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ourimpavidheroine · 4 years

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do u think some fic is better than others?

If you are asking whether or not I think that some fiction - fanfic or otherwise - is better written than others then yes, I do. Of course I do. Authors run the gamut just like anyone else when it comes to how good they are at what they do.

If you are asking whether or not I think a certain genre of fiction is better than others then no, I don’t. Genre preference is personal and subjective and there’s no right or wrong about that.

If you are asking whether or not I think only fic that is a critical darling is good then no, I don’t. I’ve read plenty of fic that has been critically lauded, won awards, and still thought it was bullshit. (Atonement is one that comes to mind because my kid just read it for school. I spent that entire novel pretty well convinced that Ian McEwan has never actually met a thirteen year old girl in his life and have no idea to this day whose bright idea it was to encourage him to write about one because as far as I am concerned he did a shitty job of it. Also, I have yet to make it through a Donna Tartt book, despite trying on several occasions.) On the flip side, I have read plenty of fiction that is largely obscure and/or considered genre work (said with a dismissive sneer, of course) and yet I have read it again and again and enjoyed it immensely each time. (Doris Egan’s Ivory books, Martha Wells’ Ile-Rien books, Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody books, and Kate Elliott’s Spiritwalker Trilogy, to name a few.) That doesn’t mean I don’t like critical darlings, either. I’ve inhaled everything Nnedi Okorafor has written (including her comics) and don’t get me started on my deep and abiding love for N.K. Jemisin and Isabel Allende. I’m 51 years old and I’ve been reading voraciously since I was 2. (Hyperlexia, one of those Autistic things.) I know what I like and I could give a fuck if anyone else - critics or otherwise - likes it or not.

If you are asking my preferences, I think my fanfic makes that pretty obvious. I like strong, distinct characters. I love found family and I like flawed, complex people. I like fiction that isn’t afraid to be what it is or tackle issues that people don’t usually write about. While I don’t dislike vast, overreaching plots I tend to prefer fiction that focuses more on what the characters are doing vs. some sort of mighty quest. (There are exceptions to this, of course.) I like authors that are not afraid to look at the conventions of their time and give them the finger. (Elizabeth Peabody, for example, was writing about interracial marriages and non-white cultures in a non-appropriative way back in the 80′s.)

I’m not really into reading fiction of any kind when it is just an overused trope where the characters and plot are basically the same but with different names/locations - thus why I rarely read romance novels or a certain type of fanfic. However, romance novels are exceedingly popular and so is a certain type of fanfic so that’s a me thing and not an everybody thing. I don’t turn my nose up at readers who enjoy romance novels or coffee shop AUs; hey, if you are getting pleasure from reading them then that’s exactly what they are made for! More power to you! But on that same token, readers who want nothing more than a formulaic piece of trope fiction are generally not interested in my fanfic, either. That doesn’t offend me in the slightest. To each their own.

So no, if that is what you are getting at, I don’t think my fic is better than anyone else’s. Is it better written that others? Sure! There is also fanfic out there better written than mine, so there you have it. I’m not going to get up on my high horse about it.

#Anonymous

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myheartstays-inthelead · 4 years

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Still Channeling 2006 MySpace bulletins

MUSIC CHALLENGE

1. Open your music library

2. Put it on shuffle

3. Press play

4. For every question, type the song that’s playing

5. When you go to a new question, press the next button

6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool

Waking up: Life of Brian - Puscifer

Good day: Sweat - Tool

Bad day: Stranglehold - Ted Nugent

Long day: Every Thug Needs a Lady - Alkaline Trio

Lullaby aka music to fall asleep to: God = Dog - Behemoth

After a fight with your best friend: Beat My Guest- Adam & the Ants

After a fight with your parents: Say You’ll Be There - Spice Girls (probably accurate circa 1997)

After a fight with your boyfriend/girlfriend: Jambi - Tool

Falling in love: Space Cadet - Kyuss

Breaking up: Human Om - Tobacco

Making out: Misty Mountain Hop - Led Zeppelin (I hate this question)

Sneaking out: One Hundred Years - The Cure

Being reckless: Sleepyhead - Alkaline Trio (also true)

Road trip: Spiritwalker - The Cult

Graduation day: Forty Six & 2 - Tool

Remembering: Moonlight Shadow - Missing Heart (ACCURATE AF)

Childhood memories: Know Your Enemy - Rage Against the Machine

Vacation: Undertow - Tool

Seeing an old love: Cities in Dust - Siouxsie & the Banshees

Angry mood: The Outsider - A Perfect Circle (yes)

Depressed mood: Midlife Crisis - Faith No More (wow ok)

Happy mood: Reptile - Nine Inch Nails

Quiet mood: Third Eye - Tool

Loving mood: You Look Like I Need a Drink - Against Me

Song for growing up: Stuck Pig - Glassjaw

Summer love: Stinkfist - Tool (bweheheheh)

Just SUMMER: Intolerance - Tool

Winter romance: Assimilate - Skinny Puppy

Losing your best friend: Sex & Candy - Marcy Playground

Losing your love: Wish - Nine Inch Nails

Losing a family member: 7empest - Tool

YOUR funeral song: The Pot - Tool (yes friends celebrate and karaoke)

Your song you’re remembered by: Thieves - Ministry

Your family’s song for you: bibleland 6 - Glassjaw

Song when you have kids: Funeral Fog - Mayhem

The song that reminds you of your kids: Lullaby - A Perfect Circle

Your wedding song: Americans Abroad - Against Me (that’s illegal rn)

Your KIDS graduation: Survivalism - Nine Inch Nails

The song that ties your life together: Night Terror - Author & Punisher

You best friend’s song for you: I Shot William H. Macy - Head Automatica

The song that reminds you of your childhood town: What Is and What Should Never Be - Led Zeppelin

Your first love: Right Where It Belongs - Nine Inch Nails

Your school days: Journey to the End of the East Bay - Rancid (BIG true)

Your favorite summer song: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath - Black Sabbath

The song that reminds you of the one thing you wish you could get back: Bela Lugosi’s Dead - Bauhaus

Your drinking song: Copy of a - Nine Inch Nails (I could see it tbh)

Your party song: A Daisy Chain 4 Satan - the Thrill Kill Kult (literally)

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tanadrin · 5 years

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Notes on the Taurahe Language

by Loremaster Surazh Sher'an, of the Royal Society of Silvermoon

Published in the Journal of the Royal Society, in the 6853th Year of the Sun and 5th year of the Regency (619 K.C., 27 A.O.D.P.)

Since the Third War and the reestablishment of diplomatic and trade contacts with the peoples of the western continent of Kalimdor, several new frontiers in natural philosophy have been opened up to the scholars of our Society, in areas botanical, historical, thaumaturgic, and, not least of all, linguistic. Though the tongues of the Eastern Kingdoms have been well-covered in the scholarly literature, and even those of Draenor have had several monographs published on them since the Second War[1], the languages of Kalimdor remain woefully understudied. The most tentative work relating Thalassian to the Darnassian languages has been undertaken[2], but of the other Kalimdorean tongues, nothing substantial has been written.

In the interest of attempting to make my own modest contribution to the study of the Kalimdorean tongues, I would like to offer the following preliminary analysis of a language entirely unstudied by our loremasters at present and, I believe, spoken nowhere in Quel'Thalas, and in precious few places in the Eastern Kingdoms. I refer, of course, to Taurahe, the tongue of the Shu'halo, or, as they are known to outsiders, the Tauren. The Taurahe language is most interesting, being related neither to the tongues of Draenor nor of the Easter Kingdoms, and seeming to have no antecedent in any of the ancient mother-tongues of Azeroth, like Proto-Troll, Proto-Vrykul, or Ancient Kalimdorean. Furthermore, it is a language currently in flux, insofar as the way of life of the Shu'halo has changed enormously since the arrival of the Orcs in Kalimdor and the incorporation of the Tauren into the Horde. Although I cannot capture either the complexity or dynamism of this language in a brief article, I hope to pave the way to more extensive future analysis.

1. Taurahe in Context

The Shu'halo are a tauroid race of bipeds, native to eastern Kalimdor. First encountered in the dry coastal regions around Bladefist Bay, in what is now Durotar, an alliance was formed between Warchief Thrall and Chieftain Cairne Bloodhoof of the Bloodhoof Tauren in 6833 YS, during the Third War. At that time, all Tauren clans[3] were nomadic; after the tumultuous events of the war and the defeat of Archimonde at Mount Hyjal, the Bloodhoof Tauren and a portion of the other clans settled at Thunder Bluff in Mulgore, with several satellite towns like Bloodhoof Village being founded nearby. Many seasonal Tauren campsites have been converted into permanent settlements, like the Crossroads and Camp Taurajo, facilitating trade with Durotar and supporting a larger population of Tauren.

Despite the adoption by some of a settled lifestyle, many Tauren remain nomadic or semi-nomadic, some for political reasons[4], others simply out of tradition[5]. Because of the hunting lifestyle of the Tauren, and the number of rites and rituals which center around hunting, the creation of permanent settlements and urban centers has not been widely welcomed in Tauren society. Much of the shift in Tauren culture is down to the charismatic leadership of Cairne Bloodhoof; though his authority nominally extends only over the Bloodhoof Tauren, he is highly regarded by the other Tauren clans, and holds considerable influence in Tauren society at large. It remains to be seen whether these new developments in Tauren society, and the importance of Thunder Bluff as a political and economic center, will outlast their chief architect.

As is to be expected, Taurahe vocabulary centers primarily around the historical Taurahe way of life: terminology of the natural world, of geography, travel, hunting, and hunting- and pathfinding-related technologies is quite extensive. The Tauren have traditionally been a shamanistic people, like the Orcs, and so have an extensive vocabulary of shamanistic and natural thaumaturgy. Lacking an understanding of the arcane, or of other planes, their vocabulary for arcane thaumaturgy is limited, and most of their vocabulary around these kinds of sorcery has been borrowed from Orcish and, more recently, Thalassian. Of some influence also has been the Night Elven tongue[6], since the Tauren have a long history of intermittent contact with that people. Almost all vocabulary related to metalworking, alchemy, wheeled conveyance, shipbuilding, and large-scale warfare is directly borrowed from Orcish, with a small subset of loanwords from the language of the Darkspear Trolls.

Taurahe is not a unified language; each sub-clan has its own dialect, resembling most other dialects within their clan, as clans have historically tended to migrate together and to maintain close ties in marriage and trade. Any clear geographical distribution of the dialects has been substantially confused by many centuries of migration, and the spreading of various features and loanwords between migratory clans and sub-clans. Even so, not all forms of Taurahe are mutually intelligible; furthermore, the prestige form of the language has often varied according to the internal politics of the Tauren clans, with the emergence of a preeminent leader or tribe altering the lingusitic center of gravity of the Tauren people. Since the establishment of Thunder Bluff, the Bloodhoof dialect spoken there has been treated as the de facto standard, both among Tauren and within the rest of the Horde; therefore, it is the Thunder Bluff dialect that shall be treated here.

2. Writing System

Taurahe has not traditionally been a written language. Tauren society has historically been based extensively on oral traditions, which supply everything from legal and ritual formulae to history and mythology, which, based on the study of different versions among different clans, have remained remarkably constant over centuries or even millennia[7]. Although the Tauren have had contact with literary societies such as the Night Elves for many centuries, they have generally eschewed writing for most culturally significant applications, ascribing far greater prestige to orally transmitted traditions. Most Tauren elders have committed the equivalent of dozens of volumes of history and poetry to memory; some, such as Hamuul Runetotem, are said to be able to recite what would fill a hundred books in any Orcish library.

Nonetheless, Tauren have some knowledge and respect for runic sorcery, and have applied it to the totems they wield in battle and use for ritual purposes. These "runes" seem ultimately to be of Night Elven origin, despite no extant tradition of their use in Night Elven society. Potentially, they date from before the Sundering, given their similarity to arcane runes used in Quel'thalas and the contemporary aversion to arcane magic among the Kaldorei.

Almost all written forms of Taurahe found now in Kalimdor are, however, recorded using the Orcish writing system. Orcish uses a combination of phonetic and logographic symbols, having descended from an earlier logographic stage[8] some two centuries before the opening of the Dark Portal. Foreign languages, when recorded in Orcish, typically use only the most common logographs, relying instead on extensive use of the phonetic symbols normally reserved for inflection and particles. The syllabic nature of phonetic Orcish, however, renders it a poor fit for Taurahe, which has a completely different phonetic inventory. Therefore, in this article I have preferred to rely on the superior Thalassian alphabet to transcribe the sounds of Taurahe, which are in fact quite simple for the Elven tongue to pronounce.

3. Phonology

Taurahe forms generally CV syllables, making it at least phonetically one of the less vulgar languages of the Horde. It rarely admits consonant clusters, only occasionally permitting certain syllable-final glides and certain syllable-initial affricates. The fifteen consonants as transcribed into Thalassian are as follows:

p b t k m n s sh h ch (a velar or glottal fricative) l r w y (a palatal semivowel) ts (affricate)

Taurahe has five vowels, which may be either short or long; in most dialects, although not Bloodhoof, the long consonants are in fact diphthongs, and even when speaking Bloodhoof, Tauren tend to preserve those diphthongs if present in their native dialect. The five primary vowels are /a e i o u/; the long vowels are most usually realized as /a: ei i: o: au/. Less common are /au/ and /ai/ or /ie/ for /a:/ and /i:/. Grimtotem Tauren has a completely different system of long vowels, /ae ei ie oa ue/.

4. Noun Classification

The declension of the Taurahe noun is only for four cases--the nominative, the objective, the locative, and the relative--but is greatly dependent on the classification of the noun, based on what appears to be both an animacy and social-role hierarchy. The former is not unlike the animacy classification of some Zandali languages, while the latter bears a (passing) resemblance to the "gender" categories in human languages, but both should probably be treated on their own terms, as the Tauren system is both distinct and more regular than either. Roughly speaking, Taurahe noun classification is between inanimate or abstract, sessile or natural, dynamic-animate, fully sapient, and elemental or divine nouns on the one hand; and provider/loremaster, hunter/leader or shaman/spiritwalker on the other. The social role classification is somewhat more difficult to understand as a regular process among the less animate nouns, and is also not fixed: one noun may migrate between all three categories according to circumstance and usage, without the reclassified noun necessarily being considered a new lexeme. Inflecting a noun according to another animacy category is, however, a standard part of new noun formation.

There are at least six or seven distinct declensions of Taurahe nouns; my Tauren interlocutors have not been able to agree on the precise number, and it may be that comparison to the Thalassian system of declensions is in fact entirely inapplicable here.

5. Verb Nuclei

The Taurahe verb is formed from affixes attached to a single root, a "nucleus" which may be built up with both prefixes and suffixes and even, in some cases, infixes. Roots generally encompass a single semantic concept, which affixes may extend and alter in ways which would, in most other languages, necessitate the derivation of a new word. For example, "kuto," "fight" with the telic, transitive affixes forms the verb "karutoha," "to win [against sb.]", while with the impersonal affix forms "ukuto," "to fall into disarray." The impersonal form can be further modified by the personal, passive affix, "uma'ukuto," "to be routed in battle," which despite the presence of the impersonal affix alters the valency of the verb. All told, Taurahe has perhaps one-tenth the verbal roots of a language like Orcish or Common Human (to say nothing of the refined Thalassian tongue), but dozens, and possibly hundreds, of verbal affixes. Few of these affixes are truly exclusive of one another, and a deeper syntatic analysis is required to determine how, exactly, the valency, tense, and aspect of the final verb are determined.

6. Taurahe Words and Phrases

The following phrases are taken from interviews with my Tauren interlocutors. I traveled to Thunder Bluff and Bloodhoof Village for a period of eighteen weeks and interviewed approximately a dozen Tauren of four different clans. This is but a small sample of the corpus I used for my analysis, and with the aid of an colleague who has been transcribing Taurahe lore from Orcish to Thalassian script, I hope to soon begin work on a more complete grammar of the Taurahe tongue.

Vocabulary

-she/-sha: Affix denoting natural phenomena, celestial bodies, and the divine, cf. "An'she," the creator-sun. shu: Clan, tribe, political grouping. Cf. "Shu'halo," the Tauren people. halo: 1st person plural pronoun. We, ourselves. apaa: watch, guard ro: path, road apa'ro: the Waywatcher, Malorne -ah: augmentative affix por: lore, wisdom, custom, law por'aa: ancient wisdom, longstanding (and therefore inviolable) custom alo: within, inside ne[e]: to be (cf. "ishnee," "let be," or "ichnee," "to remain, to always be") pawne: spirit, soul owa: to dash, to bolt, to run tanekaa: blue; cf. Taunka "taunka," "winter," and the Taurahe idiom "bluest [i.e., coldest] of winters" manii: to shake laata: to shake; with the causative infix cf. "Laakotamanii," "the Earthshaker." isha: grave, serious, deep awaak: doom, ill fate, misfortune eeche: white ala: to walk mo: dream ala'mo: druid, i.e., one who walks in dreams haurakemani: the Earthmother shu'halo: a Tauren, the Tauren ahee: language; to speak

Phrases:

Pawne chi owako lehe "[May the] spirits guide you"

Ya shu'kushaa "For the Horde"

Namak'ehe shu "Victory or death"

Chi shu'ma'hewa "I've been expecting you."

Lehe shu'po'halo wota'ano kuu "May my ancestors watch over me"

Rek'ala'mo ya kusho'ake ne "Cat druid is for fight"

Notes:

[1] See especially Magister Thoradiel's "On the Orcish Tongues" and its follow-up, "The Draenei Dialects." Loremaster Harran of Dalaran's groundbreaking work, "The Eredar-Draenei Family" dissects the relationship of the demon-languages of the Twisting Nether to the Draenei tongue, but N.B. that possession of this volume is forbidden in Dalaran, Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff, and Stormwind owing to its extensive analysis of demonic incantations; the nearest available copy is to be found in the Black Library of the Royal Apothecary Society, in the Undercity.

[2] Magister Gal'an's "Some Darnassian-Thalassian Cognates", Notes of the Royal Society, 6851 Y.S., issue no. 3.

[3] Taurahe "shu," variously translated as "clan," after Orcish usage, or "tribe." A "shu" is any extended kinship group, and the term is sometimes applied to large political groupings of any kind, e.g., "Shu'kaldo," the Night Elves, or "Shu'ekate," the people of the east, i.e., the Alliance.

[4] Most notably the Grimtotem who, while having diplomatic relations with Thunder Bluff, are not technically part of the Horde.

[5] E.g., most of the Wildmane Tauren.

[6] Now called Darnassian after its principal dialect, but functionally the same as Proto-Kalimdorean.

[7] The consistency of Tauren oral traditions is bolstered by analysis of their (admittedly scant) attestations in Night Elf histories. Several important entries are found in "The Annals of Kalimdor," vols. XLIV to LXX, currently held in the Sentinel Archives. The author acknowledges that the currently strained diplomatic relationship between Quel'Thalas and Darnassus may make consultation of these codices difficult.

[8] "Old Orcish Pictographs," Proudmoore, Jaina. Journal of the Linguistic Society of Dalaran, vol. 53, no. 2.

#conlanging #world of warcraft #wow #tauren #sadly nothing in the corpus supports a tone system :/#hey blizz hire me to be your language person #you can pay me in WoW classic gametime #but nobody put any thought into your current system and it makes no sense

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toxicnotebook · 4 years

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This time on Toxie Yells About Books, a mix of books with some winter-y books thrown in! Also, this is post one of two tonight, since I read a LOT since my last post.

Great Hoaxers, Artful Fakers...

If you’re interested in this subject, and are in the mood for short chapters on numerous subjects rather than an in-depth look on a few subjects, then this is a fun book! Otherwise, don’t bother.

Moonheart

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know Charles de Lint is one of my favorite authors. Sadly, this early novel is not one of his best works; the start is slow and the end is not very satisfying, but the middle part is great. I will admit I had high expectations since I loved all the Tamson house short stories I had read, so maybe take my review with a grain of salt.

There were also some weird parts that were clearly commentary on the treatment of Native tribes, but the way it was phrased sounded like he was blaming the tribes for their loss of land & people. Now, I’ve read enough de Lint to know that is the exact opposite of how he feels on the subject, so I’m going to chalk it up to poor phrasing. It was very weird to read, though.

Spiritwalk

There was enough good in Moonheart for me to continue to the sequel- although it’s not really a sequel, it’s more of a collection of short stories about the Tamson House and it’s residents. I enjoyed this book more than Moonheart, and it’s not necessary to read Moonheart to understand what’s going on in this one, so give it a try if you’re in the mood for early urban fantasy.

Christmas Ghosts

There were only like, 2-3 stories that were worth the time, but they were GREAT. If you find it for a dollar at a used bookstore, pick it up. Otherwise, not worth it.

Wintersmith

I mean, it’s a Discworld witch book. Of course I’m going to love it! That said, I did think it was weaker than the two previous Tiffany Aching books, but Pratchett at his ‘okay’ is still leagues better than most fantasy writers.

The Fifth Elephant

The Night Watch, in Uberwald! The Watch books are not my favorite Discworld series- that’s the witches, obviously- but I do love Vimes. If you’re familiar with the Watch, then you should definitely read this; if you haven’t read any of the Watch books, this is not the best place to start- try Guards! Guards! or Men at Arms instead.

They Called Us Enemy

It still amazes me that so many people in the US did not learn about the WWII internment camps, because I definitely remember doing a project on them in elementary school. Anyways, this is a subject that should not be forgotten, and George Takei’s first hand account of his time in the camps is an important read.

Serenity Rose: Ten Awkward Years

There was a time in my life where most of the comics I read were from SLG, and Serenity Rose was my favorite (mosty because of Vicious Whisper, who’s still one of my favorite characters).

The only part of this collection that was new to me was the third book- and some of the extras, of course- so this was more of a reread for me. But it was an enjoyable reread! I had forgotten quite a bit, and some of the more emotional moments hit a little harder now that I’m no longer a teenager. The ending was a bit open, but I found it to satisfying- it fit the themes of growing up, finding yourself, and carving out your place in the world. A good end to a good comic.

If you like witches and stories that deal with the struggles of being in your early twenties, you can read the whole thing for free here, courtesy of the artist!

What If?

Exactly was it says on the tin. If you like practical science applied to absurd scenarios in a comedic fashion, you’ll love this. Sidebar, but please check out xkcd if you haven’t- it’s delightful.

Trick of the Tale

It’s trickster tales from around the world with lovely illustrations- what more could you want?

#toxie yells about books #books #reading #fantasy #urban fantasy #comics

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tachyonpub · 5 years

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Happy birthday to the trailblazing Charles de Lint, recipient of the 2018 World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement

Charles de Lint with MaryAnn Harris

Novelist, poet, songwriter, performer, and folklorist Charles de Lint helped to popularize the urban fantasy genre and is the best-selling author of more than seventy adult, YA, and children’s books. His most famous and popular works take place around the mythical, modern city of Newford including Trader (1997), Someplace to be Flying (1998), Forests Of The Heart (2000), The Onion Girl (2001), MEDICINE ROAD (illustrated by Charles Vess; 2004), Widdershins (2006), PROMISES TO KEEP (2007), Seven-Wild Sisters (2014). and The Wind in his Heart (2017). Among his other notable novels are Moonheart (1984), The Little Country (1991), Into the Green (1993), Memory and Dream (1994), and EYES LIKE LEAVES (2009).

de Lint’s numerous short stories have been collected in several volumes including Spiritwalk, Dreams Underfoot (1993), The Ivory and the Horn (1995), Moonlight and Vines (1999), Triskell Tales (2000), Woods and Waters Wild (2008), Muse and Reverie (2009), THE VERY BEST OF CHARLES DE LINT (2010), and Newford Stories: Crow Girls (2015). He’s written comics for Dark Horse, Marvel, Malibu, and Mojo Press. In 2011, de Lint issued his first album Old Blue Truck.

He garnered awards for many of his publications most notably 1988 Casper (later renamed the Aurora) for Jack the Giant-Killer (1987), and 2000 World Fantasy Award for Moonlight and Vines. The first (Under My Skin [2012]) and third (Out of this World [2014]) volumes of the Wildings won the 2013 and 2017 Aurora Award. In 2018, de Lint was given the prestigious World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.

de Lint currently writes a book review column for Fantasy & Science Fiction and has served as a judge for the Nebula, the World Fantasy, Theodore Sturgeon, and the Bram Stoker Awards.

All of us at Tachyon wish the extraordinary Charles a happy birthday. May your music forever fill the streets of Newford.

For more information about THE VERY BEST OF CHARLES DE LINT, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Charles Vess

For more information about PROMISES TO KEEP, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Mike Dringenberg

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more information about MEDICINE ROAD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Charles Vess

For more information about EYES LIKE LEAVES, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Lauren Kelly Small

Design by Elizabeth Story

#charles de lint #the very best of charles de lint #promises to keep #birthday #medicine road #eyes likes leaves #newford #charles ves #mike dringenberg #elizabeth story #lauren kelly small

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geezerwench · 2 years

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Ladymysticmagik Had to share. Love this. THE MISSION OF A CAT 🐈 ♥️😽

Most people think that cats do nothing, are lazy and do nothing but eat and sleep...

It is not so!

Do you know what a cat's mission is?

All cats have the power, every day, to remove the negative energy accumulated in our body... as soon as we fall asleep, they absorb that energy. If there is more than one person in the family, and only one cat, it can accumulate an excessive amount of negativity by absorbing energy from so many people...

When they sleep, the cat's body releases the negativity it takes away from us. If we are too stressed, they may not have enough time to release all that negative energy, and so, as a result, it accumulates as fat, until they can release it. So, they get fat and you think it was the food you were feeding them... or because they don't move enough... and the truth is, they don't. It is nice to have more than one cat in the house, so that the weight is divided between them.

They also protect us during the night, so that no unwanted spirits enter our house or our room while we sleep... That's why they like to sleep in our bed. And if they think we're fine, they won't sleep with us. If there was something strange around us, they jump into our bed and protect us... If a person comes to our house, and the cats feel that that person is there to harm us or that he is bad, the cats surround us to "protect" us...

If you don't have cats, and a stray cat comes into your house and adopts it as a home, it's because you need a cat at that particular time... So the stray cat volunteered to help you. Thank the cat for choosing your home for that job. If you have other cats and can't keep the stray cat, find a place for him. The cat came for a reason unknown to us on a physical level, and in dreams you can see the reason for the appearance of the cat at that moment. There may be a debt, some karma he has to pay... "So don't freak out or frighten the cat." Well, "he" will have to come back, one way or another, to fulfill this obligation...

Cats heal us.

Cats are adorable creatures, and they love their owners above all else, but they have a different way of loving...

Their love is true, so don't doubt it. They are our great and true friends and above all good companions😻

Author unknown

Image unknown

#Cats #CatMagic #BeyondTheVeil #SpiritGuide #SpiritWalker. https://www.facebook.com/groups/655754569128954/

#mission of cats #a cat's mission #cats #cat magic #beyond the veil #spirit guide #confessions of crafty witches

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authorspiritwalker · 4 months

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A Timeless Plant-Based Recipe: Aunt May’s Hearty Vegetable Stew

Hello, dear readers of Spirit’s Mindful Kitchen! Today, I want to share with you a timeless plant-based recipe that has been passed down in my family for generations – Aunt May’s Hearty Vegetable Stew. The Story Behind The Recipe When I was a child, my Aunt May would visit us every winter. She lived in a small town surrounded by farms and loved to cook with fresh, seasonal produce. Every visit,…

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#Author Spiritwalker #cooking blog #cornbread #Food/drink #johnny cakes #Mindful Cooking #nongmo #Organic #Plant Based #recipe blog #recipes #soup

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starseedpsychics · 22 days

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Using Breathwork To Enter A Shamanic State

Using Breathwork To Enter A Shamanic State is a potent tool for altering consciousness and facilitating entry into shamanic trance states, aligning well with your expertise and spiritual pursuits, Spirit. By manipulating our breathing patterns, we can significantly impact our mental, emotional, and physical states, paving the way for deeper spiritual experiences. Here are several breathwork…

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#akashic records reading #author spiritwalker #Healing #Life path #Meditation #Psychic Spiritwalker #Shamanic journey #shamanic meditation #Shamanic readings #Spirit guide #Spiritual Awakening #spiritual blog #Starseed Psychics #Starseed readings

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percontaion-points · 2 years

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Child of the Ghosts chapters 1 & 2

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

Chapter 1

Caina’s earliest memory was her mother’s fury. She had been no more than two or three, so young that she had not yet learned to read. Her mother had been alone in the dining hall, practicing simple sorcery - making a goblet float, summoning light from her fingers, conjuring gusts of wind.

Caina blundered into her, disrupting her concentration. The goblet fell from midair and shattered against the floor.

"You stupid girl!" screamed Laeria. Her backhand sent Caina to the floor atop the shattered goblet. "Useless brat!" She started to kick. "I wish I had never borne you! I wish had I never met your father! Get out of my sight! Get out of my sight! If you interrupt my concentration again, I'll beat you so bloody that..."

We are literally on page two.

"I was already appointed Harbormaster of Aretia when I met your mother," said Sebastian. "I think she hoped that I would rise higher, become the commander of a Legion, or maybe the Lord Governor of an important province."

"Someone powerful enough to force the Magisterium to take her back?" said Caina.

"Yes," said Sebastian. "Very good. But I am not that sort of man, Caina. I have no stomach for Imperial politics. Aretia is my home, and I am content to stay here."

"And Mother hates it here," said Caina.

"Yes," said Sebastian. "She would rather return to Artifel and the Motherhouse of the magi, but they will not take her. So she takes her frustrations out upon me...and upon you.”

It seems as though the easiest solution would be to just fucking kick her out.

After all of the shit that she's done to her own daughter, not one single person would blame Sebastian for dumping her.

A bright fire crackled in the fireplace, covered by a bronze screen to protect the books and the carpet from any sparks.

Was this necessary to the continuation of the plot?

"Maat was called the Kingdom of the Rising Sun," said Caina, thinking. "Its pharaohs ruled a great empire long before our Empire arose. The Maatish priests were all powerful sorcerers and necromancers, but grew too proud, and destroyed the Kingdom of the Rising Sun in their folly."

Holy fucking shit no.

It's bad enough that the scant few pages that I've read of this book so far are bringing up primal “fight or flight” responses in connection to this book's similarities to the Spiritwalker series.

But now it's got to info dump about worldbuilding that the author thinks is neat but otherwise has zero way of connecting to the actual plot.

I know from experience having read too many books just like this that the book is going to go on and on about the other lands, of political movements... and literally not a single goddamned sentence of it is going to be actually relevant. Ever.

But Laeria only smirked, and walked away without another word.

Chapter 1 summary: So meet Caina. She's the daughter of some lord and she has a fancy education, learning 15 different fictional languages (none of which I'm sure will be relevant, ever) and devouring books non-stop.

Her mother. Woof. Her mother, Laeria, wanted to be a wizard. But she was kicked out of year 4 of her 7 year wizard training because she wasn't good enough. And she thought that she could marry some rich SOB, pop out a kid, and get back into the good graces of the other wizards if she had a powerful kid. Except that when Caina doesn't immediately display any sort of powers, full-stop, this quickly turns into disappointment. Laeria uses magic to get into her daughter's mind and force Caina to do whatever she wants. Although she hardly ever physically hurts her daughter, she's still psychological and emotionally abusive towards her.

One day, while inside of her daughter's mind, she mocks her husband/Caina's father, Sebastian. I guess that's the trigger for Caina, and she forcefully shoves Laeria from her mind. Sebastian finds them then, and threatens to report Laeria for illegally practicing magic. He tells Caina to tell him if Laeria hurts her again.

Sebastian then shows Caina some scrolls that were recovered from some smugglers. He hopes to authenticate them and put them in some fancy library. And Caina really wants to go to the library.

Chapter 2

...the old Saddaic cook...

Is that really want to you want to call a race of people? Are you sure?

"Why would anyone kill Azaia?" said Caina. "She is...she was...so kind. Who would have hated her enough to do this?"

Me, looking towards the sadistic asshole who goes out of her way to torture her own child: It's a mystery. Really, it is.

"Your mother," said Sebastian, tugging at his signet ring, "has been corresponding with one of these outlaw sorcerers [who practice illegal necromancy]."

[…]

"There are bruises on your face. Did she hit you?"

"No," said Caina, touching her cheek. It still hurt, come to think of it.

"No...she did something. Some kind of spell. She pushed out with her hand, and this...invisible thing hit me. It threw me into the bookshelf." Sebastian frowned. "She's...never been able to do anything like that before."

Oh gee, I wonder where she got all of that sudden power from? /sarcasm

“She is still my wife, and I swore before gods and men to be faithful to her until death. And even if I hate her, even if we haven’t spoken a civil word to each other in ten years…she still gave me you, Caina.”

JFC SHE MURDERED SOMEBODY.

The shadows seemed to swallow her, and at last she fell into a feverish, dream-haunted sleep.

Chapter 2 summary: The next day after receiving the scrolls, Caina goes to the kitchen to get some breakfast, only to find that the cook has been murdered and her head on display in the oven. Sebastian takes Caina into the library, where he tells her to stay put while he goes to report this.

After a while, Laeria comes in, touches all of the scrolls, laughs evily, and shoves Caina into some shelves with a strong magic spell. Caina and a maid clean up the books, but the Caina falls asleep waiting for her father to return.

She wakes up to the sound of her parents fighting. Sebastian accuses Laeria of communicating with necromancers, but she laughs over the entire thing. He threatens to send “ghosts” after her, but she again laughs, says that there's no such thing, and leaves.

Caina comes out and the book introduces the concept of the Magisterium to us. It's the magic school that Laeria was kicked out from. They have magics that can be practiced, which are air, earth, and water, but fire makes people go crazy and is thus illegal to practice. Necromancy is also illegal, for obvious reasons.

Sebastian also explains about the series's titular ghosts, which are the names of the emperor's personal assassins. Most people don't think that they exist, but they obviously do, or else we wouldn't have a story.

After hearing about Laeria's sudden increase of power in throwing Caina across the library, they're both suddenly aware that she murdered the cook simply to get more powerful. Sebastian says that he's going to give Laeria exactly one chance to get out of the house before he has her arrested. Caina begs him not to go to her, that Laeria will kill him. But he's like “Oh sweetie, it'll be okay! Run along to bed now.”

#Ghosts series #Child of the Ghosts #Chapter 01 #chapter 02 #Caina #shitty parents are shitty #child abuse #I would ask where the editor was but I think we all know there was none #so much padding #that's not how words work #HEADDESKING #priorities: get some

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agentharrisonofshield-a · 6 years

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30, 35, 47

book asks@deceptionandchaos

30: Who’s your favorite author?

YOU CAN’T ASK ME THAT. I mean, I can’t say Tamora Pierce because then I’m not saying Sir Terry Pratchett. And I can’t say Pratchett because then I’m not saying N. K. Jemisin And I can’t say Jemisin because then I’m not saying Nnedi Okorafor. And I can’t say Nnedi because then I’m not saying Neil Gaiman. And I can’t say Neil Gaiman because then I’m not saying Marie Brennan. Or Malinda Lo. Or Nalo Hopkinson. Or Kate Elliott. Or V. E. Schwab. Or Robin Hobb.

In other news, I’m pretty much pathologically incapable of picking favorites at all. Books and authors are just my weak point where asking does massive damage.

35: Name a book you consider to be terribly underrated

Um I already enthused about Kate Elliott’s Spiritwalker Trilogy (though I think I forgot to mention the socio-political revolution threatening an established order ruled over by a handful of the elite).

Does a trilogy still count as ‘terribly underrated’ if it’s won two Hugos, a Locus, and a Nebula? WELL SINCE I DON’T SEE ANYONE EVER MENTIONING IT ANYWHERE IN MY LIFE OUTSIDE OF SIRENS…

N. K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth Trilogy. I don’t know where to start recommending this one there is just so fucking much about it that’s breathtaking. The protagonist for most of the trilogy? A middle aged woman of color who’s had three children, has the ability to use a magic that’s hated and feared, and has PTSD from a hella fucked up past. The world she lives in? One of constant geological turmoil where mini-apocalypses - Seasons - are par for the course, so society’s based first and foremost on survival. There are tons of queer characters - at one point there’s a queer poly relationship, and a significant secondary character is a trans woman. Jemisin is (like my last recommendation, Elliott) a… I don’t even have adjectives. Her world-building is beyond adjectives. And her story-telling is masterful. Awards are nice, but I’d love to see more people in my life who are reading these amazing books.

47: What do you do to get out of a reading slump?

Usually pick up a feel-good book - one of those books I’ve read so many times that I could close my eyes, open it at random, start reading, and know everything that’s happened to that point.

I also have been trying to pick up new reading habits and techniques from my fellow readers. In terms of slumps, one of the new things I’ve been trying is forcing myself to put something down if I’m really struggling to get through it and then trying something different. Either a different genre, or an author who writes in a uniquely different style. A book written in a different POV, maybe.

And something I’ve had slightly better success with than I have doing it for writing is setting aside a time and space to read. I have this really nice wingback chair I never use because I never watch anything on my television anymore, so I’ve dragged it and its footstool into a corner by a window, put a nice lamp next to it, and piled the whole corner with pillows and blankets. I have an alarm on my phone. I’ll make sure I have more than just one glass of something to drink so that I don’t have to get up, maybe have a snack too, and then I make myself comfortable with my book. That’s not just a reading slump thing, but it has helped me from falling into a slump so far.

#answered meme #about Zen #deceptionandchaos

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