#I think it's weather related

[bethanyactually]

wow this headache SUCKS

[candyskiez]

I'm not done steven universe almost there but oh my god. they're addressing how traumatizing typical protagonist conflicts would be. they're addressing how traumatizing it'd be to almost die so regularly. and to see your friends die in front of you. and to lose control of your body. they're showing the messy aspects of trauma. they're not making him be a soft uwu baby. he's being angry and overwhelmed and too controlling because he gets so overwhelmed by the trauma. he's having the ugly messy side of his trauma shown and explored. they're showing typical protagonist struggles and then go "oh nope that's actually extremely traumatizing!"

they used the word trauma. they actually used the word trauma. they addressed how fucked it is steven never got to grow up with many kids his age. they're addressing how much it's hell to feel like you're gonna die constantly. they're addressing how awful it is to be made to be the therapist kid. they're addressing how being the therapist kid shapes you as a person. holy shit.

they're actually addressing his issues. they're addressing his issues!! oh my god!!

(not done, have three episodes left nobody spoil. I am in the homestretch gang I'm sorry I just couldn't NOT share my thoughts rn)

[starmanbyler]

think abt california dreamin from mikes pov then remember that was in st okay yeah

[cafeinnewdelsta]

Partitio Wisdom: Large yellow coats are useful for protecting you and your partner from oncoming rain or hail. (Especially useful if your partner is no taller than 5"5)

[coquelicoq]

it's interesting, a few people on my post yesterday about the dandelion dynasty told me they were taking it as a rec for the series, but i didn't actually recommend the series in that post. it's making me think about whether i would rec it to people, a question i hadn't fully considered yet (as it is a very different question from "do i like this book?"). so this is me figuring out the answer to that question. i'll keep it spoiler-free (though i make no promises on brevity).

i just finished book 3 (of 4) and each installment has left me more invested than i was before, but the series started out very slow, and i didn't really get into it until halfway through book 2. i wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people bounce off the first book; i didn't, but only because 1) i almost never give up on a book that i've started (it's a character flaw of mine 😕) and 2) my trust in ken liu is ridiculously high because the other stuff i've read by him is so beloved to me. so my reaction to feeling kind of meh about book 1 was "okay, let's see where he's going with this" rather than "i guess this just isn't my cup of tea."

i should say that the problem might just be my own ignorance/lack of familiarity with the form. i don't read a lot of epic fantasy - in fact, lord of the rings is the one series that i have given up on reading a couple of times because it just left me totally indifferent. so if you like epics, you are starting out way ahead of me and can maybe just ignore the rest of this post lol, but i think i had to adjust to what the form is asking of me and what it's best suited to accomplish before i could get fully on board.

the main thing i struggled with is the writing, like the actual sentence-level mechanics of voice and style. this surprised me, because i usually find his writing very beautiful, or, when not beautiful, i can get a sense of the effect he means to achieve by employing a certain style. but in this series, the writing came across as kind of awkward and one-note to me at first, and i couldn't see a reason for it to be that way.* the dialogue especially - different characters don't really have different ways of speaking, they all feel pretty much the same. this was one of the main things i had to adjust to, but i do get it now. i don't just mean that i got used to the style and it doesn't bother me anymore, though that is true; i mean that i now understand the effect he means to achieve by employing this style, which gives it purpose and inextricably ties it to the story he's telling (this becomes especially clear in book 3, as it's directly related to a major theme of that book). if the style were different, he would be telling a different story; that's the sign of a successful execution, i think.

i said in the tags on yesterday's post that one reason the series doesn't have much of a fandom on here might be that the characters aren't natural blorbos. of course every character is probably the blorbo of somebody somewhere, but i don't know that these characters were designed to be blorbos, if that makes sense. not that they're plot devices either! every single one of them is conflicted and complicated and compelling, and most of them are followed over a period of many years, so we see them develop as people over time. but there is no protagonist, for example. you could also say that every character is a protagonist. the "list of major characters" at the beginning of book 3 is six pages long, and there are stories to be told about each of these characters, and none of them are told in isolation. but in a way, the characters themselves are not the point, or if they are, it's in aggregate - it's in the ways they're all complex, the ways they all have motivations that make sense to them (and that make sense to us, once we get to know them). and it's about power and the roles that the characters play in their society, rather than the roles the characters play in the story. or maybe those are the same thing! because ultimately, the main character of this story is the society. and the plot is the history of this society, rather than the journey or life of a single person or handful of people.**

(sidenote, there will be a period during book 1 when you will think to yourself, "wow, all the women characters are super one-dimensional and the narrative doesn't seem to respect them." this is on purpose. just keep going.)

the plotting is intricate while also feeling very organic. he's got dozens of plates in the air at once, he's maintaining them over a long period (these books are MASSIVE), and he's somehow making it seem like a real history, not like an author pulling strings. i haven't finished it yet, but my guess is that he's going to pull off a very satisfying conclusion that's at the same time very open-ended. definitely looking forward to it.

and the worldbuilding. oh, the worldbuilding. this is some of the most detailed, complex, realistic*** worldbuilding i've ever encountered, and he covers SO much ground. you want linguistic worldbuilding? you got it. philosophy? it's here. psychology of empire? coming right up. the nitty-gritty of everyday governance? buddy, pull up a chair. mechanical engineering? how much time you got?? (it better be enough time to read 3504 physical pages, because that's how long this series is.) and he's drawing on chinese history and cultural narratives rather than slapping lipstick on a tolkien clone (see his comments here, but stop reading at "In this continuation of the series" if you want to avoid spoilers). he WILL go on for a hundred pages about a single invention, but it's SO interesting that he is allowed. this is a story about how technology (including language, and schools of thought, and agriculture, and...) shapes, and is a product of, its time and place and people, so again, this is all to purpose. but it's also just. really cool.

the last thing i'll say, and this is mainly for other ken liu fans, is that one of the things i most love about his short stories is how they tap into emotions i didn't even know i had, as though they're reaching inside of me and drawing to the surface ways of experiencing consciousness and love and mortal life that i had no idea were in there. this series is not causing emotional revelation for me in the way his other stories do, which isn't a bad thing - i don't mean to say the series is not engaging or that it inspires no emotions! i just mean, iykyk. if you've read the paper menagerie and are expecting that experience, you will have a better time here if you leave those expectations at the door. i am invested in this book because it's engaging my intellect, curiosity, sense of wanting to find out what else the characters will learn and what's going to happen next...less because it's turning my heart inside out inside my chest. and like thank goodness, because i don't think i could survive four entire 900-page books' worth of that! but anyway. word to the wise.

tl;dr: yes, i recommend it, especially if you like epic fantasy. if you're a fan of ken liu's other work, this is quite different, so just know that going in!

*this opinion is of course subjective and not universally shared. for instance, see this review of book 3 (full of spoilers, so don't actually read it lol) which says "There's Liu's voice to hold onto, though — beautifully deployed here and fully in command of the language of his imaginary universe." so ymmv. maybe it's an epic fantasy thing.

**this is making me realize that the story is commenting on this very thing through a tension between bureaucracy (founded on interchangeability) and monarchy (informed by a specific personality). dude. that's so meta!

***though sometimes i'm like, "really? you scaled up that invention to use untested on the battlefield in the span of like two weeks? sure, jan." so sometimes he falls down a little on translation of ideas into logistics, but it makes for such a great story that i'll allow it.

[gayvampyr]

I think I've posted about this before but I can't remember; does anyone else get tics that are triggered by the cold? and I don't mean just shivering, I mean like cold temperatures cause your body to suddenly jerk and/or have random uncontrollable muscle spasms. mainly asking people who have tic disorders or other neurological/neuromuscular conditions, but others are welcome to reply as well

[lesamis]

they should let us write "popular" style articles at work more often i frankly think i could become phenomenal at this

[dnangelic]

[creaturefeaster]

I think Rede would be a great fisherman 🥲

THIS IS SO CUTE!

[quaranmine]

I have never seen a ton of wildfire smoke until this year. Lile I didn't know there was a weather condition on my weather app called smoke. And being able to look directly at the sun because the light got so diffused is a trip.

I'm also surprised with how fast it can set in. Like 15 minutes in a shop, I go outside and I smell it and just see this grayish tinted fog outside.

The lighting outside is weird as well. Almost like a half cloud cover, but it's still bright? It's the golden hour but at 12 noon. And also the moon just becomes red now.

I think a lot of people are really experiencing it for the first time this year, unfortunately. There's been some weird weather/wind patterns this summer in general and I think it's being blown farther than normal (in addition to being a worse fire season that usual in general.) So my general perception with social media is that many people are baffled because they've never seen this happen before where they live.

Also? This is GREAT description, thank you.

[theskyexists]

I do think it's funny when Brazilians complain about Europeans being unhygienic or stinky for showering....only once a day. Because........ In most cultures this is a regular amount of showering. Like...it's not just Europeans. 2/3 times a day sounds nice, especially if you live in a mostly super hot country. I also gave myself the luxury of showering twice a day when I lived in Spain in summer - because - and this is essential - I took my showers cold/lukewarm. In winter showering more than once a day means spending tons of gas on heating water. I also shower twice a day in winter sometimes as a luxury, just because it's nice. But like. This is rare because it literally impacts your energy bill significantly. And is bad for the environment. And isn't really necessary. Again. Most people don't sweat a ton or get grimy doing mild mannered activities like grocery shopping and sitting behind a computer in cool weather. I also think it's interesting that it's such a european-focused disdain...I've come across it like that multiple times. Again. Unless I'm wrong, North America also has so many people who shower once a day. I don't think this is different for most of Asia and Africa? Or Australia or. Brazil is statistically uh the country in the world in which people shower the most.

[sirmanmister]

Had a movie moment tonight by obliviously spitting blood out of my mouth to the horror of others.

Was swimming at my grandma’s and fell off of something with my sister, SLAMMED my chin into her HEAD really fucking hard and got water up my nose. I was so worried abt her I didn’t even feel anything but jaw pain from the blow fucking reverberating thru my whole head but cuz of the water all I could do was haul her up with one arm and try to not drown. Only I kept on choking and coughing and eventually when I got my breath found out it was on MY OWN BLOOD cuz I bit the inside of my cheek really hard when my jaw slammed shut. Thankfully my sister’s head is just tender and my mouth doesn’t hurt that much but goddamn

[dirtbunnii]

yesterday was such a day

[fagbearentertainment]

Oh wow I feel like SHIT

[guinevereslancelot]

acquired some small apple trees for $10 each and now i have a little orchard 🥲