#right now i’m reading neverwhere

[celestialcrowley]

Tagged by: @belladonna413 💚

I’m feeling ✨ delightfully spicy ✨ this evening courtesy of all kinds of drama. My energy is down, and I need some positive vibes.

🥂 Three ships

💫 Aziraphale & Crowley

💫 Sherlock & John

💫 Lucifer & Chloe

🍐 Last film

💫 The Terrifier (I think)

🪽 Currently watching

💫 Once Upon A Time

💫 Lucifer

💫 Right at this moment — Single All The Way. Bring on the sappy Christmas movies. Where’s the eggnog?

🦆 Currently reading

💫 Neverwhere

I love the book, but the Good Omens brain rot is too strong right now.

🪐 Currently consuming

💫 All the Good Omens things

🌗 Currently craving

💫 Peanut butter

No pressure tags: @ineffablemoist @xxxtosoxxx @apocalypticginger-blog @spot-o-bodysnatchin @sad-chaos-goblin @ineffabildaddy @crowleyscleaninglady @tragic-cosmic-magic

#the ghost speaks

[cartograffiti]

Thank you Claire from Schuler Books: some data for Queen's Thief fans

The tl;dr of this post is that QT is having an unprecedented surge of interest right now, and I used GoodReads to deliver some facts and figures to the Discord (The Geninsula), and now to Tumblr!

Under the cut: sources of the uptick, beautiful numbers, and a couple fun excerpts from recent reviews.

Part 1: selling out is good

We can actually track the start of the surge back to 2020's publication of Return of the Thief, because the series being complete got it a lot of positive press, but the activity of the past couple months (especially February-now, I'm writing on May 31 2022), has been another thing entirely.

RotT, and Disney+ optioning The Thief, has meant we're getting a lot of new international editions. The UK is getting a beautiful release of new editions in paperback and audiobook. The series is being translated into Spanish and Italian for the first time, and we know in The Geninsula of translations underway into Hebrew and Bangla. (Parts of the series have previously been released in at least 15 languages, but until now only Romanian had kept up with the whole set.) MWT is currently on a tour of Italy and the UK to promote these new editions, and a number of giveaways and influencer spotlights were arranged by publishers to get The Thief | Il ladro in readers' hands.

In March, the independent bookstore Schuler Books (not, as it has often been misreported, a library or Barnes & Noble) *posted a TikTok* of some of their staff showing off books they wish they could read for the first time, again. (It's adorable, click the link if you haven't seen it.) This TikTok went viral, now with 17.5 million views, and it opens with Claire talking about The Thief.

Only two weeks later, The Thief was sold out in US paperback. I'm talking gone. Even Amazon cannot get you a new copy of either the 2017 (Joel Tippie) or 2005 (Vince Natale) covers anymore, previously readily available, let alone older ones. They have to reprint it! In the meantime, the Steve West audiobook seems to be doing very well, and the hardcover unremarkably. Several Geninsula members who are members of large library systems have reported long waitlists typical of bestsellers. I wholly attribute this attention to Claire. Claire is the best, our hero!

Lots of recent reviews (see below) also said Laini Taylor suggested it, but if there's a specific recent source for that (she's a known fan of long standing), I can't find it. Let me know if you know!

Part 2: GoodReads is useful sometimes

So GoodReads *has this nice feature* where they rank the top 200 books from each publishing year, with #1 being the one their users have most interacted with, and refresh it monthly [Edit: this was a mistype, it’s weekly]--so you can see which books of the same age have remained or become popular as of this month [Edit: week]. This does not mean it only accounts for what was interacted with within that month [Edit: week], just that it's that up to date.

Right now, The Thief is number 14 out of all of 1996. The books that beat it are all truly famous things like Bridget Jones's Diary, Angela's Ashes, Fight Club, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. (The only book ranked above it that hasn't been adapted for film is Neverwhere, which has received a radio play with a high-profile cast. [Edit: ...And is itself a novelization of a TV series.] [Edit: Infinite Jest has been a play, but not filmed.] I am making direct eye contact with Mickey Mouse.) Some of the other series marketed as fantasy it beats out include entries from Tortall, Discworld, The Witcher, and Redwall.

The Queen of Attolia is the only other one that is currently on the top 200 list for its year, but it's 77, above more Tamora Pierce, a boxset of A Song of Ice and Fire, and buzzy authors like Julia Quinn and Junji Ito.

The fact that a second book is ranking this high tells us people are currently working their way through the series in honestly what has to be large numbers. I won't be surprised if later books start ranking in the coming months.

It also tells us people really are actively reading them, not just marking the first one as possibly interesting--lots of users don't mark sequels as to-read until they've read the first, or the preceding one, etc.

Now, with the books ranked this high, how much interaction does that represent? Well, The Thief has 77,921 ratings, and 236,000+ shelvings, and considering that finishing without rating is somewhat uncommon…that's about 150,000 users who are planning to read, or currently reading, this book. The same math for QoA is less dramatic--about 20k people have it on the agenda--but when 20k is 50% of its all-time ratings, that's...still an explosion.

This of course only represents the people who a) use GoodReads and b) keep up with their to-be-read list there, so this is only a fraction of readers in general who are likely to read it in the near future.

Part 3: The reviews are in

Giveaways of advance reader copies in the UK led to a burst of reviews in February, which were a bit puzzling to read through, as a number of them seemed to me to have come from people who did not know the genre or even the age market for the book when they entered for it, and hadn't actually been drawn to the story therefore.

A much more striking wave of reviews came later, as the UK, Spanish, and Italian readers began to interact with it organically, and a large burst of people who specifically said they'd picked it up because of Claire from Schuler Books. (Or, more often, "A TikTok with a cute librarian [sic].") These reviews have the usual range of reactions, but an overall level of enthusiasm I feel is high.

Laini Taylor was the second-most successful recommender. Many people compared The Thief favorably to Rick Riordan, Leigh Bardugo, GRR Martin, and Sarah J. Maas. (This was the first time I'd seen the series pitched to SJM's fans! I haven't read her work, but hadn't thought it was in a similar niche.) I was delighted to see several people calling it the best fantasy of travel and landscape they've read since JRR Tolkien!

The apparent age range of reviewers is quite wide, which reflects my experience of the fandom, where I've regularly chatted with people from 13 to their 60s, and likely older. There were some very cute reactions from reviewing tweens and teenagers who said that they were surprised such an OLD book from the nineties held up.

Some other book trend remarks I found interesting: lots of surprise there was no romance, including some people who, looking for a potential romance among the traveling party, proposed both Gen/Sophos (fine) and Gen/the magus (insane, thank you so much, I have questions.) A number of people who remarked that they were pleased to find a fantasy that wasn't "too fantastical," lots of positivity about feeling it had a "timeless" style, and one person who said they have found it difficult to find engaging recent YA books with boy protagonists.

Delightful excerpts from reviews of TT:

a novel that is a credit to the English language.

I loved the world MWT created, had it been an artwork it would perhaps have been more Claude Monet than Michelangelo

[Original review in Spanish, from Argentina] Gen is the best thing that has ever happened to me

The Thief also pairs very nicely with cheese and dried fruit.

The importance of narrators:

I'm giving this a 5 star rating because I listened to it as an audiobook and the narrator sounds like Henry Cavill and I have a crush on him. So, 5 stars.

And my favorite reaction to The Queen of Attolia:

This is shockingly...kinky???

Okay, thanks for reading! I'm really excited, since it looks like the fandom is in the process of...tripling? Something like that. If you have news about how the book is being promoted, or new translations/re-releases, I'd love to hear!

#Queen's Thief #The Queen's Thief #Megan Whalen Turner #The Thief #The Queen of Attolia #bookblr #long post

[homeworkthievingduck]

Hey guys! This is homeworkthievingduck! I just wanted to make a little about me post for people visiting my Tumblr!✨✨✨

Name: Jess

Pronouns: She/Her

Age: 20

MBTI: ENFP-T

Mental spice?: Social anxiety, OCD, and ADHD✨✨

Hobbies: Embroidery, reading, writing, painting, singing, acting, journaling

Have I ever collected anything?: I used to collect nutcrackers and snow globes❄️❄️

10 things on my bucket list: Visit Scotland, skydive, snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef, publish a novel, study abroad, learn five languages, road trip across the US with friends, backpack in Ireland, learn to ride a motorcycle, and learn to sail!

Optimist or pessimist: I want to say optimist, but honestly probably pessimistic realist.

Favorite flower: Zinnia

What I’m reading right now: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Where I am most productive: The eating/drinking room at Black Rifle Coffee Co., or my bedroom

Allergies: Cats and life

What my last dream was about: Good Omens😂

My current job: Writing Center Tutor and a GTA

Favorite animal: Owl

Coffee or tea: Coffee in the morning, tea at night (but overall, probably coffee)

#about me #academia #chaotic academia #english major #masters student #prose #cottage academia #light acadamia aesthetic #chaotic academic aesthetic #university #get to know me #get to know the blogger

[miyakosora]

Endwalker - Autumntide Music Video an Essay

 Sometimes you just need a place to gush about something you are really passionate about. After a not-so-fun week of dealing with Covid I happened back upon the music video for Endwalker - Autumtide. So here is where I gush about how Final Fantasy ties all my favorite art-related things together. 

At this point, Endwalker has been out for over a year, and there are so many details in this music video I’ve still probably missed. One of my favorite things in FF14 is the concept of Hope. Everyone has a different story for their WOL, but no matter how grim the circumstances, there will always be our character, marching on through whatever trial we face. No matter how often we get knocked down, we get right back up and continue on. 

So Miya, how does this music video have anything to do with Hope?

Well skeptical Miya, the music video starts off with a younger woman mosing about her home. She’s aimless, fumbling with a bottle and looking at the dead plants in her space. She sings along to the lyrics -Fade away-. I like the idea of this woman not only being the player, not necessarily the WOL, but us the player. 

As the song and video continue on she passes someone reading Count Fortempt’s novel this is matched with the lyrics -Sorrow's silence, we needn't bear-. Next, as she is walking up an overpass bridge she sees a woman resembling Yotsuyu smoking a pipe on the bridge, -Every step we take echoes in our wake-. Finally, she’s alone in the park, tired and breathless from her day of searching. The sun is setting and looking up she sees a figure waving to her as they walk away -To forge ahead-. 

At the start of the video the protagonist is drawn by a glimmering light, and she follows it out of her home. Like I said she’s looking at everything in her house, and looking outside before finally, something draws her in, but we also get these flashes of an internal dialogue where she’s alone, upset, and anguished by this trial she’s going through. -Marching forward, left behind.-

Every step you take forward on any journey in life, you are going to leave something behind. This is true for not only your character as the WOL, but as you the player, and for the protagonist in the video. The woman could continue to stay in her house and that would be her story, she continues to stay and be sad and just fade away. For whatever reason, she chooses to leave and head outside and explore the world. 

There doesn’t seem to be a destination in mind for her, but she passes these characters along the way, and in doing so they mimic some of the characters we’ve left behind in the game. I find myself drawn most to the person reading the novel and how it’s matched with the lyrics -Kindred severed neverwhere, Sorrow’s silence, we needn’t bear.- Ironically, “A smile best suits a hero.” Kindred - family, severed - cut off, and neverwhere- no where. Now neverwhere also has me a little thrown for a loop because it’s the title of a Neil Gaiman novel (Why is it always Neil Gaiman). I would love to go on another deep dive just by that one word alone, but that might be a little extreme.

I’ll be honest I story-skipped Heavensward and Stormblood and went straight for Shadowbringers, (Look I started ARR before Stormblood, and then restarted somewhere before Shadowbringers. I’ll go back and do it at some point.) So I only know a little about Yotsuyu and Tsukiyomi, (that’s not true I’m obsessed with moon mythology). I love the image of her watching traffic as it flows around her at twilight. There is so much movement, but she’s standing still, and our protagonist is surprised to see her there. 

During these scenes, we see those moments of our protagonist anguishing by herself, before coming to the park and seeing the figure waving at her as they leave -Marching forward, left behind-. Then the protagonist is lost in a multitude of sceneries, continuing on her journey. -Should we lose our way, tired of all this pain- We don’t see her anguishing anymore, but there is a moment of weakness as she’s on the ground before looking up at this blinding white light. 

I’m slightly pausing here before I noticed something while writing this, in the last scenes we get a reflection of her shoes and how they are dirty and worn. -Forge ahead-. In the start of the music video when our protagonist first leaves her home, her shoes are white and clean if not brand new. Just like our character when starting this journey. Watching through they actually show the shoes quite a few times and how scuffed and worn they are becoming. Another thing I noticed towards the end before she’s leaning over in the dirt is how her hair has noticeably changed if not grown longer. This could just be unintentional, but I like that it shows the physical passage of time on this character. 

So Miya, I’ll ask again, what does this have to do with hope?

If you’ve played through Endwalker, you know the entire plot boils down to a bird with depression. Our WOL is the reincarnation of the last Azem shepherd of stars in the dark. We could see the story in a few ways. Our character could very much just be a tempered weapon for Hydalyn, we do cause a fair bit of trouble along the way…then we could ask what victory is worth this price. Do you sit in hopelessness and wait for whatever outcome, or do you go out and make a difference? It’s a very human concept, and it blends beautifully into meeting Venat and learning ‘Your answer’. 

The game started with a Calamity. If you play for an hour or through the entire game, you have your own reason for playing. A reason for living in this beautiful world. No matter what brought you to this point, it’s cannon not just to you, but to everything around you. No matter how many times something has pushed you down, you’ve gotten back up and overcome it. You might have just evaded the obstacle for now, but that’s part of life. Not every boss you defeat stays dead, just look at Zenos. Not every action you make will change the outcome of the scenario, look at Elpis and how we went there knowing we couldn’t change their future. 

Saying that though makes me want to reflect on Shadowbringers, and how one timeline’s wish to change reality was able to change reality in its entirety. It wasn’t impossible, only improbable.

And should you lose your way, tired of all this pain, don’t be afraid to forge ahead. 

Much love,

Miyako Sora

#final fantasy xiv #endwalker #ff14 #writing #essay #shitty essay #just rambling #maybe it's the fever talking #but i cried like three times writing this

[sausagesquirrel]

Get to know the blogger

Hey! I got tagged by @serial-chillr​ and @bengalaas​ and this was fun, so I’m tagging @inkmein97​​  @kirkypet​ and anyone else who wants to, if you want to :D

Share your wallpaper: Oh it’s my kids so I’m not gonna

Last song you listened to: once in a lifetime by talking heads

Currently reading: re-reading Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman on holiday

Last movie: think it was one of the Pirates of the Caribbean with my kids XD

Last show:  the last of us (really good!)

Craving:   salty snacks

What are you wearing right now:   Indigo jeans, stinky moon climbing t-shirt I’ve been travelling in, merino thermal (likewise) purple t-shirt over everything (like wise), wild eyed expression.

How tall are you:   167 cm

Piercings: did my ears when i was about 13 then let them heal up almost instantly (mainly because at school we had to take them right out for sports)

Tattoos:  Nope (prob generational divide - showing my age)

Glasses? Contacts?  not yet (but probably in denial)

Last drink: lipton peach ice tea

Last thing you ate:  veggie burger

Favorite color: teal

Current obsession:  learning the riff for stone roses “she’s a waterfall” on the guitar

Any pets:   a lurcher (this in her youth - she’s a lot greyer now)

[richardxoliverxmayhew]

GET TO KNOW THE MUN

what’s your phone wallpaper: a pink twilight sky with the first few stars beginning to peak out behind some clouds

last song you listened to: Take on Me- Aha

currently reading: Maurice by EM Forester

last movie: Primal Fear

last show: Lockwood and Co

what are you wearing right now: Cute Lounge shorts and a candy-striped shirt (that I tied up ‘cause its’ toooooo daaaaamn hottttt)

how tall are you?: 5'2" (157.4 cm)

piercings / tattoos?: I have normal earring piercings, but I would like to get a tattoo soon! My first, by the way! :>

glasses? contacts?: glasses cause I’m a blind grandmother

last thing you ate?: Cheese flatbread

favorite color(s): Old rose, warm yellows, pastels, and all autumn colours

current obsession: ..... I have no idea..... I feel like I don’t have much brain power to obsess over something right now ahahah!

do you have a crush right now?: Umm.... I just added JJ Feild into my list of actor crushes, if that counts? 👀

favorite fictional character: Richard Mayhew from Neverwhere, Patroclus and Achilles from Song of Achilles, Eli from Vicious, Maurice and Alec from Maurice, WAY TOO MANY CHARACTERS FROM Turn Washington Spies. (Honestly, there are so many other characters, but I dont want to ramble on ahahah)

last place you travelled: A beach, island town here in my country <3

tagged by: @id1eyouth​ (thank u luv! :>) tagging: @vxctorx​, @laviexenrose​, @honorhearted​, @voxvulgi​, @plotjotsandespressoshots​, EVERYBODY ELSE WHO WOULD LIKE TO! <3

#ooc;the gremlin behind the curtain

[hcourageous]

re-listing to the the audiobook of the Graveyard Book because I’ve convinced my book club to read it on my turn to suggest a book.

I did not read this book as a kid. I read it for the first time on a train or a bus, I can’t remember which, somewhere between Edinburgh and Inverness. This was my first trip out of the country to a place I held so dear in my heart but never been yet.

I don’t even remember why I’d picked up the Graveyard Book. I’d read Neverwhere in high school, then Coraline and Stardust before I left for a month abroad. I must have bought the book for my travels.

I remember reading the line “wherever you go, you take yourself with you” and feeing a profound sense of being seen. Of knowing deep in my heart those words would be etched.

I’d like to say I learned that lesson well at 22, and kept it always in mind. But life isn’t really like that, and at 22 you think you know all the lessons there are to learn, then forget the lessons because you forgot to take notes that day, or confuse one lesson for another. I did not remember that wherever I went, I would go. That I would be who I am and not change, but also that I would change and I couldn’t stop that.

I just finished it again tonight. The Graveyard Book. Now that I think about it I must have gotten it at Powell’s bookstore in Portland. I bought a lot of Neil Gaiman’s work on that trip, and another copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking glass.

it’s strange to be 30, and to remember reading that book on a train or a bus and watching the Scottish countryside zoom past, crying quietly to myself and hoping the other passengers didn’t notice. Must have been a train, I think, and I was in a backwards facing chair.

I know I will not stop learning this lesson, but I had to learn and relearn it the hard way a few times. My flight instincts are very strong, but running is not always the right choice. Wherever you go, you take yourself with you.

I’m glad I read this book at 22, it prepared me for a repeating lesson that at 30, I can safely say is not something you ever complete. It’s an ongoing lesson you’ll forget and learn again.

I missed reading. I haven’t done it for so long. I’m glad I’m reading more now. Not just for school, but to listen to narrators inflections, turns of phrase, profound sentences, and lessons that books are most apt to teach. I forgot what books meant to me. Why I’ve gone to school and focused on literature. Too deep into academia to remember the pleasure of the written word.

More lessons. Thank you @neil-gaiman, thanks for The Graveyard Book.

#the graveyard book #nobody owens #neil gaiman #personal

[survey--s]

477.

If I were to yell at you right now, what would you do? Seeing as I don’t know you, I’d probably scream or cry lol. Do you empathize with people often? In all honesty, I’m not great with empathy. Which do you prefer, Iced Tea or Fruit Punch? Iced tea. Have you ever been stung by a bee? Only once - on the bottom of my foot and I screamed lol. Did you read Where The Wild Things Are when you were little? No. Did you ever had one of those cash register toys? I don’t think so. I honestly didn’t have many toys like that as a kid - my parents weren’t really into the whole plastic tat/toys thing. Do you have a collage of family pictures somewhere in your house? We do not.

How many wooden spoons are in your household? Zero.

Are you excited to go back to school? I finished education twelve years ago and have absolutely zero desire to ever, ever go back lol. Has anyone ever thrown a cup of liquid on you? Not on purpose, but it’s happened by accident before. Have you ever faked sick at school just to go home? Yeah, loads of times ha. Do you always watch something on tv on your home sick days? Yeah, I normally put something like The Simpsons or Friends on in the background and just doze all day. Can you recommend me a book, right now? Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. Are any of your siblings friends like family to you? I don’t have any siblings. Do you prefer colouring with crayons or coloured pencils? Coloured pencils. Do you watch the SuperBowl because you like football? I don’t watch the Super Bowl because it’s not a thing here. Are you sick of all of these people trying to find love on VH1? Ha, how old is this survey? Did you ever watch Beauty and the Geek? No. Do you enjoy cleaning? I wouldn’t say I enjoyed the process of it, but I love the feeling of being “done” and the house being clean and fresh and tidy. Have you read any of Ellen Hopkins’ books? No. They never really “made it” over here I don’t think. Do you even like to read? I do like reading but I’ve found that I don’t really have the attention span for it anymore. When I’m on holiday from work I do read a lot more. If your house was on fire, what would you save? Assuming all my pets were out and safe, then I’d grab my keys, my phone and my bank card. Have you ever pretended to have a good time for the sake of someone else? Yeah, of course. Are you good at understanding baby talk? Sure, I guess so. What wouldn’t you want anybody to steal? Someone’s virginity. What was the last movie that you saw in the theaters? Cats - about four years ago lol. Have you ever gotten your clothes mixed up with your mum’s? No. Do you share clothes with your friends? No. Who was the last person/thing to lick you? Purrlock. Have you ever read one of those PostSecret books? I had about four of them at one point - I think they’re all at my mum’s house. Do you have a favorite Armor For Sleep song? Car Underwater. Can you pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time? Yes. Have you ever changed a babies diaper? Nope. Did you have many baby dolls when you were little? I had two - one named Cathy and another named Rosie. Does the peanut butter or jelly make the sandwich? I’ve never had the combination of both together. I like just peanut butter alone. Have you ever kept a diary? Yeah, I did for a while as a teenager. Is there always a supply of KoolAid in your fridge? We don’t have KoolAid here. What is your favorite show on Nick At Nite? We don’t have that here either. If you had the chance to live anywhere in Europe, where would it be? Switzerland or Norway. Do you have a favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle? Michaelangelo. Are you good at drawing self portraits? No. A plane crashes on the border of Canada. Where do you bury the survivors? You don’t bury survivors. Do you think that you’re good at riddles? Generally I’m not actually, but that wasn’t really a riddle lol. Trix or Cheerios? We don’t have Trix here but Cheerios are pretty good. Saying that, I’ve not bought any for years now.

#survey #surveys

[momentia]

@sarking tagged me to do this thing!

last song: billie eilish’s “happier than ever,” the snl version even though snl is basically dead to me, because it’s such a great performance.  i am not, in fact, happier than ever, but i am trying to pretend to be grateful for this loss.

last show/series: i think avatar the last airbender was the last show i finished.  before that was the venture bros (problematic but fantastic) and gravity falls (cool world building but the presentation was sometimes grating; it's a kid's show, so).  also: the orville was really, really good.

currently watching: american dad, archer, svu, and l&o: organized crime in terms of shows currently airing new eps.  watching gotham, ghost files, monster high, miraculous ladybug (and surely some things i am forgetting) with various friends.  unlikely to finish phineas and ferb or korra at this point, but i'm technically in the middle of those.  oh and i’m watching that dahmer miniseries with a friend (i know it’s been torn to shreds and we were all supposed to agree not to watch it, but i am anyway), and it is brutal and distressing and i do not recommend!

favorite color: changes frequently, but it's been blue since july.  for some reason it's the color i associate with getting through that hellish week.

sweet, spicy, or savory: sweet.

currently reading: about ten books i will probably not finish, but the two i'm carrying around and pretending with currently are a slow death: 83 days of radiation sickness, which i have been reading for a year or two because there’s so much misinformation about that case, and neil gaiman's neverwhere, which a colleague gifted me before he left for a better job (i’ve lost so many people that way the last couple years).  the new jason pargin novel comes out this month, idk when, i pre-ordered it then forgot about it, but i'll at least try to read that once it comes.  (after a few weeks i'll give up and download the audiobook and finish that way, probably, as i did with the last one.)

what i'm working on: quite a few things (wips often go to my gdocs to retire peacefully and undisturbed, unfortunately), but the most noteworthy imho because i do actually plan to finish them once i start writing again:

"in the perfect dark of a new moon," a.k.a. tentaclefic.  it's the untamed canon divergence where wen qing took jiang cheng up on his offer and he was so whipped that he defied the world to save her family.  it's been done a million times and i completely gloss over the political cost of all of it, but anyway.  background wangxian family and background nmj/jyl to really turn off anyone who dislikes non-canon het ships.  haha.  oh, and also jiang cheng is a wereoctopus and there's a lot of smut with both his human and octo bodies.  this story started as a pwp and is now like 25k words and nowhere near done.

several jalachi wips i probably won't bother to finish now (sad trombone) but i do still hope to finish at least the one temp-titled "✋" because no one writes the exact stuff i want and so i have to do it or go without.

i technically haven’t started this yet but i have a lot to say about oswald cobblepot and physical pain, emotional trauma, and intimate touch, and i am sure that if and when i finish gotham i will get around to writing something that touches on that.

currently obsessed with: my mental health is worse right now so i am seeking constant distraction but not totally connecting with any of it??  i guess my current obsession is trying to reach minimum calorie goal on days i have no appetite and everything is unappealing.  i hate being back to living on protein shakes and effing fig newtons but hopefully things get better faster this time.  oh, and i’ve been reading so many aita threads to distract myself and kill time at work, since i can’t focus on reading or writing or my job currently.

#amber personal #food cw #medical cw #death cw #murder cw #violence cw

[captainclickycat]

Tag Game

Tagged by @z-aliada, thanks! God it’s been ages since I did one of these…

Favorite color: Don’t have one. I like very bright colours and sharp contrasts, so I’m more interested in the way different colours work together rather than picking out just one. Red and bright blue/turquoise is a nice combo though.

Currently reading: Rereading Un Lun Dun. Very good if you like a high level of portal-fantasy weirdness combined with social/environmental commentary. If you liked Neverwhere or fantasy parallel versions of London in general I’d definitely recommend this one too.

Last song: Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox’s cover of Call Me Maybe. (That’s the one I’ve got on right now; previous one was the Lick the Tins version of Can’t Help Falling in Love)

Last movie: Turning Red, I think. It was fun.

Savory/sweet/spicy: Savoury. I mean I like all of them to an extent, but for me sweet foods strictly belong in the dessert category. I hate sweet/savoury combos and I hate that they’re so commonplace now, like you can’t buy a sandwich without it being made with brioche or having fruit chutney all over it or something. And spicy food is nice too but I have an embarrassingly low tolerance for heat, so food with a strong taste and just a bit of a kick is my go-to. Unless I’ve got a cold, in which case it’s carte blanche on the spice. Pile it on.

Currently working on: Various original short stories and one audio comedy crossover fic, although “working on” is a bit optimistic. Other than that there’s my actual job, I suppose.

I’ll tag @monstersbride @sew-birb @lisea18 @sam-blueberry if they fancy it

[jayyfruit]

if you get this, answer w/ three random facts about yourself and send it to the last seven blogs in your notifs. anon or not, doesn’t matter, let’s get to know the person behind the blog

oh, okay! cool! my first ask :D

i just started watching gotham with my dad. i’m happy i get to do something with him!! plus, i love the show so far. we’re halfway through season one rn! my favorite character is ed :’)

i drank hot chocolate this morning 🙏🙏

right now, i’m reading “the good earth” by pearl s. buck and “neverwhere” by neil gaiman.

#asks

[chronicleofwastedtime]

rules: list ten books that have stayed with you in some way. don’t take but a few minutes, and don’t think too hard - they don’t have to be the “right” or “great” works, just the ones that have touched you 

tagged by @dreamyghostie, thanks

1. David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas (read it several times and a few quotes from it come back to me in certain moments)

2. Andreas Steinhöfel - Die Mitte der Welt (I don’t remember how many times I read this when I was younger, I sometimes open it on a random page and read for however long I need to)

3. Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere (also one I re-read from time to time though I usually start at the beginning. The first few times I felt differently about the ending each time, but recently I always liked it)

4. Patrik Svensson - Ålevangeliet/ the book of eels (I didn’t know anything about eels before I read it and within a couple pages I was extremely fascinated by eels and I have been since)

5. Charlotte Brontë - Villette (impactful emotional experience, I want to read it again but I’m a bit scared of it)

6. Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go (hated it when I first read it seventeen years ago, still think about it occasionally)

7. Melina Marchetta - Saving Francesca (my sister had the german translation when we were younger, some scenes and characters have stayed with me)

8. Suzanne Collins - Hunger Games Trilogy (when these started coming out I felt too old for ya fantasy and when a friend asked me if I had read them, I said I didn’t need to read everything, they replied if someone needed to read everything it was me)

9. Jon Ewo - Sola er et feit gud/ Die Sonne ist eine geniale Göttin (plus the two follow ups. I just loved those weird normal characters and their weird normal lives so much)

10. I thought I head ten. 10. is for all the ones I’m forgetting right now. I know this didn’t require explanations but I realised I never wrote about my thoughts about these books and it felt like a good opportunity.

#books #tag game

[savage-magpie]

Finished Small Odysseys today. I’m having thoughts about short stories now but hell if I know exactly what thoughts. Someone told me once that a short story is the story of one decision, and I think it can be, but many of these aren’t about a decision. Some don’t have much if any dialogue. Others don’t make much “sense,” or they do, but in a dream-sense, not literal-sense. That one about therapy and the unicorn, for example. On the one hand, what?! On the other, it read like an accurate reflection of trying to cope with grief/loss, and how sometimes nothing makes any sense. Why not have a talking unicorn spirit-animal giving you a box full of (potentially) clouds?

Part of the answer, I think, is mystery, a slow reveal of something the author knows and the readers don’t, yet. Or a situation as in Romeo and Juliet where you know how it ends but you want to know how it gets there, the exact circumstances that would bring about such a result. Many of these stories are remarkably short—unlike mine, in that respect. Yet they convey so much, or at least they convey something interesting, each and every one of them.

Also finished The View from the Cheap Seats. Man but that book is good. Gaiman gave me a whole list of books/authors to track down and try for myself, and more than that, he showed me ideas about dream-truth, liminal knowledge, myths and stories living in the seething wild unformed space around the edges of what we know; this undercurrent of shadow and dream and illogical logic runs under and through everything he says. It makes perfect sense, considering Sandman, Neverwhere, American Gods, the general here-but-not-here quality of his books.

Reading:

A Slip of the Keyboard, Terry Pratchett

Godsong, Amit Majmudar (still)

Keturah and Lord Death, Martine Leavitt (I read this one when I was younger, and it crawled into my head in a way I can’t explain, and I’m reading it again to figure out why. I am about 20% through and it is already a strange dreamlike story operating on fable-logic.)

True Biz, Sara Nović

A Handbook of Saxon Sorcery and Magic, Alaric Albertsson

Want To Read:

Devotions, Mary Oliver

A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians

Call Us What We Carry, Amanda Gorman

Danse Macabre, Stephen King

Supreme Inequality, Adam Cohen

Cultish, Amanda Montell

Horse, Geraldine Brooks

#reading #books read #personal

[darkmatterhalos]

2 for the ask game? 👀

2. top 5 books of all time?

ooooo this is a hard one. my opinions on this will 100% be different in like literally two minutes but here are five books/series i love that i am willing to say right now and only right now are my top 5 of all time.

Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll: i’ve loved these books since forever <3 they make me so happy

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong: i love this book so much. ocean vuong writes prose as if he is writing poetry but it is prose and it makes me lose my mind

The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkein: hiiiii <3333333

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan: this is a pretty recent release (2021) that i just love so much <3 i highly recommend it. themes of queerness, desire, love, destiny, and self actualization. also the title is a pun :)

all of Neil Gaiman’s books: i’m sorry i can’t bring myself to pick just one...but just to say more about some of his books, American Gods is super cool and a genuinely fun and interesting read, Neverwhere is one of my comfort reads and the protagonist is such a little guy, and The Ocean at the End of the Lance is a lovely and emotional story especially if you think a lot about childhood (which i do)

#ALSO SHOUTOUT TO DISCWORLD #didnt make it in here this time but ABSOLUTELY would've another day #okay that was . a lot more than 5 #i tried #thanks for the ask anon! #ask response

[simplyshelbs16xoxo]

Falling Through the Cracks - Prologue

Sherlolly Neverwhere AU. Sherlock Holmes's life turns upside down when he stumbles upon a mysterious woman who is running from a couple of villainous men. He believes the disappearance of his brother is connected to them. He follows Molly into a world that shouldn't, but does, in fact, exist. What he discovers will change his mundane life forever.

.

.

Ao3 | Buy Me a Coffee?

.

.

Sherlock Holmes was bored of London. There was nothing but predictable people who committed predictable crimes. Only one true mystery remained and he had yet to solve it: the disappearance of his brother, Mycroft Holmes. It hadn’t been long after his stint in rehab two years ago. And so, Sherlock had decided to put his skills to use, staying in London to work freelance as a consulting detective. Greg Lestrade, a DI at Scotland Yard, was who he consulted for most frequently.

His coat was buttoned up due to the cool air. He had been walking the streets of London, a favourite way to pass the time. It was late in the evening when he arrived at his flat on Baker Street. Just as he was beginning to climb the stairs, Mrs. Hudson appeared out from her flat, a look of concern on her face. The woman meant well, and she had been acquainted with his mother long ago. Though he didn’t believe in such things, Sherlock couldn’t deny she had a certain clairvoyant vibe about her. He always felt she knew more than she was letting on. “Well?” she asked, tapping an impatient foot.

“You are not my mother, Mrs. Hudson, but if you must know, I have not gone and relapsed. I’ve just finished a rather tedious case,” he informed her. She had been just as worried as his own mother would have been. His parents had passed away years ago when he was sixteen—a car accident. His brother was twenty-three, but he took on the responsibility of raising Sherlock, who was now alone, his brother nowhere to be found.

She sighed, shaking her head. “You and these cases. One day you’ll come across one that’ll be the death of you.”

He forced a smile. “One can only hope.” She scowled as he turned to climb the stairs, and reached out, grabbing his arm, forcing him to stop.

“I know you’re lonely, dear. Come have a cuppa with me,” Mrs. Hudson offered kindly. She wasn’t the type to take ‘no’ for an answer.

Sherlock conceded and followed her into her flat all the way into her cosy kitchen. He took a seat at the table as she poured a warm cup of loose leaf tea that smelled and tasted of enchanting forest fruits—at least, that’s what it said on the tin. She set the cup in front of him, and he took it gratefully. It did smell delicious. Tentatively, after blowing on it, he took a sip, savoring the taste of mixed berries and rich vanilla. He finished it rather quickly, but before he could set down the cup, Mrs. Hudson retrieved it from his hand.

She had a look of satisfaction on her face as she peered inside the cup. Sherlock watched as she swirled and turned the cup from left to right, next setting it upside down on the saucer. He was about to ask what she was doing, but her eyes told him to wait, and she rotated the cup three times before turning it upright again. It was difficult for him not to roll his eyes at the nonsense of reading tea leaves, but he figured he’d amuse her just this once. “So…what do you see?”

“You’re going somewhere—a journey of great peril will soon come upon you,” she answered. A gasp escaped her. “You’ll be lost in London.”

He furrowed his brows. “I know London like the back of my hand, Mrs. Hudson. Sorry to disappoint.”

She shook her head. “No, not here. I’ve not seen London like this. I’d be cautious of them if I were you…”

“I’m sorry? Cautious of what, exactly?” Despite his reservations of the supernatural, the sudden foreboding mood of his landlady did worry him a bit.

“Of doors, my dear boy,” she answered. “It will be the beginning of the beginning; the new merging with the old.”

Sherlock pushed himself away from the table and stood to leave, ready to relax in the comfort of his flat. “Well, Mrs. Hudson, I assure you I’ll keep my eye on every door I come across.” He chuckled then, receiving an unamused glare from the elderly woman.

“You think it’s a joke, but you’ll soon see. There’s no stopping it. You’ll soon be lost to us all,” she warned, watching as he left with a haphazard wave of his hand. Muttering under her breath, she added, “Just like your brother.”

#sherlolly #my fanfiction #neverwhere au #falling through the cracks

[headspacedad]

so is every episode named after a book then? Just a completely random ass book? because "What the Thunder Said" sounds awesome and kickass and then you get to "The Monster at the End of This Book" and I'm like, "IT'S A FREAKING SESAME STREET BOOK I HAD THAT AS A KID WHAT IS THIS?" And that's when I remembered reading What The Thunder Said (It's around here somewhere still, too) and it hit me.

okay, first off - I am THRILLED I am not the only one that knows The Monster at the End of this Book

and second  -

LMAO!!!  okay, so, I went and looked.  And here’s what we got

EP 01: What the Thunder Said

The WasteLand V: by TS Eliot

EP 02: Princess of Nothing

The Fate of Crowns #2 by Rebecca L. Garcia (I am iffy on this one, but its the first thing that popped up on the search)

EP 03: Neverwhere Land

Heavy Metal (movie)

EP 04:  The Monster at the End of this Book

(look this BETTER be what's being referenced.  There is NO other option as far as I’m concerned)

EP 05: The Fire Sermon

The Wasteland III by TS Eliot

which is a direct reference to

Ādittapariyāya Sutta

EP 06: The Knight, Death and the Devil

by Albrecht Dürer (total chills if this one is right)

EP 07: Speak the Words

(not sure about this one but, again, first in the search that used ‘words’ instead of just ‘word’)

EP 08: A Game of Chess

which - okay, couldn’t find a direct reference but it IS a super vague title. 

Now, granted, I’m just internet searching so I’m sure not all of these apply and the titles of the episodes fit what’s going on IN the episodes super well.  But, now that we’ve done a bit of poking, if Ashley Miller was NOT intentionally naming his episodes after song lyrics and wood carvings and kid’s books like any good fic writer desperate to come up with titles would, I will now be VERY disappointed.

#dota #dota:dragon's blood #dragon's blood #ashley miller #the monster at the end of this book #what the thunder said #okay to reblog #lets speculate shall we #anyone else have any other ideas? #davion #mirana #I'm laughing so much right now #fic writers gotta fic #and what is dragon's blood #if not fanfic of DOTA? #braincoins