#i love doppelgangers <3 i love identity horror <3

[spooksier]

i did not watch ofmd but your criticisms of s2 are exactly how i feel about the magnus protocol, which you speak very highly of. im curious what you see as different between their approaches to canonizing fandom or if you even agree with that analysis at all

yeah sure! so i personally wouldn’t say protocol is doing what ofmd did in terms of ~canonizing fandom~ because all the references to past events or the reappearance of archives-verse characters are in service to the building theme of doppelgangers/people who are almost you (also the writing is way tighter lol) and importantly, the main characters arent the same characters from archives so it’s not like theyre completely re-writing previous characters’ personalities to work better in fandom context

honestly what i see happening is rly interesting where i will listen to an episode of protocol saying one thing and come on here in the tag to see people completely reinterpreting said thing to fit better into the idea of a ~magnus archives…2!~ they personally have. which was bound to happen bc tma is so loved and projected on that for a lot of people the show they love is completely different to the show that aired but i do wonder how it’s affecting how people are understanding protocol now when there’s such a disconnect for some people between what’s happening and what it’s being interpreted as

but that just my humble onion :p

[albaricomics]

These are, in my opinion, the main 4 movies in which Nacho Sama got inspired to create That's Not My Neighbor

⚠️ TW for slightly disturbing movie posters

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Listing them all down:

Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, US, 1954).

A professional photographer with a broken leg whiles away the time by spying on his neighbors through his window. However, his pastime becomes serious when he witnesses an apparent murder.

Us (Jordan Peele, US, 2019).

Adelaide Wilson and her family are attacked by mysterious figures dressed in red. Upon closer inspection, the Wilsons realise that the intruders are exact lookalikes of them.

The Thing (John Carpenter, US, 1982).

A research team finds an alien being that has fallen from the sky and is starting to hunt them down. Things take a sinister turn when they realise that the creature can take the shape of its victims.

Rec (Paco Plaza & Jaume Balagueró, Spain, 2007).

A reporter with her cameraman accompany a group of firefighters on an emergency call to an apartment building to discover an infection spreading inside, with the building being sealed up and all occupants ordered to follow a strict quarantine.

None of this is oficially confirmed, but I've enjoyed the game x100 times more now that I have this bit much of context or just knowledge of some similar stories that could potentially be the inspiration behind.

I like that in Rear Window we have a genuine look and depiction of a neighborhood life in the 50s and general dynamics, in Us is the very horror of having a thing that looks exactly like you in front and threatening to take your life and identity away, The Thing is the most alike to the game since it's explicitly a doppelganger problem where the crew constantly have to check on each other to make sure they're with real people, and last but not least, Rec has this tension and horror growing increasingly as the neighbors panic and turn into each other trying to figure out who started an infection that will allow them not only to mask but to also transform into a horrific monster ready to bite. From this last one I love that the biological team that gets in to check on the situation look exactly like the DDD in their suits, that one of the neighbors is behind everything, and that the apartment they have to reach is 02 on the THIRD FLOOR... I hope that's a coincidence, Nacho.

I'll wrap it up, these are amazing movies, to this point they're mandatory hw (first one is suspense, even comical at times, but the other 3 are sci-fi/thriller/horror so be careful on that).

[someobscurereference]

HORROR TROPE OPINION TIME!! what are your thoughts on: werewolves, dopplegangers, body horror, haunted houses?

Horror tropes!! You love to see it!!! (Also, obvious TW for all the stuff I link below. I'm discussing horror here.)

Werewolves: "When is a monster not a monster? Oh, when you love it."

But also, just like. The heavy knowledge that you are a beast in sheep's clothing. There Is Something Wrong With You. Looking at your mom or your sister or your boyfriend and thinking about the blood on your teeth. The blood on their teeth. The copper between you. The dead meat in your garden.

Werewolves are very funny and can be done in super funny ways, but when it's Serious wolf time? Like full on running in the woods, heart pounding in your ears in fear, knowing there's only seconds before its you on your back in the cold dirt and your friend's teeth at your throat? Both of you standing on a knife's edge and you can fall either way? That's good.

Also don't even get me started on the metaphors for Werewolfism and The Other and what it means to identify with The Beast.

Doppelgangers: Doppelgangers! A thing that looks like you but isn't! I think this is a very good horror trope, but my earlier introduction to it was always from the perspective of the doppelganger??? Like. The copy looking at the body of the original person and thinking "that wasn't me but we were the same and now I've killed the original but I Feel like the original but who knows what the truth is; one of us is dead and it isn't me but who was that person, did they deserve more, could we both have lived, who is this stranger with my face could we have been the same once or if not who was I before--"

I'm rambling because it's hard to put into words but I think Doppelganger horror can work very well, but it overlaps a lot with the meaning of Identity and Who Gets To Live; Can We Both Live and other intrinsic questions that are interesting but hard to answer sometimes, depending on the story. I'm always very interested in the Doppelganger's POV more so than the original person's.

But also, like. The movies The Thing and Us are popular for obvious reasons, lol. So I think this is a trope that can be done well from either POV, but I also think it can be harder to pull off than your standard ghost story in a way too, depending on what you're trying to do with it.

Body Horror: This one is a little tough to answer because I think the many types of body horror can vary so much? I said before that I don't enjoy the Saw franchise or really Final Destination because they do a lot of gore and body horror that I find very gratuitous, and I don't care for that or appreciate that at all. I don't care for body horror that's just blood and gore for no reason. But also, I think being a werewolf counts as body horror in some genres, and I like that a lot.

I think I did a lot of body horror with my "that girl is a monster" series. Like, "this is a creature that mimics humans and was maybe or maybe not human at one time and now they're the rotting corpse equivalent to a venus flytrap" is a concept of body horror that I like! And that's just one of many examples of how you could with it! TMA (although again I've never finished it) did a lot of good body horror stuff in that regard too, and that was cool. (Like Jane Prentiss? The concept of "aw shit it's that bug woman again" that was a little funny in conception bc Jon didn't believe in shit until suddenly it wasn't funny and the characters were being chased by the horrific bug woman? That was good!)

I don't think body horror has to necessarily be visually dark or gory to be horrific either! Like I would consider this art to be body horror, technically. It's not really meant to be horrific in its intention, I think, but like! Growth as a literal growth! You have intrinsically changed "for the better" and also it's painful and you have tree limbs in your lungs! That's body horror!

(But also, just to be clear, this bloody art of a scene from RE7 is for sure up my alley too. So straight gore body horror is fine for me so long as the style is cool or something is being said here. If you're doing just Saw stuff, I'm not interested, but this beating heart with flowers and this art of Henry Fire Emblem being gored up by some crows are good examples of body horror I enjoy)

So tl;dr I do like body horror, but if you're not an artist with an aesthetic I love, I'm skipping your gore scenes and going straight to the monster transformation

Haunted Houses: This is. The ultimate trope for me. A haunted house. A haunted person. A haunting.

I feel like this one is hard to answer for me, so just know that 1. I love haunted houses and hauntings very much, 2. I think The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor are two types of Very Different haunting stories and I view both of them as Very Good in different ways, and 3. here are some links that I like that might help you identify how I feel about hauntings in other ways

xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx

[silenthillmutual]

horror/thriller movie recommendations based on your fave Danganronpa 1/2 character

the series in general: Saw (2004, dir. James Wan) - i can’t give much of a reasoning for this as i haven’t seen it but the “punishment fits the victim” trope appears to be a thing in Saw?

Makoto Naegi: It (2017, dir. Andres Muschietti) - as much about the power of friendship as it is about a fear beyond all others. the premise is probably relatively well known by now for the fact that there’s a big clown in it. content warnings: clowns, unsanitary, implied incest and csa.

Sayaka Maizono: Psycho (1960, dir. Alfred Hitchcock) - this suggestion is an incredibly cheap shot, please forgive me. famous film, not sure if i can talk too much about the plotline without giving away the most important part.

Mukuro Ikusaba: Us (2019, dir. Jordan Peele) - doppelgangers show up to wreak havoc on an american family. themes of identity theft. much bloodier than Get Out. 

Leon Kuwata: Scream (1996, dir. Wes Craven) - admittedly haven’t seen this either yet. i know, i know, i’m a fake horror fan. but i know that it was made as a sort of tongue-in-cheek homage to the tropeyness of horror films, and i didn’t want to put any movie too blatantly humorous here. i thought this would fit Leon.

Chihiro Fujisaki: A Quiet Place (2018, dir. John Krasinski) - monsters that attack based on noise terrorize a family. most dialogue is delivered through sign language. also has a really touching family dynamic, especially between the father and his children.

Mondo Oowada: Pet Sematary (1989, dir. Mary Lambert) - haven’t seen this one either, whoops. all i know is it’s about, like, bringing people back from the dead or something, and that it’s based on a Stephen King book.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru: The Stand (1994, dir. Mick Garris) - technically a miniseries, but i wasn’t really sure what other horror story fit him. it’s the world at the end in a final battle between good and evil, and nothing says Ultimate Moral Compass more than that to me.

Hifumi Yamada: Strangers on a Train (1951, dir. Alfred Hitchcock) - the whole “i’ll do your murder if you do mine” kinda hits for chapter 3 i think. i also remember his hostage being his sister, so he’d probably like the relationship between Anne and Barbara.

Celes Ludenberg: Crimson Peak (2015, dir. Guillermo del Toro) - there’s a line the main character says that’s something to the effect of how she’d rather be like Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley because she died a widow? that’s Celescore. content warning: incest.

Sakura Oogami: Hereditary (2018, dir. Ari Aster) - both in the way that her dojo is a family business and in the themes of being afraid of hurting your loved ones. content warnings: child death, car accident, decapitation, possession, drug usage.

Toko Fukawa: Rebecca (1940, dir. Alfred Hitchcock) - again haven’t watched or read the book on which it is based but the fact alone that it is based on a book? and it’s not directed by stanley kubrick’s book-ruining ass?

Byakuya Togami: Rope (1948, dir. Alfred Hitchcock) - based on a play which itself was probably based loosely on the Leopold & Loeb case, it’s famous in part for its protagonists being gay. also they have superiority complexes and think that the privileged few should be allowed to murder inferior people because they’re above morality.

Yasuhiro Hagakure: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984, dir. Wes Craven) - i feel like this is closer to what his brand of horror would be, but also people not really believing that what’s happening is actually happening is kind of his m.o. too. content warning: i don’t remember if this is explicit in the original or not, but Freddy Krueger was a pedophile.

Aoi Asahina: Friday the 13th (1980, dir. Sean S. Cunningham) - again i just think this is closer to what Hina’s brand of horror would be, but also i feel like the summer camp aesthetic would be for her.

Kyouko Kirigiri: The Secret in Their Eyes (2009, dir. Juan Jose Campanella) - i don’t totally remember it but detective going off the rails trying to solve a rape & murder case. Very intense, but very good.

Junko Enoshima: Midsommar (2019, dir. Ari Aster) - gaslighting people into joining a death cult? yeah, that screams junko. content warnings: graphic suicide, drug usage, gaslighting, people on fire, nudity, sex.

Monokuma: Child’s Play (1988, dir. Tom Holland) - creepy toy carrying the soul of a murderer. still need to finish watching this one, other than “creepy doll” i don’t have anything to offer in the way of content warnings. 

Hajime Hinata: Get Out (2017, dir. Jordan Peele) - reluctant to go too much into details because i wouldn’t want to spoil the film for those who haven’t seen it, but the experiment done on Hajime vibes w this movie. content warning in that this film is about racism.

Twogami: Vertigo (1958, dir. Alfred Hitchcock) - too many details would give away spoilers but the identity theft theme of the film fits for a guy whose talent is in identity theft.

Teruteru Hanamura: Halloween (1978, dir. John Carpenter) - had a hard time thinking of a horror movie for Teruteru, but Halloween (and 80′s slashers in general) have a tendency to punish the horny.

Mahiru Koizumi: I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997, dir. Jim Gillespie) - would it be too much of a spoiler to say there’s similarities between this film & what gets Mahiru killed in-game?

Peko Pekoyama: The Purge (2013, dir. James DeMonaco) - people using masks to enact what they feel is justified revenge on the one day of the year when all crime is legal.

Hiyoko Saionji: The VVitch (2015, dir. Robert Eggers) - based on colonial-era folk tales about witches. very atmospheric, features the same kind of abusive slut-shaming verbal assaults Hiyoko hurls at others. content warning for briefly implied incest, some nudity, and parents being shitty.

Ibuki Mioda: Green Room (2015, dir. Jeremy Saulnier) - still need to see this one; punk band tries to survive to the end of the night after witnessing neo-nazis commit a murder.

Mikan Tsumiki: Carrie (1976, dir. Brian De Palma) - another film based on a stephen king novella, and also a pretty famous story. a longtime bullying & abuse victim starts to lose her shit after she begins developing telepathy. content warning for some nudity, fire, and an abusive mother.

Nekomaru Nidai: Les Yeux Sans Visage (1960, dir. Georges Franju) - wasn’t really sure where to go with him either, at first, and settled on body horror considering what happens to him later in-game. a doctor attempts to find a new face for his daughter after she is left disfigured from an accident. 

Gundham Tanaka: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1921, dir. Robert Wiene) - a mad scientist claims his hypnotized ‘somnambulist’ can see into the future, including the deaths of carnival-goers. highly influential silent film, german expressionist so peak aesthetic.

Nagito Komaeda: The Silence of the Lambs (1991, dir. Jonathan Demme) - it’s probably well enough known for Hannibal the Cannibal being in it, but it’s worth noting he’s not the primary antagonist of the film. he is the most memorable part of it, and his psychoanalysis is what made me think of Komaeda. content warnings for gore, sexual harassment, referenced cannibalism, period-typical transphobia (period is the late 80s/early 90s).

Chiaki Nanami: V/H/S (2012, various directors) - a horror anthology film of found-footage type shorts, not shown in chronological order of events. i don’t really remember the contents enough for warnings, check at your own risk.

Akane Owari: The Blair Witch Project (1999, dirs. Eduardo Sanchez & Daniel Myrick) - don’t really have a good reason for this one other than “they all go feral, which Akane is seconds from doing at any given moment.” i think she’d dig it. no real content warnings to be had, the original found footage film.

Kazuichi Souda: Jaws (1975, dir. Stephen Spielberg) - i’m not even entirely sure i know what would make him like it, maybe just the mechanical shark? i think we all know this as the movie that made people double down on their hatred of sharks. i don’t particularly care for it, but it’s popular.

Sonia Nevermind: Perfume: Story of a Murderer (2006, dir. Tom Tykwer) - follows a would-be perfumer as he murders women in an attempt to create the perfect scent. in retrospect i probably should have picked something based on a real crime, but i still think she’d like this one.

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu: M (1931, dir. Fritz Lang) - when the police fail to catch a serial child murderer, the criminal underworld steps up to take action into their own hands. fitting, no?

Usami: Trick ‘r Treat (2007, dir. Michael Doughtery) - another sort of anthology film that follows what happens to townsfolk when they don’t abide by Halloween traditions. i put it for Usami because i thought it was actually kind of cute, as far as horror films go.

[rednether]

Superman - My Starter Pack

Inspired by @davidmann95​‘s own post, where he does basically the same thing. recommending people where to start in regards to reading Superman.

I do think that to begin with, this is still what I’d read in general about Superman. and what appeals to me in terms of being about the character.

1. All-Star Superman

Whats It’s About: Superman saves the first-manned mission to the sun, led by Dr. Leo Quintum of P.R.O.J.E.C.T., which has been sabotaged by Lex Luthor via him sending a genetically modified suicide bomb in human. Superman manages to save the ship and it’s crew, but ends up powered beyond the norm to fatal levels. as a result, he’s now dying due to solar overexposure. leaving Superman with only a year to live. this is his last deeds.

Why You Should Read It: It’s Superman at his greatest and finest, written and drawn by what could be debated is the greatest writer and artist duo in all of history. it’s not just the best Superman story of all time, it is factually and objectively the best superhero story period (to quote Davidman). on one hand, I’d recommend reading this last because it does kinda read better the more you know and like Superman. on the other, I recommend to just drop in blind because it’s an out of continuity book that doesn’t require you to have read the mainstream comics. 

2. Grant Morrison’s Action Comics

What’s It’s About: The debut of a depowered Golden Age-esque social crusader Superman clad in a T-shirt and Jeans in the modern day, fighting corrupt politicians and rich people suppressing the weak and the oppressed. before basically moving to the Silver Age by fighting the very alien Brainiac after spending his career so far as a Bully Hunter. signified by him starting to work at the Daily Planet and moving from the Daily Star. as the forgotten first Superman, Adam Blake returns to Earth to take away Lois’ niece, Susan Tompkins before the planet is destroyed. Superman decides to kill off Clark Kent because he feels he outgrew him, while ultimately coming to blows with Captain Comet and convincing the latter to turn over a new page at the end of their fight. Vyndktvx finally enacts his plan, attacking the Man of Steel at all points of his life alongside the Anti-Superman Squad and their wild card, Super-Doomsday. though Superman ultimately wins through tricking him to say his name backward by having the entire Earth including himself say their names backwards thus banishing Vyndktvx back to the Fifth Dimension.

Why You Should Read It: It’s the definitive Superman blueprint, merging the character’s Pre-Crisis life from the three eras he was in: Golden, Silver and Bronze ages with some small aspects of his Post-Crisis history (Super-Doomsday for example), creating a definitive Superman who spans all of his life in a consistent manner. 

3. Greg Pak’s Action Comics

What’s It’s About: Superman reunites with childhood friend as well as one-and--off love interest Lana Lang years later, after her departure from Smallville when they were teenagers.as they investigate an ancient civilization that lives deep beneath the earth that is full of bizarre and appears dangerous while attempting to decide which race needs their protection the most, humanity or the underworlders? two months later, after the conflict with Doomsday that resulted in Superman almost turning completely into the beast itself as well as Brainiac’s latest attack. Lana and her lover John Henry Irons travel to Smallville for a vacation, only to discover that the graves of her parents have been mysteriously dug up and the corpses gone.Lana’s parents seemingly back from the dead as zombies, meanwhile. Clark Kent has started placing more importance on his secret identity, helping rebuild Metropolis even while he has a feeling that something appears off. so he flies to Smallville to check on it, only to discover a mysterious fog surrounding it and that he can’t initially get through, getting teleported miles away when he tries to get in.ultimately Superman does make it through, discovering that the dead are seemingly walking amongst the living, not just the Langs. to his horror, he now discovers he can’t make it out. all the while, something is wrong with Smallville’s denizens who appear to have developed psychic ablities as a monster from the Phantom Zone called the Ultra Humanite has made it through to Earth, feeding off the fear, terror and darkness found in everyone. including Superman himself.

Why You Should Read It: One is an Science Fantasy story starring Superman and Lana Lang also taking inspiration from sources like Indiana Jones, which is awesome. As they investigate an ancient civilization that has secretly existed beneath the Earth all this time, the other is what a sci-fi horror starring Superman as the main protagonist look. being bone-chilling enough while still being more than inspiring enough, Greg Pak also is the only writer who truly expanded on in some fashion what Morrison set up in his own run. allowing Superman to save the day while also giving him pyrrhic victories.

4. Batman/Superman

What’s It’s About: A still young Superman and Batman have their first initially forgotten meeting, where they initially fight against each other. before being transported into another parallel world by a rogue goddess, while some things appear the same, others appear distinctly different. The two rookie heroes end up meeting and teaming up with older more experienced versions of themselves to get home. Years later, the World’s Finest remember said alternate earth with the alternate versions of themselves. They’re given a second chance to save Earth 2 and it’s version of the the Trinity, though they ultimately choose not to intervene too much. Angering Kaiyo, who teleports the three of them back to Prime Earth while also erasing the memories of Superman and Batman. leaving them completely different people than they normally are. And it’s up to Lois Lane to convince the amnesiac Batman as well as a Superman who’s lacking his moral compass to remember who they truly are. After that, a mysterious foe obsessed with Superman who knows all of his secrets begins killing all those who ever stood by him just to thoroughly his true target. Superman now has a Joker of his own, It falls to the Caped Crusader and the Man of Steel to track the murderous madman and stop him, but with no real clues and leads to follow will they ultimately be outsmarted?

Why You Should Read It: Greg Pak begins his winning streak, developing Superman and Batman into the heroes they’re meant to be as they become the best friends they normally are. from a rough-and-tumble social crusader Idealist Superman and a Batman who has no interest in running his company, preferring to spend his time being in disguise as he watches kids beating each other up in the streets.

5. Superman: Birthright

What’s It’s About: Clark Kent is a man with no direction who is a freelance reporter, fighting for truth and justice. Traveling the world, he tries to get a handle on what it is that he wants to do. But with the tragic passing of the Ghuri political leader and human rights activists Kobe Asuru he decides to return home, having decided to learn more about his alien heritage. Opting to become Superman, he takes the cloth from his ship and turns it into a costume. transforming Clark Kent into a disguise alongside it. He moves to Metropolis, getting hired by the Daily Planet.

Why You Should Read It: It’s the best canon origin story for Superman, bringing back his teenage-hood  friendship with Lex Luthor. Making Clark Kent accepting of his alien heritage once more after Byrne changed it so Superman completely disowned the fact he was from Krypton. it manages to humanize the character while not changing him to the point that he’s completely unrecognizable or that you forget that this is Superman.

6. Superman: American Alien

What’s It’s About: Superman as one of us, done correctly. Clark Kent here is the true identity, with Superman being a pair of tights and nothing more. seven important events from Clark’s life that shape the way he thinks without even realizing it sometime, such as realizing that it’s OK to be strange. realizing that only he can help in certain scenarios, learning to expand his horizons. deciding  to finally use his powers actively to help people, his first encounter with a supervillain. the power going to his head, not thinking about the implication. becoming obsessed with Krypton which leads to him being called out on it, learning to move on and accept the fact that he’s been raised as a human, on Earth even if in his mental state.

Why You Should Read It: It’s seven disconnected tales from all through out Clark Kent’s life, from when he’s eight to when he’s around 25. Citing his development into Superman, that he is still just so damn nice that he just wants to help with no strings attached or have to be manipulated into. With no tragedy influencing him, that he can just no longer stand aside and watch as people die. so he stops doing so, beginning to actively help because he just wants to. Because that is his better nature.

7. Superman: Kryptonite Nevermore

What’s It’s About: An experiment turns all Kryptonite on Earth to iron,  rendering Superman truly invulnerable,but a mysterious doppelganger of the Man of Steel with the ability to steal his powers and weaken him is born as a result, can Superman save his adopted home planet and defeat this devious clone of his without coming into direct contact with it so as to not destroy the Earth?

Why You Should Read It: Also more accurately known unofficially as The Sandman Saga, this is the story that kicked off the Bronze Age era of Superman. toning down Superman’s insane strength to more manageable levels, as he was no longer able to juggle planets and fly to the other end of the universe with ease. additionally making him somewhat wiser and a more human character.

8. Superman Smashes the Klan

What’s It’s About:  The year is 1946. Teenagers Roberta and Tommy Lee just moved with their parents from Chinatown to the center of Metropolis, home to the famous hero, Superman. Tommy makes friends quickly, while Roberta pines for home. Then one night, the family awakens to find their house surrounded by the Klan of the Fiery Kross! Superman leaps into action, but his exposure to a mysterious green rock has left him weak. Can Roberta and Tommy help him smash the Klan?

Why You Should Read It: An important tale about the dangers of genuine racism that is especially relevant nowadays, what with Trump’s supporters running rampant and lashing out at black people due to their skin color & nothing more.

[everythingjonsa]

Snowed Under by your Love - Chapter 3

New chapter, coming your way!! Thanks for all the comments and Love that you’ve been showering this story with. Hope you enjoy reading it, as much as I enjoyed writing it! 

Thank you @kitten1618x for this wonderful cover!!

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

JON saw Sansa’s eyes widening with horror as he said the words. Good, he thought to himself. Let her think that he had every intention, of going through with his threat. Serves her right, for what she’d done to him. Sansa opened her mouth a couple of times, but no words came out. Her fingers were trembling, and a bead of sweat trickled down her temple. She looked vulnerable, scared and defenseless.

But, Jon had in his whole life, never been THIS LIVID with anyone before. Sansa had hidden from him, the very existence of his daughter, HIS FLESH, and BLOOD. Of course, he couldn’t be a hundred percent sure of it, unless a paternity test confirmed it. But he knew. Jon knew Lyanna was HIS, unless she was the daughter of his secret doppelganger. He had definitely entertained the idea of dragging Sansa’s ass to court during his conversation with Lyanna, but all that had changed the instant he’d seen Lyanna run to her mother like she’d found the axis she revolved around.

And SANSA STARK had, regardless of his fury, managed to rob him of his breath, his anger, his purpose, his intent, his thoughts, and left his brains in a muddled mess, just by her mere presence. Five years had changed everything, yet nothing.

The woman was a still a witch… a nymph…. a siren… a goddess… Jon couldn’t decide, but by god, she was beguilingly beautiful! Jon had desperately tried to tell himself, in vain, to not look at her shapely body, her rapture blue eyes and her soft full mouth. Her long molten hair that fell around her in waves, had nearly undone him. But above all else, he’d absolutely detested, what seeing Lyanna in Sansa’s arms had done to his heart. Mother and daughter had clung to each other like an invisible umbilical cord still connected them and Jon suddenly felt like an outsider, which he was, in his own daughter’s life. And that made him angry.

HOW DARE SHE? Jon thought as he looked at Sansa, who looked drained of all colour now.  He really had to resist the temptation of holding her by her arms and shaking the truth out of her. Regardless of whatever had happened in the past, Sansa had absolutely NO RIGHT to keep the identity of a child he had fathered, from him. IT WAS WRONG, on every single count. And what about the Starks? His heart clenched when he even thought about them. Had Sansa told them that Lyanna was his? If they knew, had they actively helped her keep this fact, hidden from him? There was only one way to find out.

Jon knew what he had to do now. He clenched his fists into tight balls. For what she had done to him, Sansa had better agree to every single one of his terms.

Sansa still remained seated exactly where she was, looking as pale as a ghost. A slight panic clutched at Jon. Was Sansa going into shock?  Jon moved away from her desk and just when he was beginning to get really worried about Sansa’s lack of reaction, she got up from her chair in one fluid motion. “You would do that??” She half questioned him, half yelled at him “To YOUR OWN DAUGHTER?”

Jon and Sansa just stared at each other, their eyes locked, their breathing, laboured. The room was so silent, that the only sound that could be heard, was the tick-tock, tick-tock of the wall clock.

Jon was the first one to blink. “So, she is mine.” he said softly. Finally, here was the confirmation, he’d hoped for, directly out from the horse’s mouth. He saw the realisation dawn on Sansa’s face, that she had been trapped, into admitting the truth. Sansa’s lips quivered and she bit her lower lip in an attempt to suppress it. She sank down into her chair and covered her face with her palms, her fiery red hair falling all over her shoulders in the process, and despite the tension in the room, Jon Snow felt a terrible itch in his hands. When Sansa slowly looked up at Jon, her eyes were red-rimmed. Jon ignored the prick in his conscience. “Yes, it’s true.” She said, gently.  “You are her father.”

“And you robbed four years of her life from me?” The rage that coursed through Jon’s body flared his nostrils. “HOW DARE YOU, SANSA? My child thinks she has no father when here I am ALIVE AND KICKING.” He punched his fist on her desk. “You very well knew how I felt about the absence of my father in my life. How then, could you do this to me? I mean, forget about me. HOW THE BLOODY HELL COULD YOU DO THIS TO OUR DAUGHTER?”

‘Our daughter’

The words hung in the air, thickening the tension around Jon and Sansa. Jon took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself down and looked at Sansa. She had the decency to look guilty, but her tone was icy when she replied. “I did what I thought was best for everyone, including Lya. Besides, you had made it very clear that you wanted nothing to do with me.”

Jon had to bite his tongue to keep himself from saying what was on the tip of his tongue. If only she knew…..  “So you decided to punish me, by keeping me in the dark about the existence of my daughter?” He paused, his heart thudding as he asked her the dreaded question “Does your family know she’s mine?”

Sansa looked up at him, and for the first time he saw pity in her eyes, and just like that he knew the answer. They knew. Each and every one of them! Yet Ned had not searched him to the ends of the earth and pulled out his intestines for knocking up his daughter. And Robb had not gutted him for being that guileless friend who got your little sister pregnant. And Arya had not run him with a sword or blown a hole in his head with a shotgun. And Sansa, who had turned to him, every time the night was darkest, had never come to him when it mattered the most? Jon shook his head in disbelief. “You really thought I would’ve turned you away if you’d told me you were pregnant? Because of how things ended with us before I left Winterfell?”

Sansa looked down without answering and disappointment surged through Jon. He decided that he didn’t want to hear her reply. At least not now! “On second thoughts, don’t answer that. It might make me angrier, and it won’t help this situation we are in.” There was going to be enough and more time for Jon to think about why Sansa did what she did. Enough time to ponder about why her family did what they did. Right now, the solution was more important and not the problem.

Jon sat down on the edge of Sansa’s desk, “Sit down, Sansa” he motioned towards her chair. “I’m not going to drag you to court. You love Lyanna, even if that’s the only genuine thing about you.” Sansa looked a little relieved and surprised as she sat down and Jon continued “She’s my daughter too. She loves you and needs you; even a blind fool can see that. What kind of a monster would I be, if I tore a child away from her mother? BUT..” Jon paused as Sansa looked up at him warily “I want her in my life, and I want to be in her life.”

“What do you want, Jon?” Sansa said suddenly looking weary and drained out of energy. “Visiting rights? Joint-custody?”

A muscle twitched in his jaw. He had tread carefully now. “What part of ‘I want her in my life’ did you not understand Sansa? I don’t want to be a visiting parent. Neither do I want our daughter to be torn between us. You may argue that many children grow up well, all the time, even in such situations, and I respect the parents who try to give their children the best, even in difficult circumstances. But I can’t do it to my daughter. It’s a personal choice.” Sansa frowned in confusion and Jon decided that it was best to drop this subject, for just a while. There were other issues that he had to draw her attention to.

“What are you going to tell Lyanna about me?” Jon glanced at the door briefly before looking back at Sansa. “Obviously, I’m not going to play the role of a reformed villain if that’s what you’re expecting out of me.”

Sansa rubbed her temple with her fingers. “Could you not give me some time to think about how we’re going to break this news to her? She’s just met you today. It’s not a good time to tell her that you are her father right away.” Sansa let out a sigh and wet her lips and Jon all of a sudden felt extremely uncomfortable and hot. “I suggest, you spend some time with her. Let her get comfortable with you, and then we’ll slowly break it to her, that you are her father. I’ll think of something to explain your absence in her life..” she held her hand up when Jon began to protest “..Without making you sound like a reformed villain.” She looked up at Jon hesitantly “And thank you, for not suggesting the “Your mummy never told me about you” option. Cause … umm.. she’d really hate me then…” Her voice was barely a whisper and Jon noticed that her eyes had welled up.

Before Jon could say anything further, someone knocked on Sansa’s door and the tall, blonde lady who had taken Lyanna away earlier, poked her head inside. She glared at Jon and he realised it was meant to be one, a hot glare, because her eyes turned soft when she looked at Sansa. “Sorry to interrupt love, but Jessica’s mom called to ask if you could do the carpool tomorrow instead of her?”

Sansa gave her a soft smile. “Tell her I’ll do it Brienne. Where’s Lya?”

Again, this Brienne gave him a tough look before answering Sansa. “Neil and Polly are keeping her busy. She wanted me to remind you, that you promised to take her to the park today.”

Sansa looked at her wristwatch and then back at Brienne. “Could you please change her clothes, Brie? And don’t let her wear those purple pants even if she insists. It’s got so many pockets and you know how Lya loves to fill sand into her pockets.” She got up and went towards a small refrigerator and took out two boxes. “Yogurt and berries for the way. Just put it inside her backpack. I’ll take her to the park, directly from here.”

Brienne gave a short laugh. “Refuse her the purple pants and she’s going to brood all the way to the park. But I’ll give it a try anyway.” She gave Jon another tentative look before smiling down at Sansa “If you need anything at all, I’m right here.”

Jon knew very well that Brienne was eyeing him with a lot of suspicion, like he was a criminal. But that didn’t bother him as much as the realisation that he didn’t know ‘anything’ about his daughter. Her likes, dislikes, her habits and whatever else children did. A sinking feeling began to form in the pit of his stomach. It was not just that he didn’t know anything about his daughter; he also didn’t know the first thing about caring for a child. He needed to spend more time with his daughter, which actually fit in perfectly with his plans. He looked at Sansa who had placed her palm on Brienne’s arm. “Thanks for everything, Brienne.” She said, with genuine affection for the blonde lady who gave a slight nod and left the two of them alone again. Sansa turned around to face him.

“Jon”

“Sansa”

Both began speaking at the same time. Sansa ran her slender fingers through her hair. “You go first.”

Jon cleared his throat. “I need to spend more time with Lyanna. And you must forgive my impatience for wanting to do so, from the very next second if possible. But I understand, that too much, too soon may just scare her away. So this is what I suggest we could do.” Jon looked at Sansa who was listening to him with rapt attention. “If you can manage a break from work and if Lyanna can bunk her pre-school for just a while, the three of us could take a short trip together. Hear me out fully before you protest.” Jon said when he saw that Sansa had already begun saying a no. “I don’t know anything about my daughter, Sansa. I want to get to know her better and fortunately or unfortunately you are the only one who can help me do that. If I don’t take a break from work and you don’t do the same too, Lyanna and I will take such a long time to get to know each other. She needs to learn to trust me and it will never happen unless you guide us both. You owe me that much at least.”

Jon suspected the ‘you owe me’ bit was making her consider his suggestion. Yet, she looked sceptical. “I don’t know if it’s a great idea, Jon. Lyanna will definitely wonder why she is going on a vacation to a strange place with a strange man. If you want her to trust you, if we have to tell her that you are her father, would you rather not if it happened in a place she’s comfortable and familiar with, around people whom she loves.” Sansa shook her head dismissing the idea. “It won’t work. She may become wary of you.”

Jon smiled inwardly. Sansa had just made his job a bit easier by stating the obvious flaws in his suggestion. “Oddly, I happen to agree with you. It is a silly idea to take Lyanna, to a strange place with a strange man and introduce him as her father. You are absolutely right. She may get frightened, confused and neither of us wants that to happen to her, obviously.” Jon thought very hard about how he should frame his next words. He was going to have to let the cat out of the bag at some point. “Unless she doesn’t go to a strange place with a strange man…”

Sansa looked frustrated now. “I just said those exact words a couple of minutes ago. The trip is not a good idea. You just said that we agree.”

Jon ran his tongue over his lower lip. “I said going to a strange place with a strange man is not a good idea. I never said that the trip is not a good idea.”

She was irritated. Jon could tell by the way she placed both her hands on her hips. “Are you enjoying speaking in circles? Just what are you implying, exactly?”

Jon stood up to his full height. “What if we could take Lyanna to a place she’s familiar with, with a man who is not so strange to her? I mean think about it. I’ve told her I’m Uncle Robb’s friend. I’m not really a stranger in her eyes.”

Sansa rolled her eyes. “Yes, and why are Mummy and Lya going on a vacation with Uncle Robb’s friend? And which is this place that she’s familiar with that I don’t know of?”

It was time. Jon closed the gap between them and looked deeply into Sansa’s eyes. “Why it’s same place her mother, father, uncles and aunts grew up in.. Where she was conceived.. where she is surrounded by people who love her enough, to keep her a secret from her own father.” Sansa’s eyes were widened with shock and she gasped audibly. Jon’s voice sounded like a low growl when he said the next sentence.

“Call your folks. Tell them that I know. And Pack your bags Sansa, we’re going to WINTERFELL.”

[booksong]

Top 10 Books Read In 2016

Bringing this back again this year (and yes I realize March is now almost over, I’m a little late oops), because I really enjoyed putting together a list last year, and one thing I always love in a new year is looking back on the great experiences I’ve had with reading, and hopefully lining up some new recommendations from others to look forward to in the rest of 2017!  

2016 was a rough year, but as with so much of my life, books were there to provide comfort, knowledge, escape, and new friends and perspectives.  Here are my 10 best titles of them, in no particular order (long post warning as always because it’s me talking about books):

1. Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks

The experience of sensing things that aren’t really there has long been considered a hallmark of the crazy and overemotional.  And yet hallucinations have been startlingly well documented in all types of people, and neurologist Oliver Sacks has compiled a wide range of anecdotes, personal accounts and sources, and scientific studies of the various forms they can take.  Vivid, complex visual and auditory hallucinations by the deaf and the blind, near-death and out-of-body experiences, phantom limbs, unseen 'presences', supernatural-esque encounters, sleep paralysis, and hallucinations induced by surgery, sensory deprivation, sleep disorders, drugs, seizures, migraines, and brain lesions--Sacks takes all these bizarre (and occasionally terrifying) case studies and conditions and approaches them with an attitude of fascination, curiosity, and clinical appreciation. 

I came into this book expecting to hear mostly about things like LSD trips and schizophrenia, which honestly are probably most people's touchstones for the concept of hallucinations. And while there is a single chapter devoted to drug-induced hallucination (with compelling and pretty eerie first hand accounts from the author himself), Sacks barely touches on schizophrenia, setting it aside right away in his introduction in order to focus on other altered brain states I'd barely heard of but found deeply engrossing. One of the things I found most personally fun about this book was that you get tons of potential scientific explanations for a lot of strange phenomena that have puzzled and frightened humans for centuries. Why might so many different cultures have similar folklore about demons and monsters that assault or suffocate people in their beds at night? You find out in the chapter about hypnogogic hallucinations and sleep paralysis. What about things like guardian spirits, demonic presences, the 'light at the end of the tunnel', or historical figures hearing voices from God(s)? There are case studies about them not just in history and theology, but medical science too. Instances of people seeing ghosts, faeries, balls of light, moving shadows in the edges of their vision, or even doppelgangers of themselves? All touched on in this book as part of various differences, injuries, and misfires in people's brains, brain chemistry, and neural makeup. It's really, really cool stuff.

2. Captive Prince trilogy by C.S. Pacat

Prince Damianos of Akielos has everything.  He’s a celebrated war hero, a master sportsman, and the heir to the throne, utterly primed to become king.  And every bit of is stripped away from him in a single night when his half-brother Kastor stages a coup and ships him off in chains under cover of night.  Just like that, Damianos becomes merely Damen, robbed of his power, freedom, and identity—the newest slave in the household of Prince Laurent of Vere.  Trapped in an enemy country that shares a bloody history with his own, surrounded by people and customs that confuse, disturb, and disgust him, and under the total control of the icy, calculating and seemingly unfathomable Laurent, Damen has no way of knowing that the only way to return to his rightful throne and homeland will be through strange alliances, brutal battles and betrayals, chess-like political maneuvering and negotiation, and the fragile, complicated, impossible bond he will come to forge with the man he despises the most.

I knocked out this entire trilogy in about two weeks, and it would have been much, much shorter than that if I’d been able to borrow the last book from my friend any sooner (thanks again @oftherose95!!). The second book, Prince’s Gambit, even traveled across the Atlantic and around a good portion of Ireland with me in a black drawstring backpack, and was mostly read in Irish B&Bs each night before bed.  The series was the best of what I love in good fanfiction brought onto solid, published paper (and I mean that as the greatest compliment to both fanfic and this series); it had unique, complicated relationship dynamics, broad and interesting worldbuilding, angst and cathartic triumph in turns.  It’s a political and military drama, a coming-of-age and character story for two incredibly different young men, and yes, it’s an intensely slow burn enemies-to-friends-to-lovers romance full of betrayal, culture shock, negotiation, vulnerability, power plays, tropes-done-right, and some of the most memorable and delightful banter imaginable, and it will drag your heart all over the damn place because of how fantastically easily you will get invested.  Yes, be aware that there are definitely some uncomfortable scenes and potential triggers, especially in the first book (and I promise to answer honestly anyone who’s interested and would like to ask me those types of questions in advance) but in my personal experience the power of the story and the glorious punch of the (ultimately respectful, nuanced, and well-written) relationship dynamics far outweighed any momentary discomfort I had.  A huge favorite, not just of this year but in a long while.

3. Where the Dead Pause and the Japanese Say Goodbye by Marie Mutsuki Mockett

After her beloved father dies unexpectedly, the author returns to the Buddhist temple run by the Japanese side of her family, not far from where the Fukushima nuclear disaster claimed the lives of many and made the very air and soil unsafe.  She initially goes for two reasons: to help inter and pay respects to her Japanese grandfather’s bones during the Obon holiday, and to find some kind of outlet and solace for her grief.  But during her travels she finds more than she ever expected to about Japan, its belief systems, its values, its rituals of death and memory, and the human process of loss.

There are actually two non-fiction books about Japan on my list this year, and they’re both about death, grief, growth, and remembering.  It’s a coincidence, but seems oddly fitting now looking back on 2016.  Part memoir and part exploration of Japanese cultural and religious traditions surrounding death and its aftermath, I was fascinated by the line this book walked through the interweaving of religion and myth, respect and emotional reservation, and most of all the realization that there is no one single accepted way to mourn and to believe, even within a society as communal as Japan’s.  It’s something I find constantly and absolutely fascinating about Japan, the meeting and often the integration of old and new traditions, and of outside influences. Probably one of the most thoughtful and uplifting books about death I’ve ever read, and a great one about Japanese culture too.

4.��Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

When Mia Corvere was a child, her father led a failed rebellion against the very leaders he was charged with protecting. Mia watched his public execution with her own eyes, the same way she watched her mother and brother torn from their beds and thrown into Godsgrave’s brutal prison tower.  Narrowly escaping her own death, completely alone and a wanted fugitive, Mia now has only two things left—an ability to commune with shadows that has given her a powerful and eerie companion shaped vaguely like a cat whom she calls Mr. Kindly, and a desire to join the only people who can help her take revenge: the mythical and merciless guild of assassins called the Red Church.  But even finding the Church and being accepted can be life-threatening—graduating from their ranks will mean more sacrifice, suffering, revelation, and power than even sharp-witted and viciously determined Mia could ever imagine.

Let me preface this by saying this book is probably not for everyone.  Both its premise and execution are undeniably dark and graphic: the cast is necessarily full of antiheroes with unapologetically bloodthirsty aims and a range of moral standards and behaviors tending heavily toward the ‘uglier’ end of the spectrum.  The violence and deaths can be brutal, emotionally and physically, and despite their pervasiveness they never seem to pack any less of a punch.  But I’ve always looked to books as my safe guides and windows into exploring that kind of darkness every so often, and this book did so extremely well. Kristoff has a way of writing that makes Nevernight’s incredibly intricate and lovingly crafted fantasy universe feel rich and seductive even with the horrors that occur in it (the dry, black-comedy footnote asides from the nameless chronicler/narrator are a good start, for example).  On one hand, you don’t feel like you want to visit for obvious reasons, but the worldbuilding—with its constant moons and blood magicks and fickle goddesses—was so fluid and inviting it caught my imagination like few other books did this year. I absolutely got attached to many of the characters (especially our ‘heroine’ Mia), both despite and because of their flawed, ruthless, vulnerable, hungry personalities, and I found myself fascinated by even the ones I didn’t like.  This was one of the books this year I could literally barely put down, and I can’t wait for its sequel.

5. Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War by Susan Southard

Ever since the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan and ended WWII, the name of the city Hiroshima has become synonymous with the tragedy.  Nagasaki is almost always mentioned second if at all, almost as an afterthought, the city bombed three days later that was a second choice target.  But 74,000 people still died there, and 75,000 more were wounded or irreparably affected.  In this book, author Susan Southard tells the story of not just the day of the Nagasaki bombing, but the months and years that came afterward: of suffering and healing, protest and denial, terror and hope, interwoven at each stage with the painfully intimate and powerfully humanizing interviews and life accounts of five hibakusha survivors.  

This was definitely one of the heaviest books I read this year (in length and content), but it also felt absolutely necessary and was luckily very readable, thoroughly researched, and respectfully told.  You can tell just through the writing how much the author came to like and respect her subjects as people and not just mouthpieces for their stories, and dear gods the stories they have.  Nagasaki is definitely graphic, and horrifying, and achingly sad, as you would expect any book that details one of the worst tragedies in human history to be. But ultimately the stories of the hibakusha and Nagasaki’s slow but constant recovery are ones of hope and survival, and much as when you read memoirs from Holocaust survivors that urge you to remember, and learn, and walk armed with that new knowledge into the future, this book also makes you feel kind of empowered.  It’s been seventy years since the bombing happened, many of the survivors are passing on, and nuclear weapons are now sadly looming large on the political landscape again, so while it’s not an easy book, it was without a doubt one of the most important I’ve read in recent memory.

6. Front Lines by Michael Grant

The year is 1942.  World War II is raging.  The United States has finally decided to join the struggle against Hitler and the Nazis. And a landmark Supreme Court decision has just been made: for the first time, women are to be subject to the draft and eligible for full military service. Into this reimagined version of the largest war in human history come three girls: Rio Richelin, a middle-class California girl whose older sister was already KIA in the Pacific theater, Frangie Marr, whose struggling Tulsa family needs an extra source of income, and Rainy Schulterman, with a brother in the service and a very personal stake in the genocide being committed overseas.  But while women and girls are allowed to fight, sexism, racism, prejudice, and the brutality of war are still in full effect, and the three girls will have to fight their battles on multiple fronts if they’re going to survive to the end of the war.

I think this is probably one of the first non-fantasy historical revisionist series I’ve ever read that worked so incredibly well.  There are probably a million places author Michael Grant could have easily screwed up executing this concept, but I was extremely and pleasantly surprised to find my fears were pretty unfounded.  Grant (husband of similarly clear-eyed Animorphs author KA Applegate) has always been a writer who doesn’t shrink from including and even focusing on uncomfortable-but-realistic language, violence, sexuality, and real-world issues of prejudice, and he brings all these themes into Front Lines and places three teenage girls (one of whom is a WOC and another who’s a persecuted minority) front and center without letting the book feel preachy, stilted, or tone-deaf toward the girls’ feelings, motives, voices, and flaws as individuals.  It’s also obviously well-researched, and there’s a whole segment in the back where Grant shares his sources and the similarities and liberties he took with historical events in order to tell the story.  Especially in today’s political climate, it’s a powerful and engrossing read. And what’s more the sequel just came out not long ago.

7. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

In the year 2044, a single massive virtual reality interface called the OASIS has got most of the declining Earth’s population hooked into it, living out all kinds of video game and sci-fi fantasies.  But some of the more hardcore players, like Wade Watts, are exploring the OASIS on another level—hunting for the easter egg clues to a massive fortune its eccentric developer left behind after his death.  But no one’s been able to find even the first clue, let alone begin solving the weird and difficult puzzles and challenges that might follow…until one day, Wade does, and draws the dangerous attention and greed of everyone inside and outside the virtual world to himself in the process.

I’m honestly not that big of a gamer, or even someone particularly attached to or affected by pop culture nostalgia. Everything I know about most of the references throughout Ready Player One was picked up through cultural osmosis, and some I’d never even heard of—and I still thought this book was a blast, so take note if that’s what holding you back from picking it up.  The book has a lot of the raw thrill anyone who loves fictional worlds (video game or otherwise) would feel upon having a complete virtual universe full of every world, character, and feature of fantasy and sci-fi fiction you could ever dream of at their fingertips.  But it also explores, sometimes quite bluntly, a lot of the fears and flaws inherent in the whole ‘leave/ignore reality in favor of total VR immersion’ scenario, and in the type of people who would most likely be tempted to do it.  All the different bits and genre overlaps of the novel really come together very seamlessly too—it’s a little bit mystery, a little bit cutthroat competition, a little bit battle royale, a little bit virtual reality road-trip, a little bit (nerdy) coming-of-age.  And despite how much world-building is necessary to set up everything, the book rarely feels like it’s info-dumping on you (or maybe I just loved the concept of the OASIS so much I didn’t care).  Probably the most unashamedly fun novel I read this whole year.

8. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

In the 1980’s in Northern California, a little Hmong girl named Lia Lee began showing symptoms of a severe and complicated form of epilepsy.  The hospital the Lees took her to immediately began issuing their standard observations, treatments, and medications.  But her parents, first generation immigrants with their own complex cultural methods of interpreting and caring for medical conditions, didn’t necessarily think of epilepsy as an illness—for the Hmong it’s often a sign of great spiritual strength--and were wary of the parade of ever more complicated tests and drugs their daughter was subjected to.  Lia’s American doctors, confused and then angered by what they saw as dangerous disobedience and superstitious nonsense, begged to differ.  What followed was a years-long series of cultural clashes and misunderstandings between Western medical science and the rituals and beliefs of a proud cultural heritage, and the people who tried with the best intentions (but not always results) to bridge that gap.

I had never read anything you could classify as ‘medical anthropology’ before this book, and I’m kind of mad I didn’t because it was fascinating. Using her firsthand interviews and observations Fadiman creates an entire case study portrait of the Lee family experience, from their life in America and struggle with Lia’s condition and American doctors to the history of the Hmong people’s flight from Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos and their experiences as immigrants.  And as the best anthropological works should be, there’s also a very compassionate and analytic line walked that criticizes, explores, and accepts both cultural sides of the issue without assigning blame or coming out in favor of one over the other.  By the end of it, I think my strongest emotion was hope that we might embrace a new type of medicine in the decades to come (even though it might look grim right now); something holistic that can find a way to mediate between culture and science, doctor and family and patient, so that maybe everyone ends up learning something new.

9. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett

Crowley has a pretty good life for a high-ranking demon living on Earth.  He can cruise around in his monstrous Bentley, and do assorted evil deeds here and there to keep from getting bored.  He even has a pleasant frenemy in the fussy, bookshop-owning Aziraphale, the angel who used to guard the flaming sword at the gates of Eden a very, very long time ago.  But then the various denizens of Heaven and Hell get the word from their higher-ups that it’s time for the Antichrist to come to Earth and the End Times to begin.  The extremely unfortunate baby mix-up that ensues is only the first step in a very unusual lead-up to the end of the world, which will include the greatest hits of Queen, duck-feeding, the Four (Motorcycle) Riders of the Apocalypse, a friendly neighborhood hellhound, modern witch hunters, and a certain historical witch’s (very accurate) prophecies.

Reading this book was long overdue for me—I’ve read and enjoyed works from both these authors before, and had heard a ton about this one, basically all of it good.  But I only finally picked it up as part of a ‘book rec exchange’ between me and @whynotwrybread and I’m so glad I got the extra push.  Good Omens has a dark, dry, incredibly witty humor and writing style that clearly takes its cue from both Gaiman and Pratchett; it was really fun picking out their trademark touches throughout the novel.  Couple that with a storyline that’s tailor-made to be a good-humored satire of religion, religious texts, and rigid morality and dogma in general, and you’ve got a pretty winning mix for me as a reader. It’s endlessly quotable, the characters are extremely memorable (and very often relatable), and despite the plot using a lot of well-known religious ‘storylines’, there are enough twists on them that it keeps you guessing as to how things will eventually turn out right up until the end.

10. Scythe by Neal Shusterman

At long last, humankind has conquered death. Massive advancements in disease eradication, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence means that not only can people age (and reset their age) indefinitely, but they can be revived from even fatal injuries.  And a benign AI with access to all human knowledge makes sure everything is run peacefully, fairly, and efficiently.  In order to deal with the single remaining issue of population control, a handful of those from each generation are chosen to be trained as Scythes, who selectively mete out permanent death to enough people each year to keep humanity stable.  And when Rowan and Citra are selected by the cool but kindly Scythe Faraday as his apprentices, neither are exactly willing, nor are they at all prepared for what the life of a Scythe will come to ask of them.

Neal Shusterman always seems to be able to come up with the coolest concepts for his novels (previous examples include getting inside the mind of a schizophrenic, two kids trapped in a very unique version of purgatory, and the Unwind series with its chilling legal retroactive abortion/organ donation of teens), and not only that but also execute them interestingly and well. They always end up making you really think about what you’d do in this version of reality, and Scythe is no different.  Would you be one of the Scythes who gives each person gentle closure before their death? Glean them before they even know what’s happening?  Divorce yourself emotionally from the process altogether so it doesn’t drive you mad?  Embrace your role and even come to take pleasure in it? You meet characters with all these opinions and more.  It doesn’t lean quite as heavily on the character depth as some of the author’s previous books, which gave me some hesitation at first, but the world was just too good not to get into.  And the fact that it’s going to be a series means this could very well just be the setup novel for much more.

 Honorable Mention Sequels/Series Installments

 -Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo (‘No mourners, no funerals’—as perfect a companion/conclusion to the already-amazing Six of Crows from last year’s top ten list as I could have ever hoped for)

-The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater (one of the most unique and magical series I’ve ever read comes to a powerful and satisfying close)

-Morning Star by Pierce Brown (a glorious and breathtaking battle across the vastness of space starring an incredible and beloved cast kept me pinned to the page until the very last word—this was a brutally realistic and totally fantastic political/action sci-fi trilogy)

-Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (I rec’d the epistolary sci-fi novel Illuminae last year and this was an equally gripping sequel to it—can’t wait for the third book out this year!)

-Bakemonogatari, Part 1 by NisiOisin (the translated light novels for one of my all-time favorite anime series continue to be amazing!)

If you made it this far, THANK YOU and I wish you an awesome year of reading in 2017!  And I want to remind everyone that my blog and inbox are always, ALWAYS open for book recommendations (whether giving or requesting them) and talking/screaming/theorizing/crying about books in general.  Or write up your own ‘top 10 books from last year’ post and tag me!