AU: having noticed the impressive power scope of each Winx girl and how useful and precious they are as students for Alfea's professors, Lord Darkar traps and curses them all. However, he also desires to push them to their boundaries and test how much potential each of them truly has. Soon, the Magical Dimension faces an unfathomable chaos as girls reappear as personifications of plagues and calamities: deafening silence and unbearable noise, consecutive natural disasters, sudden blackout, darkness of an eternal solar eclipse, untameable floods of Morphix matter, and raging inferno. Once the evil spell is gone, Winx girls are never the same: even though they would do everything to turn back time and prevent the havoc they wreaked, only because of this episode they realize how threateningly powerful each of them is.
once upon a long time ago I did some !dark winx edits and this video with some stunning designs from @skylaryozora reminded me of them, i guess it's a good time to finally post them
so I watched the winx reboot. I won't say a word about it (I believe other people've said enough). instead i did this. enjoy the rebooted versions of our beloved characters
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: You Are the One | Sos mi vida (TV)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage Sex
Relationships: José Fernández/Antonio "Tony"
Additional Tags: Can Be Read As Original, Horny Teenagers, First Kiss, First Time, Making Out, Dry Humping, Hand Jobs, Gay Sex, Dancing, Dancing Lessons, Tango, Friends to Lovers, Teen Romance, українською, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Missing Scene
Summary:
Тоні просто шукав тихе місце у гамірному будинку, щоб закінчити домашку. Але, коли з'явився Хосе, про домашку довелося забути. Хлопець прийшов жалітися на розбите серце, і Тоні, вважаючи себе хорошим другом, зробив спробу втішити Хосе. Хто ж знав, що танго не просто лікує розбиті серця, а змушує їх битися сильніше?
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Winx Club
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Bloom/Valtor | Baltor (Winx Club)
Characters: Bloom (Winx Club), Valtor | Baltor (Winx Club)
Additional Tags: Romance, Enemies to Lovers, Sweet/Hot, Sexual Metaphors, Non-Graphic Smut, Missing Scene, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Behavior, Fairies, Bets & Wagers, In Character, Semi-Public Sex, Opposites Attract, Love/Hate, Inspired by the Nutcracker
Summary:
Кажуть, можна знайти докази чому завгодно, якщо достатньо у це вірити. Блум треба довести існування випадково вигаданої нею ж феї, та складність в тому, що дівчина сама не вірить своїй вигадці. А коли докази знаходяться, це вже не має значення, бо на заваді Блум стає значно серйозніша проблема — Валтор.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Castlevania: Nocturne (Cartoon)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Mizrak/Olrox (Castlevania)
Characters: Olrox (Castlevania), Mizrak (Castlevania)
Additional Tags: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Extended Scene, Philosophy, Porn with Feelings, Non-Graphic Smut, Love Confessions, Songfic
Summary:
Olrox had a nightmare. It was not the ruin outside, not the thousands of mutilated bodies and rivers of blood, spilled in the name of a fake goddess. It was a heavily breathing body lying on his hands in a musty room.
An extended last scene between Olrox and Mizrak from S2 finale.
okay so it's my first take for Fanfic Ideas That Will Never Be Written™ and i dunno how to feel
House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 1 Spoilers!
i had this idea of a house of the dragon fic based on season 1 about Alicent and Criston Cole where he acts as a father figure for Alicent's children AND comforts the Queen from an almost sole ruling (with Viserys still alive but heavily ill).
this was - as i felt back then - an original idea for me to see Alicent and Criston more than as friends/colleagues. he had to comfort her in a very particular way a man can bring a woman pleasure (if you know what i mean)
i was in the midst of writing this story when season 2 episode 1 had aired. i wanted to finish before season 2 airing because it could change all the dynamics between the characters, but i miserably failed to finish in time.
and now apparently there is no need to finish it now, as i saw some clips of s2ep1 with this exact scene and relationship between Alicent and Criston Cole.
so the question is: should i feel honoured for understanding characters and where they're going really accurately, or should I bw disappointed with my fic idea becoming outdated because there's no point in writing about literal canon now 🥲
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Ланселот і Ґвіневра
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Ginny Weasley
Characters: Draco Malfoy, Ginny Weasley, Michael Corner, Pansy Parkinson
Additional Tags: Unrequited Love, Love/Hate, Light Angst, Dubious Consent, First Kiss, Enemies to Lovers, Draco Malfoy is Bad at Feelings, Draco Malfoy is a Little Shit, Hogwarts Fifth Year, King Arthur references, Romance, Drama, Character Study, Canon Compliant, In Character
Summary:
Драко завжди любив усе найкраще. Та ще більше він любив мати те, чого не мав Поттер. Але іноді не варто бажати чужих речей, бо можна потрапити у халепу, чи, ще гірше — закохатися.
So it's been a month since I've finished Bride and honestly I'm glad i didn't jump into writing a review right after finishing the book. The reasons why I wanted to write it in the first place were that:
the book is still kinda fresh (released in feb 2024)
it's Ali Hazelwood
I love vampires wholeheartedly and to the core
I rearly read for my entertainment and wanted to fix my experience somehow.
Anyways, the review will contain mild spoilers although there isn't much to reveal as you'll see.
So, how was it?
6.5/10, wrap it up
Okay, and now jokes aside. Generally, the book was fine. I bought Bride accidentally during a trip around Europe mostly to have something to do in the bus while driving from Dresden to Prague to Kyiv, so I didn't have any expectations or background knowledge about Bride except for my bf telling me about it shortly, mentioning "that new vampire book by Ali Hazelwood".
Story
The book starts with a very dramatic wedding scene between out two main characters, the high-rank vampyre Misery and the were Alpha Lowe Moreland. The tension gradually lowers as the story progresses resolving in a happy end for the couple in love. There are some hot and romantic moments, some are forsed by external events, some are more genuine and hurt/comfort. The main tropes are: forced marriage, fake/pretend relationships, soulmates, omegaverse elements.
Style
Gotta say it's my first experience with Ali Hazelwood. I've heard much about her, however, never really wanted to touch upon the creations of an author who's reputation is "that girl who published a Reylo fanfic". That's actually the reason itself cause I read fanfiction more often than published books. When I look for a published book I actually expect it to be something bigger that a typical trope-driven story. Fanfiction covers this need perfectly.
Well, this was not the case for Bride. This book, being pretty original, feels absolutely like a romantic fanfic you've read a thousand times. I guess that is the core of Ali Hazelwood's style: it's light-hearted, quick to resolve, low-stake, with quirky humour and ironically archetypical characters. If you're looking for some serious drama, losses or emotional traumas — this is not the choice for you. Also it's written in the first person and that itself is a red flag to some people me included. I made an exclusion this time cause the MC was fine.
Characters
The whole book mostly holds on the character of our main heroine — Misery Lark. She's self-critical, witty, has a good sense of self-preservation and is quite rational — or at least tries to be so, because eventually her empathy and emotions take over. This is just the bit needed for the character to develop and the plot to move. I liked Misery's internal conflict where she's trying her best to be rational and cold and think of her life as a business matter but fails at some point because she was only fooling herself. Her real conflict is that Misery has been alone for most of her life and therefore is afraid of building durable relationships. Of course she collapses when meeting him — Lowe Moreland.
There are a few things you catch about him right away: Lowe is vEry biG and muscular because he's the Alpha ofc, he's the perfect stoic hero, solid and reliable outside, but tired to be strong inside (something Misery magically feels just by looking at him even though they've met like two days ago). Overall Lowe is fine, a golden retriever who's desperately pretending to be a wolf and who is willing to sacrifice himself for the safety of his pack. He accepts Misery as part of his pack/family right away and stays true to the very end.
This leads to one of the biggest problems with Bride for me: it lacks conflict. I mean, there is an external political vampires vs werewolves conflict and there's a personal conflict between Misery and Lowe but both doesn't really matter. The personal conflict feels made-up and exists just for the sake of some cheap short drama that comes up and resolves literally in a few last chapters.
Other character honourable mentions: Lowe's little sister Ana (nice little thing) and Serena Paris, Misery's human best friend absent for the most part of the story (she's a nice touch to the story, but serves more as a plot device for Misery's conflicts and to create some mystery rather than as a supporting character).
Worldbuilding and Lore
Now it's time to talk about the universe of Bride. It takes a more modern approach to the classic vampire-werewolf rivalry. Both of these biological species (called vampyres and weres) live in separated parts of the City somewhere in the southern east (might be other part, don't remember) of the USA alongside people. Humans know about vampyres and weres but they mostly don't contact anyhow apart from general political agreements between the Alpha of the Weres, the main councilman of the Vampyres (that's Misery's dad btw), and the human Mayor. This creates tension as the three species are constantly at the wage of war. The political part is executed poorly in my opinion, as it gives only general information and all the conclusions we make are the ones the characters talk out loud (we wouldn't be able to come up ourselves due to lacking of info and understanding of the world).
A nicer touch is how the species work. Ali Hazelwood does this simple but efficient thing where she takes ordinary human things and makes them foreign, strange and different for vampyres or weres. For example, vampyres drink only blood and don't eat human food because they simply are unable to chew and digest solid foods, only liquid ones. Therefore Misery not only confuses the names of foods, but also doesn't get the concept of eating for pleasure (not for survival). These little details are what makes this vampyre-were lore alive, original, interesting and believable.
Spice
And of course we have to talk about weres. I could continue analyzing were lore in the previous section, but the truth is all quirks of were biology and behaviour are only multiple reasons to justify or initiate closeness, romantic, and, mainly, sex scenes. I was lucky to not be familiar with omegaverse tropes before reading, however, when i realized them it was too late. If you're a sucker for weird licking written in a surprisingly intimate way, for possessive scents and, god help me, knots, the spice in this book is for you. Overall there's a course of quite predictable scenes between Lowe and Misery starting with forced proximity and marking by licks and bites, continued with Misery feeding on Lowe despite all vampyre rules and them kissing, having an almost-smut-but-we-can't-be-together scene right before the finale and an explicit two-page resolution in the end.
Conclusion
6.5/10 goes for:
minus one point for the omegaverse tropes i wasn't ready for
minus one for the lack of conflict and depth to the worldbuilding
minus 0.5 for the fact that I got the main mystery of the book somewhere in the middle of it
minus one for the fact that you expect a vampire romance but you ultimately get a werewolf one with only subtle mentions of MC being a vampire (and ironically sucking at being one).
All the points given are for:
an interesting world and lore with nice homages to modern supernatural classics (I'm speaking about Twilight, Teen Wolf and Vampire Diaries ofc)
nice female lead, not too stereotypical and aware of herself in a good way
the story being almost a parody of itself with comments like "of course the Alpha is big and strong, what did you expect"
villain father figures (classic)
the quick and easy flow of the book, dynamic and light-hearted, with no major trigger moments and mostly focused on romance, because at it's core it's a romance story, not a mystery and not a paranormal world exploration or a commentary on racial/species discrimination.
I would've given more points but what stopped me is the fact that Bride doesn't stay inside you for long. It comes quickly and goes away also quickly. Here, a month later, I only have a general impression rather than a distinct memory of the book. I guess that's fine for a romance novel. Also there's a possible spin-off/sequel with supporting characters taking the lead and if it comes up at some point — I'll be glad to read it.
