#longshadow

[freckles-and-books]

Last, current, next

[sylvrndoodles]

practicing book cover designs by redesigning some existing book covers!

I really love this series, the fantasy setting is so whimsical and the characters are so endearing ( ˙꒳​˙ )

[thereadingmoon]

abigail rlly looked at her mother loving her father and said “i, too, want a dense, temperamental, anti-elitist fae-touched magician who has never had an elocution class in their life to spend all my days with”

[thefadingstars]

Longstar 

A new leader she was not deputy before becoming leader, the previous leader Beetlestar and his deputy Lightcloud where killed by the Hollows, to “liberate” Silent clan. She was chosen by their current medicine cat Blacktears 

She's naive but loyal and smart. She cares for her clan's wellbeing above all, and is a staunch believer in all the clans' welfare, that there should always be four functioning clans otherwise they will lose what makes them clan cats.  She and Magpiestar have been close friends since they apprenticed. She needs to learn to speak up for herself and trust in her own judgment will she? 

Her deputy is bluemark 

[barnclan]

I forgot to add interesting backgrounds on the last few moons, tried to remedy that in this moon

[im-not-like-other-catgirls]

i need to see more fan art for olivia atwater's books, but especially for longshadow because i can't find any for that book :(

[randombookquotes]

longshadow- olivia atwater

[nerdishfeels]

BEST READS OF 2023

Hey guys! Here’s my top reads this year. I finished 10 books out of 20, which I’ll take proudly. Most of the year was spent stressing and writing lol.

The only book not pictured is Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa (I listened to the audio book).

Also, does anyone else notice the colour scheme here? A lot of reds and purples. I’m loving the random colour coordination lol.

I hope you all had a great reading year and gained new favourites. I know I have. Let me know what you enjoyed!

Here’s to a year filled with more great and exciting reads! ❤️

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Fairy Tales of Love and Death

In the afterword to this book, Olivia Atwater says:

"I am not fond of death. I feel strange that I even have to write those words, but apparently I do. For some reason, we are surrounded by stories which romanticise death, and which imply that people who refuse to accept death are doing the world some sort of moral disservice. Obviously I do not think that accepting death is a virtue."

Someday I need to inject this quote into the brains of every doctor, nurse, CDC director, and world leader who had any say whatsoever in public health policy in the year of our lord 2023. Not to mention literally everyone who has ever thought that disabled or chronically ill people are better off dead. Because that romanticization exists, and somehow it got tied up in a really ugly way with ableism.

And then with her whole chest, Atwater told a story in which not only does almost nobody die, but at least one person is resurrected. Let's talk Longshadow.

*Spoilers abound below the break, so be warned!*

Fairy tales have an actively weird relationship with love and death. By courting one, you're often courting the other in fairy tale settings, and Miss Abigail Wilder ends up doing that QUITE LITERALLY. When Mercy Midnight gets caught in the bedroom of a girl who died suspiciously by the Lord Sorcier's beloved adopted daughter, our girls get right down to the business of falling in love while trying to solve a fae-based murder mystery.

There are so many beautiful little moments in Abigail and Mercy's relationship. Abigail realizing she is falling in love. Mercy dressing Abigail in midnight. Abigail speaking in support of Mercy to Other Mum. Hugs. Little touches. The desire for mutual belonging. The really lovely little motif of imagination, and Mercy actively making choices to revive Abigail's neglected imagination. Everything about this relationship is warm and soft and trusting...even once it's revealed that Mercy actually is Lord Longshadow, and is herself a sluarch.

Sluarch is the term Atwater uses in this story rather than psychopomp (creatures who guide the souls of the deceased to the afterlife; there are versions of these in every religion and culture), and they are tied into raven imagery, but they are themselves fairies, so all the usual rules apply. The sluarchs we meet are all just brimming with personality, and honestly they are just as wonderful as Lady Hollowvale and Mr. Jubilee, in their own ways.

What I think I loved best and what touched me most about this book, though, is how it addresses agency in death--both at the actual point of and for ghosts. And what this book screams to the skies with its whole chest is that people and ghosts have autonomy where death is concerned. Sluarchs do not judge, they do not coerce. They are hands to hold while you make your choice, and after you have made a choice, if you choose to go into the afterlife with them. Even Lord Longshadow, Mercy herself, has to learn that agency and autonomy are the most important things where death is concerned, not some arbitrary idea of what is "right" or "correct."

[maycat-19-142]

Random headcannon for young justice

A/n: this is short and you are a lantern

⚠️: non I know of

When you showed up to the outsiders meeting after tye joined the team for the first time senses he left the justice league during the war of the reach. He saw you and recognized you. You had shorter hair and more muscle but that is to be expected after you had been a [color] lantern for almost 3 years. You always had [emotion that is with your lantern] in large quantities but know you are a lantern. "Y/n" tye said as he walked up to you "hey tye" you said happily seeing him for the first for years "but when we are heros I'm [lantern color]" "ok [lantern color]" he said as you continued to catch up

This is short compared to other stuff I have done recently. have a good day and night 🌙

Pixie out 🧚‍♀️

[venomade]

heat waves. [Longshadow/Wind Dragon]

[amarenta-aurum]

THis is your sign to go read

Longshadow by Olivia Atwater (of course, it is the third in a series, but guys, it's gay)

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (this was amazing, Shimin, my beloved, also drop the link for that R-18 version, bestie)

iron widow has trigger warnings in the book itself, but it does deal with a good deal of misogyny so warning on that

Longshadow trigger warning under the cut

people die

trans character deadnamed and forcibly misgendered (in a way, like technically the name isn't the deadname really, dw it gets resolved pretty quickly

and by forcible misgendering, this is the full shebang, wrong body, wrong pronouns--->the person who makes this happen does not succeed.

trans character presents in the way she wants to

I just feel like it was kind of ignored by the author in writing the book, but i still think it's a good book, but some warning would have been nice.

[kvothbloodless]

Ive got a whole (in progress) list of such stories that I enjoyed enough to recommend. Not all of them fit this description exactly, and a few are romances that heavily focus on that, so I wont post the full list here, but here are the ones that i think fit well enough:

The Gods are Bastards (very much this, but unfortunately this subplot happens in books 11 and 16, so its a Lot (of an excellent series) to read through before you get to it))

Starless- Not exactly this, since its about a person (minor spoilers) afab, but raised as a boy by a temple of warrior monks, and so its more abouth him figuring out what his gender identity is, rather than a transition. Alao extremely good.

The Story of Silence- Almost exactly the same as Starless (reading this was very much a two nickles situation for me)

Burke Misadventures- This is almost exactly what OP described. Its an important but relatively minor subplot about one od the two MCs towards the end of book 1, and by book 2 shes mostly fully transitioned

Dreadnought (The Nemesis series)- I wouldnt really say this counts, because she starts out knowing shes trans, and gets a (spoilers) surprise magic transition in the first chapter, and id say its about 50/50 between focusing on her coming out/socially transitioning and on her superhero activities. But im including it anyways because its just genuinely phenomenal.

Same thing OP described, but for women realizing theyre sapphic, rather than someone realizing theyre trans:

Santa Olivia- Yea, definitely not the focus or even a Major plot point, but thats mostly just because it doesnt take all that long for the character to get past it and start dating the MC. Mostly. Definitely worth reading though.

The One Who Eats Monsters- Ive plugged this enough on my blog i assume anyone seeing this is already tired of hearing me talk about it. Insanely fun plot, excellent romance, extremely well written subplot about a girl realizing shes queer.

Longshadow- Faerie tale mystery with a sapphic romance subplot that invovled the MC learning that being queer is A Thing, and then does that. Other than the ending (which was okay), extremely well written

The Midnight Lie- Pretty similar to Longshadow in terms of "MC realizes she can be gay. Bes gay." The romance is definitely a major plot point here, but not quite 50/50 i think.

Wild and Wicked Things- Great Gatsby retelling sort of, same as the previous two. Not an Incredible story, but its fun and interesting and gay.

I want stories to have characters that like. Realize they're trans and do transition stuff, like name changes and trying new looks, partway through the narrative. I want it to be a major point for their personal arc, but not the be-all end-all of their/the story's existence. Like, imagine we get a full season of a show with a particular cast, right? We get to know them decently well as characters, get kinda settled with them. Then, at some point in the next season, one of the characters realizes he's a girl, and it's a huge step for her personal development, but ultimately the main problem on everyone's minds, our newly cracked egg included, is the dark sorcerer who has bewitched the city council, or whatever else the current major conflict might be. IDK, I just wanna see more trans characters in general, of course, and I also wanna see some of them get to figure shit out bc that's such an interesting space to explore, but I also want some of those arcs to just be part of the tapestry of the lives of people with other things going on in their world. Any kind of person can be trans, and the realization can come at any point in life, and it'd be cool to see that reflected in more stuff.

[bluelightningtv]

Photoshop CC 2024 tutorial showing how to create the look of a retro, 3D text design.

[barnclan]

[mistwraiths]

5 stars

Another splendid story!

I loved catching up with the Wilders and seeing all these characters from before. And I loved seeing Abigail again!!! I loved the adopted family instead of the typical marry and have children route.

I found that I could guess every story point before it happened but you know what, I didn't care because it was still enjoyable! I loved the slaugh and Mercy, and will never not want more representation in my regency romances!!!