As you do.)
There also 2 films starring Anne Hathaway, which are fun, but don't really match the tone of the books.
*Well, re-reading the first couple and reading the rest for the first time 😅
'It was impossible.
Well.
Don’t let that stop you, O. B. had said.'
I kind of love this fic.
I mean... obviously, because I'm rec'ing, and, also obviously, I tend to say that a lot. But... yeah.
It's Thursday, this is Dora Reads, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness! (Woo!)
February for yours truly wasn't too bad.
...It wasn't great either, tbh. But it's still one of the better months I've had lately, so I'll take it!
'Diego throws the knife with a grunt of frustration. It lands perfectly positioned in the wall.
“Good job,” Luther says dryly. “You killed the wallpaper.”'
One of the extremely few issues I have with The Umbrella Academy (TUA) is that the Hargreeves siblings are so emotionally constipated that we never get to bathe in the angst with them.
Like - I'm talking 'Gerard Way in the video for Ghost of You' style angst-bathing. We don't get much of that, and my emo goblin spaghetti brain would very much like that. *nods sagely*
It's Thursday, this is Dora Reads, so let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!
We're so used to seeing our media as the finished product that we rarely think about the component parts...
...the drafts. The demos. The practice runs and prototypes.
