#I just don’t think I’m ever gonna get over that description of Harrow okay it’s real good

[someabsolutenonsense]

Wish somebody would call me an evil stick

[storybook-souls]

top ten books i read in 2022

in order of how much i enjoyed them, not necessarily how good they are, although i do stand by them all being good. limited myself to one per series bc i do think otherwise seven out of these ten would be the raven cycle and the locked tomb series. add me on storygraph @strawberrrysky for more book opinions and also bc i desperately want more storygraph friends

(i promise my descriptions get shorter as i go on)

1. The Raven Boys, by Maggie Stiefvater

i somehow missed reading trc when i was a teenager and then avoided it for a while out of a combination of stubbornness and a total misconception of what the books were about. fortunately this year my friends responded to my plea for fantasy books in a modern setting by telling me to just suck it up and read the raven boys already and by the end of chapter 1 i was intrigued, by the end of chapter 7 i was locked the fuck in, by the end of chapter 15 i was like “oh okay this is gonna be my personality for a while.” the prose, the system of magic, the atmosphere, and above all the characters...augh. i love these books and i love the raven boys in particular i think maggie stiefvater REALLY knows how to establish her characters and her world and how to pull a reader in and how to give you that bubbly “it was starting!” feeling right alongside the characters. also the whole last act of this book made me experience brand new emotions. i could go on but i think everyone who hasn’t read these books yet should at least CONSIDER it.

2. Harrow the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir

it’s CRAZY how good this book (the second in the locked tomb series) is. it’s CRAZY. it shouldn’t work but it absolutely does. the prose, the set-up and payoff, the hiding things in plain sight. there’s NOTHING more satisfying than the way everything clicks together at the end. tamsyn muir said “you ARE going to read this book that’s inexplicably in second person and seems at first to totally disregard the first book in the series and you’re going to love it” and i respect her so much for that. and the CHARACTERS! the PLOT! genuine masterpiece i think it’s one of the smartest-written books i’ve ever read

3. Gravity is the Thing, by Jaclyn Moriarty

i LOVED this book. Jaclyn Moriarty’s prose is so melodic and fun to read--usually when i read a book in three days it means something about the plot really seized me but in this case it was more just how much i was enjoying her style. it manages to balance a sense of whimsy with feeling real and honest, which is exactly what i want from this kind of contemporary fiction. book about connection, book about grief, book about hope, loss, healing, resilience, imagination...when i finished it i cried for half an hour and it felt like my soul had taken a shower

4. Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke

Piranesi had been “at the top of my to-read list” for over a year by the time i finally got to it and i was a bit worried my expectations were going to be too high but oh my GOD was it every bit as good as everyone said. NO one is doing it like this book and I don’t want to tell you much more about it because I think the less you know the better but what a win for slow reveals and satisfying endings.

5. The Book of Eels, by Patrik Svensson

my nonfiction winner for this year. I learned so much about eels and also cried about humanity and family which is always what I’m looking for from a book

6. The Only Good Indians, by Stephen Graham Jones

i have GOT to get into reading more horror this book was so awesome. scary and brilliantly written and atmospheric and didn’t pull its punches even at all.

7. Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton

one of my few re-reads this year but i LOVE this book, especially the masterful slow build in the first half of it. the horror of a dinosaur eating someone is one thing, the horror of human hubris and dramatic irony is another.

8. The Devourers, by Indra Das

the most visceral book i’ve ever read i think. now THIS is love and consumption! now THIS is a book about telling stories and being human!

9. Artificial Condition, by Martha Wells

The murderbot diaries are like. 80% funny and fast-paced and action packed and then all of a sudden you’ll hit a line or a concept that makes you have to put the book down and take a few laps around the room. Murderbot’s relationship with ART especially made me really feel like I was losing my mind. This is what I like about sci-fi.

10. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman

this book is incredibly well written and i think the horror elements stuck with me more than some of the actual horror books I read this year. just a really gorgeous and atmospheric and dreamlike story that manages to convincingly feel like it’s playing with huge things while still keeping the scope of the story very small. like a whole ocean in a pond, one could say,

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

11. The Queen’s Gambit, by Walter Tevis (can’t help it i’m a sucker for a chess game)

12. Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn (i think i’d’ve liked it more if i hadn’t already known all the twists but even knowing what was going on it was still fucking awesome)

13. Owls of the Eastern Ice, by Jonathan C. Slaght (i think i learned more from this one than anything else i read this year)

14. The Traitor Baru Cormorant, by Seth Dickinson (no one is doing it like her)

15. Black Cake, by Charmaine Wilkerson (a win for my book club)

[shiramoonshadow]

This is the second part of the last post.  

What is your favorite moment in the show? Rhona, and then Omari, and then Paula and then Jack.

Omari: I don’t have a moment but I think like whenever I see and hear Harrow speak I get emotional because I think of myself as a kid and seeing this like honorable, powerful king who happens to look kind of like me, I just think I didn’t really have that often on animated shows so I get...I get emotional. Again, you’re talking to a guy who every time I watch Spider-man into the Spider-Verse I cry while they’re talking like I...It just affects me on a deep level.

Paula: For me it’s an episode and it’s 2x05, when Viren is trying to convince the council to go to war and Queen Aanya is not having it, that whole episode I just love it and Jason was just talking forever and it was great, even being in the room for that episode was amazing. Just love it.

Jack: Ezran ascending to the throne. I just think like a shot of him entering the throne room and taking that on, I think it’s just one of the more well-earned and beautiful, like whoa, him leaving the journey to go back take on that responsibility, I think is just incredible.

Rhona: I think another special moment was just the first time seeing Amaya sign. That was really a special moment, you know, it felt like having black royal family, groundbreaking, and having a character sign, groundbreaking.

Mental illness representation, Callum’s anxiety...oh, okay. What do you guys think of the kind of ever present discussion of people dealing with “are they capable?” Because both Rayla and Callum are very much open and honest with like “am i a failure?” (This was mine!)

Omari: Oh, it's great to see characters that are, you know, lack confidence and struggle with these real things that I'm sure a lot of viewers do as well."

Jack: I'm a person with generalized anxiety disorder, it's what it’s been called to me, and I struggle with anxiety a lot and it's a big thing that I connected to with this character and it does feel like the show explores it in a way that isn't like…. Sometimes it’s in like, sometimes it’s in a character description as just like “anxious” just like “Oh, that’s just like a trait” as opposed to a like... a part of this person and a struggle that they're facing and I think Callum really does read to me as a person with an anxiety disorder and they really like, you know, he is really grappling with it and working through it and the dark magic coma scene that I’ve talked about a bunch because I just love it. I love that, you know, to unlock the person that he needs to be, it's stuff that I do to work on anxiety where it’s like “oh he's gotta calm down and channel his breath and think and focus on just the thing in front of him”, like those things, I think that's beautiful and I love it. Love it.

Was there a point in the story that really surprised you? Like, I did not see that. (I already wrote Paula's answer and Jack's reply, twice because I'm stupid and tumblr hates me)

Jack: I just said it, but truly, Ezran leaving. I think was a real like...It’s just so not in the outline you think of this journey when you look at the beginning of the series. You go like, oh these three kids who are like going off to meet the dragon queen and this is the one who can, this kid can like talk to animals, so he’s going to be there to talk to the dragon queen, and the fact that “no, it makes more sense that he has to go back and do the adult thing" even though he’s an 11 year old. I think that’s a really logical plot decision that is, I think, completely shocking from just a genre perspective of like, you know, this is the show where it’s about kids on an epic quest, the main kid doesn’t leave in the middle of the epic quest to go home and do a job. That’s weird, but I think it just really makes sense and it’s really cool.

Paula: What you said (about Rayllum) it’s kind of funny because I think her..for me, in terms of the relationship with Callum, for Rayla it was like “oh, this annoying guy that I have to take care of and I’ve got to explain everything to him”. Well, that does sound like the start of all my relationships so...I don’t know why I didn’t see it coming.

Omari: For a selfish pov just, you know, Corvus going from tracker to a protector, an ally. It was a great story and we talked about it on the previous one, just spoke of the brilliance of the... just the nuance of the storytelling, constant twists that are really surprising and fun.

Rhona: I feel like I want to use the same moment, just the first time I saw Amaya sign and I think the show approaches so many issues with such respect and it’s not made this big deal of... and I loved also that there wasn’t a translation. I think that it really blew me away to see that and, you know, we mentioned in our panel last night how there are fun little signing easter eggs left in there. I don’t know, I just loved that moment.

Who’s the most likely to break character and laugh during the session?

Paula: Jesse.

Rhona: Oh, he’s not here to defend himself.

Paula: Jesse and Racquel together.

Jack: Yeah, the combo.

Last question, what movie or show would your characters be a fan of? (This was mine too)

Rhona: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Like getting in there, stealing precious artifacts, going on adventures....

Omari: Terminator 2.

Paula: I think Rayla's pretty into sports, if she’s gonna watch a movie might be something like Tomb Raider, something with a girl.

Is there a sports woman movie?

Jack: Hold on, what’s like a hard-edged female sports movie…

Rhona: I, Tonya?

Jack: There’s a Drew Barrymore...roller derby movie? (Whip It) (About Callum) I was trying to think if there’s like an animated thing because he’s so into drawing, so I was trying to think if there was like an animated...Um…

Rhona: The Last Airbender.

Jack: The Last Airbender, yeah. He’s really into The Last Airbender. He has a big connection with boomerangs and he doesn’t understand, I think that’s perfect.

Edit: sorry I forgot to say that I didn't write any questions about through the moon since none of them have read it yet, but Rhona has started a free webinar series called Mistressclass and Omari's been one of the few men that they had on their platform. It's to learn about the industry from mostly women to voice over, to on camera, to commercials, to head shots to agents. They are going to have one about audition nerves and anxiety if you're interested!

[dragons-bones]

For the writer meme: 15 & 18 please ✨

15) why did you start writing?

oooooh that’s a doozy. per my mom, I’ve been writing since at least elementary school, so it’s hard to say exactly why other than a bit of a twee “I’ve always had stories to tell” statement. I love exploring character concepts, I love creating worlds and settings and the rules that apply to them (and how those rules can be bent or broken).

I suppose for fanfic, looking at the vast majority of stuff I’ve written over the years, I like to explore the spaces between canon; what happens during the lull in the plot, in the space between side quests, in the time we don’t see on screen. I like what ifs, too, and certainly I read plenty canon divergence and fixit fics, but I really enjoy the opportunity to also work with canon; I find it a really fun exercise and a different way to stretch my creativity.

18) were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? what were they?

oh gosh, that’s another doozy. I mean, I’d argue that every author one reads can and will influence one’s writing; for me, there’s plenty of books and fic where I went, “oh, I love that turn of phrase!” or “I really like how they use description to convey small bits of characterization” or “how did they make that so creepy I love it.” basically, I note, subconsciously and not, what I like, and I’ll either consciously see if I can incorporate it to evolve my style, or sometimes it sneaks in.

authors and works off the top of my head that have stood out to me and have influenced at least how I try to write:

The Firebringer Trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce (there’s a rhythm and lyricism to her prose that I always adored, and this is probably the biggest source for why I’m generally very comfortable writing non-humanoid characters)

The Dragon Chronicles by Susan Fletcher (my first conscious memory of foraying into fantasy, with memorable heroines, none of whom fall into the “Strong Female Character” stereotype now that I think about it. absolutely responsible for my love of dragons. with the Firebringer Trilogy, the reason why so many of my lady OCs have green eyes)

Aaron’s Allston X-Wing series books (why do I love Shenanigans? this man. why do I love Shenanigans that turn around into heartbreak not long after? THIS MAN! RIP, sir, I still sob over Ton Phanan.)

Ursula Vernon (I was an avid reader of her Digger webcomic and her humor and unique worldbuilding has always stuck in my head; I loved reading the accompanying descriptions to her art when she uploaded on DA back in her freelance days, and there’s an irreverent but sincere, heartfelt quality of her characters that I just adore.)

Brandon Sanderson (HIS WORLDBUILDING. HIS MAGIC SYSTEMS. THE LOGIC, THE FORESHADOWING, THE DEFT MANAGEMENT OF A HUGE CAST, I JUST--*tugs at hair*--SIR HOW.)

Seth Dickinson (okay I still haven’t gotten around to reading his Baru Cormorant books but he did do the Book of Sorrows codex entries for Destiny: The Taken King and just *SHAKING EYE EMOJI*. also, just, anything the Bungie staff in general write about the Hive and the Darkness. it hits me real good in the eldritch-loving part of my brain, but most of the inspo from this tends to go towards my original ‘verse Mistwrought rather than my fanfic)

Yoon Ha Lee (JUST. THE DESCRIPTIONS. THE WORLDBUILDING. THE CHARACTERS. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN OF NINEFOX GAMBIT IS PERMANENTLY SEARED INTO MY BRAIN. THE PRECISION OF LANGUAGE. DID I MENTION HIS CHARACTERS. “Thank you for the light.” SIR, HOW DARE YOU. I REALLY NEED TO READ PHOENIX EXTRAVAGANT ALREADY.)

Tamsyn Muir (this woman’s ability to ping-pong memes between fucking memes and heartwrenching prose is both enraging and awe-inspiring. her ability to foreshadow is insane, like Sanderson is great at it but I would argue Muir may be better. the way she DESCRIBES things is incredible. “pole-axed” is generally how I felt after finishing Gideon the Ninth and then Harrow the Ninth and honestly that’s what I would like to leave someone feeling one day with my own words.)

there’s...definitely more but I’m already frothing at the mouth and getting dangerously unhinged so I’m gonna cut it off there. please feel free to drop into my askbox or DMs if you ever want me to scream more or in detail, i have Many Feelings about books ‘n things.

[lentils-writes]

Day 29: Pick your favorite TV show set in the present/future.  Your ship is now the main characters. Which means Farscape AU!!!! (sofisdojdf I’M SO BEHIND SORRY OOPS. This is sort of a rough rewrite of parts of the Farscape pilot based on the wiki descriptions and very vague memories since I haven’t watched it in awhile. I would recommend like...youtubing the Farscape s1 trailer so you sort of get an idea of what these characters actually look like???? or at least google for a cast picture or something. It basically goes: Kara = Crichton, Melinda = Aeryn, Hunter = D’Argo, Raina = Zhaan, Fitz = Rygel, Jemma = Pilot, Ward = Crais [Daisy = Chiana but she’s not in the pilot so]. Also just watch Farscape tbh. It might be a pain in the ass to find idk but it is WORTH IT)

Kara Palamas is not having the best day.

First her ship gets sucked into god knows where, through what she thinks must be a wormhole because she doesn’t recognize anything about this place. There are freaky-looking aliens everywhere, some of them not even humanoid, and then on top of everything else, she’s been accused of murdering some guy’s brother with the ship that brought her here. Great.

He’s yelling at her, from the other side of the jail cell she’s currently in. Ward, is that his name? He’s saying that his brother was in the ship that she ran over when she suddenly appeared in the “white death pod” and that she’ll have to answer for her crimes. The weird red alien dude - Hun’ter - and the woman who looks more human than any of the others, but insists she isn’t - Melinda May - are in cells on either side of her.

“You bitch!” Ward is hissing at her. “I’ll make sure you face justice for murdering Thomas!”

“Dude!” Kara protests. “I told you, I didn’t know what I was doing! I’m sorry your brother’s dead, but it’s not like I purposely crashed into his ship!”

“Don’t bother,” says Melinda, in the cell next to her. “Ward’s impossible to reason with when he gets fixated on something.”

Ward turns to her, snarling. “How could you talk to this monster! You, a Peacekeeper! You sympathize with her, don’t you?”

Melinda spits at him. “I don’t have to answer to you for anything.”

“I’ll make sure you rot too!” he yells, turning to storm out. “You’re irreversibly contaminated from spending time with this Human.”

“Frell you!” she responds, then turns to Kara and rolls her eyes. “He might be a drelk, but I wouldn’t be in here if you hadn’t dragged me into this.”

“Me? I was trying to help you!” protests Kara. “You were the one who tried to sabotage that ship full of people who were nothing but nice to us!”

Melinda scoffs. “Criminals. They were all criminals, and you made me complacent in their escape.”

Kara sighs and is about to argue when a guard comes by. “Come with me,” he says, then notices the puzzle ring on Kara’s finger. “What’s that? Why wasn’t it removed with your other weapons?”

“It’s not a weapon,” scoffs Kara. “It’s a puzzle. You know, for fun? Here, you can look at it.” She slips it off her finger and, when the stupid guard reaches for the ring, she takes the opportunity to grab his firearm and point it at his head. He yelps and jumps back, but she cocks the trigger. “You’re gonna unlock these cells,” she growls. “Mine, hers, and his.” She flicks the gun to indicate Melinda and Hun’ter, who’s been mostly quiet the last few minutes.

“I’d like that, thanks very much,” calls Hun’ter.

Once the guard has unlocked the cells, Kara pistol-whips him before he can call out for help. (She’s never done that before, but she figures since she’s apparently just living in some kind of sci-fi movie now, she might as well do the cool shit before the dream or whatever this is ends.) Hun’ter immediately steps out of his cell, grinning. “Let’s go, Human! Back to Moya!”

“Wait,” says Kara. “She’s coming with us.” She nods at Melinda.

“What?” The grin melts off of Hun’ter’s face, replaced with horror. “She’s a Peacekeeper! They’re monsters who’ll torture and kill because they can!”

Kara shakes her head. “She’s still coming with us. We all get out of here or none of us goes.”

Melinda hesitates. “I can’t come with you.”

Kara frowns. “Why not?”

“I’m a Peacekeeper.” Melinda looks deflated. “I was born and bred for the life of a Peacekeeper and I have failed at my duties. I am meant to maintain order in the universe at any cost. What am I supposed to do, if not that?”

Kara steps forward, looking Melinda straight in the eyes. “Look,” she says. “Back on my world, some people feel like they have duties that they were born into too. Some people are told they have to take over their parents’ business or go to the college their parents pick out or find a nice person to marry and pop out a dozen babies. But everyone has a choice. Everyone can choose to take a different path. You can be more, Melinda May.”

Melinda pauses, then steps out of the cell with a nod. “Fine,” she says. “I’ll come with you. I shouldn’t trust you, but strangely I do.”

Kara nods, breathing a sigh of relief. “Now,” she says, turning to Hun’ter, “you said you can get us back to the ship?”

---

“What do you mean we can’t go any faster?” she hisses.

“I’m sorry,” says the strange crablike creature that calls herself Pilot, “but Moya’s energy is depleted. If we tried to starburst again, I don’t know that we would make it.”

Kara sighs. “Great. That’s great.” She glances around, frantically trying to think.

“I can’t believe I got on this disgusting ship with all of you fekkiks,” groans Fitz, the annoying little slug-thing who insists that he’s royalty and should be treated with respect. Kara just wants to drop-kick him, honestly.

“Wait!” she shouts. “Paper, I need paper!”

Raynah, the blue-skinned priestess, looks confused. “What do you need that for?”

“Ah, never mind!” She pulls a pen out of her pocket and starts scribbling on the floor. “I have a theory about how we can overcome the atmospheric friction and starburst our way out of here.”

“Hm,” says Pilot. “That...that might actually work.”

“But you’re gonna need to do exactly what I say,” says Kara.

---

A harrowing few minutes later, they’ve successfully jumped away from Ward and his fleet and are coasting through space, letting Moya rest. Raynah gives her an approving nod, saying, “Well done. I knew I had a good feeling about you.”

Now Kara’s trying to get settled in what seems to be one of the rooms of this weird ship. Melinda comes up to her. “You know he won’t give up that easily,” she says, face stony. “Ward will hunt you down, and the rest of us too.”

Kara shrugs, trying to brush it off. “I’ll figure out something. I always do.”

Melinda narrows her eyes. “This won’t end well. And it’ll be on your head. I just wanted you to know that.”

“Alright,” says Kara, and once Melinda’s gone she mutters, “Jeez, what’s her problem?”

She spends some time trying to repair one of the broken droids scattered around Moya, hoping maybe she can use it as a recording device for back home. Finally, she manages to get it working.

“Dad? I don’t know if you’re ever gonna hear this, but I hope you do. I’m okay, Dad. I’m just somewhere...else. And there’s life out here, Dad. Weird, amazing, dangerous, beautiful life. I’ve found somewhere safe for now, but I’m gonna do my best to get home. I don’t know exactly where I am, but I’m not giving up hope. I’ll see you soon, Dad.”