#recommendation: borrow it someday

[richincolor]

Title: Flower and Thorn Author: Rati Mehrotra Genres: Fantasy, Historical, Romance Pages: 338 Publisher: Wednesday Books Review Copy: Purchased Availability: Available now

Summary: Irinya has wanted to be a flower hunter ever since her mother disappeared into the mysterious mist of the Rann salt flats one night. Now seventeen, Irinya uses her knowledge of magical flowers to help her caravan survive in the harsh desert. When her handsome hunting partner and childhood friend finds a priceless silver spider lily—said to be able to tear down kingdoms and defeat an entire army—Irinya knows this is their chance for a better life.

Until Irinya is tricked by an attractive imposter.

Irinya's fight to recover the priceless flower and to fix what she's done takes her on a dangerous journey, one she's not sure she'll survive. She has no choice but to endure it if she hopes to return home and mend the broken heart of the boy she's left behind.

Review: [Flower and Thorn contains some fairly graphic descriptions of injuries and death, including a haunting supernatural body horror moment.]

Flower and Thorn is a book with some fascinating world-building elements. While it is undeniably a fantasy (with magical flowers that can utter ominous and cryptic comments to our protagonist), the background driver of the plot is actually the Gujarat Sultanate resisting Portuguese colonialism. The blending of fantastical and historical elements is where Flower and Thorn shines, and author Rati Mehrotra did great work in that arena. I also appreciated how Flower and Thorn tackled inequality and oppression within the sultanate at the same time it highlighted the horrors of colonialism, from sexism affecting the nobles’ preferences for an heir to how the flower hunters and their families are exploited and kept in poverty.

The magical flowers are key plot points throughout the story, both in their comparative rarity and their abilities. I really enjoyed the flower hunting scenes in the Rann. Mehrotra did a fantastic job of selling how difficult and dangerous the work could be—and how dangerous the flowers and their thorns could be in the wrong hands. I still can’t quite picture how using the silver spider lily would actually play out, but the concrete effects of the jasmine, hibiscus, and other flowers helped bolster my belief that it could topple enemies and that it desperately needed to be kept away from the Portuguese.

I had mixed feelings about Irinya as a protagonist. When it came to the adventuring side of the book, her stubbornness and determination to see things through were fantastic. The climax in the Rann and Irinya’s emotional journey there were perfection—I was delighted every step on the salt flats. I also enjoyed the romance despite the love interest being off-screen for the bulk of the book. But Irinya was so wildly out of her depth when it came to the palace intrigue portions of the plot that I found myself increasingly frustrated by her choices. The very first chapters of the book are about her being betrayed (it’s in the summary!), so I was certain she would be more cautious, be more suspicious of others, or try to gather more information before acting as we continued, and that just didn’t play out like I’d hoped.

Recommendation: Borrow it someday if you’re a fan of fantasy. The blending of fantasy and history made Flower and Thorn a highly interesting read, and I appreciated the unique magic system. The climax and conclusion of the book were very well done, and I appreciated the emotional journey even if some of the plot points frustrated me. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for Rati Mehrotra’s future books.

Extras: Read the first chapter of Flower and Thorn for free here and see a map for the setting.

Flower and Thorn: A brief history of early 16th century India

#flower and thorn #rati mehrotra #book reviews #young adult books #fantasy #historical #romance #weneeddiversebooks #recommendation: borrow it someday

[magpizza]

Mag's Sapphic Book Recs

Hey! @fairymascot sent a few of you my way who are looking for some sapphic book recs! I have compiled a list of 50 or so books, both Adult and YA, across the genres I read. These are just my personal favorites, and I encourage you to look further into any book that piques your interest!

For where I go for books, I go to my local library a lot and can't sing the praises of the Libby app enough for borrowing ebooks and audiobooks. I also always encourage those who can to get their books from independent bookstores or sites like bookshop.org.

ADULT

I wanna feel sad or stressed out! -Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily R. Austin - Gilda is anxious, depressed, and jobless, so she accepts a receptionist job at a catholic church and becomes obsessed with what happened to the woman who had the job before her. A book I felt really deeply as an anxious person myself. -All The Little Moments by G. Benson - Anna's career-focused world is turned upside down when her brother and sister-in-law pass away and she is left to take care of their two young children. This one is a real tearjerker and the romance with the woman Anna meets is very very sweet. I've read almost all of G. Benson's books and found them all to be absolute winners (Purposefully Accidental is excellent, also deals with grief though is more lighthearted and has some of the best dialogue I've ever read). -Landing by Emma Donohue - This is such a lovely, meaty book that explores the complexities of people, as well as the challenges a burgeoning relationship can go through. The MCs face distance, age difference, culture differences, different life goals, etc. The characters around them were also surprisingly deep and interesting. It had me on the edge of my seat as to how it would resolve. -I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane - this one is a bit sci fi, but I felt the sad outweighed the sci fi classification. A future world where you are marked by your crimes by being given an extra shadow, a woman has to navigate single motherhood with her daughter having been given an extra shadow from birth. It was somber, it was lovely, I felt so much weight in my heart. -Whisper of Solace by Milena McKay - If you like terrible women doing terrible things to each other in the name of their careers but also obsession and love, this one is for you! One of the most unique Ice Queen POVs I have read!

Okay, I'm sad enough, now I want a happy romance! -Wherever Is Your Heart by Anita Kelly - Even as a lover of romance myself, few books have made me swoon like this one. Two older butch women finding love much later in life and being realistic about their issues and problems, I just absolutely adored the grounded conversations they had. Also a very quick read! -Breaking Character by Lee Winter - This is one of the most enjoyable, fun, heartfelt romances. It's Hollywood, it's fake dating, it's age gap. Both characters go on such a lovely journey together. This is one I would highly encourage you to listen to the audiobook as Angela Dawe is amazing at doing all the character voices and accents. Additionally, there is not a single Lee Winter book I haven't liked, so highly recommend any of hers (The Awkward Truth is my second fave of hers, with a unique and younger ice queen). -The Carlisle Series by Roslyn Sinclair - You honestly can't have a sapphic romance list without this series. It's adapted and updated from Roslyn's Devil Wears Prada fanfic, but this is a story all its own and had me tearing up at the ending. I did the exercise of reading both the books and the fanfic which was very fun to compare! -Something's Different by Quinn Ivins - This is one of the sweetest books, I smiled all the way reading it. A woman has to step in to cover for her twin sister at her job while her sister goes off with her boyfriend, and she ends up falling for her sister's boss. It was a lovely book that also touched on mental health. I also love an academic setting, and it made statistics fun to learn about! -Bright Falls Series by Ashley Herring Blake - This 3 book series is so fun, just true romcom goodness. The characters are fun and interesting, they have complex relationships with each other, and I love how the author sets up these little ways the characters think is truth or reality, only to find how differently they perceived things.

Give me some scary ones! -The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling - cave spelunking in a tricked up space suit, being chased by ghosts, and not sure if you can trust the woman on the radio who's guiding you through it. Has just such a satisfying ending too. -The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean - a vampire-adjacent book, it's a world where these beings eat books, but then sometimes one amongst them instead eats minds. A woman, book eater herself, runs away from her family to protect her son who is a mind eater. I felt this one was gutwrenching at times, with characters making tough and sometimes bad decisions, and it kept a grip on me the whole way. -Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant - this one is more of an ensemble cast as it jumps around to several POVs, but the sapphic romance pair in it is great. It follows a crew aboard a ship to figure out what happened to a previous ship where everyone just disappeared. Every character has a rich internal life of why they're there, what are their goals, etc. -Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield - a woman's wife went on a deep sea expedition and returns not quite the same. The book jumps between the two women, what happened on that expedition and what her wife is having to deal with after she returns. I also enjoyed Julia's book of short stories, Salt Slow.

Wow, that was pretty scary. What about some fun science-y adventures? -The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson - a sci fi, multiverse traveling book. In the future, society can send people to alternate verses, mostly to steal resources, but you can only be sent if the other version of you is already dead in that world. The writing is fast-paced, really fun, and had some great quotes I even wrote down. It had so many little and big twists along the way, I gasped a lot. -The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett - kinda fantasy, kinda sci fi, kinda steam-punky, but a whole lotta fun! Fast-paced, it has one of the most interesting magic systems I've ever read. It's low on romance but the sapphic relationship that develops had my heart clenching by the last book. I read this series this year and already want to re-read it. -This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone - this book is a short but challenging read. It may not be for everyone. Treat it less like a novel and more like a riddle. It's feeding you bits and pieces as it goes and all will be revealed by the end. One of the most romantic books I've read.

Sure sure, but how about some escapism into fantasy now? -The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir - this one could've also gone in the horror or sci fi lists, what with the lesbian necromancers in space tagline. You've probably heard of it, it's dense, complicated at times, and will throw you for a loop when it quotes Linkin Park lyrics at you. Each book has such a different flavor too. A fun series to not only read but also reread! It requires a lot of attention, and I'm not too proud to admit I had to look up several word meanings as I read. The only series I have multiple versions of because I couldn't resist the special editions. -The Burning Kingdoms series by Tasha Suri - love me some fantasy set in a world inspired by the history and epics of India, some morally gray characters, complicated motivations, some betrayal of the ones you love most. This series is so lovely and such a fun and heartwrenching ride and I can't wait for the next book. -Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree - It's cozy, it's sweet, it just made me smile all the way through. The sequel I found just as lovely as well.

Enough with the other worlds! Got anything historical? -The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave - this one could also go on the sad list. It's poetic, lovely. A town of only women since their men all were lost in a storm and how the women manage to move on, deal with their grief, and face a dude who comes in later to try to "set their society right" or whatever. Throw that dude into the sea too. -Fingersmith by Sarah Waters - an absolute rollercoaster of a book. It's a long, great read with deception upon deception upon twists. I also highly recommend the BBC miniseries it was adapted into! -The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite - this one really surprised me. It's honestly really sweet. Two women come together to translate a French astronomy text and fall in love in the process.

Got anything with pictures? -Luisa Now and Then by Carole Maurel - drama, a woman in her 30s encounters her much younger self and they have to come to terms with who they thought they were and what they thought their life would be like. -A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll - heavy on the horror, not really a romance, but it is gorgeous, atmospheric, and didn't go where I thought it was going. -How Do We Relationship by Tamifull - drama, slice of life, one of my favorite series, it goes through some really complex character relationships and interactions. The main couple starts dating pretty quickly, and it only gets more complicated from there. -She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat by Sakaomi Yuzaki - slice of life. This one starts out simply enough, with two women who connect over food. Their relationship blooms slowly from there, and the latest volume introduced some additional characters that expand the discussion on how different our relationship to food and eating can be.

YOUNG ADULT

That was a lot. I'm ready to be sad again. -We Are Okay by Nina LaCour - a girl leaves everyone behind to go to college, and won't talk to them about why or what happened that changed her in those few weeks before she left. Her best friend comes to visit her and what follows is a slow, anguishing tale of grief, regret, and love. Honestly, for a sad time, you can always depend on Nina LaCour. -Forget Me Not by Alyson Derrick - this one might not work for everyone if you don't like an amnesia story. It had so much longing, loss, confusion, and a romance strong enough to attempt to get through it. -6 Times We Almost Kissed (and One Time We Did) by Tess Sharpe - Don't let the meme-rific title fool you, this book wrung out my heart. The characters are rich, deep, conflicted, and complicated. Deals with grief, with lost opportunities, with complicated friendships and complicated love. -If Tomorrow Doesn't Come by Jen St. Jude - what happens if you were already suicidal, but then the world is going to end soon anyway? This book deals heavily with depression and the end of the world, in many different meanings. -Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo - this one broke my heart a few times. Two girls who don't know they are related lose their father in a plane crash, and it only gets sadder and more complicated from there as both their words begin to connect.

Wow, all this sadness has made me angry! -Harley Quinn: Reckoning by Rachael Allen - gotta love a female rage revenge book. This book is a really engrossing read, it weaves a lovely mystery, and has one of my all time favorite twists and love interest characters of any book.

I've angered myself out, can we have some happy romance? -She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick - a lovely lovely contemporary romance story. Nothing surprising, just all the good stuff. Also writen by a wife team! -How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow - a very sweet holiday romance that starts when one of the MCs almost runs over her love interest. -Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes - with the topics this one deals with, it could've very easily made the sad list as well. The overall uplifting ending is what kept it more in the happy list for me.

Okay, okay, I'm ready to be scared again! -These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall - this one has it all, creepy house, family trauma, falling for the weird girl in the woods. It all built up to a really great twist too. I recommend the audiobook, it had great production and acting, and even legit scared me and I couldn't listen to it at night.

I like horror, but got anything a little more sci fi? -The Meadows by Stephanie Oaks - along the same lines of A Handmaid's Tale, a dystopian future where the government has a lot to say about what your role is in society and what you are supposed to do/be. At times a little slow, but at all times really heartwrenching.

Anything related to history? -A Million to One by Adiba Jaigirdar - four girls band together to execute a jewel heist on the titanic! Which sounds very exciting and it is! I also bawled at the end. Honestly I will read any and all Adiba Jaigirda books too.

Okay let's get into that fantastical escapism! -Fractured Fables series by Alix E. Harrow - based on fairytales, these two novelas are very quick reads, very engaging and I especially loved the romance that developed in the second one! -We Set the Dark on Fire series by Tehlor Kay Mejia - Handmaids Tale adjacent as well and the backdrop is Latiné inspired. A really great read, both books had be gripped by the chest. Good twists too! -The Winter Duke by Claire Eliza Bartlett - inspired by sleeping beauty, the prince set to inherit the throne falls asleep and his younger sister has to figure out how the hell she keeps it all together until he (hopefully) wakes up. -Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron - a society built after the very real Cinderella story, where all ladies of age go to the ball to be selected as brides, and then the story of a girl trying to fight against all that. -Forgotten Gods series by Marie Rutkoski - A girl who lives on the poor side of town meets a rich girl who seems ready to take her on adventures. I really enjoyed the main character's journey and how she changed oh so very drastically throughout the story. -Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst - I've recced this to friends who did not like it as much as I did but I'm still putting it on this list. Maybe it's just this book has all the things I like and that's fine. A princess betrothed to a prince is hiding her magical abilities and ends up falling for her fiance's sister, oops. -Sofi and the Bone Song by Adrienne Tooley - what drew me to this story was the quiet mystery it weaves. Sofi wants to take her father's place as a Musik (the few musicians in the country allowed to compose music) but then an unexpected, untrained lute player shows up and just absolutely outplays her. Sofi is determined to prove this new girl cheated with magic. Adrienne Tooley overall is an author I always enjoy. -Nampeshiweisit series by Moniquill Blackgoose - only the first book is out so far (To Shape a Dragon's Breath) but boy am I invested! A young girl finds the first dragon egg to appear in her remote island in 15 years, but the colonists of her land have strong opinions of who is allowed to have a dragon, how they need to be trained, and what they should do with dragons.

Phew that was a lot of words. Got anything with pictures again? -Thieves by Lucie Bryon - a really sweet and surprisingly deep story about two girls who steal shit. -Belle of the Ball by Mari Costa - a high school love triangle that worked in all the right ways. I loved the art, and as someone with vision deterioration, one of the easiest reads I've had recently! -Twelfth Grade Night by Molly Horton Booth - the original Shakespeare play Twelfth Night was formative for my lesbian realization, and this cute adaptation was so well done and modernized the story in a really fun and fantastical way. -The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz - continues the running theme of girl pretending to be a boy falls for girl, oops. Has a historical and modern twist to it all, very fun and loved the expressions. Do Not skip the author's notes at the end where she talks about what inspired the story, it was a highlight as well! -Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall - Mean Girls meets werewolves -Cosmoknights series by Hannah Templer - princesses, space travel, giant robot fights, this has got it all and some very lovely art to boot! -Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir by Maggie Thrash - one of those comics that perfectly captures what it feels like to be a young girl falling in love with another girl for the first time. It's a little bit emotionally devastating at times in how expertly it expresses and pinpoints those specific feelings.

#sapphic books #sapphic book recs #this took me all morning #now I can rest

[andrew-ism]

Hello! I'm from the Philippines and currently pushing for liberation from the colonized mindset that permeates through our everyday life, as well as mutual aid initiatives to mitigate economic disparity. Your videos have been eyeopening for me and I was wondering... What do you think are the most sustainable and efficient courses of action? I have leadership experience in grassroots movements but I find it quite difficult to organize as I struggle to find like-minded people.

I think that the most sustainable and efficient courses of action are entirely context-dependent and it's tough for me to give the people who ask me this question specific recommendations without a fully detailed description of their unique situation.

As much as I hate to borrow from "corporate speak," it might be helpful to do a SWOT analysis of your area to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats present in your unique context. Maybe someday I'll make a video going into that idea in more detail.

It may also help to do a resilience assessment. I found Think Resilience's self-directed course to be quite helpful in explaining this way of thinking in a concise manner. It's also completely free.

I fully relate to the struggle to find like-minded people, and it has certainly continued to be a challenge in my own local efforts. If/when I find an easy solution to this, you'll be the first to know. What I can suggest for now is that you seek out not necessarily like-minded people, but perhaps like-invested people. Meaning seek out groups that are already doing some sort of social, political, environmental, or educational activism but may not necessarily share your radicalism and try to work/build relationships with them that will naturally create opportunities for you to radicalise their efforts and tactics and spread anarchic and decolonial ideas.

Of course, doing this solo comes with the risk of your own radicalism being watered down--especially in more institutional spaces--which is why especifists recommend you engage in social insertion within movements as a group rather than as an individual.

My video on social revolution is meant to be a comprehensive overview of the variety of actions necessary to transform our world, so you can also look to those tactics and projects to draw inspiration once you've identified what needs doing and been able to connect with some folks who are as motivated as you to see change.

Hope this can help in some way. All power to all the people in the Philippines!

#ask andrewism #andrewism

[shelbydelrey]

Mr. Shelby and Jay Gatsby

summary: Bri recommends a book for Tommy and he muses over it.

warnings: Tommy being angsty AF

A/N: Written for the The Peakys Receive a Letter Event hosted by @raincoffeeandfandoms. The first letter was written by @there-goes-thefighter and the reply was written by me. I'm sorry if Tommy came off as overtly dramatic 🤭 I don't know why but i think he would make a fuss about it 🤷🏾‍♀️ Enjoy!

Dear Tommy,

This is Bri writing to you. I’ve been wanting to tell you about a book I’ve read before. It’s called The Great Gatsby, and it was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It’s a beautiful tale of love, loneliness, and emotion. The main character, Jay Gatsby, is described through the eyes of his neighbor, Nick Carraway. Gatsby is known for throwing parties at his glorious mansion, in hopes that someday his love Daisy will come. He believes in a green light that shines across the lake from the end of Daisy’s dock. The green light represented his hopes and dreams for the future.

The chilling passage at the end of the book goes like this:

“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter – to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther….And one fine morning–

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

I apologize for spoiling the ending for you, but it’s one of my favorite parts of the book, as Nick is describing the hope that Gatsby still held on to. His hope never faded. He was also a believer in going back and repeating the past. It was his love for Daisy that shined through, there. See, he loved Daisy in a way he knew her husband never could. This story almost feels like you, seeking hope that is brushing against your fingertips. You’re similar to Gatsby, as you both have glorious mansions that are often filled, but never whole. In both stories, there’s a woman that magnetizes you, changes you, and envelopes you. I bet you’d get along well if you met him.

I love the story because Gatsby is such an intriguing man. His desperate attempts to fill a void in his life despite having every material thing one could want shows how hard and passionately he loved. The material things didn’t matter to him, Daisy did. His love for her superseded anything and everything on earth. Gatsby wanted no one else, as no one else would ever compare to Daisy. He loved her and only her.

I hope someday you pick up the book and let it speak to you. I hope you’re captivated by the story as much as I was. I hope you believe in the green light too.

All my love,

Bri

Dear Bri, 

I apologize for not replying to you sooner. I've read the letter as soon as it came to my possession but the words 'hope' and 'void' hit me in the stomach with the force of ten men and like a coward, i recoiled inside myself and threw your epistle aside, hoping that being out of my sight it would be out of my heart too. I failed miserably, as you may have guessed already. 

Your descriptions of Jay Gatsby haunted and pestered me in the most inappropriate times and every time that i was in London for business, i found myself heading to the library Ada used to work at, asking for the book. I could purchase it of course, as i did later on, but the lack of commitment that borrowing it brought was more appealing than to have it on my shelf, taunting me every time i remembered its existence.  

The librarians gave me negatives each time, explaining that since it was a rather new book, they needed permission to acquire it, and each time i left with an odd mixture of relief and guilt. Relief for stalling for a little while what felt inevitable and guilt for creating a fuss over something you took the care to tell me about. 

But i can't lie, Bri. The picture you painted of Mr. Gatsby felt like a mirror and i was afraid to face that hopeful fool. Afraid of what awaits us at the end of his story. 

I do trust your judgement though and I apologize again for taking too long to remember this fact. That’s why the book is resting by my side as I write to you, waiting to be opened for the first time. 

There’s a detail that you provided that gives me hope (here’s that word again): Gatsby isn’t the one who narrates it. I can’t help but to think that if he were the one telling his own story he wouldn’t be as intriguing or passionate. His dedication to Daisy seems like a desperate man’s attempt to cling onto life because everything else inside him got corroded. There’s nothing left except a pathetic core. But having an outsider, his neighbour Nick Carraway, as the storyteller, serves to redeem Gatsby out of his own foolishness. It’s comforting to imagine that a legacy of misery can be erased with rose coloured glasses. 

These are only my impressions, of course, and I'm sure they’ll be put to the test and prove me that I'm wrong.  

One thing that I don’t doubt is the fact that we would get along. Melancholic men have a tendency to gravitate towards one another. 

I’ll write back to you once I'm finished with book, Bri and let you know what I thought about it. 

Yours Truly, 

Tommy Shelby 

taglist: @runnning-outof-time @call-sign-shark @look-at-the-soul @cljordan-imperium @dandelionprints @zablife

#the peakys receive a letter #tommy shelby

[type1diabetesinfandom]

I'm thinking about writing something with a character who has type 1 diabetes. Where might I find information about what it's like to have it?

That's awesome!

Start with my #how to write t1d tag!

It's got a mix of do's and dont's, infographics and legit how-to-write-this posts, and also will give you some blogs you can browse for daily lives as t1diabetics.

You are ofc welcome to browse this blog as much as you find useful!

Some fic recs for a good look at diabetic perspectives, written by diabetics or people familiar with the disease, are:

My fics When the Warmth Hits You and Lost were written specifically for diabetes awareness and are long enough to cover multiple aspects of it. You should be able to read them both fandom blind, especially if your focus is on the medical stuff.

@rpgwrites's Pathfinder, Truthseeker series and her Diabetes Awareness Day series.

Outnumbered by @heartofcathedrals.

A Painting of One Thousand Voices by WolfieChan12.

Wescott Preparatory Academy by adder574 is a good view at t1d care and life ~20 years ago. Note that the medical information is dated, but useful for stories taking place 20-ish years ago.

(God I can't believe it's been that long 👵)

A New Low by Rosie_Rues.

Anything tagged with Diabetes by Carbon65.

Ditto with witchry9.

Some OG fiction books I recommend borrowing from the library or however you get books:

Let Me List the Ways by Sarah White.

Sal and Gabi Break/Fix the Universe by Carlos Hernandez.

Sweetblood by Pete Hautman.

Sweet Desire by J.M. Cagle. (You can get part 1 for free).

There are lots of bloggers, youtubers, and podcasters who share t1d focused content. I don't really pay attention to these so I'm not going to recommend specific ones, but definitely poke around. You'll find cool stuff.

The JDRF and Beyond Type 1 websites have easily-digestable medical info, but note that anyone can post on BT1 so it's not as accurate as I would like it to be.

Dr. Bernstein is also awesome for medical stuff, but hardcore, and his methods are extreme, although effective.

Now There's a rabbit hole if you want to explore differing medical opinions 🤣

You are always welcome to send me asks or dm me directly if you have specific questions! And if you decide to get seriously into the research, I have a discord server with a specific channel for asking questions about how to represent t1d, that's open to all diabetic peeps in the server.

Hope this helps, and I'm excited to see your character someday! Good luck writing!

#type 1 diabetes in fandom #t1d #type 1 diabetes #how to write type 1 diabetes #actuallyt1d #i wrote this after work so hopefully it's coherent

[lingthusiasm]

Lingthusiasm sixth anniversary: help share the show and do our listener survey!

Lingthusiasm is turning six! 

In celebration of our sixth anniversary this November, we’re asking you to help introduce the show to people who would be totally into a linguistics podcast, if only they knew it existed! Lingthusiasm is a great fit for anyone in your life who is curious about language or who likes hearing ad-free conversational deep-dives into hidden patterns in the world around us from people who are extremely invested in articulating why it’s so cool.

Your recommendations really do work (we see it in the stats!), whether it’s a shoutout on social media, sending a personal message to a friend, or sharing the RSS feed with your cool aunt.

We also love being recommended as guests on your (other) favourite podcasts! Every podcast is in a language, and we love chatting about the link between linguistics and your other favourite topics (we’ve done linguistics and science fiction/roleplaying games, linguistics and conlanging, linguistics in romance novels, linguistics and mythology, and more!). 

Trying to figure out what to say about Lingthusiasm? Here are some ideas:  

What’s Lingthusiasm like?

Ever find yourself distracted from what someone is saying by wondering about how they say it? Lingthusiasm is a podcast that’s enthusiastic about linguistics as a way of understanding the world around us.

From languages around the world to our favourite linguistics memes, Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne bring you into a lively half hour conversation on the third Thursday of every month about the hidden linguistic patterns that you didn’t realize you were already making.

“Lauren and Gretchen know their stuff, have an easy rapport, and are skilled at pitching linguistic concepts to a general audience.” —Sentence First

“Joyously nerdy.” —BuzzFeed

“I checked out Lingthusiasm by playing a random episode and it was funny and fascinating and educational AND it had a shout out to Dinosaur Comics!” —Ryan North

Which episode should I start with?

You can start listening to Lingthusiasm anywhere! See what grabs your attention from this list of episodes that came out this year:

The linguistic map is not the linguistic territory (transcript)

What If Linguistics - Absurd Hypothetical Questions with Randall Munroe of xkcd (transcript)

Various vocal fold vibes (transcript)

Language in the brain - Interview with Ev Fedorenko (transcript)

What we can, must, and should say about modals (transcript)

Tea and skyscrapers - When words get borrowed across languages (transcript)

What it means for a language to be official (transcript)

Word order, we love (transcript)

Knowledge is power, copulas are fun (transcript)

Making speech visible with spectrograms (transcript)

Where to get your English etymologies (transcript)

Share your enthusiasm with us, 2022 listener survey

We're also doing a listener/reader survey for the first time to celebrate our anniversary this year! This is your chance to tell us what you're into on Lingthusiasm, what we could do more of, suggest topics and guests for future episodes, and also answer some fun linguistics experiment questions, which we might write up into an Official Academic Paper someday! (And either way, we'll report back on the results.) The survey is online, and will take 5-30 minutes (depending on how much you want to tell us in the open text boxes).

bit.ly/lingthusiasmsurvey22

This survey is being conducted by Lingthusiasm in conjunction with La Trobe University (Ethics approval HEC22181). Thanks to La Trobe for the support to collect data that we can share with Lingthusiasm listeners and academic audiences. More information can be found in the Participant Informed Consent Form before the survey starts.

Journey back through time to previous anniversary posts

Fifth anniversary post

Fourth anniversary post

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Second anniversary post 

First anniversary post

#lingthusiasm #linguistics #anniversary #sixth anniversary #6th anniversary #listener survey

[griffin-wood]

something new.

ps: just thought of it and now I'm yearning to write sum siblings dynamics, let's freaking go. also implied, rus x apollo; the babies. and the second gen of kaia. (also, rus is sarah's oc, ty for letting me explore them heehe) forgive the grammar mistakes, this is literally written immediately without no proofcheck. :") AND uni is killing me a little bit, but some..treats in between the stress cause sob, i hope ur well <3)

tags: @yakov-vasilyev @wayhavenots @ambrosykim

The day isn't too busy for one apollo zarneki, he sits by the counter and went through his recent read. Something about the folkloric tales, and finally continuing his reading of the illiad that he borrows from his dad. The scribbles and annotations in the book was special, as he reads and did some quick research during his downtime at work.

To him, working at a bookstore feels equivalent to living a simple life. He adores being surrounded by books, and from time to time; he find it endearing seeing couples and group of friends come in to discuss the books in between the shelves and nooks of his tiny little haven.

There's always an old couple would sit by the window of the shop, they both can be seen reading together, spending their mundane time together. He always longed for a love like that, someone that shared the same interest in books as he does, to whispers sweet nothings in between the bookcases and reading in each other's grasp. A dream he always wanted to reach, as he saw the dream can be possible through her parents, Kent and Maia. They made his believe that love was real, yet when he's close to finding it everyone just wanted something lesser than him, and it made him stop believing at some point. But, he never stops wishing for it despite his twin keep teasing him about it.

He continue to read his book, only to hear some sighs in between the shelves. He wonders if he can lend a helping help, as the book was left upside down to the place where he left off and makes his way to the shelves. A particular shelve was his location, where he saw a stranger, looking quite stressed in finding a particular book from the shelves.

"may I help you?" He smiles politely, trying his best to help a customer in need. Thankfully the store is not as busy as it always is at the moment.

The customer turns around with a small smile, the demeanor he's giving off to Apollo was a shy quiet looking fellow. "I'm looking for a particular.. tale of Deucalion and Pyrrha. Some friends of mine recommended to come here since the selection is..a lot."

His eyebrows raised in surprise, that's the first he heard someone ever been so specific.

"Duecalion and Pyrrha? That's the first actually I've heard someone acknowledge their existence." He quips in surprise but not in a bad way, it's the best surprise.

The stranger just smiles at that suprised as well at finding someone who is familiar, "It's actually for my thesis, I'm writing on the folklorian myths of the Greek Gods."

Now he's intrigue, as the golden retriever boy says excitedly "god, that sounds amazing. I would love to read your thesis someday!" And then he realizes, he's too excited. He mentally scolds himself at that and smiles.

The stranger seems shy by the outbursts but presented a small smile, as Apollo notices and mentally scold himself again and again. "I am so sorry for the outburst, but I think I know what exactly you're looking for."

Apollo immediately grabs the ladder and climbs on top of the shelves grabbing a particular book, that was written specifically on that tale. He managed to befriend with most of the indie book publishers and many of them manage to give some of the rare copies to his shop.

"I believe this is the one you're looking for." He passed the book to the customer, who's smile widens at the sight of the book. It seems like he hit the jackpot. He wants to say something more, but he couldn't help noticing how in the midst of six billion people in the world, he met someone who actually has something in common with him. He has to say something, he have to!

"and by the way, I'm Apollo, and fun fact, was named by one of the Greek gods." He introduces himself with a funny looking grin, as the customer finds it quietly endearing but his reaction didn't give it away.

"I'm Ruslan." He says softly, a polite tone from him made Apollo smiles. The silence that follow was a bit awkward, but he couldn't help but want to know more about him but there's this fear of actually looking overbearing and terrified of scaring him away.

"nice to meet you ruslan, and hey let me check the book out for you." He says and leads Ruslan to the counter, where Apollo begins to do his duty of the cashier of the quiet bookshop alone, as Ruslan notices the books on his countertop. The Iliad and the tales of Orpheus and Eurydice, and this particular edition was limited.

He notices Ruslan eye-ing the books, and he smiles at that. "I am still half way through the Iliad, Homer had too much to talk about apparently." His words seems to poked fun and tease as he made Ruslan chuckle quietly.

"Homer's thoughts were unique, but some historian does question the authenticity of it." Ruslan adds seemingly an expert in the area of study, making Apollo smiles at the familiar knowledge.

He passes the paper bag, after putting some freebies and bookmarks from his shop as Ruslan pays. He gives him one last smile before he disappears from the store, leaving an awe-struck Apollo sighing happily. He maybe has found a new crush, which is quite early to tell. But he hopes someday their paths will cross again.

-

After his shift is over, he made his way back home to his parents for the weekend since his siblings are finally coming back home. Atlas is back from a backpacking trip in Spain, and Maria is back from college for the week. While his own twin, is also back from her abroad adventures for the semester holidays.

"you're late for dinner." Atlas says as Apollo steps in the house, earning greeting from Kent and Maia as well.

"Forgive me brother, there was a whole accident by the side of town. I had to take a detour." He says happily before sitting by his twin, before nudging her at the shoulder.

"miss me?" He prompts to Ari with a grin.

As she rolls her eyes, "Nope, I already missed the London air."

"Good to have you back too, sis." He says smiling as they all ate the food together as a family.

Once the night has grown late, the siblings decide to have a movie night of their own. He is tucked in within the blanket of the couch but his thoughts still follows the customer from earlier, he hoped his thesis went well. And their conversation keeps on replaying in mind.

"earth to apollo!" His thoughts were interrupted by Maria looking worried and a grinning Ariadne.

"you okay?" Maria asks softly, her hand squeezing his shoulder a little.

He quietly sighs, "you guys can see right through me huh?"

"of course, one of us got telepathic powers, and i literally live with you in the womb. So, we do." Ari says, nudging him a little.

Atlas observes his little brother for a moment before chuckling, "somebody's got quite a new infatuation huh?"

The younger one feels his cheeks redden, as the girls break into laughter. "Oh my god, you are crushing on someone!"

"I am not!" "You are so, who is this new fantasy man of yours huh? Didn't Rooney from last month supposed to be a good lesson mister?"

Apollo feels his cheeks redden, as Maria just gives him a quick squeeze. Despite everything, he knew his twin came from a kind spot, its just what they did. The banter.

"Okay fine, there's...this guy. He literally knows one of the rarest greek myths and he was so cute!" He exclaims excitedly and sighs, remembering their little encounter.

"and what's the myth about?" Maria voices squeak in between the conversation, all of the siblings are filled with curiosity at this point.

"Deucalion and Pyrrha!"

Maria's eyebrows perk in intrigue, "i remember that one, dad mentioned it years ago."

Apollo nods excitedly at that, "I mean, maybe he's one of the many that knew...but, something about him. I feel like I can burst into song right now."

Atlas just shakes his head at that, as Ari rolls her eyes at the enthusiasm.

"Well, did you even try to get his number?" The twin quips in curiosity, before apollo shakes his head.

"I..well, I didn't think it through and panicked, so I didn't."

Atlas pats his back at that, "hey, maybe one day; you'll meet him again. All that fate and stuff happened to me and Jaime, maybe another miracle can happen to you too."

Maria pushes a strand of her hair before smiling, agreeing what Atlas is saying. Ari seems to be reluctant to agree, "Do you really think the guy's legit? What if its just another repeat Rooney."

At the mention of the cursed name, he shives slightly.

"Rooney was straight up, forgive my language. An arsehole." Maria agrees, as the guy in Apollo's past used him most than actually loving him.

"I believe this time would be different...it feels, different." He whispers slightly optimistic in his voice at that. He didn't know what to feel, since he's not a mind reader, or a future reader unlike his sister. But, something about this new guy, screams much better than Rooney ever would be.

Ari stares at him a moment, and knows how he always be. The optimism in the little guy never died. "Fine, I'll wish as well for the mystery guy to return. And also, what was his name?"

"Ruslan." He announces to the rest and sighs, maybe it can be something or nothing. But, he'll never know if he never tries.

And then, it happened. Fate was written within them once more, when he sees his familiar form in between the shelves of the bookstore. This is a sign, a sign of something bigger and better.

The start of something new, better.

THE END.

#alya writes #ruslan x apollo #KAIA GEN FIC DEBUTED RAHHH #they are the friends to lovers #i love them #i love rus and apollo ahhhhhhhh

[daisyvisions]

Y’all want more book recommendations? Sure 👌

Haunting Adeline [Book order: Satan’s Affair, Haunting Adeline: Cat and Mouse duet book one and two]

Twisted Series [Book order: Twisted Love, Twisted Games, Twisted Hate, Twisted Lies]

It’s Ends With Us + It Starts With Us

The Spanish Love Deception

The Love Hypothesis

Shatter me series [total 9 books 🧍‍♀️]

By the book: A Novel of pros and cons

Icebreaker

Things we never got over

The silent patient

The cheat sheet

Sinners Anonymous

The Folk of the air (Book series order: The Cruel Prince, The Lost Sisters, The Wicked King, The Queen of nothing, I don’t remember the last one. Just search it up-)

The Island (Thriller)

The fine print (a series but haven’t read the other three yet :( I read this book also because I borrowed it from my friend. Books will make me come on streets someday)

A good girls guide to murder (Book 1)

Good girl, bad blood (Book 2)

As good as dead (Book 3)

Addicted to you

King of wrath

King of Pride

King of greed

November 9

Things we hide from the light

I feel like if y’all read even one of these books y’all will get this unhealthy craze for books. My first book was Twisted Love and I never stopped since then. And my first book was also a smut one so 🐒👍.

Buying books can get really expensive so make sure you manage your budget 😭

I LOVE THIS thank you so much!! 😭 I'm definitely gonna start reading soon 💕

#book recs

[stay-dazed]

bookworm

i’m so glad to be a bookworm. something i owe to my mom who tried her best to raise me as such. she gave to me more than a child could ever ask for, such as a large bookshelf packed with various books, even before i could actually read. and once i did learn, i was unstoppable as it became my lifelong special interest. i was known for having my face pressed into a book most of the time and often i got into trouble at school for being so distracted. i didn’t really care though. i was just happy to switch books at the library quicker than the other kids did.

by age 9 i was so influenced by books that i wanted to publish one myself. i’ve written many stories over the years, and while i have other goals i’m working towards at the moment, i still hold on to my dream of becoming a published author someday.

honestly, i’m comforted by having come from a line of bookish women. my grandma spent years of her life collecting all sorts of books, most of them antique by now. she collected until she made a mini library of her home. walk down the hall and you’ll pass a couple stacks of books seated on the floor. whenever i visit my grandparents i look through a section of the books, hoping to find something new to borrow. my favorite find was the art of food by claire clifton, which i still have sitting on my own bookshelf now.

my mom has fond memories of buying her favorite book series as a child - the black stallion by walter farley - and finishing books in a day. we try to find time to settle in a cafe and just read our separate books for a little while. my aunt used to carry a bag with her that was filled simply with books, which i started to do myself with an old virginia woolf tote bag mom handed down to me. my aunt and i love to talk on our commute to work about the books we’re reading, want to read, and books we recommend to one another. i’m so grateful to share a passion like this with my family. we also love various art forms, animals, gardening, and music, but books have stuck with us the most.

actually i just had a book arrive in the mail a couple days ago, one i’ve been wanting for a long while now - all quiet on the western front by erich remarque. i’m on the fourth chapter and i love it, which is new for me as i don’t generally like war movies or books. it’s just so poetic in how it describes the emotions war brings on young men. it’s sitting next to me on my bed right now, with a stack of sticky notes i use to mark my favorite pages on top.

to get so lost in a book that the emotions it evokes leave you just pondering for a few minutes at the end, wondering what to do next, to hold a book in hand and enjoy the feeling and even the smell of it, to explain books you love to another person. it’s just the best feeling in the world. i’m beginning thinking i should start a bookish instagram to show book hauls, reviews, and recommendations. i don’t know, i might just do it.

#original post #text post #photos from pinterest #positivity #safe space #aesthetic #sfw only #comfy #cozy #books #bookblr #books and reading #bookworm #bookish #book girl #special interest #positive vent #non kpop post #misc posts

[hungrydolphin91]

@v-voeux RIGHT so. This is gonna be MASSIVE spoilers for my ongoing post-game Zestiria fic Falling Awake, that one i started over a year ago that Nash made beautiful art of ;_; I still have plans to finish it someday, but currently I'm struggling because there's 11 characters I'm trying to juggle at the same time 😅 not to mention I haven't played zesty in a while, so some the scenes I'm trying to write feel a little stale or unfocused. I WILL come back to it though I SWEAR I wanna finish this story because this premise drives me insane hhhhh

I kinda lied in the fic tags calling it a berzesty crossover because it's much more Zestiria-focused than Berseria, set in zesty post-game in a world where humans can suddenly see both seraphim and hellions which causes lots of problems (not to plug my own work but I would recommend reading what's been posted so far, the text itself can do a much better job emotionally conveying the context than I can here). Mikleo in particular is struggling ('cause that's what we're here for, mikleo angst 😅) because their former group is falling apart over various issues, such as a lack of purification powers/Shepherd and whether it's ethical to kill hellions/dragons since basically no one has the ability to purify them anymore. Mikleo is lonely, desperate, and depressed, but he's still holding out for some kind of long-term solution to the malevolence hidden in the past, when humans and seraphim coexisted.

And while's he's researching he discovers the true nature of a powerful but long-forgotten Empyrean, Innominat, who has been sealed away inside the earthpulse. He takes the steps needed to free him, and is rewarded by being immediately devoured. RIP.

Except the twist is that he fucking planned this. I took the idea of Empyreans being influenced by the souls that are sacrificed to them and ran with it so Mikleo DELIBERATELY fed himself to a god in order to reincarnate as said god (kinda similar to his seraphic rebirth actually), and with the powers of an Empyrean he'd be able to cleanse the land's malevolence himself and Sorey could awaken.

EXCEPT it's not quite enough yet. Innominat is a forgotten Empyrean so no humans are giving him their prayers and therefore he is much weaker than he was in Berseria. So despite Meebominat devouring as much malevolence as he can for now, it's not gonna be enough to really purify anything unless he gets even more powerful.

It's worth noting that up until this point, Mikleo hasn't really done anything amoral yet, other than traumatizing Zaveid who witnessed his 'murder' and letting the others think he's evil 'cause he doesn't expect them to be onboard for his plan. He fights the others when they confront him but he always leaves them alive because he doesn't want to hurt them, he just wants them out of the way. His goal is to find Sorey again and more importantly, Maotelus.

At the same time as Innomeebo's galavanting around and dealing with his angry friends, Sorey and Maotelus wake up because Maotelus has sensed Innominat's awakening and wants to personally stop him. They depart from their own pocket of Earthpulse on borrowed time (not canon compliant but who cares fight me) in order to track him down or at least warn someone that he's a threat, because few alive today even know who he is, much less how dangerous his return is.

A bunch of things I have yet to write happen but ultimately Sorey and Mikleo end up reunited, initially delighted to see each other again until Sorey starts to realize Mikleo's domain is on par with an Empyrean, maybe the exact Empyrean he was looking for actually. Sorey starts to doubt whether he can even trust Mikleo or if this is just Innominat wearing his face to torment him. Meebominat, meanwhile, is arguing firmly that yes, it's really him, and he doesn't have any of Innominat's old evil plans for the world like the Ceremony of Suppression. He really does want to save the world. He just needs to devour Maotelus first-- after all, Maotelus is a part of Innominat, and with their powers combined and consolidated he should be able to purify the world fully.

Cue Sorey's sort of BSOD moment, trying to figure out if this is all a lie, somewhat swayed by the logic of it since Maotelus wouldn't even technically die, he'd just become a part of Innominat like Mikleo already has. But Maotelus absolutely does not want this (picture lil babby Laphicet telling Innomeebo to fuck off) and of course Sorey doesn't want to sacrifice one person, even if it would save the world. But now he's not sure if he has to stop and maybe kill Mikleo to save Maotelus, or if he can actually be reasoned with and saved somehow.

Eventually Sorey gets the idea to solve this problem the way he addressed the last major antagonist he came up against: get to the truth of the matter, using the Earthen Historia. He witnesses for himself what led Mikleo to this point of voluntarily sacrificing himself to gain power, and comes to the heartbreaking conclusion that this is, in fact, pure Mikleo, genuinely asking him to hand over Maotelus so he can eat him.

Again it's worth noting that Mikleo is motivated by more than just loneliness and longing to see Sorey again, although that's a big part of it. He's confident in his own abilities to be in charge and ambitious enough to embrace Empyrean levels of power. He's seen how much the world is suffering and wants to change that and fulfill the dream the two once shared. But Sorey's own words ("My dream will live on, so long as I don't forget,") are part of what inspired him to do this, though twisted through his own lens of desperation, and that's how Sorey realizes Mikleo WILL still listen to him. Mikleo has the power to fight and maybe take Maotelus by force, but he doesn't. Even if he's not consciously aware of it, he's handed over his moral compass to Sorey, and as long as Sorey approved of his actions, they'd all be worth it, no matter who was hurt along the way.

So of course Sorey doesn't approve, because he can't let Mikleo down even though he's begging him to. Mikleo is heartbroken and for a second Sorey worries he might lash out after all, but he doesn't, because Mikleo trusts Sorey more than anything else including himself. He willingly surrenders Innominat's power using the deus ex machina that is Siegfried, all while utterly grieving the eventual parting that's coming, since ultimately nothing has been fixed and Sorey will still have to go to sleep.

And that's the emotional climax of the story, the part that drives me insane every time I reread it 😅 I have ideas for more to follow afterward, hopefully a happier ending because even I hate to leave Mikleo exactly where he started after how far he went to change things, but between the confusing, inconsistent lore of berzesty and the endless possibilities of endings here I am once again overwhelmed. Thanks for reading this far though, I hope my sormik angst was to your taste 😄

#fan fic #tales of zestiria spoilers #i'd share my outline and WIPs for this story but that google doc is literally the messiest document i have ever made in my life 😅 #thank you for asking about this though i have so many ideas for stories and such little executive function to actually create them ;_; #and im too shy to just throw my ideas out here unprompted im like a vampire i need an invitation 😂

[richincolor]

Title: Goddess Crown Author: Shade Lapite Genres: Fantasy, Romance Pages: 276 Publisher: Candlewick Press Review Copy: Provided by publisher Availability: Available now

Summary: In this thrilling Afro-fantasy, the first set in the lush, opulent kingdom of Galla, a girl raised in secret must leave her sheltered rural home for the subtle dangers of the royal court, where she becomes caught up in deadly power struggles and romantic intrigue.

Kalothia has grown up in the shadows of her kingdom, hidden away in the forested East after her parents were outed as enemies of the king. Raised in a woodland idyll by a few kindly adult caretakers, Kalothia can hunt and fish and fend for herself but knows little of the outside world. When assassins attack her home on her sixteenth birthday, she must flee to the king’s court in the West—a beautiful but lethal nest of poison, plots, and danger, overseen by an entrenched patriarchy. Guided by the Goddess herself, can Kalothia navigate this most worldly of places to find her own role? What if she must choose between her country and her heart? Excitement, romance, and a charismatic heroine shine in this first book set in the unforgettable kingdom of Galla.

Review: [Most of the action in Goddess Crown happens in a sexist, patriarchal kingdom, to the extent that there are multiple mentions of women not being taught to read, customarily don’t travel by themselves, and are not meant to lead due to religious precepts. Forced marriage is a late-book plot point as well.]

Shade Lapite’s Goddess Crown is a fast-paced fantasy book that starts off will some well-loved hero tropes (family secrets, a doomed hometown, animal companion, etc.) but quickly expands its scope and world building once Kalothia is forced into the wider world. Kalothia is a fun protagonist, and her determination to seek justice is a major driver for the overall plot. I liked exploring the kingdom of Galla from her point of view, even if what Kalothia encountered was difficult to deal with.

The sexism in the patriarchal kingdom of Galla is a pervasive plot point. The author generally does a good job of avoiding the “not like other girls” trope with Kalothia, who has several moments where she encounters women/girls in Galla who are surprised by her traveling alone or being able to read. Kalothia doesn’t look down on them or act condescending to them but is instead consistently frustrated with the men who are enforcing the system via religion. She is determined to do what she can in spite of the role she is supposed to have in society. There are some sexist villains who rise to the level of cartoonish, which can become tiring, but the Goddess herself gives readers some hope that things in Galla will change (slowly) with Kalothia’s help. That said, there are very few (alive) female characters of significance in the book, and with how fast-paced the book is, there’s little time to develop most of them.

The book is a very fast read. New obstacles spring up and are dealt with so quickly that I found myself wishing multiple times that there were fewer of them so that we could dig deeper into the major ones. The cave sequence and trial, for example, were over so quickly that they felt anticlimactic. I also wished Kalothia spent far more time with Bukki and Nahir on the page so that I could appreciate their relationships more. Despite this, Kalothia’s relationship with Nahir still hit enough romantic beats that I was willing to buy in to the couple’s development. Ultimately, I think the scope of this book deserved a hundred more pages; I hope the other books set in Galla will have more space to breathe.

Recommendation: Borrow it someday if you’re a fan of fantasy. Author Shade Lapite has built an interesting world, but the fast pace of the overall storyline didn’t leave much room to dive deep into the kingdom or many of the characters. There is a lot of promise here in Goddess Crown, and I hope that future installments give readers a chance to get to know more characters better.

Extras: Author Chat with Shade Lapite (Goddess Crown)

Building an African Fantasy World for Goddess Crown

Read The First Chapter of ‘Goddess Crown’ by Shade Lapite

#goddess crown #shade lapite #fantasy #romance #recommendation: borrow it someday

[iviarellereads]

The Plan, Such As It Is

tl;dr: System Collapse finishes the Murderbot series on Christmas. Last week of the year is a break, and then it's the Wheel of Time with likely between-book breaks for one-offs or shorter series, and someday maybe Alecto the Ninth.

I had a great time watching Desert Bus, and helping with the VST documenting and editing and uploading clips of the process of raising over a million dollars (over ten million in the lifetime of the event!) for a good cause. A most excellent week of "restoring my faith in humanity". But that's a little beside the point of this post.

I also got my hands on System Collapse, but because of how my brain works, I won't be reading it ahead, so we're going to have lots of fun as I read it for the first time in the format of the blog. Let's see if my style changes, if my predictions are well on or off the mark. (I have seen a few posts that spoiled a few moments and character bits, but I'm not concerned about those. I rarely feel like learning things that happen "ruins" anything about an experience anyway. If the story's well told, it's still fun to experience for myself.)

After System Collapse, well, that's the end of Murderbot to-date. And, I haven't run any polls for covering other things. That's because I'm pretty well set on rereading the Wheel of Time series, and revising my previous notes to this format.

It's something I could keep putting off, but the show has gotten so good, and it reminds me of all the things about the books that I loved so much (and how the show is fixing some things I didn't love). I'll also be very excited to do full-series spoiler posts again, Murderbot didn't have a lot that I felt needed commenting on, but the Wheel? Oh, buddy.

But, the caveat here is that the Wheel of Time has, well, fifteen very large books. Eleven thousand pages, over four million words. Coverage would take about three years if I didn't take breaks for other books in between, and I definitely will, so we're gonna be here for a while. I've said before that I was hesitant to cover Discworld for this, and I still am. Discworld has over forty books just in the main series besides the spinoffs, with a comparable total wordcount to WoT. Several of those, I have negative interest in ever rereading. Even if they're largely shorter than WoT bricks, they're also trickier to split, and I won't have as much context to share about them that isn't available elsewhere already. Whereas, the Wheel of Time lacks a lot of spoiler-free resources in print, despite the series being almost 35 years old. There was a huge influx of podcast coverage once the show publicity ramped up, but not so much blog style content. The few prologues and chapters that do need splitting, I've already calculated out from the first time I took the notes.

Mind you, I will be finding time for Alecto the Ninth coverage when Tamsyn Muir finally graces us with her presence, I'll just take a break between whichever WoT books I'm up to by then. And if something else strikes my fancy, I might alternate books. Like, making it through the Eye of the World might scratch the itch well enough, and make me want to dig into the Princess Bride as I threatened to once before, or perhaps when I reach my least favourite sequence of books in the middle, I'll alternate them with the His Dark Materials trilogy, though probably not its supplementary later materials because I'm still refusing to read the Book of Dust.

I totally understand if folks who followed me for other stuff want to jump ship when my WoT coverage starts. I love and can recommend it with some massive content notes and caveats which will be in my intro post for it, but it's not for everyone and treating it like a universal joy is nonsense. But, especially if you can get a library borrow of the first book, whether you get it in print or ebook or either of the incredible audiobook narrations (the full series by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading, or the first three are now available narrated by Rosamund Pike, who plays the character of Moiraine Sedai on the show), I hope you'll give it a try with me, and my analysis and commentary might help pull you into a series that's otherwise quite intimidating.

So, System Collapse will finish posting on Christmas, I think I'll take the last week of the year as a breather, and the Wheel of Time will kick off my 2024. I hope you'll consider sticking around and reading with me, especially my Locked Tomb girlies because I've said it before and I'll say it again, these two stories have SO much in common, hashtag Women's Wrongs and unreliable narrators. And, I am gonna try to break it up every so often since these are LONG books, most of them have 40+ chapters so will be two months apiece. But either way, if I'm gonna follow my heart, it's gotta be next.

#blog housekeeping

[bookwyrminspiration]

hi! 1. i have been on the road for hours but am finally getting close to home and oh man quil it is so good to see all the familiar landmarks and foliage again, i forgot how absolutely homesick i was but this is such a place to be homesick for, and 2. this is not about found family AND i still haven't. actually finished the entire series really so i don't even know how satisfactory the ending is (or if i've already recommended it haha) but the false prince, which is part of the ascendance series, might be a fun read for you! i remember reading tgl for the first time and the main character's Voice reminded me SO MUCH of sage, the mc from that book, that i had to sit down and check if the authors were the same (they were not). it's abt this orphan kid who gets kidnapped so he can compete w a handful of other boys to impersonate the late prince who had been killed years ago and become a, i think it's called a puppet ruler? for some guy. it is EXTREME amounts of fun from what i remember of it haha--my brother and i didn't know there were other books until like this year though, which sucks because it's like!!!! i think like four other books!!! that's so wild!!! it was one of our favorites!!! so i mean it's your choice if u would ever read the entire series bc i can't guarantee the quality of it but i genuinely love the entire tone of the first book it's just so well done :)

Hello! 1. I am so so glad for you--when I was coming home a couple weeks ago it was so nice to see the streets and know where we were, how the traffic flowed, the kinds of stops and lights you'd find, the way's the streets looked. In CA it was so green everywhere and I was just like. what the fuck where are my Rocks and Dirt and why do we have to take so many uturns. wishing you pleasant dreams back in your own place with your own food and clothes and atmosphere <3

2. !!! I have that series!! I own the first three--though I think my sister's had the first book for a few years, because she borrowed it a while back and never gave it back. same with the lightning thief. and I didn't realize until like a year ago that there's a book 4 + 5 now, so I haven't finished the series either. I actually. Don't know if I ever read past book 1--I think I started book 2, but stopped a few chapters in? I can't say for certain because it was so long ago--I read the false prince almost a decade ago, in elementary school for battle of the books, so I've forgotten nearly everything.

And I remember I really loved the voice as well! I might've even stopped partway into book 2 because the voice didn't feel the same, but again. it's been a while. I remember very little except for the final twist, with the fools gold thing. But I know elementary me was blown off her fucking feet with that I was SO astonished and blind-sided.

But!! Because I own books 2 + 3 but haven't finished them, I do fully intend to reread the false prince at some point in the future so I can read those! on my quest to read all the books I own! so while I can't have any meaningful conversation about any of it (i forgot his name was sage, for example...), I will be able to someday!! i don't know if I've ever seen anyone else talk about or mention the series--and I didn't know that was its name--so very cool that you have!

#the false prince #the ascendance series #but apparently multiple tags are in use that are popping up. huh #quil's queries #soryasongsaa #i cannot say for certain on this either. but my copy of the false prince might be signed...? #i'd check but like I said. it's on my sisters shelf rn #but I do know for certain I've heard the author speak at least once. maybe twice #she visited my elementary school #but I don't know if little me got the book signed or not #alas #i also don't remember anything she said because. elementary school age #long post

[samwisethewitch]

If You Have a Uterus, You Need to Read This Book

A Woman's Book of Choices: Abortion, Menstrual Extraction, RU-486 by Rebecca Chalker and Carol Downer was recommended to me by a friend the day after the news broke that the US Supreme Court was voting to overturn Roe v. Wade and eliminate federal abortion protections. She knew that, like a lot of people, I was scared and wanted to prepare myself for a post-Roe future. She had found A Woman's Book of Choices at a library and suggested I also give it a try.

I am so, so thankful to that friend, because I can honestly say that this is one of the most informative books I've ever read. There is some fantastic information in here, so I definitely want to put this resource on more people's radar. This is, as the title of this post suggests, a book I think everyone with a uterus should read.

My biggest complaint isn't actually about the book itself, but its publisher: they've allowed A Woman's Book of Choices to go out of print. In fact, it's so out of print it's entered rare book territory.

I wasn't even able to find used copies of this book online. Usually, even if a book is rare, I'm able to track down a few (very expensive) copies for resale on sites like Ebay, AbeBooks, ThriftBooks, etc. And I found this book so valuable, I might actually have been willing to cough up a couple hundred dollars for a physical copy. But there are no copies to be had. Literally. You can't even pay $200+ for a beat-up paperback.

Luckily, I was able to find a digital version of A Woman's Book of Choices on Scribd. That's great for me, because I already pay for a Scribd subscription. It's not so great for people who can't afford or don't want to pay the $10/month subscription fee. But I will say this -- Scribd offers a free trial and allows you to download books and documents. Do with that information what you will.

My local library also didn't have a copy. Neither did any of the colleges and universities in my area. However, I know some libraries have copies, and you can probably get it through an inter-library loan. You may also be able to electronically borrow a digital version. I know it's on archive.org, for example.

(I've also posted my own notes on A Woman's Book of Choices on my blog, sort of like my own personal CliffsNotes. Feel free to check that out.)

It may require a little bit of digging, but if you can get your hands on a copy, this is one of the most important books you'll ever read. There is information in here that may literally save a life someday, especially as states start to ban and restrict access to abortion. (Could that be part of the reason it's so hard to find now? Maybe.)

A Woman's Book of Choices really does address ALL of the choices for terminating an unwanted pregnancy. There's a chapter on how to find a good abortion provider if you live in a place where abortion is legal and a chapter on standards for abortion care. There's a couple of chapters on menstrual extraction (ME), which is not technically an abortion procedure but which can prevent unwanted pregnancies. There's a chapter on abortion with pills and a chapter on herbal remedies.

There's even a few places where the authors talk about the history of the reproductive justice movement and about how unwanted pregnancies were handled before Roe v. Wade. There's also multiple discussions of abortion law and of where different home-health methods like ME and herbs fall on the spectrum of probably-legal to almost-definitely-illegal.

It really is everything you've ever wanted to know (or didn't necessarily want to know but felt like you should know) about abortion.

There is A LOT of information in here. While the authors are very clear that this is not a "how-to" guide, they do provide a lot of detailed descriptions, research, and anecdotes -- including very clear and detailed descriptions of suction aspiration abortion, menstrual extraction, medication abortion, and even an herbal abortion (though this last comes with a lot of health warnings). They also provide resources where you could learn to do some of these things, like menstrual extraction, yourself. There's even medical textbook-style diagrams!

My biggest complaint about the book itself is that the section on herbal abortions only lists herbs by their common name and doesn't include a botanical name. This may seem like a nitpick, but when you're talking about the medicinal uses of herbs, it's really important to be as clear as possible. For example, "mistletoe" could refer to any of several plants in the Santalales order, some of which are poisonous. Botanical names would have made this section much more helpful.

Obviously, some of the information is bound to be outdated in a book published almost exactly 30 years ago, especially when that book is about medical procedures. For example, in 1992 RU-486 (now more commonly known as mifepristone) was a new technology that was only available in some European countries and hadn't been around long enough to study long term side effects. As I write this in 2022, mifepristone is one of the most commonly used abortion methods, and is statistically safer than Tylenol. About 50% of the abortions performed in the United States use mifepristone and misoprostol. Because this method is so safe, the FDA has approved its use at home without medical supervision, which makes this one of the best options for people who need to keep their abortion private.

The resources listed in the book, which were probably very exhaustive and very helpful in the 90's, are significantly less helpful now. Several of the groups mentioned in the "Information Networks" chapter are no longer active, and some of the books in the "Suggested Reading" section are out of print.

Another way this book shows its age is in the use of gendered language. The authors refer to abortion as a "women's issue" and regularly use "woman" to refer to any person seeking an abortion. Even the title, "A Woman's Book of Choices" implies that the issues discussed in this book only affect women.

In the early 1990s, abortion was very much seen as a (cisgender) women's issue. However, nowadays we're more aware of and comfortable talking about the reality that not everyone who wants or needs an abortion is a woman. A person seeking an abortion may be a cis woman, or they may be a trans man, nonbinary, genderfluid or genderqueer, or intersex. For this reason, pro-choice activists today tend to use more gender-neutral language, like saying "pregnant person" instead of "pregnant woman."

I think this is less a case of intentional transphobia on the part of the authors and more a case of language changing over time. Maybe someday we'll get an updated version of this book or one like it that talks about abortion through a specifically trans lens, but until then, a lot of this information is still relevant to people with uteruses who do not identify as women.

And finally, the authors of A Woman's Book of Choices could never have predicted the level and type of technology we would have at our fingertips in 2022, or the danger that would come with it. They never could have predicted smart phones, webcams, or location tracking. These technologies have drastically changed the way we relate to our bodies, and they pose new risks to people living in anti-abortion states.

Period tracking apps are a great example of this. Today, a lot of people use smart phone apps to track their cycle -- but those apps track your data, which could be used to prove you had an abortion. Add this to the fact that your smart phone continuously broadcasts your location through Wi-Fi, cellular data, and Bluetooth, and law enforcement can not only tell that you've had an abortion, but where and when you probably had it, all from your phone. If you live in a place where abortion is criminalized, as it is under new Texas laws, law enforcement can use data from a period tracking app like Flo (which has already been busted for selling data) to determine that you missed a period, then use location tracking to confirm that you visited a clinic in another state.

Obviously, the authors of A Woman's Book of Choices couldn't have warned against using period tracking apps or advised people not to bring their smart phones to abortion appointments, because those technologies didn't exist when this book was written. (Seriously though, if you live in a state with anti-abortion laws, delete your period tracking apps. You can track your cycle fairly easily with a notebook or calendar. And please do not take your phone to an out-of-state abortion.)

My point here is that, although this book is a great resource, it shouldn't be the end of your pro-choice education. Keep reading the news. Familiarize yourself with the law and its loopholes.  

But A Woman's Book of Choices is an excellent beginning to your pro-choice education. And for that, I really can't recommend it highly enough.

#long post #book review #book rec #book recommendations #feminist books #feminist literature #pro choice #abortion #abortion rights #abortion resources #abortion access #reproductive justice #reproductive freedom #radical feminism #terfs dni #terfs fuck off #activism #feminist activism #pro choice activism #us politics #politics #book #books #favorite books #carol downer #rebecca chalker #menstrual extraction #menstrual regulation #birth control #my writing

[karnaca78]

Do you think you'll ever try Hollow Knight? The plot is not as deep as Bloodborne's, I think, but It's a great game regardless.

Hi!

Actually, I have tried it (twice) and went quite far the first time. I think I'm stuck against Hornet in Kingdom's Edge, but it's been a while.

It is a great game though, however bad I am at it. I don't like its lore as much as I do Bloodborne's, but it's still extermely well-crafted and unique enough. The atmosphere (visuals, colors and music in particular) is incredible. I like how it borrows from Souls games' elusive narration, providing next to no answers as you delve deeper and deeper into the caves of Hallownest. I guess Hollow Knight has been, in some way, my introduction to the genre.

Thinking about it; I find it even more unsettling than Bloodborne because of how seemingly cute and inoffensive it looks on the surface.

Perhaps I'll pick it up again someday, even though I struggled quite a lot with its controls back then. Haven't gotten very far in my second attempt, and Bloodborne is currently challenging me. But I'm pretty sure finishing it would be worth it.

Thank you for the recommendation regardless!

#ask answered #anonymous asks #thanks for the ask!

[nought-shall-go-ill]

Well-Spoken Woman!

Certainly, Anna!

A Well-Spoken Woman is Jily from the POV of Euphemia. Euphemia, despite also having received prejudice across her lifetime, is far more uncertain of Lily’s muggleborn heritage than she first appears.

I love this fic, and I think it has a lot to say, but it deals with some incredibly sensitive topics that I’m just not sure I’m ready to fully tackle yet. I hope to get back to it someday but not likely for a few months. Nonetheless, here’s a snippet I don’t entirely hate:

“Oh, you do know how to make your old mother happy, James.” She threaded her arm through his and he took it enthusiastically, like the gentleman she hoped she’d raised. “You know, I have plenty for you to borrow: Kipling, Waugh, Dickens, and of course, our darling Henry James.”

“What about James Baldwin? Harper Lee?” He wiggled a little under her arms. “My err… friends have recommended these.”

Friends, indeed. Why did these boys struggle to be so open?

“Friends? A lady friend, perhaps, James?”

“Well, yeah, but she’s just a friend, Mum.”

There was that almost blush again…

“Is it that smart girl Lily again?”

His head dipped in a nod, and she thought of how much she had learnt from Fleamont. How much — she hoped — he had learnt from her. Their perfect home home filled with Potions and literature. Each encouraging the other to be the best. Inspiring from time to time too. It was only right to want the very same for her son.

“She must be a whizz at Muggle Studies,” Euphemia said encouragingly, eager to hear more.

James laughed. It was an earnest, loud laugh.

“She doesn’t need to be, Mum. She’s Muggleborn.”

Somewhere off in the distance there was the humming sirens of a Muggle ambulance.

“Oh.” Euphemia’s hands suddenly felt a little clammy. “How nice.”

“Don’t go getting ideas, though, Mum. She really is just a friend.”

“Of course, darling,” she replied. But James spoke about her all the way to the tea shop anyway.

(Btw, so sorry this took so long. Most of this fic is written down by hand at the moment and I’d rather share from there, so I had to find a time to type this out.)

#WIP game #a well-spoken women #oh I both can’t wait and am terrified to share this full fic with you all #thank you though anna! it was nice to see I don’t entirely despise what I’ve currently got