(no subject)

19/3/26 20:37
olivermoss: (Default)
[personal profile] olivermoss
Like Real People Do by E L Massey - I finished the book, sort of. I knew there was a sequel, but I didn't realize that it's part of a four book series and the first two books are basically part 1 and part 2 of the same story. Like Real People Do picks a stopping point rather than having a solid ending, but that's fine with how the book is structured.

It's about a college kid who is a serious figure skater trying to navigate a seizure disorder. He winds up dating a closeted NHL hockey prodigy. I enjoyed it, but might take the rest of the series a book at a time.

It's very medium stakes. Nothing is high drama, but there are serious issues in both of the MC's lives that grounds the romantic fantasy elements. It's really well written, just not exactly my cup of tea. But, definitely the palate cleanser I needed after Goaltender Interference.

I don't typically like YA, anything involving teens, or meant for teens. One of the characters struggles to deal with his emotions in a way that feels real for his age without milking it for drama or making him feel unsafe to be around. I also liked how the characters are trying to handle a difficult situation and be mature about it, but every once in a while the far-more-mature character is just done with trying to be an adult and decides to just make out or lets himself sound a bit whiny. Basically, he goes easy on himself sometimes and gives himself permission to not try to be perfect, and that lets both Main Characters relax and keeps stress from building in the relationship. A lot of things are just really well handled.

Hockey score - I am going to give all hockey romances a hockey score from now on. It's decent! Doesn't really get much into hockey culture or crunchy things about hockey, but does get into the realism of things like minor injuries. There is no Major Injury plot point or drama, but the Hockey Player Main Character being banged up, run down and also on medication after a bad hit messing up his life a bit was a nice bit of realism. Massey definitely gets a point there. The Hockey Player Main Character being a captain at nineteen without someone wearing the 'A' to either support him or help mentor him into the role feels very unlikely, especially since he's a mess. He's not a mature young man, he's got underage DUIs. Making part of a leadership core and giving him the C symbolically would make more sense. But, it's part of the set up the author was going for so I'm not bothered. The unlikely-but-not-impossible bits are there for a reason.

Also, I really liked that the author understood the difference between hockey skating and figure skating, like that certain figure skate moves don't work in hockey skates. One reason I was very reluctant about trying this book was other authors ignoring all that, sometimes aggressively ignoring skating physics for cute moments.
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(no subject)

19/3/26 19:15
olivermoss: (Default)
[personal profile] olivermoss
* There is going to be a Heated Rivalry night at a Red Sox game? The baseball team? Okay, sure. Hockey teams keep doing Fourth Wing nights and a baseball team is going to do HR.

* Connor Storrie is going to be on an upcoming ep of Criminal Minds? That show still exists? It's on season 18, and has been renewed for 19? Wow...

The ep filmed a while ago. Connor posted some pics to his insta during filming and then deleted them. I remember the pics, now we know what they were from. Him and Hudson both deleted a lot when they blew up. Hudson deleted whole accounts. The two of them, especially Hudson, joke like they have no media coaching but I am pretty sure they actually do have a consultant or something, they are just very in control rather than having a studio try to leash them. (It is actually possible to leash Hudson, I've seen video footage of it. It's in one of this student films. Wait, in one of them or two?)

[ SECRET POST #7013 ]

19/3/26 18:55
case: (Default)
[personal profile] case posting in [community profile] fandomsecrets

⌈ Secret Post #7013 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


01.



More! )


Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 07 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1001.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
squidgiepdx: Hucklerobby from The Pitt (hucklerobby)
[personal profile] squidgiepdx posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: The Pitt
Characters/Pairings: Michael "Robby" Robinavitch/Dennis Whitaker, Trinity Santos, Jack Abbot
Rating: Explicit
Length: 24,437 words
Creator Links: cold_cereal on AO3
Theme: siblings,

Summary: When Whitaker accidentally sends a dick pic to Dr. Robby, he never thought it would end like this.

Reccer's Notes: Well now...

With a summary like that you would expect nothing more than a PWP, but this is the furthest from that. We all know that Whitaker comes from Broken Bow, Nebraska and grew up on a farm with 3 brothers. But we never get any of that backstory - toxic or good - in canon.

Well that backstory shows up here, almost like there needed to be a wonderful plot to go along with the accidental dick pic share. We get to see Whitaker's parents and his brothers - and how he and one of his brothers escaped that small-town/small-mindedness. I'm not saying his one brother that "escaped" the mentality is all that great, but I know these small-town folks. Hell, I'm related to a lot of them. And I can read a compliment from what sounds like a bigot trying to do better, even if they don't have a frame of reference for that.

Basically, this is a fic about getting out of a small town, and leaving the small-mindedness behind.

Fanwork Links: Fic on AO3.

(no subject)

19/3/26 11:33
olivermoss: (Default)
[personal profile] olivermoss
The *other* hockey romance book series becoming a TV show has finally dropped a trailer



I am going to watch at least the start of it, we'll see how long I last. I do want to see sexy hockey scenes, but I don't know if I'd enjoy anything except those bits. I am glad the show got so delayed and it didn't come out right when Heated Rivalry did. There may be some people trying to compare them / pit them against each other, but it will be at least way less intense.
ranalore: JC and WWX in the courtyard of Lotus Pier (the untamed twin prides)
[personal profile] ranalore posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed
Pairings/Characters: Jiang Cheng & Wei Wuxian & Jiang Yanli, Jiang Cheng/Nie Huaisang (background), Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji (background), Lan Xichen, Jin Zixuan, Meng Yao, Wen Zhuliu
Rating: R for Graphic Depictions of Violence and Major Character Death
Length: 133,987 words
Creator Link: [archiveofourown.org profile] meyari
Themes: Siblings, Time Travel Fix-It, Women Being Awesome, Trauma & Recovery

Summary: As the Jianghu collapses around Jiang Cheng's ears, his borrowed core begins to fail. Wei Wuxian has one final trick up his sleeve, though the only person who can use it is the one person who has no core of his own: Jiang Cheng. Time travel may be impossible for everyone else, but Jiang Cheng has one slender, delicate chance to save the entire world. Of course he has to take it no matter what the cost might be.

Reccer's Notes: As soon as I saw this month's theme, I thought of this story. While time travel fix-its and core reveal fix-its are both common in the fandom, this story handles both tropes in ways I haven't seen any other story do. It also features amazing original characters, including several badass women of the Meishan Yu sect, and gives Jiang Yanli one of the best storylines I've ever seen. The rating is because there's still a war, and some characters still die, but it's a far different war, and they are far different deaths.

I do feel like I have to provide a caveat that this could use a serious line edit, by which I mean there is a grammatical or spelling error in nearly every sentence. It really says something that, despite this, I couldn't put the story down, and devoured all 100K+ words of it in the space of two nights.

Fanwork Links: Moments of Revelation (please note that this is archive-locked to AO3-registered users)

[ SECRET POST #7012 ]

18/3/26 17:40
case: (Default)
[personal profile] case posting in [community profile] fandomsecrets

⌈ Secret Post #7012 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


01.


More! )


Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 15 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1001.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
beatrice_otter: Elizabeth Bennet reads (Reading)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: Pride and Prejudice
Pairings/Characters: Darcy/Elizabeth, Georgiana, Jane/Bingley
Rating: Teen
Length: 75k
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] anghraine 
Theme: siblings, old fandoms, book fandoms, novel length, AU, family,

Summary: Without Lady Catherine's interference, a family catastrophe throws Darcy and Elizabeth down wildly different paths.

Reccer's Notes: This series is very much Darcy/Elizabeth, but they spend a lot of it going down separate paths. And on those separate paths, their closest relationships are with their siblings--Darcy and Georgiana, Jane and Elizabeth. I love the care that is taken with all of the different relationships in this story.

Fanwork Links: The Rich Are Always Respectable
beatrice_otter: Captain America (Captain America)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: Marvel
Pairings/Characters: Steve/Bucky
Rating: Gen
Length: 4k
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] what_alchemy 
Theme: siblings, AU, family

Summary: Bucky was the eldest of four.

Reccer's Notes: Bucky has four younger siblings, and in 2015 they are elderly, crotchety, and determined to go see Steve Rogers. Getting there is an ordeal, and what they find there is a surprise. I love the way the characters are so well-drawn and realistic, and I love the humor.

Fanwork Links: Geriatric Road Trip, 2015

Content notes: racist and homophobic language
beatrice_otter: All true wealth is biological (Wealth)
[personal profile] beatrice_otter posting in [community profile] fancake
Fandom: Vorkosigan
Pairings/Characters: Kareen Vorbarra, Alys Vorpatril, Gregor Vorbarra, Ivan Vorpatril
Rating: Gen
Length: 13k
Creator Links: [archiveofourown.org profile] lannamichaels 
Theme: siblings, family, secret identity reveal, female characters, old fandoms, book fandoms, AU, female friendship,

Summary: Kareen protects her children.

Reccer's Notes: This is such a fascinating AU about Kareen, Alys, Gregor, Ivan, and what might have happened.

Fanwork Links: The Emperor's Brother

(no subject)

17/3/26 18:47
olivermoss: (Default)
[personal profile] olivermoss
* There is talk of letting 19 years olds from Canadian juniors play in the AHL. They should be allowed to go AHL as soon as they are drafted. Otherwise, franchises have to put baby rookies on NHL ice or not be able to develop them. This isn't the biggest issue in hockey, but how this intra-league weirdness is currently feeds into / causes / etc a lot of problems so I really want to see this changed.

* Also, randomly since I am hockey posting... There are identical mirror twins in the upcoming draft and it's not impossible they wind up on the same team. I think it's Vancouver who has the right combo of picks to get them? Imagine the drama if a team goes for a matched set of very practiced line mates and someone snipes the other brother.

[ SECRET POST #7011 ]

17/3/26 19:21
case: (Default)
[personal profile] case posting in [community profile] fandomsecrets

⌈ Secret Post #7011 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


01.


More! )


Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 22 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1001.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

(no subject)

17/3/26 11:09
olivermoss: (Default)
[personal profile] olivermoss
Rivalry Hub is an archive of Hudson and Connor's interviews, photoshoots, etc. It is also a ye olde single purpose fannish website! Anyway, they have done a LOT of media and now you can browse/search it.

(no subject)

17/3/26 10:32
olivermoss: (Default)
[personal profile] olivermoss
Now that the Parallel Worlds bookstore has a larger space and can host events, they asked the community what they wanted. One big as was writing nights, and I think we mostly meant write ins? But what they did was a writing seminar type thing. They brought in some authors who are trying to get established in the self pub world to talk at us. It was okay. I'd go again just because I know some people there, but I am really not interested in hear people re-hash Save The Cat Writes a Novel at me, a writing book that I deeeeeeply disagree with.

But, there is another reason I am glad I went! After, some of us went over to a bar and chatted over beer. Two of the authors were on panels at the final year of Orycon and I got some info on how that went. They were on a women writer's panel, and the male moderator talked over them the whole time and they never spoke. They were completely weirded out by the culture there, how they were treated, etc. The third author had attended, but was not on the Orycon panel. He also talked about how terrible the culture was there. It was really interesting to hear from people who only caught the tag end of things. And, honestly, validating. Trying to find geek/queer community I spent way too much time in some shitty spaces and still feel like the problem was me. Well, the problem was me. I kept trying to find spaces to be and couldn't, so I kept going back to places like Ory because that's where people with my hobbies went. Anyway, not going to navel gaze about that. It was just validating to see people shaking their heads and fumbling for words to even talk about what it was like trying to be there for a weekend to promote their books.

Round 185 Theme Poll

17/3/26 09:38
runpunkrun: combat boot, pizza, camo pants = punk  (punk rock girl)
[personal profile] runpunkrun posting in [community profile] fancake
April will be a Flashback round where we revisit a classic theme from the early years of the comm.

Poll #34378 round 185 theme poll
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 92

Pick the next theme of fancake:

Arranged Marriage
46 (50.0%)

Forced Proximity
22 (23.9%)

Threesome
24 (26.1%)

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