astreamoflight

[astreamoflight]

if you're writing and find yourself thinking 'this is too weird/gross/offputting/esoteric/ambitious/catered to my specific interests + sure to push away a broader audience' that is the devil speaking and it is a lie. you are already firmly on the right path and you need to double down

[astreamoflight]

So listen i have this book coming out in uhhh 10 days and I am Worried about it, because it is a Comedy, and comedy is really hard to market (why????? it's funny pirates, what's not to like??) even when it is, yanno, normal mainstream comedy.

It is even worse when it is Unhinged Comedy That's Mostly Going To Be Funny To People On Tumblr. (For example, the main character being a supreme gremlin made of 90% memes by weight (examples: carries around a bag that is never called anything but his "little rucksack"; has a near-verbatim "stick me legy out real far" moment; talks about his metaphorical "orphan gruel bowl" which is a direct reference to that one Oliver Twist gif) because those are funny to me personally.) Unhinged Tumblr Comedy is difficult because tumblr is not a platform where it is easy to market things to people, because we are generally violently anti-capitalist and LOATHE advertisements and reflexively resist being marketed to for most anything. I LOVE that about this website. Except for right now, because I have bills to pay and a cat to feed. So look, fellow tumblr gremlins, I am just trying to say that if your personal brand of comedy is laughing at the kind of jokes that could only be produced on this hell website, and:

you like pirates

you're queer and want to read more books by queer authors

you want your fictional queer characters to be a hell of a lot more Messy and Unhinged than they often are depicted as being

you're interested in seeing a love triangle (M/M/NB) that resolves into polyamory

you want books where the hottest character gets to makes Passionate Speeches about rebelling against oppressive institutional regimes like governments and organized religions

you believe that capitalism is the most oppressive institutional regime of them all

you think it's fun when two characters have been in a 15-year-long relationship where the vibes have been "We're Newly Divorced" nearly since day one

you believe that All Cops Are Bastards and want to know what to do when you get pulled over by the boat cops

you think the Great British Bake-Off would be improved with weaponry, ritualized bribery/coercion of judges, and elaborate shit-talk

then this book might be for you. Beneath the wall-to-wall hijinks, it is political and it is righteously angry and it is the funniest thing I have ever written (which is saying something, because I have written some funny shit). It's called RUNNING CLOSE TO THE WIND. Here's a picture of it.

If all that sounds cool, you can read a review of it here and the first chapter of it here to see if it as funny as I am claiming it is, and then if you think that it is, you can preorder it here. It comes out on June 11! Ten days from now!

Thank you for letting me market to you for a minute. Signal boosting would be very much appreciated.

[astreamoflight]

Manatees are also known as sea cows 🐮

[astreamoflight]

writing is so fun

[astreamoflight]

may wrap up —

last month

it was a decent reading month — started off strong with like 5 books back to back and then i fell off a bit after I started working full time again, but it’s still better than nothing!

the goblin emperor — 4.75 stars. by far my favourite read of the month. I saw someone on this site describe this book as “some guy in a fantasy world answering his email for 400 pages” and yeah. that’s basically the plot. and it slaps. maia is also SAD and PATHETIC and KIND and unfortunately. the emperor. truly such a gem of a novel. it’s so detailed and intricate and yet it doesn’t stray too far from the heart of its characters. I’ll definitely be thinking about this one for a while. If you liked rote and/or queens thief I think you’ll really vibe with this one. In the same vein as rote and queens thief in terms of character study — young boy, an outcast but still part of royalty thrust into court politics and intrigue, holds a position he doesn't really want but feels the obligation to for the betterment of the kingdom. focuses a lot on internal characterization. Maia like a mix of Gen and Fitz -- he's smart but he is naive due to his exile, tries to do what's best. The novel very slow paced but I didn't mind it?? it has very little action and focuses a lot of day to day life politics and the intricacies of being an emperor so you definitely have to be in the mood for it, but once you get used to it and how detailed it is its very good. It did lull in the middle a bit for me but pushing through was worth it imo

critiques — it was very focused on a singular setting so it was hard to get a grasp of the effects of the decisions that were being made at points, but she has a second series in this world that expands on that I think outside of this standalone. I do think she could have made this a series though. I would have liked to see how the MC grew a bit more as time went on because this is a very small snippet of his life. Overall though, I loved this book and I can see myself coming back to it in the future as a comfort read

emily wilde, books 1&2 — 4.25 & 3.75 stars. very cute fantasy series, I’m not usually a cozy fantasy person, but this one was fun! I love the characters in it and the unique style of storytelling in this through Emily’s journals. though she writes in a fairly academic voice her witty humour is a highlight of the books. She reminds me a bit of evie from the mummy, but in a fae setting. highly recommend if you’re looking for a fun little summer fantasy

one night in hartswood — 2.75 stars. this was fine. I just didn’t care for the characters that much, therefore I didn’t care that much about the story. I was intrigued by this being setting in the 1300s, but it should have just said it was inspired by the 1300s because it sure didn’t feel like it. anyways. moving on from this one

words like coins — no rating. rote short story. no review for this one, just vibes. while I enjoyed this, I think it just left me with more questions than answers. Hobb could totally do a whole series about hedge witches and expand on the commoner magic system like charms and scrying in rote because fitz spends a total of five sentences talking about it in all of the 16 books (I like to think this is because it wasn’t important to fitz, so he just didn’t include it. my idiot boy)

giovanni’s room — no rating. a gay classic. honestly idk how I felt about this one. I’ll have to sit on it a bit longer but an interesting read nonetheless and I can see why it’s a classic.

brighter than scale, swifter than flame — 3.25 stars. sapphic short story about dragons and lady knights. a quick read but the writing and prose was unique. Again, I didn’t feel that connected to the characters though, I felt like they were held at an arms length the entire time which didn’t allow the reader to truly know them. it was fine, but probably not a story I’ll revisit anytime soon.

[astreamoflight]

Two days in a row and still nothing! And a couple weeks ago, AND again a few days before that. give me my thunderstorm!!!

[astreamoflight]

When you read a book regarding historical figures or events and suddenly you have massive beef with some guy who passed away like three hundred years ago

[astreamoflight]

Lily of the valley 💕🧚🌱✨

[astreamoflight]

"Do you ever dream of land?" The whale asks the tuna.

"No." Says the tuna, "Do you?"

"I have never seen it." Says the whale, "but deep in my body, I remember it."

"Why do you care," says the tuna, "if you will never see it."

"There are bones in my body built to walk through the forests and the mountains." Says the whale.

"They will disappear." Says the tuna, "one day, your body will forget the forests and the mountains."

"Maybe I don't want to forget," Says the whale, "The forests were once my home."

"I have seen the forests." Whispers the salmon, almost to itself.

"Tell me what you have seen," says the whale.

"The forests spawned me." Says the salmon. "They sent me to the ocean to grow. When I am fat with the bounty of the ocean, I will bring it home."

"Why would the forests seek the bounty of the oceans?" Asks the whale. "They have bounty of their own."

"You forget," says the salmon, "That the oceans were once their home."

[astreamoflight]

The swimming place

[astreamoflight]

A young Australian woman unable to find her footing in the world begins to break down when the emergencies she hears working as a 911 operator and the troubles within her own life gradually blur together, forcing her to grapple with how the past has shaped her present.

The Inland Sea by Madeleine Watts

[astreamoflight]

academic dishonesty is not something you can spin as moral lol i do not want to share a career field let alone a social sphere with a bunch of chatgpt using ass bitches

[astreamoflight]

[astreamoflight]

> read library book

> it's good

Thank you library

[astreamoflight]

Finally finished Guardian: Zhen Hun! I really liked the first two books, but the third book was a lot of Machinations and Figuring Things Out. One character would manipulate and the other would just magically figure things out without any textual evidence. I spent a lot of the third book being kind of bored and confused.

I’d give the whole series 3.5⭐️

[astreamoflight]

My brain is full of tiny fish

[astreamoflight]

thinking abt how fucked up steam engine boiler explosions can look. theyre just pipes under there

gives me the idea of a ghost/monster engine that looks normal, albeit a bit battered, only to swing their smokebox door open and a myriad of pipes come bursting out like fucked up tentacles