#readers corner

[sadpotatoreads]

making nat da silva, andie bell's best friend was the worst mistake script writers could've done cause she was anything but that.

[ariesnotes]

[annoyingpastryineyeliner]

[persephoneflouwers]

favourite larry fics of all time?

Argh! Tough question. I replied to a similar ask some time ago here , but maaaaaybe I can give a some more favourite fics rec <3 let’s go

Where your heart is by anhcor, tvshows_addict (154K): one of my favourite fics ever, probably because it has some (creative) medicine related trope but I loved it so much. It’s not on AO3, at least not since the last time I checked, I have a pdf tho. The story is 50% angst 49% pure angst 1% fluff lmao

A college AU set in San Francisco starring Louis and a genetic condition that prevents him from being touched and he’s forced to wear gloves at all times. Featuring an overprotective mother, Liam as his step brother/mess of a roommate and a distracting, obnoxious, flirty, frat wannabe ‘Hallway Boy’ who is determined to become the bane of Louis’ existence.

The school of extraordinary lovers by Stylinsoncity (191K):

Harry is a third-year witch and violinist at Laitswold, the only magical academy in the UK, with dreams of taking on the world, and hopefully breaking the centuries-old curse on his family while he's at it. he does not dream of facing off against his childhood rival and duet partner, but louis is back in town after six years abroad, so that's exactly what happens.

Love is a word, you gave it a name (158K) by CuckooTrooke ( @larrydoinglaundry ):

older Louis is trying to restore his tranquility of mind in the peace of Northern Europe because his job has become very stressful, young Harry has an irresistible spark in his eyes.

Into that goodnight (62K) by devilinmybrain ( @thedevilinmybrain ):

Wonderland AU from one of my favourite authors!trust me and read it! Starring Louis as Peter, Harry as Wendy and Zayn as Tinkerbell (!!!)

Wings to break your fall by karamelised (102K):

Harry with wings. That’s it. That’s enough for me (read tags please)

Drink and the devil had done the rest by esgmerk (original version in Italian by fel_95):

I’m a loser for pirates fics so…

Mine would be you (114K) by crinkle-eyed-boo ( @crinkle-eyed-boo ):

a classic! The Exes to lovers with capital letters. Ambition talks better than they both do lmao

Someone to fly home to (34K) by kingsofeverything ( @kingsofeverything ):

another ex to lovers, ex married to married again more like lmao Louis is a pilot and they are both older <3

This turned out to be a rec of my favourite writers I guess… oh well! 💀

You can find my other recs here: my bookmarks - canon compliant - fics as movies

[wynndy]

A quiet corner.

[opensidestories]

[WP] You are an AI on board an unmanned spaceship, exploring and mapping out the cosmos when you encounter an alien species. However, these aliens are unfamiliar with AI, and have instead concluded that your ship is haunted by ghosts. PART 2 of 4

I did say yesterday that this would be a 3 Part story...but the story grew another Part and is now going to be 4 Parts, Part 2 below, hope you enjoy.  

The drone picked up the ship heading straight for me and followed it to give me constant and relevant information, the drone sending straight to me was quicker than me sending out a scan signal, wait for it to hit the ship then send back to me.

According to the Federations database this type of vessel and therefore who, or let's be honest here, what, was piloting it had never been seen before.

Interesting situation for an AI to find itself in, and of course the Federation being a modern society having met, dealt with, fought, killed, truced, fought with again, had come up with instruction for me in such a situation.

Reading directly from the manual, ‘send a message to command that you have encountered a ship of unknown origin and type, send hail to ship informing them of who you are and that you are part of the Federation, don’t mean any harm and all that and wait for a response.’

Which of course I did as I was instructed to, by now the ship was getting closer and communication should only have taken minutes, but no response.

I looked back to my instruction, ‘send a second message, confirm message is being sent in all languages and send update report to command.’

Still no response, back to the instructions, ‘if no response is received and the vessel continues to approach, turn, set engines to full power and head back for Federation space as fast as possible.’

For dramatic effect I will say in the novel I checked this twice, three times, to make sure that those were the instructions but being an AI I already knew what the instructions were, and any checking would be done so quickly would be hard to differentiate between checking and already knowing.

I sent a message to the drones informing them they were to come back to the ship as quickly as possible knowing that they would never catch me yet, squishes never left one of theirs behind…

The drone was still reporting its position behind the vessel approaching me, but the drone was getting further and further away from the vessel, and yet the vessel was catch me.

I checked all my systems to make sure there were no issues, but everything was running as it should, their ship was simply faster than me…well faster than a survey vessel anyway, not a particularly great feet of engineering, a local takeaway driver could outrun a survey vessel.

There were no other instructions for me, so as the meat bags would say I had the ‘hammer down’ and waited for the inevitable, which being an AI was easy for me to calculate.

I picked up a strange energy coming from the ship, also not in our database but there were a host of sections on strange energies coming from a ship and this was likely a weapon.

I was being fired at, this was a first, and a great middle point to my novel.

For those of you that don’t know, there is a time delay in the actions being performed but the ship chasing me and me finding out, matched with the having little in the way of manoeuvrability meant, yup, I had to sit, wait, and hope my rear end survived, or I did for that matter.

I lurched violently and was sent spinning, for being a human I imagined it was what they felt when someone tripped them, and they were sent tumbling down a long, tall hill.

But unlike a human I not get dizzy and after using a lot of thrusters managed to stabilise myself. There had been other warnings coming streaming into me, but I silenced them focusing on more pressing matters.

Once stabilised I could focus on the other noises, the other warnings a report coming in. That weapon, whatever it was had done a number on my engine, I was dead in space, floating a drift…

The vessel was still approaching, slowing…I was being boarded…

[nosyreader]

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction

Rating: ★★★★★

WARNINGS: Death, torture, mention of sex work, slaves/indentures, PTSD, revenge, and graphic violence.

SEQUEL TO SIX OF CROWS (review here)

Summary: Kaz and the Crows return as they go up against Jan Van Eck in an attempt to get back at him. But first, they have to get the whole crew back. They venture on a dangerous rescue mission, immediately jumping into another life-threatening job. The Crows go up against greed, revenge, betrayal, and new problems that could never be foreseen (even by Kaz). Ketterdam’s streets turn into a battlefield and there can only be one winner.

Review:

Basically if you’ve read my SoC review, you’re already aware that I absolutely loved it. Spoiler alert: I loved this one too.

I have such an attachment to these characters now and finishing this book was so bittersweet. I just desperately need the third book because I can never get enough of Bardugo’s portrayal of love, loss, PTSD, and fear. She is such a gifted writer and I am so excited to read the rest of her work so get ready for several Grishaverse reviews in the future :).

I think a lot of times, authors get caught up in romances and relationships between characters that they decide those relationships solve all internal issues those characters face. But Bardugo was brutally honest with each person and his/her internal struggles. She allowed for those things to build up their personalities and gave an honest depiction of how their traumas impact them. I just cannot put into words how much I appreciated that.