So this is definitely a random thought for 2 a.m.

I just realized that Yon-Rogg is basically Vegeta from Dragonball Z, and I don't know what to do with that.

I realized this mostly in thinking of him in terms of a mundane AU - mindfuck Matrix edition, and realized that what I'm basically thinking of is the part of DBZ that originally made me want to write reams of fanfic about Vegeta, where he's basically stuck in a suburban AU on Earth and hates it but can't do anything about it.

He's not the exact same character, but I think a lot of the points of appeal are similar. I guess my general tastes haven't changed that much in the last 20 years after all.

The most hilarious part of this is how much they would both hate the comparison.

Springggg

Yesterday I got the greenhouse cleaned up and ready for planting!



There are already some corn plants that I got at the farmer's market yesterday. We're supposed to have rainy weather this weekend, so it'll be good for transplanting and I think I'm going to try to get some more plants in.



Green leaves behind the outside garden beds.

Normally Memorial Day/the end of May is the approximate "safely past the frost" date for planting outside, but I think we're good for this year and I'd at least like to get some salad stuff in this weekend.

I also tried taking some pictures of the beavers a couple of evenings ago, when they were out and about in the creek, but my camera kept focusing on the brush so all I got was some blurry vaguely Bigfoot-like beaver cryptid images. This is probably the one that came out most recognizable.



Edit: I just put these photos on my infrequently updated author blog as well (gotta do something with it), and can I just say how much I haaaate Wordpress's "blocks" editing interface, with every paragraph a completely separate object. It's not just clunky but also buggy, and tends to do things like delete your captions if you start typing them while the image is still uploading. UGH. WORDPRESS WHY.

Bacchanal by Veronica Henry

A lot of books promise circuses or carnivals with their cover/title/premise and then disappoint, but you definitely cannot say this book fails to deliver carnivals. This book is all carnival all the time.

I got it through Amazon Prime's first-reader program so it's still only for preorder (comes out on June 1). On the whole I really enjoyed it, aside from an abrupt and somewhat disappointing ending.

This is a historical fantasy set in a traveling carnival in the Southern US during the Great Depression. The performers are nearly all black; most have magic powers of one sort or another, and the carnival is a refuge from the hostile white world around them. But at the carnival's core is its terrible secret, which is that it's run by Ahiku, a demoness who feeds on children. In exchange for a few children's lives, the carnival remains a refuge for those who need it. But of course it can't stay that way forever, especially not when a Chosen One type shows up who is the fated enemy Ahiku has been using the carnival as a front to search for.

(On a side note, I suspect this is one of those books that wouldn't work if not being written by an #ownvoices author. There is a lot about the book that I could see going off the rails very easily or just being extremely troubling on its own in a white author's hands, but part of what makes the world feel so rich and deep is that the place of refuge is almost as flawed as the world the characters come from. Nothing is pure or perfect, but the characters are compellingly human in the middle of it, just trying to find safety and family and love.)

As far as leaning into the premise goes, this book does everything it promises. Nearly the entire book takes place in the carnival, with an interesting and compelling cast of carnival performers, following them from town to town as they practice their acts and fleece the locals and leave a trail of suspicious disappearances behind them. The victims are not all innocent; there is also an element of retribution to Ahiku's mischief, with the carnival being used to punish the wicked as well as to collect innocent souls to fuel the demon.

The characters are very shades-of-gray and I liked that. Even the best among them are shysters by trade. Some of the performers suspect what's going on and suppress that knowledge because they need what the carnival offers. Some are actively evil; some are innocent. But most of them are compelling, interesting, flawed and likable, even the ones who really deserve everything they have coming, like the former KKK member who serves as Ahiku's white frontman for dealing with the outside world and secures children for her to eat.

Essentially this book has the same quality that keeps drawing me back to Stephen King's books, which is that there is a lot of ugliness in the world and a lot of evil, none of the characters are without flaws and a lot of people die, but there's an underlying kindness and humanity that shows through everywhere.

Also, there are some excellent scenes with historical Harlem gangster Stephanie St. Clair, who I also wrote into Echo City as a supporting character and therefore have a soft spot for.

I would love to see a movie or Netflix miniseries version of this; it's visually rich and full of imagery that would be fun to see onscreen, as well as a nearly all-POC cast and a lot of African-derived magic and mythology.

The ending was the only part of the book that disappointed me, not to a "throw the book across the room" extent, but mostly because of lack of resolution.

( Vague spoilers under the cut )

Just as a content note, if you have any issues with animal harm, there's quite a bit of it in the book. The protagonist does an animal act using her innate ability to psychically connect to her animal charges; the problem is that she can't control it very well and more often than not causes them to drop dead when she tries to psychically communicate with them. (We first meet her killing an opossum while trying to learn to use her powers, so it's not like it comes out of nowhere, but if that bothers you, there's a lot more where that came from.)

Bacchanal on Amazon.

A useful link

I haven't actually tried this in the real world, but I found this link on convincing reluctant friends/family to get the vaccine extremely helpful.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/05/20/opinion/covid-19-vaccine-chatbot.html

(Goes to NYTimes, so might be paywalled.)

It's in the form of an interactive chatbot where you pick answers and then see how that plays out. Obviously real-world results may vary. But I think it's not just useful for talking about Covid, but other political topics as well - at least, with someone you want to convince, whose mind you have some hope of changing. And what it made me realize is that most of your reactions in a situation like that are wrong. You don't want to try to pressure them; appeal to their sense of duty, responsibility, or shame; or dazzle them with statistics. Apparently what works best (and I've heard this other places, too, for talking about political topics) is to ask them exactly what they're worried about, listen and restate that back at them, and then basically cushion the worry with a lot of reassurance and a few carefully chosen, simple and reassuring statistics on the parts of it they're worried about. Some people might want more information after that. But apparently what most people want is just to be listened to and reassured and have their worry taken seriously, and then they're a lot more open to listening to you in return.