#MOLLISH WHEN I GET YOU

[help-imanartistt]

just read unperson chapter 4!

feeling great!

(i am emotionally destroyed and will never recover)

GO READ IT NOW

[whiskeybottlebullshit]

Okay but... What if Hetch was some kind of Lovecraftian-looking mix of a centipede and a spider... Like, think the size of DJ Music Man... But as a spider-centipede, a spiderpede if you will, that's abt 20' tall and like... 2x? 3x? his height in the length of his lower half? And he just uses holes and tunnels to get around or crawls up walls without much of a thought. Like you hear a skittering and shine your light up just to see this giant black body with orange markings just skittering along the wall at a speed that isn't at fucking all normal for a centipede and the legs are too damn long for a centipede and you don't know how the hell something like that is alive, but you just can't help but staring at it, and as you stare, you realize that you aren't seeing *either* end of this thing and it's actually stopped moving as if whatever this thing is has it's attention on something. Then you see eight oddly positioned eyes that shouldn't be set as close as they are for one figure, and when you shine your light up at them all you see is this black face that looks to be made of the same chitin making up the body, and all the four sets of eyes are staring at you *from* this one face, only for the head to slightly tilt, and you hear a crackling before this spiderpede-human-abomination lunges at you with a mouth that looks impossibly wide with fangs and mandibles that seem to extend past the maw. And all anyone finds when they go looking for you is torn up clothes, your flashlight, a splattering of blood, and the semi-distant sounds of skittering coming from who-the-fuck-knows-where in the building. Anyways I got a bit of inspo from @dreamer-of-all-time's design of Hetch and @mollish-art's whole Unperson AU

[mollish-art]

Mollish, what kind of five stars dish are you cooking with the chapter?!

Let me get this straight: You have reached the 100 pages mark, and (if you haven't already past it) have written, atleast, 80k words.

For those who are like "that not a lot", let me put this into prespective.

Firstly, "The Great Gatsby" is a novel that has a count of **looks at Google* about 47k words (if you don't want the unrounded number, there are 47.094), as indicated by the source.

Secondly, a 100 pages are A LOT. It's true that depending on style of the font and how big it is, it can affect the canvas. Let's say that Mollish writes with the standard Calibri 12 Word offers when booted up. A single page can hold an small introduction, a text body about 3-4 paragraphs and a conclusion. All that is about 200-300 words. Do you see what I mean?

Finally, if you still haven't seen what I mean, is that those hundred pages and 80k words are NOT different chapters. These. Are. For. A. Singular. Chapter.

In conclusion, Mollish (aka, you, yes you, the one who is reading this) has written more words than a novel, the book itself is more or less as long as a children's book [a 100 pages is about a half an inch (???) ( about 7 milimetres or 1 whole centimetre)], and is doing all of this for a chapter of a fanfic for an AU about a project a creachur that films themselves playing games named "Ranboo" made, just because she feels like it.

We must appreciate the work and time she has putted behind the writting ( AND drawings) for Unperson.

Let me just say "Thank you Mollish for creating the AU and lending it the time and care it needs to grow."

Sorry for writting the Bibel lol, have a nice day!

PS: Watch Chapter 5 be longer than the other four chapters combined xD.

Awww thank you so much for the kind words!! That's very sweet of you :) I really appreciate it! I'm having such a fun time with the story and I'm just really happy that I have the opportunity to share it with you guys! <3

I know I've been saying it for weeks now, but I promise I'm nearly done! Today I finally hit the 100 page mark and have just passed 42,000 words (making the entire fic nearly 100,000 words long!) :D

As there was so much I needed to do with this chapter (you'll see what I mean by that when it releases), I had to make it really long. I doubt chapter 5 will be anywhere near the same length, but of course I can't say for sure until I'm actually writing it lol

I should be finished with writing Chapter 4 in the next few days, and then I pass it on to my beta reader for edit suggestions. While they're reading it, I can use that time to finish working on the cover art and the (many) website updates that will accompany the chapter itself!

The corresponding audiobook chapter won't be out for a while yet as after I release this chapter I need to actually record an entire audiobook for a client (yippee!!), but as soon as that's done I'll get on to dubbing my own work again (and then of course beginning work on Chapter 5)!

Thank you all again so much for your patience and support, especially through this prolongued hiatus. The wait has been a lot longer than I anticipated, but so is the chapter, so hopefully that makes up for it haha

See y'all sooooooon!~

[flying-elliska]

Just binge read the Bone Season series by Samantha Shannon and !!!!!! amazing. Now I want to yell about it for a bit, bear with me (essay incoming sorry)

- the concept already, urban fantasy dystopia, just feels both so fresh and so obvious it's surprising it's not more of a Thing, and the world building is next level. the modern technology + Victorian aesthetics is not just cool (although it is) it evokes the fact that Victorian England was a brutal, very unequal and fucked up society, so it really fits a dystopia. Plus Scion is also an evil empire that invades other countries, which is also thematically relevant, as is the fact that the MC is Irish.

- I'm obsessed with the concept of a magical mob and Underworld (unsurprisingly) and people who are pushed to the margins of society because their very existence has been outlawed and bond together to find freedom but are also forced to exist in a state of constant brutality and the damage it all does

- the first book throws a lot of plot and world building at you in ways that can be a bit overwhelming and confusing, and doesn't give you a lot of time to connect emotionally to the characters, so that took me a while, but it's really worth pushing through for, i love them all now.

- I love the main character, Paige, so much. she's a survivor ; clever, witty, action oriented and very down to earth ; she's also very competent in ways that feel earned, and interestingly flawed, not some gratuitous emotionless Strong Female Character with plot armor or a 'not like other girls' complex. She's proud and she has a mean, ruthless streak. She's brave, too loyal for her own good, and impulsive to the point of recklessness, and sometimes her gambles pay off and sometimes she has to pay a very heavy price for them (it made me yell at the page several times). It's really cool to see a female MC that is so invested in the politics of her world. I hate that so many female mains in fantasy or dystopia are these isolated loners who hate politics, only really care about a handful of people and want to retire to their husband/2.5 kids happy ending as fast as possible, with a plot-line that focuses over personal development rather than political goals, because it sends this weird message that women are not meant to be in the public space. (Not making this into a rant about the Shadow and Bone books but lol I could)

Paige has to shoulder massive burdens that nobody in their right mind should want and that's understandable, but you do get the sense that she enjoys being a criminal, running free and scheming and climbing over roofs and outwitting her enemies and sticking it to the government. She doubts herself sometimes, worries about people only valuing her for her powers, but she doesn't have a lot of time to waste on self-consciousness, angsting or moping about her feelings. It's very empowering to read. And she's fiercely compassionate in moments where it's actually very dangerous for her to be. She has this constant struggle between the part of her that finds injustice intolerable and the part of her that is grimly pragmatic. This is exactly what women in fiction have been excluded from for too long, complex dilemmas about action and morality taken seriously, not just love triangle shit. It's great. Although wow does she deserve a break. Ouch. Baby </3

- the world is incredibly fucked up but there seems to be no sexism/homophobia/racism, which is refreshing to read. the main romance is m/f but there's a lot of ambient queerness, just because and not to 'make a point' ; the author has confirmed that the MC is demisexual, her bff is gay, the love interest is pan, there's a badass trans commander/mob boss, you get randomly informed that this henchwoman has a wife or that this mobster is trying to save his boyfriend, it's great (and it's not a word-of-god after the fact thing like jkr it's actually shown on the page, they just don't use any labels)

- the main romance is a slow build that is very low-key at first, enemies to reluctant allies to friends to lovers, but becomes really powerful over time. the fact that the MC is demi means it can't rely on 'omg so hot i can't stop thinking about him!' clichés - nothing wrong with attraction at first sight but it often leads to lazy storytelling and irritating instalove, tell over show romances. the characters are drawn to each other but it's more of a meeting of minds and souls at first, admiration and common goals, and their actions are still first and foremost guided by strategy, not sentiment. (sidenote I've often wondered if i wasn't at least a little demi myself. that would explain why i have such high standards for credible romance lmao.) also there's a significant power imbalance at the start but it gets very much deconstructed before anything can happen and it's an interesting negotiation. Warden could easily have fit in the 'brooding immortal douchebags' category but there's an alienness and gentleness to him that lifts him above that, along with the respect and space he gives to Paige and their shared experience of trauma and hopes for a better world. Her hot-headedness and his calm, deadpan sort-of-humor play off each other really well. Also I love the idea that develops over the series that their connection isn't a distraction from their fight but that it makes them stronger and allows them to resist and find solace from the deluge of constant horror that is their world. their whole dynamic in s4...no words. also the second time i read a scene where one character is bandaging the other's wounds and there's touch aversion involved and like, I LOVE that.

- lots of complex different bad guys. some are just brutes, some are sadistic masterminds with superiority complexes, some are deceptive and manipulative and morally ambiguous. love that the Big Bad Guy is a woman - female characters being fully realized means that sometimes, they're just incredibly evil (as long as it's not tied to their gender, i love that). Paige and Jaxon's relationship is fascinating - he's a terrible, manipulative person but i do feel in his own way, he cares about her and wants to see her thrive ; but that's not necessarily a good thing as he sees it as a justification to make her go through awful things. She knows he's awful but she can't get over the fact that he took her in, taught her, believed in her and gave her a sense of belonging and freedom when nobody else did ; she was super proud of being his mollisher and it makes sense it would take time for her to rebuild her sense of self without that, on her own. I like that the ambiguity isn't resolved (it's also a very good illustration of how emotionally abusive parental dynamics can get their hooks in you). The fact that he's aroace really works there too, could have been a lot creepier otherwise and i feel that's really not the point.

- also it's really cool how each book really feels like its own thing, it never feels repetitive, there are huge twists and a shift of focus each time - the penal colony in Oxford in the first, the London Underworld in the second, traveling through England in the third, Paris in the fourth, etc. The pace is pretty breakneck and i wasn't bored for one moment - actually at times i would have liked more quiet moments w the characters. There are two novellas that focus more on that and the second one is an exploration of trauma and recovery that's particularly hard hitting and beautiful. The first book does feel like a beginner novel, it's a bit clunky in terms of exposition, pacing and character development etc ; and there are moments where all the violence and brutality feel a bit repetitive ; but overall the story builds up so beautifully and in so many complex ways it's just really worth it and it's not for nothing i read the four books and two novellas in five days. just have to wait for the next one now though argh

- anyway more people should read it

[soulguardianazeralith]

Enderman design that I did partially for @mollish-art ‘s contest but also because I realized I never actually did one for myself lmao.

More info under the cut because I ran out of art energy/time-

Ah, the Enderman. Tall blocky beans who rip you into oblivion when you get close.

Aight, let’s get the obvious part out of the way: They floofy. This is mostly due to my own headcanon that The End is practically freezing to be around and the fur helps them absorb and keep in the warmth radiated from the dragon or the end crystals. It also helps regulate their heat in general outside of The End, which they sometimes open their jaws to help cool down with.

The main traits that the common variant of Enderman (the Mites and the Drones) have are as followed: One set of horns, eyes, ears, and tail. They can only summon three claws for their hands. They are smaller if they spawn in the Overworld and move in their Haunts/Hauntings, rarely separating unless absolutely necessary for the survival of themselves or for The Queen. These variants are more likely to wander toward settlements out of curiosity.

The main traits that the less common variant of Enderman (the Elites) have are as followed: They gain an extra set of horns, eyes, ears, and a second tail. They have six claws rather than the normal three and can even hold weapons. They are much taller than their counterparts and rarely if ever leave The Queen’s Island or The End as a whole. If the Dragon were to be slain or fall, one of the Elites will inherit Her Essence and rise to become the next dragon, being bathed in the lights of the new crystals. The Elites all are adorn with halo-like crowns that have two small Eyes of Ender and one large Diamond of Ender (which is just an eye but diamond shaped.)

All Enderman have floating limbs, with even their tails able to simply be unsummoned if need be. They can levitate and float from place to place using their particles as a form of magnetic and magical barrier. (this is how they are able to pick up blocks; by channeling their particles into their palm pads.) All, even Mites who have just been created, can channel their energy into a teleport or, if in a dire situation, transfer their energy into their palms and fire what is basically the minimized equivalent to the Dragon’s Breath attack to keep enemies at bay. Using this technique too much leaves an Enderman highly vulnerable, even leaving them at risk of causing their limbs to vanish temporarily. For conservative of energy, most tends to walk normally across the land. They are all omnivorous, and their lower jaw works similar to a great white shark’s jaw where it moves independently when eating food, able to secure a stronger closing bite.

If an Enderman was to be created, there are two ways of doing so. The main way is of the Queen to channel the crystals into her own shed scales and birth them with her magic and breath of life. The second, rarer way is of love. If two or more Endermen wished to have an offspring, they would have to remove their hearts, join them together, and use their blood and energy to create the new child. While the parents are doomed to cease existing, their spilled essence is enough to create a single Mite which inherits a mix of their traits and features and can even have rare mutations. Orphaned Mites are normally adopted into the Haunts that their parents belonged to, though more often than not are left to fend for themselves and roam into villages seeking shelters. The same result of if an Enderman and a creature of a different species were to attempt an offspring. Both must fall for their heir to rise, as is how the Queen must fall for the Egg of the Heir to be formed from Her Blood and Hardened Heart.

Also I say ‘Her’ to refer to the Queen but the Endermen themselves don’t even have genders to follow. They just are tall creatures following a Dragon who will fly around going ‘roar’ and biting players.

[sshannonauthor]

How come Nick could become a doctor at such an young age? Did he even finnish high school?e

I might as well explain Nick’s backstory while I’m here …

 First thing you need to know about Nick is that he was a child prodigy. He excelled in the sciences from a very young age, graduated high school when he was fourteen after getting his SSLQ (Scion Second Level Qualification), and was enrolled at the University of Scion Stockholm, hoping to be a doctor, at fifteen. His parents moved to Småland from Mölle around this time, and Nick lived with his uncle Alvar in Stockholm so he could commute to the university. 

Nick took a Scion degree called combined bioscience. Students taking this degree do most of their training on the job, but Nick first had to do an additional two years of study at the university and earn his STLQ (Scion Third Level Qualification). During the first year, two life-changing events occurred. First, Nick got involved with the voyant gangs of Stockholm. Second, he visited his parents in Småland to celebrate his little sister’s birthday. As we know from The Song Rising, Karolina was murdered by ScionIDE during this visit, and Nick found her body. Her death gave him a thirst to take down Scion from within, and he decided he wanted to move to England – the heart of the empire. 

Nick returned to Stockholm and requested a transfer to the SciSORS facility in London, hoping to finish training there and secure a permanent job as a lab technician. He was given leave to spend a few months in England, working for ScionAID in the town of Arthyen under supervision, so he could acclimatise to the country. During this time, he went to London several times to attend medical conferences. He met Colin Mahoney at one of these conferences, and also met Jaxon for the first time while exploring the capital. He agreed he would help him found the Seven Seals. Not long after, he met Paige in the poppy fields of Arthyen. 

After his introductory period in England, Nick returned to Stockholm, got his STLQ, and cut ties with his voyant gang there. He then moved permanently to London and started work at SciSORS, alternating between his job there and his new life as Jaxon’s mollisher. And you know the story from there. 

[akashikadoesthings]

  This book… I’ve been waiting for this book for years. Like, at least two years. When it was delayed I thought my heart would break because I had to wait another 5 months for it, and after the reveal at the end of the last book that seemed like a cruel and unusual punishment. For those of you who don’t know, The Song Rising is the third book in The Bone Season septology and the first one to end on what I would consider to be “not a cliffhanger”.  If you’ve read the first two books, you can see my reaction to The Mime Order (spoiler-free) here.

Since the book has only been released for about a week, I will be keeping this review as spoiler-free as I can but it will be hard to talk about The Song Rising without mentioning one or two things that happened in the previous books so if you’re reading this before reading The Bone Season or The Mime Order you can expect some spoilers for those books.

The revelation about Jax that came at the end of The Mime Order is the very first thing addressed and although I had a slight inkling of where it was going after my reread a few weeks ago, I would not have guessed it without thinking long and hard about it first.

The Grey Market which was discovered in The Mime Order as the means by which Voyants were brought to Sheol I is given a whole new dimension in this book. Ivy (poor, poor Ivy) gets her trial for being a part of the Grey Market (and pretty much the only person left alive that was part of it) and suffice it to say that the Voyants aren’t happy with her.

Nick, my beloved Nick, my favourite character in this series so far is now Paige’s Mollisher Supreme meaning that if or when Paige is dethroned as Underqueen, he’s first in line. He gets a lot of character development in the last few pages with regards to his relationship with Paige. As you’d know from reading The Bone Season, Nick is the reason Paige lived after a childhood encounter with a ‘Geist and also the reason she started working for Jaxon. After the Scrimmage at the end of The Mime Order, when Nick joined Paige and Zeke went with Jaxon the ship seemed sunk and there was not a lot of mention of either Zeke or Nadine in The Song Rising other than to say that they went back to Seven Dials after the Scrimmage and that Nadine still fancies herself more important than anyone gives her credit for. It doesn’t get confirmed but my guess is that they left the country when they left the Dials.

Danica, beautiful, smart Danica, does what she needs to do but I’m not all that happy about it to be honest. Part of me, however, thinks that what she did, she did on orders (or suggestion) from a person who will remain nameless because spoilers. and part of me understands that she did what she did because it may have been needed and she also felt guilty (can’t go too much in to this without breaking my no spoiler thing though, sorry).

Jaxon Hall, where do I start with this person. Considering how little he’s in the book (only a few scenes) a lot is revealed about him, his personality, his motivations, I’d even go as far as to say his desires (not in a romantic way though because Jax is confirmed by Word of God to be an aromantic asexual). It’s clear that he cares about Paige to some degree but, as Paige says, it’s more in the way one would care about a possession rather than a person. The more I know about Jaxon, the more I’m convinced he is, at least to some degree, a sociopath. He knows what he’s doing is wrong but it gets him something that he wants so he does it anyway. This, I believe, will be his downfall eventually.

The story itself takes place across England and Scotland and a lot of things happen considering it’s not a very long book (my copy is a Collectors edition, UK hardback and only 350 pages) but it doesn’t feel rushed. It feels more like the tension builds constantly with very few breaks for you to catch your breath. As with the last two books, there’s a bit of a twist at the end. The Bone Season had the Seven Seals helping with taking the Voyants from Sheol I, The Mime Order had the end of the Scrimmage and Jaxon’s reveal shortly after but the ending of The Song Rising was the first real cut in the narrative, a chance to breath and really absorb what’s happened. While the entire series so far has taken place over about 9 months, the events of The Song Rising happens within the space of two months and you get the feeling that Paige hasn’t really stopped since the Scrimmage which is why I feel like the fast pacing in the book works.

I would definitely recommend this book

You can follow Samantha Shannon, the author of The Bone Season series on Twitter here.

The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon This book... I've been waiting for this book for years. Like, at least two years. When it was delayed I thought my heart would break because I had to wait…

[whiskeybottlebullshit]

So had an idea for a little thing, just not sure if I want to make it a full fic of sorts or not. Building on the Showfall Abominations thing from @mollish-art and @dreamer-of-all-time in a way, but with a fun little fucked up twist lmao? Idk, what figured out is under the cut if anyone wants to read it.

Sneeg panted, glaring up at the giant mechanical beast that towered above him. He wasn’t new to this song and dance, though he had never been as injured as this before. He coughed, wiping the trickle of wetness dripping from his lip, crimson smearing along his jaw.

“Tsk, tsk, little bug.” The mechanical beast of black and orange chided. “You know the rules better than your comrades do.” It remarked, serpentine body twisting behind the behemoth form that stared down the warrior of frigged blue.

“Fuck off, asshole.” Sneeg snapped, only to grunt as the spear tip end of an appendage pressed harshly against his throat to silence him, watching as the beast looked down at him like a disappointed teacher. “If you’re going to kill me, just do it already.” He hissed, feeling a chill starting to creep into his limbs.

“Oh, but what fun would that be?” The beast chided. “Seems like the drones hit you a little too close though, didn’t they?” The beast mused, tugging the man’s arms away with one hand before yanking the man’s sweater up, looking at the seeping wound in his side. “Mm. Looks like an old one that was aggravated-” It mused, only to grunt as a heel connected with its jaw, a snarled hiss coming from it as its face seemed to open a bit.

Sneeg hissed as his hand and the fabric was yanked away from the wound. He hated how the beast above him always tried acting like the titular teacher that couldn’t be replaced. “Fuck you, Hetch.” He spat out, glaring at the mechanical monstrosity that towered over him. Hetch. The careless and controlling overseer that tried to act like he actually gave a shit. The one who left him in a cage with a dying man. The one who almost left him to starve to death before remembering that he existed. The only reason he was so husky was because his body wanted to avoid that happening again. “Don’t fucking pretend like you ever gave a shit about me. About any of us.” He spat, nose scrunching as his eyes turned icy.

“Oh, little bug-” The beast, Hetch, started, only to glare with his many orange, iris-less eyes when he was cut off.

“I’m not your little bug!” Sneeg snapped loudly, only to cough up and hunch forward, mind starting to swim and vision starting to blur as he noticed that it wasn’t just mucus he was just coughing up, but bright crimson staining where it could reach, though he knew he hadn’t been injured in those places. He’d taken a knife to the side, sure, but it was just that. Wasn’t it? It was what he could remember. Though, it was all quite a blur. He had stayed behind to make sure Ranboo and Charlie could get away, had held off the guards as best he could. Ranboo was already quite the beastly figure from whatever Hetch had done to him, and who knew what the hell had happened to Hetch to make him this giant-

Was he a snake? An insect? Sneeg didn’t know of any insect that had a long body and spear-like limbs that bent so tightly to the body, let alone the fangs came out along his upper and lower lips and little grabbing pieces on either side of his mouth. Did it really matter? The beast, that’s all he was to Sneeg, just some cruel, heartless beast that would rather watch them all scream and plea for mercy. He wouldn’t give this thing that pleasure, no matter the cost, even if he ended up bleeding out. If he had just grabbed that gun, he could’ve had a chance to fight the thing off.

“You really are the most stubborn of the musketeers, aren’t you, Sneeg?” Hetch chided, tugging the smaller figure around like a rag doll before he saw it. What could easily be considered a small pinprick of a wound in the other’s back. “Oh of course you would go and do that to yourself.” He quipped, yanking the other up into his grasp, many spindly, mechanical legs working in almost perfect unison to move the beast of a machination about. “Now, now, no time to argue or fuss.” He quipped, carrying the other through the passageways before Sneeg’s mind hazed and blurred, barely processing what the creature of a figure was saying before he finally blacked out.