#terry pratchett would be disappointed

[maybe-in-another-universe]

i am feeling very upset and betrayed about the neil gaiman allegations :( (upset about neil, not about the women coming forward) in the meantime, it’s important to put a hold on consuming his content, because there is no separating the artist from the work.

in other news, piracy is not a victimless crime. (don’t be shy steal that shit)

[gentlemanjuniper]

If I could inject just a little positivity to the news...

Season 2 has a lot of filler and stretches out a pretty simple mystery to six episodes. That's the appeal to some, I get it. But tightness and focus was not its strong suit. I remember feeling like it wasted a ton of time on side characters and it's possible shaving the story down to 90 minutes will skim things down to its most essential beats and be stronger for it. Basically, S2 got a lot of time given to it, and this is obviously my personal opinion but I don't think it used all of it well. I think S2 itself could have been half the length simply by employing more efficient storytelling and we'd not mourn too much.

A lot of S2's weaker plotlines feel built around people that Neil wanted to work with again, with so many recurring actors (I'm thinking of the zombies specifically, when that minisode could have easily been tighter without them). A lot of s2 to me feels like Neil just making work for the people he likes and wants to work with and a movie has to be more accountable to things like that.

Lots of entire fandoms exist around single movies. 90 minutes is not nothing. It's enough for many, many films to tell a complete story with cute character interactions and satisfying emotional arcs, especially when A&C are the only real significant connecting threads between both seasons thus far.

I don't think there are as many loose threads that absolutely need resolving as people may be thinking. Would I like to know why Aziraphale did the '40s apology dance? Would I like to see his bookshop gun? Sure. Are either of those necessarily essential to closing out the story? I don't think so. Really, what needs resolving is the second coming and, directly connected to that, Aziraphale and Crowley's rift. To me, not knowing the story obviously, that seems super reasonable to do in 90 minutes?

I don't think anyone involved in the final season can possibly be blind to the appeal of the show being Aziraphale and Crowley over anything else. That's certainly the reason why their roles were expanded to begin with from the book and why the second season was, nominally, all about them. They also now have to pay MS and DT for appearing in a movie rather than an ensemble show, there's no way they won't be front and center. Amazon wants a show that will make money and market itself; there's a reason why all the promo material for S2 was of Crowley and Aziraphale, because people engage with that stuff, reblog it, make art that promotes the show, etc. It makes no artistic or financial sense to make a movie that sidelines them.

GO is at its best when it has Terry's voice most strongly in it. That's why to me, S2 was a weaker, more meandering season overall (that, and I think the minisodes, while fun, just make the season feel comprised of different voices not always working in tandem towards a common goal). If I was a writer hired to condense a season into a film, and one of the authors had been rightfully disgraced, I would go out of my way to ensure the clearly Terry stuff is most significantly emphasized. It's telling to me that the Pratchett estate is producing and it's possible that the end result will result in more Terry, less Neil.

Think of it this way: everything we've gotten after S1 has always been extra. Imagine telling a fan of the book in the 90s that not only will you get a six episode adaptation, you also get a totally new second season, AND a movie?

Basically: I know this is disappointing but I think a lot of the pleasure of the Good Omens fandom was ALWAYS people picking up on and expanding on details, and y'all managed to do that just fine when A&C were only ensemble members in S1. You can and will do that with a movie too. And this solution both a) ensures first and foremost that Neil won't be involved or the allegations swept under the rug, and b) gives an opportunity for the heart of the story to be emphasized with greater focus, clarity and less filler.

Will we lose good stuff? Probably. But it's also possible we will get a tighter, more condensed, focused version of the best bits, the Terry Pratchett-est bits. I can easily see a 90 minute movie that, knowing they HAVE to focus on the important stuff now, is more Crowley and Aziraphale centric than ever.

[paperclipninja]

I think I'm in a minority and lordt knows I've been very wrong about stuff like this before, but I have zero concern that Good Omens will end with Aziraphale and Crowley being human. None. Not even one iota of worry about it happening.

Why?

Because Neil Gaiman is a really good storyteller. And he, as a really good storyteller, knows that would be an unsatisfying ending.

Obviously this is pure speculation on my part, but a really good storyteller doesn't go to the effort of constructing such an intricate story, in which the challenges and desires of having eternal life but not being able to share it with the one being you want to, are so carefully laid out only to have them end up mortal. Because then what? Crowley ends up back in hell anyway and maybe Aziraphale does too? Or they end up back where they started? Nah.

My guess is that it is not going to play out as a rom-com might (I mean, it's not a rom-com), or with anything particularly overt being shown between Aziraphale and Crowley, and any "it may not be the ending you want" is, in my mind, getting way out in front to manage expectations.

By the time season 3 airs we will have been consuming years of fanfic, fanart and fanon and of all people, Neil knows the way that begins to shift the expectations and hopes of a fandom. It's really easy to drift away from canon or forget the kind of show it actually is (and that's totally fine, gimme all the fics and art that take me to where I want my faves to be), but it also means that fandoms can end up "disappointed" that some of the fan thinking and creating didn't come to pass.

So mah point is, any comments from actors or creators about a season not being what we want- that doesn't mean it's going to be rubbish storytelling. It means that some of the things people are hoping for won't happen.

And until we see what actually plays out on our screen, I, for one, am going to keep immersing myself in the brilliant creativity of this fandom and just

EDIT TO ADD: also need to acknowledge that Terry Pratchett is also an incredible storyteller and these two had it all figured out nearly 20 years ago and one thing's for certain, and that is that neither author, or Neil in seeing through the vision they both had, is going to drop the ball at the last minute

[thebibliosphere]

I got an ask over the weekend, which I now can't find (sorry), but it related to this post talking about book comps in mainstream publishing and how I think trad-pub would describe Phangs.

Fortunately, I didn't have to think about it too hard because I already talked about this with one of my editors when that post went around. Gently rolling our eyes at trad-pub as we concluded that I'd most likely be marketed as "Twilight meets Fifty Shades" at worst and "Gail Carriger meets... probably Fifty Shades" at a hopeful best.

(Which... I mean. Yeah, I could see the Carriger association. Fifty Shades, however, nope, nope. Absolutely not.)

And I think we can all agree if I got marketed as Twilight meets Fifty Shades, you'd have a lot of disappointed people.

Not to mention the people who would enjoy Phangs wouldn't pick it up because Phangs, as it has been described by the actual fans, is the queer goth love child of Terry Pratchett meets Jane Austen, replete with vampires, werewolves, [REDACTED BEINGS], tongue-in-cheek social observations, multiple depictions of disability representation and a burgeoning dom/sub dynamic that expands into a happy open throuple in the second book after several bouts of vigorous communication.

Yet the industry would latch on to the vampire-werewolf dynamics, try to sell the polyamory as a love triangle, then lump the dom/sub elements into the horrific kink rep that is 50 Shades of Yikes because that's all it knows.

It knows "these are the things that made a profit; therefore, we must find ways to compare them, or we cannot market them," because they will not take a risk.

It's sad.

And also why, unless I'm offered obscene amounts of money, I'll be staying in my indie-self-pub lane. Trad-pub wouldn't know what to do with my disabled queer monsters.

They already demonstrated that when I did shop the novel around and I was asked to "tone down" the disability and also to turn the polyamory into a love triangle. So just, y'know, the core essence of the entire series 🙃.

[crowleysgirl56]

Ok, so here are some of my rather long rambling thoughts. I’ll start off with some pros and cons and then provide some speculation:

My initial negative reaction:

- Compressing 5 hours worth of content into 90 minutes feels like things will be rushed and we won’t get a good story.

- HOW do you take a month to rewrite six 45 minute long scripts into a movie length feature and have it still be good?!

- the compression of the story means we will likely not get any more flashback sequences. Admittedly I actually thought we probably wouldn’t get more flashback scenes in season 3 anyway, but this definitely proves the case that we won’t. There won’t be time for it.

- who has re-written the script? Because here’s the thing about Pratchett adaptations. They’re fucking shit. No one (in my opinion) has been able to successfully transfer that man’s unique sense of humour and writing style onto screen. Every single Discworld adaptation has been on a scale of awful to kind of meh. EXCEPT for season 1 of Good Omens. As much as we hate him now. As vile as he has become in our hearts, the thing about NG is that he understood Terry’s unique style. He understood what worked and how to transfer that to the screen. And that breaks my heart on so many levels. Because he was all we had. And we certainly didn’t want him any more. But still, who THE FUCK has written the finale script now?

Now here are my positive thoughts on the situation:

- NEIL GAIMAN GOT HIS SORRY ASS FIRED! GOOD!

- Consequences. The industry has signalled consequences. Finally!

- We are getting a conclusion! It could very well have been cancelled and we would have been left with the final 15 forever. We get to see them again. That deserves a Wahoo!

- thinking back over season 2, which I enjoyed, I actually do have to say a lot of it was kind of unnecessary filler. The flashback sequences were great. But the actual core of the season’s arc involving Gabriel was just a bit boring. I’m forever grateful for it because we got to spend almost 6 hours watching Aziraphale give Crowley heart eyes and Crowley do beautiful acts of service proving his love back. But the meandering stuff with Nina and Maggie and trying to work out why Gabriel lost his memory wasn’t all that interesting. I was here for A&C.

- so I think MAYBE that means the compression of what had already been written for season 3 means it’ll cut out the plot bits that drag. Hopefully this means it’s faster paced and tighter and more focused on A&C.

Speculations:

Thinking back to the last time NG interacted with the fandom, he had confirmed the first three episodes were written and were with Amazon for approval, episode 4 was almost done, the last part of episode 6 had been written, and he had started plotting episode 5. We never got a confirmation if he ever finished them. So this maybe indicates that the finale is lifted exactly out of these scripts. My assumption is they’ve brought in a script doctor to edit what they’ve already got and wrap up plot points. In which case, on the one hand it gives us close to the story and idea of what Terry imagined. On the other, the far more negative connotation, it’s still NG’s work. The articles that have all come out so far merely states “Gaiman is not involved with the production and the finale is based on his work”. This could be Prime distancing themselves without actually confirming how he’s contributed. Which is still largely disappointing.

So, once again I feel very conflicted. A lot of the fandom have been very adamant about not wanting to support the show if Gaiman was involved, and in the end he wrote the show. Even if he had been removed as producer and showrunner and wasn’t allowed on set (thankfully it seems all three of things have happened), I know that wouldn’t have been enough for some fans because he would still have ultimately been responsible for the product that we eventually see. And I don’t know how to feel about that.

I’m happy he’s gone, I’m disappointed the show has been gutted, I’m glad we get a conclusion, I’m sad it won’t be exactly what we wanted.

I’m SO THANKFUL that the women get some semblance of justice, that there is a consequence for a perpetrator, that a big ass company is finally listening to fans and moving with the times and signally this kind of behaviour isn’t appropriate and that repercussions can and will be felt.

Finally, I’ll remind everyone that there are going to be a lot of different and conflicting feelings from the fandom. I would ask that everyone try to be nice to one another. If you have a differing opinion, maybe rather than debating it you just allow that person their feelings and move on. Do not go after someone if you feel like they’re not reacting the “right way” to the situation. Just be kind please. It’s what Terry would have wanted.

[kizunatallis]

Seriously though, this is a big issue that I've noticed on parts of the left. Terry Pratchett unfortunately summed it up well here.

People on the side of The People always ended up disappointed, in any case. They found that The People tended not to be grateful or appreciative or forward-thinking or obedient. The People tended to be small-minded and conservative and not very clever and were even distrustful of cleverness. And so the children of the revolution were faced with the age-old problem: it wasn't that you had the wrong kind of government, which was obvious, but that you had the wrong kind of people. As soon as you saw people as things to be measured, they didn't measure up. What would run through the streets soon enough wouldn't be a revolution or a riot. It'd be people who were frightened and panicking. It was what happened when the machinery of city life faltered, the wheels stopped turning and all the little rules broke down. And when that happened, humans were worse than sheep. Sheep just ran; they didn't try to bite the sheep next to them.

[asexualbookbird]

I didn't complete my 24 in 2024 list, but that's okay. I read a lot of short books and that's okay. I tried something new and wrote a small blurb in a draft after finishing it, instead of cobbling together feelings from what I remembered throughout the month, and I liked that a lot. I'll continue to do that, it made this a lot easier. Officially gave up on Ga'Hoole, and don't feel guilty about it. There are better books in the world and I will find them. That is a threat.

The Screaming Stair Case by Jonathan Stroud ⭐⭐½ - I want to watch the tv show, and I always feel weird doing that before reading the book. I'm not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't another Jackaby. I will not delete my blog over it, but it was. Not great. Fine. Fun at times. Would be more fun if the author didn't hate fat people so much. A pet peeve of mine is when the main character is a girl but the series is named after the main boy in her life. Icky. Not the worst, but I'm not sure I want to continue the series. The audio narrator was Delightful.

The Shattering by Kathryn Lasky ⭐⭐ - GaHoole book five. I know I said at the start of the year I'd read what I owned, but I'm no longer having fun so this will be the last for me. I'd rather be reading Animorphs. The owls can't save it for me, I'm sorry. Still counting it towards my yearly list though.

I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons ⭐- by Peter S Beagle This was trying to be a T Kingfisher novel but couldn't figure out the right balance between humor and devastation and how it fits into a small amount of words. It tried to be a Terry Pratchett novel but couldn't figure out what satire was. Disappointing considering I was hyped for it when it was announced. Dragons eventually showed up, but it was too late for them to save it.

A Psalm for the Wildbuilt by Becky Chambers ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - reread for book club! Still adore it! This time around I was able to pinpoint WHY I adored it! It's because I too feel Aimless and Without A Purpose. So. Ouchie. It's also helping me figure out what I want out of a "cosy" novel (or novella). Internal personal conflict! I would still do anything for Mosscap.

A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - reread for book club! Once again, Becky Chambers has flayed me open and picked apart my soul! Reading Monk & Robot is like sitting down and being given a cup of tea while I cry my heart out.

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - "Is this what it means to lose someone? The pain never goes away, it just gets buried?" I think this ending hit me hard for different reasons than most people are going wild for. It was Fine. Not mad I read it, but don't see myself ever wanting to reread it. I like the idea of the library as a living thing and a character itself, but there were a few plot points that just seemed to be brushed aside.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I needed a safe tragedy I knew the end of and this did it. First time I actually shed tears over these words, but I needed it. It was fun to see and note the pieces that were laid out for later books, and I wonder, knowing some teasers we've gotten for Alecto, what TMuir means by Gideon wishing she could marry her sword.....

I don't have 2025 reading goals at this moment. Maybe that will change. It will probably change. I mean, there's the Usual, read the books I own, dangit, but that seems so. Boring. Typical. Everyone's doing that. Let me be ~Different~. I have a few fiber arts projects I'd like to do and finish, and I'd like to finish the sewing projects I started if only so I can pack all that up and put it away for a while. We're still hoping to move, so paring down my book collection is still an ongoing endeavor, and I do have a couple of art pieces I'd at the very least like to get sketched out. I want 2025 to be slow. I want 2025 to be quiet. I want 2025 to be kind. That's all I ask of it. Be kind.

[styrofauxm]

2025 Book Bingo Plans

I've started planning out some of what I'm going to read for @batmanisagatewaydrug's 2025 book bingo (read more here), and to get myself hyped, I'm sharing the books I've set in stone, as well as recording some ideas I have for the other spaces!

I've been looking forward to Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins for a while now, I'm interested to see if it will live up to the philosophical examination it sets itself up as.

I got the illustrated copy of Eragon by Christopher Paolini/Sidharth Chaturvedi for Christmas, so that's kind of a no-brainer for the re-read.

Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao I'm also getting for Christmas, but it's the pretty Illumicrate version, so it's not getting here until January or February. I took a gamble with Iron Widow and got the hardcover, and I was not disappointed (I've read it 3 times and am going to reread it once I get HT, and will certainly reread both in the future), so I expect the fancy one will be money well spent (by my aunt but still).

I am just assuming that My Friends by Fredrik Backman is going to be set in Sweden, because all of Backman's other novels are set there. Hopefully I don't need to find a new book for the category lol. If I do this one will probably fit Literary Fiction anyway.

I've been working my way through my reread of the Hitchiker's Guide trilogy by Douglas Adams, and think I can finish the 3rd in the next few days, so I'm all set up for the 4th going into 2025 :)

I stopped reading Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey when school got really rough last year and have wanted to go back to it for a while. It was recommended to me by my dad, and one of his favorite books. In the 100-ish pages I've read, I've found it to be amazing as well.

Things My Son Needs to Know About the World by Fredrik Backman was going to be my memoir choice until I realized it was actually essays.

I saw Death In Rocky Mountain National Park: Accidents and Foolhardiness on the Continental Divide by Randi Minetor while just wandering Barnes and Noble and was sure I had to read it when the title made it clear it wasn't going to blame animals for the actions of humans.

I've wanted to read Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine for a long time, but the concept alone has always made it a little too sad to convince myself to pick up. This year will be its year though.

I promised my roommate that I would read The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson last year so that we could watch the show for Halloween. I'm following through this year instead.....

My reasoning for Thud! by Terry Pratchett is simple. I like Discworld, I like Ankh Morpork, I like the Watch novels, I like Sam Vimes.

Below the cut are some of my ideas for the sections I haven't filled yet (anyone should feel free to send me as many recommendations for these as you want):

Literary Fiction:

All The Names by José Saramago (recommended by my dad)

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (recommended by my roommate)

Short Story Collection:

And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer and Longer, The Answer is No, and The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman (this is not technically a collection, but it is a group of short stories that I really want to read)

20th Century Speculative Fiction:

The Martian by Andy Weir (I just want to read it)

Published Before 1950:

TBD Agatha Christie novel (I stole my dad's books acquired a lot of these and want to read some)

Indie Publisher:

Something from this list

Graphic Novel, Comic Book, or Manga:

Nothing Special by Katie Cook (I read this on Webtoon as it's been coming out, it has some of the best panel transitions on the platform, and I really want to see how she translated that to book form. Also I want to own the books bc I love the story and refuse to pay Webtoon money for it)

Animal On the Cover:

A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Bird (I was looking at the "local" shelf (not at this book in particular though) in Barnes and Noble, and a woman (not an employee) came up to me to tell me this is one of her favorite books ever and now I must read it)

The Girl in Red by Christina Henry (I help run a blog here cataloguing books with little to no romance and/or sex in them for people who are sex/romance repulsed, and someone submitted this. I also read a book years ago that I loved, but I didn't have Goodreads even at that point, and all I really remembered was the cover and opening. I've been looking for a while, and I think this very well could be it)

City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer (I loved her Market of Monster's trilogy and the Webtoon adaptation, and have been meaning to read this for ages)

Descendent of the Crane by Joan He (recommended by my other roommate, plus I liked her book The Ones We're Meant to Find)

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett (re: the reasons for Thud!)

2025 Debut Author:

Honestly, no clue here. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it

Read a Zine and Make a Zine:

Scarland fanzine by a whole bunch of people (I've read it before but it's really quite amazing and I would read it again happily)

2024 Award Winner:

Something on this list

Romance Novel:

Just Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane (recommended by a friend whose judgement in books I really trust)

Read and Make a Recipe:

We will see what strikes my fancy this year

Historical Fiction:

Fever 1973 by Laurie Halse Anderson (this one has been on my TBR since 2015)

The Island of the Sea Women by Lisa See (this was a birthday present in 2019)

Babel by R.F. Kuang (the premise is cool, and it says it's a response to The Secret History and I loved that book)

Bookseller or Librarian Rec:

Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea (in 5th grade, we did a unit where the class was split into 3rds and we each analyzed 1 book. The kids who read this book loved it. I really wanted to read it then, but never did. Then in 8th grade a librarian recommended it to me, bringing it back to my memory, but I still didn't read it. It lives on my TBR because I feel like I need to read it for 10/13 year old me)

[hussyknee]

Ever since I realized anyone who's made art I loved could turn out to be a monster I've tried to preemptively interrogate how many preconceptions and biases I've formed towards creators just because I've bonded with their work, and think about what I'd do if that axe fell on my own most beloved books and music and shows (I mean it already has on many of them. Millennials can't have shit). I've squared it with most of them but ngl, in the full knowledge that I didn't actually know the man from my left elbow, if Terry Pratchett turns out to be a shitwipe I'll probably just lay down and die. I'm the first to encourage engaging much more critically with his work than his insufferable fandom will ever do, but I cannot contemplate someone whose blistering rage against social injustice I can feel so keenly in my own blood could be a racist or a piece of shit like Gaiman. Maybe he'd have disappointed the fuck out of me by believing Gaiman until he became indefensible, because whiteness and man-ness and ego sometimes calcifies in people's twilight years and undermine all they were in their youth. But actually being party to, or knowing about and accepting of that kind of abuse, especially at the time of writing Good Omens, when the characters of Vimes and Granny Weatherwax were beginning to unfold in his imagination? I don't want to live in a world where that's possible. I can't.

I mean, if allegations like that did come to light I would believe the victims and shut the fuck up about my own turmoil until the dust settled. But I'd also just fucking give up on the world man.

[geekthefreakout]

No, but the more I'm thinking about it, 90 minutes really doesn't seem like enough. They couldn't do at least two hours??

I am trusting David Tennant and Michael Sheen to fight for their characters to get what they deserve. I'm trusting Terry Pratchett's estate. And, God help me, I'm trusting the fuckers at Amazon to find a writer who gets it.

But I don't see how 90 minutes can be anything but a rush job. There's too much that needs resolution-- What's heaven's actual plan? What's going to come of Hell? How will Aziraphale and Crowley mend their relationship? And also have time to let characters like Muriel spend time in the spotlight? And also let the necessary moments BREATHE????

HECK.

Bastards like Neil Gaiman need to stop making art. And also stop being bastards.

All that said:

Here is a not so gentle reminder that though we are disappointed because we love our show, it is 1000% NOT OKAY to take any of this out on the victims. At all. If I see ANYONE saying that they would prefer the victims stayed silent or that they would rather Gaiman not deal with consequences so we could get the season 3 we wanted, I will block your ass with the quickness. Don't be a jerk.

[pratchettquotes]

"Ah, good," said the Patrician. "Now, I would just like to ask one or two questions, if I may?"

Goodmountain nodded.

"Firstly, is Mr. Cut-My-Own-Throat Dibbler involved in this enterprise in any significant managerial capacity?"

"What?" said William. He hadn't been expecting this.

"Shifty fellow, sells sausages--"

"Oh, him. No. Just the dwarfs."

"I see. And is this building built on a crack in space-time?"

"What?" said Gunilla.

The Patrician sighed. "When one has been the ruler of this city as long as I have," he said, "one gets to know with a sad certainty that whenever some well-meaning soul begins a novel enterprise they always, with some kind of uncanny foresight, site it at the point where it will do maximum harm to the fabric of reality." [...]

"What?" said Goodmountain.

"We haven't noticed any cracks," said William.

"Ah, but possibly on this very site a strange cult once engaged in eldritch rites, the very essence of which permeated the neighborhood, and which seeks only the rite, ahaha, circumstances to once again arise and walk around eating people?"

"What?" said Gunilla. He looked helplessly at William, who could only add:

"They made rocking horses here."

"Really? I've always thought there was something slightly sinister about rocking horses," said Lord Vetinari, but he looked subtly disappointed.

Terry Pratchett, The Truth* *For the anon who requested the bit about cracks in space-time from this excellent conversation in The Truth, where Vetinari demonstrates the Ankh-Morpork approach to urban planning.

[theguildwriter]

Neil Gaiman: A Monster Among Men

I wasn't sure if I was going to write anything about this. In a way, I'm still processing it but feel that putting my thoughts to paper may help that process along. I am not the sort of person that dwells on most current events or suffers from the kind of parasocialism that gives me faith in people I've never met. Often, when a celebrity falls from grace, I pay attention to the story, frown, and shake my head in disappointment, but the investment stops there. Even when I enjoy their work, I don't translate their talent to morality, and I don't mistake their charisma in interviews for anything tangible, certainly not intimacy.

There have been stories that have disturbed me, and for the sake of the crimes and the victims, I have felt outrage, sympathy, passion. But I never took personal offense from the perpetrator. Never felt let down or wronged in any capacity. Yesterday, that changed.

I discovered Neil Gaiman late in life. I had heard of Coraline, but I had been easily frightened as a kid and didn't discover a love for horror until my teens. I had skipped over tales like Coraline and jumped directly into the deep end with IT, Carrie, The Shining, etc. King had my heart first and still does. Then, when it came to fantasy, well, I was the Potter generation. I went from Rowling to Lewis to Paolini to Tolkien to McKinley and on and on I went.

It wasn't until the pandemic that I stumbled across Gaiman. I had been gifted a Masterclass subscription for Christmas and had found his class on Storytelling. I decided to try the first video and was instantly charmed by his calm, measured speech, that lullaby of a voice that taught storytelling as if it was an arcane art. His approach to writing connected with something deep in my soul and dissolved a block I didn't know I had.

After finishing his class, I bought countless books of his. I started with Coraline, then American Gods, then Trigger Warning, then Good Omens, and on and on. I consumed as much of his content as I could get my hands on. I watched lectures online, found interviews on podcasts, and attended one of his events in 2022. My husband listened to him that night and was drawn in as well and spoke admirably of him in the years that followed. We read The Sandman comics together.

I felt that Gaiman was a generational talent. I, unfortunately, still feel that. He is a well of creativity, and his sins do nothing to take that away from him. In fact, his sins do all but take it away from him. They instead tarnish it, fill the well with toxic, gurgling sludge that poisons all that once drank from it and riddles us with this feverish disgust and contempt.

Headlines of major publications won't use the word, so I will: rape. What he did, to call it "assault" feels a violation in and of itself. That cannot encompass the vileness of what he did. He raped those women. He did it with a casualness that feels sociopathic. He brings to mind that quote from Sherlock villain, Culverton Smith: "I like to turn people into things. Then you can own them (Season 4, Episode 2)." The approach he had to these women reeks of that sentiment; he handled them as toys, as a pretty inheritance the world owed him simply for the grace of his presence.

I'll admit that when the allegations first were announced last summer, I was hesitant to believe them. I had, at the time, little information about them beyond their existence and had heard (at the time) his claims that he would be cooperating with the police. I remembered the storm that initially brewed around Johnny Depp when he was first accused by his ex-wife, Amber Heard. I decided to wait for more information and, until then, pause my consumption of any new work.

I almost forgot about it. In my initial binge of Gaiman's work, I had overstuffed myself, had purchased all the books I had planned to until new releases, had moved on to other authors I had discovered since him or, even, through him (Terry Pratchett, a god amongst writers). I caught up on Sanderson's works in time for Wind and Truth, did a horror-genre stint by re-reading IT for Halloween and washing it down with Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth, and started 2025 with Normal People by Sally Rooney and A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. When I opened Instagram on January 13th and saw an account refer to the article, I could only stare. These weren't mild allegations (if any sexual assault allegations can, in fact, be mild, but, hopefully, you understand my meaning); this was aggressive, deplorable, dehumanizing rape.

I searched for the article (non-paywall link here) to read it for myself. Not only did the allegations have solid sources, detail, pictures to establish timelines, a consistent story from women across the globe who have never met one another, and the existence of payoffs and NDAs, but it was written with care and diligence by the author, Lila Shapiro. This is someone who had not only done her homework but seemed to understand -- if not have, at one point, felt it herself -- the love fans had for this author and the gravity of his career on the literary world.

If you're here for a summary of the article, you're in the wrong place. I have no wish to repeat it. The things this man did to women in their most vulnerable states are, to put it simply, shockingly vile. They were in the interest of his inflation to godhood and the reduction of his victims to sub-human. "Call me Master," he told them. I can hear it now, in that velvety voice he used to read poetry and tell of the magic of stories. But the lighting has changed, the camera angle has shifted, and the music, once the soothing melody of a gentle hero now dips to sinister tones that tell of a villain.

Though Gaiman is not responsible for his upbringing, I did find his work for the church of Scientology in his teen years to be of note. He was raised by people who had cultivated a talent for sniffing out the vulnerabilities in others, in prodding at the right places and luring them into their caves. And, in his adolescence, he had excelled working for them, had gotten to exhibit all that he had learned and had been called "ambitious" and "precocious." Instead of breaking the cycle of abuse, Gaiman had learned how to spin it to his advantage.

As I read the article (aloud, to my husband, who sat with an expression that darkened with every sentence), I felt many things: disgust, anger, sorrow, even pain at certain points, but the one thing I never felt was disbelief. Reflecting on this, I realize that had there been any doubt in my mind that these events happened the way they were recounted, I would have felt some disbelief. But there was something about him that communicated this darkness, something that your gut knows even if it doesn't let your brain in on the secret. It's the same instinct that finds faces in the shadows and tunes in to small sounds in the woods. It's the most basic instinct that searches for predators in our peripheries.

I feel a part of me wasn't surprised because I had learned that a love and talent for art, philosophy, and beautiful words did not make one an angel. The devil has been known to wield these well in stories told since mankind's beginning. I thought of The Judge from Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. Though Gaiman is no murderer, I felt a connection between the two entities: predators that felt they were gods walking amongst men, felt that their talents had earned them power and that power granted them the right to any fleeting desire. The Judge has beautiful monologues in the book; he is an educated man, the owner of a tongue not of silver but of gold. Yet he is Pennywise in a book filled with Henry Bowerses. He is the thing all things were born to watch the shadows for, the ultimate monster.

For what worse monster is there than one that speaks like an angel?

These past two days, I've caught glimpses of his name on my shelves and felt a horrible, sinking feeling in my stomach. I kept flashing back to the things I had read, kept hearing that voice say, "I'm a very wealthy man, and I'm used to getting what I want." I went out to our living room, where our bookcases with some of my favorite books were out in the gleaming mid-morning light, and I pulled one after the other off the shelf. He had been sharing one with Terry Pratchett and Brandon Sanderson. I left three books: a beautiful hardcover of American Gods, a Barnes & Noble Classics hardcover print of Anansi Boys, and the box set of The Sandman. These things I left because all were gifts, and all three are beautiful to display. I could at least treasure the love they had been given with and the joy I had gotten reading them. The others were brought to shelves at the back of the house, wedged out of immediate sight. Still, they seemed to leer at me throughout the day.

The question before me now is: where do I go from here? The answer: anywhere. I am freed of any admiration or obligation I once felt to an author I would have died to get to pay my work a compliment. I now shift into a phase that has been long coming: one where my work seeks no validation. One where my work is a joy to create and brings satisfaction solely through existing. I wish that the death of an idol had not been necessary, but I see now as Harry Potter once had that once this entity had fallen, he was just a man (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, p. 744).

I'll quote here some words from Kieran Healy, who posted on Threads under @kieran_edits_stuff:

"Regarding Neil Gaiman, I recently read 'Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma' by Claire Dederer, and the question posed by that book essentially is "Is it okay to consume the art of a monster? Is there a line?" It's a difficult question...

Am I complicit in their depravity? Does their work retroactively suffer? Dederer called it "the stain."

[...]

Personally, I think the answer is mostly "no." Will I buy another Neil Gaiman book? Probably not. But it doesn't mean that "The Sandman" wasn't revelatory and an awakening for me... I'm still going to love "The Ocean at the End of the Lane..." and I'm going to hope every artist I love who turns out to be a fucker gets caught and (threadacted)."

This may not be the approach for everyone. Some may feel that I am not doing enough, that I am not taking enough of a stand against a monster who stands to profit from the content I consume. To that I say: the books are bought. I do not plan to buy more. The good and true things he has written up until now are still good and true, even having come from him. Despite the evil that he has put out into the world, he has rippled out good as well. He has inspired us to be brave, has encouraged us to seek magic, and has told us that we deserve love. Though it seems he has believed none of these things and certainly has practiced none of them, he has affected us all the same. These stories have made us better than he could ever dream to be, and that hoard of gold he sits upon now will do nothing to scrub his soul.

I will pass on the good and true things to my children, remind them that monstrous men will say things they don't believe and yet they will speak truth in spite of themselves. I will remind them that the art they consume can inspire good while not being made by people who practice it. Gaiman was only discovered after decades of this behavior. There are many whose work we love who may do evil that we will never uncover. But we can fight back. We can be the good they could only dream to be.

[crowleysgirl56]

So Elnora Whittaker is a wonderful artist on Instagram. She does a lot of Good Omens inspired work which is simply beautiful. You can follow her Instagram blog here: https://www.instagram.com/elnorawhittaker?igsh=MThwZDNkYnhyaWhqeA==

She’s created a Good Omens love letter October challenge, which considering I’m not particularly an artist, thought I would participate in instead of Inktober. She’s included the challenge as an image which I’ve linked below.

So for Day 1 (which was technically yesterday for me, but thought I’d start it today) is “How I discovered Good Omens”.

Pretty simply answer to this one really. I’d been a massive fan of Terry Pratchett and his Discworld novels for years. So was one of my best friends from high school, and she basically recommended Good Omens and also introduced me to Neverwhere by NG. Both of these books immediately became two of my favourite ever books.

Now, as we all know they’re both quite tainted thanks to a certain someone. It’s very disappointing. But as I’ve mentioned before, Good Omens still holds a special place in my heart and most of it is devoted to Terry.

[nellie-elizabeth]

2024 Books - Year in Review

I was going to make a post of all my "favorite" books this year, but instead I decided to go with my "noteworthy" books of this year, the ones that stuck in my head when I look back over what I read. I steered away from negativity, so while a couple of these weren't 4 or 5 star reads, they still stuck with me for positive reasons and gave me stuff to think about! I had a fair share of 1 star books this year too, but I'll leave that for my goodreads if you're curious to read me be a hater! lol. See below for some thoughts on each!

~~~

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez: new all-time favorite. If you are someone who loves the craft of the novel, the complexity of language to impart meaning, if you want a story that iterates, that invites deep thought and deep contemplation, you have to read this. It's one of the most cleverly and expertly constructed works of fantasy fiction I've ever read. The world-building, characters, and plot are all vivid and unique, and the woven narrative structure is a true masterpiece. I think this stands head and shoulders above every other work of fantasy I read this year, and I'll be thinking about it and re-reading it for a long long time.

Lord Byron's Novel: The Evening Land by John Crowley: This one had been on my tbr for a million years and I finally got to it this year. It's a perfect book 2 me even though it's pretentious as hell lol. It just happens to be pretentious about stuff I love to think about. When a contemporary author borrows the style of a known master with the English language and does it in a way that feels authentic and loving, I'm always impressed and interested. It also has this specific trope of "finding the lost works of the masters" and uncovering interesting secrets about the past that I always love. And I learned some stuff about Ada Lovelace, to boot!

Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly: I have a lot of friends who are allergic to trying literary fiction and this is the book I would pitch them to try, because it's not a huge bite to chew on but it does give a good example of the gifts this type of book can offer. It's about people my age in my current moment, queer and disaffected and confused and scared, but trying so hard to find joy. It's a story about a loving and somewhat wacky family that manages to never tip over into being too tropey or saccharine. It gave me goosebumps and it put the biggest smile on my face.

The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro: If you ever wanted to read a book that feels like having a confusing and disorienting and anxiety-producing dream, read this book. I don't even know how much I "liked" it or how to articulate everything going on about it, but it's about, like, disappointment? Suffering disappointment and disappointing others, and getting in your own way. And it's about parents failing their children, more specifically. And it's funny as hell, as Ishiguro usually is.

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld: This was one of the bigger surprises for me this year, because it's my third Sittenfeld novel and I pretty strongly disliked the other two I've tried. But this was a book club pick so I sighed and resigned myself to another mediocre read. And instead, I really really liked it! I think the thing that sticks in my head most, months after reading it, is how it accurately captured something super painful and true about being a young person who doesn't know how to behave, and who is afraid of what other people are thinking of you. This is one of those books where the protagonist is not "fun" to hang out with in the traditional sense, she's often incredibly infuriating. But gosh, is she hashtag-relatable all the same.

Night Watch by Terry Pratchett: I have slowed down a lot in my quest to read through the entire Discworld, so I only read I think two or three this year. But I finally got here, to one of the top-tier novels in the series, according to most people. And, yeah, I get why it's a favorite. Samuel Vimes, the man that you are. Love a book that can make me snicker at the funny jokes on every page but then also punch me in the solar plexus whenever it damn well wants to.

Love and Freindship and Other Youthful Writings by Jane Austen: Despite being an Austen devotee, I'd never really bothered with her juvenalia, and that was a mistake! This was so fun. This volume included Lady Susan too, which I also hadn't read. These pieces are less polished and obviously not quite as deep as her completed novels, but god, she's so fucking funny. And because many of these pieces were just jokey little gifts she was writing for her family and intimate circles of friends, there are some really saucy and bawdy kind of shocking jokes in here that never would have appeared in any of the published novels. You also see her trying out some tropes that she later refines in her more well-known works, and I love seeing a bit of how the sausage gets made.

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir: I read Gideon last year, and Harrow & Nona this year. Harrow is definitely my favorite of the three because she's so fucked in the head, and I'm a sucker for a clever second-person conceit. This is the kind of book that is patting itself on the back about how clever it is all the time and I don't even care because I'm too busy giggling at the bizarre and depraved events playing out on the page. The part that sticks in my head most is probably Harrow and Ianthe fleeing the room in abject horror as Mercy and Augustine initiate a threesome with God. Truly hilarious.

Penance by Eliza Clarke: Tumblr-ites, you should read this, Tumblr itself plays a pretty big role in the plot, and you can tell that Clarke is (or was) a native or at least worked closely with someone who was. It's probably one of the best fictionalized version of fandom stuff I've ever read, even though it's... uh... about RPF mass-shooter fandom...... It's a disturbing read that takes the entire concept of True Crime to task in a way that feels complex and not overly scolding? Like, it's not a book that slaps true crime fans on the wrist but it does make you think about the role that our social fascination with violence can play in the lives of people who might need help they don't know how to access.

Cages by Peg Kehret: Middle grade re-read! This was one of my favorite books from childhood and I remembered a ton of details really vividly, but I'd forgotten how hard it goes with the alcoholic stepfather thing... and goddamn, this book is sad. I actually cried real tears reading it during the part about Lady having the love light in her eyes. I gave my cat lots of kisses on her little snoot after reading this.

The Accursed by Joyce Carol Oates: This was a re-read that I first encountered as a senior in undergrad. At the time, I liked the book and I wrote a term paper on it, but reading it again today just shows me how ill-equipped 21-year-old-me was, to grapple with the book's core themes around race. I was skittish about it a decade ago, and this time the book kind of... unfolded for me in a way that was really valuable and interesting. Plus, say what you will about Oates, she's a fucking excellent writer of prose, this is a very readable and interesting book. For those of you who have become Dracula-enjoyers over the past few years because of Dracula Daily, I'd super recommend reading this book as a companion to Dracula. It's a direct homage in some fairly obvious ways (one of the main characters is named Wilhelmina) and also an alternative exploration of some of Stoker's original theming.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin: Not a ton to say here, this was a re-read and it's obviously flawless, incredible, a Favorite of All Time. This time reading it, I was doing it with a small group and we met every other week, so we read it sloooooowly. It was cool, I really got to take notes and Contemplate the Text in a way I hadn't in prior readings. The big theme that jumped out this time around was all the dichotomies, everything a complement and an opposite. The travelogue aspect really stood out to me this time too, the planet of Gethen becoming a character on the page to me more than it ever has before. And talk about gorgeous writing, holy hell.

The Singing Hills Cycle by Nghi Vo: I read the first one last year, then three more this year, and I still have one left to go. These are really nice literary snacks, I guess you could say? I like the vibe, I like the simple yet powerful prose, I like the distinct and memorable characters. I'm interested in the theme of "why do we tell stories" (as Tyrion Lannister might say lolololol) and a few of my favorite books this year grappled with that as a core idea. These books have this classical, folkloric vibe to them that I greatly enjoy. I hope Vo writes a dozen more, I'll keep reading.

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman: Okay, this one probably doesn't have the depth or staying power of most of others on this list, but I really enjoyed it and it fits in with that general theme of why do we keep returning to familiar stories and characters again and again? What are we learning about ourselves and our cultural identity through these familiar figures? This was also a text that did that "setting as character" thing really well, with the land of Britain having a presence all on its own, standing up to any of the individual characters. There's a moment in this book with Bedivere and Guinevere that made me cry, and be on the look-out for the most insane take on Lancelot du Lac I've ever encountered. Ever wanted to read a book where the fae folk engage in pitched battle with literal Angels of the Christian God? Then this one is for you.

Paladin's Grace / Paladin's Strength by T. Kingfisher: these are the lowest star rated books that made it onto this "2024 notable" list for me; I grappled with my conflicting feelings a ton on this one, so feel free to read in full at that link if you so choose. Short version is that these are pretty poorly written on the level of the sentence, the prose could use some serious polish and that was enormously distracting. But, when I set that aside and met them where they're at, I can appreciate them for some cozy fantasy romance. The thing that stuck in my head the most was the promise of the premise, there's a really cool back-story for the lead characters, and intriguing world-building being set up in this series, and it's that larger structural story that had me going back for book two. I think I'll probably get to the next couple books in the series before too long. I just hope one day that promise of the premise actualizes and provides a bit more intensity, because these were fairly tepid, if comforting, reads for me. I haven't been able to get the Smooth Ones out of my head though, that's for sure! So creepy!

~~~

So there you have it, my 2024 in review! There were plenty of other books I really loved reading this year, but I think this encapsulates the bulk of what got stuck in my brain, the stories I keep turning over and over in my head like a mental fidget toy. I'm excited to read more of some of these authors and strike out into some new territory in 2025!

[twunny20fission]

Books of 2024

Here are the books I read in 2024, with some thoughts on each

“The World We Make” by N.K. Jemison. A sequel to a book I was looking forward to, but found a bit disappointing. This one was fine. It really made the first book shine by comparison. The series was supposed to be a trilogy, but the author didn’t want to do it anymore. So this one felt rushed.

“Sweet Tooth, Book One” by Jeff Lemire. Visually great and well-written. Didn’t blow me away, but felt worthwhile. I’d like to read the next in the series, but it’s harder to find.

“Pageboy” by Elliot Page. This is one of those memoirs where you think, “well, they definitely didn’t hire a ghost writer.” Page is not a skilled writer. The stories he lived through were enough to be good nonetheless.

“Moon Knight, Vol. 1: The Midnight Mission” by Jed McKay, et al. Pretty tame for such an interesting character.

“Moon Knight, Vol. 2: Too Tough to Die” by Jed McKay, et al. Meandering, with a rushed ending. Meh.

“Safe & Sound” by Mercury Stardust. How to take care of a lot of stuff around your house. It was inspiring and affirming. Not a lot of it was necessarily useful to me presently. But it was still good.

“Usagi Yojimbo, Vol 6: Circles” by Stan Sakai. I love everything about Usagi. This is a strong volume.

“Evvie Drake Starts Over” by Linda Holmes. A great time. I took a swing on a type of book I don’t normally pick up, and I’m extremely happy I did. It’s a romance novel, but not AT ALL a bodice-ripper. A modern, thoughtful, realistic novel about an adult woman falling in love. Super good.

“The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck” by Mark Manson. Nowhere near as good as I wanted it to be. Very bro-ey, and not particularly resonant.

“Ms. Marvel Vol 5: Super Famous” by G. Willow Wilson, et al. A very middle-of-the-road entry in Wilson’s Marvel volumes.

“Making It So: A Memoir” by Patrick Stewart. Outstanding. Exceeded every expectation, and my expectations were high. Even the less-than-flattering elements of his life were handled well.

“Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant” by Iman Vellani, et al. This book really hung its hat on “Iman Vellani got to write this one.” Which is great, but it wasn’t a spectacular book.

“An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us” by Ed Yong. Very disappointing. It could have been very cool, but it was not.

“poyums” by Len Pennie. I dislike 95% of all poetry I've ever experienced. This book is in the other 5%. Even when I didn’t understand it (either because it was in Scots, because it was poetry, or both) it was great.

“Ms. Marvel Vol 6: Civil War II” by G. Willow Wilson, et al. Good art, mediocre plots, pretty decent dialogue.

“Camp Damascus” by Chuck Tingle. I listened to the audiobook, but I’m counting it. This was engaging start to finish. The creepy parts were good, and the sense of fun that the author brings to things was apparent throughout.

“Mighty Nein Origins: Beauregard Lionett” by Mae Catt, et al. None of these Origins books were great standalone stories. This one was *pretty* good.

“Sourcery” by Terry Pratchett. Another great entry in what might at this point be my favorite book series. Like ever. After I reckoned with the fact that I’d never read another Douglas Adams book, I figured that part of my brain would go fallow. Thank goodness for Sir Terry, and thank goodness he was so prolific. This one was exciting and emotional.

“Three Novels,” by Samuel Beckett. I don’t get what he was trying to do here. Beckett’s plays work for me. Whatever this was did NOT. I tortured myself into finishing it, after a months-long break.

“Star Trek: Lower Decks #1” by Ryan North, et al. Really enjoyable. You have to come into the book with a knowledge of how Lower Decks works. Which I have, and it was great. Ryan North has never missed.

“Survival Street” by James Asmus, et al. As with any good satire, this was hard to “enjoy.” It was too sharp an implement, but it was very well-executed. The idea is that the S*same St*eet m*ppets are real, living, immigrant people. And when the tyrannical government takes over and de-funds PBS and basically all non-propaganda children’s TV, they go HAM.

“Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros. Very glad I picked this one up. I get caught in the “do I really have bandwidth for a long book, or to start another series right now” of it all. But this one was worth it. But I wish it had been a little less infatuation-obsessed. The romance makes sense, and is even relevant to the plot. But the “oh, how could I ever have denied myself the exquisite pleasure of having this person’s skin under my fingertips” is just…blegh.

“The Adventure Zone, Vol. 6: The Suffering Game” by the McElroys, et al. The comics are not as good as the podcast. Part of that opinion might be nostalgia for the golden age of “about 10 years ago.” But it’s how I feel. This one fits in nicely with the others, which is to say it’s competently written and arted. There are one or two great bits per book, but overall it’s fine.

“Wyrd Sisters” by Terry Pratchett. I look back on every Discworld novel with a sense of it being the best one and not as good as at least one other one. My favorite is constantly in flux. This one stands out for its treatment of the magic of theater (and greater magick of headology) and its deeper insights into the witches.

“A Wizard of Earthsea” by Ursula Le Guin. I should have read this sooner. It pretty much holds up, though the style is clearly of a type that no one really uses anymore.

“Priestdaddy” by Patricia Lockwood. Bit of a disappointment. It was like reading a clever blog of an autobiography. I didn’t really hold together well. A lot of it was entertaining, but it wasn’t Great.

“Legends and Lattes” by Travis Baldree. Right up my alley. A very cozy, thoughtful story in a kind of hand-wavy fantasy world. Really enjoyed it.

“The Theory of Everything Else” by Dan Schreiber. Wasn’t exactly a narrative, wasn’t exactly just a list of facts & curiosities. It was okay. I feel like Schreiber is at his best in the audio format, in the company of other weirdos.

“Pyramids” by Terry Pratchett. Very cool expansion of Discworld. I’m hoping it is a foundation to something ahead, as I liked the characters and the new elements of the plane.

"Iron Flame" by Rebecca Yarros. A stellar second entry in the series. It was infuriating how engrossed I was for the last 150 or so pages especially. The spicy scenes still seem to be...too much. They stick out as an insanely different experience than the rest of the narrative. Look, I liked the book a lot. I had a hard time telling certain characters apart sometimes, and some of the narrative bits were too confusing until they weren't. This series is A Lot.

Metrics!

Total books: 31 Total (non-graphic novels and other picture-heavy books) pages: 6450 Total pages: 8403 Highest-rated: Making It So Lowest-rated: Three Novels Very Glad I Read It Award: poyums Honorable Mention: Evvie Drake Starts Over Glad It's Over Award: The World We Make Most disappointing: Three Novels

[anathemafiction]

Hello! This might seem a bit out of the blue and weird, maybe? So feel free to ignore it. I remember you posting about starting to read Terry Pratchett, and being disappointed because you couldn't find Guards! Guards! in the edition you wanted. Well I recently sorted out my library, and I found an old copy of this book, in the edition you wanted, I think? Would you still be interested?

Omg this is so sweet. Thank you for not only offering but even thinking of me in the first place.

But I have the book in that edition already! My sister lives in Wales so, she found it in a local bookstore and shipped it to me. Again, thank you so much, darling ❤