#i read the first two books of dragonwatch

[candlemouse]

I must confess I never cared for warrenessa growing up + reading the books for the first few hundred times...sure...it was cool or whatever but not something i focused on

slowly, and then all at once, while writing Vanessa's character study, i became obsessed with warren and vanessa

the mission partners thing, the whole betrayal, the coming back to someone who betrayed you and deciding to love them again — the mission partners to lovers to enemies to friends to mission partners to lovers of it all

now it's all i think about. reading Fablehaven right now, everything i see points to warrenessa. i have warrenessa glasses on and it's GREAT! Warren says quite literally anything? i see the hidden meaning he's trying to say — that he loves vanessa deeply and for that her betrayal hurts more than anything

warren and vanessa were always my two favorite characters. but now? combined? they have expanded to take up all my brain space and it is glorious

(no — i do not remember dragonwatch and only vaguely remember being completely turned off by how their relationship was portrayed in those books. bc of that i am not trying to remember it either)

[rewrittenwrongs]

Am very interested to hear more abt your WIPs

Akxjsonssnsjs okay okay! So.

The first WIP called Black bird fly! It’s a Tim-centric time travel fix it where Mr Mxyzptlk sends Tim back in time, saving his life as thanks for when he, Kon and Bart helped him. Most of the chapters are gonna be in Tim’s POV, the time he lands in is gonna be about a day before Jason’s death, so Tim in all his feral ‘I’m probably dead so there won’t be any consequences’ flies to Ethiopia and saves Jason himself. There’s a lot of found family, a lot of grief/mourning surrounding the old timeline, and everyone in the new timeline being concerned by all the trauma symptoms he displays. I’ve finished the first two chapters and most of the third, but I haven’t begun posting yet because I want to finish more chapters so I can post once a week, because I don’t trust myself to not touch it for three months as soon as I start posting. The paragraph I shared was from the third chapter, where Bruce is flying Tim (asleep) back to Gotham on the batplane (he called Wally to get Jason to Leslie quick as possible). It’s my main WIP and the fic I spend most my writing time on, and I’ve daydreamed enough ‘backstory’ for Tim to write like seven multi-chapters set in the old timeline…

The second WIP doesn’t have an offical name, and the only one I’ve come up for it so far is Future days of death, not because it makes much sense regarding plot but because it sounds cool. It’s a crossover between DC and Fablehaven, because I recently finished reading Dragonwatch and the world building is giving me IDEAS. I have a LOT of different ideas as to where the plot goes, and I haven’t written a lot of it, but it’s largely Constantine and Captain Marvel (/Shazam) centric, with a good focus on batfam and the Fablehaven characters. The idea that sparked this WIP was Constantine being captured by the Sphinx and kept in his dungeon where he meets Bracken. I also have a vague idea where he convinces Seth not to heal the demon whose name I don’t know how to spell and the three of them escape the dungeon with all of the artefacts, but that doesn’t fit with my other ideas, which is mostly the JL thinking Constantine is dead and freaking out and Captain Marvel knowing Something Is Up. I also like to think Coulter and Alfred were old tea buddies, and I have ideas abt Constantine being magically put to sleep and Vanessa taking control and saving his life. I’m also tempted to make Seth and Kendra school friends with Kon so he has Tim investigate Kendra’s disappearance/death, which would be an interesting can of worms.

The third WIP is one I’m writing for the @/wipbigbang, a Tim-centric Coraline AU. It takes place right after Red Robin, and he finds the door to the other mother (other father in this case, the bedlam takes the form of Bruce) like his second day back in the manor. It’ll follow the plot of the book pretty closely. Lot of family angst and trust issues and stuff, and I will address Tim’s interaction with Nyssa al Ghul because if no one else does then I’ll do it myself. It’ll have more interactions with the family post-defeating the bedlam and will definitely have a happy ending. I haven’t written a whole lot of it and right now the paragraph I shared is probably my fave ‘cause of how funny I find it.

[practically-an-x-man]

ooh I've never actually heard of Fablehaven before what's it about?

so it's this teen/young adult fantasy series that I used to LOVE when I was younger, and rereading it now it actually really holds up! like, it's clear from some of the writing style that it's written for a younger audience, but it actually explores some really mature topics and the characters are all very well-developed. Definitely worth the read, and given the reading level is preadult the books go by quickly

Basically, "Fablehaven" refers to a wildlife preserve in Connecticut, where the wildlife conservation is all for magical or mystical creatures. We're talking everything from fairies to demons to trolls and everything in between. There are other preserves spread out across the world, and some of them contain vaults that house powerful magical artifacts. There are five of these vaults, all at hidden preserves and all guarded by a gauntlet of challenges.

The series follows 13-year-old Kendra and her 11-year-old brother Seth, with the first book showing their first introduction to the preserve. Subsequent books take place during the following summers as they get involved with higher-stakes adventures and become more woven into the magical world. There are two rival groups as well: the Society of the Evening Star, who are the primary protagonists and want to set powerful demons loose on the world; and the Knights of the Dawn, who intend to stop this and protect the world

Now, my personal favorite character is named Warren Burgess. He's a Knight of the Dawn and basically serves as the default trauma sponge (since the author needs to raise the stakes without putting the literal kid main characters through too much trauma). But he's funny, he's resourceful, he's resilient, and just a really awesome character.

There's a sequel series called Dragonwatch as well, but I haven't read that one yet. I've heard the last few books kinda undermine some of the characters' character arcs though bc the author hit some sort of religious kick, so idk what to think

TL;DR: teen book series about magical wildlife preserves, lots of mythology. lower reading level but worth it for the great plot and characterization. highly recommend

[aerinsfables]

Hiya! I haven’t been able to bring myself to read the last book of Dragonwatch, and at this rate I don’t know if/when I’ll do it, but I’m curious about what explanation they gave for Kendra and Seth’s parents being absent this whole time. I feel like in Fablehaven them being away each book was given reasonable enough explanation and at least addressed, but in Dragonwatch the last thing I can remember is that they had gone on vacation in the first book? I can’t remember if they’ve been brought up again. And like, dang, by this point they know their kids are involved in a dangerous magical world. You’d think they’d at least check up and make sure they’re okay given past events. Surely they’re not still “blissfully ignorant on vacation”?

*grins hugely*

They’re still on vacation! And apparently Scott and Marla are never concerned about their kids, because to our knowledge, they never call to ask how things are going. 😊

An important thing about Dragonwatch is that it all takes place in like. A week and a half. I mean, it’s ridiculous how fast-paced the series is. I had thought about building a timeline of events for the series and literally being like “Day 1” and bullet-pointing all of the events of that day (one day at a time), but 🤷‍♀️ Not sure if I’ll be doing that anymore. Also not sure if someone else in the fandom might have already done so.

I have a lot of qualms about this series, Marla & Scott’s absence + the suuuuuper scrunched timeframe being two of them. I’m still torn on whether or not to recommend the series to others to read. I’m the person who used to pick up the first Fablehaven book at a book store, hand it to a random passerby in the YA section, and say, “This book is awesome - you should read it!” …I cannot in good conscience do that with Dragonwatch, though.

There were things I really, really liked about the series - themes which were brought up, particular plot points, some of the new characters. There was a whole lot that I did not like as well. (The series gets pretty preachy at the end there, too, which particularly grated on my nerves, even with my uber-Mormon upbringing and history.)

Honestly, you do you. Overall I was very disappointed in the series. Maybe one day I’ll get around to writing metas about what specifically I disliked and why, but that takes a lot of energy and I don’t really want to put my head in that space at the moment.

[rickmoya]

the books I read in 2023

Welp, time to finally face this post and submit it. I'm kind of embarrassed because I am so bad at reading anymore. No explanation, no excuses. I used to read twice this many books as a matter of course, and now I ... like, don't. My TBR barely budged ... I cleared some stuff out thanks to summer camp, but then I got new stuff to fill it back up.

I don't know. Maybe one day I'll start reading again. Not today, though, probably. This year's list has two books on it so far, both of which I'm maybe a quarter into. Ugh.

Wired Style, Constance Hale & Jessie Scanlon

Once Upon Atari, Howard Scott Warshaw

Dragonwatch: Master of the Phantom Isle, Brandon Mull

The Illustrated Al, ed. Josh Bernstein

Fucking Apostrophes, Simon Griffin

Jazz in the Bittersweet Blues of Life, Wynton Marsalis and Carl Vigeland

The Kitchen Detective, Christopher Kimball

Decoding Boys, Cara Natterson

The Maxx (1-35, complete), Sam Kieth (1)

Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s, Tiffany Midge

Barely Functional Adult, Meichi Ng

What If? 2, Randall Munroe

8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, W. Bruce Cameron (2)

Over Sea, Under Stone, Susan Cooper

This Mournable Body, Tsitsi Dangarembga

The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt

The Rapture of the Nerds, Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross

The New Hacker’s Dictionary, ed. Eric S. Raymond (3)

All You Need is Kill, Hiroshi Sakurazaka

Wind/Pinball, Haruki Murakami

Disappearing Earth, Julia Phillips

Where Nobody Knows Your Name, John Feinstein

We Should Hang Out Sometime, Josh Sundquist

Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

The Philosophy of Modern Song, Bob Dylan

Guardians of the Galaxy: The Complete Collection, Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, et al.

The Dark is Rising, Susan Cooper (4)

Banana Ball, Jesse Cole

A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane’s Signature Album, Ashley Kahn

Free Lunch, Rex Ogle (5)

Greenwitch, Susan Cooper (6)

The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog, Dave Barry

italics: read it before bold: read it to my kid in bed struck: unfinished

I’d read the first ten or so issues of this before, out of interest because I watched the animated series on MTV. This is the first time all the way through and I didn’t realize it was so dark and triggering.

I read this one when mine was a toddler, and remembered it being pretty patriarchal and victorian. Thought maybe it would hit different now that she’s actually teenaged, and ... like, it did! it’s even worse! Absolutely zero of this shit fits a kid who is not 100% straight and searching. I got through four essays and took it back to the library.

I got up through the Bs and then I LOST MY COPY.

The more I read of this, the more I realized I maybe only read the first couple chapters. Still keeping the italics (making up for claiming I never previously read The Maxx).

I subbed a middle school reading class where this was the text. Ended up reading the whole thing across the day.

This could be the last new book I ever read to my own children. We generally don't read to sleep during holiday breaks, instead allowing them to fall asleep in front of a TV. But when school restarted, my youngest (officially a teenager) didn't want me to read to him at bedtime anymore. The end of an era. I may have cried a little bit. I expect the Dave Barry on Christmas Eve tradition to continue at least another year (my oldest likes it and specifically requested it again), but maybe no more new ones.

[danzinora-switch]

So in the span of just under two weeks I reread the entire Fablehaven series.

This was my all-time favorite series growing up, and I reread it multiple times. But, this was my first time as an adult reading it through, so here are my fresh takes. Hidden below for spoilers and length of post.

- Grandpa Sorenson is so stressed. Especially in the first book. His wife is a chicken, he’s got a preserve to run, and he’s just had two naive kids dumped on him during one of the most dangerous nights of the year. He’s struggling just to keep them ALIVE but one especially just keeps poking the hornet’s nest and gets himself transformed into a walrus. And then opens a window. And keeps sneaking into the woods. Honestly, I don’t blame him for having a small breakdown in book 3. He’s been under tremendous pressure and responsibility.

- Grandma Sorenson is a BADASS. Right out the gate when we meet her, fresh out of chicken form, she is immediately telling Muriel to gtfo her property and sets about planning a rescue for the others. She goes into the Forbidden Chapel with the crossbow because she intends to KILL if it comes down to using it. She’s decisive, one heck of a negotiator, and firm. Legend.

- Seth really matures over the series. Like, book 1 he’s a kid getting into trouble (painful, terrible, trouble). He’s young, reckless and stupid. But the seeds are planted. He opens the window because he thinks he’s saving a baby. In book 2, he’s tricked by several adults multiple times, but we really get to see him be truly courageous. Book 3 he’s starting to learn from his mistakes, and consider the future consequences of his actions (though not entirely in full, he insults centaurs into helping them but basically goes “yeah, we’ll cross that whole duel-to-the-death bridge when we get there”). Book 4 he’s ready for action, he’s ready to go on the offensive, and he takes /calculated/ risks that pay off. Book 5, yes. He was tricked into healing Graulus. But he takes responsibility and fixes his mess. He’s far more seasoned, and grown.

- Kendra grows in her own way. If Seth is the definition of “learning things the hard way” Kendra is bound by “doing the right thing, even if she hates hit.” Multiple times throughout the series she steps up for dangerous, deadly tasks, not because she wants to, but because there’s no other choice and she knows it. She also doesn’t take an easy out when presented. She fights to stay. Petitioning the Fairy Queen is dangerous, but it’s the only way she can save her family. Leading the climb up Lost Mesa is deadly, but she’s the only one who can see the trail. And so she insists they include her, even though she’s scared and would prefer to stay home. As the tasks get deadlier and deadlier, she’s still right there in thick of it, doing what she can. 

- Also on Kendra, one thing I really appreciated was that she really demonstrates that kind =/= nice. She can give as good as she gets. She and Seth banter and tease each other constantly, and she has some real sarcastic sass saved for members of the Society. But she remains so kind that the Fairy Queen picked her as her handmaiden. It’s brilliantly portrayed.

- Hugo.

- “Smart people learn from their mistakes. But the real sharp ones learn from the mistakes of others.” - Dale. This quote stuck with me the moment 11-year-old me first read it, and has had quite the influence on my life.

- Vanessa deserves more credit, even though she is the main driver behind the entire theme of trust issues the books explore.

- Tanu is the best. They would all be so dead many times over without him.

- Dale takes a look at people getting transformed into other beings or substances, magically imprisoned, or outright killed and goes ‘nope, not messing with any of that. I’m just gonna do my job and play it safe’. Warren looks at all those things and goes ‘let me fill my bingo card.’

- Most of my favorite guy names come from this series. Warren. Seth. Patton. Gavin. The exception is Tobias, which comes from the Animorphs. No offense to Bracken for not being included on the list, I just always think of the Warrior Cats, sorry.

- I didn’t like Coulter as a kid, but his rough edges make him feel more real. Vanessa is cool. Warren is awesome. Tanu is friendly. Coulter is like a cactus. But damn if I wasn’t tearing up at his death at the end. Sexism and caustic personality aside, he knew his trade and did his best to help. And, I’m not sure how much of it was just talk. In book 2 he straight up told Seth and Kendra that if it came down to it, he would save himself. But it did come down to it in the grove, and he saved Seth with the pod. He knew what to do whenever the chips were down.

- The staaaaakes. They just get realer and realer with each book.

- I wish we could have seen more of Laura, the caretaker of Obsidian Waste. This woman’s entire family is captured, held hostage by zombies, and she’s supposed to lead this team of Knights, none of whom she knows, to their doom. Instead, she stabs her protege and warns them of the trap, signing her family’s death warrants in the process. She commits sabotage all the way up until the final moment. RESPECT.

- I constantly wish I could eat the food in Fablehaven. Whether made by Lena, or the brownies, or magic, it just sounds sooo tasty.

- Death gets more real with each book. I mean, it practically opens recounting the death of Grandma and Grandpa Larsen on page 2. Errol Fisk is the first to truly die, and yeah he was a bad guy but it was surprisingly brutal. Then we start losing some ‘redshirts’ - Tammy, Neil, Javier, at Lost Mesa. But again, the method is still shocking. Tammy is straight up flung off a cliff. You don’t see it coming. Then Rosa off-screen. And then in book 4 we have to go through “Kendra’s” death, which feels real to Seth and the others. And Dougan, who is no longer a redshirt, we know him. And Gavin/Navarog. And then book 5. 

- As a kid I pretend to be a voice actor for a character from each book if they ever became movies. Book 1: Muriel, Book 2: The fairy guarding the Forgotten Chapel, Book 3: Chalize, Book 4: Nafia/Nyssa, Book 5: Civia. Plus the naiads in general.

- The Totem Wall is still so freaking cool. So are astrids.

- Raxtus being the best friend ever.

- “Some imagine the difference between heaven and hell to be a matter of geography. Not so. The difference is much more evident in the individuals who dwell there.” - Agad. MAN.

- I think, with more time and opportunity, Warren could be the next Patton. And I think Seth is in a league all on his own.

- The brownies booby-trapping the house forcing them all to flee is still one of my favorites sequences.

- Mull’s Eternals were eternalling before Marvel’s Eternals eternalled. I accept no criticism. 

- I still love this series so much. 10/10 will read again.

[theriu]

An Average Shrub in a Video Game World

This is the story of an average shrub stuck in a video game.

I mean that more literally than you might think, but let’s back up and explain a bit first.

No one actually knows what happened to trap all of the active players inside the world of DragonWatch MMOVRRPG (massive multiplayer online virtual reality role-playing game, for those of you who aren’t massive nerds with a love of acronyms). Heck, I’ve read all the same books you have, I know the cliches: Terrorists holding the playerbase hostage, sentient or glitchy AI manipulating the network, magical overlords sucking peoples’ souls into the real alternate reality the game was unknowingly based on, etc. Could be any of those or something else entirely, but nobody in here has a clue. We were all just playing one day and then MASSIVE PSYCHADELIC TRIP and boom, no one can log off and physical sensitivity is way too realistic. It’s been about three weeks in-game, and no word from the outside. At least the panicking has died down a bit.

Oh, people are trying to find ways out of here. The first popular argument was that if you die in the game, you either A) wake back up outside, or B) die for real. Big hoopla about it at first, but then a few people tried it, and… yeah, turns out the respawn mechanic is working fine. It’s very weird seeing somebody’s digital ghost walking by begrudgingly as they try to track down their body and all the stuff they dropped.

The current trend is trying to beat the game’s main storyline, hoping that will reset it or send the winners back out as a reward, or something along those lines. It’s a high bar, seeing as only a few people had ever beaten it BEFORE the Event. It’s even harder now that dying—while not actually killing you for real—actually FEELS like dying. I’ve managed to avoid that so far, but I’ve been informed by a few people that it gets more tolerable after you’ve died a few times. I will take their word for it.

Anyway, a bunch of the guilds have been working on it, but they’re still getting wiped by the third level of the final quest. There’s, like, ten levels, so it could be a while.

I haven’t, uh, gotten the chance to try that yet. And not because I’m scared! I mean yes, what sane person wouldn’t be, but I’d totally try it if I could. Just, no teams will have me.

It’s not that I’m a bad player, either. I’m not a GREAT player, this is just a hobby for me, but I got my one and only character up to level 80 and I can survive a raid with a decent party. I’m not great or useless, I’m just average. If players could die in this game, I would have lasted at LEAST two days in my normal form! But I’d still be able to help out with smaller enemies and debuffing and healing. I’d be willing and useful. That’s not the issue.

The issue is that… look, I said I was being literal from the start, right? An ordinary. Shrub.

Like a bush.

I’m a bush.

I have been stuck in the shape of a mobile bush for three weeks, and the novelty of it wore off about three weeks ago.

So yeah. This is the story of an average gamer stuck in the most interesting possible gamer adventure scenario. As a shrubbery. If I’m going to have the dumbest fate ever, it might as well give somebody a bit of amusement, so here we go.

———

A/N: Randomly wrote this up after I wondered what a trapped-in-a-video-game story would be like from the perspective of one of the truly average players, not the main hero who saves the day but just one of the other poor shmucks stumbling through the experience. Then I wrote that first line, and…

I have a weakness for puns and situational comedy okay XD;

(To be continued? Maybe?)

[tornadodyke]

okay knox and tess were really only introduced in dragonwatch to be ripoffs of seth and kendra and i usually skip their chapters entirely because they add nothing of value and i see no reason to read them but when i DO read them it’s so funny to me how they get parented by. literally everyone. like in fablehaven people were protective of seth and kendra sure but no one ever tried to like. PARENT them parent them. yknow. but with knox and tess.......people are just looking at them and thinking “well SOMEONE’S gotta play parent to these two” and then not waiting for an answer. case in point

“Are you all right?” Warren asked, taking hold of Knox by the shoulders and looking him up and down.

“I’m fine,” Knox said. “I didn’t get punched in the face.”

“What about you?” Vanessa asked Tess, gripping her hands.

“I’m a little scared,” Tess said. “But we’re safe, right?”

like warren and vanessa NEVER did that with seth and kendra even though they’ve known them longer. and by “that” i mean warren taking hold of one by the shoulders or vanessa holding the other’s hands. and this isn’t even mentioning how newel and doren absolutely act more like babysitters with them than they do with seth and kendra, which is kind of funny considering seth and knox are the same age and seth is their best friend. i think part of it is definitely that knox and tess are still new to the magical world and also that they’re. younger? like tess is ten (by this book) which is the youngest of them all (kendra being fifteen, seth and knox being thirteen) but also they have a younger DEMEANOR because they haven’t gone through the amount of harrowing experiences that seth and kendra have. they still talk pretty childishly even because they ARE children and when you compare it to seth and kendra it’s REALLY obvious. for example even back in the final book of fablehaven you had seth’s threatening words to the entity on the lady luck—

“Enough nonsense," Seth commanded, resisting the eager pull of his sword. "I've been through too much to argue with a thousand-year-old child. My friends and I go to our deaths. You are merely the ride. I summoned you politely. You will provide us with safe passage, or your existence will end as I carve your ship into matchsticks and your crew into fish bait.”

—or kendra’s infamous “slink back to your hole, worm!” tirade from the first book of dragonwatch to the king of dragons himself (there are probably better instances of kendra speaking more formally, most notably in day-to-day speech instead of any sort of grand proclamation, but this was the first that came to mind)

“I feel the same way about you!” she shouted. “You tore down the Perch like a vandal! You keep attacking your fellow caretakers! I denounce you! You are a fake! You are a joke! You can’t even stop two children from taking what you want! I demand you return your scepter! If any of your subjects had the courage of a little girl, they would take your crown! Slink back to your hole, worm! We’re trying to relax!”

my POINT is that just from being around adults and ancient beings all the time and from so so so much trauma seth and kendra have kind of. integrated themselves into the Grown-Up Gang. despite the fact that they aren’t adults and despite the fact that so much of fablehaven revolved around trying to keep kendra and seth OUT of all the fighting. it didn’t work and obviously there were consequences to that. but knox and tess still very much act their age because they’ve been through less and they don’t have any sort of magical powers that would REQUIRE them to be dragged to the front lines (they just kind of insist on tagging along and then get dragged into. the whole mess). so really it kind of. makes sense? that people are treating them more like the kids they are. because at this point kendra and seth HAVE to do their own thing because they’re at war but knox and tess don’t have any of that responsibility placed on their shoulders. and it shows!

[aerinmelina]

Random Fablehaven Fic Ideas

Up for grabs. I’ve been hanging onto some of these for way too long. (Like... 5 years??? xD) If you can/would like to make something out of one or more of these, please feel free to do so! Believe it or not, I’m still keeping some prompts to myself... help.

To be clear, I might still write some of these, but I’d be very happy if someone took one or more of these prompts and wrote a story or two or fourteen!

Non-Dragonwatch ideas (aka the ones I’ve been holding onto forever):

Kendra runs into (or sees) Alyssa or one of her other friends in some public space. Post the events of book 4 when Kendra is supposed to be dead and buried.

Warren showing up at Kendra’s bridal shower as her “MOH” because Vanessa is very sick that day (maybe preggo sick? *shrug*)

Dale has a sick day

Vanessa’s custom car maker/mechanic. He’s concerned about her driving habits. She’s told him that she’s a stunt driver.

The Scott & Marla Saga (aka stories about when Kendra and Seth were little kids):

Kendra first meets Seth at the hospital

Kendra bringing Seth to the stairs to find mommy (Seth winds up face down in the carpet)

Kendra climbs into Seth’s crib to spend time with him

Kendra can make Seth giggle and laugh as a baby, but Scott & Marla aren’t as successful

Seth is the PERFECT BABY. Eats well, sleeps well, rarely cries, laughs a lot, etc.

The mischief began when he learned to crawl – getting into EVERYTHING.  Walking led to climbing & them finding Seth in random unexpected places (up high) – climbing walls maybe?

ER trips for both kids, more often Seth

Seth has no sense of “stranger danger”

Seth jumping off high dive at swimming pool

Seth teaching Kendra how to jump in the pool & be safe (help her w/her anxiety about the swimming pool)

Seth running away in public places constantly

Kendra reading to Seth

Kendra & Seth excited about Pokemon or something (obsession)

Seth finding loopholes constantly in EVERYTHING

Kids nagging about going to do things they want, Scott & Marla being too tired to take them

Crack fic multiverse ideas:

Evil Kendra

Evil Brackendra

Gender swap among random characters

Personality swap (Seth = responsible, Kendra = impulsive)

Mixed-up ages. Patton is young & alive, Warren and Dale are younger than Seth & Kendra?

Dragonwatch ideas (some of these were thought up pre-book 3 release):

Bracken’s reaction to Seth being compromised

Bracken talking to Kendra about the events of the past week or two in Dragonwatch – Bracken’s reaction

Warren wants to know what Kendra said to Celebrant & is all proud of her after the fact

Knox realizing how awesome Kendra is

Kendra builds a sandcastle on the island preserve w/adventure parents (aka Warren and Vanessa)

Keeper of magical items @ Blackwell Keep is mad at Kendra bc Seth is gone & the sword is with him

Warren helping Kendra cope with the loss of Seth

Seth taking Bracken’s horn from Kendra

Seth w/amnesia agrees to help Kendra & co.

Seth gets his memories back

[through-the-unknown]

Me: oh that blog description sounds really familiar Me, two seconds after scrolling past it: wait, FABLEHAVEN?? In my 2019???

Yup, that is right :) it’s 2019 and I’ve been a fan of Fablehaven since I read the books(for the first time, that is; I’ve read the whole series like 5 times now) in... 2012, I think? I’ve just never been particularly active in the Internet fandom.

And now I’m supper happy about the Dragonwatch and I can’t wait for the third book to come out!

Virtual hugs from a fellow fan(I presume that you are one) 🤗

[banana-fricker]

Top 10 Books of 2017

Okay, so I’ve seen a couple of these going around, and I love reading so so much so I thought I’d make one. All of these books are first-time reads, and all of them are extremely close to how much I liked them. Anyone of them I could go on for minutes about.  Heeere we go

10. Dragonwatch, Brandon Mull

This is a pretty good book. It’s not super well-written, but it’s an installment of a series before it, and very interesting to those who have read them. Read Fablehaven 1-5 before this; those are much better. They’re fantasy/adventure books (thiccc ones); my favorites are #2 and #4.

9. The Art of Being Normal, Lisa Williamson

This came up when I was on a quest for LGBT+ books, and it has a good representation of transgender people (I think, anyway, as I’m not trans). Personally, the writing style didn’t appeal to me so much, but the story was very sweet and so touching, with great characters and a good rhythm.

8. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Stephen King

It’s horror, yes, but more of a thriller story about survival in the woods. To top that, it’s incredibly well-written. It’s terrifying and wonderful and riveting; you will be staying up all night to finish it.

7. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Great book! So good! A story of young, meaningful love and friendship with great writing. Great feel, totally recommend reading at least once, to see what the hype is all about. Spoiler: it lives up to it. (LGBT+)

6. The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, Heidi W. Durrow

This was a book I was assigned to read for my English class, and I doubt I would have picked it up otherwise. But I’m glad I did because you do not want to miss out on this narrative about what it’s like to grow up a girl of mixed race in Portland, Oregon. It was really thought-provoking, heartfelt, and interesting, and I strongly recommend for everyone to read it.

5. I’ll Give You the Sun, Jandy Nelson

I loved the aesthetic of its book! Also, I immediately developed half crushes on all the characters haha, only half joking. There are some great quotes from this book. It’s about art, family, and has an LGBT+ main character and love interest in it. It’s sad, but it’s powerful. Love it!

4. Ramona Blue, Julie Murphy

This is one of the rare books I’ve come across with a sapphic main character & love interest. It’s set in Mississippi and though it’s said to be about the fluidity of love, I think of it more as a book about growing up and figuring yourself out. “Love” doesn’t need any labels, really. (Idk why I put love in quotes.) It’s quirky, funny, and realistic, and just a really enjoyable read.

3. Eleanor and Park, Rainbow Rowell

I read this book in the summer and for some reason, it really struck a chord with me. Actually made me cry, which rarely happens. The writing style is wonderful, and the love story is amazing. Also the aesthetic is fantastic, by the way. Two big thumbs up.

2. I Am the Messenger, Markus Zusak

I cannot express how much I like this book. Honestly, I can’t put my finger on the exact thing that makes me love it, just the sort of rough, mysterious but deep feel to it (the sketchiest aesthetic ever). It’s not really a mystery though, and it’s super funny and moving.

1. The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller

This is one of the most artfully written books I’ve encountered. The images it creates are beautiful, and the emotions it evokes are vivid and powerful. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who likes Greek mythology/history, and it has a great LGBT+ love story.

I’m tagging @the-electriclady​  and @wildwoodd​  and @okiragrace​ to do this as well (if not top 10 then top 5?) and anyone else who wants to!

[fairykam]

Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary. No better way to spend a long car trip than taking notes on a book you've already read more times than I'd care to say. 😊

When Kendra was reading the Journal of Secrets, her parents thought she'd joined a cult 😅 Only page 6 of book 4 and Kendra already has trust issues "I could always use some of the gold to hire some thugs to kidnap you and hold you hostage until after the holidays." -Seth pg 10 Seth could tell something was up with Kendra almost immediately KENDRA IS SAVAGE! "I think kidnapper probably nails it." To Torina Imagine. Kendra in a green and white checkered dress. While we're at it, Seth in a dark blue suit with his hair combed Ok so not actually in the book, but reading about Seth at Kendra's funeral seriously made me think about this fanfic one-shot I read about Seth going mute in grief and 😭😭😭 Seth has the Burgess selflessness, "wasn't your fault... you've had plenty of your own trouble" pg 72 Oh savage Kendra! She can get reckless! She stormed out to try to warn Torina's next victim Then the sass! "I'm so sorry," Kendra apologized. "That must be rough when sucking someone's life away isn't super fun." 83 The society knows Kendra as the one who took down Vanessa Santoro I wonder if there's a correlation between an artifact and it's location. Like Wirth the font of immortality. Was the origin of the myth from the Middle East? Just food for thought. Newel and Doren really do care about Seth. They put aside business right away after they found out about Kendra 106 Seth pieced together the stingbulb issue first The sorensons REALLY want to trust Vanessa. Kendra was shocked at Seth's reaction to seeing her alive Warren defended Vanessa Seth is terrified at hearing the shadowy voices Seth is afraid he can't trust himself "What's the password?" "Passwords are for sissies." Stingbulb Kendra was proud to tell her escape to seth, she likes being rebellious when the needs outweigh the risks. Hugo loves Seth!!! Awww! Graulas warned against fighting Navarog Friendly reminder that Seth told Udnar the troll that his name was Navarog Warren defended Seth the whole time Stan told the Centaurs to HOLD THEIR HORSES!!! 😂😂😂 Gavin has a naturally dark complexion Warren can spin a basketball on his finger. Seth is really nice to Bubda, even though he could easily get away with being mean. Wyrmroost folks are a redheaded Minotaur with an eyepatch, an alcetaur with a large scar, and a snake lady. We see all these guys in Dragonwatch Agad said that a dragon's avatar is a nearly perfect disguise Also Agad autocorrects to A dad. Haha Seth to Warren, "try not to leave me down here too long. You can only play a certain amount of Yahtzee games in a row before you become a lunatic" warren: "I'll keep that in mind" Both Kendra and Patton have fake graves Seth told a bunch of wraiths and shades in Blackwell to play the quiet game 😂 "Most shade walkers are evil to the core. You strike me as quite the opposite." -Agad to Seth Mendigo skips They brought s'mores to Wyrmroost Note the famous quote, "Seth is in charge of my gravestone" was said while Warren was loopy on pain potions and his words were all slurred like he was drunk 😂😂😂 Bubda admits to missing Seth Kendra remembers playing Yahtzee with Grandma and Grandpa Larsen (who were the ones who owned the knapsack before 😉) Raxtus loves drive in movies! Dragon insurance potion (flame-resistant, electric-resistant, and courage boosting) is partly described as spicy hot. The same description as the pure courage potion from book 2! Vanessa about Warren, "serves him right. Warren was always so cocky." Gavin 😡😭😱😵😡😭😭😵😭😡 Kendra and Raxtus cuddles "Kendra tried to forget what she had learned about Gavin, and tried to ignore that she had seen him eaten right in front of her." Pg 518. Poor Kendra. Even after being betrayed, she's still in shock of seeing him die in front of her. Kendra and Seth's prank with the unicorn horn is priceless!!! 😂 Aaaaaand cliffhanger. Good thing I've already read them all, or the last two hours of my drive would have been so suspenseful I would have embraced death right there.

[sinceyouaskedme]

Did you read dragonwatch 3? Thoughts on it?

uhh I read about half of it before I had to return it to the library. I felt pretty shrug emoji about it overall?

I was really excited to have Warren and Vanessa back! I think one of the things that Mull does really well that a lot of other MG/YA authors struggle with is writing adult characters that feel fleshed out and honest without flattening or dismissing the younger MCs. I think Warren and Vanessa (and Tanu! and Patton!) really strike that balance between trying to protect the tweens/kids in their care as much as they can, while still holding space for the kids’ agency to walk out of that protection and into dangerous situations if they choose to. That was something that I was really missing in most of the first two Dragonwatch books, and I was glad to see it come back.

I also really liked how at the beginning of the book there was a fair bit of Kendra and Knox privately being really down on themselves over what happened to Seth. I wanted more of that! I know Mull had a lot of plot to get through, but I think the book suffered from not having even just a couple of scenes with that kind of emotional exploration happening OUT LOUD BETWEEN CHARACTERS. Like, I don’t even have a sense of what Kendra and Knox’s relationship with each other is like (post Knox finding out about magic, obvs), which is super weird considering they’re two of the main characters.

I really struggled with the plot! An ongoing problem with Dragonwatch has been that the world is being built more quickly than Kendra et al can explore it, and it’s really eroding any sense that the characters have agency. It’s fallen into this formula of Character A tells them to go to Location B and do Action C, and then they meet Character X who tells them to go to Location Y and do Action Z, and on and on and on. The reader (and the MCs!) can’t ever get ahead of it because the next task is always something they haven’t been introduced to before, and so can’t predict. After a while it’s really...not fun to read.

[anonymousrobinhoodqueer]

I was just minding my own business scrolling thru tumblr and then I got hit with not one, not two, but THREE goddamn Fablehaven memes and I am shook. I didn’t even know Fablehaven had a fandom.

I was telling my little brother about it yesterday (he’s 9 and working on actually reading and got the second book in a series by Garth nix and somebody, have sword will travel) and I told him about fablehaven.

I read them while they were coming out when I was a bit older than him. I had to start with the second book b/c my mom loaned the first to my aunt and she never gave it back. When I did get the first one I later loaned it to a friend WHO NEVER GAVE IT BACK, after that my mom bought it on the Nook. I loved those books and the dragon who was raised by fairies was my favorite (memories #693 that should have told me I was queer).

I saw the artwork of Mabel and Dipper fishing with Grunkle Stan in Ghibli style and it struck me super hard as Kendra and Seth fishing. I don’t know what gave it that feeling but then I searched it up! And there is a fandom! And also apparently a sequel series called dragonwatch that I had never heard off!

[nikihawkes]

It’s once again time for my favorite feature: Tackling the TBR! There’s nothing I love more than picking out which books to read next, and this slightly organized method of reading has really amped my enjoyment to the next level. Bring on the mantras!

Read the best books first. & Life is too short to read books you’re not enjoying.

However you put together your TBR for the next month, the goal is to reduce the amount of obligation in reading and increase the fun.

Here’s a look at how the system works:

1. Identify the titles that take top priority in your TBR. 2. Combine them all in your own Tackling the TBR post. 3. Throughout the month pick from that pile as the mood strikes you.

Here’s what mine looks like:

October 2019 TBR Tackler Shelf:

Priority Titles!!!

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Dragonwatch: Master of Phantom Isle by Brandon Mull

Sins of Empire by Brian McClellan

Part-Time Gods by Rachel Aaron

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews

The Reserve…

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Bitter Blood by Rachel Caine

Soulbinder by Sebastien de Castell

Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson

Holy Sister by Mark Lawrence

Eye of the Labyrinth by Jennifer Fallon

Before They are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie

Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Guardian by A.J. Hartley

Frostbitten by Kelley Armstrong

Did I really only read two books from my list last month? ::checks reading history on Goodreads:: Huh. I would’ve sworn I had a really productive month because I enjoyed every single second of the books I read, which is not typical these days. And I felt myself drawn to them constantly. I guess it really is the quality over quantity that’s important, but I’m starting to feel like a reading fraud compared to how many books I used to read in a month (at least 10). But life is different for me now and my priorities are different. I’ve been out adventuring more in the last eight months than I had in my entire life combined. I’ve become a single parent, which comes with a significantly lot less free time than it used to (not that I’m complaining, but books got a little sidelined). I’ve taken on a paying gig reviewing audiobook productions, which if I’m not careful can dominate my entire month. And I’ve been focusing harder at work, so I don’t have as much downtime there as I used to. That’s all a bit personal, but I want my book blog to be more than just books. I want it to be the ultimate form of my personal expression through books. Literary snapshots of where I’m at in life. And sometimes it just is what it is.

So, this month’s lineup is practically identical to last months, and I’m okay with that. I’m finding myself being drawn to starting new series and less drawn to closing out all the reserve titles I’ve had going for ages. I might get rid of the reserve category altogether for November so that I can direct my focus completely on the books that delight me most in that moment. 

Have big life changes ever gotten in the way of your reading? Did it bother you? If so, how did you cope? 

Have a great month in reading!

by Niki Hawkes

Tackling the TBR [50]October 2019 It’s once again time for my favorite feature: Tackling the TBR! There’s nothing I love more than picking out which books to read next, and this slightly organized method of reading has really amped my enjoyment to the next level. 

[aerinmelina]

As you wiiiiish!!!! :) I hope you like this! @jesussavedevenme

I wrote (and am posting) this entire thing on my phone so please excuse any typos or grammatical errors. I’ll edit later.

Oh - the setting for this is Dragonwatch compliant, about 2 years after book 2. (Because I’m apparently desperate for these kids to age up a little bit.) I hope it makes sense.

Dragonwatch spoilers lie here.

—-

“What are you doing up?”

Kendra walked over to Bracken and sat down on the couch next to him, snuggling into his side. “Couldn’t sleep,” she answered.

Bracken sighed. “Nightmares again?”

She yawned and nodded, then laid her head on his shoulder.

“About Seth?”

Kendra shrugged in response.

Bracken closed his book, then put an arm around her and rested his head on top of hers. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” she answered, mindlessly picking at a button on her pajama shirt.

They sat in comfortable silence for a long while before Bracken reopened his book and picked up where he left off. Kendra squirmed closer and squinted at the words on the page, but her tired brain couldn’t make sense of the letters. “What are you reading?” she asked.

“Prince Caspian,” Bracken said. “It’s a novel by C.S. Lewis and I really like it.”

A lightbulb seemed to go off in Kendra’s mind as she interrupted him.

“Oh, with the Pevensie siblings. They help Caspian save Narnia.” She yawned again and stretched her arms before snuggling back into Bracken’s side.

“Yes,” he replied. “I thought I had read it before, but it’s not familiar to me after all.”

“My mom used to read those books to Seth and I when we were small. Seth always fell asleep. I liked to imagine the things that were going on in the stories.” A light smile crossed her face before it disappeared. She rubbed her hand over her eyes.

“You miss him,” Bracken stated. It definitely wasn’t a question.

“Yes,” Kendra answered. She rubbed at her eyes again.

Bracken bit his lip. He’d been back with her for a grand total of two days thus far, and she had yet to talk to him about the loss of her brother. She usually avoided the subject of Seth like the plague - whenever anybody brought him up, she tended to either retreat into her own inner monologue and disengage from discussion or otherwise leave the room. This was the first time she’d willingly mentioned her brother in Bracken’s presence.

He wanted to help her. He knew she had been having nightmares off and on since Zzyzx, and that the nightmares had only intensified and increased in number since Seth had been taken and brainwashed. She used to talk to him about her fears and worries. Now... now she seemed almost afraid to say anything.

“Kendra,” Bracken began, looking at her instead of the book in his hands. “I want to help you, but you have to talk to me.”

“I don’t want to talk,” she said.

“I think you need to.”

“I don’t want to.”

He dropped his book on the floor and shifted his position so that he could fully embrace her. “Kendra. Please. Please let me help you.”

She wiped a few loose tears which fell from her eyes. “What’s there to say? It was hard enough when you went missing. Then Seth...” she sniffled. “He hates me now. And I don’t know how to deal with that.”

Silence fell, broken only by Kendra’s sniffles as she struggled to maintain her composure.

“It’s alright to cry, Kendra,” Bracken assured her. “I’m right here.”

He held her as she fell apart in his arms. She cried tears of despair and anguish, the sound of which broke Bracken’s heart. He rubbed comforting circles into her back and leaned his cheek against the top of her head while she mourned the loss of her brother. Kendra clung to him as though he were her most vital lifeline.

Eventually she calmed. Bracken glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it read 1:30am. Her shoulders had relaxed and she was breathing evenly once more, but he couldn’t fully tell whether she was awake or asleep. He hoped it was the latter - she’d been sleeping terribly for the past couple of years, or so he’d been told, and he’d witnessed her lack of sleep himself over the past couple of days since he’d been recovered. He was willing to hold her all night if that’s what it took for her to finally rest.

“Bracken?”

He closed his eyes in disappointment. “Hmm?”

“Will you read to me?”

He perked up at her request. “Really?”

“Please.” She moved out of the way so that he could gather the discarded book from the floor. He pulled her against himself once more before he opened it.

“I’m in the middle of a chapter,” he said. “Would you like me to start over?”

“No, just wherever you are is fine. I’m kind of tired.” Kendra closed her eyes and rested against his chest.

Bracken was pleased when he realized, not even ten minutes into reading, that Kendra had finally fallen asleep. He settled in, determined to watch over her for the rest of the night. Perhaps he’d be able to try and shield her from her tumultuous dreams as well.