Unfortunately I haven't started it myself yet, otherwise I would. I've got a few more TBRs ahead in line before I can get to this one. :(

Hm, I think between those two Shadows of Dark and Light sounds better, but I also think adding in something from the 'Gathering Storm' title would be good too. Like 'Shadows of the Storm' or even a shorter one like 'Gathering Shadows'. But either of your two suggestions I think also work just fine.

Congrats!!! That's so awesome!

This is kind of a long one, but it's very wholesome. Voice actor and youtuber Sungwon Cho (aka prozd) had his parents rate Animal Crossing characters and guess what they're like based purely on design with no knowledge of the game.

[youtube RRqwaKMb9l4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRqwaKMb9l4 youtube]

His channel has a lot of stuff that's great for a feel-good laugh in general, btw.

I'm just waiting for the SarahZ video about it all with growing anticipation lol. Haven't been a part of the fandom or watched the show in years but it all looks like a trainwreck that's suddenly caught on fire.

[youtube ClJFXezIJ_Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClJFXezIJ_Y youtube]

This video has the alternate scenes you can get here depending on your choices. All of the scenes have a lot of great stuff going on in them. Tifa and Cloud's obviously has a lot of their history hanging over it, and it's incredibly moving. Cloud and Barret's really illustrates that they are genuine friends and companions now. Aerith's scene - as with a lot of her scenes - has a lot going on in it (though I also like how it makes Cloud's line the next day about feeling Aerith calling out to him seem to be very literal). Ii'm not going to elaborate too much on anything so I don't go into spoilers.

I promised a longer post about this series, and it's a bit late, but here it is.

I remember starting to read the series on a plane, and it immediately making me cry to the point that I had to stop so I wouldn't make the other passengers uncomfortable (This also happened with The Book Thief!). I was just so immediately taken in by the vividness of the story. I know for some the lack of details about the world around them was a problem for getting invested, but for me the emotional descriptions were so striking that I was instantly drawn in. Also, now that we are at the end, a note: There's actually no indication that the series is taking place on our Earth. And N.K. Jemisin has stated multiple times that it actually doesn't, it's just an assumption people make.

Going through the emotional journeys of these characters, seeing them cycle through grief and anger and nihilism, and understanding why they got there, was so interesting to me. I loved how flawed the main characters were, Essun especially, and how complex and fractured her relationship with Nassun was as a result. I loved seeing Nassun grow and find a kind of love and safety with Schaffa, and how close she came to ending everything, only to be shown that there is hope for the future, more than one way to live, even in a world that seems to be constantly ending. The Stone Eaters were really interesting, I loved the way all of the different aspects of the story were threaded together, explained over time. It's the kind of thing you really appreciate when re-reading, as you're able to see a lot of the bones of this stuff that you didn't pick up on the first time.

I feel like there was more I wanted to say, but of course now it isn't coming to mind. I'm really glad Mark enjoyed this series so much, and I hope others following along did too. If I were to criticize anything, it would probably be that I found most of the side characters to be a bit lacking. I liked Tonkee and Ykka, and there was plenty to Schaffa to make him interesting, but others like Lerna were kind of just there to me, and as a result his death - while surprising - didn't hit me too hard personally, though I of course totally understand why it would for others.

Anyway, I really loved these books, and I definitely need to read the rest of N.K. Jemisin's work.

I mean, I always just interpreted that as being part of the way Essun compartmentalized herself at the time (and Hoa's narration reflecting this). Because "Essun" had two children, and "Syen" had one, and even knowing logically that she of course had the same body, at that time that is not at all how she or Hoa would have presented it. The way she took on the identity of Essun meant burying who she was as Syen, and that includes the fact that she had already had a child.

I really love this Nassun.

Tonkee! Source: https://cha-chi-san.tumblr.com/post/170989216008/...



This one turned out really big, and imgur isn't cooperating for me to make it smaller, so I may come back and delete/repost this one.