ConstellatedSynapses

A side blog for stuff that isn't my original stuff Main Blog: constellatedsynapses

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

listen I ended up regretting saying anything about this on my old blog because people will interpret literally any and every statement maliciously on this hellsite but I want to start like. a helpline for people who are like “hey I pretty much only read YA but I’m like 22 now and don’t relate to teenagers as much, it’s such a shame that there are no fun books written for adults :(” because boy HOWDY are there some fun books for adults 

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

maybe I’ll start a big google doc or something one day but for now *deep breath*

The Beautiful Ones (Silvia Moreno-Garcia) - absolutely BUCKWILD romance with a dash of telekinesis; nonstop high society drama and misunderstanding from start to finish, happy ending guaranteed. STRONGLY recommend if you, like me, are a basic bitch who enjoys a bit of Pride and Prejudice. 

Binti (Nnedi Okorafor) - a math prodigy runs away from Earth to become the first of her people to attend a prestigious university in space, but shit gets real when a crew of hostile jellyfish aliens attack her ship. 

Chilling Effect (Valerie Valdes) - a spaceship captain and her crew take on a series of convoluted missions in order to rescue the captain’s sister, who’s been frozen and held for ransom. 

The City of Brass (S.A. Chakraborty) - an 18th century conwoman and a mysterious djinn team up to go looking for a legendary hidden city.

The City We Became (N.K. Jemisin) - a scrappy bunch of Chosen Ones have to band together to defend New York City (which is very much alive) from a huge ass monster. 

The Empress of Forever (Max Gladstone) - a lady supervillain gets blasted into space and meets an even bigger, planet-destroying evil space empress. literally WHAT is not to like?

The Empress of Salt and Fortune (Nghi Vo) - high fantasy royal drama about a woman making her way to power in the wake of a political marriage that left without friends or allies. 

Escaping Exodus (Nicky Drayden) - a space-faring clan are creating their latest spaceship from the insides of a giant monster when absolutely everything goes to shit (as things are wont to do in science fiction stories). 

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars (Kai Cheng Thom) - a trans girl runs away to the big city, where she uses her martial arts skills to team up with other trans woman and form a vigilante gang to defend their own when police look the other way. a fascinating blend of poetry and prose and magical realism. 

Finna (Nino Cipri) - two exes working at an IKEA have to team up to save a customer who disappeared through one of those interdimensional portals that all IKEAs have laying around. you know how it is.

Gideon the Ninth (Tamsyn Muir) - come on, you’ve heard about this one. it’s the one with the lesbian space necromancers? yeah, that’s the one. you got it.

In the Vanishers’ Palace (Aliette de Bodard) - a Beauty and the Beast retelling based in science fiction and Vietnamese fantasy, featuring a young woman falling in love with a “beast” who’s actually a motherly dragon after becoming a tutor to the dragon’s two powerful children. 

Jade City (Fonda Lee) - urban fantasy gang wars, pitting one magically enhanced family against rivals and a new drug that lets anyone mimic their abilities. 

The Library of the Unwritten (A.J. Hackwith) - hell’s librarian gets sent on a quest to find a runaway soul. 

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Becky Chambers) - aka one of my favorite books ever, essentially slice of life science fiction following an interspecies crew of deep space truckers making the longest and most complicated delivery of their lives. very warm and fuzzy. 

Mort (Terry Pratchett) - one of many MANY Discworld books, but a very good one to start with, following the adventures of a boy named Mort after he’s taken on as Death’s apprentice. you know, like the Grim Reaper? that Death. 

River of Teeth (Sarah Gailey) - historical AU in which the United States imported and domesticated hippos in the Mississippi River; follows a crew of hippo-riding crooks and hooligans as they plan one heck of a caper. 

Space Opera (Catherynne Valente) - a washed up rock star and his old bandmate get roped into performing in an intergalactic singing competition that will determine the fate of the entire planet Earth. full of aliens, attempted assassination, art, and emotional turmoil. 

This Is How You Lose the Time War (Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone) - time-travelling assassins from rival factions fall in love in a poetic and breathless story that spans centuries and reality. 

Under the Pendulum Sun (Jeannette Ng) - fairyland is real, and Victorian England is sending missionaries. a woman and her brother attempt to bring the good word to the fair folk, but start to suspect the queen might just be screwing with their heads. PEAK gothic horror with a creepy fairy twist. 

Witchmark (C.L. Polk) - a doctor and former soldier with magical powers of healing is trying to live a quiet life and avoid his controlling, aristocratic family’s plans for him, only to get tangled up in a massive political conspiracy when one of his patients mysterious dies. accompanying him in his investigation is a mysterious and gorgeous faerie man. romance ensues. 

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

for those of y’all who like goodreads I’ve started a shelf of adult books for ya fans, which is currently 40+ books strong and will continue to grow

[chief-of-project-e]

Irish people; The faeries aren’t real

Irish people; No fucking way will I go in that faerie ring

[queer-trans-amazon-deactivated2]

#look#you don’t go in a fairy ring and you don’t fuck with a stone in the middle of a field#these are just facts#nobody does it#fairies will fuck you up#Ireland#folklore#fairies (Via @false-dawn)

[false-dawn]

Look, I don’t believe in God, but I will not disrespect the Good Gentlemen of the Hills. That’s just common sense.

[ohmeursault]

Between this and the Icelanders with their elves I do not understand what is going on above the 50th parallel.

[superindianslug]

My general rule of thumb: you don’t have to believe in everything, but don’t fuck with it, just in case.

[elocinneem-deactivated20160605]

^^^ that part

[dduane]

This is truer than true. Especially the Irish part.

Let me tell you what I know about this after living here for nearly thirty years.

This is a modern European country, the home of hot net startups, of Internet giants and (in some places, some very few places) the fastest broadband on Earth. People here live in this century, HARD.

Yet they get nervous about walking up that one hill close to their home after dark, because, you know… stuff happens there.

I know this because Peter and I live next to One Of Those Hills. There are people in our locality who wouldn’t go up our tiny country road on a dark night for love or money. What they make of us being so close to it for so long without harm coming to us, I have no idea. For all I know, it’s ascribed to us being writers (i.e. sort of bards) or mad folk (also in some kind of positive relationship with the Dangerous Side: don’t forget that the root word of “silly”, which used to be English for “crazy”, is the Old English _saelig_, “holy”…) or otherwise somehow weirdly exempt.

And you know what? I’m never going to ask. Because one does not discuss such things. Lest people from outside get the wrong idea about us, about normal modern Irish people living in normal modern Ireland.

You hear about this in whispers, though, in the pub, late at night, when all the tourists have gone to bed or gone away and no one but the locals are around. That hill. That curve in the road. That cold feeling you get in that one place. There is a deep understanding that there is something here older than us, that doesn’t care about us particularly, that (when we obtrude on it) is as willing to kick us in the slats as to let us pass by unmolested.

So you greet the magpies, singly or otherwise. You let stones in the middle of fields be. You apologize to the hawthorn bush when you’re pruning it. If you see something peculiar that cannot be otherwise explained, you are polite to it and pass onward about your business without further comment. And you don’t go on about it afterwards. Because it’s… unwise. Not that you personally know any examples of people who’ve screwed it up, of course. But you don’t meddle, and you learn when to look the other way, not to see, not to hear. Some things have just been here (for various values of “here” and various values of “been”) a lot longer than you have, and will be here still after you’re gone. That’s the way of it. When you hear the story about the idiots who for a prank chainsawed the centuries-old fairy tree a couple of counties over, you say – if asked by a neighbor – exactly what they’re probably thinking: “Poor fuckers. They’re doomed.” And if asked by anybody else you shake your head and say something anodyne about Kids These Days. (While thinking DOOMED all over again, because there are some particularly self-destructive ways to increase entropy.)

Meanwhile, in Iceland: the county council that carelessly knocked a known elf rock off a hillside when repairing a road has had to go dig the rock up from where it got buried during construction, because that road has had the most impossible damn stuff happen to it since that you ever heard of. Doubtless some nice person (maybe they’ll send out for the Priest of Thor or some such) will come along and do a little propitiatory sacrifice of some kind to the alfar, belatedly begging their pardon for the inconvenience.

They’re building the alfar a new temple, too.

Atlantic islands. Faerie: we haz it.

[pamisleyphd]

The Southwest is like this in some ways. You don’t go traveling along the highways at night with an empty car seat. Because an empty car seat is an invitation. You stick your luggage, your laptop bag, whatever you got in that seat. Else something best left undiscussed and unnamed (because to discuss it by name is to go ‘AY WE’RE TALKING BOUT YA WE’RE HERE AND ALSO IGNORANT OF WHAT YOU’RE CAPABLE OF’ at the top of your damn lungs at them) will jump in to the car, after which you’re gonna have a bad time.

If you’re out in the woods, you keep constant, consistent count of your party and make sure you know everyone well enough that you can ID them by face alone, lest something imitating a person get at you. They like to insert themselves in the party and just observe before they strike. It’s a game to them. In general you don’t fuck with the weird, you ignore the lights in the sky (no, this isn’t a god damn night vale reference, yes I’m serious) and the woods, you lock up at night and you don’t answer the door for love or money. Whatever or whoever’s knocking ain’t your buddy.

[thefingerfuckingfemalefury]

^ So much good advice in this post right here

[weirdo-city]

I live in the south and… you just… don’t go into the woods or fields at night.

Don’t go near big trees in the night

If you live on a farm, don’t look outside the windows at night

I have broken all these rules.

I’ve seen some shit.

If it sounds like your mom, but you didn’t realize your mom is home…. it’s not your mom. Promise.

One walked onto the porch once. Wasn’t fun. But they’re not super keen on guns. Typically bolt when they see one.

You think it’s the neighbor kids.

It’s not the neighbor kids.

Might sound like coyotes but you never really /see/ the coyotes but then wow that one cow was reaaaaaally fucked up this morning. The next night when you hear another one screaming you just turn the tv up a little more. Maybe fire a gun in the air but you don’t go after it. If it is coyotes then it’s probably a pack and you seriously don’t want to fuck with that and if it’s the other thing you seriously REALLY don’t want to fuck with that.

So in the south, especially near the mountains, you just go straight from your car to inside your house, draw your curtains and watch tv.

If you see lights in the fields just fucking leave it alone.

Eyes forward. Don’t be fucking stupid. Mind your own business. Call your neighbors and tell them to bring the cats in. There’s coyotes out. Some of them know. Most of them don’t.

Other than that everything’s a ghost and they died in the civil war. Literally all of everything else is just the civil war. We used to smell old perfume and pipe tobacco in the weeks leading up to the battle anniversaries.

Shit’s wild and I sound fucking crazy but I swear to god it’s true.

[witchy-woman]

Every time this post comes around, it’s my favorite to open up the notes and read the stories. Probably shouldn’t have since I’m sleeping alone tonight, but you know, it’s fine. 😂

[mistresstrevelyan]

Austrian girl here who has lived in Ireland for 5+ years. This shit is LEGIT. I’ve seen it with my own two Catholic eyes. 

Sure, visit during the day. That’s alright as long as you’re respectful. But you couldn’t PAY ME ENOUGH to go there at night. These are also the last places where you wanna start littering. 

[cruciatus-animus]

This is why I don’t tell 99% people im bisexual

[nudeparrot-deactivated20161109]

I love how gay people do it too. Just… really? You’re literally saying the same shit to bisexuals that straight people say to you, and you don’t see the hypocrisy? 

[asking-ask-deactivated20171227]

If youre biphobic or hate bisexuals, fucking unfollow me, for serious.

[cutestwarlord]

^^^

[sciencemyfiction]

If youre biphobic or hate bisexuals, fucking unfollow me, for serious.

[drudragonrose]

Why is this a thing like really? Homosextual people of ALL beings should understand that you like what you like and if the answer multiple choice then that’s just more love to go around non?

[simlyliving-deactivated20170518]

BY REBLOGGING THIS YOU ARE SAYING THAT YOUR BLOG IS COMPLETELY ACCEPTING OF BI FOLKS!!! BISEXUAL PEOPLE ARE PART OF THE LGBT+ COMMUNITY AND IF YOU DISAGREE, PLEASE UNFOLLOW ME

[emortal-l-deactivated20250308]

BISEXUAL INDIVIDUALS ARE VALID AND LOVED ON THIS BLOG, PASS IT ON!

[justsaya]

BY REBLOGGING THIS YOU ARE SAYING THAT YOUR BLOG IS COMPLETELY ACCEPTING OF BI FOLKS!!! BISEXUAL PEOPLE ARE PART OF THE LGBT+ COMMUNITY AND IF YOU DISAGREE, PLEASE UNFOLLOW ME

[officialtonystarkprotectionsqua]

THE REPLIES SAY IT ALL

[heehoo-penut]

GET THE FUCK INTO MY FOCEFIELD!

[funtress2]

HELLO I’M BI, FUCK EVERYONE WHO’S BIPHOBIC

[smooththegoofyshark]

^

[heyitsjamsai]

bisexuals are one of the most amazing kind of queer people in the community, same with pansexuals. with these labels, you have several options. if you fall in love with someone of the same gender, you’re still bi/pan. if you fall in love with someone of the opposite gender, you’re still bi/pan. if you choose not to fall in love or simply can’t, then you’re still bi/pan. whatever you identify as, you still are no matter what. no one gets to have a say in who you are, because they don’t know who you are. i’m neither of these sexualities, but still, i get to love whoever the fuck i want, and you can’t do shit about it. smooches!

[schrutexbucks]

NFWMB by Hozier on Instagram live

[nevercansayit]

Hozier: *writes songs that both explicitly and implicitly glorify sex and physical connection*

also Hozier: nothing effs. nothing *looks to the side* ... fucks.

[the-feeeling-is-mutual]

Visit Original Link

From the Late Late Show on RTÉ One (27 March 2020)

[rooftopwreck]

one exact week after he gave us Toxic, Hozier comes back with Florence + the Machine's Cosmic Love

there is still good in this world

[desertpups]

do another video with weratedogs Andrew.

[logicallyblind]

hi i’m seeing no one talk about this cover??? this is HAUNTING, it’s dedicated it to everyone who’s died from the coronavirus so far especially healthcare staff i just,,,

[the-feeeling-is-mutual]

Hozier singing Cosmic Love by Florence + The Machine

[ignoremyidiocy]

my 17th century sweethearts are doing great, thank you very much.

[pigeon-princess]

I wanted to draw one of my favourite scenes from The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue! Honestly it’s one of my all time favourite books and drawing fanart has been long overdue. 

[poikas]

“𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦,“ 𝘪 𝘴𝘢𝘺. “𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵, 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵.” 

the gentleman’s guide to vice and virtue is a really charming book, ive wanted to draw these kids for a long time!

[shipping-and-fandom-trashbin]

Ahh I’ve been looking for fan art of tggtvav for so long! I love this!

[theartofangirling]

no one: me: here’s a flow chart of 41 lgbtq+ book recommendations, have fun! disclaimer: this is a very non-comprehensive list since I’m only including books that I’ve read

[constellated-synapses]

Montague Sibling Duology Heights: Main Trio

I feel like people forget how short Monty actually is, in a lot of fanart and stuff he's not that much shorter than Percy and Felicity.

But. Monty. Is. So. Smol. And. It's. So. Endearing.

Canonically he's 5'4" (Mackenzi Lee confirmed this on her Instagram) and even though people were shorter in the 18th century that's still?? Tiny??

And then because of that we can kinda guess how tall the other two are. For Percy there are a few things that kinda hint towards him being around 6'2". First off he can lean on Monty's head while standing, and secondly Monty needs to stand on his tippy toes to kiss him. (Which just. My heart 😭😭) But I think the main thing that gives it away is in TGGTGL when Percy and Monty jump into the ocean and Percy can stand while Monty can't at that depth.

So all the given info in that scene is:

1) Percy's collarbones are submerged while his head is above water

2) He can laugh without choking on water while standing where he is (which kinda suggests all of his head is out of the water and possibly some of his neck)

3) Monty is just. Drowning. He's too short to stand at the same spot.

So from all of that it's probably fair to assume that at the very least Monty is up to Percy's collarbone, and at the very most Monty is exactly a head shorter than Percy. And after putting all of that info into a height comparer with the knowledge that Monty is 5'4", I can confidently say that Percy is somewhere between 6'1.5" and 6'3.5". So just to give a solid figure I'd say an accurate guess would be that Percy is around 6'2".

Meaning that this is their canon height difference.

As for Felicity, it's a bit harder to judge. I do remember Monty mentioning that Felicity was almost the same height/ the same height as him in TGGTVAV, and Mackenzi has confirmed that Felicity is 15 and Monty is 18 in Gentleman's Guide. (And Percy is also 18, unrelated but just in case you were curious 😂). So I'm gonna assume Monty stays the same height in Lady's Guide because Mackenzi confirmed his height after the release of the book.

Girls normally stop growing about two years after they begin menstruating, and the average age for a girl to begin menstruating in the 1800s was at 14. And it's fair to assume that she'd definitely gotten her first period by fifteen because of her being squeamish about blood retort (which btw like!! Felicity is an international hero). So if we were to guess that she had begun getting them when she was fourteen she still had a year to grow.

Now I haven't gotten around to reading Lady's Guide yet, but when I do I'll update this with any more info I find about their heights. At the moment, I'm guessing that by the end of LG Felicity will be at least a tiny bit taller than Monty, leaving her at 5'5" or 5'6". And maybe if I feel like it I'll make another list with more character's heights 😂😂

So just to recap:

Monty: 5'4"

Percy: 6'2"

Felicity: 5'6"

And that my friends, is some of the most important research I have ever conducted.