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slightly-radical-universe · 4 years ago

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Indaba, My Children- Review

Indaba, My Children, is a book that compels you to reimagine Africa ,it’s history and the origins of the black man. No- he is not the missing link between ape and humanity ,as previously suggested by “respectable” men of science. Throughout the book, the author emphasizes that little is known about the Black man’s culture ,customs, traditions and religion. This can be attributed to all the strict laws which govern the accessibility , dissemination and acquisition of knowledge in Africa. Very few wise men and women are chosen as “Custodians of tribal history”. These individuals are then tasked with the grave responsibility of being guardians and repositories of all of Africa’s secrets and wonderful mysteries.

Custodians of Tribal History are sown to secrecy through intense rituals and blood oaths. They are never to reveal some of the sacred wisdom which has now been passed down to them- to the average Tom, Dick and Sipho. “Vey little knowledge is passed on to common people and nothing is ever disclosed to strangers” (p.654). The author believes that this impeccable shroud of secrecy surrounding Indigenous African Knowledge is a major contributing factor to inequality and to the racism that has caused much havoc and heartache in the past. He believes that if there were a better understanding between black and white, much bloodshed could’ve been avoided. (He uses Dingana and the death of Piet Retief to illustrate this point). Credo Mutwa, therefore implores the white man to exterminate his ignorance and arrogance and for once learn and understand the black man for what he truly is- How he thinks , the beliefs and philosophies that guide his thinking, his actions and much more. “The African can only be understood in terms of the strange workings of his own mind and those who do not appreciate this may as well refrain from studying the African” (p.655).

Indaba, My Children is thus an attempt to paint a portrait of Africa that the world has never seen before. To demystify the notion that the black man of Africa is a Kaffir- (“ A man without a soul , an unbeliever and a person who can never see the paradise of Allah” - Arab definition as detailed in p.656 ) who has contributed nothing to the advancement and development of humanity at large. This is achieved by taking the reader on a captivating and thrilling adventure through the annals of time. From the very beginning of time when a great nothingness engulfed the earth. To the very first goddess , Ninavanhu-Ma who created the very stars, mountains and oceans and then went on to give birth the human race. We get a glimpse of tribal life in precolonial Africa - the good the great and the not so good.

Women play a very significant role in this great piece of literature. Throughout the story we have many great heroines and rounded female characters. Women can be seen in positions of leadership ,as chieftains and emperors. They are presented as wise , strong and authoritative. There is a synergy and cooperative spirit that governs the men and women. Force and violence against the female body are extremely frowned upon and even punishable by death. Women can therefore practice autonomy over their own bodies and even choose to turn down suitors and marriage proposals.

Tribal law governs the people and absolutely no one is above it. For the preservation of all the laws, customs and traditions of the tribes- everyone must obey all the laws that have been clearly set out. The laws are very strict and they pertain to matters such as- Behavior, rituals , adultery, sex before marriage, theft , murder , abortion ,rape and overall conduct. There are about one hundred such laws and they often contradict those which have been superimposed on Africans by foreigners. When a law is broken a suitable punishment is carried out by the “Tribal avengers”. The punishments are very crude and unforgiving, they are the grimmest part of life pre-colonial life. According to Tribal Law, anyone under 25 years of age is still considered a child and is strictly forbidden to marry or to partake in any form of sexual activities. Failure to adhere to this law is punishable by death.

Polygamy is shown as a normal part of life. Most men take more than two wife's and chiefs really have no limit. The author states that : “ A fallacy dear to many people is that polygamy is practiced as a sign of wealth and prestige” (p. xviii). He cautions that that is very far from the truth. According to the coveted high Tribal Law “ A man must have no relations with his wife during her periods of menstruation or during the entire period while she breastfeeds a baby... Opposition to polygamy encourages extensive immorality and destruction of Bantu family life and traditions. p.633” . It is believed that the males semen poisons the baby's milk. Thus polygamy is crucial in these situations, it ensures that these sacred laws will not be broken. It is also worthy to note that polygamy is not only practiced by males. Yes, a female who goes up the ranks and becomes chieftainess , gets a whopping three husbands all to herself! To top it off , she has to ask for their hand in marriage!

Hair plays a very important symbolism. The “sicolo” hairstyle is worn by married women, usually of royal blood. Different tribes can be identified by their unique hairstyles. “The Strange Ones” are said to have “hair that looks as yellow as corn” and they are identified by their strangely silky , long and shiny hair. The Arabs or “The Feared Ones” are identified as having “fuzzy hair and long beards”.

Slavery , something that was almost alien to Africans , becomes very rampant shortly after the arrival of the first ship. Life as we know it takes a horrid and bitter turn. Suddenly , human beings are sold and traded off like cattle. Fear and terror reign supreme and it seems that the very gods have turned their backs on the black man and woman of Africa. Men and women are made to fight and slaughter each other as a very eccentric and sadistic means of entertainment for the Strange Ones. Human beings are farmed and breed like pigs, to ensure an overflow of good quality slaves. At times, just for fun or experimentation. This dark period in the history of Africa, make the harsh punishments under Tribal Law seem very merciful and humane. The Strange Ones had traditions that were very macabre and blood-chilling. For instance, when their emperors died, he was buried along with his living wife and half of his slaves! There is also mention of traitor tribes, who betrayed the black race by banding together with the Strange Ones as well as the slave-raiding Arabi and sold off millions of African men and women to save their own backs. And also for gaining wealth and favors from the straight-haired foreigners.

Christianity is first introduced by the arrival of the “Potugeesa” in page 521. It is a completely foreign and alien concept and only symbolized by the statuette carried by the foreigners. “ ...ten more of the aliens emerged from the forest led by the one wearing a dark-brown robe reaching to his ankles. He was carrying a staff on the top of which was a bronze statuette of a man of some race, nailed to a cross of wood by his hands and feet ”. Africans lived a life in harmony with nature and were guided by their gods , and various traditions and customs. They could discern right from wrong and governed themselves accordingly.

Vusamazulu Mutwa breaks his sacral oath of silence as a high witchdoctor and chosen custodian as a last and desperate attempt to save the dying knowledge and customs of his people. “Why are we expected to abandon our way of life- our culture and traditions- and suddenly adopt others which are extremely strange to us? p.691 ” . In fear of Africa being turned into “a soul-less carbon copy” of her colonizers, Mutwa bears it all. “Oh! my indolent and gullible Africa- the superior aliens glibly talk of bringing “the light of civilization” to your shores. And yet the only civilization they can bring is one infected with physical, moral and spiritual decay p.691”. Mutwa, believes that by bringing forth Africa's not-yet- forgotten past , we can weave a better understanding and corporation between Black and White, and dispel blatant mistruths and strongly held beliefs such as the one published in the Sunday Times “...The White man is superior to the Black, because apart from a few crude drawings in crude caves, nothing cultural, scientific and social has ever been achieved by a black...” (E. Morris, Johannesburg, on August, 1962 ).

Indaba My Children is truly a work of genius. Its written in a compelling and enchanting style that is on a league of it’s own. The reader is thoroughly entertained and goes through a whirlwind of emotions ranging from amazement , pity , fear and anger to name a few. “A person who is not familiar to Africa and its people might find it difficult to understand this story, let alone read between the lines p.529” It does not follow the “classic”, western three-act structure of story-telling and the perspective of the story-teller jumps back and forth between the main characters, the author and even animals! Parts of the story are told from the point of view of the animals. This draws the reader in the mind of these beasts and it is a powerful way of showing that animals have a mind and consciousness of their own. It also signifies the sacred relationship between the pre-colonial African and the animals in his environment. This story is said to be “...a strange mixture of historical fact and legendary fantasy, a strange mixture of truth and nonsense”. This story is not intended only as a means of entertainment, but is also educational in that it is said to embody tribal history and law. It is written in a way that it can be enjoyed by both old and young.

#indabamychildren #credomutwa #book review

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kegareki · 5 years ago

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What are your top three stories from each list?

i could’ve answered this a lot quicker if i didn’t write summaries for the stories in 2 of these lists LOL the bolded two are the ones i 100% recommend

from the “engaging reads” list:

in “the earth is online”, strange black towers appear all over the world. for six months, they do nothing; as people research their origins and possible effects, they become strange parts of the landscape. conspiracy theories abound. what do the towers mean? how did they get here? what will they do?

then, on november 15, 2017, an announcement comes from the black towers. “the earth is online. in three days, all players are asked to eliminate any player. this is including, but not limited to, games.”

at the end of those three days, 400 million people are left on earth.

the black tower provides them three rules. one: the black tower will explain everything. two: the game time is between 6:00am and 6:00pm. and three: all players, please strive to attack the tower.

this is a survival/adventure/mystery, and it’s done so well. i cannot recommend it enough. the worldbuilding is incredible, and the characters actually fit into the world and are shaped by it. the characters--from the main characters to recurring characters to side characters--are all individual and distinct; i forgot names sometimes but i’d always remember who they were through their words and actions.

there is romance involved, but it doesn’t take precedence over the story being told, and the attraction and progression of their relationship from wary strangers to people that they understand and trust without question is believable.

(trigger warnings: depictions of violence and cruelty, as well as (the aftermath of) cannibalism and monsters eating humans. there’s a lot of death and murder.)

"don’t pick up boyfriends from the trash bin” follows the typical chinese transmigration system BL pattern of “at the time of death, the main character is offered a second chance by a mysterious system, on the condition that the main character completes a series of trials”.

the main character, chi xiaochi, transmigrates to a certain number of worlds of varying difficulties into the body of someone who has been wronged in some way, and the completion of his trial depends upon the “regret level” of that person’s partner. when the “regret level” reaches 100, he moves on to the next world.

in-story, it’s mentioned by his system that most players increase the partner’s “regret level” by becoming a tragic figure and allowing themselves to be abused and then die. chi xiaochi is unique in that he thinks mainly of the original owner of the body that he has transmigrated into: how can he seek justice for the ways in which they have been hurt? how can he put them into a better position? how can he give them a future?

from what i’ve read so far, there’s a level of care for the original owners of the body that just... isn’t present in a lot of other transmigration stories, and the direction that this takes the worldbuilding looks promising

(trigger warnings: implied/referenced rape and abuse of varying natures. the first arc involves emotional abuse and isolation tactics employed by the partner. the second arc involves implied/referenced rape and physical abuse.)

“i play the role of (villain/heroine) in a japanese-style otome game” takes a long look at the isekai genre and follows the typical pattern of “the heroine is a beautiful and naive young lady with a special gift rare in its occurrence and power; everyone is attracted to her as a result” until it doesn’t. what does it mean to have a special gift if that gift will inevitably cause someone to try to kill you? what does it mean to have a special gift if that gift is, by its nature, something coveted by an entire species, and your non-human classmates want to eat you?

what does it mean to have a special gift if you can’t save your best friend with it?

i haven’t read this in a while so my memory’s rusty, but i remember being really taken aback at the direction it went in. gathering a reverse harem isn’t for love; it’s to figure out a way to save the “villain”, chako. the “heroine”, yui, keeps going back in time and keeps doing things differently and keeps approaching different people in hopes of controlling the increasing variables involved in chako’s death

(trigger warnings: a lot of death and manipulation of characters’ feelings.)

from the “feel-good” list:

“ghostly masked prince xiao: pampering and spoiling the little adorable consort” involves a 20-year-old college student of the modern age transmigrating into the 9-year-old body of chu qingyan in ancient china. through circumstances that are meant to harm both her and the 19-year-old male lead, they become engaged. the male lead, xiao xu, is the first prince, but his mother--despite being empress--had not been beloved and therefore neither is he. he’s very much a tragic hero: although filial and of upright character, although his actions have always been for the betterment of the empire, he has never been loved by his family and has always been viewed as a tool.

all of his previous fiancees have been murdered before their wedding. chu qingyan is a child, and he doesn’t want her to die. he gives her opportunities to leave and orders his subordinates to aid her in her escape--but, unexpectedly, she stays, and thus begins one of the fluffiest stories that i have ever read. xiao xu doesn’t know how to take care of a child and asks his military generals how to treat children. as you can imagine, their response is “dote upon them!”

xiao chu is earnestly doing his best to treat chu qingyan right, and in her own way, chu qingyan is doing the same for him--especially as the story progresses and she discovers more and more about his past and the ways in which he has been treated by people that were supposed to love him.

i’m sensitive to age gaps in relationships and i don’t know how i’ll feel about, like, actual romance between the two of them, but right now it’s just. a teenager is given a child and is experiencing a “loving family” for the first time in his life. is experiencing what it is to look at a child who depends on you and know that you would do absolutely anything for them. and it’s so sweet and heartbreaking

in “reborn little girl won’t give up”, the titular character is reborn into a world that involves magic and monsters. she is born to a noble family that maintains the barriers that surround their kingdom in order to keep the monsters out. her mother dies during childbirth, and for the first while of her life, her father and her older brother cannot stand to see her as a consequence; but once they begin interacting with her, they can’t not love her.

things go well until they don’t.

the main character is kidnapped to the boundary of the barrier, and moments before she can be saved, her mount--a dragon who has come to see this child as one of its own--flees to the frontier outside of the barrier. if not for a group of hunters that come across her, she would have died.

now her goal is to find her way back to her family--while also making new family along the way.

“death progress bar” follows shi jin, who transmigrates at the time of his death into the body of a character with the same name, from a novel that he had read. the novel’s shi jin has five older brothers who had tormented him and eventually led to his death; the transmigrated shi jin enters this world soon after the death of the novel shi jin’s father, and discovers that he has a “death progress bar.” as his system explains, when the number reaches 999, he will be taken over ‘by the story’ and be led to his death.

the bad news: the progress bar is only a few points away from 999.

one of the ways in which to lower the progress bar is to get as far from his brothers as possible, so he gets away from them--only to stumble across a new person and a new progress bar: the system’s “darling,” lian jun, whose death factors seem completely different from his own. lian jun is also the head of an underground organization whose protection greatly decreases shi jin’s death progress bar.

new goal: find a way for both of them to survive.

the romance is slow and sweet, and--very uncommonly--the male lead is compelling in his own right, separate from his relationship with the main character. i find him likeable as a person, not just as a romantic prospect.

this is a feel-good without being necessarily fluffy or sweet. reading it just makes me happy.

(honorable mention to “there will always be protagonists with delusions of starting a harem”, which is written by the same person who wrote “death progress bar”. it’s another transmigration system story where the main character has to go to a certain number of worlds and complete a task; in this case, the task is to “prevent the protagonist’s harem,” because the harem will somehow result in the end of the world. the main character and the male lead fall in love during their first world together, and at the end of the task when the system asks if he would like to move on to the next world, the main character chooses to stay within the current world. it is only after the male lead’s death that he continues on to the next world… and, there, he discovers that his partner has reincarnated, as well. in every world, they find each other.

in order to aid with the prevention of the harem, there are progress bars for every harem member that are “the likelihood of falling in love with the protagonist.” they begin at 100, and the goal is to get them to 0, thus breaking their flag and ensuring they will not become part of the protagonist’s harem. the main character’s thoughts on these characters and the dropping of their progress bars are frequently funny.)

for the “guilty pleasure” list, i’m not going to write summaries because these are. very guilty pleasures.

“nurturing the hero to avoid death”

“if i happened to tame my brother well”

“our binding love: my gentle tyrant”

#keg wrecks #keg recs #thank you for asking anon!!#Anonymous

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maddie-grove · 6 years ago

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Bi-Monthly Reading Round-Up: July/August

Playlist

“Mama Tried” by Merle Haggard (The Mars Room)

“Summer of Sam” by Lana del Rey (Sharp Objects)

“Keep Searchin’” by Del Shannon (Those Girls)

“No One Knows” by Dion and the Belmonts (Fortune’s Lady)

“Unpretty” by TLC (90s Bitch)

“Everybody’s Got the Right to Love” by the Supremes (Fool Me Twice)

“Loving Arms” by the Dixie Chicks (East)

“Spare Parts” by Bruce Springsteen (Joe College)

“You Said You Loved Me” from Bloody Blackbeard (Tomorrow and Forever)

“Hot in Herre” by Nelly (Miss Wonderful)

“Growin’ Up” by David Bowie (The Charm School)

“Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye (The Beggar Maid)

“Henry Lee” by Georgia Fireflies (Fairest)

Best of the Bi-Month

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (2006): Troubled journalist Camille Preaker returns to her claustrophobic Missouri hometown to report on the brutal murders of two teenage girls. The gruesome nature of her assignment is only matched by the cruelty and senselessness that fills her childhood home. Flynn marries a beautifully constructed plot with a wealth of distressingly vivid details, and the result is unforgettable. It’s like if V.C. Andrews had cared about being a more conventionally “good” writer. (No disrespect meant to V.C. Andrews, who didn’t really need to be any better, but she very much did her own thing re: plot and style.) Also, I love Camille a lot.

Worst of the Bi-Month

Fairest by Marissa Meyer (2015): In this prequel to The Lunar Chronicles, Princess Levana leads a luxurious existence on the moon colony ruled by her family, but lives in fear of her sadistic sister and believes she can never be loved because of the terrible scars hidden beneath her glamor. Her desperation for affection and validation eventually turns her into the Evil Moon Queen of the series proper, or something like that. Levana is probably meant to be a lonely, misguided girl who slowly descends into evil due to a barrage of disappointments, or else a conscienceless rapist (yes, rapist) whose suffering renders her somewhat pitiable. I honestly can’t tell, but the result is incoherent, to say the least.

Rest of the Bi-Month

The Charm School by Susan Wiggs (1999): In 1850s Boston, painfully awkward spinster Isadora Peabody decides to leave her stifling, shallow family and work as a navigator/translator on a clipper ship, much to the frustration (at first!) of its raucous captain. This is a rollicking romance with a nice Old Hollywood feel, partly because it owes a lot to Now, Voyager. Isadora’s character development is engaging, and there’s some interesting social commentary about the damaging effects of being forced to perform femininity.

The Beggar Maid by Alice Munro (1977): In this collection of short stories, Rose grows up poor and unshielded from the sordid realities of her mid-century Canadian town. Education and marriage change her life almost beyond recognition, and then she changes it again of her own volition. Munro’s descriptions are so perfect that I barely ever had to make an effort to imagine what anything looked like, and her observations about people are uncomfortably accurate. The stories become a little too sedate in the last quarter of the collection, though.

Joe College by Tom Perrotta (2000): Working-class Yale student Danny, equally at sea with his carelessly rich classmates and hostile townie coworkers, runs into even more trouble during a spring break spent driving his father’s lunch truck. Although the story takes a while to get started, it features several terrific setpieces (notably a dinner hosted by a classmate’s personally charming, politically heartless father) and has a thought-provoking ending.

Fortune’s Lady by Patricia Gaffney (1989): In 1790s England, Cass Merlin’s father is hanged as a Jacobin traitor, leaving her disgraced and practically alone in the world. Recruited/blackmailed into acting as a honeypot for a suspected Jacobin ringleader, she doesn’t expect to fall for Philip Riordan, her fellow spy, but you know how these things go. This is probably my favorite of all the Old School romances I’ve read. It has a fun if overly lurid plot inspired by Notorious, a compelling if occasionally idiot-ball-carrying heroine, and a hero who is only occasionally terrible. On the other hand, the villain is a bisexual who hates Edmund Burke, which (a) is kind of offensive and (b) makes it really hard for me, a bisexual who hates Edmund Burke, to hate him.

The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner (2018): Romy, a single mother and stripper from San Francisco, ends up serving two consecutive life sentences in maximum security prison after killing her stalker. This novel pissed me the fuck off, not because it’s bad, but because it showcases the blatant unfairness of the justice system for indigent defendants and the proudly heartless attitude that many people have towards prisoners. Kushner has a terrific style and makes lots of references to 1960s country music, which I appreciate, but she loses steam about two-thirds into the book.

90s Bitch by Allison Yarrow (2018): Pushing back against the wave of nineties nostalgia, Yarrow details the sexism rampant in the decade’s politics and media, covering topics like the Clarence Thomas sexual harassment controversy, the downfall of Tonya Harding, Dan Quayle’s war on Murphy Brown, and the watered-down feminism of the Spice Girls. Yarrow’s account is entertaining as the subject matter is infuriating, but I wish she’d spent more time establishing how the eighties were any less sexist, because that doesn’t sound quite right.

East by Edith Pattou (2003): Ebba-Rose grows up happy with her large family on their early modern Norwegian farm, until poverty, illness, and the exposure of a big lie threaten to end it all. Then a polar bear shows up at the door and offers to fix everything in return for Rose coming to live with him--an offer that Rose feels compelled to take not just out of desperation, but out of wanderlust. I’m not that familiar with “East of the Sun, West of the Moon,” but this seems to be a fairly straightforward retelling. It’s charming, though, and it really picks up after the candle incident.

Miss Wonderful by Loretta Chase (2004): Threatened with financial consequences if he doesn’t marry an heiress within a year, Napoleonic war veteran Alistair Carsington says “fuck that” and goes into the canal-building business with a friend in order to come up with the necessary cash. However, going into the canal business brings him into contact with the bewitching Mirabel Oldridge, who fucking hates the idea of a canal running through her village. This Regency romance turned out to be a lot sadder than I thought it would be--the hero and heroine spend just as much time dealing with PTSD and grief for a parent, respectively, as they do bantering--and it was a richer story for all of that. The start was pretty slow, though, and I could’ve done without the disdain for the lower class.

Fool Me Twice by Meredith Duran (2014): Desperate for safety, Olivia Holladay cons her way into a housekeeping position at the Duke of Marwick’s house, hoping to find letters that will keep her murderous stalker off her back forever. Then she becomes way too invested in the welfare of the duke, who has become agoraphobic and borderline feral after his wife’s sudden death. This Victorian romance had an even slower start than Miss Wonderful, and I never got a coherent sense of the heroine’s personality; she’s a combination of prim goody-goody and wily con artist, and those two sides never really gel. I did like the conclusion, and Duran’s style is excellent as ever.

Tomorrow and Forever by Maud B. Johnson (1980): Tricked into boarding a bride ship and brutalized by Blackbeard’s pirates, New England girl Marley Lancaster finally finds love with Captain Bates Hagen after they’re set adrift in a dinghy together. They start a new life in Bath, North Carolina, but can it survive the fact that Bates is kind of a dirtbag? I rather enjoyed this Old School romance, partly because of the unusual setting and partly because I just liked the heroine. She’s kind of weak-willed and not very good at solving problems, but she struggles through life anyway and I really rooted for her. Bates, for his part, is...not a rapist. He’s actually the least rapey man in the story, which is how it should be, right? Still, he’s a dirtbag who ditches his common-law wife in a hostile colonial town and seems affronted when she doesn’t stay put. Plus I feel like only half the rapes in the story were narratively necessary.

Those Girls by Chevy Stevens (2015): Three sisters flee their rural Canadian home after the youngest kills their abusive father, only to face more horrible violence from men. Years later, after they’ve started a new life in Vancouver, the past reemerges and, you guessed it, there is more horrible violence. I finished this book and asked myself, “Is a woman made to suffer?” Like, I obviously read a lot about women suffering (see: most of this list), but this whole story is just women suffering, briefly trying to get revenge, and suffering more because of the revenge.

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infinitehours · 5 years ago

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Chapter 2

The Story and Song of the Haunted Mansion is an audiobook much like a campfire story. It’s short, it’s sweet, and it’s not meant to have in-depth discussions or thorough characterizations. Karen and Mike were caricatures of the typical hero/heroine of the time; Mike is clearly the braver one. I hope…no one would mind if I edit the reason why Karen was so much more frightened just a little bit…

And for those of you who wondered why I made the house on Tom Sawyer’s road instead of Liberty Square or New Orleans Square, you get your answer here…

Trigger warnings: ghosts, death concepts/discussions, murder, suicide, abuse, blood, lots of scary stuff (horror), implied sexual abuse, cursing (damn and hell), drug abuse, attempted rape (never completed; in a later chapter).

~~~~

Table of Contents Link

Ch 2: Come On In (And Make Yourself at Home)

One Autumn night, not long ago, two teenagers were walking home from a date…

“I hate it when strangers are right.”

Karen tried to peer at Mike through the thick sheets of rain that seemed to endlessly descend upon them. “What do you mean?”

“That girl. Whatsherface; Nell. She all but told us it was going to rain tonight.”

“Maybe. But she wasn’t terribly clear about that, was she?”

Even though both held their own jackets above their heads, she could still feel cold water creeping down her back.

“I can’t even see the way back to the road. Can you?”

“There’s a sign up ahead!”

“Where?”

“Up there!”

The two of them trudged on, practically swimming at this point. The lightning bolt that flashed against the sky, with the thunder not far behind, was worrisome; they weren’t anywhere near town.

The sign that she saw, that she had pointed out before, was even more worrisome: it was old, with decaying letters, but it was more than enough to tell them exactly where they were.

Tom Sawyer’s Road Ahead. Thunder Mountain beyond. [Impossible to read] Mansion.

Whatever that was before the word “Mansion” was scratched off and replaced with “Haunted”.

They were on Tom Sawyer’s Road.

“Did you mean to lead us in this direction?” Karen said, worried.

“Sort of. I was aiming for it; didn’t think we’d actually find it, though. That lady said it was faster, and I really don’t want to be out in this much longer, do you?”

Mr. Vance’s words came to the forefront of her mind. “You actually trust that she was telling us the truth?”

“Well...at the very least it’s a path better covered by trees…Less chance of getting electrocuted.”

She gave a wry smile, which was probably lost on him in the horrible downpour. It was lucky she could even see him at all.

They smacked through the road a while longer, slick and muddy, their jackets doing nothing to keep their legs from getting drenched.

“Oh good. Hey, Karen there’s a building up ahead. I think we should get out of this for a while….”

The first thing she saw when he said that were the lights. Pinkish, bluish, and greenish hues all encircling the outline of a very fine brick house, standing tall and proud against the rain. It was a very old, very large, and very fancy looking building that spoke of rich extravagance in a bygone era where being in a wealthy family line was the very height of social status; the true American aristocracy.

The towering spires and glass enclosure on the side marked it as being different from the other debilitated rubble of the house they had previously passed on their way here. Different, too, in the notion of how…colorful the lights shining on the house looked. There was no accounting for why there should be a spectrum of colors fixated on this particular house; the lightning certainly wouldn’t have made it look that way.

She opened her mouth to protest, wanting to mention how odd it was to see a house so clearly from so far away when they couldn’t even each other standing five feet apart, but he was already sliding down the slope to the gates and she felt compelled to follow along.

The gate itself was almost as extravagant as the building. Iron wrought, with swirling twisted metal the likes of which you might find on old embroidery. It slowly swung open the very moment Mike’s fingers touched it.

There was a small cemetery out front. She’d visited a few old houses in her life and none of them ever had cemeteries in the front yard. She would have thought it would be off-putting to any guests invited over. Stained with age and crooked, they stood lonely against the bleakness of the dark sky, save for one. One of them had a fresh red rose that was so vibrant it could be seen even through the tears of rain.

“I don’t think we should be here, Mike…” Karen said, eyeing the grave with the bust of a woman whom she swore had just been looking at her.

“I don’t think we have much of a choice. We can barely go through that muck of a road, never mind find our way back to town.”

She could hear him rattling a door handle. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to get the front door open. No one lives here... we can wait inside until the storm’s over.”

Karen slowly backed away in disbelief, the prickly beginnings of goosebumps dancing over her skin.

She knew very little about architecture, she would admit, but the house in front of her was not the same as the one she saw from afar.

“It looks…different up close, doesn’t it?”

“Huh? I guess? What do you mean?”

“Before, it looked like a brown brick building. With a glass room.” She swallowed thickly. “…This is a white building, and the glass room is gone. It looks more like an old Southern Plantation home. With white pillars….”

“Pillars? What pillars?”

“The four giant ones. Right there! You’re staring right at one!”

“I’m sorry, Karen, I don’t see any pillars…”

“Stop playing around! You’d have to notice them, they’re right in fr-“

‘Don’t trust your eyes’

She shrieked and spun around, unceremoniously ending up on the ground of slick cobblestones in the process.

“What’s wrong? What happened?!”

“Someone just grabbed me! Someone just grabbed me just now! They grabbed me and whispered…and whispered…”

Even as she spoke, trying to get her breath in the storm, she felt unsure. Like the house’s changing architecture, there’s was something about the place that was…missing.

‘Missing’…yes, that was the word. ‘Missing’ was the most apt description her mind could scramble for her; looking around in the rain for the source of the voice was like looking at a jigsaw puzzle with several pieces missing. She felt compelled to sit there, her hands wrapping around a little piece of something stuck in the ground. Something that she felt she ought to grab….a ring…?

“I don’t see anyone. And I don’t think there’s anybody here but us. The storm must be getting to you. Come on, let’s go inside.”

“Not me. I'm not going in that old house! I'd rather stay out here and get wet.”

“And electrocuted?”

As if to respond, lightning streaked across the sky, and the immediate thunder made it seem too close for comfort.

“Alright.” She said, forcing herself to get off the ground, “But we leave the door open. This place gives me the creeps.”

Someone had grabbed her. She was certain of it. To be sure, perhaps she had a bit of an active imagination sometimes, but she couldn’t have imagined the unnaturally cold hands that had clutched her arms, or the eerie sensation of hot breath against her ear. Like the house’s changing features, both were too real to simply wave away as part of her imagination.

We really shouldn’t be here.

It was that thought that lingered as the two of them ventured inside, the door barely holding any resistance against them. It was uncomfortable how the giant pillars (real or imagined) felt like a gaping maw as if the house itself were ready to eat her alive.

“Well I'll be... this house is still full of furniture.” Mike said as he went to light a candelabra.

And indeed there was furniture! A few chairs, a writing desk cluttered with papers and strange objects, a marble bust, a couch in front of an intricate fireplace, and a round oil painting framed by curtains.

The inside was no warmer than the maelstrom kicking around outside, and there was something in the air….a dreadful feeling, like a suffocation, that clung to the items around them. She felt the feeling cadence as she went to trace a finger down the decorated wood of a nearby chair; not a single speck of dust upon it.

“It’s as though someone still lives here…” She muttered, half to herself, turning to look at the reassuring sight of the open front door and the pattering sounds of rain just beyond it.

“Heh. You know all the rumors they say about these old buildings up here? Spectral people, strange lights, ‘don’t ever get lost in those woods or else’? If I remember correctly, one of these houses was the site of a bunch of suicides-”

“Knock it off, Mike! This place is creepy enough without you reminding me of all that.”

She tried to distract herself. Her fingers wrapped around the ring she had found outside. Old, yet not rusted. And with a generous diamond at its peak. It felt important somehow, as though she was meant to keep it for another time. She pocketed it.

“Hey Karen, come check some of this stuff out! A few of these documents say they’re from 1865!”

She could hardly hear him. Her gaze was transfixed on the painting in its prominent place above the fire.

It was an old painting of a young man. His well fitted suit suggested an air of aristocracy about him, and his dark hair and sharply defined chin would have given him a very menacing look if it weren’t for his mouth. There was a faint smile on his mouth, so out of place with the rest of the portrait that it had to have been added by the artist out of complete irony. It was a striking portrait, for the beautiful blue eyes seem to stare directly at her, as though to peer into her very soul…

…And the portrait man was suddenly not smiling.

Or young.

She watched, unable to look away, as the man in the portrait began to seemingly age. Skin growing withered, hair growing gray, clothes fraying, until she was no longer staring at a man but a skeleton. A skeleton that seemed to leer at her as she backed away, slowly, fully intending to run out the door when thunder crashed quite abruptly.

And she was on the floor. Again.

“Are you…are you okay?” Mike helped her up.

“Yeah...” She said glumly.

“You think we should break up? You know, since my presence seems to make your knees buckle all the time?” She could hear him snicker a little behind her.

“Stop laughing! It isn’t funny,” She glanced back at the portrait, but sure enough it had reverted to its original state. That painted smile looking like it was mocking her.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

Yet he seemed to keep going; his laughter never quieting down. She spun her head to give him a piece of her mind, but his pale face said it all.

He wasn’t responsible for the lingering, deep voice whose laughter currently echoed around them.

‘Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmmm’

“Who’s there?” Mike demanded, eyeing the suspicious looking marble bust.

“Mike, look!”

The door to the next room inexplicably lay open, and in its inky darkness, in the center of the room, stood the shadow of a very tall figure. It stood, unmoving, unbreathing, and though she could not see its face she could not help but be sure it was staring right at them.

‘When hinges creak in doorless chambers, And strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls; Whenever candlelights flicker where the air is deathly still - That is the time when ghosts are present, Practicing their terror with ghoulish delight!’

The voice was low and deep, speaking with the gravity of having all the time in the world.

“How is he doing that?” Mike said as the voice seemed to flit from one side of the room to the next.

“There’s no such thing as ghosts…” She muttered, trying desperately to reassure herself. But her mind was firmly recalling all of the strange happenings that only she seemed to notice, and the lingering chill on the back of her spine made her voice falter even as she spoke.

‘No such thing, hmm?’

Her stomach dropped as the voice chuckled darkly.

‘Well then…’

With a bang, the couch was thrown back by an invisible force, giving them a clear view of the fireplace as it erupted into roaring purple and green flames. The lightning flashed, as though on cue, as the room flared up in the two dancing colors.

‘Welcome, foolish mortals, to the world’s most Haunted Mansion. I am your host.

Your... ghost host.’

#chapter 2

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mermaidsirennikita · 7 years ago

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August 2017 Book Roundup

Last month was not a good reading month for me, partially because work and depression make reading hard and partially because the books themselves weren’t that great. There are times when a ton of new, exciting books get dropped and they seem to swing around the spring (people beginning buying for the summer? Beach reads?) and the fall (obviously, in preparation for Christmas). The one book I really super enjoyed was A Map for Wrecked Girls by Jessica Taylor--a tale of sisters getting shipwrecked on an island (with a boy, but he’s not super important) and working through the fact that one is borderline psychopathically manipulative and they hate each other. Also, sibling codependence. There were decent books aside from that one, but nothing that gripped me quite as much. (Ratings and mini reviews below.)

Stolen Beauty by Laurie Lico Albanese. 3/5. In World War II era Austria, Maria Altmann’s world is turned upside down as her Jewish family attempts to flee. In the process, the Nazis snatch up portraits of her beloved aunt, Adele Bloch-Bauer, painted by the renowned artist Gustav Klimt. As we follow Maria from the turmoil of World War II to her twenty-first century struggle to regain the paintings, a parallel story is told--that of Adele and her relationship with Klimt. While this book was pretty accurate as far as I could tell--I’m no Klimt expert--it could have done without Maria’s story. This is better told in the Helen Mirren movie “The Woman in Gold”; here it’s pretty flat, and distracts from Adele’s much more engaging journey from impetuous young wife to immortalized muse. Maria’s narrative becomes a fairly standard--I hate to say it--World War II story. Adele’s is far more interesting and unique, and the book would have been much better had the author stuck with that.

Severed: A History of Heads Lost and Heads Found by Frances Larson. 4/5. Larson takes on the topic of severed heads, from those captured during war, to those decapitated by royal decree, and those belonging to saints. Morbid curiosity and the recommendation of Caitlin Doughty drew me to this book, and it’s both well-researched and quite interesting. I thought it would be largely about the heads lost through the decapitation of living people, like those who would become “shrunken heads” and famous people like Anne Boleyn. While a couple of chapters are devoted to such subjects, Larson also discussed people decapitated after death, as well as the topic of life remaining after decapitation. It’s a pretty thorough book, and while some topics were more interesting than others and it was certainly all a bit gruesome at times, I was impressed by the fact that Larson even went into the topic of decapitation in art. Overall, a good read if you’re in the mood for something niche-y.

The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter. 2/5. In the 80s, sisters Sam and Charlotte (later Charlie) undergo a horrific event together that leaves their mother murdered and both deeply traumatized. Thirty years later, Charlie--an attorney, albeit not one as controversial as her “defend any client” father--witnesses a school shooting, and is compelled to help defend the shooter, a teenage girl. The subsequent events will bring up the truth about what happened to the sisters that night, as well as the truth of who they became after. I really enjoyed this book at first--even though the beginning is quite harrowing and not for the faint of heart. But there’s “not for the faint of heart” and “this makes me actively uncomfortable because I don’t think it’s being handled well”. This might act as a spoiler, but honestly it’s a theme throughout the novel and, well... The topic of rape is not handled the way it should have been, in my opinion. Lots of people will feel differently, and I’m sure some will have valid reasons, but I could not get behind this book.

The Life She Was Given by Ellen Marie Wiseman. 2/5. As a young girl, Lilly is sold to the circus by her mother. She hasn’t even had much experience of the world, locked away by her parents to keep her albinism a secret. In a parallel timeline, 20+ years later, nineteen-year old Julia learns that her estranged mother is dead, and she has inherited the family horse farm. Returning home, she stumbles across Lilly’s story, and becomes wrapped up in the mystery of what happened to her. Obviously, this story is interesting--but I think it might be time for me to stop trying these parallel narrative historical fiction novels. They just aren’t for me. Furthermore, the simplicity of the writing and the characters was off-putting. It felt like I was reading about Lilly and the Good People versus Cartoon Villains.

Happiness: A Memoir by Heather Harpham. 3/5. Upon finding out that she was pregnant, Heather Harpham soon realized that her boyfriend, Brian, loved her but wasn’t sure about the idea of fatherhood in his forties. She went through her pregnancy alone, gave birth without him--but things became even more complicated upon the discovery that their daughter, Amelia-Grace, had a blood disease that would quite possibly kill her before she hit thirty. “Happiness” is the story of not only Amelia-Grace’s treatment and the fight for her life, but Heather and Brian’s journey towards finding each other. It’s at times frustrating, as many memoirs are; I really don’t know that Brian and Heather are people I would identify with if I met them, and some of their decisions were... questionable. But the writing is lovely, and I really felt for what was an incredibly human story. It’s a well-done memoir.

A Map for Wrecked Girls by Jessica Taylor. 4/5. Shipwrecked with her sister Henri and a virtual stranger, Alex, Emma has little hope of being found or rescued. Complicating matters of survival is her fraught relationship with Henri, ruined by recent events. Parallel narratives tell the story of the three teens’ attempts to survive, while also revealing what happened between Henri and Emma. This book is extremely gripping and interesting, and while there is a romance that largely serves to develop Emma’s character, the crux of the story is her relationship with the magnetic, manipulative Henri. Henri is the kind of character you love to hate, and so is Emma in a way. Their codependency was extremely compelling, and while a couple of the later “twists” weren’t the strongest, they didn’t dull my interest in the sisters and what happened to them.

Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman by Anne Helen Petersen, 3/5. This book is a collection of essays on women who Petersen--someone who got her doctoral degree on celebrity gossip, essentially--terms as “unruly” for a variety of different reasons. Petersen, who wrote for Buzzfeed, does know how to write a thinkpiece, and in an engaging manner. It’s definitely a quick, fun read. Nothing she says here reinvents the wheel if you’re already engaged in feminist theory, but most of it isn’t actively wrong and it’s good to read. But she does write as a straight, cis, white woman (as she acknowledges). She’s conventionally attractive; she isn’t fat. So there is a part of me that’s like “ugh, I wish someone who could speak from personal experience about what she’s writing had written this book”. She’s not even old, like Madonna (the subject of her “Too Old” essay). But that’s not really something Petersen can help. What she can help is the manner in which she overlooks the ridiculousness of Caitlyn Jenner’s political views, barely mentioning them in the “Too Qu**r” essay. Really, Petersen acknowledges that Jenner doesn’t embody that label; so why not discuss another woman like Laverne Cox or Janet Mock over Jenner? And I know she’s capable of criticizing her subject, because she does so in the aforementioned Madonna piece (though she doesn’t get into exactly how problematic Madonna’s rearing and presentation of her black children has been; that’s not the point of the piece). The Lena Dunham piece is similarly shortsighted. She doesn’t discuss many of the reasons why lots of people--including many feminists--hate Dunham. She doesn’t get into her racism, her troubling discussion of her relationship with her sister. If Petersen didn’t want to get into these issues, there are plenty of “unruly women” who coincide with her topics and aren’t loaded with ugliness, for lack of a better term. So while I liked the book--it could have done with more women of color, by the way--a couple of the essays I side-eyed.

The Devil’s Lady by Deborah Simmons. 4/5. When Aisley de Laci (yes) is forced to marry--but given the option to choose her husband--she chooses Piers Montmorency (yes) otherwise known as the Red Knight (YES). Fierce and mysterious, Piers is said to have a made a pact with the devil, and doesn’t allow Aisley to see him in the light. If you think this means they have a lot of sex in the dark, fuck yeah it does. This is a classic sort of romance novel, made better by the fact that the heroine has a lot of agency in terms of her sexuality for a romance novel written in the 90s, and the guy isn’t a total douchebag. He kind of is at first, but he’s not put in the best situation so.... One of the most appealing parts of the story is dealt with in a manner that was way too easy for my taste, and the ending was all a bit rushed, but that wasn’t the point. The romance was. And it was good.

Shimmer and Burn by Mary Taranta. 2/5. After an attempted escape from their guarded city, Faris is left alone, her love murdered and her sister enslaved. Desperate to free her sister, she enters into arrangement with the king’s executioner and a the Princess Bryn--who wants to become queen--to slip out of the kingdom and transfer magic and honestly that’s all I got because this world was so badly explained and constructed. It was one of those worlds that naturally doesn’t appeal to me, where magic is a substance and you can, like, put it in your body with a syringe? Which made me think of an addiction plotline on the rise and addiction + magic is something I hate and even if I did understand this world, which I didn’t because the writing didn’t explain it to me, I probably wouldn’t like it. Then there were little things, like the king’s executioner being a teenage boy (was there... not someone a little older) and Faris streetfighting~ to earn her keep. Cliche.

#books #book recs #book roundup

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troofless · 6 years ago

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Under-appreciated light novels recommendation list, ranked in terms of PLEASE READ, to ehh, I’ll just put it in anyway:

Legend of Sun Knight (Completed Translation+Series): Set in a world of knights and magic, this series is golden comedy because the MC literally carries the plot. He’s smart, snarky and sleazy… but in a good way. I wrote about it here, but this series is for people who love comedy and political-castle-intrigue-level manipulation. ANYWAY PLEASE READ IT IT’S UP THERE ON MY TOP TEN BOOKS TO READ. No anime or manga translation. WHY.

Rakuin no Monshou (Completed Translation): For people who love the switching-the-royal-prince-with-a-body-double trope, political manoeuvring, military tactics, having the main character travel to different countries and exploring their governing system, and major character growth. No ecchi scenes, mentions of sex and rape (if any) are not elaborated on. Love between the MC and the female lead is more of a stranger to mutual respect to love, but since the female lead is literally 14-15 (they’re engaged to foster peace between two countries and not some lolicon thing), there are literally 0 sexy/blushy blushy/kissing/intimacy scenes between them. In the story their relationship feels less like a lovey dovey couple and more like the relationship between two generals that trust each other. This doesn’t have an anime or manga series after it. Why.

Only Sense Online (Ongoing Translation, Ongoing Series): Unlike the recent isekai and trapped-in-an-online-game-and-if-you-die-in-the-game-you-die-for-realsies trends that are going around right now, this is just a game where the MC has fun playing a normal VRMMO and makes new friends in it. …In fact, the MC isn’t an otaku or a game maniac, his sister and childhood friend are the ones crazy about levelling up and doing all the main subjugation-monster quests and everything, he’s more of the chill type who’d rather hang back and craft stuff to sell in his shop. He likes doing things at his own pace and learning how to craft new things in his own time. Instead of battling monsters and levelling up, he’s more likely to be seen harvesting items and mining rocks. Oh, and also at the start of the game he mis-clicked and is stuck in a female avatar, and combined with his mothering, take-care-of-everyone personality, everyone treats him like like a ‘nanny’ and is in awe of his ‘moe-ness’, even though he keeps insisting he’s a guy. One of the story’s underlying message is that different people have different ways of enjoying the same game, be it doing quests in a party, creating items to support players, roleplaying, and even PKing, and that’s okay because that’s what a game is for. No angst or permanent character deaths (it is a game after all), tis for warming your heart with the sheer sunny goodness that is the MC. No ecchi. Has an ongoing manga series, but no anime.

Hidan no Aria (Ongoing Translation, Completed Series): MC goes to a 'military’ school that trains students to be armed detectives, or as they say, ‘Butei’ (Busou Tantei). Think mercenaries. Female MC is a OP genius and major tsundere, only out-shadowed by our MC. MC considers himself weak, and because of his genes, his innate OP powers is only triggered when a certain condition is met: aka when he is sexually aroused. (Insert sexy times.) In this mode he doesn’t get flashy superpowers or anything (at least, by the world’s standard) — all it does it accelerate his brain’s thought process, but it gets so OP to the point where can deflect bullets with his own bullets and slice bullets in two with his knife. OP God Mode. This trigger also turns him into a major flirt and gigolo that can’t say no to a girl, which caused him to actively seek to avoid situations where he is in close contact with girls to prevent being triggered. Has a ‘harem’ of girls if you wanna call it that way, but even though the story is halfway translated as of now, it’s obvious he’s fallen for the main female lead. You’d only want to read this story to find out the next BS thing the MC does when he’s triggered, and it can only get higher and higher. Seriously, the moment where he catches a bullet in his teeth (way later in the story) gives you the best feeling ever. To put it in the Female MC’s words: "How about that rating, Kinji? Being classed by the world as a dangerous character who fights non-humans? Tell me how do you like that?” And his words: "–I’m a senior high school student. My grades are slightly below average, and I attend a violent school.”, and his monologue: [At least that was what I want to be. Honestly…] Had a 2011 anime and ongoing manga series, as well as a Yuri spinoff series (as per the usual anime law decreeing that all spinoffs have to have Yuri plot in them, see Soul Eater and Fate Prisma).

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu (Completed Translation + Series): Idiots doing idiotic things in school. Interesting battle system, with loads of comedy. Loads. Of. Comedy. No ecchi scenes. Had an two-season anime series in 2010 and 2011, and a manga series.

Chrome Shelled Regios (Completed Translation + Series): Main character is OP but gets debuffed at the very start, tries to restart his life as a normal person but realises that his innate talent for fighting doesn’t allow him to. Has many female love interests but at the end MC only chooses one. ‘Magic’ system works a little differently from conventional sources, nearing more to martial arts style, and telekinesis-telepathy combination rather than enchanting-spell type. What else can I say other than the MC controls a weapon made of thousands of infinitely thin and sharp wires that he uses to slice bugs (the main enemy) up with... which is so badass. (Though his main weapon is a sword.) No ecchi scenes. The sideplot about ‘fate’ and the history of the setting gets a little confusing though. This had an anime, but since the director died right before the 2009 anime ended it’s unlikely that a second season will come out. It does have a manga side plot series that is completed and a great accompaniment to the main light novel.

CubexCursedxCurious (Completed Translation + Series): MC lives in a house that is apparently so holy that cursed weapons journey there to get purified and lift their cursed. Oh yeah, and some cursed weapons can turn into people too (Soul Eater style?). Wielding the weapons will obviously give you great power, but it also has serious drawbacks, e.g. A sword cursed to be able to slice through anything, drawback is that their owner will be consumed by bloodlust and is compelled to draw blood with that sword (in other words, the old regular cursed sword rule). MC is of course immune to curses (and so he can wield that sword) because he was born in that holy place. Female lead is originally a torture device made of 32 different torture tools, including Iron Maiden, Guillotine, Pendulum, etc. Literally the first scene is the female lead found naked (since her real form is a mcfreaking cube I would not be surprised) in the MC’s kitchen looking for food to eat so let there be a representative of the subsequent ecchi scenes to be found. The cursed tool system is cool, anyway. MC doesn’t end up with anyone is particular. Plus point: Not all female characters introduced are in love with the male MC. Just three (3) girls. Also, the second light novel doesn’t feature the ‘second’ heroine’s backstory arc like a lot of light novels do... but instead a couple of a girl and a genderfluid character. Cool stuff. Had a 2011 anime and (very behind) manga series.

Other more well known ones:

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku (Up to Date Translation, Ongoing Series): Think Battle Royale x Danganronpa x the Mahou Shoujo Trope. Lots of blood and death, so don’t bother if you don’t want to see your favourite character die/put through lots of angst and depression. Each Magical Girl has different superpowers and you’d only want to read it in hopes of seeing your favourite character live to the end/have a cool death scene/have cool action scenes in general. One of the underlying themes was that it’s not a given that powerful people will always win; the strong can be overthrown by the weak (I can think of at least two occasions), a person can win a killing game without any blood on their hands, and the magical government is pretty much corrupt. Had a recent 2016 anime series and a manga series.

Hyouka (Up to Date Translation and Series): Based on Agatha Christie stories, think mysteries but without any actual murder.

And then I’ll throw in a few English books to show that I have good taste in books:

Captive Prince by CS Pacat: Gayyyyy + lots of politics. THE ROMANCE THOUGH.... enemies to tentative friends to hostile ‘ah we’re supposed to be on opposing sides as enemies of each other’s nation’ to lovers YEAAHHHHHHH. Some parts are explicit, yeah.

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan: MC was dragged into a magical military academy in a magical land to be a child soldier, but instead of being typical Harry Potter he is snarky, sarcastic and actually raises valid questions like why the heck are they raising child soldiers??? Bisexual icon male MC who is also a pacifist I love him he must be protected

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein: War story narrated by a spy who was caught by enemy soldiers and forced to reveal her state secrets in the form of written narrative. Mystery and unreliable narrator time! If you can survive the first few draggy chapters and then a little more the reveal is SO. REWARDING. Female MC.

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett: I tried recommending this to my friend and sadly I realised that if you have no background knowledge on Christianity and what the apocalypse details you may not find this interesting. It’s a shame because it’s so funny. EDIT: I’m so glad it got a TV series??? That means more people will read the book, which is amazing, right???

The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope: Female MC and the story of her ancestor’s romances (think short story-style but all connected together). Straight romance. Female MC.

Any book by Brandon Sanderson: Yes. Just… yes.

Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn: A bastard girl stays in the castle with her royal relatives for the summer. (If you’re wondering there is discrimination against her as a commoner but overall she is loved by her family there.) Somehow the only page I have bookmarked in this book is the part near the end where the MC commits royal crimes, and is slapped by the king, giving the reader no small amount of satisfaction. Fantasy-style with small amount of political intrigue, female MC is a apprentice hedgewitch so she knows herbal knowledge (which is a prominent part of the book when she uses it?). Anyway, please read.

A Posse of Princesses by Sherwood Smith: Female princess MC is invited to a large one week (?) party with the other country’s princes and princesses to celebrate this big county’s prince’s great birthday or smth. Some political intrigue and also great plot twist. At the end of it I got really invested in the romance between the side characters bc they were really well developed lol..

The Queen’s Thief Series by Megan Whalen Turner: The third book is my favourite book because I love the MC (Costis!!!!!), bless his innocent soul (COSTIS!!!!!!) caught up in the nefarious plots of the first book MC. Little romance and more of political plots.

Warriors by Erin Hunter: I had to include at least one joke book and this was it. Anyway this was the series I grew up reading, honestly the third series had the best MC in the blind, grumpy, no-nonsense healer who is so refreshingly different from a normal ‘hero archetype’ MC. (*whisper* You gotta talk about the furries, troof!) Oh. Oh yeah, they’re all cats.

#troofless stuff #living trooflessly #I just finished reading Rakuin no Monshou and it ended satisfactorily #troofless reads books

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unto-myself-together · 7 years ago

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OF STORIES AND SONGS: A HAUNTED MANSION FANFIC CH 2

And for those of you who wondered why I made the house on Tom Sawyer’s road instead of Liberty Square or New Orleans Square, you get your answer here…

~~~~

Table of Contents:

Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3 , Chapter 4 , Chapter 5 ,

Chapter 6 , Chapter 7

Ch 2: Come On In (And Make Yourself at Home)

One Autumn night, not long ago, two teenagers were walking home from a date…

“I hate it when strangers are right.”

Karen tried to peer at Mike through the thick sheets of rain that seemed to endlessly descend upon them. “What do you mean?”

“That girl. Whatsherface; Nell. She all but told us it was going to rain tonight.”

“Maybe. But she wasn’t terribly clear about that, was she?”

Even though both held their own jackets above their heads, she could still feel cold water creeping down her back.

“I can’t even see the way back to the road. Can you?”

“There’s a sign up ahead!”

“Where?”

“Up there!”

The two of them trudged on, practically swimming at this point. The lightning bolt that flashed against the sky, with the thunder not far behind, was worrisome; they weren’t anywhere near town.

The sign that she saw, that she had pointed out before, was even more worrisome: it was old, with decaying letters, but it was more than enough to tell them exactly where they were.

Tom Sawyer’s Road Ahead. Thunder Mountain beyond. [Impossible to read] Mansion.

It was scratched off and replaced with “Haunted”.