#i adore megan whalen turner's writing style so much

[kanerallels]

Ahhh, to be lying in a pose of intense apathy

[realife-mermaid]

Reading Log - Winter/Spring 2021

Here we are as I continue to whittle down the number of books I own that I have not read yet! Also lmao I did not read anything for like 9 weeks smh.

Trigger warning for rape in book 1, racist language in book 3, and minor trigger warning for outing in book 9.

Total Books I Own: 150

Starting Number Of Books I Haven’t Read: 78

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn - 2.5 stars. The first 70% was so good and then the last 30% completely dropped off in the most annoying, awful way possible. Julia Quinn’s a very good writer and I loved the dynamic between all the Bridgertons but wow the way book ends is not just bad because like, Julia rapes Simon, but also just a very hasty neatly tied up ending that doesn’t mix well with who the characters are. The audio-book I listened to was AMAZING THO, she was so good.

The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan - 4.5 stars. This was so well written and so sweet, and I absolutely loved all the history surrounding Chinese people in England during this era. Courtney always does her research but it was just so well on display here. Jeremy and Chloe are awesome characters and fit so well together, and the ending was so amazing.

Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner - 3 stars. Boring, meandering, and disappointing with a weird “assimilation is good actually” bent in the writing. I straight up cried over how much I disliked the last book in a series I’ve adored since I was 12. Pheris is a great character, and I loved all the Relius we got but it is just aggressively mediocre. Plus, in the last chapter, Eugenides the God is referred to as a “half breed” and that’s an automatic half star off for me. MWT a librarian and an educator - if she doesn’t know that the term is wildly offensive especially when describing a mixed race character, she’s willfully ignorant and that’s not okay.

Anne Bonny: The Infamous Female Pirate by Phillip Tucker Thomas - 2 stars. It had some interesting things to say but it was boring and repetitive, continuously used a source the author said wasn’t trustworthy, and also veered into the homophobic side towards the end.

Darth Vader, Vol. 3: The Shu-Torun War by Kieron Gillen - 4 stars. Not enough Aphra but still very entertaining, with small significant glimpses into Vader’s humanity. The droids are so funny and entertaining. Also I love this art style so damn much, it’s stylized while still feeling like Star Wars.

Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith - 4.5 stars. I knocked off half bc I think the book centered white people a little too much and I didn’t love the writing style, but my goodness this was such a good book. Not only did it feel like a pretty accurate representation of high school and the weird dynamics of theatre kids and journalism kids, it just had a lot of awesome, interesting things to say and lovable characters to say it with.

Holly Claus, the Christmas Princess by Brittany Ryan - 4 stars. Beautiful artwork, just absolutely stunning but a very disjointed (Altho a very touching) story.

The Bride Test by Helen Hoang - 5 stars. This was a reread that I initially gave 4 stars but bro, this is a 5 star book. It’s romantic and funny and sweet and incredibly embarrassing in a very “haha I do that” way, and Esme’s story is so well handled. Also Quan is the best brother ever.

Transpire Together by Mercy Zephyr - 2.5 stars. Boring as all hell with paper thin characters. The heroine’s sexuality is not dealt with well and the hero is a jerk. Also they accidentally out another character and face no repercussions for this. Disappointing all around.

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger - 5 stars. THE PERFECT BOOK. Fascination world building, interesting characters, and a beautiful ending that allows the complexity of one of its villains to really shine. It takes the idea of the typical Marvel villain (you know “justified except they murder civilians for no good reason”) and just turns it on its head in the best way possible. And the main character Ellie is perfection.

New Books Read: 9

Rereads: 1

Total of Books Read: 5/78; 10/150

Goodreads Goal: 10/49

[aplusjaybirdie]

12, 28, and 29!

12. Name a song that makes you feel ethereal.

ooh hmm probably gonna have to go with from eden by hozier, and tyrant and heaven by OneRepublic, though pretty much anything by those artists is super good

28. Name a book you don’t mind reading over and over.

ok. so I’m gonna have to give two series for this. The first is the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman(better known as the golden compass books) and for a while I had a tradition of reading it every spring break and unfortunately I didn’t get to this year but everything about it is so good. great concept, great plot and characters, great thematic elements, and I really hecking love his descriptions and honestly he’s a pretty big influence on my writing style today. Second series is the Queen’s Thief books by Megan Whalen Turner. They’re set in Ancient Greece the way a lot of fantasy books are set in medieval Europe, with a fun spin, and asdjkl the characters are so SO incredible and all are very complex and 3D. also the plot twists WILL keep you on your toes. The sixth and final book is supposed to come out next summer and it was supposed to come out in March this year but seeing as the first book was published in 1996 that’s not very long of a wait(the most recent book came out in 2017 I think) and 10/10 would reccomend and read again.

29. Do you collect anything? And what are some hobbies you have?

I used to collect jar lids and I currently guess I collect pencils but I don’t really have A Collection of Special things lol. I have a lot of books(I’ve converted my walk-in closet to a library and I need more shelves) but I don’t really collect special editions or anything.

Hobbies? I adore reading, and I’m learning a lot about writing and art, especially digital, and I’d love to get to the point I can do commissions and whatnot. My grandma also taught me to crochet last summer and I’ve only made a couple scarves, but it’s really relaxing and fun.

[chthonic-cassandra]

Yuletide Letter 2017

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Thank you so much for writing for me this year! Yuletide has been a much-anticipated part of my year for longer than seems believable, and every year I am delighted to see what someone comes up with in my rare fandoms. I’m an easy-going reader who likes a lot of different tones and styles, and I would be honestly be equally happy with shipfic or gen for any of my requested fandoms (no, really). I adore all the characters I’ve requested this year and am eagerly looking forward to a story about one of them.

My requests this year were pretty thorough, but the following information is below in case you want to know more about my tastes. My AO3 is of course here. I’m Assimbya on AO3, YT signup (consequently), and now-defunct other accounts. Last year I said in my Yuletide letter: “I tend to write meditative female character-centric gen about trauma recovery, and/or fucked-up dub-con darkfic, and those are both totally things I love to read about as well, but neither of those are your style, no worries! I also really, really love romance (particularly in poly relationships), sexy D/s stuff, and world-building or plot-heavy casefic; I'm just not as good at writing any of those.” All that still goes, so if you read my own fic and think that it’s seriously not your style, please don’t try to match it! I am an omnivorous reader.

Some things I like in fic: smart, prickly, messed-up characters especially when they’re interacting with other smart, prickly messed-up characters; complicated or tense relationship negotiation; power dynamics (sexual or not, and either set and formalized or in constant flux); poly relationships; moments of hope/resilience within suffering; canon divergence ('what if?' AUs), darkfic/horror, D/s and related kink (especially bondage, humiliation, pain - either healthy and negotiated kink or also fucked-up dub or non-con stuff); moral ambiguity, or characters dealing with situations where there are no good choices; depictions of trauma recovery or otherwise putting one's life together after devastation; characters who are smart and competent and passionate about things; allusion, experimention, meta-fictional stuff, playfulness with form and language; historical details and world-building; pastiche; things in general being complicated and messy and nuanced

Some things I’d prefer not to read about: dub-con which involves ‘they secretly wanted it’ or ‘they didn’t want it at first but then learned they actually did’ tropes (other kinds of dub- or non-con are fine); traumatic events treated as jokes or insignificant; setting-changing AUs; crossovers (with the exception of Penny Dreadful, which is itself a crossover); slapstick humor; PWP (any level of explicit content is fine, but I’m in it mostly for the characters); heavy focus on bodily fluids of any kind; focus on animal harm, or meat preparation; pregnancy or being a parent of young children (exception for Broken Earth); sexual content with anyone younger than late adolescence; dogs; explicit discussion of disordered eating

The Queen’s Thief - Megan Whalen Turner Characters: Attolia

Prompt: Irene! I think the way Megan Whalen Turner scrupulously limits our exposure to Irene and her thought process is genius, but it also leaves me...well, pretty tantalized. So I would love more of her - of her inner world, her decision-making, her her experience.

I love her steely determination and moral ambiguity, the way we see how she's had to rigidly control her image and emotions and self-presentation in order to maintain her throne and defend her people, and the glimpse of backstory we get in The Queen of Attolia is devastating. If you want to run with that and show us more scenes of Irene's self-development and ascension to power, maybe places where she slipped and had to regain control, that would be awesome.

I would also, like probably everyone else who reads and loves these books, be into more shippy Irene/Gen stuff (the scene in The King of Attolia where they're dancing and he pulls the hairpins out of her hair one by one until it cascades down...sexiest thing I've read in a long time), especially playing with how they navigated their messy, traumatic history together and what it means to love one another and yet to have hurt each other so much.

Irene and Helen/Eddis interaction would also be very much welcome (platonic or not - though if you do ship them, I'd prefer you don't break Irene and Gen up to do that); I'd love to see an exploration of how they navigate their different relations to queenship and authority, and how they get to the type of trust and working relationship we see in A Conspiracy of Kings.

Some things I love in canon: political machinations that remain essentially human; fucked-up traumatized characters messing with and loving each other; narration that manipulates and misleads the reader; the contrast in pace between the frustrating slowness of everyday life and the suddenness of the moments when a decision must be made; the texture of the religious faith; pseudo-hellenic-yet-not worldbuilding; Gen and Attolia’s sexy-scary traumatic bonding; how does power change you?

Penny Dreadful (tv) Characters: Vanessa Ives, Hecate Poole

Prompt: So. I adored Penny Dreadful but that moment in S2 when Vanessa and Hecate see each other for the first time across the crowded ballroom, and then Vanessa starts hallucinating blood raining from the ceiling? And then they never interact again? Most frustrating tease ever.

I would be interested in any ideas you have for giving us the interaction the show didn't, and am open to whatever directions you want them to go in. Enemies-to-allies(-to maybe lovers)? Darkfic of their continued battle, or of one taking the other captive? Deliciously fucked-up family dynamics with Evelyn and Sir Malcolm continuing their relationship? I could think of scenarios upon scenarios, but I'm really open to wherever your imagination takes you. Likewise, I'd be totally into something shippy with them, but just as equally interesting in gen that deals with their parallel journeys towards understanding their own agency in these epic mystical conflicts into which they were both dragged. I'm into the question of how their volatile and intense personalities might play off each other; please do run with it.

I love both Vanessa and Hecate as trauma survivors who are messy and ugly in their survival, who lash out and hurt others but are also trying to figure out how to live in their world, with their experiences. Penny Dreadful is also an amazing ensemble cast, and I would be happy to see other characters making appearances (maybe especially Seward, Dracula, Evelyn - or Brona/Lily, who doesn't really interact much with either of these women, would also be an interesting counterpoint), but I'd prefer the focus of whatever you write stay primarily on Hecate and Vanessa, especially rather than the male characters that tend to get more attention in our fandom. Likewise, I'm fine with Vanessa/Ethan, but if that pairing is present, I'd rather it not be the main center of the fic.

Some things I love in canon: straight-up unapologeticaly going for the gothic atmosphere and narrative and world; colonialism and patriarchy as horror stories in themselves; spiders!; everything about Vanessa; people can make bad choices and still be worthy of compassion; clever and intricate allusion in the crossovering; polymorphous perversity; believing implausible trauma narratives as essential to defeat evil; Lily’s anti-libertine club; pretty dresses

Additional optional note about this fandom: So, I’m a pretty long-term Dracula fan, that’s probably my primary fandom over the years. Penny Dreadful’s engagement with its Dracula characters and material was...inconsistent, and sometimes weird. I personally loved pretty much all the S3 stuff (Florence Seward and her secretary Renfield!), but was really frustrated by the S1 material (her name is Mina but she’s acting more like Lucy and the narrative gives her nothing to do?). If you, my writer, are interested in the Dracula crossover element and want to more extensively explore and reconcile that, I would be up for it, but there’s no pressure on that front whatsoever.

The Broken Earth - N. K. Jemisin Characters: Alabaster

Prompt: Alabaster is my favorite, and makes my heart hurt and rejoice all at once. I know there were very good reasons for his limited presence in The Stone Sky, but I miss him.

So, please, give me more Alabaster! For this more probably than for my other requests I have a strong desire to see my requested character happy and in love, and if you want to go there I would be delighted (I loved loved loved Alabaster/Innon/Syenite, which was finished all too quickly for my wishes), but I would also be very happy to read more about his process of learning and exploration, his reckless and brilliant decisions.

Broken Earth has such dense, textural world-building, which we get largely from Essun and Nassun's perspectives, and I'd be really excited to see what some of the more haunting and mysterious aspects of the Stillness are like for Alabaster to inhabit. In particular, the Guardians are amazingly disturbing, and Alabaster's particular relationship with his Guardian, who he destroys and also saves, was really intriguing to me - I'd love to read something about what it was like for him to exert that kind of power, how much his choice came out of vengeance or self-preservation or compassion (which are so tangled up for him in all his decisions, really?), how he experiences the formalized and violence hierarchy which is the Guardian/orogene relationship.

Another period of his life which I'd really love fic about is his transformation into a Stone-Eater. I know we hear that his consciousness and memory are altered, perhaps unrecognizably from their original state, and I'd be curious to read an exploration of what that might be like for him, from the inside. Is their an ecstasy to that transformation, or a terror, or a relief? What does it mean for him as a culmination to all the losses of his human life? I'd love to read anything you come up with.

Some things I love in canon: apocalypses don’t always mean the end and endings aren’t that clean; people do ugly things to survive but they also do beautiful things; stone imagery everywhere; stone magic; transformation into stone; science fiction elements without losing the numinous; poly relationship as the best part of our characters’ lives; Alabaster and Syenite’s non-sexual love for each other; the nuance of what stigma does to you; the whole terrifying narrative of the Guardians

Dangerous Liasisons/Les liaisons dangereuses - Choderlos de Laclos Characters: Madame de Tourvel, Marquise de Merteuil

Prompt: The Merteuil and Tourvel never really interact in Les liaisons dangereuses! This has always bothered me. We get Mertueil making snide remarks about Tourvel's clothing, we know they've interacted socially, we know Merteuil is devouring all the details of Tourvel's conquest but...that's really all we get, for the most part. And I always wanted more; it felt like a missing piece to the elaborate polygon of relationships which is this book.

I feel like Tourvel is the moral center of the book in a lot of ways, and Merteuil's underestimation of her is crucial to the plot, but also means their interaction could be electric and exciting. Tourvel has actual principles, and Merteuil doesn't believe in those principles! What would that look like between them? Merteuil/Tourvel would be really cool, whether it entailed a straightforward power dynamic with Merteuil in control or something more unexpected and shifting. But a more ideological or intellectual contest would also really excite me. What if Tourvel became aware of the extent of Merteuil's manipulations in her life and decided to do something about it? What if Merteuil decided to mess with Valmont by manipulating Tourvel directly? What if Tourvel someone ended up as a support to Cecile, and Merteuil had to step in order to keep her long game moving? I'd be okay with some degree of Tourvel/Valmont/Merteuil for this prompt, but I'd prefer for the interactions between the women to be foregrounded, even if Valmont is the vehicle to get them there.

Some things I love in canon: epistolarity (2nd greatest epistolary novel in history!); character revealed through text; libertines are fascinating and hilarious but also ultimately self-deceiving hypocrites; everyone is manipulating everyone else and we the readers get to watch; how insidious dynamics of coercion are; Merteuil as an object of admiration and horror and tragedy; going back and forth across the razor-thin line between fun, sexy seduction and the horror of coercion; did I mention epistolarity?

The Chronicles of Prydain - Lloyd Alexander Characters: Eilonwy

Prompt: Eilonwy is the beloved heroine of my childhood, and I so, so, so want more of her.

There are a lot of potential gaps to fill to do with Eilonwy's experience during different parts of the series, and I would be interested in reading about ideas for any of them; Prydain stays so tightly within Taran's perspective that there's a lot of room to be opened up. I am particularly interested in Eilonwy's relationship to her own magic and heritage and history, how she comes to integrate those elements into her sense of herself either during or after the series. Eilonwy has a wonderful, delightful whimsy and way of moving through the world but she is also holds a lot of complex contradictions in her identity, and it would be amazing to have some of those drawn out (those if you want to keep Alexander's tone of whimsy, I'd be perfectly happy to have that as well!).

I am also so, so interested in Eilonwy's relationship to Achren, both before the series and during Castle of Llyr. Achren was probably my first childhood literary crush, and I've always been curious what it would have been like for Eilonwy to grow up around this charismatic, gorgeous, powerful sorceress who was frankly pretty horribly to her while also (I imagine?) being something of a role model. With this prompt I'd be happy with something that stays within the type of tone and content of the series, but also with something darker and messier, if you want to go there. Dark!Eilonwy AU where she stays working with Achren after the abduction in Llyr (either of her own free will or through magic compulsion) would awesome and exciting and if you wanted to write fucked-up Achren/Eilonwy I would be totally into it (though, if you do so, please keep that with Eilonwy either at the age she is in Llyr or older, though I know the mentor/student dynamics are unavoidable and certainly part of the interest).

Some things I love in canon: intensely lovable characters; the everyday and the mysterious as mingled; the amazing smooth transitions between whimsy and tragedy; the gentleness of the narration and everyone’s care for each other; even in a children’s book ethics are still hard; a castle called Spiral Castle; the fact that the magic never really gets explained; the importance of work and commitment and dedication; oracular pigs

[queerbookscoolmugs]

Mid Year Book Freakout

Mid-Year Book Freak Out

I was tagged by the wonderful @i-breathe-therefore-i-read!

1. Best book you’ve read so far this year? The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

2. Best sequel you’ve read so far this year? A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

3. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to? SO MANY!!! Namely River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey and The Waking Land by Callie Bates

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year: Warcross, Wonder Woman, All the Crooked Saints, Wicked Like Wildfire, Before She Ignites

5. Biggest disappointment: Carry On. I tried at least 3 times to read this because everyone raves about it but I just couldn’t make myself finish it. 

6. Biggest surprise: A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee. I came in expecting very little from a YA period romance but it was surprisingly self aware. Not only did it deal with queer characters, but feminism, racism and chronic illness in period will still remaining a fun story with a happy, fulfilling ending.

7. Favorite new author: Raina Telgemeier. She writes and illustrates YR graphic novels( including an adorable incarnation of The Baby sitter’s club, which just swells my nostalgic 90′s heart). Her art style is soft and fun, while dealing with heavy issues like self esteem, family troubles, and illness.  

8. Newest fictional crush: Wonder Woman ala Greg Rucka’s DC rebirth run( not new so much as reawakened)

9. Newest favorite character: Rhy Maresh of V.E. Shwabs Shades of Magic series

10. Book that made you cry: A Conjuring of Light by V. E. Schwab( such a good tie up for the series!!!!)

11. Book that made you happy: Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner. I was so excited to jump back into this universe and as usual MWT didn’t disappoint!

12. Most beautiful book you’ve acquired this year: Frogkisser by Garth Nix! I haven’t read it yet but the cover is so beautiful!!!

13. What books do you need to read by the end of the year? A Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz,

14. Favourite Book Community Member: I have too many to choose!

I tag: @aliteraryprincess @oh-how-perceptive-of-you @districtcutie and anyone else up for it!

[bygoneboy]

hi hal, sorry if this is a bit of random question, I love your writing style a lot and I was just wondering if I could ask you what titles/books and other literature do you think have influenced you and shaped you as a writer? I'd also just love to know what some of your favourite books are.

wow thanks so much!! i had to really think about this one but here’s a short list of authors i love and who’ve inspired me:

brian jacques – the redwall series was my life when i was younger, and the first books i really devoured. i got to meet mr. jacques a few years before he died, and he was crazy sweet and inspiring.

ursula le guin – searoad, left hand of darkness, the wizard of earthsea, and the dispossessed all very literally changed and saved my life

richard siken – i would deadass marry him right now if he asked, he’s a master of poetry and he spins worlds out of words

megan whalen turner – sort of a cryptid author who’s very good at hiding everyone’s true intentions until the very last second, and then wowing the fuck out of you with character development

mike mills – he’s a screenwriter, but he’s one of the most influential writers for me. he has an amazing handle on narration and i aspire to become some second-rate version of him at the very least 

and specific books i love:

the sound & the fury – i hate faulkner generally, but this book turned the way i think about literary flow and plot upside-down

les misérables – ugh i read this book for the first time in 8th grade and never looked back, i own like five different copies of different translations and i adore every one of them to little pieces

the song of achilles – this book is not only life-changing as an mlm romance– and a retelling of the iliad– but it’s also one of the books that brought first person pov back to life for me

a visit from the goon squad – so good, so freaking good. one of those slice of life stories that feels more significant than you expected it to

ptolemy’s gate – this is the last book in a trilogy (although there ended up being a prequel written later) and i think it’s one of the first books that really tore my heart out. all the waterworks, emotional rollercoaster, incredible.