#karen memery

[noa-ciharu]

Istg one day imma write "antichrist Fuuma attends clamp campus high school and Seals are losing their mind" crack AU

#*one day when i have time and enough crack energy for memery #Fuuma is top class student he destroys world only on Friday nights and weekends #so seals dread both weekdays (bc school) and weekends bc Fuuma is about to start with his kinky bs #every Wednesday seals are having lunch with their nemesis #Keiichi is there too and he's oblivious to entire situation #he doesn't sense the tension. nor does he realize he shouldn't hit on Kamui so much #sorata has a new antichrist classmate that is doing school 200 better than he is #and probably way more shenanigans #one day Kanoe drops by to pick Fuuma up for antichrist business and whole class goes feral when they see her #seals get envious so they start bringing Karen over to school #they can't lose to Fuuma in any way #Subaru suddenly sees Seishirou in Fuuma's face everyday #so he suddenly wants to spend more time with him for substitute reasons #that's the end of Subaru's and Kamui's 'sisterly' bond Kamui has to find new tutor #someone who has good grades... someone like... antichrist Fuuma #tutoring seasons are .... yea #Kamui either scores all tests with that soet of inducement or fails all no in between #Yuzuriha and Keiichi understand nothing about situation; Arashi understands everything and she wishes she doesn't #me and my crack bs ideas :D

[sapphicbookoftheday]

Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear

Today's sapphic book of the day is Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear!

Summary: "'You ain't gonna like what I have to tell you, but I'm gonna tell you anyway. See, my name is Karen Memery, like memory only spelt with an e, and I'm one of the girls what works in the Hôtel Mon Cherie on Amity Street. Hôtel has a little hat over the o like that. It's French, so Beatrice tells me.'

Set in the late 19th century—when the city we now call Seattle Underground was the whole town (and still on the surface), when airships plied the trade routes, would-be gold miners were heading to the gold fields of Alaska, and steam-powered mechanicals stalked the waterfront, Karen is a young woman on her own, is making the best of her orphaned state by working in Madame Damnable's high-quality bordello. Through Karen's eyes we get to know the other girls in the house—a resourceful group—and the poor and the powerful of the town. Trouble erupts one night when a badly injured girl arrives at their door, begging sanctuary, followed by the man who holds her indenture, and who has a machine that can take over anyone's mind and control their actions. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the next night brings a body dumped in their rubbish heap—a streetwalker who has been brutally murdered.

Bear brings alive this Jack-the-Ripper yarn of the old west with a light touch in Karen's own memorable voice, and a mesmerizing evocation of classic steam-powered science."

#lesbian #wlw #books #lgbtq #book recommendations #sapphic #queer #book recs #queer lit #lgbt books #booklr #lgbtqia #lgbt #science fiction #steampunk #fantasy #speculative fiction #historical #historical fiction #karen memory #elizabeth bear

[a-duck-with-a-book]

REVIEW // Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear

★★★★☆

🌟 HIDDEN GEM 🌟

This book is a fun romp. Honestly, that's the best way I can describe it. A prostitute, her girlfriend, and her prostitute friends try to save the city from a racist, misogynist evil villain with the help of a marshal with a cool mustache and his deputy. It's FUN. Bear pays homage to several historical figures such as Mary Ann Conklin, Tye Leung Schulze, and the real Marshal Bass Reeves. Yes, the book is very on the nose at times with its "girl power", "down with the racist and sexist white men" message, but, honestly, is that a bad thing? I have almost 20 highlights from this book featuring moments when I said "yes, girl, TAKE DOWN THE PATRIARCHY". Here are a few examples:

// image: official cover art by Cynthia Sheppard //

"Amazing what people can fail to see when it’s a man doing it to a woman, even a respectable-looking woman."

"She had years and miles on Dyer Stone, and brains to boot. But he had a prick, and inherited money, and a prick. I guess that gave him the right to lord it over her."

Yes, a lot of these really beat you on the head with the point. But I enjoyed it. So there.

There is just one more line I want to point out:

"I realized that if I was only being her friend because I wanted to get into her bloomers then I was a pretty lousy friend and a pretty lousy romantic prospect."

Please drill this in the heads of every "friend-zoned" love triangle participant that inevitably pops up in half of all YA books.

Karen is a wonderful narrator-her grammar and side comments only add to the story. Often times I've found that this technique can be cringe-y or distracting, but Karen is so lovable and funny that it feels like we're sitting around a fire while she recounts the adventures of her youth.

#steampunk #karen memory #karen memery #elizabeth bear #feminist #girl power #alternate history #alt history #wlw #f/f #lgbtq #lesbian #lgbt fiction #book #book review #review #books #bookworm #bookish #goodreads #cover artist #hidden gem

[msmoonlighter]

So I saw this meme format ^^^^^ and I had to make some niche memes 

#memes #knight getting arrested meme #medieval knight #knight #memery #karen please stop #niche memes #sorta niche i guess

[malshearteyes]

Surprise! I was tagged in this lol so I’m doing it :D

Tag 9 people you’d like to catch up with or people you want to know better!

i was tagged by @only-here-for-jatp

LAST SONG: Finally Free from the Julie and the Phantoms soundtrack because i needed some serotonin lol 

LAST MOVIE: i... don’t know?? oh my god it might be the live action Cat In The Hat -- don’t judge me okay i live with my friends and we wanted some memery that night i guess lol 

CURRENTLY WATCHING: nothing tv/movie atm, i have been watching a lot of youtube tho 

CURRENTLY READING: like my pal @only-here-for-jatp i also have been reading a lot of fanfiction lol -- for which fandom? the world may never know (im just kidding its jatp) ALSO lol for a traditional book i am currently in the middle of One of Us Is Next by Karen M. McManus -- its kind of a murder mystery but with a truth or dare game and it’s pretty good so far 

CURRENTLY CRAVING: i’m so so tired, i would really like some sleep, buttt there’s candy next to me and i have an assignment to finish so those two things come first 

Thanks for tagging me, you’re so sweet!! This was fun :D

I’m tagging: @saltandpeppahdiner (wassup lucy!)  @octoberries (hi adam!!!) @learning-to-fly-on-my-own @luvablejokergurl-92 @limonada-de-fresa @yourlocalmeme69 andddd i can’t think of any others off of the top of my head so if you see this and you wanna do it, i tag you!!

#ask game #super fun #shannersanswers

[pierrotdameron]

tagged by: @the-blog-of-dust​

rules: tag 9 people you’d like to get to know better

top 3 ships 

(it’s hard)

Peter Parker x Mary Jane Watson

Lord Asriel x Mrs. Coulter

Matt Murdock x Karen Page

lipstick or chapstick: none lol ??

last song: "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” from the Rocketman OST

last movie: The Aeronauts, it’s good but whoo i’m scared of height and it was a ride

reading:  The Fires of Heaven (fifth book in The Wheel of Time series).  

Tagging: @witcherislovewitcherislife @yoyo-inspace @laciefuyu @panlyra @his-dark-memerials @geekyfeminist-love @iorekbyrnisons 

#i don't even what chaptstick is lmao sorry im a man

[marzipanandminutiae]

Top 5 book ships

1. Carmilla/Laura (Carmilla)

2. Maud Lily/Sue Trinder (Fingersmith)

3. Karen Memery/Priya Swati (Karen Memory)

4. Toby Daye/Tybalt (October Daye)

5. Sam Hartley/Connie Goodwin (The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane)

#ask #laufire #shipping #top 5

[biandlesbianliterature]

Elizabeth Bear’s Karen Memory is a steampunk alternate universe set in Seattle during the Gold Rush, following a prostitute named Karen Memery (“like memory but with an e”) as she and her colleagues investigate the murders of streetwalkers, attempt to help rescue of women who have been trafficked, and also have to deal with a rival brothel owner trying to drive them out of business using mad science and mind control. I feel like everyone I know has read and recommended this book at least once to me since it came out, and they were exactly right because it falls squarely in the middle of my interest in both queer mysteries and genre-crossing SFF!

Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear was reviewed @ The Lesbrary

#steampunk #western #alternate history #SFF #elizabeth bear #fantasy

[ferociousqueak]

Fandom memery

@tarysande tagged me to do the thing a million years ago, and I might be late but I’m here! Let’s do this!

Three Fandoms:

1. Mass Effect

2. Brooklyn Nine-Nine

3. Stranger Things

The First Character You Loved:

1. Liara T’Soni. She was just so cute and shy and bookish and easily flustered, and I loved her immediately. I knew nothing about the game when I started it, so when the dialogue with Kaidan turned flirty with Kaidan, I was like “oh snap! You can do this??” But THEN things turned flirty with Liara and I was just “BYE KAIDAN I HAVE A BLUE BOO NOW.”

2. Terry Jeffords. He was obviously the level-headed voice of reason who had little patience for Jake’s antics. Also, he’s a devoted husband and father who makes his family important to his identity from the very beginning, and that’s something I’d love to see more of in general.

3. Benny Hammond. He was just so understanding of Eleven being scared and obviously not capable of complex communication, and he was a giant, soft teddy bear, AND WE WERE ROBBED.

The Character You Never Expected to Love So Much:

1. Garrus Vakarian. I read a lot of people saying they were thirsty for him in the first game, but I side-eyed him in that game a lot, ngl. I saw him as a loose cannon looking to make Shepard his excuse for bad behavior, and DID YOU HEAR WHAT HE SAID TO TALI IN THE ELEVATOR OMFG. To be clear, I didn’t dislike him. I just didn’t trust him. But he arcs so hard over the next few games and gains complexity, maturity, and vulnerability, AND I JUST LOVE HIM A LOT OKAY.

2. Jake Peralta. He annoyed me a lot at the start of the show, but like Garrus, he arcs hard. I feel like he starts out as the standard “Everyman” who’s supposedly brilliant but really he’s pretty mediocre and his self-regard is entirely unearned. But then he learns and grows and treats his colleagues as equals and family. I feel like he goes from being a lone wolf to the family pup, and I love his development.

3. Joyce Byers. Her first scene put me off. A lot. She’s chastising her teenage son (who’s making breakfast and who’s working nights to supplement her income) for not knowing where HER child is?? I raised my eyebrow at her pretty hard for that. But then as you start to learn more about her situation and how ready she is lay down her life for her children and how she doesn’t let ANYONE tell her she’s crazy when she KNOWS she’s right and NO ONE TOUCH HER SHE’S MINE AND I LOVE HER.

The Character You Relate to the Most:

1. Tali’Zorah. She’s a huge nerd who has no idea how to adult and pretty much relies on bullshitting her way into getting people to give her a chance to prove herself.

2. Amy Santiago. Again, a huge nerd who’s super organized and color codes everything and developed a deep sense of competition because her brothers always told her she couldn’t do things when she was a kid.

3. Joyce Byers. She’s been through some shit, but she would die for the ones she loves. She’s not tiny, she’s concentrated fury.

The Character You’d Slap:

1. Admiral Hackett. LET SHEPARD REST GDI. I don’t hate him, but he needs to learn that the Alliance has more commanders in it than just Shepard.

2. Hitchcock. Boy needs to stop creeping on ladies, realize he loves Scully, and marry that man already.

3. BILLY FUCKING HARGROVE. THAT RACIST SEXIST ABUSIVE UNSTABLE PIECE OF SHIT. That being said, I do realize the irony that he’s likely the way he is because he’s been slapped too much. But still:

Three Favorite Characters (in order of preference):

IN ORDER OF PREFERENCE???? WHAT KIND OF MONSTER!

1. Nyreen Kandros, Garrus Vakarian, Tali’Zorah

2. Rosa Diaz, Amy Santiago, Terry Jeffords

3. Joyce Byers, Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair

A Character You Liked at First, But Don’t Anymore/Are Having a Hard Time with at the Moment:

1. Kaidan Alenko. I don’t hate him, and I understand a lot of people love him, which they’re free to do ofc. Specifically, it’s the romanced Kaidan that turns me off. He puts so much responsibility on Shepard for his feelings and even accuses them of cheating when he’s the one who did the breaking up (thanks BioWare for letting m!Shep defend himself to Ashley but not letting FemShep do the same with Kaidan that was great real classy and not sexist at all). I’m not a fan of that dynamic at all.

2. My love for the characters on this show has only grown <3

3. Karen Wheeler. I was a proud member of the Karen Wheeler Defense Squad in season 1, but then the Duffer brothers had to go and make her completely disinterested in her kids and then set her up with Billy and UGH EW GROSS NO THANK YOU. Season 2 Karen is a completely different person from season 1 Karen, and I will never forgive the Duffer brothers for creating an interesting, complex character and then going “oh wait you weren’t supposed to like her, here let’s ruin her for you.” KAREN WHEELER DESERVED BETTER.

A Character You Didn’t Like at First but Do Now:

1. Ashley Williams. While I never thought of Ashley as racist (in the Mass Effect universe, humans are on the receiving end of cultural and institutional racism and reverse-racism isn’t a thing so), the isolationist beliefs she holds in the first game put me off. Again, like Garrus, she arcs pretty hard and learns and grows and matures. At this point, I’m furious we didn’t get to romance her in the third game.

2. Charles Boyle, kind of. I didn’t exactly dislike him to begin with, but I found his obsession with Rosa creepy and distasteful. Once the show ditched that dynamic, I could appreciate him for being the goofy oddball he is.

3. Steve Harrington. In fact, I hated him quite a bit at first. But once he ditches his asshole friends and realizes he’s being an insufferable douche canoe, I started to warm to him. By the end of the season 2, I was ready to lay down my life for this disaster of a den mother.

Three OTPs:

1. Shakarian, Shali, Nyreen/Not being fridged

2. Jake/Amy, Holt/Kevin, Gina/Her phone

3. Joyce/Hopper, Jonathan/Nancy/Steve, Lucas/Max

And now for no-obligation tagging! @servantofclio, @mordinette, @pagerunner, @probablylostrightnow, and @bloomingcnidarians. Only if you want to!

#hows about a meme thingy #it looks like Friday is my official memery day #long post #Mass Effect #Brooklyn 99 #Stranger Things

[stilljumpingback]

Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear

Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear

Genre | Historical Steampunk Fiction Page #s | 346Publishing Date | February 2015 “You ain’t gonna like what I have to tell you, but I’m gonna tell you anyway. See, my name is Karen Memery, like memory only spelt with an e, and I’m one of the girls what works in the Hôtel Mon Cherie on Amity Street. Hôtel has a little hat over the o like that. It’s French, so Beatrice tells me.” Set in the late…

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#historical fiction #sapphic #steampunk

[bluewillow-redleaves]

Karen Memory (Karen Memery #1) by Elizabeth Bear Japanese Book Cover Illustration by Yoshitoshi Abe (安倍吉俊)

#karen memory #elizabeth bear #yoshitoshi abe #steampunk

[torbooks]

The ebook edition of Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear is on sale for only $2.99 for a limited time!

"You ain't gonna like what I have to tell you, but I'm gonna tell you anyway. See, my name is Karen Memery, like memory only spelt with an e, and I'm one of the girls what works in the Hôtel Mon Cherie on Amity Street. Hôtel has a little hat over the o like that. It's French, so Beatrice tells me."

Set in the late 19th century—when the city we now call Seattle Underground was the whole town (and still on the surface), when airships plied the trade routes, would-be gold miners were heading to the gold fields of Alaska, and steam-powered mechanicals stalked the waterfront, Karen is a young woman on her own, is making the best of her orphaned state by working in Madame Damnable's high-quality bordello. Through Karen's eyes we get to know the other girls in the house—a resourceful group—and the poor and the powerful of the town. Trouble erupts one night when a badly injured girl arrives at their door, beggin sanctuary, followed by the man who holds her indenture, and who has a machine that can take over anyone's mind and control their actions. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the next night brings a body dumped in their rubbish heap—a streetwalker who has been brutally murdered.

#Karen Memory #Elizabeth Bear #books #ebook #steampunk #ebook deal #reading #tbr #to be read #Tor Books #torbooks

[bobodelrey]

This is, by and far, one of the best books I’ve read recently. Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear features a diverse, eclectic cast of characters--most of them female, most of them sex workers or former sex workers, nearly half of them non-white.

Set in the late nineteenth century in a steampunk version of the Oregon Territory, Karen Memory follows Karen Memery as she tries to navigate her life after an indentured servant busts down the door to the parlor of her home, carrying a bloody woman with her. The next night, the body of a sex worker shows up on their doorstep. Shortly after, Karen meets legendary US Marshal Bass Reeves, and off sets the plot at fill tilt.

Karen is almost everything you could ask for as a “strong female character”--she’s a sex worker with no shame about her job who loves to sew and is saving up her money to start her own horse ranch. She acknowledges and tries to improve her own faults and is fully prepared to scrap with anyone. She is, quite literally, So Gay she doesn’t know what to do with herself around Priya, her love interest. Priya, who is smart and mechanically inclined and explicitly Hindi.

Bear has done an amazing job of mixing in historical events, groups, and people of the time with steampunk elements--airships, giant fighting robots, and “Mad Science Forecasts” blend with the Alaskan Gold Rush and the election of Presiden Hayes. There are places, in the first half of the book, where one might forget the steampunk aspect exists--some mentions of robots and mad science are a little disorienting.

There’s no gay panic! No visible homophobia, outward, internalized, or otherwise! There is very little shaming of sex workers, too.

It is written in the first person, and Karen’s grammar and meandering way of eventually getting to the point can be grating at times. There are bits, especially toward the end, where you’re being told about what’s happening, rather than shown, though information dumps are kept to a minimum.

Other things to look out for in the squick and/or triggering sense: mentioned and explicit violence against women, systemic racism, an incredibly mild instance of transphobia, and an instance where the trans character (Miss Francina) dresses up and deadnames herself. (The last bit, in my opinion, is handled pretty well, but I am cis.)

Karen Memory is currently available in ebook format for $2.99! 

#elizabeth bear #karen memory #book #book rec #book review #review #long post / #steampunk #sci fi

[novelconcepts]

Broken Earth trilogy, Craft Sequence novels, Magic Ex Libris series, Karen Memery and novella sequel

Thank you! I have such an exciting list now. :D I knew I could count on you guys to assist. 

#to read

[antonialovecd]

A Wild, Wild Western

As someone who does 19th century historical re-enacting, including both Civil War re-enacting and vintage social dance of that period, I’ve heard of steampunk a lot, but I’ve never really understood it. That was my initial motivation for reading Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear:  it’s billed as a steampunk novel, and I thought reading it would give me insight into that genre.

Having finished the book, I can’t say I feel a lot more enlightened about steampunk per se. Featuring a U.S. Marshal from the Indian Territory in hot pursuit a serial killer, the novel feels much more like a cross between Criminal Minds and an episode of The Wild Wild West, the TV show from 1960’s starring Robert Conrad (not the 1999 Will Smith feature film) than anything more au currant in the way of steampunk. Like a kind of alternative history, the universe of Karen Memory is populated with familiar names from the late 19th century, including U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes and French writer Jules Verne. The action of the novel is preceded by recognizable historical events, such as the Civil War and Emancipation. There are elements of Karen Memory that are unusual, such as the steam-powered gadgets that play a role in the story: a souped-up sewing machine, a mind-control device, and an octopus-like submarine.

Other than these fantasy elements, it’s a straightforward adventure.  For instance, there’s a hero engaged in a contest with a villain while said hero also pursues the leading lady.  However, this isn’t your typical hero in a Western.  For starters, she’s a heroine:  Karen Memery. And, no, that’s not a typo; the novel’s title notwithstanding, that’s how Karen spells her last name.  Karen is a “soiled dove” (to use the 19th century term for sex worker) who is a lesbian.  Karen’s love interest crosses racial lines since she’s enamored with Priya, a young Asian Indian woman. And that U.S. Marshal I mentioned earlier? He’s Bass Reeves, an illiterate former slave whose Tonto-like posseman is Tomoatooah, a Cherokee brave.  Other colorful characters of color include Madame Damnable, Karen’s employer at the high-class brothel where Karen works, the Hôtel Mon Cherie.  Like a number of real people of color in racist 19th century America, Madame is “passing for white.” 

But for me, the most intriguing character is Miss Francina. She has a major part in the book, and she’s a transwoman. While she never uses 21st century terms like “transgender” or “t-girl” to describe Miss Francina, to her great credit, Karen, who narrates the book (or to be more precise, the novelist, Ms. Bear) pulls no punches in identifying Miss Francina. She writes, “Miss Francina has a pecker under her dress.  But that ain’t nothing but God’s rude joke.  She’s one of us girls, every way that matters …”  To give you a sense of Francina’s critical role, Karen makes use of Francina’s genderfluid nature in a scheme Karen and the Marshal concoct against the bad guy, and a linchpin of their plan involves Francina’s disguising herself as a man.

Obviously, I was thrilled to encounter a transgendered person presented in a leading role in such a positive light. But, again, to Bear’s credit, all her characters cast against type come across as strong, heroic, and admirable.  So, while I may still be puzzled about steampunk, at least I can add, with a great deal of satisfaction, another title to my growing list of trans-positive novels, such as Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman, which I reviewed early this year.

#steampunk #science fiction #book review #tgirl #transgender #trannie #transvestite #crossdressing #genderfluid #tg #crossdresser #girls like us #boys will be girls

[biandlesbianliterature]

Maddison reviews Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear is a steampunk-esque novel set in gold rush era Washington. Karen Memery and the other "seamstresses" working for Madame Damnable at Hôtel Mon Chérie in Rapid City have their lives turned upside down when ex-prostitue and current "crib whore" savior Merry Lee shows up shot outside their Bordello with her latest charge, Priya.

#Elizabeth Bear #fantasy #Maddison #sff #steampunk