(Book covers in this post credit to Goodreads; gifs are from Giphy. The fanart was found on pinterest. I own none of the art shown here; all credit to the owners.) 

My mum says she has no idea what this would be for me, but I'm thinking maaaaaybe Duchess and Thomas O'Malley from The Aristocats? I feel like I remember being very, very angry that they had so much standing in the way of their happiness. But basically, old Disney animated couples. Beauty and the Beast and Lady and the Tramp rank pretty high here too.

Tell me this isn't sweet

Oh, goodness, that's a hard one, now isn't it?

We're going to go with Eanrin and Imraldera from Tales of Goldstone Wood. If only they weren't both so obstinately stubborn! That moment in Shadow Hand was far from sufficient. *glowers*

I know, I know, it's not necessarily canon, but we're going to go with Rey and Finn in The Force Awakens. They're just so little and cute and that forehead kiss at the end--ADORABLE. I squeal.

My babies 

Honestly, I'm not really a fan of this trope? It irritates me. xD But...I can make a case for a couple of such ships, and so...let's go with Winter and Jacin from The Lunar Chronicles.

Ummm...we're going to go with Fiyero and Elphaba from Wicked (the musical, thank you very much. I haven't read the book and I have heard Things Regarding the Book that make me hesitant to do so.) But they're my FAVORITES, and their love duet is one of the pinnacles of musical theater, imo. 

Is this even a question? Obviously Jude and Cardan of Holly Black's The Cruel Prince. Jude is literally my favorite and I adore her so very much. And Cardan, while he's a TRAIN WRECK of epic proportions, is also awesome. Normally I'd be all over this for toxicity, but I think the story itself is very much aware of that, and oh well. xD 

Nick and (Lady) Cordelia from The Beast of Talesend! These children! I've still only read the first 2 and I desperately want more, but I already ship these fools with all my heart. I will slam their faces together if I have to. They need to get. Their. Act. Together. Now, preferably. xD 

Sarai and Lazlo Strange from Strange the Dreamer are the definition of different backgrounds. She's a hated, blue-skinned girl living in secret inside a floating stone statue (yeah, really) with the ability to inflict nightmares on anybody she wants. And then Lazlo is the sweetest cinnamon roll librarian in the world--one of my favorite things is that he wants SO BADLY to hold a grudge against the guy he hates, he just can't. So presh. So refresh. <3

10. Mint Chocolate: The OTP you'll love til you die

I agonized over this one forever, but I think the only answer could be Leo/Lionheart and Rose Red/Varvare in Veiled Rose and Moonblood. The babies! They're so precious! I adore them with all my heart, and I'm still salty that we got cheated at the end of Moonblood. There had better be another book where they get their closure, the way Shadow Hand hinted (and if you think I was reading that last one solely for the Leo cameos and brief mentions of Rosie, you are 100% correct.)

11. Orange Creme: The OTP you never expected to love

This position definitely goes to Luka and Yael in Wolf by Wolf. She's a spy and basically shapeshifter who's out trying to save the world from Hitler and the Nazis (oh, and she's a Jewish concentration camp survivor). And then there's Luka, who's the Reich's golden child and a professional motorcyclisst (I'm 90% sure.) I don't usually dig star-crossed bad-boy romance, but oh, this one was SO MUCH GOOD. <3 

Leith and Renna from Blades of Acktar! I mean, think of all those two had to go through in order to be together. They're such mature people about it, but THEY SUFFER SO MUCH MY WORD. *hugs the poor babies tightly* 

I have several of these, actually? But I'm going with Lucky and Lincoln from the Hard Pan Trilogy. I used to hate that they were crushing like that when they were eleven. But now that I'm old and jaded (hee hee), I just see them as such sweet innocent little babies and they BETTER get married someday <3 

LOOK IT'S EVEN ON THE COVER

I promised myself going into this that I would NOT ship my own characters on this tag, because JUST TOO MANY SPOILERS OKAY?! And also, that's not fair to the other characters I know and love. But I have to mention my own babies Derek and Kariana here. There's so many times when I'm writing and I just want to bang their heads together and scream "What is wrong with you two?!" at them until they get together. UGH UGH UGH. 

But, since that's cheating...we'll go with my other massive non-canon ship, which would be Aragorn and Eowyn! I mean, I'm glad they both ended up happy, but...I STILL SHIP THEM SOOOOO MUUUUUCH okay?!

Sir Percy Blakeney and Marguerite, of course! (ala The Scarlet Pimpernel) No one can call them out for their fashion choices, and Sir Percy is perfectly qualified to do so to others. Oh, that scene in the movie makes me cry tears of joyous laughter.

ALSO THE CUTEST AND HE'S FANTASTIC OKAY

Dante and Alicia from A Certain Sort of Madness! I mean, Alicia's the energetic one who just sort of drags everyone else, including Dante, along, but...SHE HAS THE ENERGY OF TWENTY MEN. *dies of exhaustion*

*raises lighted match*

*holds it above head, lifted over a huge pile of dynamite labelled "opinions of angry fangirls"*

*takes a deep breath* 

*this is why I hate love triangles* 

SOKEEFE!!!!!!!!

*drops the match and flees*

What is this "fluff" you speak of? I do not read "fluff". *sighs* But, since I'm expected to provide one of these... we'll go with Elle and Darien from Geekerella. That book was cute, okay? I don't read contemporary and I don't like romance books but I still gave it four stars. So...yeah.

YES, I KNOW WE ONLY HAVE ONE OF THEIR BOOKS IN OUR HANDS SO FAR (but the second one comes out TOMOORRRRRROOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW! *squeals*), but even so, I think I can easily give this award to Kestra and Simon from The Traitor's Game. I ship them so hard it's not even funny. MY CHILDREN. If Jennifer Nielsen hurts them, so help me...

This one is going to have to be a tie between two because I simply must work Howl and Sophie in here someplace--whatever would we do without them? But I also have to mention Cedric and Elisabeth, one of my favorite ships of ever, from Nicki Chapelway's Winter Cursed and A Winter Dark and Deadly. Their sass is legit the best thing of ever. Cedric could win the Sarcasm Olympics (and probably has).

This booooooy. This boy. This assassin boy. <3 I love him with all my heart. Such a wonderful boy. That's about all I can say about him. 

Lord Hunkyhair is amazing and I love him and he better win Sophie's heart, that's all I can say about that.

Technically he's way too young for me, but Janner is just a beautiful human being, one of the most real and relatable characters I've ever read about. His character arc is the sort of thing I aspire to write myself someday. I could rave about this boy for HOURS. 

Have you ever met a fictional character where you feel that searing connection? From now on, everything that happens to that character happens to you; you love everything about them, from their darkness to their highest point. When they triumph, you triumph. When they are happy, so are you. Their loves are yours. Yeah, that's Lazlo Strange for me. He's just the most perfect and wonderful and beautiful little librarian-turned-hero who has ever existed, k? 

So...I had a ton of trouble choosing a gif for him? Because there's just SO MANY good ones. Hee. But this man...I'm doing a very prolonged rewatch of the LotR movie trilogy rn and I HAVE NEVER LOVED HIM SO MUCH. (also, I know he does get married in the series and I don't begrudge him that at all, but I'm sure grateful he's single for a while or he wouldn't make this list XD)

4. Eomer [Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien]

I'll go with Kira from Gathering Blue. She's sweet and quiet, and I feel like she'd be an interesting addition to this party. 

This is a super hard question!!!!!!!

How about Percy from the Scarlet Pimpernel? That works. We'll go with that. XD

Easy--Prince Lionheart! (I would be sure to have a peacock around to cause trouble for him, too, because that would be absolutely hilarious.) I'd also just love to have him around so I could, you know, get him to ask me out or something. (#BookCrush)

Well, I don't think I've laughed at a character ever as much as I have at the Florid Sword, so this spot goes to him! (He'd have to come as that character, though, not as his...superhero alter ego. XD Becuase that guy just isn't as funny.) 

Well...I don't think Doug would appreciate this, but I'm going to invite him anyways. He's pretty introverted and possibly autistic--I wouldn't be the one to know--but he's hilarious and so serious, all the time, that his dry brand of humor is just wonderful and refreshing. He never seeks people out, but they seem to flock to him like a flock of Arctic Terns. So Doug it is!

I'll go sort of post-modern here and say the monster from A Monster Calls. The monster isn't really a villain--he's more anti-heroic, I guess you could say--but I'd want him there to entertain with weird stories. And maybe he could bring Conor along and we could all give Conor some hugs. I don't think he'd really want them, but he needs hugs. Poor kid.

But why waste the opportunity to invite a ship I love???

I'll go with Leith Torren and Renna Faythe. Leith can impress everyone by telling crazy stories about his time as a Blade, and Renna can help Kira with the cooking. Sheesh--I just realized the two of them are the only girls besides me at this party! 

Only one????!!!!!!

Ummm...I'll go with...my beloved Rose Red from Goldstone Wood. She's a precious little thing, and I feel like she wouldn't be crazy about a party (although Lionheart will also be there! So maybe she won't mind) but she can also help Kira with the cooking. I think the two of them would really get along well. 

Sheesh! How about...Kalmar from Wingfeather Saga? 

After all, Janner tends to get all the attention as the wonderful protagonist. I mean, I love Janner too (I have a sticker of him on my phone, for heaven's sake, he and Lionheart are tied for my affections as book crushes go) but Kal usually seems to get the short end of the stick. 

Let's say Fern from The Girl Who Could See for this one.

I mean, everyone thinks Fern is crazy. Everyone thinks I'm crazy. We're tied. Score!!!!

And Fern seems like the kind of person I could talk to for hours and not be bored for one second.

While I read the whole Hunger Games series, the middle installment is definitely the best...(because FINNICK AND JOHANNA AND OMG I LOVE THEM)


I guess I must really love the middle books in series or something...while I'm a huge fangirl for the whole Blades of Acktar series now, this one is my favorite of the four. And that's saying something.


My bestie actually bought me this book for Christmas a couple days ago! I'm SO INCREDIBLY HAPPY! I've read 3 Diana Wynne Jones books so far this year, but this one is my favorite. No competition. <3 Because HOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWLLLLLL.

These two are better when viewed as a whole rather than one book at a time. It's alternate history, asking the question "What if Hitler won World War II?" And it's heartrending and destructive and violent and gritty, but it's beautiful. Ryan Graudin's characters stole my heart. I can't really recommend them, but they're still wonderful for those who have the stomach.


I've found so many good indie-published Christian speculative fiction novels this year, and it makes me ridiculously happy. This story takes place in a dystopian America where Christians are persecuted, and it's kind of in the same genre as my novel Watched.


One of the few non-fiction books I've read this year that wasn't for school, and it's amazing. I can't really say much about it, but Jonathan has an amazing review here that you should definitely read if you're at all interested in this book.



This adorable little novella is a Cinderella retelling that takes all the cliches and flips them on their head. It's written by my dear friend Allison, and it's so incredibly good :)


Another novella, although I really wish that this one were a full novel. It's just too good to be so short. Kara Swanson is an author to watch.


Last but definitely not least is this one I read at the beginning of the year. It's a gorgeous, sweeping, heartbreaking story. You can find my full review for Rebellious Writing here.

Top 3 Classics

In my Christmas Carol post (last week), I mentioned how much I love Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This is his epic poem Evangeline, about the plight of the Acadian people in Canada when Britain expelled them from their land. It's a very American story, which is cool; I don't know how much I agreed with the characters' motives, but I did appreciate their devotion. Definitely recommend this as an easy-to-read story that's both a classic and a poem!


Heartbreaking. Eye opening. Pulls in classic tropes but often actually allows you to forget that they're tropes. Makes you cry. Definitely recommend if you feel like crying and being inspired to change the world.

Best Movies of the Year

Best dang movie of the year. Yeah, yeah, I know it came out last year, but who cares????!!! (Not me.) It's epic, it's heartbreaking, it's incredibly quotable ("I'm capable of running my own diagnostics!") and it's classic. Jyn and Cassian are two of my favorite fictional characters (and so are Bodhi and Chirrut and Baze; Krennic is a villain I love to hate; Saw Gerrara is my favorite dude to raise eyebrows at.) I just love this movie. It's so incredibly good. All the heart eyes.

Got to see this one in the theater. I'm not a huge fan of Lloyd (center, in black and green) on the show (please don't lynch me) but in the movie, he's...pretty darn epic. I love Lloyd now.  (Also, why is Cole not in that image? That's really bothering me now. Grrrr.)


Saw this one in the theater too and I love it. Lego Batman, y'all. There's really no way to go wrong with it. XD

A film that's grown on me with time, just like Benedict Cumberbatch. I loved it. It felt like Marvel, but still different enough to really make a splash.

Best superhero movie to come out this year. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

I think I watched this one four times this year. I regret nothing, you guys. This is the best movie ever made. The best movie I've ever seen. It is so beyond good and you must watch it yesterday. (IF YOU'VE ALREADY SEEN IT TALK TO MEEEEEE ABOUT IT!!!!!) This is the story of William Wilberforce, England's greatest abolitionist. He was able to stop slavery without a war in Great Britain and his story is so inspiring for me as an activist.

Best Songs of 2017

Here's a playlist of my favorite songs this year. (Note: One of them, "Imperfection" by Evanescence, does contain one f-word, and "The Last of the Real Ones" has a d-word.) Other than that, I'm pretty sure they're all pretty clean.

Rather than talking a whole lot about each of these indivually, I'll just throw the playlist at you and let you listen to them. XD But please know that lots of Band Highlights posts are coming next year, dealing with all sorts of artists and my favorite songs by them.

Blogging World

Have some stats from me:

• This will be my 70th published post
• I have 53 followers on GFC, 16 on Bloglovin', and something like 6 email followers (supposedly I have 416, but most of those seem to be spam)
• I'm at 15,190 views all time
• My Top Five Posts:

An Open Letter to the LGBT Community

The "I Finished Watched!" Post

I am a Pro-Life Person, and Here's Why

The Cookie Book Tag

Why I'm Not Seeing Beauty and the Beast

I think we can all agree that the controversial posts are a good thing...
And thanks to Mary Kate for getting the Cookie Book Tag up there (mayonnaise!!!!)

Shoutout to my blogging friends whose links have brought me the most views:

Gray
Faith
and Lila!

as well as to everyone else who posted my link on their blog! It really does mean a ton to me and warms my heart every time I see my blog linked on someone else's site.

Writing

My Walk with God

I hope you all enjoyed this little look into my world this year! So much has happened, and yet the year has gone by like a blur. I'm so glad to have gotten to know you all, and I can't wait to make even more friends and content in 2018. God bless you all, and have a great New Year's! See you all very soon!

Chat with me! Have you seen any of these movies/read the books/listened to the music? What are your favorite books and movies of the year? Was 2017 a great year, a decent year, a crummy year...tell me all the things!!!!!!