Baby Dory Is My Spirit Animal

Gryffindor

Hufflepuff

Ravenclaw

Slytherin

Harry Potter

Hermione Granger

Ron Weasley

Ginny Weasley

Neville Longbottom

Luna Lovegood

James Potter

Remus Lupin

Sirius Black

Peter Pettigrew

Lily Evans

WE OPEN on the idyllic Greek island, an undetermined amount of years after the sequel- but the baby is old enough to be a Character. This is relevent.

Little Donnie Sheridan’s (Sky took Sophie’s name and you damn well know it don’t @ me) school is having a big heritage event. With the ever-growing success of the Hotel Bella Donna, quite a few people have gotten caught up in the beauty of the island abd decided to move there (like Donna), making the place a little more multi-cultural, and the school wants to celebrate that. It’s going to be a HUGE multi-day event, focusing first on Greek Culture and history but then shifting into the kids giving presentations of their heritage. They’re even having kids take those little ancestry tests for fun! How cute, right!

EXCEPT SOMEONE’S GOT THREE GRANDPA’S AND THUS FINDING OUT IF HE’S IRISH, BRITISH OR SWEDISH MIGHT GIVE SOME SECRETS AWAY.

Everyone is Stricken. Things are gonna get dramatic as fuck. And of course- the hotel is hosting the heritage event!

Harry and Bill (and Rosie, who is still with Bill) rush off to the island so they can figure out what to do. Tanya also jets off to the island because she refuses to miss out on any drama.

Sophie is torn- because she doesn’t want to lose any of her dads, but after so many years of feeling like she didn’t know who she is, she doesn’t want her son to go through that pain. She thinks maybe it would be good for him to take the test. Sky thinks everyone is being ridiculous because he never really understood why they didn’t want a DNA test in the first place. He and Sophie get in a fight over it.

Meanwhile, with the Granddaddy Trio™, things are hectic. Sam is trying to be the voice of reason, trying to assure the others that no matter who is biologically Sophie’s father, they’re all her Dads and that won’t change. Bill is trying to come up with a scheme to sabotage the tests so they won’t have to find out, and enlists Rosie to help him. Harry, however, is just…..heartbroken. Remember how much he wanted a family in the first movie? How thrilled he was at the idea that Sophie MIGHT be his? How at the end of the second one he was pushing, hoping that he saw some of himself in little Donnie? The thought of loosing that is tearing him apart. My poor man.

We have a scene of Tanya and Harry hanging out- Harry jutted off to Greece so fast that he didn’t have time to get a dog sitter, so Lucy and Kipper are with him this movie and he’s taking them for a walk. Tanya has tagged along because she picked up on his reaction to this DNA nonsense, but the only advice she can offer him is that he should get hammered.

Suddenly, his dogs pick up the scent of something, and tear off running, dragging Harry along behind them. They keep up until they meet another pair of dogs, also dragging their owner, and with the dogs jumping around each other, Harry and the other man get tied up together in the leashes because F I G H T M E.

Once they get sorted out, we get a proper look at the new comer- it’s Hugh Jackman. His hair’s a little on the messier side, he’s wearing stylish clothes and a winning smile. He makes some witty quip about the dogs. Tanya is Visibly Thirsting. Harry is feeling so awkward he can barely form a sentence. Hugh Jackman is seemingly endeared by that.

Various other scenes- Sophie with each of her dads and Donnie with each of his grandpa’s. Sophie, Tanya and Rosie telling Donnie all about his grandma. Sky eventually coming to his senses and making up with Sophie. Multiple scenes of Harry and Hugh Jackman having run-ins all over the island, getting to know each other a little better each time. Tanya keeps missing the signs and thinks Hugh Jackman is into her. But Hugh Jackman and Harry make plans to meet up at the event.

We reach the height of the plot- the 3 Day Heritage Fair begins. On the first day of it, the whole family attends, where Harry is met with the shocking truth- HUGH JACKMAN IS DONNIE’S TEACHER THAT PUT THE WHOLE EVENT TOGETHER. HUGH JACKMAN IS THE ONE WHO IS ABOUT TO TAKE HIS FAMILY AWAY FROM HIM.

Bill gets wind that the test results are going to be given out to the kids the next day, so they’ll be able to prepare for their presentations on the 3rd day. He puts his plan to get/sabotage the tests in motion, but of course things go awry. Tanya decides to help them pull off the plan by trying to seduce Hugh Jackman so he’ll be distracted while they’re, you know, robbing him.

Harry, not in on the plan, downs a few drinks to steel his nerves before going to meet up with Hugh Jackman, but when he gets there he sees Tanya kissing him and grows Distrught and runs off. He misses the part where Hugh Jackman was caught off guard and pushed Tanya off him, telling her he wasn’t interested.

Hugh Jackman stalks off and returns to his hotel room, where he catches Bill and Rosie robbing him. He makes a Big Commotion which draws Sam, Sophie, Donnie and a now very intoxicated Harry to the scene. They all start arguing- Hugh Jackman thinks the DNA situation ridiculous, Sam is angry with Bill for his actions, Bill and Rosie are mad at each other because Bill blames them getting caught on Rosie, Harry’s still upset with Hugh Jackman, Sophie’s stressed out that her dads are all acting like this when she might be loosing them in a few hours, and Donnie is desperately pleading with everyone to calm down but it’s falling on deaf ears. This ends with EVERYONE saying things they’ll later regret and stalking off.

Heartbroken, Donnie rushes off to his favorite spot on the island to calm down- the fountain from the first movie. As he cries, someone begins lovingly carding their fingers through his hair, and they lightly say ‘Aphrodite’s up to her old tricks again’. He looks up. It’s Meryl Motherfucking Streep, y'all. She smiles at him, assures him everything will work out somehow, probably sings a short song, and vanishes into the moonlight.

The next day. Everyone’s on edge. Cher and Andy Garcia arrive from where ever they had been- she and Sophie have indeed grown closer since the second movie, and at the height of her stress Sophie called her for advice. The two of them, Rosie, and Tanya all have like, A Moment where they probably sing about how men ruin everything or w/e.

We cut to Sam, Bill and Harry. They’re all still arguing from last night, and Harry’s massively hungover. Bill and Harry want Sam to stfu because he’s Sophie’s stepfather and literally lives with her, so even if he’s not her biological father he won’t stand to feel like he’s loosing her the same way the others will. As their fight hits it’s climax, Fernando™ appears, having over heard them, and decides to offer some advice. Since he didn’t find out about the existence of his daughter Donna until after she died (rip that from my COLD DEAD HANDS I dare you), he feels that the men are being. Ridiculous. Because even if only one of them made Sophie they still all get the chance to know her and see her live her life, and she wants all three of them. They are all quieted by the memory of Donna, and take his advice to heart. Harry leaves to take an introspective walk with his dogs.

We cut to Donnie and Sky walking around the fair together, because Sky literally never gets enough screen time so we might as well put him there. Sky is trying to convince Donnie that everything will be okay once he gets the DNA test. Hugh Jackman appears and hands Donnie the results, and the boy runs off.

Harry, on his walk, witnessed the scene and goes over to Hugh Jackman to talk to him. Hugh Jackman is seemingly annoyed with Harry, presumably because of the whole robbery plot from the night before. Harry is still upset about the kiss with Tanya, but neither say anything. Just exchange some very stiff comments about how they missed their plans last night and walk off without rescheduling for that night. As they walk away from each other bet your ass they’re doing a dramatic duet.

We get a scene between Sophie and Donnie- he’s holding the unopened results in his hands and is asking his mother what to do. She tells him that he’s growing up and can make the decision for himself. It’s a very sweet and touching scene. Donnie heads back in the direction of the fountain.

Night falls on the fair. Sophie and her 3 fathers all sing a song together at some point. Sky approaches Hugh Jackman to formally apologize for the insane family, because the teacher obviously hadn’t been expecting this when he put together a fun celebration for the islanders, but he also pleads for Hugh Jackman to understand what this is doing to everyone. Just to calm things over and insure no criminal charges are called on Bill and Rosie lol. Hugh Jackman softens a bit, but still doesn’t seem to quite get it. He heads off and then comes across Donnie, Harry, Sam and Bill all having like a super sweet moment together, and realizes Maybe This Isn’t That Weird Or Creepy. Bill sees the teacher and splits, and Sam Knows what’s going on with him and Harry so he makes some bs excuse, leaving Donnie alone with his teacher and Grandpa #3. They talk for a few moments, Harry mentions how much he loves his family. Hugh Jackman decides to tell Donnie he doesn’t have to do the presentation tomorrow, so he won’t have to see the results, but the second he mentions the project the boy runs off. Hugh Jackman asks Harry if he wants to grab a drink, but Harry, still not knowing the full story with Tanya that night before, snaps at him about it and leaves.

The Final Day is here. No one can find Donnie. Bill and Rosie make up. Sam, Sophie and Cher all have a moment looking at a picture of Donna. Tanya discovers that Harry saw the kiss and tells him what really happened, and that Hugh Jackman is actually into Harry. Before Harry can do anything with that information, though, the presentations begin, and as Hugh Jackman is the teacher he has to be on stage at all times.

We get a mini-montage of kids putting on disaster projects and it’s funny. Finally, the last presentation of the night. Donnie Sheridan is called to the stage.

He seems shy on the stage. He is clutching the envelope with the DNA test results in his hands. He starts talking about his family, his parents, his super star grandma and her friends, his great-grandparents, and his three grandpa’s. He tells the (abridged) story of how they all came together. He says he read the test results. He says they don’t matter, because family’s not always about blood, and he already knows who he is and what he has and it doesn’t have to do with where anyone came from. He starts singing ‘Thank You For The Music’ with no accompaniment. He gets more confident as he goes on, and right where the song ends music starts up and he slides into ‘I Have A Dream’. Sophie and a ghostly Donna join him. All of us, in the theater seats, are sobbing like bitches.

He gets applause. Cher, being herself, makes some comment about it not being upbeat enough for her tastes and then turns into a Full Group Number (probably another dancing queen reprise lmao). The whole family is joyus over how this worked out.

Harry finally catches Hugh Jackman and apologizes for acting so hostile. Hugh Jackman apologizes that he apparently wasn’t clear enough on just how much he’s into Harry. They sing a big song and kiss by the end.

Things wind down so it can be a happy ending- maybe a throwback to the end of the first one where everyone is hugging on the docks or something idk. The credit song, of course, is iconic.

My friend is suicidal and we made a deal. 

every single person who reblogs this

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You want me to recommend books? 😍😍😍

Now, for me, recommendations kind of depend on what kind of thing you’re looking for as well as what some of your other tastes include – i.e. the Outlander series is a good starting point, but I’d need to know more of what you like to give a truly effective recommendation. 

But, there are plenty of books that I can recommend generally, so…

Lenny’s Book Recommendations Masterlist

Highest recommendations are in all caps. Sorting by genre/category but in no particular order. Also including links to my reviews for the ones I have reviews for. If anyone ever feels like talking books, please, please, please don’t hesitate to drop by my inbox/chat me up. If you have questions, recommendations, etc. I am always ready to talk books.

*These are by no means the only books I recommend. If you send me a list of your 5-10 favorite books/series, I can probably give you a more specific list of recommendations (this is an open invitation to do exactly this; I love tailoring recommendations). 

Update: Newest additions are bolded

Young Adult Fiction

HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY by Suzanne Collins **cannot recommend highly enough** - dystopic young adult fiction at its best

Heartless by Marissa Meyer - Queen of Hearts origin story

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer (second book is the weakest but all the rest are fantastic; Winter is my favorite) - if you like reworked fairy tales

The Selection Series by Kiera Cass (mostly just the first and fourth books though) - a bit of a The Bachelor/reality dating show but with a dash of dystopia

Graceling Trilogy by Kristin Cashore - some humans with magical/superhuman abilities; fighting against an oppressive ruler; fantasy setting

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher - intriguing narrative structure; does explore a teen’s suicide

HARRY POTTER SERIES by J.K. Rowling (cause duh) - wizard school shenanigans and defeating a dark wizard (if you aren’t already aware)

The Circle of Magic Quartet by Tamora Pierce - fantasy; four children brought up learning specific magical skill sets based on unique, elementally linked abilities

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson - teen girl’s struggles with school and friends after her rape

A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES SERIES by Sarah J. Maas *recommended to me by @bonnie-wee-swordsman​/ @acotargaryen​; fantasy (very sex positive); a human is brought into fae territory as war appears to be brewing and threatening her own human territory as well; as the series progresses, themes related to consent and agency grow stronger in ways that are ideal for YA audiences; Book 2 (A Court of Mist and Fury) is the best as far as both content and pacing

The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard - (I’m just starting Book 2) a bit of a cross between dystopic fiction and fantasy (so right in my genre sweet spot); Silvers rule over Reds but one Red girl threatens to upset that balance

Young Adult Historic Fiction

Mine Eyes Have Seen by Ann Rinaldi - John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry as experienced through one of his daughters

A Break with Charity by Ann Rinaldi - Salem witch trials through the eyes of a young woman who knows the accusers

Sisters of the Quantock Hills Quartet by Ruth Elwin Harris - four sisters (artistically inclined) deal with the trio of brothers they love as WW I impacts their lives

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES SERIES by L. M. Montgomery **not really historic fiction as it was contemporary, but SUCH an important book/series for young Lenny** - an eccentric and imaginative orphan girl is adopted by an elderly brother and sister on Prince Edward Island in the nineteenth century

Time Travelers Quartet by Caroline B. Cooney - a teen girl stumbles through time to the Victorian era where she meets a young man and gets caught up in his family’s troubles

Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene - a young Jewish girl encounters a young German POW during WW II

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse - a young girl’s reminiscences of family tragedy during the Dust Bowl; presented in poems, free verse

Non Fiction

What We Talk About When We Talk About Clone Club by Gregory E. Pence - bioethics and philosophy in Orphan Black

The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport - the lives of the Romanov daughters with quite a bit about their mother as well; also a lot about the family’s life under house arrest and their ultimate deaths

Dead Wake by Erik Larson - the circumstances and events surrounding the sinking of the Lusitania

The Pope and Mussolini by David I. Kertzer - the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church under Pius XI and Mussolini as he rose and took power of Italy

Zealot by Reza Aslan - an exploration of the life of the historic figure of Jesus of Nazareth (what history has recorded as opposed to the Bible’s understanding of the man)

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson - the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party in Germany as experienced by the American ambassador in Berlin and his family

QUIET by Susan Cain **an empowering MUST read for introverts** - exploring introversion, its many facets, and how business culture/society at large works for and against introverts

The Lost Painting by Jonathan Harr - the search for and discovery of a lost Caravaggio painting

THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY by Erik Larson - looking at serial killer H.H. Holmes and the development of the Chicago World’s Fair; both in action at the same time and in the same area

War is a Force that Gives us Meaning by Christ Hedges - a look at nationalistic wars in the 20th century and the patterns, similarities between them

Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss - humor, punctuation, and history

Alternative History

The Boleyn Trilogy by Laura Andersen - what if Anne Boleyn had given birth to Henry VIII’s son after having had Elizabeth? A novel centered on that son’s reign and the friends he and Elizabeth have in common

The Tudor Legacy Trilogy by Laura Andersen (a sequel trilogy to The Boleyn Trilogy) - what if Elizabeth I had had an heir? Elizabeth’s marriage to Philip II of Spain is falling apart but she has her daughter Anne Isabel as her heir

Science Fiction/Dystopic Fiction

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (LOVED the adaptation; definitely recommend checking it out along with the book) - looking at women’s lives when reproduction falls under state/government control

THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER/THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS by Octavia Butler - environmental disaster ensues and chaos reigns but Lauren finds and creates a functioning community amongst fleeing survivors sharing her new and developing religion with them

MADDADDAM TRILOGY by Margaret Atwood (I seriously need HBO to get their shit together and get moving on the adaptation of this trilogy) - the world has ended as we know it thanks to one possibly mad scientist but some of humanity survived along with the humanoid species that scientist engineered

THE FIRST FIFTEEN LIVES OF HARRY AUGUST by Claire North - some people turn out to be capable of being reborn into their same life over and over; they can affect the world around them but largely agree altering things drastically should be avoided… but not everyone is willing to follow the rules

Lilith’s Brood (the Xenogenesis Trilogy) by Octavia Butler (not going to be to everyone’s taste, even for sci fi lovers, but I just LOVE Octavia Butler) -aliens save what’s survived of the human race but seek to adapt themselves so that they can continue a new race/species with the humans; those children face trials of their own as the generations continue to develop (really good series if you’re interested in gender identity/non-binary sexuality, etc.)

Fledgling by Octavia Butler - a young surviving alien whom humans mistake for a vampire must find her way after the rest of her family are destroyed but others of her kind consider her an abomination and want her destroyed too

The Space Between the Stars by Anne Corlett - science fiction lite; a virus wipes out nearly the whole of the human race leaving the survivors scattered across space (where population and government issues had forced many to colonize) fighting to find each other and decide what their collective future should be

Historic Fiction

THE KILLER ANGELS by Mike Sharra - the battle of Gettysburg through the eyes of some of the commanders on both sides

The Stargazer’s Sister by Carrie Brown - a novel about Caroline Herschel

The Girl from the Train by Irma Joubert - a little girl escapes one of the trains headed to the death camps in WW II Poland but after the war is transported out of Poland (which is falling under Communist Russia’s thumb) and adopted by a family in Africa

Orhan’s Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian - deals with the Armenian genocide during WW I

Vanessa and her Sister by Priya Parmar - a novel about the Bloomsbury Group, specifically Virginia Woolf and her sister, Vanessa

Poldark Series by Winston Graham - the lives and trials of a mine owning family in Cornwall in the late 18th century; social/class issues a central theme

Silence by Shusaku Endo - a 17th centuryJesuit goes to Japan to investigate apostasy of a priest there and witnesses the plight of the local Christians **I had no idea until now that Silence movie I’ve seen advertised briefly was an adaptation of this book**

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré - Cold War espionage in England; there’s a mole giving valuable information to the Soviets and he must be found before too much is compromised

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy - a novel about the concentration camps in WW II and two children who try and manage to escape

North and South Trilogy by John Jakes - two young men bond at West Point and their families become fast friends but as tensions rise and war breaks out, they’re on opposite sides of the Civil War

Literary Fiction

The Golem and the Jinnie by Helene Wecker *recommended to me by @dingbatland - two mythical creatures rooted in different cultures find themselves unexpectedly in New York at the turn of the 20th century

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood - a young woman is accused of murdering her employer and coworker in the mid-19th century and is convicted but there are many who doubt her guilt (inspired by a true case)

ATONEMENT by Ian McEwan **my favorite Ian McEwan novel and a fantastic movie adaptation** - perspective and appearances matter as a young girl’s accusation changes the lives of her sister and the young man she loves with fall out that carries the family through WW II

THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver - a missionary brings his wife and four girls to the Belgian Congo in 1959 and it changes the family forever; the story is told in first person narration through each of the girls’ perspectives and is unparalleled

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon - an autistic young man tries to make sense of an incident that happened and what it means for his important routines

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (currently my favorite recent release recommendation) - Russian folktales are woven into a story where the traditions of the rural outskirts of society clash with the power and will of the Church

The Star-Touched Queen Series by Roshani Chokshi - the daughter of a raja is rumored to be cursed but there is one suitor who wants her and brings her to a realm she’s only heard of in stories; rooted in Indian mythology; Book 2, A Crown of Wishes follows the sister of the lead from Book 1 as she accompanies a young (and powerless) prince to the Otherworld to compete in the Tournament of Wishes

The Life and Death of Sophie Stark by Anna North - a young film maker’s life and death are told and examined by some of the people in her life: former lovers, friends, acquaintances, family

MOTHER NIGHT by Kurt Vonnegut - a politically indifferent playwright who ended up working for the Nazis writes his memoirs while on trial for the role he played in the regime

Room by Emma Donoghue - a young woman and her son escape the man who kidnapped the woman and kept her in isolation for years but then must adjust to the real world again; told from the young boy’s perspective

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison - a young, poor African-American girl grows up in Depression Era Ohio; explores race relations, societal concepts of beauty, etc. (Morrison’s first novel)

A Mercy by Toni Morrison - explores the origins of slavery in early America (1692), namely through the women living and working on a farm in Virginia (a group including immigrants, natives, and Africans)

Mystery/Crime/Thriller/Horror

The Yard by Alex Grecian - in the wake of Jack the Ripper, the new homicide division of Scotland Yard is under scrutiny but there also appears to be someone out to kill their detectives; interesting look at the early methods of both the detectives and forensic science

Cormoran Strike Series by Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling (the second is my favorite cause I read revenge tragedies in one of my grad classes) - Cormoran Strike is a private detective in desperate need of paying clients; when a young woman shows up from a temp agency determined to do more than just reception work about the same time an old friend appears looking for answers in his famous model sister’s death, things begin to change for Strike’s business prospects

The Godfather by Mario Puzo - Italian mafia battles in New York following WW II

The Shining by Stephen King - a family settle into an enormous hotel in the mountains to live as caretakers there for the winter but the hotel appears to have other plans for them and especially the gifted son

The Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson (but watch out for book four; it was ghost written after Larsson’s death a few years ago and is not based on his notes for book four) - a disgraced reporter looks for a project to work on while his infamy blows over but gets dragged into a decades old case; a young hacker with her own issues with the Swedish government and social work system becomes involved too and an odd partnership is born; later the woman’s personal and family history begin to cause problems and garner the public’s attention for the wrong reasons

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE by Agatha Christie - a group of houseguests arrive at a large and secluded island home for a weekend away but their host doesn’t appear to be present and what’s more, none of them have met him or her; when people start dying, those remaining begin to suspect one another

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh - when a child is killed in a hit-and-run crash, the authorities investigating find themselves dealing with a confusing mess while a woman somehow connected to the case and who recently relocated tries to rebuild a life for herself 

Fantasy/Fantasy-ish

The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness (third book was my favorite) - a young woman who’s long denied her calling as a witch stumbles across an ancient and powerful text that just about everyone in the supernatural world (that she’s done her best to ignore) wants

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman - a man returning to his hometown for a funeral begins to recall some strange events from his childhood and the young girl he had been friends with

THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern **going to do a reread of this sometime this year** - magicians battle with one another through proxies but those two proxies form an unexpected relationship

THE CHILD THIEF by Brom - a very dark and intriguing take on the Peter Pan story that borrows some Avalon mythology, the accompanying artwork is amazing, even in digital form

LORD OF THE RINGS by J. R. R. Tolkien (I’m not a fan of The Hobbit though) - the ring of power must be destroyed to prevent a dark lord from taking over MiddleEarth and an unassuming hobbit is entrusted with the task

The Midnight Queen by Sylvia Izzo Hunter - a (wrongfully) disgraced student of magick meets up with a professor’s daughter who longs to learn and truths begin to emerge along with powers neither understand yet

Classics

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas - Louis XIII’s musketeers seek to protect the country and their king from the machinations of Cardinal Richelieu

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - a young man’s life appears to be falling into place before he is falsely accused of conspiring to restore Napoleon and imprisoned for twenty years; when he escapes, he seeks revenge on those who locked him away

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell - when a young woman’s family circumstances force them to leave their home in the southern countryside and relocate to an industrial town in the north, she becomes acquainted with one of the mill owners and the poor conditions faced by the workers and their families; romantic, socio-economic, and philosophical tensions arise

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen - bad first impressions can still lead to deep love and understanding… eventually

PERSUASION by Jane Austen - when a woman’s former flame returns, she laments the advice that she’d followed years before in breaking off their engagement but is it too late or does he still have feelings for her too?

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT by Fyodor Dostoyevsky **possibly my favorite novel of all time but it’s definitely not for everyone** - a young man firmly believes that the ends justify the means, even when it comes to murder… until he tries it and finds himself wracked with guilt; can he be redeemed and if so, how?

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy - a flirtation becomes an affair and a woman must decide how to handle her husband and her lover as her life changes against the backdrop of a drastically changing Russia

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton - a young woman learns the hard way just how difficult it is to keep running in the circles of high society when one has no money and must rely on the generosity of one’s friends, especially when rumors start to fly

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - a family is threatened by the changing tides in revolutionary Paris and they fight to escape to the safety of London 

(**personally, my favorite Dickens novel is Our Mutual Friend but A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations aren’t as intimidating and are excellent for getting used to Dickens’ style**)

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - a family is forced off their property by the banks and circumstances during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, so they head west where there are supposed to be plenty of jobs in California but will they survive the journey and will those jobs still be there when they and everyone else in their situation actually arrive

The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck - a town is invaded in WW II and order is imposed by the invaders but it proves not to be as gentle as the invaders would have the people believe and the townsfolk aren’t as compliant as they first appear

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - **you either love magical realism or you hate it; I LOVE it** - the story of the Buendía family and the town they founded, Macondo, where unusual things tend to happen

Guilty Pleasures

Virgin Series by Radhika Sanghani - a young woman wants to lose her virginity but her embarrassing experiences in the past and navigating societal expectations have her worried it will never happen **very funny and body/sex positive*

The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory - a novel about Catherine of Aragon and her marriages to two princes of England, Arthur and then his younger brother, Henry VIII

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory - the first in her Cousins War/War of the Roses series (I need to 1. watch the Starz adaptation of this book and 2. get around to reading the next books in this series)

So @how-i-met-your-mulder didn’t so much as ‘ask’ for a list of rebelcaptain fic recs, as opposed to saying ok when I aggressively asked her ‘DO YOU WANT SOME REBECAPTAIN FIC RECS???’ so Grace, bless you. Here’s your list.

All these fics are on AO3, in no particular order, and I @ -ed the tumblr if the author mentioned it. Please note, loads of Rogue One spoilers ahead (Also if you’re an author of one of the fics I’ve recommended and you either don’t want your tumblr mentioned or do or anything else, seriously just let me know!). 

ONESHOTS 

Hush By Maggiemaye (@fatesofstarlight)  G, oneshot ALL ABORD THE FEELS EXPRESS. If you’re looking for something sweet and relaxing where no one is dead, this is your fic. It’s 827 words of snuggling, a quiet moment after escaping Scarif. This is the kinda fic you read when you’ve had enough of the pain and destruction and just want some Everybody Lives feels. Cassian and Jyn cuddle, it’s adorable, that’s all yall need to know.

Hello, Goodbye By MoonwalkingCrab G, oneshot Did they kiss in the elevator? You bet your fucking arse they kissed in that elevator. That’s literally all this fic is, and it’s literally all you need.

old light By Errantmushroom G, oneshot Utterly perfect collage AU complete with drunken hook-ups and Cassian and Jyn being happy and like, not dead. This one just feels Nice and Good and manages to mix in come canon Cassian/Jyn moments into the AU. Also includes some background Baze/Chirrut as professors and a non-binary K-2 as the BFF! (And apparently more may possibly be added to this). 

you were my new home By katsumi (@leralynne)  T, oneshot  Ahdshshfshfhjfdh ok so basically, the tragedy of Cassian and Jyn was definitely that they were killed before anything could really happen between them, like it was all about the what-ifs and stuff, right?? This fic expands on canon Cassian and Jyn and explores moments in between. It covers them during the time spent while trying to find Saw and they grow closer and it’s fucking beautiful. There’s some Sharing Body Heat and Excessive Touching and it just feels real and gives some more depth to their canon relationship. I love this fic fjhfhjdfh.

Steady as she goes By noelia_g (@realitycheckbounced) G, oneshot The one thing I love about this fandom is that we have all collectively taken up the ‘NOPE THEY NOT DEAD’ train and just gone with it. This is a perfect Everybody Lives fic dealing with the aftermath of Rogue One, along with Cassian and Jyn feels. Like, I’m serious, EVEYRONE is alive, and throughout the fic Jyn works on fixing up a back-up of K-2. There’s a Leia cameo and this one feels True and Realistic and I love it.

AT THE END OF ALL THINGS — By vergilsbee (little_elleth) T, oneshot (major character death) Look, I am in firm Denial camp, but I guess I kinda had to include a canon-compliant fic and if I was gonna include any, it would be this masterpiece. It’s basically The Beach Scene (u know the one) and it damn near kills u, but like, you’re glad about it??? Idk I’m crying and you’re crying and this movie fucked us all up heeeyyyoooo. This fic is written so beautifully.

Surviving, Welcome home and So let’s find a bar By Moonprincess92 (IE. me)  G/T, oneshots  WHAT’S THIS? SHAMELESS SLEF-PROMOTION??? U BET #sorry not sorry (all of them they don’t die, the last one is a what if they met before Rogue One) 

MULTICHAPTER 

pretty scars. By Porcelainsimplicity M, multichapter I cannot fucking recommend this fic enough. It’s a modern AU, short gist is Cassian and Jyn were computer nerds in collage, Jyn steals Cassian’s idea for a social media site that eventually gets big, and now she’s BACK (dun dun dun). Basically, I love this because first a) Cassian has a circle of bros who all love him (Bodhi is me, I swear to god) b) Chirrut and Baze own an antique shop (!!!) and c) it deals with the idea of forgiveness and what it takes to forgive someone. Like, it’s easy to hate Jyn in this story, but honestly I love it because she makes terrible choices while still being a genuine person and honestly, who doesn’t make terrible choices every once in a while? She and Cassian feel so real in this fic, their relationship is problematic but that’s what makes it so Good. (There’s some sexy times in this fic, but it’s not really explicit).

Her Red, Red Lipstick (The Imprint It Leaves On His Cheek) By 13letters M, multichapter Another modern AU (can you sense a pattern?). This one is written so uniquely, omg. Cassian and Jyn are both tortured souls who get introduced and their relationship basically is just explored in this really cool non-linear format. Like, the story is told out of order and admittedly it took me a moment to get it (because I am DUMB) but the aha moment was GOLD. Chirrut and Baze are the adopted parents everyone’s looking for, Cassian is a bounty hunter who stole a car, Jyn is a pianist, and their relationship is gorgeous, like I love this fic.

The Softening Blows By sighclops Not rated, multichapter Collage AU because I am shameless and apparently I can’t recommend anything else but. Cassian and Jyn meet at a Halloween party basically, but this story is written So Damn Beautifully, omg. Like, there’s a huge emphasis on the colours and the lights, just the feel of the fic is awesome, it defo gives off the impression that everything is tipsy and upside down. The Cassian and Jyn dynamic is great, and there’s some cool Leia and Han cameos which I am Here For, and Bodhi is the BFF that everyone can only dream of, so yes, I love this fic. Multichapter, but the first chapter could read like a oneshot.

Inevitable By cellorocket T, multichapter, (graphic violence, major character death) Finally something that’s not a modern AU. Basically, what happens after Rogue One in a universe where they don’t die. It’s basically all you could want, right? I love how this is written, it feels like the characters, it feels real. Bodhi is there as well and he is naturally awesome (have I mentioned I love Bodhi? I love Bodhi) and basically, the tags say Awkward Romance, Slow Burn and Hijinks and Shenanigans, so literally, I clicked on this fic so hard and wasn’t disappointed.

Captains, Rebels & Survivors By captainsandsoldiers T, multichapter Ok, so the premise of this is an AU where they escape Scarif on an Imperial boat and land on a desert island in the middle of the ocean. It’s pretty much Castaway meets Rebelcaptain, but like, it’s super in character? (And no Tom Hanks). It’s pretty much an excuse for Cassian and Jyn to get closer, time for them to get to know each other, and it’s a beautiful slow burn as they climb trees for food, make shelters and sit on the beach together. It’s kinda like a tale of survival, shows how they can work together really well and it’s just written super awesome.