#i can do anything because i’m kvothe

[fictional-orphan-smackdown]

Honestly I don't have any similarities between these two. But still, ORPHAN FIGHT, GO!

All propaganda and what each competitor is from under the cut

Aladdin (Twisted) (Yes both people individually submitted the Twisted version of Aladdin specifically. I've never been prouder of this community.)

Aladdin has a sad, tragic past: he was orphaned at 33. How is a 33 year old child supposed to know how to look after himself, or what's right and wrong? Despite his tragic loss he put in all this hard work to steal anything he wanted. And he wants to make sure when he has kids they'll never go through the same thing: he's going to live forever.

This man has a whole song about being orphaned. Was it when he was 33, yes, but that’s besides the point. He is a horrible little creature and it is hilarious that he sings that song after the twist towards the end that I’m going to leave out for spoiler reasons. I just think he deserves to get beaten by every other more tolerable and heart wrenching orphan.

Kvothe (The Kingkiller Chronicle)

Oh, Kvothe. An only child, his parents and adopted family are killed when he's still quite young. He vows revenge and sets to find their assassins as he grows up, first barely scrapping by and then getting out of the street and getting himself an education as an Arcanist (aka someone who can do magic) through great pains. He's cunning, has a good heart and yearns for justice no matter what it cost him and knows how to defend himself because he went through much hardship. His favorite -and only for most of the time- possession is his luth. His parents were musicians and his father taught him to play it. That's for the story he tells years later, but you also get glimpse of the life he's living now in the books. Kvothe has become an inkeeper and hides his identity since he's become quite famous as an Arcanist and quite a legend. He has a fae assistant helping him running the inn he's teaching magic to. He's still compassionate but quite subdued and unwilling to come back to the life of a hero. He's about 25 then and quite tired, yearning for a quite life

trope-master Kvothe becomes a classic Dickensian orphan hustling and begging on the rough streets of Tarbean to a plucky and precocious young student at University to a self-made young adult reflecting on his orphan status while his friends talk about their families and going on mini quests to find out more about his parents' killers (usually with disastrous results)

[leclerced]

do u have any book recs??

i wanna cry because i typed out like such long recs and i have to do it again. i love reading so buckle in. i’m saving the best for last

if you want short sweet summer romances, i like sarah dessen. they’re all kind of interlinked because they’re in the same universe so once you’ve read a few you’ll notice similarities like cities mentioned, vacation beach towns, the social media apps they use. no need to read in any specific order or anything. i love this lullaby and along for the ride most i think. i used to read these as a teen and would read literally one each day.

i love the cruel prince series by holly black, anything by holly black is good if you like fae, but that one especially. it’s about a mortal girl who lives in the fae world and is raised with the royalty because her adoptive father is like a general to the king? she helps overthrow the kingdom and makes one of the princes a king even though he doesn’t want to be king. enemies to lovers. they hate each other until they don’t. there’s a scene where she’s holding him hostage with a knife to his throat and im pretty sure he begs her to kiss him. its super hot.

the raven cycle by maggie stiefvater is incredible. it’s about a psychic’s daughter who doesn’t have powers of her own, she just amplifies energies. every psychic has always told her the same thing; if she kisses her true love, he will die. what happens when she goes searching for a dead king who grants wishes and falls in love with four boys??? has sm longing it makes me SICK i have reread it sm times. also has a sequel trilogy called the dreamer trilogy that made my head SPIN. if you like audio books i wholeheartedly recommend this one because it’s set in virginia and the narrator’s thick accent is incredible imo.

now the best. the king killer chronicles by patrick rothfus is my favorite unfinished series and has been for ten years running just about. i have reread it multiple times a year. i remember reading this for the first time and not being able to get into it because it was so slow, it took me like a hundred pages out of seven hundred or so. there’s now an illustrated version out that is absolutely breathtaking. i met the author and had like three books signed by him. im shaking thinking about it!! i have begged people to read this book more times than i can count. i also recommend these as audio books but there are two different ones and i prefer the ones by nick podehl.

it’s set in a fictional world with a magic system that has a well defined set of rules based on science and only people who study it and train their minds can use it. our protagonist is essentially a savant who can do anything but also an idiot who doesn’t think things through. you’ll see what i mean. i love him. there are a million things i love about this series. the world, the prose, the characters. he travels around the world so you get to see a variety of different cultures the author created inspired by real life. my favorite are the adem, they’re not really brought up until the second book but they are silent mercenaries for hire who have a secret hand language and are the best fighters in the world. speaking and music are barbaric to them, so when our loud mouth musician shows up in their part of the world and wants to know their secrets it causes trouble!

it’s got a frame story that follows an innkeeper in a war torn world, out in the middle of nowhere. it’s the only inn in sight so it’s where townsfolk gather after working a long day, and the first insight you get into the magic of the world is from them as they tell stories over dinner. the innkeeper has an assistant named bast who you’ll learn is a high ranking member of the fae. a scribe shows up and claims that the meager innkeeper is actually the infamous kingkiller, kvothe. after denying it a bit, he concedes and agrees to tell his story but it has to be in three parts over three days. as he tells the story of his life and how he gained such notoriety it’ll cut back to the frame story when townsfolk come in or they take a break for a meal. i cannot summarize it well enough because it is So Much but below is the publisher description.

“The tale of Kvothe, from his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, to years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a difficult and dangerous school of magic. In these pages, you will come to know Kvothe as a notorious magician, an accomplished thief, a masterful musician, and an infamous assassin. But this book is so much more, for the story it tells reveals the truth behind Kvothe's legend.”

There is also this line from the novel which he says when he begins his life story and i love how cocky and arrogant he sounds bc tbh hes just baby. “My name is Kvothe. I have stolen princesses from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the university at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during the day. I have talked to gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep. You may have heard of me.”

i could write so much about these books. this is me begging someone to read any of them and talk to me about them because i have years worth of thoughts.

[summ]

modern genderswap kkc, starring me as kingkiller dulator lightfinger kvothe the bloodless 21st century arcane witch. known also as My Main Coping Fantasy

[gunkreads]

So. Again. Still rereading Kingkiller. Halfway through Wise Man’s Fear, just got past The Line Of All Time and then Kvothe and Denna’s big fight. The Line just... I don’t have a way to explain how much I love it without collapsing into a gibbering mess. I don’t have the book in front of me but it’s the “all these men trying to sweep me off my feet” line. The whole walk-in-the-gardens scene leading up to it, the selas flowers, it being the culmination of their entire time together in Severen, and the reread-knowledge that this is the last good thing they have together before the fight... It’s the pinnacle of pining. It’s the first time Denna has ever had to ask for something from a man, besides space! She’s been put through so much against her will, and the very first time she actually wants it for herself, she has to ask. She says out loud that it’s weird, and it’s so sad to put it all together!

Especially when you remember her reaction to Kvothe’s reaction to the lute case. She immediately starts tearing at herself, calling herself a worthless idiot, because she made one mistake. She pushed one wrong button. Kvothe loves her more than anything in the world, he forgives her on the spot with zero hesitation, and she’s just devastated that she caused him pain. Knowing that she worked up the courage to ask something of him after THAT? Insane. Knocks me flat. Heart-rendingly bittersweet. She loves this guy so goddamn much, is absolutely terrified of losing him, and is already on the very precipice of tension because she knows she fucked up once and she can’t bear to think that he’ll push her away if she does it again. In her eyes, everything she touches turns to shit. So far, Kvothe has outlasted most things, but she still probably thinks it’s only a matter of time before she ruins their relationship.

Okay and actually another note about the lute case thing: that kind of self-effacing rant is something you only do when you think the person is already gone. You say that stuff when, even though they’re sitting in front of you, they’re miles away and out of reach. You say those things to yourself, because you think that you’re less than dirt to them. Denna does this because, in my opinion, she thinks that this one mistake will send Kvothe into the wind and she’ll never see him again. You gotta remember, she looks for him about as hard as he looks for her. She wants to spend time with him too. Kvothe spending 50 hours in the Fishery every week for six months is no different than Denna spending a month working her way into some rich guy’s graces. She spends all this time trying to stay afloat, trying to keep her head above water, burning as much time as she can trying to steal another minute with Kvothe, and when she finally has a chance to do something good for her only friend in the world, she accidentally hurts him! Fuck me up dude! It’s so tragic! It’s so compelling!

sorry I’m done now i’m relaxed. i’m relaxed. i’m relaxed

[glittercracker]

Kingkiller Crap

So, I’ve never really posted much here that involves my own thoughts. There are a number of reasons why, but whatever. I feel the need NOW to post some thoughts, and having no working independent blog (yet!) I suppose this is the place to dump them. PSA: none of this is about anime. None of this is frivolous or fun. TW for sexual abuse. You have been warned! So. I’ve been rereading the Kingkiller Chronicles. aka “Name of the Wind” and “The Wise Man’s Fear” and “That Other One That Shall Not Be Named.” This reread was, at the beginning, almost an afterthought. A way to keep my 13 yo happy on a 7 hour car ride. Except, he could not have cared less, and I got sucked back into the story (and okay, if that is how all our audiobook car rides go, meh? At least it keeps me sharp!) I raced through book one, and bought book 2 on audible with an eye to my upcoming surgery and recooperation. Book one was problematic in the places I remembered, but also as generally engaging as I remembered. And then book 2 happened, and surgery happened, and I have had weeks to lie in bed listening to this bloody interminable sequel, and I find myself lost in a morass of, “WTF was I ever THINKING?” Namely, how did I ever love this book enough to pine for the next? It’s been hard to put a finger on exactly what is making this time through book 2 both a slog and also vaguely, creepily uncomfortable, but if you’re interested, my rather stream-of-consciousness ramble of thoughts ensues. First, the male gaze that rears its head at times in book 1 predominates here. But while I don’t love the way Kvothe describes women, I also have 2 degrees in literature, and I’m beyond that being a reason not to read an otherwise engaging book. Second, Kvothe is a Gary Stu, for all of Rothfuss’s protestations to the contrary. Again, so far, so much traditional high fantasy. But while, say, Aragorn is content to just quietly be Awesome At Everything, Kvothe is a braggy little shit of a Gary Stu: the person you hated for announcing their perfect scores in that hs class you could never quite master. I could fill several pages with examples, but for some reason what really made me want to kick him in the head was not Felurian’s disbelief of his virginity (though really, jfc, REALLY?) Nope, it was the end of his time w the Ademrae (sp may be off, remember, I’m listening not reading!) when he crows about having learned the history of his sword 2 days earlier than expected. Why does this stick out? Oh, idk. Maybe bc he sucks so hard he can’t even get past the first obstacle in his practical final exam? Yet he still has to tell us how fucking awesome he is for remembering 6000 names of previous owners.

I know, I’m supposed to forgive his teenage idiocy. The internet sympathists (no pun intended!) keep telling me this. And I suppose that I would, IF this were a simple first-person narrative - but it isn’t. Let’s repeat that, and really think about it. This story is being narrated by an older and presumably wiser Kvothe who has lost everything - whose abilities have been expunged to the extent that he can’t open his own chest of Cool Stuff. He shows humility in his actions, mostly. And yet when discussing his 16 yo self, the humility evaporates, and he speaks with no kind of perspective or lens of accrued wisdom. He still compares women to instruments waiting for the “right” player (i.e. him) and defends this choice of words by saying, essentially, “You aren’t a musician, you don’t know!”

Interesting assumption for an innkeeper in a medieval-esque world. Interesting assumption if this is in fact authorial interjection, too, because I suspect the majority of this book’s audience *are* musicians to at least an extent, and I also suspect that the majority of us (yes, us - I own several beloved instruments, including a harp custom made for me as a wedding present from my husband) would not equate a human lover to even the most beloved of instruments.

But all of this is well-trodden critical ground. As far as I can tell, though, my third issue isn’t: although it’s perhaps the most glaringly tone-deaf example of all of Rothfuss’s excruciatingly tone-deaf portrayal of his world’s women. Namely, the two girls kidnapped and gang-raped by the fake Ruh.

Almost all of the criticism I’ve read on this section of TWMF concentrates on Kvothe’s treatment of the girls’ abusers. What’s interesting is that no one ever seems to write about Kvothe’s treatment of the girls themselves. Yes, he treats them kindly. He tends their wounds, he feeds them, he tries (and succeeds, of course) to draw Ellie out of her shocked stupor. 

Yet what he never once does, from the moment he takes control of the situation, is ask their opinions on any of this, including what their next step should be. He just decides to bring them back to their families - families who, in this type of society, might well disown them for being “ruined”. And the girls themselves, namely the intelligent and savvy Krin, seem to go blindly along with what he says. Why? Would Krin at least not question this, or object to his making decisions for her, when a group of men had so recently and brutally taken away all of her agency? Would she not question whether being brought back to her family is the best thing for the catatonic Ellie?

Okay, apparently not. So they return to their apparently very forgiving town. Kvothe stands up for the girls against the village shithead: thank you, Kvothe, bc I’m sure Krin could not have said those words herself. He assures the reader that they are with people who will love and care for them despite what has happened to them: thank you, Kvothe, though it’s stretching my credulity a bit that you would assume that no one will take issue with their deflowering. But then he “gifts” the girls the spoils of his slaughter: the horses, the valuables, the wagons. And I was about to give him a (grudging) pass for being decent about this, EXCEPT: he goes on to say that these goods are meant for the girls’ dowries. Specifically, to make them worth enough financially for potential husbands to overlook their loss of virginity. He even tells Krin not to settle for a less-than-lucrative marriage.

And suddenly, I was outraged. Why? Because a man who had witnessed the full extend of these women’s abuse brought them back to a backwater town believing that he was being magnanimous both in doing so, and in giving up whatever share he might have taken of the spoils of the debacle to make them financially lucrative marriage prospects. Because he never asked these traumatized girls if they might rather cut and run with the money than use it to make some man overlook their abuse in order to make them his property. He never even questions the idea that they will be grateful to submit to marriage contracts that will no doubt require them to have sex with their husbands, even though these women have been abused to the extent that they cannot sit a horse for *two days* after being rescued. And the worst part is that 20-something frame-story Kvothe doesn’t question this either; he just goes on to gloat about people singing songs about his daring rescue. Maybe I was just ready for a straw to break my benefit of the doubt. Or maybe this really is as outrageous as it feels. Either way, I can’t help being angry at Rothfuss. As a writer, I am very well aware that character and author are not the same thing; that authorial intent is not the same as authorial beliefs. But there are moments in some books when I have to wonder if that line is blurring, and this is one of them. Kvothe has literally JUST left a female-dominated country full of independent women happily doing their own thing. He has given these girls the means to find themselves a situation that will never require them to be beholden to a man again - even houses ffs, in the shape of those 2 wagons, should they want them. There are so many options beyond marriage: I can’t, for instance, think of a medieval society that didn’t have its version of a convent. Or, for Krin at least, why not the University? For that matter, why not marry her himself, and then set her free to do as she likes under the awning of a respectable marriage? 

Instead he returns them to their fathers, and likewise gives their fathers the means to marry them off with no argument. Who, after all, holds the reins of the horses at the end? Why does Kvothe assume that these families will actually use the wealth even in the dubious way that he recommends?

And in this, I think, I am justified in giving Rothfuss the stink-eye. This is one more instance for Kvothe to play the hero with no real attention given to the consequences. Kvothe himself, I think, would be appalled. He has suffered so much deprivation in his life, so often been marginalized, scapegoated, powerless, how on earth could he so easily consign others to that fate? How could he think, loving Denna as he does, having heard her words to the beaten girl in Severin, that buying these girls husbands who will “overlook” their abuse for the sake of wealth is anything but a wretched life sentence for them?

Sigh. There was a time when I desperate awaited book three. Now, given the other women’s lives at stake in this series, I’m not so sure I want to know.

[incorrectkingkillerquotes]

The Name of the Wind Covers Ranked

So, like many of you, I knew of 5 covers off the top of my head, so I thought I would rank them, cause I have clear favorites. Turns out, there are WAY MORE!!!! (which is silly that I forgot that, obvs all the different countries have v different countries) 

10. I think this is the first edition and wow. . .I mean, it’s relevant. the artist clearly read the book, so I can respect that. He has red hair, he has a lute, the wind is blowing. But like, this style does not do it for me. Maybe he’s shirtless cause like, the shirt he’s wearing is falling apart? And he only has one extra, cause you know. It’s very dramtic, which I suppose is fitting of the story. But like, the style is so dark and dusty and it just looks awkward. But hey, they tried, you know.

1/10 covers

9. Here again, we see some effort. I mean, here are leaves being blown in the wind, so it’s at least a little relevant. But the color scheme is terrible, you can barely see anything on the cover!!! The font is also pretty cool. But what does that face have to do with anything??? Is it one of the Chandrian? idk guys. 

2/10 covers 

8. This is just so . . .generic??? The color scheme is nice, I love a good purple, but I don’t feel like anyone tried. And what is that . . .statue??? It does not feel relevant at all. (btw this is the Portugal cover) 

2.5/10 covers 

7. When they released the cover, I was excited. And then I saw it. It’s not bad, but I didn’t love it. It’s very abstract, which I appreciate. And the color scheme was interesting. And there’s wind and a broken lute, so it’s totally relevant. It’s more personal taste than anything, but I’m not here for it. 

4/10 covers 

6. Okay, so now we are officially switching over to the covers I like. This art style reminds me just a tad of my sister’s, so I like it a little bit more. I also love that Kvothe’s hair is a shock of red, floating around in the grey cover. It’s too long and the wrong style, but he looks young and the color scheme totally works for me. Also, yay, there is also clearly wind on the cover as well!!! The torn shirt is a little much, but you can’t really see it, so it’s still fine for me. (This is also the first Japanese edition.)

6/10 covers 

5. I love this cover, I do. It makes my heart warm. But let’s be critical here: What does anything on the cover have to do with the story itself? There’s a cloaked figure, which I suppose could be Kvothe or Taborlin or anyone for that matter, but like, it’s very ambiguous. And the tree??? It’s not even a willow tree. Maybe it’s a reference to the broken tree, with one of his names? Maedre, right? So I love it but I cannot give it full credit. Great color scheme though. Truly, I love it. (This is one of the American versions, but it was not one of the first ones) (it’s the version I have XD)  

7/10 covers 

4. Again, with the trees and the cloaked figure. Not super relevant. Pretty generic. However, I always love when the title gets to become part of the art and how the cover is framed, and how it looks like one of the mysterious paths in the stories Kvothe loves hearing and telling so much. So thematically, it totally lines up. (This is the UK version) (My WMF copy is this same style XD) 

8/10 covers 

3. Half the reason these are up so high is because there is so MUCH on these three covers!!! It has an unfair advantage, but man, they are so fun!!! And Denna is on one of the covers??? Iconic. Kvothe has his lute in one, the wind is blowing in another, he has a book in the last, all of which are incredibly important parts of the book. Also the style is almost manga, which I love and is very different than the others. Unfortunately, these do not double as a make shift weapon in a fight. (these are the second Japanese editions). 

8.5/10 covers

2. I didn’t plan these out very well, but the more I look at this, the more I loved it, so it managed to squeak its way up the ranks. I love, love the color scheme. It feels dusty and like it belongs on a fairy tale retelling. The wind blowing a cloak, a green cloak, which he has in the books. His hair even looks red. I’m not sure why he has a bow in one hand, that’s never been Kvothe’s weapon of choice, but the whole scene feels like a missing part of the story. It feels oddly peaceful, but ominous, almost like the calm before the storm. So of course, it really fits the series. And the title font!!! So beautiful!!! (this is the Finnish version) 

9/10 covers. 

1. Again, I intended, before I started this post that my number 5 pick would be my number one. And then I looked at all the covers and started writing about them and I just . . . it just fit so well. The color scheme. . .wow. The lute as one of the focal points. The wind blowing everything around. The walking stick???? The title font with that freaking gorgeous “o”. Ugh. Like, I cannot get over this cover. It’s so perfect!!! *sigh* 

Which versions are your favorites? Least favorites? Which ones do you own? Which ones do you want to own? 

(also, yes, I know I left out versions, I can only include so many pictures in one post) (so feel free to reblog with a personal favorite or least favorite!!) 

[aventisz]

I'd love to hear your theory on how Elodin got into the fae 👀

Okay, but first lemme insert a cute Elodin scribble here ;)

Now, to the real thing~

First, I have to declare that I only read Rothfuss’ books inhungarian and I’m not sure how much the translation affected my understanding.Second, I never really theorized anything before in any fandom (except right now I’m in The Dragon Prince Hell with a buddy) sooo I mightmake wild guesses. I welcome any addition or criticism because I’m pretty sureyou (or a bunch of other people in the KKC fandom) have read these books waymore times than me and know way more about it as I do… and again, I feel like I’m bad at making theories and even tho I spent like forever organizing my thoughts it came out like rambling…

So then, let’s see how Elodin, my baby boi, has any relationto the Fae. Pretty much the only thing we know he knows something of the Fae isthat he recognized Kvothe’s enshade (is it how Kvothe’s cloak is called inenglish?). How the heck can he know that tho? I doubt he just recognized itbecause he read about in a book description or something. I’d guess he has seenone before. If he did, he either saw someone wearing it either in Temerant(which isn’t a common sight) or he’s been to the Fae realm. If he did so, itseems pretty suspicious that his visit was around the time he was Chancellor.He went there, somehow came back, went mad and somehow his student went nutstoo in the process. To be honest, I feel like if I add more to this that’d berather my headcanons than actually relying on the text. Other than that onecould think that Elodin sorta did the same thing as Kvothe: he went to Ademre,met Felurian but he just changed a wee bit more than Kvothe did. It would kindaexplain why Elodin is so interested in talking about sex. But I’m pretty surethat’d be just poor storytelling which I doubt papa Rothfuss would commit to.

So, instead, I’m thinking about something else: what isElodin is one of the Fae? I’m pretty sure some people out there could prove mewrong (you are more than welcome tho!) but hear me out: what if he’s a bitweird because he has zero idea about normal human social interactions? He asksof his students to tell him random facts because he’s fascinated with thisworld and wants to know more? He’s into being nude and having sex, because, theFae might be interested in that stuff in general (I’m not sure if all the Faeare tho, but Felurian and Bast are at least, I don’t know). Like, if he was oneof the Fae, that’d explain how he knows of the enshade. Also that part in Wiseman’ fear, where Kvothe meets Felurian: in every other sentence he describeshow Felurian’s eyes/voice/everything is similar to Elodin’s (now there’s thisthing that Kvothe’s eyes changed when he came back from the Fae realm too… I’lloverlook that because I can, lol). But then Elodin was admitted to theUniversity at a young age, right? Maybe either he was a lost little baby Faethen or simply he used some magic to make himself look young? He could behalf-fae too oh my heart… And even if the Fae have their own magic, I’m prettysure they can learn naming since I guess Bast knows it too (because in the end ofWMF, there are rings of various materials in his room). But then what happenedwhen Elodin was abdicated from being Chancellor? Maybe he organized a schooltrip to the Fae and it didn’t turn out well XD

So I dunno,  I’mhaving fun thinking about this stuff… and oh man Elodin looks even hotter withpointy ears so let me have some wild guessing X) And uh, in the end I hope this was somewhat enjoyable! If you got this far in reading, feel free to request KKC art XD

[thebookbandwagon]

Unpopular Opinions Book Tag

I’ve seen this list of tag prompts floating around and find them really fun to read and watch so here’s my take on it. This is just for fun and I’ve put the image of all the stuff I talk about below so you can skip over this post if you don’t like the idea of seeing potential criticisms of them. My Youtube version of this is here.

1.) A popular book or book series that you didn’t like

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. I read the first two in the trilogy and I just don’t connect on a personal level to any of the characters. I’ve enjoyed other books by this author but Mistborn just… doesn’t do it for me. I don’t have the level of emotional investment in the characters that I want and they don’t feel like vivid people to me.

2.) A popular book or book series that everyone else seems to hate but you love

Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat. I know not everyone hates this series, but there’s a fairly high proportion of the people who read it who end up hating it. Based on the negative reviews I’ve seen, many people’s reasons for hating it seems to be rooted in labelling it as problematic. While I agree there are a couple of elements of the series that aren’t handled with as much care as they should be, I still don’t think it’s quite as bad as some people make it out to be. It’s also a pet peeve that some people make it out as if an author having certain things happening in their stories means they endorse those things happening in real life and that’s just... not logical.

3.) An otp that you don’t like

99% of the time I just don’t care about pairings and there aren’t that many pairings I can think of that I actively dislike instead of just not caring. Buffy/Angel? I’m counting it as qualifying for this tag because it has comics. I never found a Buffy pairing I either liked or was neutral about. I found Buffy/Angel to be way too over the top and corny and too instant. I honestly have no idea what they talk about when they’re not dealing with various apocalypses and watching it made me realise where part of the inspiration for Twilight probably originated from.

4.) A popular book genre that you hardly reach for

Young Adult Fantasy that’s geared towards the older end of the spectrum. If I’m reading YA it’s either because I trust the author to write something I like in that genre or because I want to give myself a brain break and read something I can get through really quickly. I’ve found with the older end of the YA spectrum that there doesn’t seem to be much difference in the reading difficulty between YA and Adult within the fantasy genre so the genre usually just ends up not giving me what I want from it.

5.) A popular/beloved character that you do not like

Kvothe from The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I like there to be things characters are bad at and Kvothe was just way too good at every single thing he did for my taste. Never before have I been so invested in the main character of a book failing and I was left completely unsatisfied because at no point in The Name of the Wind does Kvothe fail when it isn’t because of being sabotaged by someone else. I know there are theories about how he’s an unreliable narrator but unless I see actual evidence on the page then I just don’t have the faith that he is. Saying that, I really did love the writing style so if Rothfuss writes anything not involving someone who I despise as much as Kvothe then I’d give it a go.

6.) A popular author that you can’t seem to get into

Leigh Bardugo? I’ve read Six of Crows, Crooked Kingdom, as well as Shadow and Bone and they were all fairly meh reads for me. I feel like my reasons for not being able to get into her books come down to my repeating previous points I’ve made because they’re a combination of the genre she writes in as well as me knowing I love the tropes and character archetypes she’s using but just not having the level of investment in her characters that I want.

Robin Hobb is another popular author I can’t get into. She has characters that feel much more vivid and writes within Adult Fantasy but her pacing is so so slow and I’m not patient enough as a reader to be able to get through her lengthy books.

7.) A popular book trope that you’re tired of seeing

Redemption = Death. I love a good villain eventually turning sides or an anti-hero/anti-villain having a good redemption arc but it seems like all these arcs inevitably end in their death and it just… doesn’t have to be that way. I’d find the story far more interesting if the redemption arc doesn’t end so abruptly and the person undergoing it has to figure out their new place in the world, how to live with themselves, and other people’s changing perceptions of them.

8.) A popular series that you have no interest in reading

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien. As a fantasy fan, peer pressure makes me feel obligated to like this series. I don’t like this series. I’ve attempted to read it three times and only managed on one of those times to get almost halfway through The Fellowship of the Ring. All the characters just don’t do anything for me (except you, Gollum) and I have no interest in what happens to them or the themes within the story.

Me not liking Lord of the Rings doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate what it’s done for the fantasy genre though and I’m well aware most of the series that I love probably wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the book that’s basically responsible for the catalyst of the genre of fantasy books that feature worldbuilding.

9.) What movie or TV show adaptation do you prefer more than the book?

Hmm. If I was only going off seasons 1-4 of Game of Thrones I’d go with that but considering what happened after I’m… ugh.

So instead I’m going with Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. Originally by Douglas Adams, it’s a very witty and quirky comedy book series with sci-fi and fantasy elements set in modern-day (which back then would’ve been around the 80s). It follows a detective who employs bizarre techniques like Zen Navigation:

“Rather than using conventional avenues of wayfinding like consulting a map, the Zen navigation method consists of finding someone who looks like they know where they’re going and following them. This is supposed to deliver the navigator to their destination, although its results are variable and often unexpected and unintended. It very rarely gets you where you wanted to go but always where you needed to be.”

The only issue I have with Douglas Adams is that his characters tend to be a bit on the caricature-ish side but this is something the TV show put a huge amount of effort into and it paid off so so well. I had my reservations about the show since, other than Dirk, it looked very Americanised but they actually did an incredible job. It’s funny, complex, wacky, unpredictable yet (sort of) makes sense. There are lots of warm fuzzy feelings between the main characters and it’s great. Also there’s a portal to a fantasy world where the knights fight each other with giant pairs of scissors. It’s an incredibly underrated Netflix Original series that always deserved more attention than it got.

[clownishpossum]

Answer the questions, then tag other people.

I was tagged by @lux-rae, thanks Sky!! c:

You can call me: Aja. Or Capra. Or Cap. Honestly, call me just about anything and it’ll make me soft. 

I’d describe myself as: I mean kinda a mess. But a mess who cares a lot? Who laughs a lot at stupid stuff and can’t take anything seriously, gets way too obsessed with stuff, and has a tendency to cry about friendship…?

Fictional characters that I identify with or am fond of: Izuku from bnha, N from pokemon. Kvothe from kkc. Alibaba from magi. Usopp from one piece. ///BarryLupMagnusAngusTaakoKravitz adventurezone because I can’t pick just one in the obsessive flurry I’m currently caught in

Three random facts about me:

1: My first word was doggie

2: I was reprimanded by my RA for having too many posters on my dorm wall but I have no plans to take any of them down. I also have a stinky pumpkin on my desk that I probably shouldn’t. 

3: Less of a fact and more of a brag but. I’ve taken three science tests since the beginning of college and I got 100% or higher on all three *finger guns*

Something little about my appearance that I kind of like: A lot of times my hair dries shitily but when it dries nice and it’s all soft and curly and fluffy? Or when it’s freshly cut or dyed? 10/10

An outfit that makes me feel powerful: I mean I’ve been feeling crop tops, heart shaped sunglasses, and hawaiian shirts recently. The most official ~outfit~ I can think of right now that makes me feel powerful is a white crop top, a black jacket with a rainbow across it, black ripped jeans, and my rainbow holographic doc martens. Which I realize makes me sound like kinda a ridiculous person. Like, that’s the type of wacky fake outfit you’d hear described in a wattpad fanfiction. But uhh. Here we are. 

An object that is special to me: I have a minccino plush that I treasure in particular because I got it during a rough time it’s very comforting to me. 

A compliment that made me feel warm inside: Lots of people have been telling me lately that I seem like I’ve gotten more calm and confident since coming to college, and that makes me 👀👀

Something I love about myself: Uhhhh lol. I know lots of scientific animal names...? does that qualify sjhjsdhs

Something I’d love to buy someone else: If I could I’d buy my friend who moved to away plane tickets so she could visit all her friends here. We all miss her. Also I’d love if I could buy me n my former emo friends tickets to the fall out boy green day weezer tour bc hot damn what a group of bands. 

Something I’d love to buy for myself: I’d love to get a portable blu-ray player, or just like. A tv and blu-ray player. So I could actually watch the movies I brought to college with me. 

Three things that make me really happy:

1: Looking at my TAZ graphic novels always makes me really happy...

2: Talkative affectionate cats

3: The feeling of being around friends you know and trust implicitly and can just completely goof off and release your inner dumbass around

Something I enjoyed recently: Yesterday my roommate and I went to the gym then got boba and went back to our dorm and watched star wars. And honestly? Ideal night. 

Songs stuck in my head recently: My head’s been rotating between This December by Ricky Montgomery, Good as Hell by Lizzo, and Gone for Good by The Shins. 

Something adorable I came across recently: The other day I was walking home from the bus stop and shuffling through the leaves and kicking them around and stuff, as I tend to do. And this group of girls heard me and turned around to look at me. And I had a moment of, “oh god. They’re gonna hit me with a condescending look.” But then they started shuffling through the leaves too and making piles and laughing and having fun and it was really wholesome,,,, 

If you wanted to know me better you should check out these things: Geez I feel like this is kinda a big question...? Definitely pokemon mystery dungeon explorers of the sky. probably pokemon black version too. The movies labyrinth and guardians of the galaxy...? Any of the shows/books/podcasts I mentioned characters from earlier. Uhh... Mustelids? Go check out mustelids. Get a good look at some stoats and martens. You’ll feel better.  

Something I can/will do to take care of myself in the coming days: I really want to get back into doing yoga! It’s been difficult because it’s just sorta awkward to do when I’m in a new place and I have a roommate sharing close quarters with me, plus I’ve just been really busy. But I feel like it helps me to relax and focus better... So I wanna start doing it regularly again. 

And I’m gonna tag @help-is-on-the-way @cazstiell @thelonelyabsol@shaggyturtlestudiostotallyradbro @ellixt-m @sunshineandshitpostss 

I know this is very long so I 100% get it if you don’t wanna do it skskjfhsd

But if you do. Cool! And if anyone else wants to do it...? Consider yourself tagged c:

[shitpostingfromthebarricade]

The People want a masterpost of fics you enjoyed!!

Okay, I’m trying this again, because yesterday my computer shut down just as I was about to post this and I needed some time to recover.

Most of the fics I enjoy fall into one of four categories: it made me laugh a lot, it made me feel empty inside, it made me think (it might be the writing style, the concept, or the formatting style they used), or Iconic.  I did have to add a fluff category for all three of those that I apparently had bookmarked.

The order here is meaningless, I just went down my bookmarks tab on AO3.  A lot of these authors also have other really excellent works, so I highly recommend exploring their other works!

If your work or username are not here, that doesn’t mean I don’t like it or think you’re a good author!  As I said, I just took these from my bookmarks–I literally have some of my favorite authors listed at the bottom whose works I have never bookmarked.  Similarly, we just have a lot of good authors in this fandom, and I forget many of them.  

I laughed:

Press One for Revolution by LoveKhaleesi (@arcoiriseglitter) & Zimriya (@zimriya)

ExR texting fic.  It had me in tears.  

Note: discontinued, but near enough to closure that it’s still worth the read.

Hit Me With Your Best Shot by TellThemStories (@tell-themstories)

ExR assassin AU fic, Grantaire’s perspective.  R is an assassin, Enjolras is his target.  It doesn’t quite work out the way he planned.

We’re All Stories, In The End by TheGlitterati (@kyrstin)

ExR crackfic, Jehan’s perspective (Enjolras’s perspective for a scene at the end)

Les Amours de Marius by Elenchus (@aporeticelenchus​)

Marisette crackfic (kind of fake dating, but not how you’re thinking of it), Marius’s perspective.  Marius recruits Bahorel and Grantaire (or rather, they recruit themselves) to make Marius’s grandfather more amenable to his engagement to Cosette.  

#Roommate Chronicles by IAmSlytherlocked & ImpulseRun

Marius & Courfeyrac friendship tumblr fic, Courfeyrac’s perspective.  Courfeyrac catalogs his roommate’s misadventures and the art of Pontmercying.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner by sigh_no_more (@babesatthebarricade)

ExR holiday fic, Enjolras’s perspective.  Cosette has asked him to attend their asshole bio-dad’s Thanksgiving dinner, but one Craigslist ad makes Enjolras slightly less begrudging in his attending.

Texting ‘Verse by Ladililn (@ladililn)

ExR texting fic.  Joly sends a text to the wrong chat.

How I Seduced Enjolras by Gwynplaine

ExR crackfic, Grantaire’s perspective.  My Immortal’s younger, smart Les Mis brother.

Note: this fic is rated explicit and contains explicit content throughout.  It is essential to the plot.  

I cried:

Just accept that all of these have a trigger warning attached, either for total whiplash or possible death/suicidal ideation.

Stereoscopic by TellThemStories (@tell-themstories​)

ExR?, Enjolras’s perspective.  Enjolras is working overseas for a year with only one-way video messages from his friends as communication.  He has a gradual revelation about his feelings for a certain cynic.

Orpheus, Play Yourself a Path From Hades by Sovin (@sovinly​)

ExR, Grantaire’s perspective.  Grantaire’s cancer returns, and he doesn’t tell anyone.  No dialogue.

If You Ever Come Back by MissAndrogyny (@missandrogyny​)

ExR break-up/make-up fic, alternating perspectives from work to work.

World War II AU by LoveKhaleesi (@arcoiriseglitter​)

ExR WWII AU fic, Enjolras’s perspective.  Enjolras and Eponine are harboring a Jewish fugitive.

The only fic I will ever accept the fix-it ending for.

Situational Irony by Ryssabeth

ExR fic, mostly Enjolras’s perspective (I’m not a masochist, I’m not rereading this on a lovely Sunday morning to check).  Coping with Grantaire’s death.

Barricade Dawn by Opium_du_Peuple (@just-french-me-up)

Jehanparnasse fic, Jehan’s perspective.  Jehan is trying to write a good-bye letter to Montparnasse in case he doesn’t return from the barricade.

Note: this has an explicit content rating.  The explicit content is most of the middle and nonessential to the plot, you can read just the beginning and the end.

I think this is also the only canon period fic.  Whatever that’s worth.

Life is Only Moments by Raeldaza (@raeldaza)

ExR fic, Enjolras’s perspective.  Enjolras reflects over the years of his and Grantaire’s friendship.

This has a fix-it ending, and that’s all well and good, but I prefer the suffering.

Serenata by IbbyLiv

ExR post-breakup fic, Enjolras’s perspective.  Enjolras writes notes to Grantaire after he leaves.

Apparently this is basically just a song with some different words swapped in and out.  I can’t say I care about anything but the emotions that bubble forth when i read it.

Cheers, Darlin’ by onemillionbranches

ExT post-breakup fic, Grantaire’s perspective.  Enjolras is getting married, and Grantaire helps.

It moved me, Bob:

I’m also including what about each one really made me think, because of the nature of this category.

Beautiful Things Have Dents and Scratches Too by A_New_World_To_Be_Won

ExR feelings fic, alternating perspectives.  Definitely makes you feel sad, but it has resolution.

I love how raw the writing style is and how directly it translates into pure emotion.

Tin Can by ejr

ExR relationship progression fic, alternating perspectives.  

This prose style intrigues me, and I really enjoy it and its application.

You Never Have to Wonder; You Never Have to Ask by GamesForMay

ExR fic, Grantaire’s perspective.  18 months after a major protest, Grantaire returns to Paris for Cosette and Marius’s wedding.

The!  Motifs!  Are!  So!  Good!  The way Enjolras is shaped and Grantaire’s decision is set before them…and I love the moment all of  this revolves around that happened 18 months ago.  It’s just a gorgeous piece.

Golden by the_sky_is_forever (@theskyis-forever)

ExR post-breakup fic, alternating perspective.  Enjolras goes to Grantaire’s first art gallery since he left the artist.

Okay, so this is also a sad fic.  But!!  I value the artistry of the writing and love how they were able to pull and shape the emotions with the way they handled their words and sentences and phrasing.

Primary Relations - A Politician’s Journey rev 2-1.avi by Samyazaz (@samyazaz)

ExR documentary fic.  Enjolras is running for president, and Grantaire is documenting it.

The prose is so interesting and inspired a yet-unpublished fic I’ve been working on!  It can be difficult to write from this perspective, and I think they handled it really well.

Have & Hold by arriviste (@arrivisting)

ExR fake-marriage fic.  Enjolras wants to make a political point about gay marriage and meets less resistance than he expected.

This is probably the only fake marriage fic I will ever love and appreciate because the author did such a great job representing the unhealthy feelings involved when you go from zero feelings to being married.

Dismantling Oppressive Establishments, Teamwork, And Other Things Your Coach Never Taught You by AnnaBolena (@annabrolena)

ExR mixed media fic, alternating perspectives.  

Usually stories that get told half through dialogue and half through articles drive me nuts with their incongruence and messiness with image formatting, but this author did a phenomenal job with the article styles and telling the story and keeping me interested without bogging the whole thing down with extra formatting. 

If There’s No One Beside You (When Your Soul Embarks) by ToBeFerre

ExR reincarnation fic, Grantaire’s perspective.  Everyone is back except Enjolras, and Grantaire is trying to keep the club running until Enjolras’s return.

I just really love the concept of the anxiety they carry and the ways they’ve changed since the first time around.

Felled By You, Held By You by EyeOfAHurricane (@eyeofahurricaneart)

ExR progression fic, alternating perspective.  Grantaire falls in and out of love with Enjolras.

The concept of love and affections being ephemeral things, the way that love moves more quickly for some than others, and the seasonal symbols made me start thinking and inspired another yet-incomplete fic.

Iconic:

The World Ain’t Ready by IdiopathicSmile (@idiopath-fic-smile)

ExR fake-dating fic, Grantaire’s perspective.  I’m not providing a description because this is required reading for anyone in the Les Mis fandom.  Just read it if you haven’t yet.

Friday I’m in Love by The Librarina (tears_of_nienna) (@thelibrarina)

ExR fake-dating fic, Enjolras’s perspective.  Enjolras is going to his family’s summer residence for a week and needs a way to stick it to his parents.

Words Never Spoken by StrawberryBubbles

ExR soulmate AU, Enjolras’s perspective.  Your first words with your soulmate are supposed to appear when you turn 18, but Enjolras’s never do.

Your Heart on Your Skin by Zade (@racetrackthehiggins)

ExR soulmate AU, Grantaire’s perspective.  Flowers appear on your body that represent different qualities about you as you experience life experiences that bring them about.

The Season Underwater by andtheheir

ExR swimteam AU fic, Grantaire’s perspective.  Grantaire is put on the varsity swimteam for his junior year and really doesn’t want to let Enjolras down.

This fic is just really beautifully written and really started to make me think about my writing style and start experimenting with it more.

BE by ToTheWillOfThePeople (@kvothes)

ExR theater AU fic, Enjolras’s perspective.  Enjolras is roped into directing a production of Hamlet.

Arcadia Ballet!Verse by Darrenjolras

ExR ballet AU fic, Grantaire’s perspective.  Grantaire shot his mouth off at some gorgeous up and coming dancer, and now he has to choreograph an entire ballet.

Fluff:

In Love When You Wake Me Up by BethXP

ExR fic, Enjolras’s perspective.  Enjolras wakes up from his surgery high and in the presence of his two best friends and a third person.

These Are Some of my Favorite Things (The Post-It-Note!fic) by Zimriya (@zimriya)

ExR fic, Grantaire’s perspective.  Enjolras has been leaving post-it notes on things (Grantaire) with seemingly no logic behind it.

Foregone Conclusion by Raeldaza (@raeldaza)

ExR fic, Enjolras’s perspective.  Enjolras is receiving gifts from an “anonymous source” (but he’s pretty sure he knows from whom).

As I was doing these, I realized that there are some others authors whose works I love that I didn’t have one or two fics I could choose to put up but still wanted to include (and there are probably more that I’m forgetting):

Myrmidryad (@myrmidryad)

Lovely, thorough writing style.

Sunfreckle (@mysunfreckle)

Lots of lovely Jehanparnasse!  They and Opium_du_Peuple are my go-to’s for Jehanparnasse content.

SarahYYY (@sarah-yyy)

So many ExR short stories!  Definitely peruse all of her stuff (though be aware–it’s a bit like Russian roulette for the sad stuff; there’s one in there that I was even prepared for and am still recovering from).

Lady_Ragnell

Everything by her is Just.  Iconic.  So good.

Noelia_g

Also really good.  (Sorry, I lost my steam by the end of writing this monster, I really do enjoy her work.)

If anyone knows the tumblrs for any of the authors that I haven’t already tagged, please DM me so I can add them in!

[sunlit-music]

Why I like the Kingkiller Chronicles.

Look, I’d like other tumblr blogs to stop implying that KKC fans are sexist with bad taste for reading KKC. They’re entitled to their opinion, but I have to disagree with them. Let’s look at their arguments:

Question: Why don’t you and other KKC fans read female and people of color authors? Why is KKC everywhere on tumblr?

My answer: There are tumblr blogs that love kkc, female and poc authors. One well known tumblr blog that loves KKC, poc and women authors is bookcub. I think bookcub makes some of the defenses I’m about to mention - apologies if I’m repeating what she or other tumblr bloggers have already said.

The KKC fandom bloggers on tumblr already read diverse authors from what I can see. To be fair, I’m fairly new to tumblr, so I don’t know everyone in the KKC fandom on tumblr.

Also, the KKC fandom is really small on tumblr, so I’m not sure why you think KKC is everywhere on tumblr blogs?

I do read female and people of color authors. I’ve posted a lot about Sarah Rees Brennan’s books, The Lynburn Legacy and the Demon’s Lexicon trilogy, and J K Rowling’s Harry Potter books.

Apologies if I make crappy spelling mistakes, my spellcheck is atrocious.

I’ve read women and poc authors, such as: Any mystery novel by Agatha Christie, especially the Hercule Poirot books and the Miss Marple series.

Lgbt authors and poets I like - I have so many, but my favourite ones are Scott Ryan Tracey (author), Malinda Lo (author), any poetry by Sappho (Ancient Greek poetess), and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. I also don’t like Lord Byron’s sexism towards women writers, but I like his writing.

Other female and or poc authors I like: Anything by Emily Rodda - especially Deltora Quest, Rowan of Rin series and the Teen Power Inc books.

Ten things I hate about me. By Randa Abdel-Fattah, who is Palestinian Muslim.

Tahereh Mafi. Iranian American author. Shatter Me series.

Cecilia Dart-Thornton. The Bitterbynde Trilogy.

Diana Wynne Jones, The Christopher Chant books.

N K Jemisin’s 100 thousand kingdoms trilogy books. I’ve already read and loved this trilogy prior to 2014. The last book in the series was published in 2011.

Cassandra Clare. Shadow hunter series - City of Glass. The Dark Artifices. Magnus Bane books.

Holly Black - Spiderwick Chronicles.

Malinda Lo - Ash, Adaptation, Inheritance, Tremontaine.

Robin McKinley - Beauty.

Ursula K LeGuin - Wizard of Earthsea, The ones who walk away from Omelas.

Ellen Kushner - Swordspoint and Privilege of the Sword.

JK Rowling - Harry Potter books.

Stranger (The Change series) - science fiction and fantasy young adult apocalyptic fiction, by Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith.

Crown Duel - fantasy, by Sherwood Smith.

Song of the Lioness, The Immortals, anything else by Tamora Pierce.

Question: You shouldn’t read Patrick Rothfuss because there’s better women writers and poc writers than him.

My answer: Actually, I can read what I want. My spare time, my hobbies, my decision. I agree it’s important to read women and poc authors too. ❤️ But that shouldn’t prevent me from reading KKC.

Question: Can’t you stop blogging about KKC? I don’t like KKC.

My answer: No, sorry. You’re entitled to your opinion, and I’m entitled to mine. If you don’t like my KKC posts, you can either scroll past them or stop reading my tumblr blog.

Question: aren’t you bothered that Patrick Rothfuss writes sexist parts in his books?

My answer: Yes. I like The Name of the Wind, but I was bothered by the lack of women in the first few chapters, and the constant tactless jokes made by Kvothe and his friend Sovoy about sex workers.

And Wise Man’s Fear is way less sexist than The Name of the Wind. Patrick Rothfuss takes on constructive criticism really well, hence why he has way more female characters who appear more often and have much more skills and knowledge than Kvothe.

Sexism in fantasy books is not solely a Rothfuss problem. Sexism appears in a lot of books by men, women and gender queer people, and I agree we should work hard to not write books with sexist messages, and include more equal number of well written female characters. 💕

Kvothe even gets female martial arts teachers from the Adem mercenaries. There are plenty of brave, smart, kind and interesting female characters, like Auri, Devi, Denna, Fela, Mola, and Kvothe’s mum Laurian.

Laurian was brave enough to leave a loveless arranged marriage and unsupportive family to marry Kvothe’s dad Arliden. And the antagonist Cinder said Laurian was tougher than Arliden.

Plus you get a book from Auri’s point of view, The Slow Regard of Silent Things.

I come across other authors who are really bad at taking constructive criticism from readers and even have the nerve to bully and sue readers who disagree politely. Authors who sue people for writing fanfiction. At least Patrick Rothfuss never does that.

I’ve read across plenty of books that are incredibly racist and frustrating. I’ve also been disappointed by books with negative and cruel portrayals of musicians. Say what you want about Rothfuss, he’s strongly anti racist and he respects musicians.

I’m a poc of South East Asian descent and I have relatives who play in a band and other relatives who play music in their spare time. I play piano as a hobby. I don’t have to worry about seeing racist rubbish or insults to musicians when I read any book by Rothfuss.

[eisenvulcanstein]

I've been tagged by @iamanartichoke! I'd like to thank the Academy...

Rules: tag 15 people you want to get to know better.

Relationship status: Married to a completely "normal" guy who somehow actually understands all my weirdness and finds it charming.

Favorite colors: Dark cobalt blue glass, iridescent white, and basically every jewel tone on the planet, so I guess my answer is "rainbow".

Lipstick or chapstick: It's complicated. I'm a goth at heart so I have a makeup bag full of lipstick in black, navy, gunmetal, blackberry, purple... you name it, I've got it. I'm also INTENSELY lazy, so I just pull out my hoard and rifle through it lovingly, then put on one of the 10,000 chapsticks I have scattered conveniently throughout the house and go.

Three favorite foods: Lol, only three? My Grandma Lita's cornbread stuffing, my pecan pie (I'm an ass about pecan pie, I like exactly ONE recipe, and it's my recipe), homemade corn tortillas. (Honorable mention for goat milk dulce de leche. Try it try it try it. Try it try it. 😉)

Song stuck in my head: The Drake Equation, by Helion Prime.

Last song I listened to: Silent Skies, also by Helion Prime. I've had them on a loop for two days now. I'm a huge ass nerd who loves metal and... there's actually NERD METAL. I'm in love. Their current vocalist plays DnD and has a degree in physics. They have a song about Star Trek. They literally play the song of my people.

Last movie I watched: Deadpool 2, the director's cut. They changed up one of the scenes for no reason I can discern.

Time: is an illusion.

Top three shows: The Great British Bake Off, This Old House, Star Trek (yes all of them, I can't pick just one of my children).

Books I'm currently reading: The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss. It's interesting and well-written but Kvothe keeps doing things that frustrate me and I keep having to stop so I don't open an interdimensional portal and start throwing things at him. Log Rhythms - Season 2, by DNash on ao3, part 2 of an ArmorEngineer fic series set in Star Trek: Enterprise. Tithe, by @whenas-in-silks, a Jareth/Sarah Labyrinth fic.

Last thing I googled: The "one does not simply" meme, because I couldn't believe LotR was that old. It feels like it came out yesterday.

How many blankets do you sleep with: One in summer, two in winter.

Dream trip: I'd take my husband to all the countries I lived in as an oil patch kid and show him all the cool stuff I got to see. Pyramids, castles, ancient forests, Roman forts, temples in the jungle, cathedrals. The best pizza place in the entire world. That one shop with dark chocolate ice cream that ruined me for All Other Chocolate Ice Creams. Road 9. The souk. The corniche with its beautiful mosaics and the fresh orange juice stands in the shape of giant oranges. We'd be gone at least 3 months, we'd fly business class the whole time, and the pets would come with us. No, since this is a dream trip, we'd fly on a private plane. The pets would go everywhere with us on levitating silk cushions and no matter where we were they'd have the perfect amount of shade. So an imaginary trip full of magic and mystery.

Anything you really want: For my parrot's treatment resistant epilepsy to just magically heal. For 2016 to reset. For my sister to leave her abusive boyfriend and come live with me. For the greenhouse gases that are about to kill us all to just poof! out of the atmosphere. For Beto O'Rourke to win. To not be infertile. To have a body like Jessica Rabbit, but with a functional rib cage.

Now for the fun part. I'm tagging @maneth985, @wisterings, @caffeinewitchcraft, @vmohlere, @rasareth, @girlbookwrm, @philosopherking1887, @filiabelialis, @illwynd, @galwednesday, @lasimo74allmyworld, @incredifishface, @veliseraptor, @fjuri-the-fury, @golikethatcat, @gaslightgallows

[schattengerissen]

It may have happened one night, but I don’t want to hear it from your personal perspective!

I’m going to take a few moments away from posting pretty pictures to talk about something writing-related that vexes me no end.

Namely, the prejudice (at least in fanfiction circles) against first person POV (that’s Point of View) amongst enough readers that it keeps arising as a topic.

Now, I fully admit I’m biased because my DA series The Contours of Shadows is entirely first person, and I would love it if every one of my followers and everyone reading this would also read it.

I know that’s unrealistic, just like I know the series would honestly suffer were I to rewrite it in third person to satisfy those people who refuse to so much as look at a first person story.

The sad fact I’ve had to face is there are people who will hit backspace so fast they’ll be in danger of hurting their finger the moment they discover my series is written in first person. I’ve had to simply resign myself to knowing there are people who will refuse to read my work for that single reason.

They won’t read a little to see if it’s well written. They won’t meet my narrator. They won’t give it so much as ten minutes to grab them. Because it’s first person.

And that’s what baffles me. If it were third person, they’d probably check it out at least. It it’s not their cup of tea, that’s fine. We all have our preferences.

But...

Where does this knee-jerk hatred for first person POV come from? I’ve read a plethora of reasons:

“YA is mostly first person, so first person is juvenile.”

“It’s too easy to write. I did it when I was twelve and it sucked, so all first person sucks.”

“I feel like it’s telling me I have to be that person.”

“No one who writes fanfic can write first person well.”

And the oddest: “I’ve read a few first person stories, and none of them were well-written.”

To respond to those common complaints in turn:

First person POV was being written long before anyone ever considered there might be a market for novels pandering primarily to adolescent readers. Just because you read some first person POV books as a teenager doesn’t mean that’s when and why people started using it, or that it’s only suitable for people under twenty.

Well done first person is not easier than third person. If anything, there are extra restrictions that one must consider due to the narrator’s limited knowledge of the events they’re relating. In addition, if the writer doesn’t know their narrator deeply and intimately, it will come across as disingenuous. You have to be able to inhabit your narrator completely, and the fact that twelve-year-old you couldn’t does not mean it’s an  impossible feat. It means you were twelve, and your third person narratives were probably not wonderful either.

The “telling me what to do” complaint is confusing first person with self-insert. First person should feel like the narrator is sitting across from you telling you their story. It’s not demanding anything extra from you. The narrator is just hoping you find their story interesting.

The “no fanfic writers can write first person” complaint is just weird. I’m sorry, but there’s so much poorly written third person fanfic, I don’t understand this one. It ties into the last objection about having read some poorly executed first person stories.

Sure, there are bad first person stories. Bad writing is not exclusive to one style or genre. The people who make this complaint have no doubt also read terrible third person fanfic, but for some reason they give it a pass while first person is condemned.

For anyone still reading at this point (thank you for sticking with it!), I have no problem with those who just don’t care for first person. I don’t like second person present tense, and can’t get into anything written in that mode so far. But if the writing was good enough, I’d give it a shot .

To my mind, the calibre of the writing is everything. Some stories work best in third person POV. Others work best in first person, or present tense, or when set to music. But to reject something out of hand without at least giving it a chance is…sad. You’ll never meet Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden, or  Patrick Rothfuss’s Kvothe, or Kim Harrison’s Rachel Morgan—just to name a very few in the Fantasy genre—because of a conviction that first person is no good.

If you prefer classic literature, would Moby Dick really have been a better book if it had begun, “He told people to call him Ishmael”?

I’m not telling anyone they have to love first person POV, but at least give the stories the same benefit of the doubt you extend to third person. I’ve yet to hear/read one person saying they refuse to look at any third person story because they read a few that sucked.

If you give them a chance, you just may be surprised. You might discover something wonderful that makes you laugh, or makes you feel something real, or even touches your soul.

And why would you lessen your chances to experience something lovely over something so arbitrary?

[bookcub]

no specific questions but consider this free rein to rant

(oh god, I wrote out a whole thing and then my computer crashed) 

Okay, so I get that people don’t like Denna, because they don’t find her scenes interesting or compelling or her dialogue isn’t funny or whatever, but hating her??? 

I do NOT get hating her. In my mind, hate is saved for people who are cruel and mean and hurt those around them and sadistic. Like Hemme, Ambrose, and Denna’s parton are all worthy of hate. And I realize that me and other people in the fandom singing Denna praises can be annoying if you aren’t a fan of her, but how does that make you hate a teenage girl, who is in poverty???? 

The people who hate her (I’m convinced) haven’t read the same book as me. She’s so lovely and complicated and everything I want in a character. And she is a great mirror character to Kvothe. 

Denna has proven to be a complex and dynamic character. We may not see all her motivations, but we hear enough of them to see that she is anything but a sadistic or flat character. She is not poorly written nor is she a bitch who is leading Kvothe on. 

She is: 

Caring and thoughtful (ie the lute case) 

Careless and thoughtless (ie the lute case) 

Dedicated (ie the lute case) 

Self sufficient (ie taking care of herself) 

Resourceful (ie taking advantage of rich guys with too much money) 

Low self esteem (ie think Kvothe is too good for her) 

Charming (ie men falling in love with her) 

Clever and witty (ie making Kvothe happy and laugh) 

Loyal (ie her relationship with both Kvothe and Geoffery) 

Street smart (ie carries a knife) 

Book smart (ie knowing about weight and falling, with the ants and draccus) 

Giving (ie the lute case) (look, it’s a great scene) 

Conclusion: I really think rereading the scenes with Denna are very important to understanding both the actual book, Kvothe, and empathy towards women as well. 

[alparlaboratories]

I know it’s no longer Valentine’s Day on most of the world but I still think we KKC fans should sit down for a moment and appreciate the beauty of the relatable dumbass that is Kvothe when it comes to love.

Here below is a list of every single time Denna hints that she loves him, but he doesn’t notice because he’s a dumbass:

-She asks him to go with her to Anilin when they part ways after meeting for the first time. You can tell how much she wants him to go with her.

-When they meet again on the Eolian she flirts heavily with him and like... come on, dude.

-The next time they meet Kvothe jokingly claims he’s a thief. Denna then stares directly at him and says with a serious tone: “Steal me.”

-When Kvothe mentions that there are seven words that will make someone love you, Denna reminds him that the first thing he said to her were seven words: “I was wondering what you’re doing here.” I don’t know how she could be more obvious.

-The whole thing with them discussing what flower represents them. 

-When they meet in Trebon and Kvothe says “Looks like I’m destined to be loveless.” And Denna says “There you go with your seven words again.”

-Later she literally, expicitly tells him that he’s already found the seven words and told them to her. How the fuck are you do dense my dude.

-When she’s delirious because of the denner resin and Kvothe has to listen to her breathing. She asks if he can hear anything special in the beat of her heart, and he says no. She asks him to listen again, more carefully. This one might be the most obvious so far.

-She tells him that he never “pushes” and he could stand to do it a little more. 

-After the whole Draccus debacle they have that conversation about killing the dragon and she says she doesn’t usually go for sequels, but she might change her mind. And then she looks at him.

And that’s only on the first book. I haven’t reread the second one in a while but I’ll make a similar list when I do. Happy Valentine to the most oblivious motherfucker in existence. How relatable he is.

[words-writ-in-starlight]

thank you so much omg Name of the Wind is SO FRUSTRATING, I tried reading it and just did NOT like the protagonist or the writing style or ANYTHING, and people KEEP RECOMMENDING IT TO ME

mhmhmhMHMHM you have come to the RIGHT PLACE

Okay, so first, a disclaimer: I read Name of the Wind four and a bit years ago and, despite my usually excellent memory for plots and characters, retained exactly jack and shit of the whole thing except for the arguments I wrote in my head about my frustration.  But like...I’ve been holding onto those for a long time, so just.  Sit tight and listen to me complain for a minute, I deserve this.

First and foremost, it’s pitched as this revolutionary take on...something, and if my life and the lives of everyone I love depended on it, I couldn’t tell you what it’s supposed to revolutionize.  It’s not even a particularly well-executed piece on Magic Has A Price, which is what I usually hear about (what with the very academic, scientific take on magic), the fucking early Dresden Files are better at that.  (Shit y’all, remember Toby Daye, the series I haven’t shut up about?  Magic Has A Price masterpiece right there.)  I mean, goddamn, @Patrick Rothfuss, I’m really sorry, but you’re never going to do Magic Is A Science better than Fullmetal Alchemist, which basically invented equivalent exchange, so just put that one to bed.  For actual revolutionary takes on various genres, I’d suggest Imperial Radch (scifi), The Wrath and the Dawn (fairy tale retelling), Stormdancer (steampunk/fantasy), Sunshine (paranormal urban), and Kencyrath Chronicles (epic fantasy).

Second, the main character is not likable.  There.  I said it.  I found Kvothe absolutely fucking insufferable in every way.  His “modern” self telling the story was, like, a little more tolerable, but for the majority of the novel he’s an arrogant twit too convinced of his own cleverness to drag his head out of his ass for long enough to actually get anything done.  It’s possible to do a very self-confident, clever character in a way that their arrogance is actually charming--King Arthur: Legend of the Sword comes to mind.  Shit, son, so does Roy Mustang, and half the other characters in FMA.  In books, I’d rec maybe Captive Prince (Laurent).  It’s important, if you’re doing that, to make sure that the character can actually put their money where their mouth is and do the thing they’re bragging about, or else make it a Learning Experience that sticks with them.  Kvothe ain’t that.  Kvothe is just completely baselessly sure that he’s going to be the best from the very beginning, despite evidence to the contrary, and I found it intolerably annoying.

Third, the universe is interesting, the magic is kind of a neat concept for all that it’s (from what I can tell) an Eragon bootleg, which is, of course, the child of LOTR and Star Wars almost exactly. But the writing style was like a fucking textbook.  I mean.  Goddamn.  Not exactly sweeping me away into the infinite Imagisphere with that.  And I’m not--my standards for evocative prose are not that high, the Animorphs books were written for thirteen-year-olds, but fuck me NotW was not remotely achieving it.  If you’re going to frontload that kind of technical jargon, you need to make it the point of the book, like The Martian, which is very up front about being a science ramble that enjoys what it’s doing, or else find a good balance like Sabriel, which is heavy on the technical angle of Abhorsen magic and glyphs and shit without sacrificing the characters.

Fourth, I dimly recall a girl who’s there for like a hot minute as a love interest?  I don’t think I remember any others?  So, you know...points off for that one.  It’s the 21st century.  Women, POC, the homosexual agenda, they should all be in there.  Thanks.

Fifth, the whole urban setup gets a lot of time and attention, but it’s just not...well done?  It’s just not.  It does not give a cohesive sense of place, nor an emotional connection to the people in that place.  Please, for the love of God, Jesus, and any other deities you want to throw in there, read the first book in the Kencyrath series, it is called God Stalk and it’s very good at this.  I’d also say Toby Daye, but that’s about a real place (San Francisco) rather than a fantasy setting, like NotW and God Stalk.

Sixth, and this is a writerly complaint, not an opinion, but: right, so, in the “modern” day when Kvothe is telling the story, some grand disaster is underway, right?  Am I making that up?  See, I’d never know if I was making it up, because it does not get a single goddamn mention in the main bulk of the novel.  That is a clear and evident sign that you need to critically reevaluate what part of the timeline is the main novel.  I’m not saying that your novel necessarily needs to be the worst day/month/week of your character’s life, but if you could have included the entire text of the novel in a page or two of emotionally laden dialogue or memories, you probably should have.  And don’t come at me with “Oh, Name of the Wind is the first in a series, things get underway later in the series” because if your FIRST BOOK does not grab me, I’m absolutely not giving you ANOTHER BOOK to get it done.  You want to set up some kind of heartwrenching Things Were Different Once arrangement?  Make me care about your characters and then drop bits of backstory as we go, or include a prologue, or get over your fear of flashbacks and use them judiciously. Crucially, give them a relationship to The Way Things Were and then use that relationship to make your reader upset for them.  Again, Toby Daye is a great example.  So is the Imperial Radch series by Anne Leckie.

Which brings me to seventh, which is that I am APPALLED that over the course of that entire goddamn book, there was not one single interpersonal relationship I ever came to give a damn about.  I think there was the girl, I think Kvothe might have had one (1) friend, I think there was a teacher?  And there was the kid Bast in the “modern” day, who I retained more of than literally anyone/anything else because he was the only person I gave a flying fuck about.  Again, I, the writer, am horrified about this, far more so than I, the reader.  The main thing that original content creators should take away from fanfic culture is that your readers will almost universally care more about the relationships between characters than anything else.  You are going to need a pretty balls-out crazy good universe and plot to smooth over a general lack of engaging relationships, and NotW just isn’t that good.  So, like, let that be a lesson.  I’m not recommending anything for this because this should be obvious.

EIGHTH, what...was the plot of the first book?  No, seriously, I was asking this when I finished it, too.  The only plot points I recall now are Kvothe deciding that he wanted to do The Magic, Kvothe conning his way into The School For The Magic (in, if I recall correctly, kind of a FMA ripoff?), something about a library for The Magic, a bunch of technical stuff about The Magic and Kvothe being an arrogant twit, and Kvothe getting whipped.  From what I remember, the entire book basically seemed to lead up to Kvothe getting whipped and ended shortly thereafter.  And, uh...how should I put this.  That’s.  Not a plot.  Again, that’s maybe a couple paragraphs of conversation between Kvothe and someone he cares about regarding the scars on his back, not an entire fucking novel.  Again, this should be obvious, I’m not recommending anything.

Anyway, TL;DR, NotW is ultimately a forgettable fantasy novel without anything in particular to distinguish it from a myriad of other unremarkably flawed fantasy novels, and I wouldn’t have any opinions on it whatsoever if people didn’t keep pitching it to me as the Second Coming of Tolkien, leGuin, McCaffrey, and fuck knows who else.  

A collection of the content I recommended here and why I recced them, plus some others:

Imperial Radch, Ann Leckie (unique scifi, excellent example of emotionally resonant flashbacks)

The Wrath and The Dawn, Renee Ahdieh (unique fairy tale retelling)

Stormdancer, Jay Kristoff (unique steampunk fantasy)

Sunshine, Robin McKinley (unique paranormal urban fantasy)

Kencyrath Chronicles, PC Hodgell (unique epic fantasy, well-executed fantasy cities and colleges)

Fullmetal Alchemist, Hiromu Arakawa (magic with a price, scientific magic, charmingly arrogant characters) (manga or Brotherhood anime)

October Daye, Seanan McGuire (magic with a price, emotionally resonant memories/prologue, well-executed urban locale)

Captive Prince, CS Pacat (charmingly arrogant/engagingly arrogant characters, well-executed political scheming)

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, dir. Guy Ritchie (charmingly arrogant characters, concise worldbuilding)

The Martian, Andy Weir (technical frontloading without being unreadable)

Sabriel, Garth Nix (technical magic and worldbuilding without losing character engagement)

Source and Shield Series, Moira J. Moore (unique urban non-Earth fantasy, charmingly arrogant characters, emotionally resonant conversations about the past)

Temeraire Series, Naomi Novik (technical worldbuilding without being unreadable, having a fucking plot in each book even if your overall plot is extremely big-picture and doesn’t show up until later)

The Wicked + The Divine, Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie (unique folklore retelling/urban fantasy, charmingly arrogant characters, having some fucking diversity)