u/KwazyKatnip_85

Anyone else looking 20weeks instead of 9 because of the bloat 😭 I feel huge. None of my clothes fit I can’t even hide my stomach anymore and baby is like raspberry sized.

I don’t know if this is the right flair- but I’m so sick. My husband was sick for a week and now I have it. I’m about 8 weeks, just had my first ultrasound yesterday. The Blueberry is good, but I’m so sick. I think it’s Covid or something upper respiratory. But I just don’t know what to take or what I can do that is pregnancy safe. This is my second pregnancy, I had a lot of health problems during my first one (my LO is great now) but I’m really anxious about pregnancy safe medicines or just things I can do to get over this sickness?

TIA ❤️

There are too many one-syllable nicknames:

I have come to realize, I strongly dislike nicknames. Not the "babe's" or the "my sweet's", etc. The shortened versions of full names like Ryker to Ry, Noah to No, Ashton to Ash, Kason to Kas, Emilio to Em,

On some level, yes I understand people shorten long names, but sometimes I am left wondering, why did the author even have a full name if 1) they always change to their shortened name 2) there is no value to having the lengthened version (like a family name) and 3) the character hates their full name but it doesn't add anything to the story.

At first I thought I was just being nitpicky, maybe it was just the last 5 books I had read that had this, but then I looked at my KU lists and 9 out of the first 20 books all had characters who went by a nickname from their full length name. I know this trend started as a "special" name MCs can call each other to make it seem special, just like there was that trend where characters had especially long names that only the MC called them by which was annoying but they secretly loved it. Sometimes it is cute, I think of Miro and Ian from the series {Marshals by Mary Calmes} , where they called each other "M" and "E". But it made sense, it fit for them. But then I think of other books it feels out of place, or doesn't quite fit the character, or the nickname ruins the flow of the sentence where that one-syllable nickname just takes me out of the narrative. I can't remember the book but the character's full name was Everett, kind of long, but the MC called him "Ev", and maybe it was the choppier writing, but such a short nickname combined with also very short single - syllable sentences just felt painful. DNF that for many reasons, but the nickname grates me.

I don't know if I am the only one who has noticed this, or gets oddly annoyed, its definitely a very specific micro-trend that can have its merits. It can be cute, it can be special between MCs, but often I find it jarring, too in your face, and it doesn't hold that special connection that I think nicknames do really well with. It seems everyone in books has a nickname of some sorts. Every person is called something else and I am left wondering 70% of the time, why wasn't that their name to begin with then?

Has anyone else noticed this? What are some good/bad examples of this being done?