#And now I am reading the web novel (chapter 5)

[theultracharmingladynoire]

is anyone here into orv?

[suffarustuffaru]

Hello!

A bit of a weird ask, so sorry in advance.

What methods/sites would you recommend using for reading Arcs 5-8 of Re:Zero?

I’ve almost finished season 2 of the anime, and I’m pretty sure this has become one of my new favourite anime/works of media in general. 

And considering I keep spoiling myself anyway when I look at Re: Zero tumblr blogs, I figured I should just find a way to catch up with the rest of the series. 

You seem smart, and have clearly read Arcs 5-8, so I was hoping that you would be able to provide some advice. 

Thanks!

NOTE; this post is now outdated esp when this was written pre-s3!! i may make a new post if people are interested

hi there!! :D no worries for the ask, its cool to have another rezero fan join in the fandom especially on tumblr (which is a very small, curated circle of a bunch of us trading posts around a campfire HAH) and i hope youve really been enjoying the anime and your stay here so far!! :o this is absolutely one of my favorite media as well (if. if you couldnt tell by the blog pfft) and thanks for the compliments haah i am glad to seem smart.

but yes i gotchu on where to read!! ill be giving you a pretty detailed explanation/guide. (this explanation also goes mainly for english speakers / people who wanna experience rezero in english.) (and of course if any other seasoned fans are seeing this feel free to add on if i miss anything or correct me if needed)

Main Route Stuff:

witchculttranslations is where you can find the translations for the entire main route (which is arcs 1-8). this page is where youll find the main table of contents for each arc and you can find arcs 5-8 there!

note that arc 8, at the time of me writing this ask, is still a work-in-progress and the team of translators in this fandom are always hard at work to translate each chapter. also note that arcs 7-8 are "conjoined arcs" - think of it like arc 7 is part 1 and arc 8 is part 2. so if you happen to get caught up to where rezero is currently at, the rezero subreddit regularly updates chat + update threads whenever new rezero novel content comes out in general. youll find updates on translations or summaries for new chapters there.

there's also distinction between web novel and light novel - web novel are the chapters that tappei releases online, light novel are the official finished versions of the chapters that are released for sale. sometimes there's changes between the web novel and the light novel, but for the most part it's either minor changes to improve on the web novel - sometimes it's major, but for arcs 5-8 iirc there isnt any major changes that you need to worry about.

just note that in the wn translations, all/almost all dialogue is written in script-style. let me show a small excerpt from arc 5 chapter 1:

???: “Good job, Subaru, I suppose.” A small silhouette enters Subaru’s view from above. A loveable girl with long, cream hair and an extravagant outfit—Beatrice. Her fluttering dress looks out of place in the meadow as she presents Subaru with a towel. He accepts it and vigorously towels his head dry. Subaru: “Ah, thanks. Was looking to cool down so this’s perfect.”

so yeah the wn will be formatted like this by the way, just in case you didnt know this yet!! i hope thats not much of a turnoff or anything, but dont worry you get used to it - and the story is still pretty great anyway!!

also dont bother with arcs 1-3 wn. its not so important (and you already know all the major info because youve seen the anime) and also arcs 1-3 wn doesnt have the Best writing. tappei himself had to make extremely major changes for the light novel and the light novel (along with the anime and manga) is the finished and polished result.

and of course the light novel comes with illustrations for each arc. the web novel sometimes includes images as well at the beginning of each chapter, but if youd like to see finished and official illustrations for various scenes throughout arc 5-8 its easy to find them if you search them up online!!

the anime also has a few bits of Important cut content from arcs 3-4 - unfortunately i dont have any resources on hand for this ;-;;; but you can look this up on rezero reddit or online in general since a lot of people have made summaries about this. from what i remember in arc 3 (which is the royal selection/white whale/petelgeuse half of season 1!), the main thing is just the reveal that al has some sort of connection to ram (and rem by extension), some sort of connection to satella possibly, and he is ALSO someone that was isekaied into rezero's fantasy world.

as for arc 4 (which is season 2 of course), the anime got down almost all of the general important info you need to know, but there's a lot of important information in the last parts of arc 4 that the anime didnt include. the anime may include this information (and the al stuff from arc 3) later, but you'll need to know it for arcs 5-8. you can find the witchcultranslations guide for arc 4 here - scroll down and youll find the chapter called Appendix: Advent!! you'll need the info in that chapter for later.

if you want, you can also read the chapters after that - theyre sorted under One Day II and are the official arc 4 interludes that take place before arc 5. i do recommend reading through them, but theyre mainly characterization stuff, character dynamics post-arc 4, everyone trying to recover after arc 4, etc etc. the most important info in there is leadup for arc 5 (all the post-arc 4 aftermath stuff) and also some info/introduction on clind and annerose (who are characters that are briefly shown in the anime for like two seconds). these two do play minor roles in arc 4/beginning of 5, but theyre hinted to be important for later. if youre in a hurry to get to arc 5, totally fine to just skim through it, get basic info on clind and annerose then continue into arc 5 or something. or you can look at their wiki pages - totally cool to enjoy rezero however you wish. it's a LOT of reading dont get me wrong HAH.

as for the manga - this is not required reading or anything, the manga has only done arcs 1-4 atm so it's not really super relevant to you since youre almost done with arc 4 already via the anime!! but of course if you havent done so youre welcome to check it out if youd like, the manga artists are pretty great imo. im just gonna show some art from the manga artists here:

isnt it pretty? :O very nice stuff.

anyway thats it for main route content!! now i gotta explain side content.

Side Content:

you can find witchculttranslations' side story table of contents here, which very neatly shows you Every Single Side Story and is updated regularly every time tappei comes out with new side content. and trust me, tappei makes A Lot of side content. i guarantee you a lot of rezero fans havent read every side story (and i still have a lot of side stories to catch up on myself), so theres absolutely no need to read every single side story!! honestly just read the ones you find interesting + the ones that are required reading! im not sure how much of the side content youve heard about, but ill give you a rundown:

this extremely helpful google spreadsheet here (thats also regularly updated) tells you how important each side story is and where you can find it so you dont have to go on a wild goose chase wondering which ones you need to read for the main story. rezero side stories are on a sliding scale of just silly stuff tappei wrote for fun to this is VERY crucial for the main story. that google spreadsheet should help you out with that - both the spreadsheet and witchculttranslations have links to almost every side story available.

(the spreadsheet also tells you important details and who it's centered around + when each side story is safe to read free of spoilers after a certain point - so it's easy to decide when you wanna read the side stories and WHICH side stories you'd like to read!)

also i guarantee you that if you have a favorite character in rezero that character Probably has a ton of side content theyre featured in - so i recommend just hunting down all their side content and devouring it whole because im sure youll have a fun time with that. a lot of side content also fleshes out a ton of side characters as well in general - people who Looked shallow in the anime ARENT shallow at all, i promise. many people have hidden depths, which is one of the fun parts of rezero!

witchculttranslations and the google spreadsheet also tell you what order you might wanna read in terms of when each one takes place. i recommend following that order for the most part if youd like, but if you wanna binge read side content or something later you can also do that after reading arc 6.

that's how i experienced the side stories myself (i started reading them after finishing up with the arcs 5-6 plot) and in a way, i would say that might just be the easiest way to do it given a lot of the side stories take place during arcs 1-6 or before the events of arcs 1-6. itll make you go "ohhh thats what was happening with these background characters during *insert event here that was focused on in the main story*" or "ohhh thats why These Guys are like this" a lot pfft. so its easier to just get out the most important ones / the ones thatre most interesting to you all in a row after finishing up with arc 6 👍

The Ex Novels:

these are THE MOST IMPORTANT side stories. :o theyll be extremely important for arcs 7-8 especially!! also because these are light novels the dialogue is written in normal narrative format so hooray for that!!

anyway theres five ex novels. i recommend reading these after arc 6 so you got them fresh on the brain for arcs 7-8.

however if you happen to be a crusch camp fan, you can read ex novels 1-3 at any time youd like!! these flesh out characters like crusch, felix, wilhelm, and theresia (some of the wilhelm and theresia content was shown a bit in season 1 of the anime!) so youd probably enjoy these even more if youre a fan of any of them. ex novel four also features felix, julius, and reinhard too, if that interests you! (as a knight fan ex novel 4 was my favorite akdndn and i loved ex 1!!). but yeah in general though read the ex novels in order (from 1 to 5 of course) so you dont spoil yourself for other ex novels, but as i said - you can read 1-3 at any time, and in general its best to read the rest of the ex novels after arc 6.

the ex novels in general mainly focus on important historical events in the rezero world and stuff that happens before arc 1. the ex novels are also our first introduction to the nation and empire of vollachia—this is also the country that priscilla is from (and al also came from there)!! you get introduced to vollachia's whole deal in these novels. youll need this info for later!

anyway witchculttranslations and the google sheet dont have links to them because theyre published + officially translated light novels that are easiest to access by buying them, so harder to get a free pdf of them. however i got you (and your wallet) covered because i got pdfs for all of them right here (if these links dont work let me know!):

ex novel 1 - crusch and felix-centric

ex novel 2 - wilhelm and theresia-centric

ex novel 3 - wilhelm and theresia-centric

ex novel 4 - felix, julius, and reinhard-centric

ex novel 5 - priscilla and al-centric

anyway thats the ex novels in a nutshell!! and of course if you want a physical copy of these books (or any of the rezero light novels in general) in english you can buy these online (sites like amazon has them) or at a bookstore. if you live in the US like i do, barnes and noble has them irl as well. or if you happen to live near a kinokuniya store, they also sell rezero irl. kinokuniya is also specifically for japanese media so i highly recommend giving it a try if you happen to be near one (i got a rezero keychain from there also hah, rezero merch is a little hard to get a hold of sometimes).

rezero light novels are also translated in a few other languages (iirc spanish and polish are some of the other languages its translated in) so if youd like that too you can look into it and buy some!!

The If Routes:

if youre not familiar with these by now, theyre basically "what if"/ alternate universe stories where subaru makes a different and Very Major choice at different points of the main route. theyre not necessarily required reading, but some do have some important lore regarding several of the characters and in general most of them are extremely important AUs for rezero that emphasize all the themes of the story. they also show the Insane butterfly effect of subaru’s decisions.

and if youve gotten this far with the anime already im gonna assume you probably like subaru at least a little bit? :o yeah his character gets fleshed out in Very Interesting ways in these routes. other characters also get changed in various ways due to his decisions!

new ifs are also released typically every year on subaru's birthday - april 1. so with every april 1 the entire fandom plays russian roulette because either the if will be a super silly one or a Very Important one LMAO.

also these ifs tend to be mentioned a lot in fandom bc theyre very beloved and interesting side stories, so i highly recommend choosing which ones you find interesting and just have fun reading them!! you can find them on the spreadsheet, if you want to read them in a more chronological order, or you can find them on the main witchculttranslations website as tabs on the side underneath Re:Zero If Stories. (but ill provide the links to each separate one in this post also.)

all current if routes at the moment take place somewhere in the arcs 1-6 range, so you can look at them either after arc 6, like i said, or in order as you read along with the main route. ill give a quick breakdown of each if just in case!!

Pride If - diverges from arc 1; subaru doesnt call for help when fighting the three thugs in the alleyway. slight spoilers for one part of arc 5 in like One Scene of pride if.

Wrath If - diverges from arc 2; subaru accepts beatrice’s offer to help in the loop where rem dies + subaru tries to run away from the mansion. very minor spoilers for ex novels/arc 7-8 (characters who appear in those arcs appear in wrath if).

Sloth If - diverges from arc 3; subaru gives up and runs away with rem instead of dealing with the arc 3 conflict. very minor spoilers (a character who later appears in arc 8 appears here).

Aganau If - diverges from arc 3; in the loop where rem dies in the cave and subaru carries her back to the mansion, he decides to go down another route away from the mansion instead. years later, he’s now older and still alive after almost everyone else has died. this if is one of the routes in the now discontinued lost in memories mobile game (and this is The Most Important route out of the whole bunch anyway). you can find a playthrough + english translation of it here.

Greed If - diverges from arc 4; subaru accepts echidna’s contract. major spoilers for arc 4 of course. minor spoilers for arc 5+ (small plot beats are mentioned iirc). a bit of important lore for characters like echidna and clind. the first edition of it can be found here - make sure to read this first. this is because this if was also given a longer and polished light novel version of it (it was a special that came with some of the season 2 blueray dvd packages?) and you can find an english translation for the extended + final version under the Blueray Novels and Databooks section of witchculttranslations' side content page.

Gluttony If - diverges from arc 6. major spoilers for arcs 5-6.

Mimigau If - this is just a genderbend au that tappei made that starts from arc 1!! almost nothing is changed besides the characters’ genders, biological sex, names, etc. i sadly dont have a link to this one, but iirc this hasnt been fully translated yet? and it's also very much not that important of an if lore-wise so you're not missing out on much. the genderbent character names are really fun though!

Lust If - this is, supposedly, an if that tappei wrote in one sitting and then decided to delete off of the official rezero wn site. this if is just an april fools joke where subaru gets a harem of various rezero girls. and imo its not Particularly Good, but it was meant to be a joke and tappei just wrote it for no reason so ig the quality makes sense haah. and also sadly that harem includes petra iirc which. yeah. not what id call great.

Vainglory If / School If - basically a canon high school au for all of rezero! not a necessary read at all but it's super silly and fun. and if you like anastasia and/or priscilla they have a lot of Fun Interactions in this one. im not sure if all of this if is english translated yet, but you can find chapter one here.

Other Various Ifs from Lost In Memories - i dont have the links to all of these, but lost in memories has a lot of other more minor aus as well, aganau if is just the most important + the darkest one. the other ifs are more lighthearted and just extra stuff for funsies. other big examples include a julius if (subaru calls for help in arc 1 and julius is the one who comes to help), a reinhard if of sorts (takes place around arcs 1-2, it's a sillier story where reinhard just keeps appearing out of nowhere to help subaru every time he needs help), and also an otto if (arc 1 divergence; subaru gets involved with otto and the two of them decide to start a mayonnaise business).

A Side Note About Rezero Video Games:

ok i know your ask is mainly about how to READ rezero but i figured i might as well explain this really quick just in case!!

there are a bunch of rezero video games and none of them are really Necessary, so dont worry about it. theyre either like - silly alternate universe stuff or theyre a bit more of the serious au variety (like aganau if, as mentioned earlier. i dont know every single rezero video game out there (and i think theres still new ones in the works at the time of me writing this??) and also almost none of them are english translated so its hard to experience them if you dont understand japanese.

the two most important ones (aka the ones with more story in them) are gonna be prophecy of the throne and lost in memories (which i mentioned earlier!). and again, these games are not necessary content - theyre mostly just side content that you can look at/watch/play through for fun and if you just wanna see more of your faves. you can check them out at any time since they dont have any major arc 5-8 spoilers.

Prophecy of the Throne - this is visual novel + a divergence of arc 3 where a new and sixth royal candidate emerges and it looks like emilia is the fake royal candidate here.... so yeah the plot is just. it's like a game of among us. but it's a fun story with a lot of different character interactions (so if you really like the entire cast of rezero youre in luck!!) and features a tiny bit of lore about some powerful groups in the fantasy world. a few of subarus failed loops in this one are also Particularly Brutal. you can watch gameplay of it on youtube or play through it yourself (i know that the game IS on steam too) since it's fully english translated (and all the jp vas and english vas reprised their roles as well).

Lost In Memories - as mentioned earlier, this is a now discontinued mobile game. iirc it was a gacha game? a sort of fighting game? and also it's narrative driven with a bunch of different routes. you can find the wiki for it here - it summarizes a lot of the main story beats. theres no official english translations for this game, but theres a lot of fan translations that you can find on stuff like youtube if youre ever interested in any part of the game. also it has a really fun opening song and animated sequence. nonoc's rezero music is great <3

A Side Note About Rezero Youtube:

theres a lot of summary videos for both main content chapters and side stories on youtube. im not sure how accurate these videos are, but i know that at the very least they can give you a brief rundown on the main points for certain chapters/side stories if thats something youd like to have!

theres also an entire team of people making a fan-run audiobook for arc 5. ive given some of their episodes a listen, and i can confirm that theyre absolutely great. you can find their readings of chapter 1-47 on spotify, and on their youtube channel theyre up to chapter 62. i think theyve also expressed their interest in branching out into other rezero content as well? :o so if thats also something youre interested in you can check them out there!

In Conclusion

anyway, that should be all you need to know - thats a summary of basically all important rezero content from here on out!! i know this is like. Super detailed. so i hope that this was helpful and didnt scare you away or anything hah. and i hope you have fun reading through rezero :o !! you got a lot of content to choose from thats for sure!!

but yeah ty for the ask, i hope i explained everything clearly enough :o !! and if you need any clarification feel free to ask!!

[dawnofthefoxes]

Welcome to my little den! <3

Hai all, I’m Dawn! I go by she/her pronouns, and am a very sleepy Fox girl :3

If you’re stumbling into my little den, welcome, and know that my returns are infrequent, but plentiful in the harvests of posts from the homes of others. Feel free to drop by, dm me, ask me a question about anything, or just bug me if you want a friend!

Assume all of my posts are for 18+ only.

I do not post 18+ often. Additionally, if you are blocked by me, I promise it isn’t personal. I just have a certain threshold of 18+ and horny, and if you’re past it in terms of your posts, I’m just gonna block so I don’t have to see it. I figure you’re all lovey people, and I wish the best of days upon thee, fair maidens, lords, and unique gems of unspecified or unique nature!

✨ Fun facts about me: ✨

I’m Poly, Panromantic, and some flavor of Aceflux. I kinda just get waves of 3 days to 1 month worth of time where I don’t feel sexual attraction.

Currently dating two amazing women, and mostly closed off relationship wise. Do not attempt to dm me with the intentions of dating me, nor get past light flirting unless conversations between us happen otherwise. The furthest thing that counts as light flirting is cheek kisses if we’re close, and flirtatiously implying things if we’re not. Thank you <3

I’m a Fox girl, and technically a therian. I physically feel my Fox ears and tail constantly, but I do not really identify with the label since I don’t have dysphoria about it, save when I’m spiraling bad.

I like playing brutally hard games, with a primary interest in bullet hells, automation games, super grindy games, or miscellaneous games with absurd difficulty. I’m currently playing (as of September 17th) Legendary + Death mode on the Calamity mod for Terraria, without cheesing and going in blind, save for the wiki. Also, I was playing GTFO solo, but my laptop is too old, and my mouse randomly disconnects, so that’s on pause for about a year.

I love to read, particularly very, very long books with really good world building. Mostly web novels at this point as I’ve found books of like 3000+ chapters that are good the entire way (Lightning is the Only Way is my favorite as of now), but I plan to read all of way of kings when I get a chance to.

I love any genre of music. If it makes da brain tingle good, it makes the brain tingle good :3. Please recommend anything to me in dms :3

To follow off of the previous point, don’t hesitate to dm me about anything. If you need someone to be here, just wanna say Hai, compliment me, want to make a new friend, have a question, or anything else, feel free to dm me. I’m an open girl, and happy to share about anything and be here for you. Cherish yourself, and rely on others if you need it, Mkay?

Note: The only exception to this is if I end up making you feel like I uneducated and/or offensive. I am both dense as hell, and I’ve got an massive issue (cause of past abuse regarding misinformation and being manipulated) with people telling me i’ve done something wrong without any explanation. Please leave an elaborate and/or evidence backed dm if you feel either of the two things. I will happily read and try to learn, but angrily telling me I’m wrong will only make it worse. I am willing to learn, so please teach me instead of yell at me <3

I’m from the US, and on the east coast, but my sleep schedule is so fucked, so expect random time posts :3

Please give me T-girl fashion advice and info on curly hair, I’m a struggling t-girl who just started to medically transition 5 months ago, and had her very heavy hitting realization a little over a year ago. Ideally science based information if you have it? 🥺

Expect horny posts randomly, but infrequently (unless I let my freak out permanently :3), and random love letters to my wifeys. I’m what I call a power switch, being very much both a top and bottom, and into far too much, so expect the unexpected >:3

You’re a good girl, boy, or enby for reading down to here, forehead kisses for you! Mwah! Mwamwamwamwamwa!!!! You’re such a good, obedient pet <3

Annnnd yeah! That wraps it up :3 have a lovely day, and come visit again! I’ll bring the hot cocoa and forehead and animal ear kisses? You bring the you, which is the most precious thing <3 Bye loves <3

(Inspired by @a-witches-riddle, stop being so damn relatable and giving me platonic flustered moments every time I open up Tumblur, damnit. Just kidding, please do :3)

[spacedragonstar]

Worm liveblog Part 1

So, first time doing a liveblog. Let's see how this goes. Don't expect anything particularly analytical from me.

I decided that yes, I am going to read Worm, the web novel. For the sake of transparency, I have been spoiled on some aspects of the world building, like how people get superpowers, parts of the ending and something about world destroying kajiu? I'm somewhat unclear on that last point.

I can not make any guarantees that I will actually finish this or that you will get regular updates.

I decided to do this liveblog when I got to Chapter 6, so the first part of this is just my impressions so far.

Warning: Mention of bullying

Ark 1.1-5

Okay, I know Worm has like a bazillion trigger warnings, but has anyone considered making it one more and adding 'Uncomfortably accurate description of bullying '? Because what Taylor is going through here, the loneliness, the social ostracizing, the way nobody helps you? That is for me a way better description of bullying than any shoving in hallways or dunks in the toilet is. It is also pretty much how I felt at some points in school. Except that I can't control bugs and if I could I would use that to 1) get rich 2) make every etymologist love me and 3) possible send bugs stealthily into the hair of bullys so I can get away. This entirely depnds on when we are talking about.

That being said, Taylor's power is pretty cool and I think it could have a lot of potential if properly utilized. I like how she uses the spiders to create her costume and all the logistics about it, like that the spiders are territorial. She is also pretty clever about the fight with Lung and knows to retreat.

Speaking of, the fight with Lung was definitely something and I can see why the heroes would struggle with him. You have to essentially take him by surprise to have a chance and you have to end it really fast. Also, the fire is a really bad match up for Taylor.

Honestly, I think it's probably a good idea that the gang mistook Taylor for a Villain. There is no way she can take them out right now.

[rigelmejo]

Oh also, to hype up this app Smart Books even more (apparently its on app store as Parallel translations of books. Which. Yeah thats literally what it is and it's great:

So in this app, it shows book statistics. Which I'm always fascinated by. Here's my current stats for Guardian:

It shows how fast I'm reading in words per minute, how often I'm looking up words (caveat here that I keep clicking some words I know reading wise for pinyin pronunciation), shows my progress (4% is pathetic but also impressive considering I restarted today and the book is over 100 chapters). It shows how long I have read total and I'm happy to say the timer does NOT count when you minimize the app or switch to other apps with it still open, making the time read quite accurate (and really calling out my ADHD for taking a break from reading every 5-20 minutes ToT). And it shows estimated time to finish the book. Which is a feature I love in any reading app. And I have to say, personally? I am VERY motivated to see the estimated time go DOWN. So when I see it, it motivates me to kick up my reading speed, and remember fucking words so I don't slow down to look them up again. I like motivation, so I love the estimated reading time. And a fun fact about Guardian, the audiobook is around 55 hours if I remember correctly. So the closer I get to seeing that estimated remaining time go down to 55 hours, the closer I'm getting to spoken reading speed! I've already improved a lot as when I started reading it estimated 98 hours, now after a bit of reading its estimating 72 hours. Huge improvement. (And yes, if you load a Chinese novel in this app you'll be hit by the reality a fuck ton of Chinese web novels are from 20 hours for SHORT SHORT ones to 100+ hours to read... for a fast reader). For comparison, I'm also reading 坏小孩 which is only 124k words compared to Guardian at 304k words... and 坏孩子 is estimating ill finish reading it in 28 hours (I think it's audiobook is 20 hours so that's at spoken reading speed).

And Guardian word statistics:

This fun word statistics area lists the words by order of how often they appear, so its great for if you want to pre-study vocabulary for a book. Or if you want to review common words in it. Or if you're curious how MANY fucking unique words are in a book. Fun fact, 坏小孩 has around 8000 unique words, compared to Guardian's 16,740 unique words. Despite this, I find 坏小孩 harder cause apparently of my lexicon of Chinese words I know how to read, it's mostly words priest uses. And the 坏小孩 author uses a word I am not familiar with about every 20 words ;-; to be fair, Guardian leans heavier into case investigatkom stories/supernatural which is the bulk of Other novels I've read too. Whereas 坏小孩 has many more every day words for card games, school, building descriptions, orphanages, which I do not read about as much.

Anyway my point is: this app is free and pretty dang useful if you're trying to read a language you're learning. It generates parallel texts!

[caribeandthebooks]

June 2024 Reading Wrap Up

I read 4 books and got 2 kindle challenge achievements this month!

Now let's look at the breakdown :)

Reading Challenge Progress: I committed to reading 30 books in 2024 so currently I'm ahead by 4 books!

Top Genre read as at June 2024: Fantasy

My first read for June and 16th read for the year was One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig. Rating: 4/5

This was a fun read and I'll definitely be reading the second book. I think the magic system is unique and pretty easy to understand and I also liked the snippets that started the chapters. Thankfully I forgot what other books this was compared to on BookTok so I was able to go into it with only the expectations from the synopsis and the same. I find that a lot of the negative reviews were a matter of expectation management. I think it was quite well done and appreciate it for the debut novel it is.

Book #17 was Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein Rating: 3.5/5

I enjoyed this read, could have had a bit more jungle justice in my opinion but this will do. The book covers a very sad story and lots a sad themes. I saw some reviews where people didn't like the writing but I think the writing is what made it not be explicitly horror and also represent the Trinidadian culture.

Hungry Ghosts helped me obtain the Weekend Lit and Solstice Story Time 2024 Kindle Spring Challenge achievements.

Book #18 was Welcome to Dead House by R.L.Stine. Rating: 3/5

Every now and then you gotta go back to the classics. I enjoyed this read, short and to the point. I will definitely be picking up the other books in the series, all 60+ of them lol.

Book #19 was So You Want To Be Villian? by ErraticErrata. Rating: 4/5

This is the first book of the web series called A Practical Guide to Evil. I very much enjoyed the read and the characters and am looking forward to continuing the series at a later date.

....

And that's it!

See you next month but in the meantime, what have you been reading?

[jimmycarterghostland]

Writing multiple point of view fiction: How to give each of your narrators a distinct character voice

My current writing project is a multiple point of view web novel. I've done some research on multiple POV writing, and I am better at it than I was years ago(I hope). So I want to give some tips to aspiring authors, because I don't want you to write horrible multiple POV fiction like I used to do.

1 Before you write multiple POV fiction, you really need to know each of your narrators. Is he or she arrogant? Or are they humble? What are their hobbies? How do they see the world? How old are they? If one of your narrators is a seventy-year-old man, and the other is a five-year-old boy, they shouldn't have the same narrative voice.

Picture a 70-year-old man named Doug. Now let me write something:

Doug walked past the huge building.

Now picture a 5-year-old boy named Tony:

Tony walked past the big building.

See how these two narrators don't read the same? Doug is an old man who referred to the building as huge, while the kid Tony referred to it as big. Doug and Tony don't have the same character voice. Doug has a larger vocabulary. Tony is a young boy who knows less words than the older narrator.

Doug would see two dogs mating and knows that they're breeding. While Tony might see the same thing and thinks they're playing with each other.

When you write multiple POV fiction, give each of your narrators a different vocabulary than the others.

2 Now, let's see how character personalities affect things.

Suppose one of your narrators is an arrogant, narcissistic character. How do you think his narration would read? It might go something like this:

Ricky was a great man, and no one was better than he was. No one would ever be better than Ricky Smith.

Can't you just tell that Ricky is arrogant and thinks so highly of himself? Meanwhile, if Ricky was a more humble person, his narration wouldn't read as arrogantly as the above.

3 What are their hobbies?

Picture Jack, who loves to skateboard:

Finishing the test would be easy for Jack. It would be as easy as doing an ollie.

See how Jack mentions a skateboard trick in his narration? That's another great example of character voice. Jack is a skateboarder, so he mentally thinks about how finishing that test will be as easy as doing an ollie.

Also, a narrator's career can affect his or her character voice. A police officer might use similes involving handcuffs or high-speed police chases.

4 What are their opinions?

Picture a character who hates cats. While a character who loves them might refer to one as "the beautiful cat", the cat-hating character might refer to that same cat as "the stupid cat". Let your narrators' opinions affect their character voice.

5 Insults

One good thing to do when writing multiple POV fiction is give each of your characters an insult only they would use. If one character calls people "fool" a lot, have that word appear in his dialogue and his inner monologue. Something like: Bob punched the fool.

See how Bob doesn't just call people fools, but he refers to someone else as one in his narration?

...

You have to make your narrators unique. You have to know how they think, their life experiences, their hobbies, etc.

One author who has mastered writing multiple POV is George RR Martin. His A Song of Ice and Fire series has unique narrators with their own unique vocabulary. I've read other multiple POV book series, but Martin is the only author I've seen write multiple POV fiction well. He understands his characters, and he does a great job at making their personalities, views of the world, etc. affect the way their chapters read. A Bran chapter definitely doesn't read like a Cersei one, for example. If you need more help with making your narrators each have a distinct character voice, I suggest you read the ASOIAF books and see how Martin distinguishes his narrators from each other.

The tips I made can even be used for writing distinct character voice in general. It could help you with your single POV fiction, if you're writing in that category.

When I was a younger, less skilled writer, I used to do a terrible job at writing multiple POV fiction. I made all my narrators sound the same as the others in my works. It was awful. But I've gotten much better at making my narrators unique. I've gotten better at writing character voice in general.

I want writers to be better, and I want to read better multiple POV fiction, so I hope my tips will help you.

Writing multiple point of view fiction can be hard, but it doesn't have to be. It's never too late to improve your writing. Just remember that.

[danniswrites]

100 Days On Earth - Deb, Midwife (on Wattpad) https://www.wattpad.com/1464257047-100-days-on-earth-deb-midwife?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_reading&wp_uname=DannisWrites 

 Earth got First Contact on January 19, 2022. At least, in my science fiction universe! 1st chapters of a lot of stories. The stories that get the most votes will move up on my never-ending list of pending novels. My next story is Ray, Host. [2024 or 2025] So the slot after this one is up for grabs! You, gentle readers, may be the judge of which story you want to see next! I will begin with the first chapter of Adia, One Of Prophecy [just finished and awaiting a final edit next month] and the first chapter of Ray, Host. I will include the first chapters of all my Battle Of The Cubes stories, then work my way through my catalog, uploading on Tue, Thu and Sat at 1 am. See my DannisWrites reading list for my suggested reading order. 

Deb, Midwife Deb, student midwife, dated Greg for five years without knowing he was an extraterrestrial. Adia, another extraterrestrial, knows why he shouldn't go home.

About The Cover Photo by Clay Elliot: https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-and-white-house-near-green-grass-field-under-blue-sky-5524205/ Edited in GIMP to make sky lavender and give the landscaping an unreal look. Figures created in DAZ Studio. David Body 50% Mesmerizing Faces & Bodies For Genesis 8 Male Branden Body 25% Eric Body 25% FaceGen Marty Genesis 8.1 Skin David 8 Eyes 5 Genesis Wildmane Hair GoldBlond Wilmap Genesis Tunic Pants Stockings. Wilmap Peasant Shoes for Genesis. FeralFey Bus Stop Poses Is That Our Ride Male Deb Genesis 8 Female Astrid and Cattie faces from FaceGen, I created these. Chill Outfit by [can't find it!] Yarden Hair for Genesis 8 by April YSH. This is a male hair but looks great on Deb! 8:42 PM 23-Jul-24 Sorry these notes are incomplete, but I don't have any on the Deb figure and can't get into my account on DAZ today to look, says I need to delete cookies, which I did, and it still gives a too many redirects message. So I can't find the Chill Outfit to tell you which artist did it. If you know, please comment! Normally, I'd just go into my Product Library on DAZ and look it up. Since I can't do that right now, doing a search on their website comes up with page after page of products, so I just want to get this chapter up. https://www.wattpad.com/1464257047-100-days-on-earth-deb-midwife Deb, Midwife 1st Chapter Published - Jul 23, 2024

[a-wartime-paradox]

Wyrdvora Reviews - Cwej: Requiem

Introduction

Cwej: Requiem is by James Horby, and is adapted from the AudioVisuals audio drama of the same name, itself by Andy Lane. 

Cwej: Requiem was published by Arcbeatle Press and was edited by Hunter O’Connell and @aristidetwain

This review was requested by Hunter O’Connel, but I have not been rewarded for it, and as can probably be inferred from the review’s content, have not “held back”.

My goal for this review was to write my thoughts on every chapter, after every chapter. I did not quite succeed in this goal, instead writing my thoughts after I finished a reading “session”. The worst offender here was admittedly the last chunk, chapters 12-16, where I do about as much commentary as I did for chapters 2-3.

The reason it would have been good for me to do this is because I had already listened to the original audio, and so the majority of what I was commenting on was differences.

Chapter 1

The original AudioVisuals script started with the Doctor and his companion Truman Crouch; this adaptation begins with Tyron (now a Superior) and Chris Cwej. This change involves some of Truman's original lines having been transferred to Chris, including Chris (instead of Truman) saying "the less I believe in your intricate web of events [originally ‘Web of Time’]" and the book Tyron (instead of the Doctor) saying "that doesn't matter. It believes in you"

The Chapter itself was an enjoyable introduction to the pair, drawing me into liking Chris and disliking Tyrone, whilst feeling almost sympathetic to the latter due to his unlikability stemming from his inherent arrogance and pomposity which derives from the fact he is a Superior.

Chapters 2-3

There's speculation about the problem here (the planets falling apart. The plot of Requiem is that planets are falling apart because...well, thats the plot.) being an after-effect of the Cosmic War - after listening to the audio and it's comments on the AudioVisual's version of the destruction of Gallifrey and it's comments on the Web of Time, this invigorates into further anticipation as to what this book's take shall be on it - and whether I agree!

INITEC seem to have replaced the role of the Conglomerate ship attempting to locate the planet before it is destroyed. This is curious as "Conglomerate" is mentioned on the copyright page ("appears with permission of Nicholas Briggs") and so must appear somewhere - I am interested in seeing where they do, and why this separation has been made. 

Ah, upon checking it appears that INITEC debuted in Chris Cwej’s first appearance, the Virgin New Adventures novel Original Sin. This makes the decision make more sense, as it isn’t just a cut-and-paste job, or a copyright-saving thing. (Note: I have further thoughts on this, collected at the bottom under “A small note on Conglomerate/INITEC”)

Interestingly, whereas the original had Tyrone (companion) point out the circularity of the Doctor's argument (as relates to the apparently amphibious Gahooti), this adaptation has Tyrone (acting in the Doctor's role), point it out himself. This has the effect of swapping a line by not swapping it, which I found quite funny

Chapter 4

It's interesting that so much dialogue is taken directly from the audio - I think this is overall a good decision, as said dialogue is very good and quite memorable. 

The tension between the First Officer and the Captain regarding the Captain's status as an android is expanded upon when compared to the original audio, but only to the extent which is natural to prose - we see what the First Officer is thinking, and he's slightly more prejudiced against the Captain than I had previously interrupted from the audio. However, I think that was just my  interpretation and Hornby's decision to take it that way is equally logical, perhaps even more so.

Chapters 5-9

This is a very faithful adaptation - which is good in a sense, but also it means that 1. there is less to be gained from having listened to the audio and then read the book (I'd recommend against listening to the audio first) and 2. the specifics of "warps in the continuum" I expected to be expanded upon in prose form, as that phrase is so vague. To be clear, Cwej (the Doctor in the original) does expand upon it, but not by much. What would have been interesting would've been to somehow tie it into the V-Time Experiment, V-Time in general, or Cwej: The Series's perspective on what the Web of Time is (or “fabric of the continuum”, perhaps that could be expanded to mean something else), and how (and why) it copes with different stresses and strains. None of this is at all essential to the story being good, but considering the back cover advertised this as an "expanded novelisation", I would have appreciated an expansion there. Speaking of "expansions", the only notable deviation from the audio story I have noticed so far is the absence of Tyron (the companion in the AudioVisual play) wallowing about the destruction of Gallifrey by the Daleks, and pleading the Doctor to let them go back in time and save Ria, the AV!Doctor's former female companion.This is an understandable omission, as I'm not sure who would be in what role here, Cwej: The Series equivalent of Gallifrey ("The Base of Operations") is not destroyed. However, I feel the scene could've somehow been reworked - perhaps a recollection of the destruction of one of the doppelgänger-worlds during the Great Cosmic War, with Chris asking why the Superiors can't just go back in time and undo that? I'm not sure what would work, but otherwise some event unrelated to the Base of Operations, but related to the companion (in this context, Chris) complaining about how the Web of Time works, or purportedly works. Then again, he's meant to be well-knowledged in this regard, so maybe that combination of reasons is why it was scrapped. Only mentioning because of the "expanded" note.

Within these past few chapters an interesting - and good! - change has occurred. Chris has taken up the role of the Doctor from the original AV play, rather than Tyron. This makes sense, as in the original AV play the Doctor (out of his control) leaves Tyron and takes Fionara (a new, temporary female companion he met on the collapsing world they left) to Ellison's Folly. (fun fact: I always thought that was Edison's Folly until I read the novelisation. Unless that was a weird change) So it appears the structure is that in Tyron's presence, Chris acts as the companion, and hence takes on many lines which original belonged to the companions Tyron, but when Chris is without Tyron, Fionara takes on the companion role - being even less experienced - and so Chris becomes "the Doctor".

Oh, and I found the Conglomerate mention. Fionara namedrops them saying INITECH are "almost as bad" as them. More about this at the end.

Chapters 10-11

Although in the original, Fionara goes into the TARDIS to check the quantum or spacetime thingie, in this version it's Chris (despite him otherwise replacing the Doctor), allowing Fionara, who is a fan of Glasst, to talk to him and read his notes. I really liked this change.

Again, however "fabric of the universe, pre-geometries" - all very fascinating stuff! But from an adaptation, I would appreciate some elaboration as to how this all fits in with other ways the Doctor Who Universe has been shown to work, such as the Anchoring of the Thread.

Chapters 12-16

At the beginning of Chapter Fourteen, Aeishah narrates that "Glasst is over an hour late". This wasn't what I'd interpreted from the original audio - I simply thought it was something like 15 minutes late, or less - although I can see why the decision was made; it emphasises Professor Proot's monologue even more. But I feel it emphasises it a wee bit much, and falls victim to the same thing a plot with stakes too high does; the audience ceases to genuinely comprehend the scale, and so doesn't comprehend it at all. Or maybe that's just me.

Now, I am curious who this "Temporal Team X" is - does this herald another spin-off? Is this a reference to something? Why are they under Superior control? They seem to be what Tyron – or perhaps the Superiors in general – are using to “clean up after themselves”; to time-travel back in and either erase stuff or “bribe the architect” to make the current situation better.

The final chapter of the book, Chapter Sixteen, is wholly original and serves as the lead into Cwej: Down the Middle, with Chris Cwej, whom Tyron and the other Superiors call "Cwej-V", being granted access to the Vicinity. The Vicinity, for those unaware, allows Cwej-V to manifest into the body of any of the Cwejen around the Totality of space and time.  

Fionara was killed by Temporal Team X and Tyron has used this as leverage against Chris – he must now obey Superior command, or watch more of his friends die. Chilling, good stuff!

Conclusion

A small note on Conglomerate/INITECH

A much more minor note is the half-change of Conglomerate to INITECH. INITEC first appeared in Original Sin, which was also Chris Cwej’s first appearance, so it makes some sense to include them here. Perhaps this sense of continuity would spark better if I had read Original Sin, but as it stands it just felt like a peculiar change in a novelisation which was otherwise very faithful. I realise this sounds silly to say, as the Doctor himself is removed, and his role distributed across Tyron and Chris, but this is such an obvious legal and thematic requirement (Chris has to be the protagonist of a Cwej: The Series story) that I feel it doesn’t preclude me from expecting complaining about a different minor detail being unfaithful, when the rest of it is.

Two references to Conglomerate remain, which both only make sense if Conglomerate is a wholly different organisation to INITECH. The first time they are mentioned it is in comparison to INITECH, with Fionara saying Conglomerate is the only thing worse. This implies Conglomerate is more influential than INITECH, and yet (at the time appropriate according to the audio) the Captain of the Golden Retriever says "INITECH is the law", which in context is a hyperbole but still somewhat clashes with Conglomerate co-existing and being worse. This is a very minor contradiction, and easily waved away (for example, the Captain could be retconned, or be argued to have been retconned by implication of the previous statement, to have been exaggerating more than originally intended) but it just adds to a feature I already had a slight dislike for.

Other than the faithful aspect, I dislike the removal of “Conglomerate" mainly because it is such a nice word to say, and I was disappointed to not have it littered about.

(I’ve been told actually reading Original Sin may make me change my mind on all that — and to that I say, why, yes. It may. But these are the thoughts of someone who hasn’t read Original Sin, which should probably be the target audience for a book advertised as having no prerequisites. Actually, I’m not sure that was the official word, but I heard it in conversations. And books generally shouldn't need you to have read another book from decades-back to understand them fully, unless they specifically tell you so.)

Overall I enjoyed the book quite a bit, which I can tell most by the fact I was excited to continue reading it. However I feel this was mostly due to the original AudioVisuals script by Andy Lame being fantastic. That being said, James Hornby's prose is certainly brilliant and didn't leave me wanting for anything. My main criticism is the lack of expansion - not necessarily deviation! -upon the original story, especially considering the back cover says "expanded novelisation", which I understand is just to sound nicer, but in my opinion it is better to back up small claims with small merits: include just a few more extra scenes throughout which expand upon what is happening, or Cwej's life.

[junbugsarchive]

🐞 JunBugs Newsletter #13 🦋

Yesterday's setlist (in order)

✧ Shin Takarajima - Sakanaction

✧ Yūnagi - Utada Hikaru

✧ Chikai - Utada Hikaru

✧ PINK BLOOD - Utada Hikaru

✧ Kinjirareta Asobi - ALI PROJECT

✧ Tōmei Shelter - kukui

✧ STYX HELIX - MYTH & ROID

✧ Baka Mitai

✧ Let Us Adore You - Steven Universe

✧ Tears of an Angel - Mike Oldfield

Also, you guys can post your own setlists and what you sang on stream as well .₊̣̇.ಇ/ᐠˬ ̫ ˬ ᐟ\∫.₊̣̇.

These are some songs that I been practicing for karaoke (some upon request)

✧ Niji no Kanata ni - Reona - requested by Lynzu

Please let me know if there is a song request that you have for me, I really loved doing the "Simple and Clean" (Utada Hikaru) cover that was requested of me last week!

^ ^

=➖〰️➖=

Special thanks to the lovely co-hosts: Martyr ("Lucy")!

Here are all of the people featured in the new photo album:

✧ Lucy

✧ OMARU VIPER

✧ sana

✧ Trever

✧ Maya

✧ Sweetheart

✧ Luna

Please remind me if I forget your name, I try to remember to the best of my ability. If you would like a picture with us too, please do not feel shy about asking on stream, sometimes I don't include people because I either don't take good pictures of them or forget to while they are singing, so please let me know. I never want anyone to feel excluded!

Twitter Album 1 https://twitter.com/junithys/status/1644944448961519617?s=21

Twitter Album 2 https://twitter.com/junithys/status/1644945300262625282?s=21

Twitter Album 3 https://twitter.com/junithys/status/1644945690370646017?s=21

Twitter Album 4 https://twitter.com/junithys/status/1644944902449680385?s=21

\ JUNBUG NEWS /

⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ IMPORTANT NOTICE #1 - There will be no karaoke next week, unless they are impromtu.

⚠️ ⚠️ IMPORTANT NOTICE #2 - There will be a special "Drakenguard" + "NieR" series timeline review next Saturday morning (after we finish "Ghost Sweeper Mikami"), there will be spoilers for the entire franchise, so head's up beforehand!

⚠️ IMPORTANT NOTICE #3 - The next chapter of my web novel will be publishing next Saturday! I am also drawing all of the JunBug regulars, so if you want your character to make a cameo or have a small role in the web series/visual novel, then please send a shot of your avatar over DMs!

I felt like there was a need for a change, since I haven't had time to effectively produce art or more of my novel with the current schedule. For the time being, I will do karaoke if I get all of my other projects and daily goals done. I felt a bit emotionally clogged, I missed expressing myself through writing (with prose and poetry) and through art. There are also skills that I'm working on right now, like music theory for writing an original song, improving my singing technique, Japanese learning, and improving my digital painting skills, so for my health and for the sake of my dreams, I think the morning anime stream will remain the only routine stream for the moment.

I think I might do a little bit of singing in the morning stream, too, before the episode starts. Also, too much collaboration feels like it a deracination of my individuality. I still want to have time to live and read novels and the like, so that In can feel like a complete person rather than a hollow shell moving from point A to B. Thank you for understanding, if I do finish everything early and have enough energy on certain days, I will try and give and 30 minute to an hour notification in the GC before the singing streams. Thank you for reading, sending love to all!

\ SCHEDULE /

Morning Anime Stream ☯️ 6:30am MST︱5:30am PST︱8:30am EST︱1:30pm BST︱12:30pm GMT︱10:30pm AEST︱9:30pm JST

[name12028]

I have quite a few I would recommend! I’m not interested in explicit/smut, so I’m sorry if you’re looking for those! I’ve also chosen some that are more recent, as the ones I’m currently reading or have recently read are easiest for me to find lol! This does mean that most are unfinished, but the ones I’ve listed have all been getting pretty regular updates!

Radio Healed the Video Star is the most popular radio static fic! It is still ongoing, though it seems to be wrapping up!

Summary: Alastor comes across an unconscious and battered Vox while out on one of his strolls. He feels compelled to bring him back to the hotel.

The Fanfiction Killed the Video Star series has been made very recently, and I have been thoroughly entertained (hah) by it! Both stories are one shots, and I wouldn’t be surprised if more came! Be warned that Vox is kinda cringey, but I know that’s what we all love about him!

Nifty Killed the Radio Star summary: "...Pardon my coarse language, but why am I calling Vox 'daddy' in this...serial web-novel......? As far as I'm aware, I look nothing alike to that horrid mistake of an electronic contraption."

"It's called fanfiction!! And gimme, gimme!!!"

---

Alternatively, Niffty mentally and emotionally scars the radio demon for life.

Put Down the Pen summary: “Ugh, is this really what you've been doing all day? Writing self-insert fanfiction shipping yourself with the radio demon!?" Velvette distastefully gripes as she scrolls through Vox's screen. "Garbage, trash, shitty harlequin romance...do you think you're the main character in a Jane Austen novel?"

---

AKA Vox has a problem and Velvette stages an intervention.

5 Times Vox Flirted With Alastor and 1 Time He Did Back is a currently unfinished but still ongoing fanfic, that I am very much enjoying it! Another warning for cringey Vox, I got some serious second hand embarrassment, but again that’s what makes Vox Vox!

Summary: A tiny series of one shots dedicated towards Vox's "unrequited" tomfoolery and how he was so horrid at expressing it, only to progressively get better at it over time.

Screw The New Guy is a currently unfinished but still ongoing fanfic that has a very interesting and unique concept! The characterization of both Vox and Alastor is so good, and I love the way the author added everyone else in!

Summary: Alastor got a little caught up in his hobby and now the FBI is snooping around New Orleans, looking for a serial killer.

To avoid detection Alastor contracts his estranged father to help him lay low for a while.

His father is the leader of a gang, and a certain member of that gang quickly finds himself fixated on Alastor

Finger Tips and Dotted Lips is an unfinished and ongoing fanfic that has some excellent writing! The characterization and writing style are seriously so good, I could go on about it for a while, and it only has two chapters!

Summary: Alastor has sensitive hands; he finds this out at the most inconvenient time possible. Unfortunately, Vox is the one who ends up paying the price for it.

Having to help a seemingly broken Overlord whilst navigating this new discovery proves to be a little more taxing than the Radio Demon could ever have imagined.

These are just a few I was able to get done! I’ll probably be able to recommend some more later when I have more time if you’d like! Also sorry for any confusing formatting issues, I’m still getting used to Tumblr!

can someone pls feed my radiostatic hunger and give me ao3 links plsplsplsplsplsplsplsplspls

[madmarchhare]

From @irumaismybaby, thanks for tagging, though coming up with things was hard.

10 Characters, 10 Fandoms, 10 Tags

1- Iruma Suzuki- Welcome to Demon school Iruma-Kun

I saw the anime first before reading the manga, I was unsure before I saw the first episode when it came out, but Irumas personality and reactions (Along with him being a massive fucking cinnamon roll) won me over and now M!IK is one of my favourite series ever.

2-Tanya degurechaff- The Saga of Tanya the Evil

I can't remember where I first saw The Saga of Tanya the evil, but I am a history nerd and a gun nut, especially for WW1, WW2 so it was right up my alley. I love her natural coldness and calculability, juxtaposed to her appearance, and she partially inspired the MC/main narrator for my novel.

3-Mikaela Hyauka- Seraph of the End

I love his role in the story, and Seraph of the End was one of first the Animes I watched and pretty much the first manga I read. I like his hair cut and that also inspired the appearance of the MC mentioned above.

4- Mash Burnedead-Mashle

I like listless characters that end up OP. Also the art of Mashile is as marvelous as it's humour. I found the story really engaging, and it was the first manga that was released new that I was able to buy the volumes for myself so it is special to me. Also I like cream puffs. Pastries are nice, cinnamon buns and homer Simpson doughnuts especially.

5-Wangnan Ja- Tower of God

I saw the anime adaptation of Tower of God first, then decided to get a webtoons account to read it, as I heard some big bits were left out. I loved the story and binged it during my A-level exams month and the ones running up to it. I absolutely loved Wangnan's introduction and loved how he played off Bam and Khun. I really hope he comes back into the story again because I love his depressed ass.

6-Micheal. J. Caboose- Red Vs Blue

From the Red Vs Blue web series, which I started watching almost ages ago, as it came on Netflix, leading me to binge watch it multiple times, almost six or seven times. I love caboose as a character, due to his teamkilling, and general stupidly which hides his massive strength and brilliance with robotics and machinery.

7- Buggy the Clown- One Piece

I started one piece around 2019/20 during the summer and binged as many of the English dubbed episodes there were then read the manga from around chapter 800, where I couldn't wait for more EPs to be made, and then caught up. I love Buggy, purely because of his personality, cunning and tbh his style, he has a great presence and knows how to use showmanship. He may seem underpowered, but his closest opponents are either literal god's, or those approaching it. He is just very fun and I enjoy seeing him.

8- Tintin- Tintin

Tintin was the first graphic novel/ comic I really read that was story based. I loved the characters and places the series showed, and how Tintin managed to get through all of them with his wit, friends in high places, and ASTONISHING luck.

9-Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III- How to Train your dragon (Books)

One of the first books I ever read for myself, well really tied as first with 'A series of Unfortunate Events: The reptile room' was Cressida Cowell's, How to train your dragon, how to speak dragonese, the third book in the series. I went back and read one and two then read every book in the series. It was and remains one of my favourite books, and characters ever.

10- Bill Cipher- Gravity Falls

I like mad characters in fiction, where they just do what they want without too particular a reason. Gravity falls was one of the first shows I got really obsessed with when I was younger. And I got obsessed with Bill, I had him as my screen saver on my phone for ages.

@agarespicero @jemimacatclover @pursonsoisooi @irumeanie @iruma-kun-out-of-context @mairumakun @welcome-iruma-manga @firedragonsposts @welcometomemeschool @shaoron

[dangermousie]

Mousie’s absolutely subjective, very biased Top 10 web novels list

Please note that this is hardly aiming to be objective, if one can even be properly objective about a work of fiction. It is 110% based on my preferences, which means this list is heavy on the angst and has nothing set in the modern day. It is also heavily danmei-centric, even though I read way more het romance than danmei, because for whatever reason, most of the danmei I’ve read has been insanely good.

10. Return of the Swallow - one of the two non-danmeis on this list. Smart and nuanced and with a large cast of characters. Our heroine is a long-lost daughter of the family that is brought back in and has to cope with familial struggles, crazy royals, court intrigue, invasion et al. It’s SO GOOD! There is romance with the sexy smart enemy general but honestly, it’s the heroine that is the main selling point for me.

9. Transmigrator Meets Reincarnator - the only other non-danmei novel on this list, this was my very first web novel and what drew me into this insanity. This is just a ton of fun, probably the lightest novel on this list, not an ounce of angst to be found. But it’s hilarious and features competent heroine and tsundere hero and I will always love it for opening a new world to me. Anyway, our heroine transmigrates into the novel as the female lead. Unlike the original lead though she doesn’t want to seek adventures and angst - she just wants to comfortably live with the wealthy, nice husband heroine has. Alas, said husband is no longer nice since he has previously lived this story where he was betrayed by FL and then transmigrated/reincarnated into the past. Oh well, the heroine opens up businesses and makes friends. And eventually, her husband realizes his wife is way different this time around. This actually doesn’t have much romance, not until close to the end, but this is so fun I don’t care.

8. Lord Seventh - I am only partway through this so far, but it’s already on the list because it’s smart and somehow intense AND laid-back (not sure how this works, but it does) and is honestly just a really really solid and smart period novel, with the OTP a cherry on top of a narrative sundae. Plus, I love the concept of MC deciding he is not going for his supposedly fated love - he’s tried for six lifetimes, always with disaster, and he’s just plain done and tired. When he opens his life in his seventh reincarnation and sees the person he would have given up the world for, he genuinely feels nothing at all. (Spoiler - his OTP is actually a barbarian shaman this time around, thank you Lord!)

7. Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (MDZS) - oh come on, how are you even on this tumblr if you don’t know MDZS/The Untamed? This was my very first danmei and it’s so much fun! I love everything about it - the unreliable narrator, the looping structure, the main OTP, Wei Wuxian’s laidback, traumatized insouciance, everything. Anyway, the plot in the event you somehow transported here from 2005 is that the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, Wei Wuxian, was defeated by the righteous sects over a decade ago and fell of a cliff to his death. Only now that same Wei Wuxian opens his eyes in another body and everything that was supposed to stay in the past starts again.

6. Heaven Official’s Blessing (TGCF) - people either love its meandering narrative, picaresque structure and cast of thousands, or find it a detriment compared to much more compact MDZS. I love it even more than MDZS for those very qualities. It does have a rock-solid, darling OTP, but what really elevates it to me are the MXTX trademark combo of snarky/light tone hiding a ton of trauma underneath, the insanely intricate world-building, and what it has to say about the nature of grace and goodness. Xie Lian is one of my top 5 web novel characters and probably in top 10 from anywhere. Oh, and while MXTX’s stuff is not as angsty for me as Meatbun’s or even Priest’s, there are always exceptions, and there is one chapter in this novel that pretty much broke me and sometimes I still flashback to it and feel unwell.

Anyway, what is it about? There is a commotion in the heavenly realm - Xie Lian, the Crown Prince of a long-destroyed kingdom, has ascended to Godhood. That in itself is not so exciting. However for Xie Lian this is the third time (!!!!) as he’s ascended and lost his godhood twice prior. And now, the biggest joke of the divine realm is back, throwing the heavenly realm into chaos. And elsewhere, Hua Cheng, one of the four most powerful demons of that Universe, sits up and takes notice.

5. Golden Stage - my perfect comfort novel. Probably the least angsty of any danmei novel on this list (which still means plenty angsty :P) It also has a dedicated, smart OTP that is an OTP for the bulk of the book - I think you will notice that in most of the novels in this list, I go for “OTP against the world” trope - I can’t stand love triangles and the same. Anyway, Fu Shen, is a famous general whose fame is making the emperor antsy. When he gets injured and can’t walk any more, the emperor gladly recalls him and marries him off to his most faithful court lackey, the head of sort of secret police, Yan Xiaohan. The emperor intends it both as a check on the general and a general spite move since the two men always clash in court whenever they meet. But not all is at is seems. They used to be friends a long time ago, had a falling out, and one of the loveliest parts of the novel is them finding their way to each other, but there is also finding the middle path between their two very different philosophies and ways of being, not to mention solving a conspiracy or dozen, and putting a new dynasty on the throne, among other things. It always makes me think, a little, of “if Mei Changsu x Jingyan were canon.”

4. Sha Po Lang - if you like a lot of fantasy politics and world-building and steampunk with your novels, this one is for you. This one is VERY plot-heavy with smart, dedicated characters and a deconstruction of many traditional virtues - our protagonist Chang Geng, a long-lost son of the Emperor, is someone who wants to modernize the country but also take down the current emperor his brother for progress’ sake and the person he’s in love with is the general who saved him when he was a kid who is nominally his foster father. Anyway, the romance is mainly a garnish in this one, not even a big side dish, but the relationship between two smart, dedicated, deadly individuals with very different concepts of duty is fascinating long before it turns romantic. And if you like angst, while overall it’s not as angsty as e.g., Meatbun stuff, Chang Geng’s childhood is the stuff of nightmares and probably freaks me out more than anything else in any novel on this list, 2ha included.

3. To Rule In a Turbulent World (LSWW) - gay Minglan. No seriously. This is how I think of it. it’s a slice of life period novel with fascinating characters and setting that happens to have a gay OTP, not a romance in a period setting per se and I always prefer stories where the romance is not the only thing that is going on. It’s meticulously written and smart and deals with character development and somehow makes daily minutia fascinating. Our protagonist, You Miao, is the son of a fabulously wealthy merchant, sent to the capital to make connections and study. As the story starts, he sees his friend’s servants beating someone to death, feels bad, and buys him because, as we discover gradually and organically, You Miao may be wealthy and occasionally immature but he is a genuinely good person. The person he buys is a barbarian from beyond the wall, named Li Zhifeng. It’s touch and go if the man will survive but eventually he does and You Miao, who by then has to return home, gives him his papers and lets him go. However, LZF decides to stick with You Miao instead, both out of sense of debt for YM saving his life and because he genuinely likes him (and yet, there is no instalove on either of their parts, their bodies have fun a lot quicker than their souls.) Anyway, the two take up farming, get involved in the imperial exams and it’s the life of prosperity and peace, until an invasion happens and things go rapidly to hell. This is so nuanced, so smart (smart people in this actually ARE!) and has secondary characters who are just as complex as the mains (for example, I ended up adoring YM’s friend, the one who starts the plot by almost beating LZF to death for no reason) because the novel never forgets that few people are all villain. There is a lovely character arc or two - watching YM grow up and LZF thaw - there is the fact that You Miao is a unicorn in web novels being laid back and calm. This whole thing is a masterpiece.

2. Stains of Filth (Yuwu) - want the emotional hit of 2ha but want to read something half its length? Well, the author of 2ha is here to eviscerate you in a shorter amount of time. This has the beautiful world-building, plot twists that all make sense and, at the center of it all, an intense and all-consuming and gloriously painful relationship between two generals - one aristocratic loner Mo Xi, and the other gregarious former slave general Gu Mang. Once they were best friends and lovers, but when the novel starts, Gu Mang has long turned traitor and went to serve the enemy kingdom and has now been returned and Mo Xi, who now commands the remnants of his slave army, has to cope with the fact that he has never been able to get over the man who stabbed him through the heart. Literally. This novel has a gorgeously looping structure, with flashbacks interwoven into present storyline. There is so much love and longing and sacrifice in this that I am tearing up a bit just thinking of it. If you don’t love Mo Xi and Gu Mang, separately and together, by the end of it, you have no soul.

1. The Dumb Husky and His White Cat Shizun (2ha/erha) - if you’ve been following my tumblr for more than a hot second, you know my obsession with this novel. Honestly, even if I were to make a list of my top 10 novels of any kind, not just webnovels, this would be on the list. It has everything I want - a complicated, intricate plot with an insane amount of plot twists, all of which are both unexpected and make total sense, a rich and large cast of characters, a truly epic OTP that makes me bawl, emotional intensity that sometimes maxes even me out and so much character nuance and growth. Also, Moran is my favorite web novel character ever, hands down.

Anyway, the plot (or at least the way it first appears) is that the evil emperor of the cultivation world, Taxian Jun, kills himself at 32 and wakes up in the body of his 16 year old self, birth name Moran. Excited to get a redo, Moran wants to save his supposed true love Shimei, whose death the last go-around pushed him towards evil. He also wants to avoid entanglement with Chu Wanning, his shizun and sworn enemy in past life. And that’s all you are best off knowing, trust me. The only hint I am going to give is oooh boy the mother of all unreliable narrators has arrived!

The novel starts light and funny on boil the frog principle - if someone told me I would be full bawling multiple times with this novel, I’d have thought they were insane, but i swear my eyes hurt by the end of it. I started out being amused and/or disliking the mains and by the end I would die for either of them.

[quoteablebooks]

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Trigger Warning: Violence, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Animal cruelty, Gore, Slavery

Summary:

Vex and Vax have always been outsiders. A harsh childhood in the elite elven city of Syngorn quickly taught them not to rely on others. Now, freed from the expectations of their exacting father and the scornful eyes of Syngorn’s elves, the cunning ranger and the conning rogue have made their own way in the world of Exandria. The twins have traveled far and experienced great hardship. But with the help of Vex's quick wit and Vax's quicker dagger, they've always kept ahead of trouble. Now, unknown perils await them in the bustling city of Westruun, where the twins become entangled in a web spun by the thieves’ guild known to many as the Clasp. Trapped by a hasty deal, Vex and Vax (along with Vex's faithful bear companion, Trinket) set out into the wilds to fulfill their debt to the infamous crime syndicate. As the situation grows more complicated than they ever could have imagined, for the first time Vex and Vax find themselves on opposite sides of a conflict that threatens the home they have carried with each other for years.

  *Opinions*

There is no way for me to be unbiased about this book as I am a huge fan of Critical Role and loved these characters before I ever opened the front cover. I feel as if Nijkamp knew that while writing this novel and truly made it a gift of love to the Critters, but also tried to make it accessible to newcomers to the world of Exandria. I don’t know if they always succeed, see the statement about bias above, but I did find this a fun and emotional read. I will attempt to be as fair and neutral as possible in this review, but I come in with years of feelings about Vex'ahlia and Vax’ildan, and Trinket too of course. 

The twins' Vex and Vax are known for their fierce loyalty to one another and their witty banter, both of which were on display in Kith & Kin. I feel that Nijkamp really captured the relationship that was so compelling in the Streaming show as well as the animated series. If you have a sibling that you even slightly like, you can feel the truth in their interactions. However, because the draw of many people coming into this novel is the relationship and banter between the twins it is a little disappointing that they are apart for such a large portion of the novel. That being said, their characterization is well done and you got to see them grow in a way that didn’t feel out of place with what is seen during any of the other iterations of the pair. 

The hardest chapters to read were the ones about the twins’ past, especially their time in Syngorn and how their father treated them. While I knew this backstory before reading the novel, to see the way that both Vex and Vax were belittled and broken by both the other elves and their father was hard to read. I always have a soft spot for stubborn and sassy children and I hate it when they are treated poorly by adults. This also spreads to Aswin, who is easily lovable, no matter who her family was or what else happens in the novel. It hurts to see children hurt, especially when the author has made them especially likable children, which is also difficult to do. 

I found the plot compelling, but it didn’t reinvent the wheel. There is his story, her story, and the truth is somewhere in the middle. I appreciated that the conflict was complex and neither party was blameless because usually, that is how the world works. Yet, you cared for both sides of the conflict because they were shown as people who were molded into monsters because of the conflict and the stories that were told. While it was nice for the reader to get both sides of the story, through each of the twins, there were times when I almost felt as if I had missed reading a page because the information was talked about in a way that made it seem as if we should know it, but it had been revealed off page. Now, I appreciate an author who doesn’t think they have to lead the reader through the story by the hand, but it did pull me out of the story once or twice. Also, the tone of this novel very much had the feeling of a D&D one-shot, which given the source material I very much appreciated. 

I appreciated that this is a very diverse fantasy story. The characters have a wide range of skin tones, pronouns, sexualities, and disabilities. I was particularly happy to see a wheelchair-using assassin and a thief that used crutches. They used their differences to their advantage but didn’t diminish the hardship that they faced. It shouldn’t be something that is so new, especially in a fantasy novel with magic and dragons, but there are so many of them seem to think that those who are the typical fantasy character (perfectly healthy, straight, cis, and usually white) are the only ones that can “realistically” be in fantasy novels and TTRPG games. Our main characters are also unapologetically bisexual, but there isn’t a big coming out or angst over it, they just are. Again nice to see in a fantasy novel. 

The biggest issue I had with this novel is there are pacing issues. At times the story felt as if you were going too fast through the story and then a number of chapters where it was just both the twins feeling as if they have to get back to the other and being frustrated that they can’t. While I loved these characters coming in and have literally watched four hours of the Streaming Game when all they do is shop, I don’t know if people who didn’t already feel attached to the characters found those parts compelling. I feel as if Nijkamp, at times, leaned too heavily into the idea that everyone reading this novel was already a fan of the series. It was a fun ride, but would have some of the lines hit as deeply if I didn’t know where Vex and Vax go from here? I’ll never know. 

Overall, a fun fantasy adventure that pits twins on opposite sides of a conflict that is not depicted as black and white. If you are a fan of the Stream or the animated series I recommend this book. If not, this is a great way to get a taste of what those mediums are like that doesn’t take a huge time commitment. I’d be interested to see what you’d make of it going in blind with no backstory. Either way, I think you’ll have a fun time with it, even with the pacing issues. 4.5 star read rounded down to a 4.

[rigelmejo]

Some September 1st Updates

the READING SPEED difference of a novel at my level! I read the first chapter of 撒野 yesterday and this author is at exactly my reading level right now. I hit 0-2 new words each pleco page, which is usually the sweet spot to either guess the word or if I look it up I can pretty quickly adapt to recognizing it in context. Its also the sweet spot where if I only rely on guessing for new word meanings, on a second pass through I can fairly well guess the meaning quickly. 

It was a 32 page chapter in pleco and I read it in 20 minutes. Compared to the 20 pleco page per chapter pingxie fic i just finished (like 124k characters! WOW I read and FINISHED that much!), which was taking 30-40 minutes per chapter (mainly because of number of new vocabulary per chapter being a bit higher). If I’d wanted to speed read saye I could have, I’d have missed some small details but I could have tried if I wanted.

Then I did a second pass later in the day with the audiobook just following along with the text. Realized 1. I knew most words in the audiobook and did not follow as well as i thought - but those first listen throughs without having seen the chapter I did manage to figure out the main character just broke up, just travelled somewhere, ran into a girl and somehow the girls brother showed and the two guys interacted a little and someone was being somewhat helpful, then the main guy met his father trying to ‘pick him up.’ Which is a true but very rough summary of what happens in the first chapter. By reading I could confirm the words I thought were names AS names, figured out WHY the girl was interacting with the main guy and that there were actually two girls in chapter 1, and figure out who helped who and who was the girl’s brother. Also somehow before I looked at the chapter text I never caught that the audiobook mentions a motorcycle despite me knowing that word and it SOUNDING like mota-che/motorche! it sounds like the word and i knew it and didn’t hear it! Then later following the audiobook with the text I realized another issue I had, is I’m not used to listening to soft voices with such faint pronunciations of the final sounds. I’m much more used to deeper crisper pronunciations and being able to rely clearly on initials and finals AS much as tones to recognize the words, whereas this particular audiobook i needed to mainly rely on tones and initials to figure out what word was what - that probably threw me off a bit. It’s probably good for me to get practice listening to such a different voice to what I’m used to. I have definitely learned the deeper the voice, the more I have a far easier time figuring out what’s being said. Also standard accent more like beijing but without a huge amount of ‘er’s just some, and taiwan accent are the easiest for me to hear when i’m not pa

For anyone curious, here is the audiobook for SaYe I’m listening to: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2w27tfjeeaySbMK272NpXwUtsBc-e3YN

Also here’s a chinese audiobook youtube I found: https://www.youtube.com/c/%E6%9C%89%E5%A3%B0%E5%B0%8F%E8%AF%B4%E5%90%AC%E4%B9%A6%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8Cyoushengxiaoshuo/playlists

Which includes The King’s Avatar: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTJaWZoVPdT1ZhIQIKxVci7fVEHr-oX6k

And ErHa: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsxEOGKlBMaFa6CS6Hf5ndy6qTtUL0Au_

Anyway, its a great book right now for reading practice. It’s very much around my level. I will probably stick with this author for a little while and solidify what I know/my base reading level. 

-

IN OTHER NEWS:

I am apparently living proof listening-reading, heavy emphasis on re-listening a TON in the background as you work or type or walk/drive whatever, works for learning new words. 

I re-listened to guardian chapter 1 audiobook at least 20-30 times by now, just a tremendous amount. Chapters 1-10 I’ve listened to at least 5 times by now random chapters at random days, and some probably also 20 times. 

I have listened to these chapters enough, that I can officially follow so much that I know nearly every freaking word I hear, I know it immediately on hearing in at least 3 different audiobooks, and the few ‘less familiar’ words I recognize a second after hearing (like hearing ‘audacious’ or ‘glum’ in english it just takes me a second to re-remember), and the very few still forgotten words/specific details I learn From those words I can actually pick up from the context of listening.

 I hear ‘powei’ and somehow forgot it AGAIN? Oh it means ‘rather’ in this context. ‘anli’ well i always hear ‘anlishuo’ as in ‘people say/generally speaking’ so ‘anli’ in this context must mean ‘generally/generally speaking.’ chuanghu? can’t remember it because i was just typing this JUST now and only hearing a few words from the audiobook in the background - well in context its obviously window, but out of context my brain said window and i just couldn’t remember if it was window or curtain but felt curtain had something more complex than ‘hu’ as the second half - just looked it up and my guess was right, even with no context which i’d have had if i’d been listening better and it had been clear it’s window, it still made me think ‘window’ immediately just hearing the sound. ‘xiang yi ge ren’ sounds like ‘looks like a person’ which is the next phrase i just randomly heard. ‘hua le yao ming’ shouted for their life/in awful terror? or that would be ‘huo’, so maybe ‘streaking toward him to take his life’? would make sense in context of a horror scene - i just looked it up and 划了要命 would be the second one. even IF i heard the wrong line, both of those are pretty close to a good guess in context and hua is the only unknown because without context i can’t place if it was hua or huo. i still confuse the words wu and wo for hold etc, but in context i can tell which one it is (wo is hold a hand, hold a face, etc). 

I’m genuinely at a point where I can just completely follow the plot through at least the first 20 chapters from listening. And for most scenes, follow every detail too including stuff like guo changcheng spending half a year not working at home after he graduated, being so afraid of the phone, da qing being fawning to shen wei when they meet and rubbing against his leg, the specific conversation details when da qing runs across zhao yunlan’s car in chapter 2, what zhao yunlan’s room exactly looks like, etc. Its super cool to be able to follow the audiobook so well I can follow the story and details even when I don’t have time to read! It’s so fun! And it was not very hard!

It took 40 minutes of upfront study where you set time aside to focus: 20 minutes to have a program read the chapter aloud while you either see unknown word definitions pop up (like in Pleco) or look them up with some click dictionary as you listen. 20 minutes to go through and listen to the audiobook as you follow along with the text. Then after that, just play the audiobook chapters you’ve done this with whenever you want, either paying attention like when going to bed soon or walking, or in the background like when cleaning or doing busy work or driving. Since background listening can be done easily whenever all you have to do is remember to click play when you want something to listen to. 

I’m honestly blown away by how much 3 months of studying mainly like this (which is quite fun and only requires me to carve out a small amount of actual study focused time) has improved my listening skills. I can now also listen to the 2ha audiobook okay and follow along (provided its a chapter I’ve read before so I have at least some prior context to help me out) - at least so far as that’s what I’m listening to right now. Basically, I can tell Guardian has both upped my vocabulary significantly and also improved my automatic recognition of many words I half-knew and learned since. 

I recently found a new Guardian audiobook read by a deep voice and its lovely (and utilizes music and echo for effects, its lovely to listen to) I hope the poster keeps updating: https://fm.qq.com/show/rd002ED4aN0mYz2L__

I’ve been listening to it lately.

---

Also! Directions for using Pleco Android for screen reader:

1. To get any page bookmarked online: 

Open a page in your mobile web browser you want to read. Click the menu, click share, click Pleco Reader (or ‘more’ or ‘...’ then Pleco Reader).

Go to Clipboard Reader. Now when you click text, dictate text megaphone will be an option.

*Since Clipboard Reader is free, you can do this to read in Pleco and have things spoken aloud with no money spent. (Though I find the Reader tool worth the money and add ons).

2. To have any text ‘dictated aloud’:

Go to Pleco’s menu, Settings, Audio, click ‘use TTS if no recording,’ then for Sentence Audio section area System TTS Setting click Speech Services by Google (you can also experiment by clicking other options I am just stating what worked for me, it didn’t work at first I had to make that my default TTS in my Accessibility-Talkback Settings menu on my main phone first and restart my phone before all this). 

Then click the area right below to mess with speed and sound of the TTS voice. 

(Note, to test if TTS is working you can go to any dictionary entry sentence, click the speaker next to the sentence and see if it plays audio. If it does not, you will get an error message and directions on what to change in your phone settings. That is what initially happened to me: I had to go to phone Settings, Accessibility, Talkback, TTS Engine, TTS Engine voice and settings. Pleco recommended I choose Speech Services by Google, and uninstall then reinstall the Chinese voice. Then restart the phone. That worked for me. An additional note: I have Talkback setting on ‘on’ and just have it in my toolbar to use if desired but am not actively using it. If you turn Talkback setting ‘off’ in the actual Settings area of Accessibility, I am not sure if it will affect Pleco’s ability to dictate). 

3. How to put it together: 

Now go to Clipboard Reader and read the page from the internet you wanted or text you pasted, or go to Document Reader and open the document you wish to read. 

Click a word as a place to start. Now you should see both the loudspeaker (for pronouncing the single word) and the Megaphone next to it to start dictating all text. (If your phone is weird like me, you may need to press the megaphone a couple times before the audio works).

If you wish to change dictation reading speed, simply hold down the megaphone and select the speed desired. 

Now that I’ve figured this out I really want to take pictures of my print book, make a pdf, and listen to all the changes.

(Now I just have to fix my weird dictionary in Idiom app and I’m all set on the new phone!)

---

All I’ve been doing the past august study wise is just reading pingxie fic and finishing, and listening to audiobooks. It’s been a busy time for me ToT

I do think it proved you can be lazy and still make some improvements though: 

1. Reading in Pleco (or click-dictionary tool of your choice): pick something and read a chapter a day (that’s what I did, obviously the easier this is the less time you’ll need, but aim for around 30 minutes a day and reading material closer to your level if you don’t want to read too long)

2. Listening-Reading Method something above your reading level that you enjoy. Should take 40 minutes a couple times a week to several times a week to hours a week, depending on how intense you want to get with it and how much you’re going to alternate/include the reading portion. I did like 1-2 chapters a week so I was only spending 40 minutes to 1.5 hours a week doing this, or 3 hours one week no time another week. This is definitely something where you can do 6-12 hours one month then coast on it for another month just repeating older material’s audio/re-reading sections (which is what I did with guardian, doing 22 chapters then switching to just listening to audio a lot). 

Once you’ve done a little L-R steps 2 and 3 (in either order, whatever works for you - and doing step 1 if you want more context prior to steps 2 and 3), then just make time during your days to play the audiobook chapters you’ve studied. You don’t need to be focusing every single time (although focusing on actually trying to follow the audio the first time you listen without text to aid you will probably speed up your comprehension a lot by giving you a lot of basic-context to help you comprehend more later). Aim to listen whenever you’ve got down time! Or time where you’d play music or some background youtube video or podcast - walks, exercise, drives, when cleaning, when browsing the web goofing off, when working if you have times when you’d listen to music with lyrics or a podcast in the background without issues, times when you don’t need to focus 100% on listening just putting it on to hear in the background). 

That’s all I’ve done for study since May. It takes me about 30 minutes 5 days a week, plus 1-2 hours listening-reading actively a week. So 2.5 hours plus 2 = 4 hours of active study a week. Sometimes more like 8-10 if I got really into reading something or Listening-reading to several chapters. Then after that (very easy to fit into my life 4-10 hours per week of study) I just play the audiobook whenever I have downtime at work (that’s usually 0.5-4 hours where I just let it play because I forget its on while working on spreadsheets, updates, emails, etc, or play the audiobook while messing around on the internet in my free time at home, sometimes I put on music instead), while walking so 15-30 minutes maybe 3 days a week, while driving far so maybe 20 minutes - 2 hours per week. maybe lets say 2 hours*4 days a week (I don’t remember to listen every day) so 8 hours random listening+1.5 hours walking+1 hour driving per week. That’s 11.5 hours listening in the background or paying attention plus lets say 4 hours of active study a week. So 15.5 ‘study’ hours for chinese per week - an average overall of ~2.21 hours of chinese ‘study’ per day. This isn’t counting when I get into weibo and goof off, get into some chinese show with no english subs and just start watching it (I watched 16 episodes of Humans cdrama in August which is ~10.66 hours for a total of at least (15.5*4 weeks = 62 hours + 10.66 hours -> ~72.66 hours spent ‘with chinese’ in August at minimum. 4 weeks*7 days = 28, so over around 28 days or most of august I did 72.66 total hours/28 days -> or ~2.595 hours of chinese per day as an average. So... my guess that I spend at least 1-2 hours on chinese per day as the average was a decent guess. Looks like I’m usually 2 hours to 2.5 hours daily as an overall average. It’s not that hard to get in that much without a ton of time in the day once you get some listening skills built up ToT Deciding to build up my listening skills has been one of the funnest goals in chinese so far.

Notes on Listening Reading Actively - it also doubles as increasing your exposure to listening to your target language, and the more hours the better even if its passive in the background, just more hours adding up toward your mind getting a better ability to parse the sounds of the language is going to help your overall listening comprehension in general. So even if you don’t pay attention much and can’t follow the whole plot and only catch certain scenes, you will be improving at least comprehension of: hearing words you know, hearing colocations and common phrases and recognizing more automatically which will help with speaking/writing indirectly and reading recognition of those things, overall ability to hear things correctly in different combinations and getting used to the common combinations. 

You will be surprised how much more you can pick up of plot and details the 3rd listen compared to the first, the 5th listen, the 10th listen. It’s wild. Like... I’m listening to the 2ha audiobook and even having never read it in chinese, just knowing basic context, the 2nd read through I caught so much more of the plot throughout just because I had forewarning of when scenes change a lot, what audio plays during some parts I recognized in previous listens, and so I have more focus for figuring out the new details I missed. Whereas the first listen, I didn’t always know WHAT the scene context was until I heard a familiar line or description I remembered from the english version of the scene, but on a second listen I now have a better guess at the scene the lines are probably taking place in before and after those lines I recognized in the first listen. And this continues etc each time you re-listen to something. (So yes, that initial context of knowing what you’re listening to with a previous read of its translation or target language transcript will definitely speed up comprehension pick up - but if you just wanna test what your basic listening comprehension to new content is then it works fine just going into new audio with no prior context its just more difficult at first lol until you build an idea of the context from listening).

The original Listening-Reading Method person did like 40+ hours a week, 8 hours most days, no wonder they made fast progress! They often included reading in some form (hence the name) and later translation, so they also were constantly working on listening AND some reading skills AND eventually often some speaking/writing skills. Doing it my way results in mostly listening comprehension of stuff you could already read to a degree, more automaticity in recognition, and for picking up new vocabulary both in listening and reading. I do extra reading on the side with other stuff to get more reading practice in an isolated way (since I’m trying to push my reading speed up above speaking speed). I always try to do it the way the creator originally intended, but I am not able to focus on things for more than 20 minutes at a time, 40 to a couple hours if I take a break every 20 minutes. So doing it 8 hours just doesn’t work out. 

---

I’m fairly happy!

I am on plan for my main goals that started this style study plan: 

1. Improving my reading level to get to start being able to extensively read actual danmei novels - we got there! I am at a reading level appropriate for SaYe at 98% comprehension when I checked, and at a bit above 95% comprehension for Guardian! I’m now continuing with that goal while adding on increasing reading Speed in general.

2. Improving listening skills so I have better automatic recognition of partly-known words from reading (working super well so far - I can tell because ability to watch cdramas in only chinese has improved noticeably and gotten much easier), and so I can start following the main plot and key details of audiobooks of things I’ve read before (working great for guardian, starting to work with other audiobooks provided I listen to the chapters a few times or several times if its brand new material I have no context for, however reading level matters and while things I have prior familiarity with are going very well - brand new materials are still quite challenging in that they require multiple listens for the full plot and several listens before I start picking up most non-plot-critical details). 

[bluesky-thewebcomic]

Final thoughts from Elvenwhovian

So here we are at the end. The last panel. There were a lot of times that I thought I wouldn’t make it to this point. It’s been an incredible and long journey, and finishing a project like this is satisfying beyond words. I know that many of you were not here from the start, so I just wanted to share the story of how this 930 panel monster of a project came to be and thank a few people who helped along the way.

Really it all started in March of 2014. My roommate had taken a trip to New Zealand to visit family and I was having a pity party at home alone (It’s always been a dream of mine to go to New Zealand). I was window shopping online on Thinkgeek (RIP Thinkgeek) and I was seeing all this merch for a game called Portal. This led me to Steam, which led to finishing the first Portal in about a day, then Portal2 in about 2 weeks. 

Of course this led me to begin looking up fan art which led me to discover the fanfiction “Blue Sky”. I read the whole thing in about 4 days. I was so engrossed in the story, I ate, slept, went to work, and read Blue Sky and nothing else. I vividly remember sitting at my kitchen table, ipad in hand, as I read the last lines of the story. I sat back, let out a long breath and said, “Wow. That was one of the best stories I’ve ever read.” 

The fan art came next. Being relatively new to tumblr, I was used to getting 3-6 notes on a post. Suddenly, people were coming out of the woodwork liking and reblogging. My mind was blown and it made me want to make more fan art. Then I met @starry-nightengale who became one of my best friends on this site. We fangirled over “Blue Sky” and Portal over the next year which led to us co-writing “The Trial of the Bow” trilogy, a medieval/fairytale retelling of Portal, Portal 2, Blue Sky, and Portal Stories: Mel. 

It was on Labor day weekend of 2015 when my internet went down inexplicably. My roommate who had the internet in her name was out of town yet again and I conceded that I would have to wait until she got back to get the issue resolved. The Trial of the Bow Trilogy was finished and I had just co-written with @the-royal-sketchbook a Half-life Medival/fairytale fanfic “The Legend of the Freeman.” However, my passion for Half-life was not as strong as it was for Blue Sky and I longed to do something else involving Wheatley, Chell, and the citizens of Eaden. 

Most of the people that I encouraged to read Blue Sky did not have the time to invest into a novel length book. I longed to create something more accessible. A comic book/graphic novel of the story had been in the back of my mind for a long time, but when the desire rose up in me, the thought of “but you would have to do backgrounds and you suck at backgrounds” reared its ugly head. 

But on that Labor day weekend, a thought occurred to me. “What if I did it as a comic? Very loose and simple. Something that I could do for fun without any heavy commitment.” So that weekend, I did a quick pencil drawing of the scene when Wheatley and Chell argue from Chapter 5. I threw some color on it and put it on tumblr and it got a great response. Then I did the scene when Chell transfers Wheatley into the hardlight avatar from Chapter 3. Another great response. It was simple and loose but people seemed to like it. I asked Starry what she thought about doing the whole story in such a way. If memory serves, she was for it but warned me not to get too far ahead of myself. If I did this, it would be a huge project and would take a lot of planning and forethought. BTW, good advice Starry ;)

After completing all of Chapter 1, I made the announcement, created the page, and the Blue Sky Web comic was born.

One of the things that helps me to recharge each week is drawing/working on art on Sunday afternoons. In the past, I had struggled to find things to work on, but no more. Sunday was now Blue Sky Comic day. I would post 2 panels and create 4 more. If I had extra time on holidays or days off I would get extra done. This system allowed me to consistently add to the project without feeling rushed or overwhelmed. I was able to get ahead so that I could take breaks for holidays, trips, computer problems, and eventually planning my wedding and getting married. The Blue Sky Web Comic became a constant in my life. Whenever I needed to decompress and just draw or color in panels, it was there. 

In late summer of 2019, my Father was diagnosed with cancer. If any of you have walked through cancer with someone, you know how difficult and painful it can be. My husband and I took a trip to see my parents about once a month for the next 8 months. The drive was fairly long and was the perfect opportunity to work on what I called “pencil work” for the comic (sketching out the layout of each panel, a process that took the most concentration and time). Working on the comic helped to keep my mind off of things. Each time we visited my Dad his condition declined and being able to focus on something like the “pencil work” helped to make the trips better.

In spring of 2020, right before the COVID-19 lockdown, my Father passed away. It was right before that final trip that I finished the “Pencil work”. By then I had also made a lot of headway on the comic itself, with only a few chapters left to ink and color. I remember reading stories and blogs about how people made it through difficult times by focusing on a hobby, tv show, book, or music; not living in denial of the bad things, but just having something to help them take a break from it all. That was what the Blue Sky Comic was for me in those final days and I will always cherish how it was one of the things that helped me to make it through that difficult period in my life.

With the COVID-19 lockdown, I had some extra time to work on the comic and by late spring of 2020, I finished the last panel. It still kind of blows my mind. From 2015 to 2020 was how long it took to complete.

____________

To the 2000+ followers and those who replied, liked, reblogged, and sent messages, your words helped me to keep going when I wondered if it was worth it. Your kind thoughts helped me to know that this story is still enjoyed by people and Portal fans alike.

To @starry-nightengale, thank you for your advice at the beginning and your support and friendship along the way. Here’s to many more ^w^

And to @wafflebloggies, thank you for writing Blue Sky. It may seem overdramatic, but when I found this fic back in 2014, I was in a dark place and your story helped me hold onto the light. Even years later when faced with new trials, it helped me to focus on what was ahead. I truly believe that this story resonates with so many people because it taps into the most simple and profound truth: the most powerful love is selfless. And selfless love can conquer any difficulty. Also your support of the comic over the years made me smile with delight. I’m so glad you liked it :)

So that’s the story. I plan to do more audiobooks of the rest of the Trial of the Bow trilogy, but after that I’m going to be taking a nice long break from Blue Sky and Portal.  I have a personal passion project that I am in the initial stages on. It's another web comic that I actually couldn’t have even considered doing if not for the experience I gained over the past 5 years. I’ll have updates on my personal tumblr for that project and the audiobooks, but for this page, The Blue Sky Web comic, this will be one of my final posts (aside from responding to any messages from you guys). Thank you all again for following. What an incredible journey this has been! This fandom is so amazing and I love you all. Take care and God bless. - Elvy