twitter qijiu aus pt. 1 → no one is dead and they live out their retirement on a farm😭
forbidden farming!qijiu lore: 1 2 3 4
every time im sad i want to draw but then i remember i dont have a sketchbook anymore and then i get even more sad
(trigger warnings under the cut)
A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara
This book, which is about 800 pages long, is one of the best pieces of literature I have ever read. It follows four friends after they move to New York City and pursue their goals, but most of the story focuses on one of the men: Jude St. Francis, who has a mysterious past that has wrecked him emotionally and physically. But despite the darkness of the subject matter (and it gets DARK) the acts of love and kindness and friendship from the people in Jude’s life will bring you to tears. It’s a gorgeous study of trauma, human relationships, and the marriage of joy and pain that inevitably comes with living. I read it two months ago and have thought about it every day since. It’s one of those books you want everyone to read and no one to read. (DEFINITELY check out the trigger warnings for this one.)
The Traitor Baru Cormorant, by Seth Dickinson
This book is a sprawling political fantasy, packed with detail and diversity and some of the best, most complex worldbuilding I’ve ever seen. Baru grows up under the shadow of imperialism and eventually joins a rebellion to break free of the empire that has begun to take over the world. She’s also a lesbian, which is forbidden in the new empire, but against herself is drawn to the enigmatic Duchess Tain Hu. There are devastating twists, loves, and heartbreaks that will break your heart along with Baru’s. To say anything else would be a spoiler, but if you like complex, morally ambiguous fantasy, check this one out.
As Meat Loves Salt, by Maria McCan
This book follows a man named Jacob as he slowly falls in love with a fellow soldier during the seventeenth century English Revolution. After the war, they attempt to establish a utopian farming commune and keep their relationship together. This book is a really interesting foray into 17th century England, but it is ultimately a dark, passionate tale of obsession and vindication that will leave you as sick with the actions of the protagonist as he is with himself.
The People in the Trees, by Hanya Yanagihara
This book is written as a memoir of a disgraced scientist, who discovers a hidden tribe in a small Pacific island that he believes holds the key to a longer (and even immortal) life. You almost forget that the events of the book are fiction and not a real memoir–everything described seems meticulously researched and vividly real. As always, Yanagihara’s writing is gorgeous, absorbing, and well-paced. It’s a haunting tale of how science, hubris, and greed can lead to someone’s personal downfall, as well as colonialism and cultural genocide.
The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt
You might have already heard of this one, but I had to put it on the list anyway! After a traumatic accident kills Theo Decker’s mother, his life is thrown into turbulence and eventual crime, all stemming from a stolen painting. The story is tense, beautifully written, and will make you root for yet another morally gray narrator. For fans of dark thrillers, art history, homoerotic friendship, and/or coming-of-age stories, this one is for you.
Daytripper, by Fàbio Moon and Gabriel Bà
Although Daytripper is a graphic novel, it deserves a spot on this list. It follows Bràs, a Brazilian writer, and his journey through specific turning points in his life, each represented as a “death.” The art is gorgeous and the story flows impeccably, capturing the beautiful mundanities and joys of life. This book will leave you touched, inspired, and deeply affected.
The Vintner’s Luck, by Elizabeth Knox
After a vintner saves his life, an angel named Xas visits him every year for a single night. As the vintner grows, so does their relationship, just like a fine vintage. It’s difficult to say too much about the plot without spoiling the story, but I can say that this book explores the nuances of human relationships and the love we feel for each other, as well as the hate and fear that can pervade those relationships.
Beloved, by Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison is one of the greatest American novelists and Beloved is my favorite of her works. The book follows Sethe, an ex-slave, and her daughter Denver as they reckon with a ghost from Sethe’s past that begins to haunt them more literally than metaphorically. The story is both captivating and difficult to read, but Morrison’s writing is gorgeous and the characters come to life on the page. It superbly explores the depth of trauma and motherhood, as well as depicting the horrors of slavery in a way that doesn’t feel cartoonish or exploitative.
Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng
Celeste Ng’s work has gotten a lot of hype recently, and for good reason. This book follows a family after the middle child, Lydia, drowns. We see the buildup to Lydia’s death and its brutal aftermath, as relationships are challenged within the family. It’s a brilliant look at familial dysfunction, generational curses, and interracial marriage in 1970s America, and a deeply haunting portrayal of how these issues can tear apart a family.
Keep reading
drinking coffee at 6pm when you have to wake up at 5am is a bad idea
Growing up is actually all about realizing people don’t inherently dislike you and it’s a bit odd to assume they do
go down a wikipedia research hole by clicking the first term you don’t understand
binge a crashcourse series end to end (personal recs: world history, history of science, big history, philosophy)
find free books on project gutenberg
download some western classics for free
borrow books and audiobooks from the libby app or borrowbox
start a commonplace book
take a khan academy course
browse MIT’s free online course materials
teach yourself to code
go on a google scholar essay dive
try the open access button to avoid some paywalls for academic media, or install unpaywall that does a similar thing
research the history of the place you where you live
tempt the wrath of the duolingo owl and learn a language
search for online streams of the local tv in your target language’s country and use as background noise for immersion points
print and scrapbook favourite poetry and literature quotes
improve your handwriting by doing handwriting exercises
learn philosophy with the philosophize this! podcast. actually just check out all the educational spotify podcasts there are many good ones
start a weekly club with friends to share new and interesting things you’ve learnt that week
clean and reorganise your study space, physical or digital
check out online museums
fave educational youtube channels that I adore: vsauce, crashcourse, smarter every day, kurzgesagt, school of life, tom scott, r. c. waldun, vsauce3, primer, mark rober, veritasium, asapSCIENCE, scishow, TED-ed
hopefully you’ll find something to enjoy! happy learning x
GDBee on Instagram / Tumblr / Society6
Impress your friends and train your core! (impressed friends not guaranteed)
This is the latest update to the Elbow Lever short!
While many progressions are given, feel free to experiment with what works for you! Some won't need all of these. Others will want more (shown on the website in the video).
Have a beautiful day!
The Untamed as text posts (63/?) the edition in which i’m not implying that jiang cheng is a peasant, but instead implying that he would rather die than participate in wei wuxian’s love affairs
There was a tweet about Jingyi possibly being Jin Rusong, and this popped in my mind 🤣
LJY: What?! I’m your son? I’m Jin Rusong?!
JGY: Yes…Please und-
LJY: Is that why I’m short?!
JL: THAT’S YOUR BIG TAKE AWAY FROM THIS?!
LJY: SHUT UP! You don’t know what it’s like down here.
JL: You’re only 4 cm shorter!
LJY: 4 cm too short to reach the top of the shelf! This whole time I thought it was the bland food, but it turns out I came from midgets!
JGY: …
WWX: *Burst out laughing like a maniac*
JL: HOW ARE WE RELATED?
LJY: HOLY SHIT WE’RE RELATED?! No wonder I hate you!
JL: *In tears* Shut up! I hate you too!
LSZ: Guys, let’s calm down.
QS:…You know, I’m not so disgusted about the incest thing suddenly. But I want a divorce, and we’ll keep it a secret.
JGY: Unless you tell me who sent you the letter.
QS: No.
JGY: I need to know so that I can find out who else knows, and kill them so we won’t be slandered by the Cultivation World. Besides, who ever decided to tell you this now after all this time must be doing it for money.
QS:…It was Bicao.
JGY: Thank you. Now excuse me future ex-wife. I’m going to go interrogate a maid.
*And thus Nie Huaisang gets found out, and it’s a whole different complicated mess where LXC is the one most shafted by it. In the mean time, Qin Su is happily living at Gusu to get to know her son.*