#Books of Horror Volume 3 Part 2

[safety-pin-punk]

Punk History Resources: Vol 2

This is a compilation of resources found and recommended by various alternative bloggers, each of whom are credited for their contributions. This started because I was getting SO MANY asks about resources such as videos, books, and websites to use to learn about punk history. Admittedly, my own list wasn't that long, so I thought it was best to reach out to some others and share their knowledge with everyone. Now, I'm hoping to make this an annual occurrence, where we all share our knowledge with each other. So thank you again to everyone who helped out with this!!

Link to Volume 1

@whatamibutabutteredcroissant @unfriendlybat @ghost--in-a-machine @mushroomjar

YOUTUBE:

Part 1 of The Decline of Western Civilization (It recieved mixed reception from people in the scene) (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)

Part 3 of The Decline of Western Civilization (Focuses on the gutter-punks of 90s LA) (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)

BOOKS:

Some Wear Leather Some Wear Lace by Andi Harriman and Marloes Bontje (It's mostly goth/horror rock/post punk/deathrock but I feel like it's adjacent enough for it to merit a read) (unfriendlybat)

Spray Paint the Walls: The Story of Black Flag by Stevie Chick (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)

Kids of the Black Hole: Punk Rock in Postsuburban California by Dewar Macleod (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)

We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk by Marc Spitz and Brendan Mullen (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)

Left of The Dial: Conversations with Punk Icons by David Ensminger (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)

The Art of Darkness: The History of Goth by John Robb (A comprehensive history of Goth) (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)

Punk Zines by Eddie Piller and Steve Rowland (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)

The High Desert by James Spooner ( A graphic novel memoir of how the authro came into the scene) (ghost--in-a-machine)

Let Fury Have The Hour by Antonio D'Ambrosio (About the band The Clash) (anonymous submission)

MOVIES / DOCUMENTARIES:

Masque (A 10 minute doc about the Masque club in LA) (whatamibutabutteredcroissant)

ARTICLES:

History of Anarcho-Punk and Peace Punk (mushroomjar)

Late 80s and Early 90s Puerto Rico Hardcore Punk (mushroomjar)

The Jewish History of Punk (mushroomjar)

Japan's Impact on Punk Culture (mushroomjar)

The Forgotten Story of Pure Hell, America's First Black Punk Band (mushroomjar)

The Black Punk Pioneers Who Made Music History (mushroomjar)

Why Poly Styrene is Punk's Great Lost Icon (mushroomjar)

Alternative to Alternatives: The Black Grrrls Riot Ignored (mushroomjar)

Abandoning The Ear? Punk and Deaf Convergences Part II (mushroomjar)

Race, Anarchy, and Punk Rock: The Impact of Cultural Boundaries Within The Anarchist Movement (mushroomjar)

Street Medic Handbook (safety-pin-punk)

ZINES:

Sticking To It (safety-pin-punk)

So You Say You Want An Insurrection (safety-pin-punk)

All Power To The People (safety-pin-punk)

How to Survive a Felony Trial: Keeping Your Head up through the Worst of It (safety-pin-punk)

Collectives: Anarchy Against The Mass (safety-pin-punk)

Social War on Stolen Native Land: Anarchist Contributions (safety-pin-punk)

A Civilian's Guide to Direct Action (safety-pin-punk)

Critical Thinking as Anarchist Weapon (safety-pin-punk)

Security Culture: A Handbook for Activists (safety-pin-punk)

Betrayal: A Critical Analysis of Rape Culture in Anarchist Subcultures (safety-pin-punk)

ETC:

The Anarcho-Stencilism Subreddit (people upload stencils for others to use for free) (mushroomjar)

I would love to make a Vol. 3 post next year, so if you have resources and want to share, PLEASE message me!! (Preferably DMs)

[positivelybeastly]

I'm new to comics and love beast. Is there any comics with beast that you'd recommend? There's so many xmen comics and idk where to start.

Hello there, friend! Getting into comic books is damned hard, but, thankfully, resources like Reddit, Tumblr, and Marvel Unlimited (or your pirating site of choice) all make it a lot easier to get into them these days without having to worry about being confused.

Well. You'll still be a little confused. Comic books are convoluted. But at least you'll be able to engage with them on your own terms. :) And, it's worth it. Mostly.

I'll tell you straight out that if you want some good entry points, like, this is my first X-Men comic, what do I read, I'd recommend the following:

X-Men: First Class (2006)

X-Men vol. 2 (1991)

New X-Men vol. 1 (2001)

Astonishing X-Men vol. 3 (2004)

X-Men vol. 6 (2024)

As for Beast specific recommendations? I have a ton!

For Beast as a character, being examined in his own right, I would recommend the following:

X-Men Origins: Beast - a retelling of his origin, updated with modern art and writing. Written by Mike Carey, whose work you should generally look into if you like X-Men - he focuses a lot on characters like Rogue and Xavier, but also on Beast, which is handy for our purposes!

X-Men: Unlimited vol. 1 #10 and vol. 2 #10 - so, this may be somewhat confusing to a new comic reader, but comics have volumes. This is when a comic of a certain title ends, and it's then relaunched with a new creative team, usually with a very different story.

So, X-Men: Unlimited is an anthology series that tells unconnected stories that fit in other places, between other comics, and there were two different volumes of it, one in the 90s, and one in the 00s. Both volumes have an issue #10 that focuses on Beast, and I'd recommend them both! Vol. 1 #10 especially would be, in my opinion, required reading if you really want to get into Beast.

Amazing Adventures vol. 2 #11 through #17 - the first stab at giving Hank his own solo series, from back in the 70s! Don't let the age get you down, I find this series to be actually fairly modern and easy to get into, and it's a nice sort of superhero/horror blend of tones that I find really effective.

X-Men: Endangered Species - this is a Beast solo story dealing with the aftermath of the Decimation, the event where Scarlet Witch removed the powers of 99% of the world's mutants. It's quite dark, but I think it's probably one of the best examinations of the character in the medium, and it works as an excellent sequel to Unlimited vol. 1 #10. Most of the context you need is given to you in the comic, which is handy. :)

X-Men: S.W.O.R.D vol. 1 - this is kind of a team-up comic, kind of not? The context for this is reliant on reading another run that I'll be recommending, but trust me, it's worth it. This is an outrageously funny book with a good emotional core, and it really captures Beast's essence, as a dual sided goofball jokester with a heart of gold and the intellectual moralistic do-gooder who can't leave well enough alone. One of my favourite comics of all time.

For Beast as part of a team, I would recommend the following:

X-Men: First Class - a prequel book set during the days of the Original X-Men, this series bounces between Cyclops, Angel, Iceman, Marvel Girl and Beast a fair bit, but even in issues that don't focus on Beast, he's still a part of the story and quite well written. Very slice-of-lifey, with a lot of charm to it.

X-Men: Season One - a retelling of certain stories from the original 60s run of X-Men, this is a pretty good one-and-done graphic novel that does change a few things, but keeps the spirit intact and tells you a lot about these characters and how they relate to one another. Just watch out for Iceman's Bieber hair.

Avengers vol. 1 #137-211 - this is a pretty long run of comics that features Hank's initial tenure on the Avengers, and will occasionally require a bit of reading around to make sure that you're reading the Annuals in the right place - usually, the comic will tell you to go read Annual #6 or whatever, but if you find a lot of stuff has happened and the story jumped ahead without you, chances are, it's in an Annual. Very variable in quality, but if you want to see classic Beast in all his glory, there's some really good stuff here, especially the foundation of his lifelong friendship with Wonder Man.

The Defenders/New Defenders vol. 1 #96-152 - probably one of my actual favourite run of comics ever. Beast joins the team a little later than #96, but if you jump in when Hank does, you'll be just a little confused, so it's best to start at #96 and go from there. Especially once Hank reforms the team to the New Defenders in #125, he basically becomes one of the very main characters and gets a lot of focus. Absolutely love this comic.

X-Factor vol. 1 #1-70 - the first six or seven issues of this are pretty bad, but it really comes into its own once it starts being written by Louise Simonson, who makes it much more soap opera, more character driven, gives all the characters a lot to do. There's a lot of crossover with other books, but usually it'll just tell you what to read if you want to know more about a part of a story in little editor's notes!

X-Men vol. 2 #1-95 - the classic 90s run; not my personal favourite, because it's pretty confusingly plotted, but if you want something that hews extremely close to the 90s cartoon, this is that to a tee, to the point where a lot of stories and characters were adapted to and from the comics directly!

New X-Men vol. 1 #114-156 - a landmark run on X-Men by Grant Morrison, this evolves Beast into a new form and changes up his character in a new, tragic manner that, personally, is my favourite iteration of the character. Very high concept sci-fi, occasionally quite confusing and problematic, but extremely good stuff, imo, and essential for getting into modern X-Men.

Astonishing X-Men vol. 3 #1-35 - a sort of sequel to New X-Men, this is again an extremely good entry point into modern X-Men, and it's very, very classic while still progressing the story. Just a note - when you read issue #24, do NOT go to issue #25, you need to go and read Giant Size Astonishing X-Men instead, THEN go to #25. I know, it's confusing, I'm so, so, so sorry, comics are just like this. This is the comic that leads straight into S.W.O.R.D pretty much.

Wolverine and the X-Men vol. 1 #1-42 - a more zany, school focused book, Hank is part of the wider cast here, but he does get some spotlight issues, and I do enjoy him here, especially his relationship with Broo. There are crossovers with Avengers vs. X-Men and other events in here, but those events are kinda sort skippable because they're bad. If you feel confused, you can read them, but I don't necessarily recommend them.

X-Men vol. 6 #1-ongoing - the current run of X-Men, written by Jed MacKay! To put it very bluntly, Beast went through about a decade of being quite badly written and slowly turned into a scummy villain through the recent Krakoa era, which I was not a fan of. There are individual issues between 2013 and 2024 that I can recommend, but if you like Beast, I would not recommend reading them, because I think that they are pretty bad and not fun to read. This is me being kind. But the new series picks up after that's all fixed, and Beast is getting a lot to do in this series, so I'd recommend it!

X-Men: From the Ashes Infinity Comics #15-18 - a supplementary comic that focuses on Beast, best read alongside the above X-Men run I recommended; it can give you all the context you need for where Beast is at, and why he's feeling the way that he is. A very, very good read, way exceeded my expectations, and I'm really pleased I can actually recommend modern comics for Beast again!

These are the main runs I would recommend! There's a lot more, if we want to get esoteric, and I'm sure I'm missing out on a lot of material - Beast has been around for 60 years, he's been in a LOT of stories - but if you want to get stuck into X-Men comics and really immerse yourself into the world and the stories, there's a lot of really good material here!

Welcome to the X-Men comics, friend! Hope you survive the experience!

[dailycharacteroption]

Book Review: Pathfinder AP #2 Rise of the Runelords: The Skinsaw Murders

And now it’s time to continue our look into Pathfinder’s very first AP, the Rise of the Runelords!

While the first volume is perhaps better known because, on average, more people have played it (let’s face it, for every successful campaign run from start to finish, there are 10 false starts), that isn’t to say that this book wasn’t influential.

Indeed, while the first book was a fairly standard series of dungeon crawls with the framing device of a vengeful corrupted aasimar and the seeds of the mysteries of the greater campaign, the sequel instead focuses on a freeform mystery investigation that ends with a handful of dungeons and even more brewing plot notes.

Moreover, the campaign introduces something that would become a staple of the Pathfinder system: haunts. This modification of the trap rules with alternate mystical means of disabling them provided a way to do spooky ghost stuff in your adventures that doesn’t require a creature that you can fight back against, bringing elements of horror one usually doesn’t see into the ttrpg space.

So let’s get right into it, shall we?

The story of the second book leans pretty heavily into focusing on minor characters from the first book. The party is called into investigate a murder as part of a string of killings that have been happening recently, particularly involving a vivacious young woman that might have got one of the heroes stuck in a sticky situation in the last book. What follows from there is a series of investigations and red herrings, with such set dressing as a local asylum and an eerie farm field where the serial killer’s victim’s have been infected with ghoul fever and left to succumb to their wounds and undeath, playing up the horror of what is being done to them.

Eventually, the trail leads them to the estate of the killer, none other than the reanimated body of another minor character from the first book, a young noble the party saved during the original defense of Sandpoint. In the estate, the party is subjected to all manner of horrible haunts as they seek him out, but they find an unlikely ally in the form of his wife, who has risen as a revenant to exact vengeance against him. However, the story doesn’t end with his death, for his own monstrous killing spree was part of the machinations of a dark cult, which the party faces in their lair, only to find that the true leader is a monster hiding out in an abandoned clock tower, her own plots being in the service of the big bad and the plot of the AP as a whole.

There’s lots of good art in this part of the AP, not just of individual actors and monsters, but also of scenes in the story, such as a ghoul “scarecrow” breaking free of it’s bindings and pouncing on the heroes. I do have to take points away from it for how different the “Skinsaw Man” art differs from the scene art of him being discovered by the poor girl which kicks off the whole adventure when the resulting double murder is discovered and investigated.

Starting off the adventure with a murder mystery is a fun way to break up the action from what we saw in the previous adventure, though of course it takes a bit of GM initiative to keep track of what leads the party has pursued and what they’ve learned. Also, the fact that the serial killer character has suggestions on how their notes to the party are colored by their previous interactions with the party is nice. Later on, the haunts also are a fun way to play up horror and the like.

On the other hand, the adventure’s plot feels like it runs a little long here. You chase down the undead murderer and destroy him, only to find that he was a puppet of the local murder cult, so you go to deal with them, only to find that they in turn were manipulated by an outside figure, whose lair barely has 3 encounters to it before you finally bring down the lamia matriarch and end the adventure. Also, the storyline revolves a lot around uncharitable pop-culture depictions of obsession and insanity, which folks may not jive with. Again, early Pathfinder was leaning pretty hard into hard, darker themes.

Overall this adventure dips happily into the themes of horror that occasionally crop up in this AP. (and frankly a lot of early Pathfinder Adventure Paths, though this is understandable. The bad guys are going to do horrible, horrifying things.) In any case, that will do for today, but tomorrow, we’ll be dipping into a book that treads over much more familiar territory.

[skadoosher77]

My Top 10 Books/Series I Read in 2024

#10 Blind Chaos by CrimCat

A fanfiction of Beneath the Dragoneye Moons that is just fucking delightful. Made me fall in love with that world again, I absolutely recommend it if you're familiar with the source.

#9 Sporemageddon Vol. 3 by RavensDagger

The third volume of a wonderfully revolutionary story about a little girl sticking it to the entire concept of industry. You can imagine why I like it so much.

#8 Hive Minds Give Good Hugs by Natalie "Thundamoo" Maher

The most dense and morally fascinating of Maher's books. It was the last I got around to (other than Are You Even Human?, which is still releasing serially and I couldn't put here in good conscious.) and the one I recommend most to newcomers to her work, even if they're all fucking fantastic.

#7 The Type Specialist by Incarnated Whisp

The Pokémon fanfiction that put the fire (or should I say acid?) in my belly to start writing my own fanfic. It's classic Pokémon adventure fun with the added depth and maturity of the written word, without dragging it out of the lighthearted root of the setting. The approach to adapting Pokémon to the format was what inspired me most, and for good reason. (Embarrassingly, I haven't finished it.)

#6 Judicator Jane (books 1-3) by Brian Rouleau

A LitRPG about morality. I've had plans for my own LitRPG series, and this one stole some of the thoughts right out of my head. It has heart and tenacity in spades. I love a book that gives me something to chew on after it's done, and this series was like a crate full of bubblegum.

#5 Ruri Dragon (After the hiatus) by Masaoki Shindo

I loved the Ruri Dragon oneshot, was enthralled when I found the chapters from its initial serialization, and I could not have been happier that it returned this year. It's a conversational, affable, contemporary, and deeply human piece of art. It has none of the bullshit that makes most manga so unreadable and all of the parts that cement the artform as something worthwhile. Every character feels like a whole and entire person that could be brought off the page any minute, and I would love to meet them all.

#4 Bioshifter (Vol. 1-3) By Natalie "Thundamoo" Maher

I let Maher off lightly in the recommendation for Hive Minds Give Good Hugs, but dude Thundamoo is for the freaks! This is a story that made me cry over and over again with grief, laugh over and over again with glee, shout over and over again in shock and excitement, and still my main takeaway was that I need more body horror in my life. The core theme of this series is something everyone should know about. These books fucked me sideways, and I literally came back to do it again.

#3 Worm by Wildbow

Where to start? I do not want to spoil a thing about this book. It is so fucking good and you should go and read the shit out of it right now. Yes, that's the praise I'm giving the #3 spot, the other two are even better. It's got superpowers and they're cool, but that is far from the main draw. Is it rough around the edges? Yes. Is it bad about certain things? Yes. Does any of that affect how much it grabbed my brain by the balls? Fuck no!

#2 Artificial Jelly (books 1 & 2) by Dustin Graham

Honestly, I didn't expect this to take this spot. Artificial Jelly, unlike my other favorite books and series this year, does not stick to one theme that pulses at its heart. Instead, Artificial Jelly has something effecting and important to say about every single one of the questions and ideas that have pervaded this year for me. It's a story about a general artificial intelligence born into a virtual cage, and what happens next. Read it.

#1 Vigor Mortis (Vol. 1-4) by Natalie "Thundamoo" Maher

These books are the reason that two other entries of this list are by Natalie "Thundamoo" Maher, they made me fall in love with her writing. I found them at a time I was in need of something to latch onto, and what a handhold I found. THEMES. I fucking love a good theme! Vigor Mortis is all about our monstrous natures, a theme I desperately needed tackled at the time. Every new horror of the body, mind, and/or soul didn't just elicit a girlish squeal of excitement and intrigue (and more than a few times arousal), but also a beautifully fucked up philosophy debate between me and the book. EVERY. SINGLE. CHARACTER. is a challenge to your view of how morally right beings should act, and I would not have it any other way. Best of all, it does not feel preachy, it is an excellent experience the whole way through regardless of if you engage with it. I have two complaints, but they are not for this post, because I need you to go out and buy these fucking books. They will make your life better.

[bloody-wonder]

mid-year book tag

1. Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2024? i have read so many good ones this year but no particular one stands out to me as The Best so i'll name top 5 instead (in the order i read them in): a thousand stitches, doctrine of labyrinths, in other lands, big swiss, my brilliant friend - so, quite a range of genres and tones, as usual :)

2. Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2024? the virtu is definitely my favorite part of doctrine of labyrinths and the tropic of serpents, the second book in the memoirs of lady trent, was just a perfect historical fantasy adventure novel - it's like if jane austen wrote indiana jones except it's also a nature documentary about dragons. last but not least, empire of the damned which came out in march solidified jay kristoff's empire of the vampire as my favorite vampire book series. you might have heard me screaming about it from the rooftops. all three of these sequels, i find, are even better than the previous book in their respective series.

3. New Release You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To? i'm saving kj charles' death in the spires for the fall since it's a spooky campus murder mystery (i think?) and i also want to read apostles of mercy and so finish lindsay ellis' sci fi series (which i have lost interest in somewhat tbh but i'm nothing if not a completionist lol). i was curious about the familiar but the reviews i've seen don't look too promising so i'm probably not going to prioritize it.

4. Most Anticipated Release For Second Half of 2024? i'm looking forward to kj charles' new romance book, the duke at hazard, as well as the new evander mills mystery, rough pages, but the piece of fiction i'm anticipating the most is actually the radioapple southern gothic au by my favorite fanfic author reminiscentbells. she's going to write the whole thing this summer and start posting in september - i'm so excitedddd😱

5. Biggest Disappointment? emily wilde's encyclopaedia of faeries is the book equivalent of a ghoul wearing the skin of your beloved. i wasn't a fan of a deadly education either😒 was very excited to read gaywyck but the expectations of "jane eyre but gay" which the cover of that book gave me were unfortunately not met🤷‍♀️

6. Biggest Surprise? i didn't think i might be into extreme horror and neither did i fancy myself a sally rooney girlie so i was quite surprised that i liked her conversations with friends as well as the sluts by dennis cooper. will definitely read more from both authors next year. an even bigger surprise however was solitaire which i picked up on a whim after tori came out as ace in the last heartstopper volume. i have a complicated relationship with alice oseman's books mostly due to the fact that i'm years past the target demographic age but still feel compelled to read them bc it seems they're the only mainstream books with prominent aro/ace rep out there. so i didn't expect much and was astonished to discover that tori spring is like looking at a mirror reflection of my 18yo self - uncanny in a fun way. ig i shouldn't be so surprised this turned out to be my favorite oseman book since it's the one with the most mixed reviews lol people like to hate a depressed teenage girl😬

7. Favorite New Author? i have devoured doctrine of labyrinths and the cemeteries of amalo in february so now i can safely say sarah monette aka katherine addison is one of my favorite authors. each of her series has a different tone but there are consistent themes of real or magical disability and non amatonormative relationships which are explored in creative ways throughout her stories. i also like her worldbuilding quite a bit, especially the naming systems and fantasy terminology. i read more books by celeste ng as well as by vale aida - both are likely to become favorite authors too. in the latter's case - provided she writes a sequel to hostis. if not, i shall never forgive her😅

8. Newest Favorite Character? okay this is just impossible to narrow down! first of all, liathe from empire of the damned bc i want her Gender: wearing a porcelain mask and a splendid crimson coat, formally bowing to her adversaries before she beats the shit out of them with her blood sword, referring to herself by the royal we and hissing every time she speaks - character of all time material right there. behold my beautiful girl who has done nothing wrong!🥰

(official illustrations by bon orthwick)

secondly, elliot schafer bc he's the most obnoxious prickly boy in other lands and yet everyone wants him carnally lol. i adore his internal monologue - probably the best i've read in ya. his dialogue too tbh - his cutting repartee game is off the charts. honestly, he's just my favorite type of character: a mean bisexual gremlin who scolds people so creatively that they fall in love with him on the spot. what more can you ask.

finally, i have to mention that to my great surprise i liked mildmay more than felix harrowgate🤯 idk felix is this cunty traumatized savant which is a character archetype i'm used to liking so it was a safe bet. the opposites attract sidekick or love interest of such a character is usually not my cup of tea but mildmay is the exception that proves the rule ig. mostly it's bc of his unusual manner of speaking with those funny slang turns of phrase and just generally the contrast between his expressive internal monologue and his reserved demeanor. as a result, he easily rivals felix as the most interesting guy in the book. such excellent character work! taking my hat off to monette🎩

9. Newest Fictional Crush? i reserve this question for that special kind of obsession only a very particular character can inspire and this year it's alastor from hazbin hotel. which, i know, is not a book but i have read so much alastor fanfic in the last few months that he's basically like a book character to me at this point lol

💕Best Ship💕 elliot schafer and luke sunborn are very cute. i don't usually go for cute but here we are. especially after reading that short story from luke's pov i realized i just need more of these two together😌 felix and mildmay with their unholy magic bdsm union - need i say more? forbidden ship that watered my crops. last but not least, i'm currently trudging through the realm of the elderings bc of fitz and the fool and as of assassin's quest it finally started paying off: i'm being queerbaited and asking for more🥲

10. Book That Made You Cry? a thousand stitches is such a wholesome cozy book and it made me cry multiple times the way that a nostalgic movie from childhood can make you cry sometimes. especially the pug scene😭 the scenes of thara celehar walking the corn maze in the cemeteries of amalo made me cry a lot too. the symbolic depths addison is able to achieve with the labyrinth motif, the exploration of grief and forgiveness and letting go - unparalleled🤌

11. Book That Made You Happy? a thousand stitches made me happy! especially the pug scene!!😅 honestly it was like watching a disney movie back when they were good except also more relatable bc atwater's characters read neurodivergent and aspec-coded to me. love how she maintains that the kiss of true love that breaks the faerie curse doesn't have to be romantic. re-reading the three musketeers made me very happy too - it's one of my top 10 favorite books of all time and i was kinda nervous i might not like it as much as an adult. well the joke's on me bc now i can confirm it's one of the best books ever written😊 reading in other lands and big swiss cheered me up a lot too bc they're just so damn funney😄

12. Favorite Book Adaptation You Saw This Year? haven't seen a lot of adaptations so ig dune part two wins by default. twas a fine movie. the wheel of time is also a nice show in my opinion but i didn't read the source material so idk how good it is adaptation-wise🤷‍♀️

13. Favorite Review You’ve Written This Year? my favorite ones are probably the ones i wrote about the three musketeers and in other lands but i think i also wrote some good critical/negative reviews of the mask of mirrors and of the vorkosigan books i read this year (1 2 3)

14. Most Beautiful Cover? behold the cover of the voyage of the basilisk!🤩 i want to frame it and hang it on my wall so that i can gaze at it adoringly and connect with my inner ishmael

(art by todd lockwood)

i also like this vintage romance cover of gaywyck and the uk covers of the farseer trilogy. it's a shame that the books are not as good as the covers led me to believe. especially in the case of gaywyck - this cover is Such A Vibe! but alas

15. What Books Do You Need To Read By The End of The Year? in terms of series i want to finish the memoirs of lady trent, read one more witcher book, at least a couple vampire chronicles and then reread swordspoint and hopefully complete that series too. other fantasy i want to get to at last is fire & blood and the hands of the emperor - both are big and intimidating tho. for my classics challenge i need to finish a couple of tomes i'm reading slowly throughout the year and then also read the name of the rose. american psycho and mona awad's bunny have been on my tbr for ages - maybe i'll finally read them this fall. and i also want to finish reading kj charles' backlist bc the completionism drive is stronger than the fear of having no kj charles to read lol

i never do things a normal amount - every time i take up new media i go all in. so i had a musicals phase, a movies phase, a tv show phase - each lasting a few years and then i barely watched any of these once the phase ended. which is why i've been wondering if my current Book Phase is about to wrap up soon but, given how many books i managed to read since january, it sure doesn't seem that way. instead, it feels like the more i read the better i am at finding books that i'm likely to enjoy - which leads to more reading. and i cannot complain about that tbh😁📚

tagging @magpiefngrl @doh-rae-me @oliviermiraarmstrongs @fugitoidkry @pinkasrenzo @counterwiddershins @figuringthengsout @sugarbabywenkexing @fandomreferencepending @venndaai @weirdsociology @sixappleseeds @theodoradove

please tell me what you've been reading this year (if you want)! one can't have too many book recs👀

goodreads │ old mid year tags 2020 2021 2022 2023

[avoskorm]

Part 4 of 4 *throws streamers*

[---MAJOR ENDGAME SPOILERS---]

If you haven't done Tearstone Island, do not read this.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

**********

Jovus propped himself up against the pillows, hands behind his head. He lifted his chin haughtily as he gazed up at his lover, eyes dancing with mischief.

Emmrich placed a hand on Jovus' cheek, and they closed their eyes as he pressed a kiss to his lips. Slow. Deep.

He broke away; Jovus tried to follow and reconnect, with a desperate whimper. Their eyes fluttered open, and Jovus pouted at Emmrich, which only made him laugh.

Jovus loved that sound. From the very first, he knew his was the only laugh he ever wanted to hear again. He swore to do anything he could to hear him make that sound.

Emmrich laughed into another lingering kiss. And another. I love you.

He grinned, eyes full of stars, and slowly, deliberately worked his way down Jovus' body, one hand gently ghosting through his chest hair.

I love you.

I love you.

I love you.

Each proclamation punctuated with another kiss.

Jovus stilled, and his skin lightened under Emmrich's lips, a pale, ghostly white. With a gasp, Emmrich reflexively jerked away when something cold touched his hand. He looked up, searching for Jovus' face… and his eyes widened in horror when he found it.

Staring back at him -- through him? -- were the reddened, blighted eyes of his paramour. Tendrils of blight undulated around them, and the cold, he discovered, was a tentacle, slowly coiling its way around Jovus' chest. More tendrils erupted from his body, slick and glistening with crimson, cocooning him from the inside out.

The bed dissolved from beneath them, and they both started plummeting towards a deep, dark sea of bubbling blight, stretching as far as the eye could see. An endless abyss, black as pitch.

Jovus tried to scream, but any sound he could force out was raspy and hoarse. He managed to choke out a single word: "Varla…"

The writhing, tentacled mass hit the surface first. Jovus, and any sound he tried to make, any words he had to say, were swallowed up by the void.

Emmrich cried out as he fell down, down into the inky depths, the blight turning his blood to ice…

**********

Emmrich woke up in a panic, clutching his chest tightly, gasping for air as he tried to orient himself. No, he thought. That's sweat, not blight. He blinked back the tears forming in his eyes, cursing his foolishness.

"So, you're finally back with us, Volkarin," Johanna sneered from behind him. The sound of her voice almost made him jump out of his skin. "You were muttering in your sleep. Could you perhaps do that elsewhere, next time?"

Emmrich had fallen asleep at his desk, piled high with various volumes on lyrium crafting, and pocket dimensions of the Fade. Strewn across the desk were multiple complex blueprints, plundered from Bellara's room, along with one of Jovus' old journals, open to a dog-eared double-page spread with a detailed diagram of the Dread Wolf's knife.

He'd asked Neve to accompany him to their rooms; it didn't feel right entering uninvited, and felt even worse going through their things. But they had an idea -- no, a plan -- and they needed their lost friends' help to do it, even if it was only in the form of paper and ink.

"How long was I asleep?" Emmrich yawned, scratching at the stubble forming at his jaw. He stretched to try to relieve the stiffness of his bones.

Johanna snorted. "What am I, your personal sandglass? Do you honestly expect me to keep track of that?"

Manfred hissed curiously at Emmrich. He was sat cross-legged on the floor by the fire, a large tome spread across his skeletal knees.

Emmrich sighed and rubbed at the dark circles around his eyes, but did his best to give Manfred a comforting smile. "I'm fine, Manfred. It was just a dream."

The skeleton hissed again, and took him at his word, turning his attention back to his book.

Johanna barked a laugh. "You're not fine. Look at you! You look terrible."

"Yes, thank you." Emmrich glowered at her, then turned back to his desk with a long sigh. He rifled through the mess of papers on his desk, hoping, praying, for some inspiration. A miracle. At that moment, being able to actually absorb any of the words written would have been a miracle all its own, but in such a sleep-deprived haze, nothing seemed to stick.

It's been a week. He still hasn't returned. What if he's actually dead? What if they're both dead? What if…

Johanna cut through his musing like a knife. "Are you still moping over that hulking sheepdog?" If she still had eyes, she would have rolled them hard enough to blind herself.

Emmrich blinked. Did he say that out loud? "I am not moping, Johanna."

"Call it what you like, " Johanna said dismissively. "Let it go. You'll…" she hesitated. "You'll find someone else, I'm sure." That was almost sympathetic.

Not quite what he needed to hear, but he appreciated the sentiment, nonetheless.

Manfred stirred on the floor; he put his tome aside and scrambled to his feet, his bones clicking together melodically. He crossed over to Emmrich's desk and hissed happily. "Emm-rich!"

"Yes, Manfred?" Emmrich smiled, despite himself. It was always such a treat to hear Manfred say his name.

"Emm-rich! Emm-rich! Emm-rich!" He repeated himself enthusiastically, and wandered out the door. Emmrich blinked after him in confusion. He was too tired for this. After a few moments, Manfred poked his skull back around the door, hissing impatiently. "Fol-low! Emm-rich!"

Curious, but so confused, Emmrich followed as bid. He heard a commotion from the library, and sped up to a brisk walk, then a jog, when he heard some familiar voices…

"Ow! Damnit, be careful!"

"I am being careful, don't be such a baby."

"I can still stab you, you know."

"Don't threaten me with a good time."

Emmrich leaned over the railing and saw Jovus with an arm under Davrin's shoulder, attempting to help him walk up the stairs from the eluvian room. Assan screeched joyously and flew laps around the library. Taash and Harding sprinted out of Taash's room, disheveled and in shock, and Neve flung the door open from outside, Assan nearly toppling her and Lucanis over as he barrelled past.

They were bickering. They were filthy.

They were alive.

And, oh, they were home.

"Jo-vus! Dav-rin! Ass-an!" Manfred chirped happily as he toddled down the stairs. Harding and Taash followed suit, and Neve and Lucanis piled in after staring from the door in disbelief.

Jovus growled impatiently and hoisted a protesting Davrin over his shoulder, then plopped him unceremoniously down on the library sofa. "There, that's my job done."

"Never do that again," Davrin huffed.

"You're welcome."

The group closed in to talk, to hug, to cry, and Emmrich stepped uncertainly down the stairs to join them. Davrin gave a short account of what happened in the time they were missing in action, with Jovus occasionally piping up to fill in the blanks. They sounded exhausted. Neve brought the two up to speed with what happened after the events at Tearstone.

They'd won a major victory, but so much had gone wrong. Rook and Bellara were still missing. Davrin almost died. Again. He still needed healing and rest. That, at least, was fixable.

"It's a patch job," Jovus said flatly, referring to Davrin's many grievous injuries. The fact he managed to survive Ghilan'nain's onslaught, and a fall into a pocket of Blight was nothing short of miraculous. "I healed what I could with magic, but I'm absolutely not a healer." He snorted. "I'm amazed I managed to drag his sorry carcass back here in one piece."

Emmrich and Jovus exchanged polite, awkward smiles as Emmrich crossed over to Davrin, examining his injuries. He probed gently with his own healing magic. "'Patch job' though it may be, there isn't much else I can do to help. You did well. You just need to rest, Davrin," he added, giving Davrin a stern look that brooked no argument. Davrin grumbled, but bit his tongue. He knew he was right, and he could do with the rest after the week he'd had.

Jovus bowed low at the group, with a tired smile. "Excellent. Now that that's settled, if you'll excuse me, I have a lovely date planned with a bath. And perhaps my bed for the next week." He turned on his heel and slunk towards the music room, sagging slightly as he got to the stone door, then disappeared inside without another word.

Emmrich stared sadly after him, and rose to return to his own room, but Taash stopped him. "Aren't you gonna go talk to him?"

"Taash!" Harding gasped.

"What? He's been miserable all week, and now Jovus is back. That's good, right? They still got things they gotta say to each other." They turned to Emmrich. "Don't you?"

Emmrich blanched. "I… yes. But…" He worked his mouth and wracked his brain, grasping for an excuse. Any excuse. "At least give him time to bathe," he said, lamely.

Taash shrugged; his response seemed to satisfy them. "'Kay. Just make sure you do talk. It'll tear you both up if you don't."

**********

With Davrin safe and grousing bitterly at his enforced bed rest, and Assan fed with as many gingerwort truffles and lamb offcuts the rest of the group could find, all that remained… was to talk to Jovus. The tired, wounded, and very likely angry animal that he loved so dearly, but hurt so badly.

Emmrich was overjoyed he was back, of course, but the reality of the situation was a lot more difficult than the fantasy. There was no locking of eyes, or sweeping each other off their feet, or making out over the library table, everything forgiven, like in a two-copper serial, no. He'd have to work for this.

He'd put it off for as long as he could, telling himself he was giving him time to bathe, to readjust, to rest. He'd shaved, combed his hair, changed his clothes -- "Well, it's about time, Volkarin," -- even turned the mess of paperwork on his desk into something vaguely resembling organised.

But there was no putting it off forever.

He froze when he'd reached the stone door to the music room; with a shaky sigh he straightened himself, and forced himself down the corridor, until he was a hair's breadth from the door to the room proper.

From within came the scattered sounds of discordant piano, interspersed with frustrated grunts, and an impressively diverse array of cursing. A long sigh followed, and the piano's lid was closed with a gentle click. The unmistakable sound of someone giving up.

Please don't let that be a sign of things to come, Emmrich pleaded to what or whomever was listening.

The door swung open, and Emmrich gasped in surprise when he was suddenly face-to-face with Jovus. He was in his sleepwear -- a pair of light brown linen trousers -- with a towel draped loosely around his shoulders, and his hair was damp and unkempt. He ran the towel over his head and tossed it onto a crate.

"I could smell your aftershave," Jovus said simply, answering a question that hadn't been asked. He studied Emmrich for a moment. "Did you need something?"

"May we talk?" Emmrich asked, quietly. "Please?"

Jovus hesitated, then stepped back from the door, wordlessly gesturing for Emmrich to enter. He stepped across the threshold with a polite "thank you," and settled himself in one of the mismatched sofas that had been dumped in the corner. Jovus closed the door, and sank down into the sofa opposite.

They sat silently, for a time; one could almost hear the cogs turning in their brains as they tried to decide where to begin.

"Jovus, I--"

"Emmrich, I--"

They both started in tandem, and cut each other off. Jovus bit his lip, uncertainly; he would wait.

"Before we say anything else, I just wanted to apologise," Emmrich began. He took a deep, shaky breath, and continued. "You were right, and… I am a fool."

"I'm sorry I left," Jovus said, weakly.

"Only because I pushed you," Emmrich laughed bitterly. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you're back home safe. What you and Davrin have been through, it beggars belief. Even if you despise me for eternity, it's a relief to know you're no longer in Elgar'nan's clutches." He smiled sadly, tears welling in his eyes.

Jovus sighed. "I don't despise you, Emmrich. I don't think that's possible. You're my Varla," he smiled wanly, gazing at Emmrich with the faintest glimmer of hope, which did little to temper his undisguised adoration. "My guiding star. When I look at you… I know I'm never far from home. Your name is etched into my bones, my brain, my heart. I don't despise you; I can't. I love you, Emmrich Volkarin. But…" He trailed off; his shoulders slumped as he sagged. He wasn't sure where else to look, but at the floor. "Why does that feel like a bad thing?"

Emmrich's mouth hung agape; he looked stunned as he tried to process what was just said. He didn't dare hope, but this…

He switched sofas, closing the distance between them. He cupped Jovus' face with both his hands, and gently guided his downcast eyes to face him fully, as he tried -- and largely failed -- to choke back a sob. "Oh, my darling, it isn't. It's the most wonderful thing. I am ashamed to have brought you this doubt, but I ask that you cast that doubt aside, and I beg your forgiveness."

Relief crossed Jovus' features, and he couldn't contain his joy as he stole a kiss. He sighed contentedly as he broke away, and wrapped his arms around Emmrich, pulling him into a hug. "I love you," he repeated, whispering the words into his ear.

"I love you, too," Emmrich breathed; he buried his face in Jovus' shoulder, and his own shoulders shook as he began to weep. "I love you. I almost lost you, but you're here, and I'm so sorry. Oh, my dearest heart, I love you." The words spilled from him like a flood; Jovus would have gladly drowned.

Jovus kissed his hair, and held him tightly as he wept; he spoke softly in his native tongue, and told him he loved him in every language he knew how.

It wasn't enough -- it would never be enough -- but it would have to do for now.

[thelioncourts]

I’m really afraid jacob won’t comeback on season 3 since he only signed for 2 seasons while sam signed for 5 seasons already. What do you think about that? Do you think jacob will extend his contract? I know rolin want to keep louis as the heart of the series but given that in books he was sidelined by anne rice, would jacob stay or chose other projects to have more chance as the lead actor rather than being limited in s3 and future seasons ?

I don't think we have anything to worry about re: Jacob Anderson in regard to the show. I've been seeing a lot of people worrying about it lately, and while I love that people love Jacob enough to be worried (!), I don't know where the fear is coming from, but I do hope that I can maybe alleviate some of those fears. I'm no expert or anything, but here are some things I think are note-worthy:

I want to point out (and I don't have a source on this one. If anyone does have the source, I would greatly appreciate it and will add it) that I've read that Jacob only signs on for a season at a time when he does shows. I've read that he did that with GoT and so it's not surprising that he, so far, is only signed for the first two seasons of IwtV in order to sign on for the first book. But, again, it's a habit, it's a pattern, he has a reason for doing it. It doesn't mean that he won't sign on for more seasons. In fact, I very much feel (like -- so strongly feel) that we will see Jacob on IwtV until its very last episode. Here's why --

“When I read the novel, it was very clear that this was a romance –indicates the showrunner–. And we wanted to tackle it in a big way: overflowing passion, big fights and big reconciliations. A relationship like that may not be the best thing for you in life, but sometimes you just can't control yourself, and that's what happens to Louis and Lestat." Will the show respect the structure of the books, in which Louis disappears and Lestat comes to the fore? “We want to focus on the relationship between the two,” replies the showrunner. That does not mean that they will be together in every scene of every chapter, but when the second season arrives you will have a clearer idea of ​​what will happen to Louis, and even more so in the third, when we adapt Lestat the Vampire [second volume of the saga ]." "We will keep the spirit of the novels and their emotional arcs, but their plots are built in a very different way than what a TV series asks for. Besides, who would want to get rid of an actor like Jacob Anderson? ".

from this Cinemania article

LOUIS’ FUTURE: If the TV series continues beyond the first book and adheres to The Vampire Chronicles storyline, Louis would be relegated to the sidelines as Lestat takes centre stage. O’Byrne says creators are aware of fan fears that the currentBlack-led story is positioned to serve a white hero’s arc. Assuming more seasons come, he says Louis will remain “a force in the show, in some way or another going forward.” “The way we have envisioned the show from a racially diverse perspective is something that will continue to be a priority for us,” says O’Byrne. “Part of that would be trying to keep Louis involved beyond the way he just dips in-and-out of the canon (after) the first book.” Issues around race were prominent in season one and will continue in season two as Louis and Claudia explore Europe, says O’Byrne, teasing that it will touch on “France’s colonial past.“

from this Toronto Star article

"I came back to them and said, 'I don't think it's a horror show, I think it's a gothic romance. I want to write a very excitable, aggressive, toxic, beautiful love story,'" Jones said of pitching the series to AMC. "And they were down for it." Jones also explained that the first season of the series will cover about half of the story in the Interview With the Vampire novel with potential future seasons getting into the rest of the Vampire Chronicles books, the series has already used those additional books to help build out that toxic love story. "Let's see them really go through all the little obstacles and challenges of a relationship," he said. "Like Bogey and Bacall, with some fangs."

from this ComicBook.com article

And from Jacob:

Coming into this in the beginning, I definitely had a fear that I wasn’t going to be accepted because of how Louis is presented in the original novel. It feels really significant to me that I’m included in the way that people think of this story now. From that point of view, it’s lovely. Loustat is something that…I mean, Sam was way more kind of ingratiated into the Anne Rice fandom than I was early on, I’d only read the first two books, which I was very much in love with, but I hadn’t read beyond at that point. But, we were saying, “Loustat.” We were calling them “Loustat” throughout the shoot... A big part of what made this adaptation really great, especially for Black viewers, was that it was color conscious storytelling. A lot of that had to do with it being set in the American South during the time period it was set in. But in the finale, you’re leaving that and leaving that area. Are we still going to explore that aspect of him, of Louis and Blackness, wherever and whenever we end up in season two? I think as it does with all of us, it follows you wherever you go, because we don’t live in a world that is post-racial. Wherever we find Louis, it’s going to be a part of his story. It’s going to be a part of his existence and his daily life. I mean, it is in Dubai, you don’t really see it, but I think there’s something very interesting about this Black man living up in a tower in Dubai. Honestly, I’m not being secretive, I don’t know yet exactly what is going to be explored in season two, but I always find this thing really interesting about European sensibilities at a certain time. Like James Baldwin going over to Paris to escape racism in America. This idea that Paris was this really welcoming place for Black people, particularly African-Americans. It would be interesting to see what we do with that. I think in a lot of cases it wasn’t necessarily true. It just wasn’t as awful as it was in America at that time.

from this InsideHook article

I think there are a lot of things here that give a ton of hope/confirmation of Louis' long-term part in this show.

From a "my personal interpretation of how they're setting up the show," and "my personal interpretation based on what they've said," and "my personal interpretation based on what is smart for a television show trying to stay on the air in a time where shows get cancelled very easily," here's what I'll say:

A lot of the above-mentioned information tells us that when Rolin Jones went into creating this show, he created it with the romance of Lestat and Louis at its center. I've said this before in other asks, but you can't set up a show that focuses primarily on a romance, turn around and get rid of that romance as a central aspect, and expect viewers to keep watching. At this point, viewers are invested in Lestat and Louis. Any post I see about the show not from stans, or overly involved people running blogs and twitter accounts ( :D ) are about the romance and ship of Loustat. It's drawn people in and will continue to do so, especially when season 2 comes around and we see the immensity of Louis' longing for Lestat, his yearning, and the undoubted 2022!Lestat reveal at the end. Audiences will be clamoring to see 2022!Louis and 2022!Lestat reunite. C l a m o r i n g. To not have it would be detrimental tbh.

It's also important to note that they are not doing a direct adaptation of the books. They are doing the spirit of the books, doing certain big arcs of the books, but clearly they are not doing the books themselves word-by-word. All things considered, it's not that hard to put Louis into these plot arcs, especially with how they've already changed things (i.e. Louis and Armand still being together in 2022, the complications of what Daniel being there means, etc.). And, personally, I think the addition of Louis to these plot arcs would vastly improve them, something I've always felt regarding the disappearance of Louis in the books series (by far my biggest Anne Rice criticism/complaint). In these three asks here [x] [x] [x], I've elaborated on my thoughts about the future of Loustat/the idea of Lestat with any of his future partners in the books/etc. and, to add to this, I feel like it's important to note that Lestat's other romantic partners in the books (beyond being part of what some like to call Anne's "anybody but Louis era") are characters like Nicki (who we will see, but who will die), Gabrielle (his mother, to which I don't see the show going too much into given the network and audience and also she abandons him frequently lol), Akasha (who we will see, but it will be non-consensual so it doesn't actually count in regard to romance), Antoine (who is Antoinette in the show and we've seen how not-full-of-love that relationship is and also its end), Gretchen (?????????), Dora (?????????????????), Rowan Mayfair (which Anne has said was one of her biggest regrets and I pray the show doesn't do it), and David Talbot (who I hope never comes to exist in this world and they give some of his storyline to Louis and/or Daniel, as it should have always been). Like there aren't any other characters set up for Lestat to be with other than the love of his life, Louis. I think we should also take note that Jacob is very much acting as though there are long-term intentions of staying. He's been reading all of the books (last I heard, he was on book 8, which is !!! crazy) and I don't feel like he would be reading them without the intention of knowing what he may be expecting in later seasons.

I could keep rambling, but to sum up what I've pulled from articles and my own thoughts, I think the show is going to continue with Sam and Jacob as pure co-leads for the entirety of the show. I think without them both, the show will not succeed and I think the show very much knows that.

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: March 2024

……….FILM……….

Dune: Part Two (2024) Every piece of technology felt and looked so tangible. The baby worm too! Love the tactile nature of this whole production and I hope studios take note that CG can't be the only tool in your belt. So much bigger than I imagined and just enjoyed the whole thing.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) Ages surprisingly well and a script that lets the main quartet be both funny and layered.

……….TELEVISION……….

Columbo (1.01 to 1.03) Hey I'm starting Columbo! Love that each episode is feature-length and Columbo appears fully formed right out of the gate. The sets and costumes are all so glamorous and L.A. Very excited to keep going.

Succession (2.05 to 3.04) The Kendall play at the end of season 2 felt very much like the Kendall play at the end of season 1 and while I'm still a huge fan of this series, I just hope it's not the same going into season 3 and 4.

Delicious in Dungeon (Episode 1.09 to 1.13) Great adaptation that isn't just a straight recreation of the artwork in the manga. The more kinetic/frantic moments in the animation are a nice departure and while they don't pop up in each episode, now that I'm 13 eps deep I can appreciate how they're sprinkled throughout.

Love is Blind (Episode 6.02 to 6.13) It still amazes me that anyone goes on reality tv.

……….YOUTUBE……….

Twilight | ContraPoints by ContraPoints Yes I did watch a nearly 3-hour essay on Twilight, sexual expression, and all that comes with that. And you should too. VIDEO

Instagram fatigue and the rise of 'Resentment Reels' by Taylor Lorenz While I haven't noticed this specific phenomenon, I have noticed Instagram declining as an app (both as a user trying to see anything other than ads, and a creator trying to get my work seen in between those ads). It's a bummer. VIDEO

Saltburn: The Tumblr-ification of Cinema by Broey Deschanel Every since I saw Saltburn, I've been thinking about what wasn't quite sitting right with me. This unlocked a lot of what I couldn't describe and most of it stems from the writer/director's upper class upbringing. Saltburn isn't a "take down the rich" movie, it's a horror story from the perspective of a wealthy family. VIDEO

Why Is It So Hard To Cross The Street? (& What You Can Do To Help) by Strong Towns Accidents where drivers hit a pedestrian are going up in my area so this really hit home. And for those feeling like there's nothing you can do at ground level, consider taking their course (not a paid sponsorship I'm just in real support of community-lead initiatives). VIDEO

……….READING……….

Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock (Complete) After picking up the last book in this series (which I've yet to read) I figured I'd start at the beginning. Love the fast pace pulpy action and I can see how this influenced the creation of D&D.

The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie (Complete) This one would lose me for stretches but the final quarter of the book is stronger. A lot less cozy and a lot more action than I was expecting but skimming other reviews it sounds like this was written during her more...adventure-focused era. Three books deep and I have to give Christie credit that each has been a completely different experience.

Adventures of a Japanese Business Man by Jose Domingo (Complete) Always love going back to this nearly wordless epic that follows the titular Japanese business man. I love the complexity of the earliest panels and wish that could carry throughout more of the book, but it's always such a treat to discover just where each new panel will go.

Delicious in Dungeon Volume 5 by Ryoko Kui (Complete) Enjoying rereading this with shorter breaks between volumes as I certainly missed/forgot details on my first read. It's here that the story and tone shifts from light romp to a more dramatic and dangerous affair but it never loses its spot-on humour. Love those dryad pumpkins.

Ultimate Spider-Man HC Volume 11 by Brian Michael Bendis, Stuart Immonen, David Lafuente, and more (Complete) Going from some of my other comics back to this, I'm struck by just how wordy it can get. Now knowing where the story goes, it was a great idea to prime readers to the idea of Peter Parker dying even if it's not from this event.

……….AUDIO……….

Blank Check with Griffin & David (Podcast) Late to the game on this but really enjoying burning through their back catalog. Obviously started with their episode on Speed Racer as it's a near perfect film that you should watch right now.

……….GAMING……….

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Tuesday group just killed a mayor! So the aftermath of that is going to play out over the next couple of sessions. And the Mof1 crew is investigating the aftermath of their own district-wide catastrophe and it's all looking rather suspicious!

Spot It (Blue Orange Games) I can't recommend this game enough. It's so easy to learn, rounds last maybe 5 minutes, it plays well with small or large groups of any age, and all it requires is pattern recognition and quick reflexes. Every time I've played this someone says they're going to buy a copy for themselves.

And that's it. See you in April!

[arecomicsevengood]

Just gonna do some casual comic book blogging, catching up on some stuff I've read but don't necessarily have too many thoughts about.

Got a three dollar copy of the Vertigo Crime graphic novel The Bronx Kill by Peter Milligan and James Romberger. No one has ever said this comic, or any of the the Vertigo Crime books were good, but I like Milligan a lot, based on the strength of comics he wrote years before this, and Romberger's made great comics too - Seven Miles A Second most notably. This is in black and white, and at smaller dimensions than standard comic size - seems like it is maybe reduced in size a bit less, feels pretty crisp in its looseness. The art is appealing, but the story is by-the-numbers. Features a common Milligan protagonist - the guy who is too clever and intellectual to be effectual and gets yelled at by everyone for being annoying, even as his quotes from James Joyce show off the writer's erudition. Not bad for the price point but I am glad I didn't pay more for it.

Been picking up the single issues of the new Image series The Seasons by Rick Remender and Paul Azaceta, with Matheus Lopes colors - I mean to write in with a letter to the comic actually, I like it quite a bit, and normally when I pick up an Image comic I get really mad at it. Lopes is occasionally an overpowering colorist, especially on people whose linework is more delicate, but Azaceta has a heavier line, more Toth influenced, and it just reads like a comic book in its paneling, it feels drawn, rather than like video game screengrabs. Remender is providing really tight visual storytelling, with sequences detailing a character cooking or running around a city.

Two volumes of Keigo Shinzo's Tokyo Alien Bros are in print now, and I know people like his series Hirayasumi, so I have been picking this up as it is shorter, and there is less to catch up with. It's a manga series about two aliens trying to fit in to Earth as part of a mission to see if it can be colonized, with one more confident and assured and the other socially awkward. It is kind of bro-y, sort of dumb, or just about how life can work out fine if you don't think about stuff too much. This is a theme in Hirayasumi as well, and both series are charming and likable in their basic unbotheredness. The drawing similarly feels a little slick, a little cute, but basically appealing and well-done. I like it.

Underheist by David Lapham - 3 of this 5 issue miniseries' issues were in a bargain bin, so I grabbed them even though they're nonconsecutive and it might be a bit of work to track down issues 2 and 4. I like Lapham's Stray Bullets series a lot, but he does these little comics for other publishers which presumably pay him a pagerate, and I mostly have not read them. It does not seem like people can color him well (except for Sarah Dyer, who did the Amy Racecar color specials) and I also suspect that he is sort of sequestering his real, personal material in Stray Bullets, and having the other stuff be sort of paint-by-numbers. Stray Bullets is a genre story that feels like it's just about how crime is very close to the surface of life if you are in a not-great economic situation. Underheist is a heist comic where I guess one of the characters sold his soul to the devil and there will be some horror elements. I only read issue one.

The Legend Of Kamui by Shirato Sanpei - got this from the library, a big book D+Q put out, originally ran in Garo before the Tsuge era where Garo got associated with the avant-garde. This is not really doing it for me - Both explicit in its politics but with a lot of the first two hundred pages focusing on animals in nature. Still haven't finished the first volume yet, not particularly into the drawing.

Otherworld Barbara by Moto Hagio - The manga heads I talk to seem excited by the They Were 11 release coming soon from Denpa, that's an earlier Hagio series, translated by Viz decades ago. Hagio is both a big deal in the world of shojo manga, and was also one of the first manga artists that got championed by The Comics Journal and Fantagraphics - they brought out this sereis a few years ago, in lavish hardcovers. Again, the drawing is not my favorite, but the way the plot is unfolding is interesting, and there's a great deal of attention paid to how all the characters relate to one another that gives depth so that it doesn't just feel like you're watching a plot unfold. There's people to care about, things to get investigated in. This is a science-fiction series about a girl who's been in a coma for decades, since she killed and ate her parents, and the psychic "dream pilot" infiltrating the world she lives in inside her mind. Again, I have only read part one (which is OOP) and it might take me some time before I get around to tracking down the second volume, as this is a two-volume set of big hardcovers. I am definitely going to pick up the They Were 11 reprint and am sort of thinking of my reading this as "research" if I decide to write substantively about it.

Mudbite by Dave Cooper - Continuing investigating Dave Cooper, years after the fact. While a little less powerful as a book than some of his earlier books, this is in full-color - Dave McCaig is credited as assisting Cooper. Cooper is working in a similar vein to Al Columbia - Fleischer cartoons gone pervy, and here the narratives are somewhat dreamlike. I liked it a great deal more than I like Al Columbia. Really well-drawn, and even though it's slight or the narratives dissolve there are these hints of a science-fiction world that feels like it could be investigated further.

Hauntress by Minetaro Mochizuki - best known for Dragon Head, the manga where a bullet train has an accident and a bunch of people are stuck in a tunnel, which is getting rereleased later this year, this is a single-volume horror manga that introduced the concept of stalking to Japan. It's about a sort of ghost woman who ruins the life of a man. I would not recommend this one, it seemed sort of slight, and not particularly well-drawn. Still, I haven't read Dragon Head, but will probably check it out.

Got some (non-consecutive) issues of Batgirl: Year One from a bin, another comic I've wanted to read for quite some time because I like Marcos Martin's art. This also has Javier Rodriguez providing the coloring, who has since moved on to doing full artwork for series, most recently (the very good-looking, but I'm waiting for the trade) Absolute Martian Manhunter. I liked these issues a lot - sort of feel like a fool for not just getting a trade. The art's great, and the script by Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty does what you want it to - gives the artists good action sequences to draw, has bits of cleverness, moments that are cool. Rodriguez's colors are great too - you can really feel his presence, and his strengths are present, in no small part because Martin's line is so graceful.

Not Ready For Real Life by Ding Pao-Yen. Published by Glacier Bay, I believe the artist is Taiwanese. Great art in this, but really slight to the point of nonexistence stories. It's funny with manga - it is sort of easy to think of it as being probably better than American comics, if you are of a certain bent, but as someone who grew up reading American superhero comics, there is a certain density that I am used to or expect that when a manga doesn't have a certain amount of story it just feels like nothing at all, meringue dissolving on your tongue. All these stories are about young people, but in this sort of indistinct way that just feels undeveloped, like the characters are not all there yet, so it just feels like lapses in storytelling. Glacier Bay put out another book, And The Strange And Funky Happenings One Day by Natsujikei Miyazaki, which I felt sort of similarly about but might still be trying to get my thoughts pinned down there - those stories are uniformly shorter, but also feel a bit more cohesive. I feel like I rushed through that short story collection and should give each piece more time, but rushing through Not Ready For Real Life felt more like a desperate search for something to latch onto. (Miyazaki's book has dozens of eight-page stories in it, while Not Ready For Real Life has four stories in it.) Still would consider this artist one to watch though - if they did a longer story, or just matured a little bit to deliver a stronger narrative, the strength of the visuals could make for a great book.

[dailypavitr]

Pav's history in chronological order

Okay, okay. So. If y'all are curious as to what are the comics you have to read to get a pixel of Pavitr or and in what order, I got you. Now, want to clarify something:

If you only want to read the two volumes of Spider-Man: India, that's legit. The only thing you'll miss is why is he in Earth-616 at the very begging, but nothing that jarring.

Early life and becomig (a) Spider-Man

Easy peasy, it's only four issues! The first comic is, obviously: Spider-Man: India (2004).

Spider-Verse Related

Now, overall, Pavitr is pretty much a side side side character in the Spider-Verse, but has his moments!

Spider-Verse Event (2014). Like, all of it, yeah. Reading order in here.

Deadpool: Too Soon? Infinite Comic #6. Seems odd, right? Well, yeah; that's because he only appears in like, two panels, LOL. But he appears! That's something. Hobie also appears! And they play baseball against a bunch of Wolverines.

Spider-Verse (Vol. 2) (2015). Secret Wars Event.

Web Warriors (2015). He's the genius of the group! Has great great moments.

Spider-Geddon (2018) (second Spider-Verse Event; third if you count the Electroverse thing) (also HERE is where you can see him with a freaking BEARD). Reading order in here.

End of the Spider-Verse (2022). More importantly, Edge of Spider-Verse (2022) #3 is the tie in for his main vol. 2 series! Reading order in here.

He survived the End of the Spider-Verse!

Now you can read Spider-Man: India (2023) in peace! Knowing that he lived to tell us about all The Horrors(TM).

And after Spider-Man: India (2023) he was kinda kidnapped by Loki along with Black Cat (616), in Marvel Voices Infinty Comics (#75 to 76).

He dances Bollywood (probably) songs in Free Comic Book Day: Marvel Voices #1 (2024)!

Now he's part of the Spider-Society (2024)!

This new Spider-Verse will be released on August, 14! So stay tunned to see if baby boy Pavitr will be in more than one panel!

[bl-danmei-planet]

Hi....If you don't mind, can I ask, what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite BL media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

Hi! Thank you for your message 💖

I like works that are darker, explicit, and deal with some sort of trauma and BDSM relationship. My favorite trope is puppy top/tsundere bottom so you will find that in most of these works as well.

Ten Count

by Rihito Takarai, manga,tw: dubcon, mentall illness(OCD), 6 volumes + audio drama, upcoming anime (2023?)

This is the first explicit yaoi I read. The main couple are in a BDSM relationship. It's very psychological and deals with sexual trauma and sexual liberation.

The Pawn's Revenge

by EVY, manwha, crime, tw: sex trafficking, violence

Although the story's setting is dark the main couple are very loving as they form a strong bond when they become accomplices in crimes. I also love how the bottom in this story is quite strong although he has a dark past.

Husky and his white cat Shizun/2ha

by Meatbun doesn't eat meat, danmei, fantasy, tw: noncon, student-teacher relationship, +5 volumes, +manhua&audio drama

My favorite danmei and my all time favorite BL! It has equal parts of smut and angst, which I personally love. The main character has done great sins in his life and he gets transmigrated to get a fresh start. 2ha deals with the guilt, forgiveness, shame, and unconditional love.

Lullaby of the dawn

by Ichiko Yuna, manga, fantasy, 3/4 volumes

Amazing wholesome fantasy romance with a puppy top and a shy tsundere bottom.

Painter of the night

by ByeonDuck, Manwha, Historical, tw: noncon/dubcon.

Painter of the night has a beautiful art style that captures emotions and eroticsm very well. The work also deals with trauma,homophobia, and sexual freedom.

ENNEAD

by Mojito, Manwha, Historical, tw: noncon

This is a mythological retelling set in Ancient Egypt. It is a harem-type drama with a slowburn between a puppy top and an arrogant bottom.

Twittering Birds Never Fly

by Kou Yoneda, Manga, Yakuza. Tw: csa, 7+ volumes +anime

This work also deals with trauma (csa) and how the main couple deals with it as they entangle in a complicated relationship with each other. It's both very bittersweet and psychological.

In These Words

by GuiltPleasure, manga, crime, tw: noncon, gore, +4 volumes+side stories/prequels

This work is not for everyone, it is so far the most dark and explicit work I've read. I love it as someone who's into Hannibal, horror, crime, and dark romance. The storytelling and art style are top notch.

Heaven official's blessing/Tian Guan Ci Fu

by MXTX, danmei, fantasy, 8 volumes, + manhua,audio drama and donghua.

Although I prefer darker and smuttier works, I absolutely love Tgcf which has a very sweet friends-to-lovers slowburn. Tgcf has a vast world building and in-depth character study. You could say it also deals with sexual repression. I love how the main couple protects each other throughout the story.

Little Mushroom

by Shisi, danmei, post-apocalyptic, 2 volumes, +manhua&audio drama

This is a great scifi story and the BL part of it is a bonus! The main couple represent opposites sides of the story symbolically, which I really love.

[digitalisnarcissus]

Book 4 in the @batmanisagatewaydrug 2025 book bingo

🧙‍♂️Fantasy✨

The Wandering Inn book 1 by Pirateaba (audio)

Read by request of my partner (I gotta stop taking recommendations from him).

Long. So long. I know that's an inane thing to say about part one of what may be the longest work in the English language, but girlies, I am not cut out for epic fantasy. This one is 43 hours, volume 2 is 60 hours. You could probably get through the entirety of Tolstoy's work in the time it takes to listen to just 2 of the 14 (and counting) volumes of The Wandering Inn. You know, the War and Peace guy? The infamously long book, that's equivalent to one of these! Too long!

At one point during my slog I took a break and watched Conclave, the pope film, and it was good, but at the time I felt like it was the best thing I'd ever seen because it made its point in 2 hours and left. I could do other things! Anything else I wanted! I went back to my book. I don't want to be too harsh, it's a debut and it's self published, and it's certainly an impressive work. There's at least one normal books worth of decent writing in this volume, it's just that it's the length of three or four. I've learnt that there is also an updated version out there kicking around, so maybe it addresses some of my complaints. But it's 5 hours longer, somehow.

There's this tic they have of repetition, where a phrase will be said in the narration and then almost immediately put into the mouth of a character. The first time I noticed it I thought it was a flaw in the otherwise incredible narration, like she'd read a line wrong and it got overlooked in the edit, but no, it happens a lot. And then I noticed subtler versions of repetition, until there's a big horror monster fight scene near the end which felt like they put 50 words in a washing machine and made me watch it spin for half an hour.

There is also periods of... well calling them pop culture references is being kind. They're not references, they're straight up saying the names of bands and songs and doing little reviews. The part where, yeah, if was a film you could put music in it. But it's not, it's a book. Stoppit. Put your little character playlists online like god intended. Also a fixation on the boy wizard who shall not be named, which is cringe in the moment plus obviously unfortunate in retrospect.

The final problem is personal to me. I can't stand edgy. Severely allergic. The secondary POV character is all edge. I got so frustrated and upset at having to keep reading her, I actually put her on 2x speed, which I never do, just because if I didn't so something I wasn't going to finish it, and it was way too late to give up. Basically Ryoka turned the whole book into a repeating loop of this gif for me:

I liked the boring bits best. And the (unfortunately extremely occasional) jokes were pretty good actually. S tier narration. Andrea Parsneau is a generational talent, genuinely, the fact that she's seemingly exclusively working in LitRPG is a shame, but what a feather in the cap of the genre. A solid 3⭐ if I forgive the audacity of that one bitch.

[coraniaid]

Some 2025 Goals (Books, Films, Etc.)

This is an utterly self-indulgent long post, sorry. I know that could describe a lot of my posts on here, but this one especially is really for (future) me more than anybody else.

I've decided it might be fun to set some targets for books / films / TV / music / games this year. Nothing especially flashy though: if you read this and think 'well, those should all be pretty easy, shouldn't they?' then thank you; this is exactly the point of the exercise.

Reading

Unlike most years, I'm not going to set a specific target for new books read in 2025.

Last year I read 51 books, which feels like a slightly strange number: it's bigger enough than average that bringing it up in casual conversation feels uncomfortably like bragging , but it's small enough compared to most people I know who read a lot that it also doesn't seem like anything actually worth bragging about. Also, my target for the year was 52. The thing is, I'm not sure having a target like this last year actually helped me read a wider range of books or enjoy reading more; I'm not even sure, honestly, that it helped encourage me to read more books than I would have otherwise.

So, while I am still going to track all the books I read this year, I'm not going to set an overall target. I am going to set some sub-targets though, namely:

Read more books (novels or short story collections both count; anything published in a single volume is 'a book' for this) in genres I don't usually try: at least three horror books; at least three romances; at least three historical fiction novels and at least three contemporary literary novels.

Read at least twelve books which won some kind of (distinct) award (the actual award doesn't matter so much, though it should be something with a bit of prestige in its field: the catch is that these twelve books have to represent twelve different awards)

Read at least twelve books first published before 1925 (since I notice that very few of the books I finished in 2024 were published more than one hundred years ago)

Read at least twelve books published in 2024 or 2025 (since I've also recently noticed that I practically didn't read any new releases last year either)

Somebody other than Adrian Tchaikovsky has to be my most read author in 2025. This is non-negotiable. (No offence to Tchaikovsky, whose work I -- obviously -- like a lot, but he was somehow my most read author in both 2023 and 2024 and it's got to stop at some point)

Watching

I don't really watch much in the way of film or TV. Or, rather, as regular readers of this blog might guess, I watch a lot of the same nearly thirty year old TV show repeatedly, but I don't watch a lot of new TV. So, goals here:

Finish The Americans. I started watching this show in 2023 and made it to the end of Season 3 last summer. The thing is: I'm honestly not sure whether I like it or not? The individual performances are really good (especially Keri Russell as Elizabeth Jennings), the premise is the right combination of absurd but just about played straight, but -- especially from the end of Season 2 onwards -- some of the writing choices are ... well, they are very odd to me. (Also, while I've never expected the politics of the show to be good, I think the fact Oliver North of all people gets a story credit for one episode is honestly pretty gross). But, that said, when the show is good it is good and I own physical copies of the next three seasons, so ...

Watch Season 2 of We Are Lady Parts. This should be easy (which is, of course, the point). I liked Season 1 when I watched it last year, and then I just ... didn't watch any more.

Watch Season 1 of Mr Robot. Of all the big critically acclaimed 2010s shows I've somehow managed not to watch -- and there are a lot of them -- I think this is the one that sounds most likely to interest me (without reading enough about it to spoil myself). Only committing myself to one season because ... well, maybe I'll hate it?

Watch The Corner miniseries. I'm a big fan of The Wire and I've owned a physical copy of this for over three years which I've just never got around to. Should be easy enough to fix that.

Watch fifty new (to me) films this year. That's just under one a week, which should also be easy, right? Well, it'd be about twice what i managed last year, so maybe not. Films I tried last year but didn't finish count as new, I guess (there are quite a few of those).

Listening

One thing the last couple of years have taught me is that I don't listen to as much music as I'd like to beiieve I do. And my instinctive "well, I don't really use Spotify much..." excuse whenever Spotify Wrapped season comes around at the end of the year feels less convincing every time. So:

Either remember the details of my existing last.fm account or (more likely) create a new one; download/set-up the last.fm scrobbler.

Try to get back into the habit of listening to music while I do other things, as opposed to only listening to music when I have the time to focus on it exclusively. (I'm not entirely sure how to quantify that one, but it seems noticeable that, for example, I'm not listening to any music while writing this post...)

I want to have listened to at least thirty new (to me) albums by the end of the year, at least twelve of them by artists I've never listened to before and at least twelve (not necessarily a different twelve) in (sub)genres I don't normally listen to (I'm honestly not sure whether that's something I managed last year or not, but it feels like it should be pretty straightforward ... right?)

At least one of my Spotify Wrapped and last.fm Playback totals at the end of the year should be at least 10% higher than the equivalent figure for my 2024 Wrapped. (I don't think I ever posted that figure here, but ... yeah, this should also not be hard.)

Playing

Last year I set myself the goal of completing twelve video games. I thought that was pretty modest, but might be a good start to working through some of the backlog of games I owned but hadn't ever really properly played. Of that initial twelve, I managed a total of ... zero. That's not great!

So, no mere numbers here. I'm going to try to be specific. I want to complete (or put in enough hours/effort that I feel I can fairly give up on as beyond my abilities) at least four of Baba Is You, Control, Cyberpunk 2077, Disco Elysium, The Witness and one as yet unnamed game (which I can pick at any point during the year).

Will try to come back to this post periodically (but probably not as often as every month) to update my progress (if any).

[jasper-book-stash]

March 2024 Reading Wrap Up

I got bronchitis and my period at the same time in March, and then spilled tea on my computer, so March was a very stressful time for me. Regardless, I managed to read 10 books! And honestly, overall, this is one of the better months - the lowest I've ranked a book is 6/10, which is damn good considering the absolute bullshit I usually read.

Religious Text

None applicable.

1/10 - Why Did They Publish This?

None applicable.

2/10 - Trash

None applicable.

3/10 - Meh

None applicable.

4 to 6/10 - Mid-Tier

Tomb Sweeping | Alexandra Chang

I read this book while sick. And boy howdy, did that make it a weird experience. I get what it was going for, but it really wasn't my vibe. It just felt like everything was...unfinished. Which was the point, I suppose, but it was still annoying.

7 to 8/10 - Good With Caveats

What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality | Daniel A Helminiak

This is a very short book compared to my usual reads, topping at 152 pages. And I appreciate a book that gets straight to the point and analyzes the historical context around various works, particularly religious works. Good job. My only complaint is some editing issues.

Born to Love, Cursed to Feel | Samantha King

This was a poetry collection and was the only other book I read while sick, and boy howdy did I have a time of it. I spent most of the reading just...putting post-it notes in and nodding along to the lines. It was a surprisingly good book, considering I found it in the back alley version of a book store.

Southern Cunning: Folkloric Witchcraft in the American South | Aaron Oberon

Look. This is not a 101 book. It's not a 102 book. It's not even a 201 book. It simply is. And as much as I enjoyed it and enjoyed reading it, the fact that I spent most of my reading time fixing the editing means that I cannot, in good faith, put this any higher than an 8 out of 10. Dear Aaron Oberon, if you ever read this, PLEASE give me access to the original file so I can fix your punctuation and spelling mistakes. Sincerely, a fellow Southerner.

9/10 - Very Very Good

Snow White with the Red Hair, volumes 21-23 | Sorata Akiduki

I am still so fucking feral over this series. I love them so fucking much. I want them all to be happy but I also like seeing their shenanigans. Unfortunately, though we're at 26 published volumes, we've reached the end of the ones in Missouri Evergreen that I may access. I'll either have to wait and hope that someone gets them, or I'll have to bite the bullet and buy them myself.

Not Pounded By Anything: Six Platonic Tales Of Non-Sexual Encounters | Chuck Tingle

This is my first expedition into the erotic Tingleverse after reading some pieces of the horror Tingleverse in Straight and Camp Damascus. And I really, really like this book. It's 77 pages and is such an easy read. Godspeed, you glorious bastard.

10/10 - Unironically Recommend To Everyone

Well, everyone who's into the genre these fall under, at least.

Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft, tenth edition | Janet Burroway

I found this in the free section of a bookstore in the middle of nowhere, and let me tell you, it is now marked up one side and down the other with highlighter, because I needed it. There are so many good parts of this book that it's genuinely one I would recommend to people who are trying to figure out why their writing feels flat.

Sacred Gender: Create Trans and Nonbinary Spiritual Connections | Ariana Serpentine

First, I want to congratulate the author on what is possibly the coolest name ever.

Second, if you're an occultist, polytheist, witch, magic practitioner, or in any other way affiliated with things beyond or within mortal ken...get this book. It's making me rethink a lot of my own experiences with my craft and my religion, but in a good way.

[emeritus-fuckers]

For the role event!

1. probably a sibling on sin, i’m not musically inclined besides for choir singing so i don’t think i’d work well as a ghoul

2. probably Primo or Terzo. i think Primo and i would hound over our plants/gardens and i can be very laid back/slow paced. i think Terzo and i both have a flair for the dramatic and would understand each others wants/struggles

3. i’m an introvert when meeting new people but once we know each other i can be a bit wild. i’m known to not have a filter or volume control so i can be a bit much sometimes

4. probably anything to do with gardening or books. i love plants and have my own garden so i already know a thing or two. i also love literature and would love to just organize/go through books. i also love small repetitive tasks as they keep my mind occupied

5. i prefer to stay at home unless it’s traveling for an event. going out and about too much drains me mentally and i love being a cozy home body

6. i love naps and stuffed animals. i’ve always grown up with animals and currently have a cat. my current favorite hobby is annotating books. i love horror and gore, october is my favorite month and my birthday. i go bird watching despite most birders being older folk

This post is part of the 1000 followers Role in ministry event. Entries for the event are now closed.

Your role in the ministry is... Keeper of the Garden Library

You work under for Primo. The garden library is cosy and small, its located in the Ministry itself. The door to it is small and barely noticed but the doorframe itself is painted with flowers and vines.

While in the library you spend the day re-ordering the books, making sure the ones on loan are returned and loaning out any books people want to borrow. It's a beattiful room with views onto the garden.

Primo will drop in often, mostly to have a chat with you and drink tea. Also sometimes as he needs to check a book for information. He is impressed that you know the place so well. He only has to state his gardening issue and within seconds you places the correct book in his hands.

Or you just tell him the answer as you often spend time reading the books. There is a cozy reading nook at the far side of the libary. There is a log fire and a comfy chair (with cushions and blankets) surrounded by book shelves.

You also help out in the garden a few days a week. Primo is always apprecaitive of your help as you have a lot of knowledge already and he enjoys talking to you.

Terzo also likes to drop in, mainly to have a long chat with you. He'll use the excuse of needing advice on his house plants whenever Primo catches him (not that Primo minds.)

When Terzo joins you, the libary is filled with dramatic gasps and discussions over your daily struggles and wishes. You get on really well together and often hang out outside of work too.

~

Written by Nyx

[tenebrius-excellium]

Welp, I thought I was done talking about the Httyd books,

READ THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK. IT'S MEATY and you might not like what you find.

So, a huge part of why I love the Httyd movies is because they explore those fundamental philosophical topics of war and peace, justice and mercy, friendship and romance, and even marriage, through a lense of traditional Christian values. Right? They contrast the ideal of what life should be with how it is and come out on top through radical grace.

Beware that I recently fell in love with God again after a long break of being bitter and questioning, so I am radicalized and on fire myself.

The books baffle me.

Because while they literally serve as the base inspiration for the movies, they don't exhibit the same values. The Httyd movies are idealistic and naive, the books are realistic and clever. The books are bold enough to pitch a boy against an archipelago, to explore all those large topics such as friendship, isolation, horror, abuse, and evil in depth, - they are intelligent enough to turn the Slavemark into a hero's symbol!!!, and yet - after a massive tale with the space of 12 volumes and digging into all of those vast discussions about the state and fate and nature of humanity - the plot arrives at the Gods and just... halts there.

Never explores them.

The Gods get mentioned and never explained! But that's an issue, because if there are no Gods, then letting the King's Things find Hiccup so mysteriously is strange, and letting his crowning ceremony be confirmed by a sort of God-like appearance doesn't make sense either, like... what is the point of teasing at that, then? What is the reason for having sages and sentinels and priest-like people? 'Spirituality' is too shallow, 'superstition' devalues Hiccup's claim.

For if the Norse Gods exist, hoooo boy, then two things about them are confirmed, 1. that they see what's going on and 2. that they actively helped by ordaining Hiccup III. king. But this then begs the question of why the vikings never asked their Gods for more help instead of waging all their wars by themselves!? Nor does it explain Furious' lament for the world, for if the Gods take care of it and guide the right people to the right places at the right time, then he shouldn't have to worry so much? If anything, he should be taking his complaint about the treatment of his dragon species to the Gods. But he just sort of... voices that. To no one in particular. Cuz Hiccup isn't God. The readers of the books aren't God either.

Let's look at option 3: The Gods can only intervene by using people if a person's heart is already in the right place. If there is no one with a good heart around, the Gods obviously can't crown a good person king. This would demand a change in humanity's heart so that it can be saved by the powers that be above. To be used for good, you have to want to be good. Otherwise, if the Gods just took hold of you and made you do things, you wouldn't have free will anymore. So for the Gods to be able to save humanity, humanity must first want to save itself.

This is certainly an option. But certainly not the one I was able to deduce from the plot of the books. The powers and presence of the Gods were just not fleshed out enough for that. There was no proper relationship between the mystic and the action plot; it sort of got smudged into one another without visible correlation. For a series of 12 books, this was not enough to satisfy me. I was left with the impression that the books are clever in the sense that they believe humanity must solve its own problems. As such, they do not gain my sympathy.

Because you cannot establish a conflict THAT huge, then introduce GODS, and then NOT THINK THAT YOU NEED TO ASK THEM FOR HELP.

The books scream of "we need help!!!!!! we can't do it!!!!!!!!!!! is anyone listening????" and then they shift that agonizing, desperate cry of the heart onto... mystic powers whose existence is never proven and who never even show their face. And then Furious basically closes with, "well, humanity's the one at fault - it's up to y'all, guys." And this is final.

To be so clever, to explore such deep and complex topics, and to then not be humble enough about admitting to need the help from a higher power is so outright selfish, presumptious, ignorant and blind that it is no wonder humanity can't save itself.

Thus, the Httyd books remain in senseless activism. To become overly Christian now: Sure, Valhallarama was able to powerfully turn a symbol around. But she was not able to abolish the symbol. This is what the world does (unironically look at it): We gather around opinions, around literal flags and symbols and icons and statements and ideals, but it only drives us further apart. This is what happens in the Bible in the book of Judges, where everyone builds their own little religion, feels entitled to take revenge on wrongdoers in their own little ways, and simply ends up making matters so much worse instead. Gathering around all these powerful symbols that cannot save the world is called idol worship, by the way. This is what the God of the Bible means when he says to not make a representative image of something. A single value can't save us. Standing behind a flag cannot save us, because that flag is limited to certain aspects, but not to the nuances of the human experience as a whole. The meaning of a flag can change in an instant, and you may suddenly find yourself on the wrong side, depending on whatever is popular right now. If you're proud of a flag and that flag then gets associated with atrocities (totally not speaking about ANY current world events right now or something), it has not been a stable thing to get behind. It's a house built on sinking sand.

God himself says to get behind his name for the sole reason that he openly and confidently claims there is no other name by which the world will be saved, and he has already proven it by having saved us himself but that is a story for another time.

To return to the Httyd books, after 12 books, when confronted with their fictional Gods who can clearly help them, it is to my understanding that the vikings refused and would rather do it themselves. And that - this kind of pride after a war this severe - is what I find appalling, depressing, the list goes on. This just means that there is no salvation for the book!verse, and then Furious was right. Because the humans did not think they needed to ask a higher entity for help, when its presence and benevolence was available.

Now the movies pursue a different narrative. Hiccup only arrives at a similiar stage in the moral dilemma at the end of the third movie, and that, too, doesn't get resolved. But it is clear that Hiccup hasn't stopped looking for a solution, and it is also clear that if ANYONE offered him his help, Hiccup would take it. His tribe is also humble enough to change their hearts, instead of merely having a single leader with a changed heart. This is still salvageable.

For the movies, I believe the next step would have been to make Hiccup the actual king of the Wilderwest by having him introduce law. Since it would then be outlawed to hunt and kill dragons for sport, the archipelago might have a decent future for a time.

If then further modern conflict arose and the law couldn't prevent people from breaking it, we'd be back at the needed intervention of a God. A good God who will change your heart for the better if you submit your free will back into his hand, to form and to mold it, because you trust him that this is best for you, and for everyone.

That is literally Christianity.

And I have the right to mix that into the Httydverse because Httyd literally asks those kind of questions. Httyd searches for idealism with realistic resources. Idealism, however, can only be achieved when we let the LORD take our flaws and let him gently show us a better way.

I stick to the movies because even though the movies never get to the point where some saving Gods would be a necessary option, the spirit is clearly there. This is the hope which the movies carry, - the hope of real, changed hearts, redeeming humanity bit by bit - and which the books don't.

Yeah.