#baby tarman...

[hoppyart]

i still wanna come back to this one day

[thedman0310]

Crazy that zombie design technology peaked in 1985 with Tarman

Like seriously, this is the single best zombie design. Look at how slimy and gross he is!

The walk, the “BRAINS!!”, the design, the practical effects? Oh baby, this boy is beautiful!

[noobclock666]

Pico School by @TomFulp

Tankmen series and the Logo by @JohnnyUtah

Madness Combat by @Krinkels and Michel Ancel

Blockhead by @The-Swine

Klay World by @Knox

Thing Thing by @Weasel and John Carpenter

Das n Me by @DanPaladin, @Dustball, and Tom Fulp again.

Alien Hominid by @DanPaladin, @Dustball, and Tom Fulp again again.

FRIDAY NIGHT FUNKIN' by @ninjamuffin99, @PhantomArcade, @evilsk8r, and @KawaiSprite.

Piko Legon by @HorseFolder

…I want more people to make more Rule 34 of her

Tarman by James Lee and Allan Trautman

Flumpty Bumty and Birthday Boy Blam by @JonBro

(They are technically not Newgrounds characters, but they will be when he uploads them here)

Fish Girl by @DeadlyComics

Edd Egg by @Eddache

Henry stickmin by PuffballsUnited

Strawberry clock by himself

Toss the Saled by @Foreverkul and @Gonzossm

Dead Baby by @Bluebaby

Empty Cup by @Diives

It's a cup, not a cub.

Among us by @PuffballsUnited again, @ForteBass, and John W. Campbell.

Space Invaders by Tomohiro NYouTube. CRAP! I miss the name! Too late. I just want to go to bed

Zone Tansalon by @ZONE-SAMA

Tom from Tom tells of whatever by @eddsworld RIP

Rage Melon by @Sexual-Lobster

It's nighttime and I should really go to bed!

Fancy Pants by @DrNeroCF

They're all great! Give them some love!

[ibtravart]

Best friends 4ever!

(Baby Tarman & Baby Freddy)

[vidicus-com]

The Best Horror One Liners in Movies

Here are some of the most recognizable single lines of dialog from some of the best horror movies ever made.

“We’ll tear your soul apart.”

Spoken by Pinhead (Doug Bradley) in Hellraiser (1987)

“Here’s Johnny!”

Spoken by Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) in The Shining (1980)

“Sometimes, dead is better.”

Spoken by Jud Crandall (Fred Gwynne) in Pet Sematary (1989)

“There here.”

Spoken by Carol Anne Freeling (Heather O’Rourke) in Poltergeist (1982)

“I ate his liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti.”

Spoken by Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

“Be afraid, be very afraid.”

Spoken by Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) in The Fly (1986)

“I see dead people”

Spoken by Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) in The Sixth Sense (1999)

“You’re going to need a bigger boat.”

Spoken by Brody (Roy Scheider) in Jaws (1975)

“The power of Christ compels you!”

Spoken by Father Merrin (Max von Sydow) and Father Karras (Jason Miller) in The Exorcist (1973)

“We all go a little mad sometimes.”

Spoken by Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) in Psycho (1960)

“They’re all gonna laugh at you!”

Spoken by Margaret White (Piper Laurie) in Carrie (1976)

“What’s your favorite scary movie?”

Spoken by Ghostface (Roger L. Jackson) in Scream (1996)

“Death by stereo!”

Spoken by Sam (Corey Haim) in The Lost Boys (1987)

“This is my Boomstick!”

Spoken by Ash (Bruce Campbell) in Army of Darkness (1992)

“We all float down here.”

Spoken by Pennywise (Tim Curry) in It (1990)

“I want to play a game.”

Spoken by Jigsaw/John Kramer (Tobin Bell) in Saw (2004)

“He’s got his father’s eyes.”

Spoken by Roman Castevet (Sidney Blackmer) in Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

“When there is no room left in hell, the dead will walk the earth.”

Spoken by Peter (Ken Foree) in Dawn of the Dead (1978)

“They’re coming to get you, Barbara.”

Spoken by Johnny Blair (Russell Streiner) in Night of the Living Dead (1968)

“We’ve traced the call… it’s coming from inside the house.”

Spoken by Sgt. Sacker (Bill Boyett) in When a Stranger Calls (1979)

“Every 23rd spring for 23 days it gets to eat.”

Spoken by Jezelle Gay Hartman (Patricia Belcher) in Jeepers Creepers (2001)

Context: Eccentric psychic Jezelle may indeed have a few screws loose, but her brief summation of The Creeper’s mythology is extremely chilling.

“Welcome to Fright Night… for real.”

Spoken by Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon) in Fright Night (1985)

“It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent’s fritters.”

Spoken by Vincent Smith (Rory Calhoun) in Motel Hell (1980)

“Brains!”

Spoken by Tarman (Allan Trautman) in Return of the Living Dead (1985)

“Outlander!”

Spoken by Malachai (Courtney Gains) in Children of the Corn (1984)

“Get out!”

Spoken by an invisible malevolent entity in The Amityville Horror (1979)

“Groovy!”

Spoken by Ash (Bruce Campbell) in Evil Dead II (1987)

“Pancakes!”

Spoken by Dennis (Matthew Helms) in Cabin Fever (2002)

For plenty more horror, check out www.vidicus.com.

[song-of-amethyst]

Rain Wild Chronicles review (part 2)

Second part, about the characters, taken as is from my drafts because I forgot what I wanted to add :D. This is not a serious review, just me commenting on some characters I liked, mostly.

On liveships:

Now we didn’t get a lot of explanation about what happened to the liveships in Ship of Destiny after they learned of their true origin, but it was implied through the parallel between Vivacia and Ophelia that those dragons who were dead in their cases remained fully “human” as liveships, with only the memories of their families and none of their dragon memories and longings. While dragons who were alive in their case ultimately recovered their dragon memories as liveships.This might be explained later in the series but for now,

we know that Sesurrea was dead when Leftrin used his case for Tarman. Yet there is definitely a dragon in Tarman, and Tarman still thinks like a dragon despite the generations of Leftrin’s family dead on his deck.

Kalo recognized Sesurrea in Tarman, so I’m pretty confident the dragon behavior does not come from the old plank, which Kalo would not have recognized.

So. Why is Ophelia different? Is it because the generations of human memories overrode the dragon memories in wizardwood? That didn’t seem to happen with Vivacia, or Kendry.

Speaking of the serpents from Liveship Traders:

So Kalo is Kelaro.

Sestican and Ranculos were also known characters in LT apparently. I need to reread to remember their names as serpents.

Out of the survivor dragons how many are there from Maulkin’s tangle before them meeting She-Who-Remembers? I know a lot of them died in the finale of Ship of Destiny.

Whatever happened to Shreever? I’m sure we saw her enter her case. Was her fate mentioned somewhere? I’ve missed it if so.

I wish she could have been Mercor’s mate and not Sintara. She was Maulkin’s oldest follower and her pov on him was so nice :(

BOY-O? BOY-O? FOR REAL?

For real what’s this name

Lovely freckled Alise:

I’m not sure why, but every non-Fitz trilogy, there is always an MC I end up paralleling with Fitz, and this time it is Alise.

Having a queer best childhood friend but always looking at them with the straight goggles and being endearingly and stupidly oblivious to all the hints? check

Amateur scholar who is actually one of the very few reliable experts alive in their subjects? check

Lacking confidence in their work and always belittling them as silly musing? check

Unhappy in their wealthy home, falling in love with someone far below them socially and not caring? check

Dream life is leaving their past life behind and living a simple life in a small cabin in the middle of nowhere with their loved one and having babies together? check

The babies never coming? *cries* check 

When Rapskal/Tellator roasted her and she wanted to burn her scrolls I WAS LIKE ALISE NO STOP YOU’RE GOING TOO FAR the Fitz in you is showing

When Alise learned of what Hest had done to her and got angry and hurt for days, it is interesting to me that what she did was remember all the instances when she had been made fun of that she didn’t understand at the time, and reliving these moments with the newly acquired knowledge gave them a whole different meaning and she felt enough anger and shame that she decided to just, never go back home. It is interesting because it dawned on me that actually, that is part of what happened with Fitz in Golden Fool and fueled his irrational anger. All the times people implied in no kind terms that he was... sexually involved with Lord Golden, and the mockery went right over his head. I’m willing to bet that those moments were painful in retrospective, after he understood the rumors that were circulating. When you feel you were made fun of and were not even bright enough to take those people’s meaning.

Leftrin:

He deserved his love story and his happiness and I love him.

His honesty is SO REFRESHING guys honestly. His point of view makes everything so funny.

“That he may not come back,” he offered El savagely. It was well known that that particular god wasn’t moved by prayer but sometimes succumbed to bribery. Ordinarily, Leftrin worshipped Sa, when he worshipped anything. But sometimes the harshness of a pagan god was a man’s last resort. Well, not quite his last resort. He could always murder Jess himself…

It may look like he makes the decisions on Tarman, but we all know it’s the cat.

Leftrin is so relatable in just trusting the cat’s judgement of people I can’t even.

I love how he describes Alise. You have this girl growing up thinking she’s ugly and taking super care of not ruining her appearance, and then Leftrin looks at her just once and he’s like, omg she’s stunning.

You can’t read Leftrin’s pov on Alise and not love her, just like you can’t read Fitz’s pov on Fool and not love him. You know it’s subjective, and you know it’s the pov character pushing their own feelings on you, but you can’t resist it. Nor should you try.

We stan Relpda. And Heeby.

Petition to rename Spit Spite.

Spit becoming a running joke within the Tarman expedition brightens my world.

count all the time he’s called little bastard Spit, little evil Spit, little devil Spit. Leftrin saying to Alise he wanted to feed Hest to Spit, and Hennesy saying he’d like Spit to eat him because the little devil is so full of spite and vinegar he’ll certainly outlive the bigger dragons made me laugh so much. 

Baliper’s faithfulness to his keeper and extended grief just makes me so sad and even though we haven’t seen much of this dragon, I love him so much....

I ended up liking many dragons even with my prejudice against them. Kalo, Mercor, Baliper, Relpda, and Heeby, mostly.

I see Icefyre is still the same asshole he was in Fool’s Fate. Beloved should’ve left the Pale Woman kill him and stayed safe and warm in Buckkeep. Just saying. Fool’s Fate should never have happened. I am forever in pain because of that book.

I love Chassim so much.

She reminds me of Beloved, to be totally honest. She is really sad and wise and kind and yet untrusting, and I can't help but see in her bond with Selden so many characteristics of the way Hobb writes highly traumatized characters, and I can’t help but compare them to Fitz and the Fool bonding over having been treated unfairly by life.

“I wish we could live,” Chassim said wistfully. “I wish I could live to see Chalced dragged out from under my father’s foot.” She turned her face and her soft lips brushed his scaled cheek. “I wish we could live,” she whispered.

You will guess that Chassim/Selden is the ship that ultimately captured my heart in the rwc.

It is honestly so inspiring. Her writing is far from being the typical victim archetype, emo and resigned or spiteful and aggressive. There’s something wise, and realistic, and not devoid of compassion, neither for herself nor for her friend.

Keepers:

Rapskal/Tellator: I really like this character development. Such a great tragedy and such great meta material. (I’ve included most of what I have to say in part 1 aka the magic meta part). I still hate his guts as Tellator though :D. So rude.

Tats ending up with Thymara was a bit disappointing because he seemed such a bland character haha. I don’t really dislike the ship but. I don’t like it either.

In fact most of the keepers weren’t really interesting characters to me.

[cptablovegood]

Realm of the Elderlings Ask Meme Thing

Created by @hermitknut and brought back by @elderling-magic  I was tagged by the lovely @blackandwhitemotley

I’m 100% gunna save this and do it again when I’ve finished reading all of the books (okay I’m over half way through and I’m getting sad about the potential of finishing them so slowing down on them ok don’t judge me.)

Favourite RotE Book: Fool’s Fate, I think, so far buuuut I love that entire trilogy SOOO much

Why: Ermm I apparently love pain? I cried like for the entirety of the tawny man trilogy, would book mark every other page and felt empty for a week after I finished. Fitz and Beloved whole relationship in this is far to intense and lovely and painful and we get so many amazing new character and lose so many wonderful ones. Honestly it was A L O T

Top Three Favourite Characters: Beloved, Fitz and Kettle (honourable mentions to Kettricken, Verity, Patience, Lacy, Jek, Paragon, Rapskal, and Mercor/Maulkin, sorry I just really fucking love these books and pretty much all the characters)

Top Three Least Favourite Characters: (I’m not gunna count actually evil characters) Starling Birdsong, Davad Restart, Molly (I REALLLY didnt like her when she was younger but I suppose she gets mildly better with age? maybe?..)

Favourite Ship (of the floating kind): Paragon and all his personalities (also I love my mutant baby Tarman)

Top Three Favourite Ships (of the people kind): Fitz and Beloved, Verity and Kettricken, Patience and Lacey (all the OG���s, also Amber and Jek and Erek and Detozi (does that become cannon or are they just two soft gays who write love letters for years?))

Would you rather be Witted or Skilled: Witted cos I don’t think I could resist the whole addictive nature of the skill and would deffo zombify myself

If you were Witted, what animal would you bond with?: I mean I’d hope for something cool like a crow (I also love octopuses and tigers but practicality wise probably wouldn’t be best) but the reality would probably be something like a slug

Would you rather live in the Outislands, the Mountain Kingdom, the Six Duchies, Bingtown, the Rain Wilds, Kelsingra, Jamaillia, the Pirate Isles, or Fool’s Homeland?: Jhaampe for sure but would love to visit everywhere, especially the Rain Wilds and Pirate Isles.

How were you introduced to the books? when I was about 11 I started reading the first book in a huge 2nd hand book shop while my dad was browsing. I didnt buy it but I never forgot that book and for years tried to remember what it was called. Thankfully 10 years later I thought to ask on goodreads (it was the most tenuous ask EVEeeer) and about 6-8 months later I finally got the name of the books and became immediately obsessed. 

Share a quote you love: erm just one? nah here’s about 50 (also might do a master post of all my fave quotes so lemme know if that’s a good idea) 

“You were never really good at it (assassination) you know. There was a naivete to you that none of the ugliness could stain, as if you never truly believe in evil. It was what I liked best about you. It was what I missed most when you were dead.” - Assassins Quest

“I was the Fool and the Fool was me. He was the Catalyst and so was I. We were twp halves of a whole ... For an instant I knew him in his entirety, complete and magical.” - Assassins Quest

“I have always been more curious than wise. Yet any wisdom i have ever gained has been from my curiosity.” - Ship of Magic 

There's a super beautiful quote Amber says in ship of destiny about fate but it is LONG

the entirety of the tawny man trilogy???

Tagging: if you see this and haven’t done it yet, consider yourself tagged! adding mutuals who i think are rote fans @alvangaar @goldnfool @books-and-doodles @tiabwwtws

Take the thing, copy and paste it into your own post, tag it “elderlings” and then tag as many people as you can that you know in the fandom.

[vagabondsaints]

The Zombie Jesus 24 Hour Digital T-Shirt Sale is going on until 6pm tonight! Order today and they will be at the shop by Tuesday at latest for pick up! Here is what is left: Giger Red Ink - M, M, l,l, XL, 2XL. Crittetball- M, M, XL, XL, XL, 3XL. Jason- M, l,l, 4 XL, 2XL. Critters - M, l,l, XL, XL, 2XL. Alice T shirt - s, M, XL. Freddy - s, M, M, XL. Robot Hitler boxing - M, M, l, 3XL. Eat of my flesh - s, M, M, l, l, XL, 2XL, 3XL. Game of Bones - s, s, M, M, XL, XL. Tarman - s, M, M, l, XL, XL, 2XL, 3XL, 3XL Who's your Daddy - M, l, 3XL Star Fiction - s, m, l, XL, 2XL, 3XL Tusken Raiders - s,M, 2XL, 3XL At At - M, l, XL, 3XL. Plus girly sizes in small and medium Robot Hitler Comic - s, M, l, XL Graphic Novel cover - s, M, XL, XL Jason B&W - s, l, XL, XL, XL, 2XL, 3XL Dayglo Satan - M, M, l, l, l, 2XL, 2XL, 3XL Girly shirts: Spaulding - s, l, l Virgin Baby - s, s, M, l Alice Red - s, s, XL Alice Black - Small and med My lil pony red - s, M, l Normal T shirts: King of the Zombies - s, s, M, m, l, XL, 3XL Baphomet - s, M, m, 3XL also in s, M and large for girls sizes Classic Tattoo - s, M, M, l, 2XL, 2XL My lil pony red shirt - M, l, 3XL My lil pony black shirt - s, M, XL, 2XL (at Vagabond Saints) https://www.instagram.com/p/B79G-o5H65r/?igshid=15128ctcgqoyk

[redscullyrevival]

Dragon Keeper: Rain Wilds Chronicles Rundown

@sonnetscrewdriver

Plot/Narrative/Setting

Oh my god there are so many characters - MY TIME TO SHINE.

I love gigantic casts, I live for them

So this was exciting

Gonna be honest and admit I’m relieved to have returned to a third person narrative. I’m of the personal opinion that Hobb writes better as an outside narrator although I wouldn’t say she structures better.

Overall Dragon Keeper was a good set-up story and it moved a lot faster than other Elderling books! 

Reading Liveship Traders you knew that the separate story threads would eventually meet and that was grade A thrilling - but it was also nice to have a large cast congeal within this first book. I’m boring and love interpersonal stuff (shout out to Golden Fool!) so all the slight overlap of scenes being reiterated from different character’s perspectives has been a blast for me. 

I’m really digging the idea that this is an atypical Quest of sorts; it’s a group of misfits setting out into the unknown, yeah, but even more specifically it’s a group of socially and mentally battered souls leaving the constructs that made them how they are behind.

The BIG THEME in Fitz and the Fool stories is change and Liveship Traders’ BIG THEME was a subset of that, specifically about personal inner change manifesting in outward change and vice versa.

I mean, look at how the physicality of the characters in Liveship Traders directs and alters their inner change. 

Liveship is a series about the connection between physical and emotional/cognitive change and I have no doubt that will continue in the Rain Wild Chronicles. We can already see it everywhere; most obviously with the malformed dragons and their heavily touched keepers and more subtly with the trek up river, changing what is and isn’t known about the narrative’s physical space. 

Anyways

I am actively fighting envisioning a fantasy version of The African Queen with Dragons though. I don’t know why my brain does what it does. 

Alise

Oh boy!

What a flake!

LOL

I love her, I love most everyone we know this by now, but what I really enjoy about Alise is her up and down nature.

She’s emotionally flighty, which is a hard gamble; sometimes reading her experiences is like getting whiplash but that’s what makes it, her, great in my opinion.

Alise is very smart and very perceptive and she wars with herself over her desires, her fears, and then being pragmatic. 

Her situation isn’t as complex as Sedric’s but it’s pretty close and I hope the two can bond in an alliance against Hest. 

Thymara

Whats with this sassy lost child?!

Thymara is a bit dull in all honesty, she’s very serious, but her attitude and guardedness is understandable. 

I feel for her.

She doesn’t seem to be very in-tune with her own thoughts or understanding of herself; she very much views her life as filtered through how others see her. 

Hopefully she can loosen up a bit and actually fully grasp the freedom laid before her, embrace the wild.   

Captain Leftrin 

Such a grand old soul.

I adore how he thinks of his ship and how deeply perceptive he is. 

Because his chapter bits are mostly narration he comes off as seeming like a stoic quiet type of person - a kind of gruff Studio Ghibli persona lol.

He’s gotten himself into a pretty pickle though. Can’t wait to see how that turns out! 

I’m in love with Tarman by the way; being the oldest liveship around and having those creepy painted on eyes and vibrating communication - oh ho ho I love it! 

I LOVE IT. 

*gurgle*

Sedric

Sedric is great.

Its kind of hard to explain but he walks the line between being selfish and then pitiful. 

Like, his motivations are clear and true for him, but he also is selfaware enough to be honest with himself at times. He knows Hest is manipulative and can be cruel; but he can’t live in the open; he wants to prove himself and make his fortune; but he genuinely doesn’t want to hurt or have harm come to Alise.

Dude’s got a lot going on! 

I’m desperate for Sedric and Alise to be open with each other, but I don’t know how soon that’d be possible...

Tats

A nice kid.

A good kid.

A nice good middle of the road kid.

Yeah, I need some more time with Tats I think but he’s pretty swell.

Sylve

Sylve has surprised me in only good ways.

She is the youngest but also possibly one of the smartest keepers.

I love the inversion of her and her dragon Mercor’s relationship; in a lot of ways he seems like her keeper.

Godbless Mercor by the way, I’m irrationally pleased Maulkin survived. 

Rapskal

RAP-A-TATSKAL IS MY BOY!

Haha

God I hope he doesn’t do something stupid.

He probably will, but lets hope it isn’t deadly ya know?

A ray of sunshine with the best dragon who has the best dragon name. 

Heeby is like an excited puppy! I want her to fly. 

Greft

What a big creepy jerk.

He isn’t wrong about saying fuck the establishment, but he is still a manipulative turd. 

Sintara

Reading Sintara is a bit of a challenge because like with Tintaglia her self understanding is eye roll inducing, which I know is the point; dragons are suppose to be a challenge to humanity on a social and biological level, dragons view humans like how humans view other animals. I get that.

BUT DAMN sometimes I want Sintara to shut up lol

I don’t know how dragons are suppose to change, will they become more like humans? Will they go in the opposite direction? Interesting!

Highlighted Passages

Or is it that you look at her and see that those rules were wrong, and wonder how many other babies could have grown up to be Rain Wilders?

Should a child ever have to thank a parent for being alive, thank her father that he hadn’t allowed her to be exposed?

As homes and businesses were rebuilt, as trade took on a new shape despite war and piracy, everyone else had tried desperately to make things go back as they were before. Everyone except Alise. Having glimpsed a possible future for herself, she had struggled wildly to escape from the suffocating destiny that sought to reclaim her.

The gem of her satisfaction was when Hest appeared, nattily attired, but hollow eyed and pale.

Thymara kept her mouth shut, horrified not by his wild dreams but how closely they paralleled her own yearnings.

“Don’t trust them. Don’t think of them as especially noble or of a higher morality than humans. They aren’t. They’re just like us, except they are larger and stronger, with potent memories of always having their own way. So, be careful. And whatever you learn of them, whether you find Kelsingra or not, you must record and bring back to us. Because sooner or later, humanity is going to have to coexist with a substantial population of dragons. We have forgotten all we ever knew about dealing with dragons. But they have forgotten nothing about humans.”

She wasn’t sorry, not at all, and yet she could not keep herself from apologizing. When had it become so ingrained in her to apologize whenever she wanted something for herself?

She didn’t like how he assumed he had the right to talk to her in such a tone, to keep her standing here when she wanted to leave.

[xxyeahimweirdxx]

I think I made that post probably about 4-5 years ago when I was about I think 18? That's how I was raised in my family. We were always a horror movie family. So nothing out of the norm for us regardless of the age. It was a movie she decided to watch with me one day and fell in love with it so much she decided to watch it on her own so I left her to it, stayed quiet and joined in on the movie. She's 8 now. Very bright, very intelligent and acts"normal" for her age so far. Loves slime, those YouTube videos all the kids watch of other youtube kids playing with toys and (somehow and by gob I dunno why..)but loves Jojo swiwa or however you spell her name.

That memory is a favorite of hers as well as mine we even talk about it today. That's my baby sister she was and still is (despite me moving out) is attached me like a baby kangaroo to its mama. So wouldn't matter where I was, what I was doing she was there. if you know your kid, you know the movie, and how they'll react make your decision based of that. Use your digression. It really just sums up to each their own.

Now just for me personally now at 23 almost 24 I more than likely wouldn't let my 4 year old watch it because sometimes these things can be too scary for them especially horror movies today. In that sense I agree with not letting kids of that age bracket watch them until they're ready or "of age" to watch them.

I do believe in giving a choice but taking into consideration of how well you know your child, how they take in information that's being presented to them and their personality. If that's something they want to try and see or they show interest in a movie where I know it's not over the top or wild where I have to cover their eyes and ears every 10 mins because it maybe traumatizing in a way (like for me its tarman and recently Glenn's death in the walking dead, I literally still cover my eyes and ears) I'll give the opportunity to do so taking into account everything I stated above. In the event they're watching the movie and it goes from " I really wanna watch this, I'm excited and ready! (W.o hesitation) to "Hey um this is scarier than anticipated or something to that equivalent " we can stop. No more no less.

So 18 year old me, would of probably been offended off the top but at this age now it's good for reflection and seeing how things change and the opinions of others even if it's post that completely irrelevant today from 4-5 years ago that was forgotten about. It was an interesting view point and comparison.

my 4 y.o sister dead yelled at me because i interrupted her watching “interview with a vampire”…

[killa2]

via The Toy Chronicle

[greenhandbooks]

I do love me some crazy Doctor Who cover art!!! Is this what happens to Tom Baker if he eats too many Jelly Babies...? 😆 #doctorwho #tombaker #deadlyassassin #paperback #novelisation #tarman (at The Green Hand)

[redscullyrevival]

Dragon Haven: Rain Wilds Chronicles Rundown

@sonnetscrewdriver

Plot/Narrative/Setting

This was a fun time! HAHAHA

Okay, so with Rain Wilds it feels like a... I dunno, less extreme Liveship Traders or a less emotional Fitz and Fool? It isn’t lesser but it’s certainly different, and I think a lot of that has to do with the pacing. Rain Wilds is much faster - an advantage of switching narrative view points more often.

And since this wasn’t the setup book, Dragon Haven raced forward at a break neck speed (for a Elderling book anyways).

As such there has yet to be any long wallowing plot lines; most things propped up in the first book have been resolved or half resolved within this second book and there are two more books to go. 

Amazing!

I love a slow burn, don’t get me wrong, but with such a big cast and a story devoted to travel it would have been agonizing to have Sedric and Alise and Leftrin and Jess circle each other and misunderstand each other one book after the other.

The keepers are changing faster; the characters are evolving past their starting perspectives quickly; so the story moves with agility. I like that narrative mimesis.

How about that stuff about rules though? Elderlings is all about CHANGE yes yes we know, but this series’ discussion of CHANGING RULES is an interesting avenue to wander.

The most obvious moment of EXPLAINING RULES was Jerd’s miscarriage and while it is a scene that seemingly plays straight forward it isn’t really about anything straight forward.

Its one of those scenes where you have a character making sense expressing their/society’s views and speaking truth on shared experiences (“the rules are here to project you and others”) but it doesn’t feel at it’s core as though the wider narrative entirely supports Bellin’s lecture.

Which is tricky!

Rules don’t belong to a physical place like Greft views them; rules aren’t guide posts like Thymara views them; rules don’t secure happiness as Alise learned; and Bellin is right that rules can exist for a greater good but that doesn’t mean they don’t also do massive damage - just look at Thymara’s struggle with her self worth and identity. 

THE RULES change from group to group and as dynamics shift, but change can be come about by force as well; personally I think that’s what the flash flood was all about. 

At first there was a Bingtown/Rain Wild distinction. Then Human/Dragon distinction. Then a Barge/Keeper/Hunter/Dragon distinction. Then a flood smashed them all together and blew them apart and now they’re beyond those boxes of identity and are making everything up as they go. 

Hopefully they’ll get to a place where information and personal choice will replace or at least better guide THE RULES. 

We’ll see.

Alise

Get it girl!

YEAH

I like how Alise’s entire approach is fake it until you make it. I can relate to that. 

So glad she has time to heal. 

Thymara

Alright we’re coming around, we’re coming around!

I enjoyed Thymara a lot more this book. 

She’s still super serious and confused but she is growing. She can only go up from here!

Haha, I made a funny - SHE HAS WINGS.

Captain Leftrin

Captain Leftrin is great and stoic and blablahblah lets talk about Tarman!

I LOVE TARMAN

I. Love. Tarman.

I can’t get over this long low barge with old creepy painted eyes having this hidden dragon body thing, it kills me! I think he’s so cute! Like, I think of his displeased old face with this chubby lizard body and I die. 

omg

If everyone and everything got off of him I wonder if he could plod along on the shore?

Envision this: An open field of Kelsingra, a young settlement in the distance. A fresh flock of sheep are grazing. Waddling along is Tarman, the unphased sheep moving parting to make way. Swarge is chasing after the liveship, winded from the run up hill. “What are you - what are you doing?! We need to - hey Tarman! Tarman! Turn around guy!” 

BWHAHAHAHAHAHA

Sedric

Aw, I love Sedric. I love Carson too, although Carson my buddy, my pal, maybe hitting on someone who just tried to kill themselves isn’t like a great go-to move? Skeevy. Everything else seems in line though, so that’s good.

Get away from Hest! Burn his tiny picture! Be besties with Alise and live free! 

Tats

Tats is slipping into The Nice Guy™ territory a bit, huh? Not a full blown situation going on here but it’s scuttling the line. 

It doesn’t help that I only know Tats as through Thymara who doesn’t know what she’s doing - but the fact remains I’ve known her exact frustration/confusion/decisions in my own life with male friends so I instinctively side with her.

I’m keeping my eye on you Tats.

Rapskal

I was mad distressed for a while there y’all, I was mad distressed.

But my boy pulled through! 

He had to! He was too perfect for guiding a new set of RULES to be dismissed from the narrative! And a part of me knew that, knew he’d be coming back sometime.

I’m just super stoked it was sooner than later!

Very excited.

Greft

Oh boy. 

What a douche, right?

Felt bad for him in the end but only marginally if I’m honest. 

All that disgusting talk about picking a mate and needing to choose and ugh. Massive barf.

He was just pushy and nasty in that alpha male way???

Jerd

I was so relieved when Jerd and Thymara talked to each other.

And I also like that they’re not super close friends suddenly.

Some people just don’t get along that well and don’t like each other, but at least they can be somewhat mature about it.

I want happiness for Jerd though, she’s lost like Thymara just in a different way - I wish we knew more about her. 

Sintara

dis bitch need to figure her own shit out before she goes hootin’ and hollarin’ at everyone else

I kind of love her now but still

she is faking until she is making but way to slow and poorly lol

Highlighted Passages

I sometimes think that age is based more on what you’ve done and what you remember than how old you are.

Did she have to hold on to her hurt and anger? Could she just let it go and forgive him and have him back as her friend? For a moment, it seemed as if it were purely her decision; she could make what he had done an important matter or she could let it go as just something that had happened. Holding on to it was hurting both of them. Before she had known what he had done with Jerd, he’d been her friend. All that had changed was that now she knew.

Whatever it was that was chafing him, Thymara already wanted to defy whatever older, male wisdom he intended to inflict on her.

She was the one who had accepted those limitations and brought them with her. She was the one who lived by the restrictive rules.

“After a lifetime of being told that no one should touch you, that no one would or could touch you because you were born too much of a monster? Then a soft-skinned boy with a gentle manner doesn’t seem to think it matters…that just made me feel free. So I decided to be free.” 

But when all was finished Tarman had what the barge had conveyed to Leftrin it most desired. Four stout legs with webbed feet and a long tail had been added to the hull. Tarman could now go almost anywhere he and his captain wished to go.

“But it still wasn’t enough to prove that I deserved to live. It was just what was expected of me. What would have been expected of any Rain Wild daughter.” She did look at him then. “Proving I could be ordinary, despite how I looked, wasn’t enough for any of them.” His hands, tanned brown, worked like separate little animals, stripping the fruit and loading it into his pack. She’d always liked his hands. “Why wasn’t it enough for you?” he asked her. There was the rub. She wasn’t sure. “It just wasn’t,” she said gruffly. “I wanted to make them admit that I was as good as any of them and better than some.” “And then what would happen?” She was quiet for a time, thinking. She stopped her gathering to eat one of the yellow fruit. Her father had had a name for them, but she couldn’t remember it. They didn’t commonly grow near Trehaug. These were fat and sweet. They’d have fetched a good price at the market. She got down to a fuzzy seed and scraped the last of the pulp off with her teeth before she tossed it away. “It would probably make them hate me more than they already did,” she admitted. She nodded to herself and smiled, saying, “But at least then they’d have a good reason for it.” 

“Greft changes the rules, it’s no risk for him, is it? He’s not the one who’s going to go into labor out here with no midwife. He’s not the one who’ll have to deal with a baby who can’t survive. I don’t think he’s ever wondered what he’s going to do with that baby if Jerd dies and the baby lives.” “How can you think of such things?” Tats was aghast. “How can you not think of them?” she retorted.

She hated that her voice rose to a shriek and broke on the words. She sounded hysterical and frightened, when in truth she was angry.

“You’re asking me to make a big decision. I’m not playing a game when I say that I don’t think I’m ready to make that decision. I’m not waiting for you to do something or give me something or even be something. I’m waiting for me. There’s nothing you can do to change that.”

“You sound as if you are still angry.” “Yes. I’m still angry. I don’t hate you; I’ve decided that. But I’m angry in a way I’ve never been angry before. I think that if I hated you, I’d just hate you. But once I realized that only someone I loved could hurt me this badly, I realized I didn’t hate you. And that is why I’m so angry.”

“I was dazzled. He did buy me gifts. Clothing. Pipes. A horse. I look back and I think now, those things were not really for me. They were things he gave me so that I would look how he wanted me to look. So I would not shame him with my shabby clothing or my poor taste in horseflesh. I was like…like cloth. Like something he had cut and sewn into a garment that suited him.”

He cried for all the things he’d thought he’d had but had never possessed. Wept for what he’d let Hest make him, how he’d deceived Alise, for what he’d thought of doing to Relpda. He cried because it was suddenly safe to do so.

Who smiled like that? Not the sophisticated and urbane Traders who had once been Sedric’s companions. They muted their expressions, never laughing too loud, hiding smiles behind well-tended hands. Appearing to be disaffected or cynical was stylish. Why had he thought that was attractive and civilized?

“Sintara!” The bellow came from Mercor. “Close your jaws and fold your wings! Do not harm your keeper for speaking truth to you!” “Fight! Fight! Fight!” Spit was trumpeting joyously.

They spoke their minds to each other, and she found that didn’t displease her. After their last crisis, their relationship had resumed as it had been before. Thymara tended the dragon and brought her food when her hunting went well. She enjoyed Sintara’s beauty, just as she would have enjoyed living in a fine house, just as she had once enjoyed the art and music of her neighbors in the Cricket Cages. She didn’t confuse that beauty with Sintara herself.