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nellasbookplanet · 3 months

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Book recs: the evil fungi did it

We all know of The Last of Us, but that franchise isn't the only example of fungal invasions. We've got zombies and apocalypses, we've got gothic horror, we've got fantasy, we've got romance, we've got space - no genre is safe from having their characters become the home of fungal organisms.

For more details on the books, continue under the readmore. Titles marked with * are my personal favorites. And as always, feel free to share your own recs in the notes!

If you want more book recs, check out my masterpost of rec lists!

The Girl with all the Gifts (The Girl with All the Gifts series) by M.R. Carey

Want another fungal zombie apocalypse? Then I come bearing great news! The Girl with All the Gifts is a post apocalyptic novel following a group of characters fleeing across an infested wasteland, trying to stay alive and hoping to find a cure. One of the characters is Melanie, a young girl who carries the contagion inside of her and hungers for flesh, but like many children of the apocalypse has kept her humanity. Is she and children like her the answer to the cure we are looking for? Or are they the start of something entirely new? This book has also been adapted as a movie!

Cold Storage by David Koepp*

Years ago, a quickly growing fungal organism capable of wiping out humanity came dangerously close to spreading. It was contained and kept in cold storage underneath a military repository. Since then, a larger storage facility has been built on top, the dangers on the lower floor being largely forgotten. That is, until it makes a new attempt at escape. Now, two unsuspecting security guards might be all that stands in the way of complete extermination. This book is both funny and genuine in its characters, and genuinely creepy in its portrayal of body horror.

Salvaged by Madeline Roux

Rosalyn Devar is on the run from her famous family, and has run so far she ended up in space. Now she works as a "space janitor", being sent off to clean up the remains of failed research expeditions. But in trying to cope with her problems, she has fucked up on her job multiple times, and is now close to losing her position. Her last chance is the Brigantine: a research vessel gone silent, all crew presumed dead. But when she arrives to salvage it, Rosalyn discovers the crew isn't as dead as presumed. But are they still human - and will Rosalyn be able to keep her own humanity?

The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed

Novella. Reid is a young woman living in a small community after a climate collapse. Resources are scarce, but Reid's biggest problem is Cad, a mind-altering fungal parasite that lives inside her body. When she is offered a rare chance at attending a far-away university in a secluded dome community, Reid must decide whether to leave or stay to help support her community.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia*

Noemí Taboada is a glamorous and well-off young woman, but when she receives a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin, Noemí must leave her glamorous life and travel to find out what is wrong. As she arrives at High Place, a mansion on the Mexican countryside, Noemí is met with mysteries and her cousin's new English family. As she tries to find out the truth behind High Place and its inhabitants, Noemí's only ally is the youngest son of the family. But will she be able to find out what so scared her cousin before it's too late for all of them?

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

A young pregnant woman flees a cult that left her body strange and changing in terrifying ways. Hiding from both a world wanting to oppress her and the cult seeking to force her back, she does her best to raise her children while trying to find out the truth of the cult and being pursued by a hunter in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. Bleak and scary, Sorrowland is a book that will creep under your skin with horrors both fantastical and very, very real.

What Moves the Dead (Sworn Soldier duology) by T. Kingfisher

Novella. Alex Easton, retired soldier, travels to visit their childhood friends, siblings Madeline and Roderick Usher, after finding out that Madeline is dying. In the siblings' rural, ancestral home, Madeline walks in her sleep and looks to be fading away, while around it wildlife seems to be possessed by a strange force. With the help of a mycologist and an American doctor, Alex attempts to save Madeline and reveal the truth of her illness.

Wanderers (Wanderers duology) by Chuck Wendig

A strange illness has struck the United States: with no warning, random people with seemingly no connection simply get up and start walking. They do not eat, do not sleep, do not communicate, and they do not stop - and if you try to force them, they literally explode from the inside. Teenaged Shana isn't one of these sleepwalkers, but her little sister is. Unwilling to leave her sister on her own, Shana accompanies the growing flock of walkers, protecting them as one of many "shepherds". And this protection proves necessary, as the sleepwalkers is only the first step toward what might very well be the extinction of the human race. An 800 page epic, Wanderers is a slowburn apocalypse story with a multitude pov characters and plot threads, from fungal pandemics and all-knowing AI to the all too real portrayal of radicalization and bigotry.

The Dawnhounds (The Endsong series) by Sascha Stronach

The Dawnhounds is a book where you just kind of have to let the story and the world wash over you. It skirts the line of scifi and fantasy, with a futuristic world of environmentally friendly mushroom houses and deadly fungi bio weapons next to literally god-given superpowers and near-immortality. It’s really cool and unlike anything else I’ve ever read, but also a bit confusing. Bonus: it’s also sapphic!

Agents of Dreamland (Tinfoil Dossier trilogy) by Caitlín R. Kiernan

Novella. A government agent known only as the Signalman; a cult preying on the young and vulnerable, promising to usher in a new age; a woman who exists outside of time, searching for a way to save humanity. Agents of Dreamland is short, but includes many spooky elements, among them an alien and possibly world-ending fungi. The narrative is non-linear and a bit strange, but also fascinating.

The Genius Plague by David Walton

Soon after landing his dream job at the NSA, things get weird for Neil Johns. His brother Paul, a mycologist, returns from a trip to the Amazon, carrying a nearly lethal fungal infection and a strangely sharpened mind. At work, Neil starts picking up mysterious messages originating out of South America, where cases similar to that of Paul starts occurring. And strangest of all: all the infected seem to be working towards the same goal. Recommended with the caveat that, while the fungal stuff is really cool, The Genius Plague is also happy to idolize American intelligent agencies and demonize environmentalism and anti-imperialism.

Little Mushroom: Judgement Day (Little Mushroom duology) by Shisi

An Zhe isn’t human. He’s a mushroom who absorbed the DNA of a dying man, allowing him to take on human guise and leave the wilderness. Entering one of the last human bases, a place struggling to keep out the mutated and dangerous creatures of the wilds, An Zhe must keep his identity secret as he searches for something which was taken from him. While not my cup of tea (frankly, I need more female characters), Little Mushroom is an undeniably unique m/m romance novel.

Bonus AKA these don't technically involve any fungi but have similar vibes of parasites and nature corrupting the human

Parasite (Parasitology trilogy) by Mira Grant*

In the near future, a great leap in medical science has improved human health by leaps and bounds: a genetically engineered tape worm. Within a few years, almost every human has their own personal parasite implanted. But now, something is happening to the parasites - they want more, whether their hosts want to share or not.

Annihilation (Southern Reach trilogy) by Jeff Vandermeer

For decades, Area X has been completely cut off from humanity. The only ones to enter are small organized expeditions, many of which never return, or return... wrong. We follow the latest expedition, its participants known only as the anthropologist, the psychologist, the surveyor, and our narrator, the biologist. As they enter into Area X to try to find out its secrets, only one thing is for sure: they will never be the same again.

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Young adult. Over a year ago, the Raxter School for Girls was hit by the Tox, a strange disease that killed off many and left the survivors' bodies slowly changing in terrifying ways. The island the school is on has been in quarantine since then, and the girls dare not leave the school grounds lest they become victims of wild animals changed by the Tox. But as they wait for the promised cure, one of the girls goes missing, and her friends are willing to do anything to find her. Unsettling, spooky, and sapphic, this is a unique read featuring body horror and messy, dangerous girls.

(Second) Bonus AKA I haven't read these yet but they seem really cool

City of Saints and Madmen (Ambergris trilogy) by Jeff Vandermeer

Ambergris, a city created by a mushroom-like people, is now the home of humans, but the original inhabitants are still there, residing beneath the city.

Creatures of Want and Ruin (Diabolist's Library series) by Molly Tanzer

It’s the prohibition era, and while Ellie does fishing during the day, at night she bootlegs moonshine in Long Island. But unbeknownst to Ellie, some of the booze she smuggles has a strange source: distilled from mushrooms by a cult, it causes those who drink it to see terrible things, such as the the destruction of Long Island.

Bloom by Wil McCarthy

The inner solar system has been overtaken by fast-reproducing, fast-mutating technogenic life. Humanity has fled to the outer solar system, hiding beneath the ice of Jupiter's moon, but even here they aren't safe from possible incursion of mycospores, which lead to deadly blooms. Now a group of astronauts venture back to an infected Earth.

#the girl with all the gifts #cold storage #salvaged #the annual migration of clouds #mexican gothic #sorrowland #what moves the dead #wanderers #the dawnhounds #agents of dreamland #the genius plague #little mushroom #parasitology #annihilation #wilder girls #nella talks books

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koredzas · 2 months

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Pere Serra - The Annunciation. Detail. 1363 - 1399

#art detail #pere serra #the annual migration of clouds

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bookcoversonly · 7 months

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Title: The Annual Migration of Clouds | Author: Premee Mohamed | Publisher: ECW Press (2021)

#books #The Annual Migration of Clouds #Premee Mohamed

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thehappyscavenger · 1 year

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Books Read in March 2023

A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr

I liked but didn’t love this one and am a bit baffled tbh by its stellar reputation which includes a Booker nom and a movie. The book is about a man in his 20s who is a vet of the first world war who heads off to the country to restore a religious mural on the church wall. He meets and bonds with the usual cast of small town characters and finds himself emotionally better off at the end of it.

It was lovely but slight and I found myself wanting more. My favourite parts were the main character’s musings on the work he was uncovering and the artist himself and how they were communicating across time with one another.

The Beach by Alex Garland

I like Garland a lot as a filmmaker but I never read his debut novel. As part of my slow rolling effort to read books I own instead of just mindlessly accumulating them I gave this one a shot and liked it a lot. It’s about a young white British traveller who is obsessed with backpacking around and finding perfectly untouched Edens which (by force of his discovery) will eventually become trampled and gentrified. By chance he is left with a map and discovers the perfect beach but this doesn’t exactly go as planned.

This is pretty sly and clever and I liked it a lot. Garland manages to be subtly critical of his characters (who are re-enacting colonialism from a perspective of privilege basically) and shows how dysfunctional this group can be.

A nice snapshot of ‘90s travel culture as well. It simply doesn’t work like this anymore and it’s kind of funny to see how quickly travel has changed in only a quarter century or so.

The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed

This was a just okay novella about climate change dystopia. I could pretty much tell where it was going by reading it and it went there but the getting there was kind of fun. I thought it was nice and bold of Mohamed to leave so many unanswered questions but then I found out the book was getting a sequel which seemed kind of lame. Either leave it as a novella or make it one full length book. Breaking it into two just seems odd.

The Trees by Percival Everett

I think maybe Everett just isn’t a writer for me. The beginning of this bowled me over because he’s such a sharp, clever writer and I know juuuuust enough about American history to have been surprised by the twist about who the families at the centre of the mystery were but as the novel went on it sort of lost me.

The book is a sort of whodunit thriller that gets a bit speculative. IDK there was something that just didn’t gel for me. I felt similar about Everett’s Too Much Blue which I read last year where I was impressed by the writing but not by what he was saying.

The Passenger by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz

This book gave me nightmares. Written and set just after kristalnacht it tells the story of a rich German Jewish man who basically finds himself travelling across Germany, unable to leave but unable to stay after the Nazis have mass arrested all Jewish men. The book was published in 1939 and what makes it even worse is that the audience knows what Boschwitz and the main character do not. That death camps and mass genocide are in the near future.

Very short and simply written which adds to the devastation. The history is doing the heavy weight in this story and it’s heartbreaking.

Heaven’s Breath by Lyall Watson

I’ve been reading this off and on since September which is yet another indication that non-fiction just maybe isn’t for me. I did like this book which is a natural history on wind. It’s not even very long and Watson is a beautiful writer who is clearly passionate about his subject matter. The problem is that there’s not really a narrative through line just lots of little random factoids. It’s a good book to slow read though and excellent for picking up and putting down. There are also like 300+ books referenced and I definitely want to check out some of those because they sound super interesting.

#currently reading #A Month in the Country #Heaven’s Breath #Lyall Watson #The Passenger #Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz #The Trees #Percival Everett #The Annual Migration of Clouds #Premee Mohamed #The Beach #Alex Garland #J.L. Carr

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rhetoricandlogic · 1 year

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Book Review: The Annual Migration of Clouds, by Premee Mohamed

by Aigner Loren Wilson

Published in Dec. 2021 (Issue 139) | 470 words

Released at the end of September from ECW Press, Premee Mohamed’s novella, The Annual Migration of Clouds, was a perfect storm and excellent—but emotional—read. Set in a post-climate disaster Alberta, Mohamed’s book follows Reid. She’s a young woman infected by a mind-controlling fungus who gets accepted into a prestigious school far away from her home; as she makes the decision and preparation to leave, quite possibly for good, Mohamed weaves together Reid’s final weeks.

If you’ve read Mohamed before, you know that her work is evocative, scary, and beautiful, often all at the same time. She has a way of constructing sentences that create this rush and flow of words, all-powerful and impactful without losing the story or its emotion. The tension and relationships rise in her work in a way that demands to be engaged with. That style made the world clear, distinct and all the moments in the book feel full, heavy.

Such fullness created character bonds strong enough to make me wonder, like Reid, is it right to leave these relationships? I particularly latched onto the relationship between Reid and her mother. It was handled with delicate care and in such a tender way that my eyes stung several times while reading their scenes.

I went into The Annual Migration of Clouds with little idea of what the story was about. But Mohamed set up the book in the first few pages in a way that instantly sucked me into the story, had me concerned for the characters, and mournful of my own past—due to how closely related Reid’s story of leaving home is to my own—while also keeping me in a state of WTF about the state of the world.

Out of all of the things that Mohamed did well in the book, the one that stabbed me deepest was the depiction of someone leaving home. Throughout the book, the theme came up in a myriad of ways. Sometimes the leaving was in death, and other times it was like Reid’s—a leaving toward a, hopefully, better place.

The Annual Migration of Clouds is less about the destruction or aftermath of disaster and more focused on how communities, families, and people learn to live together and apart. Despite all the disease, death, and decay surrounding Reid and her community, they still work to hold onto what they have and try to cherish the things they are forced to let go.

#Premee Mohamed #The Annual Migration of Clouds #mahreviews #long post

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slightlybiasedbookreviews · 3 months

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Books read in 2023

(*pictured are the ones I own)

*Horizon by Andrew Wildman (January)

Pyramids by Terry Pratchett (January)

*The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (March)

Iron Man (movie novelization) (March)

A Big Important Art Book by Danielle Krysa (March)

*The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed (April)

The Aquanaut by Dan Santat (May)

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (May)

*Gemma Bovery by Posy Simmonds (May)

*Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett (June)

*Tehanu by Ursula K le Guin (June)

I am Legend by Richard Matheson (July)

*Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K le Guin (July)

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan (September)

*Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan (October)

*The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (October)

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett (October)

Extra Bold: a feminist inclusive anti-racist non-binary field guide for graphic designers (October)

What We Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon (December)

Improv Quilting: Dancing with the Wall by Irene Roderick (December)

The Making of a Museum by Judith Nasby (December)

Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie (December)

#read in 2023 #book list #discworld #earthsea #the priory of the orange tree #heart of the sun warrior #the seven deaths of evelyn hardcastle #the annual migration of clouds #tehanu #andrew wildman #gemma bovery #tales from earthsea #comic #dragons #book stack #completed read

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hedge-bones · 4 months

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Third book of 2024 finished! The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi novella. Loved the worldbuilding and the body horror strung through it, not overwhelming but constantly there in the background. I don't know if I'll re-read it, maybe sometime in the future if I'm ever in the mood for it, but if there's ever a sequel I'll be excited to read it!

I only started it last night, but it's a novella and I got through it faster than expected using my 2-bookmarks method, the chapters aren't very long so it was easy to get through them. Neat!

#reading #2024 reads #the annual migration of clouds #premee mohamed #post apocalyptic #climate fiction

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digitalproductsbusiness · 1 year

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#seo services #web development #social media marketing #consulting #website maintenance #ecommerce #Cloud Solutions #Networking Solutions #Software Define Networking #Data Centre #Virtualization Services #Internet of Things #Security Solutions #IT managed services #Network Architecture Design & Implementation #IT Facilities Managed Services #Annual Maintenance Contract #Relocation Migration Plan & Implementation

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jbbartram-illu · 4 months

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A little something different!

I used to be a TOTAL bookworm as a kid, then sort of lost it for a decade or so, then in about 2016/17 I decided to start reading more (& also moved closer to a library & got in the habit of using it).

Fast forward 7ish years and I'm back in the habit of reading & am devouring stacks of books per year, with 2023 being my most ridiculous one yet. I somehow ended up reading 120 books? Mostly because I'm terrible at managing my library holds list & kept getting stacks of books I really wanted to read (I'm also lucky to be a really fast reader, which helps).

Anyways! All that to say - I compiled a top 22 + 19ish honourable mentions, as seen below:

My Top 22:

Tear – Erica Mckeen

Our Wives Under The Sea – Julia Armfield

The Vaster Wilds – Lauren Groff

Paladin’s Strength – T. Kingfisher

Paladin’s Grace – T. Kingfisher

Great Circle – Maggie Shipstead

Between Two Fires – Christopher Buehlman

Sisters – Daisy Johnson

How High We Go In The Dark – Sequoia Nagamatsu

Moon Of The Turning Leaves – Waubgeshig Rice

The Memory Police – Yoko Ogawa

The Night Ship – Jess Kidd

The Conjoined – Jen Sookfong Lee

The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter – Hazel Gaynor

If An Egyptian Cannot Speak English – Noor Naga

The Annual Migration Of Clouds – Premee Mohamed

Wandering Souls – Cecile Pin

The Only Good Indians – Stephen Graham Jones

Lone Women – Victor Lavalle

Ring Shout – P. Djèlí Clark

Lucy – Jamaica Kincaid

The Bookshop Of Yesterdays – Amy Meyerson

Honourable Mentions:

The Marigold – Andrew F. Sullivan

Five Little Indians – Michelle Good

Swordheart – T. Kingfisher…and all the other books of hers (9 of them in total) I read this year!

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

Everything Under – Daisy Johnson

Fen – Daisy Johnson

The Animals In That Country – Laura Jean Mckay

A Prayer For The Crown-Shy – Becky Chambers

The Sea Captain’s Wife – Beth Powning

Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese

Tauhou – Kotuku Titihuia Nuttall

Ducks – Kate Beaton

You Made A Fool Of Death With Your Beauty – Akwaeke Emezi

The Hatbox Letters – Beth Powning

And Then She Fell – Alicia Elliot

The Adult – Bronwyn Fischer

Everyone Knows Your Mother Is A Witch – Rivka Galchen

Lute – Jennifer Thorne

Monster – Mariel Ashlinn Kelly

Elly Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway Series (I read 8 books from this series this yr & loved all of them!)

If you want to go through my entire list for 2023, you can read it on my website!

#books #books read in 2023 #booksyear #books 2023

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chroniclingworlds · 3 months

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Papyracetae

The “paper whales” represent an even more extreme modification of the Auranauts’ already extreme body plan. They have evolved a separate circulatory system specifically to pump hydrogen-and-helium-rich blood to their second lung, allowing them to much more effectively regulate their buoyancy and fly much higher into the atmosphere. Given their size, they are ultra-lightweight and quite delicate, with highly pneumatized bodies that are almost more air than tissue. These huge animals have long inspired mythology and are considered by many cultures to be divine beings.

Stargliders

Pictured: the common Starglider, the only species to be represented with multiple preserved specimens.

These are the smallest and the highest-flying of the Papyracetae, drifting on air currents far above the clouds. Many species of air plankton use these currents as a highway to migrate, and the Stargliders intercept them as they travel. Because of their preferred habitat, they are difficult to study, and even dead ones are hard to find as they are frequently shredded by wind and other flying animals on the descent. Due to this, it is likely that there are many undiscovered species inhabiting the skies of Strix. Currently, only the common Starglider has been studied to any decent extent, and all other described species have only been based on single dead specimens or brief sightings of live ones. Their true range is unknown, but they are assumed to live worldwide.

Sky Shepherds

Pictured: the cloudcrester, a species seen over both the Moon Sea and Great Southern Sea during their respective wet seasons.

While all other Papyracetae are solitary, sky shepherds live in small groups and work together to herd air plankton into tight balls that they can then consume. Migrating between the north and south annually, these giants keep pace with the seasonal rain and the air plankton that follow it. These shepherds are the loudest creatures on the planet, producing infrasonic trumpeting noises that can travel hundreds of miles for communication between groups. The Terebroids are particularly tuned into this frequency, and use these calls to track down their prey from miles away.

Monarchs

Pictured: the sky queen, the largest of them all, is sighted most frequently above the semi-arid plains of the midlands.

These are the largest animals on Strix by wingspan. With only three known species, they are not especially common, but they are an incredible sight when encountered. With wingspans up to 200 feet across, these massive creatures patrol the skies, scooping up air plankton into their gaping mouths. Like all Papyracetae, they are seasonal migrants, but seem to prefer the mid-latitudes more than their relatives. They are rarely sighted at the poles or over large bodies of water, and they avoid high winds and turbulence lest their paper-thin bodies be damaged. Mysterious and graceful, they are truly a wonder of evolution.

#speculative biology #planet strix

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e-wills-afterhours · 4 months

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Vetrnaetr, Chapter 7

A/N: Another new chapter of Vetrnaetr! Sure, it's been like...a year. That's fine. It's fine. Everything is fine. I feel like I've lost my touch a little--but it is fine.

Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Rating: 18+

Pairing: Hiccstrid, Affairs AU

Start from the very beginning here.

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Of all the wild animals one could domesticate, dragons had to rank among the best in terms of versatility, companionship, and absolute undeniable badassery. The near-exclusiveness Berk enjoyed with the beasts was a thing of envy--and a secret closely guarded lest they welcomed war upon their island. A small, rather reclusive tribe of Norsemen with an army of obedient dragons at their disposal would raise a few eyebrows and undermine regional stability. They would be a threat to squash. Berk's greatest asset could easily be its undoing, should it inspire a covetousness in their enemies and fair-weather allies--and Chief Stoick considered all their alliances to be tenuous and conditional at best.

Astrid was glad that the threads of fate sought fit to place her on Berk. Her life, a mess though it was at the moment, was made rich by Hooligan culture now steeped in a fierce love of dragons. Once, the flapping of great, leathery wings and overhead shadows brought fear and death. Now, she hardly noticed a low-flying Gronckle, and dodged the Terrible Terrors that scurried underfoot with practiced ease. Berk used to be a place painted with ash and flames--but as the sun rose high over the island, her village seemed vibrant with colorful dragons at every turn.

Stormfly's unwavering loyalty was a great comfort amid the chaos of holiday busyness and faltering relationships. Astrid could not imagine life without her dragon, though such a life was all she had known a few short years ago.

But that was a whole different world that was slipping from memory, like the last vestiges of a nightmare broken up by the bright, new day.

Morning flights, evening flights. They still cleansed the soul, a respite for the mentally and emotionally laden.

The chill in the air, high among the clouds, was nearly intolerable. Astrid's teeth chattered and she shivered beneath her thick layers of wool and furs. Her fingers were numb in seconds, but her dragon's cries of delight were worth it as they took to the sky. Stormfly was nearly sing-song as she rolled over the waves and glided on the air currents, spotted wings outstretched like a great, scaly gull. In a couple of months, the dragons would leave Berk during their annual migration to warmer climates to breed. Astrid could not blame them. When winter was in full swing, she wished to join them. Instead, she counted down the days until they returned.

Astrid closed her eyes, breathing deeply, lungs filling up with icy salt air. It stung a little, but it was more freeing than the smoke from the hearth and sewing by firelight under her mother's critical eye. Indeed, flying in the bitter cold and biting wind was preferable to cooking under scrutiny, hoping to earn passable marks and an afternoon's reprieve from mandatory lessons in domesticity. For some reason, her mother seemed to suffer the delusion that she could fix her relationship woes with a hearty stew and needlepoint. Maybe perfecting her homemaking to the same degree as her combat skills would make her irresistible--a wife to be desired.

How laughable, when she did not want to be solely valued for such things.

"Go, Stormfly! Go!" she shouted, nudging her dragon into a sharp dive., the rush of frigid wind drowning out her thoughts.

Thunderdrums could be seen just below the surface, their spots peeking in and out of the tide, drawing ever closer. Such reckless flight and freedom sustained the troubled heart--Hiccup has shown her that. Astrid whooped, tears streaming from wind-battered eyes as they rushed toward the waves below.

Sometimes, she wondered what might happen if her dragon did not pull up at the last moment, skimming the white caps with her claws. If they kept diving, plunging into the depths, might they puncture the veil and end up somewhere else; a place where she could chart her own future without everyone else's input? She supposed such a place was for dreams: the impractical desires of youth that eventually crossed over into fond memories of a still wild and untamed imagination, before things like responsibility and duty beat it into submission.

She closed her eyes, sitting up in the saddle. With outstretched arms, it felt like she was flying, fast and low, and far away.

Peace. Finally, she was at some small semblance of peace...

"HELP!" came a scream over the roar of the ocean, piercing her reverie.

Astrid pulled back on her dragon's reins, and Stormfly came to an abrupt stop, hovering in midair as she glanced around wildly.

"HELLO?" she called back, reaching for her axe. Maybe, just maybe, she could put it to use for the first time in ages.

But she saw no one else among the stacks, other than the plump grey seals sunning themselves on the rocks scattered at the bases. The only answer she received was the squawk of the coastal birds going about their business, riding the air currents.

To her right was an inlet, cliffs sharply rising on either side of the mouth Agmundr's Sound. She and her father would take many camping trips there in her childhood, where she first learned to fish and to sail. Now it was a popular location for Berk's youth to spend an afternoon on the beach, away from their parents and responsibilities. It was also a fine place to strip down to one's undergarments and ride the Scauldrons that nested there in the summer, when the water was warmer, and the days were long.

The desperate scream echoed through the air once more, and this time, Astrid was certain the source was somewhere inside Agmundr's Sound.

She steered her dragon into the deep, broad divide that Odin cleaved out of Ymir when he fashioned Berk and all the world to his liking. Stormfly flew low as they searched the length of the sound, her reflection keeping pace on the gentler waters below. Fir trees lined the cliffside, but nothing stood out. All she could hear in the distance was the call of Berk's resident Timberjacks.

Maybe she had imagined someone calling for help? Perhaps stress was getting to her? She was about to call off her search, resigned to the notion she had misheard--when there, on the shore where the two cliffs diminished into rolling hills and met, she saw a great scar in the earth. At its end, was a familiar black dragon--and Astrid's heart skipped a beat. Toothless stirred up all kind of feelings by association, and she could not leave him in distress.

Stormfly landed gracefully on the beach, taking care to avoid the deep trench that had been gouged there from a rough landing. The black dragon's rider--the mystery screamer--also became apparent. Fishlegs sputtered, brushing the cold, damp sand from his cloak while Toothless growled at him--one did not need to speak dragon to understand the gist of the Night Fury's frustrations, and what he wished to communicate.

"I'm sorry!" Fishlegs pleaded with the dragon. Toothless was not the least bit sympathetic, turning his back to him in an indignant huff.

"Are you alright?" Astrid asked, dismounting.

Fishlegs gave a start. He had been too busy arguing with the disgruntled Night Fury to notice her arrival.

"Astrid!" he exclaimed, face brightening at once.

He trudged over to her, trying to shake the remaining sand from his clothes.

"Maybe you can talk some sense into him," Fishlegs whispered, jerking his thumb in Toothless's direction.

Astrid surveyed the scene: filthy clothes, a great plowing of the earth, and one bent tailfin.

"Did you crash?" she asked, though it was plain.

"It's not my fault!" Fishlegs cried. He hurried over to the Night Fury and pointed emphatically at the complex flying apparatus. "I mean, what?"

Astrid folded her arms beneath her cloak. "Didn't Hiccup leave you instructions on how to work it?"

"He did," Fishlegs replied, pouting. "They made a lot more sense on paper."

Astrid frowned and walked around Toothless, examining the intricate feat of seemingly impossible engineering that Hiccup made appear effortless. Toothless flashed her a gummy smile, tongue lolling out the side of his wide mouth. He began to wiggle with anticipation as she circled him.

"I don't think you've busted it beyond repair," she said, and Fishlegs breathed an audible sigh of relief. "But I'm not the expert in these things," she added.

His face faltered. "You're not going to tell Hiccup, are you? He'll be so mad!"

Astrid crouched down to hold up the tail fin, the most medial piece of ribbing bent at an odd angle. "Somehow, I think he'll notice," she replied flatly.

Fishlegs groaned, gripping his short, choppy hair. "He's never going to trust me with Toothless again!"

Astrid stood up, hands on her hips. "Don't take it personally. He doesn't trust anybody with Toothless. Not really."

"He trusts you."

Astrid remembered the days when Hiccup was still healing from his duel with Stefnir, arm in a sling. He offered her his good hand and brought her over to an impatient Night Fury in his complete rig. She had been confused; Hiccup had agreed not to fly until he was sufficiently mended--but he stepped aside so she could climb into the saddle instead. With patience and calm, he taught her each position of the tailfin until she could shift gears fluidly.

Then, he took large steps back as Toothless unfurled his wings, and said, "I trust you."

It must have been killing him inside to let go and grant her access to the final, most personal part of himself--but he exuded nothing but warmth, looking at her astride his dragon like she held his world together.

"He did trust me," she muttered to Fishlegs.

"He does," he corrected with an encouraging smile.

Outside of Toothless and Astrid, Fishlegs was Hiccup's closest friend. Perhaps he had found time to confide in the other boy between talk of dragons.

Astrid shook her head, heavy with self-pity. "Well, I've gone a made a mess of things, haven't I?"

Fishlegs was nodding along until pinned in her gaze. His eyes widened, and shifting awkwardly he said, "Oh! That wasn't rhetorical?"

She sighed. "Never mind. It's not anything I don't already know."

They stood in a heavy silence with the dragons considering them. puzzled. Fishlegs looked pained, like he had something to say, burning his throat, but something held it in. Or he wanted to vomit. Honestly, the expression was about the same.

Astrid waved her hand, dismissing the thought on the tip of his tongue. If some secret lingered there, entrusted to him by Hiccup, then she did not want him to be tempted into betraying that trust. Fishlegs was a good friend, but it did not take much to pry confessions from him--and Hiccup was already frustrated with her, plenty enough.

"Tell you what: I think Toothless can still manage to get home, though it won't be fast or with flourish. I will fly him for you, if you agree to fly Stormfly back to Berk for me," she said, patting the Night Fury.

"Thank you!" he practically cried with relief.

Even Toothless perked up at the prospect of flying with someone competent.

Stormfly crouched down and Fishlegs clambered up into the saddle. He struggled for only a moment, used to a dragon much closer to the ground. Astrid mounted Toothless and hooked her foot beneath the connecting peg for Hiccup's prosthesis. While it was built for him alone to operate smoothly, she could manage by flexing her foot to pull the peg up into position or rest her foot atop it to press it down. By no means was it a fluid process. She could not shift gears in that seamless way only Hiccup could--but she managed. At any rate, she was adept enough to fly Toothless safely home from Agmundr's Sound.

Stromfly stretched out her wings, ready to push off from the beach, but Fishlegs hesitated.

"For what it's worth," he began, "I've never known Hiccup to be happier than when you two are together. And--"

"Thank you, Fishlegs," Astrid interjected, "But you don't have to--"

"It will work out for you. It has to." He paused for a beat, then added, "I think he loves you too much. He doesn't talk about anyone else the same way."

Astrid did not say anything. Her eyes stung, and she told herself it was simply the cold wind channeled through the sound that also tossed her loose hair about. Fishlegs smiled, looking pleased with himself, as if his words alone would set things right.

"Just put Stormfly back in her stall, please."

"You got it!" Fishlegs replied, and Astrid watched him take off above the frosted trees.

She did not think it possible, but her heart ached all the more.

------

Hiccup was overjoyed to be leaving Helgafell at last. He had grown weary of snow, rock, and bare trees. As miserable as the journey home would be, captive on a boat with nothing to look at but his burly tribesmen and a vast expanse of rolling gray sea, each hour would bring him closer to home, to his own bed, belongings, to Toothless--and to Astrid.

The words of her letter, and that implicit ultimatum of hers, were branded on the forefront of his mind. He was a flurry of emotion to match the winter storm that blew in that morning as they packed up. No one asked, but he had to seem more distracted than usual. As he helped load their ship, he was equal part angry, anxious, and lovesick. He wanted to see Astrid, but dreaded the confrontation it would bring. He wanted to resolve their issues, but feared the implosion of their relationship if he said the wrong thing--and lately, it seemed every word he uttered was the wrong thing. He wanted to make her happy, get back what they had worked so hard for, but he did not know how to be anything other than himself; it was quite the conundrum.

"That's the last of it," Stoick declared, as the small crate of their rations was carried onboard. "Are you ready?"

Hiccup nodded, stepping onto the gently rocking ship.

As the rest of the crew followed behind him, he took one last glance out at Helgafell. The frosted temple towered above the dwindling tents. With camps being dismantled left and right, the island looked even smaller than it had before. The mysterious volva wandered among the stragglers, offering them any herbs and psychedelic fungi that might make the journey home more bearable.

Hiccup would've purchased the bunch if it could erase his memory the trip and the things he had learned. He could still smell the blood of the sacrificial animals and hear the resigned groan of dragon before it died. The distant stare of the volva haunted him when he closed his eyes.

They shoved off, and he felt a weight lifted. From the moment he had set foot on Helgafell, there had been an oppressive and ominous energy, as if he was one faux pas, one misstep from bringing hostilities on Berk. He played his part, the dutiful heir. While the island began to fade in the distance, shrouded again in fog and snow, Hiccup's heart was burdened by the realization that he would continue to play the part until it became the reality of him.

He sighed, leaning on his elbows set upon the starboard gunwale. Their ship ploughed through the waves, and he watched the sea ebb and flow, beating against the hull before exploding into briny mist. The deck creaked beneath familiar footfalls approaching him from behind, trying to be softer than their capacity.

Stoick cleared his throat, but it was unnecessary.

"With the wind on our side, we might see Berk half-a-day earlier than planned," he said, large hands coming to rest on the same faded red gunwale supporting his son in his best attempt to appear casual.

"That would be nice. Lots to do before Vetrnaetr kicks off, I guess?" Hiccup replied.

He pretended it was not so amusing to see his father's impressive red beard dancing about in the wind, catching snowflakes.

"There is, but I suppose Spitelout has seen to most of the preparations."

Hiccup nodded and the two of them gazed out at the ocean, churning and reflecting the dreary sky as if one might bleed into the other. His father was watching him out of the corner of his eye as he so often did.

"I know you did not enjoy the trip," Stoick spoke up after a very pregnant pause.

"Maybe it was all the talk of funding wars through trade or watching that dragon die such a pointless death for the sake of a man's ego that did it."

"I hope you realize how important it was all the same."

Hiccup straightened up, wrapping his cloak more tightly around his body.

He merely answered, "Yeah."

'"The world is a lot bigger and more complicated than you realize," Stoick said, patting him. on the shoulder.

Hiccup scoffed. "Bigger, I knew. Complicated? I think I already knew that too. But I didn't know how ugly 'complicated' could be. I am naiver than I thought. Or maybe I just convinced myself it would always be someone else's problem."

Stoick considered him, brow heavy with pity. "There is more to being the chief and keeping your people safe and provided for than what can be taught on Berk alone."

Hiccup sighed, and gave another, "Yeah."

Stoick gripped his shoulder turning him until they made eye contact. "You are the future, Hiccup. All of Berk's hopes rest on you. I know that you are up for the task."

Hiccup only ever shrank under his father's lofty expectations. That unearned, unrelenting pride shone down upon him was uncomfortable, and he was meant to carry it without complaint, without faltering. He could not meet his father's glowing stare.

Glancing down at the deck, he muttered. "I wish I was as sure as you."

Stoick did not waver. "There will come a day when you will be."

Hiccup had to turn away, and gaze back out at the ocean. he assumed his previous position, leaning thoughtfully against the gunwale.

He responded with a noncommittal, "Mm."

As Stoick walked away, satisfied with his final word on the matter, Hiccup reached into his cloak and took out the pendant he bought on Helgafell. He turned the cold metal over in his hands, studying the dragon there. The more he looked it over, the more he was certain the extra set of wings was not just the error of an unskilled craftsman.

"What kind of dragon are you?" he murmured, tracing over the image with his thumb.

-----

Sneaky returned home in the middle of the night. He was unscathed, as Astrid knew he would be. Hiccup would never have let any harm befall the little blue dragon, no matter how hostile toward dragons Helagfell might be. Perhaps it was a good thing she was only half awake to greet Sneaky, or the full weight of the notion that her lover had read her letter would have crushed her. She fell back asleep, Terrible Terror curled against her side, while vaguely aware of the uncomfortable squirm in her gut.

The next morning brought with it the full realization that an argument was heading her way, sailing home in two days' time. She tried to stay busy to stifle the dread. Maybe there would come the favorable resolution Fishlegs promised--but she did not want to suffer the heartache and pain to earn it. Hiccup was not often angry. Even rarer still was his fleeting foul moods directed at her. She's rather take a dozen blows to the gut than see those green eyes of his glare back at her with bitterness.

The prospect was enough to drive her mad, and she needed a steady stream of distraction.

She spent the next couple of days alternating between flying Stormfly in the mornings and flying Toothless in the evenings; Gobber straightened out the bent metal rod of Toothless's fin in no time at all. She did not mind caring for the two dragons, because it was a valid excuse to keep her out of the house, her mind of more pleasant things. Nobody questioned her with the Night Fury. In fact, the whispers and sidelong glances decreased when she was with her boyfriend's dragon. Astrid caring for Toothless seemed to be more right with the world than leaving him in the care of Fishlegs. To be close to the Night Fury was to be as close to Hiccup as she could get in his absence. Toothless also seemed fond of the arrangement, nothing but smiles and boundless energy for her. She wondered if he would put in a good word for her with Hiccup.

But alas, when she was not with a dragon, her mother kept her occupied with chores. That afternoon, she was hanging the laundry in near the hearth to dry as her mother boiled carrots, potatoes, and onions for the lamb her father was roasting over the fire behind the house. Meat could not be left unattended for long, lest Terrible Terrors make off with it. Sneaky was particularly skilled in this brand of thievery. Her father always had some choice words.

She had just poked her head outside to check on the lamb roast at her mother's behest, when a long, low, horn bellowed over the village.

"Chief Stoick is back!" she heard people call out. "They've all come back from Helgafell!"

Astrid froze. She met her father's eye. He stared back at her, knowingly.

With a small nod of his head, he told her, "Go on."

She spun on her heel and took off toward the docks, heart racing. Her cloak was left hanging on its peg by the door, but she did not notice the cold. People stood, waving at the ship as it pulled in, and Astrid weaved around them. She stopped short of running out ahead, slowing down to remain among the first row of onlookers.

Spitelout was there to catch the thick ropes thrown over the side. He and Silent Sven worked together to secure the mooring. Gobber and a couple of other able-bodied men received the items that were being unloaded and handed off to them: tents and the remaining rations, most likely. Perhaps even some exotic goods procured by trade?

Astrid imagined what might be found at Helgafell frozen shores: furs, metals, weapons, and wines--all things could promise a fun time during a harsh Norse winter.

Then Stoick disembarked, followed by Hiccup, and all daydreaming evaporated. Spitelout and Gobber pushed themselves to the forefront of the crowd and engaged the Chief in talk of festival preparations at once--what had already been accomplished and what was left to do. Hiccup had barely taken a step before he was rushed by a group of children: the newest of dragon-riders from that year's Selection ceremony--all excitedly shouting over each other about tricks they had learned, and new skills acquired. Hiccup smiled as they tugged on his cloak and his hands, all vying for his attention.

"Wow, really?" he said above the noise, to no particular child. "You'll have to show me."

The gaggle of his adoring, miniature fans all continued to talk at him unintelligibly, until someone called out," Night Fury!"

The mob of small dragon riders scattered with shrieks as a big black, scaly mass tackled Hiccup flat, onto the dock. Stoick, Spitelout, and Gobber reflexively stepped aside without as much as a hitch in their conversation. Toothless was all wiggles and aggressive nuzzling as Hiccup tried to sit up and catch the breath knocked out of him.

"Toothless! Toothless! Stop!" he insisted between laughs, trying to push the enthusiastic dragon out of his face, if only for a moment to collect himself. "For Odin's sake!"

As he sat up, the dragon let out a groan and rolled onto his back, exposing his belly. The children giggled at his antics.

"Oh! Is this why you missed me?" Hiccup teased, scratching Toothless's throat before moving over his chest. He adopted a tone reminiscent of how one might speak to a baby. "This is really why you missed me, huh?"

Toothless's tongue flopped out of the corner of his mouth and one of his hind legs kicked in delight.

"He really did miss you," Astrid spoke up, finally. She smiled despite their fighting. Her boyfriend's relationship with his dragon was endearing and infectious.

Hiccup glanced up, startled. His face faltered, and he scrambled to his feet. "Astrid! I, uh...I didn't see you there."

"Well, it is kind of hard to see anything else when Toothless demands attention."

He wouldn't meet her gaze. "Yeah. Right."

The uncomfortable silence that settled between them was disturbed only by a few sparse snow flurries, and the creak of the dock beneath Toothless as the dragon rolled onto his feet.

"I got your letter." Hiccup said, and Astrid felt the anxious twist in her gut. His Night Fury nudged him in the elbow, demanding his attention.

Facing him had not been so agonizing since that night on Dragon Island when they both were at their limit and had nothing to lose--that argument had a desirable ending. Perhaps, with the proper time and free of distractions, they might go two-for-two.

"Look," she began; and now she was the one who could not quite look him in the eye, "We need to talk. Badly. We've been open with each other before, and--"

"Are you guys fighting?" one of the children spoke up, loud and insistent.

Astrid gave a small start; she forgot they were there and desperately wished they weren't. Now, she was all too aware of the many eyes on them both, with rapt attention for a conflict they could not possibly understand. She frowned, and seized the rude child's helmet from his head, flinging it down the dock so he had to chase after it.

"Heeey!" some of the other kids obnoxiously cried.

When Astrid turned back to Hiccup, smug, he had already climbed into his saddle. Toothless unfurled his wings.

"Hiccup, wait!" she pleaded.

But he either had not heard her over the rush of his dragon taking flight, or at that moment, mending the hurt was not his priority. Either possibility left her standing there, watching her boyfriend and his dragon disappear into the low-hanging, dreary clouds as if she had not sought him out at all. The children wandered off, disappointed and suddenly uninterested in whatever transpired between lovers--boring and unknown things the future held for them too, but far beyond their capacity to care.

The wind picked up and the delicate snowflakes tumbled and twirled with renewed fervor. A shiver rattled Astrid down to her bones, and she held tightly to herself, painfully aware of just had cold it had become.

#hiccstrid #hiccstrid fic #affairs au #long fic

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bigcats-birds-and-books · 10 months

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Books of 2023. NO ONE WILL COME BACK FOR US by Premee Mohamed.

I enjoyed THE ANNUAL MIGRATION OF CLOUDS by this author, so I’m excited for the promised “science and magic” and “gods and monsters” of this collection! Here’s to hoping I get a Driscoll vibe or two out of it.

#books of 2023 #book photography #my photography #books #no one will come back for us #premee mohamed #driscoll #also please witness this COVER it's exactly my jam!!

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trainofcommand · 7 months

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Thank you, @glowelle, for the tag! :D

tag 9 people to get to know better

1. 3 ships: Jayne/Simon (Firefly), Lorne/McKay or Lorne/Sheppard (I can't decide!) (SGA), and Cam/Teal'c (SG1). I know what I like, and I like it a lot.

2. first ever ship: Oh god, I'm not sure. My first active fandom was OZ and I think my first pairing for that one was possibly O'Reilly/Alvarez? Or maybe Beecher/Alvarez? That was like...20 years ago, I can't remember. Before that, probably Xena/Gabrielle, but I wasn't fandom active.

3. last song: Now or Never Now (Metric) - still can't stop listening to it.

4. last movie: Some trash sci-fi, probably.

5. currently reading: I recently finished The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed, and I lovvvvvvvvvvved it, can't wait for the sequel.

6. currently watching: Watched the latest Our Flag Means Death last night. Amazing. Wonderful. Fantastic.

7. currently consuming: An apple (macintosh).

8. currently craving: A russet apple.

9. tagging (no pressure) ummm let's see - @chaniis-atlantis, @colonelshepparrrrd, @chaos-monkeyy, @hero-in-waiting, @wonkyelk, @cuillere, @itstartedwithalex, @dedkake, @sga-owns-my-soul, @sparrowsarus

#ask meme

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mariacallous · 10 months

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The island of Svalbard, about halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole, is warming twice as fast as the rest of the Arctic, which itself is warming up to four and a half times faster than the rest of the planet. Scientists just discovered that the island’s retreating glaciers are creating a potentially significant climate feedback loop: When the ice disappears, groundwater that’s supersaturated with methane bubbles to the surface. Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas, 80 times as powerful as carbon dioxide. This groundwater can have more than 600,000 times the methane of a cup of water that’s been sitting with its surface exposed to air.

“What that means is that once it hits the atmosphere, it’s going to equilibrate, and it’s going to release as much methane as it can—quickly,” says Gabrielle Kleber, a glacial biogeochemist at University of Cambridge and the University Centre in Svalbard and lead author of a new paper describing the discovery in Nature Geoscience. “It’s about 2,300 tons of methane that’s released annually from springs just on Svalbard. It’s maybe equivalent to something like 30,000 cows.” (Cows burp methane—a lot of it.)

“These numbers, I honestly thought that they were even wrong, but they cannot be wrong,” says Carolina Olid, who studies Arctic methane emissions at the University of Barcelona but wasn’t involved in the work. “Wow, they are really, really high.”

The methane is also coming out of the ground in some places as pressurized gas that Kleber can actually light on fire, as you can see in the video below. “This is a widespread methane emission source that we previously just hadn’t accounted for,” says Kleber. “We can safely assume that this phenomenon is happening in other regions in the Arctic. Once we start extrapolating that and expanding it across the Arctic, we’re looking at something that could be considerable.”

As the Arctic warms rapidly, scientists are finding ways that it’s both suffering from climate change and contributing to it. Like a freezer that’s lost power, the Arctic is thawing, and the stuff inside it is rotting, releasing clouds of greenhouse gasses. When frozen ground known as permafrost thaws, it creates pools of oxygen-poor water, where microbes chew on organic material and burp methane. The warmer it gets up there, the happier these microbes are and the more methane they produce. (In some places, the permafrost is thawing so quickly that it’s even gouging methane-spewing holes in the landscape.)

Elsewhere, vast deposits of the gas are hidden in the ground beneath glaciers. When temperatures get low enough and pressures get high enough, the gas freezes into solid methane hydrate—basically, methane trapped in a cage of ice. That ice, of course, can melt as temperatures rise.

The melting of the glaciers also exposes darker-colored land, which absorbs more of the sun’s energy and accelerates the warming of the terrain—a dreaded climatic feedback loop.

Methane is a fundamental component of buried fossil fuels—the “natural gas” we burn contains methane, in fact—which can migrate through cracks in rock. When it reaches groundwater, the liquid readily absorbs the geologic gas. “We find that the higher-concentrated springs are much more prevalent in regions that have really high organic-containing rocks, such as shale and coal,” says Kleber. “This is millions-of-years-old methane that’s been trapped in the rocks and is now finding a way to come out by exploiting these groundwater springs. And so that means that the capacity for these emissions is quite large, since it’s being fed by this very large reservoir.”

But it’s hard for researchers to quantify how much methane and carbon dioxide are coming off the warming landscape. For one thing, it’s extremely difficult to do fieldwork in Svalbard and the rest of the Arctic. For another, some of the microbes that inhabit the region might be methane producers, but others could be methane consumers, which help sequester it. Methane-producing microbes love thawing permafrost because conditions are wet and oxygen-poor, or anoxic. But when a glacier disappears and the land dries out, microbes that eat methane might proliferate instead.

“In some cases, it can be a small sink of methane in the landscape,” says Gerard Rocher-Ros, an ecologist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences who studies Arctic methane but wasn’t involved in the new paper. Because there’s a lot of land in the Arctic, those small sinks might add up to some significant sequestering. Plus, as the north warms, it’s greening with new vegetation, which absorbs carbon dioxide as it grows. Scientists have also found that watersheds fed by glacial meltwater can soak up CO2.

It’s not clear whether the natural mechanisms that trap these greenhouse gasses can keep up with the ones that are releasing them, including the newly discovered geological methane bubbling up from groundwater. The Arctic isn’t an easily characterized monolith: Scientists have to do meticulous fieldwork to figure out how one area might produce and sequester methane differently than even a neighboring ecosystem.

But it is now becoming evident that an environment that was once reliably glaciated is thawing out as the Arctic freezer wavers. “People studying carbon cycling have long hypothesized that basically unavailable methane—that is capped or locked or frozen in permafrost or below glaciers—at some point may become available to the surface environment,” says Emily Stanley, a biogeochemist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison who wasn’t involved in the research. “What I find depressing is that this is one of a handful of papers that are saying: ‘Yep, here we go. It’s coming out.’”

The release of groundwater methane is a bad sign that more warming is ahead. “It’s happening now,” Stanley says. “We are beginning to see this positive feedback loop.”

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