#you need to return your books

[huntress-of-stories-and-dreams]

Headcanon #83

An infected, but wandering librarian still remembers Kazi had to return a book in the Great Bookery before the fall of Lux Aurea. 

#tdp headcanons #the dragon prince #tdp kazi #lux aurea #tdp season 5 #the great bookery of lux aurea #primal magic library #books and libraries #because even if the world is ending #you need to return your books

[cashweasel]

Besties rendezvous 🤍

#ocs #fellas is it gay to intertwine your fingers with your best friend while you sit in his lap and he reads to you? #they’re just… so casually in love disksksjdj this is very usual for them #the presence of valen’s lyre here is so significant bc ofc his bf(f) is gonna read to him and they’re gonna talk about the book and laugh #and then he’ll play something for him in return and receive head scratches and they may share a fruit afterwards and hold hands #but they’ll never kiss #anyways I think I did a pretty good job here skskskdkjs I needed to make this bc my babies have very little art together #no they just occupy my brain and bang on the walls every hour of the day #they deserve so much more appreciation amd I also need everyone to hear about them #ugh I miss them so much I can’t believe I haven’t thought about them in two weeks bc I was so busy trying to pass my classes #valen x gideon #my ocs #my art

[ruthlesslistener]

The most disgusting fucking thing that zionists keep circling in response to palestinian suffering and people crying for an end to a genocide is the fucking cries about the thousand killed on october 7th

I don't care how many settlers died. I don't care. I don't care because 1,000 dead does not ever equate to 100,000 murdered and lost. It doesn't equate to all the horrendous suffering and the torture that Israel inflicts on innocents. It doesn't equate because human lives are not a fucking math equation and yet it becomes extremely fucking apparent that to these people it is because they view palestinian lives as so much lesser than those of the settlers that thousands of them cannot pay back the life of one colonizer

'Civilians shouldn't be killed' is the most neutral thing that can be said about a war and is IMPLICIT to saying that the Hamas attack on october 7th was poorly planned. But when israeli civilians are actively participating in the genocide of people they already were tormenting then it becomes really fucking hard to think of the people killed as innocents, and when they are being used as the justification to set military dogs on 4 year olds and to selectively target and destroy safe havens and ignore peace treaties then it is altogether. I dont care that nearly two thousand filthy fucking colonizers died because there is NO justification for the river of blood spilled in retribution, nor the painting of a race of people as terrorists despite only a scant handful of them being willing to bloody their hands in retribution for decades of torment

#vent #im seeing red #blood needs to be spilled. this is a toll that cannot go unpunished #i want every israeli leader and every government official to be burned alive and have their bodies thrown in the sewers #and if you try to make this about religion im tearing your fucking throat out with my bare hands #how DARE you insinute that judaism calls for this. how dare you view this as anything but a sullying of a holy book and a holy people #this isn't about religion. this is about conquest. this is about the rape of a land and the slaughter of its people #i want them dead and i want their bones to nourish the land #so that at least some part of their sick lives dont go to waste when palestine is returned #and i want the civilians of israel to be renamed as palastinian immigrants and forced to live with the ramifications of what theyve done #by god i dont know how they can even consider themselves as human anymore when the state washed it so thorougly from them

[harmcityherald]

#ranxid #ranxidfilms #a movie I would like to make #unreality #seems like a great horror movie in my imagination #poe trying to convince anyone who will listen about the monster in the walls #They label him As mad Of course While he feverishly writes the tell tale heart #The monster in the walls Is The blob creature From the 50s #Poe heroically sacrifices himself to save The city of Baltimore #What do you think I'm thinking tom hardy as Poe #It has to be a horror but it has to be funny And of course we have to involve john waters Any movie made in Baltimore needs to #They don't tell you about that law on the books until you come here and try and make a movie of your own #We need a talking bird too #Movie brainstorms #Let's make it! #a prequel if you will #. I'm thinking of Tom Hardy because he has experience with Blobby aliens #it could be a love story #he's spitting in his grave right now while I'm saying all this Poe not Hardy LOL #I can hear it now Mr hardy we want you to play Edgar Allan Poe but there's one minor stipulation #it involves another gelatinous alien #Hardy looks at the camera and breaks the fourth wall #the creature is from sirius B #all the good aliens come from sirius B #that's where the fish people come from #just ask the dogon #thats the in search of tie in #the dogon tribe #a little blob baby survives to return in the 50s #blob conspiracy

[thewholedamnboulangerie]

There are so many directions the show could go in s3, and obviously with such a huge world to explore it makes sense that a lot of the theorising has revolved around which new locations the show might bring in! But I've also been wondering about the possibility of the existing locations being used in unexpected ways - in particular, Cairhien and Falme, given that nearly every single character we've met in the show so far was in one of these two locations the last time we saw them.

As of 2x07, almost all of the Aes Sedai we've met so far in the show are in Cairhien, and in some degree of disarray, with Rand, Moiraine and Lan having just escaped in very suspicious circumstances. Siuan, Leane, Verin and Alanna are all potentially vulnerable to accusations of conspiring to allow this (even if it was only the latter two and their Warders who are actually guilty of doing so). Liandrin's last appearance was also here, and she may be about to be unmasked as a Darkfriend along with Barthanes, thanks to Anvaere.

This means that Liandrin, Verin and Alanna all have very good reason to hightail it out of Cairhien as quickly as possible; the only one who might plausibly be able to fly under the radar is Alanna, since her role in the escape wasn't as obvious (though given that her actress has been posting pics of very Two Rivers-esque locations and selfies with the actress who plays Chiad, it looks like her plotline probably will follow the books and dovetail with Perrin's, and she'll certainly need some impetus to break away from the rest of the Aes Sedai if so - if Verin also joins that group, as in the books, it makes a lot of sense for them to leave Cairhien immediately, potentially by trying to follow Rand and Moiraine to Falme and somehow falling in with Perrin instead).

There's also a chance that Liandrin might head to Falme to regroup with Lanfear, since she's now one of her agents. Obviously Lanfear can communicate with her via Tel'aran'rhiod and Travel to her if absolutely necessary, but Liandrin will certainly need to head somewhere now that she's no longer able to work undercover in the Tower. And given that Elayne and Nynaeve's Black Ajah-hunting plotline is about to require a trigger, having Liandrin show up in Falme and be spotted by them would certainly set them on her tail quite neatly. Nynaeve and Elayne could even start out by hunting down the remnants of the Seanchan in Falme/trying to free the remaining damane, before being unexpectedly shunted onto the trail of the Black Ajah (and this could also provide a neat opportunity to bring in Egeanin, though her introduction could also be pushed back a few seasons quite easily).

From there, they easily could track Liandrin (plus any cronies she has with her) to Tanchico in the back half of the season - they're certainly on the right side of the continent! Or, alternatively, Falme could stand in for Tanchico entirely in the same way that it's already partly stood in for Tear as the site of the main prophecy regarding the place where the Dragon Reborn will be unveiled.

But we could also have significantly more early-season content in Cairhien than expected, given that it's not just the Aes Sedai who are almost all in Cairhien - Min and Logain are both there as well. Which means that the entirety of Siuan's bookverse post-coup travel party is conveniently assembled in the same place, right as Siuan's (and Leane's) credibility as leader of the Tower has just taken a massive, massive hit.

Of course, the show could contrive to bring Min and Logain back to Tar Valon as well at the start of the season. Plus, as s2 has amply demonstrated, there's no guarantee that the composition of the bookverse travel parties will remain identical.

But, well... isn't it awfully convenient that they're all neatly assembled in the same place already? And wouldn't Siuan be even more vulnerable to the prospect of being deposed if she was still away from her seat of power when the threat of a coup was raised?

In conclusion: I would not be at all surprised if one of the first scenes in s3 was Elaida do Avriny a'Roihan riding into Cairhien, possibly escorted by Gawyn Trakand, bringing urgent news of unrest in the Caemlyn court in one hand and preparing to unseat Siuan while she's at her weakest with the other.

#wheel of time #wot speculation #wot book spoilers #i see your 'the wondergirls DON'T need to return to the Tower in s3' and raise you: 'siuan ALSO does not need to return to the Tower in s3' #but yeah this is all just wild speculation! i have no idea what they'll actually do!!

[poison-pomegranates]

BAE PLEASE TELL ME ABOUT FROM DEATH TO DUST im soooo interested (also music taste???? its spectacular??)

OMG THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU (and also thank you for complimenting my music taste, that’s quite literally the most efficient path to my heart)

from death to dust is very much a work in progress that’s still in the early stages of planning because i keep having to restart.

on top of this, i suck at summaries of any kinds, but what i can do is infodump about my characters:

Desdemona Reaper is to some extent my main character, largely because she is, in a sense, the metaphorical string connecting all of the other characters as well as most of the story lines.

she used to live with her parents in Grim’s castle, in the centre of the Twin Kingdoms, but about a year before the main story starts she was exiled and now she lives on the Isle of The Lost with the rest of the misfits and criminals who were banished from the Twin Kingdoms.

the Isle of The Lost is where she met Eden, an immortal, deity-like being who was cursed by the monarchs to spend her days bound to a ‘magical’ tree, that shelters and protects the isle of the lost.

when Desdemona was banished, she made it her mission to protect Eden, but when Eden goes missing and Desdemona realises that without Eden’s magic she, and possibly the rest of the inhabitants of the isle of the lost, will die, she realises she has to return to her father's kingdom to find out what happened to her.

what should be a quick and simple mission to retrieve her best friend is complicated when a flirtatious witch, an aspiring scientist, an ambitious princess, an indebted elf, and a mysterious lycanthrope all interrupt her plans by asking for her help with various, less quick and simple missions.

acknowledging both her need for their help and her aversion to socialising, Desdemona is forced to decide which is more important to her, retrieving Eden, or keeping her peace of mind.

#desdemona #desdemona’s lore one might say #from death to dust #fdtd #idk how interesting people will find that so i might wait a while before doing my other characters #but i’ll probably still do them bc i love my children and i love to talk about them #moonwriter-7 if you read this ilysm #thank you for giving me an excuse to talk about my characters <333 #RETURN THE FAVOUR SOMEDAY I LOVE YOUR CHARACTERS AND JUST LIKE YOUR ENTIRE BOOK SO MUCH I NEED TO KNOW MOREEE

[quaranmine]

by the way do you remember at the beginning of september when i was sad because the libby audio book i wanted had like an eight week hold on it? anyway yeah i got the book AND I DONT EVEN LIKE IT

#it has like...4.5 stars on goodreads out of 380k reviews #which is one of the highest ratings i've seen #and it's just. i only made it 25% of the way in my checkout period #there's 4 people waiting behind me and it gets returned in 2 days. i will not be finishing it and i cannot extend #it's just. so slow!! i dont think this slice of life genre is for me! i thought there would be more excitement! #i also only care about 2 povs which are the two that were mentioned in the blurb #and it turns out theres actually like 4 other pov people and i just. dont care about them at all and one is actively annoying lsjfdklsjfks #i'm sure all their stories will eventually converge into something satisfying but for now #i have read 1/4 of it and nothing happened at all #i think by 25% you need to have hooked your reader ??? i accept some books start slow to set up characters and arcs #but by 1/4 you need to get that plot going

[hopecomesbacktolife]

I’m not going to reblog the post itself because I don’t want that behavior on my blog, but oh my god I just saw a post about “looking for fics about your favorite character on ao3” and good lord the amount of bad takes both in that post and in the notes?? I have to just ramble about this for a moment because oh my god. it was ludicrous.

people were complaining that, and get this, unfinished fics exist. and that if you read an unfinished fic you’ll have to, get this, wait to read more until it’s published next. they were allll up in arms that there’s fics for a character that don’t cater to their specific interests. that they involve other characters and either do/don’t put them in a romantic relationship when they want the opposite for the character.

like at this point, most of you people in the notes on that post are 1) just being mean and condescending about FREE WORKS you can, may I remind you, READ FOR FREE and EXIT at ANY time! if you don’t like it!, don’t read it!, it’s so simple!, and 2) straight up do not know how ao3 works lmao

like I saw soooo many people in the notes complaining about a certain ship, dynamic, tag, etc, and like… y’all know you can filter by romantic vs platonic pairings, by ratings, by excluding certain tags or other qualifiers, etc etc etc… you know about ao3’s actually incredibly usable filtering and searching system… right… right??

at this point I’m just convinced a lot of these people are spoiled by large fandoms with 100k+ works for their characters and have decided to just be mean and condescending for no reason on main, about literally free fan works you can read for free any time that people spend hours and hours pouring their free time into out of sheer love for their craft. cuckoo bananas behavior if you ask me 🫠

I was legit so close to commenting that maybe they should try shipping two characters with <10 fics, with 0 fics, try liking a rare pair, try hyperfocusing on a character or niche type of fandom with a tiny but lovely circle of fans, and stop treating fan works and fic as Content TM that they deserve to have handed to them that caters to exactly what they want for free and maybe they’ll calm down lmao

like y’all aren’t cool you’re just being mean. we fundamentally approach fic in wildly different ways and honestly the way you do sounds exhausting. literally could not be me, I’m to busy finding joy in shared love for characters and not flipping the table in a rage because there’s one (1) element of the fic that isn’t specifically catered to me, maybe try that and you’ll feel better, hmm?

and yeah I’m aware that last sentence is me being condescending towards them, but frankly it’s warranted when so many people are being that mean and haughty for no reason lmao but truly those takes were horrific. fellow fic writers and even fellow fic readers I interact with, am mutuals with, authors whose works I read, readers who comment and interact with my works, fans of niche fandom subsets that run in the same circles as me— I hope you know this is so wildly not how I approach fics, I love just finding fics for my characters and forming these lil communities where we share our interests and love for them and hype each other up. I love what we have in these fandom niches and I hope you know I would never dream of being so mean and condescending towards y’all. fic writers and readers and fan communities are so special and I cherish it even if clearly there’s people in the notes on that other post who don’t know how to do that lmao. I love your unfinished WIPs, I love your fics that may only partially be what I’m looking for, I love when you write characters in a way I wouldn’t expect but shows your love for your particular headcanon, I love the variety and diversity and variance in fic. I love us. genuinely. fic writer moots I am hugging all of you and I frequently reread your works, even the unfinished ones. ♡

#personal #god this turned into a rant but sometimes I’m just shocked by how.. mean and condescending and holier-than-thou some people can be about fic #about works people write FOR FREE because they LOVE a character/ dynamic/ etc so much they can’t NOT let that love pour out into a fic tjat #once again you can READ FOR FREE HELLO #like god. maybe those people need to try not being a condescending bench (to quote Eleanor) and maybe they’ll feel better and be able to ac #tually participate in the wonder and joy and delight that is fan communities and fic communities idk man #I’m convinced some of it is people being spoiled by large fandoms and also not knowing how ao3 works at all #but like. this is not a streaming service this is an ARCHIVE it is a LIBRARY do you know how to use a LIBRARY #hello??? if you don’t like a book you can return it and borrow another???? not scribble in the margins about how you don’t like it??? #like literally w h a t. #unhinged behavior and not in a cute way. #being mean isn’t cute it’s just being mean. condescension won’t magically make your dream fic scenarios appear. sorry (not sorry tho) #anyways. there was no way in hellllll! I was going to reblog that post and bring that whole mess to my blog. so instead. making my own post #(somewhat like people who can’t find fic they want could also just make their own but yknow 🤭💋) #anyways fellow fic writers and readers I interact with and am friends with ily ily and pls know I never think of your works like that in a #million years ok ❤️❣️❤️ I’m sorry some people are Mean I’m so glad the people I know who are fic writers + readers aren’t like that ty ty

[theres-whump-in-that-nebula]

I rented a laptop for job training, and two books from the library: Tirumala — Sacred Foods of God by Av Ramana Dikshitulu and Kota Neelima, and The Most Evil Women in History by Shelley Klein

#Support your local library; they probably have more than books to rent #And even if you don’t read books or need anything else they offer; you are not obligated to read a book if you rent it #Even renting a book and not reading it and returning it supports the library

[queenangella]

.

#putting this in the tags bc I need to get this out but also feel kinda guilty about it so I don’t wanna scream it in a post #but I feel soo irrationally pissed at my friend #bc she’s one of my best friends and I love her but I haven’t heard from her all summer except for the like four times she answered my #messages only to immediately ask me something in return #it took her two weeks to reply to a meme I send her only to immediately follow up with ‘het remember how you said your parents wanted to #hire my band’ #‘ahaha summer is so busy I’ve read all my books anyway you told me I could borrow this one book?’ #last was ‘heyy sorry for not replying haha anyway im bored next week wanna go on a trip’ #to which I replied ‘yeah I would love to but I have my internship starting next week remember’ #and its like I don’t mind that she doesn’t answer my texts like god knows I hate texting #but its really starting to feel like our relationship is fully based on her needing me for something #which I have felt before but I kinda dismissed it as me thinking it was always me who had to take initiative which was disproved when she #asked me to meet up a few times but thinking back it was always like ‘hey let’s meet up for coffee’ and then when I arrive having literally #left the library where I’d been studying for only ten minutes bc otherwise i wouldn’t see her. #she’s like ‘oh I don’t want coffee anymore but I need to go to the supermarket wanna join me?’ #which I always did bc I wanna spend time together and it’s cheaper for me than getting overpriced coffee but!!!! #anyway I’m feeling this now bc while she hadn’t answered my ‘sorry can’t go on a trip’ text I did just see that she’s currently in portugal #with another friend #which is like??? so she just found someone else to relieve her of her boredom and so she didn’t need me anymore so why answer me right?? #anyway it’s probably not that bad and I will talk to her about it when I see her again which will probably be in a month I guess but for now #I don’t wanna ruin her trip

[shima-draws]

Today has been so mega stressful I just

Smacks head against wall

#Shima speaks #Okay. Okay okay okay storytime #SO as many of you know I bought a new car back in April. Almost May. #I didn't get the title registration card in the mail until like June #So I registered my car and bought the plates. 100% bought the plates I KNOW I bought the plates #Fast forward to now it is August and still no plates in the mail. No notification that they've been mailed or received or ANYTHING #SO I'm sitting here going hey where are my plates my temporary tags have expired on my car and I could get ticketed for that #I decide you know what I'll go to the DMV directly and get this sorted out. Fucking hate the DMV all my homies hate the DMV #But what can you do you know. Idk where the plates are. #I was very worried bc the mailroom in my apartment was broken into so somebody could have stolen the plates out of my mailbox #And I'd be none the wiser!! Bc I haven't received any sort of notification that they were delivered! #So I decide to go to the DMV right but my coworker tells me that they don't do walk ins anymore. They only see you by appointment #The next appointment wasn't available until August 22nd. LIKE. THREE WEEKS FROM NOW #So I book the appointment. And I send them an email going like hey uh I kinda need new temp tags while I'm waiting to be seen abt my plates #And they email me back going oh lol this is the wrong county you need to go to blah blah blah county office #So I'm like jesus christ okay I'll go to the correct county office. LUCKILY they have walkins so I drove over there today #I walked in and the girl working the customer service counter asks me what I need and I say hey I'm having issues getting my plates #I hand her my title registration card and she looks it up and goes oh lol we have your plates. They were returned #APPARENTLY they fucked up my address and didn't include the apartment number on the package so it got returned to them #SO THEY'VE JUST HAD MY FUCKING PLATES FOR A MONTH AND A HALF AND DIDN'T TELL ME. NO EMAIL NO PHONE CALL NOTHING IN THE MAIL #The girl goes into the back and grabs my plates. Thank god I finally have my fucking plates #LUCKILY I didn't actually have to wait in line she just grabbed them and I didn't need to get a ticket to see someone at the counter #But oh my god. SO fucking stressful dude. #I hate adulting <3 #Also my computer had a hacking scare so there's that too #But that's a whole other can of worms #Lies down I'm fucking exhausted bro

[tonyglowheart]

last night in this house... sleeping on air mattresses... still have leftover bits of stuff to move out in the morning.... so odd

#personal #rip bc the other house we were gonna move into is uninhabitable lmao #the tenants uhh lowkey trashed it 8) #like. the walls are coated in mysterious residue #all floors are dirty some are weirdly sticky #just random weird things are broken- they fucked up several blinds one of which looks like. some animal chewed on the string or sth 8) #so yeah we were gonna like clean and lightly redo some stuff but it needs a full remodel #so we don't know where we're gonna live for a bit 8) #maybe a hotel but all of the larger extended stay suites are apparently already booked #and the former tenant is after my parents to return their full deposit. bro the place looks like a before in a fixer upper home remodel sho #they were like we lived here 7 yrs paid you xxxxxx in rent probably paid half your mortgage (as a reason to return their full deposit)- #bro that's just the agreement you made when renting not a favor you're doing... like you left the place nowhere near same or similar #condition. and the sheer amount of damage canNOT be 'regular tear and wear' #it's a fuckton of tear and wear at best #like. random shelves and bits inside the fridge are broken too #we lived in our current house like 9 yrs or sth and yeah it's worn down but there isn't trashed blinds and gross residue everywhere #they apparently paid a cleaner but there's only so much a cleaner can do lol like you gotta just knock it back and redo it #the buyers of this place were being annoying too lmao they came on Monday for what we thought slash were told was a walkthru #but like obv we hadn't finished moving out yet cuz today was the big move... #and they brought their agent and a contractor and we like let them look around and answered q #and then today. they had the gall. to insist they be let in for a 'real' walk thru tmr at 7am #7am?? #also bro we're not done moving out fully yet and tbh we won't be at 7am tmr! #anyway we pushed back bc wtf they literally already came thru several times the guy even wanted a second inspection and he came here for it

[keyboard-cowgirl]

treat yourself

#i've been reading SO MUCH you guys #and the libby app is so damn convenient #and getting a library card was so easy #only needed one piece of mail with my address #my taxes already pay for the service and what a wonderful service it is #may as well use it!!!! #today im reading a queer history of the united states by michael bronski #who knows what i will read tomorrow! #there are so many options!!! #and it's free and if i don't like a book i just return it early #and if i haven't finished a book or the one i want isn't available i just put it on hold for my turn #and there's a tagging system in the app to keep track of what i have read and what i want to read and more #and there are audiobooks too #and you can read through kindle or other apps as you prefer #it's just so great you guys #if your country has access to libby #treat yourself with a library card

[the-busy-ghost]

Warning- this is a very petty post, but I think I'm entitled to at least one petty, pissed-off reaction every time I finish a classic novel that hit harder than I expected so take this as my quota for the year.

Also spoiler warning for a book that came out over a century ago but still, I didn't know the plot going in so don't want to ruin it for anyone else, if you haven't read it shut your eyes. (Also Local Tumblr User Going Wild Over Book Published a Hundred Years Ago That Everybody Else Already Read should probably be categorised as akey part of indigenous tumblr culture at this point).

Anyway I just finished the War of the Worlds and in between studying I've thinking about Themes and Motifs as you do, and idly looking for further analysis. I then accidentally ran into an article called 'A Quiet Place II Succeeds Where the War of the Worlds Failed' and:

Now I haven't seen any of the Quiet Place films, this is not a rant against them and of course everyone is entitled to their own opinions. But re: the ending of The War of the Worlds, I have to ask, did this guy somehow miss, uh, the entire point of the book or am I just utterly insane?

#You're right it's not very satisfying for humanity that the invaders are foiled by a bacteria and not human action! Maybe that's the point! #Maybe it's supposed to be FRIGHTENING and make you ask questions about what humans will do under extreme stress #Not be a morally uplifting tale about Humanity Heroically Defeating the Martians in a Glorious Hollywood Ending #Maybe it's MEANT to be unsatisfying because this is not a straightforward fairytale #I mean I've only read it once and don't know much about Wells' work so I might have misunderstood the point of the book too #But at places it is a very pessimistic view of the human condition and that's partly WHY IT'S SO POWERFUL #That doesn't mean there aren't moments of individual acts of heroism (the Thunderchild for example) #But the question is not just 'how will humanity beat the Martians and prove that we're still the masters of the universe' #Rather 'a) why is humanity so confident that it's ultimately in control of its own destiny #And b) here's lots of scenes of societal collapse and of people pushed to the brink and what would YOU do in those circumstances? #Would YOU feel remorse about silencing the curate even if it did lead to his death? #What if it rather than a foolish adult it had been a small child? #And even if they were weak did they DESERVE it? Yes it might have been necessary but should it be policy going forward? #Would you also be attracted briefly by the certainties that the artilleryman's (rather fascist) plan seems to offer so humanity survives? #But what sort of humanity would that be if it DID survive and is it worth it? The narrator feels he needs to justify the curate's death #The artilleryman would have probably never have thought it was anything OTHER than justifiable or indeed laudable #Under strain and stress would you start to turn against even your loved ones and become brutal? #Is that the only hope for human survival beyond complete surrender? And was the destruction of London maybe even 'cleansing' #In the eugenics sense or in the sense of a natural horror of dirt and germs? #And the vast exodus of six million people fleeing headlong in panic - we might not have seen that exact phenomenon #But didn't the twentieth century subsequently go on to show us unprecedented scale of slaughter and refugee movements and communal strife? #At the end of the day what really separates humanity from other animals? And what separates us from the Martians? #It's not an uncontroversial book- it was written over a hundred years ago for goodness sake and there are questions worth asking #about the way imperialism and arguments about eugenics and population control and all sorts of other dodgy areas operated on Wells' mind #But dear God I really don't think the problem with the book is that 'Humanity didn't save the day!' #Unsatisfying ending? Yes. A FAILURE? No not in my opinion- looks like it was exactly what Wells set out to do #Humanity didn't win the war of the worlds they had a narrow escape and though it might not be martians next time #Why wouldn't disaster return in the future? Sure we've studied their flying machines and even preserved a martian in a jar #But for all our science what have we ACTUALLY learned that will enable us to avert future human catastrophes? Ethically or socially? #Alright rant over- as usual my opinion is not universal nor necessarily well-informed this take just really got my goat

[natalieleif]

Seeing a steady rise of people using the library as we carry through summer break, so here's a quick thread from a staff member on little things you can do (for free!) to make life easier on staff. Let's go!

If you want to put a book back, DON'T put it back on the shelf! Put it on the return cart or bin, or give it to a staff member. Not only does this make it MUCH easier to catch misfiles and gather abandoned books in one trip, our budget is literally based on returns. Putting it on a cart gives us more money!

(To expand on the above: not only do we get paid more based on more returns, our book-buying budget for next year is based on what titles seem popular. Even if you don't check out a stack of books, putting it on the cart lets us know there's an interest so we can order more in that genre and support that author.)

Conversely, if you see a cart already full of books being pushed around by staff, PLEASE don't yank books off it or loiter around it. Carts are unwieldy and returns can build up quick, so let a shelver have space to move around and do their job.

(Again expanding on the above, especially please don't yank books off a staff person's cart if you see them pulling books off the shelf instead of putting them back. Books are pulled for a reason--hold requests for another patron, damaged, need to be relabeled, etc--so taking one can really throw off our list.)

If you rent a DVD and notice it's scratched or doesn't play, please tell us! We don't have the time or resources to watch every returned DVD, so we rely on patron feedback. Even a note tucked inside the case helps it get flagged for damage inspection when we're processing returns.

Pay attention to news related to your local branch! The VAST majority of book-banning demands we get are bulk lists from only one or two people--which means contesting them (or requesting a challenged book) also only takes one person.

Remind your friends that most libraries don't do late fees anymore! We want to be a safe haven for low income and disabled/nd people, so don't let being late or disorganized or poor or anything else discourage you. Bring your books back whenever you can, or just mention to a librarian if you lose it, and you're always welcome to come back.

#leif babbles #library #bookblr

[redgoldsparks]

My very last comic for The Nib! End of an era! Transcription below the cut. instagram / patreon / portfolio / etsy / my book / redbubble

The first event I went to with GENDER QUEER was in NYC in 2019 at the Javits Center.

So many of the people who came to my signing were librarians, and so many of them said the same thing: "I know exactly who I want to give this to!" Maia: "Thank you for helping readers find my book!" While working on the book, I was genuinely unsure if anyone outside of my family and close friends would read it. But the early support of librarians and two American Library Association awards helped sell two print runs in first year.

Since then, GENDER QUEER been published in 8 languages, with more on the way: Spanish, Czech, Polish, French, Italian, Norwegian, Portugese and Dutch.

It has also been the most banned book in the United States for the past two years. The American Library Association has tracked an astronomical increase in book challenges over the past few years. Most of these challenges are to books with diverse characters and LGBTQ themes. These challenges are coming unevenly across the US, in a pattern that mirrors the legislative attacks on LGBTQ people. The Brooklyn Public Library offered free eCards to anyone in the US aged 13-21, in an effort to make banned books more available to young readers. A teacher in Norman, Oklahoma gave her students the QR code for the free eCard and lost her job. Summer Boismeir is now working for the Brooklyn Public Library. Hoopla and Libby/Overdrive, apps used to access digital library books, are now banned in Mississippi to anyone under 18. Some libraries won’t allow anyone under 18 to get any kind of library card without parental permission. When librarians in Jamestown, Michigan refused to remove GENDER QUEER and several other books, the citizens of the town voted down the library’s funding in the fall 2022 election. Without funding, the library is due to close in mid-2024. My first event since covid hit was the American Library Association conference in June 2022 in Washington, DC. Once again, the librarians in my signing line all had similar stories for me: “Your book was challenged in our district" "It was returned to the shelf!" "It was removed from the shelf..." "It was moved to the adult section."

Over and over I said: "Thank you. Thank you for working so hard to keep my book in your library. I’m sorry you had to defend it, but thank you for trying, even if it didn't work." We are at a crossroads of freedom of speech and censorship. The future of libraries, both publicly funded and in schools, are at stake. This is massively impacting the daily lives of librarians, teachers, students, booksellers, and authors around the country. In May 2023, I read an article from the Washington Post analyzing nearly 1000 of the book challenges from the 2021-2022 school year. I was literally on route to a festival to talk about book bans when I read a startling statistic. 60% of the 1000 book challenges were submitted by just 11 people. One man alone was responsible for 92 challenges. These 11 people seem to have made submitting copy-cat book challenges their full-time hobby and their opinions are having an outsized ripple effect across the nation. WE NEED TO MAKE THE VOICES SUPPORTING DIVERSE BOOKS AND OPPOSING BOOK BANS EVEN LOUDER. If you are able too, show up for your library and school board meetings when book challenges are debated. Send supportive comments and emails about the Pride book display and Drag Queen story hours. If you see a display you like– for Banned Book Week, AAPI Month, Black History Month, Disability Awareness Month, Jewish holidays, Trans Day of Remembrance– compliment a librarian! Make sure they feel the love stronger than the hate <3

Maia Kobabe, 2023

The Nib

#maia kobabe #banned books #library funding #comics #book challenges