Ange

Currently reading dungeon crawler Carl and the hero of ages, will scream about them there’s lots of screaming about red rising because I finished the series a bit ago a twentysomething lesbian who reads voraciously, likes some shows, and creatively writes (she/her)

[agaywithlotsofbooks]

GUYS GUYS HADRIAN SAID THE THING HE SAID THE TITLE OF THE BOOK

this is HUGE

[agaywithlotsofbooks]

So I’m reading a lot of book bro sci fi rn

and I feel like a lot of bros also listen to hard rock (as do I)

And i REALLY WISH i had the editing and drawing skills to make edits of these books to many of my aggressive metalcore songs

examples:

“Untouchable” by Motionless in White would fit FANTASTICALLY for Darrow in the first Red Rising book

I don’t have a specific song for Dungeon Crawler Carl but goddamnit if that entire book is not set to a hard rock soundtrack because wtf it totally is

and for empire of silence…it’s probably just Midwest emo rock because Hadrian is SO EMO and he doesn’t even know it which is so hilarious

[agaywithlotsofbooks]

I am about ten percent of the way through Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman and I have only this:

This book is FUCKED UP on a whole new level in a deliciously devious and sadistic way.

Imagine Ready Player One meets the Hunger Games with an especially sadistic evil corporation as the games organizer instead of a fascist government. Everything is for the ratings of the broadcast, including abuse and manipulation of the NPCs and even the enemies. Maybe the true enemy here isn’t what they tell the dungeon crawlers…I have a feeling the real enemy is the corporation itself.

Each time new exposition drops, the world gets more and more like a twisted, dungeons and dragons version of worker and network exploitation in capitalist society. I am floored, amazed, and irrevocably hooked!

[agaywithlotsofbooks]

Lightbringer spoilers

MAN FUCK LYSANDER

HE CAN GO ROT IN THE COLDEST, DEEPEST PART OF THE MARIANA TRENCH AND HAVE HIS BONES BE CRUSHED BY THE PRESSURE INTO A HUMAN PANCAKE TO BE EATEN BY FISH

THEN HIS REMAINS WILL EVENTUALLY BE BURNED IN THE EARTH’S CRUST AND HE’LL NEVER BE REMEMBERED

HOW DARE HE KILL CASSIUS AFTER ALL CASSIUS HAS BEEN THROUGH

HOW DARE HE ROB HIM OF ANY HOPE FOR REDEMPTION OR LIVING OUT HIS NEWLY ACKNOWLEDGED BROTHERHOOD WITH DARROW

[agaywithlotsofbooks]

“That motherfucker’s gonna burn!”

-Darrow, Lightbringer Chapter 80

[kara-zor-els]

They had to put them in different parts because otherwise they would have served so much evil cunt together

[agaywithlotsofbooks]

someone please make a Darrow edit set to “Ruthlessness” from Epic bc GODDAMN bro needs to hear that song

[agaywithlotsofbooks]

i am now on to Dark Age and i say with confidence that Ephraim is now my favorite character.

queer drug addict turned city underground extraordinaire that has an air of sarcasm and contempt for everything around him? uses his age as a joke for how creaky his joints are? he’s amazing and if anything happens to him ill go Sevro on pierce brown

[agaywithlotsofbooks]

i was then shot 57 times

[agaywithlotsofbooks]

is Lightbringer just The Odyssey lol

I just finished Dark Age and the summary for Lightbringer sounds a lot like a centuries-old story about a hero coming home…

[dangerandbeauty]

Headcanon that later in life Darrow slips back to his Irish accent sometimes and everyone around him feels like they’re watching a cat bark

[agaywithlotsofbooks]

this is a fantastic headcanon

[purplepotatobread]

The fact that Ephraim got high on a psychedelic walnut and then jumped out of a ship with no armor and a mop to fight in a battle is all I'm thinking about right now.

[helldiver-of-florida]

Ephraim has to be THE funniest guy in the Republic

(Just finished Chap 41: jesus christ.. can i get one of those berries)

[agaywithlotsofbooks]

so you know

Lightbringer is the title of the devil, Lucifer Morningstar

And Lysander is the heir of Silenius, the Lightbringer

So, by a = b and b = c logic, Lysander is a Lucifer figure

[agaywithlotsofbooks]

i am now on to Dark Age and i say with confidence that Ephraim is now my favorite character.

queer drug addict turned city underground extraordinaire that has an air of sarcasm and contempt for everything around him? uses his age as a joke for how creaky his joints are? he’s amazing and if anything happens to him ill go Sevro on pierce brown

[agaywithlotsofbooks]

Lysander is so punchable

[agaywithlotsofbooks]

Below: me reflecting on the masculinity inherently associated with being a prophetic figure in Western literature. Prompted by my reading of The Male Gazed by Manuel Betancourt

Darrow of Lykos and Paul Atriedes are the same archetype of character. What fascinates me the most, though, is the cemented masculinity in this “general turned religious figure” character. Perhaps I am blanking, or I’m colored by my own inherent misogyny. Anyway, I just finished (re)watching Dune Part Two and I (again) am reminded of the power of visionary leadership. But in the media and the literature that permeates our common consciousness, I flounder to find an example of a female visionary leaders. The thrilling thing to me, after all, is that there is power in these male prophetic generals. We’ve watched them grow from little boys who carry no influence to figures that head entire wars and break societies. They can bend people to their will by command. Which, according to Western tradition, is a masculine—not feminine—trait. Feminine influence is usually seen as quieter and more in the background, like a Lady Macbeth type of character.

Even in some of the most practiced religions in the world (namely: Christianity and Islam), the main prophets are men. I feel like there is this inherent je ne se quois that qualifies men to be conduits of religion and not women, at least in the Western world. It’s just interesting to examine, because say I wanted a woman to fulfill that prophetic warlord role. Would it have the same impact? Would I even perceive her the same as I would Paul or Darrow? Would she be likable because she gets things done damn the consequences because she believes in a better future, or would she be vilified for having so much power and also being a woman?

I think there’s also some sexual power inherent in these archetypes as well. Masculinity is supposed to dominate, to bend others to its will by force. Thus, as a woman raised in patriarchal Western society, I am conditioned to be attracted to these kinds of displays. The sheer power—physical, military, religious—is supposed to be thrilling. They display everything masculinity demands of them. Darrow is even a terrible father because he puts the war ahead of his family. But would a woman in these shoes have the same kind of sexual power? Because I’m gay, probably. But not to everyone, I think.

[dr3am-operator]

happy pride month to HIM