#indevan algara-vayir

[greatshell-rider]

my first tries at inda!!

[setnet]

W A R G A M E S

A mix for Indevan Algara-Vayir

games without frontiers—peter gabriel | breaking the yearlings—shearwater | exile vilify—the national | lost in my mind—the head and the heart | mutiny, i promise you—the new pornographers | remember the name—fort minor | setting sail, coming home—darren korb | stabat mater—woodkid | run the banner down—shearwater | homecoming heroes—the head and the heart | antebellum—vienna teng | the end of my pirate days—mary chapin carpenter

playmoss | download

explanations below the cut!

wargames games without frontiers—peter gabriel games without frontiers; war without tears

the summer without a banner breaking the yearlings—shearwater the weather holds until it's on you and suddenly breaks

exile exile vilify—the national does it feel like a trial? does it trouble your mind the way you trouble mine?

merchants/marines lost in my mind—the head and the heart put your dreams away for now; I won't see you for some time

mutiny mutiny, i promise you—the new pornographers here is where you got lost, and here is how you got back and here's the mutiny I promised you

pirates fighting pirates remember the name—fort minor who would have thought he'd be the one to set the west in flames?

the venn setting sail, coming home—darren korb build that wall and build it strong, cause we'll be there before too long

war stabat mater—woodkid hey, do you recall when the war was just a game?

aftermaths run the banner down—shearwater run the banner down and hide in your broken palms

treaty/treason homecoming heroes—the head and the heart so now I know people want a story, one ending in glory and a wave of their flag

life goes on antebellum—vienna teng our antebellum innocence was never meant to see the light of our armistice day

[coda: the king who was emperor the end of my pirate days—mary chapin carpenter I buried all my dreams for someone else to find in my pirate days]

[gaytog]

tagged on a technicality by @a-flyleaf

Relationship Status: in a committed relationship and ready to mingle (we’re poly)

Favorite Color: Green.

Lipstick or Chapstick: I’ve only ever used chapstick. Actually, come to think of it, that’s probably not true. But it’s mostly true.

Last Song I Listened To: “Lake Pontchartrain” by Ludo. I think it’s a cool song but I can’t get it out of my head sooo I’ll probably end up singing for family karaoke this holiday season.

Last Movie I Watched: I think it was Kubo and the Two Strings, although that was months ago. I don’t watch a lot of movies. I thought it was good, but there were a few things that bugged me .

Top 3 Characters: Katara of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Indevan Algara-Vayir of the Inda books, and Connie Maheswaran of Steven Universe

Top 3 Ships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Utena Tenjou/Anthy Himemiya, aaaaand let’s say Korra/Asami Sato.

Tagging (Please don’t feel obligated if you don’t want to do it though!): @dickworm @skamimikyu @gryffns-nest @unorthodox-space-marine @glorious-gay-sea-salt-icecream @kalopsialove @landofwindandthrowingshade @nerdypan 

[whimsicaldragonette]

Book Review: Inda, by Sherwood Smith (part 1)

So, this is going to be a non-traditional review, since I just started reading Inda, by Sherwood Smith. Because it looked interesting, and I have read and loved some of her other books, and I’ve been neglecting “real” books for fanfiction lately.

I’m on page 47 of … Well. This book has 608 pages. One of those paperbacks, with tiny print and the smallest margins imaginable, y’know? It’s ridiculous And. There are 4 books in this series. 784 pages. 784 pages. 704 pages. Grand total: 2880 pages.

As a reader, you’re immediately thrust into a world of complexity and political intrigue with no introduction whatsoever. The title character is 10 years old, so has a somewhat limited perspective, and comes off a bit of a pawn, at least at first, in the political machinations of the adults surrounding him. The author also has a tendency to “jump heads” with no warning - within chapters. So one minute you’re in Inda’s head, and the next your in Tdor’s, and so on. And they each have secrets and understand things on different levels and ugh.

The lack of introduction is probably because it’s a “prequel” to some of her other books, set in the same world - so names and places seem vaguely familiar, but man is it hard to keep everything straight.

Also… The names. WHY? Indevan “Inda” Algara-Vayir. Tanrid Algara-Vayir. Hadand Algara-Vayir. Evred “Sponge” Montrei-Vayir. (Just met him, so no idea why the King’s second son is called Sponge). Aldren Montre-Vayir. Barend Montre-Vayir. Kendred “Dogpiss” Noth. Landred “Cherry-Stripe” Marlo-Vanir. Camarend “Cama” Tya-Vayir. Joret Dei. Tdor Marth-Davan.

And there are 3 languages. Which we get no introduction to; we’re just told that such and such was spoken in the old language, and this and that was in the language of war, and this was in the common one. And of course there are shades of meaning to all of these. And as reader, we're treated as if we already know all of the complex rules of the society and all of the history, from the perspective of conqueror and conquered, and all of the alliances and secrets - of whichever head we're in at the time. It's all very confusing.

This novel makes you work. Did I mention that I’m a whopping 47 pages in? I like it so far, though? I mean... I much prefer feeling like I'm constantly catching up to what's going on, instead of being bored out of my mind by the YA trend that was popular for a while, where the first few chapters of every book in a series summarizes the previous books.

[greatshell-rider]

connar: yeah sex is cool, but have you ever had an inferiority complex so bad that the only thing you can think about 24/7 is winning war games to prove you’re just as strong and smart as your older brother the heir prince and all the other older boys and also the legendary indevan “commander so good he never lost a battle AND the country abandoned the traditional title he carried because no one could live up to it” algara-vayir, and you’re constantly afraid your adoptive father will pass you over as an unworthy prince and so you strive to prove to him and your manipulative teacher that you are worthy of admiration and attention, of respect and trust, so much that even when you legitimately win a game using your own strategy, the old anxiety wells immediately back up that you’ll fail so you resort to cheating despite the threat of a beating that’ll leave you bed-ridden for weeks, drugged up against the pain--yeah “Sex was great, then it was over. He had more important things to think about right now.” (time of daughters part one, page 423)