#.... I feel honestly that the historical fantasy genre is really hard to pull off.

[queenoftsage]

... I mean... If it had been directed and written a little better...

"Love Song For Illusion' could have been a masterpiece.

I'm not yet done with it, but I'll give my two unwanted cents...

It's actually a fun ride. It is cliche AF, but it feels like a frantically written fanfic webtoon type thing. Like, this is something that you wouldn't care if you went to AO3 and looked for your favorite ship and has this type of story appearing for them.

Like in my case, I could definitely see KaiSoo in this predicament. You know, KAI as the pretty assassin person, and KyungSoo as the seamstress/Prince/Crown Prince person with a really crazy case of Literal SPLIT Personality disorder.

Also, have to give props to the series, because it's the only series I have personally seen, where the main dude plays Main Lead and Second lead. [in 2024!] lol.

If you want to see a better and much more masterful version of this, go watch 'The Man Who Became King [The Crowned Clown]'. Now that is how you play a double role. Literal double role as the main actor Yeo Jin Goo plays twins.

JIHOON, thank you for trying. He's still young, and he can still mess up along the way. I honestly don't really know what the director or writer of this series were going for, but... As I said, it's a fun ride, but not as master-piecy as it should have been.

... Also, another point for it? I'm not bored.

lol.

Kudos to all the actors, cause they really are trying. XDDD

[wondereads]

Personal Review

The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker

Summary

All her life, Zilan and her two cousins have been preparing for the exams that would grant them government positions. Zilan, who strives to become a royal alchemist, uses her abilities to raise the dead to fund their studies. She hates the rich clients she works for, who fear death so much they eat gold infused with the power of immortality to stop their aging. However, when comparing making gold for the rich to a life of powerlessness, she will put aside her morals for her future.

Plot 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

The plot of this book is one of the best I've read in YA fantasy. While it starts with an exam and starts becoming more focused on rebellion, a not unheard of story in this genre, the way it is executed is simply amazing. The magic system and world, which really feels like historical China, pull you in, and there were so many good plot twists. While there might be some you're able to predict, there were plenty that completely knocked me off my feet. Then the material is a lot more mature and gory than one would expect from YA; it's visceral, and the consequences feel real.

The magic system of this book was perfect for this kind of story. There are rules and limitations introduced from the beginning that play a huge role in allowing those amazing plot twists to be executed. Also, I just find the inner workings of alchemy incredibly intriguing. The worldbuilding concerning the social situation of China during this alternate period also works really well for the plot. The decision to have the elixir of immortality imbued in gold was a great choice to both emphasize its wasteful, greedy nature and to exacerbate the wealth gap in a way that feels eerily similar to modern times.

Characters 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Zilan is an amazing main character. It's quite common for YA books to have these hyper competent characters that are the best in their field. It's fun, but it can feel unrealistic and as if they don't really face many challenges. Zilan is incredibly skilled, and she can do things no one else can, but she has a lot to learn. Her time in the palace definitely shows that, and there are a lot of moments where she is too impulsive or simply doesn't know how to go about something. Her competency feels real with plenty of scenes exemplifying how hard she's worked, but she also learns throughout the book.

Zilan's relationship with her cousins, Yufei and Wenshu, so close they're more like siblings, was particularly interesting. One thing I really liked about this book was that although there is a romance subplot, most of the interpersonal conflict came from Zilan and her family. Their relationship is incredibly complex; they're obviously very close, but there are so many odd circumstances surrounding their lives that it can be hard to tell where they stand with each other, which is used for some very compelling conflict.

The aforementioned romance was pretty good in my opinion. I'd like to see it developed more, but I get the feeling that the kind of incomplete vibe I get from Zilan and Hong is on purpose. They're both at very vulnerable points in their lives, and they find comfort in each other, but they both have a lot of issues, and I really want to see how their relationship works in the second book. Finally, one of my favorite characters was the villain, Empress We Zetian. She is unapologetically evil, and she's truly terrifying. She didn't feel one-dimensional, but she was also totally irredeemable and a villain that really felt like a threat. She outsmarts Zilan on multiple occasions, and she really brought the more dark tone of the story into the spotlight.

Writing Style 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

The writing of this book was incredibly intense. It seems to prioritize modern readability over exactly matching the historical setting, but it rarely took me out of the story. This book honestly feels closer to NA than YA because of how dark and gory it was. As I mentioned previously, consequences in this book are horrifying and constant, taking a much more extreme turn than most YA books. There were moments where this book felt like it was verging on horror. For example, there is a scene where the empress and prince are eating gold in which they, while unchanged physically, become these voracious monsters, and it sent shivers down my spine.

I would say my one critique of this book would be that there are certain things that feel a little rushed. Trying not to spoil too much, that would be Zilan and Hong's situation, which sort of felt like it came out of nowhere, and when Zilan starts to take a more rebellious stand against the empress. However, it didn't detract from the enjoyability that much.

Overall 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

This book was absolutely stunning. The characters were amazing, the plot constantly took me by surprise, and the writing is a great blend of readable modern language and the intense style that usually accompanies fantasy. Zilan is an amazing main character; she’s competent without being perfect, she’s ruthless and driven without being completely heartless. Her cousins, Yufei and Wenshu, are particularly interesting, especially concerning their relationship with Zilan and how complicated it is. The love interest is a good balance to Zilan, though I hope to see their relationship develop more. Empress Zetian is a chilling and horrifying villain who is truly a terrifying opponent. The plot was constantly twisting and turning, keeping me on my toes, and while I found some moments a little too fast paced and would consider this more NA than YA, the overall quality of the story definitely makes me want to keep this at a full 10/10.

About the Author

Kylie Lee Baker: Japanese-Chinese-Irish-American, plays the cello, also wrote The Keeper of Night

About the Reviewer

My name is Wonderose, and I post a reading update every week with the occasional review and themed recommendation. I take suggestions, and you can check out my pinned post for more about me :)

[mermaidsirennikita]

Caro's May 2023 Reading Wrap Up

What a reading month! Hit up favorite authors, read some genre classics, knocked out some ARCs, and hit everything from historicals to gentle contemporaries to full-on Kinky King Arthur (which. obviously. stole my HEART).

Check it out!

Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn.

This is a very different read for me--but it's a touching one. The romance was soft and gentle, but also prominent. I felt like Georgie had that journey of self discovery you see in women's fiction so often--and God did it hit home for me--but Levi went on a journey of his own, and the two met in the middle in this sweet (hot) love story. The writing is strong, the emotion real yet comforting... It's just a very good small town romance. And I normally don't like those, but this one hits!

Hottest Moment: There's a good ol' "dry humping For Her Pleasure interrupted by Unexpected Guests" that is truly delightful.

Mercy by Sara Cate.

Sometimes you just need a good femdom book; but they are shockingly hard to find. Mercy? It's the perfect femdom book. She's uptight; he's bratty; they're both kinda repressed. And she's super tight friends with his dad. She's his dad's business partner. Honestly, this book might compete with Praise (said dad's book) as my favorite in the Salacious Players Club series. Beau has such a beautiful growth arc, and honestly, so does Maggie. They become so emotionally raw with each other, and there's a beautiful examination of toxic masculinity and arrested development here. I also feel that this book has perhaps the best exploration of kink in the series. I was really rooting for these two.

Hottest Moment: I mean. Definitely the pegging scene. But there is so much good shit here; so many "yes ma'am"'s, so much brattiness, hair pulling, impact play, edging, bondage. It's all! So! Good!

A Rake's Guide to Seduction by Caroline Linden.

Easily the strongest Linden book I've read so far. If you're looking for pining, search no further. Anthony has known Cecilia since she was a little girl (brother's best friend alert) and wanted her since she was 18, and missed having her by a hair. You can feel his love for her in every interaction. Celia's depression is both realistic and sadly familiar, but it doesn't dominate the story, and serves to highlight how well Anthony understands her. Finally, this is a hero where the "rake with a heart of gold" thing is done so well. He's sexy, he can be a bit of a Problem, but there's a lot more to him than what meets the eye, and he just quietly takes the judgment and hits without complaint. Such a good love story.

Hottest Moment: There are three full sex scenes in this book and they are all V. V. GOOD, but this is probably a tie between the "sensual foot massage that turns into the first time a man has ever gone down on her" and moment when's railing this woman so intensely he just yanks her leg up and goes "HOLD". It's... good.

Highest Bidder by Sara Cate.

This is not for the faint of heart regarding the age gap, to be upfront--if you're going to read this, know that our hero, Ronan, is 56, and our heroine, Daisy, is 21. Also, the daddy kink is heavy. There's no real age play, but she calls him daddy and he calls her baby girl a lot. That out of the way--I'm down for all of that (well, less so the age gap in real life, but this is not real life) and it's hot. But there's also a bit of a deeper side to everything. Ronan is actually quite vulnerable, which I had some questions about, but I found that Daisy's emotional issues were fairly realistic for her age, and I liked that the book confronted them rather than just acting like this relationship would have zero issues regarding emotional maturity whatsoever. There were some choices that I wouldn't say I loved, but nothing that really turned me off, and ultimately, I was satisfied. It's not my favorite Salacious Players Club book, but it's a solid read, and if you want to indulge in the fantasy of a pleasure dom billionaire daddy taking you to Paris (my favorite part of the book) you should pick it up.

Hottest Moment: I've got to say, call me fucked up, but I love a good "let daddy make you feel good" moment, so the first tension-breaking fingerbang in this novel? Was fabulous.

The Harlot Countess by Joanna Shupe.

While the Gilded Age is obviously her (historical) sweet spot, Joanna Shupe really doesn't get enough credit for how good her Regency trilogy is, at least based on the two books I've read so far. I read The Courtesan Duchess quite a while ago, and I've finally gotten to the follow up, which... I definitely love just as much. Why? For one thing, it's quite hot, especially compared to traditionally published historicals today. These two start early and don't stop. But also, the relationships and characters are just... complex? This is a second chance romance with a lot ofd resentment and misconceptions built over the course of a decade. Our hero is honestly... kind of a massive tool at points. He has to grow. He has to learn. He thinks he's this nice dude, but he's actually not only... fucking obsessed with this woman, but not super nice, even if he is morally in the right (most of the time) on big issues. I can see this being a problem for some readers, but I found the challenges in Simon and Maggie's relationship to really make the story--I believed that he stretched himself and evolved for her.

Hottest Moment: Yeah, so there's a moment in this when she walks in on him in bed jerking it.... and then applies what she saw he liked to her first blowjob.... This book is hot, y'all!

The Lady Hellion by Joanna Shupe.

So much about this book is just... great. We have a nerdy hero who doesn't feel desperate for love as well as anxiety and some level of agoraphobia. We have dueling! We have a great discussion surrounding virginity and female pleasure, and we actually have a friends to lovers that WORKS. Plus, our heroine is running around disguised as a man and helping sex workers. She's such a gem, and boy does our hero love her ass in those breeches. Where did these fun Regencies go in trad?

Hottest Moment: As I mentioned earlier, our hero, Quint, is afraid of going outside. However, when he's getting shit going with Sophie, he feels rather motivated to follow her wherever she goes. So she does tempt him to step into his courtyard... and he does in fact drop to his knees and eat her out against a wall. As you do.

Her Protector's Pleasure by Grace Callaway.

This is probably the Mayhem in Mayfair book I most anticipated, because Marianne is a) a widow who's seen the world b) hot and she knows it. The kid thing actually didn't bug me because I barely saw that child and she served more as a motivator than a sidekick. I'm impressed by how Callaway tackled some really dark subject matter in this one without losing sight of the love story--an opposites-attract push-pull between a seemingly frivolous uptown girl and an uptight lawman, with both of them being united in their love of family. And also, their intense physical attraction to each other. Which, of course, blossoms into loooove!

Hottest Moment: Marianne decides to go down on Ambrose, which he's actually (sweetly) very hesitant about her doing because her dead husband used oral sex to humiliate and degrade her (and then she does it anyway because she loves him and wants to share it with him). I enjoyed how intimate and trust-filled this was, and how it underlined that an act being used for (nonconsensual, abusive) degradation with a prior partner doesn't mean it has to be tainted with a good partner.

Her Prodigal Passion by Grace Callaway.

This was a lot chiller than the other Mayhem books--yes, there is other stuff happening, but it was mostly an "oops you're compromised" wallflower/rake story with an added dose of "brother's best friend". I really liked it, though. I'd been waiting for Paul's book ever since it became clear that he is, shall we say, a terminal flop of a man. And Charity was a great counterpoint to him, sweet and quiet, but ultimately more quiet because of her father's oppression than her own true personality. There was something really lovely about these two being pushed together and then, ultimately, prompting one another to rise to the occasion (not just his dick, but also that).

Hottest Moment: There is a lot of hot sex in this book, but oddly enough I found the hottest scene to be this moment early on when Paul is inspecting Charity's leg for injuries and reaches UNNECESSARILY HIGH without thinking, and there's this tense realization of "oh shit, things are about to Happen" between them... It's a lot.

Passion by Lisa Valdez.

Look. LOOK. This is the landmark history romance where his dick basically goes all the way past her cervix, and it's famous for a reason. This is a true erotic romance, where yes there is shit going on because we need to keep our lovers apart (and I actually liked the blackmail/mommy issues subplot) but mostly... We are learning about them through their exploration as sexual beings, and they are falling in love while having a lot of sex. Is all of that sex anatomically likely or possible? Well, I'm no doctor. Is it earthy and interesting written in a way that makes the book even more of a throwback? Yes. Are there a couple of scenes that super raised my eyebrows? For sure. It's one of a kind.

Hottest Moment: I like the lengthy, sometimes bizarre sex scenes in this book... However, the very beginning, where these two strangers realize they're horny and he comes on to her so hard before fucking her behind a screen at one of Prince Albert's nerdy little exhibitions... It's arresting.

Magnate by Joanna Shupe.

An early example of the Gilded Age by way of Joanna Shupe, and it's kind of great? It has all the classic Gilded Age Shupe-isms: a hero who's a little mean and a lot vengeful and VERY sexy, and intrepid heroine who doesn't take no for an answer ever. There's an excellent setup for her douchey brother to get his book (and his emotional comeuppance). Plus, you have an excellent setup in which the hero and heroine must marry, she gets mad and refuses to sleep with him, and they end up SNOWED IN TOGETHER IN HIS OFFICE.

Hottest Moment: Gotta say, their first time (her first time ever) in that snowy office is really good. But the hate sex later may be even better based on pure setup. It was very......... that scene in Gone with the Wind where Rhett is all "YOU'RE NOT KEEPING ME OUT TONIGHT" but with more consent.

Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall. ARC; read the full review here.

Hottest Moment: The Duke does some light foot stuff that is................. very compelling.

The Duchess Effect by Tracey Livesay. ARC; review to come closer to publication.

Hottest Moment: There is a scene... in the car... that is living rent-free in my head. Like, he lays this woman out.

The Duke Who Knew Too Much by Grace Callaway.

While her Mayhem in Mayfair series is very good (and definitely worth the read) this is the book that first started to feel like the rhythm I became used to in her latest series. It's got some mystery, a lot of romance, a sizable helping of sex, and that sprinkling of humor tempered by angst. It's fun, it's ludicrous in the best way (our heroine believes the hero is threatening to kill a woman; he's actually just kinky) and I was so invested in the couple. He's grumpy and brooding and tormented; she's bossy and perky and no-nonsense. Also, we get the classic "is it in?" "uhhh almost" [it is not even halfway in]

Hottest Moment: We get a classic "hiding behind a curtain" blowjob in this, and he cannot fucking deal, and it is so! Good!

Forget Me Not by Julie Soto. ARC; review to come closer to publication.

Hottest Moment: Our intrepid heroine asks the heroine if he can recite extinct flowers to her while she bounces on his cock. I won't say if he does, but, uh--the scene is hot.

The Kingmaker by Kennedy Ryan.

God, this is an amazing book. I hesitate to call it a perfect romance novel, because I don't know if such a thing exists, but it's pretty fucking close. Intense passion and longing, a love story that spans over a decade, truly high stakes conflict, and the sense that these two people just absolutely adore each other but have internal and external conflicts keeping them from happiness. The angst is perfect. I had such an amazing time.

Hottest Moment: I can take or leave a virgin heroine; virginity loss scenes often read a bit less intensely to me than other scenes, for understandable reasons. But there is so much passion and intimacy in the first sex scene in this book--I was MOVED.

The Rebel King by Kennedy Ryan.

A direct sequel to The Kingmaker, and just as good (if not better). This is how you follow through on a setup while upping the game and deepening a couple's love. Maxim and Lennix are buried in my heart forever; I adore them,

Hottest Moment: There is a blowjob scene in this book.... That is. So good. It is UNHOLY.

How to Tame a Wild Rogue by Julie Anne Long. ARC; review to come closer to publication.

Hottest Moment: Who knew Spillikins (whatever the fuck that is) could be so hot? This book is highly reliant on building sexual tension, and that is done... perfectly.

American Queen by Sierra Simone.

I first tried to read this when I began reading romance again, and it was.... too intimidating for me. Well, it's perfect now. As a fan of King Arthur mythology who particularly loves the Lancelot and Guinevere of it all, as someone who adores love triangles in which the issue is everyone loving each other (the only correct interpretation of the Lancelot/Guinevere/Arthur thing)... This is it. Erotic and and intense and the best way to write angsty people who adore each other and don't know what to do with it. I completely believe that Ash and Embry and Greer are in love with each other, need each other. I'm swept away by the angst of this story.

Hottest Moment: I mean, the very literally climactic threesome is quite a lot. I also actually really love the virginity loss scene between Embry and Greer, because it begins as something about Ash but ends up being about them. Again, perfect angst.

American Prince by Sierra Simone.

Can't say much about this as it's a direct followup to the above book, but God, the angst. Embry is my favorite of the triad, so a book that's primarily his POV (though Greer's chapters were well-appreciated) was everything to me. He hates himself so much! He's so stupid! I would kill for him!

Hottest Moment: I mean.... pick a scene. That absolutely insane Embry/Greer CNC scene that everyone apparently freaked out over? I loved it. Ash and Embry's first time with blood and morphine? I swooned. The Apple Threesome? E V E R Y T H I N G.

American King by Sierra Simone.

Same deal, can't say a lot, but this is the vERY climactic finish to the trilogy, and I adore everything about it, and this is easily one of the best series I've ever read.

Hottest Moment: Ash and Embry's Last First was so emotional and lovely, and I actually also really love Greer and Embry's reunion sex sans Ash with the Hard Truths, but the hottest scene had to be the like... multi-chapter, 3+ encounter threesome marathon. That. Was. Insane.

[thebeebi]

your little games pt. 13

pairing: Jungkook x reader

warnings: fluff in later chapters, smut, non-con, mention of r*pe attempt, implied murder and many more! Read only if you are okay with these topics!

genre: historical AU, 18th century?

word count: 4.2k+ [part 13]

a/n: Hello there my wonderful readers. I hope you are having a great day / evening / night. I am sorry for posting late again. I guess I will have to change the upload time to a later hour. I hope you will like this chapter. Please let me know if you did! ♥ Love you

taglist: @njrwifey @danietoww04  @kaithezaftig @she-is-dreaming @dreamybellatrixanvm​​  @iwondermypurpose​   [If you want to be added, just let me know :)]

You ran away from the man who tried to take an advantage of you. You stabbed him and escaped. Escaped to the arms of the handsome captain who was even worse than the man you just killed.

Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 // Part 5 // Part 6 // Part 7 // Part 8 // Part 9 // Part 10 // Part 11 // Part 12

On the way back, Jungkook did not say a word to you. He was frowning and you could see him clenching his teeth. When you arrived at the tavern, he swiftly helped you get down of the carriage. The sounds coming from the tavern were loud even outside but once you entered it, you could not hear even yourself if you said any word. The drunk sailors were singing and the prostitutes were stroking their thighs wishing for someone to warm their bed.  While you were making your way towards the room, one drunkard decided to approach but you but when he was Jungkook staring at him with a cold, warning expression he halted his mission and sat back on the chair. Without any other problems, you finally got to the room. Jungkook walked towards the window turning his back away from you saying. “See that? It is yours, You can put there all of your clothes.” He said coldly without even turning, yet he pointed at the beautiful chest that was decorated with oriental ornaments.

When you took off the cloak he gave you, you lit up the candle because it was starting to get darker due to the sunset. You were honestly surprised to see the dinner on the table once the room lit up but you were glad about it. Trying on the dresses was more tiring than you expected. You placed your cloak near the door and then made your way towards the table again to look at the delicacies. A soft knock on the door pulled you back from the fantasy of tasting it just by looking. Jungkook invited the person in and you saw Jimin’s figure in the doorframe.  “If there anything I can do for you, sir?“ Asked Jimin and Jungkook shook his head. With that Jimin nodded and closed the door again. The rumbling of the stomach decided for you that it was the time to eat. After all, you are not feeding only yourself but a little baby growing inside of you. You started putting on your plate different kinds of meat with vegetables. When you were done, you tried to open the bottle of wine. You did not notice that Jungkook was watching you over his shoulder. He sighed and walked towards you to grab the bottle and opened it with a swift pull. Then he poured wine into the glasses placed on the table. “Can we eat Jungkook? I am really hungry.” You placed your hand on your stomach when it growled in embarrassment.

Jungkook pulled the chair for you without saying a word. When you sat down, his eyes looked lower at the luring side of your neck. It was difficult to hold himself back. He kept on squeezing the backrest of the chair so hard, his knuckled turned white. He stood there for a bit even after you sat down but then he exhaled deeply and walked towards his chair to sit down. He gulped the glass of wine like it was water and bit into a piece of bread, not really feeling hungry. You on the other hand were almost choking on the food due to hunger. Jungkook barely touched anything else than his glass, that he was always refilling after oneshotting it. You finished eating in silence while Jungkook was still fighting with his problem you did not know about. You stood up and walked towards the chest, opened it and placed most of the dresses you had from before inside. You pulled out a beautiful satin scarf Jungkook bought you and rubbed it on your cheek smiling, not knowing that Jungkook also stood up and walked towards you while watching your every more. He leaned in and pushed a strand of the fallen hair behind your ear. In his eyes, you could see a strange look – something between pain and happiness and it looked like he wanted to tell you something but could not find the right words. He clenched his teeth as he started frowning even more. He pulled away from you and run to the other side of the room, walking back and forth like a tiger. You were watching him confused but when he spoke up, this rough tone surprised you that much you gasped.

“For fuck sake, Y/N, you need to learn something about the men. I just can’t…” He stopped himself from continuing and turned to you. In the light of the candle, you could see that his cheek was twitching in anger. You were waiting for him to continue but when he did not, you folded all of your dresses and put them inside of the chest. Jungkook walked towards the table once again and grabbed the bottle, drinking it without bothering to use the glass. After he found out the bottle was empty, he slammed it again the table and cursed. You did not expect him to be so aggressive and the shock caused you to prick your finger on the needle you were putting away. You sat down on the bed and sucked on the pricked finger while he pulled the chair close to you and then he sat down in front of the bed. You stopped moving and looked at him. For a bit he was looking for the right words then he placed his hands on your knees trying to smooth out the skirt of your dress. “Little one,” He started slowly. “The journey to my hometown is going to be long. We will spend more time together and it is going to be in even smaller room than is this one. We will sleep in a smaller bed. It is going to be cold on the ship and it will be uncomfortable and you might feel not as nice, mostly because you are going to be the only woman on the deck. You will not be able to move around freely on the deck nor even walk away from me or from the cabin. It would be too dangerous for you. Well, what I am trying to say, Y/N,… when sailors are too long on the sea, they cannot look at the woman without being” He stopped for a second. “Without being aroused. And if it would repeat more times, they would be obsessed.” He was looking into your eyes, trying to see if you understood everything he said. You were looking at him nodding the whole time, but Jungkook knew you were not counting him as a sailor he was talking about. He sighed and continued. “Y/N, if a man is looking at the beautiful woman and he is close to her, without being able to relieve all of his needs, he will feel enormous desire to make love with her. If he cannot do that, it is almost unbearable. He has to…” It looked like he could not finish his sentence. You bit your lower lip grabbing the hem of your dress shyly.  “I will stay in the cabin, for as long as you want me to, Jungkook.” You whispered looking down at your hands. “I will try my best not to get in anyone’s way.“

Jungkook internally cursed at himself for not making it clear to you. “Oh God, Y/N,” he said irritated and stood up from the chair. “I am trying to tell you that,… that it is going to be a long way back without…without,” he clenched his teeth. “You will have to let me make lov-“ He almost finished it but then he exhaled and looked away. He could not finish his sentence, his pride won once again and while swearing he threw the chair to the opposite side of the room and run to the door. “Don’t go out of the room,” He said looking at you from above his shoulder. “Jimin is going to be here, he will make sure you are alright.” With that, he swiftly opened the door and cursing run out from there. You were stunned, not able to process what just happened.

After Jungkook barked at him all commands he disappeared and Jimin came inside to take all of the dishes from the dinner you had a little while ago. You looked at the man. “Jungkook didn’t tell you when is he coming back?” Jimin shook his head. “No, madam” He was about to leave but then he turned to you. “May I say something?” You smiled and nodded wanting to hear what he is going to say. “Captain is a good man. Sometimes he is acting strangely but if you wait it out, he is going to come back to his usual self. Please, be patient, madam. He is a rough man but a good one.” Jimin felt embarrassed, surprised by his own statement. You smiled and thanked the man softly. Jimin smiled back and when he was about to leave he turned once again to you. “Do you wish for warm water for the bath as always, madam?” You nodded once again smiling. “Yes Jimin, as always.”

You slowly woke up from sleep. Jungkook was once again in the room. You moved underneath the blanket and blinked a few times to drive away the sleep. It was almost sunrise and the room was not as dark. You looked to the door where was Jungkook leaning onto the door, trying to support himself while he was staring at you. His eyes were red, the ribbon undone and his coat was off his right shoulder. The corners of his lips raised in amusement, as if he was laughing at himself. “Jungkook?” You gasped. “What happened to you?” You never thought about this situation. He was drunk so much that he was swaying from side to side like a feather. He walked towards you and your nose was met with a smell of strong liquor and a cheap fragrance.

“You selfish woman.” He grinned at you. “With your big boobs and huge ass, you are seducing a man even while you are sleeping.” He raised his hand and suddenly pushed everything off the nightstand. You backed away on the bed scared of what he might do. “Oh fuck all of the naïve, pure, innocent virgins out there.” He spat out in anger. “You are all the same, you all bleed. At first, you seduce a man so he would lose his mind and then he is not even to sleep with any other woman out there. You take away the pride from him and then you walk in front of him just to show him that he cannot have you.” When he started swaying again, he quickly hugged the pillar of the bed to support himself. Then he made a huge gesture as if introducing you to the world. “And now in front of me is sitting the queen of all virgins on her ice throne. But what about me? I played the game and I won it but now that I have her at home and I cannot touch her.” He hugged the pillar with both hands rubbing his forehead into it as if trying to get rid of some pain. “Oh my wife, why did God not make you skinny and ugly, then it would be easier to ignore you as you wish. But out of all women in this town, the weak stupid me chose you, the most beautiful woman who is luring all men. But you are not considering me to be a man but some kind of old fart who is not able to do anything to you. You are playing with me, you are showing your body to me expecting I would not feel anything. Oh God, woman. Do you think I have no feelings, no needs? I would be able to buy more love from the prostitute than I would get from you.” He leaned in closer to you, looking straight into your eyes. “But I am going to teach you, little one.” He spat out pointing at you. “I am going to take you whenever and wherever I want from now on.” He was eating you with his eyes. “Fuck that, I am going to take you now.”

He jumped on the bed with arms stretched out so he could grab you around your middle. You screamed trying to get away from him. You got out of the bed, your nightgown flowing after you. You could hear the ripping sound of fabric and Jungkook looked down at his hand realising it is from your sleepwear. Then he quickly looked at you, absorbing the beautiful curves of your body. He smirked trying to help himself up but then the alcohol effect made him fall back down. He let go of the material in his hand and passed out of drunkenness. His eyes were closed and he started breathing calmly. You walked towards him warily, poking into his ankle. “Jungkook?” You asked unsurely.

He did not move nor opened his eyes. You sighed and put his hand back that was poking out of the bed back, so he would not hurt himself. You wanted to move him but was aware that he was too heavy for you to do so. The only option you could do was to ask Jimin to help you. You made your way towards the door and opened it, walking to the opposite door of yours. You knocked and opened the door. “Jimin?” You asked. “Oh my God, madam. What are you doing here?” You pulled your nightgown closer to yourself trying to hide it being ripped. “Could you please come to our room, Jimin?” You asked quietly. Without further questions, Jimin nodded and followed you to your room.

Once Jimin left with wishing of good morning, you sat down on the chair staring at Jungkook who was sleeping like a baby. “You horny idiot. You come to me after going around the town looking for a quick fuck and then you make me look like the bad one who is doing everything on purpose.” When Jungkook did not move nor answered, you became bolder. “Now you are cursing at every virgin but before you were happy when you could have me.” You stood up from the chair frustrated. “What does he take me for? Does he think that I will wait for him to snap his fingers, so I could fulfil his every desire? Does he think I am going to be blindly in love with him and be willing to spend my whole life fulfilling each of his desires?” You made your way to the bed to look at Jungkook, while he is not reacting to any of your words. “You freaking idiot. I am a woman. What I had, I saved it for a man who I would choose to be my husband but you stole it from me. I am a living human being and I have my pride too!” You spat out and turned away from him and went to sit on the chair again. You covered yourself with a blanket you took from the bed and tried to sleep for a little bit more.

It was almost lunchtime when Jungkook woke up. You were sitting in the chair, doing stitching work when you heard first of many groans. He held his messy hair and head with both hands as if it was too heavy for his long neck. With the corner of his eyes, he saw you and quickly gave you instructions. “Give me the bathrobe.” You put away the material on which you were stitching a flower ornament and walked to Jungkook, to hand him the bathrobe. You wanted to help him, but he pushed your hands away and stood up. “Until I come back, have everything ready for my bath.” He spat out. “And made it hot because if not, I am going to slap your little butt.” When he closed the door, you smiled knowing that he was feeling really bad but you quickly gave orders to Jimin, knowing that it would be better not to test his patience. When Jungkook came back, he was even paler but his walk looked a bit lighter than before. He took off his clothes and sat in the tub. He was sitting in the bath for a long time, eyes closed and his head was leaning on the edge of the tub. Someone knocked on the door and you could see Jungkook’s cheek twitch.

“Stop kicking the door!“ He shouted and then continued more quietly. “And enter if you must.” Jimin tiptoed inside and brought a glass of brandy to his captain. He exchanged a knowing look with you, to find out how you were dealing with the situation. He knew you were a strong woman so he was glad you were dealing with it very well. He handed the glass to his captain and he disappeared once again. Jungkook gulped the first half of the liquor and sighed feeling the tension in his body ease up a little. You grabbed a sponge and a soap, ready to help Jungkook wash up just as you used to. You were about to touch his body but he shouted at you. “ Get out, you fucking woman. Disappear from my sight. I can do it myself.” You stepped back dropping the sponge and soap into the tub. You made your way towards the door and opened them before Jungkook noted, being amused. “Where are you going like that?” With your hand, you first reached for your shoulders then to your back. You almost forgot you are half-naked but your pride did not let you lose. “I am going downstairs and ask Jimin to button them up for me.” You answered boldly. You closed the door behind yourself before Jungkook could respond anything. By a coincidence, a maid was passing you by and you asked her to button up your dress. You could hear that Jungkook was not satisfied with your answer as he was swearing loudly.

You went downstairs and ordered a cup of tea for yourself. Soon enough Jungkook joined you. He waited till the server left the table before he started. “If you don’t want me to bend you over my knee, pull up your shirt and slap your naked butt, I suggest you not to provoke me.” You looked at him innocently, not knowing what made him so mad. “What is the cause of your desire to punish your wife, who is carrying your child?” You could see him clenching his teeth. “Y/N,” he tried to calm himself. “Don’t tease me. You know I have no mood for any jokes.” You gulped dryly. Seeing the twitch of his cheek, you stopped from questioning any further. You knew it meant danger.

It was the last evening of your stay in your hometown and you were well aware of that. Jungkook was the whole day in the docks taking care of the ship and when he finally came back, he found you sitting in the tub. Jungkook stood still in the door. He was watching the precious moment of you taking a bath with him inside the room. To him, it was such a domestic scene and was not happy when you noticed him and started lean forward in the tub, trying to cover yourself. To Jungkook, it was a beautiful sight, the most beautiful he saw that day.

Jungkook walked towards you and leaned in as if wanting to kiss you. “Good evening, little one.” He whispered. It surprised you how gentle he was. You felt like you were in the trap in the tub. You submerged yourself deeper trying to smile at him, but the smile was uncertain. Jungkook laughed at your attempt to smile and he grabbed the soap from the table and let it fall into the tub in front of your face, causing it to splash the water on you. “Wipe your face, little one.” He handed you the towel. “It is wet.” You swiftly pulled the towel from his hand and pushed it to your eyes. “You! You!” You tried to start but could not find the fitting words.

“Just enjoy the bath, little one.” He continued more seriously. “It is most likely you will not be able to enjoy it in the near future.” You quickly turned to him with eyes wide open thinking it was a new method of how to make you behave. “No, Jungkook. Please. I don’t have many things I enjoy in my life and this one is so dear to me.” You were looking at him, pleading for him to change his mind. “Jungkook, please. Don’t take it from me. I love taking baths, please…” You bit your lower lip that was trembling and looked down. Jungkook stopped smirking and walked closer towards the tub. He grabbed the edge with both hands and kept on looking at you. You were sitting sadly as if you were a small child being scolded. Jungkook started again, but his voice was more gentle. “You are really unfair to me, Y/N, when you think I would take away something you enjoy so much. I just wanted to tell you that tomorrow we are leaving.” You quickly looked up into his eyes and the light of the candle shined at your bust. “Oh, Jungkook. I didn’t know. I am sorry.” You whispered. “It was really mean of me to accuse you of something like that.” You stopped talking once you noticed he was no longer looking into your eyes but his eyes travelled southern. His lips were pale and you could see that his cheek was twitching while looking at you. You blushed mumbling something and then you pulled the huge sponge to cover your showing bust. Jungkook suddenly turned away and walked towards the window. Staring into the distance.

You thought it was just minutes ago when you fell asleep but Jungkook was already waking you up, handing you the dress. It was still too early in the morning but you were supposed to leave today, so it was never too early to go on the board. When you arrived on Bangtan, Mrs Dubois was already there waiting for you with all of the dresses that she prepared. When she showed Jungkook everything and he nodded in satisfaction, he opened the chest with the money. Mrs Dubois looked over his shoulder and gasped when she saw the amount of gold he had there. Jungkook looked at her raising his right eyebrow. Mrs Dubois returned to her place on the other side of the table and Jungkook continued with counting the money.

The dressmaker was looking at you, as you were placing all of the dresses she brought on the ship to the chest Jungkook got you a few days ago. Then she turned to Jungkook and with a calculative look, she smiled at him. “Will madam come with you next year again?” Jungkook shook his head. “No.” Mrs Dubois smiled slyly and run her fingers through her hair. “When you come back, will you get the new dresses in my shop again, monsieur? I will be happy to design some dresses for madam.” She softly touched the hem of her dress near the showing bust trying to be seductive. “My service will be available to you anytime, monsieur.”

You heard the last sentence and saw how she was looking at Jungkook. You tried not to be bothered so you returned back to packing the dresses. Jungkook scoffed at what Mrs Dubois said. He looked up and her coldly, then his eyes looked her up and down as if measuring and judging her. His eyes lingered longer on her bust then looked back at the money in the chest, counting again. Without looking away, Jungkook started. “I think you did not understand, madam. I am not coming back. This is the last one of my travels.” The dressmaker stepped back meanwhile Jungkook handed her the bag of golden coins. Mrs Dubois did not count them, she quickly turned away and left the ship without saying a word.

After a tiring day, it was finally a calm evening with the water surface being as smooth as a table. The sun set down and you were standing next to Jungkook once he commanded his crew. “Anchor up! We are leaving!” Soon enough you could no longer see the light of your hometown. You kept looking at the mainland in the distance until you heard a sailor shouting. “Bye mainland!” With that, you sighed knowing it was the last time in your hometown. Soon you have to start a new life somewhere else.

When both of you returned to the cabin you shared, Jungkook started explaining to you while you sat down on the small bed. “The deck belongs to the sailors until the early morning, Y/N. If you were to go out too early, you might see something that would make you blush. I advise you to stay inside until lunchtime.” You kept nodding at his commands understanding that this was how you were going to live for the next few weeks. “Oh, and you are not allowed to go below deck.” He added. “It belongs to the crew. They have their beds there and spend their time there and you are a sweet temptation for men on the long voyage. I don’t want to kill anyone just because he forgot that you belong to me. That is why you are not going there nor are you going to be in their way.” You nodded once again and sighed, nothing to yourself.This is how it is going to be, for now. I have to be strong.

Chapter 14

a/n: Babiessss we are finally moving from Y/N’s hometown to the ocean. o.o ♥ And after that we will see where Jungkook is from. WHO IS READY?!?!?!?

[krreader]

seven sins | chapter seven.

pairing: bts x reader ; kim taehyung x reader fandom: bts warnings: non idol!au ; historical!au ; princes!bts ; concubine!reader ; sex ; oral sex genre: smut ; fluff word count: 2.4k+ previous: 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; 4 ; 5 ; 6

summary: even in times such as yours, you still led a privileged life with nothing to ask for. that is until first your father, then your mother died and you were left to care for your two younger sisters. the position for royal physician seemed to be open and with your father having been a general and your mother having been a maid for the queen, you thought you might be able to get it.. little did you know that your visit to the palace would put a completely different offer on the table.

a/n: so, uhm... yeah... enjoy, ahem. enjoy a lot lol. 

You didn't know what time it was, but it must have been well past midnight with the moon shining so brightly into your room. But that wasn't the reason of you not being able to fall asleep and fidgeting with your fingers as you stared at the ceiling.

Had Eun been lying?

Did she say that to give herself an excuse for falling for prince Taehyung? To say that a prince can fall in love with a concubine since it happened to you too?

But she didn't strike you as a liar. Naive and foolish, yet kind and honest.

No, she must have told the truth.

But then who was it? You hadn't spent a lot of time with the princes, the only two that you'd even consider to have feelings for you would be Yoongi and Jimin, but only because they were the only ones that you've done more than just sleep together.

As for princes Hoseok and Jeongguk.. you assumed they weren't the ones, what you have had was purely sexual.

No matter how hard you thought about it, you could not come up with an answer. Because it simply didn't make sense. None of them knew you enough to fall in love with you.. it was ridiculous. 

You let out a heavy sigh and pressed your hands onto your face, wanting to scream into them for it all suddenly being so complicated.

What happened to your mission?

It needed to be a priority from now on, you had to see the king as soon as possible or this would all escalate.

You immediately sat up when the door to your room got pushed open, your eyes wide when you saw..

“Prince Taehyung?” you got up, bowed and then furrowed your brows, “Eun's room is..-”

“I know, I've been there often enough,” he interrupted you with a half-grin, “Would you mind taking a little walk with me?”

“Now..- you mean.. right now?” your eyes fell on the darkness outside, then you looked back at him, “Really?”

“It's a full moon tonight,” he had been intimidating before, but now he wasn't like that at all. He had a kind smile on his face, that brightened when he extended his hand, “What do you say?”

“I should get changed first, this isn't the proper attire one should wear when going on a stroll with a prince.”

“Nobody will see us... and besides... you don't need clothes for what I have planned.”

Oh, wow. 

Is anyone surprised? Not you, that's for sure.

Of course he came for what everyone else came here for. Not that you were upset by this, you knew your place here and, unlike some, you didn't think of yourself as something special, not even after Eun's story.

“Well, alright then,” you didn't even grab a jacket when walking outside, but with the warm season that had finally arrived, you didn't need it anyway.

In fact, now was the perfect time to be outside.

Throughout the day, it was simply too hot to do anything, but with the darkness and the light breeze, it felt.. refreshing.

Taehyung led you through the palace grounds, not even acknowledging any of the guards that you two passed and they didn't seem to care either, only straightened their backs to show their respect.

Not even when he led you outside through a passage that you didn't know  –  but would have liked to have known, because getting in would have been a lot easier – did they care. 

“Where are you taking me?”

“Are you afraid?” he chuckled a little and stopped walking for a moment, only to turn around and hold out his hand to you once again. Only that this time, you reached for it, “Don't be. I'll protect you.”

He sure as fuck was smooth, you could see why Eun liked him so much. He was a real proper gentleman.

“Not afraid, just curious. I figured that for what you had planned, you might just take me to your rooms.”

“Is that what the rest of my brothers have done?” he snorted when you simply smirked, “Figures. They can be so boring. But no, this isn't purely about what you have in mind.”

“Oh?” that piqued your interest.

Taehyung didn't respond right away, it was as if he wanted to think about his words carefully and you were glad that he did when he said what he said, while the two of you continued wandering through the woods, the moonlight lighting your path.

“Eun is a very beautiful and kind woman. One that I've come to appreciate. Her.. interest in me, it flatters me, it really does. But she's just like all the other women that we have in court. Focused on the goal that she was tasked with.”

“Your majesty, I don't think that Eun is as power hungry as some of the others.”

“That is true, she really isn't. But her goal still is to have an heir... in her case, with me,” he looked to you, his beautiful smile back on his face, “But that isn't your goal... right, (Y/N)?”

Your mouth opened, immediately wanting to tell him that you weren’t with child yet because of his eldest brother, but it seemed as if Taehyung didn't even care about the reasoning.

Maybe he even liked that he didn't know, maybe he liked that mysterious veil that you had surrounding you. That you had an agenda and he didn't know what it was. Which should have been dangerous, but he didn't seem to look at it that way.

“Ah.. here we are.”

What you saw in front of you was like straight out of a fairy tale.

A small, but beautiful stream that led into a pond that was so clear, that you could see the moon's reflection in a way that could make someone think it was right there, ready for you to hold it in your hands and admire it from up-close. This, is what every women in your village had as her dream of a place where she'd lose her virginity. In a romantic place such as this one, with a man as beautiful and kind as Prince Taehyung. Maybe even exactly this fantasy with this prince...

“It's beautiful,” you let out a breath you had been holding, then smiled, “So... peaceful.”

“That's why it's my favorite spot. The castle grounds can be too much sometimes, so I like to come here when I need to think or just want to find inspiration.”

“For?”

“A lot of things,” Taehyung shrugged, kneeling down and holding his hand into the water, “Drawing, singing... anything that I'm in the mood for.”

You merely continued smiling, even when he got back up and walked over to you, cocking his head to the side, “It's a little cold, but... want to go for a swim?”

“Now?!”

Taehyung couldn't help but chuckle at your reaction, then took two steps back and pulled his shirt over his head, revealing his beautiful upper body to you.

His proportions were... out of this world.

“I'll keep you warm, I promise.”

It's not like you could do much, because before you knew it, he was already naked and in the water and all you could do was watch with an open mouth, before eventually taking off your clothes yourself.

You wouldn’t say no to this. 

This certainly wasn't how you had pictured this night to go, you had thought you'd sleep through the night in your warm bed, not swim naked with a prince in a pond.

But Taehyung's expression went from happy, to absolutely ecstatic when you actually did join him. Like he hadn't expected you to.

“Cold?” to your surprise, he actually kept his distance at first. You thought he'd be all over you, but no. 

Damn... no wonder Eun liked him so much.

You really had the wrong impression of him.

“A little, but... it's kind of nice with the warm air.”

It wasn't very deep, you could easily stand and keep yourself upright, but just like him, you didn't move.

“I really don't know what it is about you that makes all of us go crazy. We all try to figure you out, but nobody can. Maybe my father saw something that we couldn't see just yet.”

“Or maybe it's not that deep,” you gave him a looped smile, “I appreciate that you all see something in me, but there really isn't anything to tell that makes me any more special than any of the other girls. I am just like them, I was chosen to please you, I was chosen to help you with your heirs and that is the end of the story.”

Taehyung slowly came closer, but not close enough for you to feel his breath on your face, “Then why does it sound so unconvincing when you say that?”

You were playing a dangerous game here. The longer you spent with them, the more they figured that there was something going on with you and Taehyung seemed to have his suspicions already, even if, right now, they weren't the right ones.

You had to get him to believe that you were there for one reason and one reason only... at least for now.

So you were ultimately the one that swam closer to him, so close that you could wrap your arms and legs around him, smiling when he wrapped his arms around your body to hold you with a grin, “Why do you care so much about a concubine, my prince?”

“Because, my dear (Y/N), you are the most interesting person we've ever had at the palace,” his hands were under your ass, but he didn't grope you or anything, they literally just acted as a seat for you, “I grow tired of people real quick, of concubines in particular. But you..,” he shook his head and smiled honestly at you, “..I look into your eyes and I see a story. I want to know what it is.”

“Then maybe you should just close your eyes,” you chuckled, “I can help you with that.”

And indeed, the moment you reached in between your bodies and you grabbed his length, he closed his eyes and let out a happy sigh.

“Tell me, then, your majesty,” you leaned in closer as you began to stroke him under the water, your mouth now right in front of his, “Would you like to be inside me?”

You didn't expect him to laugh at that, but it only added to his charm, “I suppose this is the kind of talk that my brothers appreciate, hm?” when you looked taken aback, he nodded and grabbed your wrist, pulling it up and placing both of your arms over his shoulders, “I want to make you feel good, (Y/N).”

Well, this was a surprising turn of events. You had been sure that your romantic time with him would now come to an end as your hand would have guided him to your entrance in the water, but instead, Taehyung walked the short distance to shore with you, so that he could lift you up onto solid ground again and then climbed out of the water after you.

All you could do was watch with curious eyes as he pulled your legs towards him, him now on his knees, lifting one of your legs up and beginning to kiss it.

This was very... new. But you felt comfortable with him and so you let him do it, actually lied back into the grass and just relaxed.

You could feel his kisses traveling higher and higher, until he was kissing the insides of your thighs.

That was ultimately the moment that you looked down at him with shock.

Taehyung chuckled.

“Close your eyes, beautiful. I promise, you'll enjoy it.”

You had a rough guess of what he was about to do, but when his lips kissed between your legs, you still let out a surprised moan.

This was very new to you, you didn't even know that men did this or that this was pleasurable for woman. But fuck...

“I've always wanted to do this with a woman that I cared about... that I wanted to understand how beautiful and perfect she was,” he whispered and kissed your sensitive nub once again, “Tell me when something doesn't feel good. I want you to scream in pleasure tonight.”

That wasn't hard, because the moment he started sucking, you were already fisting your hands in his hair and letting out one moan after the other.

Taehyung wrapped his arms around your legs and pulled you closer to him, fully eating you out now.

For the fact that he said he did this for the first time, you had absolutely zero complains. His tongue brushing through your folds, his lips sucking on your sensitive spot... it was perfect. And despite you having enjoyed your time with his brothers, what Taehyung did right now made you feel very different.

In fact, after just a few minutes, a sensation that you had never felt before started rushing through your body and you couldn't help but moan: “Don't stop... please,” again and again, now pushing his head closer into you.

This only made Taehyung suck harder, even his teeth were now gently biting down on your sensitive nub and you finally let out a loud scream that ended up scaring a few birds away from nearby trees.

Taehyung wanted to continue, but when you began shaking, he stopped and kissed his way up your body instead.

You were completely out of breath when he was finally on your eye level.

“How'd I do?” he grinned.

You let out a laugh, a small blush spreading on your cheeks, though your face already felt flushed, so it probably didn't make a difference, “You want me to say it, don't you?”

“Absolutely.”

Your legs felt like jelly, but you still wrapped them around his body and pulled him towards you, your arms around his neck, “Then continue making me feel good, and I might.”

See, this is why he liked you so much. You were a challenge and he didn't get those very often.

Taehyung simply smirked and aligned himself with your entrance, both of you moaning loudly when he slid inside you so easily.

“What... you're so... wet.”

He made a mental note to himself here: always pleasure a woman with your tongue beforehand. You'll be a happier man afterwards, too.

And so the two of you made love in the middle of the forest, on the grass next to a pond with the moonlight shining down on you and being your light.

And it was no lie when you told him afterwards: “You've been the best lover I've ever had.”

[paragonrobits]

a friend asked me to give a shot at doing an entry in this tier list they linked me to, of the video games inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame since 2015, and I opted to give it a shot!

My rankings are generally biased towards games I personally enjoy playing, though I will give some commentary on their historic relevance:

S-Rank

Super Mario Bros: The game that repopularized video games in the US, that arguably began the entire platforming video game genre and all its imitators and spin-offs, that spawned a new generation of video games after the Atari Crash in the US, and still a DAMN FUN game in its own right! I simply had to put this at the top ranking. After the disillusionment caused by Atari’s failures, this game brought home consoles back in a big way to the US. 

World of Warcraft: Now, I’m not much for MMORPGs. Nevertheless, I’ve followed the lore and general information in the Warcraft setting for years now, and a couple years back, my brother asked me to play it with him. I had a ton of fun, honestly! Playing a goblin mage, I believe. WoW is notable for being THE MMORPG, and still going strong. Admittedly, nowadays many games do what it does better, and the time when it was dominant as THE single game to play is past, but it was still an enjoyable experience and I really have to like how sincere the game is about its aesthetics and campy vibe. Given that the entire setting is reputedly a reskin of a Warhammer Fantasy Battle video game that went south, it’s cheery and colorful, morally gray tone is... an interesting complication in its history. (Also, HORDE. I STAN THE HORDE VERY HARD.)

The Sims: A bit of history; I did not play this game as enthusiastically as a kid as my sister and mom did. We ALL spammed the hell out of the Rosebud cheat, though; not until recent times did I actually wind up playing the game properly, when the most recent iteration of the series was free for a while. My mom didn’t care to play the game, she just liked building houses. In any case, while my attention drifted from the game now and then, I always am fascinated by the actual gameplay of caring for your simulated humans, and the way you don’t actually control them directly. This sort of hands off experience is actually a bit similar to the ‘dungeon simulator’ genre, and while the game is notorious for enabling cruelty (something I never saw the appeal of!), it’s a surprisingly wholesome experience, and it can’t be understated how unique this gameplay was at the time.

Legend of Zelda: It’s actually rather interesting how different OG Zelda is from modern games. Not just the top down perspective (which DOES pop up, now and then); the game is non-linear and allows you to go to any dungeon at any point, completing the game at your leisure, and the story is extremely barebones compared to what we may be used to. It’s quite a far cry from the linear gameplay of gradually collecting tools and working through plots that the games are known for. Breath of the Wild is, in fact, a return to form rather than an upheaval of the formula. I’ll also admit that I have a lot of affection for the gameplay of this one, as well as Link To The Past.

Donkey Kong: When you’re talking old school, as far as what you might call the modern generation of games goes (which is to say, the games that resurged after the Atari Crash), it’s hard to go wrong with Donkey Kong. It’s certainly notable for being a weird stage in Mario’s character and something that is generally ignored; it’s just strange thinking that at one point he was supposed to be abusive towards a pet ape that went in an innocent, well-meaning rampage! Personally this one kind of breaks a mold for my S-class rankings because while I like this one fine, I don’t like it THAT much; i mostly played it in the DK 64 game, and found it very difficult and that’s stuck with me. Still, I place it here for its momentous position in placing Nintendo on the map, with the influence and revolutionary technologies and gaming mechanics they would introduce, to this very day.

Pokemon Red/Blue: Hoo boy. HOO BOY it is honestly something of an oversight that I didn't immediately shove this beauty straight to the front of the S-line because good god I love this game. It's been years and years, long since I was but a whee Johnny playing a strange new game for the first time just because there was a cool turtle creature on the cover (because I was super into turtles back then), and I still love this game. Even with the improvements made to the formula since then (getting rid of HMs, the fixes and new types introduced since) there's still something lovable about this game, even as something as basic as the official artwork that just tugs my heartstrings. This game is highly notable for being an RPG that popularized the monster collecting/befriending gameplay (so far as I know), and as an autistic person, i really appreciate knowing the whole thing grew out of an autistic man's bug collection hobby from when he was a child. Pokemon is an absolute juggernaut of a media influence, and THIS is where it all began. It's first stage evolution, you might say. And not like a Magikarp or anything. This one's more like one of the starters... appropriately enough. Final Fantasy 7: This is probably a bit of a controversial take, but FF7 was not actually one of my favorite Final Fantasy entries back in the day. I never played much more of it than the beginning missions, as my cousin owned the machine in question, and I moved out before i could play it much. Final Fantasy 3 (in the US; it's more generally referred to as 6 now) was my favorite for a long, long time, and that game pioneered many of the traits that would be associated with 7: the epic story, the complex ensemble cast, though 7 really expanded on that basic idea, and previous games were hardly shabby in that regard. 9 is my favorite of the pre-10 era, with its extreme shake ups to the mechanics of the game. No; what makes 7 stand out is that it was a shift towards making Final Fantasy a constantly shifting, unique franchise where every entry was its own thing; it introduced 3D graphics with a fun and cartoony style mixed with a story that wouldn't be out of place in a cyberpunk story, and heralds Squaresoft (as it was called at the time) splitting off from Nintendo, with its censorship policies, and doing its own thing with Sony, with a great deal more freedom to write as they pleased. The party design also stands out, which each character having their own unique function in the party while the Materia concept allows a degree of modular skills to be installed, customizing them in ways that, in my opinion, the best entries in the franchise (on a gameplay level) would revisit. Colossal Cave Adventure: I'll be honest; I never played this game, and I don't believe it's particularly familiar to me at all. However, I chose it for this vaunted spot in S-rank because games of this nature, of text-based prompt and responses, are some of the most interesting things imaginable! Games like AI Dungeon are similar in some respects, and its impressive to think just how dang old this game is, and yet it managed to pull off basically being it's own DM. It has an interesting history; created by a man who worked on the precursor to the Internet, the game was made to connect with his daughter and was inspired by recent entries into Dungeons And Dragons, and later expanded upon by other programmers. It's notable that while Zork is the sort of game that would probably involve more immediate recognition (I actually mistook it for Zork at first, from the screenshot), this game was the first of its kind, and that always deserve some recognition. Minecraft: I absolutely LOVE Minecraft, and it's rightfully one of the most popular games, if not THE most popular game, of the last couple of decades, and it's interesting to think just how unconventional it is; the game is, effectively, a LEGO simulator, and as someone who honestly always wanted tons of LEGO sets as a kid but could never afford them consistently, there's something genuinely very appealing about Minecraft's basic set up. It's open approach and lack of a goal, just gameplay mechanics that encourage you to build and do as you please, makes for a very relaxing and unusual mentality not often seen in games until this point; it doesn't even have a storyline, it simply gives you a world to play around in. Of note, Minecraft's entry seems to have relevance towards video games becoming a cultural touchstone; Minecraft's visual aesthetic leans towards both blocky LEGOs and retro graphics, and certainly proves that games don't need to strive for hyper realistic graphics to be appealing. ----- A RANK Doom: I genuinely like Doom, a lot! I still have memories of replaying this game frequently, long before Doom 2016 and Eternal were glimmers; it's just genuinely very fun to play. That said, I feel that there's other games that are a bit more historically notable and while i like this game, not quite as much as other entries. But it cant be understated that this was THE first person shooter, and more to the point, was fundamental towards game design as we know it. Of note, it pioneered the idea of a game engine, which has had tremendous impact down the road in terms of making a flexible baseline system that latergames were programmed around. Additionally, the first three episodes being free, with the additional ones being purchased as part of the full game, this was, I think, the first demonstration of a demo. Back then, we called this shareware; a game which was free but had full features locked off, but otherwise you could play it however much you wanted. There's a REASON Doom winds up on more systems than Skyrim! Ultimately, while it's not one of my favorite games, it's impact on the business of gaming and the functions of game design cannot be overstated. Pac-Man: This game, is THE game that made video games a phenomenon and its worth thinking about that and how video games as a modern institituion can be drawn, however broadly, from Pac-Man's commercial success. I should note that while I've played this game extensively, it's not something I'm particularly good at; there's a LOT going on here and its a bit much for me to handle. That's probably a strength; there's a reason people had to fake their accomplishments and falsified high scores. It's worth noting that Pac-Man is a unique thing in that it has been rereleased many times over, and every generation has found it enjoyable and fun, unlike other games that set trends only to be lost out in the end. (Goldeneye, for instance!) The Oregon Trail: Like many other people I assume, I first played this game as something available on school computers. Purportedly made as an educational game to teach students about history, this game may be notable for, among other things, being an entry point towards the idea of resource management in video games (as well as being hellishly difficult, by the standards then, but that DOES illustrate a point, does it not?). It's also the oldest, most continuously available game ever made, even now being ported to smartphones, or so I hear! It seems to be a very early example of edutainment games, and a genuinely great one at that. It probably helps that a selling point is that it doesn't really mince around with its subject matter; anyone who's played this game knows that total party kill is the default assumption, as it was in life. Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat: I place these two together as I feel that they form a duo of sorts, and defined fighting games of my childhood and modern gaming experience; name a fighting game, from Injustice to something as deliberately different as Smash Bros, and it has SOME relation to these games, even if its in terms of doing something completely different. These games set a mold for fighting games! Among other things, both games feature iconic characters as a selling point, and to this day fighting games make their mark based on how signature their characters are. Mortal Kombat is of course an incredibly violent game (though very tame, by modern standards), and its fatalities and depicitons of violence sparked thought and arguments on what video games ought to be allowed to depict, for better or for worse. It's not implausible to suggest that the overly strict restrictions on what video games could depict go back to Mortal Kombat's fatalities, specifically (since there's far worse games predating it, though too graphically primitive to be obvious). Street Fighter, conversely, strikes me as having more characterization and depth, especially as far as fighting systems go; I find it hard to be interested in many fighting games now, if they don't offer as much depth as the likes of Street Fighter 2. Street Fighter stands out for innovating multiplayer play, initially in the arcade, and its not implausible to say that the likes of Smash Bros is a descendant of sorts of the specific mentality Street Fighter brought to the table. Consider also that it is STILL a mainstay in the remaining arcades and cabinets in service today! Tomb Raider: This is a game i legit liked back in the day, and there's some part of me that's sad that the platforming, puzzle solving and focus on exploration has not really made it back into the modern Tomb Raider series, last I checked. There's probably something interesting in that Lara Croft represents a bit of an intermediate period between platforming mascots and modern Edgy Protagonists; you know the ones. Balding white dudes with vague dad vibes, but this is not a slight on Lara; she definitely has a ton of personality, even just at a cover glance. This game had a strong focus on exploration, and that's honestly something I really like. Super Mario Kart: I'm going to be controversial here; complaints about the Blue Shell are kinda overrated. It's not that different from, say, a red shell hitting you from behind when you're close to the finish line. But, jokes and old 90s memes aside, this game has some interesting status in that it started the idea of making spin-off games in dramatically different contexts; Crash Team Racing and Sonic Drift, for example, are listened as similar games. On a franchise level, this began the trend of Mario becoming a truly flexible character who could do pretty much whatever was required of him, not just the original platforming games, and its possible his imitators never quite learned the same lesson. Though one wonders what Miyamoto might have thought if he'd known how many thinkpieces he would spawn with 'why does mario go-karting with Bowser when they're enemies?'. For my part, I favor the idea that the other games are in-universe fictions they're actors on and this is their actual dynamic, or that Mario is a relaxed dude who doesn't mind playing kart games with his foe. (I mean, he's not Ridley. Bowser's easy enough to get along with.) Animal Crossing: Again, I have to emphasize that I've never actually played this game, at least on a consistent basis (and by that, I mean I MIGHT have played it on the Gamecube, once, in the early 2000s), and have to speak from what I've seen of what it sparked. And I really do like the way it really codified the sub-genre of relaxed, open-ended games where the player is free to do as they like, without much stress or fear, which is something I think more games could stand to do. On my personal list of features that my ideal video game would have, Animal Crossing would definitely offer a few ideas. I am reminded of farming simulators, such as Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley; while they are different beasts entirely, there's a familiar sense of non-combat relaxation that's pleasant to see. Spacewar!: This machine is GODDAMN old, and like an old fogey predating modern humans, it deserves our respect. It's so old, it predates Pong. Supposedly created as part of predictative Cold War models, with an emphasis on emulating sci fi dogfights, producing a game that soon proved popular, for over a decade remainign the most popular game on computer systems, and a clumsy foray into arcade gaming (that didn't pan out, unfortunately) led to the creation of Pong by its creator, which is another story all its own! And Pong is directly responsible for the idea of the video game itself; this game launched the entire video game industry as we understand it! No small feat, indeed. ----

B RANKED Sonic The Hedgehog: I must state that I DO like this game, though not as much as later entires like Sonic 3 and Knuckles, or the Sonic Adventure series; the fast paced action seems a bit hobbled by the traps and need to be careful of surroundings, which would seem to run counter towards the whole idea of GOTTA GO FAST, y'know? But the game presents an interesting viewpoint on the nature of mascot gaming; created specifically, so it is said, as a rival to Mario, Sonic was designed as a mascot with attitude, and inspired a host of imitators; he's probably the only one to escape the 90s more or less intact, and this may have something to say about his flexibility, star power, and also the fact that he's a pretty mild character, all things considered. This game certainly has its place in gaming history, giving an important place in the console wars of yesteryear. Believe me, I was a kid in the 90s, Sonic was a HUGE deal. Space Invaders: This game is noted to have catapulted games into prominence by making them household, something outside of arcades, and it shows! An interesting detail of note is that supposedly, the Space Invaders were meant to all move at high speed, but this was either too hard to play against, or too costly on the processor; it was found that by making them speed up as they were defeated, it created an interesting set of challenge. You have to appreciate game history like that. In general, its success prompted Japanese companies to join the market, which would eventually produce what I imagine was a thriving, competitive market that would eventually get us Nintendo and it's own gamechangers down the road. Grant Theft Auto 3: I'm going to be honest with you. I don't much care for this sort of game. The Saints Row series, with its fundamental wackiness, is the kind of game I really DO like if I'm going for something like this, and GTA sort of leaning towards the 'cruel for fun and profit' gameplay is really unappealing for me. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't address this game, and what seems to come up is two things: the game's sheer freedom in its open world (which certainly pushed the bar for games of that nature, and has made it a byword for gamers screwing around in a game just to see what ridiculous things they could or couldn't do) and the infamous reputation from the mature aspects of the game. Personally, I'm not much for this game's take on maturity (if I wanted to discuss a game of that nature, I'd suggest, say, Spec Ops: The Line) but I really do appreciate what this game and its series did for the open world genre, and the sheer possibilities presented for letting you do what you wanted. King's Quest: I've never played this game, but I am a HUGE fan of the point and click genre (also known generally as the adventure game genre) that it spawned; without this game, there's no Monkey Island, no Sam and Max, no The Dig or Full Throttle, or Gabriel Knight. This game was similar to previous text-based games, with a text parser to input commands, but with the distinction of a graphical interface to move their character around, which would be the seed of later games such as the SCUMM engine of Monkey Island and other Lucasarts games (which, to me, ARE Adventure Gaming). The puzzles, comedic sensibilities, and interface innovations originated with this game, and codified those later adventure games i love so much. Starcraft: This is another one those list of 'games I should have already played by now'. I'm not much of an RTS person, barring forays with games such as Impossible Creatures, Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War, and more strange entries such as Brutal Legend, and I contend that the combat aspects of 4X games like Civilization DO count on some level; the specifics of troop movement and unit strengths/weaknesses are a bit beyond me, when you get to more complex stuff. Starcraft, reading between the lines, really introduced the idea of multiplayer culture especially for RTS, pioneered the Battle(dot)net system (which I mostly recall from Diablo, if I'm being honest!) as well as the idea of relative strengths and powers for individual factions so that they became characters in their own right. It's still a very popular online game, and that says SOMETHING. Also, I tend to use zerg rushes, so I would probably play Zerg. Probably. (There is much speculation on whether or not, like Warcraft being a failed Warhammer Fantasy game, if the same holds true for Starcraft and Warhammer 40k. I lean on the side of 'probably not'; the differences are too notable. The Zerg and Tyranids have some similarties, but that's probably because they're based on the same broad hive mind evil insect aggressor trope, and they have enough differences from there to be very distinct from one another. It's not like how OG Warcraft's orcs were very obviously warhammer orcs with less football hooliganism.) Bejeweled: This is a firm case of a game that I don't play, but I really have to respect its influence on gaming as a whole. Apparently it started as a match three-type game with a simplistic formula that proved wildly popular (perhaps making a point that simpler can be more effective, in game mechanics), with a truly explosive record of downloads; over 500 million, it seems. Thus its fair to say that this game set the precedent for casual games, which have become THE market. Regardless of your feelings on that genre, this one was a real game changer. (Pun intended, absolutely.) ----

C RANK Pong: "By most measures of popular impact, Pong launched the video game industry." This line alone saws it all, I think. It wasn't the first video game, but it was one of the more early ones, and its the one that really made video games and consoles successful, gaining widespread attention from the mainstream audience, as well as getting Atari recognition (for better or for worse, but perhaps that was just a development of being on top, so to speak; maye the console wars at least kept the big three honest). It also started the arcade revolution of games, and this humble game is essentially responsible for the entire state of video games as a concept, as we know it today. Halo: No disrespect to Halo, but it's just a game series I've never quite been able to get into. Those games are very hit and miss for me; games like Call of Duty, Battlefield, Gears of War and everything like that are just... hard for me to get into. It takes something specific like Borderlands or the Besthesda Fallout series, or something else, for me to get hooked, and Halo just doesn't do it for me! Nevertheless, I would be QUITE remiss if I simply dismissed it, and there's reasons for it to be inducted into the hall of fame barely three years into the hall of fame making inductees. Firstly, it was Microsoft's big entry into the console wars, and it must be said this was a MASSIVE upset and a completely unprecedented shift in the assumptions of the console wars back then; NO ONE expected microsoft to actually do this, let alone redefine gaming out of Sony and Nintendo's favor like that. At the time, PCs dominated FPS games, and Halo showed that consoles could do it just fine. It must also be said that it has a very intricate and complex system of lore, backstory and material that was quite distinctive for a new setting back in the day, and while I've seen people object to it's gameplay, I suspect that its with the benefit of hindsight; Halo offered an extremely unusual degree of freedom in achieving the goals set out for you. (Cortana also didn't deserve getting her name slapped onto that search assistant that eats up all your RAM.) Where In The World Is Carmen San Diego: Surprisignly enough, based on the article, this game was NOT an adaptation, but the source material of this character. This is where the fancy, mystery lady in the red coat started! Evidently this game was originally an edutainment game with a cops and robbers theme, and inspired by Colossal Cave Adventure from higher up on the list, and one must appreciate the effort that went into it. This one is ranked low, mostly because it didn't seem TOO notable to me. Honestly I'm surprised this is where Carmen Sandiego started. (And that she doesn't get enough credit as an iconic theatrical villain who won't go a step too far, but that's another rant.) -

D LIST

Here we are. The D LIST. The bottom of the sorting pile; the lowest of them all, the... well, the ones that I honestly don't necessarily dislike, but couldn't place higher for reasons of notability, personal interest, or perceived impact on the history of gaming. John Madden Football: Sports games, as a whole, really do NOT do it for me. I don't like real like sports at ALL (with, as a kid, a brief interest in boxing and that was just because they had gloves like Knuckles from Sonic the Hedgehog) so its hard for me to say that I find the history of this one all that compelling. Even so, there's some interesting elements in how this game was a sequel to a previous failed attempt, with a bold new attempt at a more arcade-style action game with a more dramatic take on the players, who would in turn be rated in different skill sets. The Madden series is STILL going so... it worked out pretty well, I'd say. (FUCKIN EA WAS BEHIND THIS ONE??? wow, EA is older than I thought.) Microsoft Flight Simulator: It's honestly a bit painful sorting this one so low, since I had many happy times as a wee Johnny playing this game back in the old days. I mean the OLD, old days. This was like, the days when Usenet was the preferred way for people to talk online. (Not me, though. I didn't talk to people, then. I was even less social than I am now, which is saying something!) All the same, I suppose that it was important to not crowd too many entries in a specific folder, and statistically, something had to keep getting knocked down, and in the end, I couldn't honestly say I still enjoyed this one enough to place it higher. Still, credit must be given where it is due; this game stands out for being an early foray into simulator gaming, showing a realistic depiction of actual flight. It has apparently been updated and rereleased many times since, which is impressive! Tetris: I like puzzles. So it might be surprising to hear this seminal game ranked so low; firstly, I like different KINDS of puzzles (like weird ones where you have to fling your sense of logic to the moon and back, or make use of gaming mechanics) and honestly this game is kind of stressful for me. You gotta keep an eye on a lot of different things flying around all at once, and constantly move things around, and that kind of attention and quick thinking does NOT come easily to me. All the same, I really have to admire how it was born from it's creator's pleasure in solving mathematical puzzles about sorting shapes into boxes, in a manner strangely remniscient of Satoshi's bug collecting that became Pokemon. Certainly the game's simplicity has proven a universally appealing thing, and may say something about the value of keeping it simple. Microsoft Solitaire: This game apparently became pay-to-get some time ago in recent computer generations, and let me tell, you, it was genuinely depressing to find that out. I remember younger decades, from the 90s and on, when this game was a regular and free feature in Windows computers fir MANY years. You got a computer, this game was on here. I was a kid, and i remember watching my mom play this game and makign the cards go WHOOP WHOPP all over the place and marveling, because I couldn't ever do the same thing. (A related note: I am terrible at this game. Go figure!) Of note, this game was massively widespread, and just EVERYWHERE, and I think everyone who ever played a computer back in those days instantly remembers it in some way. It was just... ubiquitous. Centipede: Oh, ol' Centipede. I don't mean to be mean to you. But between the likes of Pokemon and Super Mario Bros, even the arcade Donkey Kong, someone had to keep dropping down the leaderboard that is this tierlist, and unfortunately, there were other games that felt higher up than you. All the same, you're a very good game, and honestly, I like you more than some other games ranked higher for reasons of relevance to gaming history. Certainly more than anything else in D-listing. The colorful and appealing palette is noteworthy. That trackball controller! Amazing! (More games should use trackballs. They're fun and easy to use.) At the very least, Order of the Stick did a joke with you once, and that's better than anything I can do for you. All the same, you're a cool game.

[pocketreads]

REVIEW: Before We Disappear by Shaun David Hutchinson

US preorder link | insta | booktok | goodreads

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

To Keep It Short: I had a good time, but I was honestly expecting more from such a long book. (A TL;DR can be found at the bottom of this review!)

Summary: As a fantastic thief with flexible morality, Jack Nevin is the perfect assistant to the world-famous magician: the Enchantress. He likes what he does. Or at least, he thinks he does. Forced to flee and choosing to perform at the 1909 Alaska–Yukon–Pacific World’s Fair Exposition in America, Jack meets Wilhelm, and suddenly he isn't so sure.

Wilhelm doesn't know who his real parents are. Teddy made sure of that when he kidnapped him as a child after discovering Wilhelm's magic - his ability to travel to and from places in the blink of an eye. For the last decade, Teddy has been using Wilhelm against his will to carry out his heists. And now they're headed for the big game: the Fair Exposition, where Teddy intends to pose as Lazlo, a magician, in order to pull off their most risky heist yet.

THE BOOK:

CWs: kidnapping, involuntary bloodletting, manipulation, gaslighting, physical, mental, and emotional abuse/torture Release date: 9/28/2021 Publisher: HarperTeen Page Count: 512 Genre: YA Historical Fantasy Is It Queer: Yes! Achillean main romance, sapphic side romance.

THE REVIEW:

It's a little hard to describe how I felt about this book. Given that it's 500+ pages, I definitely expected more. I'm usually really into character-driven narratives, and while I certainly enjoyed Jack and Wilhelm's story well enough -- I finished it, after all -- it really did drag at some points. There's a lot of room to explore within 500 pages, but by the end, it felt like we'd only just dipped beneath the surface level of who Jack and Wilhelm really are. In Jack's case in particular, we learn early on that he lived on the streets for a time after his mother died, but we don't really get to see in any real depth the mark this left on him. I also wish we'd gotten to see more of Lucia, Ruth, and Jessamy, because I really did love them. All of the characters are wonderfully unique, and we see teasers into their lives and emotions and wants and needs, but we don't really get to delve into that. Everything as a whole might have felt more solid had we spent more time with them. Teddy and George can rot <3 All that said, I did enjoy it well enough! As dual narrators, Jack and Wilhelm are engaging and easy to love and root for. The romance was incredibly sweet, healthy, and well developed, and I enjoyed watching them realize what real love could feel like. The real plot of Before We Disappear was ultimately the romance, which is fine, although it left me wanting in regard to the subplots, all of which were deeply interesting but just... not quite there. If you're a stickler for historical accuracy, you might find yourself a bit annoyed with how homophobia is approached here, but SDH makes a really good statement in his author's note: "We were there in 1909 whether people knew it or not, and while Jack and Wil's story isn't true, I'd like to think it could have been." I'm personally in the middle ground, as I love to see gays just bein' happy and will always root for more of these narratives, but from a writing perspective, broaching the subject of homophobia could definitely have added a bit more emotional depth to the characters and subplots. All in all, it's a fun read and worth your time if you're looking for something a little lighter (that still hits on some deeper, more serious topics such as mental and physical abuse, gaslighting, kidnapping, etc.).

★★★✰✰/5 STARS (3/5)

TOO LONG; DIDN'T READ:

Pros: Great cast and narration, incredibly sweet romances, an overall fun read

Cons: Characters and plot needed further development, drags at moments, historical inaccuracy if that irks you

[dazais-guardian-angel]

Hi! Since you seem to be into a lot of different stuff can you share anime recommendations? If you have any. Have a lovely day!! You seem like such a sweet person

What 🥺🥺🥺 a-awww, thank you so much anon!! That’s so kind of you to say... I’m just a nut crying feels into the void over my obscure faves over here, without a consistent one fandom anymore a;lksfklkfg though I guess now it’s just egg, but thank you! ❤️ I have a lot of anime recommendations I can give, but I don’t know what exactly you’re into, or if you’re looking for anything in particular...? But I can definitely list some!

The big popular ones you probably already know about are My Hero Academia and Attack on Titan, I’ll get those out of the way first. I have my gripes with MHA and it has a lot of flaws that can’t be ignored, but overall it’s a really fun and high-energy and uplifting shounen series that has some really beautiful messages and moments, with a wonderful and touching main duo of main characters, and amazing animation and music; it’s as popular as it is for a reason, it’s just such a feel-good show and I’d always recommend it, even if I do complain about it sometimes haha. Attack on Titan on the other hand, I know hyperbole like this is like ugh really, but I really do mean it when I say it is an absolute masterpiece in the making; the first season feels very run-of-the-mill, typical shounen, which I wasn’t a big fan of like everyone else was at the peak of its initial hype years ago, but the show changes and evolves so much, beyond what you could ever imagine, honestly, and now by this point, when it’s almost at its end (the manga is literally ending a week from today), I can almost definitively say it’s one of the best anime out there. Everything in it is foreshadowed from the very first episode, the puzzle and mysteries unfold so masterfully and it all ties together so well, the story’s themes and the characters are all amazing, the music is GODLY and so is the animation, it’s just perfect, please please everyone watch AoT.

Bungou Stray Dogs is also pretty popular, and is one of my personal favorite animanga of all time; it’s a mystery/supernatural action semi-steampunk series with a huge focus on the characters and some AMAZING found family dynamics, seriously if you want found family for the love of god watch BSD, I love all these characters and their relationships so so much. Season 3 isn’t as good an adaptation of the manga, sadly, but the first two seasons and especially season 2 are absolutely amazing, and I would recommend the manga in a heartbeat as well. Noragami I adore for much of the same reasons, with the besttt found family dynamics and a really great balance between comedy and drama, though with Noragami in particular I would for sure stress to read the manga afterward, because the anime falls short near the end of season 2 and leaves so much unfinished, and the manga is absolutely phenomenal, one that like the rest of these will probably always remain in my top ten manga.

If you like shoujo, Akatsuki no Yona is my favorite shoujo of all time, with - once - again, wonderful found familyyy in a historical setting, really lovely slow progression of character development, and some fantastic action and music. The anime leaves so much unanswered and unfinished so the manga is an absolute must here, but I still just have to mention it because the anime is just so damn good in adapting what it covers, especially combined with the OVAs still waiting for that season 2 *cries*.

Assassination Classroom is a comedy/drama(??) shounen that ended a few years ago; it’s VERY funny and entertaining to watch, with an almost seamless transition into high emotional beats that left me speechless at how invested in and attached I suddenly was, and the ending, I’m not exaggerating, made me cry harder than literally anything else I have ever watched in my life, it is that devastating. Highly highly recommend AssClass yes that’s the nickname, I love it so so much, but be prepared to have your feels hit by a truck.

Free! is a really good sports anime with really great characters, and yes I am saying this completely unironically, I highly recommend Free’s first two seasons; just please for the love of god pretend season 3 does not exist. Run With the Wind is my other favorite sports anime that is CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED, it’s so motivational and uplifting and all the characters are so damn nice and endearing, and it has a fantastic score by the same composer as MHA and Haikyuu’s osts; EVERYONE WATCH RWTW IT IS SO SO GOOD.

Made in Abyss is another anime that is likely to never fully conclude the manga’s story, but the one season and movie that we do have is an absolute animated masterpiece in every imaginable way, so I would be remiss if I didn’t recommend it; it’s haunting and beautiful and very hard to watch at times, but so so worth it. Princess Tutu is, to me, the best magical girl anime of all time, dark beautiful fantasy with a wonderful four main characters and one of my favorite “villain” redemption arcs ever, not to mention one of the best enemies-to-lovers story arc I’ve ever seen. Of course my other favorite magical girl anime is the much-loved Puella Magi Madoka Magica, that is also dark but not without a purpose, twelve tightly-written episodes that wrap up perfectly by the end, with not a single minute wasted.

Poco’s Udon World is my favorite fluffy slice of life show; it’s also criminally underrated and SO sweet, it makes me cry every time I watch it with how goddamn precious it is, and I so wish more people knew about it. No.6 is a great short bl romance/sci-fi anime, and Romeo x Juliet is one of my favorite older romance anime, based on... well, the title is self-explanatory.

Mystery is my favorite genre in any media, so I have a lot of these haha. Gankutsuou is a supernatural mystery/drama/suspense/thriller based off the famous novel The Count of Monte Cristo, and it still remains one of my favorite anime of all time; the tension builds so WELL with each and every episode, the story is so gripping and so so tragic, and it always makes me cry by the last few episodes; a very underrated gem (also it has one of the most unique animation styles I’ve ever seen). Gosick is another mystery anime I adore, though it’s more of a slow-burn romance with some episodic mysteries before diving into an overarching plot; it’s actually what I tell people is my #1 favorite anime, just because the Victorian aesthetic is so me, but it’s so unknown that I never really get a chance to talk about it, haha. Mawaru Penguindrum is a mystery/drama/comedy anime that is extremely bizarre and philosophical, it’s honestly impossible to explain without just seeing it yourself alkfglalksdk, but it has a lot of family feels and is extremely touching and satisfying by the end despite all the weirdness, at least to me, so I always try to recommend it, though it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Erased is another fantastic short mystery/drama/suspense thriller, with some really moving moments and wonderful atmosphere and tension; the ending falls a little flat, but that doesn’t ruin how amazing the rest of it is (and I’d also recommend the live-action Netflix version, which has the proper ending from the manga). And I guess I’ll throw in Moriarty the Patriot too when it comes to mystery/crime thriller anime, which I’m still currently watching and is still ongoing, but I absolutely LOVE it so far, more people should be watching and reading it.

I have a lot more I could list too, to be honest 😅 I just pulled some of my favorites from the list on my About page ahaha, and a range of popular known ones to more obscure underrated ones. But I hope some of these suit your fancy, anon, sorry I tend to ramble ALKSDFKLFLSKDF I just wanted to be thorough since I didn’t know if you were after a particular genre or not! I hope you have a lovely day too! ❤️

[beaft]

totally with you on everything (including that quidditch is RIDICULOUS)....except that harry potter is a bad example of world building. quidditch, sure. but i’m curious, what else about hp makes you categorize it as overall bad worldbuilding?

“bad” was maybe a flippant way of putting it. honestly, i think the main trouble with the hp worldbuilding is the fact that it started off as a series for kids, and ended up as a series for young adults. this meant that all the quirky whimsical stuff that was in there simply to be quirky and whimsical (like the moving staircases!) started needing a certain level of justification, one that fit with the darker tone the books were starting to take on. and the trouble with trying to logically explain quirky and whimsical stuff is that by explaining it, you take away all the aspects that made it fun in the first place. 

i get the sense that the world sprang out of rowling’s mind exactly as we see it on the page, and she tried to add in all the historical and cultural stuff later - and bungled it massively in the process. as a result, complaining about the worldbuilding kind of feels like a nitpicky Cinema Sins-style overanalysis of a series that was initially just meant to be entertaining and… well, magical. it’s easy enough to give it a poke and make the infrastructure crumple like wet newspaper. but since you asked, i’ll just note down some things that struck me as weird during my rewatch (i’m on prisoner of azkaban now, so i might’ve missed some things). this is by no means an exhaustive list.

what happens with the muggleborn kids who get taken out of school and sent to hogwarts? are their parents saddled with the responsibility of having to lie to friends and family about why, exactly, they decided to pack their eleven-year-old off to a boarding school in scotland? who’s allowed to know the truth? what if the kid is happy where they are, and doesn’t want to go? what if it’s simply not feasible for them to leave home? simply put, having only one magic school in the UK, and having it be an old-fashioned boarding school, just doesn’t make sense. the doylian explanation for this is that j. k. rowling wanted to revivify the almost-dead “british boarding school” genre by combining it with a fantasy element - which, again, works best as a concept for kid’s books. (think the worst witch, or charmed life, or charlie bone...)

there are no lessons in hogwarts that aren’t magic-related. sure, fine, it’s a magic school, whatever. but i mean, come on. even wizards need to know basic maths and spelling. do they teach foreign languages? why not latin? it’s the basis of nearly all the spells they use, it’d make sense to at least have it as an option. 

you broke a few rules and got expelled from school? aw. that sucks, man. but don’t worry! so long as you get your act together and study hard there’s plenty of other schools you can - oops, wait, sorry, my bad. this is the only school you can go to, so you basically just wrecked your entire future. also we’re destroying your wand. have fun in exile, ya shitstain

the magic and non-magic worlds are segregated to the point where it’s just ridiculous. in the first book, ron doesn’t even know that pictures in the muggle world stay still. has this kid never seen a fucking billboard? then he’s fifteen, and we find out that even after being friends with hermione for four years, he doesn’t know how to use a phone. his dad - a grown man who literally works with muggles for a living - doesn’t even know how to pronounce telephone. at this point it is just crazy. i can accept that the two worlds are separate, but cultural osmosis is a thing, you know?

there’s only one prison, which is basically wizard alcatraz and only two steps up from a torture chamber. that seems…. bad….?

no internet? no films? no mobile phones? we know they have radios, but at no point do we see any real evidence of wizards using technology. like, i get it, magic is great, but do you really want to spend six hours in the library every time you can’t remember an author’s name?

time turners. that’s all.

i guess the point i’m trying to make here is this: rowling wanted to write books that would appeal to adults just as much as they appealed to kids. she wanted gritty darkness, but she also wanted whimsy. she wanted Gamp’s Third Law of Elemental Transfiguration, but she also wanted a talking hat. the trouble is, when it comes to writing fantasy, you usually have to pick your poison. you can have either a fully fleshed-out world with a strong foundation of history/culture/politics etc (lord of the rings, wheel of time, malazan). or you can have a bizarro wonderland where magic Just Happens and the logistics of it aren’t important (neverwhere, the girl who circumnavigated fairyland, the chronicles of narnia). it takes a pretty skilled author to pull off both.

edit: i recently stumbled upon this article, which sums up this problem much more concisely than i ever could.

[comicteaparty]

June 20th-June 26th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from June 20th, 2020 to June 26th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

What is something you’re just not very good at right now writing and/or drawing in general?

Deo101 [Millennium]

mysteries. 100% I can not write mysteries!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

ears

Deo101 [Millennium]

the connection between legs and torso. No not hips, I can draw hips fine, but like the movement aspect of it

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Action scenes. Orchestrating fights or big motions on the page... it doesn’t come naturally to me! I have to look at a lot of reference to see how other artists do it. Impact shapes, speed lines, anything to convey movement...

But I am slowly building a vocabulary of... fight shapes? I’m calling them fight shapes, haha

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I feel that

Your feeling I feel deeply

"visual library" is a term that comes to mind

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Composition. I just talked about this earlier today, but.... yup. Composition is my bane.

Mitzi (Trophallaxis)

I'd like to get better at writing in general. I have a lot of trouble verbalizing things I see in my head, and so I gotta rely on images and thumbnails to get any idea across, sometimes. otherwise im a windbag and use 5000 words to say 0-1 things, lmao

carcarchu

I have trouble writing simply. I always want to embellish, add extra details, more characters and make everything more complicated and i worry it ends up making things unnecessarily convoluted

Drawing-wise i hate drawing hands

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

The legit thing I am worse at writing is fucking

Deo101 [Millennium]

omg

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

essays to convince people to hire me

Deo101 [Millennium]

OH OKAY

WAY TO CUT IT OFF

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

YEAH

Mitzi (Trophallaxis)

OH

carcarchu

let her finish deo

Mitzi (Trophallaxis)

comedic timing at its finest

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

omg

I was very confused for a sec(edited)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

but seriously like speaking of filling gaps this is what I'm legit struggling most with right now so any help much appreciated

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

raises hand

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I need to write a personal statement and every time I sit down to edit I want to die

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I volunteer as tribute

writing is basically the only thing I'm really good at

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

It's not the writing I hate

It's the writing about me

carcarchu

is that the thing where you have to write in 3rd person? like those blurb things on people's websites?(edited)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

It just feel so gross whoring out my deeply held passions and struggles for a spot in med school

No I'm talking about college essays lmao sorry for derailing

The blurb things are an interesting topic though!

Have you guys writtent those before and does anyone actually like writing them?

carcarchu

i had to write a blurb about myself for my university's website and yeah it was uncomfy

lemme see if i can find it

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I HATE writing those

because I just start like, "Crona J. is an artist and writer from Chicago......." And I have no idea how to continue

Deo101 [Millennium]

god yeah even just writing a profile or about me is hard enough!!!

I'm always like "deo - 22 - she/her - illustrator - webcomic author - student" and then i leave it

thats it thats all you get

depending on the platform i MIGHT put bi - disabled and thats it!!!!

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

yeah

half of the stuff I write doesn't even feel relevant to the audience either

who cares that I have been drawing since I was 12 lol?

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Mate I don't even write those. My bio is like "UCSD" "Read my comic"

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

hahaha

Deo101 [Millennium]

I also always feel like when I see "ive been drawing since I was 5!" I kinda think like... well everyone has been -_- like this doesnt tell me anything, how long have you been an aspiring pro, how long have you been studying art...? that tells me more

so I never put that kind of stuff in my biod either

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

yeah, and also, I didn't go to prestigious school, so I don't even include my college

and I only have one comic project so far, just under a chapter

so what do I write?

Not that important an issue, but irksome nonetheless

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I don't include my school because it's prestigious, I include it because it's not an art college

Deo101 [Millennium]

owch

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I want fellow stem-y yet artsy people from my school to recognize me as one of them(edited)

DEO stop interupptung me at the worst points!!

Deo101 [Millennium]

i love jumping to conclusions. so no.

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

If it's a bio where I can talk about the comics, I try to spotlight a few tropes/genres that'll catch the eye of potential readers. Not a full-fledged summary, just a quick hit of If You Like These Words, You'll Probably Like Reading It. ("Fantasy, comedy, shapeshifters, PTSD, time travel, cats")

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

And if it's gonna be personal, same deal with bits of personal info -- not trying to be a Comprehensive Biography, just pulling a few details that are relatable connection points

The problem with "I've always wanted to be a writer/artist/cartoonist" isn't just how generic it is, the problem is also the vibe of "here's my thing, your role in this is to support me"

Whereas if you say something like "I like drawing cute girls and writing fantasy," the response can be "oh hey, I like seeing cute girls and reading fantasy, tell me more!"

Or if you go with "Sailor Moon fan, will put extra cheese on everything," people can go "cool, that's relatable, we can like Sailor Moon and cheese together." It gets at your shared investment in a fun thing, it's not about expecting them to be personally invested in you

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I think perhaps the most fundamental thing is "you can't please everyone." I've never liked the 'random food related weird tidbit tacked on' thing because it feels too try-hardish to me, but I understand for other people, it's not a matter of trying too hard and is genuinely how they just talk.

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

Oh definitely, you hold out for a bio that connects with everyone and you'll never get it done

AntiBunny

Personally I'm not great at drawing cars. It's why all my cars early on in the comic were side view only, and old blocky looking things. It was all I could do. I've been getting better by using references.

Every so often I buy a little hotweels or matchbox car when I'm buying groceries. I aim for realistic ones based on real vehicles, especially utility vehicles like ice cream trucks, ambulances, fire trucks, and whatnot you'd see every day in a city. I keep a little box of them on my desk, so if the scene calls for a car to be visible, I have a reference that can help me get all the curves and angles right.

Sure beats drawing from memory, but also practice time in the sketchbook with them is a necessity.

Now crowd scenes are beginning to be my bane. Not because they're hard to draw, just because they're time consuming.

Suddenly I realize why old episodes of Sailor Moon has cities with people free sidewalks and empty streets.

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

That's a great idea, gathering the model cars! I should do that for a future comic.

kayotics

I also struggle with cars so, uh, my comic takes place in fantasy 1700-1800s

But also horses are bad too

Cars and horses! They suck

Deo101 [Millennium]

do what I did and make up an easier animal to draw than a horse ;)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Vehicles in general. Should just put everyone on roller blades and be done with it

Deo101 [Millennium]

I'd lov that tbh

kayotics

I’ve considered making something other than horses......

Deo101 [Millennium]

I highly encourage it, the people love it and also so does my brain

kayotics

Or else lean into them being ugly

Deo101 [Millennium]

heres the trick about horses though they look really weird and as small as you make their legs, when you think "this is way too thin..." youre wrong and their ankles are probably smaller than that

kayotics

The thing that gets me is their faces

Deo101 [Millennium]

... mask

kayotics

Hahaha

I should just make deer the normal mode of transport

Deo101 [Millennium]

that would be really cute tbh

kayotics

I love deer and they’re cute

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Just exaggerate them to the point where it looks like a style choice

Your people already have unrealistic proportions

Why not the horses too

kayotics

That’s how I draw buildings tbh because I hate buildings

Deo101 [Millennium]

I also gave horses dog mouths, maybe do something like that? someone can be like "horses dont look like that?" and as long as youre consistent you can say "they do in this world!!!"

kayotics

Oh god no that’s like a devil creature

Deo101 [Millennium]

yeah they look horrible but its fun

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I legit remember saying that to you deo lmao

Deo101 [Millennium]

ive had dog horse for years you didnt give me this

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Not the they look horrible part

kayotics

I’ve already got beasts, I don’t need horses to look WORSE than they did

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Bwah I remember

Time to archive dig(edited)

Deo101 [Millennium]

I love dog horse

kayotics

Honestly it’s good but they scare me

Deo101 [Millennium]

yeah... maybe instead give them cat mouths

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

https://discordapp.com/channels/472908933045026827/634081658018070549/688589449562423422

wait omg this is the message that led to your first dm to me lmao

Deo101 [Millennium]

is it??? omg i think it is... historical moment

dog horse brings us together

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Another point to convince kay to draw uncanny animals!

Deo101 [Millennium]

what I do to make birds fun to draw is making them sparkly

maybe try that

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

god you're gonna ruin kay's carefully crafted aesthetic

is this your competitiveness showing its face again(edited)

Deo101 [Millennium]

they can make it work! why do you doubt their abilities

make this the main mode of transport

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

ah is that how it works in that case i have 10 shitty indie game ideas

make them pls

Deo101 [Millennium]

implying my ideas are shitty??? rude!

kayotics

I have an aesthetic?

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Or if you want to be very efficient, everyone in universe can teleport

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

lmao you have an excellent aesthetic

crona

i do that already

kayotics

Crona.... that’s my comic already!! Haha

Deo101 [Millennium]

kay does also have teleporting to be clear

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

don't underestimate my laziness!

Deo101 [Millennium]

LMAO

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

See

It must be great advice

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

oh crap you're right kay also does have teleporting

and unrealistic beasts, to be fair

kayotics

Sometimes on the same page

That’s the eyes I draw on the beasts

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Or be even lazier, and make it so that horses and beasts either don't exist or haven't been domesticated in that region. Everyone walks. Their feet hurt, but their calves are glorious.

Deo101 [Millennium]

you get it

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

wait crona and deo also have comics where teleportation could exist

will you join us?

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

lol, yup

Deo101 [Millennium]

nope

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

(nah, I've already drawn horses. They're not so bad if you stare at photos)

sierrabravo (Hans Vogel is Dead)

drawing horses is fun!!

[multiple people are typing]

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

And there will also be hella walking, because the leg game must be strong, otherwise I'm not doing my job

Deo101 [Millennium]

ive decided that millennium is like really in the future but things like time travel, teleportation, warp speed... nope! You can go really fast in a spaceship but like nothin crazy

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

man these planets real close together then

or maybe people just live a really long time ...?

Deo101 [Millennium]

I just do my version of teleporting which is "wow it'll take a week to get there" and then its a week later

dont worry about it

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

nice

Deo101 [Millennium]

its not realistic, but its consistent

🌈ERROR404 🌈

ahhhh horses are really nice to draw imo, if i can get it right lol

Deo101 [Millennium]

I like drawing horses a lot I just never do it tbh

🌈ERROR404 🌈

something needs to fuel my addiction to cowboy culture

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Consistency is key tbh

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I just do my version of teleporting which is "wow it'll take a week to get there" and then its a week later

when my whole comic takes place in like a week lmao

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

if you decide that gravity doesn't exist in your world, as log as you're consistent with it, you're golden

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

in the unlikely event i get tired of drawing my comic i can adopt deo's strat "wow it'll take a week to get to the ending"

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

My comic takes place in about a year (not counting flashbacks which span... uh... a very long time)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

"man sure seems like this conflict will take approximately a week to be resolved" "one week later"

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

hahaha

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

"sure did get resolved"

the end

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

convenient

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i wonder if anyone's done that

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

One Korean series I followed for years did it

and everyone was pissed, as you can imagine

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

lol

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

better than cancellation?

Deo101 [Millennium]

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

what a way to go

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'd honestly have preferred cancellation/ abandonment

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Just have a fan finish it for you at that rate lmao

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

OH that's a good discussion topic. If you got tired of your comic, or life got in the the way of you working on it anymore, how would you end it as quickly as possible?

Deo101 [Millennium]

maybe rephrase that a little

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I would toss it at my little sis, and she would do it for me, no joke

Deo101 [Millennium]

My little sister also would probably take over it for me

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

let's move to general?

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

eyyy!

Deo101 [Millennium]

but also I could just be like "They got an email that john died of old age its over now"

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

MVP sisters!

lol

an email

what a way to end it

eliushi [Keyspace]

For me it’s panels. Past me thought that the four panel structure would make things easy. Nope. It’s limiting how I want to tell the story so... I’m trying to branch out now and looking for other inspirations for panel and layout

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Just change the shape of your panels. It forces you to be creative.

eliushi [Keyspace]

True true! I have those in upcoming updates

But my heart swoons for the page spreads

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

oh yes

They are so gorgeous, but difficult to plan

eliushi [Keyspace]

Initially I was planning on storyboards but now I’m more comfortable with comics I think I’ll be aiming for traditional layouts

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Yeah, storyboards are an entirely different beast

Desnik

I'm currently working on clearly portraying character motivation

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I think for me I don't draw animals often and rip have to draw a few for the upcoming pages so I'm just doing my best at this point lol

AntiBunny

Panel arrangement is the heart of comics as an art form. It takes practice, and study to learn how the eye flows from one thing to the next.

And once you have a thorough understanding of the rules you can learn how to carefully break them to produce something truly eye catching.

If I had to say the simplest rule to understanding flow is, if you need arrows to tell you which direction to read, then you're doing something wrong.

DanitheCarutor

This is candy for my self-deprecating mentality. Lol Honestly though. I'm not the best at writing in general, I don't like doing it physically, avoiding it at all cost (outside of dialogue and poorly done bullet points on scrap paper.) so I don't really know if/think I'm particularly good at it. I remember the last time I tried to physically write something was back in high school, I still have it saved on my computer, but it was something else. Too many dialogue scenes and overly detailed descriptions of things and characters. I only made it a little ways before giving up with "You know, this will be easier to just show than describe.". Story and character wise for my current comic, I'm not sure how well it's turning out or how good it will be in the end, my brain defaults my work to mediocre so I tend to be totally blind to what I'm doing right. I know my characters aren't the best for sure since they're all fleshy flaw bags with too many flaws, and I know I could have presented certain scene changes and such better, but that's all I can think of objectively. The art portion is something I at least know I can execute decently, but my color composition is the worst. I'm aware that I need to improve it, and I know what needs to be done, but it's something I can't really accomplish with my comic since I just want to focus on finishing pages. I'll have to make time to draw up some throw-away illustrations to experiment with, which I hope to have a little bit of now that I'm not on a regular update schedule. Also I can't draw vehicles and architecture for the life of me, I've referenced and studied but I still can't wrap my head around it. ALSO extreme angles and perspectives are still things I need work on, like 4-point circular perspective, ground level shots and over the head shots.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

There's a lot of things I want to improve, but something I haven't seen mentioned yet: I would like to get better at deciphering feedback, how to glean useful things from multiple conflicting feedback.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Ooh that's a good one keii

I haven't really had to deal with that before though because all the negative feedback I've gotten is pretty consistent

Can I ask what the conflicting feedback you got is?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Oh gosh, I legit spent a long, long moment trying to figure out where to even start

eliushi [Keyspace]

I really like this approach to feedback

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Yo Eli this is so good

eliushi [Keyspace]

Mary robinette is goals

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

this is spectacular already

wow

eliushi [Keyspace]

Pretty sure a wiser writer passed this onto me I have since used it a lot and it works for me

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

This is so so good Perfectly said about crits in creative fields

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

One example I can think of isn't actually something that was criticized, but showed up a lot in various ways: "this is (supposed to be) an exciting adventure romp centering Danbi" vs "this is an emotional journey story centering Ethan" ... Not a criticism, but two very conflicting interpretations. People who have one interpretation are shocked and confused when I tell them about the other one.

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Holy crap, Eli... This is one for the folder of absolute knowledge

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

woah, excellent advice

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

And yeah, that is a really good one. Symptoms are extremely useful, and diagnoses tend to be more useful in a conversation rather than a one-way "here is my diagnosis" thing

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I haven't heard it said before but the explaining eliminating a clean reaction rings so true to me

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Ahhh, this is literally the one document I have needed my entire life

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

also the helping someone tell the story they want

also the stream of consiousness, MAn

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I think I'll save that for my future high schoolers lol

some of the stuff said there is what I've noticed in the last few years critquing in academic settings but its nice to kno!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

People have given me stream of consciousness reactions before and they were the most helpful. Almost all the changes in the story from others' reactions were from stream of consciousness reactions, not intentional critiques

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, one of the most helpful "critique" I ever got was also completely unintentional

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

One of the most useful tips in this guide for me in particular is the "As a writer don't:" section. I struggle with it a lot.

On the note of things we are bad at in the comic-making process, I am very bad at taking critiques!(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

tbh for a long time, my biggest struggling point that's not in the "as a writer don't:" is "don't throw yourself into the void of self-hate." I'm better now, but boy, when it was bad, it was bad.

But perhaps that kinda thing better fits into "as a person don't:"

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I am pretty good at taking critiques, but pretty bad at giving critiques! Right now the point I'm at is I'm just gonna not give critiques until I'm more mature

But then after I decided that an amateur writer friend told me his story idea that I not only disliked but was sort of offended by

and I really wanted to tell him but I didn't know how to do it nicely...

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

ooof

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

oh no

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

yeah, that's really tough

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

rip I tend to do kinda a sandwich method. I had to say some rough things few days ago on a practice pitch run and I pretty much said

Deo101 [Millennium]

Uh oh

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

"Your idea is developing for sure, but I think you need to reconsider some of the world building choices you done. Have you thought of researching such and such."

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

That's basically what I said

But I think I had to say "research ffs" in increasing intensity like 3 times lol

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Oh, nice, the "let's give them compliments too so that they know I'm not just being mean" method

It's a good method tbh

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Rip it's not that like

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Deo might have something to say about this but it was about schizophrenics in a mental institution being portrayed in a real weird way by someone who didn't know anything about it(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Ooof

Deo101 [Millennium]

Ah man

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

ewww

Deo101 [Millennium]

I'll always stand by "asking people who've lived what you're writing about is the best form of research and can't be replaced"

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Yeah I would said the to the person consider researching more on the topic and interview folks who have schizophrenia

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Dude I brought you up lmao

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

and also like "is there a reason you want to depict it this way?"

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

oooh

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah I know I'm agreeing idk... Idk what else I'd have to say on the topic

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

That's a very good question to ask someone

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

and depending on their responses, I would just put my two scents in there that rip

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah I always ask "what are your goals?" Before I ask anything else

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

critiques are kinda my strong point sinc eLMAO I do em all the time in my class

and teaching so yeah LOL

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Deo I mean I brought you up to this guy like saying "my friend messaged people online and they were super willing to talk to her you could do that"

Deo101 [Millennium]

OHHHHH gotcha

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I try my best to figure out what they want out of it and just deliever with some handful of suggestions

but I won't sugarcoat it unless you're a high school student or younger lmao

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah I'm often told I'm a lil too harsh but like idk

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I wouldn't say sugar coating it per say... More just telling them what their strengths are too, so that they have an idea of where they're at

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

telling someone their strengths is just as useful as telling them their flaws

that way they can highlight them

like just because you story has no flaws doesn't mean it's good right?

gotta have stuff that stands out in a good way as well

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Someone once phrased it as "Let's list everything that's wrong here, and find out how we can fix them" vs "How do we take this to the next level?" and that really resonated with me. It's not about sugarcoating; it's more about helping them get to the next level in the direction they wanna go.

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

THIS

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah I try to point out things that are going well, and I usually try to only point at things that ppl can work on immediately

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I should phrase my statement more clearly. But yeah Kei that's what I usually look for when critiquing

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

There's often no need to tell them "your writing is only at level 3, and that's bad because the max level is 99." Just tell them how to get to level 4.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I dont' see it like its something bad but something that is challenging to them at the time

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Unless they have extremely unrealistic expectations or whatever that are standing in their own way

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

just have to figure out how to get out of the hump

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Yep. I see this phenomenon in animation a lot. A good animation director will help you boost your existing work to something stronger, but still yours. A bad one will tell you to do it their way, and chide you for doing it ‘wrong.’

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

rip I know a person like that and lmao

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yessssss

That's why I always ask "what are your goals" to start

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Yup

🌈ERROR404 🌈

I totally agree!!!! A LOT of the most important bits of great criticism is understanding exactly where the original creator was intending to go, and formatting your statements around helping them achieve that!!!!!!!

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Critiques are impossible if you don't know what the person is trying to achieve

🌈ERROR404 🌈

Just stating things that you would change if you were making it may seem useful and relevant to you the critic, but unless the creator is headed the exact same direction as you, they have just as much reason to invalidate the entire statement as they do to nit pick out the things they care to agree with

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Sometimes a prospective critic is simply too far removed from the target audience of the work, like on a fundamental level, and it makes it impossible to give them useful feedback. I think it's important to acknowledge that this can happen. It happens to me a lot and I just decline to give crits when it does.

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Yeah, like don't ask me to critique a comic about sports lmao

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I agree on that notion, esepcially when seeing professional aritsts giving crits to folks starting out but it doesn't go as er ideal as they thought it would be

Deo101 [Millennium]

That's why I usually only seek out criticsm (for more than just general direction/advice) from people who's work I like

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I remember reading advice on getting beta readers, and it’s really REALLY important that they’re excited for your stuff. They want to make it better. They care. They can give critique, but they absolutely must be jazzed about your subject matter in some way, or else it’ll be a slog for everyone.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

for me, I have my peers who I contact daily and we give each other advice, tips

despite having er difference interests in fields, but we experienced a lot in our program lol

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yes... (Speaking of if anyone wanted to beta read my next comic uhhhh let me know id love to have u)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

very good point claire

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

100 percent agree Get people who are excited and know your vision

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah I have a small group of writer friends who know all my goals and a lot of my stuff? So they make a very good little critique circle, and we all help eachother

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I'm always ready to beta read if it's a concept I enjoy

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

like people who critique comics they hate. I'm like, damn, tough work but also ?? why

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

(Be careful about people who are excited about what they think is your vision.............)

Deo101 [Millennium]

Fish is this a callout for me

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

slightly?

Deo101 [Millennium]

Ahsjfkdjdkskdjdjdj

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Keii I experienced the oppisisite like rip

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

it's just mystifying to me, I don't think it's wrong or anything

Deo101 [Millennium]

Also crona I'll send u when I'm at my comp

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

sure

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

What do you mean Tuyetnhi?

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Ohh that would be oof to deal with Kei

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I had to let a person down to reality bc I know they're excited about their idea but uhhhh

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

(Is it the fish romance?)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

it wasn't engaging to me

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yes that one qjdjfkskdkk

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

nor my illustration friends

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I don’t have beta readers but I think that’s how it all goes lol

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

and we were like

"AAAAAAA"

Deo101 [Millennium]

Oh that's awkward

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Ooooooohhhhhhh... oof

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I have a couple friends I send pages to sometimes but they're always really positive about it

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

It was a rough critique

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Having creative friend circles is so essential for growth and screaming at eachothers works for motivation too

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yessss

Also just the ability to talk about your process without having to explain yourself

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

agreed lol

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I occasionally tap my fiance's shoulder and shove my sketches in his face with zero context, just to make sure he can figure out what's going on without me explaining. Super helpful

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I feel like I have a couple friends where, when I read their stuff, I know things that would amp their work up tenfold. But until they ask me... I’m screaming inside lol

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

lol

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

my friend always makes me feel like i'm a better writer than i am because she thinks so much like me she gets everything i write perfectly lol. But then I post and the comments are like "wtf i'm confused"(edited)

eliushi [Keyspace]

Yeah feedback is most effective when both sides are open and invested

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Claire Senpai Wants To Help

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

also same crona(edited)

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

It’s not bad, I just go I THINK I CAN HELP YOU MAKE IT AWESOMER AHHHHHH

eliushi [Keyspace]

Claire senpaiiii

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

But until then I remain still and supportive

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

why don't you ask them "can i suggest things?"

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah I try and keep my mouth shut

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

or "do you want suggestions?"

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

lol

eliushi [Keyspace]

I usually say what I like about it first and then. Are you looking for feedback?

Deo101 [Millennium]

Tbh hearing "can I suggest things?" Usually comes off kinda like "I see stuff wrong with this :)" which can hurt a little even then

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

YEeeeah

🌈ERROR404 🌈

At least for my comic, i have sent bits and pieces for critique from creators i am friends with , but i'm really hesitant promoting myself because I don't feel like I'm not at a place to even get a critique i'll be able to make anything of. O(--( i really don't know what I'd do if someone tried to seriously analyze my plot and break down the story right now

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

It's really hard, because a lot of people (myself included) get scared when someone else asks, "Do you need help?"

Deo101 [Millennium]

I usually trust ppl to say whether they're looking for feedback

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Its always so tricky to gague the reactions of that. Some people handle that better than others So i only offer when they open up

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Based on how people can get about even the offer of critique, yeah, I tend not to say anything. That’s their baby. If they want to open that door, then I’ll poke my head in

eliushi [Keyspace]

True too. I’m already in forums where feedback is wanted so I’m already in selection bias

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Yeah, I like to only offer crits if someone is asking for it for that reason

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

for the record i'm always open to critiques

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

kinda mutal agreement on don't chime in unless asked lol

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah, at least in my groups we send things like "hey this and this are bothering me? Can you help?" And other than that it's just support

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Yeah, that's a good idea

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

for both parties. For me, If it's something that I need thoughts I ask but otherwise, lmao my social circles ask me for help for their art stuff

Deo101 [Millennium]

We never agreed on that btw it's just kinda how it goes

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

That's a nice group way to handle that AND make the space more breathable for others who are more nervous about crit work

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

exactly

eliushi [Keyspace]

There’s a time and place for everything and feedback is no different

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah! Like here we have seperate chats for help and sharing

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Yuss

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

When someone asks me if I'm open to suggestions, my reaction is usually "nOOoooOo..." but not always. I think it helps a ton if there's an existing rapport, like if I already know this person gets, REALLY gets, my work.

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

And that's okay Keii!

eliushi [Keyspace]

Yeah I’m super thankful for my betas for that

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yee same

eliushi [Keyspace]

It’s very rewarding when people are also invested in your work to make it better within your means and style

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Honestly u gotta do whats best for u and ur mindset in the end.

Deo101 [Millennium]

It also is a little but awkward to say "no I'm not open to suggestions' cause it feels like you're saying "I don't care to improve" when in reality it's more like "no... I'm happy with this and I don't want it to be soured"

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I love the fact that if I post in #creator_art_share, nobody will critique me unless I ask. And if I post in #art_help, I can get that help. So incredibly nice

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Yes! Thats very respectful

eliushi [Keyspace]

So key

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Omg Deo.....such a mood LOL

Deo101 [Millennium]

I always feel so bad saying no thanks but it's like it looked good I thought

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

omg, I felt that in my soul

We beat ourselves up enough as it is

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Sometimes i know my work can be farty but... I dont also want perfection in every facet of my pieces too and thats okay! Some are learning pieces, others more indulgent

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I think I'd be very hesitant to accept ideas that will utterly break my core plot... unless someone comes out and outright tells me something about it is offensive or wrong or otherwise bad. But critique on the connective tissue between the bones, so to speak, heck yes. I've gotten some much better ideas from that.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

e.e even if i post in art share i would be honored to receive a critique from any of you

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Oh, if someone comes to me with suggestions that are that incompatible with my vision, I'm getting outta there.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

but i don't wanna post every single thing i do in art help hm

but maybe i should

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I am SO getting outta there.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I did had some suggestions that didn't... really help with my comic most of it are just comments and not pure criticism

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Just post it lol

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah it's probably best to leave crit in the crit section so as not to break that unspoken rule.

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

To signal to the rest of us

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Yea your vision is key, and i find that people who crit the work need a basic understanding of it for it to be a True Crit

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Yeah it's probably best to leave crit in the crit section so as not to break that unspoken rule.

good point

i wouldn't want people critiquing me to make others feel like it's okay to do that to everyone

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

A good attitude!!! Y'all are very respectable this is a wonderful topic

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yeee

eliushi [Keyspace]

I think the best feedback is one where it makes your work become more effective within your vision. Sometimes it’s finding the betas who are invested but I also find betas who focus on different crafts also can offer a lot of wisdom. I find it comes down to being open and it’s never a bad thing to ask for clarification

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

[also writes this down for a potential lesson actvity for high schoolers] (edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, a critique is supposed to help the work become a better version of itself, not a better [something else]

Deo101 [Millennium]

Mostly with true beta reading I am looking for "how clear is my work coming off to someone who knows nothing of my lore and backstory etc?"

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I like the idea of having at least one beta reader who's a writer, and at least one who's not. The writer can dissect things a bit more than a 'civilian' could while the civilian can look at surface-level things and react as the audience majority might.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

multiple beta readers are a blessing lol

Deo101 [Millennium]

Cause with my friends, they already know everything I'm planning, so i worry a lot that they are putting together things that a regular reader wouldn't

So yeah same thing as a "civilian" reader, sort of!

eliushi [Keyspace]

For sure. Within my critique group I have novelists, webcomic creators and artists. Those who read the complete script and those who haven’t. It’s important to have all sides I find

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Dang you people with your luxury of multiple beta readers... I don't even have one (but it's mostly my fault; my scripts are unreadable)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

omg lol

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i'm sure you could use many of us as beta readers if you wanted to!

varethane

that surface-level 'first gut reaction' crit can be SO useful

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I change dialogue too frequently for a beta reader to have a fair chance, lol

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I started early with one years ago, but now I have like 5-10ish but they can't help me at the same time lmao

varethane

I agree upthread with when it was said that some of the most helpful crit was given unintentionally lol

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

same. i asked some people, including deo and crona, for a beta read of a script a while back but then ended up changing most of it lol(edited)

eliushi [Keyspace]

Most of my betas I found in forums like these! I’m sure a lot of us want to help each other out!

Deo101 [Millennium]

I usually only share stuff once I have at least a solid sketch and dialogue is in

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

so much changes in the thumbnail/layout stage for me. SO MUCH. whole scenes get swapped/cut/extended

I never keep it the same way

Deo101 [Millennium]

I don't like to share scripts cause also I don't usually script much anyways lol

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

@keii’ii (Heart of Keol) As a long-time reader of HoK, I would be more than happy to beta read if you ever wanted it. Just throwing that out there!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

same Lazuli like

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I'd love to beta read for anyone too

varethane

I prefer sharing sketched pages because my scripts usually change SO much in between being written and going onto the page

like, sometimes they're outright unrecognizable

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

@Deo101 [Millennium] Same. The couple times I really wasn't unsure about a scene, I had to find someone and give them cleaned up thumbnails

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah I don't share more than sketched pages with dialogue

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

SUPER cleaned up thumbnails

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

from thumbnail to final, like they aren't the same from before lmao

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Most helpful critique for me was just someone engaging with the story. "Man I love - and -, they're such good friends, but - pisses me the fuck off" and that was my intention, but i realized it was coming on a bit stronger than i liked and changed the next scene dramatically to make a future plot point where the last character needs to be trusted feel more earned(edited)

varethane

(anyone who seriously is down for beta reading, I have 3 finished chapters burning a hole in my buffer hhnnnnggggg)

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah cause also like, 80% of the crit is usually "well this paneling is unclear" kind of stuff too

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

also i don't mind if anyone is asking me to beta read

Deo101 [Millennium]

Which you can't do from a script anyways

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

or (I don't usually do this often but)

I'm also a sensitivity beta reader too

so if you have questions about POC stuff, asian-american, er mixed-asian or mixed-black experiences

I'm willing to help lmao

but i'm just one perspective to the table

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

A lot of comments, not critiques, have influenced scenes I put later too. Things to clarify, expand, emphasize. I take every comment like that as an idea. I love knowing what the readers hope to learn.

eliushi [Keyspace]

I’m in the midst of a 180k plus word count novel beta and alphaing a couple works but once that’s all done, happy to take a look too

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

holy

Deo101 [Millennium]

Wowie

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Getting trustful beta readers i gotta say again is so important bc sometimes when asking for some, u run into betas that are there to just exploit that privilege too (tho rare) And!!!! Be respectful of ur betas on the other side of the spectrum

Deo101 [Millennium]

Exploit how?

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

like to read your work early?

eliushi [Keyspace]

Definitely pick your betas wisely

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Usually just the free ride of Knowing the Story or the opportunity to just Constantly Crit (non helpful) bc of personal reasons

Deo101 [Millennium]

Damn

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I'm imagining having someone sneak in as a beta and reveal they're a rabid toxic fan trying to influence the plot to their liking. As an absolute worst scenario

Deo101 [Millennium]

Spooky

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Yea.... There's def ppl out there that would do that THOUGH RARE again. I think that's more of like Competition in the field or spite? But ive heard it happening and its not cool

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

like people just looking for a free ticket to complain about your work?

i can see that

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Oh yeah, I had folks like that before

after that I'm just like "thank you for your time" and block them after LMAO

Deo101 [Millennium]

That sucks :(

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

hhhhhhh

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Yea And u can always tell a sincere crit from a one that comes from a place of malice and ill intent pretty easy.

eliushi [Keyspace]

Exactly

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

oof

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Still!!! A horrible experience

Deo101 [Millennium]

:< yeah

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Yeah.. I've never had anything like that happen, but wow... that's a terrifying notion

eliushi [Keyspace]

You tend to want to know your betas more than just them being a reader too. I like to think my betas are my friends and it’s a two way street where I help them too

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Some betas sign papers of confidentiality to avoid these instances of people running off with ur work too

eliushi [Keyspace]

There are paid betas but that’s business side and yeah Krispy

Deo101 [Millennium]

/stress

eliushi [Keyspace]

I don’t have them for mine

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Its scary bc we're all so small and our work is mainly for free U have to be wary of this

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I could easily see myself getting sucked into a bad situation like that I trust people too easily sometimes

but ugh... ya gotta learn

eliushi [Keyspace]

It’s good to know the risks. That being said, I think the rewards of having a good beta far exceed the bad apples. You have to set good boundaries

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Not that any of yall would do this omgjghg

Deo101 [Millennium]

Same Claire ajdjdnsdjjjdjdjdjddj

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

gonna steal all y'alls IDEAS

eliushi [Keyspace]

It’s also totally valid to say, hey something came up and I can’t beta anymore

Key is communication

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

lmao ya gotta kill me for my ideas

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Isossn Watch out for that Claire lady

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

https://tenor.com/view/laugh-giggle-mutley-dick-dastardly-snicker-gif-5552702

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Omg Eli yesssSSSSS that!!! Is important for both creator and beta to have that communication

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Oh no, my precious ideas!!!

Deo101 [Millennium]

Eh even if u steal my ideas you can never steal my characterizations!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

just steal everything and make a horrible hodgepodge of all of our webcomics, like some sick frankenstein's monster

Deo101 [Millennium]

I don't think my ideas are the best part of my stories anyways :P

Ahsjdjfjdjfjdjfjdififiididkfkdje Frankensteins webcomic

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

my ideas are relevant to my cultural background so I'm like lmao

eliushi [Keyspace]

I learned from my novel days that ideas are dime and dozen and it’s the execution that counts(edited)

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I would actually love that tbh

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Oh no id read it tho XD

Deo101 [Millennium]

Massive crossover event

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

YES

PLEASE

eliushi [Keyspace]

Super smash bros when

varethane

lmao

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

hahaha

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I really want people going into healthcare to critique my personal statement, but I won't send it to anyone because I've legitimately heard of people stealing others' personal statements and getting both people rejected

Deo101 [Millennium]

Wow

eliushi [Keyspace]

That’s scary and unfortunate

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

ooof

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

it's almost worse than stealing a story idea because you're stealing like

someone's life story??

or their personality??

it's extremely strange to me

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah that's ??????

eliushi [Keyspace]

I would consider having a mentor look over your statement but that’s veering off creator babble territory

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

oh i am doing that and very very thankful to them

Deo101 [Millennium]

Good suggestion and good point

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

After recently seeing a whole comic style/theme completely and obviously lifted from another one... yeah, the things that make your comic yours? They can absolutely be stolen whole-cloth

It's scary

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

oh no

god what even is the fun in that??

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I don't know. I really don't.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

you know what i want to spend years doing? telling a story that's already been told, except worse!

varethane

D:

Deo101 [Millennium]

I've had someone steal designs before

varethane

dpsofasdj I am so curious about these cases now aaahhh

Deo101 [Millennium]

Ppl do steal stuff. But what sucks for them is I'm the one with a brain and I can make new things

eliushi [Keyspace]

I’ve seen similar styles but have not seen a purposeful recreation of another’s style whether as impersonation or plagiarism

Haruh2 (Colony Life)

i just read a webtoon that was "inspired" by an anime with many ideas from anime too

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

It was a case where I always thought the two looked surprisingly similar, but then... yeah, you learn more things and you go AW GOD OKAY

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

this, and offensive stuff, is a case where i think unsolicited critique is 100% okay

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah, though then it's the line of "is it offensive just to me? Or overall?"

Though I guess saying "this offended me" isn't horrible or whatever

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i think of the trend of lgbt youtubers making videos making fun of anti-lgbt crap and that's a case where i'm like yeah! pile on!

You have a good point and there are cases where something is almost objectively offensive

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah, and then there are other cases where ppl are offended by how I've decided to have no homophobia where it's like "okay sure but I'm not doing anything wrong"

But yeah there are definitely times where it's like "no that's bad for sure and I'm allowed to be critical of and mad about it"

I also think there's a difference between criticizing mass media and criticizing independent media

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Wait What what omg???? Thats???? So backwards

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

well, here's an anti-critique. it offends me when someone says that being lgbt must be hard and sad all the time!

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah! I'd agree with that LOL

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

can I just be happy

as a bi woman

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

"IT'S NOT LIKE MY LIFE THEREFORE IT'S INACCURATE"

Deo101 [Millennium]

Ahdjfjskfkdkckskfksdksk yeah

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

So true tho!!

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

God, I hate that argument

Deo101 [Millennium]

Though I do think that its worth it to open yourself up to that kind of critique to potentially reach the people who do need your story

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

Yes def agree

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

True true

If there's a blind spot you're missing, then for sure

Deo101 [Millennium]

Well, I was meaning more like "you can't please everyone, but that shouldn't stop you from trying your best anyways!"

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Ah! also true

Deo101 [Millennium]

Like not necessarily blind spots, but more like. Some people will be mad no matter what sorta thing

Yee

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

so tru

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Yeah for sure. I've tried to cover my bases on certain things in my own work, but I'm sure if it ever gets bigger, someone will be unhappy about something.

I'm not ready for that day, but... maybe it'll come

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah. Like I said I had someone get mad at me for not having homophobia

Where it's like... Okay stop reading then cause this isn't the story for you

Actually my friends replied to then and they did kinda turn around on their thinking, I think, so that was nice!

There's something I'm bad at for the question, is replying to my comments

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

oh? :0

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

okay sometimes i've said to my friends "yo weird ass comment, right?" and they've gone and defended me like way extra hard

i'm always grateful but also a little (edited)

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah same. .

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

too mch man

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah it's like Thank you but

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I do have some weird comments but the ones that I just kinda trying to offend me

I don't look at it till after a few months and respond to them calmly lmao

no point for me to just get rilied up for someone trying to get on my nerves but rip that's probably just me and how I deal with that stuff in irl too

I don't let my friends go after bozos lmao

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah for me I just like. Try really hard to be diplomatic, I guess? But it takes a lot of energy

When what I WANT to say is "lol read another comic then" or something but I try to think of a way to be nice

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yee I understand on that. for me I'm just say it as it is if at's the moment but for more heated comments I address them after a few months lol

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I haven't gotten any weird randos yet apart from... one legendary one But things are always calmer on your own site far away from Tapas/Webtoons

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I agree on that but lmao

I did had one angry commenter going agro for few of my pages

and I looked at it and I was like "Oh worm man"

they were just reacting to my characters being shit LMAO

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

OH WORM MAN

very good

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I ignore it tbh. I recently had someone comment "All lives matter" at the end of my comic because I included "Black lives matter" at the end. And I honestly knew i didn't have the mental fortitude to explain to them why that was so rude and missing the point.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

lol my mom is saying that stuff and i'm just like :|

okay mother

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I guess for writing for me, now thinking about it is that

on the prompt: I don't respond quick and I'm not really active much on interaction but I want to try more

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I haven't gotten any weird randos yet apart from... one legendary one But things are always calmer on your own site far away from Tapas/Webtoons

I really haven't either though! Just a few people saying mildly :| things, no hate or anything. Wt is not always as scary as its reputation

or maybe i'm in the eye of the hurricane idk

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

lol

I have had mostly good experiences too

Deo101 [Millennium]

I've had mostly good too!

I know I complain a lot but really I'm just salty and that's just a few bad things here and there

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

The comment I was thinking about earlier was just an innaccurate interpretation of characters' feelings. They thought some people had a romantic history. I wasn't going to respond but my friend went all "if you actually read the comic you would see th- " and I was thinking omg tone it down a bit

Deo101 [Millennium]

Bajsjdjekdjdkdjd

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

never underestimate the Friend Army

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I had a reader I didn't know defend me in the comments once. The original commenter was complaining about the length of my updates, and the other reader started railing on them. It was powerful lmao. I didn't even need to say anything

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Oh! same

Deo101 [Millennium]

I've had some ppl defend me or explain for me and it's like. Idk a special kind of magic ahahahah

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Oh for sure! It feels magical to know that some of your readers passionately love your work

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Update-length complainers are so cathartic to smack down. Not that I've done it, I just... like seeing it

You're getting a free comic. Made by a human with a life. Chill

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

All my comments are normal where are my weirdos

boogeymadam

someone take some of my weirdos, my comic attracts them

but not really because i accidentally gave claire one of my weirdos and i feel Sooooo bad

Haruh2 (Colony Life)

i feel im still a long way off from getting anyone with my comic

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

weirdos are contagious apparently

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

You don't have to be popular to get a weirdo

Sometimes like... you could have 1 regular commenter and that person is a weirdo

or not even a commenter, you show your work to a RL friend before posting it online, and the friend takes off their mask dramatically, and reveals their True Identity as a professional weirdo

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

for real, i was posting on SJ and had all of like a dozen followers and one guy went through and heavily critiqued a ton of my pages

Like technical stuff like paneling and flow of action?

Also said my female lead looks like a man and my animation was nauseating lol

Haruh2 (Colony Life)

heh well after i do this current update im working on, i'll be scraping how ive been doing updates and following some tutorials i finally found

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I like critique but even so that guy was :|

boogeymadam

omg noooo sorry that happened fish! D: unsolicited critics are some of the worst

DanitheCarutor

I guess that is the one thing I've been lucky with. I actually don't mind unsolicited critique, but I've never gotten any outside of one time someone corrected my character's grammar in the comments. Commentary like that is way more welcome than the occasional anonymous hate comment, and malicious article calling me a fetishist, which is all entertaining in its own way but not as easy to deal with. Now that critique is brought up I'm reminded that I need to work on how I respond to it. Like, I actually get kind of excited when someone takes the time to break down my stuff (even if it totally misses the mark with what I'm trying to accomplish), but I end up responding with a novel and sometimes it's worded in a way that sounds like I'm upset. I need to get better at keeping it short and sweet.

Feather J. Fern

I raise my hand to say I can't draw hands for the life of me still after praticing for a long time. I used all the techiques, tricks, and still my hands are just butts.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

make a universe where people have butts for hands

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

This is a really minor one and thankfully easy to correct after publishing, but: my ESL-ness shows sometimes, especially with prepositions and articles. My English isn't terrible; there's just some occasional "wait did they mean 'on' where they put 'in'..." That's on the surface level. I also can't do that 'just write the dialog and see how the characters bounce off each other' thing in English. I hadn't thought much about that until I started writing a story in Korean, and I was surprised how much easier it was to get flowin' with the dialog. I'm not toooo concerned about this one, as Get Flowin' is just one way of writing a scene. But it is a thing.

Feather J. Fern

Eightfish stop calling me out that I can draw butts better than hands okay(edited)

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

feather have fun drawing the gluteus maximus

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I see nothing wrong here

Moral_Gutpunch

I'm bettign most people here can draw hands better than me.(edited)

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

S’okay, my hand drawing is pretty bad

Feet is...also an issue

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

The best reference is the one attached to you, I always say

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

or make your so pose for you

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Yes

That

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

looks back at comic and sees lots of guy characters with slender palms MHMMMM

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Hahaha

Lol

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

ahahha i have the same problem

some guys have thick ass fingers when i look at them closely omg

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Yeah, everyone has pretty thin fingers in mine, because I have thin fingers(edited)

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

Okay yeah not gonna lie I HAVE made my SO pose for me. Several times.

Oh yeah don’t forget

Guys can have hairy knuckles too

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I have had my SO pose his hands retroactively for me, imitating a panel I did And I was screaming inside LOL

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

this stuff makes me :00

Deo101 [Millennium]

I have hairy knucles and my hands are bigger than my dads

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Ughhhh, that's too much detail for me, Shadow

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

Yoslslzlzrhlzxzzkhzhlztututs funnily enough my SO’s hands and mine are of similar length

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

For such a small person, I have really long fingers

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

reminded me of a convo i had with some friends

they sent a reference and said they thought it was unrealistic because of how much the tendons stick out

and i said, no, that's how mine look

and it was interesting seeing the differences

Deo101 [Millennium]

everyone share hands

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I mean, especially since your fingers are stretched, the tendons stick out lol(edited)

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

Someone told me I have piano fingers

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

like i always think of my hands as the 'default,' because I see them the most but really there is much variation

deo has nice hands

look elegant

shadows hands look a lot like the rest of her :0

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

Whhhhhhhhh

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

tall librarian

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

GJOXJPSLZLJZDXKXYOF

Yeah true XD

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

My nails are super long rn

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

Holy shit the manicures

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I did it myself

Deo101 [Millennium]

thank U i have lovely hands that are big as fuck, and I can use as a ruler

because my pinky and thumb can stretch out exactly 10 inches

this cup is 10 inches tall

youre welcome

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I have stubby baby hands as well as double jointed fingers, so I'm very aware my hands aren't "average" looking. Yet if I don't pay attention, I tend to draw hands kind of like mine

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Hahahaha, Deo!!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

wow so useful i should measure my hands

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Me too tbh

Deo101 [Millennium]

I atually suggest it it comes in handy (ha) more than youd think

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i found a joint that measures exactly 1 inch and i use it so much

Deo101 [Millennium]

yeah!!!

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

Whoooooa

Mine goes 8 inches

Deo101 [Millennium]

my hands are fookin hyuge bro

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

Wait

8.5

YEAH YOURS ARE GIANT

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

exactly 8 inches

omg your hands are huge

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Mine stretch out to just under 7.5 inches

Deo101 [Millennium]

in yalls defense I also have ehlers danlos so theyre probably stretching more than yours too

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I have smol hands because I am smol

Deo101 [Millennium]

tiney

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Yus

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

surprised shadow managed to find a way to measure in inches haha

Deo101 [Millennium]

she said it wrong its actually 8.5 cm

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

8.5 inches

I used a ruler

In cm it’s 21

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

she said it wrong its actually 8.5 cm

hm maybe that's why she thinks hands are hard to draw

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

LMHfhgzmzjKfhl

Deo101 [Millennium]

because she has tiny baby hands and can barely hold the pencil... yes

its all coming together

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

I will slap y’all with my tiny baby doll hands

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i'm learning so much about you all today

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Now you see my pain

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

o h wait do you play music crona?

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Uh... Not really. I've messed around on the piano, and failed at playing the French horn

Deo101 [Millennium]

LMAO

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Playing instruments is hard for smol hands

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

rip

Feather J. Fern

My tiny hands compared to my pen XD

Also I took the picture close up and at an angle so not cone cna make fun of my writsts which are narrower than my computer mouse

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

my wrists are also narrower than my mouse, and my mouse is pretty small

Deo101 [Millennium]

mine's about the same as my mouse

Feather J. Fern

Yeah I got a pretty small mouse too, I been told by people to eat more becuase of my wrists (It's an Asian thing apparently) and I'm like "First of all rude, second of all my health is not any of your concern random lady on the street"

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

yup

Tiny wrist solidarity!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Solidarity!

varethane

I don't have especially thin wrists but my hands are lowkey shaped pretty oddly. I only posted a photo of my hand petting a cat to FB and got a lot of comments like 'cute cat but what's with that hand????'

(it did look pretty weird from that angle. Like a noodle with a couple of noodlefingers at the end)

spacerocketbunny

Oh no Vare ;;;;;3;;;;;;;;;

[woolishlygrim]

Winter Weebwatch #4

This was … not a good week for a lot of the shows I’ve been reviewing. It wasn’t bad either, necessarily, just a solid two stars almost all the way across the board (and, like, two three star ratings).

We’ve also dropped another show this week, bringing our count down to five. Amazingly, the dropped show isn’t Darwin’s Game.

In/Spectre

★★☆☆☆

Episode three, and we’re straight back to the tone/genre problem from before.

The first half of this week’s episode finishes up the story about the snake deity and the swamp, with Kotoko giving her final hypothesis to the snake and successfully arguing in its defence. In the aftermath, she admits to Kuro that while the series of events she put forward was plausible, it’s actually a lie: The first theory she proposed, which the snake shot down, is actually the truth, but since it wouldn’t accept that, she had to come up with something else. This actually caps off that storyline in a pretty interesting way, and it tells us a lot about Kotoko’s character.

Aaaand then the story timeskips forward two years for no apparent reason and introduces us to Saki, Kuro’s ex-girlfriend. The timeskip seems fairly pointless, but Saki actually is pretty interesting: We get to see the reason she broke up with Kuro from her perspective, namely that, after an incident with a kappa where it fled in fear from him and where he seemed to be in some kind of trance and daze, she abruptly became acutely terrified of him without really knowing why, to the extent that just thinking about him makes her violently throw up.

That’s … really potent horror-writing right there. The idea that you can know somebody for years, and then one day a switch is flipped and you realise that there’s something unnatural and terrifying about them, and there always has been, is a legitimately horrifying one.

The problem comes back to tone and genre, because this isn’t really a horror show. It’s a romantic comedy, and while there probably would be mileage in ‘Kotoko is the only person not instinctively terrified of Kuro’ as a concept in a dark romantic comedy, we haven’t seen Kuro interact with anyone other than Kotoko and Saki, and there’s been no suggestion that people are instinctively frightened of him. The fact that immediately after this moment, the show resumes being a comedy, doesn’t help.

Darwin’s Game.

★★☆☆☆

I actually kind of remember most of what happened this time! I have to think really hard to remember it, it’s still foggy, but I do know what events took place in this episode.

Aaand because this is part of a longer arc and I haven’t remembered any previous episodes well enough to describe them, if I do any kind of synopsis in this review it’s just going to sound like utter nonsense.

But this episode was okay. Not amazing, not bad, but plenty watchable. It even introduced a semi-interesting idea, as Tech-y Information Broker Girl revealed that her Sigil, the ability to calculate the immediate future, is named after Pierre-Simon Laplace; setting things up for the  main character -- whose name is still a mystery to me -- to later have a vision of a mysterious blacksmith with his face, the apparent source of his own Sigil.

That … presents an intriguing idea that all the Sigils in Darwin’s Game might be in some form manifestations of historical figures. As an idea, it’s completely out of the left field, and it may end up not being the case at all, but it’d be an interesting little twist if it was.

Either way, this was an okay episode, I liked it.

Pet.

★★☆☆☆

We’re handing out a lot of two star scores this week, aren’t we.

I did enjoy Pet, and it probably wasn’t helped but how damn tired I was when I watched it, so this may not be a fair score. What bumps it down from a three last week to a two this week, though, is that this episode doesn’t introduce a whole lot that’s actually new. Hiroki is still in an abusive relationship with Tsukasa (who I think I called ‘Tsubasa’ throughout my review last week), and he still sort of realises that, but is so codependent that he can’t get out of it, Katsuragi is still talking a big game but the weakest one amongst them, and Satoru is still a cinnamon roll who keeps getting unfairly cast as the romantic rival by Hiroki, despite his demonstrable lack of interest in Tsukasa.

Instead of building on its character dynamics, this episode of Pet instead reintroduces us to Satoru and Tsukasa’s mentor, Hayashi, and it starts laying the groundwork for what will probably be an interesting romantic subplot in future: Satoru and Tsukasa both indicate a certain amount of romantic interest in Hayashi, with Satoru even drawing a parallel between Hiroki’s feeling of abandonment by Tsukasa and Tsukasa’s feeling of abandonment by Hayashi -- but Hayashi, meanwhile, seems to barely acknowledge that Tsukasa exists, and while he’s very invested in Satoru’s wellbeing, his interest is more filial than romantic.

Also, Katsuragi’s still a jerk and is still the least competent character around, which is fine.

Anyway, this isn’t a bad episode, but since it doesn’t really deepen our understanding of these characters (except maybe Tsukasa), it’s gotta get only two stars.

ID: Invaded.

★★★☆☆

I wavered on this one, I really did. In a week where every show seems to be doing worse in these reviews, ID: Invaded is unfortunately no different, and its streak of four star reviews has finally been broken.

But that’s … sort of fine, actually. This is very much a bridging episode, the middle part of the Gravedigger arc, and being the middle episode in a three episode (I suspect, it might be more) arc isn’t an easy position to be in.

Picking up immediately from last week’s episode, Hondomachi quickly realises that the fellow Perforator survivor who kissed her is actually the real Gravedigger, present at the crime scene to check out his imitator’s work, and that the reason the team haven’t been able to form a Well out of his killing intent is that he has brain damage, causing his killing intent to manifest as acts of love and his love to manifest as murder.

The plotline ends up not being as simple as all that, with the episode throwing three curveballs at us close to the end, but this is nevertheless very much a bridging episode, and it’s obvious in how relatively low effort the Well in the episode is.

Still, it sets things up nicely for the next episode, and I’m intrigued to see where this arc goes.

Sorcerous Stabber Orphen.

★★☆☆☆ (DROPPED)

I think the pace of Sorcerous Stabber Orphen is just too slow for my short attention span.

This week’s episode opens on another flashback, and when it became very apparent that a) The entire episode was going to be a flashback, and b) That flashback had no real momentum and not a lot of plot relevance, I just kind of decided enough was enough and that I should drop this show.

Unlike Plunderer, though, I’m not dropping this show because it’s bad or horribly offensive -- for viewers with a little more patience than I have, I think Orphen is the kind of series they could really enjoy, a light-hearted, somewhat retro fantasy story with some fun characters and a potentially interesting plotline.

It’s just a little too slow to keep my interest.

Infinite Dendrogram.

★★★☆☆

This week’s episode sees the gang starting on what should be a routine quest, only to run into a wandering boss monster, an ogre with poison and fire powers. The task of defeating it becomes a complex interplay of strategies, as Ray and Rook attempt to work around its ability to stack status effects on them and its potent fire powers.

So, this episode is pretty much all one long fight, and honestly, it’s not a bad fight at all. The main grit of it is Ray trying to juggle all of his abilities and advantages while trying to stay alive -- he has to stack up damage to use his Vengeance Is Mine ability, which adds damage he takes to his own attack power, but he also has to not die, and he has a limited number of uses of healing, and while he’s been given an elixir to protect him against the ogre’s status effects, it only lasts for a limited time, putting everything he does on a time limit.

The show does eventually pull a little bit of an asspull, as he discovers a new form for Nemesis that lets him offload any status effects he receives onto an enemy, but that’s kind of par for the course with shonen shows, to be honest.

One thing I do wish, though, was that the cast had a little more characters in it. At the moment, it’s very much just The Ray Starling Show, with Rook as a supporting character who doesn’t get to do much, and I’d like to see a proper party.

[mediaeval-muse]

Book Review... Laurel O’Donnell, “A Knight With Grace”

Rating: 1/5 stars

Genre: historical romance

Part of a Series? Yes, #1 of 2 (so far)

Summary: Lady Grace Willoughby defies her father’s orders to marry Sir William de Tracy and escapes with a friend. She has no intention of wedding a cursed man, a man ostracized from the church, a man who would only doom any future children they might have to the fires of Hell. She prays for a knight to rescue her. Excommunicated and outcast for a horrible crime in his past, Sir William de Tracy searches for forgiveness. Marriage has never crossed his mind until Lord Willoughby commissions him to retrieve his fleeing daughter and honor the dying wish of his father by marrying Grace. But things are not as they seem. And when an assassin tries to kill Grace, William must choose between his soul and the woman he has come to love. Can William and Grace overcome their past and find the redemption and love both are so desperately seeking?

***Full review under the cut.***

Overview: I bought this book solely because the back made me go, “Wait, if he’s an assassin, and he got excommunicated, I wonder if he murdered Thomas Becket.” AND LO AND BEHOLD, TO MY SURPRISE, I WAS RIGHT. That’s not really a spoiler, since we find out on page 10. As a medievalist, I’m not expecting my fiction to be historically accurate, much less historical romance, so my main reason for giving this book a low rating isn’t the history. It’s the prose. This book was only 176 pages, but the prose made it near impossible to get through. Otherwise, I would have loved a medieval romance set in a time period close to the one I study. But alas, this book failed to even meet my expectations for a fun, escapist fantasy.

Trigger Warnings: violence, blood

Evaluation

Writing: I don’t mean to be rude, but the writing in this book was atrocious. I understand that romance books are supposed to be light and fun, not literary, but the amount of telling instead of showing in this book made it impossible for me to get invested in the story or its characters. We are told that Grace has affection for characters rather than shown, we are told backstory rather than letting it unfold gradually, and we are told what characters are feeling rather than seeing it manifest through their actions. There isn’t much variety in how we’re told something either. Blood is referred to as “dark red liquid” multiple times, William's hair hangs in dark brown waves at least three times, etc. I know that not everyone will write poetic prose, but something more interesting would have gone a long way. The prose also lacks flow. O’Donnell likes to use a lot of sentences that are roughly the same length, interspersed with a couple of short fragments or a list of questions to create impact. But the effect was that the rhythm felt robotic. For example: “Th room behind her was silent. Strangely quiet. And then a large clatter came from inside the room followed by a roar of rage that so scared Grace she back pedaled into a shadowed corner and pulled her knees to her chest. What had happened? Was her mother dead? Was that what was making her father so angry? Was he so angry because he was losing her?” (p. 3). The prose feels heavy and overwritten, not letting the reader make connections for themselves. The dialogue is similar, which makes conversations feel wooden. For example: “‘You look pale. Are you feeling all right?’ Curtis asked. Grace looked at him in disbelief. ‘I’m worried. I’m frightened. I’m tired.’ ‘Do you want to go back?’ ‘Never!’ she hissed. She shook her head and waved away her worry. ‘It’s too late. I can’t go back. And I don’t want to.’“ It didn’t feel like real people were speaking to each other. The characters also speak inconsistently - sometimes, a “ye” or “shant” would be thrown in at odd moments, so the dialogue was half “old fashioned” and half updated.

Plot: I’ll admit, as soon as I found out the hero had murdered Thomas Becket, I screamed with joy. It’s silly, but I enjoyed it immensely. But right away, the pace of the story seemed be off. We spend one chapter in the present, then skip ahead 3 months for the next chapter, then skip ahead another month again - and all 3 chapters are only 16 pages! With all that time skipping around, it felt like O’Donnell didn’t quite know how to make meaningful events happen in a timely manner. Aside from that, there wasn’t anything about the plot that stood out. William and Grace mostly travel and don’t really do much. The events that do take place don’t do a lot to bring them together in a meaningful way, in my opinion. At one point, the assassin shows up and makes plot happen, but he’s mostly lurking in the background, so he isn’t very intimidating. When we get a big reveal towards the end about Grace’s father’s plot, I just wasn’t into it. It seemed cartoonish and not at all exciting, so rooted in raging misogyny that I couldn’t find it enjoyable.

Characters: It’s hard for me to evaluate the characters because I didn’t really feel connected to them. Grace and William didn’t have much personality - Grace wanted to escape her father and an arranged marriage, William was a self-hating man of honor. That’s mostly it. Grace doesn’t seem to be all that smart or feisty, as she doesn’t have a clue how to operate outside a sheltered castle life and doesn’t fight tooth and nail once William captures her. The plans she does have are simple and not at all well thought-out. It’s probably why her escape attempt only lasts a week. William falls for her because she’s nice to him. Side characters weren’t even that compelling. Curtis, Grace’s supposed close friend who risks his life and position to take her away from her father, apparently just wanted money. It was disappointing, since it meant that Grace had no positive relationships in her life AT ALL. When she finally does get one, after meeting William’s cousin Emily, it’s quickly taken away because we can’t have nice things in the Middle Ages. Grace’s father was perhaps the most annoying to me, personally. We start off the novel with Grace’s mother dying, and Grace is subsequently mistreated by her father. His disdain for her lasts throughout the book, and his reason is eyeroll-worthy. Maybe it’s a personal preference but I’m so sick of medieval heroines having fathers that treat them like dirt - it’s overdone, and it’s not an interesting way to achieve “realism” is historical fiction.

Other Historicism: I know I said I don’t expect my fiction to be historically accurate, but there were so many things that could have been adjusted so that the setting felt less generic. Like the fact that anyone only seems to eat bread and rabbit. Or that Grace wears one gown that rips easily and her hair is uncovered. Or that William goes to mass despite being excommunicated. Small things that would have been a nice gesture towards enthusiasm for the time period.

Moving on to Book 2? No.

Recommendations: I honestly wouldn’t even recommend this book to romance readers. There’s much better romance out there.

[kbrown78]

Monthly Wrap Up: July

July didn't quite go how I planned it to. First, there was my families vacation to South Carolina. I brought several books with my because I thought I would just be able to crank out within a few days, but our stay was much shorter than usual and even during traveling I wasn't able to read as much for various reasons (fear of planes and driving in the dark). So in that time frame I was only able to complete 3 books, which was good but nowhere near what I was hoping. Than work started getting busy, and I had to deal with some graduate school stuff, so I didn't have as much time for reading. That all being said I was still able to complete 10 books, most of which were good and I gave 3 or 4 stars to (there were a few notable exceptions), and accomplished various reading goals, like completing the Reading Frenzy's Runaway with the Circus Readathon (which consisted of 6 prompts) and did my classic of the month. I will also say this month had a huge variety of books, both in the genre and status, and while I still definitely gravitate toward adult fantasy, I feel like picking up books outside of my preferred genre is becoming easier as I end up liking more and more of those selections. To summarize, despite not getting to all the books I wanted to and the three 1 star reads, this month was really solid and I definitely found some books that I could add to my favorites of the year.  

Morning Star by Pierce Brown: Darrow must complete the mission of the Sons of Ares, to break the chains of Society, but the events of the previous book have completely changed things. With dwindling resources and allies, Darrow and the Sons of Ares make a final stand against the tyranny of the Sovereign and the Jackal. Upon rereading this book, I'm definitely glad that Brown is continuing the series because I don't think this works well as a finale. When I read the last book in the series, I want to feel that full emotional impact and want a sense of resolution from the ending. I'm not saying everything needs to be completely fixed, I like having a few loose threads, but this ending leaves me with such a sense of uncertainty that I almost feel anxious, which is not something I want from a finale. My biggest issue with this book was probably the pacing of the book, and how everything was just rushed so it could be crammed into one last book. I know there's a lot that this book had a ton it needed to cover, and without a doubt one of this series strongest feature is its action, but something was off and this seemed to produce a ripple effect that tainted other elements of this book. The stakes didn't feel as high, despite the fact that they were potentially world ending stakes. Characters arcs were incomplete, with only Darrow and Sevro having really progressed in any way (and even then I have mixed feelings about Darrow's arc), and romances were really forced into the narrative with little chemistry between the couples. New characters that were added in honestly had little impact. There was, however, 1 major highlight of this book, and really the whole series. That was the villain, The Jackal. As a villain, he is terrific. He's terrifying, amoral, cunning, and deceptive. He isn't a fighter, but that's what makes him so dangerous, because he knows how to get others to do the fighting so that all opponents underestimate him. His petty grievances against his family, and self worth issues make him human, but he is anything but humane. He's honestly one of the best villains, ever. Morning Star was a fun, enjoyable read, but it really lacked the development that it needed to elevate and complete it, and as a finale it really is disappointing. Morning Star received 3 out 5 stars and for the Circus Readathon was my pick for the Flyer prompt “a book set in space.”      

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys: When I completed Sepetys novel Salt to the Sea, I loved it so much that I decided to read the rest of her books. I took this one with me when I went on vacation because I would be in South Carolina, and since this book is set in the south I thought it would be the perfect time to read it. This is a historical fiction set in New Orleans during the 1950s. Josie is the daughter of a prostitute with big dreams of leaving behind all the prejudice and brothel that she has grown up in and starting fresh with a college education from a prestigious college. I admit I had high standards going into this one because of Salt to the Sea, and while Out of the Easy wasn't as good, I still liked it. There were a few hiccups however. This narrative lacked direction at times, to the point where things just stalled, with no action or quiet moments. I also didn't like the romance. It wasn't awful but very predictable and just didn't have enough substance or development, especially when compared to almost every other relationship. The one other thing I struggled with was the setting itself. The writing just didn't convey the vibrancy of New Orleans, which is shame because New Orleans has such a colorful reputation. Most of these complaints, however, were minor and this book managed to pull of a really solid, more mature narrative without being depressing. Characters were the highlight of this book because all of them had a life like quality to them, but the best one was probably Josie. Watching as various relationships shape who she is, working hard to achieve her dreams, and having to tackle disappointments and harsh realities made her She's definitely a flawed individual, but I think that at least makes her relateable and sympathetic. Still not as good as Salt to the Sea, but a decent good and one of the better historical fiction novels that I've read. Out of the Easy received 4 out 5 stars.

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang: Since I was going on vacation, I just wanted a nice quick read, and I tend to overall like short story collections. I wasn't sure what I expected going into this, I think I was hoping for something like Ken Liu's Paper Menagerie anthology, but that wasn't what this collection was. It was exclusively science fiction stories (though there were a couple stories that blurred the lines) but the most surprising aspect was definitely how many hard SF stories there were, which is a sub genre I'm not comfortable with yet. Those stories were definitely my least favorite because not only did I disliked what they focused on, physics theorems and mathematical proofs (which I've always struggled with) but also from a writing stand point these stories were the weakest. There were several issues present in most of the stories (weak endings, cold tone, impersonal characters, and disjointed narratives) but they were just really all present and emphasized in the 2 hard SF stories (Story of Your Life and Division by Zero). On the bright side, there was some very good stories that I really loved that I think nailed everything a short story should be. My favorite 2 stories were Tower of Babylon and Seventy Two Letters, both of which would get 5 stars. The individual stories get mixed reviews from me, ranging from poor 1 star, to average 3 star, to excellent 5 star, and despite the fact that execution felt weak in most of the stories, most of the stories at least had some interesting themes. Overall thought it was a decent collection and I'm glad I read it, but I wish I had known it would be just SF stories. As a whole, Stories of Your Life and Others received 3 out 5 stars.    

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle: This is classic fantasy story that somehow managed to stay under my radar until a couple years ago. I honestly didn't expect much out of it, but at the very least it would be a quick, easy read, with a simple premise of the last unicorn going on a quest to find the rest of her kind. After completing this one, it actually managed to exceed my expectations. It definitely hit all the beats of a classic fantasy: a long quest, medieval European setting and myths, wicked king, magic and prophecy. There's a lot of elements about the book that could make me dislike it, because I have struggled with several epic fantasy novels in just this past year. The difference is that The Last Unicorn is significantly shorter than the other books, and that is without a doubt what makes it work for me. Instead of dragging the story out as long as possible to make it seem grand and epic (because everyone's trying to emulate Tolkien), Beagle gets right to the point and keeps everything at a smaller scale. This pays off because almost every scene feels worthwhile and I'm actually invested in the characters, who were all interesting and well written. Even things I would normally irritate me, I thought was well done. Specifically the prophecy aspects of the narrative. Prophecies are so overused, and rarely done well, they usually make the story feel cheap. In The Last Unicorn, the prophecy wasn't a fundamental part of the story, but it did add layers and the way it played out was done in such a poetic way that it really was a satisfying addition to the narrative. There were also some great themes in this story, in fact the whole thing felt like a mystical allegory for growing up, and I personally love finding good coming of age narratives. There was a lot about this novel that just worked for me and I thought was well executed, but there were a few missteps. Most were minor, like one filler scene (that was a bit weird), and the juxtaposition of modern pop culture reference being present in a medieval setting, but the biggest issue I had was the ending. It was a vague and just felt like I was missing something (though I can't pin point exactly what), but the ending definitely dropped the rating a little. All in all this was a solid fantasy that stands the test of time, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good stand alone fantasy novel. The Last Unicorn received 4 out 5 stars and was one of the books I read for the Reading Frenzy's “Runaway with the Circus” Readathon.          

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini: Long books can be a struggle to get through, especially if you become increasingly frustrated with the story, and oh boy was that the case for this one. Over 700 pages, and I'd say about 600 of those pages was just filler. Most of the story was dedicated to sub plots which I think were supposed to add to the characters and the world  (like the Dwarves electing a new king) and the only events that tied the book to the rest of the series was at the very beginning and end of the book, which makes the entire book feel unnecessary. To add insult to injury, this tome of a book was almost exclusively in the POV of people I didn't care about. Eragon was annoying at first, but now he's just bland because his purpose in this book seemed to just be a mouth piece to spew exposition. There's also the detail of him having made allegiances to everyone he comes in contact with, and while this could have been an interesting plot point and character flaw (since everyone points out that he's basically spread himself to thin) nothing really comes of it. Roran got a lot more screen time in this book, and I hated his POV in the second book and I disliked it even more in this one, because he doesn't do anything and doesn't deserve all the leadership he gets. He's basically a discount Eragon, his chapters were so grating that I just started skipping them all together. The ultimate slap in the face though, was the removal of Nausada's POV. She's my favorite character, by far, the most complex, and I really felt her absence. In general I was so disconnected from the story and the characters, that after days of finishing it I honestly don't remember most of what happened. It sucks because not only was this a favorite series of mine as a child, but also because I see glimpses of potential for this series to be elevated for adult audiences but nothing is done with it. I'll read the last book at some point, just to finish the series, but I'm in no rush to get to what will probably another disappointing tome. Brisingr received 1 out 5 of stars.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson: For a little over a year I've wanted to read this book. Granted it's a mystery which falls out of my usual genre, but it was receiving enough attention to make me curious. Almost immediately I had issues with this book, and those issues stretch through the entire narrative. First is the writing style. Larsson (or at least the translator, since this was originally published in Sweden) seems to use a very dry style, utilizing the precise words that are needed. I have a history of disliking books with a dry style and this one was no exception. The result was that I was honestly bored, felt like I was reading a lot of filler that focused on what exactly everyone looked like and what they were doing, and just in general very detached from the narrative. The other part of this book that was off putting for me was the sexuality and sexual violence. Like this is definitely a novel I would only recommend for an adult audience. I already knew there was going to be a rape scene with Salander, but there was more than just that, which I was not expecting. It just builds up, from the male protagonist constantly having casual sex, to the way men regard Salander, to Salander being explicitly raped twice, then a missing person case turning into a hunt for a sexual sadist with a trail of bodies. It was so bleak and really turned me off from the narrative. Combining the writing style and sex, and I ended up skimming the majority of the book, because every time I tried to fully read, I just felt worn down. Speaking of which the mystery narrative wasn't that good. I've seen worse but I wasn't invested in this one at all, there were some notable holes in it, and toward the end it was pretty obvious who was the killer. I wasn't invested in the characters because they basically felt like archetypes that I either disliked or had seen way too many times, although Salander did manage to have a few shining moments. Basically there was nothing that I liked about this story: the tone, the writing, the violence, the characters, and the story itself. I personally would recommend just watching the movie if you're curious about this one, since I could see it potentially being better in movie format. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo received 1 out 5 stars and was my pick for the PopSugar prompts: “set in Scandinavia,” “published post humously,” and “features an amateur detective.”

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell: The only reason I read this book is because I wanted to knock out some challenge reads. I didn't expect to love this one, it's not in a genre I gravitate towards and Rowell's books strike me as a mix between John Green and Nicholas Sparks novels, neither of which I have any interest reading. However, this novel fulfilled 2 prompts, so I really needed to get this one done. Honestly, this one felt like I was reading fanfiction. The writing was choppy and juvenile, the dialouge was awkward and unnatural, the characters were card board cutouts made from a collection of cliques, there was no chemistry with the romance (love interest was a bit of creep at times), and whenever there was a plot it was melodramatic moments that the author was trying to force. Even though this was supposed to be a coming of age book, with the protagonist going off to college, and being in a fandom (with the fictional fandom being a blatantly gay Harry Potter), it delivered on none of that. If you want a good book on fandoms, with a well written protagonist with social anxiety, I would skip this book and just read Eliza and Her Monsters. Everything about this book was lazy and awkward and was even uncomfortable at moments, and I'm just glad I got it over with quickly. Fangirl received 1 out 5 stars and was my pick for the PopSugar prompts: “set on a college campus” and “author whose 1st and last name start with the same letter.”

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss: This book was in a word, fun. All this book wanted to do was tell a fun story, and I think it delivered on that. The whole story focuses on Mary Jekyll as she discovers that her late father was part of a secret organization of scientists that might be connected to a recent string of murders in London. Along the way she meets several other women in the same predicament as her, and together they work to stop the mysterious Society of Alchemists before it's too late.  Loved how the whole book is just a nod to several iconic literary figures, especially of Victorian Literature, but it really focuses on the females and the effect that their “fathers” had on them. The way the book was written, as a sort of memoir with each of the girls adding in their own commentary, worked well because it gave us some insight to each of their personalities as well as making slight commentary on the Victorian Era. Surprisingly I also liked how the mystery was handled, because that's usually where a story comes crashing down for me. I think that's because it took it's time to develop and arise naturally, kept the stakes relatively small, and set the groundwork for a series long conflict. I thought Mary was a pretty good protagonist, a practical minded leader and good hearted individual. While the book keeps the plot simple, which worked, its also kept most of the characters simple, which did not entirely work. For most of the girls, and even other side characters, I felt like they weren't developed much outside of their original context. Which meant that I didn't feel much attachment to them, nor did I get a feel for their inner dynamics, which is rather important for group based stories. Granted the book didn't suffer too much from it and we have the whole just of the series to further develop them. In my opinion this book is ultimately just a fluffy story that's great for reading slumps. The Strange Case of the Alchemists Daughter received 4 out of stars and was my pick for the Circus prompt “Cotton Candy: a fluffy and light hearted read.”

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff: Hyped books always make me skeptical, because more often than not I've been burned by them. Initially I got this one as a gift for my sister because it seemed like the type of book she would enjoy, but I was intrigued because of all the praise it had been receiving. If the premise of this book sounds familiar, a young girl training to take revenge on a corrupt government that executed her family, that's because it is. At the start this book does feel just like a copy of Arya Stark's narrative, and even the rest of the story features overused tropes that I don't like (Mean Girl and Mean Teacher) but I think everything else about this book makes up for that. The world was really interesting, a blend of various real world time periods and cultures but injected a healthy amount of fantastical elements. Loved the Red Church and the various classes, aka Halls, because you actually get to see what the acolytes learn and how it would be useful. “Truths” was definitely my favorite because that was the class with poisons and chemicals. I also appreciate the fact that while this definitely is an adult fantasy, and has dark and grim elements, it never steps over the line of being bleak to an absurd degree like a lot of fantasy (adult and YA) currently is, which is nice because I hate grimdark books. Characters were all interesting to say the least because while each was unique, with their own quirks and motivations, they all have a cut throat streak to them since all are either assassins or training to be assassins. While I did like Mia and found her to be an excellent protagonist, she wasn't actually my favorite character, which speaks to how good the side characters were. All the relationships in this book were artfully done and really tugged on my emotions. Like I wanted to trust others and for true friendships to be developed, only for the rug to be ripped from under me and those relationships only to end in death or betrayal. Even liked the romance, which is saying something because it's hard for to find a romance I think works well (still didn't need the sex scenes though). As for the plot, I've already stated that there were some tropes and the story did drag at times, but overall I liked the story. I liked seeing the various twists and turns that it took, I thought the flashbacks were well utilized, all the pieces just clicked together, and by the end of the story I was on the edge of my seat with anticipation. There's also a matter of the footnotes, which I know some people don't like, but I personally liked them because of how they added world building but also conveyed the narrators wit. This book wasn't super original, but everything about this book was really solid and I honestly loved it. I'm eager to see where the rest of the series goes. Nevernight received 4.5 out 5 stars, and was my pick for the PopSugar prompt “religious setting,” and for the Circus Readthon prompts: “Big Top” (red, white, black colors on cover), “Grandstand” (hyped book), and “Ringmaster” (first book in a series).    

The Art of War by Sun Tzu: Over the years, I've read a variety of books. Mostly fiction, mostly fantasy but I've also read plenty of non fiction and classics, yet this one is really isn't like any other book I've read. A blend of classical writing and non fiction, above all it's a book on military tactics. While the concept is good, and I did find this insightful, I don't read books that focus on military. It's such a dry, technical form of writing that I struggle to visualize and can't connect with, and as a result I just tend to glaze over battle scenes, even in fiction novels that I'm really liking. I also didn't like how the supplemental notes and translations were placed within the book, to the point where the writing felt very choppy, and I honestly struggled with getting through the last 50 or so pages. On that note, I think Art of War is an interesting read, that illuminates the delicate relationship between peace and war, and does make the subject of military strategy approachable and understandable, but the subject still isn't something up my alley, and there were times I was just bored when reading it (both due to the subject and the writing itself). The Art of War received 3 out 5 stars and was my classic read of the month.  

Thank You Everyone

Keep Calm and Keep Reading

[theory-talestelltalesss]

Seducers Ch. 4 [M]

Y/N is a siren who preys on sailors using her sweet songs. The catch is a curse is put amongst her species that if a man escapes her songs, she will die. Sailors usually lust for a woman’s touch arising from the long travels on sea, so it wasn’t hard for her. However, a smart young sailor named Kim Taehyung and his crew escapes an attack targeted on their ship. She follows them to no end, resisting her doomed fate, but finds herself in a complicated situation once she reaches the ship.

Pairing: Taehyung x reader

Characters: Sirens, rest of BTS

Genre: fantasy, fluff, smut, angst

Warnings: alcohol use, violence, blood talk, lots of dirty smut lolol (when I wrote this I didn’t mean for this to sound so girls vs. boys but it turned out that way, so I’m sorry if you get offended by this. It’s just the nature of the story and the historical myth that its based off of. I have no bad intentions whatsoever).

Chapters: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - (Fic In Progress)

Chapter 4 (Not edited! Y/N’s unexpected visitor, fluff, Jungkook goes fucking crazy, fluff, We on a quest boysss, Y/N’s powers).

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“Siren.” An impatient voice low and raspy calls for you.

Your heart races like a horse as you look at Taehyung topless on your bed with drips of blood down his back. It also catches your attention that the end of your bed are spotted with dribbles of his blood.

“W-Wait a minute! I’m uhhh...combing my hair!” Taehyung mouths a genuine ‘what the fuck?’ in your direction and you gesture for him to hide quickly.

“Combing your hair?”

“Y-yeah! It’s a...a private activity we sirens do!” you lie.

“....the fuck?” the voice mumbles to himself.

Taehyung grabs his shirt while mouthing a dozen ‘fuck’s’ in succession as he quietly crawls under your bed and scoops his boots with him. You try to comb out your long hair to the best of your ability and cover the spots of blood with your blanket before calling him in. The door opens slightly and you see Yoongi’s eyes peek through.

“Yoongi??” you exclaim in undeniable shock. He would be the last person you would think would visit you, other than Taehyung. Taehyung being your prey and Yoongi being your most hostile aggressor.

Yet here you all are. 

All in your room. 

Even though one is not aware of the other’s presence.

“Are you shackled, siren?” he says as he looks at you behind the door.

“Yes,” you lift them up slightly for him to see. “Why are you here?”

He glares at you for a few seconds, and then cautiously reviews the area. You break into sweat hoping that his eyes wouldn’t land on something under the bed. You discreetly try to drape over more of the blanket down the bed to hide Taehyung, who’s probably still mouthing a dozen ‘fuck’s’ to himself like a prayer he never wanted to chant again since monastery school. 

Thankfully, Yoongi finally comes in and sits on a chair by the door, never leaving his eyes from you. His movements are slow and prudent, not an ounce of trust in them for you.

“I didn’t get to have a conversation with you about today,” Yoongi says as he puts his ankle on his other knee. He looks at you with a stoic expression but his eyes still throw a million daggers your way.

“What is there to talk about?”

“Why did you save Jimin? You could’ve just left him to die. You would have one less man to worry about and we were jerks to you. So...why’d you do it?” his eyes intense and demanding.

“I-I don’t know,” you muttered quietly, because you honestly didn’t. As soon as he asked that question, you could see his point. You could’ve taken advantage of the situation and asked for something in return. But the moment you saw Jin’s eyes in horror and his friends’ faces in distress, it seemed like the most natural thing for you to do. You didn’t think about questioning it nor did you have the time. Your body acted by itself as if it was some sort of set algorithm. You don’t know, and that’s really the truth.

“You don’t know? Did you make a deal with them or something?” he asks, clearly doubting your altruistic good deed. The only bargain you signed up for was between you and Taehyung and he doesn’t know even know it exists. Jungkook letting you roam around the ship without shackles on was just a consolation price. You saved him because...you just did.

“No-I just...I just did it.” 

Silence falls upon the room and you and Yoongi look at each other without a word. You should’ve predicted this since you sensed from the beginning that he’s an angry quiet character. You notice once again that his menacing eyes have the capability to channel the most dangerous threat even though his other delicate features say otherwise. He’s like a poisonous flower-- pretty on the outside, dangerous in the inside. Just like you.

“This doesn’t change anything between us, siren. I still think you’re evil,” he stands up and tosses you a small jar that you instantly react to catch. You hold it up but can’t seem to make out what is in it just by the single candlelight in your room.

“What is it?” 

“Jimin’s blood.” 

His pocket in his hands as he answers you with a deadpan expression. “My clothes drenched in his blood when I was holding him. Since I was gonna throw it out anyway, thought I’d just throw it your way.”

You feel your heart tingle. Is Yoongi, the most aggressive sailor you’ve met since day one, showing you an act of kindness? You’re speechless and you try to prevent your lips from forming a pout by how much it moved you. He must have squeezed out the blood from his clothes after the incident. He may have even squeezed out the blood from Jimin’s clothes as well. However, it seems like he doesn’t want this to be considered as a token of gratitude, but just something he did because the blood was going to waste anyways. Regardless, it still moved you.

“T-Thanks...Yoongi,” you say quietly.

“Don’t,” he hisses. “I don’t know if it’s still good or whatever but if it’s not, just drain it down the toilet.” He opens the door to leave but he pauses in his tracks to leave one more statement behind.

“Oh and by the way, your hair is still awfully messy for someone who supposedly combed it out.” He shuts the door behind him and you panic at his last statement.

Is that his way of saying he heard Taehyung and I? 

“Do you think he heard us?!” you exclaim as you hear Taehyung crawl out from under the bed.

“No...no, he wouldn’t have come in,” Taehyung says as he kneels down on the floorboards still topless. However, you notice that your piercings on his back have stopped bleeding. “But...what the fuck was that?” he asks as he looks at you, and then the jar. Apparently, he’s as surprised as you at Yoongi’s actions.

“I have no idea. I was hoping you had an answer,” throwing back the question at him since he knows Yoongi more than you.

A smile slowly grows on Taehyung’s face and he laughs audibly as he climbs on your bed facing you. “Been friends with him for so long and yet I’m still surprised he does shit like this.” You look at him confused by his words.

“He does this?”

“Yeah! He would make you think he hates you or he just plain doesn’t care, but deep inside, he cares like the rest of us, sometimes even more. That’s why people always misunderstand him.”

Interesting. So not a poisonous flower. More like a snail, hard and cold on the outside, but squishy and soft in the inside. 

“Yeah...I felt that.”

“You felt he’s misunderstood?”

“Yeah, since the first day I saw him. I’m not trained to feel his type but I still had the feeling,” referring to the time at the party when your friend Layla, who was meant to attract him, was all over him. You knew he was a misunderstood character, but certainly not in this kind of way. Being kind itself.

“Is it still good?” Taehyung asks nodding at the jar.

“No...but it’s still a nice gesture nonetheless. We sirens only drink fresh blood.”

“I see. Well, don’t worry.” He takes the jar in your hands and put it by your bedside table. He then blows the candlelight and lays by your side with his head on his hand. “You have me anyways,” he smiles coyly at you.

You feel your heart tingle more than when Yoongi tossed you the jar, but as hard as you thought, you can’t find a word for that feeling. For some reason, you feel that those words meant more than him referring to himself as your personal blood bank.

“Isn’t it kinda sick that I’m hunting for you to feed you just to feed on you?” you laugh at the weird thought.

“Ha! I didn’t know sirens had a sense of humor too,” he giggles.

He then covers both of you with the blanket and pulls you down to lay next to him. Next thing you know, his beautiful face is right in front of you with eyes closed and with a light smile. He looks so serene with the moonlight behind him but his bizarre human behavior distracts you from letting things be.

“Are you sleeping here?” you ask. You’ve never had anyone sleep with you before, whether on a rock or a bed. The concept alone is foreign to sirens, always having a designated rock or area to sleep on, therefore, you can’t help but question it.

“What? I’m not some sl- Ohhh,” he chuckles loudly as he caresses your cheek and looks into your eyes. “You see, Y/N, decent human beings sleep on the same bed when they do something intimate.”

“Is that human--No...No. No! Even so! You should sleep in your own room! People will catch us together!” you push his bare shoulders away from you but you feel his hand encircle your wrist softly. His cheery expression slowly falls down to a very somber one. 

“Y/N...your spell is wearing off...” 

You then realize that his moment in heaven is over and his moment in hell will begin, although, it won’t be as severe as last time since you sang a weak song. However, he still will feel a lingering moment of sadness, and you see exactly that in his eyes. You start to feel his heart getting broken to a million pieces and it also dumps heavily on your chest. 

“I just...really need to be with someone tonight...I feel...really lonely right now Y/N,” he whispers sadly to you.

He stares at you silently with glassy melancholy eyes, pleading for you to let him stay. His expression moves you to slowly withdraw your hand away from his shoulder and let him wrap his arms around you, keeping you close to his body. You feel him intertwine his legs with yours and you can’t help but think how warm it is to lay in a human’s arms, touching his skin with yours.

Since you typically sleep on hard surfaces, the bed is not comfortable to you whatsoever. However, now that Taehyung has you in his arms, his toned musculature and hard chest silences you into relaxation. You find that sleeping on a bed is not so bad after all.

In the midst of you taking in the comfort of your newly found sleeping ritual, a question pops in your head about human sleeping habits. 

“Taehyung? Do humans always sleep together?” 

“No...just with the ones they like...” he whispers as he slowly falls asleep.

You think it was a weird behavior of humans because even though you like your friends, you never slept with them. But you leave it at that since the coziness of your position also pulled you down into sweet unconsciousness.

“FuuuuuuuuUUUUCCKKKK,” you hear a voice run to your door and the sound spills over when it swung open. In a daze, you raise your head to see who it is and you see Jungkook with his mouth open.

“Oh shi-” you turn your head but you see yourself alone on the bed.

Where is he?

“Did I shackle you?” Jungkook sighs as he leans against the doorframe, relieved that you’re where you’re supposed to be.

“No, you were drunk,” you answer as you look at him with your heart pounding against your chest. You feel your face become hot by the fact that this scene would’ve ended up differently if Taehyung didn’t wake up early.

“Ugh you stupid fucking careless competitive ass motherfucker,” he mutters to himself as he hits his forehead with his palm continuously. Honestly, you think Taehyung and you are more careless than he is.

“There he is!” Taehyung exclaims as you see him walk towards Jungkook from behind. “I could’ve fucking died last night you drunk,” Taehyung chuckles as he pats his shoulder.

“Hyung I jus-”

“Ah save it. Good thing Y/N here is not as rabid as we thought,” he says as he looks at you on the bed. He then slips in a quick wink in your direction and for some reason, your face gets hotter than it already is.

Since when did he get up?

You suddenly notice that Taehyung looks different even though he looks the same. There’s a glow that’s radiating off of him and you weirdly find yourself observe what he’s wearing. He usually wears a low-cut long sleeve shirt, a sword belt with the sword itself, a pair of pants, and black boots. You could care less about human attire since you rip them off your prey anyways, and you yourself usually don’t wear any clothes. However, that morning, he looks fresh and...sexier?

He then tosses Jungkook the keys and the boy gets startled to catch it.

“Come on then, have breakfast. Namjoon’s got orders. We got a long day ahead of us.” He walks away as he messes up his hair and Jungkook comes over to you to unshackle your wrists while punishing himself with his words. Both of you climb down the bed and you head for the door.

“Jungkook, don’t worry about it. Taehyung-” you pause mortified as you turn to look back at him. He’s frozen in place with his eyes wide on the jar of blood by your bedside table.

“Is that...blood?” 

Out of nowhere, Jungkook draws a sword to your throat. He alternates his eyes between you and the jar of blood as his breathing heaves. He then examines the room and he slowly lifts your blanket, indicating to you that he spotted something. There, he uncovers the small dribbles of blood at the end of the bed from Taehyung’s back. He tightens his grip on the sword as he flares his nostrils at you.

“WHOSE FUCKING BLOOD IS THAT?!” he yells at the top of his lungs as you put your hands in the air. 

“Jungkook, it’s no-not what you th-think,” you gulp down and raise your chin as you try to speak calmly. You take steps backward until you hit the wall behind your back.

“TELL ME.” Jungkook’s eyes are critically murderous and if eyes could kill, you would be on the ground dead before he could even take a stab. You’re frightened at how the laughing boy from last night transformed into a deadly man before your eyes. He’s like a bull ready to charge when they see red and that red is you.

“It’s Jimin’s but it’s-,” 

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?! DID YOU HURT HIM?!” 

Jungkook then grabs the jar in his hand, “YOU’RE NOT FUCKING DRINKING THIS.” He smashes the jar on the floor with great force. Infinite bits of broken glass fly out and land themselves on the splashed out blood on the floor. Strokes of deep red mark the furniture left and right, as well as your feet and ankles.

You hear another voice and sets of steps run towards your room.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa! Jungkook calm down. What’s going on?” Jin comes in with his hands in a defending position towards Jungkook. Hoseok stands by the doorway with his mouth covered by his hand as he observes the morbid floor.

“She hurt Jimin hyung!” he yells as he jabs the sword an inch at you with each word that he puffed out. Your whole body starts to shake with the gesture and you’re not sure if your legs can hold you up any longer. Jungkook is dangerously above his threshold and no words would be able to reason with him.

“No, I di-di- I didn’t. Yoongi ga-gave it to me,” you manage to puff out as you hold your breath and your voice quivers as you speak.

“What?”

“He ga-ave me Ji-jimin’s blood,”

“Why the fuck would he do that?!”

“I-I I do-on’t know Jungkook, but-”

“YOU DON’T KNOW?! YOU FUCKING LIAR!”

All of a sudden, you hear a clink of metal against metal and you feel a whipping force in front of you. Before you know it, Taehyung is in front of you with his sword directed at Jungkook’s throat, while his is directed at Taehyung’s throat.

“Jungkook. Calm. Down,” he says dragging out his words.

“SHE HURT JIMIN HYUNG!”

“No she didn’t. I was with her last night.”

“I fucking can’t remember anything from last night! If Jimin’s hurt, it’s my fault! I won’t believe anything until I see Jimin hyung unscathed!”

Taehyung looks at Jin and Hoseok at the doorframe. He nods his head up without saying a word and the two boys run quickly to find Jimin. You feel Taehyung’s hand push you to the side as both of you slowly take steps in a circle and Jungkook follows you both with his sword.

“Sing when I tell you to,” Taehyung whispers to you without breaking his eye contact with Jungkook. Your eyes widen in surprise by his controversial request but you feel like you have to have faith in Taehyung at this moment.

“Jungkook, I understand you’re scared it would be your fault if Jimin hyung got hurt. But I’m the one who shackled her last night.”

“Why are you protecting her, hyung? She wants to kill you too!”

“No-No I don’t!” you defend behind Taehyung’s shoulder as you try to slowly keep your steps in coordination with his.

“She’s right. If she did, she would’ve done it last night when you were drunk and no one was around.”

“Then why the fuck would Yoongi give her Jimin’s blood huh? It fucking doesn’t MAKE SENSE!”

“I really don’t know Jungkook! Yo-Yoongi probably did it as a thank you to me because I saved Jimin. Please Jungkook believe me!” 

A lump in your throat gets stuck as you feel tears trying to push out from your eyes by the heightened and strained atmosphere of the room. You can’t believe that the two best friends who were laughing and drinking together last night, now have their swords at each other’s throats. You’re scared by the intense look in their eyes and that in one second, it may not only be Jimin’s blood that will be scattered all over your room.

“That doesn’t sound like Yoongi hyung at all.”

“I know Jungkook. But you know Yoongi, he has his...kind moments.”

“Why the fuck would he be kind to her?! HE HATES HER THE MOST!”

With that statement, you couldn’t hold your tears any longer by the harshness of Jungkook’s words. Streams of tears trail your face as you look over to him by Taehyung’s shoulder. However, per Taehyung’s request, you try to concentrate on finding the fastest spell in your head that would work on him. You remember that songs of victory and determination would work on Jungkook but time is of the essence. To make it worse, your hair is dry so you’re not able to pluck it to make music. There’s only one way you think that would stop him.

“Jungkook! Even if everyone hates her, you see that she’s kind! She’s not a monster!”

“How do you know it’s not a fucking deception, hyung?! HUH?! She might’ve tricked me into letting my guard down so she can hunt the rest of you!”

“Your fucking fear is fucking getting the best of you! She hunts your fucking food, not your fucking friends, and she saved Jimin for God’s sake! She could’ve fucking sucked his blood in that tub but she didn’t Jungkook! She didn’t!”

Hoseok’s rapid footsteps echo the room and you all turn to him with the slightest movement. He shakes his head, gesturing that they can’t find Jimin. “There must be some explanation why he’s not here. God damn it you two! Lower your swords!”

“What about Yoongi hyung?!” Jungkook yells.

“No...we didn’t find him either,” he says cautiously.

Jungkook’s eyes glint at you and he launches himself at a flash as he shouts in wrath. Taehyung quickly swipes his sword out of the way, just an inch from his face, and Jungkook twirls before coming in contact with Taehyung’s sword again. You run to a corner of the room, pushing yourself against the wall to avoid getting hurt. Your heart rattles when you see Jungkook’s eyes move in your direction to attack you but Taehyung clinks his sword with Jungkook’s again to distract him. The boys push their swords against each other with all their strength as they brutally glare each other down. At a stalemate, Taehyung shouts out.

“Now Y/N!”

You look at Jungkook and you try to send an apology with your eyes as best as you could. You then cover your ears and you shriek at the top of your lungs, vibrating the room with a reverberating sound for a few seconds until you observe his eyes roll back behind his head and his knees become weak, making him collapse on the floor.

“Holy shit,” Hoseok runs to Jungkook patting his cheeks. “Jungkook? Jungkook?”

Tears start to fall down your face and you feel your legs tremble until they’re not able to support you any longer. As you droop down the wall, an inevitable feeling of guilt and regret engulfs you. Your head starts to throb furiously at the action you just did to Jungkook and it feels like you just set your relationship with the rest of the crew aback a thousand waves. You fear that they won’t ever trust you now.

“What did you do?” Hoseok turns to you with a serious expression.

“He just fainted,” you manage to say in between gasps as you weep.

Taehyung put his sword back in his holder and crouches down at Jungkook.

“I’m sorry Kook,” he brushes his hair aside and caresses his forehead.

You then hear more hasty footsteps reach your door and you see Jin and Namjoon by the doorway, mouth wide open at the resulting scene that lay before their eyes.

“What the fuck happened here?!” Namjoon panics as he observes Jungkook collapsed by his sword, Hoseok and Taehyung hovering over him, blood and millions of broken glass all over the floor, and a crying siren at the corner.

“Jungkook went crazy because he thought Y/N hurt Jimin. He was just scared it would’ve been his fault if he got hurt. He wouldn’t believe anything until he sees Jimin hyung,” Taehyung says as he caresses Jungkook’s face.

“Taehyung, you fucking know I sent out Jimin and Yoongi to check out the island we’re about to go down to! They’re fucking seeing where we can dock the ship safely!”

“I know hyung,” Taehyung says. “That’s why I told Y/N to sing...or whatever that was...or else I don’t know what would’ve happened. He just fainted.”

“Oh my god...” Namjoon brushes his hair back and holds his head frustrated. “Hoseok, Jin hyung, can you put Jungkook in his bed please? This is NOT how I want to start our expedition today.”

A deep sense of conflict overwhelms you. Two opposite images of humans compete for your judgement as you sob with your head in between your knees. You just witnessed the violence and destructive behavior that humans are capable of and it frightened you to your core. Perhaps Crystal and the Seducers were right. It horrifies you out of your wits when you imagine that this kind of scene is what fatally ended your friends. 

“Hey...are you ok?” Suddenly, you hear Taehyung’s soft whisper so close in front of you. “I’m sorry. Don’t think bad of Jungkook ok? He was just scared.”

You feel a hand rub your back as you hear Jin’s and Hoseok’s movements lift Jungkook out of your room.

“She didn’t do anything, hyung. Yoongi gave her the blood. Ask him when he comes back.” Taehyung retorts to Namjoon even though he hasn’t accused you of anything.

“All right, all right. I believe you.” Namjoon says.

“Pretty, can you show me your face?” You feel a hand on your head and you lift your face up drenched in tears. He takes a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe your face but you swat his hand away.

“Don’t touch me.”

Taehyung looks taken aback by your action accompanied with your stern and grim expression. Humans are disgusting.

He then shifts his eyes from your face to your feet. He sees that your feet are covered in blood and pieces of the glass rubble pierce through the bottom.

“Y/N...”

“I can heal myself.”

“Put your arm around my neck,” he says, ignoring your statement. Taehyung doesn’t know what possessed you to answer him like that but he won’t have it. When you did nothing, he takes your arm and put it over his shoulders as he swoops his other arm under your knees. He lifts you up as he says, “Even if you can heal, I don’t want you to take another step.”

As Taehyung carries you out of the room, you pass by Namjoon as he averts his eyes between you and Taehyung. His expression seems skeptical and suspicious of his behavior.

Taehyung sits you on top of the kitchen table as he scrummages for tools to take out the glass shards from your feet. Drips of blood still hung unto them, both Jimin’s blood and yours. He sets the materials by you and sits on the seat in front of you.

“Y/N...don’t let it get to you. Jungkook was just scared. He’s really not like that,” he says as he lays your heels on a towel on his lap.

“It’s going to hurt,” he warns before he plucks out the biggest glass shard and you gasp at the pain. “Sorry.”

He then starts plucking the rest of the shards as carefully as he can and your body tenses up from the pain as you hold your leg. 

“So what was that shriek? It didn’t sound human,” he asks, concentrating on a rubble.

He waits for a reply but you say nothing until he notices.

“Y/N, are you mad?” he stops what he’s doing and looks at you as you continue to do nothing.

“Y/N, are you scared of me?” he asks as he tries to caress your cheek but you turn to your left to deny his touch. You see his expression fall disappointed with a sad smile before he goes back to doing what he’s doing.

“That’s ok. I understand...humans do foolish things when they’re scared. What Jungkook did was out of care for Jimin hyung.” He plucks out another shard and you start bleeding profusely as you tear up at the pain. 

“Sometimes human love just manifest in weird ways.” 

He takes the bottle of rum, bites the cork from the opening, and pour it over your feet. Your leg twitches from the pain before Taehyung presses some of your wounds with the towel to stop bleeding. 

Taehyung continues to take out the glass rubble from your feet one by one in silence. If you didn’t want to talk then he won’t make you. He understands that you’re probably still in shock by Jungkook’s sudden change of behavior. However, as the silence grows, you start to feel guilty ignoring Taehyung as he’s doing something nice for you. You start to consider that he might not be like the other humans. Even though you’re still on edge, you find it in you to speak to him.

“That wasn’t my human voice,” you said stoically.

“I’m sorry?” he says and looks at you.

“The shriek. It wasn’t my human voice.”

“Interesting...so sirens have a siren voice?” he smiles as he clearly thinks he won you over now that you’re talking.

“Yeah. We use it underwater to talk to each other.”

“That’s cool...and very convenient. How come it only made Jungkook faint and not Hoseok and I?”

“Because it’s more concentrated. Water muffles sound and siren voices concentrate them so it doesn’t dissipate everywhere in water. It sounds awful when it’s not used underwater...and I concentrated the sound to Jungkook’s ears only.”

“Whatever voice you use, I still like it,” he says as he wraps your feet in cloth.

“Hey Taehyung! I need you to go down and help dock the ship,” Namjoon suddenly interrupts.

“Yeah I’m done, hyung!” he calls out as he finishes wrapping your feet “We’re here Y/N,” he says before leaving you to run to the deck.

"I thought we weren’t going to reach your destination until 11 more days?” You ask Namjoon who’s beside you as both of you look at the horizon of the forest of the island before you. You see the other boys below at the shore, tugging on ropes and hammering stumps of wood to tie it around them. The island seems deserted, contrary to the image of a town in your mind that Jungkook and Taehyung talked about when they were drinking.

“Yep, this is part of the plan. We’re gonna spend just a couple of days here before we reach home. We’re on a quest,” 

“A quest?”

“Y/N...did anybody ever tell you why we’re on a ship in the first place?”

With Namjoon’s question, you realize your ignorance. All you really cared about was how to stay alive in a ship with seven humans but never really asked where the ship came from or where it’s going.

“No...” you say meekly.

He chuckles before he answers, “You see Y/N, our hometown is getting sick...”

“Getting sick?”

“There’s something going on...a type of disease or something. We don’t know how to cure it, and that’s why we’re here. This ship and its crew were appointed by your highness to find the rare flower that may treat the people with the disease.”

Your-Your highness?

He then takes out a small book from his pocket scribbled with gorgeous writing that surrounds a drawing of the flower.

“Orphiya,” he says as he points at the big flower with a beautiful bright purple color and delicate yellow freckles at its center. 

“It’s pretty,” you said.

“Namjoon it’s docked!” you hear Jimin yell from below.

“Great job guys!” Namjoon yells back. “Let’s go, Y/N.”

You stand at a part of the shore that washes your feet with the ocean water, but not enough to make your tail reappear. All the boys look at you as you take off the bloody cloth that Taehyung wrapped around your feet. 

Jungkook, after awakening from his passed out state, is now also in front of you. However, he avoids your gaze every time he feels your eyes on him.

“It should only take a second,” you tell them as they await for you before going into the woods. You close your eyes and you try to channel your energy towards your feet to heal them. However, as hard as you tried, you still feel the stinging pain and you don’t understand why. You open your eyes and observe the palms of your feet. 

“T-They’re not closing up,” you whisper to yourself in shock.

“Is there something wrong?” Hoseok asks.

“M-My wounds! They’re not closing up!” You look at your feet with wide eyes. “How can this be?!”

“I thought you could heal yourself?” Jin asks with a tone of concern.

“Yeah! I can! I’ve done it a million times! I don’t know why it’s not working now!” You panic as you try to find an explanation why you’re not able to heal yourself anymore. 

Shit. Shit. What is happening?

You suddenly feel your head become dizzy and your knees buckle under your weight. Before you know it, Taehyung catches you before you plummet into the water and you see his blurry face in panic. 

“Y/N! Y/N!” Taehyung yells.

“I’m too far from the holy place, Taehyung.”

“Holy place?! Your home?!”

“The fountain...” you breathe out as you slip into unconsciousness.

I just want to say thank you all for supporting this fic! I tried to finish it as fast as I can for you guys <3 Hope this keeps you on edge lol