Today’s Top 5 Tuesday is JUICY. Continue reading “Top 5 Tuesday: Couples I Don’t Think Stayed Together”
Tag: dysfunctional relationships
The Halloween Song Book Tag
I didn’t realize there were Halloween songs.
At least, aside from the obvious. Continue reading “The Halloween Song Book Tag”
BOOK BETRAYAL: I DNFed Wayward Son…and I am not okay
I have been looking forward to Carry On’s sequel Wayward Son for almost a year.
I preordered the book in February, desperate to ensure that I got my copy ASAP.
I followed every single update for moooooonths leading up to the release.
My copy arrived yesterday afternoon. I drew a bath, lit my Scorpio candle, and vowed to finish the 350-page book by the time I went to bed.
By page 160, I realized I wasn’t enjoying myself. Continue reading “BOOK BETRAYAL: I DNFed Wayward Son…and I am not okay”
Halsey Book Tag
I joked about doing a Lana Del Rey recommendations tag.
Insteaaaaad…
…I FOUND A HALSEY BOOK TAG! Continue reading “Halsey Book Tag”
R.I.P. It or Ship It: Fruits Basket Edition
To the anonymous reader who typed “fruits basket ship or rip” into search terms to find my blog: what a GENIUS idea. Continue reading “R.I.P. It or Ship It: Fruits Basket Edition”
Jane Austen Character Book Tag
One thing I love about the blogosphere: the amount of creativity and number of shared interests in the community mean I don’t have to make my own book tags.
Case in point, Madame Writer created a Jane Austen Character book tag.
How to Ship the Sailor Senshi
In 2012, I came across a drawing of the Sailor Senshi with their season 1 nemeses the Shittenou.

I didn’t think much of it. I considered it author art.
If I were a mangaka, I would draw speculative crack ships ALL the TIME.
Then, through rumor and conjecture, I learned this drawing referenced a scrapped sideplot that paired these characters for REAL.
These pairings are apparently confirmed in Sailor Moon Crystal.
That would be fine, except…
…NONE OF THE PAIRINGS MAKE ANY SENSE. Continue reading “How to Ship the Sailor Senshi”
R.I.P. It or Ship It: Round 12
For round 12, I picked
Mia Thermopolis from The Princess Diaries
and
Princess Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender
Background
Mia started as an awkward nobody with bad hair until her father revealed their royal lineage. Now she’s an awkward somebody with slightly better hair and control over a small European principality.
Azula, the Fire Lord’s favorite child, prefers flunkies to friends. She pursues fratricide with dogmatic devotion and nearly succeeds. World domination she saves for her nights off.
The Couple
For eight books, Mia’s main antagonist is Lana Weinberger, a catty cheerleader who bullies Mia’s friends.
To get Azula, take Lana and add firepower and a predilection for murder.
Yeah, that’ll work. Nothing says love quite like torment.
I love villain ships, but come on.
“Opposites attract” won’t fly here. Mia donated her entire salary to Greenpeace. Azula eats puppies.

Mia has never been much of a flunkie. She lacks the sunny confidence or cool indifference necessary to put up with Azula. Mia is too high-strung to handle a princess one bad hair day away from a breakdown.
Verdict: R.I.P. IT
R.I.P. It or Ship It: Round 10
For round 10, I picked
Kyo Sohma from Fruits Basket
and
Mark Cohen from RENT
Background
Kyo Sohma can turn into a cat. That’s kind of his thing. If involuntarily turning into an adorable animal isn’t embarrassing enough, he’s an outcast in his own family, forced to spend the remainder of his life in a locked room.

Mark Cohen hates paying rent almost as much as he hates the virus that keeps killing off his closest friends. He struggles to create while squatting with his best friend Roger in New York.

The Couple
Kyo hates everything and everyone and expresses all emotions as poisonous rage.

Mark hates plenty – his parents, his job, Roger’s abandonment issues – but prefers to observe rather than engage. According to Roger, Mark uses art to numb his emotions so he doesn’t have to face them…ever. In fact, he only really brings up his feelings as a way to win arguments or push people away.
Two people actively pushing each other away? That screams health to me.
Maybe, despite all this, these two can work it out. The two have complementary personality traits: Kyo is loud, Mark is quiet; Kyo is aggressive, Mark is passive-aggressive; Kyo perceives constant rejection as a result of his family’s hatred, Mark experiences crushing loneliness despite group acceptance…
Now that I think about it, Mark has a lot in common with Yuki Sohma, Kyo’s canon rival.
How did that relationship work out again?

Verdict: R.I.P. It
R.I.P. It or Ship It: Round 9
For round 9, I picked
Ryan from You Know Me Well
and
Catherine Morland from Northanger Abbey
Background
How do you know Ryan is a serious artist? He writes SLAM POETRY and works on a LITERARY JOURNAL, two things that would make him cool if he wasn’t such a terrible friend. Ryan pretends his “friends with benefits” relationship never happened. When confronted, HE NEVER APOLOGIZES. His feelings eclipse every wrong he’s ever done. In short, Ryan is the WORST.

And then we have Catherine Morland, the patron saint of stupidity. Young, fanciful, and dumb as a rock, she creates AN ENTIRE MURDER PLOT out of nothing. That’s not fanciful; that’s insane. I don’t love that when people think of “bookish” characters, they list Hermione Granger, Harriet the Spy, and her. THIS IS NOT THE CHAMPION I ASKED FOR!

The Couple
Well…they’ve tied for first in my Most Hated Character contest.
Ryan loves slapping ill-fitting labels on himself and others; for instance, he, the oblivious, self-centered tool, is the Sensitive Artist, while his emotionally-savvy best friend is the Dumb Jock.

Catherine sees things that aren’t real. She would buy into Ryan’s broody shtick real fast. She might even see good qualities he CLEARLY DOES NOT HAVE. Ryan must be who he says he is; Catherine’s read plenty of books with Sensitive Artists in them!
PEOPLE ARE MORE COMPLEX THAN THAT, CATHERINE.
I don’t know if you’ve picked up on the fact that I despise Catherine Morland.

EVEN SO, I can’t help but think of the devastating fallout ahead.
Do you know how much energy it takes to feed someone’s self-perception? Constantly feeding another person’s ego while they roil with “torment” kills relationships.
What happens when Ryan’s facade finally fails and Catherine sees there’s nothing there?
She’ll discover that her relationship, much like creating murder mysteries out of thin air, has been a complete waste of time.
I wouldn’t wish that on ANYONE.
Verdict: R.I.P. IT