chill-reading-books

[chill-reading-books]

Love how tumblr has its own folk stories. Yeah the God of Arepo we’ve all heard the story and we all still cry about it. Yeah that one about the woman locked up for centuries finally getting free. That one about the witch who would marry anyone who could get her house key from her cat and it’s revealed she IS the cat after the narrator befriends the cat.

[chill-reading-books]

2025 book bingo time 📚

want a completely arbitrary set of reading goals for 2025? want to try something new in your literary diet but don't know where to start? just like a challenge for the sake of a challenge? just love a good game of bingo?

boy do I have something for you!

for anyone planning to participate, please know that I LOVE attention and talking about books, so I would be STOKED to be tagged on any and all updates about what you're reading or planning to read. I'm so, so excited to see all the different ways these prompts get filled, especially if and when they bring people away from the kinds of things they normally read. not to mention snag some new reading recs myself, hopefully!

and of course, I want to know whenever somebody gets a bingo - and ESPECIALLY if somebody fills the whole board! I don't have any prizes for you, but I can offer a sense of accomplishment :)

note that this is designed to be played as 1 book = 1 space, so even if you read, say, a fantasy graphic novel published in 1923 from an indie publisher that has a bat on the cover, you'd only cross off one space. I'm not a cop and I'm not in charge of what you read, so if it sparks more joy to check off multiple spaces per book then go nuts, but I am throwing that disclaimer out there.

EDIT: the 2025 book bingo challenge is now also on storygraph, thanks to @obi-wann-cannoli!

wondering what some of these spaces mean? seeking a couple recommendations to get you started? no idea what a zine even is, let alone how to make one? worry not! I have a guide to all 25 prompts, including recommendations + an example of what I'll be reading throughout the year to fulfill each space. read on beneath the cut!

Literary Fiction: I find that a lot of people are reluctant to check out literary fiction, as it’s often written off as not being about anything but adultery and divorce. If this is you, I implore you to take a chance, acknowledge that adultery and divorce are compelling sometimes, and also remember that lit fic has a lot more to offer than that. At Writer’s Digest, Michael Woodson describes literary fiction as “less of a genre than a category,” which “focuses on style, character, and theme over plot.” My recommendations include Raven Leilani’s Luster, Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, and Melissa Broder’s Milk Fed. 

I’ll be reading: Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

2. Short Story Collection: You know, a bunch of short stories together in one book? It doesn’t get much more self-explanatory than that. Could be a collection of stories by a single author or an anthology—it’s up to you! I recommend checking out Mariana Enríquez’s The Dangers of Smoking in Bed (translated by Megan McDowell), Nalo Hopkinson’s Falling in Love With Hominids, and Kim Fu’s Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century. 

I’ll be reading: Your Utopia by Bora Chung and translated by Anton Hur 

3. A Sequel: It could be one that you’ve been meaning to get around to, one that’s not releasing until 2025, or the sequel to something you read to cross off another space on this very bingo sheet!

I’ll be reading: Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao, sequel to 2021’s Iron Widow 

4. Childhood Favorite: Go back and read a book you loved as a child, tween, or teen! There’s no wrong answer here; anything from a YA novel to a picture book would be just lovely, and I can’t wait to see what people pick for this option! I’m not sure which of my old favorites I’ll be revisiting yet—should I go for the warm and fuzzy Casson Family series, or straight towards the mindfucky sci-fi of Interstellar Piggy? Or maybe I’ll go see how Artemis Fowl holds up...

5. 20th Century Speculative Fiction: For those not familiar with the term, speculative fiction can encapsulate science fiction, fantasy, and anything else that falls into the unreal. You’re spoiled for iconic choices here: the 20th century gave us Le Guin’s Left Hand of Darkness, Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale, Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Kindred, L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, the beginning of Pratchett’s Discworld series, Diana Wynne Jones’ Howls’ Moving Castle, and countless others.

I’ll be reading: Dawn by Octavia E. Butler, love of my literary life 💜

6. Fantasy: Fantasy comes in a thousand different shades, from contemporary urban wizards with day jobs at the office to high fantasy spellslingers chasing dragons away from castles. Some examples I’ve adored are N.K. Jemisin’s The Killing Moon, C.L. Polk’s Witchmark, Fonda Lee’s Jade City, and Nghi Vo’s Empress of Salt and Fortune.

I’ll be reading: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty  

7. Published Before 1950: This one could not be more straightforward if I tried. You have all of human history (or at least, all the parts that have surviving literature), just not the last 75 years. Dig deep! 

I’ll be reading: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, published in 1938 

8. Independent Publisher: Did you guys know that just five publishing companies (Penguin Random House, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster, and Hachette Book Group) are responsible for 80% of books published in the US each year, and 25% of books globally? Break away from the big five and see what some small presses are putting out! If you need some ideas about where to start, check out this list of nearly 300 independent publishers with notes on what kind of books they put out!

I’ll be reading: Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and translated by Lin King, from Graywolf Press

9. Graphic Novel/Comic Book/Manga: Despite my personal obsession with Batman, the world of comic books is sooo much wider than Gotham City—or anything else that DC and Marvel have to offer. If superheroes aren’t your speed, check out the Southern gothic of Carmen Maria Machado and Dani Strips’ comic The Low, Low Woods, splash around in Kat Leyh’s graphic novel Thirsty Mermaids, or stop waiting for a new season of Dungeon Meshi and go read Ryoko Kui’s manga, translated to English by Taylor Engel. 

I’ll be reading: The Fade, by Aabria Iyengar and Mari Costa

10. Animal on the Cover: Yes, yes, don’t judge a book by its cover—but do go find one with a critter on the cover and give it a read! Absolutely no other requirements here, get silly with it.

I’ll be reading: Shark Heart by Emily Habeck

11. Set in a Country You Have Never Visited: Fiction or nonfiction, doesn’t matter so long as it gives you a little glimpse of a country you’ve never visited in real life. If you’ve somehow visited every country currently recognized in the world, then I guess you get to go read something set in space.

I’ll be reading: A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon and Kim Sanho, translated by Anton Hur 

12. Science Fiction: A genre just as diverse as fantasy, with a little something for everybody! I recommend Becky Chambers’ Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet for those who want to kiss an alien in the stars and Jessamine Chan’s The School for Good Mothers for those who want a surveillance state dystopia that hits much closer to home.  

I’ll be reading: Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase

13. 2025 Debut Author: Read a book by someone who’s releasing their first book in 2025. Fic or nonfic, any genre, no further requirements. Not quite a free space, but pretty close!

I’ll be reading: Liquid: A Love Story by Mariam Rahmani, coming out March 11

14. Memoir: Per Wikipedia, a memoir is “any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author’s personal memories.” Some are funny, some are heartbreaking, some are both! I recommend Carman Maria Machado’s In the Dream House and Roxane Gay’s Hunger, because I tend to lean heartbreaking! 

I’ll be reading: Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner. Again, I like heartbreaking!

15. Read a Zine, Make a Zine: Not familiar with zines? No problem! Check out some of these digital archives for inspiration, and then craft your own zine with this simple guide (or do it your own way, I’m not in charge of you). 

Internet Archives: https://archive.org/details/zines

Gay Zine Archive Project: https://gittings.qzap.org/ 

POC Zine Project: https://poczineproject.tumblr.com/ 

Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/collections/zine-web-archive/ 

16. Essay Collection: Like a short story collection, but it’s nonfiction now. Some of my favorites include Samantha Irby’s We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, Elaine Castillo’s How to Read Now, Aimee Nezhukhumatathil’s World of Wonders, and Cathy Park Hong’s Minor Feelings.

I’ll be reading: A Little Devil in America: In Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib 

17. 2024 Award Winner: What award? Any award you like! And boy, there are tons to pick from. Any book that won any award in the year 2024 is free game. If you need some places to start looking, check out some of these:

Lambda Literary Awards, for excellence in LGBT literature: https://lambdaliterary.org/awards__trashed/2024-winners/ 

The Alex Awards, for adult books with crossover appeal for teen readers: https://www.ala.org/yalsa/alex-awards 

Ignyte Awards, celebrating diversity in speculative fiction: https://ignyteawards.fiyahlitmag.com/2024-results/  

Women's Prize for Fiction (self explanatory) https://womensprize.com/prizes/womens-prize-for-fiction/

Others: https://www.bookbrowse.com/awards/ 

I’ll be reading: Biography of X by Catherine Lacey, winner of the 2024 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction

18. Nonfiction: Learn Something New: I know very little about archaeology, anthropology, or any other fields that involve studying ancient cities, but Annalee Newitz’s Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age was some of the most fun I had with nonfiction in 2024, because every page brought a brand new discovery. For 2025, find a nonfiction book about a topic you don’t know ANYTHING about, and learn something new!

I’ll be reading: Cooling the Tropics: Ice, Indigeneity, and Hawaiian Refreshment by Hi’ilei Julia Kawehipuaakahaopulani Hobart

19. Social Justice & Activism: Read a book about a social issue, the history of an activist movement, or brush up on a guiding philosophy or ideology. Arm yourself with knowledge, besties, because I have a feeling we’re going to need it! if you need a good place to start, why not try Angela Davis' Race, Women & Class, Mariame Kaba's We Do This 'Til We Free Us, or Molly Smith and Juno Mac's Revolting Prostitutes?

I’ll be reading: White Feminism: From Suffragettes to Influencers and Who They Leave Behind by Koa Beck

20. Romance Novel: Listen to me. Fucking listen to me. I mean a ROMANCE. NOVEL. Not a novel that incidentally has a romance in it. Romance novel, motherfucker. Go check out the romance section and have some whimsy as two people fall in love through the most contrived series of events ever conceived. If you really need a romance that makes you feel smart (that’s still sexy and messy as hell), try Akwaeke Emezi’s You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty.

I’ll be reading: Go Luck Yourself by Sara Raasche  

21. Read and Make a Recipe: Could be a cookbook, could be a recipe you yoinked from the New York Times, could be something your grandparents lovingly wrote down by hand. Could be as complex or as simple as you like, just make something tasty! Some cookbooks I’ve enjoyed are Sohla El-Waylly’s Start Here, Dan Pashman’s Mission Impastable, and John Wang and Storm Garner’s The World Eats Here.

22. Horror: Slashers, zombies, haunted houses, creeping paranoia, you name it! It’s time to get spooky and scary with all kinds of things going bump in the night. Maybe this is the year to finally keep up with Dracula Daily? Not for me, I'm not doing that, but you could!

I’ll be reading: I Was A Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones

23. Published in the Aughts: A throwback, but not too far back. Read something published between 2000 and 2009. Maybe it’s time to finally get into Twilight? (For legal reasons, that’s a joke.)

I’ll be reading: The Sluts by Dennis Cooper, published in 2004

24. Historical Fiction: You know, fiction that takes place in a bygone era! Please remember, this isn’t just about reading a book that’s old; we have a separate prompt for that! This is about reading something that takes place in the past relative to the time it was written. Pride and Prejudice is historical to us, but was contemporary when Austen wrote it. Think of Brit Bennett's The Vanishing Half, Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, or history + a bit of fantasy in book's like R.F. Kuang's Babel.

I’ll be reading: The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

Bookseller or Librarian Recommendation: This one is fun, and something I always like to do when I’m travelling and visiting a new bookstore. Ask a bookseller or librarian to recommend something they’ve liked, and check it out! If going in person isn’t feasible, many bookstores and libraries have staff picks on their websites, and the Indie Next List is a monthly list of independent booksellers’ favorite new releases. 

I’ll be reading: The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich, which I bought at Erdrich’s bookstore, Birchbark Books, this summer :)

lastly: tagging people who asked to be tagged to make sure they didn't miss this! @thebisexualwreckoning @perfunctoryperfusions @reallyinkyhands come get your bingo sheet!

[chill-reading-books]

INCREDIBLE quote from a dwarf in the book I'm listening to: "It can bring out some strange stuff in your DNA! ... Humans have DNA, right?"

(It's Blitzen from Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard)

[chill-reading-books]

Laurence's most famous actions take place during his years as an Aerial Corps captain/admiral, and he will go down in history as Captain Will Laurence Of Temeraire, but his naval past remains the biggest part of his career as a soldier and he will never forget his roots.

And neither will his friends from the Corps.

In fact, they will NOT let him forget. Even years into his service in the Corps, even if he has taken to aviator life like a fish to water, even if everyone has a deep respect for him as a dragon captain (and still thinks of him as a competent aviator after The Events), even if he would look weird in blue Navy uniform to anyone who has known him since 1805, deep down in everyone's mind, he's still basically the Token Naval Guy.

Someone has a question about ships or sea? Immediately asks Laurence.

A Navy captain makes the news? "Was it one of your former buddies, Laurence?" "For the last time, I don't know every single captain sailing in England"

Jokes about seamen? Laurence braces himself because half of the time he's included in the joke, even if the punchline is making fun of how he is Not Like The Other Navymen

A couple of years after the war, Emily and Demane unexpectedly drop by in a rush and Laurence panics for a moment, before it turns out they want to settle if a weird fact they heard about sailing life is true, and of all their social circle, the only man who can answer the question AND be honest is Will Laurence.

And yet if someone outside the Corps calls Laurence a sailor, every single aviator will scoff at you and sneer that excuse you, that's Captain Laurence, respectable aviator of the Aerial Corps, that you're talking about, Sir.

[chill-reading-books]

I'm reading Padawan by Kiersten White and AHHH I'm only two chapters in but AHHHH I go so feral for every bit of these beloved Jedi characters and AHHHH Obi-Wan who huurrrt yoouuu

Give yourself a break, man... I wish you could relax and get the affirmation you need... you're trying so hard and so worried about doing well it's backfiring! Ohhh Obi-Wan... dear rigid uptight perfectionist Obi-Wan... you wanna go DO things so bad, you're so scared of being fully present with yourself... (oh and you're really good at recognizing patterns hmm? 👀 oh yes, of course you are <3)

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I am so scared about how Orion is going to show up at this enclave war. He went to New York. Ophelia got her claws in him for reals. This is gonna be one final round of angst and trauma for him and El I suspect. But it'll work out, it's gotta (it's just that type of book, right? People live and recover. They may have scars, and not *everyone* survives of course, but the fields turn green in the end and everyone most significant to the mc should make it at this point, right?)

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Huh turns out that was indeed the twist! What's-her-name, prophecy lady, can indeed see multiple possibilities and chose the one that would actually protect El! Huh. Rough. Well glad that's kind of figured out now, and El can at least have a relationship with her family again.

Y'ALL EL HAS FOUND OUT ABOUT THE SECRET OF ENCLAVE BUILDING

THEY MAKE A MAWMOUTH

Now she's about to try to save Beijing enclave now that she's saved Lou

She's in the room where the "long life" spell has shattered

I think to myself, I bet that means she killed that mawmouth

She starts thinking, oh, this must be how the maleficer has been attacking enclaves. They must have figured out how enclaves are built and are attacking the weak point, this plate.

But.

IT'S THE DEATH OF THE MAWMOUTHS THAT DID IT

I SWEAR

EL IS TAKING DOWN THE ENCLAVES BY KILLING MAWMOUTHS

THE TIMING AND AMOUNTS MAKE SENSE

And the magic of it makes sense too: the mawmouths pay the manna debt forever after by their eternal suffering or something, yeah? But once they die... The enclave goes into forfeiture.

El was foretold to destroy the enclaves of the world, bringing death and destruction.

Now she CAN and it'll be GOOD and FINE and AWESOME!!

She kills mawmouths.

The enclaves are destabilized.

She makes Golden Stone enclaves instead to replace the ones made from malia.

IT'S PERFECT

Also, considering the way this tends to go, she'll probably come to the same conclusion about the real cause of the enclaves falling in the next few paragraphs. But I had to pause my audiobook and share this immediately :OOO :DD

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Ooooooo heeheehee she figured it out. Yayy

Dubai has been warned

She'll meet her Dad's side of the family soon

This should be goood

Y'ALL EL HAS FOUND OUT ABOUT THE SECRET OF ENCLAVE BUILDING

THEY MAKE A MAWMOUTH

Now she's about to try to save Beijing enclave now that she's saved Lou

She's in the room where the "long life" spell has shattered

I think to myself, I bet that means she killed that mawmouth

She starts thinking, oh, this must be how the maleficer has been attacking enclaves. They must have figured out how enclaves are built and are attacking the weak point, this plate.

But.

IT'S THE DEATH OF THE MAWMOUTHS THAT DID IT

I SWEAR

EL IS TAKING DOWN THE ENCLAVES BY KILLING MAWMOUTHS

THE TIMING AND AMOUNTS MAKE SENSE

And the magic of it makes sense too: the mawmouths pay the manna debt forever after by their eternal suffering or something, yeah? But once they die... The enclave goes into forfeiture.

El was foretold to destroy the enclaves of the world, bringing death and destruction.

Now she CAN and it'll be GOOD and FINE and AWESOME!!

She kills mawmouths.

The enclaves are destabilized.

She makes Golden Stone enclaves instead to replace the ones made from malia.

IT'S PERFECT

Also, considering the way this tends to go, she'll probably come to the same conclusion about the real cause of the enclaves falling in the next few paragraphs. But I had to pause my audiobook and share this immediately :OOO :DD

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Welp. There's a maw-mouth attacking the place where her grandmother lives. She's gonna kill it now obvi.

A week's worth of mana says this is the Dubai mawmouth 👀👀👄👄

Y'ALL EL HAS FOUND OUT ABOUT THE SECRET OF ENCLAVE BUILDING

THEY MAKE A MAWMOUTH

Now she's about to try to save Beijing enclave now that she's saved Lou

She's in the room where the "long life" spell has shattered

I think to myself, I bet that means she killed that mawmouth

She starts thinking, oh, this must be how the maleficer has been attacking enclaves. They must have figured out how enclaves are built and are attacking the weak point, this plate.

But.

IT'S THE DEATH OF THE MAWMOUTHS THAT DID IT

I SWEAR

EL IS TAKING DOWN THE ENCLAVES BY KILLING MAWMOUTHS

THE TIMING AND AMOUNTS MAKE SENSE

And the magic of it makes sense too: the mawmouths pay the manna debt forever after by their eternal suffering or something, yeah? But once they die... The enclave goes into forfeiture.

El was foretold to destroy the enclaves of the world, bringing death and destruction.

Now she CAN and it'll be GOOD and FINE and AWESOME!!

She kills mawmouths.

The enclaves are destabilized.

She makes Golden Stone enclaves instead to replace the ones made from malia.

IT'S PERFECT

Also, considering the way this tends to go, she'll probably come to the same conclusion about the real cause of the enclaves falling in the next few paragraphs. But I had to pause my audiobook and share this immediately :OOO :DD

[chill-reading-books]

Yo so

Dubai was foretold to be the next one attacked.

El just went and did the Golden Enclaves thing there.

They finished the spell

Still no attack

My goodness that grandmother really does just see El doing her thing as a threat, huh?

Welp El's going to confront her rn so we'll see

Maybe she'll have turned out to be secretly hoping for this "good ending" all along?? Not likely though let's be real.

So looking forward to whatever the next plot point is here!!

Y'ALL EL HAS FOUND OUT ABOUT THE SECRET OF ENCLAVE BUILDING

THEY MAKE A MAWMOUTH

Now she's about to try to save Beijing enclave now that she's saved Lou

She's in the room where the "long life" spell has shattered

I think to myself, I bet that means she killed that mawmouth

She starts thinking, oh, this must be how the maleficer has been attacking enclaves. They must have figured out how enclaves are built and are attacking the weak point, this plate.

But.

IT'S THE DEATH OF THE MAWMOUTHS THAT DID IT

I SWEAR

EL IS TAKING DOWN THE ENCLAVES BY KILLING MAWMOUTHS

THE TIMING AND AMOUNTS MAKE SENSE

And the magic of it makes sense too: the mawmouths pay the manna debt forever after by their eternal suffering or something, yeah? But once they die... The enclave goes into forfeiture.

El was foretold to destroy the enclaves of the world, bringing death and destruction.

Now she CAN and it'll be GOOD and FINE and AWESOME!!

She kills mawmouths.

The enclaves are destabilized.

She makes Golden Stone enclaves instead to replace the ones made from malia.

IT'S PERFECT

Also, considering the way this tends to go, she'll probably come to the same conclusion about the real cause of the enclaves falling in the next few paragraphs. But I had to pause my audiobook and share this immediately :OOO :DD

[chill-reading-books]

Y'ALL EL HAS FOUND OUT ABOUT THE SECRET OF ENCLAVE BUILDING

THEY MAKE A MAWMOUTH

Now she's about to try to save Beijing enclave now that she's saved Lou

She's in the room where the "long life" spell has shattered

I think to myself, I bet that means she killed that mawmouth

She starts thinking, oh, this must be how the maleficer has been attacking enclaves. They must have figured out how enclaves are built and are attacking the weak point, this plate.

But.

IT'S THE DEATH OF THE MAWMOUTHS THAT DID IT

I SWEAR

EL IS TAKING DOWN THE ENCLAVES BY KILLING MAWMOUTHS

THE TIMING AND AMOUNTS MAKE SENSE

And the magic of it makes sense too: the mawmouths pay the manna debt forever after by their eternal suffering or something, yeah? But once they die... The enclave goes into forfeiture.

El was foretold to destroy the enclaves of the world, bringing death and destruction.

Now she CAN and it'll be GOOD and FINE and AWESOME!!

She kills mawmouths.

The enclaves are destabilized.

She makes Golden Stone enclaves instead to replace the ones made from malia.

IT'S PERFECT

Also, considering the way this tends to go, she'll probably come to the same conclusion about the real cause of the enclaves falling in the next few paragraphs. But I had to pause my audiobook and share this immediately :OOO :DD

[chill-reading-books]

"I knew he was afraid of my conquering army, but I didn't think he would be stupid enough to leave you behind." "Oh, no, you quite misunderstand. Your army's already dead."

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HOLY CRAP El just killed a maw-mouth with a BRAND-NEW KILLING SPELL that SHE INVENTED IN AN INSTANT ACCIDENTALLY which uses like NO MANNA WHAT.

And the price she asked from the London enclave... Beautiful. So her. I look forward to seeing this Yancy character again lol.

Listen I just LOVE seeing El befuddle the oligarchs of these places, it's FABULOUS XD

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I finished the second book of the scholomance and the third one finally came in! Now I get to see how we get STUPID /affectionate /not srs Orion back from the void, and also what kind of chaos ensues from bringing EVERYBODY home!

Also, of freaking COURSE those mawmouths showed up again at the end to screw things up. Guess I know why Galadriel's mom warned her? Glad it wasn't anything more stupid and avoidable.

I also really liked the twist of the kids and the scholomance both believing in the purpose of protecting every child more than the adults who actually set the system up. The scholomance making them work on helping the underclassmen. The scholomance being willing to even be destroyed to help more kids survive in the end. The kids starting to really work together once shown hope of a different way to do things. Etc

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@eishtmo bahahahahaha I see now I see!!

SPOILERS BEWARE PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T READ THE LAST GRADUATE YET

She very very grudgingly realized everybody was a person she might at any moment have or discover a reason to care about. Then decided she was gonna protect the whole school. And now the obstacle course makes itself too hard for anyone but her. So SHE put everyone else under her protection without them knowing it, and the school said "Bet!" and now everyone has to practice with her hahahahahahahaha

She just blew up at that guy and now her team knows she intends to save everybody. We'll see how that goes over. She's compared herself to an Enclaver, where the others need her so much that they'll take whatever she'll give them at whatever cost and be grateful. Which. She's right. And yet- the point is that she takes everybody's help to HELP EVERYBODY, not to ensure her own survival!! Which is therefore also the exact opposite. But, well. This should be very ~interesting~ *manic grin*

Oh wait we don't know why El was warned to stay away from Orion... Uh-oh I hope THAT doesn't come back to bite her and/or everyone in the butt 👀 (it definitely will 😭)

Okay so, I finished the first scholomance book. Mom gives spooky warning about staying away from Orion, oooo! I'm also 25% into the Last Graduate and- word of Galadriel's power is kinda spreading and- I think it would be really funny if as graduation approaches more and more people try to join her alliance, and she wouldn't really turn most people away, and in the end her alliance is just "the whole school". I think that would be funny.

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Okay so, I finished the first scholomance book. Mom gives spooky warning about staying away from Orion, oooo! I'm also 25% into the Last Graduate and- word of Galadriel's power is kinda spreading and- I think it would be really funny if as graduation approaches more and more people try to join her alliance, and she wouldn't really turn most people away, and in the end her alliance is just "the whole school". I think that would be funny.

[chill-reading-books]

Oookay. I've made it just into the ninth chapter in A Deadly Education. Spoilers ahead!

Now, what was that prophecy exactly again?... Laying waste to enclaves or something like that? At this point, I think that may come true in a rather different way! (And honestly I look forward to seeing it)

So, El has slain the maw-mouth now. She's absolutely an incredible person, working so hard to not hurt anyone and never touch malificing at all, being so loyal with those who worked with her, and then fighting this horrifying thing against ALL her self-interest.

Just now, Aadhya figured it out and confronted her about it, and El blurted out that she actually doesn't want to join any enclave at all.

All the ways the enclavers are privileged at the expense of their unaffiliated peers have been slowly built up over the course of this book so far, as well as El's resentment of them. Now, she gets to have an existential crisis about it, yay!

I see now how thematic this book is about social inequality and exploitative systems where the luxury of some is built off the misery and danger and hurt and death of others. And not in a dystopian way either! It's real people, all seeking safety and security and comfort, and falling into these self-sustaining patterns that perpetuate an enormous divide.

Anyway, I suspect El is not going to truly destroy the people, but upend and overturn and tear down all their comfortable systems with their built-in "acceptable loss" of the outsiders and the less powerful.

That's my prediction as I'm in the middle of reading her reflections on why she just can't stand the enclaves anymore, despite fighting enormously with her mother to try and join one when she was younger.