#I'd like to revisit the entire universe but I'm both very attached to how it is and angry about the basic wordbuilding aspect called nations

[13eyond13]

Don't know if it's late, but your top 5 fav books (fictions)?

Ahhh, a good yet very difficult question. I sometimes have very fond memories of books I read years ago, yet they do not hold up for me at all when I reread them again at an older age? So some of the ones I might put on this list in the past I might not feel the same about anymore, so unless I've revisited it recently I don't feel confident enough in my memories to really add them to the list. I went to my GoodReads account and looked at everything I had logged, but I'm quite fussy about the criteria I use for this? As in I feel like the book has to be so beloved by me that it almost feels like it's one of my oldest friends or something. And I just don't feel confident stating that about most of the books I have read, even the ones I've given 5/5 stars. In the end I might only be able to give a top 3 list, but other than 1. Death Note the other two I love the most are: 2. The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith - I just have such a big crush on Patricia Highsmith's writing style, and I'd say she's probably my favourite writer right now. I don't know how to describe it other than it just draws me in every time with its deceptively soothing and understated prose, and I also love the aesthetics of her settings and characters and plots. This is by far my favourite work of hers. Tom Ripley is one of my all-time fictional characters, and if you're a fan of creepy conman stories and anxiety-inducing thrillers than you'll definitely enjoy reading this one. I had such a good time reading this entire series a few years back and grew really attached to hanging out with Tom, though he really is only at his best and most interesting and complex as a character in this first book, I think. (BONUS RECOMMENDATION: Both the American 1990s The Talented Mr. Ripley movie and the 1960s French movie Plein Soleil are worth a watch as well! I think the 90s one does some interesting things to translate the story from the page to the screen, and certainly doesn't shy away from the homoerotic undertones - also has a fun scene-stealing performance by Jude Law as Dickie. And the French one is just beautiful to look at - particularly because of Alain Delon at his prettiest and scariest, who I unfortunately developed a massive embarrassing crush on as soon as I laid eyes on him!) 3. Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice - There wasn't a book in the world I was ever more obsessed with at some point in my life than this one when I was 15/16! I created an elaborate comic adaptation of this story for a book report that took me entire months of my life to make, I was just that obsessed. It just hit the spot for me so perfectly at the time because I was a lonely and confused little thing that was still very much caught between the guilty obligation of my strict religious upbringing and the frightening burgeoning realization that MAYBE I wasn't actually that straight (because boy-oh-boy is the vampirism in this book and Louis's guilty wrestling with his nature very easily read as a metaphor for struggling with being gay, hahaha). I loved Louis so much, I identified with him so strongly and immediately, and I think Anne Rice is just great at painting a descriptive scene and fleshing out a unique universe full of colourful characters and worldbuilding/lore that stretches back for literally millennia. Upon rereading it again older I definitely found the prose to be a bit silly/purple and the melodrama a little eye-rolly at times, but you know what, that is exactly what a Byronic gothic novel is kind of supposed to sound like, too. Lestat is obviously the real star of the show in The Vampire Chronicles, and Claudia is also a stunner of a character, but Louis has my heart simply for being the one to initially invite me into that interesting world, and for feeling like the only bro who truly "got me" during that particularly angsty and guilt-ridden period of my life. (BONUS REC: the 90s movie starring Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, and Kirsten Dunst is a really good adaptation of it as well!)

[airship-full-of-dragons]

oh yeah. now I remember why I didn’t draw Cear for 4 years. the 4 arms complicate things and his horn shape is dumb