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Elfundertheshelf

Oh Hii c: (with the mental stability of a rapidly disintegrating fossil) Discord: Elfundertheshelf (say we're yap-buddies in here ;))

24688 points

0% overlap
Mardi Gras + Carnival 2026
Mythological World Tour
British & Irish Classic Literature
My Taste
Small Things Like These
When Among Crows
I'll Give You the Sun
Nine Goblins
The Wolf and His King
Reading...
Orconomics (The Dark Profit Saga, #1)
6%
Trollheim: Tale of Sýstir
35%
A Trade of Blood (Shadow of the Leviathan,  #3)
0%

Elfundertheshelf made progress on...

5h
Trollheim: Tale of Sýstir

Trollheim: Tale of Sýstir

Georgia Summers

35%
4
0
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Elfundertheshelf commented on Elfundertheshelf's update

Elfundertheshelf commented on Elfundertheshelf's review of When We Lost Our Heads

14h
  • When We Lost Our Heads
    Elfundertheshelf
    Apr 26, 2026
    3.5
    Enjoyment: 4.0Quality: 3.5Characters: 3.5Plot: 3.5
    🤯
    🧁
    👩‍❤️‍👩

    "Dad! We have new nosy neighbours. I'm going to go be a hateful and insufferable human along with their daughter (squeals of laughter)"

    20
    comments 5
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  • Elfundertheshelf commented on Avalon's update

    Avalon started reading...

    14h
    When We Lost Our Heads

    When We Lost Our Heads

    Heather O'Neill

    19
    4
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    Elfundertheshelf commented on a post

    15h
  • The Empress of Salt and Fortune (The Singing Hills Cycle, #1)
    Thoughts from 20% (chapter 2)

    “a brown carp cleared the final gate of the city’s dams and became a calico dragon.”

    this is a really interesting story in chinese mythology!! the story goes that when yu the great was regulating the flow of rivers and watercourses, he cleaved apart the mountains with an axe, creating what's known today as the jinshaan gorge between shaanxi and shanxi, which is the narrowest part of the yellow river. but what he didn't know was that the carp in the yellow river were swept downwards with the new currents that were created, and were unable to return to their home upriver.

    these carp then went to tushan jiao, the wife of yu the great, and begged her to help them; upon hearing their plea, she pointed out the breach in the gorge to them, and told them that if they could leap across the breach, they would transform into dragons and ascend into the heavens. as promised, those who succeeded turned into dragons, but those who didn't were marked with a black scar on their heads. that's how the story of 鲤跃龙门/鲤鱼跳龙门 / the carp leaping over the dragon gate became an idiom to describe rapid advances in one's career and/or accomplishments.

    fun fact: in journey to the west, 龙肝凤胆 / dragon liver and phoenix gall is a popular dish at the jade emperor's many banquets. this is a dish that, in the real world, is usually made with carp 😂

    edit: forgot to link the videos i found!! here's one of a swarm of carp trying to swim upriver, and another higher-quality video here of a single carp and the butterfly that pointed the way for it

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  • Elfundertheshelf made progress on...

    2d
    Orconomics (The Dark Profit Saga, #1)

    Orconomics (The Dark Profit Saga, #1)

    J. Zachary Pike

    6%
    9
    0
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    Elfundertheshelf started reading...

    2d
    Orconomics (The Dark Profit Saga, #1)

    Orconomics (The Dark Profit Saga, #1)

    J. Zachary Pike

    8
    0
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    Elfundertheshelf commented on Elfundertheshelf's review of I’m Glad My Mom Died

    3d
  • I’m Glad My Mom Died
    Elfundertheshelf
    Apr 29, 2026
    Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:
    👩‍🦰
    ✍️
    🤱

    I am not going to leave a review in the general sense of the term it feels disingenuous and more than slightly pretentious to decide to have a high ground enough to start critiquing someone's deeply vulnerable story. Certain stories, especially memoirs like these are to be read not as entertainment but as a window to certain pockets of thoughts we are careful to tiptoe around. Books like these offer us a controlled space to do so because the main character is not directly ourselves.

    11
    comments 2
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  • Elfundertheshelf wrote a review...

    3d
  • I’m Glad My Mom Died
    Elfundertheshelf
    Apr 29, 2026
    Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:
    👩‍🦰
    ✍️
    🤱

    I am not going to leave a review in the general sense of the term it feels disingenuous and more than slightly pretentious to decide to have a high ground enough to start critiquing someone's deeply vulnerable story. Certain stories, especially memoirs like these are to be read not as entertainment but as a window to certain pockets of thoughts we are careful to tiptoe around. Books like these offer us a controlled space to do so because the main character is not directly ourselves.

    11
    comments 2
    Reply
  • Elfundertheshelf finished a book

    3d
    I’m Glad My Mom Died

    I’m Glad My Mom Died

    Jennette McCurdy

    12
    0
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    Elfundertheshelf made progress on...

    3d
    I’m Glad My Mom Died

    I’m Glad My Mom Died

    Jennette McCurdy

    100%
    13
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    Elfundertheshelf started reading...

    3d
    I’m Glad My Mom Died

    I’m Glad My Mom Died

    Jennette McCurdy

    10
    0
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    Elfundertheshelf made progress on...

    4d
    Lady Susan

    Lady Susan

    Jane Austen

    43%
    9
    0
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    Elfundertheshelf made progress on...

    4d
    Trollheim: Tale of Sýstir

    Trollheim: Tale of Sýstir

    Georgia Summers

    30%
    7
    0
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    Elfundertheshelf made progress on...

    5d
    Trollheim: Tale of Sýstir

    Trollheim: Tale of Sýstir

    Georgia Summers

    10%
    6
    0
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    Elfundertheshelf commented on Elfundertheshelf's update