from the concrete

GIFTOBER 2023

DAY THIRTY-ONE: FREE CHOICE

A timeline of DONALD GLOVER and MILES MORAELS

abed and jeff + my tweets

I would also like to say HOW SEXY ARE THE COVERS THOUGH!? THE COVERS ARE JUST PERFECTION. SIJA HONG YOU MASTERMIND

Absolutely served.

[image 1:  Digital ink brush illustration of a man who looks like a monk holding a gaiwan in one hand. The lid is slightly tipped, allowing steam to emerge from the gaiwan in the shape of a green tortoise. The text on the image reads “A Magic Steeped in Poison” and “Lin Wen Yi” in Chinese characters.

image 2: Black and white sketches of a monk with different facial expressions and poses. Text reads “Lin Wenyi Various Scenes Drawing Practice from ‘A Magic Steeped in Poison’”]

I blasted through A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin last weekend. It’s Book 1 of the Book of Tea Duology, a fantasy set in a world inspired by Song Dynasty China with a magic system based on gongfu cha. Tea mages are my jam! And you also get amazing food descriptions! Gorgeous clothing! And of course political dramas and romance! 

I have been consoling myself with fanart while waiting for my copy of book 2 (don’t spoil me!). Here’s my totally predictable bias love for side and monk characters showing for Lin Wenyi! 

You can read more of my rambling (with spoilers warnings) over at Pillowfort: https://www.pillowfort.social/maiji/tagged/lin%20wenyi

“She crossed the entire empire to save me. I will never leave her again.”

Ruyi and Zhen from Judy I. Lin’s A Magic Steeped in Poison, commissioned as a preorder campaign art print for her upcoming sequel, A Venom Dark and Sweet.

AMSIP is one of my favorite reads of 2022, so naturally I was just stoked to get this opportunity to do official art! Zhen and Ruyi fall into your classic cdrama “princess and handmaiden” roles except… this time they’re in love 👀❤️ I definitely recommend the series, and if you preorder the second book before August 23, you’ll get a free gold foil print of these two ✨

A really cool commission that I received for Ning, the protagonist of A Magic Steeped in Poison!

Judy’s husband reached out to me to commission these, and I can only say that I’m so honored 💜 Is there a companion piece?? Maybe 😌✨

I got wildly sick of white European farm boy fantasy a while back. Thank goodnes I didn't have to look hard to find other things, and plenty of them (literally this is not my whole collection, I just couldn't ffit everything in the picture)!

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko follows Tar as she finds her family in an African-inspired fantasy world. The haunting "made of me, and me is mine" still echoes in my head. That and Dayo literally being the adoptive uncle who gets his nibling an elephant.

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong explores Chinese and Russian rival crime families in fantasy 1920s Shanghai. For my Shakespeareans in the audience, yes, it's also a retelling of Romeo and Juliet. For those of you with bug phobias, beware.

Tha Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri is often described as having morally gray lesbians, and that's true. But while Priya and Malini are compelling and fascinating to follow, I am HERE for the Hirana. Semi-sentient, possibly evil temple who is soft for its favorite trainee priestess in hiding? YES.

Jade City by Fonda Lee follows the Green Bones in fantasy Asia, as two warring gangs find their places in a rapidly modernizing world. Shae and Hilo's relationship in particular is fascinating.

Full Disclosure: I haven't finished Axie Oh's The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, but the first couple of chapters are a WOW and I can't wait to finish this Korean-inspired fairy tale retelling.

The Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan was sheer joy from start to finish, and I have not yet stopped asking "What the Actual HELL, Wenzhi???" Inspired by the myth of Chang'e, this book is a must-read. (The sequel is out November 2022 and I am so excited!!!)

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao took me by the throat and literally did not let me go until the book ended--and even then, it less let me go and more threw me against the boards until round 2. The triangle is the strongest shape, and this has phenomenal poly and disability representation.

Another full disclosure: I haven't started Judy Lin's A Magic Steeped in Poison, but I am so excited for it. There is literal and figurative tea promised, and I am here for it.

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah scratched a reading itch I didn't even know I had, and I love this book so much. It has cinnaprinces, a Loulie, jinn, forty thieves, and stories within stories.

Last full disclosure of the post: I also haven't read the doorstopper that is RR Virdi's The First Binding, but it is a heckin' chonk of a book that I am super excited to dive into.

kids! :3

zeus is so bold commenting on poseidon having a forbidden kid as if he doesn't have TWO: one who is currently a tree and the other who's being raised by wolves. be serious

me finishing the lightning thief when i was a kid vs me finishing the pjo show as an adult

”Look I know you didn’t want to be a Halfblood”

GUYS LUKE IS SAYING IT TO SHOW THE PARALLELS BETWEEN HIM AND PERCY

Everyone holding Annabeth to an impossible Standard

And then there’s Percy

#he really said we cope through humor

Annabeth 🧢