xenization. > Recent Status Updates

a. i ordered this over a month ago. got lost in the mail and nearly didn't get a refund. bought another copy a week ago. the lost copy arrives. it was advertised as "very good condition". it looks like it took a swim in a sea of tea. am i complaining? absolutely bloody not.

b. i love how this story wasn't even bl to begin with, it's so wholesome. :(

c. if this was a standalone it would be way too short.

d. sHRIEK-

a. i started this roughly around 16:35. i finished reading this at 18:03. i stopped crying exactly never.

b. it will forever remain a mystery as to why i always make these updates hours after i finished reading.

c. i loved this.. genuinely loved this. it was over quick but so powerful.

d. i ship this, however i really wish this manga was a lot longer. i want more [close]-kun and sakura moments. like, right now.

a. i don't see the point in the first years. i don't remember anything about them. they just seem like filler characters and that's just pointless to me.

b. sometimes i find agatha and tedros' love rather unbelievable. tedros is set in his sexist ways and agatha had a full 180 personality shift from the first book, which i'm not a fan of.

c. "here she goes again, thinking."
"a revelation to you, i imagine."

a. i love how inclusive this series is, i never noticed it before.

b. it always seems to be sophie screwing things up.

c. "if you die and leave me with dot i will find my way to hell just to kill you again."
"how romantic."

d. "how did we lose an entire sea?" her foot slipped. a hand pulled her back.
"you catch me, i catch you."
"is that a tedros line? are you quoting princes at me?"
"should have dropped you."

a. have i ever read anything to do with heartstopper? pfft, no. am i going to now? pfft, yes.

b. originally i had no interest in this but i like dbh and it's one of the few games i've actually managed to finish.

c. this was too cute as in i feel wrong having read it, you know? yet it was still so good.

a. when i say that the chapters get shorter towards the end, i mean some are three bloody pages short.

b. well, i was right about something in a previous update, just not in the way i originally thought.

c. simon's devotion is really creepy when i think that he was, what, 8 when she was literally 10 minutes old. some interactions don't sit right anymore knowing that.

a. i both like and heavily dislike the pacing of this book - the actual meat of the plot as a whole seems to be happening past the 350 page mark. a bit late for the main plot to kick in? possibly.

b. i've changed my mind - i love eliana and i hate rielle.

c. a pairing in this book seems very fake/forced.

d. "what we need is a diversion." the west wall exploded. "well," she said cheerfully. "that will work."

a. ayy, i was right. go me.

b. i'm starting to enjoy this more than i was at the start, so i'll most likely pick up the sequels, but i don't think this is ever gonna be my favourite series. maybe top 10 at a push?

c. i don't know why, but i love fictional creatures. they just make a story so much better so i'm all for this godsbeast idea and i hope they play a bigger role in the sequels.

a. i think i've figured out one of the plot twists and all it took was me rereading the first page. if what i think is actually correct then i am proud of myself.

b. if legrand was going for that "wait, hold on, i recognise this" type throwback to the start, she put too much inbetween the start and that moment. i didn't even notice it.

c. i'm really not one for all of the innuendos but hey, that's ya for you.

a. despite how negative my updates have been, i can't stop questioning what will happen next whenever i'm not reading this book. oddly unsettling.

b. i really haven't concentrated on these four chapters and will probably have to re-read them - i just couldn't find the right music to listen to for it.

c. "don't worry, i stabbed them. the jellyfish, not the waterworkers. though that's still a possibility."

a. unfortunately i didn't read much today, i prioritised gilmore girls. it's a good show, sue me.

b. i need to stop talking about povs but rielle's is slowly (and i mean slowly) growing on me.

c. i like ludivine, but i feel like i shouldn't trust her.

d. the start of this book could have been flipped. it was a fast paced start with a very sluggish middle and end. it could have been distributed better.

a. i'm a sucker for a good fight scene. operative word being "good". rielle's fight felt very cluttered and i struggled to picture any of it. eliana's though? damn.

b. i seem to have developed the odd habit of only being able to put this down if i've read at least two chapters, ending on eliana's.

c. sigh. this feels so predictable.

d. the split perspective thing isn't for me. eliana's pov spoils rielle's pov.

a. sigh. looks like we're going for the.. checks notes "i'm not like other princesses - look at me be rebellious" trope today.

b. i hate eliana. saying that, i prefer her perspective to rielle's.

c. i hated the start of this so much - it was too much too soon. nothing is being explained and is really confusing. i can see a dnf happening if things don't pick up. my own fault for hyping it up too much.

a. sigh. looks like we're going for the..

checks notes

"i'm not like other princesses - look at me be rebellious" trope today.

b. i hate eliana. saying that, i prefer her perspective to rielle's.

c. i hated the start of this so much - it was too much too soon. nothing is being explained and is really confusing. i can see a dnf happening if things don't pick up. my own fault for hyping it up too much.

a. i'm not ugly crying, you're ugly crying.

b. i. love. this. book.

c. silas forever, man.

d. i know i cut a devilishly handsome figure lying here on the floor all covered in blood - which i hear some girls find quite appealing, strangely enough, and if you're one of them i'm not going to judge - but please stop crying. it's only a flesh wound. i'll be back to fighting evil any moment now.

a. i love nathaniel's wit so much - i wish i knew someone with his personality, they'd be a pretty bomb friend.

b. i ship it.

c. don't worry. i've been hard at work trying to ruin my reputation for years. perhaps after this, influential families will stop trying to catapult their unwed daughters over my garden fence. which actually happened once. i had to fend her off with a trowel.

a. i'm loving this whole talking books concepts, i won't lie.

b. because what we all need in life is a fashion conscious demon butler.

c. if i were banished, it would be an inconvenience for master thorn. it alarms me to imagine the state of his wardrobe. he would offend young ladies with his cravat.

a. apparently i'm liking this more than i thought i did.

b. i love a good fantasy name. operative word being good. all the names in this series are just ya-afied normal names that are forgettable.

c. but presently, i am inconvenienced. my day's plan didn't include traipsing down a squalid alleyway to dispatch a handful of second-rate criminals. not in a clean suit, and certainly not in a new pair of shoes.

a. that was.. a little anticlimactic.

b. i wish elisabeth had a bit more wit to her, or at least another defining personality factor other than "always accidentally gets into trouble but magically never gets scolded".

c. i can already tell what the shocking plot twist will be.

c. the sooner we get started, the faster i can get back to tormenting widows and scandalizing the elderly with my nefarious dark arts.

a. i actually started this roughly two weeks ago but i just couldn't push past the first two pages. i couldn't/still can't concentrate on it.

b. i'm not enjoying this waiting for the inevitable downfall moment.

c. honestly, the book itself feels cheaply made.

c. but i only turn girls into salamanders on tuesdays. luckily for you, it's a wednesday, which is the day i drink a goblet of orphan's blood for supper.

a. i started this roughly two weeks ago but i just couldn't push past the first couple pages. i couldn't/still can't concentrate on it.

b. honestly, the book itself feels quite cheaply made.

c. i'm not enjoying this waiting for the inevitable downfall moment.

d. but i only turn girls into salamanders on tuesdays. luckily for you, it's a wednesday, which is the day i drink a goblet of orphan's blood for supper.

a. and that, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly how a man lives with only eighty minutes of memory.

b. the perfect number 28.

a. when you've spent two books pronouncing rhian [ryan] as ree-an, there's no going back. sorry, rhian.

b. "it's rhian's blood." ... "then kindly return it to him."

c. then his princess began to shrink. and now, so did the prince. tedros glanced at his pants. "this better not be permanent."

a. i can't believe i held off on buying this manga for so long, i need more volumes and i need them now.

b. i think to fully understand and not be annoyed by komi's personality you have to have experienced something like it before otherwise you just don't.. get it. i think that's kinda sad, to be honest.

c. komi doing the jokes for me today, i see.

d. when a clock gets hungry it goes back four seconds.

a. tamaki's personality is very hit or miss for me. i'd prefer hikaru over tamaki, any day of the week, sorry haruhi. but kaoru overall.

b. with their high school journey coming to an end around mine, it's making me emotional.

c. if you become a felon, consider how tough it'll be on me because we have the same face!

d. my annoyance threshold is about to be breached and i'll want to punch you soon.

a. seeing something that happens in season one right before something that happens in season two was very jarring for me. my own fault for watching the anime first.

b. well, i did say i wanted more mizuki. i love both his funny chibi art style and his serious snake art style. both are beautiful in their own way.

c. otohiko. that's it. that's the comedy.

a. i stand corrected. it was a slow start; i felt like i was walking through snow a little with it but towards the end it became really intriguing.

b. i'm glad that futaba was honest with herself and didn't lie about her personality all throughout the series. i thought i would have to read about it for a lot more volumes and i wouldn't have continued if that were the case.

c. take a moment to appreciate the art.

a. haruhi is so precious. character development and all but i miss the blunt blasé haruhi a bit. it was just her appeal.

b. mori with his tanuki and chicken and diy action figures. so sweet. :(

c. would you kindly refrain from needlessly shortening our life spans with unnecessary shocks to the system so early in the new year...? what is this? an appeal to be the town idiot this year too?!

a. don't get me wrong, this was good, but definitely felt like a bridge to the next arc. an introduction, if you will.

b. i wanted more mizuki in this volume. why is he still tied to that tree? give me back my slightly-perverted-sake-master.

d. again, the comedy was in the art. imagine tomoe being smacked by a tiny monkey called mamoru. i've tried to use images but it's not having it so just visualise it. :)

[image error]

a. don't get me wrong, this was good, but definitely felt like a bridge to the next arc. an introduction, if you will.

b. i wanted more mizuki in this volume. why is he still tied to that tree? give me back my slightly-perverted-sake-master.

d. again, the comedy was in the art. so pray the gif thing works out otherwise you have no idea what i mean. :)