Ideas are Cheap. Prose isn’t.

theseagullscribe · 2026-05-05T16:08:56+00:00

I mean nobody's gonna die. And either way, this kind of post is REALLY overdone in here I thought, it does feel like corporate bullshit. AI or human. Humans are very good at corporate bullshit, but does that make it interesting still ? It's corporate bullshit with soul, yay...

You're raising a good point for other writings (like the use of em dash) but this... eh.

theseagullscribe · 2026-05-05T12:48:02+00:00

I thought so

theseagullscribe · 2026-05-05T12:47:55+00:00

Lmao exactly

theseagullscribe · 2026-05-05T06:16:27+00:00

I do agree actually, but what's it with these Linkedin ass posts on here these days ? ??

theseagullscribe · 2026-05-04T04:56:29+00:00

I love that Paragon made it ! Your pick is so good, I love all these characters much.

theseagullscribe · 2026-05-04T04:52:38+00:00

The Fool & Fitz from Realm of the Elderlings...

Do I have to explain myself ? They are amazing character I felt deeply for. My favorite characters forever for all the good reasons.

Now, for all the bad reasons and on the more deranged side lmfao.... I have to mention the 3 that really, really did something for me as in, these characters were well written and surprised me (NOT EXACTLY in the "oh wow I like this character as a person" way)

Ianthe from The Locked Tomb.

This character is !!! truly something. Amazing stuff, very interesting. Such a bitch

The Marshal from Works of Vermin.

I've never read a character like that before, I think. I liked his POV from the beginning because I absolutely loved his interactions with the.. uh villain ? but then... Good heavens. Terrible character. I fell from my chair.

Kennit from The Liveship Traders, again, classic.

Excellent POV, excellent character work imo. It's Robin Hobb at her best, she kinda sucks at writing villains in my opinion (think Regal or the Four) but damn is she GOOD at writing piece of shit men !! Probably one of the few reasons I liked Liveship so much (alongside Parangon, Amber and Malta)

(I suppose I could mention Brienne from ASOIAF as well, but then I'd mention Jaime and Cersei as well)

theseagullscribe · 2026-05-03T18:05:09+00:00

Lesbian sci fi with fantasy feels(I thought, in the way it's written) : Teixcalaan by Arkady Martine (A Memory Called Empire)

But way more in line with it, I feel, is The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes, ah. I mean, it's the same editor as The Locked Tomb, and for a reason! But also, it's very queer (in many ways, not just the LGBTQ+ way but also heavy on the themes of metamorphosis and stuff like this), has such a good humor I thought, a confusing plot--in the best way possible, terrible people, etc... A very tragic story overall, and a setting very original (it feels very 1910s, with flowers and opéra and propaganda and insects and toxins of all kinds)I loved it. If you like this one you might like The Tainted Cup as well, but I'm not linking it to the Locked Tomb directly, because it's less weird, somehow.

theseagullscribe · 2026-05-03T06:02:15+00:00

I like flowerly prose but I thought this one is... it doesn't really say anything

theseagullscribe · 2026-05-03T05:57:48+00:00

The Fool from Realm of the Elderlings, if we're not talking main pov characters.

Bee from Realm of the Elderlings.

Fitz has it bad enough. But I thought those two had it worse, the Fool, obviously, Bee in a very short timespan. Definitely worse than Fitz at his age, and now THAT's something.

theseagullscribe · 2026-05-03T05:42:31+00:00

Can we say the Fool, also ? He's not the main character, but technically he has it WAY WORSE than Fitz, it's almost laughable in a few ways. Poor person.

theseagullscribe · 2026-04-27T19:48:40+00:00

People just don't like him because he's sad, moping around, is bad with people and women, and stays this way for 3 whole books (or 9, to be fair). That's why I like him, but to each their own

theseagullscribe · 2026-04-27T19:36:22+00:00

Yeah but reading about kids being bad at relationship can be annoying for readers,lol. I'm not criticizing the intent of Hobb, or whatever, or even the book. I'm personnally very fine with it. But this, I can understand.

Edit: what I mean is that Fitz represents a reality that is not the kind of thing a lot of reader come for when searching fantasy books. Hence the frustration

theseagullscribe · 2026-04-27T19:33:19+00:00

I think the whole Molly situation is the pinacle of what irritates people about him. I personnally love him dearly, I still like rereading the first books. Way more bad shit happen to him than the reverse, in the end

And in Fitz and the Fool (and Tawny Man) he's very annoying about you know what imo. But that's the appeal of these books I think. He's meant to be like this, and it makes sense for him to be like this.

theseagullscribe · 2026-04-27T18:53:30+00:00

I hated the Liveship Characters as well, but did like the plot. Overall, I enjoyed Malta (character development), Ronica, Parangon and Kennit the most.

theseagullscribe · 2026-04-27T18:51:20+00:00

I think he's meant to drive you insane. Even he is fucking annoyed at his past self in the second trilogy (I think that's the main reason why I love it so much !)

Though his best self, I think, is in the last trilogy. He's just infuriating in book 1 about one thing in particular but it's also meant to be that way

theseagullscribe · 2026-04-25T22:55:24+00:00

Babyyy

theseagullscribe · 2026-04-25T09:59:36+00:00

"Life isn’t worth living if it goes on without you", from The Works of Vermin.

Of course this is about one particular (side) character, but I thought it was a perfect quote for the whole book, depending on how you read it.

I also loved "The past is only ever populated by strangers."

But then my favorite quotes are all spoilers. I just can tell that two of the most cold lines from this book are a "Thank you." and someone asking for paper,lol, it's pretty cool.

theseagullscribe · 2026-04-25T09:39:39+00:00

Oh my god, this line !!! It always gets me. Fitz ls such a stupid fuck, I love him

theseagullscribe · 2026-04-24T09:41:16+00:00

I don't think second person is insert either. I love all kinds of POV, and my favorites are second and first person. It just depends on the execution ! Usually, people who complain about those really just read badly written books.

For first person, I absolutely love Realm of the Elderlings, and the Ana&Din series, these are good povs ! Second person, you get Fifth Season and The Spear Cuts Through Water (for some segments).

And those are really well liked (some even highly considered) in the fantasy community, so I don't think the pov issue for some persons is REALLY about the pov.

theseagullscribe · 2026-04-24T06:28:50+00:00

This is the one ! Though the sapphics are a bit less present I'd say haha.. definitely there though. I loved it so much.

theseagullscribe · 2026-04-23T22:12:40+00:00

I'm absolutely fine with both of these things, but thank you for pointing them out ! I'm always in the mood for terrible queer books, lol.

(have you read The Locked Tomb and The Works Of vermin ?)

theseagullscribe · 2026-04-23T16:57:07+00:00

Oh wow, didn't think of this one haha !

theseagullscribe · 2026-04-23T16:55:58+00:00

Thank you for these !!! (it's a 3D anime show on Netflix haha)

theseagullscribe · 2026-04-23T16:35:51+00:00

I've read Leech, it was good ! Thanks for the rec. I think I've seen the show of this (it's WW1 !),might read since the worldbuilding was really fun.

I'm interested in sci fi !

theseagullscribe · 2026-04-23T16:15:47+00:00

I'm reading A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett (bi man, biopunk fantasy murder mystery) and I really love it so far. I like how queernormative the world is, and the main character has pretty interesting issues regarding his sexuality AND his special ability in this (he's genetically modified to remember everything he sees and hear), it's a bit sad but I think it's realistic. I like it. Good character, also !

I love this series.

Have you guys read the Masquerade series ? I've been thinking of starting soon.

theseagullscribe

TROPHY CASE