About

(Let’s take it back to 1:40!)

Sophie and Their Stories was created in November 2020 in the midst of autumn leaves and quiet cloistered nights. In its grottoes, you’ll find irreverent reviews, grinning compilations, and sincere tableaux. Sophie and Their Stories advocates for the irrevocable power of words and is a safe space for marginalized voices.

Who’s the blogger?

Sophie Ligaya dela Cruz is a bright-eyed student studying Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley following the pre-med track. Their pronouns are they/them and the Tagalog siya. They have been published in journals such as Polyphony Lit, Neologism Poetry Journal, and Across the Margin.

In the meantime, Sophie will be reading about medical anthropology, spending time in the Berkeley laboratories, drafting posts for this blog, filming footage for their YouTube channel, editing their work-in-progress, and watching the stars float in the sky. Follow them on their storytelling journey!

Can you tell me three other things about them?

(Here’s a little more than three!)

  • Sophie’s favorite books include, but are not limited to:
    • The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo
    • Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
    • The Melancholy of Mechagirl by Catherynne M. Valente
    • The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang
    • A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin
    • Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 
    • The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu
    • This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
    • The Empress of Salt and Fortune and When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo
    • The Deep by Rivers Solomon
  • Be sure to keep up with Sophie’s bookishness on social media:

  • Sophie is a self-professed movie and television connoisseur. At the moment, they stan:
    • Movies
      • Princess Mononoke (1997)
      • Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
      • Spirited Away (2001)
        • Anything by Studio Ghibli, really!
      • The Handmaiden (2017)
      • Parasite (2020)
      • The X-Men Franchise (2000-2017)
        • (Dark Phoenix doesn’t count!)
      • To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)
      • Jojo Rabbit (2019)
      • Us (2019)
    • Shows
      • Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-1996)
      • Hannibal (2013-2015)
      • Killing Eve (2018-present)
      • Mr. Sunshine (2018)
      • Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-2008)
      • Queer Eye (2018-present)
      • The Good Place (2016-2020)
      • Erased (2016)
      • Crash Landing On You (2019)
      • BoJack Horseman (2014-2020)
      • The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
A few of Sophie’s favorite photos on their Bookstagram.
  • Sophie deeply values diversity in media. They have a particular soft spot for books with great Asian and queer representation.
  • When placing an order at a boba shop, Sophie will most often select a tea with matcha. 
  • Nintendo’s Fire Emblem series, to Sophie, absolutely slaps. (Chrom is the best of the best.)
  • So they can properly procrastinate on their homework assignments, Sophie folds five-pointed stars from colored paper. They’re a big fan of origami and other visual arts.
  • Sophie had a lot of fun writing about themself in the third person. 😉

Please take care and stay hydrated, dear traveler.

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