Nice of you to stop by

Hina, a story-obsessed clump of whimsical human cells at your service.

[tessascourtofbooksandlittlemix]

KINGDOM OF ASH SPOILER AHEAD

Okay, I’m breaking my tumblr silence because kingdom of ash just made me cry for the first time. For a solid 30 minutes.

The Thirteen.

That’s all.

Out of all possible deaths in this book I never expected these to hit me so hard but damn.

Now I’m scared to read further and for who else might die bc it’s gonna destroy me.

[tessascourtofbooksandlittlemix]

KINGDOM OF ASH SPOILER AHEAD

Okay, I’m breaking my tumblr silence because kingdom of ash just made me cry for the first time. For a solid 30 minutes.

The Thirteen.

That’s all.

Out of all possible deaths in this book I never expected these to hit me so hard but damn.

Now I’m scared to read further and for who else might die bc it’s gonna destroy me.

[worship-words]

On Falkan and the Stygian Spiders

(spoilers for ToD, TAB, HoF and basically every book)

I am confused.

So Falkan has lost his 20 years or whatever for that spider silk. And in Heir of Fire it’s like obvious that the Spider that Manon tricked to get her silk was the one who ate Falkan’s youth. (At that point, I didn’t know him bc I hadn’t read the Assasin’s Blade)

When reading TAB and Celaena met him at the market I was like OMG BOY I KNOW YOU MANON WILL KILL YOUR SPIDER IN ThE FUTURE....... but apparently she didn’t? I always thought after the magic was revived again: ah that shapeshifter merchant stupid spider silk seller is out there somewhere, got back his years aaaand can shift again.

Apparently, Manon hadn’t killed the spider, since he is back in ToD, still old but shifting. (...can he not pretend to be younger by shifting?? or is he still old inside then? I guess that wouldn’t make sense because otherwise all shapeshifters would have to be immortal)

anyway I really enjoy his hidden storyline! What are your thoughts, am I the only one who was confused???

[quoted-books]

It wasn’t that Henry was less of himself in English. He was less of himself out loud. His native language was thought.

Maggie Stiefvater, The Raven King (via quoted-books)

[worship-words]

me: *emerging from a long period of fandom inactivity*

me: STrANger THINGS tWOOOOOOO

[daftalchemist]

first day of college in media: “Please open up your textbooks to chapter three because I expect you to have already read the first two chapters in preparation for starting this class”

first day of college in reality: “We’re going to spend the next hour slowly and thoroughly going over every page of the syllabus because I strongly suspect at least half of you assholes don’t actually know how to read”

[amatara]

I’m pretending all the time to be, kinder, stronger, funnier, more sociable than I am. I guess we’re all like that but it just feels so inadequate.

[animate-mush]

What’s the difference?

I know it sounds flippant but… certain things are fundamentally performative.  And other things are so close as makes no difference.

Kindness is performative.  Actions are kind, and people are kind by performing those actions.  You can’t “pretend” to be kinder than you are, you can only perform kindness or not perform kindness, and choosing to perform kindness is always worthwhile, no matter how much you may second-guess your motivations.

Strength is so many things.  It takes strength to pretend a strength you don’t feel.  And the way to achieve strength is to exercise it, so long as you do it in enough moderation to not strain or break anything.  Being able to affect strength when necessary while being able to put it down again when that in turn is necessary is healthy.  Everyone starts weight training with the littlest weights.  It’s not fake or pretending to do what you gotta do in any given situation.

Funniness lives in the interlocutor, not in the speaker.  It doesn’t matter how funny you think you are (or think you are pretending to be) - that’s not how it’s measured.  At what point are you “pretending” to be a musician if the music still gets made?  And often what it’s tempting to describe in first person as “pretending” is more accurately described in the third person as “practicing” - which is of course the way you cause things to Be.

Sociability is also performative.  Pretending to be sociable is just…being sociable, despite a disinclination towards it.  It’s making an effort towards something you value.  So long as the effort is not so great that it backfires into resentment, there’s no practical difference.  

Qualities or activities or whatever are no less worthy because you have to actively choose to perform them.  If anything, the worthiness lies in the act of choosing.  It’s not “pretending” - it’s agency.

tl;dr: ain’t nothing wrong with “fake it till you make it.”  A plastic spoon* holds just as much soup as a “real” one

* I keep wanting to talk about semantic domains!  Artifacts are defined by their utility, whereas living things are defined by their identity.  So plastic forks are still forks, but plastic flowers aren’t flowers.  So there’s two pep-talk messages to take away from this: (1) for certain things, the distinction between “fake” and “real” isn’t a relevant one so long as they still get the job done, and (2) the purpose of a living thing is to be the thing that it is.  The idea of a “useless person” is as semantically nonsensical as the idea of “pretend kindness” (or fake cutlery).

[pyrrhiccomedy]

I love this post. It illustrates what I think is maybe the key difference between a developing self-identity and a formed self-identity, which is, like…confidence? If you are BEING kind, consistently, if you are prioritizing that over your own comfort or fatigue or even, occasionally, your emotional inclination (because OH MY GOD FUCK THIS GUY, I HAVE HAD IT UP TO HERE–uuughhh, but no, I’m not gonna lash out at him, that won’t accomplish anything, and besides, he’s probably had a bad day, he’s under a lot of stress, I don’t have to be an asshole about this…), guess what? That makes you kind. That is literally what kindness is. Same for patience, same for strength, same for all of this stuff. You got it. You’re doing it. You’re not faking anything. Stop second-guessing yourself and cutting yourself down. Give yourself enough credit to look at your actions and confidently assert to yourself that you are no longer just making things up as you go. 

[worship-words]

aesthetic of the day: washing my dishes while having a face mask on with japanese 90′s band music playing in the background

[worship-words]

The Gangsey – Marauders parallels are appealing to my subconsciousss

Blue is Lily just spunkier

Gansey is James aka president charisma

….can you see Adam totally becoming a Professor of Defense against the dark arts!!! (also: STRUGGLES because ... certain conditions?)

Ronan would SO get himself locked into Azkaban for some shit he didn’t do but he says he did to protect somebody because LYNCH

i don’t like Noah as Peter, Noah is just too precious but u see the constellation

i bet there is more

[paperfury-deactivated20260224]

Life is short. Eat the cake. Buy the book. Wear a long sweeping cloak and storm dramatically into the sunset to destroy your enemies.

[sweetchildhooddreams]

“reckless children and where to find them” - written by david wymack.

[theongryjoyy]

[worship-words]

Kit: You’re making me claustrophobic.

Livvy: What does claustrophobic mean?

Ty: It means he’s afraid of Santa Claus.

Kit: No it doesn’t!

Livvy: HO HO HO!

Ty: Stop it, Lyvvy! You’re scaring him!

[lmaonade]

hey guys, just got back from my very long journey of re-writing history to put us on a timeline where harry potter doesn’t exist! no need to thank me, but don’t worry, it’s gone now. 

[durbikins]

who?

[institute-for-thermal-research]

what is this person talking about

[slow-riot-deactivated20200720]

This post gives me a great idea for seven books and eight movies

[worship-words]

Just made a discovery

I realised - young Tony Regbo is how I picture Kit Herondale from The Dark Artifice

just my opinion but I think he fits Kit’s descriptions really, really well.

(photo credit: cwtampa.cbslocal.com)

[quoted-books]

Words exist only in theory. And then one ordinary day you run into a word that exists only in theory. And you meet it face to face. And then that word becomes someone you know. That word becomes someone you hate. And you take that word with you wherever you go. And you can’t pretend it isn’t there.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz, The Inexplicable Logic of My Life (via quoted-books)

[worship-words]

why is the internet blowing up with these fidget spinners? did i miss something?

my only possible explanation is it’s in honour of Ty Blackthorn. cause Ty def has several