#dinotopia chapter books

[lil-tachyon]

Recommend dinosaur media besides Jurassic Park?

Dinotopia: All the books are super fun, but the first and last are the best. Just some rambling, cozy journeys through an imagined land of prehistoric beasts and eclectic architecture. The middle two books are still great in terms of visuals, but they lean too much into narrative stuff and I don't think that's Gurney's strong point. The writing feels a lot more like a child's first chapter book. Maybe that's what he was going for, I'm not sure.

Xenozoic Tales: Long time fans of the blog will at this point be tired of me recommending it, but I'm not going to stop because most people I talk to (even other terminally-online SFF artists) still haven't read it. It's obviously super pulpy but it really grows into itself toward the end and is able to handle some more mature ideas without ever taking itself too seriously. Highly recommend.

An Alphabet of Dinosaurs: Just a great collection of Wayne Barlowe's paleoart. It's a 10-minute read and it's aimed at kids but you're buying it for the art and its one of the only Barlowe books you can reliably pick up for less than $10 so I'd say it's worth it. Good chance your library may have it, too.

Dinosaurs by Thomas R Holtz Jr: Very accessible non-fiction work on dinosaur biology and cladistics. It's probably a bit dated now (came out in 2007) and the art is very hit-or-miss (about half the illustrations are obvious products of the era of early digital art when everyone was photobashing and throwing these awful digital textures onto everything, ugh...) but it remains a fun and informative read. If anyone has a more contemporary but similarly thorough dinosaur book, please let me know! I know there have been a lot of huge discoveries, especially from China, since this book came out.

C. M. Kosemen's (keep track of how many times that name appears on this list) and @simon-roy 's Dinosauroids: This was a HUGE influence on what I wanted to draw and what kind of stories I wanted to tell when I first found it and middle school and it still totally holds up. Check it out here!

Walking With Dinosaurs: Huge, multi-part BBC documentary from 1999 that presented stories about Mesozoic fauna as if it was a contemporary nature documentary. The CGI for which it was initially so famous is very dated now but the practical effects are great and it's honestly the narration and presentation that sells it anyway. Also recommend Walking With Monsters which is the same thing but for the Paleozoic. People routinely upload both series on youtube, they're not hard to find.

All Yesterdays by Jon Conway, C. M. Kosemen, and Darren Naish: Unique and outrageous reconstructions of dinosaurs and other paleofauna that challenge our preconceptions and highlight the limits of our understanding of their appearance and behavior. Also really cool for me personally because in my lifetime I've seen this book go from a neat project by people I followed on deviantart to being (rightly) considered a landmark in paleoillustration.

Dino Run: This game bangs and I pity the kids who weren't around in 2008 when this took over the internet for a brief but wonderful period

The Rite of Spring segment from Fantasia: From the big bang to the climactic end of the Mesozoic, all set to Stravinsky. Apparently the only Disney media I enjoy is stuff that The Mouse just does not give a shit about because this one's also on youtube.

That's some stuff off the top of my head, should be enough for now. I may add more if I think of it. Some parting thoughts:

C. M. Kosemen's youtube channel is great for learning about what I'll call "esoteric paleontology" for lack of a better term. Also he just does lots of weird, eclectic videos that I find interesting.

I don't hesitate to recommend Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal because he's literally never disappointed me and everyone I know says it's great, but I personally have not yet gotten around to watching it.

I don't promote pseudoscience, but I do think David Peters is a funny guy with weird, neat ideas. TLDR this one guy has a bunch of fringe theories about pterosaur biology and believes that because literally no one else agrees with him that he must be being censored by "mainstream science." Don't believe any of it, just enjoy the weirdness.

Any time you can pick up a dinosaur or other paleofauna book secondhand, I recommend you do it. Tons of outdated and cheap books that nonetheless contain great illustrations. That kinda stuff is a constant source of inspiration for me.

The Land Before Time is probably still great. It's been over a decade since I last watched it, but I have fond memories. Maybe time for a rewatch...

#dinosaurs #paleoart #dinosaur media #wayne barlowe #cm kosemen #send me an ask!

[balanceoflightanddark]

Hey what fandoms do you like, I got some ideas for Azula crossovers and want to see if there any of them would work for you.

Well...I do have a few fic ideas at the moment that I'm working on and I haven't quite gotten to the idea of working on multiple fics at once, but I could give some series that I like.

Pokemon: This was the show I remember growing up on. And ultimately the one that would get me into fanfiction to begin with. My first proper fanfiction was a continuation of Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness that ran for 42 chapters over the course of two years. I'm actually pretty proud of that one.

Naruto: I remember playing the Ultimate Ninja Storm video games and getting hooked on the setting and the characters. I...will admit I did write a few one-shots and I do have an idea for an eventual longfic. I kind of want to focus on my Godzilla/ATLA crossover at the moment, but that's an idea that's on the drawing board.

Alien: I am of the personal belief that the Xenomorph is one of the best movie monsters ever put to film. I'm a huge fan of the first two movies, I read some of the old books, and Alien: Isolation is one of my favorite horror games out there.

Mass Effect: Fell in love with the original trilogy, especially how they handled the worldbuilding and all the various well-thought-out alien races and factions. The characters are extremely likable and developed, and stuff like the deradicalization of the Krogan and the conflict with the Geth are some of my favorite plots in video games in recent years.

Jurassic Park: The first movie has to be one of my favorite films of all time. I read both of the original novels. Played through both Operation Genesis and the first Evolution game. I...unfortunately haven't had the pleasure of watching Camp Cretaceous but I've heard a ton of good reception for that series so it is on the list. The World trilogy I...have mixed feelings on. Loved the first one, didn't really like the second on, initially liked the third one but my opinion sort of soured over time.

And that's a few series I'm into. As for Azula, I'm sort of going to stick with The Monsters We Create for the moment, but there is this idea at the back of my mind that I keep coming back to. It's another crossover like you suggested, but this one would be a crossover with Dinotopia which I've talked about twice on my account. It's the book series turned mini-series about a peaceful society where dinosaurs and humans coexist. And I thought it would be interesting to throw a post-canon Azula into that mix and see what happens.

Anyways that's all I got. Feel free to share some of your ideas.

#ask answered #ask me anything

[shayvaalski]

The Dinotopia Fanfiction Novel: Done At Last

So I talked about this fic very briefly when I first started writing it in January, with no idea that I would eventually finish. It's the very end of September. I posted the Epilogue today.

It's a moramori James Gurney's Dinotopia / BBC Sherlock crossover fic. In order to write it I read several scientific papers, ordered two entire books, and spent quite a long time with paleoart and maps.

Here's an excerpt from several chapters in -- but the whole thing is the length of a novel. I promise you'll enjoy it.

A sound like a demented oboe echoed over the water just downhill, then a pair of crested saurians appeared around a building. Their hides were sandy-colored, rather than Magnolia's deep brown, with darker primitive markings on their legs and tails; their faces and crests were splashed with vivid yellow and blue. Stocky and a shade shorter, they were very clearly a variation on Magnolia's theme. A rambunctious variation; the one with more yellow on its face gave the other one a playful bump that knocked it several feet sideways.

"Ellie and Waveskip," Theardi said, pointing. "Yearmates. They hatched in Cornucopia, so they volunteered to see us that far. Young males get antsy around their age -- the walk'll do them good, and so will seeing old friends." 

Sebastian watched them approach with some doubt. Magnolia, with her big dark eyes, had turned out to be a little less than middle-aged, well-suited for a crisis; these were not. He doubted they were much out of adolescence.

"They're just in a good mood, Bastian," Kate said, leaving Burdock's muzzle at last to join them. He snorted. The blue-crested one butted the first, knocking their crests together with a hollow noise, and then hooted with what seemed like amusement. "I don't think they'll do that once we're on them."

"They won't." Theardi whistled at the pair of saurians, who picked up their pace until they were all but crowding in on top of her. One shoved at the other, but more gently this time, and they both lowered their strangely-shaped noses to nudge curiously at the basketry. One lipped at a strap and Theardi added, dryly, "They promised."

#dinotopia #bbc sherlock #moramori #jim moriarty #sebastian moran #irene adler #kate from sherlock #poor kate with her no last name #i based the entirety of kate on the one little muffled smile and glance down when she sees sherlock at the door #and oh do i love her very much #i'm very very proud of this insane piece of writing

[clarktooncrossing]

Giraffe's Eye View | Prehistoric Planet REVIEW (and Rant+)

Hey there people of today and robots of tomorrow! It is I, Clark, here with a fun fact about myself.

I.

LOVE.

DINOSAURS!

Granted, so does everybody else on the planet, but how can you not? They've been a part of our imagination for so long, an enigma of time we can never fully understand, a chapter of a long forgotten history when titans trekked across the planet, and the inspiration for hundreds of great movies, television shows, video games, comic books, and theme park rides! Ask anyone and they'll tell you the exact moment they fell in love with dinosaurs. For some it was seeing the original Jurassic Park in cinemas back in 1993, shaking in their seats as the T-Rex erupted from its enclosure! For others it was when catching reruns of Walking with Dinosaurs on TV, rooting for Big Al as he desperately tried to survive a harsh world. Maybe Barney stole your heart when you were younger, following him into the Land of Make Believe where he'd remind you that any dream is achievable. Or maybe you're into really obscure crap like Hallmark's made-for-TV movie Dinotopia, the 90s cartoon Denver the Last Dinosaur, Phil Tippet's stop-motion short Prehistoric Beasts, any of the follow ups to Walking with Dinosaur, there's so much dinosaur media out there that it'd take me 65 million years to cover them all! It's why today I'll be covering just one.

I remember how frustrated I was when I first saw trailers for Prehistoric Planet. Not because it didn't look good. On the contrary, it looked incredible! The effects felt like the natural evolution of Walking with Dinosaurs, crafting creatures as realistic as one can make'm. On top of that it featured narration by David Attenborough, the main man behind Planet Earth who can somehow say 'arse' without making it sound silly. Not only was he narrating over footage of breathtaking beasts, he was narrating over a score by Hans Zimmer! Y'know, the guy behind the music of The Lion King? Yeah, that guy! No doubt he was brought over by Jon Favreau, the Iron Man and Elf director turned this show's Executive Producer. If I were to guess, he brought all of the knowledge he accumulated while working in Simba's Pride Lands to the time of ancient reptiles. Unlike that piece of Hakunah Makaka though, I was actually excited for this! So what was the problem?

Apple TV+. This show was exclusive to a platform I didn't have run by a company I barely tolerate. It was bad enough they were hording all the Peanuts specials and Wolfwalkers, but now this? Why did everything I enjoy have to be taken by Steve Job's Apple Store of Doom!? For that matter, why was this service even called Apple TV+? Heck, why does every streaming channel end with a plus now? Disney already annoyed me when they named their service that instead of something more creative like 'The Disney Vault' or 'The Digital World of Disney', now every other company was trying to ride their coattails. Just wait, when we're inevitably charged for going to a public bathroom, they'll call the program Toilet+! In any case, my salvation came via a Pizza Hut gift ad given to me by my family last Christmas. After using the $25 gift card to buy one pizza, the Hut's app offered me a month free trial of Apple TV+. Having a real 'screw it' moment, I elected to try out the free month.

Which is pretty stupid in hindsight considering I got Wolfwalkers and the other two Cartoon Saloon movies on DVD that same Christmas and I already owned Blu-Ray copies of the classic Peanuts Holiday specials. Remember folks, I never said I was smart, I only said I liked dinosaurs. As such, what did I think of this show?

Happy to say; it delivers what the trailers promised. This show is what happens when you mix Walking with Dinosaurs with Planet Earth, Attenborough's narration being a highlight as per usual. He brings a level of class to anything he's commenting on, even a Deinocheirus taking a massive dump. Insert obligatory Jurassic Park joke here.

AND FOR ANYBODY JUMPING AHEAD: NO! THE SHOW ISN'T CRAP. THIS IS JUST FOR A JOKE!

It's also to help illustrate a weird point about this show: they do not shy away from the dino love-making or crap-taking. It's Dinos After Dark! Granted they showed this kind of stuff back on Walking with too, but it was just as disgusting there. Especially since the Deinocheirus eats where he poops. If you're thinking of enjoying a tasty bowl of popcorn while enjoying this, I'd recomend you wait until after Episode 3 aka Freshwater.

Those of you who have seen the Planet Earth series will recognize the naming convention here. Instead of going through the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous to see how dinosaurs evolved over time, this show sticks to the late Cretaceous while showing how far stretched the dinosaurs war. A pack of Secernosaurus struggle to find water in dunes made out of gypsum, we find out the Tyrannosaurs could beat you in a swimming contest, a troupe of triceratops are forced underground, one episode even sees how dinosaurs survived the cold.

I was actually super eager to see this episode, as a friend and I argued over the logistics of over-grown reptiles surviving in a snowy landscape. A quick Google search revealed that these early drafts of birds were indeed warm blooded, so I could totally buy them enduring the cold. Even if they couldn't, it looks freak'n cool! Pun intended, of course.

Really my one complaint about this series is how tame it is. When you watched Walking with Dinosaurs, or really any nature documentary, it's hard to guess what's going to happen. Will the baby antelope escape the hungry lion's claws? Will that one panda find a mate before the season's over? Will future generations have the privilege of ever seeing a rhino again? Most importantly, how did the people holding the camera get these magnificent shots? One cameraman working on Planet Earth had to live in a literal mountain of crap for weeks while filming cockroaches. Thinking about it gives makes my skin crawl. Even then that's nothing compared to the massive undertaking that is filming snow leopards. Not to say I want any people producing this to be in actual danger, but the Walking series at least simulated this aspect by having the creatures interact with the camera. Saliva would coat the lens after a T-Rex roared at it, it'd be knocked over after a adolescent Indricotherium charged at it, that sort of thing. This makes what's happening on screen feel natural. Here it all feels too choreographed and planned. There's no real edge. Still, I'd take this over any of the newer Jurassic Park movies any day. This doesn't make it feel my braincells are being smothered with a pillow before getting repeatedly kicked in their metaphorical crotches.

In conclusion, dinosaur lovers will surely love this. The effects will leave you speechless, David Attenborough's voice is a welcomed boost of nostalgia, and the variety of dinosaurs on display should satisfy any paleontology fan. That is assuming this all is accurate, which is getting harder to judge these days. Just wait, come tomorrow some bone-digging bozo is gonna say T-Rex was actually more of a giant woodpecker or somethin'. Until that happens, take a trip back and enjoy watching how life survived this Prehistoric Planet.

By the way, wanna read more rants against streaming services? Then check out my review of Spy x Family to see me complain about Hulu while gushing over how cute Anya forger is. Until then, may the glasses be with you!

NEXT TIME ON GIRAFFE'S EYE VIEW...

#clarktoon crossing #giraffes eye view #dinosaurs #dinosaur #prehistoric planet #apple tv+ #streaming #rant #review #tv review

[nerdgatehobbit]

I was tagged by @ladytharen thanks!

Comfort movie: I’ve watched the Beauty and the Beast 30th anniversary special three times since it came out last month, so I suspect it’s speeding up the list.  Others include George of the Jungle (1997), Love & Friendship, and Cinderella 1997.

Comfort food: Roasted Brussel sprouts and cupcakes, even if only one of them is a typical comfort food.

Comfort clothing: Anything soft & fluffy!  I also have quite a few nerdy tees that I like wearing (Stargate, Star Wars, & Stitch are all well-represented).

Comfort books: Once on a Time by A.A. Milne and my Dinotopia collection (I’ve got the Gurney ones, both of Foster’s novels, and two of the junior chapter books)

Comfort game: As much as I like Dreamlight Valley (Mirabel next month!), I’m more likely to do some stuff on the Pokémon Masters app to unwind.

No pressure tagging @magic-owl @mylittleredgirl @bex-pendragon and anyone else who wants to do it!

#about me #tag game #my rambling

[evescuriosityshoppe]

Some classic chapter books I have lovingly rescued from obscurity, as the one true custiodian of 90s culture. Just me.

https://etsy.me/3BklBsY

#chapter books #90s #2000s #full house #sweet valley kids #dinotopia #Deltora quest #outernet #jack sparrow #queue

[atamascolily]

more on Dinotopia

At the end of Dinotopia Lost by Alan Dean Foster, the newcomers to Dinotopia are welcomed with flower wreaths, which Will mentions originating with the Polynesians, “among the first humans to land in Dinotopia”. This is an A+ worldbuilding addition, but really brings home the fact that there are far too many white people in the illustrated Dinotopia given its location somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean.

Also, like, how many ancient lost civilizations are there in Dinotopia, anyway? Yes, it makes sense given how long the island has been inhabited, but also: this is the second-most common plotline after “dolphinback adjusts to Dinotopia” so I’m starting to get tired of it. 

More generally speaking, there’s this weird tension in the Dinotopia books between the “no eggs roll out of the nest” business and the whole “Egyptians/Romans/Phoenicians were inspired by Dinotopia and/or Poseidos (which was actually Atlantis!)” business. It’s just so unclear how those two things are compatible with each other, and it seems to vary depending on what each individual author is trying to emphasize.

My favorite detail in the entire book might be all the trilobites, ammonites, and Orthoceras washing up on the beach after the big tidal wave and everybody deciding to chow down.

That said, Dinotopia Lost gets major points for having Will whistle Liszt and Berlioz to charm a pair of T-rexes in the Rainy Basin, which is my favorite random detail ever. And now I want fic about the further adventures of Will and Prettykill, or even Will trying to explain everything that went down to Sylvia: the textbook example of “well, that escalated quickly”.

I was hoping that would be the plot of The Hand of Dinotopia, but according to the Amazon reviews it is Will and Sylvia’s Excellent Adventure to find the fabled “Hand of Dinotopia” accompanied by poor Chaz, the Protoceratops translator filling in for Bix. At least Sylvia gets to do something, though after being a total non-entity in Dinotopia Lost? TBD.

Also, we never saw Arthur’s reaction to the whole debacle, which is especially weird given that Arthur shows up exactly once to muse about how Will is growing up in chapter two and then is never heard from again. SURE WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE TO SEE A RESOLUTION TO THAT SUBPLOT, HUH? Also, we were robbed of Enit and Tarqua meeting up in the Waterfall City library and doing the Deinonychus special handshake (clawshake?) or whatever. 

#dinotopia #dinotopia lost #fic ideas

[mysteries-x-mistakes]

All My WIPs

A Knight’s Tale (wip 1)

Long ago, humans crash landed on the planet of Wostria. Thousands of years later, the last free human kingdom in the land of the elves is under attack. The princess is rescued and travels far away with the expectation that they’ll come back someday to reclaim their homeland. Once away from everything familiar to them, they realized they’d rather be a prince than a princess. Currently at the academy for knights, Nettle has their first experience on the field and is horrified by what they saw. Will they stay true to themself or accomplish what is expected of them?

25k+ words, tag, intro post here

Genre: YA fantasy, planetary romance

Mood: right as the season shifts into spring and everything starts to have hope and grow again

Topics and Tropes: coming of age story, gender exploration, police brutality, sexual assault, healing from trauma

Inspiration: Tamora Pierce stories, Dragonriders of Pern stories, the events of June 2020, Tess of the Road, my personal experiences with gender/religion

The Injustice of Mhorgun (wip 2)

The opening ball of the season was swarmed with undead. Four people are sent to investigate how and why they were able to get so close to the city on that night, some prepared and some completely not. What they found tumbled them into a quest beyond their reckoning. Is any of what they were taught by the church true? Each of them must balance this new mystery with the social obligations of the season and the expectations that their family has placed upon them.

10k+ words, tag, intro post here

Genre: historical fantasy (regency), gothic horror, adult fiction

Mood: the middle of winter when everything is dead, cold, lonely

Topics and Tropes: undead/vampires/liches, childhood friends to lovers, queer cast, freedom, expectations

Inspiration: Dracula, Pathfinder mythology, Jane Austen, TP: Shadows of London

Legendary Warriors of the Shattered Stones (wip 3)

Adrian Zoleta is your average college student, but his world completely changed the day Ignatius, an alien from another planet, appeared in his life. They were attacked by a monster made from evil magic + pollution which caused them to transform and become the legendary warriors! Together the two must find and protect the rest of the legendary stones from the villainous dragons who are corrupting the earth with their greed.  

not a novel - serialized fiction

3.5 chapters, 9.6k words, tag, intro post here

read the first chapter here or on ao3 @/LuminousPulse

Genre: adult fantasy, reverse portal fantasy, magical girl AU (except they’re not all girls), college AU

Topics and Tropes: found family, queer characters, color coded characters, land sea sky, climate change, pollution, capitalism, disability, and more to be discovered as I write

Motifs: rocks and minerals, natural disasters, anthropomorphic animals

Themes: Friendship is the truest bond; Individual action will never be enough to heal the earth as long as capitalism exists; The earth is worth protecting; It is a myth that you can become wealthy by working hard your entire life; Your worth is not based on how productive you are;  

Inspiration: Precure (MahouTsukai and Healin Good but also just as a genre), Tokyo Mew Mew, The impact capitalism has had on the earth

untitled dinosaur story (wip 4)

premise: sense of wonder and exploration, what would it be like to live alongside dinosaurs?

inspiration: dinotopia, mtg ixalan

untitled iron age ireland story (wip 5)

premise: what did it really mean when the Tuath Dé Danann went to live in the mounds?, what was life like in the iron age?

inspiration: gaelic mythology, the book of invasions, the secrets of sulphur springs

untitled dream story (wip 6)

Marble, a thirty six year old trans man, is thrown back into the past and, through a magical mishap, becomes sixteen again. He pops out of the portal in front of the [last name] family and together they must survive high school and find all the pieces of the spell that will send him home again. However, these spell ingredients haven’t been seen in over a century as humanity has slowly lost the ability to cast wild magic without any dependence on the now ubiquitous spell cards which are heavily regulated by the government. Will he ever be able to make it back home?

Premise: what would it be like to do high school over again as the correct gender?

Topics and Tropes: being trans, hard magic system, magical chemistry, de-aging, age-down romance, life do-over, homophobia

Inspiration: an actual dream I had, cardcaptor sakura, early 2000s, alchemy

Splash Zone (wip 7)

summary to come

outlining, tag, intro post (not here yet)

Genre: YA low fantasy

Mood: the height of summer when everything is bright, vivid, and colorful, especially the lip gloss

Topics and Tropes: parental neglect, blue vs red romance, trio of friends, mermaids, friendship, pirates, letters and diaries, beaches, secrets, mysteries from the past

Inspiration: H2O Just Add Water, Dive Club, Outer Banks, Lock and Key by Sarah Dessan, Our Flag Means Death

wostria (planet 1) vuelara (planet 2)

wostria side stories (bunch of misc wips)

#fey talks #writeblr #writeblr intro #WIP Intro

[rydergrace]

So, I have this whole head canon about Eddie loving the Dinotopia books. Like he read them all as a kid. He still has his childhood copies - well, technically they’re on a bookshelf in Christopher’s room. 

Buck loved the books too. He doesn’t remember how old he was when Maddie read the first book with him, but he remembers being completely drawn to the idea of there being a place where dinosaurs still exist. 

So one night Buck stays over, Chris brings the second book in the series out because he and Eddie are going to read a chapter before bed. And Buck’s eyes light up because he those books are high on his favorites list. So Chris starts telling him excitedly about the first time Eddie read them with him - right after Shannon left when Eddie was trying soooo hard to be the dad Chris needed, but I digress. 

And he tells Buck all about the show (mini series) and Buck so didn’t know that was even a thing. Which Eddie and Chris both find shocking and unacceptable. They both insist on watching the entire 4 hours the next time they have a long weekend. 

And when that weekend happens, Buck is just as drawn in to the mini series as he was the books when he was a kid. And getting to share the experience of watching it for the first time with Chris and Eddie? Well that just makes the whole experience better. 

#teacher!buck headcanons

[carriagelamp]

February 2020 Book Review

The Last Wish / Sword Of Destiny

Let’s start with the books that currently have me in a stranglehold. I apologize to everyone that actually follows me and watched me descend into fandom pits but whatcha gonna do. So, I was aware of the video game when it came out, but not being a prolific gamer I was intrigued but never bothered getting into it. Then the Netflix series came out, and I was again intrigued... but I suck at sitting down and watching shows. So what the heck I decided, it’s probably mediocre hypermasculine high fantasy but let’s try a book to see what the fuss is all about.

Good god. Guys. It’s real good. And so fucking different from the show. Geralt is actually a really emotional, well-meaning guy who’s starved for positive social interactions and is just trying to do his best. And the books’ consistent themes of colonialism, environmental destruction, forced extinction, and changing eras is... chilling and fascinating and honestly a little too relatable at times. These books have made me laugh and shout and frankly sob. Still a little sexist, cause 90s fantasy, but Geralt is so not the gruff, heartless, manly man character I thought he would be. I am so deeply into these and have just cracked the spine of the next book in the series. If you like high fantasy, I can’t recommend these enough.

The Silver Eyes

I just learnt that there were Five Nights At Freddy’s books, and honestly picked this up from the library as a joke for my brother. We’d played the games back when they first came out, and were into the lore, but lbr they’re more of a meme at this point. Anyway, we ended up reading this out loud to each other, a chapter a night, and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Probably wouldn’t have liked it as much on my own, but the main character was complicated and messy, and the book’s way or portraying trauma was neat. It was nominally horror, and did have the occasional chilling moment, or times it was fun to speculate, it over all it was pretty run of the mill middle grade fiction.

FRNK

Probably the best graphic novel I’ve read this month. 

I was howling with laughter while I read it. Good quality Belgium comics, always a treat. This story is about a modern day boy, Frank, who is accidentally thrown back into prehistoric times, where he’s stuck with a bunch of cavemen who haven’t invented the concept of vowels yet. Admittedly my French isn’t great, so it made trying to decipher words with half the letters missing a challenge to say the least, but plenty worth it. I really want to get my hands on book two. I believe there’s an English translation, and I’d recommend giving it a try.

Best Friends

A neat little graphic novel that addresses common growing up issues, about what it means to be friends, stay friends, how to cope with people changing and when it’s time to walk away. Anxiety, being yourself, fitting in, all that sort of stuff. It’s a quick read, very pleasant, and has nice art.

Karen’s Witch

Another cute graphic novel with charming art. I read this at the store while I was waiting for a prescription to be filled. It’s about this five year old (or thereabouts) who is absolutely determined that her neighbour is a witch and by god she is going to prove it or at least scare herself and her friend silly in the process. A fun little read!

Endling: The First

The second book in the Endling series, and all my praise for the first book apply here as well. A super unique high fantasy that gives extinct and threatened species a voice. The book explore themes of war, environmental destruction, sacrifice and loss. You really get to see how much Byx has grown and how much she needs to continue to grow. This book has me so excited for the third, I haven’t read such an emotionally rewarding quest novel in a long time.

Bleach

I found out my library has a billion books of this series and decided to jump into it again for the first time in over a decade. Honestly it’s even better than I remembered? The art is absolutely stunning, Ichigo is such a power fantasy hero, and it’s one of those series with a lot of really loveable characters and a lot of heart. Ichigo is a good guy who you actually feel good liking, which can’t be said for all shonen protags by any means. This is just such a classic and it holds up man. And if you like manga and have never read it? Jump in and enjoy a normal human getting supernatural powers and kicking absolutely enormous monsters’ asses.

Dinotopia: Sabertooth Mountain

This was my favourite Dinotopia book as a kid, and it was still fun to reread. The world of Dinotopia is one separate from the rest of the world, where humanity lives in perfect harmony with many prehistoric creatures that have managed to survive and evolve on the island of Dinotopia. This story is about a crisis brewing, as the sabertooths are cut off from their food supply and are in danger of not only starving but of bringing death to the rest of the mountain as well. While surveying the situation with his older sister, the main character finds himself falling from the airship in the middle of a storm, directly into the valley of starving sabertooths.

I read a bunch of this author’s graphic novels, and they are such feel-good queer lit. This was probably my favourite of the lot, but I also read Tea Dragon Society, Aquicorn Cove, and Princess Princess Ever After. Taking place in a picturesque mountain community, it’s about a girl meeting a guardian dragon who accidentally fell asleep in the mountains a century ago rather than watch over the village like intended. It’s about coming to terms with and loving yourself (and also about super cute little tea dragons).

Just Jaime

Another story that focuses on the complications of middle school, and how friends can grow and change, and when sometimes friendships become toxic and cruel. These are novel/graphic novel hybrids that are very visually appealing, and really do manage to tell very heartfelt stories. This one takes a side character from the earlier two books, and turns her from a very one dimensional, somewhat annoying character, into a fully realized person with her own issues and her own need for growth.

The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up / The Life-Changing Manga Of Tidying Up

Given that I’m not really a non-fiction person and DEFINITELY not a self-help book person, I really enjoyed these (though I didn’t read Spark Joy). I read the manga first, out of curiosity, but enough of it struck true that I decided to try the book as well. Have I cleaned anything up yet? No. But honestly, I can genuinely say that despite being repetitive at points I do truly feel like I got a lot of good out of it, and I feel much more excited and prepared when I do decide to do a big clean next. It really does reframe the relationship you have with your belongings and with yourself. I genuinely love the concept of “sparking joy”.

Bigfoot Boy: The Sound Of Thunder

Technically the last book of the series, whoops. Though honestly having read it I didn’t feel like I missed that much. It’s a Canadian graphic novel and I had... mixed feelings about it. Interesting and exciting in some ways, but the pacing was odd, and honestly I don’t think indigenous voices went into making it (I could be wrong but...) and it reads as kinda... eugh. Problematic. Having a none indigenous author write about a white boy being the guardian of a first nation totem and turning into a bigfoot isn’t a super cool optic.

Bloodchild

I was told “hey this is a really fucked up short story” so I read it, and guess what? It was a really fucked up short story. Would recommend if you want weird alien sex slavery bullshit-- it was a wild ride. And the overall themes obviously went a lot deeper than that, but honestly, it’s like a few dozen pages long if you wanna dig into all the philosophical shit, just give it a read! Uh, heavy content warning, tw tw tw, but a really bizarre, unsettling look at gender and power dynamics and oppression through a scifi lens.

Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIHM

I hadn’t read this book since elementary school so I reread it on a whim. It really is such a charming story. As far as animal stories go, this feels almost like the platonic ideal. Mother mouse is worried about her sick son and winds up compelled to seek out the mysterious rats who live in the rosebush for help, and is not only thrust into her own adventure but learns about the strange past her late husband shared with the rats of NIMH. It’s such a relaxing read, while still managing to be exciting and compelling.

Exploring According to Og the Frog

And one last animal story to round us off. I’d read one of the Humphrey books last month, and check out a couple more from the library for fun. I didn’t enjoy Mysteries According to Humphrey that much, but this one was charming, showing the world through Humphrey’s frog friend Og instead. The same charming type of adventure, but being a frog, Og has a very different attitude and view of the world, which was fun. Very cute elementary kid lit.

#book review #february book review #canadian lit #queer lit #the witcher #the last wish #sword of destiny #fnaf #five nights at freddy's #the silver eyes #frnck #endling #baby sitter's club #mrs frisby and the rats of nimh #bloodchild #octavia butler #marie kondo #just jaime #tea dragon festival #dinotopia #bleach #novels #manga #graphic novels #comics #chatter

[wander-yet-wonder]

REPOST WITH YOUR ANSWERS!

name: Julia

nickname/s: Juju, jujubean, juultje

height: 1.67 m

nationality: Dutch

favourite fruit: MANGO CULT MANGO CULT MANGO

favourite season: Fall

favourite scents: campfire, wool blanket, leather, straw, bread

favourite animals: dogssss

tea, coffee, hot cocoa: tea (A strong yorkshire blend with 2 spoons of sugar and a cloud of milk to start the day)

average hours of sleep: depends- too little or too much no inbetweens

when my blog was created: gosh- I think... 2010?

random fact: I think the song ‘for the dancing and the dreaming’ from how to train your dragon 2 is the epitome of romance.

favourite food: Blini with fish eggs

favourite t.v. shows: Over the garden wall and I suppose jane the virgin

favourite movie: pan’s labyrinth, Spirited away, Dinotopia

sexuality: Bi

pronouns: she/her for convenience, they/them is also nice

favourite book series: Vampire chronicles, I like classic literature but that’s not a ‘series’ (WAIT does the divina comedia count as a series? Otherwise definitely that one)

favourite video game/s: undertale, yoshi’s island, beyond good and evil, spyro 

favourite subject: medieval art hisory

guys or girls: both, neither, 

what I should be doing: writing a chapter for my book

favourite fandoms: historical hetalia, vampire chronicles, elfquest, steven universe, over the garden wall, undertale, some classical literature (Dante, Frankenstein etc.), mythology

➢ tagged by: @flosiovis

➢ tagging: @modoru-mono, @lovethebluebox @lesbianhungary

[patema-introverted]

ok ideas for a dinotopia reboot/new content: dinotopia but accessible and more diverse

ramps instead of stairs bc come on. Both dinos AND wheelchair-bound people can use stairs

they def. know how to build wheelchairs. i remember baby carriers and strollers and shit in the first book they can build wheenchairs

seeing-eye dino companions (or seeing-eye humans for blind dinos!)

braille but its dino footprints OR just braille as a second written language

they have their own three-fingered sign language that hoh/mute people and dinos can use OR if its a film use ASL or whichever country of origin of the film or character

noise-cancelling ear muffs for people who get overstimulated by loud dinosaur footsteps

fidget toys and weighted blankets 

maybe those sequin pillows but made out of shedded dinosaur scales or something

capitalism is fake and dinosaurs are real, encourage people with special interests 

bitchin dino-themed prosthetics

binders and transition surgeries, dietitians who specify in helping them

be gay. capitalism is fake, dinosaurs are real, be gay. gays are fully accepted. 

more multicultural, more poc in general

show me hijabs! show me

also give some dinosaurs feathers

also? not all humans can exist on a vegetarian diet let some of them live with the tyrannosaurs and raptors or something. treehouses in the rainy basin where they can get that good good protein

also they definitely have and use vaccines siri send post

also if this is a reboot of the 2002 miniseries use the fragment last code from the book cause then its an acrostic poem for “SOW GOOD SEED” and the film could have used “dont put out the light” instead of “find the light” and kept the acrostic poem they’re cowards

also if its a total reboot of the 2002 miniseries with the same characters the love triangle ends like so:

marion: i’m lesbian

david and karl: i thought you were dinotopian???

if any of this is already in content lmk?? cause i’ve only seen the 2002 miniseries, the cartoon movie, and read the first two books and one (1) chapter book bc it had a t rex called chomper in it. ty and gn

#dinotopia #bubbles.txt #its 2:30 am and im in a dinosaur mood

[wayf1nders]

11 questions

i was tagged by @vityanikiforova!!!!!!!!!! thank u!!!!!💕💕💕

Rules:

1) Always post the rules. 2) Answer the questions given by the person who tagged you. 3) Write 11 questions of your own. 4) Tag 11 people.

1. How did you learn about YOI?

I’m pretty sure it was through tumblr!

2. What was one of the most embarrassing things you’ve witnessed?

like in person? I can’t remember

3. What was the nicest compliment you’ve been told?

a nice lady once told me I looked very innocent and cute!!!

4. What are some of your favorite books?

dinotopia (bc dinosaurs!!!!!!), Anne of Green Gables, The Birchbark House, the secret of the ginger mice, and Zahrah the Windseeker!!!!! they’re all amazing!!

5. When reading fanfiction, you prefer one-shots or chaptered works?

mmmmmm i mean both are good but I tend to read more chaptered works...the long stuff

6. Worst drink you’ve ever had?

ok well I can’t remember the WORST one, but I really really don’t like dr. pepper and bubble tea.

7. Your favorite quote?

i mean there’s a lot of super good quotes, but im sticking with yoi quotes for now

 quote of the day is “I don't know how long Victor will stick around or how long my body will hold up. So please God...give me Victor's time, if only just for now.” - yuuri

i just really like this one, a lot

8. If you could swap talents with someone for a day who would that be and why?

ooooooooo if i switched talents with phichit then i’d be an amazing sociable figure skater with amazing selfie skills!! that sounds pretty good! or victor!!

tbh i think i’d be happy swapping talents with like anyone, bc some people have got such cool talents?? like ok an irl person would be like jin? from bts? bc then i could sing!!!!! i rlly wish i could sing!!!!!!!!

9. What is your least favorite trope in the fandom?

in the yoi fandom? idk....? i guess like the whole thing with the dishes..that wasn’t even funny..like it was made into such a big deal. i don’t think that’s a trope? but it was everywhere. it got annoying. i can’t think of any actual tropes though??

10. What is an AU you’d love to read?

hi i fucking love aus

OK SO ONE i was thinking about like a lil while ago was an ever after high au!!! like ok i know, but i like eah and it was just so much fun trying to figure who each of them would be and what would happen, especially because there’s conflict with like whether they accept their story and follow it or if they rebel against it, especially bc victor might be like a prince and he’s supposed to follow his destiny and be the prince charming of a story, but he loves yuuri who isn’t a part of his story? (he could be like eros or something, the same way that there is c. a. cupid!) and there’s the whole thing about what happens if you don’t follow your destiny (cause raven saw that fake vision that everything would be destroyed if she refused to sign the book and i imagine it’d end up being kinda like that for one of them?) and this whole idea makes me so excited honestly!!!!!!!! idk if anyone would be interested in that though lmao (but if u are...lmk....let’s talk....)

11. Your thoughts on North Korea. 

seems like there’s some pretty scary stuff going on up there

i am tagging (if u want to!! u don’t have to!!): @y-uuriis, @reinalino, @katzuyas, @brokuro, @lovingnikiforov, @tsumilkii

my 11 questions are:

which yoi character would you go to for life advice?

what’s your favorite game?

what is a song you love?

your favorite character who is dead now?

what is your style like?

the best drink you’ve ever had?

how is the weather out there?

why are things the way that they are?

what do you love the most in life?

which character would you never ever hang out with?

your opinion on phichit?

#HI THANK U ANDIE YOURE AWESOME #💙

[ao3feed-hiccstrid]

Echad, We Are One

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2Z4FxgP

by HawkTooth

The 6th Book of the Two Worlds Collide series. Hiccup, Toothless, Hawken and the gang have survived many ordeals together, growing as a team, but both worlds are far from finished with challenges and secrets. Enemies of old still set their sights on fracturing the peace that has prevailed, with a dangerous and growing array of tricks to threaten the balance of even life itself.

Words: 4677, Chapters: 2/43, Language: English

Series: Part 6 of Two Worlds Collide

Fandoms: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M

Characters: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, Astrid Hofferson, Toothless (How to Train Your Dragon), Original Characters, Fishlegs Ingerman, Snotlout Jorgenson, Ruffnut Thorston, Tuffnut Thorston, Camicazi (How to Train Your Dragon), Thuggory (How to Train Your Dragon), Heather (How to Train Your Dragon), Zipeau (Dinotopia), Rattlesnake Jake, Lord Shen (Kung Fu Panda)

Relationships: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson, Stoick the Vast/Valka, Fishlegs Ingerman/Ruffnut Thorston, Camicazi/Tuffnut Thorston

Additional Tags: Multiple Crossovers, Action/Adventure, Humor, War, Romance, Tragedy, Family

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2Z4FxgP

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #hiccstrid #how to train your dragon #HTTYD

[nerdgatehobbit]

2022 Reading List

Thanks for tagging me @jadelotusflower as I do need to get around to more actual reading of books this year.  Most of what I have read has been more along the lines of graphic novels- the first two Sword & Shield manga (which was cute fluff), most of the X-Men Evolution comic omnibus (waiting to finish season 2 before reading the rest), and The Art of Brave (so pretty and informative!).  While I haven’t read it yet, I want to look over The Art of Frozen II soon.

Of course, I reread Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara the day I got my signed copy.  It is so gorgeous and I appreciated the behind-the-scenes section in the new edition.  Yes, the first one is the most iconic, but I personally enjoy all three main books (and the prequel is good, just short).  Seriously, I love the Dinotopia franchise and I’m hoping it gets a revival soon-ish because I feel like a lot more could be done with it nowadays.

I did just read the SGA novella From the Depths, which was relatively light-hearted and I admit, there was a lot of Sparky-ish vibes going on, with a fun role reversal of Sheppard being the cautious expedition commander while Weir is the more reckless one who’s mistrusted by those back on Earth.  However, I admit that meant everyone else was sidelined as a result, even Rodney who’s on the cover with them.

There are a lot of books in my backlog, including Dan Jones’ books on the Plantagenets  and the War of the Roses.  To be honest, I have read them before, via checking them from the library, but that was pre-pandemic so I recently obtained my own copies.  The Nature of Middle-Earth is another book I want to read, but I keep not being in the right headspace as reading background on Middle-Earth tends to be a dense experience.  Rewarding, though, so I ought to get around to it.  Though it might lead into that LOTR & Sansukh reread I keep putting off, but that’ll be fun.

I’ve had the actual Ivanhoe for years  and am about due for a reread, but to add a new twist to the experience I got the Wishbone Classics version to see just how closely the two align for myself.  So that’ll be fun when I get around to it!

Oh, I almost forgot!  I did read a book this year that talked about E.H. Shepard, especially his iconic work for Milne’s stories.  To follow up on that, I want to get around to reading said stories, the beginning of a franchise.  I say ‘reading’ opposed to ‘rereading’ as I’m not 100% sure if I did read them all as a kid.  Afterwards, I’ll probably reread my favorite book of all, not just by Milne, which is Once on a Time.  It’s so meta and fun!

Since I was a teen, I’d had The Book of Fire, but late last year I snagged the other three of the Dragon Quartet online.  I’m a tad nervous about actually getting the whole experience, as the third book actually mostly made sense out of context and now the actual story has to live up to the backstory that I vaguely assembled in my head way back when.  Eep.  Which is why I haven’t done that reread yet.

Last December, I did read & comment on the first several Thalia’s Musings chapters so I really ought to go back and finish doing so for those books.  I got reminded because I just saw XWP’s “For Him the Bell Tolls”, and the Cupid and Aphrodite dynamic there feels like it was an influence on how those deities interact in those web novels.

With 2023 approaching, I do need to start my Young Wizards reading if I’m going to properly celebrate the series’ 40th anniversary.  Plus, similar to the Ivanhoe situation, I want to compare the original text books and my online New Millennium copies.  I know that’ll be most important with A Wizard Alone, although maybe it’s because I’m high-functioning myself, but I don’t remember having an issue with the original version although maybe that’ll be different when I reread it as an adult.  Still, I admire how Duane listened to people and changed the story as a result.

I’m still in the middle of TOS, although I did get a DS9 detour this weekend thanks to the Tribbles!  It was a superb episode and I went back to get some screencaps afterwards, which will probably be posted later tonight.  I bring this up because I have obtained both the Emissary novelization and the Deep Space Nine Companion to be part of those upcoming reviews.  If “Trials and Tribble-ations” is any indication, I think I’ll really enjoy DS9.

I keep putting off any sort of Austen reread, mostly due to guilt because of the size of my ‘not yet read’ pile.  However, I miss those stories so maybe I’ll just go and ahead and do a reread regardless.  Sense and Sensibility in particular, as I still need to watch the 2008 miniseries.

What I miss most from the library is checking out Discworld novels and George O’Connor’s Olympians graphic novels.  I haven’t been since February 2020.  I could and should buy my own Discworld novels, but I struggle to decide which to get first.  Though with May approaching, maybe it ought to be Night Watch.  On the other, I like Moist’s stories and those that feature the witches.  I  genuinely feel like Tiffany’s brother with sweets when trying to decide.  It doesn’t help that at this point, I really shouldn’t be adding to my to-read pile.

Honestly, if anyone has suggestions on what to read first, I’d appreciate it.

Tagging @magic-owl @ladytharen @bex-pendragon @mylittleredgirl @hewwwwkayyyy @asokatanos if they want to do one and anybody else who feels up to it!

#tagging game #my ramblings #dinotopia #sga novella #dan jones #middle earth #ivanhoe #milne & shepard #the dragon quartet #thalia's musings #young wizards #not you dd #st ds9 #jane austen #discworld #talking about books #... mostly

[atamascolily]

I finished Dinotopia Lost! To my intense disappointment, the main antagonist turned out to be a cartoonishly evil pirate named Brognar Blackstrap, who was intent on plundering Dinotopia after his ship managed to survive the reef intact. Dinotopia is actually a good place to explore the evils of colonialism, and the conflict between utopia and the outside world, BUT “outsider shows up in Dinotopia and causes trouble” is such an overused plotline in general in the official publications that I am rapidly growing tired of it. I would rather read happy utopia stories, which pro-publishing has traditionally considered “boring” because they lack the usual kinds of conflict.

That said, the rest of the crew is more to my liking--there’s a mix of ethnicities and cultures (Native American, Jamaican, Chinese, Zulu) along with the usual Europeans, and they react to their new world in very different ways. My favorite is the Chinese guy, who insists that the dinosaurs are dragons and there’s a Running Gag about this between him and the first mate, Smiggens, who is the only one with a conventional education and a budding scientist. I have mixed feelings about Smiggens because he’s supposed to be the audience viewpoint character and the most sympathetic, and yet there’s enough classism involved to make me uncomfortable. 

You can tell I am a fanfic writer by the fact that my favorite part of any book is always the introductory scene-setting chapters before the Actual Plot kicks off, and this book is no exception. Sadly, we do not see the farmer from Chapter One ever again or learn anything more about him, which annoys me greatly.

Anyway, the pirates kidnap a family of Struthiomimus tourists, and wander into the Rainy Basin, and hijinks ensue. One of the struthies, Keelk, eventually escapes and makes her way to Treetown, where Will Denison and a surly Protoceratops translator named Chaz agree to help her when everybody else is still arguing about what to do.

Meanwhile, the pirates, exercising supremely bad judgement, have also kidnapped a baby T-rex. Will and Chaz roll a natural 20 on their persuasion roll and manage to convince her frantic parents that they’re here to help. This means they get to ride the T-rexes and also get adopted into the tribe (that part is awesome, actually).

The pirates stumble into another Ancient Lost City Made of Gold, where they meet a Deionychus monk who knows kung fu (I swear I am not making this up). Will frees the struthie family but gets captured, and he and the T-rex are dragged out back to the beach, because Blackstrap is ready to leave.

Chaz convinces the monk to help them, and they intercept the pirates just as Will has convinced most of the crew to mutiny by explaining how awesome Dinotopia actually is. Then a crew of humans and sauropods from Treetown show up to rescue them just as a massive tidal wave hits, which is EPIC. Once the waves subside, everyone agrees “no harm, no foul,” and a happy ending is had by all... well, almost everyone.

You can tell this is aimed at adults because the book ends with the T-rex parents devouring an unrepentant Blackstrap, as if this were Jurassic Park. No, seriously, the book ends with that image. I would have swapped scenes so we ended on a happy note, but no. It’s a jarring and strange thing to end on.

It’s surprising to me to see Will without a skybax, but not in a bad way; we get a brief mention of Cirrus, and that’s it, which seems off to me since being a skybax rider is supposed to be such a big deal, but whatever. We also get brief mentions of Sylvia when Will thinks he’s about to die, but no actual details about what she’s doing during all of this. Arthur appears in the second chapter and never again, and there’s some Ship Tease about Oriana. Chaz is basically Bix with a bad attitude (mostly played for laughs). Tarqua, the monk, has potential, but I’m annoyed that he gets the “indifferent to the world” schtick that he has to be talked out of, UGH.

Also, there is a brief mention of Lee Crabb, and I had the mental image of Dinotopia as essentially one big small town, so everyone knows Lee Crabb as That One Guy, which is hilariously funny to me.

SO... as you can probably tell, I’m very ambivalent about the plot of this book, and I still have no idea where the title came from, but there were a lot of world-building details that were very cool, and which I plan on stealing for fic. Many things were genuinely great, and even the crackiest moments were entertaining in the “I can’t believe they did that / so bad it’s good” kind of way that I enjoy.

#dinotopia #dinotopia lost #lily liveblogs #book reviews