#also I posted the last book in the trilogy because it was my favourite

[smalltownfae]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge 📚

February 11th, 2023: Brotp

Rhy and Kell is a good brotp. I had trouble with this one tbh. I don't read many books with brotps (that I don't end up shipping) so... honorable mention to Fitz and Nighteyes because I didn't want all my photos to be of Realm of the Elderlings and one of those characters is a wolf.

[bethanydelleman]

do you have any book recommendations beyond classic lit + Jane Austen? Love your blog by the way!

Thanks! I read/have read a ton of books. My favourite genre as a child was fantasy, but I read almost everything except true crime*, thrillers, murder mysteries, self-help, and biography. But I do sometimes read those, my favourite thriller is Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney. I'm going to start with children's books because honestly, I find so much imagination in that genre.

Children's/YA Books: Gail Carson Levine, specifically The Princess Tales 1 & 2, and Ella Enchanted, among others Jean Little/Kit Pearson - these authors have the same vibe to me. Willow and Twig is a favourite from the first one, The Guests of War trilogy and Awake and Dreaming from the other. They both write coming of age novels for girls, both Canadian. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs - I loved the whole trilogy (haven't watched the movie). The story being based around real antique trick photos is my favourite part The Echorium Sequence by Katherine Roberts - a trilogy of books about magical singers with blue hair and their interactions with half-human magical creatures Margaret Peterson Haddix, specifically Running Out of Time, the Shadow Children series, and Double Identity. Margaret Buffie, who writes stories about teenage girls and ghosts. Also Canadian, which I guess isn't that surprising. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. Re-read it last summer and it's as good as I remembered. Roald Dahl, I really loved Matilda as a child, it's been fun to read some of these novels with my kids. Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar - and it's sequels. Amazingly quirky and funny stories about a class of students in a weird school

Fantasy: Mercedes Lackey, specifically the Five Hundred Kingdoms series and The Obsidian universe. I also loved the Elvenbane series, but due to the death of Andre Norton it may never be finished. I would advise caution if sexual assault is triggering for you, the ones I like are mostly free of it but that can come up in her other works. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien - obviously. Also loved The Hobbit, have not read further The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin - the book opens with the triggering of an apocalypse. The world contains people who can control earthquakes A Baroque Fable by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - this book is so hilarious but I don't know if anyone has heard about it Once Upon a Winter's Night by Dennis L. McKiernan - and it's sequels. This is a romance retold fairy tale series

Science Fiction: Michael Crichton - who spans a bunch of genres but I'll put him here. I've read everything he's written and I recommend most of it. State of Fear has not aged well. His books are very fast-paced and Timeline has one of the best enemies to lovers. Orson Scott Card - I am aware, but Ender's Game is a masterpiece. He also has this single novel called Magic Street that is a sequel to A Midsummer Night's Dream. I also loved Memories of Earth but it's been a while since I read it. I, Robot by Issac Asimov - short stories about artificial intelligence and how it might go weird

Graphic novels: Astro City by Kurt Busiek - superhero, but more focused on how living in that world would affect normal people Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra - every male on earth dies, except for one, and his monkey Fables by Bill Willlingham - after being attacked by an army of wooden soldiers, fairy tale characters and creatures seek refuge in a non-magical world (ours) Nimona by ND Stevenson - a villain gains a shape-shifting sidekick, but she is not what she seems Scurry by Mac Smith - post-apocalyptic earth, the main characters are all surviving mice. Best artwork I've ever seen in a graphic novel American Vampire by Scott Snyder- vampires have different traits depending on their home country, this is about the new, American species. Asterix and Obelix by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo - a small group of powerful Gauls defend themselves against the Romans using a magical potion

Non Fiction: Stephan Pinker, I've read both of his trilogies on language and the brain. Trying to get through his huge book about violence The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks - writen by a neurologist, fascinating book Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick by Maya Dusenbery - what it says on the tin

Toddler/Young Child Books: The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone - I give you a 100% guarantee that if you read this book aloud, the kids will be fascinated. It is literally always a hit Robert Munsch - most of his books are amazing, but if you don't want to cry, DO NOT read the backstory of Love You Forever. The Paper Bag Princess was one of my favourites as a child. Little Critter - only the older ones, the new ones are religious for some reason. Just for You and I Was So Mad were favourites for my kids. Early lesson in unreliable narrators. Phoebe Gilman - Something From Nothing, the Jillian Jiggs series, The Balloon Tree... so many good ones! Really good illustrations too Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal - a book about a pea who hates eating candy. This book is fun to read and my kids loved it (I have the box set) The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak - kids love when adults have to do weird things I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen - perfect opportunity to do a lot of funny voices The Mitten by Jan Brett - a whole bunch of animals squeeze into a mitten. That's the whole thing. It's great. The Very Cranky Bear by Nick Bland - and the rest of the series. These are fun to read because they rhyme. Jonathan Stutzman - my kids LOVE Tiny T. Rex and the Llama series. We haven't read the others An Elephant & Piggie by Mo Willems - we have this entire series, they are a delight. An elephant and pig are very silly friends. Good drawings Dr. Seuss - be careful with him though, his books are quite long and can be hard to read, so I recommend waiting until your kids are a bit older. But The Lorax slaps and my personal favourite as a kid was The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins

Other: Still Alice by Lisa Genova - or any of her books really. She is a neuroscientist and her books are really interesting explorations of different disorders. Book is better than the movie Warm Bodies by Issac Marion - zombie Romeo and Juliet Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder - a novel that is also an intro to philosophy course Calvin and Hobbes - I own all of them, so excited for when my kids can understand them. I also love The Far Side, Zits, and the earlier Dilbert comics The Women in Black by Madeleine St. John - this book is absolutely charming. I saw the Netflix movie and then bought it right away.

*I avoid true crime because I have heard that the genre causes harassment to victim's families

General Note: I am aware that some of these authors are now considered controversial, some for more serious reasons than others. Sometimes flawed people make really good art. I mean, flawed people make all art because nobody on earth is perfect.

[lightflame]

Tagged by @bagadew (Also tagging in @waermeflasche because you tagged me weeks ago and I didn't get back to you)

Last song I listened to: Soap by The Oh Hellos. I burn CDs and listen to them in my car. (The first few I tried to give themes and titles, and select the perfect song orders, but ended up kind of bad and the other was cursed and wouldn't play even though I remade it three times, so I just switched to throwing a ton of songs together on "Random Mixes" and enjoying.) I was listening to my very first random mix on the drive home from work and this one came up. It's a pretty snazzy song. I think Theseus and Hello, My Old Heart are my favourites from the band.

Last book I read: Can I do a couple? I just recently finished Play of Shadows by Sebastien de Castell. It's the first book of Court of Shadows, the sequel series to his Greatcoats series. Greatcoats is one of my favourite series, filled with swashbuckling action, clever humour, and an absolutely miserable protagonist, Falcio val Mond, who always manages to get back up and keep going anyway. I read everything de Castell writes, and after a string of books with severe pacing problems (check out The Malevolent Seven for a book that doesn't have a second act) and other problems (I have a hard time seeing any book topping Crucible of Chaos as the worst book I've read this year), he finally seems to be back. The book didn't pack quite the emotional punch of some of his other books, but it definitely made me want to jump up and cheer for the heroes at the end.

The other book I just finished is The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden. I liked her Winternight Trilogy (look it up and be prepared for some absolutely gorgeous covers, with prose to match), so I was excited to see something new from her. This book was about World War I, with some fantasy elements used for magic realism. (Portraying a soldier's struggle with addiction and PTSD through the lens of him losing his soul to the devil was a brilliant idea.) I most subsist on a steady diet of fantasy books, but this one had me hungering to read a few more historical books. I might have to pick up some books about the Halifax Explosion.

Last film I watched: I haven't watched much on my own for a while, but my friends do a movie night every Sunday. The last two times I tuned in, we watched Jesus Christ Superstar and Pokemon 3: Spell of the Unown. They were both fairly cute movies. I liked Judas's actor.

Last TV series I watched: I've been making my way through The Office for the first time. I'm on Season 3 and this happened to me, actually. There was some stuff I was like, "Wow, that was funny. I should tell my coworkers about it," but then I realized that I can't be the guy who tells his coworkers about this funny new show called The Office.

Last video game I played: If visual novels count, Umineko. I've been working my way through it slowly for about five and a half years and I'm finally closing in on the end. It's peak fiction and the greatest love story of the twentieth century. It's also funny I picked a game this insanely long for my first visual novel. Other than visual novels, I just finished Pokemon Legends: Arceus, after putting in 104 hours this year. Completing the Dex is my favourite part of any Pokemon game, so having it be more involved and include a big checklist made the game basically crack for me. I've also been casually playing some Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005) with my brother. Every time we play it, I'm always amazed by how good it is and how much content it has. I want to take command posts forever.

Last thing I googled: "Dandadan Aira". I just started the manga the other day and I like her best, so I wanted to double check her full name, I think? Other than that I'm mostly looking up when books are available at my local stores. I've been religiously checking when The Book that Broke the World will be available and I'm not even sure if I'm buying it.

Last thing I ate: A few snacks from my snack drawer. I also had a Quaker yogurt bar at work. I bought a big box of them last year, but I had to throw them out because of the Salmonella. (Chewed through a lot of them before that came out, though, including eating three on an airplane.)

Amount of sleep: Supposedly seven hours, since I went to bed right after finishing The Warm Hands of Ghosts last night. The only problem is that if I get to bed at a good time, I sleep fitfully, so I'm either sleeping poorly or sleeping well, but not getting anywhere near enough sleep.

Currently reading: I started Empire of Silence, the first book of The Sun Eater by Christopher Ruocchio, at work today. I've had the first three books sitting on my shelf for a year or two and I finally got around to starting it. (I'd resolved to do both this series and Kushiel's Legacy this year, after having both for so long, and I got that one done at the start.) I'm not very far in, but I enjoy the writing style a lot, even if a lot of the worldbuilding is obviously cribbed from Dune. (Whoa, look, mentats.) I've heard it picks up a lot in the second book, so I'm excited for what's in store for me.

Passing this on, I'll tag @somerunner @lyssq @soulsinshadow @lunawithsocks and @dancerladyaqua. (They also have currently watching and sweet, salty, or savoury as questions, which I didn't do.)

[hiskillingjar]

As someone who watches horror erotic etc. movies and is mostly unaffected, the thing that affects and disturbs me the most are the rape scenes. And as someone who is looking for a movie that will affect me and disturb me, do you have any suggestions for a movie with disturbing rape scenes or body horror? You can also suggest books, I am not someone who reads a lot of books but I can review them.

kekekekeke oh i have plenty, my main is video nasty for a reason!! and i have a whole post on book recs too :)

one of my number one reccs in this space is the work of david lynch, most specifically fire walk with me, a prequel to his series twin peaks that navigates the last week before the Dead Girl of the series, laura palmer, is killed. it's basically a movie ABOUT rape so it's aptly horrifying and incredibly tragic as a result, but it's also the most tasteful on the list (cw for incest in this one though). i'd also recommend blue velvet and lost highway, both also by lynch, but they're a little more surrealist than fire walk with me

if you want to start at the root, i spit on your grave is a classic rape revenge from 1978, and that's a BRUTAL watch that basically demands that you position yourself with the character of jennifer. it's voyeuristic and exploitative but in a way that i think is undeniably pro-survivor (inspired by the director witnessing an assault and staying with the victim from the cops until the hospital)

i would also recommend the last house on the left in the rape revenge space, the directorial debut of my favourite director, wes craven (<3) this is another nasty one but the pay off at the end is soooo chef's kiss, so brutal and violent and perfect <3

salo (120 days of sodom) is also a classic, reinterpreting the de sade book through the lens of italian fascism in the fall of the nazi party in world war II. this movie is NASTY though, violence, genital mutilation, psychological torture, SCAT!!!! it really changes you after you watch it lmao, but that's a good thing!

if we want to go M/M rape, deliverance is an absolute classic that actually predates everything on this list lol. men from the city get lost in the countryside and Bad Things happen ^_^ i watched this movie when i first started studying film and it's stuck with me all this time, i love it!

calvaire or the ordeal is another one of my favourites from belgium, featuring another man getting lost in the countryside and getting forcefemmed, assaulted and raped <3 i love this movie sooooo much i wish it had more of an audience because it's so fucking good, we need more movies about men being forcefemmed i think and believe

AND if we want some movies that are a little less...uhhhhh heavy (?), i love the august underground trilogy for its schlocky nastiness, john waters has several movies which feature rape and SA (multiple maniacs comes to mind, but i'm sure pink flamingos has something questionable too) and something like american mary (which i don't like) is pretty painless to watch too

have fun, stay safe, protect your peace <3

[finalfrontierpublishing]

So - my debut post under a new name!!! Sneaky little rebranding there - had a good time making a little icon, reinforcing what a sassy lil geek i am.

Anyway - I can finally create my Binderary 2023 wrap up and talk through a little stats.

Binderary 2023 stats!

Total books made: 8 (out of 13 planned)

Total fandoms: 5 (Star Trek, The Mandalorian, Harry Potter, James Bond (Daniel Craig trilogy), Hannibal)

Total words: 776,628 words

Total books gifted: 3 (KIV 4)

Author copies: 1

A picspam of some of the books made:

What I really loved from Binderary was the opportunity to push my boundaries. I had initially told myself - 4 books, which then became 8 books, until it snowballed to a total number of 13. I didn't manage to hit the ultimate target but I can't believe I did 8 at all, managed to try a couple of new things and made books I am proud of.

In particular, I love the books I made for an exchange with @pleasantboatpress!

I was mildly worried going into it because @pleasantboatpress does such beautiful designs and has such an eye for colour, and ended up re-working the designs for both books twice. I also averted some disaster because i didn't factor in the bulk of the stitching for the spine of For Gladness of You and had to desperately sand the textblock down to get it to fit. Ultimately, I like how the books turned out and am so thrilled that they liked the books! For Gladness of You is absolutely my most favourite AOS fic - i love trek so much and I am so glad I got to do 2 trek binds for them!

A big thank you to @notabuddhist, who kindly agreed to let me bind One of Many Great Fires (a beautiful TOS fic that I fell in love with from my experience in Thylabang2020) and who kindly agreed to let me bind them an author copy in the future. I owe them a progress 'making of book' post but i'll do that when i get back from my trip.

Sneaky peeky of last book made during Binderary - it wasn't perfect and I had a tough fight with Cricut Heat Transfer Foil but other than the press lines, I love the gold of the James Bond motif!

Credits: https://vulcancalligraphy.blogspot.com/ for the Vulcan calligraphy on the of One of Many Great Fires, Chris (Noun Project) for Enterprise vector

[strawberrycamel]

20+ YEARS OLD MEDIA YOU SAY?! WELL YOU HAVE ACTIVATED MY TRAP CARD, OF

DONALD DUCK INFODUMP!!

(I say like its surprising coming from me lmao)

Okay so like DC and Marvel, Donald Duck series has both animation and comic book serialization, and they tend have... very different directions.

TV series of Donald has like the classic cartoons and also Quack Pack and Ducktales stuff. I (unfortunately) don't grow up with those because my family didnt have any cables tv until like 2010ish? way passed when those on air on Disney channel so I don't know much about them

I DO HOWEVER, grow up with the comic serialization of Donald! Did you know they have like different magazine series and pocket comic book series?

I grew up with translated magazine comics and pocket comic books both sold locally. The magazine is just called Donal Bebek (Donald Duck) and the pocket comic book one is called Poket Paman Gober (Uncle Scrooge.. Pocket?)

I (think) the magazine series are more American-oriented? American publisher? Because they usually carries name like Don Rosa and Carl Barks (the famous ones I can remember on top of my head bc im bad at looking up artists name im so sorry)

The comic book series (i think) are more European-oriented. An Italian publisher got the rights to publish Disney comics so they also do Donald Duck and he became very famous there.

I think you've seen some of those post of "What do you mean Mickey Mouse is a detective and have cool adventures in Italian comics?" Because he does and those Italians comic also have a lot of fun Donald adventures too

AND! THEY ALSO MADE! SO MANY CANON ALTERNATE UNIVERSES COMICS!!

it sounds like a dum thing to get excited like yea of course Disney would have a cowboy version of Donald and co or sth that's normal disney franchise stuff

WELL DID YOU KNOW THEY HAVE WIZARDS COMIC THAT ACTUALLY FUCKS HARD? AND ALSO ONE WHERE DONALD IS JUST STRAIGHT UP A SPY AND ITS ACTUALLY COOL??

Wizard of Mickey starts off with Mickey Donald and Goofy being like wizard apprentice and go on quests and such. It's a trilogy and by the 3rd one Mickey became a Wizard King or sth and there's like politics involved and like ??? its so good??

The Double Duck series is about Donald was a secret agent who got his memories of it wiped after he finished his last mission, but he got roped in into it again so now he gotta relearn how to do spy stuff. The fun part is he was LEGIT a good spy (somehow!) Not the whole "oopsies i stumble n somehow finished the mission and everyone praised me??" (i mean that's kinda what's happening here now BUT BEFORE HE WAS LEGIT BEFORE I SWEAR)

(send me an ask with your favourite 20+ year old media)

👀ohoho i didn't even know Donald had comics! also this is absolutely Not a dumb thing to get excited over are you kidding?? this is great and i love hearing what old ass media makes folks happy, which very much includes Donald Duck!

like holy shit wizard and secret agent aus??? and a secret agent au where he's legit a good spy with an amnesia plot where he's gotta relearn his skills?? hell fucking yeah kc, that sounds like it slaps

[undyingmedium]

MUN'S COMFORT LIST

Comfort food(s): Pizza (like the good Italian peep I am), sushi, spicy things, chocolate and sweets!

Comfort drink(s): Bubble tea and mocaccino on non-alcoholic side, wine otherwise!

Comfort movie(s): Atlantis! I still cry to the beginning and ending scenes and the Crystal Chamber never fails to give me goosebumps. And REC. Calling that "comfort" is a huuuuge stretch, but it's one of the best horror movies I ever watched and nothing ever spooked me as much as that one. Love me some strong emotions!

Comfort show(s): Speaking of strong emotions, Cabinet of Curiosities has been destroying me lately in both a good and bad way, but I'm enjoying in thoroughly and it's probably gonna stay as one of my favourites. On a completely different note, Wander over Yonder and Vox Machina. Something tells me I'll be back to change/add more a thousand times after I post this.

[[EDIT]] Oh shit I forgot Fallout!!! And Pluto!

Comfort clothing: Black/dark t-shirts with nerdy prints and leggins. Also earrings of all kinds.

Comfort song(s): Peter Gundry's entire production and videogames soundtracks/instrumental pieces with emotional intent! And System of a Down and Blackbriar as groups!

Comfort book(s): I'm very attached to the Emerged World sagas because they're the first big trilogies that ever really got me into fantasy as a child ♡

Comfort game(s): I'm afraid League of Legends is far past me without a group of friends that plays with me because of its awful community, but I'll never forget it's the reason why I started chasing my dream job and today I'm finally starting to see it realized. But! Kingdom Hearts got me into gaming during childhood and I'm still respecting it despite the creators' thirst for money and questionable writing, Hollow Knight is going to stay one of my all-time favourites, Minecraft is also fun with friends, Crypt of the Necrodancer satisfies my love for gaming and music, [[EDIT]] Dead by Daylight is my new happy choice for nights with friends and! Last but not least!! TTRPG games - most of them!! Gift me a good story and let me immerse myself in them with a loved character of mine and you'll have my heart for years to come, as my DMs very well know ♡

Also, just for the record, a few honorable mentions: horror RPG maker games and Undertale got me into story-based games, Among us, Slay the Princess struck my heart lately, Ring of Pain was an amazing go-to to fill the time and Baldur's Gate is the best alternative to real campaigns I tried so far. Probably unpopular opinion: I don't like fighting and mechanics that much - some fights are breathtaking but I'm mostly in for the story and the relationships with characters (absolutely not limited to romantic ones) and I can't take it seriously because of the possibility to reload and my lack of discipline with avoiding it. So yes, but also no. Just a mention.

Tagged by @windwithinmyveins || Bring it on~ (Thank you! ♥)

Tagging: @steel-and-fire @witches-and-weirdos @deepseawarlock @aquatic-hybrid @deaddovestellnotales and you!

[daemondaes]

name: che

height: 5'3-ish. close enough to average. i can reach the top shelf, and at the end of the day, that's what matters.

nickname / s: chebureki, chechival, cheeble, chevalier, jam.

nationality: californian. 😎

favourite fruit: peach. 🥹🙏 strawberry is second. grape is third.

favourite season: spring? the benefits of summer hours with less of the summer heat. fall is nicer for layering tho

favourite scents: gasoline, bread, vanilla, citrus, books.

favourite animals: baby hippos (only baby), small dogs (esp chihuahuas), cows.

tea, coffee, hot cocoa: green tea, or else coffee with milk and, if i've been good, a sprinkle of cocoa powder.

average hours of sleep: uh. probably like 4-5 if i have to be somewhere in the morning, 8-10 if i don't.

when my blog was created: this incarnation? my earliest post was apparently 23 may 2020, so we're coming up on that 4 year anniversary 😏 but the first standalone cherry blog was from 2016? the oldest muse on here to originate on tumblr (ciel) emerged in late 2011. the oldest oldest muse on here originated off-tumblr in like 2008/9 on gaiaonline (talking abt u, naux).

# of followers: i normally wouldn't answer this, but i will tell u now that it is 365 just because that's such a satisfying number? got a buddy here for every day of the year 😎 that's a lie tho bc the number is broken and doesn't really fluctuate no matter how many people i gain or lose LOL i'm pretty sure like 4/5 people on the list are inactive tho, so please help me make more friends

random fact: my bedroom is ridiculously girly, soft pinks and pale greys and whites with gold accents, loads of pillows and plushes and decorative doodads, but i myself dress almost entirely in black. it's a little like putting wednesday in enid's room. not quite sure what that says about me.

favourite food: the humble tuna sandwich. i'm counting lemonade as a food here, just so i can add it in. i like lemonade even more than i like tuna.

favourite t.v. shows: flcl, dead boy detectives, good omens, i love lucy, king of the hill, the simpsons, lupin iii.

favourite movie: my letterboxd top 4 are some like it hot (1959), ghostbusters (1984), mad max: fury road (2015), and back to the future (1985)...but if i could have a fifth, it would be austin powers (1997).

sexuality: i like girls a lot more than i like guys, but i'm too busy and too broke to even think about that 😤

pronouns : she/they/any? idc abt labels and boxes, but it's weird that u're talking about me when i'm not there /:

favourite book series: howard the duck 😏 did you think i'd really make it to the end of this without mentioning him? this is also my chance to plug fly by night by frances hardinge, and its sequel, fly trap (or twilight robbery in the UK). there's also the monster blood tattoo trilogy by d.m. cornish that i desperately wish i'd held on to because it's apparently out of print now! my blood boils every time i remember. it would be remiss if i didn't mention a series of unfortunate events, just because i do think it was very influential for me. i'm about to reread the saga of darren shan/cirque du freak for the first time since middle school, so wish me luck 😤

favourite video game/s: god, fuckin...idk, tetris? roblox??? i'm not a gamer at all. i can't play anything unless i'm playing with a friend. that's a lie, i played baldgate3. the only thing i play is the sims 4. i'm trash

favourite subject: [scuttles around on all fours, twitching and foaming at the mouth] school bad! school BAD! (my three passions are history and fashion and film, but i don't love the academic system. Cs get degrees, etc. my own degree was in creative writing, and now i'm trapped in retail hell, so be smarter than me, kids! except also i hear even stem is useless these days? society is crumbling so bad, i—)

guys or girls: i prefer drawing guy faces and girl bodies. idk what u're getting at here

last time I cried: last night, conveniently

what I should be doing: taking out the trash, cooking up curry, cleaning the bathroom, polishing my spanish and diving into mandarin, writing, drawing, job hunting. continuing my goal of watching 365 movies this year. sweeping up the feathers of my cockatiel, galileo, because it's Moltin' Time. the usual 🤷‍♀️

favourite fandoms: i actually don't participate in fandom LOL i just lurk. chat about stuff in discord—DMs, not servers. i have so much art and music in my head, but i don't have the mobile dexterity and stamina for it anymore. maybe one day...

tagged by: @hatchetsfield (thanks, pidge!) tagging: anyone who learned a thing about me from this

[myheartalivewrites]

Favourite books of 2023

Ok, so I’ve done my favourite fics of the year post, but I have also read A LOT of books in 2023 (Goodreads has me at 114 and I KNOW it’s missing things because it’s rubbish at tracking rereads). Here are my ten faves, in order of what I saw first on my Goodreads ✌️:

A Marvellous Light, by Freya Marske. I read this 3 times in 2023, and am maybe possibly (definitely) trying to branch out from RWRB fic and write something for Robin and Edwin. No I have not yet read the last in the trilogy, but I will soon.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin

The House in the Cerulean Sea, by TJ Klune

Open Water, by Caleb Azumah Nelson

The Trees, by Percival Everett

Come Again, by Robert Webb (yes, that Robert Webb)

By the Book, by Jasmine Guillory

I can’t pick only one, so: the entire Lucy Barton series by Elizabeth Strout

Carrie Soto is Back, by Taylor Jenkins Reid

What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat, by Aubrey Gordon

Honourable mentions to these rereads, all books that I love: Circe, Call Me By Your Name, Check, Please! (1 and 2). And Red, White and Royal Blue lol.

[gorbalsvampire]

Tag Nine People You'd Like To Get To Know Better

FAVOURITE COLOUR(s): Dark, rich purples and reds. Greens: British racing, chartreuse. Bottle greens and browns. Black and white contrasts. Glasz eyes are the most beautiful on Earth. Love a check or tartan pattern. I paint all my miniatures in cold blue/bronze or warm purple/brass contrast unless physically prevented from doing so.

FAVOURITE FLAVOUR(s): Rock salt and woodsmoke and paprika in a thin batter. Rich thick curry sauce - warm and textured, not hot-like-burning. Whole milk and sour cream. Fresh carrots and tomatoes - just chomp those fuckers down. Sourdough and soft cheese. Tea with an undertone of citrus or an abundance of honey. Mulled apples. Dirty chai. And above all, peppermint.

FAVOURITE MUSIC: Tradgoth and post punk (basslines you can slink to), trip hop (take me somewhere far away), post rock soundscapes (the more elegiac the better), prog (but more the Pink Floyd pomp rock than wildly experimental stuff), anything Jim Jarmusch or Polly Jean Harvey ever touch, sad country and sleazy swamp rocks. Music for people who want to crawl into a swamp, cop off, and drown each other.

FAVOURITE MOVIE(s): Franklyn. Withnail & I. Only Lovers Left Alive. I detest busy plotting and spectacle and run on vibes. But also, because sometimes I'm From The Nineties And Also British, Guy Ritchie's entire oeuvre. Sin City has a nice vibe even though it's a nasty piece of work. Possession (1981) and Nosferatu (1979) - I'll watch Isabelle Adjani in anything. Or Eva Green. Give me pale, deathless, insane women.

FAVOURITE BOOK(s): UGH! Anything by Terry Pratchett. S T Gibson's vampire stories. Anything by Susanna Clarke. Earthsea. The first four books of Anno Dracula. Anything by Laura Shepherd-Robinson. Alis Hawkins' Oxford novels. Seth Dickenson's Masquerade and Tamsyn Muir's Locked Tomb. The Wolf Hall trilogy. Sherlock Holmes and weird post-Holmes stuff from Obverse. T. S. Eliot, William Blake, Edgar Allen Poe, Sylvia Plath, and a raft of contemporary Welsh poets - Cath Drake, Katherine Stansfield, Christopher Meredith. If I had a guilty pleasure, Black Library novels (John French, Matt Farrer and Aaron Dembksi-Bowden) would be it.

FAVOURITE SERIES(es): Doctor Who, Lock, Stock..., The Biederbeck Trilogy, What We Do In The Shadows, LA By Night, The Thick of It and... Taskmaster. Taskmaster is my religion. I like seeing the Bit all comics do get tested to destruction. And podcasts: Poorhammer, the 40K Badcast. I get my hobby chat fix from those.

LAST SONG: :Of The Wand And The Moon:, 'Hold My Hand'

LAST SERIES: The Thick of It (rewatch).

LAST MOVIE: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (comfort rewatch, I've been poorly)

CURRENTLY READING: Viriconium by M. John Harrison.

CURRENTLY WATCHING: nothing

CURRENTLY WORKING ON: ideating a festive V5 one-off and new chronicles for next year, but otherwise taking it easy (I've been really poorly)

TAGGED BY: @silkenred

TAGGING: @heywizards @biomechanicaltomato @gwenynen-bach @gingerbeer-queer @robotslenderman

[helenofblackthorns]

@pamaramburu welcome to the shadowhunter chronicles!! sorry about replying in a new post, there's just a lot to cover 😅

City of Bones is a great place to start! sometimes people will recommend starting elsewhere, because it's not the best book but imo since it's the first book to be published its the easiest introduction. the world building is introduced gradually throughout the book, it's fun to read, not too long etc. so I would start there!

as for the reading order I would recommend a modified publication order. you could definitely do the publication order as is (just follow the publication dates and be mindful that some books came out the same year) but I personally would make some small tweaks to make it more straightforward :)

start with the first three books of The Mortal Instruments; City of Bones (2007), City of Ashes (2008), and City of Glass (2009)

then, read The Infernal Devices trilogy; Clockwork Angel (2010), Clockwork Prince (2011) and Clockwork Princess (2013)

finish the rest of The Mortal Instruments; City of Fallen Angels (2011), City of Lost Souls (2012) (optional: The Bane Chronicles (2013/14), a short story collection about Magnus Bane. it's not important for plot or anything but it does have spoilers for Clockwork Princess & City of Lost Souls so you can read at any point after them) and City of Heavenly Fire (2014)

then it's Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy (2015/16) this is also a short story collection and it's technically optional but I definitely recommend reading it now, as it follows an unresolved storyline from City of Heavenly Fire

next is The Dark Artifices, which is Lady Midnight (2016), Lord of Shadows (2017) and Queen of Air and Darkness (2018) (aka the longest tsc book, good luck!)

then there's the third and final (for now) short story collection Ghosts of the Shadow Market (2018/19)

the Eldest Curses trilogy is kinda hard to place since the books take place years apart & are more of a standalone so you can kinda just read them whenever. The Red Scrolls of Magic (2019) takes place in 2007 at the same time as City of Fallen Angels & The Lost Book of the White (2020) takes place in 2010 after Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy and before Lady Midnight (the third book is not yet released)

which brings us to the most recent series, The Last Hours; Chain of Gold (2020), Chain of Iron (2021) and Chain of Thorns (2023)

the last thing is Secrets of Blackthorn Hall (2022) which is a multimedia epistolary novel that was published here on tumblr (@secretsofblackthornhall) and is currently in the works to become a physically published book at some point soon. it came out before Chain of Thorns and there's a few references to it in the book, but they're pretty minor. you can read it before or after it's really up to you.

and that's pretty much everything! tsc is one of my favourite series ever and I hope you enjoy just as much! have fun <3

[softausterity]

hold on new pinned post because the last one is so old it shows up in an entirely different post editor

hi i do art :) you can do whatever you want with my art use it for pfps / study it / trace it / steal it / etc etc. all my personal work is CC0 1.0 (as for commissions i retain all rights unless otherwise stated) i truly don't care i do this to get demons out of my brain

i love persona 5 royal & ai: the somnium files (so have spoilers for those filtered if you haven't played them yet) and i have a lot of smart & correct thoughts about them. send me asks about them i love talking about video games on the internet. and send art requests i love art requests!!

more details about things i like under the cut, send asks about any of these and i'll love you forever VVVV

about persona 5, i've played royal, strikers, and tactica, i've also played p3 and p4 + the arena games

i've played both AITSF games, and every ZE game. clover is my baby

i've also played ghost trick, and i've played the original AA trilogy, the Ace Attorney Investigations games, and the TGAA games

i think the "oh i like this but i hate it because of the fandom" thing is a little overplayed, like, you know, there's a lot of annoying people online if a media gets popular it's going to be- like whatever right. but danganronpa fans are unbearable for the main reason of just not being able to admit they actually like the video game they like. i liked danganronpa! thought it was good! "i hate these games but-" live a little, man.

some of my other favourites games are portal, smile for me, the stanley parable, slime rancher, deltarune, slay the princess, slow damage, and higurashi

some of my favourite anime are anohana, madoka magica, serial experiments lain, revolutionary girl utena, and talentless nana

haven't watched the dunmeshi anime yet but i read the manga 👍

my favourite movies are perfect blue, scream, and heathers

i've read one* book in the past 5 years and it was house of leaves (*fiction. i read political theory.)

i am always taking media recommendations!

[aceofthegreenajah]

13 books! tagged by @old-man-ghost

1)Last book I read I read Ocean at the end of the lane in two days recently. It was a very fun concept. It's the kind of book that would have left a lifelong impression on me if I had read it young. But now it was just one good book in a long line of others. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2) A book I recommend Let's go with a Taste of Gold and Iron. It's a very fun mystery, and the main character made me go. Wait. I know that feeling! I have a brain exactly like that too! (Riddled with anxiety and self-doubt at the most mundane things, but when things get serious, it's suddenly all business.)

3) A book that I couldn’t put down: I don't know if it exactly fits, because I wasn't fully invested from the start. But I did read all 500+ chapters of Omniscient Readers Viewpoint in just three days. And it is the only book I've ever read that make me go "Wait. I didn't know you could do that with a book." There are so many levels of meta in this book. It's like three books in one.

4) A book I’ve read twice (or more): I reread a ton of books. Let's go for Kalevala just because I was reminded of it while taking the picture at the end of this post. I used to read it every 6 months or so as a teenager. When we were told to read it for school I just read it again instead of telling anyone I'd read it like six times already.

5) A book on my TBR: One that has been there for ages is the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. I hope to get around to it one day. I already bought it after all.

6) A book I’ve put down: Putting things down (as in meaning to continue then forgetting about it) happens often. Putting down and deciding not to continue very rarely. Last was The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal. I have no idea why. In concept is sounds like just my thing and I have enjoyed her other books. My mind just couldn't get a grip on it, my attention always started to waver instantly.

7) A book on my wish list: I want an ORV official english translation SO BAD. Where is it??? It's announced and everything! Same for Nirvana In FIre, actually. Usually if I wish for a book I just buy it. It has to not exist to stay on my wish list long.

8) A favorite book from childhood: How young are we talking? Roald Dahl's witches book was my favourite at age 5. His dark materials at age 8. Good omens at age 12. Farseer trilogy at age 14. (all ages approximate)

9) A book you would give to a friend: 've gifted two people with All systems red. I would love to give it to everyone I know.

10) The most books you own by a single author: Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. As long as all 8 physical tgcf books and 4 svsss books count as separate. Though Brandon Sanderson comes very close. I think I have 7 of his books as physical copies and a few as audiobooks.

11) A nonfiction book you own: The Dawn of Everything is both excellent worldbuilding material, and really opened my eyes on how uncreative and stuck I was about how societies 'must' work. Applicable to real life as well.

12) What are you currently reading: I am still reading Exordia. It is an excellent book I'd recommend to everyone (as long as you are not particularly sensitive to body horror). But that is also why I'm going slowly because I only want to read it when I can concentrate properly. I am also reading Trash of the Count's Family when I need a less serious book, and an isekai manga, and What technology wants. The best way for me to read stuff is read whatever I feel like at the moment.

13) What are you planning on reading next? I got The Traitor Baru Cormorant at the same time I got Exordia so that's probably next.

My shelfie (one of several bookshelves. I should really weed them):

[perexcri]

Hello!!! You said you have been reading a lot of aus, could you please tell us about your favourite ones?

ahhh hello!! i would love to, because i've been really enjoying aus lately :D i haven't been reading as much fic as in the past because i've been trying to get through some books on my tbr list (of which there are too many, though i did finish one today!), but when i have been reading fics, it's been aus mainly!!

like i said in the other ask, you can always feel free to check out my bookmarks on ao3!! but here are a few of my current favs:

[hiding beneath the cut because it got way too long :) ]

tip-toeing on lily-pads by my beloved @cherryisgone. you might think i'm biased because it was given to me, and you would be correct in thinking that, but also, it's just?? so good?? the pining is off the charts, plus it's a kind of princess and the frog concept with prince Will and knight Mike. the writing is beautiful and has this lovely water imagery woven throughout it that i absolutely adored. idk what more someone could ask for tbh (except maybe a pt. 2 👀👉🏻👈🏻)

a new fight series by tea_for_one_please. this is a wonderful star wars au that does a fantastic job of weaving the main party members into the star wars universe and lore. i read it intermittently while i was visiting friends last month and really enjoyed my time with it. also, it's so well-written that i didn't realize how long the whole series was? apparently the entire series is the length of a book and i just. didn't know this until a few days ago lol. so yes, this one's fun for star wars/sci-fi vibes!!

fireball him! (cast protection) by @willow-lark. i'm a sucker for fantasy aus and this one is soooo so good!! again, maybe i'm biased because one of my stories is listed as inspiration, but i loved this thing. i saw it was posted last week while i was at work, and the second i got to take my lunch break, i flopped onto my couch to read it and was not disappointed. wonderful writing and an ending that left me with my jaw dropped. not that i'm still thinking about it :')

the manuscript by whereyouare. i'm humbly begging everyone to read this one because it's premise is just too good to pass up. it's an au where there's no Upside Down/supernatural stuff from the actual show. Will is a sci-fi author, and his publisher tells him his upcoming book is too cynical and the ending needs to be changed. it's such an interesting study of Will and refreshing take on his character, mostly because he's just...so cynical in this one? idk, maybe that's not for everyone, but i've enjoyed seeing a potential future Will where living in a small town and being in love with his (supposedly) straight best friend have hardened him more. it's fascinating and fun, so i highly recommend it!

warm by @notebooknonbinary. this one's a short fantasy au, but it's so sweet and soft. like i said, i'm a sucker for fantasy aus and have been writing with them a lot lately, so i always enjoy when i find a good one, and this one definitely fits the bill!

daydream by disaster_energy. this is a really fun d&d au where Will gets chosen by the moon goddess and Mike chooses to pledge to her paladin order. i especially loved the world-building in this one because it kinda reminded me of the percy jackson series - it was a perfect melding of a fantasy world with a modern one. plus it had plenty of pining, and i'll never complain about that lol

the vale of shadows by sevensided. another fantasy au!! this is the third installment in the dark mirror trilogy, which is one of my favorite things i've read ever in my life, fic or otherwise. i'm in love with this third installment and the recent update it got - the most recent 4 chapters have the perfect cottagecore vibes that made me melt. i love this whole series with all of my heart, and i'm so glad to see it in a fantasy au setting now

and it's not byler, but just for grins and giggles, i'm once again gonna rec sevensided's ronance one shot, nothing sacred / all things wild. i love this author's writing style, and she takes such an intense and interesting approach with these two characters by putting them in an FBI setting: Nancy is an agent recovering from a particularly traumatic mission, and Robin is her psychologist. they have a conversation and. well. Things Happen.

idk if you're specifically looking for recs anon, but if you're interested, i also have 2 fantasy aus and a vampire au i posted a few weeks ago!! they're some of my favorite things i've written and posted, and i really liked how the writing came out in them, so if you're interested, here they are:

fantasy aus: A Flower That Resembles You, the truth beneath the rose

vampire au: come to me again (in the cold, cold night)

happy reading!! if you have any recs, feel free to send some my way - i go through phases where i'll read more books than fic and vice versa, so it's only a matter of time until i'm glued to my phone burning through fics again lol

thanks for the ask, and thank you to all the lovely authors for creating such wonderful works for us to enjoy :D 💜💜💜

[gollancz]

Nominations for the 2023 Hugo Awards!

Nominations are still open for everyone's favourite phallic* SFF award! If you are able to nominate, why not consider some of our great books?

Everyone with memberships to either Chicon 8 or the 2023 Chengdu Worldcon that was purchased before February 1, 2023 is eligible to nominate up to five items in each of the 17 Hugo and 2 other award categories.

Some of the things you might consider nominating us for are under the cut!

*I don't wanna invoke the stalactite post but, like, come on

BEST NOVEL

Anything that came out in 2022 is eligible! And we had some bangers.

BEST SERIES

The Graceling Realm series by Kristin Cashore

The Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock

The Last War trilogy by Mike Shackle

The Hussite Trilogy by Andrzej Sapkowski

The Legacy of the Mercenary King trilogy by Nick Martell

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson

The Great God's War trilogy by Stephen Donaldson

THE ASTOUNDING AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER

Rebecca Zahabi, The Collarbound

Kelly Andrew, The Whispering Dark

BEST EDITOR - LONG FORM

Gillian Redfearn

Maybe we’re biased, but Gillian’s the best. She’s been at Gollancz nearly 20 years, and is the editor for Brandon Sanderson, Joe Abercrombie, Alastair Reynolds, Aliette de Bodard, Joanne Harris, Garth Nix, Elizabeth Bear, Patrick Rothfuss, Miles Cameron, Chris Wooding, Sarah Pinborough, Charlaine Harris… the list goes on! She is so involved in the SFF community, attending cons worldwide and she is staggeringly great at what she does. The only UK-based editor to be shortlisted for a Hugo award, she’s also genuinely one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Shortly after I first met her, she said something nice to me in the pub and I cried. On the plus side I set the bar for our future relationship very achievably low.

Marcus Gipps

Marcus has been in the biz for decades, starting as a bookseller and had a review Livejournal (yes, that's right, one of us) that helped him build respect with so many people in the industry. Any of the legendary, big names of SFF? He probably edits them. Michael Moorcock, Christopher Priest, Paul McAuley, Pat Cadigan, Stephen Baxter... He led the acquisition of THE LAST UNICORN once Peter S. Beagle got his rights back, he heads our WITCHER publishing, and his knowlege of SFF history is encyclopedic. He also leads our SF Gateway and Masterworks projects, archiving out of print SFF and saving them to keep in circulation. Marcus may be the most unflappable many on the planet, which is good because I'm extremely flappable so we balance out nicely.

Brendan Durkin

Do you like CHONKY books? So does Brendan. If you want a book to use as an offensive weapon, Brendan will have likely commissioned it. Brendan finds the books that are going to be the classics of the future. He works with J. T. Greathouse, Christopher Buehlman, Mike Shackle, SJ Morden, Chris Wooding, as well as being the lead for the Ursula K. Le Guin estate, the Terry Pratchett estate AND the Frank Herbert estate! Oh, and our beautiful D2C editions? All from his crazy genius mastermind brain. Also if you need somewhere to eat in central London? Go to him for a recommendation. I impressed him with my lunch choice the other day and felt like I'd Made It.

[sflow-er]

ˏˋ°*♡➷ get to know me ༊*·˚

I was tagged in this lovely game by @lazybug16 and @bluedalahorse - it was so much fun seeing both your 'moodboards'! 💜

The idea is to pick a favourite movie, character, animal, drink, song, season, book, colour, and hobby and present them as pictures.

I'll put a list/explanation below, but it's going to be long, so let's do the no-pressure tags first: I think most people have been tagged already, but I can't keep up. So I'm just going to tag a few people whose names I don't think I've seen and apologise if you've already been tagged - or even made a post that I've missed!

@scatteredpiecesofme @silvagrey @groenendaelfic @raincitygirl76 @plantbasedfish @palehottubchild and anyone else who'd like to do this!

Movie: I've got a lot of faves in a lot of genres, but The Princess Bride (1987) has been one of my comfort films since childhood. I never could resist a good fairytale! I kind of wanted to use an ensemble poster to fix the severe lack of Inigo Montoya in this Westley/Buttercup one, but I think this fits the moodboard better, both aesthetically and thematically (because there's a lot of romance on this board).

Character: Again, there are lots of options! But I want to pick 1) a woman, and 2) a longtime favourite, so... Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. Either book Lizzie or 1995 BBC Lizzie played by Jennifer Ehle will do. Who doesn't love an intelligent and determined woman who is loyal to her loved ones, speaks her mind, and grows from her mistakes? Oh, and who only warms up to the handsome aristocrat gentleman with a massive estate after he listens to her criticism, makes up for his mistakes, and demonstrates some character growth?

Dolphins: Love them. Happened to see some wild ones in Ireland this summer. Keeping them in captivity for humans' amusement is heinous.

Coffee: The thing about coffee is, if you don't drink it, you often feel like a nuisance when visiting people in my country. Especially older people, who don't necessarily keep tea in the cupboard. So, I learned to drink it in my late teens despite hating it at first, and once my tastebuds had adjusted, I fell in love.

Song: Swing Life Away by Rise Against. A very simple acoustic ballad about love, friendship, and how little you actually need to be happy in life. It's also mine and my spouse's song that was even played at our wedding ceremony (without vocals on guitar, violin, and double bass).

Season: I am very much a four seasons kind of person, but I guess spring might be my favourite.

Book: I've got so many to choose from, but I wanted to pick something queer, so: Torka aldrig tårar utan handskar, Jonas Gardell's trilogy about young love and the AIDS crisis in Sweden. It's absolutely fantastic and absolutely heartbreaking (not a happy read!). It's also been adapted to an excellent three-part TV series that can be found on Youtube with English subs. (Short English trailer, 6-minute Swedish trailer.)

Gardell is also a fitting choice because it was his recommendation on social media that got me to watch Young Royals, and I wouldn't be here on tumblr without YR.

Colour: My favourite colours are red, green, and dark grey. I've been in a green phase lately and it fits this moodboard best.

Hobby: Video games. I've been a PlayStation gamer for well over 20 years. I mainly play adventure and roleplaying games; titles with good storytelling and worldbuilding. Some of my favourites include older Final Fantasy games (up to FFX), the Uncharted series, Life is Strange series, Mass Effect trilogy, The Last of Us Parts I & II, Heavy Rain, Until Dawn, and Telltale's The Walking Dead 'seasons' 1 & 2.

In keeping with the theme, perhaps I should also mention that some of my fave WLW ships are from video games! Ellie/Dina from TLOU: Part 2, Nadine/Chloe from Uncharted: Lost Legacy, and Chloe/Rachel from LiS: Before the Storm (although I do love Max/Chloe in LiS OG too).

Thanks again for the tags, this was fun!