#Ursela Le Guin

[monti-moth]

My wife and I have such different tastes in books.

I bought a copy of The Vanished Birds today. She bought a copy of The Field Guide to North America’s Dumbest Birds.

She reads like three books a decade but she chooses them very carefully. No one is doing it like her.

[kefnut-the-gweilologist]

the immense foolishness and contrarianness of the hot eeaao takes r really funny

[doyouremem8erme]

Hii can I share a new Marcy Harm idea with you?? A sort of Raised in Amphibia AU with a twist - as soon as Andrias took little Marcy in, he realized she was insanely intelligent, like as a toddler and all she would beat him at flipwart and read complex science books and stuff, like this kid's IQ is through the ROOF. So being a bit of a sciency guy himself he thought, mmmm what if we exchange the Core's current digital hardware for a biological one? The human brain is stronger than any computer in the multiverse. Not only is he giving the Core a body, but a whole new level of software processing like this kid's grey matter is insaneeee just imagine all the weird immortal AI processes you can run in it!

So ever since she's little he basically grooms her into being the perfect host. She spends all her time either connected to weird wires that go deep into her nervous system to prepare her for the Core, or being made to solve puzzles and learn languages and do all of this stuff to exercise her brain. She's super young when the Core is transported into her and Marcy kinda... ceases to exist? She's vaguely conscious of her surroundings but it's not like she has any sense of self or awareness of what's going on. She's like an expectator who can't think feel or understand anything. Her brain is being used by someone else.

So when Anne and Sasha, who also grew up in Amphibia, eventually fight this big bad that's been threatening their world, they're surprised to find out it wasn't like... a robot or a newt in a weird suit, but a small human girl that looks roughly their age and can barely form a word and doesn't know her own name or what's going on. Their entire lives they thought they were the only two humans in Amphibia! They're definitely bringing this one over to the Plantars' farm. If only she could understand what's happening around her. She was a piece of hardware, right? She was a machine. She was vaguely aware of that. She was The Core, or at least its processing system. She doesn't know she's a person.

ohhh this reminds me a lot of my old omelas au except without utterly butchering the concepts of ursela k le guin's work. i LOVE it

and back when i was working on that au i went down a pretty disturbing wikipedia rabbit hole about what it would be like to try to recover from really extreme levels of mental neglect and lemme just say that after they free her . it would take something close to a miracle to let her live a normal life.

now that youve made me think abt this concept again tho i am GOING to be rotating it in my brain so very hard like. in my old fic i hadnt put much thought into how marcy had ended up in that situation but. now. i cant stop thinking about like . anne and sasha finally finding this other human and shes completely broken from being used like that for so so so long. seeing that done to someone. thats a level of horror worse than any of the scary wildlife in amphibia . andrias is SO fucking dead for this one

anyways just for fun heres the opening of the ones who walk away from newtopia. this is super super old. for context it was a human au + olivia is andrias's daughter in it.

i never fully decided how much of this was marcy being used by the core to like. make its choices for how best to rule this utopia and how much it was some kinda karmic magic where all the suffering that would otherwise exist rested solely on her shoulders . but i think the implication was that she was gonna get the core fully downloaded into her at the end there? idk its been a long long time

ok i should probably go leave to go vote!!! yay!!! but i will be THINKING about this. oughhhh used as the cores computer her whole life thats good

[lonerofthepack]

To loop back around to the original question, tho, vis a vis the tiny frog wizards: i'd like to put forth Ursela Le Guin's catwings books as the approximate node of intersection. Domesticated animals living in and having a society reflected by the larger human society around them where there is ninetheless something distinctly magical and mysterious happening and a journey is had. Perfect for tiny frog wizards.

On a sliding scale from Watership Down to Redwall, what is the default setting for Tiny Frog Wizards?

Those are the ends of your scale?

[swordsandcircuitboards]

Ursula K. Le Guin was a wonderful writer and left us many beautiful works by which to remember her. She was know for her novels that straddled the line between science fiction and fantasy while also being progressive and socially conscious. She will be greatly missed.

[chemsexholmes]

you know its gonna be a good post when you see some harrypotter bbcsherlock shit followed by a paragraph-long quote from terry pratchett or ursela k. le guin

[thymejot]

Here's the thing, I love how Picard is showing how the federation is not quite the utopian society we once believed. Though I guess it is more utopian now that it was when it originally aired.

Like in Ursela K Le Guin's The ones who walk away from Omelas' there is a price for the utopian universe in which they exist. In Omelas' the price of the happy content society is the child living in perpetual darkness, filthy, feral and alone.

Picard saw the child and chose to walk away, or I suppose it is better stated the Picard saw the sacrifices the Federation made for the sake of keeping its society clean and turned his back on them.

I think in series gine by the price was not always stated, we saw the best of the society and not the things that crawl beneath.

Raffi's addiction issues, her paranoia and her loss of family is a child in the basement. The borg and those who are trying to regain their sense of self after being severed from the collective. The misfits and non comformists, the things that if neglected and ignored then the federation can pretend it does not exist. The knowledge is still there just ignored.

There are many complaints that this is no longer star trek. To some extent they are right, this is a mystery and a man's journey to face the choices he made in his past. He walked away yet we are getting a glimpse into where he went.

I love it, flaws and all. I look forward to seeing the characters develop, a thing that was sometimes lacking in some of the series gone by.

I want to see more of the DS9 crew appear and not just quarks bar. I want to see how the journeys made in previous series have impacted the characters today.

[jamiededes]

2018 PEN AMERICA LITERARY AWARDS, a literary lens on human experience and a spotlight on women's voices; Ursula K. Le Guin on shortlist for "No Time to Spare"

2018 PEN AMERICA LITERARY AWARDS, a literary lens on human experience and a spotlight on women’s voices; Ursula K. Le Guin on shortlist for “No Time to Spare”

PEN America announced the finalists for the 2018 Literary Awards last week, revealing a diverse roster of authors and works to recognize today’s best literature and translation spanning genres and continents. For the first time, the finalist pool for the prestigious PEN/ Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction is comprised entirely of women and includes: Hannah Lillith Assadi for Sonora (Soho…

[hardlightcraft]

I need to read ursela le guin books

[decalin]

‘Let’s Get Personal’ Meme (OOC)

Star sign: Aquarius Sun, Taurus Rising

Put your playlist on shuffle and list the first four songs that pop up:

Jason Mraz - Bella Luna

Mamas and the Papas - Dream a Little Dream of Me

Flogging Molly - What’s Left of the Flag

Foo Fighters - Skin and Bones

Grab the nearest book to you and turn to page 23, what line is 17?

“’The first blow knocked him pretty well out,’ Tomiko said a little wearily...” - Ursela K. Le Guin, Vaster than Empires and Even More Slow

Ever had a poem written about you?

Yes

When was the last time you played the air guitar?

I’m more of a drum on the steering wheel gal

Do you believe in ghosts?

In some sense, yes.

Do you believe in aliens?

We have to figure out an actual definition of life, first.

Do you drive and if so have you gotten in a crash?

Yes to both

Do you like the smell of gasoline?

No

Last movie you’ve seen?

Infinity Wars. 

Worst injury you’ve ever had?

Sprained joints

Do you have any obsessions right now?

Nope. I’m kinda boring. 

Do you hold grudges?

I usually don’t have any reason to have them in the first place. I’m pretty chill.

In a relationship?

3! Twelve years, 3 married with my wife, 2 years with one boyfriend and about 6 months with my other boyfriend.

Tagged by: @lukelxiv

Tagging: Whoever feels like it.

[marshmallow-the-vampire-slayer]

weirdgrimtales replied to your post “catefrankie replied to your post “Short stories suggestions?” ...”

Definitely agree for The Lottery! The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursela Le Guin is a story I read around that age and I still remember it today. The Rocking Horse Winner by D. H. Lawrence. The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell. Those were some of my favorites in school.

I fucking love The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas. I thought about reading it with my class but wasn’t sure they would be into it. I’ll have to reread it...

I read The Rocking Horse Winner but I’m not a fan of it. 

The Most Dangerous Game sounds cool but it’s a bit too long (I only have two lessons to work with the story in class.) 

nowinlivingcolor replied to your post “Short stories suggestions?”

Maybe The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant? I remember being shocked when I got to the end of the story.

Nice plot twist, might use it!

[doomhope]

[id: A photo of Ursela K Le Guin smiling as she looks into the camera with her chin leaning on her hand, and to the right of that the quote in the caption. End id.]

“You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.”—Ursula K. Le Guin

[thefallenwinter]

Mun: Meep

Not exactly happy for today or Friday. I have two presentations this week, and a Photography thing. The nerves are acting up, and I really, really don't want to stand up in front of the entire room and talk about Edvard Munch's Art or 'The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas.' By Ursela Le Guin. If you guys could, do you think you could send me good luck vibes? Have a lot on my mind and I'm really scared about my presentation.

[ragesharkbritain]

professor: i'm assigning them "those who walk away from omelas" and requiring a 750 word paper and four discussion threads due in a week, let the carnage begin.

me, tending my ursela k le guin shrine: The Stars Shine On Me Today, Tonight, And All My Morrows

[lanceschaubert]

The Best Writers Blog on How to Write Better

Some of the best writers out there blog on how to write better. Maybe not often, but certainly they all tend to have their own bits of advice scattered throughout the internet.

I’ve taken the liberty of making another one of my epic lists in order to guide you to the bests blogs on how to write better, all of them written by the best writers:

Ursela K. Le Guin

…wants you to get rid of writing…

[doyouremem8erme]

okokok so. crossover with the ones who walk away from omelas. human au but fantasy or whatever.

also!! read the ones who walk away from omelas first. its really short and before i unveil my au i want everyone to experience the mood whiplash that that wonderful peace of writing gives!!!

bam free pdf where u can read it!!! its kinda messed up but its cool and philosophical so its okay. we love her. its supposed to be that way.

marcy was stolen by king andrias (hate him!! ew!!!) when she was a baby and has lived her whole life in the darkness of a dungeon of newtopia's castle. something something haunting worldbuilding done by ursela k le guin and basically newtopia would be ruined if she even received any comfort or pity or happiness!! everyone knows shes there and suffering (she probably got possessed at some point too) but they let it be. the suffering of one for the utopia of many is chill right??

yeah no so yunan and olivia dont think so!! they sneak down there and break her out and run away into the night with her!!!

and then they live in hiding in the mountains like some fairy tale found family and just. let newtopia fall into shambles. or maybe andrias just grabs another kid to replace her whatever.

anyways. there is a lot of fleshing out to do. but man. newt mom angst. (this is what ive been thinking abt instead of writing come morning light!! srry.)

JUST REMEMBERED THE MESSED UP CROSSOVER AU I CAME UP WITH LAST NIGHT IN THE SHOWER.

i call it...

the ones who walk away from newtopia.