FIC: The Royal Sanctuary: The sling (Tempestuous Tours)
Aug. 21st, 2025 02:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
duskpetersonIn the corner of the sanctuary is a small table with a boys' sling upon it. Far from being a mistake, this is one of the most moving monuments in the sanctuary. The sling represents the thousands of orphan boys who, over the centuries, were forced by their guardians – the priests – to serve in this sanctuary's Rites of Death. The Jackal, who was raised by the priests, has many memories of such services, which he, like the other orphan boys, was given no choice but to participate in. The sling was donated by a later orphan boy grown up, who once used the sling to pitch stones at the priests' house, out of anger at the priests for what they had done.
[Translator's note: The life of one such orphan boy takes an unexpected turn in Blood Vow.]
on the bright side
Aug. 20th, 2025 11:59 pmmarycatelliWent back and set up the opening more.
Fortunately, I realized that the next stage of action can kick off immediately now. The drama was pent up.
Fortunately, I realized that the next stage of action can kick off immediately now. The drama was pent up.
Book review: "Welcome to Night Vale"
Aug. 18th, 2025 04:10 pmrocky41_7 posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
booknookTitle: Welcome to Night Vale: A Novel
Authors: Jeffrey Cranor, Joseph Fink
Genre: Fantasy, surrealist/absurdist
Authors: Jeffrey Cranor, Joseph Fink
Genre: Fantasy, surrealist/absurdist
Now that I don’t have a commute, I really had to create time to finish my latest audiobook, but it was worth it. Today I finished Welcome to Night Vale: A Novel, the first book put out by the team behind the Welcome to Night Vale fiction podcast and set in the same universe (as is likely apparent by the title). This book was written by Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink.
First, I don’t believe you need familiarity with the podcast to enjoy the novel. Nor do you need to read the novel if you’re a podcast listener; it builds on what listeners may know, but also centers incredibly peripheral characters from the show (local PTA mom Diane Crayton and pawn shop owner Jackie Fierro), so if you’re a podcast only fan, you’re not missing any crucial story information by forgoing the book. If you’re not a listener of the podcast, I think as long as you go in understanding that the core of Night Vale is the absurd and the surreal, you’ll be okay.
This was a fun book! I was curious to see how the Night Vale Presents team would manage a longform story in the world of Night Vale (podcast episodes are about 25 minutes and almost always self-contained), and I think they did a solid job! The book can be a bit slow, especially in the beginning; the drip of information it feeds you about the mysteries at the center of the story is indeed a drip. But it wasn’t so slow I found it tiresome, and the typical Night Vale weirdness and eccentricity kept me listening even where I wasn’t sure where this story was going (if anywhere).
[Promo] October Review-a-Thon 2025
Aug. 18th, 2025 08:09 pmquillpunk posting in booknookWe are getting closer and closer to October (where is the time going?!) and the [Sign-Up Post] October Review-a-Thon 2025 post is of course still up. Sign-ups will not close until Oct 31, LOL.
This event took place last October, too, and the rules are the same. I'm super excited to see what reviews will be posted!
(It's a low-commitment event: you can drop your sign up at any time, and if you don't manage to post a review on your claimed day(s), there are zero (0) consequences. Just have fun at your desired comfort level!)
vignette
Aug. 17th, 2025 11:14 ammarycatelliThis week's prompt is:
abusive 🤕
Anyone can join, with a 50-word creative fiction vignette in the comments. Your vignette does not have to include the prompt term. Any (G or PG) definition of the word can be used.
abusive 🤕
Anyone can join, with a 50-word creative fiction vignette in the comments. Your vignette does not have to include the prompt term. Any (G or PG) definition of the word can be used.
inventing saints
Aug. 16th, 2025 11:37 pmmarycatelliI exclude saints, I invent saints, I include saints. . . and I give existing ones new patronages, too.
High fantasy Christian milieux have me having an interesting time with saints. Obviously I don't include Renaissance or later if the milieu is medieval-ish, and I tend to avoid ones within the era most closely equivalent.
But the other world would, no doubt, have other saints.
I think I should avoid putting the same imaginary saint into two different world, to avoid their being confused. Such is the logic of world-building.
High fantasy Christian milieux have me having an interesting time with saints. Obviously I don't include Renaissance or later if the milieu is medieval-ish, and I tend to avoid ones within the era most closely equivalent.
But the other world would, no doubt, have other saints.
I think I should avoid putting the same imaginary saint into two different world, to avoid their being confused. Such is the logic of world-building.
Agatha Heterodyne, Girl Genius #21
Aug. 16th, 2025 07:57 pmmarycatelliAgatha Heterodyne, Girl Genius #21: An Entertainment in Londinium by Kaja Foglio and Phil Foglio
Spoilers ahead for the earlier volumes
( Read more... )
Spoilers ahead for the earlier volumes
( Read more... )
Book review: "Concerning My Daughter"
Aug. 15th, 2025 01:44 pmrocky41_7 posting in booknookTitle: Concerning My Daughter
Author: Kim Hye-Jin (translation by Jamie Chang)
Genre: Fiction, literary fiction
Today I finished book #11 on the "Women in Translation" rec list: Concerning My Daught by Kim Hye-Jin, translated from Korean by Jamie Chang. This book is about an a widow in her mid-70s who ends up sharing a home with her adult daughter and her daughter's partner. Her contentious relationship with her daughter pits her long-held beliefs and societal viewpoints against her love for her child; simultaneously, she struggles in her job caring for an elderly dementia patient in a nursing home.
The protagonist is a person who values, above all, keeping your head down and doing what's expected of you. She does not believe in standing out; she does not believe in involving yourself in other people's problems; perhaps for these reasons, she believes the only people you can ever count on are family. This is how she's lived her whole life, and she believes it was for the best. However, this mindset puts her directly in conflict with her daughter, a lesbian activist who is fighting for equal employment treatment for queer professors and teachers in the South Korean educational system.
When her daughter, Green, runs out of money to pay rent after a quarrel with the university where she was lecturing, the protagonist allows Green and her partner Lane to move in, despite their fractious relationship.
( Read more... )
(no subject)
Aug. 15th, 2025 12:42 amquillpunkbattleshipex has revealed creators! i wrote 14 fics and did my first ever podfic (which was very exciting!) you can find all my battleship creations here:https://archiveofourown.org/users/TisStrangerEerierAndPreposterousUsername/works/collected?commit=Sort+and+Filter&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=revised_at&work_search%5Bcollection_ids%5D%5B%5D=2064850&user_id=TisStrangerEerierAndPreposterousUsername
also you should definitely check out my gifts page: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TisStrangerEerierAndPreposterousUsername/gifts
i haven't had a chance to go through my battleship gifts yet, but i'm super hyped <333 a lot of podfics, too, which is super cool! XD
NYC Comic Con here we come!
Aug. 14th, 2025 12:45 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
grrm_feedWe’re excited to announce GRRM will be headed to New York Comic Con this October to introduce the new HBO series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
There will be a panel with Showrunner Ira Parker alongside Peter Claffey & Dexter Sol-Ansell who play Dunk & Egg. So keep your ears to the ground for more details on time and room information.
See you there on October 9th!
THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MINIONS OF FEVRE RIVER