#and. I have never read a single terry pratchett book in my life

[thepandalion]

nothing in this world is more satisfying than watching trivia shows where, for all intents and purposes, you're not the intended audience and you are fully aware you're not gonna get anything right, and then you get something right either before the contestants do or that the contestants get entirely wrong

[nopecho]

LI Book Headcanons

I've had this thought in my mind all day and NEED to get it out there.

(content warning: mentions of JK Rowling. Not to worry, it's bad mouthing her.)

Eden: his favourite damn series is Lord of the Rings. My man started with The Hobbit, then dived into Lotr. He's read EVERY. SINGLE. Elf song that the book has to offer. He's a fantasy nerd. However I would also see him read Pride and Prejudice. Perhaps some Terry Pratchett, too.

Avery: she grew up reading her parent's notes and bank account details. HOWEVER she's also read 50 Shades of Gray, and gave her the idea in mind that if she has enough money, she can acquire any lover she wants. REFUSES to acknowledge that it's Twilight fanfiction.

Kylar: speaking of Twilight, he is a FANATIC. adores the idea of being the misterious vampire, that attracts Bella in his unusual charm. He's read every book. And I mean every book, he's read the genderbent version, the Edward POV, anything written by Meyer he's read. He was neither team Jacob or Edward, he was team Kylar. Drew his self insert vampire oc with Bella NUMEROUS times.

Robin: he used to be a Potterhead. He was SO into it. Identified as a Hufflepuff, did the patronus and wand quizzes, his favourite book is the first one. He was in SHACKLES when JK Rowling came out as a gross terf. The level of betrayal he felt is indescribable. He woved to never touch the books again.

Sydney: do you know those books Christian oarents give to kids to let them know about Jesus early? Yeah, Sidney's read them. However, when she got freedom to grab her own books, she discovered that she DIGS Greek Mythology. She has a whole collection of Rick Riordan's books on the shelf, has attempted to draw her favourite characters. The movies don't exist to her and whenever anyone brings them up, she death stares them.

Alex: you know the Grimm fairy tales? Those are his favourites. Just the dark forest themes, the magic, the horror aspect of it... It just works for him. He's lived his whole life in the countryside, so he can fantasize about getting lost in the woods and finding a gingerbread house.

Whitney. I saved the best for last. So in hus childhood, in my headcanon he could never really afford to buy books, let alone his parents giving them to him. He read a bit of Dr Seuss but that was it. NOW that he can actually afford some stuff, he discovered the duality of man. Comics.

On one hand, he absolutely LOVES thise cute, kid friendly comics. Peanuts, Garfield, the Disney Mickey Mouse comics. On the other, he absolutely digs the over-the-top action manga shit. I'm talking Chainsaw Man, DevilMan by Go Nagai, Hells Angels by Shinichi Hiromoto. He doesn't have enough attention span to read a whole book, but he absolutely LOVES comics.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk!

[spearmintyy]

Review on Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

Sorry for the extended hiatus! Life is crazy. But I'm coming back strong with one of my favorite books of all time :)

Rating: ★★★★★

This book is, perhaps, the ultimate comfort read. It is thrilling, clever, and completely hilarious and had me smiling on every page. Like, fully grinning while flipping through a book. In public no less!

Pratchett has mastered comedic timing in a way I didn't know could be achieved on a printed page. He uses so many clever, innovative tricks (the footnotes!) to construct a joke and deliver the punchline; and how incredible that a joke told thirty five years ago can land just right today!

The cast has so much heart-- even Nobby Nobbs, who in fact has my entire heart-- that by the end you feel like you've gotten drinks with them every week for the past twenty years. And they're kind of gross, but you love them. Vetinari is my personal favorite for his... everything. But even characters who only appear in a single page (Cut-me-own-throat, for one glorious example) come to life on the page. Pratchett can craft an entire person in a single line of dialogue.

And all that not to mention the brilliant prose. Pratchett's control over the english language blows me away. He can weave the same phrase into both a powerful symbol, novel bit of imagery, and hilarious punchline all at once. Genuinely, I've never read anyone else who can manage that, and I doubt I ever will.

Guards! Guards! is, in my opinion, the perfect foray into Discworld, which requires no prior context or reading. Just crack it open and get into it. This is my most-well lent book of my personal collection, because I can't help but force it on my friends-- so far, I haven't gotten a single complaint. Nor have any of them rated it below five stars.

Recommendations:

Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames. If ever a comedy-fantasy could live up to Discworld, it's this one. Eames' humor is distinct from Pratchett's, in a way that brings his own unique voice to life. He tells a story not just about fantasy (featuring all your favorite and least well known DND creatures), but also about growing old, and rock music! The Band is one of my favorite adventuring parties I've ever had the pleasure to accompany. In every bit of this book, you can tell Eames is writing something he absolutely loves, and to me it was impossible not to love it too.

Homeland by R. A. Salvatore. If you loved the campy '80s fantasy feel of Discworld, the Legend of Drizzt (starting with Homeland) is a great place to get more of it. While Salvatore's work is less satirical and more of a straight-forward adventure, he never shies away from fun and show stopping set pieces. And, sometimes, campy things are all the more fun when presented earnestly and unabashedly.

[terapsina]

#2 for the book worm ask game!

(ask game)

2. Favorite fantasy book(s).

(Eeeeexcellent, I do love fantasy books. Though how I'm gonna narrow it to only a few I've got no idea. Okay. I'm going to remove the very obvious choices like Lord of the Rings (though it is one of my faves)).

---

Monstrous Regiment. I love the entire Discworld series (especially The Witches) but I've also got a huge soft spot in my heart for Terry Pratchett's take on 'a girl dresses like a boy to go to war' (and thinks of everything except some spare socks in- erm... the right place). Along with Polly, the squad consists of a vampire, a troll, an Igor, a religious fanatic and two very, very close "friends" (and yes, the official summary put the friends in quotes too). And everyone has their own secret.

I love basically everything about this book and I can't tell you guys any of it because it would spoil all the fun.

The Goblin Emperor. This one's a story filled with light. Maia the half goblin son of the elven Emperor was never supposed to take the throne (or to ever even be at court. because racism). And then everyone ahead of him dies in a single "accident" and suddenly he's the new Emperor. Maia is a good person, and a kind one, and despite everything that gets thrown at him he keeps hold of that understanding of right and wrong and refuses to bend.

(I have to mention that the language of the writing is kinda hard to get into in the beginning, and the characters's have very complicated and long names, but once you get into it it really did enhance the story for me).

Good Omens. An Angel and a Demon try to stop the apocalypse and instead lose the Antichrist. I've loved that book for like a decade now and if I don't put it on a list of my faves that list would be a lie.

The King of Attolia. Third in The Queen's Thief series and my favorite one out of all of them. I've always enjoyed Outsider POV in fics. And here is a book that just... proves why. We've got Eugenides and Irene, the Thief and the Queen, and we know them from the two previous books. And adore them. But the story isn't from their POV, it's from the POV of Costis, a Queen's guard who's suddenly gotten assigned to the King. The useless, weak, undeserving king that as far as Costis is concerned doesn't deserve to even kiss the Queen's boots. And it's hilarious to read the story from the eyes of someone who knows so much less than us. And so satisfying, as he begins to understand.

(I recommend the whole series and am personally glad to have read them in the published order but Megan Whalen Turner has stated that she wrote them in a way that allows you to jump in at any point you want).

The Raven Tower. The story is from the viewpoint of a sentient, omniscient rock whose name is Strength and Patience of the Hill and it is the GREATEST THING EVER. The gods are real and must be very careful with their words, because if they speak a lie the reality will alter to make that lie the truth but if the lie is bigger than the power of the god... well. Inspired by Hamlet.

(the book also has a trans man as the main character; the other main character? The sentient rock is the narrator but the largest part of the story focuses on Eolo).

A Natural History of Dragons. The first book from The Memoirs of Lady Trent (and honestly it would probably be more honest to say that every single book from this series fits the category of fave but I'm putting up the first here because this isn't a series where you should skip ahead). The book focuses on the life of Isabella as narrated by her older self. This is the story how a Scirland lady bucked all tradition and became a world renowned expert on the Natural History of Dragons.

(this series has a piece of my heart and always will).

---

(and finally, here's some more of my favorite fantasy books that I also adore and would totally ramble about but I got tired of typing).

[happy-mokka]

Hi there.

I'd like to start with a warning first: Beware!

I'm rather new to tumblr, so if what will come next turns out to be total bs, I hope you all get out of this unscathed, forget we ever crossed paths and will be able to go on with your beautiful lives.

If you're still here, you'll about to hear the nice and accurate story of a guy that stumbled naively into a Good Omens binge watching weekend and came out forever changed.

Roughly 4 weeks ago I was asking friends what they were watching currently. I needed new material to turn to.

That's when it happened.

One of them casually brought up Good Omens on Prime.

I should give it a try.

Angels, demons. Terry Pratchett. Neil Gaiman.

Ok. I like fantasy. I like good story telling. I have an odd sense of bad humour.

I decided to give it a try.

To my eternal shame I have to confess, that until lately I hadn't read a single line written by both Pratchett and Gaiman.

I've read thousands of books. My love for them is so widely spread over all genres, that it simply did never happen. There was always some other book and author that came next.

Oh, how blind and ignorant I have been. I now clearly see the grave error of my ways.

If you can't forgive me, that's ok. I'm having a hard time myself doing so.

Be that as it may, I'm currently reading Good Omens and won't stop there. I promise.

Update notice 2024-06-03 I am now 6 books into Neil Gaimans works, last one was this...

Update notice 2024-08-02

It's been now a few weeks since the allegations on sexual abuse by Neil Gaiman came to light. As a fan of his work I am devastated. As a decent human being I absolutely stand with the victims. Will I continue reading or watching his work? Well, I still have some books on my to-do shelf stack that I already bought and would not want to waste them. So I will read them at some point. Won't buy new ones, however.

As for shows he's involved with, I will continue watching them, if with the given circumstances anything new comes out at all... Too many good people are involved and invested in the works, that don't deserve punishment for his doings.

Good Omens was nothing short than life changing for me. I will never stop cherishing it and the person who brought it into my life (and I certainly don't mean Gaiman by this).

So, where was I?

Right.

Binge watch session of Good Omens season 1.

Saturday evening. Around 9:30pm.

Episode 1 wasn't even running for 5 minutes and I was already sucked right into it.

Frances McDormand's God intro and the garden eden scenes.

I was instantly in love.

Michael Sheen had already been one of my favorites. His first minutes as Aziraphale directly hit home.

David Tennant was familiar but I also hadn't been into Doctor Who, so it took another 5 minutes to also fall for Crowley...

The path was set and I started to deep dive in.

6 hours, 6 episodes, 1 Antichrist and 1 almost Armageddon later I crawled into bed on early Sunday morning to get at least a few hours of sleep. I fell asleep with an almost idiotic grin on my face and a feeling of deep content.

Only 5 hours later, technically still Sunday morning, I woke up, prepared a coffee infusion and switched the TV back on.

There were important deeds to be done. Episodes to be watched.

I could sleep later.

Narrator: No, he would NOT sleep later...

I again immediately fell for the 2 celestials.

The slightly different arc, no dramatic catastrophe on the horizon, instead beautifully written side characters and wonderful new details on the two main protagonists...an evolving love story that had already been clearly visible in season 1...

And god, or Satan, HOW I LOVED JON HAMM as Jimbriel...

I again ended up binge watching the whole season, only interrupted by a few coffee and bathroom breaks.

6 hours later. The end credits were already over for like an eternity and I hadn't moved. Just sitting there, all goosebumps and teared-up.

I ate something. Had to. Don't really remember tasting anything or remembering what I actually had.

I was dumbstruck.

The friend that had suggested to start watching GOs, hadn't let out much more detail, so I hadn't been prepared in the least, for the emotional train wrecked state it had pushed me into.

Hours later I finally fell into an uneasy sleep.

The next morning before work I just sent Tori Amos' Nightingale in Berkeley Park to my GOs friend followed by a ❤️, as a signal that I had watched it all and let her know that there was no need anymore to hold back with talking out of fear to spoiler me.

We had lunch together and spent the whole time rambling on our GOs induced emergency emotional state and the whole beauty of especially Gaiman's season 2.

The next days we kept randomly talking about GO before she pinpointed me to tumblr, in case I wanted to dare a real deep dive into GO fandom.

So here I am now. A week's passed. I've spent hours of reading so many amazing posts around here. So many eye-opening moments.

I'm not only speaking of all those perfect interpretations of GO and it's characters.

What impressed me so much more is the fabulous energy especially radiating from the queer community.

Not being queer, only having a few queer friends, I hadn't really realized, just how big a thing GO in general and season 2 in particular was for you.

Update notice - 2024/04/10

Attention! This installation of base module "Sexuality" is currently being updated to a more flexible one...work in progress...

Update notice - 2024/07/03

At an age where my eyeglasses turned bifocal, I finally came to the realization, that not only my eyes celebrate the duality of life. In fact my whole being did it for as long as I can think back. It is astonishing, how efficiently one can get used to ignore feelings, that society considers unseemly. So, finally, this is me here, bi and queer🌈.

I was raised to walk earth open-minded, to respect everyone, no matter of religion, gender, nationality and sexual orientation. This is so deep a part of my DNA and personality, that GO for me was just a beautiful story about the blind following of religion, the meaning of life and, most of all, love.

Both protagonists are played by male actors and apparently being in an ages long repressed gay relationship? I didn't even consider this unusual or anything else than normal.

2 immortals fall deeply in love, first into humanity, life on earth and then finally into one another, while trying to overcome all the madness of belonging to two opposing sides of the same medal.

A great parable on the pursuit of happiness. Skillfully written for the screen and perfectly casted and played.

Well that was then.

Now I see you and I have to thank you, for opening my mind even further.

For giving so much joy so generously, although every day is still a fight for your rights.

For giving me a space here among you and the chance to delve some more in beautiful minds and fanfiction.

So, if you're still here and reading this, maybe it was not all bs. Maybe it gave you some minutes of entertainment and distraction from every day's stress and problems.

It sure was for me.

I'll end this with some favorite Shakespeare quotes, although now I'm not so sure any more, if not some red haired demon might have actually written this...

"If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumber’d here While these visions did appear. And this weak and idle theme, No more yielding but a dream, Gentles, do not reprehend: if you pardon, we will mend: And, as I am an honest Puck, If we have unearned luck Now to ‘scape the serpent’s tongue, We will make amends ere long; Else the Puck a liar call; So, good night unto you all. Give me your hands, if we be friends, And Robin shall restore amends."

☘️

A Midsummer Night's Dream - William Shakespeare

🔻🔻🔻

More personal middle aged ramblings:

👉🏻 birthday meldown 2024 🔥

👉🏻 my year in books 📚

👉🏻 1 year anniversary of Good Omens 😇😈

[highladyluck]

13 books tag game, tagged by @amemoryofwot and @asha-mage (incidentally I typoed that as "amemeryofwot" which would be an excellent sideblog concept, maybe snatch that one up?)

1) Last book I read:

Mistress of the Empire by Raymond Feist & Janny Wurts (at the time I started filling this out, anyway… I've been working on this ask for several days) This whole trilogy was a delight, thanks to @sixth-light for telling me I would love Mara!

2) A book I recommend:

The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord. It's a quiet little road trip romance exploring grief & diaspora, in a setting that I can best describe as 'if Madeline L'Engle had been in charge of Star Trek worldbuilding'. (If you squint you can see analogues to humans, Vulcans, Romulans, and Orions, but the tone is reminiscent of L'Engle.) There are sequels that follow different characters but this is the first one and it works as a standalone. I feel like it has a lovely light touch on some intense subjects and I appreciate the way each chapter works as a separate story while still fitting into the whole.

3) A book that I couldn’t put down:

I remember staying up past my bedtime for The Monster Baru Cormorant, I think? At the very least, that's where we first get my beloved Tau-Indi, and the pacing on the climax is kinda weird, about 2/3rds in, so I think I would have read through to it without stopping. I don't know if this question is supposed to be about compellingness or pacing? Probably compellingness, I think I'm weirdly fixated on structure when I read things. But sometimes I think books you 'can't put down' are at least partially that way because there's no damn place to breathe, and I don't entirely approve.

4) A book I’ve read twice (or more)

I see from literally everyone who has tagged me in this that this is one of the two free spaces for Wheel of Time, but I'll switch it up: Lifeboats by Diane Duane. It's set between Young Wizards 9 & 10 and deals with an emergency response team permanently evacuating an entire alien population from a natural disaster (RIP their moon and also consequently their planet). This novel is a huge comfort read for me and is undoubtedly the Young Wizards work I've read the most. I don't really know how to explain what it means to me… I wish I had had it when I was living and working in a foreign country.

5) A book on my TBR

A friend recommended Cahokia Jazz (in general, not to me specifically) and it sounds SO MUCH like my jam. I suspect if I can't find it at my library soon, I'll end up buying the ebook.

6) A book I’ve put down

Can't think of a recent one, but if I hadn't forced myself to finish reading it because it was a Hugo Award nominee, I would have DNF'd Project Hail Mary.

7) A book on my wish list

I wish for more Baru Cormorant but I also literally cannot imagine how Seth is going to write that next book. So like, I'm girding my loins for Baru #4 either 15 years from now or never.

8) A favourite book from childhood

When I was really little I loved the Berenstain Bear books and my mom HATED that I loved them ("they were so badly written!" - my mom the children's librarian) but she bought them for me anyway. That's love.

9) A book you would give a friend

You all need to read Middlemarch by George Eliot. I don't care what stage of life you're at, you will find something resonant in it. Read it now, and read it again in 20 years. Give it to recent high school grads. Give it as a wedding present. Take it to the beach. BUT I am specifically recommending it to the WoT contingent, because the characters are so good!

10) The most books you own by a single author

It's actually either Diane Duane or Terry Pratchett, and DD's probably winning because I don't have every Pratchett book but I do have almost every DD book including tie-in novels.

11) A nonfiction book you own

Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age by Annalee Newitz. I don't read a ton of nonfiction but the writing is very engaging and I think cities are neat.

12) what are you currently reading

I'm between books but I just finished The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles (as I am writing this part several days after question 1). I didn't like it as much as the first one, The Mimicking of Known Successes, but I think it's just a taste thing. I didn't like being in Pleiti's POV very much, her overthinking is too much like mine and it alternately stresses me out and makes me angry, because I can see the assumptions/unhelpful thought patterns but I can't fix them. Obviously, to draw that reaction from me the characters are well-defined, and I like everything else about the series, I just hope it goes back to Mossa's POV.

13) what are you planning on reading next?

WHEN WILL 'RED SIDE STORY' BY JASPER FFORDE REACH MY HOUSE??? I have been waiting like 15 years for this sequel to Shades of Grey and the entire point of preordering it was so I could have it ASAP. I could have walked into a bookstore on May 9th and walked out with it, and instead I won't get it until tomorrow. >:(

I think I am supposed to add a shelfie? The organizing principles(s) of this shelf in my bedroom are very weird…. Classics/adventure, fantasy, popular science writing? Someday I need to reshelve everything in the house according to size/favoriteness/genre/theme/vibes (in that order) but I haven’t felt like it.

I think pretty much everyone I was going to tag already got tagged, so whoever want to do it, go ahead!

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Something Something Phangirl Meets Discworld

Back when I was an undergrad, I had procrastinated a couple of first-year core classes (required stuff that has jack shit to do with your major but is supposed to make you a "well-rounded student" for everyone who wasn't educated in the US) to the point where we were at the beginning of year four, we took a couple over the summer, but now we're staring down having to take Art Appreciation for an entire final term and I did not WANT to. So instead I took a two-week intensive "Wintermester" art appreciation course in a classroom whose carpets squished in Fairbanks, Alaska in December. The fact that it didn't become a horror movie is a miracle. BUT. YOU GUYS. This class introduced me to The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall, and thanks to how awesome that was, I finally went out and got the one Witches novel I hadn't bothered with at that point. Let's talk Maskerade.

Maskerade might be the Discworld book with which I've had the most dynamic relationship because I am currently what I would consider a "fallen" or "lapsed" theatre kid. However, when I picked up Maskerade for the first time, I was a "desperately trying to hold on to theatre with both hands and both feet despite ongoing and worsening health issues and a school theatre that has nearly succeeded in killing me three separate times but I don't want to let go" theatre kid. So on first read, I loved Agnes, I loved Nanny and Granny, Greebo is never not a standout, and I was fully over here like, "YES, THEATRE IS THE MIRACLE OF A THOUSAND THINGS FAILING TO GO WRONG!" I wasn't a huge fan of how Christine was characterized, and frankly I found the art/business dichotomy irksome.

I was barely 22 and an idiot. I have since grown some.

On subsequent reads in and beyond graduate school, I can see the love behind the pointed critiques, and I had run into the odd Christine or two, so I was far more willing to sympathize with Agnes--the single point of sensibility and practicality in a flamboyantly dramatical cats system that is often toxic. And while I liked the Nanny, Granny, and Enrico Basilica subplot on initial reads, now it is perhaps my entirely favorite part of the book. Adding the managed chaos that is the Witches to a theatre is amazing, and we get some really fantastic insights into how Nanny and Granny can leverage witchcraft beyond Lancre. It has a different flavor in Ankh Morpork, and what that ends up meaning for Walter Plinge is literally the difference between life and death.

The loving parodic use of theatrical tropes and traditions is honestly delightful throughout. I realize that saying, "Hey, so Sir Terry Pratchett was kind of amazing" on the internet is the oldest of old news, but honestly it bears repeating because Discworld is incredible.

Nanny Ogg's cookbook manages to be both hilarious and a scathing indictment of how poorly authors are paid--something that honestly just keeps gettting MORE relevant. I also love the low-key Producers-eqsue mixed with Shakespearean twinning aspects of having Nanny be the writer and Granny the accountant foiling off of Salzella and Bucket. Like, had their positions been reversed, the Ankh Morpork Opera House would have been flush with cash practically overnight and the cookbook would have ended up scammed. It's a really lovely, subtle little peice of foiling that 1000% was not required to make this book great, but I love that it's there.

So theatre kid phangirl me wasn't the biggest fan of this book, but grown-ass adult me with a little more life on her claims this as one of her top five all-time favorite Discworld books. I'm going to leave it here and realtively spoiler-free for those of you who might be on the fence about picking up the book. I highly recommend that you do, but I also recommend watching The Phantom of the Opera (either the Royal Albert Hall one or an actual stage production; don't START with the movie) before reading Maskerade, just to fully get the levels of allusion, parody, and homage.

[queenofthearchipelago]

The good omens fandom has been disappointing lately, and I don't mean because of Neil. I mean because of the small pocket who lashed out at Neil not long ago.

For those reading my post out of context, let me explain quickly that Neil has always said, very specifically so, that Aziraphale and Crowley are not men, and therefore are not gay. That being gay is a human thing, and angels and demons generally don't even really understand it. (This is not a direct quote from him, but I've read this sentiment from him a few times.) And in response to that, I've seen popular members in this fandom respond in harsh anger because they feel that when Neil says these things, that it comes from a place of internalized homophobia that he's been holding onto like his life depends on it for the last 30 years.

If I may gently offer a different perspective... and please do not come for me, I really genuinely do not want to interact in debate or argument, I simply want to lay out how I see this, and lay it down as a kinder perspective for those it may help.

Neil (and Michael and David) have always used incredibly vague language to determine who and what exactly Aziraphale and Crowley are to each other. The only consistencies are that they are an angel and a demon and they love each other, they're in love with each other.

If it comes to answering any questions more specific than that, like if they're gay, then the answer is that Aziraphale and Crowley are not men, they're supernatural beings.

This is not coming from a place of bias, this is coming from a place of protecting the fandom.

This fandom is such a diverse and beautiful place. I see many people who headcanon them as being gay. I also have met people here who headcanon them as lesbians. As being trans. As being asexual. As gender fluid. As being every different type of orientation and identity possible. The theories and headcanons on who and what Aziraphale and Crowley are, is just as varied as every single person in the fandom.

And that's so important.

For a group of people who know what it feels like to not have representation on screen... for some since the book has come out more than 30 years ago and for some who have only come into this fandom with show 5 ish years ago, you guys know how important representation is.

I can't help but feel that some of this frustration and anger towards Neil for not blatantly saying that it's a gay love story comes from a place of wanting their version of Aziraphale and Crowley to be deemed superior to the others at the cost of erasure of the orientations and identities possible in everyone else's headcanons.

It's a queer love story, whatever that means to you. Before the first season aired, Neil directly said that no one was trying to take your version of Aziraphale and Crowley away from you. And do we not all read the same blog? I see posts from this man celebrating how different members of his readership, young and old, find representation and comfort within this story he AND TERRY PRATCHETT made.

I do wonder if you would treat Terry this way. I sure hope not.

We're never going to get Neil Gaiman saying these characters are gay, because it would crack the very rare and delicate and beautiful thing that's been created here. A couple of characters in a deeply loving relationship where you the audience get to decide what their relationship is? Where you get to decide their gender, because they literally don't have one? A story where the characters could genuinely, canonically, be like you because there's nothing inside the story saying that aren't like you? Where that freedom to interpret is part of the very foundation of the characters?

What other story would you guys be getting that from? Because I don't see any others like that on any bookshelf I've scanned recently.

Neil isn't going to ruin that for you.

And even if he did, he's also directly said that his stories speak for themselves. He isn't Word of God. Neil doesn't pretend that extra information he brings on Tumblr dot com actually adds anything to the story we all watched. That stands on its own, anything extra he may say or not is up to us to decide if we think it's canon or not. Do you, yes you, very specifically YOU... do you care about Word of God? Do you care about Author's Intent?

These are choices you make as a reader, as a viewer of intelligent television.

Aziraphale and Crowley are whatever you want them to be. They're in love. They always have been. And whatever that means to you, is yours and you can have that and share that and no one (not even Neil Gaiman) is ever going to take that precious thing away from you.

So write your fanfics and draw your fanart and participate in roleplays and take your comfort and guard your peace.

It's supposed to be safe here.

[rsaccountonhere]

4, 25, 52, 54! 🤔

4 - What's a rare fear that you have? - Starfish. Not so much the little five-limbed colourful ones. But like the big fuckers in the ocean with like twenty limbs that crawl around like giant fucked up spiders and envelop things. Creeps me out. The open ocean in general scares me, but that's not terribly uncommon. It's common sense actually. But yeah, deep sea starfish.

25 - What's your favourite holiday? - My family has always done Christmas really well. There was a religious element to it when I was younger, but that's basically fully phased out now to my great relief. So instead we get to enjoy a slow morning with a big late breakfast, then visit one of my grandmothers in the afternoon/evening, and then the other side of the family on Boxing Day. Then the 27th is what we call pajama day. We all stay in, don't even bother changing into proper clothes, and just hang out and enjoy each other's company and the holiday atmosphere. We've been opening presents extremely slowly for the past few years too, so we usually have at least a few things left unopened by that point now too. It's a really nice three-day holiday. And I'm a sucker for the lights and cozy vibes.

52 - What's your favourite book? - Hmm. I really don't read enough anymore. Triggers my anxiety and makes me think I should be doing something else, like I'm not being productive enough. So once I get through that and read some of the books on my shelf I've never touched, or some Terry Pratchett or such, I'm sure I'll have a better answer. But for now, Time Trap. I have yet to encounter a ballsier move in all of fiction than using the concept of linear time itself as a bargaining chip.

54 - What's your best hot take? - Alright well aside from the obligatory "billionaires should not exist" and "trains are the premier form of mass transportation bar none," I think my most interesting hot take is that if romantic love were not so heavily idealized and marketed and positioned as this ideal to strive for in our society, I think a lot fewer people would ever fall in love in the first place. That might sound weird coming from me, hopeless romantic that I am, but genuinely, if finding love and settling down were not treated as The Single Most Important Thing You Ever Do That Should Be Your Top Priority Always, I think a lot of people just wouldn't. And I kind of think the world would be better for it? Like if being single late into your life wasn't treated as this terrible thing, and instead was just the norm, and actually sharing romantic love with someone was allowed to be this cool thing that happens sometimes but is never expected of you, I think we'd all be a bit more relaxed. People wouldn't really get into relationships just for the sake of being in one, and those romances that did occur would be stronger and more genuine. Basically, I'm not aro or demiromantic, but I believe in their beliefs.

[greenthena]

You did NOT prepare yourself, kids. Get a glass of something tasty and strap the fuck in.

1. whats your favorite thing in your room?

wine

2. how tall do you wish you were?

six foot

3. what color is your hair?

red

4. whats a rare fear that you have?

peeing in a broken elevator

5. are you single?

yes

6. has your heart ever been broken?

yes

7. what was your favorite thing as a kid?

dragons

8. favorite coping mechanism?

fanfic

9. whats your favorite love language?

touch

10. how often do you get nervous?

always

11. if you had three wishes, would you use them?

no

12. if you could be fluent in any language which one would it be?

reading facial expressions

13. where do you wish to live?

somewhere colder

14. what’s something surprising about you?

i like getting olfer

15. when did you last shower?

last night

16. when did you first join tumblr?

last year

17. do you want any tattoos? if so, where, what, and why?

yesp. yes? yesp. legs. torso. snakes and sigils. they're cool.

18. whats the most prominent dream youve had?

naked at school, fuckin hate that one

19. whats your dream job?

teacher

20. whats your ideal date?

jan. 15

21. what do you wish you could do better?

communicate

22. what country would you live in if you could?

france

23. whos the best person you know?

my kids. both of them

24. have you ever walked into something you shouldnt have?

yep

25. whats your favorite holiday?

halloween

26. when have you been most embarrassed?

yesterday. i will not elaborate

27. whats your favorite halloween costume?

crowley. no. witch? no. all of them.

28. what are you best at?

bullshit

29. do you know how to tie your shoes?

yes.

30. do you have siblings?

no. no cousins either.

31. if you could know one thing about the future what do you wanna know?

NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

32. whats a dealbreaker for you?

likes the idea of me.

33. whats your favorite current class?

English methods in my MAT programs

34. how many people have you dated?

5

35. how often do you wash your hair?

every day. short hair.

36. do you daydream? what about?

yep. girls. magic. whatever story im writing

37. where do you go to be alone?

my car

38. which parent do you like more?

no

39. whats the one standard you hold yourself to?

to thine own self be true

40. whos voice do you enjoy?

freddie mercury

41. if you could announce one thing to the world what would it be?

Heteronormativity is a plague

42. whats one thing you wanna do but havent yet?

get a grown up job

43. what do you wish you never did?

get married when i was 21

44. do you believe in life after death?

ask me tomorrow

45. do you prefer book over movie?

eh?

46. whats your favorite season?

fall in theory. spring in practice

47. whats your favorite time of day

MOON!

48. do you have a beloved stuffed animal?

absolutely

49. whens a time you wish you acted differently?

i have social anxiety so literally every day

50. what’s something you wish that you never bought?

the idea of marriage

51. do you have your own room?

yes

52. whats your favorite book?

something my terry pratchett or madeline miller

53. who’s someone you hate?

not worth my time to say

54. whats your best hottake?

we should read because it's fun. learning is good for humanity not just for getting a job.

55. whats your favorite game?

rummy

56. whens a time you felt real genuine fear?

anytime i worry about my kids

57. are you a morning person?

NO

58. do you drink enough water?

yes

59. how different are you from the little kid you used to be?

growing back to that person

60. do you enjoy tumblr?

yep

61. have you ever had a tumblr experience that made you wanna delete the app?

nope. yes. yah. but no.

62. whats your least favorite game?

dating

63. were you a markiplier fan?

no

64. how do you respond to compliments?

i know i AM amazing.

65. whats something that would make you fall in love?

social awkwardness and infodumping

66. do you believe in marriage?

eh. my parents have done well. me? not so much

67. do you have a crush on someone?

no

68. do you like tumblr?

sure??

69. were you a voltron stan?

no

70. whats your favorite ship?

aziracrow

71. whats your favorite song?

bohemian rhapsody, danse macabre

72. do you like loud crowds?

to observe, yes.

73. have you ever created conflict on purpose?

why would you even ask that/

74. how do you sleep?

with six pillows and a plushie

75. do you bite your lips?

no

76. do you use chapstick?

yep

77. do you have any pets?

houseplants????

78. what color are your eyes?

green

79. what’s something you wish you could change about yourself?

regret

80. have you ever had surgery?

no

81. whats your least favorite animal?

cockroach? mosquito!

82. whats something that youre really bad at?

letting go

83. do you have an sqishmellows?

no

84. do you enjoy fast food?

salt and fat? hell yah

85. do you like soda?

yep

86. what grade are you in?

old

87. do you wear any jewelry?

RINGS!

88. what socials do you use?

this one

89. whats your lowest grade in school right now?

A

90. whats the latest youve stayed up till?

no sleep only sleep

91. did you ever have bangs?

yah

92. what trends did you hate?

mmmmmm

93. whats your favorite item of clothing?

shorts. socks? doc martens!

94. do you like dinosaurs?

yes.

95. whats your opinion on body hair?

it sure do exist

96. whats your least favorite time?

noon

97. do you make a wish at 11:11?

no

98. do you have your phone on military or regular?

regular

99. have you ever been to church?

yah

100. are you lgbtq?

very

[lilolilyr]

ANSWER MY RIDDLES SIXTEEN (or not lol pls only answer all of them if you want to)

5. something in fiction that reads like poetry

28. a book you wish you could read as a beginner again

42. a book that made you want to scream by the time you got to the end

43. a book that you have read more than three times

50. a book that made you cry a LOT

54. a book with the best opening line

55. a book with a satisfying ending

60. a book that you think about at 3 am

66. a book that fucked you up

70. your favourite poetry collection

74. your favourite love triangle

80. a book that reminds you of a loved one

90. the longest book you've read

99. a book with a strong female protagonist

119. your favourite summer read

131. tag somebody with whom you would want to buddy read a book

Ohhhhhhh Dayum that sure is an ask xD I’ll try my best adsfghjkl

Ask meme

5 Ok already the first one i go completely Blank on? Wtf reads like poetry?? What Does That Even Mean 🙈

28 as a beginner like as someone who hasn’t read any books yet?? Or for the first time? I wish I could read LotR for the first time again. I remember I’ve even read all the songs and long tree descriptions and everything because I was so in the story I couldn’t miss a single word, and I’ve skipped most of them every time since, and usually just watch the movies instead anyway lmao

42 scream in a good or bad way? Bad way so many Deutschunterricht Bücher. Homo Faber in particular.

Good way most of the discworld books recently!

43 & 50 Sara, die kleine Prinzessin <3 used to borrow it each time I was at the local library as a kid

Oh and also Isola by Isabel Abedi! It’s been a while and I don’t really remember the plot all that well but I remember reading it a lot. Maybe I should give it another re-read!

54 “The wind howled, lightning stabbed at the earth erratically, like an inefficient assassin” - Terry Pratchett: Wyrd Sisters

(Tbh it’s the only book I physically have on me atm and so the only first sentence I could check. But. I think it’s pretty good!)

55 If it hasn’t got a satisfying ending I don’t like itttt, honestly everything I’ve already answered could go here too…

60 the fucking house of night side stories haunt me

66 oh god oh fuck I don’t remember the name because halfway through I put it Behind the other books in my shelf in my childhood bedroom so I’d never have to look at it again but. It was about what if ‘ageing’ got a cure and everyone was basically suddenly immortal and obvs we don’t have the resources for that kind of population and wars and fucked up politics and killings and ghettos and oh my god

70 I actually tend to read poems either online and then it’s not a collection but more going through Google images of a particular author like K Le Guin, or checking out old poetry books from free book thingies where I maybe won’t like them all that much most of the time but they’re still kinda interesting? But couldn’t name a fav

74 love triangle or love angle? Poly 📐 from books I can’t think of anything canon or hc? And ‘love triangle’ ~oh who will she be end up with’ angles I just can’t stand. But most well written of these kinds of situations is definitely Panem because it’s not actually about the picking the boy but rather picking the kind of life Katniss wants to live

80 5 Freunde makes me think of my parents bc I have all their old books <3 and Lola makes me think of my sister because i used to read that series out loud for her

90 I know for sure I’ve read fanfics longer than any book I might’ve read!

99 hunger games. Oh, also anything from Trudi Canavan, especially the Age of the Five series. Many great women there and I love the witch best

119 what on earth is a summer read? XD but some other fav books of mine are

- Lies we Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley, an interracial lesbian story set in the US during the segregation

- Dracula by Bram Stoker. Seriously if you haven’t read it yet do so it’s amazing. I love seeing all the Dracula daily memes now, when I read it years ago most ppl just knew some movies that have nothing to do with the original plot and the original is great!

- Erebos by Ursula Poznanski. That one just… I couldn’t put it down, it’s so thrilling and good.

131 I’m not sure I’d want to buddy read a book with anyone because if Dracula daily taught me anything, then that I am incapable of reading on a schedule xD I really tried to re-read it with the emails. But nope. But theoretically, on a we‘d-probably-vibe-with-the-same-stories-&-enjoy-chatting-about-them kind of way, I’d have a bookclub with you and @lavendelhummel @squishmittenficfan @purlturtle @mimi-mindless @die-schwanenkoenigin @wellsbering :)

And if you guys liked these qs, the ask meme is here, if you reblog it I’ll send some your way!

Thx so much for the ask Ela! <3

[chaotic-hypnotic-erotic]

Unusual Asks

Got the questions from here. Courtesy of @mischief-and-tea-by-the-sea.

6, 37, 39, 48.

6. Describe your personality in 3 words or less. Mischievous Alien Thaumaturge.

37. Do you read a lot? What's your favorite book? Yes, I do read a hell of a lot, mostly on a tablet or on my computer. If I named one single book that people would point to as if to say "That is definitely a book I would associate with them," it would be The Klingon Dictionary (TKD) by Marc Okrand. I've been associated with the Klingon language for so long, I even write a regular tumblr blog about it. Though if you really knew me, you'd realise that this is but one of many interests I have, and therefore I have a lot more favourite books than just this one - though TKD is the book most strongly-associated with me.

39. Do you have a nickname? What is it? This is the fun thing. I never really had a nickname, not one which stuck at any rate because I was bullied as a child, and most of the nicknames they gave me were slurs or pejoratives - and since I never answered people when they called me "Dalek" or whatever, the nicknames never stuck. Water off a duck's back, and all that. But on Facebook, somebody there started calling me Spiral, after the hypnotic animated gif images - and that is a nickname I accepted and adopted. It's only a nickname if it's given to you, after all. So please, in polite company, call me Spiral.

48. Who is your role model? This is a fun question. You know how I couldn't pick just one favourite book - just the book most people associate me with? Same deal for role models. That way, I can't say I'll have run out of role models if the one I idolise turns out to be a Trumploon (Trump Chump? Trumpoline? Trumpster? Trumpa Loompa?) like Dwight Bloody Schultz gods damn it. So I'll produce a shortlist. Actors Brad Dourif, David Dastmalchian, and Leland Orsler for their entertaining portrayals of damaged souls. Actors Keanu Reeves and Robert Downey Jr., for consistently being awesome. The late authors Robert Anton Wilson, Terry Pratchett, and Shakuntala Devi for the wonders they gave us in the shape of books which shaped my life. And authors Marc Okrand, Marc W Miller, and Robert Greene for creating three more lots of wonders which still shape my life to this day.

[cicaklah]

my girl @ronniebox tagged me and so here we go!

Rules: List ten books that have stayed with you in some way, don’t  take but a few minutes, and don’t think too hard - they don’t have to  be the “right” or “great” works, just the ones that have touched you.

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman - my mother gave me this book to read when I was maybe 11, it was her copy that she had bought when Pratchett came and gave a reading at our local library in like, 1992. I'd say no book has been more formative to me, but in writing this I don't think thats true.

The City and the City by China Mieville - I got into Mieville through my girl @crimeandcricket, and was horribly traumatised by the body horror in perdido street station, and was way too influenced by his often pretentious writing style, but the city and the city is a masterpiece I'll never recover fully from and changed me for the better.

The Children's Hospital by Chris Adrian - I'm fairly sure no one but me loves this book, but it is also a book that multiple people stopped me when I was reading in public just from the cover image. My favourite kind of book is a book that can only be written by one person, and Adrian is a theologian and paediatrician, and this book uses every single one of his hyperfixations and also made me cry more than anything else.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster - Actually, this book probably did more to calcify my sense of humour than Pratchett did. The smartest, funniest, coolest children's book ever, and this has reminded me to get the tattoo of Tock on my wrist.

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield - I read this every christmas morning as a treat to myself. I also adore White Boots, the ice skating book, but Ballet Shoes is such a perfect gem of a story that is the favourite of my grandmother, my mother and myself.

Shabanu/Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples - The first book that made me cry, inspired my fondness for camels and was probably my first feminist awakening? I've only read one of the sequels, but it was so brutal I still haven't emotionally recovered entirely.

The Amateur Cracksman by E. W Hornung - my mastermind specialist subject, a book that consumed me across time and space, Raffles my beloved, Bunny my beloved, I remember the moment I read the first story and my life changed literally forever. The Black Mask and A Thief In The Night are also obviously amazing and really all three should be considered one book, but something in my life changed for the better when I read the line 'AJ Raffles would be my friend!' in The Ides of March and I realised oh no, they're mine now.

Exhalation by Ted Chiang - very hard for me to choose a Ted Chiang story so thankfully I will pick his second collection, which has The Life Cycle of Software Objects and also the one about the parrots. It does not have Hell is the Absence of God or stories of your life, but tbh, software objects was the first of his stories I ever read, so it deserves to be here, even if it guts me like a fish every time.

Rivals by Jilly Cooper - if I could have anyone's writing career, it would be Jilly Cooper's. Everytime I read this insane soap opera of a book it holds me hostage until I finish it, and its like 700 pages long. The most wonderfully 80s OTT sex farce about horrible people trying to buy an ITV franchise. I genuinely can't believe that disney plus are making it into a series.

The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson - One of his least famous books and yet I think his best? I had read the Mars books several times before I picked this up, but this alternate history where 90% of Europe are killed by the black death, following how world history changes through the eyes of characters who reincarnate but always find each other, somehow??? it grabbed me by the throat and never let go.

tell me YOUR formative texts pls @crimeandcricket @deputychairman @myth-blossom @skylightpirate @stickthisbig @apricotbones @postalninja @cajunandfire @within-infant-rind

[vagablondviking]

I need friends...

Hoping to cultivate a feeling of community here. Twitter was my online happy place until Napoleon Bonapartheid ran it into the ground. So much rampant hate and misinformation now. I still check Twitter daily, but it doesn't feel like home anymore. Blue Sky has potential, but without a gif library or direct messages, it's rather limited in scope.

Gifs and memes are my love language.

I'm hoping Tumblr is like Twitter in that once you follow enough accounts, you start interacting and it becomes fun. Twitter made no sense at first, like there was no point to it. You had to stick around long enough to crack Twitter.

I've heard of a learning theory called the "circle of fun" which describes a certain return on investment when learning something new, like a musical instrument. You spend forever learning basic technique, but eventually the day comes when you can play a song you enjoy. So you practice that one song a lot. Then, that joy feeds your desire to practice more and suddenly a whole world opens up for you.

Anyway, hi. I need Tumblr friends.

I'm a nursing student and I work part-time in ESL to pay the bills. I'm AuHD (autistic and ADHD). I am happily single without human children. I am owned by two cats (a blue point Siamese named Sven and a tuxedo named Fig).

I'm a classical history nerd and have an undergraduate degree in Greek & Latin. I was in a classical languages grad program for a while, but my life imploded (left an abusive partner, moved twice in the span of a month for my own safety, changed jobs) and I had to drop out. I really hope someday I can go back and finish the program. Just for me, for my own joy. I always enjoyed classics, but never felt I had any real talent that would make an academic career feasible.

I am a voracious reader, although schoolwork does rather infringe on my pleasure reading of late. I've also just found it difficult to concentrate in general lately, what with the world being on fire and whatnot.

Favorite authors:

Robin McKinley Terry Pratchett Jane Austen Neil Gaiman JRR Tolkien

Fandoms I enjoy:

Good Omens Lucifer Jane Austen Tolkien Monty Python Blackadder Muppets Bridgerton Outlander (book series, not so much the show) Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon

[sohmariku]

Riku's Random Life: Books (again)

I visited Leiden last Wednesday and I never noticed this before but...

How on earth did a single, roughly 1km long shopping street (Breestraat) end up with 7 bookstores!?

How on earth do all of those stores survive! Sure, some of them specialize in secondhand books and one is a comic book store, but... that's still 7 bookstores competing in a single street!

I only ended up visiting 4 or 5 of them and... I bought only one book I somewhat planned to get. My wallet absolutely hates me now.

Just saying, I was planning to get maybe two (or three) books. Depending on the prices.

Books I was looking for and considered to possibly buy if available:

The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

Terciel & Elinor by Garth Nix

European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss

The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman

Visiting the stores I considered I might want to get:

The Sinister Booksellers of Bath by Garth Nix

Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs

What I ended up buying:

There is no dog by Meg Rosoff

Dear Reader by Cathy Rentzenbrink

Scarlet and Ivy: The Lost Twin by Sophie Cleverly

Scarlet and Ivy: The Whispers in the Walls by Sophie Cleverly

Papertowns by John Green

De Aardmagiër by Anne West

By the Grace of the Gods (Book 1-4) by Roy

Books 1-6 are all secondhand books, costing me roughly €6,5 a piece. Which is the only reason I could "afford" to get that many.

De Aardmagiër (#6) the one I sort of planned on getting, but did not expect to find. Owned it (and the other books of the series) at some point in time, but I cannot seem to find them anymore. I suspect one of my siblings may have claimed them. So, I'm trying to collect them again, because I absolutely loved the series as a child. Unfortunately, the books are hard to find.

By the Grace of the Gods I bought because they were priced down and came in at €6,5 a piece as well. I quite enjoyed the anime, so I figured I'd try the light novels.

UPDATE: I finished "The man who Died Twice". I am currently considering to finally pick up and read that copy of "Pride & Prejudice" I bought like 10 years ago and then never touched.

[tiredelirium]

D.7

I haven’t read nearly as many books in my life so far as I should’ve. When I was a kid I used to consume them like kindling. One time I read an entire two hundred page book in the backseat of my mum’s car while she was shopping. She was only gone for maybe half an hour, but the words out of that book flowed pretty easily to me. My memory is bad, so all I remember of that particular book is that it was an Ursula Le Guin one, though I couldn’t tell you which cause I read so many different things back then.

As I got older I stopped reading books as much, only because I found the reading elsewhere. RPG games had so much reading, as did online games like Runescape and WOW with their forums. I started reading more comics and manga, in a wide range of stuff, from Cardcaptor Sakura and Bleach to the likes of Death Note and Berserk. Though I never really watched Anime as much, I think that was partly because I always liked the art in the manga better and, like with most media, lots of content gets cut from the pages to the screen.

I still read from time to time, two of my favourite writers, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett being books I always picked up when I could. I reread a lot of old stuff too with fresh eyes after movies and tv shows came out, like the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter series.

Harry Potter was always a weird one to me even before a reread. While I could enjoy the magical concepts of the world, so much was nonsensical that it just drew you out of the story. Like, why would a magical world such as this be so afeared and secluded from the rest of the world that they’d need a underfunded department to *study* non-magicians?

However, I still enjoyed it when I first read it, because I was a kid at the time of the first book, and could envision myself as a wizard in that world without being able to truly conceptualise all the wrongs present, and the writer’s own opinions and hidden thoughts plastered throughout.

Between the ages of 10 and 13 I was fairly active on an avatar website, forums built largely for teens to talk and talk to others about hobbies and interests. Here was the first place, and arguably last, that I actively wrote with others. The reason why I mentioned Harry Potter, despite the superior Discworld franchise or the funner Sandman works, is because one of the first interactive role plays I took part in was a Harry Potter one.

Each person involved -after sending in a forum application with their character idea with name, personality, history, goals highlighted- wrote a single post, often a paragraph or two in length. Others would work on their own responses, and so the story was written by the parts of many influences.

It was my first foray in role play writing, and I enjoyed it immensely. But, like all internet activities, I practiced safety. Never sharing my real name, pictures or information with the people I wrote with, even months into that experience.

A part of me regrets that. Especially now so long after that account has been buried and forgotten alongside the website it was on. I think if I had’ve I likely would still be friends with those people today, maybe even still writing. All I know about that first group is that one of them was French and another Filipino, I think most of the others were American, and I was the only English.

It was fun to write those back and forths, effortlessly engaging, and likely the driving reason why a handful of years after I stopped using that site I’d find myself watching a lot of TTRPG content. I didn’t have the confidence to do anything in person, and despite living in the city finding a place where one could even play ttrpgs was a task. So I watched. I consumed. I read some more.

The original series I saw was Roll Play, by ItMeJP, who ran many different liveplay dnd shows before they became the more mainstream option like they are now, where everybody and their mum has a dungeons and dragon’s podcast with their own spin on it. It was a good series, full of enjoyable creators working together and having a blast, and I got to have a blast in tandem listening to them.

Sadly that series ultimately ended due to a slew of reasons that I won’t get into, but it gave me inspiration and made me want to play too.

At the end of university I finally got round to having courage enough to ask some people if they wanted to try it out. These people were my housemates in my third year and I liked them all, as they were all pretty fun and nerdy in their own ways. I think if I was a more driven person I likely would’ve been able to maintain friendships with them after uni, but alas.

The first game I ran took into account the groups love of the Walking Dead, and was a simple setup. Not classic dnd stuff really, not even a module. This was largely because every liveplay I’d listened to or watched over the years had never been based on an existing module but a homebrewed setting instead. Though my setting for those games wasn’t something built entirely, it was a basic fantasy.

The party awoke in the woods where they were camping for the night, having been disturbed by noises in the bushes, after having a run-in on the road with some silk merchants, two men and a boy, who they helped out by fending off some wolves. Surrounding them in the woods were hundreds of corpses slowly wading through the bushes toward the camp clearing. As they looked on in terror, some spell came over them, rendering them asleep. The one who rolled the highest on their save got to notice two things before they fainted: that all the corpses had a marked etching on their forehead, and that there was someone else in the woods beside the corpses.

When the party awoke they were trapped in a cell underground. They broke out handily, and began to head up the stairs, finding themselves within a sealed tower, no sign of the silk merchants. With the door sealed in a way they couldn’t open it they were forced to head up the tower to seek exit or means to unlock the door and find freedom.

In the tower the party encountered a handful of living dead guards, a lab with notes of strange experiments, and living quarters. One of them was able to recognise a corpse that attacked them as being one of the two silk merchants, while another found the body of the other silk merchant, left a cadaver on a slab as an object of study. As they finally reached the apex of the tower, having found no means of escape as yet, they encounter a large undead creature whose body radiates death.

They find the boy who worked for the silk merchants, now mutated to anything but a boy.

This was their first boss, and they handled it well. Around the boys neck was an arcane key that unlocked the tower, while the room held an altar with a book bound in flesh, marked with the same symbol the party saw on the boy’s head.

This marked the end of that game, that had taken place over the course of two sessions, several months apart. The first session had been in person, as I’d travelled to their house in their fourth year to play, and had used a roll out gridded matt to make maps on. The second session had taken place over a skype call while using Roll20.

That was the last time that I ran a game for them. Not because I didn’t want to run more, or because they didn’t want to play anymore, but because times had changed and we all were doing different things. University had ended, with some of them doing master’s degrees at that uni, while others had went elsewhere. I’d went home, and, like always terrible at communication, began to message less and less. The straw that broke the camels back there was when I lost access to my facebook account due to email issues I kind of lost my ability to reach out to them as well.

I could probably try, and I think they’d probably answer, but it’s been so long now that I don’t think I have the guts to even attempt the reach. Who knows where they are now or what they’re doing, especially with the way things in the world have changed and altered so much.

It was fun though. That was the first game I ever ran, and it was by no means the last.