I Am Literally Begging You To Read The Sunbearer Trials By Aiden Thomas

Beautiful covers compared to their equally beautiful alternative covers

so about three months ago i finally reached a tipping point in being sick of the "omg we're so cooked" "we're living in the hell times" "the world is burning" "we need a class war" narrative and decided i was going to unlearn doomerism. i've truly come to believe doomerism is the most powerful tool of the powers that be (capitalists, the current US govt, etc etc), because it keeps us meddling kids doomscrolling and not spoiling their dastardly plans.

here are some of the things i used/am using to build my emotional resilience and therefore capacity to contribute to change. this is not an ad and i am not being paid (feel free to change this) nor did i pay for any of this because we 🫶 public libraries.

books

Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit: we hear a new dogshit headline every five minutes, but we've had some incredible victories. sometimes, a victory can look like nothing because the horrible thing that was supposed to be a thing is no longer a thing. updated foreword/afterword addressed the first round of trump.

Not Too Late by var. authors, ed. Rebecca Solnit & Thelma Young Lutunatabua: while there's a long road ahead, we have already avoided the worst possible outcome of climate change and picked up extraordinary wins along the way. includes voices from the global south and atoll nations most affected by climate change.

From Dictatorship to Democracy by Gene Sharp: a manual for resistance used in the arab spring and by other freedom fighters in recent decades. includes a list of 198 things you can do that are not doomscrolling. free at the link and on various other sites in a number of languages.

US people might be able to find the first two from public libraries physically or virtually with the libby app, or buy them from an independent bookstore. non-US people, idk but a sample size of one friend from aotearoa NZ found them at the library.

if you have recs for other hope-centric or practical activist books, please send them my way!

blogs

regularly post hopeful news from reputable sources. i don't follow all of these personally, but blogs and sites like these were my guiding light out of the doomer mindset.

Reasons for Hope @reasonsforhope (personal favorite)

Hope for the Planet @hope-for-the-planet

Dandelion News @dandelionsresilience

@crafting-and-tea under #good news

Wachinyeya @wachinyeya

more in the Good News tumblr community, though i haven't checked it out thoroughly

things to do

this list is admittedly shorter as i live with debilitating long covid and also US-centric bc. i live here. i'm actively seeking out more ways to get involved, so please send me suggestions!

distributing free-to-print tarjetas rojas (red cards) about your rights and what to do if approached by an immigration agent

using 5calls.org's scripts and calling tool to contact my representatives

attending community events when possible (idk where you live, you're gonna have to look these up yourself)

i'll try to update this post as i read more/find more resources/do more things!

Singing a gufeng song in hanfu

song: 探窗 - 风新语、浮生梦、汐音社

English added by me :)

*grabbing you by the shoulders and shaking you* don’t EVER say it’s so over. it’s not over. There’s hope. It’s not over for the flowers that get paved over because they grow through the cracks in the concrete, stronger than ever. It’s not over for the moths on a soot-blackened tree because they will grow black wings and evade predators faster than ever. It’s not over for the tree that gets chopped down because it will survive off nutrients from its root neighbors and keep holding on. It’s not over because it’s hard. There’s hope. There’s hope. There’s hope.

Happy book birthday to this week’s new releases! 📚

Sol-kha-ne-Lubri

Rational is to Irrational as Irrational is to Rational. Then again, in this land, Rational is to Rational as Irrational is to Irrational, and Positives are to Negative as Negative is to Compromise; This ways are that ways, one ways are other ways. This way, that, here, over there, which way is true and what way leads fair?

Your home land is odd– a rarity, that much is a given, but even in a land of all that is odd and irregular, that doesn’t stop unhidden exclusivity in the form of a certain acceptance letter for which you had been ridden.

Welcome to Sol Kha-ne Lubris, even the richest royal families couldn’t pay their way into these academy walls.

There are two sides to every coin, parallel lines that are never meant to meet. But since when have the dreamscapes every been one to abide by those rules?

You play as… You, or– well, more accurately, you play as the ever-fantastic you, a regular in a realm of oddity and circumstance, a wonderful, enigmatic you who has just been offered acceptance into the most prestigious magical academy in the dreamscape.

And as you… You guide yourself, both physically and mentally, though the halls of this new school, making allies and (possibly) starring in a very casual(?) school romance with the next generation’s elite.

۞ Play as a being of your choice, whether male, female, neither and all, no one would dare step on your shoes without being respectful of how you are called.

۞ Have your ancestry come from a land of riches, or a land of the cymbal waeves? the Victorian ages or the age of industrialism? Whether you live in a forest, a mountain, the skies or the oceans, the academy’s exclusivity is not limited to where your birth is.

۞ Care you for dolls? For stars? For royal romances? a group of 6 students are susceptible no matter how you play your advances. 

۞ Do you excel in history and language, or the art of alchemy, or physical prowess. The academy accommodates all sorts of knowledge, so no need to fret. Should you excel in none of them, then how strange that your acceptance had been granted without need for background process… 

۞ Dreamers are those who walk through your lands and think of it all as fantastical. However, one familiar dreamer in particular seems quite lost. Do you truly care for them as an equal despite your otherworldly hailing, or will you show that keeping them alive comes at a hefty cost?

ღ Dottie Hendrix, The Almighty: Entitled, egotistical, and ethereal, Dottie is the top dog at this school with the intelligence to back it up. For your sake, you best hope she finds you fun to keep her company. 

ღ Ambrose Hendrix, The Lapdog: Loyal to one and only one. He isn’t afraid to use whatever means possible to ensure the safety of his allegiance, even if it means using his siblings and cousins.

ღ Loriette Kei, The Cheshire Cat: A mercenary in their own right, they work from the shadows that share the same color as their primary source power, eyes always watching, smile never waning.

ღ Lorelei Kei, The Plague Doctor: Keeping her eyes downcast but ears sharp and senses keen, they seem to have the answer for any ail that may befall you, but do you dare keep your eyes open during her procedure?

ღ Nadia, Half a whole kingdom: Birds of a feather flock together, one half of a whole. The supposed “naughty” to the “nice”, be as kind to him as you want, she has their own standards on who keeps her graces.

ღ Noré, Half a whole government: Birds of a feather flock together, one half of a whole. The supposed “nice” to the “naughty”, but is he good enough to keep in your circle of trustees?

⚜⚜ ☾ ⚜⚜ ☾ ⚜⚜ ♔ ⚜⚜ ☽ ⚜⚜ ☽ ⚜⚜

DEMO (TBA)

Saltwater Hummingbird

— a rough wip by @sincaerity

Brooke studies his face, waits for his expression to falter at all and betray the validity of his words. But his lips stay tightly pursed - eyes alight with an emotion she can’t quite discern - and there’s no hint of a lie to his words. Where she should feel joy or relief or gratitude at such a revelation — Brooke is nothing short of terrified.

GENRE: fantasy, supernatural

POV: third person, Brooke-centric(?)

STATUS: planning / brainstorming

CHARACTERS: Brooke, Vienna, Eden, Harlow, Cyrus, Faith, Caderyn, Oscar (to be revised)

FEATURES:

LGBTQ+ cast

sapphic relationships

found family

healthy platonic / sibling dynamics

trying to slot back into your life while being a lot more jagged than the hole you left

a lot of messy emotions

the classic “character who comes back wrong and characters who know they’ve come back wrong” troupe

supernatural undertones

eldritch abominations

accidental (unwanted) ability acquisition

the ancient art of acting like everything is fine until you really can’t anymore

SYNOPSIS:

Some of Brooke’s earliest memories are of cautionary tales - stories of people disappearing, tucked into bed at dusk and gone without a trace. She’d heeded her mother’s thinly-veiled warnings since she was old enough to understand what they meant, but otherwise lived her life without much apprehension. That was until Vienna disappeared. Gentle, passionate, stubborn Vienna - Brooke’s best friend and first love, however fleeting - nowhere to be found. Life goes on, and though she never quite loses the newfound hole left in her heart, Brooke learns to live with it. Her friends make it easier. Eden makes it a lot easier, with her gentle hands and soft lips - and things slowly return to some semblance of normalcy. Though it’s not long before things shift, suddenly, and everyone is dragged right back to square one. Again.

One struggle 🫡

“You can either let this journey crush you, or let it transform you into someone stronger.”

A scene from the newly-released, New-York-Times-bestselling (?!) book Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor, art by 最后的L and water effects by me! 🤗

Honestly, Zachary Ying is a book I didn’t think I’d have the strength to write. The concept is very wild and wacky, yes—the First Emperor of China possessing a young Chinese American boy’s AR gaming headset and compelling him on a journey across China to heist magical artifacts—but writing the story required me to dig deep into my complicated relationship with my heritage.

When I immigrated to Canada in 6th grade, I spent a year as the only Asian kid in the school of a small town. In that one year, I became self-conscious of all sorts of things that didn’t seem to matter before: the way I looked, the way I spoke, the clothes I wore, the media I liked. The white kids wouldn’t insult me outright, but they’d ask me questions that made me embarrassed of my differences from them. I felt backward, alien. The feelings of isolation and rejection I experienced took me many, many years to unpack. It’s been a long journey, learning to love myself again, and I drew much strength from stories in Chinese history to do so.

However, as the years passed, I’ve also watched in horror as the government of China became increasingly authoritarian, cracking down on dissent and committing genocidal atrocities against minority ethnic groups, of which I belong to one myself. Being Chinese has become so painfully political. Pride in Chinese culture is no longer as simple as that, but could accidentally play into the Chinese government’s use of traditional culture as propaganda. Yet on another hand, there’s the necessity of demystifying and defending Chinese culture to combat anti-Chinese racism. Many diaspora like myself are caught in the crosshairs, struggling to find the balance. But what I firmly believe is that traditional Chinese culture and history don’t belong to the Chinese government. It belongs to the Chinese people, both native and diaspora. If we distance ourselves from our heritage specifically because of the Chinese government, that’s letting them win, validating their claim to be the one true representative of Chinese culture when that is absolutely not the case.

Through Zack’s journey in this book, I wanted to engage with the complexities of Chinese identity, but I also want to have fun. This book remains a love letter to my 12-year-old self, taking inspiration from everything I love—anime, video games, sci-fi, and of course, Chinese history and myths. You’ll find appearances by real figures from said history and myths, wielding magic inspired by their legends, along with many famous Chinese artifacts.

If any of that sounds fun to you too, especially if you like Percy Jackson or Yugioh, I really think you’d like this book as well 😩✌🏼 You can find out where to get it at ZacharyYing.com!