we have hit the six month mark of 2026 so what has everyones best book of the year they have read so far?
ill start!! the everlasting by alix e harrow blew me away and totally captivated me!! the audiobook was spectacular, both narrators were magnificent, and i reread it as soon as i finished.
I absolutely agree with op, The Everlasting is one of my top favorites of the year so far!
If I had to pick just one more as a favorite of the first half of 2026, I'd probably say Kindred by Octavia Butler. It was so absorbing, clever, emotional, and way ahead of its time!
if i had read kindred this year, it would have also beaten out the everlasting!! i adore them both but kindred is spectacular. i compare so many books to it. i am due for a reread. im actually reading dawn by octavia butler rn which is really interesting but making me want to revisit kindred!
in which murderbot is a very normal terracotta soldier and ART the dragon spirit of a chinese junk who dwells in the ship's keel. they meet in the ming dynasty perhaps, when ppl are sailing places extra willy-nilly.
*Nüwa is the mother goddess in chinese mythology, known for creating humanity from yellow clay and repairing the sky.
thank you @mutualrapport for hosting the event! original prompt below.
[drawn for the prompt: an AU of ART and MB's first meeting and conversation - e.g. another look at their first meeting from a fantasy, historical, or (non-canon) sci-fi lens! Any perspective is fine. The only constraint is that it cannot be set in the canon universe. Any visibly non-canon AU- fantasy, human, historical, etc. - anything goes!]
In the third stitch from the red chain, ch 10
skip 2 st, 8 hdc [8]
slst and cut off extra yarn, weave in from behind
Head (green yarn) - 00:31:00
R1: ch 14, slst in the first ch making a circle
R2: ch1, hdc2tog, 10 dc, hdc2tog, slst ch 2 [12]
R3 dcinc, 2 dc, 6hdc, 2dc, dcinc, slst ch 2 [14]
R4: 2 dc, 3 hdc, 4sc, 3 hdc, 2 dc, slst ch 1 [14]
Cut off yarn
Upper lip - 00:40:15
At the 5th st from the head, insert green yarn
R1: ch2, dcinc, 6dc, dcinc [10]
R2: ch2, turn dc2tog, 6dc, dc2tog [8]
R3: ch2, turn dc2tog, 4dc, dc2tog [6]
R4: ch2, turn dc2tog, 2dc, dc2tog [4]
ch1, cut off extra yarn
Lower lip - 00:47:44
R1: ch1, 6 hdc [6]
R2: ch1, turn hdc2tog, 2hdcdc, hdc2tog [4]
ch 1 turn
Attach red mouth piece and tongue by sc in every stitch, slst,
Cut off extra yarn and weave in
Stuff in
Eyes (white yarn) x2 - 00:53:40
R1: MR, 6sc in MR [6]
R2: slst, ch1, 6 sc [6]
slst and cut off extra yarn
Glue on eyes and heads for pupils
Attach head and tail at opposite ends,
Put stitch marker 4 st away from each direction for limbs
Legs x4 - 01:01:24
ch7, slst, skip 1 st st, 2 slst, (ch2, skip 1st st , 2 slst) *2, 4 sc, slst
Cut off and weave in yarn
Abbreviations + additional links under the cut
Abbreviations
R1 = Row 1
MR = magic ring
ch = chain
st = stitch
slst = slip stitch
sc = single crochet
dc = double crochet
hdc = half double crochet
inc = increase
dec = decrease
dc2tog = double crochet 2 together (used for decreasing)
hdc2tog = half double crochet 2 together (used for decreasing)
[12] = the amount of stitches you should get for that row (especially for increase/decrease instructions)
See this article about the abbreviations + video showing how to do a magic ring: https://catherinecrochets.com/what-does-mr-mean-in-crochet/
Another article about abbreviations : https://joyofmotioncrochet.com/crochet-abbreviations-and-terms/
Here's another article, showing some of the differences between USA vs UK abbreviations: https://peacefulcrochet.com/us-vs-uk-terms/
Mr. Collins would be such a fan of ai. He would love it. He would have it write scripts for him to use for complimenting people. He'd ask it what to do in social situations and then when someone would tell him "I think that's a bad idea" he'd be like "my dear madam it's so good of you to be concerned but I think the highly esteemed Grok knows a little more about this than a lady like yourself" and then he'd go humiliate himself publicly.
Have you been sleepless for the past week and your God has been demanding soup? This is the product for you! It's the 9th Saint's home made recipe, you can taste her loving saintly touch in every bite!
may contain allergens. may cause spontaneous abdominal explosion. not recommended for people with high blood pressure.
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this week's warm up cause I need to draw objects more, now to figure out the next tlt konbini food. BTW I'm working on the next batch of YCH poses to reopen my comms!! + return of sketch comms and maybe a secret third thing!
I can't believe it took me this long to post these I finished this like nine months ago
An idea I had for Blood of Eden propaganda/recruitment posters featuring some of our favorite guys - combo of digital-print cyberpunk graphic design style with oldschool Saturday Morning Post covers like you'd see Leyendecker paintings on
I was gonna post these ahead of tabling at a small con and selling prints of them but ended up not tabling because turns out grad school is hard
maybe next year... figured tumblr would like though
Do you ever think about how mythical and godlike Murderbot must be to the other rogue secunits in Platform Decay? More importantly do you think they all have a crush on it??? *murderbot shoots me with a sniper rifle killing me instantly*
[ID: A Murderbot Diaries comic set in Platform Decay. A Secunit looks out warily before entering a door surrounded by foliage into a room with a poster that says "Welcome to the Rogue Secunits Lair" and a poster with a picture of Three that says "viva la threevolution". It pings another Secunit, who's kicking back on a couch and watching a security feed plus "Human Fails Pt.17" and running lounging.exe. It exclaims, "Hey! You're back early!"
The first Secunit sits down with a perturbed expression, and the second asks, "What's wrong?" The first says, "I..." It turns with a giddy blush and smile. "... I think I just met the rogue Secunit." The second, in shock: "You mean--" The first: "Yeah." The second: "No way."
It asks, with sparkles floating around it, "Did it say anything to you?" The first has hearts floating around it and its hands raised excitedly to its face as it replies, "It sent me these"--it transfers YouCantSeeMe.code, WeaponsWhatWeapons.code, and ActLikeAHuman_V1.code to the second--"and told me to fuck off (heart)". The second, hands pressed to its cheeks, says brightly, "Omg luckyyyy." End ID]
in my heart MB had a fake old bleach job for all of platform decay. its scary and i hope it changes its hair back to normal soon.
also this was maybe the best scene in the book. maybe it could be a we problem
Design? nonsense, how can you write so! But it is very likely that he may reblog from one of them, and therefore you must follow him as soon as his blog is online.
I see no occasion for that. You and the girls may follow him, or they may follow him by themselves, which perhaps will be still better for them, for as you are as clever as any of them he might reblog most from you of the party.
My dear, you flatter me. I certainly HAVE had my share of cleverness, but I do not pretend to be anything extraordinary now. When a woman has five grown-up mutuals, she ought to give over thinking of her own reblog counts.
Rereading all systems red and the first 2 chapters are strong contenders for funniest intro to a book series. Jumping straight to action, and mb is giving us absolutely no info about anything. Who are those people? Some weird hippies it's not important. Why are they here? Mb does not give a shit. What is this planet? Fuck if it knows. Here is a small paragraph that fucking states everyone's relationship status like a wiki article that we are never gonna get back to. Ugh there are hostiles that keep us away from our media #our media.
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