* The Murder Between Us by Tal Bauer - I don't have to have Tal Bauer fomo anymore! A lot of m/m fans love his work, but most of the summaries were off-putting to me. No more fomo, I do not like his style. Melodramatic AF

* Snake Eater by T Kingfisher - I want to read more by Kingfisher. I liked this, but I DNF'd her earlier work Paladin's Grace. She's just going to be hot or miss for me and that's okay. Is it just me or ( Spoilers )

* 3 Days, 9 Months, 27 Years by John Scalzi - My first Scalzi book. I've heard odd things about a few of his books so I never read them. This was more of a novella and it was an Amazon First free read so I nabbed it. At first I thought it started with an expo dump, but then things begun to click. It stayed with me a bit, I kept thinking about it. I liked it.

* The Most Unusual Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy by Roan Parrish - Another established m/m author I'd never read. It was overstuffed, tried to do to much, wound up a mess. The sex scenes involving an AFAB trans person were great and didn't feel like the writer was trying to explain things to me, the reader. But yeah, pass.

My DNF pile for the year includes Paladin's Grace, Him and Check, Please. I nearly DNF'd The Murder Between Us, but decided to push through even as I rolled my eyes more and more. Not finishing a book makes me feel like I have too many open tabs, so I finished it just so my brain could close that tab and not think about it, try to keep the plot fresh in my mind.

That's it, that's the post.

Title: Assignation
Universe: Robot 8-chan, Kamen Rider Super-1
Character(s): Bara Bara Girl, Oki Kazuya
Rating: U
Warnings: N/A
Summary: “We’re thinking of expanding our influence, by the way,” the woman seated next to him remarked. “I’ve made mention of this before, perhaps, but I really do think that maybe cyborgs should fall within our jurisdiction.”
Length: 975 words
Author's Notes: Set shortly after Robot 8-chan episode #28. also: external link.



( Assignation )

+ Two days into the new year, two episodes into season 1 of The X-Files. I know we all agree Gillian Anderson is hot stuff, but are we talking about it enough?? Also, I remember being very annoyed at Scully's reluctance to believe in the supernatural as the show went on, given how much she'd experienced by then, but WOW does she have the patience of a saint in the beginning. Mulder is lucky he's cute. Also also, they really did smoosh these two together like a pair of dolls they wanted to kiss right from the start. Shippers must have been eating the wallpaper by episode five.

Can't wait for less UFOs, more bizarre horror cases.

+ Went to the local mall with my mom today, and I am now the proud owner of a 50% off memory foam pillow. Fingers crossed I vibe with it.

+ While my mom was looking for things for her calendar, I happened to spy a shiny new hardback of Mona Awad's Bunny, with funky pink bunny endpapers and sprayed edges. And so, silly me, with the goal of reading my damn physical books, came home with yet another physical book. Le sigh. At least I'm 98% sure I will vibe with this book something fierce.

+ Just did the final tagging for the last check in post of rec_cember. I'll be tallying the recs and fandoms covered tomorrow but spoiler: it's A LOT. If you're looking for something to read, I highly recommend having a look at the tag set. We got a really good variety.

+ Stranger Things has finally ended. I feel like they yanked Nancy out of the fic I recommend a couple of days ago and shoved her in there, and that was endlessly amusing. I just sat there squinting at it for a minute, going full headtilt. They very much indulged in a lengthy wrap-up that some will hate and others appreciate very much *cough* fandom *cough*. The final battle was extremely 80s. Also, what was the costuming department smoking? ( I am saving this quote for later. )

+ It's Snowflaking Time yay!


#1 The Icebreaker Challenge: Introduce yourself. Tell us why you're doing the challenge, and what you hope to gain from it.

Just going to nab my sidebar intro real quick: Spoiler-adverse. Migratory fandom gopher. Vids occasionally, but never finishes. Also nursing a PhotoShop addiction. #1 fandom is awesome ladies.

Honestly just hope to see more people around ♥ (195 comments on the challenge post already, so that seems very likely lol) Not sure if the Create A Challenge Challenge is rolling around again, but if so, I am plotting.

I signed up for rarefemslashexchange! Very happy with my assignment, currently enjoying canon review. :D

I'm thinking of signing up for candyheartsex, too! Is anyone else planning to do this one? Only 300 word minimum! I try not to have too many simultaneous open exchange assignments for myself, but this feels within reach. :D

Buuuuut also seasonsofdrabbles will be running a round in January-February. I love drabbles, so this is tempting too! But three assignments (even ones with short minimums!) seems like it would be overwhelming, so I might stick to treating for this one.

Finally, fandomtrees is seeking help creating gifts (2 for each recipient) before reveals, which are currently scheduled for Jan 10. If you're inclined to check it out, there's a handy spreadsheet of needy trees linked at this post!

Are there other exchanges, bingos, or similar challenges you're participating in that are coming up soon?