Jun 19, 2025
One of my favorite quotes for pride, from Competence.
seen from United States
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seen from T1
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seen from China
seen from China
seen from T1
One of my favorite quotes for pride, from Competence.
tbr challenges • february 2025
Print: Changeless / Blameless by Gail Carriger
Graphic Novel: First Test by Pierce/Grayson/Farrow; The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag
Audiobook: Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind
25-in-25: Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind; Penric and the Shaman / Penric's Fox by Lois McMaster Bujold
Bound: A bunch of fics by @cricketnationrise
These two binds were created for the @fandomtrumpshate auction that @cricketnationrise won. (Technically, the first was for the auction, the second was just a bonus.)
Collected Cricklets (aka "Cricket's Ficlets")
This bind is a collection of over 100 ficlets in four collections representing four different fandoms. It took me a while to figure out how I wanted to typeset this, it was a fun challenge. Here's what I did:
Each fandom got a different font
The page header (?sider?) had the collection name and fandom name and page number.
The time or date (all fics had a place and a time and/or date) were in a digital clock font.
Each collection opens with a title page foiled in gold (should have been silver, alas.)
I wanted to include the summaries and tags and other metadata for each ficlet, but I didn't want to clutter the pages too much, so I put them in the back as an appendix.
The cover design includes symbols from all of the fandoms (Check Please!, Red, White & Royal Blue, Tortall, and Parasol Protectorate.)
Defining Expectations
I learned how to make a hardcover pamphlet bound book recently, and I decided as a bonus I was going to bind this wonderful fic as one. It's a little long for a single signature bind (27 sheets!), but it worked in the end. I used this tutorial from DAS.
This one was fun for a few reasons. First, there were texts and support tickets and emails and definitions, and I had to figure out how to typeset them all to make them stand out in the text. Then, I decided it should look like a dictionary, so I used faux leather (from Dollar Tree, it's great for binding) and took inspiration from a few dictionaries for the cover and title page.
And, okay, I may have had too much fun with the photo shoot for this one.
Thanks again Cricket for bidding on my auctions! I very much enjoyed putting these together.
Queer Book Ship Tournament 2025 Round 1
Henry Jekyll/Robert Lanyon- The Glass Scientists
Gyre Price/Em Arasgain- The Luminous Dead
Biffy/Professor Lyall- The Parasol Protectorate series
Sunai/Veyadi- The Archive Undying
Character, book, and author names under the cut
Follower Ficlet Fest 5eva 🎉🎉🎉💜💜💜
It's that time again friends, it's Ficlet Fest season. I finished Break Out, and I'm super proud of it but holy cow do I need to reset and write some short stuff again!
SO
Previous fests are on AO3 here, here, here, and here or tagged with "ficlet fest" or "cricket writes" tags if you want to brave the nonsense of the tumblr search function. Either way, there be examples or to check what you've prompted in previous years out there for y'all. Read on for instructions/rules to get your very own ficlet!
Come into my ask box and drop the following:
a time stamp (ex: 3:46pm or 18:21)
a location (ex: haus kitchen, the linden tree, New Hope, The Spotted Custard…)
a POV character (ex: Lardo, Bea Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Keladry of Mindelan, Alexia Tarabotti…) ((more characters may appear at my own whim but not guaranteed))
a song title/lyric for vibes [OPTIONAL]
a rating (G, T, M, E) [OPTIONAL] aka, 1, 2, and 3 are required, 4 and 5 are not
and ye shall receive:
500-1000 shiny canon/canon-compliant custom Cricket words! just for you! because you're great! and I love you!
some rules:
You have to be following me. On here or on AO3. Seriously. It's a fest of ficlets for followers. Yes, I will check.
Don't submit on anon. No name, no ficlet. So, submit as yourself or sign your anons. Easy peasy.
Only one prompt per person.
If you have an AO3 handle, let me know what it is so I can gift your ficlet to you properly on there as well.
I am most familiar with the following fandoms: Check, Please!, RWRB, One Last Stop, Tortall/Emelan, Parasol Protectorate, Heartstopper, Murderbot. If you submit for a different fandom you might get lucky that I've seen/read it, but be prepared with a backup prompt from something in the list.
Prompts will be accepted through June 15, 2025.
I can't wait to see what y'all come up with this round! 💜🦗
Alexia Maccon is stronger than I'll ever be because if a pretty butch with beautiful green eyes and dimples so much as smiled at me I'd crumble on the spot
Plain text quote:
"You know how food can leave a good or a bad taste in your mouth? I feel like books do that to the human soul."
- Gail Carriger
BFB Preliminary Round 10
DragonLance: Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger
Wayward Children by Seanan McGuire
Codex Alera by Jim Butcher
The Belgariad by David Eddings
Monk and Robot by Becky Chambers
The Once and Future King by T. H. White
Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong
see results
DragonLance: Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (1984-1995)
Once merely creatures of legend, the dragons have returned to Krynn. But with their arrival comes the departure of the old gods--and all healing magic. As war threatens to engulf the land, lifelong friends reunite for an adventure that will change their lives and shape their world forever . . .When Tanis, Sturm, Caramon, Raistlin, Flint, and Tasslehoff see a woman use a blue crystal staff to heal a villager, they wonder if it's a sign the gods have not abandoned them after all. Fueled by this glimmer of hope, the Companions band together to uncover the truth behind the gods' absence--though they aren't the only ones with an interest in the staff. The Seekers, a new religious order, wants the artifact for their own ends, believing it will help them replace the gods and overtake the continent of Ansalon. Now, the Companions must assume the unlikely roles of heroes if they hope to prevent the staff from falling into the hands of darkness.
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (2005-2015)
While attending a strict academy for potential princesses with the other girls from her mountain village, fourteen-year-old Miri discovers unexpected talents and connections to her homeland.
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson (2023)
The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?
Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger (2009-2012)
Alexia Tarabotti is labouring under a great many social tribulations.
First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.
Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire -- and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate. With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?
Wayward Children by Seanan McGuire (2016-present)
Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children No Solicitations No Visitors No Quests
Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.
But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.
Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.
But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.
No matter the cost.
Codex Alera by Jim Butcher (2004-2009)
For a thousand years, the people of Alera have united against the aggressive and threatening races that inhabit the world, using their unique bond with the furies--elementals of earth, air, fire, water, wood, and metal. But in the remote Calderon Valley, the boy Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. At fifteen, he has no wind fury to help him fly, no fire fury to light his lamps. Yet as the Alerans' most savage enemy--the Marat horde--return to the Valley, Tavi's courage and resourcefulness will be a power greater than any fury, one that could turn the tides of war...
The Belgariad by David Eddings (1982-1984)
Long ago, so the Storyteller claimed, the evil God Torak sought dominion and drove men and Gods to war. But Belgarath the Sorcerer led men to reclaim the Orb that protected men of the West. So long as it lay at Riva, the prophecy went, men would be safe.
But that was only a story, and Garion did not believe in magic dooms, even though the dark man without a shadow had haunted him for years. Brought up on a quiet farm by his Aunt Pol, how could he know that the Apostate planned to wake dread Torak, or that he would be led on a quest of unparalleled magic and danger by those he loved - but did not know? For a while his dreams of innocence were safe, untroubled by knowledge of his strange heritage. For a little while...
Monk and Robot by Becky Chambers (2021-2022)
It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend.
One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered.
But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how.
They're going to need to ask it a lot.
The Once and Future King by T. H. White (1958)
Once upon a time, a young boy called "Wart" was tutored by a magician named Merlyn in preparation for a future he couldn't possibly imagine. A future in which he would ally himself with the greatest knights, love a legendary queen and unite a country dedicated to chivalrous values. A future that would see him crowned and known for all time as Arthur, King of the Britons.During Arthur's reign, the kingdom of Camelot was founded to cast enlightenment on the Dark Ages, while the knights of the Round Table embarked on many a noble quest. But Merlyn foresaw the treachery that awaited his liege: the forbidden love between Queen Guenever and Lancelot, the wicked plots of Arthur's half-sister Morgause and the hatred she fostered in Mordred that would bring an end to the king's dreams for Britain--and to the king himself.
Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong (2001-2012)
Elena Michaels is the world’s only female werewolf. And she’s tired of it. Tired of a life spent hiding and protecting, a life where her most important job is hunting down rogue werewolves. Tired of a world that not only accepts the worst in her–her temper, her violence–but requires it. Worst of all, she realizes she’s growing content with that life, with being that person.
So she left the Pack and returned to Toronto where she’s trying to live as a human. When the Pack leader calls asking for her help fighting a sudden uprising, she only agrees because she owes him. Once this is over, she’ll be squared with the Pack and free to live life as a human. Which is what she wants. Really.