#Alec is still my favorite character 10 years after I first read it

[annakxrenina]

sorry to disappoint everyone but I haven’t read a classic in a month i have solely been reading the mortal instruments. i’m halfway through the fourth one and LIVING so don’t mind me if i disappear for a while

[all-thestories-aretrue]

I am about 1 million years late to this but thank you for the tag @graphitekayla!!!

Rules: without naming them, post 10 gifs of your favorite shows, then tag 10 people. I'm definitely going to break this rule; you can't give me the opportunity to gush about my faves and not expect me to name them all!!

If anyone has followed me for any length of time none of this will be a shock lmao.

Shadowhunters, and more broadly speaking The Mortal Instruments. My first real fandom!!! I cannot overstate the impact the books and show had on my life. I wouldn't be who I am without it. I have an angelic rune tattoo. Magnus and Alec are some of the first queer characters I remember reading about. I remember where I was when they kissed for the first time in the show. You stupid nephilim lives rent free in my brain. This show (and the books) truly set up the trajectory my life is on now, and I will always always remember it fondly. Even with all the drama and discourse.

2. Critical Role, specifically C2. My first true obsession after the decade long Shadowhunters debacle. I stumbled into it to learn how to play D&D (which I now know is a controversy in and of itself lmao). But my friend @midnightellis wanted us to start a game, and I needed a way to learn that wasn't reading the books, so I started C2. It took 11 or 12 episodes, but then I fell in love. I spent the next almost year watching the entirety of C2 which culminated in visiting them to watch the finale together. I was extremely jetlagged. It was basically 8 amazing hours of nonstop crying. I have zero regrets. Except for the fact I still need to get the tattoo I had planned rip. One day!! I promise!!

3. Arcane!!!! A brief interlude between Shadowhunters and CR. There was about 4 months were I was OBSESSED and watched the entire show like 3 times back to back. I have many thoughts and feelings about Jayce. The show is also just so visually stunning. I cannot wait for S2 to drop in November!!!!!! I know nothing about League but I do really love this show.

4. House. Iconic. What else needs to be said? House is very much a comfort show for me; great to rewatch during the winter. I've watched the entire thing almost three times now, and even got my mom hooked lol. It was fun seeing all her reactions to everything before I moved.

5. If I had known what fandom was when this was airing, I truly would have been all over that shit. But I was 8 and didn't have access to the internet. Aang/Katara def my first otp lol. I did, however, ignore a friend that was over at my house to watch the finale, I believe. I definitely told them to go play so I could watch the show uninterrupted. Needless to say, they were not thrilled with that. I'm 90% sure it was the finale now, but I could be wrong about the episode. ATLA is also another comfort show that I could watch over and over again.

6. Shadow and Bone. I am still SICKENED this got canceled. Genya and David are the ultimate romance, and no one will convince me otherwise. I almost stopped reading when I found out his fate. I was devastated. Everyone in this show is also very pretty. I can't believe we won't get a s3.

I'm going to stop here because this is already long enough, and tbh I'm not sure I actually have four more shows. I can only be obsessed with one thing at a time, and the current obsession is Path of Night. And that does not seem to be waning any time soon.

Edit: Lost should 100% be on this list. I think I've watched it at least four times. My family and I watched it live as it was airing when I was a kid. And it still is one of my favorite shows. I know people got beef with the ending but I truly didn't mind it. Even if it's bad or whatever, I think Lost is still 100% worth watching. There are so many little hints and clues that I pick up something different every time, and each character death hits just as hard.

I'm going to tag: @gelatinouscute, @peppedstep, @midnightellis, @discordkittenterumi, @im-a-vampire-now, @zeena-athena , @syntia13treeman , @sapphicfugue , @dr-thumbs-brand-new-spot

If you want to do this :)

[some-stars]

Fic writer questionnaire! Tagged by @deputychairman, thank you!

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

65....just waiting for 69 so i can celebrate

2) What's your total AO3 word count?

288,609

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

okay, so, there's a lot so we're gonna collapse some. So, 16: The Witcher (games and show), Supernatural, Dark Angel, Glee, Stargate (both SG1 and SGA), MCU, Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf, due South, DC (comics and movies), House of Leaves, Sense8, Harry Potter, Les Miserables (book), Doctor Who, and X-Men movies. Oh, and I wrote a lot of NSYNC RPF back in the day but you will never see it. (Unless you literally read it back then and remember one and want to reread it, I’m not ashamed of them if you were also in the pit with me. If that is the case feel free to ask.)

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?  

all some children do is work: this one surprised me, i did NOT think there was this kind of appetite for almost-gen turned-into-a-kid fic, but i do really like the fic itself so i'm contented with its acclaim

method: i mean, it's fake dating, written back when there wasn't much non-modern-AU fake dating in witcher fandom (possibly there still isn't?) so, not surprised

Emergency Pants: this is the one that the Claw chose back in 2012 bc i had written very pornographic tony/bruce about a month after Avengers came out so there was a big appetite for it. i don't much care for it these days except i do still think the tony voice is good

warm you like the sunshine: deeply unsurprised this one is popular (and it's one of my own fics that i reread a lot), it's extremely tender BDSM with a juggernaut pairing, that gets the readers

As often as from thee I go: honestly kinda surprised about this one, which is just a 2500 word confection i wrote for my own satisfaction, but it does have explicit sex and jaskier crying about his feelings so maybe it makes sense

5) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I almost always do, but usually just with "Thanks!" unless it's a detailed or lengthy comment.

6) What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

"Long black night, morning frost" (Les Miserables) for absolute certain. One of the very few fics I've written with an outright unhappy and pessimistic ending (although I found it very cathartic to write). For Witcher fics, "Kind" and "go ask alice" are about as sad as I get.

7) What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

Almost all of them, honestly. There's a point in happiness of endings where you really can't distinguish degrees. Probably the most--not saccharine, but distinctly Happy Ending-ish is either "Water like a stone" or "Darling, if you only knew," which to my eternal shame are both Glee fics. In terms of Witcher fics...it's still hard to pick! I think the kidfic trilogy ended very, very happily; I think "If you live through this with me" ended TOO happily.

8) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you've written?

I do not, and I don't read them, at least not since the days of the late 90s/early 2000s when I once read a really good Highlander/X-Files crossover (oh, and Martha's cosmic horror fic where Stargate and Angel and I think something else all cross over but it feels quite natural and right). I don't like fusions, either, most of the time.

9) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Never! In 20 years! I've been extremely lucky.

10) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

ahahahahahahahhaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

yes...yes you could say i write smut. on occasion. you know, when the urge comes on me. i write mostly kink or at least kink-adjacent fic, but i've done some vanilla scenes too, and i write m/m and m/f and (occasionally) f/f. fun fact, my only rimming scene to date was in a f/f/f threesome!

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

I think so? I can't remember, honestly, which sounds dreadful but like...I don't READ the translation, because I am sadly monolingual, but I get a burst of delight when someone asks to do it (or to make a podfic).

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have tried--me and a friend once got like 12k deep into a co-written Tiger and Bunny fic--but it doesn't really work out for me. I am a massive control freak when it comes to writing and absolutely miserable to work with. (Although I wasn't so bad back when we wrote the T&B fic, we just sort of never got around to finishing it. Which is sad, because it was GREAT.)

14) What's your all time favorite ship?

Max/Alec from Dark Angel. I shipped it when I only started watching DA for Jensen's episodes, I shipped it when I fell in love with Max, I shipped it when I frantically hand-wrote notes about the fic I wanted to write, I ship it right now as I'm typing, I will ship it in my grave. Also it's not a het ship bc neither of them are heterosexual, thank you very much.

15) What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

I only post finished fics, but in terms of things I haven't posted, I still think my "For A Good Time Call" fem!jaskier/yennefer(/geralt) AU would have been truly incredible. If you haven't watched that movie go watch it immediately so you can share this beautiful idea with me.

16) What are your writing strengths?

Ohhh, this and the next one are hard, because I truly don't know. Well, besides "porn." I am genuinely good at porn, which is HILARIOUS considering how many more sex scenes I've written than participated in. But overall, I have so much angst and neurosis and tenuous self-worth tied up in writing, I'm a very bad judge of my own skills. Also, it depends on the fandom! In some fandoms I'm good at dialogue, in others not so much. In some fandoms I'm good at pastiching the tone of the source and in others...Not So Much.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

If I had to pick a weakness, though, I'd say concrete imagery/detail. Like, the things that characters are physically doing either out of emotional reaction or just, they're doing something in that scene. Dialogue is usually easier (not sure if it comes out better, but it's easier).

18) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?  

I used to be mildly annoyed at it but! Now! On AO3! You can put a footnote by the French or whatever, so the reader can jump down to read a translation and then jump right back up. I now feel that if you choose to include dialogue (or any words) in another language from the rest of the story, this is the only acceptable method.

19) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

I remember vaguely in 1996 or so writing a couple pages of Kit whump for the Young Wizards books. I wrote some execrable nonsense in X-Files, but in my defense I had just turned 13. I don't THINK I wrote anything for Star Trek, which was my first fandom. Oh, and I attempted to write fic for Homicide, which I watched in 7th and 8th grade and lied about my age to get onto the good mailing lists (they were actually the bad, racist mailing lists, I would later realize, but again I was 13).

20) What's your favorite fic you've written?

Sorry to disappoint anyone who follows me for Witcher content, but it's either "The absolute absurdity of end-series items" (House of Leaves) or "A quite unlosable game" (Dark Angel). They are both Big Idea fics, and I feel like in both of them I got the Idea across brilliantly, and I'm truly proud of them and think they're the best things I've ever made. (In terms of Witcher fic, it's the kidfic trilogy for sure.)

I am not going to tag anyone because that always makes me mildly anxious, but if you read this and you want to do it you can say you were tagged by me! :D? :D?

[obsidianfr3sk]

1 to 25 writers askss <3

1) is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason? I haven’t wrote anything about RoR because I have been feeling more... excited about other projects. I still want to finish it tho

2) what work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing? The Origins, but probably because it was my first work for a fandom after 3 years of basically not sharing my writing with anyone. I still love it because that’s the work that made my friends notice me x’d

3) what order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else? Depends. I’m currently working on two one shots, and I’m writing my favorite scenes of one of them first.

4) favorite character you’ve written Since this is a Renegades blog I’m going to take this question as if it was asking me about my favorite character to write about, and I’m going with Hugh and Simon *norteño emoji*

5) character you were most surprised to end up writing Tbh I never expected I end up writing about Ace and David, but here we are, and I love them.

6) something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now I don’t think there’s anything I’d change. probably I’d make The Origins’ chapters longer JAJAJAJA

7) when asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write? Depends x2 

8) favorite genre to write Romance. But my favorite fanfic trope is Hurt/No-Comfort, does that count?

9) what, if anything, do you do for inspiration? Listen to music. Almost all my fics are based off songs.

10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone? Silence and alone, like a mamoncita.

11) what aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing? I think I’ve improved a lot with my sentence structure:)

12) your weaknesses as an author Physical fight scenes and scenes where I have to give explanations 

13) your strengths as an author Verbal fight scenes and... I want to think that comedy is also a big strength of mine *le pegan por payasa*

14) do you make playlists for your current wips? Only RoR has a playlist, but I do have a lot of songs for my current wips. Some of them without context are:

Todavía - Matisse

Death of a Hero - Alec Benjamin

Through your eyes - Alec Benjamin

Just Like you - Alec Benjamin

Demons - Alec Benjamin

From Now On - The Greatest Showman 

Cómo te extraño, Mi Amor - Leo Dan

Canción Sin Miedo 

As you can see I love Alec Benjamin lol

15) why did you start writing? I fully believe it had to be with the fact that I wanted to... understand certain things that happened to me when I was a kid.

16) are there any characters who haunt you? wey no mames el wero pendejo lteralmente me persigue en mis sueños hijo de su chingada madre ojalá coma pito y se ahogue

17) if you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be? Keep writing. 

18) were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? what were they? Insignia Series and... ngl probably Rainbow Rowell. I’m sorry. Rainbow Rowell is... not a nice person x’d

19) when it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.? Yes, I do!

20) do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts? Lately I’ve been writing in very little spurts because of my current housing situation

21) what do you think when you read over your older work? “Ay Obsi you sweet thing there’s not a single thought inside that head isn’t it?”

22) are there any subjects that make you uncomfortable to write? The only thing I’m uncomfortable writing is hardcore smut. Other than that, I’m fine

23) any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing? my childhood trauma definitely the most toxic parts of the relationships I have with the members of my family. I think... it makes me take a neutral position on characters I like and being neutral is pretty important for me when it comes to writing, especially because of the topics I like to write about.

24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story? No, I’m not that smart JAJAJAJA

25) copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of Right now I’m on an edgy state of mind so I’m going to leave this question unanswered *emoji norteño x2*

[aion-rsa]

Bo Burnham: Inside Songs Ranked from Worst to Best

https://ift.tt/2JMbiJl

The musical of the summer was supposed to be a life-affirming celebration of one of New York’s most vibrant neighborhoods, full of color, romance, and big group dance numbers. Instead for many viewers, the musical of the moment was filmed and performed by one man, alone in isolation from the comfort (or discomfort, really) of his own home, with songs centered on techno paranoia, mental health, and the fear of aging. Maybe after a year stuck in their homes, audiences could relate to the existential dread and general anxiety on display in Bo Burnham: Inside more than a conventional movie musical.

Billed as a stand-up special, Burnham’s latest musical comedy endeavor finds the former wunderkind holed up and feeling more uncomfortable than ever. Writing, editing, directing, and performing from a claustrophobic studio, Burnham’s stand-up special skews more toward being a straight-up musical, and not because the special is light on jokes and missing an audience. Rather this has all the hallmarks of a musical narrative and plays closer to experimental cinema than sketch comedy.

Burnham expresses his characters’ inner-thoughts, fears, and desires via song throughout a contained narrative, in this case the narrative being one man trying to occupy himself during a pandemic. It has ballads, charm songs, comedy numbers, “I Am” and “I Want” songs, and a big reprise. By capturing his personal pandemic experience and putting the whole affair to song, Burnham has created one of the most compelling (and catchy!) accounts of life during 2020.

To celebrate the musical that we all needed after a year in our homes, we’ve decided to rank every song from Bo Burnham: Inside. You can stream along via the Inside (The Songs) album on the streaming platform of your choice.

20. I Don’t Wanna Know

Merely an interlude, “I Don’t Wanna Know” doesn’t quite work outside of watching the special itself. However, it is a clever way to address the fact that modern audiences do not have the attention span to sit through a film at home without checking their phone or complaining about a runtime.

19. Bezos II

While certainly meant to poke fun at the real-life Lex Luthor, it’s not that fun to listen to Bezos’ name repeated. Stil, Burnham does elicit a few laughs with his over-the-top mock congratulations. “You did it!”

18. Any Day Now

A Sesame Street-like mantra that plays over the credits, “Any Day Now” suggests this could all end either hopefully soon or on a depressingly vague far-off date that will never come. We’d like to think it’s the former, but it’s safe to assume what Bo thinks.

17. All Time Low

While this number gets docked points for its short runtime, it absolutely packs a punch with its four-line, single verse. After Bo admits that his mental health is rapidly deteriorating, he describes what it’s like to have a panic attack set to a chipper ‘80s dance backbeat. Unfortunately, we don’t get to ride the wave long enough, and judging lyrics, that’s probably a good thing for Bo.

16. Content

This strong opening number musically sets the vibe for Inside, letting us know that we’re in for some synth-heavy throwback beats that would be best listened to underneath a disco ball.  Also incorporating silly backing vocals, a hallmark of many of Inside’s best tracks, Burnham declares he’s back with some sweet, sweet content. “Daddy made you your favorite,” he sings, and he ain’t wrong. 

15. Bezos I

Unlike the reprise in “Bezos II,” “Bezos I” gets by off its increasingly deranged energy, with Burnham roasting fellow tech billionaires and working himself up into a manic frenzy by song’s end. Musically, it sounds like the soundtrack to an intense boss battle on a Sega Genesis game before ending with a sick little synth solo and Burnham hilarious squawking. It’s arguably the only acceptable thing that Bezos has ever been associated with.

14. Unpaid Intern

While “Unpaid Intern” is one of Inside’s shortest tracks, it absolutely makes the most of its time. The jazzy tune scorches the exploitative nature of unpaid internships before Burnham breaks out into a laugh-out-loud worthy scat routine. It unfortunately ends too soon.

13. Shit

Inside’s funkiest jam sounds like Burnham wrote the lyrics for a new Janelle Moane album cut. Bo show’s off his vocal dexterity and plumbs the depths of his depression in a surprisingly danceable fashion. Throwing in a little faux crowd interaction helps bring home the fact that we have all felt like this at one point or another during the pandemic.

12. Sexting

This slow-jam details the complications of sexting, throwing out hilariously too-true punchlines like “the flash makes my dick look frightened.” “Sexting” feels like one of a few songs that could most easily appear on previous Burnham specials. Proving that Inside’s musical textures do not come exclusively from ’80s synth pop, the outro of the song expertly mirrors modern pop trends by throwing in some trap-influenced “yahs” at the end of Bo’s lines.

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11. How the World Works

Influenced by comedian Hans Teeuwen and children’s entertainment in general, “How the World Works” finds Burnham going back to the well by playing the ignorant, smarmy white guy who is oblivious of the real issues plaguing nonwhite Americans. What’s even better though is Socko calling Burnham out on forcing others to educate him for his own self-actualization instead of doing the work on his own for the betterment of others.

Socko pointedly asks “Why do you rich f—— white people insist on seeing every socio-political conflict through the myopic lens of your own self-actualization?” Not to keep things too heavy, the song ends with an absurdist bit where Burnham returns Socko to the nether place that he goes when he’s not attached to Burnham’s hand. Scathing and bizarre, it’s a great piece of social commentary. 

10. FaceTime With My Mom

While most of the music of Inside feels directly transported from the 1980s, “FaceTime With My Mom” seems only inspired by the past decade’s musical trends, updating the sounds in much of the same way that the Weeknd and Dua Lipa have. This is Bo Burnham as a hitmaker, and his attempt is convincing. “FaceTime With My Mom” earns easy laughs by getting to the seemingly specific, yet universal things that all our moms do over video chat. 

9. Goodbye

Every good musical needs a good closing track, and Burnham nails it with “Goodbye,” pulling off a reprise that weaves in many of the special’s signature musical moments and touches on the special’s core themes. A forlorn piano ballad before it soars through Inside’s best motifs, “Goodbye” caps a triumphant musical achievement, coming back to “Look Who’s Inside Again” just to punch you in the gut one last time. 

8. Problematic

Addressing his past work and some aspects that have not aged well, while also skewering celebrity apologies, “Problematic” is self-aware critique by way of an ‘80s workout bop. From the specific Aladdin confession to the overall apology for being “vaguely shitty,” Bo has never made accountability sound so good.

7. That Funny Feeling

This is Bo Burnham’s version of Father John Misty’s “Holy Shit,” a laundry list of all the stupid things that are signaling the fall of culture and civilization as we know it. If Misty hadn’t gotten there first, we may have had this one ranked higher. Still, Burnham manages to come up with a sticky chorus that you’ll be humming the next time something makes you feel like you’re living in the uncanny valley.

6. White Woman’s Instagram

Perhaps the special’s most playful moment, “White Woman’s Instagram” uses the musical cues of an inspiring empowerment anthem to poke fun at the predictably, perfectly curated feed of a “girl boss” Instagram. The song is greatly enhanced by the accompanying visuals, which find Bo recreating the meticulously staged and glamorous portraits that women pass off as their everyday lives.

However, Bo always likes to sneak in some sentimentality, and imagines a genuinely heartfelt post to his white woman character’s deceased mother. Don’t worry, the emotional moment doesn’t overstay its welcome, and we’re soon back to laughing at horribly derivative political street art.

5. All Eyes on Me

The droning synth and pitch-down vocals make “All Eyes On Me�� oddly hypnotic and beautiful. The song seems to be addressing Bo’s depression along with his need for validation and attention, a juxtaposition that many performers deal with. It becomes clear that Burnham isn’t addressing an invisible audience, but himself, trying to will himself up and out of his dreary mental state.

4.  Look Who’s Inside Again

A classic “I Am” musical song, “Look Who’s Inside Again” just may be Inside’s most emotionally resonant track that seems to hit closest to who Bo Burnham was and who he is today. This is the song that I will most likely regret the most for ranking so low.

“Well, well, look who’s inside again. Went out to look for a reason to hide again,” perfectly describes the cycle of depression and will, for me, be the special’s most lasting moment. The downbeat ending “come out with your hands up, we’ve got you surrounded” is heartbreaking enough to send a shudder down your spine.

3. Comedy

The special’s real first number is absolutely packed with hooks, from the “Call me and I’ll tell you a joke” bridge to the “Should I be joking at a time like this?” change-up. This is Bo really flexing how far he’s come as a musician, expertly utilizing autotune and a key change (us “stupid motherf***ers” can’t resist them).

“Comedy” also finds Bo comfortably in the lane that we’re most used to seeing him in, playing the egomaniacal white messiah with a wink. “Comedy” is the tone-setter and it’s so good that it lets you know that you’re in good hands for the next hour plus.

2. 30

Either I’m ranking this song too highly due to its personally relatable nature or the fact that I haven’t been able to get “All my stupid friends are having stupid children” out of my head, but I really don’t care. “30” is Inside’s biggest earworm and addresses the existential terror that comes with no longer getting pats on the back for being a young wunderkind.

“30” also examines generational differences, showing how 30 year-old people are more infantile than ever. However, at the end of the day it all comes back to those shimmering keys and that irresistible refrain. Apologies to my friends with children.

1. Welcome to the Internet

No matter how deep and emotionally rich some of Inside’s other tracks may be, “Welcome to the Internet” is the one that will live on the longest. If this were a traditional musical, this would the antagonists’ showstopper; a vaudevillian romp through the alluring chaos that is the internet. Speeding up and slowing down the pace to mirror the manic, addictive nature of surfing the net, Burnham pitches the negative aspects of online culture as they are: a feature, not a bug. Promising “a little bit of everything all of the time,” “Welcome to the Internet” is almost as enticing as the dark tool itself.

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The post Bo Burnham: Inside Songs Ranked from Worst to Best appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[colescorner]

The Mid-Year Book Freak-out Tag

The middle of the year is here and its time to reflect on the how my reading year has gone so far...and what better way to do that than with a tag. I found this tag courtesy of emmabooks on YouTube. There are 13 questions in this tag and I’ll answer each question with the cover of the book and a small description as to why I picked the book. 

1. The best book you have read in 2020?

[source: goodreads]

So far, I’m going to have to say The Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu. This story centers around power couple Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood and their adventures while on their European vacation. Alec and Magnus are two of my favorite characters from The Shadowhunter Chronicles and when Cassie announced they were going to have their own series I almost screamed! Alec’s character development throughout the series has been one of my favorites to read because I use to be closeted and scared and being able to read about a gay character who was terrified to be who he really was to take a leap of faith and get everything he had always wanted and dreamed about has been a complete privilege and blessing to read. 

2. The best sequel you’ve read in 2020?

[source: goodreads]

Even though this isn’t technically a sequel, Ghosts of the Shadow Market is a companion collection of short stories that take place in the same world as her other Shadowhunter books. These stories take place at different places and in different periods. The collection of short stories gives readers insight into other characters and even sets up some things we’ll see in the coming future installments of Cassie’s books. 

3. 2020 release you need to read?

[source: goodreads]

I attribute a good chunk my love of reading to Cassandra Clare and the magical and intricate world, well-developed and multi-faceted characters, and all the action, comedy, and romance a reader could ask for. I’ve been devoutly reading every installment and new series set in the shadowhunter world and I am not about to stop now! Chain of Gold takes place after The Infernal Devices and follows the children of Will and Tessa as well as some other characters too. I am excited to finally start this series.

4. Most anticipated releases for the rest of the year?

[source: goodreads]

I have not really been following a lot of newer releases this year, so the only really anticipated release I have at the moment is The Lost Book of the White by Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu. This is the sequel to The Red Scrolls of Magic and continues following Magnus Bane, Alec Lightwood and their friends as they travel to Shanghai where the Crimson Hand are located. I loved the first book and can’t wait to read the next one.

5. Biggest disappointment?

[source: goodreads]

I’ve been wanting to try and eat more plant-based and I bought this book with the hopes that it would contain new information about veganism that would be useful during my time of exploring veganism. It had some good information, but a lot of the information just seemed like you could find it just by doing a couple google searches on veganism. 

6. Biggest surprise of the year?

[source: goodreads]

As an avid reader, I’ve been wanting to expand my reading pallet and I’ve been wanting to read more classics and one day when I was browsing at Barnes and Noble, I gravitated towards this book and I was quite surprised how much I liked it! I am always a little apprehensive when reading a book that was published awhile ago because I may not be able to relate to it, but thankfully it has a good flow and I believe it still holds up and is relatable to readers today.

7. Favorite new (to you) author?

[source: goodreads]

I’d have to give credit to multiple BookTubers that I follow for picking up this book. I’ve seen it mentioned on several channels that I subscribe to and I really liked the cover and after reading the synopsis, I decided to give it a try and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed how fast-paced it was and I loved the characters and their arcs and how it had a flare of mystery to it and I was shocked with the ending. If you like a good book that will keep you on your toes and has some twists and turns, I’d recommend you check this one out. 

8. New fictional crush?

[source: goodreads]

One of the things I am loving about current YA is that more and more LGBTQ+ characters are either the main character, part of an ensemble of characters or featured in a way that they have not been featured in the past. What If Its Us? is told from two perspectives, Arthur and Ben, and I really fell in love with both of them as this is one of the first books I’ve read where the story centers around a gay romance. I love the fact that their sexuality isn’t the main part of the book or the characters, but just a facet of them and that any kind of relationship regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity will have its ups and downs as it is part of any relationship. 

9. Favorite new character?

[source: goodreads]

One of my favorite new characters from this anthology would have to be Anna Lightwood! I applaud Clare for being so inclusive for the kinds of Shadowhunters she introduces in these later installments. Anna is a female shadowhunter but she hates wearing female clothes and feels more comfortable in male clothes and seeing character develop throughout the story was so amazing and I’m so happy to have Trans representation in literature. 

10. A book that made you cry?

[source: goodreads]

Cassandra Clare knows how to pull on my heart strings and one of the stories that made me tear-up was the once about Kit’s mom, Rosemary, and how she had to keep herself separate from her son and her lover. It hit me right in the feels. 

11. A book that made you happy?

[source: goodreads]

Like I stated previously, this book made me so happy. To be a gay guy and being able to read a romance where the characters happen to be gay just fills me with so much joy. I also really enjoyed that the main characters ended up not being together because they realized they weren’t good for each other and I think it is so cool that the authors did this because I don’t know if I’ve recently read a YA romance where the love interests don’t end up together. 

12. Most beautiful book that you bought/received this year?

[source: goodreads]

Cassie’s book cover’s never disappoint! I love the colors of this cover, I love light blue colors or hues and the contrast of Cordelia’s red hair. It’s just so pretty, I love it!

13. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

[source: goodreads]  [source: goodreads]

Is it even a question that the books I need to read before this year is over are Cassie’s books? I am so invested in the characters and the world that Cassie has created, her first book, literally got me interested into reading for fun and its been a wild wide and my fascination and love for books exploded simply by finding the right book at the right time. 

This tag has been really fun to participate in and what fun is a tag if I don’t tag other book bloggers to join in the fun?? If I did not tag you and still want to participate, please do because I was not tagged, but I wanted to do it anyway!

Tag your it:

 @cinnasbooks​ @lizziethereader​ @bookaddict24-7​ @biblioshark​

[arsonsara]

Acknowledging The Ostrelephant In The Room: A Breakdown of The Mag*psies, The Mistakes They Made, And How They Could Be Improved Upon.

(TW: Slurs [G*ypsie]. & Negative Representation of those in the LGBT+ Community)

[The Following Essay also contains spoilers for the game Mother 3.]

Mother 3 is my favorite game of all time. If anyone has known me long enough to talk about what games I enjoy or followed me on Social Media to see my occasional bouts of reblogging fan-made content for the series, this is an obvious talking point. I’ve been a part of the community surrounding Mother 3 ever since I was about 10-12 years old, with my old Acer Laptop playing through the Fan-Translation on a GBA Emulator. While I wouldn’t consider myself a Mother 3 Veteran, I have been around long enough for me to see how the community has changed and shifted through the years as well as how I myself changed through my perspective on the world around me and myself. 10 or so years later after having played Mother 3 for the first time I still stand by my statement that it is my favorite game of all time, without question.

However, I would be lying if I were to say that Mother 3 was not a flawed game. Arguments can be made that games inspired by the Mother Franchise have gone leaps and bounds above the original series in terms of narrative structure and gameplay. However from what I've seen from the community of Mother 3, none of that tends to bother them enough to hamper the experience of the game itself. Except for one thing. One group of characters that has the community tugging at their collars or just straight up ignoring their existence. While I can understand and even empathize with the idea of just straight up mentally retconning something, especially when said thing directly affects you emotionally due to any personal connections you might have with the connotations, there’s a certain level of unease I garner when I see people clearly side-stepping the situation. Choosing to pretend it never happened as opposed to acknowledging it for it’s flaws, properly criticizing it and even potentially putting ideas forward as to how the situation could’ve been improved. Time to stop beating around the Walking Bushie: Let’s talk about the Mag*psies.

Now let’s start off with what’s right in front of us. The first thing that hits you in the face as soon as these characters are mentioned by name, the thing that unequivocally is a black mark against Mother 3 as a game. Mag*psies. Yeah, it’s bad. Now for those unawares on what I mean let’s clarify something right off the bat: The term Gy*psy is a slur. Specifically a slur against the Romani people, a slur that originated in Europe upon the rising population of Roma migrating from their homeland to European nations. The slur came from an uneducated perspective that the Romani hailed from Egypt. With this slur comes the negative stereotypes that came from that same origin point: That Romani people were a nomadic people that consisted of criminals, ne'er do wells, and the dregs of society. Sometimes, mostly in media, they were even seen as wanderers who practice unsavory and unholy acts of magic. As well as the more uninformed, sensationalized version of “Voodoo” (which, when you put into perspective of how the Romani were mistaken for Egyptians and that Voodoo originated from Hati, really puts into perspective how xenophobia is born on blatant misinformation, scapegoat tactics and a really shitty grasp on geography.)

So with that in mind, the fact that this is the name that was chosen for this group of characters is bad. Although for most people, (I hope) this goes without saying. So why am I bringing this up? Because for a group of characters whose entire troupe are named after a slur that has real world connotations, the Mag*psie don’t outwardly express any malice or xenophobia against the Romani people. With how they’re characterized and presented, there aren’t really any clear connections to the stereotypes for those of Roma descent outside of a connection to magic, in this case PSI. And even than the Magy*psies being proficient in PSI seems more like it was intended as a genuine plot point then as a racial stereotype. So if that’s the case, why was that the name that was chosen? Simple: It was a case of misinformation.

One common misconception regarding the term G*psie is that it means being a free spirit, a wanderer, one with the world around you and mystically inclined. Of course this is all false and mostly stems from taking a negative racial connotation and turning it into a marketable buzzword for anything that seems ‘Mystical’ or ‘Free-Spirited’. In the same way that a Ouija Board is a tool for summoning and contacting spirits and demons that was manufactured by Parker Brothers for about 20$. So, it’s easy to surmise that the reason the name Mag*psie was chosen is because the developers of the game believed it to be an old-world term for someone of magical expertise or connected to the Earth spiritually. It also helps to keep in mind that Mother 3 was developed in Japan, and most people were more than likely unaware towards it’s true connotation. Hell, it wasn’t until a few years ago that people in the United States started to call people out on usage of the term and considering that Mother 3 was developed in the early 2000’s it’s easy to understand the confusion. Now, i’m not saying that this to excuse the use of G*psie in the game. Point blank, it shouldn’t have been used and is a legitimate flaw and mistake on part of the developers. But it also helps to keep in mind that the choice of word wasn’t out of malice, just ignorance. Does that make it better? No, but i’d like to imagine that if way back when, if someone on the development team found out what G*psie actually meant that it wouldn’t have gone into the game. Considering the core messages of Mother 3 and it’s tennants on the importance of companionship, family, community and love, It doesn’t make sense to have such a vile slur used within it’s context.

So what do we do with this information? Well, the Mother 3 community is oddly enough in the best state it’s ever been to fix this problem. Why do I say that? Because the game hasn’t been internationally localized yet. And let’s face it, the Mag*psies are one of the biggest reasons the game hasn’t seen an official English release. And maybe it’s just my overly-optimistic, dare I say, Pollyanna-esque point of view, but if a discussion were to start about the positive changes one could make towards the Mag*psies as characters and a narrative concept, the right people might just be listening in on the conversation and make the right changes for an international release or even a remake.  Now, considering how it’s been 14 years since it’s Japanese release, and soon to be 15 years in a few months, I can understand if you just groaned or rolled your eyes reading that. But on the same merit, what’s the harm? Let’s say we do have this conversation and Nintendo just doesn’t pay attention and Mother 3’s International Localization continues to be a pipe-dream. What do we lose? That’s the fun thing about Fandom, sometimes you can just toss out the bad things about something you enjoy and make it better and overall more positive for the community. We toss out the old Mag*psies with their slur-using titles and uninformed, sloppy concepts of gender expression (trust me, we’ll get to that second point later.) and have newer, better ones that we can use for fan-content! So in the end, we either change the tide of the franchise itself and turn them around, giving us a greater chance at localization than we ever did before on top of a group of characters of positive representation! Or we just have these nicer, more appealing versions of the characters for our own uses now that the franchise is pretty much finished. It’s a win-win.

So with that, I'll start by making what’s probably the easiest change to these characters anyone could ever make.

Mag*ypsies. Mag / ypsies.

Magi.

And there we go. Good as new! Plus, it still works as a title for a group of people who specialize in mysticism and PSI as Magi is the plural for Magus! So, from this point forward, I am going to be referring to these characters as The Magi. Baddabing, Baddaboom.

Now with that out of the way, it’s time we address the second issue regarding The Magi: Their presentation of their gender identity and the problems those bring. In Mother 3, The Magi are referred to by Alec as being “neither male nor female”, and it’s heavily implied that The Magi aren’t even human. That due to them being so ancient, wise and strange they can't fit into the binary of male or female, so they have the traits of both. This results in the characters looking like they’re all men in drag, acting overly flamboyant and flirtatious. This results in The Magi being seen as a negative representation of people who identify as Genderqueer or Non-Binary. The stereotype of being loud, obnoxious, overtly sexual and all placed under a single umbrella of a flawed perspective which just results in them all being poorly written “”Drag Queens””. Now that isn’t to say a character who dresses in drag is a bad thing. If anything I encourage the idea of a Post-Modern RPG having a Drag Queen or King as a plot important ally or even a party member! The issue lies in that, because all of The Magi are presented like this it implies that those who don’t fit within the gender binary of male or female are all like this. Even if that wasn’t the intention, that is what the subtext implies.

Part of the intention behind the creation of the Magi was to balance out the more gritty, action-oriented and “Macho” tone that Mother 3 had compared to Mother 2 and 1. The idea was that The Magi would be at the center of the conflict between Tazmilly Village, The Main Party and The Pigmask Army and to balance out the darker tones of the story they would be aloof, androgynous and accepting of the fact that they would pass as the story progressed. This way the characters would be able to balance out the darker story beats and lighten the mood. Although it’s easy to see how this viewpoint would result in a less than stellar outcome. While on paper, the idea of a group of characters hearkening back to the more light-hearted and out-there tone of the previous games to make it so the game is less bleak is a fantastic idea, the execution was botched due to how sloppily it was handled.

The Magi in Mother 3 are represented in such a dissonant way, especially at the start of the game upon their introduction. Not only are you slapped in the face with their appearance and unfortunate name choice, upon asking about the whereabouts of Claus after he went up to the mountains to fight a Drago as revenge for the death of his mother, almost all the Magi basically respond by saying “Eh, who cares, humans live such short lives anyways so what does the life of one kid mean in the grand scheme of things?” Seeing as the players are meant to see The Magi as sympathetic characters and eventually team up with them in the end game to arrive at the locations of all of the Dragon Needles, the fact that this is their introduction is not only a slap in the face to those who are being negatively affected by how their presented but is also just...crappy writing. And don’t even get me started on the scene where Ionia teaches Lucas PSI, that is just BAD. Like point blank, bold text, red color, size 46 font BAD. Like even if The Magi didn’t have their original name and weren’t sloppy representations of non-binary/genderqueer folk that scene would still be really uncomfy.

And yet with all of this going against The Magi in terms of their presentation, it’s still hard to pin them down as having any ill-intent behind them because of their importance at the end of the game and what they eventually stand for. Once the race for The Dragon Needles begin, not only do all of The Magi support you on your quest and show levels of genuine concern and compassion for the protagonists, but also end up fleshing out the world around them in a way that gives the player a sense of hope in a time of hopelessness. Whether it be Ionia and her boundless compassion for the party and Kumatora especially, acting as her surrogate parental figure and doing everything she can to support the party in a time of crisis. Or Lydia, taking care of a wounded Pigmask Soldier, someone whose job it is to rip the life from The Magi in hopes of awakening the Dragon to shape the world in their master’s image. That despite their motivations, they wouldn’t let a wounded man die in the frigid cold of the mountains. These characters are meant to be beacons of hope, characters to lighten the mood during dark times and become characters you genuinely feel for. And yet, the execution fell flat due to a shoddy introduction, sub-par writing and misinformed representation.

So, where does that leave us? This is obviously an issue that’s a lot more nuanced than just changing their name so where do we start? While I don’t claim to have the perfect solution for this, and encourage others to throw their hat in the ring and keep the discussion going, I do have a few ideas: First things first, remove the concept that The Magi aren’t human and are incomprehensible to “Mortals”. Instead, make it so The Magi are just humans from the past who were so proficient in PSI and Psychic Abilities they were able to survive the cataclysm from milenia’s past and are more akin to Buddhist Monks in how they’re perceived. That being said, I do still like the idea of their style being tightly connected to that of Magicant from Mother 1. Spiral Shell houses, pink hair, very sparkly and pretty, we can keep that aesthetic. It makes sense for them! By making this change, we humanize The Magi a lot more and make it so the players can connect with them better and empathize with them easier as opposed to them being the off-the-wall weirdos that the game tries to represent them as. Plus, if the game really wanted an off-the-wall weirdo that ties back to the previous games, just give Dr. Andonuts more screentime. Along with that change, make them more empathetic without sacrificing their all-powerful mysticism. For example, when Alec and Flint arrive at the party at Aeolia’s, instead of having them nonchalantly shrug off the potential of Claus’ death, have them actively participate in assisting them in finding their lost child. Instead of it being “We’re all powerful so the death of one person is meaningless in comparison to how we perceive the world.” it’s more “We’re all powerful, so assisting you in your journey to save your loved one is a simple task that will require minimal effort. If such a simple request can result in a good outcome, it shall be done.” Of course that begs the question of why they don’t just take care of everything, but I think that can be circumvented with the idea that they can’t intervene with the lives of others too much. That using their immense psychic powers too often would result in them misusing their powers and that they have to practice a certain level of restraint, or even that they’re so strong an overuse of their powers would result in devastation. Sort of like how a knight in a medieval fantasy story would seek guidance from an all powerful wizard, but the wizard can’t just solve the problem for them.

Now my next suggestion is turning a negative into a positive: Instead of having The Magi all represented as men in drag, The Magi are now all represented as different type of people that could fall under the non-binary or genderqueer spectrum! Now instead of all of them falling under the same umbrella, Aeolia can be purely androgynous and agender going by they/them pronouns, Doria is now demigender, partially identifying as male but going by xey/xem pronouns, having a big old pink lumberjack beard and a heartwarming smile, Lydia looks older and more aged with their physical appearance looking like that of an older man but using she/her pronouns and identifying with female presentation whilst feeling that they don’t have to be rescritced to said female presentation, Phygria could be genderfluid and upon each appearance they have they transition between genders, and Mixolydia falling under Genderqueer, having their own personal presentation of themselves and who they are! As for Ionia, I would actually argue keeping her the same! I say this because, if all The Magi are under the same umbrella representation of a stereotyped drag-queen, it’s a problem. However, if all The Magi are comprised of different, varied representations of the non-binary/genderqueer community it would make sense to have one of them fall under the representation of someone who dresses in drag!

Of course, these are all just my ideas. Whilst I have done as much research as I could while writing this, I understand that there are certain aspects behind those of non-binary expression that I am unaware of and ways that I could improve upon this idea. Like how changing The Magi in this way would still result in them all basically being a part of a big “Bury Your Gays” Trope due to them all passing away upon pulling their respective Needles, so i’m sure that there are plenty of other ideas other people could throw in! And I encourage that, I encourage people to look at this and tell me how this concept can be improved upon to create a more inclusive and positive representation of The Magi! Because that’s what we deserve! I can look at this years in the future and admit that there may have been something I missed out on or was just blatantly unaware of! But I’m hoping at the end of the day that this discussion can not only lead to a critical analysis of the wrongs behind the original Magi in Mother 3, but how they can be improved upon and made better. If not for Mother 3, or the Mother 3 community, for those who plan on making their own stories, their own games, so that they know to not make the same mistakes the developers of Mother 3 made and make something even better.

[blurrypetals]

Ghosts of the Shadow Market by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson, Kelly Link, & Robin Wasserman - blurrypetals review

originally posted nov. 14, 2018 - ��★★★★

This is the first Shadowhunters short story collection I've read as each story has come out, seeing as I thought The Bane Chronicles and Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy were going to be a waste of my time before I randomly decided to listen to them. Big surprise, they were amazing, so when I was finishing up my big reread of The Shadowhunter Chronicles in its then-current entirety last fall and it was announced there would be another short story collection to tide me over until the release of Queen of Air and Darkness, I felt like the luckiest girl at the ball. There's something about these short stories that somehow is able to crank up the fun even more than the full novels do, and I think it's because Clare and friends just drop any pretense of, well, pretension, and they just write the equivalent of canon fanfiction, making the stories they choose to tell some of the most fun and entertaining stuff to come from Shadowhunters lore. I also really love and admire the ease with which we skip from past to present while the collection still retains an overarching story. It's brilliant and I love it. I have so much fun with these short stories I wish they happened more often. With all that said, this obviously served to make me even more excited for Queen of Air and Darkness than I already was, somehow, and I'm so incredibly pumped to see how all this business with Kit Herondale, the last Lost Herondale, and the Blackthorns and their Emma all comes crashing together in December. I also really can't wait to meet Cassandra Clare the Monday after the book comes out, not only because I'll be meeting Cassandra Clare, but also because I'll be meeting my best friend for the first time and go to the book signing with her. As each story came out, I wrote little mini-reviews for them all while my mind was still fresh on them, so here are all of my thoughts on each of the individual stories: Son of the Dawn Mini-Review, April 10, 2018: I can’t believe they made that joke about a second Jonathan; I thought I was going to die laughing about that. Also, my soft spot for Raphael Santiago somehow has grown impossibly larger and softer. Loved Jem’s mourning for Will and longing for Tessa. Lily’s nicknames are the fucking best. Lily’s feelings for Raphael are heartbreaking. Adored everything about this; I can’t wait for more! Cast Long Shadows Mini-Review, May 8, 2018: These stories that take place post-The Infernal Devices, pre-The Last Hours sometimes stress me out because I’m afraid I’ll get too heartsick and excited before the first book even comes out. Needless to say I loved it: loved Matthew’s naiveté, his relationship with James (especially the moments about the guy Jamie threw in the river), and Jem and Will’s conversation at the end. My heart can’t take this; it’s gonna break. Every Exquisite Thing Mini-Review, June 12, 2018: Oh dear, my aching heart. I am so enchanted to finally meet Anna Lightwood. She has such a soft heart and an open, wilder mind, not unlike her Uncle Will. If Cast Long Shadows made me excited for The Last Hours, I don’t know how to properly express how excited I am now. I adored seeing Cecily and Gabriel again and the way they welcomed Anna’s uniqueness with wide, loving arms and a dapper blue waistcoat. Learn About Loss Mini-Review, July 11, 2018: Easily the weakest of the four stories released so far, but the ending saved it for me with the melancholy yet hopeful color it cast upon me, like a soft, cool hand passing over my face as I left the theater whereupon Jem’s, Will’s, and Tessa’s lives play out. A new favorite Will Herondale line: “There is nothing so sweet as feasting upon the bones of my enemies with you at my side.” A Deeper Love Mini-Review, August 14, 2018: Just when I think I'm over Will Herondale's death, a short story like this one, taking place shortly after his death, comes along and picks at the scabs, to get just a few more drops out of my heart, which eternally bleeds for Will, Tessa, and Jem. This is probably the second best short story after Son of the Dawn, a good mix of action, excellent character moments, and exquisite heartache. The Wicked Ones Mini-Review, September 11, 2018: Easily my favorite so far. I have been waiting 900 years to hear Celine's story and I am so happy to have a slice of it, even if it seriously creeped me out. Also, I'm loving the through line of Jem searching for the Lost Herondale. I loved Rosemary and her Jack Crow (who clearly later became Johnny Rook) and that whole reveal with the iratze. I loved seeing more Stephen, too. J’adore. The Land I Lost Mini-Review, October 9, 2018: Goodness, I don't even know where to start. This was so incredibly delightful through and through. Everything, from Magnus and Alec's parenting skills to the way Jace and Isabelle spoil Max to Alec and Clary skipping Simon's show to get tacos to all things Rafael Bane-Lightwood to more about the Lost Herondale (and what this history might mean for Kit later). It's all just too, too good. Through Blood, Through Fire Mini-Review, November 14, 2018: And so the tale of The Lost Herondale has been brought full circle. Jem and Tessa have also been brought full circle, bringing about the happy ending only hinted at in Clockwork Princess. This collection, like The Infernal Devices, is a big love letter to love itself and this last story is sure to emphasize that point with Jem and Tessa and Rosemary and Jack in a lovely fashion. With that, this is where I leave you. Catch you in the review of Queen of Air and Darkness!

[lunawings]

King of Prism All Stars Prism Show Best 10! Initial thoughts/summary/review

So I’m going to be splitting this post into several sections with space in between to make it easier for people maybe to skip over spoilers they don’t want to read. 

Table of contents is as below: 1.) Day 1 Greeting Show Live Viewing brief event report 2.) Weekly theatrical video (week 1)  3.)1-10 Ranking and my personal thoughts 4.) New content (intro, ending, in-betweens, etc) 5.) Shin’s new show

1.) Day 1 Greeting Show Live Viewing brief event report

They had a live viewing for one of the greeting shows in Toyko. It was attended by Junta Terashima (Shin), Masashi Igarashi (Minato), and Takuma Nagatsuka (Leo). 

The day 1 greeting shows are always kinda awkward. Especially if it’s a live viewing and ESPECIALLY if it’s before the show because they aren’t allowed to give spoilers. 

Masashi Igarashi seemed even MORE pumped and emotional than usual. You could tell he really wanted to talk about Minato making it into the ranking, which should be a surprise for no one because he was really high in the preliminary ranking, but he still wasn’t allowed to talk about it. 

So he had to like dance all around it with wide hand gestures about how.... these ten shows.... and how amazing it was...... that these particular shows...... hahah ahhh man you could tell it was torture for him and torture to watch. 

Naganyan said that if by chance Leo made it in, he wanted us all to shout IIZE! for him. 

At one point the showed off kanji they wrote to symbolize the new year (a Japanese tradition). Junta said he wrote 変 I think (the first kanji in “change” but it also means strange) but he didn’t have the board with him for some reason so I wonder if he messed it up backstage and they didn’t have another one? Haha. Naganyan wrote 華 (flower). Masashi wrote 手 (hand) and he talked about how hands can symbolize a lot of things, like holding hands and “taking that first step” but then he was like “wait that’s feet....” And it was said in a way where it was difficult to tell if he only just realized that now or not. Judging from Junta and Naganyan’s reactions maybe it wasn’t on purpose hahaha. But then he doubled down on it, and as he was explaining why hands are significant he kept forcefully grabbing Junta’s hand and being like “See? Don’t you feel something??” while Junta was just kinda looking at him like “ummm”. 

I love these dorks so much they’re my favorite. EVERY SINGLE TIME I see them at an event together, Masashi Igarashi just goes on this HUGE rant about something and Junta Terashima is like “...........................................what?” (And Takuma Nagatsuka, if he is there, is like slowly inching away from them.)

I CAN’T WAIT to see them for real in Nagoya next weekend AHHHHHHHHHHHHH. 

2.) Weekly theatrical video (week 1)

So King of Prism movies always have rotating intro or ending videos exclusive to the theater. (The first movie had the characters appealing to be in the Prism King Cup, Pride the Hero had the regional dramas, and SSS had shorts after the credits.) Best 10 has “Prism Star Interviews”. Basically, you hear audio of one character interviewing another which plays to a static image of the characters. 

Week 1 had Shin interviewing Hiro, Yu interviewing Kouji, and Taiga interviewing Kazuki. It was fairly low key. Hiro talked about getting his driver’s license, Kouji talked about sending weird food photos to Minato from abroad, and while Taiga was interviewing Kazuki someone (implied to be Kakeru) slipped him the question “Which do you prefer, tigers or dragons?” After going back and forth for a while, Kazuki ultimately says he likes them both because they are both strong. Taiga is not too happy about this. 

Something to note about the intro videos is this time is they have four weeks’ worth planned, but there are only three courses of the movie. This means the course and intro video are not necessarily connected and as time goes on it will get out of sync and you won’t be sure which intro video you’ll see. I feel like this was probably done on purpose. After a while we never knew what intro videos we would get for the first movie and it was kinda exciting. 

3.) 1-10 Ranking and my personal thoughts

10.) Yu / Shiny Stellar (SSS) 9.) Taiga / Fly in the sky  (SSS) 8.) Shin/Shine / Platonic Sword  (SSS) 7.) Yukinojo / Hyakkaryouran   (SSS) 6.) Leo / Twinkle Twinkle  (SSS) 5.) Kazuki / Freedom (Thunder Storm ver.) (Pride the Hero) 4.) Minato / Sailing  (SSS) 3.) Kakeru / Orange Flamingo  (SSS) 2.) Shiny 7 Stars [SePTENTRION] / Brilliant Oath  (SSS) 1.) Hiro / pride (Prism King ver.) (Pride the Hero)

So I think the voting for this was actually pretty fair. Basically, people who bought the SSS soundtrack CD got a code which could be used to vote only once. So although it would technically be possible to buy hundreds of CDs to try and sway the vote, I kiiiinda doubt that happened? It’s not like event tickets.

First of all, I was surprised at how low Taiga ranked considering he’s always been the most popular SePTENTRION member. But then again, although I really like him too, there are several SePTENTRION member shows I would have voted for before him. I guess that’s because I would assume everyone else would vote for Taiga so he doesn’t need my help? So maybe everyone else thought that way too that’s what happened. 

I’m also shocked at how high Leo is. He beat Yukinojo. HE BEAT TAIGA. After his ranking was announced the first time I actually started crying during his performance just because I hadn’t seen it in a while, and also I had literally JUST finished translating this.... so I was just like..... MY SONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN IM SO PROUD OF YOU (....dammit I forgot to yell IIZE. MY SONNNNNNNNNNNNNNN)

Platonic Sword is at 8 which is OK sure. But you know, to be honest, although I was so distressed by this show at first I’m actually kinda diggin’ it now that I’m used to it because it’s a whole lot easier to enjoy out of context (I don’t have to see Shin crying every time). But it’s just really weird to have THAT smacked right there it at number 8, right in the middle-ish. This supposedly 0 karat show. 

0 karats my ass. 

AND MINATO AT NUMBER 4 AHHHHHHHHHHHH 

I can’t believe it. After all this time. He finally FINALLY got the recognition he deserves. The only SePTENTION member who ranked higher than him is Kakeru and I have no complaints about that because I definitely agree Kakeru deserves that number 3 spot. (You know, I wonder if this means Kakeru actually surpassed Taiga at some point to be the most popular SePTENTION boy? I’m just so used to it being Taiga, but..)

Hiro at number 1 feels right. I’m happy with it. It would be the same in-universe too. (Actually in-universe it would be like ALL Over the Rainbow but y’know.)

It’s really crazy how all of SePTENTION made it in (if you count Platonic Sword for Shin, although they did credit it as Shin/Shine which was nice). I think that’s part of what Masashi Igarashi was trying to say at the theater greeting: To think that the new cast could have come this far. To think that exactly four years ago I left the theater after seeing the first movie for the first time, and I couldn’t even remember over half their names... and look where they are now!!

Although I am certainly not unhappy with the results, and I know the SSS shows are... objectively better, it did make me a little sad that nothing made it in from the first movie at all though. Because those shows had a bigger emotional impact on me overall. I don’t regret using my vote for Minato, because I feel better having contributed to him getting the recognition he deserved than I would have if I had voted for something that didn’t stand a chance. But at the same time, Shin’s Over the Sunshine at the end of the first movie is probably the most important prism show to me, in actuality. 

But they are doing different courses to show the prism shows that didn’t make it in. The first week they are showing a montage of all of Over the Rainbow’s shows. Watching them back-to-back with the SSS shows in this movie really highlighted how old they look in comparison, especially the Hiro/Kazuki Boy Meets Girl. Back when the only texture they used was for Hiro’s stomach...

But anyway, the credits revealed the other courses will show Alexander, Joji, The Shuffle, and Louis’ shows. It is also rather sad that none of the Schwarz Rose boys made it in. Especially since Alec is so popular! I wonder if Alec fangirls didn’t vote for Survival Dance in protest since Alexander has never gotten an original song. I felt the saddest about Louis though... because Shota Aoi and his voice and...... (C.... Can I just slip in the back room, cut out Platonic Sword, and edit in I know Shangri La?)

PS. I think the shows were pretty close to the same versions we saw originally. One notable change is that they added in some subtitles for cheering. Specifically “SHISHO!!!” in Yukinojo’s show and “YO! Daddy I did it!” in Kakeru’s. So I guess we were originally supposed to yell that. (Oops.) As I hoped it would be, Brilliant Oath was also stitched together without that long break in the middle, so in this version it just looks like SePTENTRION created the goddess on their own with their prism jump. But hey! It’s nice to have a complete version. Also Platonic Sword was missing the Prism Axel. (Maybe that’s another reason I could enjoy it this time around.)

As is tradition, the credits are set to a new SePTENTRION song. This one is called Love Gravity.

4.) New content (intro, ending, in-betweens, etc)

There are two new, very brief, traditionally animated segments. The first one is a cold open of SePTENTRION as power rangers fighting Alexander. What makes this even more hilarious is it basically starts right where the original Prism Show Best 10 left off. They even used the exact same background I think!? Some of the boys’ ranger costumes are... interesting... Kakeru’s (and I’m afraid this won’t translate that well to English so I might as well explain it now) is missing the entire backside. The joke is about the contrast between his two sides (business and party: lit his front vs back in Japanese). I think this segment also has the first ever anime/movie reference to Alexander being weak to Leo. (It’s referenced in Prism Rush all the time.)

The second new traditionally animated segment is at the end, and it involves SePTENTRON in the bath discussing different genres of dramas or movies they could do now that their careers have taken off. I’m pretty sure it’s a metaphor for “So much has happened in King of Prism, what now?” After all the discussion of different genres, Shin starts to get worried it means they won’t do prism shows together anymore. But they all agree that of course they will. 

Then there are the Dorachi and Torachi segments. They are simplified and look as though they were animated in flash. In addition to counting down the Best 10, Dorachi and Torachi also have two language teaching sessions. First Dorachi teaches us some “useful” English phrases, i.e. Alexander’s “Go to hell!” etc. Then Torachi teaches us Aomori dialect. What makes this sequence so hilarious is how seriously they take it. Like, as seriously as you could imagine a chibi tiger and chibi dragon teaching you something would be. The Aomori dialect was pretty challenging too, and Torachi actually broke down the sentences, pointing out where the intonation was different and like.... IT WAS ACTUALLY EDUCATIONAL. LIKE..... I ACTUALLY LEARNED SOMETHING. The first two sentences we practiced in Aomori dialect were Taiga’s dad asking him if he thinks his grades can get him into high school, and that random background character saying the nebuta floats won’t be ready in time. But then we got a completely new Taiga line of him confessing to someone which needless to say was NOT in the show BUT...... the background was clearly the scene from the end of episode 3 when Taiga was trying to tell Kazuki something. Pfff. 

There is also a longish short anime during the intermission done in the same style. Torachi finds Dorachi out of power, and the two get lost together trying to find a power source to charge him. Meanwhile Taiga and Alexander don’t come looking for them until after dark because they are too busy fighting. Moral of the story: Dorachi and Torachi are secret BFFs and Alexander and Taiga are terrible parents.  

5.) Shin’s new show

My...... heart............................... my heart felt so full............. nnnghghhgphhhh.........

The context is that Shin is finally performing the song Yu wrote him in the costume Leo made for him at the Rose Party. So it’s taking place chronologically after SSS. 

Daisuki Refrain is a very heavy audience participation song. Perhaps the most intended participation in a King of Prism song we have had so far? There is a beat to clap to, callouts, and even a dance in the middle and it’s pretty clear even during your first viewing what you’re supposed to be doing at all times. 

Also, as I guessed from seeing Junta Terashima perform at the CD release event, Shin’s hat is a huge part of his choreography. What I did not guess is that it’s also a magic hat that grows and you can ride on it if it fills up with prism sparkle hahahah.

Ahhh man.............

....Okay. If you have seen it, I know you’re probably expecting me to talk about that.... one part...... So. I will. Okay. Here goes. 

At one point in his performance, Shin partially obscures his right eye while his left eye shines red. W......Why is that in there WH--okay I kinda know why. I think Shin has been gaining a lot of popularity recently since the end of SSS specifically because of Platonic Sword, and because he has that edge now. So although they gave him a happy, fluffy, traditional Shin show, they still put in a little fanservice for the fans who like the edge. A little reminder that he’s still in there. While I’m like.... YOU... YOU STAY IN THERE. IM WATCHING YOU. Ahahaha. 

One thing though, I could have sworn in the preview showing that Shin’s right eye (the one which would be yellow if he was Shine) was completely obscured.  But when I saw it again on the premiere day, I could see it was only partially obscured and it was clearly the normal red. So. Surely I was just so surprised that they did that in the first place that I just didn’t fully register it. It’s not like they changed it in between the preview and the premiere, right..... RIGHT?

Right. 

Okay moving on sorry that was too long. Haha seriously that scene is like 2 seconds and Shin’s show is SO CUTE AND SO GOOD. I really REALLY did like it and I’ve been singing the song all day. 

And his new prism jump......................

I........

Nnngfdnnnphhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I really don’t want to spoil itttttttttt..... while I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you just wait and experience it for yourself firsthand like I did, at the same time.... not gonna lie... I also really want to talk about it. Because Shin. So I’m gonna end this post here but also write about it at the end anyway. So if you absolutely must know. It’s down there. 

But. 

Thanks for reading! READY SPARKING!

<3

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Okay so Shin’s new prism jump. It’s called Mugen Hug Together.

And it’s basically. 

A reverse Mugen Hug. 

So Shin Mugen Hugs the crowd, but then the crowd reflects it back to him and he’s like AAAAUUUGH and, of course, it takes all his clothes off. 

(And then there’s like an uncomfortably long black screen. Where it’s like.... did we kill Shin?)

(Did we kill him? With our love?)

(We did not.)

(I guess he needed time to get his clothes back on.)

Shin has one of his speeches where he says he’s embarrassed about how he wanted us to feel good but the opposite happened. Then the second part of the jump starts (or I guess it may technically be a second jump), part of which can be seen in the trailer. The part where you take Shin’s hand and he gets wings. Then he takes you around the world. 

The end. 

[carmenlire]

Hi! I am pretty new to SH, and when I went to ao3 to find some malec fics I saw there were 19k fics there and I just... noped out. But then I came across one of your fics somewhere idr (prob tumblr) and I really really liked your writing style so I may or may not have spent my spring break reading all your fics... rip. I'm still way too intimidated by the sheer amount of fics on ao3 and since I really loved your writing, I was hoping you could maybe rec some, either fics or authors? Thanksss

holy shit, anon, I’ve written so much dkfgjhsdfkjg that must have been quite the undertaking for spring break lmao! I’m super happy to hear that you like my writing though, especially enough to read most/all of my fics! 

Okay, so. When I first started in this fandom, it was overwhelming too and that was in August of 2017 lol! I read a lot of fic rec masterlists on here and then once I went through those, I explored ao3 a little more, along with those authors that captured my interest. I don’t know what you’re interested in but I’ll just go ahead and list some of the fics I started with along with my favorite authors! Everyone on this list is a delight as a person and a writer and I hope you like them! 

(This is going to be probably a lot of me rambling variants of read this!! but I’m gonna put a short summary so you know what the story is actually about. I will most likely oversimplify the fic lmao but check out those links for the full synopsis!)

Over 100k

Fall Without Wings by @notcrypticbutcoy (WIP) This was the first fic I ever read in this fandom and it topped every masterlist when I started– for good reason. At the time, it was around 180k? and I read it in one day/sitting. The writing is impeccable, plot to die for, and the way the author builds the characters in this story is just engrossing as hell. This is god tier lmao!

One Line Summary: Canon divergent AU where shadowhunters have wings, Magnus is actively on the Clave’s shit list, and Malec’s relationship is the best sort of slowburn.

One Easy Answer by @maleccrazedauthor This is the first of a two part series and holy. shit. I was enthralled from the first sentence. Apparently, I have a thing for canon divergent AUs and I read this a year and a half ago but still remember gasping at a certain point, hanging on the edge of my seat as I waited to see what the characters would do. I love this canon divergent AU– it’s written so beautifully. (Note: The series itself is over 100k. This particular fic is around 36k)

One Line Summary: Magnus and Alec are leaders of their people and have to learn how to make things work when a marriage of convenience is their only option.

Anything You Say by @milominderbindered Admittedly, I’ve only read the first 80k? of this because I started it like over a year ago and it was a wip at the time but I remember being Super Into It and desperate to see where the story was going. Now that it’s finished, I’d totally recommend it!

One Line Summary: Detective Alec and Forensic Expert Magnus. Honestly, need I say more lmao.

Deeper than the Truth by @insiemes This was one of the first fics I read– probably within the first week of entering the fandom. It’s a wonderful story and a classic for a reason. And that ending:’)

One Line Summary: Alec is a famous author who uses a pen name and Magnus is a fashion designer in love with Gideon’s books.

60k-80k

The Haunting of Lightwood Hall by @bonibaru There are tragically few historical Malec fics in ao3 and this is a gem! The plot is interesting and the love story is super well done. And that ending! I loved it so much.

One Line Summary: Magnus Bane, a psychic, is invited to the Lightwood estate when a murder mystery implicated the heir, Alec Lightwood.

42 North, 71 West by @lecrit Okay so, admittedly, I haven’t read this yet but it’s because I don’t read wips and this just concluded like, last week lol. However, lecrit is a brilliant author and I’ve read several of her fics before and loved all of them! You really can’t go wrong with this author and I would encourage you to read anything/everything in her ao3!

One Line Summary: Politics!Alec and Actor!Magnus in one AU? Sign me up!

The Strength of (Un)Broken Bonds by Blue This is the first of a three part series and I love it so, so much! This is a little grittier though not angsty. The plot is tightly woven, the characterization spot on, and it’s an excellent exploration of the parabatai bond done right. Wildly creative and I everytime I reread this, I’m just in awe at this author’s skill!

One Line Summary: Post 2b, shadowhunters realize just how intrinsically their biology is tied to demon energy and Alec has to deal with a fritzing parabatai bond.

Addicted to You by AlxSteele I’m not a huge fan of fuck buddy AUs but this author is prolific in the shadowfam so I took a chance and I’m so glad I did! This was a realistic portrayal of this AU without being needlessly angsty. Everything was just right and I was so ready to see Magnus and Alec get their shit together!

One Line Summary: Magnus and Alec lead busy lives and neither one has time for a relationship– only what starts out as a string of one night stands leads both to catch feelings big time.

A Fighting Chance by HeartsDesire456 This is a classic for me. I read most of this in one sitting and was almost late for work! But it was totally worth it. I love the build up and the world that this author created. Really, one of the best malec fics I’ve ever read and I love it so, so much! I would recommend anything else by this author, especially Hard Choices, though that fic is considerably heavier though no less well done.

One Line Summary: Alec owns an MMA gym next to Magnus’s dance studio. What starts out as a noise complaint quickly changes Magnus and Alec’s life irrevocably.

We Break That Way by ifallonblackdays_fics and valfromrome I’ve read this several times and it’s a fic of substance. I love fluff but this is a really excellently plotted story that does a fantastic job of showing both Magnus and Alec as the leaders they are. It’s darker but realistic for the shadowhunters universe and I love how amazingly well these authors created a story that picks up after 2x18 in an excellent canon divergent AU where Magnus and Alec didn’t reconnect at that Hunter’s Moon party?

One Line Summary: Not all shadowhunters are happy that Alec’s trying to build relationships with the downworld– what happens when a group of extremists go after the Head of the New York Institute in a bid to return to the old way?

40k-60k

The Lonely Heart Hotline by @unrestrainedlyexcessive Anon. Listen. I am putting Fatale here because this is her latest completed fic and it’s 40k but I would heavily encourage you to read every single piece of writing by this author. I have read all of her fics at least twice and I love them to death. She does such an amazing job of portraying real life, even when her AU is fantastical. I’m partial to her Ave Atque Vale series, which was the first fic I read by her, and her Home series but as I was scrolling through her ao3 profile, I just kept remembering all her stories and how amazing they are. Seriously. I can’t stress enough about how much i love this author’s writing!!

One Line Summary: Alec’s a law student who moonlights as a phone sex operator and Magnus calls him one night, only to talk about music and his questionable phone professionalism.

Love is a Gamble by la_muerta This is another author that I adore and I’ve read all of her fics! This is a western historical AU that I read last spring and simply loved! I’d also recommend her series The Universe is Conspiring Against Us!

One Line Summary: Sheriff Alec Lightwood is busy enough keeping Nephilim Falls from descending into chaos but when Magnus Bane opens a gambling house in town, Alec’s has more on his mind than his townspeople.

20k-40k

Give Me the Pain (Then Take It Away) by LadyOxymoron This is a beautifully well-done story of Alec and Magnus exploring BDSM, particularly Alec’s submission. But it’s so much more that. It’s about their relationship and Alec learning to take better care of himself and overall, I was stunned at this fic. I would really recommend anyone read this for something that pulls the heartstrings while still being hot as hell.

One Line Summary:  After a near death experience and throwaway line from Magnus, Alec finds out that he can let himself fall, as long as Magnus is there to catch him.

Appassionato by chonideno This is a classic in the shadowfam. A wonderful story of malec falling in love before properly meeting. The vibe is so ethereal and full of feeling. Really lovely story.

One Line Summary: Alec plays the piano and one day, a request slips under his door– what follows is months of Alec playing for a stranger, both of them falling one note at a time.

Pillow Talk by lacheses This was one of the first fics I read and it’s a really beautiful story that takes place during season one. It’s gentle and really does a fantastic job of building Magnus and Alec’s relationship, both of them so cautious and invested so quickly after meeting.

One Line Summary: Alec Lightwood falls in love, one nap at a time.

Good Our Whole Lives by @beatperfume This fic ruined me. I was invested from the first word and read it in one sitting. The emotions are enough to put you in a stranglehold and while I was wildly unsure based on the synopsis/AU (hooker AU) I gave it a chance and I am so glad I did. I remember reading it and just feeling so much. Wonderful, 10/10. I would rec anything by this author (she really is very creative!) but particularly and I will be your shade.

One Line Summary: When Magnus catches Alec, a shadowhunter, hustling his club the two of them reach an agreement.

Three’s a Crowd by GoldenDaydreams I’ve read this a few times and I love it to death. Super lighthearted and funny, it’s a fun story about Alec and Magnus trying to have sex and Jace being a perpetually pain in the ass cockblock lmao.

One Line Summary: The story where Jace keeps interrupting Alec and Magnus’s ‘alone time,’ and they’re both super fed up.

Sympathy for a Prince by @ketzwrites This was a hella fun story about Magnus as a literal prince of hell and Alec, a no-nonsense detective just trying to do his job. Ketz has written several fics I’d recommend but this might just be my favorite!

One Line Summary: When Magnus, prince of hell, comes top side he doesn’t expect to meet Homicide Detective Alec and become his partner, so to speak.

Hold Onto Me (Cause I’m a Little Unsteady by MagnificentlyMagic One of my biggest pet peeves with the show is that scene in 1x09 where Jace betrays Alec and then it’s never spoken of again. This is a great fic that takes that scene and runs wild with it.

One Line Summary: His parabatai rune was burning, not with death, or injury, but with betrayal.

10k-20k

Yours is the Light by @theonetruenorth This author is an autoread for me and I love a good abo fic. This is so beautiful and I really, really love this. It spins the trope on its head while still in the shadowhunters verse and delivers a really satisfying love story for Alec and Magnus! I would really, really recommend literally everything they’ve written though!

One Line Summary: It wasn’t exactly a secret that out of all three secondary genders, it was the alphas who were the strongest, the most aggressive, the most territorial– It was also completely wrong.

Inimitable by Bumblebeesknees. I adore anything by this author but this. Wow. The plot is super creative as Alec and Magnus get sent back to Victorian London and Alec has to do something both of them would rather he didn’t. It explores a murky area that has the potential to ruin both of them and the writing is perfect. I don’t want to ruin anything but you gotta read this. I read it when it was first posted then scrolled back up to the top and immediately devoured it a second time. I’d recommend anything and everything by this author.

One Line Summary: Stuck in London in 1882 without Magnus’ magic, the way back to New York in the 21st century requires securing a charmed amulet from the Magnus who lives in that time.

It’s a Kind of Magicby @thealmostrhetoricalquestion I love every single fic by this author and would highly suggest you read everything by her but this one has a special place in my heart. It’s light and sweet and a wonderful AU!!!

One Line Summary: Magnus and Alec live on the same floor and are highkey into each other– the only thing is that Magnus is a witch and Alec’s a mundane.

1k-10k

You Only Live Twice by partnerincrime I love this story so much!! It’s a fun little Simon POV on Alec as a gardening billionaire recluse and Magnus as a CEO of the shadow world’s largest department store. It’s hilarious and I lose my shit every time I read it!

One Line Summary: In which Simon Lewis becomes an entrepreneur, and, through a series of highly improbable events, fails upwardly toward success.

Lonely Starbucks Lovers by partnerincrime is also a hoot and I love this author so much!! It’s the quintessential coffeeshop AU.

PWP

The Way I Feel for You by @theonetruenorth Goddamn, this is a masterpiece. I’ve read this several time and like I said earlier, anything by this author is guaranteed to be amazing.

Shadows. Shovels. Joy. by oncethrown While this isn’t strictly a pwp, it’s about the parabatai bond and Jace’s POV on Alec having sex. Heartwarming and super well written! another example of how the parabatai bond could be well done.

In Plain Sight by redorchid. Holy shit, I love this to death and it’s actually the first in a series called membership, about Magnus and Alec’s exploration into exhibitionism.

hit me like a ray of sun, burning through my darkest night by liamandzayn I’ve read all of her malec fics at least twice and I just think she writes great sex lol. Definitely recommend!

With Bones Unbuttoned by @ohfreckle No smut list would be complete without ohfreckle. She’s an autoread author for me and I think I’ve yelled about this particular fic literally every chance I get. Goddamn, the sex is hot as hell and the emotions that pour through are enough to make my own heart ache. No one does it better and I wish everyone would read this and die with me.

Lionheart by Bumblebeesknees Both this one and the one above are 2x18 makeup sex fics but they’re both very different. I also love this one immensely and this author, as I’ve mentioned above, is amazing. 

Series

Alec Lightwood Deserves Nice Things by @my-nameless-bliss This series ruined me. I can’t stress enough how much I love this series. It’s beautiful written, the emotion gut wrenching, and it’s a wonderful exploration of Alec’s masculinity and what that even means. It really made me think and reevaluate my own life and I am awed by this author’s talent and everyone needs to read this. There’s also ALDNT extras which is a multichaptered work set in this universe.

We Built a Dynasty Like Nothing Ever Made by Madalena. This was a canon divergent AU set after 2x17 that does a great job of exploring shadow world tensions and Alec as a Leader and Head of the Institute. Creative and stunning and wonderfully plotted, I’ve read this series several times and love it so much!!

The Boundless Saga by sarcasticfluentry and teumessian This is a canon divergent AU that starts in season one and it’s a classic for the shadowfam in my opinion. I particularly love Parts 4 (which could go in the pwp section) and 7, which I think it’s an excellent exploration of shadowhunter tradition and expectation.

Authors

@laughingmagnus Serendi has been an autoread author for ages, since the beginning, really. Her writing is wonderful and she really hits emotions in a way that’s enviable. Her Maryse centered fics are superb.

@gingergenower I’ve been yelling about Kat’s writing since I discovered her last winter. I started with goddamn right (you should be scared of me) and I’ve read all of her fics multiple times. You really can’t go wrong with her!

@thattrainssailed Monica’s writing style is very distinctive and literary. She writes Malec like they’re set in stone entities, powerful and always in control, even if everything else is a chaotic mess.

@bytheangell Elle can write fluff or angst depending on her mood and she does a wonderful job with whatever strikes her fancy. She has a >100k fic called Support System that I’ve heard really great things about, even if I haven’t had a chance to read it yet.

@royaltybane Lydia is an OG in the shadowfam for good reason! Her writing is fluid and suitably full of feeling. You really can’t go wrong with anything by her!

Ohprongs is a wonderful author and I’ve read all of their stuff on ao3. I’d highly recommend them for shorter pieces.

This is by no means an exhaustive list! I’ve quite literally read thousands of Malec fics since I joined the fandom in summer 2017. These are the most memorable to me, however, and the ones that I’ve returned to time and time again. Any author I mentioned would be worth going through their backlist. I often just picked my favorite fic of theirs. 

If there’s something that you’re into– a trope, a general tone– you can always come back and I’ll do my best to answer your questions and give you recs! I hope that this helps and isn’t too overwhelming– I tried to organize this masterlist by word count and then misc categories. Thank you so much for thinking highly enough of my writing to ask me this and I’m sorry it took a little while to compile this fic rec list! Happy Reading!!

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

I never read the Shadow Hunter books, and I all I knew from the series was from the movie, wich I saw and didn't like, and because of that pretty much forgot everything about the story. When I reluctantly started the series,out of pure curiosity and because it has supernatural elements,what I liked the most was the relationship between Alec and Jace.I noticed Alec's feelings from the first few episodes, and was actually hoping that they would end up together.When I figured out they wouldn't, ...

2/3 ...I was actually dissapointed, and honestly surprisedthat Alec would end up with Magnus, not only because I'm pretty sure there wasno Malec content in the movie (my only previous source), but also because I sawlittle to no chemistry between the actors from the series. I think Jalec wouldhave been much better (at least cting wise), and honestly, since they changedso much from the books, couldn't they have made that move? I know why theydidn't (business wise), but still, I think it would...

3/3 ...have been more interesting to watch. Itcould have been like an AU from the books (and from what I learned about thestory of the books, the show is pretty much an AU already). What do you thinkwould have been like if Jalec happened on the show? How do you think it wouldhave impacted other characters arcs (Clary's story would probably change a lotin my opinion, same as Magnus)? (Final)

I enjoy the books. I wouldn’t say they’re fantastic and whenI first read them a decade ago, I was completely in love with the series. 10years later, I can see the flaws the books have but for the most part, thoseflaws are really just a product of the time the books were written in and Istill enjoy the books for what they are. The YA genre was a different world tenyears ago.

The movie isn’t the greatest. But I don’t think it’sabsolutely terrible but I do think you have to have knowledge of the books inorder to properly enjoy it. For me, the movie started off good but the longerit went on, it just kept on losing traction. But I could find enjoyment in itbecause I knew what the movie was trying to set up for (because I’d read thebooks). In reality, the first book, City of Bones, is just a really bad book totry to adapt into a movie because so much of it is world-building and the maincharacter just running around trying to understand the world. So much of thatbook is set-up for later books and the movie tried to do the same thing butultimately it just turned into this really boring thing because reading aboutworld-building and having to watch world-building are two completely differentthings and the movie didn’t quite pull it off. Honestly, I’m not too terriblysurprised that the movie flopped. I wish they had continued with making themovies because I guarantee the next book, City of Ashes, would probably haveworked better. The movie didn’t have a whole lot of Malec content but I can confirmthat Malec is one of the main ships in the books. In the movie, it was onlyvery subtly hinted at mostly because it’s an adaptation of the first book whichadmittedly also doesn’t have a whole lot of Malec content. They kind of existmore in the background. Malec, gradually over time, gets more of a focus in thebooks and that’s more of a reflection on what the author was able to get awaywith when publishing under the YA genre over the years. As I said before, theYA genre was a very different beast ten years ago.

And it’s never really bothered me that the show made changesfrom the books, the show just had bad writing and there was definitely achemistry problem with the main ships. And it’s super weird that with all ofthe changes they made from the books, keeping the top 3 ships (Clace, Malec, Sizzy)is what they decided they absolutely couldn’t change? None of thoserelationships worked for me because the actors in those pairings had 0chemistry with each other (and the show was a little heavy-handed in telling uswho we needed to ship). In season one, I could forgive a lack of chemistry. Alot of these actors had never worked with each other before, they’re stillgetting to know each other, I can excuse that. But over the course of the nextcouple of seasons, you can tell that the actors are more familiar with eachother but they’re still lacking that relationship chemistry on-screen andunfortunately that happens sometimes. If you don’t have chemistry with someone,then you don’t have chemistry with someone. No amount of time you spend withthat person is going to make that chemistry suddenly appear. It’s why I’vementioned before that it’s glaringly obvious that no chemistry tests were donewith this cast prior to production beginning. If there were, the showrunnerswould probably have caught on and maybe made some adjustments to who they choseto cast.

But there was a showrunner change in season 2 and ideallyyou would think that as writers invested in the show they’re currently writingfor, they’d say, “you know what, we initially had this plan for Malec beingthis epic romance but they’re just not working on screen, maybe we shoulddiverge a little from the original plan.” But they didn’t. They just kept onchugging away at this couple who has no chemistry with each other and whereas Iwas willing to ignore it for a time, I eventually got to the point that Icouldn’t. It’s not like writers have never changed a relationship focus due tochemistry. That’s why Olicity became a thing in Arrow. Because the showrunnersfound that Stephen and Emily had chemistry they wanted to write a romance for.

I really wish Shadowhunters had decided to diverge from theTop 3 ships and just go off based on the chemistry they saw between theiractors on-screen. Every Jalec scene, despite me not always agreeing with thewriting decisions leading up to it, are just a joy to watch. When you watch aJalec scene, you want to look away because you feel like you’re intruding on aprivate moment. And I love when ships make me do that. I never really shippedJalec on the show because I knew they would never be a thing since the showseemed weirdly committed to keeping the top three relationships intact for somereason. But if I were the writers, I definitely would have shifted from Malecto Jalec. There are of course people who absolutely love the Malec chemistryand they’re free to do so but I’m not one of them. When Matt and Harry are in ascene together, they’re acting just becomes extremely wooden and theircharacters become pale imitations of what they once were. Everything is so forcedwhen they’re in a scene together. Harry and Matt try to make up for it byacting with their eyes and making “heart-eyes” at each other but for me, it’snot enough to overcompensate for their awkward body language around each other.And apart from them having chemistry that just doesn’t work for me, I just didn’tlike their relationship. I don’t understand whar it is about each other thatMalec likes. I have no idea why they’re choosing to stay together, they can’tsurvive a single conflict without their relationship crumbling to pieces.

But thinking about in an alternate universe if Jalec reallywas a thing is interesting, though. If you’ve been following me for a while,you know I love to think about “what if” situations. It obviously would changea lot with practically all of the characters because so much of this show isrelationship based. Like I’ve mentioned before, Shadowhunters is a trash showand only exists to give its audience shipping fodder. And I will say just as ageneral note here that this is completely different from what would happen inthe books. There’s actually a rule in the books that states you can’t fall inlove with your parabatai (bad things will happen and I’ll leave it at that).But just in show context because the show never went into the rules aboutparabatai, I like to imagine that before the show started, Alec and Jace werein this kind of “friends with benefits” type of relationship. It was purelysexual in nature, a way for them to relax after a hard day of hunting and theyjust needed a release. At least, it was like that for Jace. However, Aleccouldn’t quite shake it off. He couldn’t quite just write their relationshipoff as “just sex” and so he decided to end things with Jace because he couldn’tstand the idea of Jace not seeing him as anything more than a means ofrelieving stress. And here is when the show begins. Clary comes into the mixand obviously, if we’re shooting for a Jalec endgame there’s a lot of changesthat have to be made with Clary as she and Jace in both the books and show arethe characters the story centers on. I don’t really want to say that Jace getsinvolved with Clary only to figure out at the eleventh hour that Alec really ishis one true love, that feels a little too juvenile and easy for me, preference-wise,I hate stories that go in that direction, I hate “one true love” nonsense. Atfirst I caught myself thinking, okay, who is Clary’s endgame relationship goingto be if it’s not Jace? And then I realized, does she really need one? I mean,she just found out who she thought she was her entire life is not who sheactually is. When you’re going through something like that, should you reallybe involving yourself in a committed relationship? But I’m not opposed to herending up with someone like Simon or hey, maybe even Lydia (what ever happenedto Lydia by the way? Of all the dumb and pointless original characters the showcame up with, she was my favorite. We never found out if she ever got a happyending. Perhaps ending up with Clary could be her happy ending). We could stillhave a Malec relationship on the show but ultimately, they decide to end thingsas they feel like they can’t overcome the obstacles in their relationship, theystill care about each other deeply but sometimes in relationships, caring abouteach other isn’t enough to make it work. Alec is heartbroken that he had to endthings and he and Jace have a drunken night where they fall into bed again andinto their same old bad habits. But Alec makes it clear to Jace he’s notinterested in continuing what they used to have and because his relationshipwith Magnus made him more communicative in talking out his feelings, he comesclean to Jace about how he really feels about Jace. Jace doesn’t know how torespond so that drama gets milked for maybe half a season and let’s saysomething happens to Alec or Jace is separated from Alec for too long and Jacerealizes how much he does love Alec and the reason he couldn’t say it before isbecause he was afraid to be truly loved by someone. They confess and that’s theirendgame. As for Magnus, there was this original character named Raj that theshow just wrote off as xenophobic and an overall scumbag but when he was firstintroduced, I thought he was in the closet and was secretly crushing on Alec.

So for the purposes of this new narrative, let’s say he’s secretly crushing onMagnus and after some time of them being kind of aggressive towards one another,they realize they’re interested and a relationship blooms from that.But that’s the current mental picture of a “whatif” Jalec endgame that’s in my head right now. This would need way more time tothink on but as a story base, it’s not too bad. And actually, now I’m superinto the new Top 3 Ships being Jace/Alec, Magnus/Raj, Clary/Lydia.

[racetrackshiggins]

mmmm all of them for les mis :P

i read this and immediately said “jesus fucking christ alec”

but okay, here we go

First song you listened to? i dreamed a dream, iirc

Favorite song? as someone who got to briefly play cosette for a thing, in my life/a heart full of love (objectively not the best ones in the show but DREAM ROLE!!!!!!! AND I SANG THEM FOR AN ACTUAL PERFORMANCE so)

Least favorite song? castle on a cloud i guess?

Favorite scene? can i say every scene with my boys? bc yeah, p much every scene with my boys. and cosette. i love her

Least favorite scene? when everyone’s dying lol. more serious answer: the random song they added to the movie, i hate it

First impression of it? WOW SUCH A GOOD SHOW let me listen to it on repeat for a ridiculously long time (this might actually have been the show that started that pattern for me)

Favorite character? cosette and grantaire (you cannot make me choose)

Least favorite character? the factory foreman or bamatabois, i guess

Favorite original cast member? probably rebecca caine, though i haven’t listened to the olcr in a long time

Favorite non original cast member? jan forrellat as marius (DON’T @ ME OKAY), also samatha hill as cosette

Favorite actor portrayal for [insert character]? see above.

Least favorite actor portrayal for [insert character]? honestly one of the only actors i don’t like of the ones i’ve seen/heard is frances ruffelle as eponine

How’d you hear of it? i don’t really remember, it’s been so long

Rating from out of 10? solid 9/10 (mostly bc i still haven’t been able to untangle the baggage from fandom even after 5+ years)

Favorite spoken line? n/a, bc i don’t remember the very few spoken lines in the show

Favorite sung lyric? there are way too many to list tbh, but i really love grantaire’s verse in drink with me, it’s a really great moment***

Dream cast? a random combination of every single production’s casts

Greatest weakness? hmm. i,,, actually can’t think of one atm

If you could change one thing, what would it be? see above

How long have you followed the show? at least since 2008 when i saw my cousin’s hs production, then was in one of my own later that year i believe

Favorite cut thing from previews/prebroadway? i’m going with the movie on this one but ***HOW DARE THEY CUT GRANTAIRE’S VERSE IN DRINK WITH ME, i’m still bitter (but thank you to george blagden for my life - the password is musain)

Favorite change from previews/prebroadway? i think cutting “i saw him once” at whatever stage that was done (between london and broadway i think) was a good choice even though i think it’s lovely

Pre-Broadway or Broadway? really no opinion there but london did have the REVOLVING. STAGE. i miss you already

Have you seen it live? YES i saw the us tour on july 10th, 2012 and it was wonderful. random thing: the set malfunctioned during javert’s suicide

Do you own the cast recording? i own the olcr and obcr as well as many recordings i technically should not have

Do you own any physical merch? i have a shirt somewhere, and my playbill from when i saw it

Unpopular opinion about it? while i thought acting-wise they were both fine, hugh jackman was way worse than russell crowe vocally in the movie. his bring him home is actually painful to listen to (is this still unpopular though??)

Favorite post-canon headcanon? don’t really have any? i just want cosette to be happy, that’s all i care about

Favorite backstory headcanon? also don’t really have any, sorry

Favorite ship? i’m super basic i know, but e/r

[caitsbooks]

Caitsbooks’s Top 10 Most Anticipated April 2019 Releases

This year is absolutely flying by. I can't believe it's April already! This month has some of my most anticipated releases of the year, with a good mix of debut novels, series starters, and continuations! My wallet may hate me this month, but I'll be very happy once all these books come out.

Blog || Goodreads || Bookstagram || Twitter  || Reviews

April Releases

Note: These are in order of release date

April 2nd 

10. Wicked Saints (Something Dark and Holy #1) by Emily A. Duncan This book is probably my most anticipated debut novel, if not one of my most anticipated books overall for 2019. Wicked Saints has gotten a lot of hype, and after reading the ARC, I can say it deserves all of it. This book broke me, in the best possible way, and I don't think I'll ever be over it. Read my review here for more of my ranting.

"A girl who can speak to gods must save her people without destroying herself. A prince in danger must decide who to trust. A boy with a monstrous secret waits in the wings. Together, they must assassinate the king and stop the war. In a centuries-long war where beauty and brutality meet, their three paths entwine in a shadowy world of spilled blood and mysterious saints, where a forbidden romance threatens to tip the scales between dark and light."

9. Defy Me (Shatter Me #5) by Tahereh Mafi The Shatter Me series has been one of my favorites since I first read it as a trilogy back in 2015. While I was nervous at first about the series being continued, I am now 100% on board and so excited for the next installment! The Kenji novella, Shadow Me, really got my hyped for this book!

(Spoilers below for the Shatter Me series, books 1 - 4) "Juliette’s short tenure as the supreme commander of North America has been an utter disaster. When the children of the other world leaders show up on her doorstep, she wants nothing more than to turn to Warner for support and guidance. But he shatters her heart when he reveals that he’s been keeping secrets about her family and her identity from her—secrets that change everything. Juliette is devastated, and the darkness that’s always dwelled within her threatens to consume her. An explosive encounter with unexpected visitors might be enough to push her over the edge."

8. Defy the Fates (Constellation #3) by Claudia Gray

I cannot express how excited I am for this book. I loved the first two novels, and I've been dying to find out how it all ends! If you're looking for a new sci-fi series, definitely pick this one up!!

(spoilers below for Defy the Stars and Defy the Worlds)

“Hunted and desperate. Abel only has one mission left that matters: save the life of Noemi Vidal. To do that, he not only has to escape the Genesis authorities, he also must face the one person in the galaxy who still has the means to destroy him. Burton Mansfield's consciousness lives on, desperate for a home, and Abel's own body is his last bargaining chip.  Alone in the universe. Brought back from the brink of death, Noemi Vidal finds Abel has not only saved her life, but he's made her into something else, something more. Not quite mech, yet not quite human any longer, Noemi must find her place in a universe where she is utterly unique, all while trying to create a world where anyone--even a mech--can be free. The final battle between Earth and the colony planets is here, and there's no lengths to which Earth won't go to preserve its domination over all humanity. But together, the universe's most advanced mech and its first human-mech hybrid might have the power to change the galaxy for good.”

7. The Princess and the Fangirl (Once Upon a Con #2) by Ashley Poston

This is the new companion novel to Geekerella. The first book was absolutely amazing, and I can't wait to see where Ashley Poston goes with this one!

"Imogen Lovelace is an ordinary fangirl on an impossible mission: save her favorite character, Princess Amara, from being killed off from her favorite franchise, Starfield. The problem is, Jessica Stone—the actress who plays Princess Amara—wants nothing more than to leave the intense scrutiny of the fandom behind. If this year's ExcelsiCon isn't her last, she'll consider her career derailed. When a case of mistaken identity throws look-a-likes Imogen and Jess together, they quickly become enemies. But when the script for the Starfield sequel leaks, and all signs point to Jess, she and Imogen must trade places to find the person responsible. That's easier said than done when the girls step into each other's shoes and discover new romantic possibilities, as well as the other side of intense fandom. As these "princesses" race to find the script-leaker, they must rescue themselves from their own expectations, and redefine what it means to live happily ever after. "

6. The Devouring Gray (The Devouring Gray #1) by Christine Lynn Herman

This book is one of my most anticipated debut novels of the year. People have been comparing it to The Raven Cycle, one of my all-time favorite series, so obviously I need to devour it. (Yes, I know that was a bad pun)

"On the edge of town a beast haunts the woods, trapped in the Gray, its bonds loosening… Uprooted from the city, Violet Saunders doesn’t have much hope of fitting in at her new school in Four Paths, a town almost buried in the woodlands of rural New York. The fact that she’s descended from one of the town’s founders doesn’t help much, either—her new neighbors treat her with distant respect, and something very like fear. When she meets Justin, May, Isaac, and Harper, all children of founder families, and sees the otherworldly destruction they can wreak, she starts to wonder if the townsfolk are right to be afraid. When bodies start to appear in the woods, the locals become downright hostile. Can the teenagers solve the mystery of Four Paths, and their own part in it, before another calamity strikes?"

5. You'd Be Mine by Erin Hahn

I was lucky enough to read an ARC of this back in January, and it blew me away. It was so much more than I expected. This is definitely not a book to miss!

"Annie Mathers is America’s sweetheart and heir to a country music legacy full of all the things her Gran warned her about. Superstar Clay Coolidge is most definitely going to end up one of those things. But unfortunately for Clay, if he can’t convince Annie to join his summer tour, his music label is going to drop him. That’s what happens when your bad boy image turns into bad boy reality. Annie has been avoiding the spotlight after her parents’ tragic death, except on her skyrocketing YouTube channel. Clay’s label wants to land Annie, and Clay has to make it happen. Swayed by Clay’s undeniable charm and good looks, Annie and her band agree to join the tour. From the start fans want them to be more than just tour mates, and Annie and Clay can’t help but wonder if the fans are right. But if there’s one part of fame Annie wants nothing to do with, it’s a high-profile relationship. She had a front row seat to her parents’ volatile marriage and isn’t interested in repeating history. If only she could convince her heart that Clay, with his painful past and head over heels inducing tenor, isn’t worth the risk. "

April 9th 

4. Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

This book has been called a YA Game of Thrones, filled with political intrigue and mystery. This is another book that has gotten a bit of hype, and I'm looking forward to seeing if it lives up to it.

"Princess Hesina of Yan has always been eager to shirk the responsibilities of the crown, dreaming of an unremarkable life. But when her beloved father is found dead, she’s thrust into power, suddenly the queen of a surprisingly unstable kingdom. What’s more, Hesina believes that her father was murdered—and that the killer is someone close to her. Hesina’s court is packed full of dissemblers and deceivers eager to use the king’s death for political gain, each as plausibly guilty as the next. Her advisers would like her to blame the neighboring kingdom of Kendi’a, whose ruler has been mustering for war. Determined to find her father’s actual killer, Hesina does something desperate: she enlists the aid of a soothsayer—a treasonous act, punishable by death, since magic was outlawed centuries ago. Using the information provided by the sooth, and uncertain if she can trust her family, Hesina turns to Akira—a brilliant investigator who’s also a convicted criminal with secrets of his own. With the future of Yan at stake, can Hesina find justice for her father? Or will the cost be too high?"

3. The Red Scrolls of Magic (The Eldest Curses #1) by Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu

I think everyone can agree that Magnus and Alec are some of the best characters in The Shadowhunter Chronicles. Needless to say, I'm so excited that they're getting their own series!!! I've been waiting for this for too long.

"All Magnus Bane wanted was a vacation—a lavish trip across Europe with Alec Lightwood, the Shadowhunter who against all odds is finally his boyfriend. But as soon as the pair settles in Paris, an old friend arrives with news about a demon-worshipping cult called the Crimson Hand that is bent on causing chaos around the world. A cult that was apparently founded by Magnus himself. Years ago. As a joke. Now Magnus and Alec must race across Europe to track down the Crimson Hand and its elusive new leader before the cult can cause any more damage. As if it wasn’t bad enough that their romantic getaway has been sidetracked, demons are now dogging their every step, and it is becoming harder to tell friend from foe. As their quest for answers becomes increasingly dire, Magnus and Alec will have to trust each other more than ever—even if it means revealing the secrets they’ve both been keeping."

April 16th 

2. Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett

Last year, I finally started reading Jenn Bennett's books, and fell in love with them. I went on a binge of all of her YA contemporaries, and I'm dying for more. At this point, it doesn't even matter to me what it's actually about. If it's written by Jenn Bennett, I'll read it.

"Mystery-book aficionado Birdie Lindberg has an overactive imagination. Raised in isolation and homeschooled by strict grandparents, she’s cultivated a whimsical fantasy life in which she plays the heroic detective and every stranger is a suspect. But her solitary world expands when she takes a job the summer before college, working the graveyard shift at a historic Seattle hotel. In her new job, Birdie hopes to blossom from introverted dreamer to brave pioneer, and gregarious Daniel Aoki volunteers to be her guide. The hotel’s charismatic young van driver shares the same nocturnal shift and patronizes the waterfront Moonlight Diner where she waits for the early morning ferry after work. Daniel also shares her appetite for intrigue, and he’s stumbled upon a real-life mystery: a famous reclusive writer—never before seen in public—might be secretly meeting someone at the hotel. To uncover the writer’s puzzling identity, Birdie must come out of her shell…discovering that most confounding mystery of all may be her growing feelings for the elusive riddle that is Daniel."

April 23rd 

1. The Tiger at Midnight (The Tiger at Midnight Trilogy #1) by Swati Teerdhala

I am living for all the new fantasy novels coming out, and especially #ownvoices ones! This synopsis has me so intrigued and I can't wait to dive in.

"Esha is a legend, but no one knows. It’s only in the shadows that she moonlights as the Viper, the rebels’ highly skilled assassin. She’s devoted her life to avenging what she lost in the royal coup, and now she’s been tasked with her most important mission to date: taking down the ruthless General Hotha. Kunal has been a soldier since childhood, training morning and night to uphold the power of King Vardaan. His uncle, the general, has ensured that Kunal never strays from the path—even as a part of Kunal longs to join the outside world, which has been growing only more volatile. Then Esha’s and Kunal’s paths cross—and an unimaginable chain of events unfolds. Both the Viper and the soldier think they’re calling the shots, but they’re not the only players moving the pieces. As the bonds that hold their land in order break down and the sins of the past meet the promise of a new future, both rebel and soldier must make unforgivable choices."

What is your most anticipated release this April?

Related: - My March Favorites + April TBR - My Top 10 March Releases + TBR

[unmourned-unremembered]

I finally had the chance to see Barry Jenkins' adaptation of If Beale Street Could Talk yesterday and loved it. I'm both a film buff and an avid reader so I'm subject to the irritating snobbery of both where screen adaptations of books are concerned, and this film is the rarest kind of experience for someone like me: the unique satisfaction of seeing a gorgeous and very faithful film adaptation of a much loved book. It got me thinking about how rare this is and when exactly I can remember experiencing that surprise and elation watching other films based on books I liked. The following list is more reflective of my own tastes than any absolute measure of greatness but anyway, here goes.

John LeCarre', The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963)

Martin Ritt, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965)

My personal all-time favorite (although now perhaps my second favorite, after If Beale Street Could Talk) is this relatively little-known gem starring the great Richard Burton. I loved the novel and read it twice, once when I was around 10 or 11 years old and again a few years ago. It's a tremendous espionage novel and while it doesn't represent LeCarre's style at its most refined (see the next entry for that), it's a great introduction to what makes his books so engaging. They're unflinchingly realistic and pay very close attention to the actual tradecraft of spying, which you would expect from a writer who was a British secret agent in real life. The film manages to capture so much of the flavor of the source material, and a great performance by Burton translates the internal thought processes of the main character in all their subtlety. In my favorite scene, Burton's character sees a news article about himself in a London paper and realizes his cover's blown and he's completely screwed. You can see all of that registering on Burton's face in a single shot.

John LeCarre', Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974)

John Irvin, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (BBC TV miniseries, 1979)

Some writers are luckier than others. I was completely absorbed by LeCarre's rich and detailed account of British intelligence officer George Smiley's hunt for a highly placed Soviet mole within MI6. I just couldn't put it down and I was TERRIBLY disappointed by the 2011 Tomas Alfredson adaptation, which conveyed none of the nuance or atmosphere of the book. It was a crass and irritating film that wasted several good performances, including an excellent turn by Gary Oldman as Smiley. I stayed away from the miniseries for years before my wife and I began it one morning, and we were so drawn in that we binged all seven episodes the same day. I could not have been happier with it. John Irvin's subdued and skilled direction allowed the performances to take the fore and moved the plot—the most important element in any LeCarre' book—accurately and addictively. Alec Guinness totally inhabited the role of Smiley, to the point that I'm now incapable of thinking of anyone else's face when I read LeCarre's other novels.

Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five (1969)

George Roy Hill, Slaughterhouse Five (1972)

Two things surprised me when my mom told me that she'd seen this movie and that it was good: 1) it exists; and 2) it’s a good movie despite being based on an unfilmable novel. Vonnegut's work hasn't had the best of experiences on the silver screen. The 1990s produced two highly regrettable adaptations of great Vonnegut novels: the awful Nick Nolte Mother Night directed with zero flair by ham-and-egger Keith Gordon and the risible Breakfast of Champions starring Bruce Willis and directed by some guy named Alan Rudolph. Given that both of those books had vastly simpler narrative structures than Slaughterhouse Five, the fact that George Roy Hill's film is effective is really a testament to his skill. With the nearly unknown Michael Sacks anchoring a cast of other 1970s no-names and small-timers, this is a surprisingly affecting and satisfying film for a fan of the novel. Its odd time shifts and alien abductions/interactions are done very well, albeit without nudity. It's not considered a career highlight for Hill but it really should be. He stuck the film treatment equivalent of the triple axel.

George Orwell, 1984 (1949)

Michael Radford, 1984 (1984)

1984 is another novel that I read first in childhood and then again much later, in around 2004, at the height of the war in Iraq when my hatred of the US government under George W. Bush was at its apex. I remember not being able to connect with the experience of Winston Smith on the first reading, when I took the book to be a pretty straight-up criticism of the Soviet Union (still in existence at the time…). The paranoia and dystopian insanity of the Bush era, with its baleful exhortations to patriotic fervor and national unity and demands for submission to an ever-expanding police state, made the second reading a surreal one. I totally identified with Smith's alienation and the book worked for me in a whole new way. I stayed away from the screen version for a long time. I just didn't see how it would be possible to render the novel faithfully in visual form when so much of it takes place inside Smith's head. Radford did a remarkable job. Oceania's oppressive visuals bring Orwell's descriptions to stunning life, and the casting could not have been better with John Hurt as Winston Smith and Richard Burton as O'Brien. The largely unsung Cyril Cusack is also great as Charrington. In a point of trivia, he also plays Richard Burton's boss in the above-mentioned Martin Ritt The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and is part of James Mason's IRA cell in Carol Reed's Odd Man Out. Great British character actor.

Honorable mentions:

James M. Cain, Double Indemnity (1943) / Billy Wilder, Double Indemnity (1944)

James M. Cain, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934) / Tay Garrett, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

James M. Cain, Mildred Pierce (1941) / Michael Curtiz, Mildred Pierce (1945) / Todd Haynes, Mildred Pierce (HBO miniseries, 2011)

Mary Shelly, Frankenstein (1818) / Kenneth Branagh, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994)

H.P. Lovecraft, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (1927) / Dan O'Bannon, The Resurrected (1991)

H.G. Wells, The Time Machine (1895) / George Pal, The Time Machine (1960) / Simon Wells and Gore Verbinski, The Time Machine (2002)

H.G. Wells, War of the Worlds (1897) / Byron Haskin, War of the Worlds (1953) / Steven Spielberg, War of the Worlds (2005)

[clarascuro]

Clara Reads City of Bones Part 3: Hogwarts Institute for Witchcraft and Shadowhunting

The Plot Thus Far

When last we left off, our lovable cardboard cutout protagonist, Clary Fray, had been attacked by a demon called a Ravener and taken to a place called “The Institute”. After three days of recovery, she has an uncomfortable (for us) conversation with Isabelle Lightwood, where we learn that Isabelle is hot and that we, the audience, should hate her for that, and also that Jace Wayland lives with the Lightwood family because his parents are dead. We are meant to feel bad about this. We are meant to feel sorry for Jace, which is a bit of a tall order, considering that Jace Wayland is the worst person to ever smirk and shrug his way through a YA book. If I were trapped in an elevator with him I wouldn’t even wait five minutes to be rescued, I’d pry those doors open and just drop. Death is cruel but quality time with Jace Wayland is crueler. 

So Clary leaves the hospital wing and goes down a long hallway, lead by the sound of someone playing a piano. Last time I said that it was Alec (Isabelle’s brother) who played piano, and that it was his only character trait, but nope!! It’s actually my favorite boy Jace, that sack of human refuse! So I guess Alec has no personality, actually. Anyway, they have some “witty” “banter”, and then Alec takes her to the library to talk to the head of the Institute, Hodge Starkweather, and, yeah. I think it’s time to talk about the Harry Potter stuff. 

The Harry Potter Stuff

You know how E.L. James made minor changes to her crappy Twilight fanfic and then published it as 50 Shades of Gray? Well, as near as anyone can figure out, this is basically the same thing that Cassandra Clare did with her Harry Potter fanfic The Draco Trilogy. Just change the names, tweak the backstories ever so slightly, slap on a crappy cover and publish that sucker! It’s technically not plagiarism anymore! This is how you end up with stuff like "The Institute”, a secret school to teach young magic kids to control their powers, or Hodge Starkweather, elderly magic professor, who, one could argue, is a crackpot old fool teaching our protagonists magic tricks. (Gosh, how does Clare come up with this stuff?) 

This obviously isn’t proof of any kind, but when the villain of your story is named “Valentine” and he’s an evil magic user who has been dead for sixteen years (the age of our secretly magic protagonist) and the main characters are afraid to even say his name...yeah, it doesn’t exactly take a genius to figure out where all of this comes from. 

Now all this is frustrating, but it’s also hilarious. I mean, the big bad of the story is called Valentine. VALENTINE. And I actually laughed out loud for several minuted when I first read the name “Hodge Starkweather” to myself. I still get a little chuckle typing this. Oh, and since the word “muggle” would have JK Rowling’s lawyers on her ass faster than light, the word Cassandra Clare uses for non-magic people is...”Mundie”. It’s short for “mundane”. Like...first of all this is objectively hilarious. Second, mundane just means “normal”. If the Shadowhunter society is magical, then aren’t they they mundane ones? I know humans don’t have magic, but we still figured how to like, fly and stuff. That has to count for something. If I saw a dog that taught himself how to read, I wouldn’t like, make fun of him for not also being able to talk. I’d be like “Shit! That’s a pretty impressive fucking dog!” like what the fuck?

Anyway, this is all just a roundabout way to say that obviously this used to be a HP fic that through some twist of fate landed a publishing deal. And you know, it’s not as brain-meltingly bad as 50SoG, so who cares? Cassandra Clare’s just having fun, so who cares if her writing gets published? 

Well...

The Plagiarism

So, yeah, she plagiarized lot. Like a lot. The Draco Trilogy has lines of dialogue taken directly from shows like Red Dwarf, Black Adder, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as from Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett novels. Quoting shows apparently used to be pretty common in the early days of fanfiction, so there is context to consider here, but it gets worse. Cassandra Clare lifted almost a whole chapter, nearly word for word, from an out-of-print fantasy series called The Hidden Land, by Pamela Dean. On top of that, Clare was sued in 2016 by author Sherrilyn Kenyon, whose Darkhunter series predates Clares Shadowhunters series. (And for the record, Clare’s series was originally titled Darkhunters. Yikes.) You guys can read the full(ish) stories here and here.

I Guess I Have To Keep Talking About The Plot Now

Sigh. So after Hodge Starkweather (A+ naming there) tells them about Valentine, he explains that Shadowhunters are angel-human hybrids? Or something? They’re special, and they fight demons. Also faries, vampires, werewolves, all that stuff exists. We’re stuck with the Shadowhunters, however, because God has punished me for my hubris, and my work is never done. (Oh look, I just plagiarized Brian David Gibert. I’m a real author now, like Cassandra Clare!) The Shadowhunters were started thousands of years ago by a man named, I shit you not, Jonathan Shadowhunter. JONATHAN. FUCKING. SHADOWHUNTER. Why the fuck am I trying to come up with clever names for my characters? I should just name them all “Alex Clarasbook” and call it a fucking day. Fuck.

Anyway after a thrilling conversation with Alec-Who-Has-No-Personality, we find out that he does have a personality! His personality is that he hates humans. Oh, excuse me, “mundies.” Yep, that’s the best way to make a character relatable. Just make ‘em fucking racist. It’s okay though, it’s only magical racism so it evens out. Have I mentioned that this story has no poc?

(Oh also Clary’s mom was a Shadowhunter, but 1. I hate Clary                        and 2. literally a newborn baby could’ve figured that out, so)

Clary and Jace leave the Institute to go back to Clary’s house, and Clary slaps Jace, an act that brings me such joy that only the birth of my firstborn child will ever eclipse it, and even then, it will be it close tie. The moment is quickly over, however, as Clary immediately feels bad about it, because again, she is not a character. She’s a Walmart mannequin created for Jace to make out with. Then she sees two girls looking at Jace, and, in what can only be called the true essence of the book, “Clary turned instant traitor against her gender.” Just as a reminder, Clary sucks.

Anyway they get to her house, kill a giant, talk to a witch, yaddah yaddah yaddah. Basically nothing happens except the inevitable unraveling of my mental processes. I had to stop reading there because I have better things to do with my life besides destroying the few braincells I have left. I’ll post the next part soon, as soon as I can read more than five pages without wanting to fling the book off a seaside cliff into the frothing mist that obscures the swell and crash of the unforgiving waves. Until then, please enjoy some of my favorite bad lines.

Selected Passages (And Commentary)

“Jace chuckled. Clary could tell that he had come up behind her and was standing there with his hands in his pockets, grinning that infuriating grin of his.”                                                                                                             (She knew all that without looking?)

“Attacked. Clary wondered if this was a euphemism for ‘murdered’.”            (Clary you’re literally the dumbest person I’ve ever met.)

“Clary let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in.”                  (This may just be me being petty, but I hate this cliche so much.)

“‘You may be the only guy my age I’ve ever met who knows what bergamot is, much less that it’s in Earl Grey tea.”                                                                   (Ah yes, that famous stereotype, that boys don’t know about tea. Oh, you like tea? Name three kinds. I hear sexist gatekeeping is a real problem in the tea community. I am not having a good time.)

“Dorothea chuckled. ‘It’s good to see a young woman eat her fill. In my day, girls were robust, strapping creatures, not twigs like they are nowadays.’ ‘Thanks,’ Clary said. She thought of Isabelle’s tiny waist and felt suddenly gigantic.”                                                                            (Cassandra Clare’s super feminist, guys. You can tell because she’s always pitting her female characters against each other.)

Rating So Far

3/10-Bad. Jonathan Shadowhunter gets an entire 10/10. I’m going to have my name legally changed to Jonathan Shadowhunter.

[hydrospanners]

a writing year in review: 2k18 edition

So I’m taking a minute to look back at all the writing I did this year and it has been a pretty spotty year for fanfic for me. Lots of long, blank spaces between weird surges of productivity. But! I did a lot of work on my original projects and also the boring adult responsibilities in my life (I changed jobs three times!!! I changed my name!!! I started going to therapy!!!!) and I pushed out some fic I really liked this year in spite of all that so, all things considered, I’m calling this one a win.

Without further ado, here is the breakdown of all the fic I’ve written this year plus a sad breakdown all of the geriatric WIPs looking at me with their big sad eyes, crossing their fingers for 2019. Hiding most of it under a cut because the rankings and WIP snippets got long.

2k18's Publication Stats for Fun & Profit:

This year I published 16 fanfics, all but one for SWTOR. 10 were brand new, started and finished in 2018, and 6 were old WIPS that have been marinating for Force only knows how long. That number is down from the 29 fics I published in 2017, but close to the 14 I published in 2016. 2015 was only 3 fics and 2014 was only 2. I have a total of 64 works published on AO3.

This year I published 34559 words for an average of about 2160 words per fic. This is extremely above my overall average of about 930 words per fic with a combined total of 59569 words published since I started posting fic publicly back in 2014.

So the number of fics may be lower this year but the number of words total and the average words in the fics I did publish went up! Please enjoy a review of the shit people liked most according to AO3 and then the stuff I personally liked most because I'm allowed to like my own writing, sue me.

2k18's Most Read Fics:

1. spoonful of sugar: Everyone gets sick sometimes; even big damn heroes. These are vignettes about the Jedi Knight's crew getting sick, getting treated, and getting better. (SWTOR)

I started writing this one when I got really sick during the summer of 2017 and I finally finished it this year! There's another part that I cut because it got way out of control that I'd like to one day add back in as a second chapter but I am okay with calling this one complete and maybe never doing that. This one is a nice combo of funny and a little bit sweet that I think is refreshing, like a cold, fruity drink on a hot summer's day. Here is my very favorite line from this whole fic because it is so delightfully dumb:

“Scourge,” Rhese tries and fails to sound as though he has some degree of command over his own voice right now. “Get off my dick.”

2. filling the table: They have a saying back on Corellia that the only way you can ever really know a man is by taking his credits. They also have a saying that you should never play cards with a Corellian because Corellians always cheat, but she's betting Doc never heard that one. (SWTOR)

I think I started this one all the way back in like 2014 or 2015. I can't remember now but it was a long time ago and this piece of shit has morphed a million times since then. I must have rewritten the ending about a million times.

I really wanted to capture the desperation of the Balmorran Resistance while I was doing the character work with this, the sense of limited resources and hard living, and I am pretty happy with the result. I'm also pretty happy with the characterization work here, the little snippets they are both revealing to each other and the bigger snippets they aren't. I'm still not entirely happy with the white spaces in this one. I feel like I was a little too sparse and there are lots of places that don't flow if you don't already know what isn't being said, but I am more or less happy with this one! Here is my favorite bit because of the doublespeak foreshadowing their future relationship that was definitely on purpose:

Four hands later, she’s fifty credits richer and Doc is rooting around in his pocket for something to scribble another IOU on. She knows he’ll never make good on it, but Rea’s happy to accept his empty promises if it keeps him playing the game. She’s overdue for a bit of fun.

3. take back what the kingdom stole:  Alliance Commander Nirea Velaran has always had a talent for burning bridges. When Theron comes to her after Nathema to pay for his sins, she finds herself wondering whether some bridges can't be repaired. (SWTOR)

Hey look! Something I started and finished in the same calendar year!! This one grew out of a very stupid joke that I ended up not even making until the end of the fic. At first I wanted to draw that bit, but I got frustrated with my lacking artistic talent so I wrote it instead and it turned into one of my fave things I've written. It has nice scenery and character growth and intimate friendships that have a real impact on their emotional lives! Hurt feelings aren't just for romance fam!! Anyway here's my favorite bit because it's one of the most Rea moments I've ever written:

He shoved her off his shoulder none-too-gently, scowling as he looked skyward, as if searching for another fleet of hostile ships to arrive and grant him the sweet release of death. When none came, he settled for another hearty gulp of whiskey. He had to be halfway to knackered by now. “You’re insufferable,” he grumbled.

“I know.” She smiled a smile that felt damn near genuine and collapsed back against the grass, swinging her legs out over the crevasse.

“I don’t even feel bad about all this anymore.” Theron complained. “You deserve it.”

Rea only laughed. A real laugh, all the way up from her belly, and it felt so fucking good.

Theron looked at her from the corners of his bloodshot eyes, suspicious and too clever by half. “Fuck,” he swore, shaking his head. “You just mindfucked me, didn’t you?”

2k18 Author’s Choice:

1. when the wicked play. After witnessing his first real lightsaber duel, Doc reflects on the contradictions of what the Jedi are supposed to be and the realities of fighting a war. (SWTOR)

This might be one of my very favorite things I've written ever. In case it wasn't clear by now, I am pretty preoccupied with making myself feel the weight of the violence and uncertainty and war that plagues you in this game. It all feels so clean and sanitary in the game because it's a game, but it's something I always want to explore and make visceral in the stories I tell about the game. I am also obsessed with Jedi and the mythos and conflicting ideas that must surround them inside the story's universe. This was a fun way to marry the two and do a bit of character work at the same time. I'm also pretty proud of this one structurally, with how contained and bookended it is. [high fives self] Anyway here's my favorite part because it's some of the only action I've written that feels like it captures the brutal urgency of how I imagine actual lightsaber combat and also says a little bit about my girl Rea via the way she fights:

Rea is little more than a blur of blue light as she collides with the Sith across the field, her sabers swinging too fast for Doc’s eyes to track. She’s hammering her enemy from every side, pushing him back and back and back. Her assault is savage and relentless and there is nothing like grace or elegance in any of it. It isn’t beautiful; it’s violence. Ugly, brutal violence.

The whole thing is over in less than a minute.

Blue meets red meets blue meets blue meets blue meets red and then the Sith’s head is hitting the floor with a muffled thump. It happens so abruptly Doc doesn’t even realize it’s ended until the rest of the body collapses a heartbeat later.

2. shadows settle on the place that you left. In the wake of her father’s death, Nyria Ryder tries to reconcile the man she knew with the shadow he left hanging over her. (Mass Effect: Andromeda)

Look! Something that isn't SWTOR! (The only thing I wrote this year that wasn't for SWTOR.) I have a whole bunch of feelings about Alec Ryder and had a really good time porting Rea over to this game and seeing the ways his presence in her life altered who she is and the ways that it didn't. Also I have a lot of feelings about SAM. This is probably peak self-indulgence but I still feel like this is some efficient sketching of Nyria's character and Alec's and their particular relationship and I'm pretty proud of it. Also I'm always a slut for complicated familial relationships. Here is my favorite bit because it's such a nice illustration of who Ria is and an important turning point for her character:

She decided to be kinder to SAM than the universe had been to her. He was her brother, just as much as Rhys, and she was all he had. She would have to make sure herself was enough.

“He believed in us both,” she told him what he needed to hear, even though it wasn’t true. Then she made a promise she could not keep, because she knew he needed that too: “You and me are going to figure this thing out. Just you watch. We’re gonna make Alec proud.”

3. take back what the kingdom stole:  Alliance Commander Nirea Velaran has always had a talent for burning bridges. When Theron comes to her after Nathema to pay for his sins, she finds herself wondering whether some bridges can't be repaired. (SWTOR)

All the same stuff I said above applies here still. Glad we can all agree this one was nice.

State of the WIPs

Just for fun I did a dive into my WIP folder to see what I'm setting myself up for in 2019! Only it wasn't very fun at all because there is so much really old stuff in here!!!!!! Good luck to future me because past me really left you with the bag girl! Good luck carrying the weight of hopes and dreams and stories unfulfilled!!

I have a total of 48 fics in progress right now. The fandom breakdown is as follows, ranked from the most to the least: Star Wars: The Old Republic (35), Dragon Age (8), Mass Effect: Andromeda (4), Fallout 4 (1). And because I'm a masochist, I looked at the dates on all this shit too. Here's the breakdown of what year all of these things were started:

2014: 4 fics

2015: 9 fics

2016: 15 fics

2017: 11 fics

2018: 9 fics

That sound you hear is me sobbing in the distance. 2014!!! What the fuck!!!!! I am gonna finish those four fics this year if it kills me. We aren't living like this anymore. Please enjoy some samples from the WIP folder with absolutely no context:

“You carry sleeping pills in your pocket?”

“For my wife. Maybe you’ve met her? About this high--” Doc raised his hand half a foot over his own head “--brown hair, blue eyes, great ass.”

Ignoring the commentary on his sister’s figure and the extreme overestimation of her height, Rhese nodded. “I may have seen her around.”

“Well if you see her again, you tell her to come home. Her family’s worried.”

Do you hear that Rea? Your family is worried. Rhese wondered if she could feel their concern, their anguish. Was she searching for them as they searched for her? She’d always been good at hiding, but she’d never vanished completely before. A hole in the Force where her warm, fervent energy should have been.

He felt cold. Really alone for the first time in his life. Careful what you wish for, Liss had always said. You might just get it.

Ossus is important.

Rea feels it when she falls out of hyperspace, that shift, that tug of something just behind her navel. The familiar weight of destiny, settling like a stone in the pit of her stomach. It leaves her breathless, white-knuckled and gripping the shuttle’s controls, her skin prickling under the cold caress of dread.

She wasn’t expecting this story to have a happy ending—a colony of Jedi on the eve of war? she’s danced that dance enough times to know the steps by now—but she wasn’t expecting anything so bad as the draw of destiny.

Fate has never been anything but cruel to her. Feeling it here, now? This is going to be worse than she imagined.

This is how you deal with failure.

You just do.

You get up in the morning and brush your teeth. You train until your legs wobble beneath you. You choke down your nutripaste and ask Simms about his niece. You congratulate Tarinik on her promotion. You laugh too loud at Vortena’s shit jokes. And when Beniko’s eyes follow a little too close, you blow her a kiss like it doesn’t matter at all.

You keep moving forward because standing still will kill you. Because life is a race and if you slow down for even a second, death will catch up.

Nirea Velaran is not ready to die.

She is not maleficarum, but she is changed. Something is awake inside her now, and the whispers are louder each time she touches the Fade. Sweet, coaxing whispers full of promises. Some of them sound like her mother.

Take care of your brother, Niria. You’re all he’s got.

In the morning, Qarric wakes with a pounding head and an empty sleeve. He never asks, but he watches her more sharply, reprimands her more often, demands more of her in training.

When she is fourteen, blade tucked into the top of her worn boot, he gives her a warning. “You aren’t as strong as you think,” he says. “No one is.”

“Is it much farther?” Ria jabbed the bladed end of her stave--a fancy enchanted thing Vivienne had insisted on--into the sodden ground and squinted through the trees, praying for a glimpse of the promised coast. The air smelled of salt and death and the sea, but she hadn’t seen a single crashing wave yet.

“A few more miles yet,” Blackwall answered irritably. Ria had elected to blame the weather for his foul mood. “Same as it was five minutes ago, Your Worship.”

“And five minutes before that,” Varric added.

“Conditions are much safer inside the ship, Nyria.”

“Didn’t come all the way out here to be safe, SAM.” Another rock plinked hollowly against the wall of the prefab. “We came to see new planets and shit. That’s what I’m doing.”

“There is not much to see at night.”

“Not much to see during the day either. Sure as hell nothing worth dying for.” She huffed a bitter not-quite-laugh.

She spoke before he could even open his mouth to ask the question. “You’re overthinking it, little brother.”

“We’re twins,” he said, mostly out of habit. “And I’m taller.”

“Your hair is taller.”

“This is serious, Nyria.”

“So is your hair.” She reached out almost absent-mindedly to ruffle it, eyes still fixed on her omni-tool, but he dodged out of the way.