#bone thief saga

[thatpunkmaximoff]

[Book Two of Three]

Story: 3 out of 5 Smut: 1 out of 5

I loved book two! Yes, there’s A LOT going on in here, but it’s so worth it.

I had very mixed feelings about certain characters, and as I read I just kept getting annoyed by them, but now that the secrets are out of the bag… all hell has broken loose.

The identities of Rio and Lynne.. holy hell. I did not see that coming.

There were so many twist, turns, and betrayals… and I have a feeling there’s only more to come.

I need book 3 asap!

Now enjoy my rambling thoughts…

* Daddy? I don’t like that Rio’s a daddy to someone who isn’t Lynne/Aria’s kid. Is this Cherry’s kid? The one he said he was gonna adopt after the dad was killed?

* Damn. Poor kid.

* He summoned the Bone Queen? Yep. He’s fucked.

* “..stuck in a human body..” — what does she mean? Is Rio not human?!

* The Bone Queen is scared.. of Rio..?

* He was reborn.. I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS! He’s obviously from the Underworld and was very powerful once upon a time. Just who is he.. ?

* So it was Rio who stopped showing up? Lynne returned every Storm Day and it was Rio who wasn’t there? 🥺

* Wait, what? Do I actually like Illiam?

* And now Rio is the Bone Queen’s personal Reaper. Wtf.

* So Rio’s pissed because Lynne moved on with Illiam, but yet he won’t answer questions about his own disappearance or the fact that he’s married? Fuck this dude.

* Oh man. The tension between these two is thick! I have so many questions.

* And now we have a chapter with Aria’s name..? Are her memories coming back?

* Aww. They had a connection back in high school 🥺

* Just who is Any and Lynne’s father..? Is it the Shadow King?!

* “Try pulling that stunt again, and I swear I’ll punch you in the face. Hard.” // “Well, not to be blunt but if you did that, the only thing becoming hard would be my dick.” — lmfao.

* I knew that wasn’t his bio daughter! I knew it was Cherry’s.

* And not married to anyone on earth..? So does that mean he married someone in the Underworld..? 🤔

* Rio fucking Lynne against the wall where they’re holding her lover hostage is such a dick move. I love it.

* Lmao. There’s no such thing as a reaper’s bond. Rio fucking handfasted her without her knowledge 😂

* HOLY FUCK! RIO IS THE SHADOW KING!?

* Aw fuck. None of the Underworld can fall in love. Rio killed one of their lovers… so they set their sights on his. Fuck these hoes.

* Goddess of Moon and Rebirth. God, I love it.

* Man, they really are cursed. She either has to kill him, weaken him, or find another solution. But they’re running out of time 😔

* Oh fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. They put Rio under a sleeping spell! Lynne/Aria has to go TopWorld now 😬

* How are you gonna end it that way?!

[andiatas]

One of my goals for 2024 is to get more people involved in Fandom. I love the communities here on Tumblr & there are so many great & clever people on here who carry so much knowledge. However, that knowledge can & should be shared - at least in my opinion - & an easy way to do that is to get involved on Fandom & their wikis.

Now, I promise, it's not intimidating - if you can create & edit a Tumblr post, you can edit articles & pages on a wiki. Here, you can find an easy step-by-step guide on how to get started with contributing, but you can also message me & maybe I can help guide you through any question marks.

For this first post, I want to highlight some wikis dedicated to children's literature that need some help & love from their fans:

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - the pages linked here need to be expanded, so if you know something, don't be shy :)

Amelia's Notebooks - the pages linked here need to be expanded

The Blackwell Pages - all pages need to be expanded on

Bone - the pages linked here need to be expanded

Boxcar Children - links need to be added to these pages

Children of the Lamp - the pages linked here need to be expanded

Charlie Bone/The Children of the Red King - all pages need to be expanded on

The Chrestomanci Series - links need to be added to these pages

Emily of New Moon - the pages linked here need to be expanded

Endling - links need to be added to these pages

----

The Green Ember - the pages linked here need to be expanded

Howl's Moving Castle - all pages need to be expanded on

Jumanji - links need to be added to these pages

Little House on the Prairie - add links from IMDb, TV.com & TV Guide to each episode's page, plus the complete cast & crew for each episode

The Magic Thief - all pages need to be expanded on

The Magic Tree House - links need to be added to these pages

The Magisterium - the pages linked here need to be expanded

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - the pages linked here need to be expanded

Night Speakers - the pages linked here need to be expanded

Ruby Redfort - the pages linked here need to be expanded

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The School for Good and Evil - links need to be added to these pages

Septimus Heap - the pages linked here need to be expanded

The Sisters 8 - all pages need to be expanded on

The Three Investigators - links need to be added to these pages

Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn - all pages need to be expanded on

The Underland Cyclopedia - the pages linked here need to be expanded

The Unwanteds Series - links need to be added to these pages

Warhorse - all pages need to be expanded on

Wonder - pages for the cast and crew of the Wonder film need to be added

Zathura - all pages need to be expanded on

Now, this is quite an extensive list, but if your favourite book or series isn't mentioned here, I suggest checking out the literature page, the book club or go to this page & simply search for your favourite book/series/author.

To repeat what I said at the beginning of this post, there is a step-by-step guide on how to start contributing, but don't be shy to message me if you have any questions :)

[muskoxen]

Vibin'

So I've been thinking about how some of my favorite books vibe with one another, and a map might be a better format for this and this is really just for me to quiet my brain a little but whatever, here's the list:

(The top line book will be the ur-book that sets the vibe, usually a childhood favorite; this does not mean that these are necessarily kid-friendly books!) (If you actually see and read this post, please reblog and suggest books because I'm going to throw down some ur-books that I have yet to find any simpatico fellows for!) (I will update my list as I read and discover)

Murderbot

Is it just me or would El Higgins and Murderbot coexist well??? Also, can’t believe I almost forgot to put my favorite traumatized construct on this list!

Howl's Moving Castle

Emily Wilde and its sequels

Ten Thousand Stitches

Sabriel and its sequels

Vespertine

Sorcery of Thorns (specifically, Lirael and there's also a UU library but also a Mogget)

Nettle & Bone

The Blue Sword

Crown Duel

The Goblin Emperor

Crown Duel

The Vorkosigan Saga

The Queen’s Thief

Discworld

T Kingfisher's World of the White Rat, incl. The Saint of Steel series. The gnolls esp. feel Discworldish.

A Deadly Education and The Scholomance series. Both El and Vimes understand The Beast

To Say Nothing of the Dog, Doomsday Book and Connie Willis at large

The Lord Peter Wimsey series

PG Wodehouse

Ella Enchanted

Half a Soul and its sequels

The Lord of Stariel

Thornhedge awww

The Hunger Games

The Locked Tomb

Also Vespertine (above) a bit. Lots of dead things, and sassy ghosts in your head, and religious fanatics, and eldritch horrors. TLT is A Lot so I don’t want to overpromise but the main character is an neurodivergent nun and she’s wonderful. Also there’s a hot priest. It is YA so significantly less gore.

His Dark Materials

Godkiller also vibes with THG a bit. Def a dash of Peenis.

Temeraire, except obviously Lyra would be friends with Temeraire and Pan and Lawrence would commiserate

Pride & Prejudice and Austen at large

An-Ever Fixed Mark and its universe

A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting this author is so wildly unknown and underrated where is the discourse wtf

A Lady's Guide to Scandal

Memory of Morning. It’s a one hit wonder but it really, really hits for me. She’s a ship doctor who gets shore leave and gets to hang out with her bluestocking family during the season in a not-Britain. There’s language of flowers. There’s alien-intelligence-giant-glowing-octopodes. There’s a wee little doggy. I haven’t enjoyed anything else by this author but damn do I keep rereading this one.

The Beldam & the Baronet (Or, The Magician Debutante's Trials & Tribulations) by @dwellordream

Kate Daniels

Hidden Legacy but only the Nevada books sorry IA

The Inkeeper Chronicles obv

[book--brackets]

Best Fantasy Book Poll Links

Preliminary Rounds

Poll 1: The Hobbit - Circe (here)

Poll 2: The Night Circus - Coraline (here)

Poll 3: The Mistborn Saga - The Stormlight Archive (here)

Poll 4: The BFG - Daughter of Smoke & Bone (here)

Poll 5: The Raven Cycle - Earthsea Cycle (here)

Poll 6: Simon Snow - Legacy of Orisha (here)

Poll 7: Anansi Boys - Legends & Lattes (here)

Poll 8: The Scholomance - The Locked Tomb (here)

Poll 9: Song of the Lioness - The School for Good and Evil (here)

Poll 10: DragonLance: Chronicles - Otherworld (here)

Poll 11: Temeraire - The Queen's Thief (here)

Poll 12: The Liveship Traders - Seven Realms (here)

Poll 13: The Two Princesses of Bamarre - Falling Kingdoms (here)

Poll 14: The Wicked + the Divine - Chronicles of the Black Company (here)

Poll 15: Curse Workers - The Near Witch (here)

Poll 16: Valdemar: Heralds of Valdemar - The Riyria Chronicles (here)

Poll 17: Green Rider - The Deep (here)

Poll 18: Fledgling - The Elric Saga (here)

Poll 19: Young Wizards - Reckless (here)

Poll 20: Her Majesty's Royal Coven - The Saint of Steel (here)

Poll 21: The Magic Thief - Furthermore (here)

Poll 22: Valdemar: Mage Wars - Girls Made of Snow and Glass (here)

Poll 23: Dragonkeeper Chronicles - Faerie Tale (here)

Poll 24: The Hollow Kingdom Trilogy - The Squire's Tales (here)

Poll 25: The Cemeteries of Amalo - Stoneheart (here)

Poll 26: The 13 Clocks - Deeplight (here)

Poll 27: The Chronicles of Faerie - Guides for Dating Vampires (here)

Poll 28: Once & Future - Birthright (here)

Poll 29: Kingdoms and Empires - Lyra (here)

Poll 30: Star Wars: Jedi Quest - Wildworld (here)

Poll 31: Troll Trilogy - The Merlin Spiral (here)

Poll 32: Codebearers - Knights of Liofwende (here)

Round 1

Poll 1: Lord of the Rings vs Spellbound (here)

Poll 2: Howl's Moving Castle vs Zachary Ying (here)

Poll 3: Song of the Lioness vs The Tarot Sequence (here)

Poll 4: Lockwood & Co. vs The Unicorn Chronicles (here)

Poll 5: Circle of Magic vs Dragon Slippers (here)

Poll 6: The Queen's Thief vs Valdemar: Vows and Honor (here)

Poll 7: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard vs The Edge Chronicles (here)

Poll 8: Artemis Fowl vs Star Wars: Jedi Quest (here)

Poll 9: Discworld vs The Fairy Realm (here)

Poll 10: The Locked Tomb vs The Cemeteries of Amalo (here)

Poll 11: The Immortals Quartet vs Deltora Quest (here)

Poll 12: The Sisters Grimm vs Young Wizards (here)

Poll 13: The Keys to the Kingdom vs The Chronicles of Chrestomanci (here)

Poll 14: Princess Academy vs In Other Lands (here)

Poll 15: Simon Snow vs Hexwood (here)

Poll 16: Good Omens vs The Merlin Spiral (here)

Round 2

Poll 1: The Lord of the Rings vs The Chronicles of Chrestomanci (here)

Poll 2: Song of the Lioness vs The Locked Tomb (here)

Poll 3: Howl's Moving Castle vs The Immortals Quartet (here)

Poll 4: Lockwood & Co. vs Discworld (here)

Poll 5: Artemis Fowl vs Young Wizards (here)

Poll 6: The Queen's Thief vs Simon Snow (here)

Poll 7: Magnus Chase vs Princess Academy (here)

Poll 8: Circle of Magic vs Good Omens (here)

Round 3

Poll 1: The Lord of the Rings vs The Locked Tomb (here)

Poll 2: Howl's Moving Castle vs Discworld (here)

Poll 3: Artemis Fowl vs The Queen's Thief (here)

Poll 4: Magnus Chase vs Circle of Magic (here)

Semifinals

Poll 1: The Lord of the Rings vs Discworld (here)

Poll 2: The Queen's Thief vs Circle of Magic (here)

Finals

The Lord of the Rings vs The Queen's Thief (here)

[im-probably-crying-rn-ngl]

fuck it, book recommendations based on your favourite driver

+ age rating, summary and rambling disguised as explanation as to why

if your favourite driver is Lewis Hamilton...then i would recommend Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

(historical sports fiction, standalone) "Carrie Soto, a fierce and determined retired tennis champion, comes out of retirement at thirty-seven to reclaim her record and face personal challenges, coached by her father partnered with the man she almost opened her heart to, in Taylor Jenkins Reid's novel about the cost of greatness and a legendary athlete's epic comeback."

the connection between this book and lewis is what inspired this whole post in the first place. a comeback story even if you have proven all there is to be proven? trying to beat all the odds against you even time? being an all-time champion AND an underdog? there are so many links that can be made between carrie and lewis not just with their careers and relationships but also what adversities they have had to face. idk but is this like manifesting that lewis is going to be "back" for his 8th wdc?

if your favourite driver is George Russell...then i would recommend A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

(young adult mystery thriller, book 1 of 3) "In 'A Good Girl's Guide to Murder,' Pippa Fitz-Amobi reexamines a closed case, challenging the conviction of Sal Singh for Andie Bell's murder, unearthing hidden secrets that threaten her safety as she seeks the elusive truth."

ah mr wannabe investigator (we all saw him checking out that redbull) but seriously there's something we grussell sprouts must enjoy about someone who seems so straight-laced and uptight be absolutely blatantly unhinged both on and off track. it's just so george to choose literal murder inquiry as a school project, from the ambition bordering on arrogance of believing a high schooler could do what the authorities couldn't to the genuine heartfelt sincerity in wanting the truth and to bring justice for those already deemed outcasts by society. he's OUR good girl that's not-so-secretly "bad".

(main ship are george and alex coded btw like im just saying)

(+ bonus rec bc i am incredibly biased) if your favourite team is Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team (had to google the name for the nth time)...then i would recommend The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee

(adult fantasy, trilogy, best books i have ever read) "The Green Bone Saga is a fantasy trilogy by Fonda Lee, exploring the intricate power struggles and conflicts within and around the Kaul family. Set in the fictional city of Janloon with ability-enhancing jade as it's lifeblood."

my faves with my faves. mercedes aren't a national institution/emotion (ferrari), a team (red bull racing), a villains' lair (ashton martin) or a pop band (mclaren) but a family. a dysfunctional, awkward, barely concealed hot mess of a family, but family nonetheless. chasing victory while trying to survive the horrors of life and each other is the merc way and you will see the same in this trilogy. *toto voice* loyalty!

family is duty. magic is power. honor is everything. <- literally them

if your favourite driver is Oscar Piastri...then i would recommend The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

(young adult fantasy, book 1 of 5) "In 'The Lightning Thief' by Rick Riordan, seemingly troubled teenager Percy Jackson discovers his divine lineage as a demigod, embarks on a perilous quest with his friends to prevent a war among the gods."

wow guys i don't know what to tell you except oscar JACK piastri, SON of nicole and chris piastri, might literally be percy JACKSON (i have connected the dots, you haven't connected shit). your guy might have had a former illustrious career in undertaking dangerous quests and asking greek gods to pay child support, you should check.

if your favourite driver is Lando Norris...then i would recommend Magnolia Parks by Jessa Hastings

(adult contemporary romance, check tws, book 1 of an ongoing series) "In 'Magnolia Parks' by Jessa Hastings, a tumultuous love story unfolds between the beautiful and self-involved London socialite Magnolia Parks and Britain's notorious bad-boy BJ Ballentine, as they grapple with a dysfunctional relationship marked by heartbreak, secrets, and the enduring pull they feel towards each other."

picked this based on vibes, just pure vibes but immaculate ones. the drama, the glitz, the glam yes but also the family, friendship, and love found within the pages of this series. this is british gossip girl. i am telling you there is a vision here people.

(+ bonus review because this might be the only book on this list that has less (3.84) than 4+ stars on goodreads and i can't do him and y'all dirty like that: i personally didn't love the first book but the series really comes together and you truly get invested in these characters and their happiness, actually pretty excited to read more.

also if nothing else it's fun, just some brain popcorn)

if your favourite driver is Carlos Sainz...then i would recommend The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh

(young adult romance fantasy, check tws, book 1 of 2) "In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, Shahrzad vows vengeance for her friend's death and becomes the next bride of the tormented Caliph Khalid, discovering unexpected love as she navigates the perilous palace of secrets and stories, torn between survival and the promise of retribution."

wow like you think he didn't step out of a magical retelling of 1001 nights? mhm but let's leave aside the fact i am still not convinced otherwise. carlos this year has shown his insane mega ultra galaxy brain, so i believe the plot of the wrath & the dawn would be something that would resonate with you. the quick wit and guile of the mc as she tries to carry out a revenge plot while trying to not get executed is only comparable to carlos coming up with his own race strategy mid race and cementing himself as the only non-rbr race winner in 2023. wow.

if your favourite driver is Charles Leclerc...then i would recommend The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

(historical romance fantasy, standalone) "The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller is an Iliad retelling, focusing on the deep and complex relationship between Achilles and Patroclus."

he has that sadness in his eyes that you only see in tragic greek myths etc etc. i will have to say, achilles walked so charles leclerc could race. *soft longing sigh* il predestinato and aristos achaion, the predestined and the best of the greeks. beloveds born and bathed in golden light. it just makes sense to me.

if your favourite driver is Alex Albon...then i would recommend Beach Read by Emily Henry

(adult contemporary romance, standalone) "A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters."

i mean alex is a living-breathing romance novel of a man. BUT it hasn't always been sunshine and rainbows (helmut marko if i catch you). so i think any emily henry book but especially beach read captures the ups and downs of alex's journey so well compared to just any ole romcom (...but if i had to give one for the alex enjoyers then it would be Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter, coincidentally also george and alex coded lmao).

but was it his remarkable drive back to f1 or the recent holiday beach pics that was the reason behind this rec? i guess we will never know

if your favourite driver is Logan Sargeant...then i would recommend Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

(young adult fantasy, book 1 of 3)"In 'Howl's Moving Castle' by Diana Wynne Jones, eldest daughter Sophie is cursed to age prematurely, the key to break the spell lies in the enigmatic Wizard Howl's castle. Sophie embarks on a quest to confront the Witch who cursed her all the while unraveling hidden truths about herself and Howl."

"let's bring it in and call it a day - let's look after of you." to "that's my girl" pipeline and vice versa. i know what you are.

but logang (the only one i know frfr) you deserve it okay? a cozy lil fantasy full of whimsy and wonder. tuck in and have some tea and cookies, pookies.

(i wanted to do the full grid but keep the teammates together and i haven't yet come up with something for all of em so there will be a part 2...? hopefully...?)

sources for summaries: thestorygraph and goodreads

[amchara]

I'm a bit late with this but thanks for the tag @whenshesayshush!

How many works do you have on ao3?

71 (with an additional 10+ on ff.net, and a lot of scattered on livejournal and elsewhere on tumblr, as I am old-school)

What’s your total ao3 word count?

357,732

What fandoms do you write for?

Active: Fate: The Winx Saga, The Shadowhunter Chronicles, Shadow and Bone/Grishaverse

Past: Supernatural, Harry Potter, Gossip Girl, Star Trek (movieverse), misc smaller fandoms

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Effortless (TSC)

Trouble Seems to Follow (TSC)

Something I Need (Shadowhunters TV/TSC)

When I Go Quiet, You Say I Look Good in the Silence (TSC)

Hideaway (Fate: The Winx Saga)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to! But I've really fallen behind in the last year - it's not great. But I aim to reply to most comments even if they are massively late. I feel if someone has taken the time to leave a lovely comment, I should acknowledge it.

What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

This is hard to choose because many of my stories have bittersweet endings or endings where ultimately it may end up being okay but by the current end of the fic, it's ambiguous.

In terms of longer stories, Trouble Seems to Follow leaves the main pairing in limbo, with secrets between them that are almost certainly going to have terrible consequences. Or maybe A Darkly Lit Path as the corruption arc is set up but never full explored.

Overall- it may be, You Have to Let Go, one of the Whumptober 2021 ficlets but lol, pretty much that whole series is an an angst-athon. I kill major characters, there's several possessions, some deals with demons, etc.

But I was looking through my archive and umm, yes. Many many angsty stories. The next question is going to be interesting to answer.

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Heh. So the thing is, I rarely write pure fluff. Big believer in making the characters work for their happy ending! Ummm - let's go with For How Long. My fav The Last Hours pairing was not going to be canon, so I wrote them a happy ending.

Do you get hate on fics?

Nope. I've had a couple comments where commenters seemed confused on why I wrote certain characters or situations but they've never been hateful.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yep! I used to write more mindfuck/hate-fuck and dub-con inhibition lowering fics but I think nowadays I tend to write smut where it's integrated as a conduit for exploring messy, intense feelings, and some good examples would be Talking Bodies and Shadow to the Light.

Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Very occasionally! I think the craziest one I wrote was a loooong time ago. A Black Donnellys/Supernatural crossover called Shake on Your Luck about Dean winning some luck in a poker game with a leprechaun and I had an absolute blast writing it in a folkloric, storytelling style!

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of?

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

A long time ago in Harry Potter, I wrote a few. More recently @belle-keys and I started a co-writing project that may or may not ever see the light of day, but it's been fun so far! I've also done some collabs on Big Bangs - most recently with @widadsadki and @skloomdumpster. I enjoy them! But wouldn't consider myself a regular co-writer.

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Let's go with one of my longest-standing ships, who I've never written for but they likely inform/influence a LOT of my id when I'm writing - Eugenides/Irene from the Queen's Thief series.

What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

None! I still have plans to return to all my current WIPs on Ao3, it just may take time.

What are your writing strengths?

Worldbuilding/expanding on canon. Exploring minor character backgrounds. Characters finding catharsis through challenging situations. Angsty/ambiguous endings.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Straightforward happy endings or fluff/slice of life fics. Humorous writing, I don't feel I'm often great at dialogue - sometimes it does click but I have to work at it. My writing background is journalistic so my style feels often quite 'workmanlike' and sturdy without being lyrical.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I've done it before but only in languages I have passing knowledge of - French and Spanish. I don't have strong feelings either way if authors do it?

First fandom you wrote for?

The second Xman movie, X2. Yes, the one that came out in 2003. Yes, I've now been writing fanfic for 20 years!

Favorite fic you’ve written?

Ooh, this is the toughest question - I think stylistically Effortless and Confluence are my best works and so they are probably my favourites. But I have a fondness for Love Letter Scorecard too!

Tagging: I think most people in FTWS fandom have done this oen so- let's go with TSC and other fandoms @themimsyborogove, @ibrushmyteeth-donttellanyone, @bookishjules @lifeofbrybooks, @jesse-is-spiralling @dontmindmyshadowhunting and anyone else who'd like to do it!

[thiefbracket]

SUBMISSIONS HAVE BEEN COUNTED

Thanks again for everyone's submissions! some of you were very passionate and it was great to learn about all these characters, I received 92 characters over 119 submissions and from that there was only 4 that I couldn't justify as thieves so apologies to those who didn't get in, with some from me and friends we have a final roster of 96. And so without further ado here are your competitors!

Raphael/ Phantom R: Rhythm thief and the Emperors Treasure

Daroach: Kirby Squeak Squad

Bilbo Baggins: The Hobbit

The Hamburglar: McDonalds Cinematic Universe

Ron DeLite/Mask☆DeMasque: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations

Kaitou Kid: Detective Conan

Swiper: Dora the Explorer

Chilli Pepper Cookie: Cookie Run

Carmen Sandiego: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego

Vriska Serket: Homestuck

Sly Cooper: Sly Cooper

Garrett: Thief

The Phantom Thieves: Persona 5

Ms. Mows: Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door

Ms. Fortune: SKullgirls

Scipio Fortunato (Piscio): The Thief Lord

Therion: Octopath Traveller

Roguefort Cookie: Cookie Run

Kaz Brekker: Shadow and Bones/ Six of Crows

Catwoman: Batman

Gru: Despicable Me

Jeets Shimis: Dungeons & Dragons Online

Parker: Leverage

Artemis Fowl: Artemis Fowl

Nött the Brave/Veth Brenatto: Critical Role

The Beagle Boys: Ducktales

Rosé: Drawtectives

Dorapin: Doraemon

Wario: Super Mario Bros

Magalor: Kirby's Return to Dreamland

Loba Andrade: Apex Legends

Nami: One Piece

“Thief King” Bakura: Yu-Gi-Oh!

Sal Leon: Mask of Shadows

The Collector: Hollow Knight

Astotheles: Bug Fables

Gaius: Fire Emblem Awakening

Burglar: The Sims 

Kokichi Oma: Danganronpa V3 Killing Harmony

Lifty and Shifty: Happy Tree Friends

Long John Silver: Black Sails

The Brickster: Lego Island

Some Sneaky Sim: The Sims

Danny Ocean: Ocean’s 11

Indiana Jones: Indiana Jones

Magpie: Real Life

Dean Domino: Fall out New Vegas

Cassian Andor: rogue one

Luke Castellan: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Popple: Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga

Mulch Diggums: Artemis Fowl

RJ Racoon: Over The Hedge

Beni Gabor: The Mummy

Sonny Wortzik: Dog Day Afternoon

A.J. Raffles: A.J. Raffles Short Stories

Team Rocket: Pokémon

Locke Cole: Final Fantasy 6

Yuffie Kisaragi: Final Fantasy 7

Edmund "Ned" Kelly Fuckin' Danger Discretion Aloysius Superstar Butterfly Nimbly Ninja Pacifist Black Diamond Friendly Trustworthy Pissed Off [Redacted] Vamoose Su-Sussudio Middle Name Chicane Jr.: Taz Amnesty

The Beachcomber: Cultist Simulator

Erin: Thief

Delilah Bard: Shades of Magic Series

Herbert Percival Bear, Esquire: Club Penguin

Arsène Lupin: Arsène Lupin

Rouge The Bat: Sonic The Hedgehog

Grovyle: PMD Explorers of Time/Darknes/Sky

Camicazi: How to Train Your Dragon Books

Mick Rory/ Heatwave: The Flash/DC Legends of Tomorrow

Hermes: Greek Mythology

Zidane Tribal: Final Fantasy IX

Duster: Mother 3

Glendale: Centaurworld

Ada Wong: Resident Evil

Nickit: Pokemon Sword and Shield

Purrloin: Pokemon Black and White

Gokaigers: Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger

Zox Goldtsuiker / Twokaiser: Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger

Kitty Softpaws: Puss in Boots

Deep Cut: Splatoon 3

Meenah Peixes: Homestuck

D.J. Octavio: Splatoon

Ratbeard: Pirate 101

Gen AKA Eugenides: The Queen's Thief

Lupinrangers (and Noel): Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger

Chester "Snake" Turley AKA Snake Jailbird AKA Albert Knickerbocker Aloysius Snake AKA Professor Jailbird AKA Detention Bird: The Simpsons

Cain: the Binding of Isaac

Robin hood: English Mythology

Erik: Dragon quest 11

The Artful Dodger: Oliver Twist

Kamen Rider Lupin: Kamen Rider Drive

Lupin III: Lupin The Third

Pumpkin and Honey Bunny: Pulp Fiction

Niles: Fire Emblem Fates

Daiki Kaito/ Kamen rider Diend: Kamen Rider Decade

Doug Judy (The Pontiac Bandit): Brooklyn 99

Prometheus: Greek Mythology

Seeding will begin tomorrow and the first part of round 1 will hopefully be posted in the next few days. Thanks again for all your patience!

[fandomtrumpshate]

Unlisted Fandom Challenge - update

We now have 151 write-in fandoms. Egads.

At the front of the pack it's still Young Royals leading Malevolent and The Queen's Thief, with 911: Lone Star now in a 3-way tie for 4th place with Overwatch and The Owl House. Fifth place is an eleven-way tie -

3 Alex Rider 3 Chainsaw Man 3 Disney's Descendants 3 Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun (The Husky & His White Cat Shizun) 3 Homestuck 3 Justified 3 Lout of the Count's Family / Trash of the Count's Family 3 Miraculous Ladybug 3 Red White & Royal Blue 3 The Legend of Zelda 3 Top Gun Movies

Under the cut is the full list of all write-in fandoms with one or two signups … so far. Write in your own fandom, or sign up for one of these to bump it up the list.

Signups are open through Feb 19!

2 Professional Wrestling 2 Aphmau MyStreet 2 Attack on Titan 2 Between Us 2 Bungou Stray Dogs 2 Carmen Sandiego 2 Destiny 2 2 Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency 2 Escaflowne 2 Gravity Falls 2 Hollow Knight 2 Love in the Air (Thai BL) 2 Not Me 2 NU: Carnival 2 Pokemon 2 Scholomance 2 Stargate: Atlantis 2 Supergirl 2 The Song of Achilles 2 Video Blogging RPF 2 X-men 2 YuYu Hakusho 1 A Series of Unfortunate Events 1 A Voice from Darkness (Podcast) 1 Ace Attorney 1 All The Wrong Questions 1 Animorphs 1 Be Kind My Neighbor 1 Bioshock 1&2 (only) 1 Blood of Youth 1 Blue Exorcist 1 Blue Lock 1 Bug Fables 1 Cabin Pressure 1 Call the Midwife 1 Cats the Musical 1 Citizen Sleeper 1 Cobra Kai 1 Coco Pixar 1 Cosmere (Brandon Sanderson) 1 Crossover Chaos AU (multifandom crossover AU) 1 Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 1 Danganronpa 1 Dead Poets Society 1 Dice Punks (podcast) 1 Digimon 1 Divergent (Movies) 1 Downton Abbey 1 Dragon Ball Z 1 Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey 1 Dungeons and Daddies 1 Eerie Indiana 1 Elder Scrolls 1 Emma - Jane Austen 1 Fire Country 1 Firefly 1 For All Mankind 1 Glee 1 Grace and Frankie 1 Greys Anatomy 1 Grimm 1 Guardian/Zhen Hun 1 Gundam 1 Half-Life 1 Hit the floor 1 Howl's Moving Castle 1 Hudson & Rex 1 IDOLiSH7 1 Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie 1 Infinity Train 1 Jane Austen (any novel any pairing) 1 Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse 1 Jojo's Bizarre Adventure 1 Jurassic Park 1 King of Scars Duology 1 Kingsman 1 Les Misérables 1 Los Simuladores 1 Love Between Fairy and Devil 1 Madre Solo Hay Dos 1 Miss Scarlet and The Duke 1 Mob Psycho 100 1 Monochrome Factor 1 Outlast 1 Parasol Protectorate 1 Peacemaker 1 Persuasion - Jane Austen 1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 1 Psych 1 Qi Ye 1 Ranger's Apprentice 1 Ranma 1/2 1 RPF 1 Sable 1 Sanders Sides 1 Scooby Doo 1 Shadow and Bone 1 Shameless (US) 1 Sidemen 1 Suits 1 Stephen King's IT 1 Tamora Pierce works 1 Tangled the Series 1 Ted Lasso 1 Teen Titans (Animated Series) 1 Temple of the White Rat series by T. Kingfisher 1 The Ancient Magus Bride 1 The Boys 1 The Daevabad Trilogy 1 The Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison 1 The King: Eternal Monarch 1 The Legend of Drizzt 1 The Lion Hunters Series - Elizabeth Wein 1 The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015) 1 The Man From UNCLE (TV) 1 The Tarot Sequence - K.D. Edwards 1 The Terror (TV 2018) 1 The Vampire Diaries (TV) 1 This Way Up 1 Tortall - Tamora Pierce 1 Tower of God 1 Transformers 1 True Blood (TV) 1 Twilight 1 Until We Meet Again 1 UuultraC 1 Valorant 1 Vikings (TV) 1 Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold 1 Warframe 1 Warrior Nun (TV Show) 1 What We Do in the Shadows 1 White Collar 1 Whiteley Foster's Mansong

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hi! I'm writing a story set sometime during the mesolithic/neolithic period (8000-3000 BCE). My characters are all from this time period. I've run into a scene where it would make sense for a character to swear. Of course, modern swear words don't exist yet. What kind of words might they use instead?

More broadly, how should writers writing stories set in fantasy worlds or the distant past or future approach swearing and expletives?

Thanks for the help :)

Neolithic Swear Words/Fantasy Swear Words

The first thing you have to remember is that your characters wouldn't even be speaking the language you're writing in anyway. So, none of the words you're using to tell the story or that they're speaking in dialogue existed in 3000 BCE. But just as we don't write modern Viking sagas with characters who actually speak Old Norse, or stories set in Ancient Egypt where the characters actually speak Ancient Egyptian, you're not expected to have your neolithic characters using "neolithic-appropriate" swear words.

Now, I will say that if your story was set during a period with a known ancient language, like Old Norse or Ancient Egyptian, you could throw in some Old Norse or Ancient Egyptian vocabulary here and there to give the impression that your characters are speaking that language. This is the same method used when characters speak a different language than the one in which the story was written. An example would be The Book Thief by Markus Zusak which takes place in WWII Germany with German characters. In reality, Liesel, Rudy, and Max would all speak German, but since the majority of the book's readers wouldn't be fluent in German, it doesn't make sense for the characters to actually speak it. So, instead what the author did was use German vocabulary and slang to give the impression of the characters speaking German. For example, Liesel's foster mother calls everyone "saumensch" and "saukerl" which apparently along the lines of calling someone a pig. This is a useful method if you are fluent in the language your characters would speak, or if you can get help from someone who is fluent in the language. But...

The problem in your case is that we don't really know much about the languages that were spoken during the neolithic, much less during the mesolithic, so this is not an option that's available to you. Writers of stories set during the stone age have made up for this by doing a little bit of conlang, or in other words, constructing a fictional language. You obviously don't have to construct a whole language, but you can put some thought into the sound of the language your characters might have spoken. What letters are the most prominent? What sounds are prominent? Use these same sounds and words in your characters names and the names of places, too.

For example, let's say you're going to use a lot of B's, O's, H's, and S's in your language. You might have a character named Bo'sa, a character named O'hb, and a character named H'sbo. They might live in a village called Hahob'a. If you're writing your story in English, your characters will speak English on the page, but you can throw in made up vocabulary and swear words that match your made up language. Your characters might wear bone armor called Oohsh, and they might eat a seaweed and fish dish called Lo-bah. And your MC's favorite swear word might be th'oba meaning "shark shit."

And, "shark shit" leads me to how you can come up with fantasy swear words. Ultimately, swear words are pretty limited in terms of their meaning. Pretty much any world related to the bodily functions of humans or animals, body parts, and anything that's perceived to be offensive or unpleasant in some way (bad smells, bad tastes, bad textures, things that look ugly or weird.) So, think about what those things would be in your character's environment. I was imagining a neolithic village by the sea in my example, which is why I went with "shark shit" as a bad word. Maybe there are stinky monkeys around your character's village called N'olbos, so someone might say, "Shut-up, N'olbo-butt," as an insult.

And if you don't want to make up a language, just go with the regular words... shark shit, monkey butt, fish gut breath, whatever works.

I hope that helps!

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[theinquisitxor]

My top 22 books of 2022

Here we are folks! This was a tough one. I read and enjoyed many books this year, and forming them into a list was difficult. This list does not include any rereads, because if it did, I would not have space to mention all the new reads I enjoyed! See my honorable mentions and some favorite rereads below the list.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher

Babel by RF Kuang

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland

Parable of the Talents (Earthseed 2) by Octavia E Butler

Jade Legacy (Green Bone Saga 3) by Fonda Lee

Thick as Thieves (Queen's Thief 5) by Meghan Whalen Turner

Forging Silver into Stars by Brigid Kemmerer

Bravely by Maggie Stiefvater

Return of the Thief (Queen's Thief 6) by Meghan Whalen Turner

The Final Empire (Mistborn 1) by Brandon Sanderson

House of Sky and Breathe by Sarah J Maas

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

What You Are Getting Wrong about Appalachia by Elizabeth Catte

The Queen of Attolia (Queen's Thief 2) by Meghan Whalen Turner

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia

Sistersong by Lucy Holland

Seasparrow by Kristin Cashore

The Golden Enclaves (well, the entire Scholomance trilogy) by Naomi Novik

Honorable mentions: The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake, Matrix by Lauren Groff, A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft, Mistborn 2 & 3, The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict, and Verity by Colleen Hoover

Honorable rereads: Throne of Glass series by SJM, Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, and Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman

[thatpunkmaximoff]

[Book One of Three]

Story: 3 out of 5 Smut: 1 out of 5

If you’re one who can look past some very obvious (but not many!) mistakes, then this book was actually a pretty decent read.

There was a bit going on, but once you grasp how the world works then you’ll be hooked.

The highs and lows, twists and turns, left you anxiously wondering would happen next or what the hell one character was thinking to do what they did. Looking at you, Rio 😡

Now read my spoilery thoughts…

* Very much little mermaid vibes… just more darker.

* Lynne vowed she wouldn’t lose a bone and what did she do? She lost a bone. And Rio picked it up 😬

* Ahhh. A crime boss. I like Rio, but I’m not sure I like this writing style 🤔 Maybe I’ve read too much mafia romance and fantasy just isn’t my fav anymore…

* The Blood Queen is a bitch. And why doesn’t she want Lynne to know who her fuck buddy was..?

* Being sent to the Top World without a voice.. ? She’s definitely Ariel. And Rio is a gang leader instead of a charming prince.

* Lol. She chose a “dress” from her collection and was wondering why she was being gawked at while Too World. It was a fuckin’ negligee! That’s why everyone thought she was a sex worker 🤦🏻‍♀️

* So who the fuck is Baron? If it’s Rio, she’s fucked. He doesn’t let chicks get in his way and Fox apparently has dibs. If her dislike for Lynne already is anything to go by, she’s gonna be super pissed/jealous when Lynne and Rio start spending time together.

* ….and Rio’s fucked. Love at first sight? Already possessive? Yes, please.

* Dude, Rio’s kind of a dick. He unfortunately saw Lynne kill one of his men, accidentally, and wants to weaponize her now 🤦🏻‍♀️

* The tension! Oh man, he was showing her how to seduce a man… and yeahhhh… they’re both fucked 😂

* I love how protective he is already. He took her out to see if she could do parkour and she’s impressing him. I love it.

* “All right, I like that you can fight back. But I will always take the blows aimed at you, understand?” — and this is where I fall in love with Rio.

* Lol she whacked him with her shoe hard enough to draw blood 😂

* The betrayal! Rio’s best friend is a dick.

* Or not… 👀 Wtf is going on lol.

* How did C-Wax get in Lynne’s clutch? Is Fox really fucking with her or someone else…?

* The “sexting” is kind of awkward, but bearable.

* Then again, Lynne’s never done that before so, of course, her flirting is awkward.

* I think the author should have edited this again before sending it off. Twice I’ve seen two different sentences repeated a couple paragraphs later. It’s kind of cringe.

* “I may seem calm,” he said, “but I’ve already fucked you a hundred times in my mind.” — goddamn 🥵

* Wow. Lynne totally went Selene on Fish’s dead ass 😂 That leap + decapitation combo was totally inspired by Underworld. Calling it rn.

* Fuck. “Any” knows about the Underworld. He just outed Lynne to Rio. Fucking asshole.

* So “Any” has a deal with the Blood Queen too 🤦🏻‍♀️ He has a time limit to kill his sister’s murderer… and twice already Lynne’s caught him pointing a gun at Rio. Does he think Rio is responsible? Fuck that dude.

* Ugh. I hate Fox and her smug little attitude.

* Wait.. is Lynne “Aria” and she just not know it? Rio’s mentioned how she and “Any” look alike, and notices some familiar things about her that he shouldn’t because he’s never met Lynne before. What if she’s “Any’s” twin?!

* What the fuck, Rio. You betrayed Lynne?!

* Oh no. Lynne touched Rio with her bare hand.

* Who the fuck knocked her out?!

* Oh fuck. Rio can see Bory and hear Lynne now!

* I FUCKING CALLED IT! I knew Lynne was Aria, “Any’s” twin 😭

* Also, how dare the author end it like that.

[ironychan]

We expected the dead triceracow would attract scavengers and it did.  There was us, of course, but by the end of the day macawks were already picking at it, along with these smaller predatory birds, and the flies had arrived.  The real action, however, happened after dark.

This involved me sitting in a tree half the night again... I guess that's just a thing I do now.  From that vantage point I watched a night screamer bound over to tear at the carcass.  It hissed at the macawks, which hissed back and showed off their eyespots, and the night screamer eventually retreated.  The next visitors were these rather charming little fanged fox-dogs, which got in their own argument with the macawks.  The dogs made coyote-like yipping sounds, and to my surprise the macawks imitated those, too.  This time the dogs won, and they used their saber teeth to tear the belly open and go straight for the organs.

After eating for a while, they all pricked up their ears and ran.  What seemed like a very long time passed, though it was probably only seconds, and this big heavy-footed thing came along that I first thought was a jaguar.  Then I realized it was not a cat but a huge, powerful dog.  It settled in to gnaw on the meat.  At one point it looked right at me, and I know it saw me, but like most creatures here it wasn't impressed.  After eating its fill, it curled up and went to sleep right there on top of the carcass.

I decided to climb down and head back, but as soon as I moved the dog heard me.  I saw its ears twitch and it raised its head and growled at me.  I therefore stayed put, waiting for it to fall asleep again... but it didn't.  I don't think it considered me a potential meal, but it did think I was a potential thief, and it kept its glowing eyes open and fixed on me for what felt like ages.  Eventually I figured I was probably there until morning.  Somebody would come looking for me and the dog wouldn't want to tangle with a crowd, right?

Suddenly the dog sat up.  It turned to face away from me and began barking up a storm.  I considered siezing the moment and fleeing, but I'm glad I didn't, because this goddamn prehistoric monster emerged from the bushes and charged.  The dog ran, and then this creature that has no right to be anything but vegan tore a leg off the dead cow and started crunching on it.  I could hear the bones crack.  I nearly threw up.

I was afraid this one was now going to settle down for the night, but it wandered off after that.  I waited until I couldn't hear the crackling anymore, then dropped to the ground and ran like a son of a bitch.  No more sitting in trees all night for me.

The little dogs we're calling saber-tooth shibas, while Vandebeek named the big one.  He said a spotted lion (leon in Greek) is a leopard, so obviously a spotted wolf (lykos) is a Lykopard.  Nobody can argue with that.  Wang stepped up to give the big beast the name Swinoceros, which we have all agreed is one of his finest.  We expect nothing less from a man whose seminal paper on the physics of SagA*'s Innermost Stable Circular Orbit was called Panic! At The ISCO.

[logarithmicpanda]

I’m curious which books in the tournament you’d most recommend

A lot of them tbh! (Side note but I make actual reviews for my favorite books/books I feel are underrated under the tag #quick and dirty reviews, if you want more details)

Bolded are the ones I really hope will win

For the YA section:

Little Thieves

The Bone Witch

The Lumatere Chronicles

Seven Realms

The Mirror Visitor

Queen's Thief

Legendborn

For the adult section:

Piranesi

The Goblin Emperor

The Green Bone Saga

The Broken Earth trilogy

The Gentleman Bastard

Realm of the Elderlings

The Witcher

The Raven Tower

The Poppy War

The Bear and The Nightingale

Witchmark

The Kingkiller Chronicle

[swordofsun]

Wanted to do something for the new year, so I guess I'll do a 2023 book wrap up. In chronological order from the beginning of 2023 to the end.

Putting in a read more because this is 90 books and that's too much to not hide it.

Rereads marked with a *

The Iron Dirge by Sam Sykes - Grave of Empires #2.5

Three Axes to Fall by Sam Sykes - Grave of Empries #3

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty

The World We Make by N.K. Jemisin - Great Cities #2

Unbreakable by Mira Grant

Apocalypse Scenario #683: The Box by Mira Grant

Juice Like Wounds by Seanan McGuire - Wayward Children #4.5

Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire - Wayward Children #8

The Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron - The Legend of Eli Monpress #1*

The Spirit Rebellion by Rachel Aaron - The Legend of Eli Monpress #2*

The Spirit Eater by Rachel Aaron - The Legend of Eli Monpress #3*

The Spirit War by Rachel Aaron - The Legend of Eli Monpress #4*

Spirit's End by Rachel Aaron - The Legend of Eli Monpress #5*

Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold - Vorkosigan Saga #1 (Publication Order)

The Coup of Tea by Casey Blair - The Tea Princess Chronicles #1

The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown

Lyconthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O'Neal

The Jewel and Her Lapidary by Fran Wilde - Gemworld #1

Sandry's Book by Tamara Pierce - Circle of Magic #1*

Comeuppance Served Cold by Marion Deeds

By A Silver Thread by Rachel Aaron - DFZ Changeling #1

The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Ann Older - Mossa and Pleiti #1

The Twice-Drowned Saint by C.S.E. Cooney

Tris's Book by Tamara Pierce - Circle of Magic #2*

The Bones Swans of Amandale by C.S.E. Cooney (Novella)

Even Though I Knew The End by C.L. Polk

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M Danforth

An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard - Unseen World #1

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales

The Ghost Network by Catie Disabato

The Keeper's Six by Kate Elliot

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

Servant Mage by Kate Elliot

The Warden by Daniel M Ford - The Warden #1

Daja's Book by Tamara Pierce - Circle of Magic #3*

Jackdraw by K.J. Charles - A Charm of Magpies World #1

The Thief Who Pulled On Trouble's Braids by Michael McClung - Amra Thetys #1

Bluebird by Ciel Pierlot

Lexicon by Max Barry

The Splinter in the Sky by Kemi Ashing-Giwa

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

The Thief Who Spat in Luck's Good Eye by Michael McClung - Amara Thetys #2

Briar's Book by Tamara Pierce - Circle of Magic #4*

The Thief Who Knocked on Sorrow's Gate by Michael McClung - Amara Thetys #3

Murder at Spindle Manor by Morgan Stang - The Lamplight Murder Mysteries #1

Ebony Gate - by Julie Vee and Ken Bebelle - The Phoenix Hoard #1

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells - The Murderbot Diaries #2*

Rogue Protocols by Martha Wells - The Murderbot Diaries #3*

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells - The Murderbot Diaries #4*

Zen Bow, Zen Arrow: The Life and Teachings of Awa Kenzo, the Archery Master from "Zen in the Art of Archery" by John Stevens

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells - The Murderbot Diareis #6*

Apparently I've hit the character limit without a paragraph break. So, we'll be starting over from 1, but it will really be #54.

Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells - The Murderbot Diaries #4.5

Compulsory: A Murderbot Story by Martha Wells - The Murderbot Diaries #0.5*

Magic Steps by Tamara Pierce - The Circle Opens #1*

Murder on the Lamplight Express by Morgan Stang - The Lamplight Murder Mysteries #2

Bone Swans by C.S.E. Cooney (short story collection)

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel - Themis Files #1

Mammoth at the Gates by Nghi Vo - The Singing Hills Cycle #4

The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M Valente

Triggernometry by Stark Holborn - Triggernometry #1

Street Magic by Tamara Pierce - The Circle Opens #2*

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett - The Foundryside Trilogy #1

Advanced Triggernometry by Stark Holborn - Triggernometry #2

Inda by Sherwood Smith - Inda #1

Thief Liar Lady by D.L. Soria

A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand

Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian

Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne - Tomes and Tea #1

Red River Seven by A.J. Ryan

Dracula by Bram Stoker - via Re: Dracula

Beholder by Ryan La Sala

A Season of Monstrous Conceptions by Lina Rather

System Collapse by Martha Wells - The Murderbot Diaries #7

Cold Fire by Tamara Piece - The Circle Opens #3*

Dream of the Falling Axe by Sam Sykes - Grave of Empires #3.5

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

The Salvation Gambit by Emily Skrutskie

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

Hikaru No Go Vol 1 Decent of the Go Master by Yumi Hotta - Hikaru No Go #1

These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs - The Kingdom Trilogy #1

Shatterglass by Tamara Pierce - The Circle Opens #4*

Paladin's Faith by T Kingfisher - The Saint of Steel #4

The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill

Forest of Memory by Mary Robinette Kowal

The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon - The Downworld Sequence #1

On The Fox Roads by Nghi Vo

Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrom by John Scalzi - Lock In #0.5

Paris: The Memoir by Paris Hilton

Okay, and according to Storygraph:

My longest book was Three Axes to Fall at 806 pages

My most read authors were: Tamara Pierce, Martha Wells, and Rachel Aaron. Which is due to re-reads. I re-read 16 books this year.

My average rating was 4.14 out of 5.

I read the most in June.

I read 41 new-to-me authors.

52 of the books I read were part of series.

So, I guess, feel free to ask me any questions.

Happy New Year!

[kentuckyanarchist]

Songs of 2022

Year-end lists always seem doomed to become outdated. Am I really expected to have heard all the best songs of 2022 in 2022? It’s never going to work, they’ll seep through over the course of the following year or years. But giving it six weeks is better than nothing, so here we are in mid-late February.

1. Tomberlin, “Stoned”.

Stoned indeed: woozy, baffled, bodily undone.

2. Camp Cope, “Running with the Hurricane”.

Camp Cope perfected a bassy, blunt melancholy with How to Socialise & Make Friends; here they don’t so much break from that template as turn it to other—affirmative? aggressive?—purposes.

3. Caroline, “Good Morning (Red)”.

The year’s most something-new-on-every-listen song, its most capacious.

4. Christian Lee Hutson, “Age Difference”.

Lyric of the year: “Do my impression of John Malkovich critiquing food in prison / At first it isn’t funny, then it is, and then it isn’t.”

5. Big Thief, “Change”.

A panoply of possibilities on such a sprawling, immersive album by the absolute best in the game, but this most plaintive and stubborn lament just edges the rest.

6. Rachika Nayar ft. Maria BC, “Heaven Come Crashing”.

Sounds for the silentest disco.

7. The A’s, “Why I’m Grieving”.

A path not taken from an archive not delved-into; a peppy sad spurt of jolly heartbreak.

8. Black Country, New Road, “Snow Globes”.

I’m still not sure if this song’s about going mad, getting old, living through winter, all three, or none.

9. Arctic Monkeys, “Body Paint”.

Searching, insistent: like Alex Turner’s got you caught in a lie.

10. Stella Donnelly, “Cold”.

This could’ve been any of Stella Donnelly’s songs where the lilt of her voice is always dropping into conversationality, but this one, where she ends the conversation, full-stop, shuts me up the most.

11. Martha, “Irreversible Motion”.

So many of these songs are about little things, like the bones of the inner ear; this one maybe more than all the others.

12. Florist, “Red Bird Pt. 2 (Morning)”.

A delicate retrospective collage, a slow bashful loving appreciation, a puzzled amazed asking-why, a cautious comfort.

13. Aldous Harding, “Fever”.

Aldous Harding’s songs have this wonderful, dignified refusal to cohere; this one just lopes, or loafs, in and out of view.

14. Meg Baird, “Will You Follow Me Home?”.

The way Meg Baird’s vocals stay half-submerged here is what gets me: “Will You Follow Me Home?” goes from lazy river to maelstrom without you quite noticing.

15. Brian Eno, “Making Gardens Out of Silence”.

If you ask me, “Making Gardens Out of Silence” is a panorama from the time after humans, built from salvage by whatever-comes-next.

16. Hurray for the Riff Raff, “SAGA”.

A lot of these songs express a specifically 2022 kind of bafflement. “SAGA” doesn’t know how to get past this condition either, but it’s pushing against the boundaries.

17. Lana Del Rey, “Watercolor Eyes”.

You think you know someone’s schtick, but they surprise you.

18. Black Belt Eagle Scout, “My Blood Runs Through This Land".

Alternating between wordlessness and breathlessness, either way keeping on building to something.

19. Jake Xerxes Fussell, “Love Farewell”.

Stoic and stolid, Jake Xerxes Fussell bets on metaphor but could’ve made do with just rumble, growl and twinkle.

20. Ezra Furman, “Ally Sheedy in The Breakfast Club”.

Secret-telling in movie-theatre darkness.

21. Let’s Eat Grandma, “Happy New Year”.

Let’s Eat Grandma have the saddest synths but this one’s rose-coloured.

22. Joshua Burnside, “Louis Mercier”.

Time-travel klezmer-pop that jostles you like a cobbled towpath.

23. Beth Orton, “Weather Alive”.

When talking songs become singing songs so sylphlike and effortless.

24. Sault, “Life We Rent but Love Is Free”.

Sounds like certain small parts of London, for certain small moments, on busy summer days in the past.

25. Bill Callahan, “Coyotes”.

One for slickrock and sagebrush, which are not without their romance.

26. Yard Act, “Tall Poppies”.

A self-consciously small story, a kitchen-sink drama, a talking head, no denouément.

27. Angel Olsen, “All the Good Times”.

A rhinestone widescreen production, a road movie on a soundstage.

28. Beach House, “Hurts to Love”.

Generationally speaking, the ending of Skins series 1 still packs a fair bit of a punch, so rewriting “Wild World” by Cat Stevens makes more sense than you’d think.

29. The 1975, “The 1975”.

Imagine taking “All My Friends” and making it about your cock and it’s still good; that takes rare talent.

30. Craig Finn, “Birthdays”.

Comforting because it really is nice to know there’s someone in this world who’s always known you, and comforting because it’s Craig Finn doing Craig Finn stuff with his big dumb Craig Finn voice.

31. Julia Jacklin, “Lydia Wears a Cross”.

A bodily song: knees, eyes, clothes, adornments.

32. Anaïs Mitchell, “On Your Way (Felix Song)”.

You get the sense Anaïs Mitchell finds nothing all that difficult—eulogising, philosophising, doing justice to a life, picking out the pithiest reminiscences, in just under three minutes she bowls it all over.

33. Billy Woods, “Pollo Rico”.

Intrusive thoughts, compulsion to repeat. A personal history of madness.

34. Bright Eyes, “Arc of Time (Time Code) (Companion Version)”.

This year Bright Eyes re-recorded some of the songs from the 2000s I love/hate the most. “Arc of Time” gets remade without the beats or the keys, but stays smart and wry and death stays on its mind. 

35. Fred again.., “Berwyn (all that i got is you)”.

Fred again..’s songs are urban explorations, entries to London’s subterrene.

36. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Spitting Off the Edge of the World”.

Cosmic.

37. The Big Moon, “Ladye Bay”.

Supersized, tectonic.

38. Drive-By Truckers, “The Driver”.

Grimy, grunting noir.

39. Ethel Cain, “American Teenager”.

D. H. Lawrence would’ve liked Ethel Cain and her Great American Hauntedness.

40. Girlpool, “Butterfly Bulletholes”.

Such a shame to lose Girlpool in 2022 but they were four or five bands in just two people, they gave us a lot.

41. The Beths, “Expert in a Dying Field”.

This one speaks for itself.

42. Nilüfer Yanya, “Shameless”.

Breathless, almost somehow fleshless, rattling ribcage xylophone.

43. Mesadorm, “Soap Opera”.

Skew-whiff boiler-hiss robot pop.

44. Porridge Radio, “Back to the Radio”.

Porridge Radio’s skills are in cacophony, cataclysm, crisis, ruination, disaster mismanagement.

45. Wet Leg, “Too Late Now”.

Every introspection needs a wise-crack or two.

46. Wilco, “Tired of Taking It Out on You”.

Aged 29, I had chickenpox recently; I recovered but it’s made looking in the mirror interesting, all these new small markings on the same face.

47. Plains, “Hurricane”.

The lyrics to “Hurricane” read like an apology, but Katie Crutchfield’s voice always sounds a little barbed to me; that’s what makes this work, I think.

48. Daniel Avery, “Higher”.

Frenetic travel in place.

49. Kevin Morby, “Bittersweet, TN”.

Kevin Morby hits all the requirements, he straight-A’s being a country singer.

50. Beabadoobee, “You’re Here That’s the Thing”.

In 2023 I resolve to continue to love silly rhymes, campfire rhythms, dewdrops and holding hands.

[jeanmoreaux]

the queen's thief series by Megan Whalen-Turner is such a great read if you enjoy clever political intrigue that takes time to unspool, phenomenally and cunningly unreliable narrators, and soft yet inextricable mythology that is as much the story as the narrative itself!! also the writer took about twenty years to write the series and it really, really shows in the best way!

uhhh i am intrigued 👀 that sounds exactly like something i'd enjoy (the vibes i am getting from this reminds me a little of the green bone saga by fonda lee). i'll definitely bump it up my tbr then!