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mostlysignssomeportents · 4 years

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#5yrsago Remembering Sassy Magazine's life advice for teen girls

Theresa DeLucci got a letter published in the only publication for girls that really attempted educational journalism—amid Twin Peaks fashion spreads and celeb interviews with grunge luminaries like Kurt Cobain and Kim Gordon.

The recent news about the return of Twin Peaks got me reminiscing about the magazine that introduced the show to me in the first place – Sassy, the most valuable print magazine for teenage girls to ever exist. It sounds like hyperbole, but compared to its peers -- Seventeen, YM, Teen -- Sassy was the only publication for girls that really attempted educational journalism amid its Twin Peaks fashion spreads and celeb interviews with grunge luminaries like Kurt Cobain and Kim Gordon. This was well before everyone had the internet. For many, Sassy was like a super cool, trusted, wiser sister who could tell you what to expect at your first gynecologist visit, what to do if you've been raped, why it's important to make your voice heard and vote. The magazine had its regular columns: One to Watch, Cute Band Alert and It Happened to Me, which featured first-person accounts of experiences seldom or never before discussed in print for young women. "I Went to Prison." "I am a Muslim." "My Mom's a Drug Addict."

Being a bookish, weirdo teen in a small town (Sassy's target demographic), I desperately wanted to write for them. But, alas, my feeble fiction was justly rejected, and I was too young and too far away from the New York City offices to try for an internship. Yet, while I didn't feel comfortable sharing anything heavy enough for an "It Happened to Me" article, I could at least put together a passable question for the much more light-hearted Dear Boy advice column and try my luck that way.

Dear Boy. An innocuous enough feature. Many teenage girls find the male mind pretty mysterious, especially the mind of an older, famous, possibly cute boy, so Sassy provided a space for that. I wrote in without a thought as to what a man's advice specifically might imply. Is it really mansplainin' when the whole point is to have a girl ask a much older man in a position of social power a personal question? Does any teen girl need to know J. Mascis' opinion on big butts? (He likes them and cannot lie.) Does a parent want Thurston Moore telling their daughter that she'd be "lucky" if some crappy, cheating boy returns her affections? Is any woman anywhere served by Billy Corgan's guilt-tripping tale of woe at being romantically rejected by a childhood sweetheart?

Every month I would get my subscriber's copy of Sassy in the mail, bound up to my room, close the door behind me, and thumb the pages to the column to see if my question was there. And one day, one issue, in 1994, Mike D of the Beastie Boys answered. My hands shook as I started to read the familiar words under the header:

"BUMMING BAD SEED? My mom was a well-dressed, popular boy-magnet in high school. I am a punked-out loner boy-repellent. I get the feeling she’s disappointed in me. To top that off, my dad thinks I am unfeminine. Help! Searching for my real parents."

I cringe at the words "punked-out" now. I believe my original letter referenced my pea-green hair and good grades, but Sassy edited it for space. Anyway. Mike D responded:

"By age 14 I had orange hair and a safety pin in my ear and everyone thought I was a freak, but I had found music and friends who meant more to me than the accepted norm amongst kids in school. There’s no need to conform to the preconceptions of your parents. You obviously have got it going on, so as you achieve stuff on your own terms, your parents might come around to respect you."

It was a total softball question for the magazine that was my gateway drug to the fiction of Francesca Lia Block and Poppy Z. Brite, the music of Bikini Kill and Henry Rollins. But it was also very earnest. And self-edited. There was no "feeling" that my mom was disappointed by my combat boots. She made it very known. Or that my frustrated dad didn't exactly say I was unfeminine - more like I dressed like a freak. (His codeword for lesbian.) I did feel the weight of parental expectations like these, and I didn't know any sympathetic adults I could ask that particular question to. After all, my friends' parents were kind of all dealing with the same disappointing "freak" kids in their houses, too. And I was very privileged, really. The parents of some of my friends kicked out their lesbian daughters, neglected their clinically depressed kids, and lived in denial of their children's drug addictions. Those, unlike black lipstick and Bauhaus shirts, were actual, serious family conflicts that couldn't possibly be addressed with two witty sentences from a Beastie Boy.

Before that day, I liked Mike D, but wasn't a huge fan. Compared to past Dear Boy columnists, he wasn't as cool as Iggy Pop -- who had predictably terrible advice for teen girls -- but he was definitely a cooler Dear Boy than Evan Dando. (Damning with very faint praise, I know.) But after that Dear Boy column, I would think about a misfit Mike D who went on to great, creative things and I would feel a needed twinge of solidarity.

And Mike D was ultimately right. I already knew seeking parental approval wasn't a big concern for me, but, yeah, after a few years, I did feel my parents came around to respecting me. And accepting me as I was -- and as I continue to be -- which is not everything they had quite hoped for. A near impossibility for any child to be, but especially a teenager wanting to be herself as well as a "good" daughter, to whom all parents seem as distant as aliens.

Not at all like Mike D.

Of course by its nature, Sassy's Dear Boy questions were published anonymously two decades ago. My box of back issues has long since vanished. And that bums me out, because I always consider Sassy to be the first time I ever wrote to market. I don't expect everyone to believe my long-distance teenage connection to Mike D, but I also don't know why anyone would make that up. (Though it's a great way to get thirtysomething-year-old women to buy you a drink when they find out.) All I know is how I felt that summer – when I sometimes took to wearing a safety pin in my own ear -- I felt a little less weird and walked a little bit taller because of my secret pen pal.

Once upon a time, twenty years ago, Mike D thought that I had it going on.

https://boingboing.net/2014/11/20/remembering-sassy-magazines.html

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withickmire · 6 years

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On Paths Unseen

Fandom: Deltora Quest Pairings: Lief/Jasmine, Barda/Lindal Characters: Jasmine, Lief, Barda, Faith, Sharn, Doom, Lindal, Marilen, Ranesh Summary: It was supposed to be a temporary secret, but it tore them all to pieces. (Or; what would happen if Faith was real, and Lief and Doom knew. Notes: I’ve never cried while writing before. I cried while writing this.

Sometimes it hurts Jasmine to look upon her sister. Faith is too thin, and she jumps at shadows. Her eyes look older than any child’s eyes should, and she gobbles her food down, as if it might be taken away from her if she stops. It hurts too, because of the lies that she sees when she looks at the girl.

Jasmine does not know how to care for a child. But she does her best, and she does it with love. She tells Faith stories that make her laugh, shows her where Kree likes to be stroked underneath his wings, and holds her at night when she wakes screaming from her nightmares. She tells Faith what she remembers of their mother, and tries not to speak of Doom at all. She keeps them both locked away in her room. Meals are brought to them, although Jasmine does not know who made those arrangements.

“Our father is here in the palace, is he not?” Faith asks one afternoon, a few weeks after the slaves had been rescued.

“Yes,” Jasmine says reluctantly.

“Will I meet him soon?”

“Perhaps,” Jasmine tells her uneasily. She does not want Faith to meet him. She does not want Faith to know that their father is a liar and a coward.

She hates herself for keeping them prisoner in the palace, but she does not know what to do. They could buy a house in the city— she has the money— but she does not know how. They could leave Del, but a part of her wants to stay.

And for that, she loathes herself more.

Barda visits frequently, and Jasmine always lets him in. Faith adores him, and is endlessly fascinated by the largeness of his hands.

“Did he tell you?” Jasmine had asked when they had first returned to Del.

“He did not,” Barda had sworn. His eyes were dark with betrayal and anger, and she had known that he was telling the truth.

Sharn comes too, with toys for a girl who never had any. She quietly pleads with Jasmine to just speak to Lief, and weeps when she refuses.

“I am so frightened for him,” she whispers. “Oh, Jasmine, you have not seen him.”

“I do not care,” she says. Sharn’s face crumples, but her eyes are steel.

When Sharn leaves, Jasmine crawls into the bed and pulls the blankets over her head so that her sister will not see her cry. Sharn’s visits become sparse.

Ranesh and Marilen visit a few times, and tell her all about Lief’s lesser secret. She finds she likes them, and looks forward to their visits as she does Barda’s. She hardly remembers being jealous of Lief’s supposed bride. How could she have ever hoped that Lief would want her? But when she sees Ranesh and Marilen hold hands, or speak of their wedding, she feels a great loss gaping like a cavern in her heart.

One night, she wakes to a quiet knock on the door. Faith is asleep beside her, with Filli curled in the crook of her arm. Jasmine waits for the visitor to leave, but the knocks continue. Faith begins to stir, so Jasmine rises and tiptoes to the door.

She unlocks it and opens it a crack. When she sees who it is, she tries to push it closed, but Doom slips his booted foot in before she has the chance.

“Get out!” Jasmine hisses, still trying to force the door shut.

“It was for your protection, Jasmine,” Doom says, his dark eyes burning. “We did not have a way to enter the Shadowlands. We did not want you to risk your life there, and yet that is what happened!”

Jasmine stares at him, her mouth agape. She wills herself not to cry in front of him, but her body rebels. “You had no right,” she says savagely. “This was not your secret to keep. You would have left her to die!”

“It was a mistake,” Doom admits. “But you need to come out of this room, it is not good for either of you to be locked away in here. I know you must hate it. And I… I wish to see her.”

Suddenly, Jasmine wants nothing more than to let him in. She wants to show him the daughter he has not seen since she was just a few days old. But then the door opens wider, and Faith is beside her, rubbing sleep from her eyes. She looks up at Doom, whose stony eyes are now velvet-soft as they flicker between the two girls before him; green-eyed ghosts of their mother. He steps back, freeing his foot from the door.

Faith’s eyes grow wide and she tugs at Jasmine’s nightclothes. “Is he our father?”

“No,” Jasmine says coldly, and slams the door shut.

Doom loses his family once more.

—

Lief tries everyday. He knocks, he apologizes, he pounds, he pleads, he cries. But Jasmine still has the echoes of the conversation they had had amongst the freed slaves ringing in her ears.

“You knew.”

“We were trying to protect you.”

“You lied.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I love you.”

She had turned her back to him then, even as it broke her heart, and had not looked upon his face ever since. Sometimes she can hear him breathing behind the door. Sometimes she presses her forehead against the wooden frame, imagining him doing the same on the other side. And then her heart hardens, and she pulls away.

One day he does not come, nor does he the next day, or the day after that.

—

Their sanctuary is not as safe as she would like. She can keep people out, but not the voice. Whispers curl into her ears day and night, like smoke rising from a fire.

You have brought the girl from one prison and into another.

You should see how the boy cries. You should hear how he screams in the night.

He told you he loved you, but that must have been just another greedy lie.

What a weak and foolish little girl you are.

All she longs to do is press her hands to her ears and scream until she is louder than the voice.

Faith catches Jasmine’s wrist with her tiny hand. “Why do you always look so sad, sister?”

Jasmine had been staring out the window into the palace garden, trying to distract herself from the hateful whispers that only seemed to be growing louder.

“I am not,” Jasmine forces a smile. A plan begins to form in her head. “I am very happy.”

—

“I should have told her,” Lief tells Barda one night. It is very late, or very early, but they are sitting at the forge’s kitchen table. Lief’s face is twisted in agony, as if he is being eaten alive from the inside. He has lost weight, and the candles on the table cast flickering shadows across his hollow cheeks. “This mistake… it has ruined me.”

Barda is torn between two worlds. He will not abandon either of his friends, but when he looks at Lief, he does not quite see the same person he once did.

—

One morning, the woman who usually brings Jasmine and Faith their meals finds that her knock on the door goes unanswered. This is not too uncommon, so she places the tray in front of the door and goes back to her work. When she returns at lunchtime, the tray is untouched. She knocks on the door again, but is greeted by silence. She abandons the lunch tray and runs to find the captain of the guards.

—

Barda breaks down the door with his strong shoulder. He rushes inside, closely followed by Doom. His heart sinks as he looks around the empty room.

“Jasmine,” Barda murmurs helplessly. “What have you done?”

The shelves are clear of Jasmine’s many trinkets. Drawers and cabinets are open and empty. Faith’s pile of toys are gone. The curtains flutter in the breeze made by the open window. Barda turns in a slow circle, devastated and useless. Doom, usually so collected and expressionless, turns to a table and shoves it to the ground with a crash. Barda has seen the man angry and hurt, but never like this. A scrap of paper flutters from the upset table. Barda bends and picks it up, recognizing Jasmine’s round and childish letters.

Do not follow this time.

—

Lief’s heart breaks.

He will never take a wife; never father any children. He knows he had the chance to love and be loved once. He knows that it is his own fault that it is all lost.

And when he can blissfully forget for a moment, the voice in his head is there to remind him.

—

“Where will you go?” Sharn’s voice trembles as she watches Doom sling his bags across the horse’s saddle.

“Anywhere,” Doom says shortly. “There is nothing here for me anymore. I have no reason to stay.”

Had Sharn known him in the time between his escape from the Shadowlands and the start of Lief’s reign, she would have thought that he had regressed to that same bitter and broken soul.

“That is not true,” she pleads. “You are needed here, Doom.”

His face softens for a moment, and he pulls his friend into a fleeting embrace. “I will write, I promise.”

“Will you not say goodbye to him?” Sharn asks as he mounts the horse. But Doom is already riding off, away from Del, and he does not look back.

—

Jasmine and Faith live on the road for a while. Faith follows without complaint, always trusting her sister to keep her safe. Eventually they settle in nearly-nameless village. A room above a small tavern becomes their home, and the gruff old woman who runs it teaches Faith her letters as Jasmine pretends not to listen to the lessons. The people of the village keep to themselves and do not ask questions, and so she decides to stay, at least for a little while. She washes dishes in the tavern, which is terribly dull, but it means her sister can have a safe home. She tries not to think of all she left behind, and as long as she does not, she can keep moving forward.

—

The people say their king has become a ghost who haunts their city. He attends the Full Moon Meetings with his head bowed. He listens to the city speak, and he responds when his answer is needed. All the while whispers swirl through his head.

It was not I who drove her away. It was you, little king, she left because of you.

Who will save you now?

You have already lost.

They look to you for hope, but you are just a broken little boy, playing at being king.

Fool.

Coward.

Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar.

“Enough!” Lief roars, and the crowd goes silent as death. The woman who was speaking takes a seat, holding her baby tightly with trembling hands. Murmurs spread through the crowd, but no one takes their eyes off of the king. “I did not mean… I am sorry,” and he flees to the forge.

Barda watches him go, and wishes desperately to follow him. “The king needs rest,” he says instead, and answers the rest of their questions as best as he can.

—

Lief and Barda destroy the crystal later that night. As the voice in his head quiets, Lief thinks of Jasmine and wonders if she can hear the silence, too. But his peace lasts only moments, as he stares at the map fragment that he holds in his hands. These days he has difficulty getting out of bed, and now he knows he will have to leave Del and fight for his people once again, as his duty commands.

—

It is a hard journey, and harder still without Jasmine. They come across Lindal of Broome, and Lief stumbles away when she asks where Jasmine is. He does not know what Barda tells her, but when he returns, Lindal’s eyes are shadowed.

—

He dreams that she is running through the Forests, as he follows just two steps behind. He does not know why she is running, or why he follows, but he knows it is very important that he brings her home. Whenever he seems about to reach her, she laughs and runs faster. Finally, he manages to catch her hand. She comes to a halt, and brings her free hand to his cheek with a sad sigh.

“You know I cannot come with you,” she says, and fades away.

Lief wakes, his face wet with tears. Barda sleeps soundly on his other side. They are camping in the cover of a small forest. He rises to his feet and steps into the dark woods.

“Jasmine,” he whispers.

He says her name again, half hoping she will step out of the darkness.

“Lief?” Barda’s voice is rough with sleep. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” Lief stepped back into the camp. “I thought I saw something.”

There was no use in chasing after dreams.

—

“Trust me, Lewin. This was fated to be.”

—

As the mask tightens around his face, Lief panics, for it feels as if his very soul is being swallowed. But he finds himself sinking into the loss of control. Yes. Take me. He relaxes, and lets go.

—

Barda goes to Tora. A deep wound on his arm leaks through his roughly wrapped bandages. His heart aches from loss. His body is weary, his footsteps heavy, but he does not pause until he enters the white city.

It is Sharn who finds him first: another cruel joke played by fate. She smiles when she sees him, shaking her head in happy confusion. He remembers watching prisoners walk to the Place of Punishment, and wonders if they felt as he does. As she draws closer, her smile fades, and she covers her eyes, as if unwilling to see what he is holding in his hands.

“No,” she moans. “Please, Barda, not my son.”

She reaches forward, as if to take the Belt from his grasp, but instead she crumples to the ground.

—

He tells them all that the king is dead, because the truth is far more terrible. And what is one more lie? The Belt will never again shine for Lief. It has abandoned him, like it abandoned his father.

Barda is numb.

He wishes for Lindal, and she comes.

He wishes for Lief, for Jasmine, but they do not come. In this, he is alone.

—

Marilen’s eyes are huge with fear and unshed tears as she loops the Belt over her robes, but she does not falter. The Belt shines gloriously as they stand to witness. Doom has come at Barda’s plea, and Sharn clutches the scarred man’s arm tightly. When the light fades, the new queen hurries to Ranesh, who embraces her tightly as she buries her face into his chest. It should be a moment of happiness and new beginnings, but instead it is one of sorrow.

There is an evil in the land that cannot be killed without Lief, and so it will thrive.

—

A man bursts into a dingy tavern in a tiny village in the north, shouting news of King Lief’s death. The young woman washing dishes in the kitchen begins to scream, as if it were she who had been killed.

—

The people voice their unrest. Food is becoming ever scarcer. Riots and murder become common place. The queen is frantic. She travels between Del and Tora as the cries in those cities become louder. She sees the yellow papers calling her a puppet, a usurper, and worse. She fears for herself, for her husband, and for their unborn child. She fears for her people, even as they curse her name as the cause of their suffering. She is not Lief, she is not a hero, but she is giving up all she can.

A sickness creeps through Del, killing slowly at first, and then with more greed. Plague, some say; poison others whisper. Many fingers point towards the queen, and her city. The death toll swells until the people give up on counting.

Sharn takes her last painful breath, and hears Endon whispering sweetly in her ears.

—

Del is a ghost town, abandoned by its people. The palace crumbles and falls. Some whisper of a golden dragon in the sky, but those rumours are dismissed as the rambling of the dying. Many of the people scatter, but the strongest among the survivors form an army and march on Tora, where the queen and king have withdrawn with their baby. They are stopped before they make it to the city entrance by a force led by the former captain of the guard and his wife. Doom once again answers Barda’s call for aid, and brings a group of former Resistance fighters who viciously defend Tora and their queen. The battle is brief, and although the defending army is victorious, they are not without their losses.

Barda watches the small army retreat. It is not the end, he knows, but it is good enough for a while. Many of the men whose swords had crashed against his own he had trained as palace guards himself. He kneels back down by the man he had been tending to, but Doom’s eyes are open and blank, his hands still pressed against his blood-soaked side. Barda bows his head, and says goodbye to another friend.

He and Lindal stay in Tora, for as he failed to save the king, he has taken it upon himself to provide for the queen. Life is hard, and the people of the land grow ever thinner. But there is happiness, too. He has children, many of them, and although their hollow cheeks pain him, their laughter brings him joy.

—

It is a cool autumn morning, and Barda is inspecting the grounds around the entrance to the city. He hears the snap of a twig behind him, and draws his sword before he has the chance to turn. Two women in worn traveling clothes raise their hands to show they do not hold any weapons, although they both have knives strapped to their belts. One of the women looks to be thirty, while the other is younger. Both their faces are burnt and lined by the sun, and they have tangles of black hair that fall past their shoulders. Barda heart swells, overcome with memory, but before he can do anything, the older of the two women cries out and runs toward him. He ignores every instinct and lets his sword drop to the ground, embracing her enthusiastically.

It has been twelve years. She is weary and far too thin, but her arms are as strong as ever.

Jasmine pulls away, her eyes flickering across his face. She is smiling and crying all at once. A long scar extends from her right eyebrow and across her forehead, and he brushes his thumb against it. She laughs, and calls Faith to her side. The young woman approaches, giving Barda a shy smile.

Jasmine kneels and retrieves his sword. Her face grows serious as she hands it back. “We have been dormant, for far too long, I fear. The Enemy no longer believes us to be the threat we once were.”

Barda has a thousand questions for Jasmine, and a thousand more things he wants to tell her. He wants to be furious at her for leaving him alone, but he only feels a sense of long forgotten joy and belonging. He can see the same war of emotions playing across her face, and all laced with a deep sorrow. Does she know her father is dead? He feels the sudden urge to tell her the truth about Lief, to finally tell someone. But it can wait. He has waited long enough.

He thinks of his family, and how much they deserve to live a peaceful life. He thinks of Marilen and Ranesh, working tirelessly to provide for their kingdom, and keep what little faith of the people they still have. He thinks of Sharn and her limitless hope. He thinks of Lief— good and brave and lost— and imagines for half a moment that he can hear his old friend eagerly greeting his two long lost companions.

“That is so,” he agrees. “It is time that we make it remember.”

#deltora quest #for the record even if faith was real i don't think they would have kept her a secret #i know it's a weird one but i hope you like it because i'm proud of it!#it's definitely my most ambitious fic #also i meant for it to be around 700 words and it ended up being my longest dq fic #i think it's pretty straightforward all things considered but if you have questions or need anything clarified let me know!#jasmine #lief #barda #faith #doom #sharn #marilen #ranesh #lindal #my writing

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Feminist Science Fiction Novels to Read After The Handmaid's Tale

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Enjoy an feminist dystopian yarn a la The Handmaid's Tale? These science fiction titles need to be next on your reading list...

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With the ever-growing success of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid’s Tale since its debut in 1985, both the book and its subsequent TV adaptation, you may find you're after something similar to read when you need your next lit fix. There’s no doubt that its relevance and its cultural impact is heavily felt today, after all these years, especially during the #MeToo era.

It has now spawned a whole new sci-fi subgenre of dystopian feminist fiction, which has grown hugely popular, especially over the last few years, and has also helped elevate and amplify the voices of lots of female writers as well as shine a light on many important women's issues. Some have even already been lined up for TV and movie adaptations. And we can only hope others do too.

Here are some picks of the best feminist dystopian science fiction novels out there at the moment that need to be added to your reading list pronto…

Margaret Atwood - The Testaments (2019)

In what has been deemed the literary event of this year, this compelling story of The Handmaid’s Tale continues in this long-awaited sequel that has been 35 years in the making, bringing everything full circle. The sequel picks up straight from where its predecessor left off and continues the events in the totalitarian state of Gilead from the last book fifteen years later with an explosive conclusion. Its screen adaptation is already in the works at Hulu.

read more: How Margaret Atwood's The Testaments Will Affect The Handmaid's Tale

Stephen and Owen King - Sleeping Beauties (2017)

One of his more recent works, the feminist dystopian novel receives the Stephen King treatment. Written with his son Owen, Sleeping Beauties is set in a women’s prison in the small town of Dooling, West Virginia and dares to ask what would happen if women disappeared from the world of men? While it might not be the most notable King novel, it’s still definitely worth a read.

Leni Zumas - Red Clocks (2018)

An extremely timely book, Red Clocks is a fascinating and intriguing novel which explores the lives of five very different women who are navigating their way in a society in which abortion has been made illegal in every state. The novel takes us through various issues that bears so much relevance within today’s current societal climate with its compelling narrative and its nuanced characters.

read more: Handmaid's Tale Season 4 Confirmed

Naomi Alderman - The Power (2016)

Soon to be adapted into a TV series by Amazon Studios, which has already cast Leslie Mann in a role, The Power tells the thought-provoking story of what would happen if women had all the power. In The Power, women discover that they are able to electrocute through their fingers and inflict devastating pain and sometimes even death, overpowering men.

Kim Liggett - The Grace Year (2019)

The Grace Year is a must-read YA novel which could be envisioned as The Handmaid’s Tale for a whole new generation, mixed in with a bit of Lord of The Flies. It has already been lined up for a movie adaptation from Universal to be directed by Elizabeth Banks. The story follows a 16-year-old girl named Tierney, who is sent off along with a group of teenage girls to an isolated forest to rid themselves of magic and become purified for a year.

Christina Dalcher – VOX (2018)

This award-winning, best-selling novel, tells the story of what happens when women do not have a voice and are only allowed to speak 100 words a day. Also, there is a word counter which gives the jolt of electricity if the word count is exceeded at any point. This is a well-written thriller with a very chilling premise - an intriguing read.

read more: VOX by Christina Dalcher Review

Octavia Butler - Parable of The Sower (1993)

Part of a series, Parable of The Sower is a dystopian novel, sharing similarities to Stephen King’s The Stand and Cormac McCarthy’s On The Road, which explores race, sex and power. This is the first novel in a series of books which follows the protagonist Lauren Olamina as she develops her own religious system in the form of Earthseed.

Sophie Mackintosh - The Water Cure (2018)

The short but sinister debut novel from Sophie Mackintosh is a beautifully written, chilling masterpiece which follows three sisters, Grace, Lia and Sky. The girls live on an island with their parents, who are trying to keep them safe from the contaminated water that surrounds the island, until men one day start being washed ashore and, you guessed it, trouble ensues.

Jenny Melamed - Gather The Daughters (2017)

If you love The Handmaid’s Tale, then you’ll definitely be compelled to read this gem. Gather The Daughters is a very dark, dystopian tale set on an isolated island (starting to notice a bit of a theme here). The story has a lot of depth regarding its story and its characters and also covers so many important themes and issues.

read more: Watching Handmaid's Tale in The Age of Trump

Kristen Simmons - The Glass Arrow (2015)

This YA fantasy story follows Aya, who lives with a small group of women who are hunted down by men who wish to auction off their breeding rights to the highest bidder. It acts as an important commentary on female rights and fertility. A terrifying concept where women have no say, just like in many of the aforementioned titles.

Virginia Bergin - Who Runs The World? (2017)

A world without men? Have you ever wondered what that would be like? Then you should wonder no more. This novel is a gripping read in which it takes place in a world where men have been completely wiped out and are extinct and thus provides us with an interesting piece of speculative fiction. A very unusual but engaging concept.

Louise O’Neill - Only Ever Yours (2014)

This novel takes an interesting look at beauty and body image where baby girls are no longer conceived but instead are engineered in labs, designed to be perfect for men. This is a very bleak read and something that gives quite a lot of food for thought. Women are basically treated and seen as Barbie dolls which, as this novel demonstrates, is a terrifying prospect rather than an idealistic one.

read more: Holiday Gift Guide 2019 — Books For Geeks

Louise Erdrich - Future Home Of The Living God (2017)

This provocative, dystopian novel from best-selling American author Louise Erdrich tells the story of a young woman who fights for the life of both herself and her unborn child. It is set within a futuristic America in which there is a major biological shift and everything has changed, this is a very harrowing read and shows the ultimate fight for freedom.

Charlotte Nicole Davis - The Good Luck Girls (2019)

The Good Luck Girls is an action-packed story which follows five girls who are sold into slavery and consequently fight for their freedom. This is a truly unique Wild Western fantasy mashed together with a dystopian feminist tale. It explores friendship, family and romance and holds a powerful message of course. It is also a great introduction into the Western genre with lots of supernatural elements involved.

Chelsea Cain – Maneaters (2018)

A very divisive comic/graphic novel series, to say the least, written by Chelsea Cain, who wrote Marvel’s groundbreaking Mockingbird series. Maneaters tells the story of teenage girls who begin to transform into flesh-eating monsters when they first get their period. What more could you want?

It has faced lots of criticism for many reasons but has great art. Nevertheless, if you love dystopian fiction then this is worth your time.

read more: City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders Review

Kelly Sue DeConnick - Bitch Planet (2015)

Bitch Planet is a visually stunning and unique graphic novel from publisher Image Comics, written by Kelly Sue DeConnick, who wrote graphic novels including Captain Marvel and Pretty Deadly. The story sees non-compliant women incarcerated and held in a facility run by men where they are kept under constant surveillance. With brightly, coloured, gorgeous vivid artwork to accompany the tale, along with propaganda, Bitch Planet is a must-read.

Joanna Russ - The Female Man (1975)

Long before The Handmaid's Tale took the world by storm, The Female Man offered an insightful look at science fiction and feminism as it explores four women living in parallel worlds, each with a different gender landscape. This story offers a very powerful insight into gender roles in society and also is a landmark within the science fiction genre.

Carmen Maria Machado - Her Body And Other Parties (2013)

A collection of short stories heavily reminiscent of the likes of Angela Carter, Her Body And Other Parties provides a very interesting exploration into womanhood. From a woman who recounts sexual encounters as she sweeps the earth to a woman who refuses to remove a mysterious green ribbon around her neck, each story is very distinctive in its own way and is a very enjoyable read.

read more: Read an Excerpt From Brandon Sanderson's New Book

Joanne Ramos - The Farm (2019)

Being heralded as The Handmaid’s Tale for 2019 by some literary critics, The Farm is a refreshing addition to the feminist dystopian genre, showing the impact of colonisation. In The Farm, a luxury retreat in Hudson Valley transforms the fertility industry - women get special retreatment but have to produce a baby for someone else in return. The novel follows the main protagonist Jane, a Filipino immigrant and single mother who wants a better life for herself.

Marge Piercy - Woman On The Edge Of Time (1976)

Another piece of feminist dystopian fiction which was making waves long before The Handmaid’s Tale and The Power, is Woman On The Edge Of Time. This is definitely worth a read and a landmark title within the feminist dystopian sci-fi genre. This time-travelling story follows a woman named Connie Ramos who is unfairly incarcerated in a mental institution, communicates with the year 2137, and envisions a utopian future of sexual and racial equality.

Read and download the Den of Geek NYCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

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Feature Laura Francis

Nov 29, 2019

The Handmaid's Tale

Science Fiction Books

Margaret Atwood

from Books https://ift.tt/2Dw88me

#aion-rsa #Books

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thegodthronechronicles · 7 years

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Session 20 - The Gulthias Tree

The 21st of Mirtul

After retrieving the scepter from Myrkrheim and fighting their way through an apocalyptic future to return home, our adventurers were split up. Lia, Forza and Acacia drove to the Elven island of Nimethemarin in search of Queen Selise Ravenire; there, they were given their next objective to journey into a ruined temple to save Davith Dundrag and a half-elf named Mara Moonwhisper.

They descended the stairs and turned into a long hallway; the thorny vines grew only thicker as they walked along. Eventually they came upon a door that was heavily sealed by the vines; Davith confirmed that he saw Mara be dragged through and was unable to save her. Acacia ordered her zombie thrall to eat the vines off the door as the group took a short rest. During their rest, Rock, the Dwayne taught his animated boulders some fighting stances and how to throw punches. After the zombie finished eating the vines, Forza slammed the door halfway open and they eventually broke into what appeared to be a study.

Several bookshelves lined the walls full of tomes: books on various topics that ranged from Drow history to botany dotted the shelves. Forza and Lia each took a book, Forza swapping one out with the captain’s log he took from the Githyanki vessel they used to cross the Astral Sea and Lia taking a book titled “Druidic Theories on the Cycle of Life and Death.” A large desk sat in the middle of the room with an iron-banded wooden door directly behind it. They opened the door slightly and Acacia ordered her zombie thrall to scout, but the zombie was immediately grasped and disposed of by quick-striking vines. They began searching for another passage and found a secret door activated by a displaced book on a nearby shelf. Someone tossed something into the passage and they heard a loud clamp as a spring-loaded trap went off; so Acacia decided to fly in to inspect the tunnel. She found a long line of bear traps that rounded a number of corners in the thin tunnel and ended in a dead end with a large lever on the wall. Unable to pull the lever, she set off a series of cantrips that caused the bear traps to active, allowing the rest of the party to come through safely. Forza pulled the lever eagerly and the stone wall slid aside to reveal a large open room full of skeletal black saplings that reached upwards to the glowing fungus-covered ceiling. Strangely, not a single vine was in sight. Almost immediately, they heard some voices talking.

Sneaking further in, they found a massive courtyard where ancient Drow architecture had been overtaken by the nature of the Underdark. The skeletal saplings grew everywhere, but across from the secret passage sat the original from which the saplings were grown from. The large tree seemed to seep evil into the atmosphere as it grew upwards from a throne. Around the trunk laid the withered bodies of the archaeological team, their essence being sucked out through the roots that grew around them. A crude face seemed to have been carved into the tree, but at the same time it looked naturally grown. Their eyes were drawn downwards to a young Drow who was kneeling before the tree, talking to it; Mara Moonwhisper sat in a corner, chained to the ground.

The Drow was dressed in black leather armor with the sigil of Krathux-- a raven’s skull with a flaming white eye-- on a band around his arm. He was asking the tree to join him in serving the Undying Lord, but seemingly to no effect. The tree responded that he couldn’t help anyone while trapped down here, not even his great grandson. While the Drow confronted his ancestor’s soul, Acacia snuck forward and violently caressed the back of his head with Inflict Wounds-- Forza’s scar tingled as it always did in the presence of the necromantic spell.

Hearing its master’s cry of distress, a large skeletal hound covered in thick purple flames leapt into the clearing and attacked Acacia. The rest of the party came out to help her; Lia struck at the Lich Hound while Forza stepped towards the tree. As Forza said “Hail and well met!”, Davith snuck over to Mara and began working on the chains. The tree responded to Forza, introducing itself as the once powerful vampire lord, Gulthias Khivrei. The tree asked if Forza was also here with an offer, and Forza asked him to aid them in their quest. Repeating what he told his grandson, Gulthias explained he could not help anyone whilst trapped in the tree, but would not interfere in the fight. Acacia knocked the Drow unconscious, leaving the party to face only the Hound.

However, they soon noticed a series of vines spreading into the clearing, followed by the lumbering shapes of various Elves turned into the Tendril Puppets of the Vine Lord that followed after. The vine-covered soldiers surrounded the clearing, coming through both the secret passage and the regular entrance, followed by a tall man composed entirely of thick vines and a crown of thorns atop his head. Rock, the Dwayne and his two animated boulders began defending them from the secret door as Gulthias caused large roots to shoot up from the ground and defend the main entrance. Both of Rock’s elementals were crushed under the weight of the pursuing vines, causing Rock to retreat over to Davith and Mara, where he helped Davith break the chains. The Vine Lord asked the party to help him kill Gulthias so he could be free from his prison.

The party finished off the Lich Hound and confronted Gulthias and the Vine Lord. On one side, Gulthias-- the ancient and dreaded vampire lord-- promised to aid them if they freed him from the tree; while on the other side, the Vine Lord-- the embodiment of nature’s fury-- promised to give them a gift if they destroyed the tree to free him. The Vine Lord explained that Gulthias had stolen its root and used it to command him, but when Gulthias was impaled with the wooden stake that grew into the tree, the root was solidified in the center, leaving the Vine Lord unable to retrieve it. The adventurers asked what would happen if they freed the Vine Lord, and he told them that he would return to aid nature against the plague that is mortal beings.

At this moment, Selise Ravenire entered the room and asked them to halt any decision as she wanted to test her theory. She explained that since the Drow, who she introduced as Laulkiir Nirar-- one of Krathux’s Dark Priests-- was the great grandson of Gulthias, and therefor bloodkin, he would be able to wield the scepter against Gulthias. Agreeing to her plan, the party decided to test the scepter and Selise magically ordered Laulkiir to activate it. They watched quite visibly as Laulkiir and Gulthias’ souls were transferred. With Laulkiir within the tree, the Vine Lord would still be trapped and Gulthias would help them to pay off his debt. Selise created a small portal to escape from the Vine Lord’s wrath and they reappeared in front of the Otimobile.

As they drove out of the Underdark, Selise explained the reason that Mara was the only one who could safely use the scepter against Krathux. Long ago, near the end of the War of the Warlock King, as it was dubbed, King Luthar Ravenire had sired a daughter before his demise and resurrection as a Lich, and that daughter was hidden away in the Moon Elf city of Yllmenora where she grew up to become none other than the half-elf druid, Mara Moonwhisper. Mara was reasonably shocked at the news of her parentage, as was everyone else, and Acacia offered to take her place. With much convincing, mostly on the part of Lia’s surprising persuasiveness, they decided to try the scepter on Acacia and Mara. Since Acacia was Feykind, and Mara had Elven lineage, the possibility that it would work was slim but present. Miraculously, it worked. Acacia’s soul left her body, but instead of going to Mara, it flickered onto the Astral Sea where Brunar’s lifeless body passed by; pouring all of her energy into the scepter, she travelled back to the plane of Midgard and entered Mara’s body as Mara switched into Acacia’s. Acacia explained that she would gladly give her life to defeat Krathux in service to the Queen.

They drove back up to the surface and told the archaeologists about the danger in the ruins before driving off to an Inn by the name of ‘The Pathetic Lily’. There, Forza fell instantly asleep for a long rest after walking past a sign signalling 50 silver pieces and tossing the barkeeper over twice the amount, as Lia studied her new book in a corner. Acacia, Mara, Gulthias, and Selise were sitting at a table discussing the next order of business: travelling to Myrkrheim to defeat Krathux once and for all.

Outside of the inn, a High Elf by the name of Avyssos Rotfell snuck over to the Otimobile to try and rob it. Finding many difficulties, she dispelled all magic from the vehicle, forcing Almeria Oti into the afterlife. Still finding difficulty, however, she walked into the inn where she immediately caught sight of the Queen. Strolling over, she asked Selise for a game of cards. Selise won, and when they doubled the wager she won again. Floating some coins over to the counter and a bottle of vintage wine back, she asked Avyssos if she would like to be richer than she could ever dream of.

They all left the inn where Selise opened up a portal directly to Myrkrheim. They began filing through, but Forza noticed the Otimobile had not moved an inch; when he knocked called out and knocked on the door, only Rock, the Dwayne answered-- Rock wearing a bathrobe stolen from Forza’s costume collection. Forza decided to try something else: he dropped his wallet and walked out of view, Avyssos took the wallet, but seeing it gone Forza decided Oti had taken it and was still present. They finished walking through the portal and as it winked out behind them they found themselves in a rather similar forest to that of Nimethemarin. The wind blew and pollen fell from the trees making them feel content and happy. Selise explained that some areas in Myrkrheim stayed the Feywild and others the Shadowfell, though most were an amalgamation of the two.

They walked to the edge of the island where they were confronted with an ocean of pitch black water. A boat came speeding around the corner and Forza shouted out to them to stop; when they did, however, a large tentacle grasped the boat and instantly destroyed it. At that moment the island began to shake and rise out of the water, revealing they were actually on the back of a giant turtle. It swam forward, trampling the tentacled creature, and continued moving towards shore. Forza began to play some bagpipes to try and get the turtle’s attention, but it began sinking back into the ocean; when Forza called out for it to stop, he accidentally insulted the creature’s entire family with every derogatory remark in the species’ history, and the turtle dove down, sending everyone flying into the depths of the ocean.

Avyssos cast a spell that allowed them to breathe underwater for a short time, and they found a glowing aquatic city. When Forza swam over to get a closer look, he was approached by an aboleth that immediately cast a charm on him and opened a telepathic communication. The aboleth seemed to know Krathux and had no love for the man, but during his diplomatic talk, Avyssos shot a rather undiplomatic arrow that caused the Aboleth to spit out a cloud of opaque mucous, wrap a tentacle around Forza, and swim off into a tiny cavern at the speed of light.

#Dungeons and Dragons #D&D 5e #Adventure #Session 20 #The Vampire's Blight

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