| Title | : | Balloon Animals Are Awesome |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | ebook |
| Number of Pages | : | 67 |
| Publication | : | First published December 9, 2014 |
Stiles is totally in love with Lydia. Until one day he's not.
Fuck his life.
And seriously? Derek? Derek Hale?
He can't be in love with Derek Hale. Derek hates him.
Doesn't he?
__________
Added with permission from the author.
Status: Complete
Word count: 22,389
Balloon Animals Are Awesome Reviews
-
This fic is awesome. I loved it--especially this
But I'm gonna be selfish and use my review space for the massive amounts of Sterek gifs that have been missing from my feed this week.
Okay, a few sexy pics and then I'll be done:
Sweaty, shirtless Derek ✓
Wet Stiles ✓
But wait! There's more! -
5 Stars
What a fic! Seriously, this is still one of the best Sterek stories around and definitely one of the best Stiles characterizations out there, in my humble opinion.
Every single aspect of the story - the characters, the relationship, the banter, the writing, everything!!! - is on point here, and unsurprisingly so, because although this may have been Lisa Henry's first foray into writing Sterek fanfiction (way back in 2014), she started out with a god damn bang and hasn't let up since (in her continued fic writing OR in her original fiction).
Honestly, this is just the comfort re-read I needed today! I want a bumper sticker or a fridge magnet or something that reads, "when life is getting you down, READ STEREK!" because it's a sentiment that couldn't be truer in my world.
***************************************
Read #1: December 17th, 2014
Read #2: April 8th, 2015
Read #3: June 20th, 2016
Read #4: August 16th, 2018
Read #5: January 27th, 2020 -
so, I've got this really unbreakable rule that if I beta something I don't rate or review, but I'm unilaterally deciding that rule doesn't apply to fanfics, especially when "beta reading" means pointing out one solitary tiny spelling mistake in a perfect, exquisite, funny, action-packed 22k+ work.
Are you my friend? Do you like Sterek?
THEN READ THIS
That's not a rec; that's an order, soldier. -
Couldn't resist
Here, have some more.
**********************************************************
This? This wins ALL the things! I freaking loved the crap outta this! -
quite nice.
i really liked the pacing and the structure and the characterization. for instance, i've not seen the show, but i'm pretty sure stiles's dad is a lot more useful than just as a punchline in a statutory rape joke. he gets to be pretty nicely useful in this one.
i didn't like stiles's verbal diarrhea—but then, i never do. i find the logorrheaic hysteria of babbling boys who jibber-jabber at you elliptically to be far, far less squeeplosively charming than everyone else seems to in the sterek fandom.
after all, i'm not the one trying to fuck him. i just want to find out what happens next, my gosh.
also, his excuse for this chattering calamity was pretty weak; nice try, author, but i didn't buy it.
but the thing i think i appreciated the most was the sense of humor. it was keenly edged with a bit of.... something. darkness, maybe. or maybe i recognized myself in the pain behind the humor. i dunno. it actually kinda reminded me—bizarrely—of lisa henry's writing in
Dark Space; sharp, and human, and sometimes convulsively amusing—but a tiny bit sad?
i dunno. i'm beginning to weird myself out by having this much to say about a fanfic.
s'gud. carry on. -
I loved this, every little bit of it. It had that perfect blend of action and angst and heartbreak and smushy feelings and sex!
Also, thanks to the author for letting us post links to her work here, and for understanding that Goodreads fanfic readers are just as much a part of the fandom as anyone else. -
So let me tell you about the bees and the bees...
Correction: let me tell you about how this Sterek right here arrived right on time to sprinkle Christmas sparkles all over my otherwise pathetically bleak Christmas mood.
In the midst of a full-blown panic attack of fanfic writers screaming bloody murder, DiscontentedWinter AKA Lisa Henry comes to the rescue like God’s kinky gift to Goodreads' Sterek fans. She doesn’t think we’re meangirls instead of fangirls, unworthy of Tyler Hoechlin’s knotting abilities or plain ‘n simple mudblood filth because our fandom is located in another corner of the great big web instead of on AO3. Nope, not only does she spread the TW love on AO3 as well as on Goodreads, she also...
..utterly nails it in her Sterek debut.
Stiles’ personality fits Henry like a glove. This is possibly, probably the wittiest Stiles I’ve come across so far (although the dad ought to win the tiara for his hilariously awkward yet cute attempt at sexual education..). And I totally hope Stiles stole Henry’s heart? (gawd, I love rhetorical questions!) That would kind of be the bomb, because it means she’ll get sucked into the fandom deeper and hopefully write a fuckton more, har har! >:) Kudos, too, for incorporating all these tiny details that make up TW without lingering on them (Stiles’ Lacrosse practice for example).At this point, Stiles will settle for any sort of sex he can get. Which is none, obviously.
God, why does Derek have to be so hot – in both senses of the word – and strong and muscular and why does helping Stiles to the car involve so much touching? Stiles feels like he’s about to implode here.
“Oh my god. How long is this walk? I’m going to die a vir—“ Holy shit, he did not almost say virgin. “Old age. I’m going to die of old age.”
The only room for improvement that I can think of is that Derek’s characterization felt just a little too stilted and by the book for me. He doesn’t have to come across as a complete antisocial moron AKA Eyebrow 1 & Eyebrow 2 who almost tears of dicks by tearing down blankets. I think it’s okay to loosen him up a little and play with the possibilities he offers. It would make the chemistry and the resulting sexy times a next time feel more like natural progression, I think. Oh, and weirdly enough I would have been totally fine with Sterek not
Definitely greedy for more.
I should tweet this, you guys.
Also:
Try to stop me!
-
4.5
So wonderful--the writing is just terrific here, with a perfect ear for both Stiles' inflections and the rhythm of his (non) conversations with Derek and his eyebrows. Along with the humor, there's a real poignancy that runs through the story which comes out in the sheriff's attempts to talk birds and bees--or bees and bees--with Stiles. Stiles wry recognition of his dad's flattering interpretations of his 'not having a girl' really seemed to get at the heart of both characters and their relationship.
So glad the author decided to try her hand at Fanfiction. Sterek-lovers here on GR thank you profusely. Please please please may we have some more???? -
Yeah, this one. This one is a favorite that I could read over and over and over again.
It has every single thing that I want in my Sterek and the characters were exactly the way I like em'.
Can we get a round of applause for the Sheriff? I mean seriously, is he not the fucking best?
And Derek, come on, Derek Fucking Hale. Yeah.
Loved every single minute of this one.
Read. -
Got Sterek?
Flailing, snark, eyebrow action, monster action, pining, laughs, healthy diet for no one but the Sheriff, lacrosse, outsiderness, douches, Google-fu, and balloon animals--Yes, solo and duo pleasuring included. -
4.5 Stars
DerekFuckingHale has advanced eyebrow calisthenics.
Stiles's banter has banter.
The Sheriff uses metaphors to get his point across.
Absurdly poignant and introspective. Highly entertaining and awkward. Also, did I mention hilarious??? OMG I LLOL (literally laughed out loud). A lot.
This was seriously a Sterek comedy gold mine! And it was awesome! -
This is going to sound ridiculous, but you know when you read the tags on a Sterek fic and even just those make you laugh because Sterek authors are (usually) so quirky and shameless and sarcastic? That didn't happen with this fic, and it immediately knocked down my expectations a notch, because I felt as if Lisa Henry was too much of a mature, sensible person - too much of a mom for Sterek.
She isn't.
She knocked this one out of the ballpark, in customary Lisa Henry fashion.
It's amusing and young and lovely and funny, and it is painfully angsty, and it is heartwarmingly tender.
Good fucking job, LH. -
Loved it almost as much as I love Derek's eyebrows.
*sigh* He's so pretty.
Here. Have some balloon animals
-
Sweet. Zombie. Jesus.
This was awesome! Angst, humor, fluff, action and sexy times - EVERYTHING IN ONE. I couldn't ask for more. -
"He is Derek Fucking Hale. He's Perfect. The asshole."
And this was the perfect Sterek.
I am all emotional right now. This just caused a lot of feelings.
So there I was reading and laughing like a loon.
'How fun is this?' says I to myself.
'I know right? This is frigging hilarious, the banter is awesome, Stiles POV is super good.' I reply.
'And Derek is totes broody and uncommunicative.' I nod knowingly 'I love that.'
Then.
Out of NOWHERE.
The tears! I was blubbering all over the place.
"The year Stiles stopped talking because he had nothing to say and he was afraid that every time he opened his mouth it wouldn't be words that would come out anyway, but some long-drawn miserable howl that would put a wolf to shame.
The words came back, in time. Stiles uses them to drown the silence, to fill the hole inside him. He talks and talks and talks because he's afraid of silence and the things he might hear if he listens to it."
Sneaky.
My heart is now sore.
Lovely and moving and sweet interactions between Stiles and his dad and even some nice 'Fucking Scott' interaction as well.
Derek is terrible at communicating. Shocking I know. But he is like for reelz bad in this but when he starts to use his words? Oh my!
I'm so glad I read this. I really needed it.
GO STEREK!!
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A great Sterek.
Stiles realizes he is in love with Derek…. Now what to do about it…
Stiles is particularly funny in this one. -
*** 4.5 Stars ***
Sterek written by Lisa Henry?! It really is Christmas! :D -
So Lisa Henry just ruined my Sterek reading experience going forward. Seriously - is there an author out there who could top this?
Balloon Animals Are Awesome is what I imagine Sterek would be like if John Hughes directed Teen Wolf. Most brilliant f-ing Stiles, I've read thus far. And the clever lines - paragraphs, pages - I nearly high lighted the whole book. (And I humbly apologize to my GR friends for bombing their Updates page with quotes from this book - I didn't even post all of the ones I highlighted.) Laugh out loud funny, fan your self sexy, even grab a few tissues for some misty eyes, this Sterek has it all.
This is a five star Sterek, because the reader can connect with the excitement for the fandom that the author wants to share in every single word. This was written by someone who knows her audience. This was written by someone who reads with their audience, someone who converses with their audience, graciously accepts praise from them and graciously accepts criticism from them. But above all this was written by someone who dumped all her love for Sterek into 67 pages of fandom to be shared with everyone. No matter the venue. No matter whether the reader is a connoisseur or casual dabbler of Sterek. No matter if the reader rated this Sterek a five or a one - or rated it at all. No matter what - she wrote it and wasn't bashful about sharing it with all. Because that's what you do when, in the words of Cheryl Strayed, you "write like a motherf*cker." Ms. Henry, and all Sterek authors out there, keep writing like motherf*ckers. It's for that that we thank you.
-
This was just what I needed to cheer me up after the brouhaha over fanfic on GR. The characterization was just right and Stiles had me giggling throughout. There were so many great lines I wanted to quote. Loved the bees and bees conversation with his dad!
I thoroughly enjoyed this, and I can't wait to read future fics by this lovely author :) -
5 Bee Who Likes Other Bees Stars
After dipping my toes into the Teen Wolf Sterek fanfic canon with the sweet and adorable
Binomial Coefficients, I put on my water wings and ventured farther out into the water with this delightful read. Splish, splash, I’m hooked! Look mom, I can dog paddle! *waggles eyebrows*
Stiles is snarky and sweet; Derek is growly and eyebrowly, and the Sherriff bumbles around charmingly about bees who like bees. The story has adventure and angst, and sweet sexy times, too.
So much fun; can’t wait to read more of DiscontentedWinter’s (AKA Lisa Henry) fantastic stories. -
This was awesome. Funny, sweet, sexy as hell...
For the full commercial -
Ok ok ok ok ok... what?! SO. MUCH. FUN. As in, I so enjoyed myself in reading this silly, emotionally grounded, sweet, hot, 100% relatable story.
Stiles and his dad, so well written, so loving and real and... personal.
Stiles and his best friend, Scott - or Scotty, I love it.
Even in the few short scenes these two share with Stiles, they're completely realized characters and the relationships they have with him are clear in their importance, function and love. So well done!
Stiles. And and Derek. Yeah. It was kind of easy to see Derek's true intentions, but that's coming from my uh mature *cringe* point of view. For Stiles, from where hebantersstands, Derek is just an asshole who happens to save him, constantly. Until...
Heartfelt and sweet and skeery and hot, what a treat!
Y'all need to read this.
And you, from this North Ameristralian to your South Ameristralian self, I'm proud to call you a fellow Ameristralian. :D -
4.5 stars
So many laugh out loud moments and quotable quotes but what gives it the double whammy are the angsty sad bits that hit me in the solar plexus. Hah ha, then ouch. Repeated just often enough to make it my kind of perfect Sterek fic. :D -
4.5 stars
Updated: Finally got around to re-reading this from start to finish and the final chapter is as much fun as the rest. This is a great mix of all the things I love in a sterek fic - its very well-written with a good plot, snarky banter, great character portrayals, feelz and HOTness! There is also some poignant emotional stuff in there too which doesn't feel out of place despite the humour throughout and definitely adds something to this fic. Oh and Derek finally gets to "use his words" in the final section too!
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Original review: I started reading this as a WIP when it was first posted and it's so good that now the final chapter has been released I'm gonna go back and start it from the beginning to enjoy it all the way through in one go.
I love love LOVE Stiles and also the Sheriff in this - his one-liners are epic. They are both brilliantly IC. I am really enjoying this one... full review when I have finished it but it is definitely a high star rating at the moment...
Oh and thank you so much to the author for being cool with us sharing our thoughts about her fics on GR. I really hope she carries on writing more! *hint hint, wink wink* :) -
That was pretty bleeping awesome.
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4 stars
I liked this story very much. This is a Sterek fanfiction story. For those of you that don't know...Sterek fanfic is based off 2 male characters, Stiles and Derek, from the TV show Teen Wolf. In the show they're both heterosexual but some viewers have fantasized about them together in a m/m relationship and thus Sterek was born. This one is based in the TV show world (I think around season2?) and the characters and they way they acted seemed pretty true to life (or true to the TV show in this case).
So this is taking place in the TV show world when Derek is the Alpha and has made Boyd, Erica and Issac in to his pack but Scott is resisting joining. Stiles and Derek interact here and there when paranormal dangers come in the area but not much outside of this. Stiles had been attracted to Lydia for most of his life and suddenly he finds himself attracted to Derek and trying to come up with reasons for it (and to talk himself out of it). There's some further difficulties when Derek figures out Stiles is attracted to him. Of course, Derek is horrible with emotions and Stiles is pretty new to this stuff so obviously things go wrong and there are some mis-understandings and emotional stumbling blocks to get past. I liked how things worked out though and the story ends with Derek and Stiles at the start of something special.
I enjoyed this story very much. Most of the Sterek I read isn't set in the TV world and I really liked the way this was done. It's short and a little angsty but mostly it's a good story with both sweet and funny moments (I loved Scott getting Stiles the balloon animal at the end! Priceless!). I'd recommend this for Sterek fans. :D -
Stiles Likes you. Tick the box.
a) You like Stiles too.
b) You think Stiles is gross.
c) Stiles who?
I get it now.
I can totally see how people become addicted to this Sterek business.
I kinda love Stiles. And Derek. And Derek's expressive and disapproving eyebrows.
It's the best mix of angst and feels and cuteness.
I need more! -
I think I may have developed a new girl crush...
Not just because of this fic but mostly because of
THIS.
Sigh. -
I'm not a huge fanfic reader, mainly because I like to imagine what my characters look like. But for some reason Sterek fic I can usually enjoy because...Stiles.
The first chapter of this was amusing enough, but the last chapter is what gets all the stars. I know people write 'lol' a lot, but I legit was doing that numerous times. Totally unexpected, too. The milk moustache, "Fuck him most of all. (Stiles wishes.)", “Yeah, you remember, when we were pretty much dry humping on your uncle’s grave.”, Stiles riding the crazy train, and this exchange...
“Jesus!”
“You like that?”
“No, I just picked now to find religion.”
A little niggle and it's not the writing, just my own personal quirk bothering me at the moment with books and that's with all the characters whimpering. I feel like I just read characters doing it over and over, but ehh, I can get over it.
But this was sweet and funny and smart. Good times. :) -
Read 12/17/2014
Reread 03/19/2016
I loved it just as much today as I did the first time.
Reread 2/21/17 sweet zombie Jesus, I love DW's fics.
Reread 1/20/2018 this was the beginning of my adoration of all things DW.
Reread 1/13/2019
Reread 6/28/2020 it’s funny that the writer responsible for this fluffiness is the same author that’s produced some of the most painful Sterek fics that I’ve ever sobbed over.
“Not a word. Being a hypocrite is the only way people who were once teenagers can be parents without going out of their damn minds.” Words toliveparent by.
