I have finished reading Desertbound! That's Savannah's still in-progress Pinède novel. She hasn't been too loud about it publicly, but believe me, it's a whopper—and contradicting that, also just a nice, tidy little adventure novel. I have a pretty unique perspective on it, partially because it stars (massively overhauled versions of) some of the characters she was kicking around back when I first met her, and we were just two awkward and sad preyed on teenagers that grouped under this "Somnolescent" umbrella. Back then, it was on Skype. The Skype times.

It's a simple enough request: a blind Volkhov fox royal wants a fake-ass, smooth-talking, thieving, conniving rabbit bard, enemies all around him and a bizarrely nice lute at his back, to guide her across the world to the deserts of Murad. What an ice queen could possibly want in the hot bazaars of opium and questionable magical practices becomes a question he soon doesn't want the answer to, but either as easy payment or an easy mark, he accepts. A snotty, annoying raccoon kit blessed with lightning magic complicates things, sure, but the three quickly learn that the long journey is actually the easy part.

Savannah's been pretty hard at work on this book for, Jesus, ten months now, I just checked? July 2024 was when the first mention of the name "Desertbound" started cropping up in our Discord. (That thing sure is handy for checking dates.) I read the novella back when it was just a tiny little thing, and the quick growth, constant edits, and just my general lack of free time meant I kinda avoided reading it for a while. That's not right of me, though, and my first priority since getting fired really has been to read through it all and enjoy and support a close friend's work.

Here you go, a review of a book you can't even read yet: It's really fucking good. Savannah has a great sense of humor and timing, which is not easy in novel form, and she has a knack for planting important bits among the weeds as passing details, which means you can read it a few times and get new things out of it each time. She loves the psychological aspect of characters, so you bet she digs into what makes Euphemia and especially Trapper the way they are, through nurture, the politics of the gods, or just what Trapper is and isn't capable of feeling. It goes quick, it's very easy to take, and it subverts expectations without ever being a pretentious, coy showoff of breaking genre norms. (For one thing, there's no true romance in it—Euphie is married to her god, and Trapper will never be more than a side hoe. That's the real tragedy.)

There's naturally some tone and pacing stuff early on that Savannah's been working with me and some of her other beta readers to tweak, but even as it is, it was thoroughly enjoyable. (I'm also in it, and Trapper tries to sell me a child that sneezes in people's mouths. I naturally do not take his offer.) Lots of memorable moments (the one where Trapper's pinned under a dead bandit body will forever stick with me, perfectly horrific), lots of good jokes, and it's just nice to see someone make this world of mine come alive.

That's the other reason I have a unique perspective on it. To see locales that were once just little places I built with Caby in Minecraft and OCs that have just been sitting unused turned into living, breathing backdrops for a good story is pretty humbling. For a while, I didn't know how to feel about that, that someone can come in and massively improve on your work like that, but then, I never know how to feel about it. One of my first interactions with jnack, who I worked on Guitar Hero II Deluxe with, was when he saw a really shitty main menu graphic I'd hacked up for Rocks the 360 and did me a much better one sight unseen, and I was pissed. Same thing happened with the Valve Developer Union logo once upon a time. (I've done it to other people too—ask me about the launch of DM4Jam sometime.)

In a lot of ways, over and over again, Savannah and her work has been kind of a kick in the ass and a reminder of how fucking silly I can get. I've felt locked out of Pinède plenty before, somehow, despite it not even being a thing yet. My time has grown limited over the years, my projects are numerous and ever more complicated, my skillset only so large and so skilled. I've chosen to do a lot of things alright instead of a few things really well, and sometimes, I feel outclassed by people who do specialize.

Fuck all that, come in with a clear head and just make something fun, something really enjoyable that I like and people will also probably like. What should I be putting into the world, self-doubt and jealousy that someone else is showing me up, or getting back up, getting better, and having fun with it? It seems obvious, and maybe it's just because I am an Egotistical Bad Person (as designated by the random shits from Neocities that still find their way to my old mariversary posts) that I've even had to learn this lesson, but y'know, valuable to remember. We're all human.

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I've probably listened to "Shapeshifter" by Marcy Playground 200 times since discovering it yesterday. It was the cut title track to their album of the same name, which I reviewed very positively for my main site and usually credit with reviving my interest in finding new music after the lockdowns got me depressed and uninterested in it. Marcy in general has been a great backdrop for reading to. I think that's the key. Pick up the book, put on some music I'm super familiar with, and just read. I got a stack of music biographies and other assorted weirdness to get through. I'll share it all with you as I go.

When I was standing on the gallows
Nothing to say, I watched my sun
Go down

And light got dark around the edges
With no control, I felt my soul
Go down

When you're dead, there isn't anybody else
Nobody else at all

So darkness came upon the valley
And all the war machines broke down
Broke down

And all the children ran for cover
And all the animals broke down
Broke down

Ooh, and maybe they should not have
Been quite so bold to test me
'Cause I am a shapeshifter
And I will have my revenge