#Anyway I love that horror and love are all too similar in this series <3 <3<3

[torchstelechos]

You know I think it's kind of funny how much LBH and SQQ mirror each other, like do you guys think about how to everyone around them in canon LBH knows everything about SQQ down to a single birthmark but SQQ doesn't seem to know anything about LBH? Despite everything they've gone through, SQQ seems to be playing catch up in their own relationship while LBH was already getting their wedding ready? But for us, the viewers, we know that SQQ knows everything about who LBH was suppose to be while LBH knows nothing about SQQ's own past and what he was suppose to be? SQQ knows everything that doesn't involve himself, while LBH knows everything that does involves himself. It's so funny to me how that must look to outsiders versus themselves <3

[adventures-in-mangaland]

I'm going with 10 All Time Classics from the Captain America (MCU) fandom. I mean, they're all classics to me, at least. In no particular order:

1. This, You Protect by owlet

First installment in the Infinite Coffee and Protection Detail series, which are all amazing. It's a “Bucky escaping Hydra and rebuilding his sense of self” fic, which he does while spying on Steve. With eventual Avengers Family and a lovely cast of OCs bonding with Bucky in the meantime. It has a very distinctive perspective and writing style; Bucky's in constant internal (and sometimes accidentally external) dialogue with himself, making it hilarious and tragic all at the same time. I love it. I've recently been getting into The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells and this Bucky has a similar sassy-but-vulnerable vibe? Read this if you like that, anyway.

2. The One Who Knows by Dira Sudis (dsudis)

This is a Political Animals AU, in that no-powers Steve is inserted into the Political Animals world and Bucky is TJ. Discusses being outed and depression but is ultimately hopeful. The author is one of my all time faves and has written lots of great stories for this and many other fandoms.

3. Blue Scales by chaya

Steve is a merman AU. He's still Captain America, though. It's crack with heart, I love it.

Best line: "May your scales and your love story be our weird secret forever.”

4. Our Lingering Frost by eyres

AU where Bucky is rescued from Hydra in the 50s (?) and so is around for Steve to be found.

5. Assets Out of Containment by follow_the_sun

It's a classic to *me*, OK? Bucky goes undercover at Jurassic World just as that movie's plot kicks off. They're Hydra dinosaurs! It's just great. Also has a podfic and crossovers with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

6. Not Easily Conquered (series) by dropdeaddream and WhatAreFears

Some of the greatest fanfiction I've ever read, the whole series is epic. Anyway, it's a "Steve doesn't go into the ice" AU with added queer angst when (never sent) love letters from Bucky resurface. I particularly like the second installment in the series The Thirteen Letters, which are just Bucky's letters and are insanely well-written.

7. to memory now I can't recall by Etharei

Time travel AU! Featuring post-CATWS Bucky accidentally switching places with CATFA era Bucky.

8. If Wishing Made It So by Leveragehunters (Monkeygreen)

Genie!Bucky AU! This author is great at writing AUs with fantasy/genre elements, it was hard to choose. They've also written an excellent werewolf!Steve AU and a horse!Steve AU that I really love.

9. Into That Good Night by Nonymos

An Interstellar AU! Very angsty and tragic but with an eventual happy ending.

10. Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by Speranza

Speranza must be one of the best writers in the fandom, so it was hard to pick just one of their fics. Other strong contenders were All the Angels and the Saints and The Fifties, so check those out too! But this one has a special place in my heart. Steve, Tony and Natasha accidentally time travel to WW2 London, leading to an accidental run-in with CATFA-era Bucky. The author does tragic and romantic time travel tropes so well, but with a happy ending.

I now realise that most of these are AUs, so here’s a bonus rec for a non-AU in-universe story that’s severely underrated and deserves more love:

+1

Heart, Have No Pity on this House of Bone by Sena

This story follows Bucky in-action in the Pacific Theatre. It’s very well written and, from what I can tell, well researched. Steve only appears in Bucky’s imagination and the story focuses on the horrors of war rather than romance, but it’s gripping! And it explores unrequited love, being closeted and period-typical homophobia, which I also enjoyed. I’m still holding out hope for a sequel.

[kates-dump]

My experience with Analog Horror/ARGs and why you should check them out

Marble Hornets: the classic, and a big favorite of mine for obvious reasons. I cannot stress enough how good and spooky that series is, and the ToTheArk videos gave me nightmares, love it! <3

If you're into Slenderman stories, you should definitely check it out. The acting is very well done and the story is awesome overall :)

The Sun Vanished: the ARG that started my interest for ARGs, and especially enigmas/internet puzzles. Unfortunately I was not smart enough to figure the stuff out by myself, so I just watched explanations on it. Highly recommended if you like post-apocalyptic settings and subtle horror.

The Mandela Catalogue: possibly the series that brought back my interest for these things. I have only watched the first two seasons of it, as I sadly lost interest after a while, but from what I have watched, I would recommend it to those of you who like horror with religious themes (which is a big thing for me) and most importantly, trust issues. Do keep in mind this series deals with more serious and dark topics, though you have probably heard it already.

Local58: the analog horror of all analog horrors, Local58 barged in before TMC took the spotlight. There is so much going on and all of it is very interesting and scary. America's pride leads to its doom, the moon can control electronic devices, and weird creatures spread through the world. If you like stories that leave you not understanding what the hell just happened but loving it anyway, you will love Local58.

Rocket Archives: A single-video series that has unfortunately been taken down for reasons I am not certain of. But if you're curious what it was about, the video presented a reality where us humans were forced to leave Earth with how hot it was getting, and moved to contained bubbles in space. Suddenly, uh oh! The sun's getting closer! Outer Wilds moment! Everything is melting! Humans are gone and the sun is... alive???

Analog Archives: made by the creator of Rocket Archives, has also been taken down but can still be found re-uploaded. The series is slightly similar to Local58, as in it also focuses on broadcast hijacking used for ending off humans. The series also includes a few religious topics that can get very dark. I love it. "Nature Show" makes me tear up with fear every time.

Gemini Home Entertainment: ALL-TIME FAVORITE MOMENT!!! I don't think I need to explain why I love this one so much. GHE leaves a lot to your imagination/speculation, while also twisting your head directly into the direction of the threat and forcing you to look at it while you squirm in fear. GHE is subtle in the most obvious way, obvious in the most subtle way, and most importantly, IT'S COSMIC HORROR, BABY!!! THERE IS A PLANET IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM THAT GOT HERE UNINVITED AND NOW IT WANTS TO EAT US!!! UGHHHH I can't put in words why I think it's so good, it just is. Watch it. The Gardeners are cute, I swear. There's even a plush of them.

Monument Mythos: something something alternate realities, something something time loops. I have not watched all of it, barely even half, but I deemed it a little bit too confusing for my brain. BUT! If you're into things that boogle your mind, you might really like this series! I mean, world monuments are alive, what could be scarier?

Vita Carnis: EW. (affectionate)

But, seriously, if you like gross, you are certainly going to like this series. It's meat, and it's alive. Although, I did stop watching it because it got a tad too graphic and violent for my taste, but if that doesn't bother you, then I recommend it a lot! The editing is soooo good, and some of the creatures are very likable and cute ^v^ (the others are gross and I do not want them near me I do not WANT FUCK OFF)

Don't Look at the Moon: Minecraft spooky. Do I need to say more?

[boozles]

QL Grievances 2024 Part Two: The Bad Stuff

So, I posted the Good Stuff that I liked earlier, now it's time for tthe Bad Stuff. However, I would like to preface this by saying that these are just my opinions, okay? If you see me disliking something that you loved, it isn't an attack on you - we're all pals here <3

The Most Ableist Ending Ever: Last Twilight

This was such a fantastic series and really made me enjoy JimmySea...but then they just went and ruined all the growth and progression by returning Day's sight. I totally get it was meant to be a happy ending etc. but it was so unrealistic and rather classist as well as ableist. It was such a disappointment, and every time I see the show win an award I can't help but feel like it doesn't completely deserve it.

Biggest Let Down Of An Ending: The Sign

I was OBSESSED with this show as it was airing. I loved it so much, but then the last episode just phoned it in. After a lifetime of stalking Tharn, the Doc just let's him go a year later? There was also not nearly enough scenes with the Nagas. I am thankful that this series brought us BillyBabe, and it was a fantastic show up until the finale.

Worst (Fake) Tattoos In A Seres: Kant, The Heart Killers

You have absolutely no idea how much I hate these tattoos. Okay, I'm not a tattoo experct, but I have been getting tattoos for 20+ years now and I have a pretty decent collection on my body. Kant's tattoos are startingly fake, and putting him in scenes with actors who actually have tattoos makes them look worse. You can see the shine of the transfer, you can see it rubbing off in places, and you can even see the sticky edges. IT'S HORRIBLE. It makes me so sad because First looks amazing in the series but I keep wishing he was in long sleeves because every time I look at those tattoos I get irrationally angry. Like, why are they so bad? Look at Win from Between Us - his tattoos look great! And even Joke from Jack and Joker's look pretty decent (albeit a little I Got These From A Lucky Bag). AND THEN THERE'S THE DESIGNS THEY'VE PICKED. Like, the blocked lines that don't wrap around the limb - WHY? And they all look so similar? Like, was there a sale on transfer packs? The only one that looks half decent is the one on his back. I'm sorry, but I just. I just HATE them so much. So. Fucking. Much.

Worst Change To An Existing Character: Pai, Cherry Magic

Don't get me wrong, I love Pai and her fangirling ways, but I really wish they had kept her asexual. Or, at the very least, single; like, the point of her character (to me, anyway) always felt like it was her discovering she's fine on her own, she's a strong, independant woman. It would also have been good to just see someone enjoying their life and not needing romance. (Which, I guess she kinda had a little of, since it was Rock that pursued her and she was a bit nonchalant for most of it.)

Worst Acting In A Series: Dead Friend Forever

I had to quit the series half way through because the acting was just so bad. Okay, Ta, Barcode and Copper were fantastic, but everyone else was awful. The writing was pretty awful, too. Like, the premise was promising, and it would have made a great horror movie, but the series was too long and too bad. (I will say, however, Fuaiz and JJay really showed up for 4 Minutes and did so much better in that.)

Worst Adaption Of An Already Existing Series: Love in the Air: Koi no Yokan

Another series I had to drop because I was just not vibing. I'm supportive of the series existing but it was just not for me. The casting all feels wrong (other than Arashi, who was great), and having the story so condensed down felt wasted. Fuma and Kai just felt super weird and did not fit the characters, I don't think? LITA (Thai) wasn't perfect at all, but it most definitely is the superior series.

Worst Acceptance Of A Character's Bad Actions: Perfect 10 Liners

So, I am obsessed with this show but I am still pretty mad how everyone just kinda accepted that Arc was a racerboy and endangered lives? Like, the way it was all, "you hurt Arm, do you care now?" and like, it only took hurting someone in their group for Arc to stop speeding? That rubbed me the wrong way. Like, I know his friends kinda called him out, but they were also the ones who were like OH CAN YOU GIVE ARM A RIDE HOME (in the first episode) even though they knew what Arc was like.

And that's all from me for now! I actually feel like I complain too much, and again, all of this is just my thoughts and whinings; no hate to shows/characters/actors/creators!

[beadyeyes]

Alien Romulus review so spoilers because I'm so so disappointed after being told by every one how good it was and how great the effects were (you all lied to me) so so so long so so so so I don't know if it's worth reading

👍 Loved that they kept up the tradition of killing the people who smoke on screen first

👍 Technology design choices were so fun and did what Prometheus failed to do as a PREQUEL. Also failed to do what the movie itself should've done as a SEQUEL and kept notably similar design choices BUT STILL ADVANCE THE TECHNOLOGY?

👎 They made a group of people so unlikable or undeveloped that I didn't care if they lived or died.

👎 The cousins blatant bigotry against Andy came off mostly as racist AND ableist with no good reason whatsoever. Especially since it clearly wasn't justified by his mother's death because the synthetic in question that "caused her death" was justified in saving more lives over the few. His choice to leave his own family behind despite being so torn up about his mom too? And finally his weird breathing and hovering scene with the pregnant sister right after his girlfriend died was lowkey creepy and I hope it wasn't trying to imply he was the one who got her pregnant? Bottom line he deserved it and his death was the only entertaining one. Was that supposed to be on purpose?

👎 The boyfriend was a bland unlikeable character who failed to even be good enough for meat fodder + deserved to die for wasting screen time AND for letting his cousin be a racist dick to Andy despite them needing the for the whole fucking trip to happen. Worthless character.

👎 First facehugger impregnation being a woman. What a spit in the face.

👎 The fact that it was also a woman I didn't even know the name of! But had 1 more second of development than the rest and seemed like she could've been a cool character if the screen time wasn't logged by unlikeable men. Her alien birth scene was so tone deaf to the original horror of the series idk. I get not wanting to repeat the same thing but the worthless guys survived those facehuggers too easily for her to be the gratuitous birth fodder.

👎 Pregnant sister. I don't know how that could've been done differently but yea. Her boob slime was so. 🙄

👎 Her alien wannabe engineer baby thing sucked. It was so corny I laughed outloud I don't know how it could've been done better but making the aliens more humanoid but not in an uncanny way, like a weird trying too hard to be scary way, felt like a disservice to the viewers intelligence? The fact that it was a full sized thing in like 3 seconds too? No offense but wouldn't it be scarier to fight something small and newborn baby like instead of Grown Ass White Man #72

👎 Rooks facetracking shit was so gagworthy and bringing him back wasn't the tribute to the og movie like they wanted it to be. Remember how the big bang theory would make references by just naming randome nerd shit in succession? That's what he was. Just because you have a character come back doesn't mean it fits the theme of the movie you're developing.

👎 Rook's non-ambiguous characterization as evil. Just lame and defeats the complexity of the original character as well as how the synthetics have been developed.

👎 Her name is Rain and that's my name she wishes she was me so bad.

Rain was just so? Such an underdeveloped character who kicked ass and I appreciated her like? Waiting till Andy had seizure to help him out? I don't know. She just had no backstory or substance and Andy's whole character being there to protect her was fucking lame. Seeing her change that at the last bit was like yay development but then Andy gets killed so then it was just whatever.

Andy's character again, being there to protect Rain and not develop on his own. His disabilities being "cured" for most of the movie. Why the accent? Anyways I'm glad he was there because he was the shining star of the whole thing and even that felt a bit too on the nose as if they knew every one else was worthless.

The movie had a few jumpscares and the gore was nothing compared to ANY of the previous movies. Ultimately I felt nothing for the entire hour and half except for when the cousin got slimed, which I laughed. The mix of CGI was strange. 1 out of 10 as fuck! Do you think they're gonna make a sequel?

[dayscapism]

So JK Rowling is shit, read this instead of Harry Potter - part 1/3:

Part 2 - Middle grade/children's books

Part 3 - Young Adult (YA)

This is a list of fantasy books (and some sci-fi) for people who no longer want to support a transphobe & bigot but are still having a hard time finding something that fills the void of Harry Potter. This is a LONG list, with adult, middle grade, and YA recs, divided into 3 parts, one for each age range. Most of these books are far better than HP anyway.

You can still enjoy your merch, books or movies you already own, no one is telling you you can't like or love Harry Potter and the Wizarding World, but please consider diversifying your media so you don't wrongly assume this franchise is the best fantasy ever and nothing can top it when that is simply not true.

As a guide, these are the things I associate with Harry Potter: wizards & witches, magic school, horror elements, mythical/magical creatures, mystery, nostalgia, magical trinkets & artefacts, themes of friendship, family & love and discussions of death/death imagery. Dark forest, ghosts, gloomy aesthetic, medieval castles, cosy reading rooms, libraries, very British, Christmas & Halloween, dark forests, a relatively modern world combined with magic/alternate world, astronomy/astrology, divination. Also tropes like magic politics & bureaucracy, prophecies, the chosen + dead parents, coming of age, discussions on discrimination and outcasts (sort of), good triumphing over evil, overcoming childhood trauma, school-bullying, and also the protagonist is sort of a celebrity for reasons they can't control which others them from society.

These recommendations are based on that, but of course, each recommended book is much more than its similarities with harry potter, a world in itself. This list is NOT comprehensive.

Let's go then!

If you take anything from this post, let it be this series because it is the perfect alternative:

The Nevermoor Series by Jessica Townsend!

This really should blow up worldwide, be the new fantasy phenomenon. It honestly pains me to even put it beside or compare it to Harry Potter. It feels disrespectful to Nevermoor, but it has everything and more you want out of HP. Traumatized kid protagonist who gets whisked away into an alternate world of magic, finds out she's special, meets a wonderful magical mentor/father figure (who isn't actually awful like Dumbledore is to Harry), lots of school friendships and found family, a wonderful setting including a magic school and a magical city with all kinds of fantastical landmarks and alleyways; with magical markets dark and whimsical both. There's magical trials, witches, oracles, fantastical giant creatures, sentient magical animals, and so much more. And it has good discussions on themes of discrimination, school bullying, and mental health. If you like Coraline or The Adams Family, this is perfect for you, too. Plus, this series is written by a queer author who has shown active support to social causes like Palestine.

The series is still releasing, so if you have kids in your life they could grow up with the series as it comes out.

Books in the series:

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow

Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow

Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow

Currently waiting on Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow

Adult book recommendations under the cut:

Adult books: Great alternatives to the later HP books and for readers who don't vibe with middle grade or YA anymore.

★ Books I've read myself.

★ The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang (trilogy): A dark-skinned, low-class provincial orphan enters a military academy, and must prove her value as a soldier. She discovers she has a hidden, lethal power. High fantasy, based on the Chinese wars and history of the 20th century. Has a magic school/military school setting in the first book. Discussions on the horrors of war and a person's loss of humanity under extenuating circumstances. Excellent character work.

★ Discworld by Terry Pratchett (YA/Adult, different series set in the same world). In particular, the Witches, Death, and Ricewind sub-series have similarities to HP in subject, characters, setting or themes. These books have lots of British humour and excellent commentary on social issues, and a little bit of a magical school and magic learning too.

★ T. Kingfisher books: Nettle & Bone, What Moves the Dead, Thorn Hedge, Paladin's Grace, A House With Good Bones and more. The author does mostly fairy tale retellings and horror. Great for fans of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

★ The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (standalone): You want magic? Well, this is, I think, the most magical book ever written. It's so atmospheric, whimsical, historical, and dark. It's about two magicians duelling each other, showing off their magical abilities, under the wishes of their families/mentors (Dumbledore, anyone?). The competition takes place in a magical circus that only opens at night. It's full of magic, romance, betrayal, and wonderful prose. Perfect if you like The Goblet of Fire but you would want a more quiet, aesthetic version of the tournament.

★ Dead Djinn series by P. Djeli Clark (series, mystery, novel + novellas that can be read in any order): This is about supernatural detectives in an alternate history of the city of Cairo, a city full of otherworldly creatures. There's a Ministry of Alchemy, LGBTQ+ rep, discussions of colonialism (especially committed by the British), lots of cheeky humour and cool magical artefacts or magic mixed with technology. It's also set in the 1910s, so it's great for fans of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (ongoing series): This has a highly-praised magic school setting. It's about a notorious wizard who narrates his story; his childhood, years being a feral orphan, his school years and then life as a fugitive of the law. This series is hailed as one of the best ones in fantasy right now. Great prose too.

Black Prism by Brent Weeks (series): We all know HP is not applauded for having the most coherent magic system. Well, in this book you get a really inventive magic system based on light: in this world, some people can use different colours of visible light to do magic. The people who can use all of them are called Prisms. We follow this one magician who is the current Prism, most powerful man in the world, high priest and emperor, and also a man of wit and charm. He knows Prisms never last though... Great for people who would like a book about a powerful, high-achieving magician, like say, Dumbledore.

★ Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor (duology): A young librarian is convinced of the existence of the mythical city of Weep, which was cut from the rest of the world two hundred years ago. He is obsessed. No one believes him. One day an opportunity to travel to said city presents itself and all his dreams come true. But the city hides a dark past, and not all the inhabitants were always human: some were gods with blue skin. Beautifully written, whimsical at every turn but also full of complex, deep subjects.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (ongoing series): It's dark academia in Yale but if Yale had a bunch of occult secret clubs. A freshman, Alex, is the sole survivor of a multiple homicide and still searching for answers herself. She arrives at the school tasked to monitor the activities of the secret societies full of rich students. But the occult activities are more sinister and extraordinary than what she imagined.

Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna (standalone): Magic school but now the protagonist is the witch teacher instead of the students, and who comes to teach magic to three young witches. Her coworkers are all a little eccentric, and the love interest is the grumpy librarian. A wholesome, cosy fantasy romance set in alternate contemporary times. Also with the found family trope.

★ Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb (multiple series): Hobb is one of the big names of fantasy. This is a low fantasy medieval world, with dragons, assassins, animal familiars, royal courts and backstabbing politics. If you like Game of Thrones, you'll probably like this series too. These books are character-centric to Fitz, the protagonist and bastard-born to the late crown prince, and the court jester, the Fool. The first trilogy is about Fitz's apprenticeship as an assassin to the royal family, his coming-of-age discovery of multiple hidden magic abilities that connect him to his family and the world of beasts, and his journey to save his uncle and country. So basically a non-formal magical school. Hobb has some problematic LGBTQ+ representation, though; she couldn't write a good queer character if her life depended on it. She seems to have the biases of her time ingrained in her and it shows in her writing. So there's that to consider.

★ The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (trilogy): You want a series that you will be thinking about for the rest of your life?? This one. This one is it. This trilogy is about a world where every certain time, there's a worldwide cataclysmic seismic/volcanic disaster. Humanity has evolved strict tactics to survive this, but some individuals are born with the ability to affect seismic movements. These individuals are feared and are put as children into a school where they can learn to control their superhuman abilities and later be in service of the government. One of our protagonists is one of these children. It's about motherhood and community, and has LGBTQ+ with in-text trans, bisexual, and polyamory representation. It discusses subjects of technological advancement, society and discrimination.

Vita Nostra by Marina & Sergey Dyachenko (duology): This is often called "the anti-Harry Potter book". It has elements of mystery-thriller, plays with time/time loops, a magical university, post-soviet culture in Ukraine, metamorphosis, and it's very atmospheric. It's also recommended for fans of The Night Circus and The Magicians. It's best if you go into it not knowing much.

Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan (series): For fans of Charlie Weasley and Newt Scamander, set in a world where dragons are real. The protagonist and narrator is the world's preeminent dragon naturalist, who is set to bring these creatures of myth into the light of modern science. It's a coming-of-age story, about learning, and expeditions in search of magical creatures. It's more historical fiction than fantasy though.

The Chronicles of Between by L.L. Starling (ongoing series, romance, cosy, witches): The protagonist starts dreaming weird things when she accepts a position as a substitute teacher in a charmingly witchy village, and soon realizes they're not dreams, but magic. She gatecrashes a fairytale kingdom with drunken unicorns, bored dragons and sorcerers in leather pants. She accidentally performs a supposedly impossible feat and ends up tethered to this world by marriage and a title, but she forges an escape plan...

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey (standalone, mystery, urban fantasy): About a private investigator who never wanted to be magical. Not like her estranged sister, who is a magically gifted professor. But when she is hired to investigate the gruesome murder of a faculty member in her sister's academy, the detective starts to lose herself in the crime and the life she could have had.

★ House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune: LGBTQ+ rep, boarding school, perspective from the teachers/caretakers PoV, and feral, traumatized magical children. Edit: This book has been criticized for being anti-indigenous, in particular with the boarding school plotline being a parallel to residential schools, thus being insensitive and trivializing the history of erasure, violence, genocide and forced assimilation done by the colonizers towards the indigenous people of Canada.

The Dark Fantastic by Ebony Elizabeth Thomas (non-fiction): Exploration of race in popular youth & YA speculative fiction. Analyzing popular media including Harry Potter. Explores radical imagination & Afrofuturism in Black feminism, books and fan fiction to reveal new possibilities.

Disclaimer: I'm just one person/reader, I haven't checked the political or moral views of all these authors or if they're a shitty person. Anything I know or majorly problematic stuff is considered and accounted for, but it's not realistic for me to deep-check each author I ever read. But anyone is welcome to chime in if you know of something we should be aware of about these books/authors.

Always remember to check for trigger warnings (TW), especially for adult books.

Happy reading!

Supporting Sources:

https://www.aspiraldance.com/middle-grade-and-young-adult-books-to-read-instead-of-harry-potter/

https://missprint.wordpress.com/2022/09/01/back-to-magic-school-harry-potter-alternatives-booklist/

Goodreads for synopses.

[onstoryladders]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to other writers. Spread the self-love~🫶🏽(i know you have quite a few so it might be hard picking but i'm excited to see which you enjoyed writing most!🌻)

RUHI DEARESTTTTT THANKS FOR THIS ASK!!!!

OK SO. very hard to choose five fics. I enjoyed writing all of them for different reasons, but some of them make me prouder than others ngl 💓🤧

in no particular order (because id go crazy):

SECOND CHANCES (Taekyung/Daon/Shinwoo, Light On Me)

This is one of the stories I'm most proud of! It's the first story I wrote with a poly relationship, it explores Daon's feelings after the ending of the show and how he starts falling in love with Shinwoo too and struggles to make sense of it.

I love Daon a lot and it was very cathartic to delve into his journey, I put a lot of myself in this since I headcanon Daon to be demiromantic and I'm aro soooo yeah I had a blast and it always makes emotional when someone reads it <3

IN BLOOM (Pat/Pran, Bad Buddy)

My first attempt at writing Hanahaki, I usually don't like the trope so I had to modify it a little. In my version the disease is linked to the secrecy of your feelings, so you only die (or have to get treatment) if you don't confess, it doesn't matter if the feelings are unrequited or not.

This was fun and I cried writing it because once again I projected a little too hard onto Pran and his relationship with his mom, what can you dooo

MIKE WHEELER AND THE 5 STAGES OF DEALING WITH YOUR BEST FRIEND'S SECRET ADMIRER (Mike/Will and Mike & Max, Stranger Things)

IT TOOK ME A YEAR TO FINISH THIS ONE. The funny thing is that WEEKS after posting the last chapter I realized i had posted it exactly one year after the first, same day same month.

Anyway!! Once again this is projection galore, Mike is arospec in my heart and El is aroace, lots of queerness and exploration and friendship and conversations about feelings. Another cathartic journey for yours truly

Also I had SO MUCH FUN because with so many characters you can explore all kinds of dynamics and create some pretty funny dialogues <3

PAIN & PLEASURE (Vegas/Pete, Kinnporsche)

This is technically a series but I can't choose between Thorns & Roses and A Splash Of The Sun, they're pretty similar anyway. This is the Tattoo Parlor VegasPete AU, the vision came to me in a state of great horniness dream and now here we are........

I don't read much smut but I do like writing it when the right idea hits me. The thing I liked the most, besides the smut itself, is that I had to keep the characters IC even though their background is completely different from the source material, but people told me I did alright so I'm pretty proud of that!!

BEHIND THE MASK (Tin/Can, Love By Chance)

Oh I had so much fun writing this because Can is SO FUNNY TO WRITE!!!!!! He has no filter and Tin keeps popping up in his surroundings like he's trying very hard to make his life impossible, it was so delightful to write their exchanges

I love Tin and Can, they're one of my first Thai BL OTPs and will always have a special place in my heart!! 💓💓💓

Honorable mention to my GramBlack fics because I LOVED WRITING THEM!!!!!!! I wouldve written more but then. Oh well. The horrors

Thanks again for the ask 💓💓💓💓💓💓💓

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

ari, could you potentially give me advice as to what i should watch next? i finished 'jujutsu kaisen' a couple of months ago, but i can't find myself anything to watch...

i tried getting into delicious in dungeon but i didn't really enjoy it all that much and found it to be a little boring... (i watched three episodes.)

i started watching frieren and while it's entertaining and there are aspects that i enjoy, it doesn't grip me as much as 'jujutsu kaisen' did.

on the other hand, i don't want to watch anything that it too dark and distressing, you know?

i was just wondering if you have found something fun since you have finished 'jujutsu kaisen'.

SLAMS FIST ON TABLE.

you have come to the right place :3333

ANON I’M SO HAPPY SOBS!!!!!!! i’ve been wanting to rant about the anime i like/the ones i’ve been watching recently for a while now………….

not liking dungeon meshi is totally fine, i will say that it only gets better the further you get!! :3 if you have the time i’d at least watch the first cour and see what you think!! it does . a bit of a genre swap….. 👀👀 frieren is one i put on hold too, so i can’t say much about that… i’ll probably watch it at some point though. anyway.

OKAY SOOOO . i do have some general recs for you first, before i get to anime that are currently airing/just finished airing!! if you’re looking for something similar to jjk then the obvious answer is chainsaw man, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but it’s my favorite manga next to jjk so. yk!! personally i think it’s better than jjk writing wise but s1 doesn’t get to the Really good parts…..

buuuut i know you didn’t want anything too dark and gritty, which csm most definitely is, so 😭 i’m gonna tell you abt my favorite favorite little anime. kind of. which is fate/stay night: unlimited bladeworks <333 EXTREMELY important that you watch the ufotable version. the fate series is my favorite ever and the anime means so much to me…. lots of good writing and characters and more than anything it’s very hopeful. in a really heartfelt way!!! the heaven’s feel movies are super good but also adapted from the darkest route of the fate visual novel lmao, so maybe… stay away from those. they’re insanely good though!!

another fate work that recently got adapted is fate/strange fake!! :3 only one episode is out rn as a kind of teaser for the series to come, but PLEASE do check it out because it’s… so good. i have a feeling you’ll love it, anon!! fate and jjk are similar in a lot of important ways i think….

i also want to give you some recs if you’re just looking for fluffy slice of life/romcom stuff!!!! romantic killer, gekkan shoujo nozaki-kun, and a sign of affection are all super feel-good and comfy <3333 just really funny and cute…

WITH THAT BEING SAID . i’m gonna recommend some anime that i’m currently watching/just recently finished!!!! i have two in mind :33

first: oshi no ko!!! i’m mentioning this one first since it is… a pretty dark show. not in the same way jjk is, but i’d call it a kind of psychological horror/it deals with some really sensitive topics!! the whole point of the show is to dissect the entertainment industry, including/especially the darker parts, which i think says enough. it’s so much fun to watch and i feel like i learn a lot from it too :3 from what i’ve heard the portrayal is very accurate!! it’s also just… a gorgeous show with such an interesting premise and fun cast?? the first episode is movie length and made me sob like a baby, so i’d watch that one and see how you feel afterwards!! season 2 is currently airing :333

then!!! we have my arguably biggest rec for you anon: wind breaker!! it just recently finished at 13 episodes, and it’s a very action heavy shounen :3 super cool fight scenes, GREAT characters, and really lovely writing but in a way that’s easy to digest. this is the perfect anime for binging i think, and also really pulled me in (though eps 7-9 are my absolute favorites!!) <333 if you’re looking for something to feed your shounen brain with characters you can latch onto for comfort, wind breaker is your guy. i am in Love with togame jo.

………. also. anon. you asked for anime specifically but i want nothing but the best for you so 😔 i’m also gonna go ahead and recommend this…… interactive murder mystery music series? on youtube. it’s… basically anime!! just mostly mvs and audio dramas….. i’ll link the playlist so you can watch it in order, the first video will hopefully explain everything you need to know :33 milgram means . the universe to me and the characters/song are soso lovely. please tell me if you watch this one i would literally kill to have someone to talk about it with…..

ANYWAYYYY this got very long but i hope that’s okay!!!! more than anything i hope this helps you find your way to a new obsession 🫂🫂 all these anime are super good and precious to me, i’m sure you’ll love them all a lot!!!! hopefully!!!!!!!

[remythologise]

You win as always I just started watching IWTV hope it won’t disappoint but I trust you completely after Black Sails.

Do you have the list of the things you would force people to watch if you could?

This is such a delightful ask thank you so much!! I look forward to hearing your thoughts when you finish season 2!!!

It’s definitely a harder question because I do force people to watch it based on their tastes (i.e. I have forced my Tumblr besties to watch at least three different movies released in 2011 for gay subtext as the main recommendation factor but would not do this to my work colleagues)… HOWEVER!!! Based on broad factors of what I HAVE in the past forced my friends/loved ones to watch these are the winners…

ROMANCE/ROM-COM Crash Landing on You This is the best rom com ever made.* Nothing has ever brought my mom AND dad to laughter, tears, and had them BOTH proclaim ‘5 stars’. I cannot recommend this show strongly enough to anyone who has remotely liked a single rom com, ever.**

COMEDY Galavant Niche audience of people who love fantasy and musicals includes ME motherfucker!

Honourable mention: Deadloch, Utopia (AU), Derry Girls This is really just a series of non-American comedies I would recommend to people if they hadn’t seen it. Deadloch specifically I am SHOCKED and APPALLED more people on Tumblr are not on top of and AM continually threatening my friends with a gun to watch it, or else!!

HORROR Hannibal and IWTV Both absolutely all-time must watches but only for people that would be into that sort of thing (sickos with taste) and not look at me weirdly afterwards for recommending it.

CRIME/THRILLERS The Devil Judge and Beyond Evil Crazy how these two shows came out at like, the same time, were both so similar in terms of the Wildly Gay Subtextual Leads Dynamic and so good. And they (were) both on Netflix!! Beyond Evil is definitely more refined BUT The Devil Judge is also so good and wild and such camp fun… you couldn’t go wrong with either if you enjoy having a fun gay time, particularly not if you like shows just to the left of Hannibal/IWTV.

FANTASY  Word of Honour and The Untamed These are not all-timers because they are ‘objectively well-made’ they are all timers because I shake my friends by the shoulders and yell "I had the absolute most fun gay fantasy romance time watching them and you will too!"

HISTORICAL Spartacus and Black Sails Everyone talks about Black Sails on this website but not enough people talk about how Spartacus walked so Black Sails could run. Much more extreme R-rated and/or triggering content in Spartacus though so I do understand. Nevertheless something I do end up recommending to my male friends a lot (and they love it!!).

SCI-FI  Dark REALLY tough category and I didn’t love the ending of this show but decided to pick based on what I'd recommend to the most people on balance. Don't look up spoilers!

For All Mankind Ok I haven’t even finished season 3 of this show so I can’t properly endorse it in full confidence and I’m also biased because I’m currently watching it, but. I simply love to see the BSG showrunner do what he does best: make television. About People, Politics and Situations In Space!

Honourable mention: The OA, In the Flesh and Sense8 These are my ‘wish they weren’t cancelled’*** and I don’t know if I would inflict on people while incomplete. However I just think what they were aiming for was so so unique and good that maybe they’re worth watching anyway!! (***I know Sense8 had the consolation prize movie but it was so rushed and nothing that like. To Me. It doesn't count.)

ANIME Shin Sekai Yori This is definitely the all-time anime I recommend to absolutely everyone. Ignore the middling animation and don’t look up spoilers, the end has one of the most existential ‘reframes the narrative’ plot twists of all time.

Yuri on Ice Speaking of plot twists that reframe the narrative… YOI is an obvious answer but it’s also correct!!! IT WAS BORN TO MAKE HISTORY!!!

FILMS The Handmaiden Limiting myself to ONE film to keep things a little briefer (sorry about the long post!) it was still an easy choice and literally do force my friends to watch it the second I know they haven’t seen it. No spoilers but it’s the IWTV of cinema to me.

*When Harry Met Sally Is of course also the best rom com ever made for its medium and I would be remiss not to include that here as well!

[msdrprofessorjessica]

Five Nights At Freddy's: Alchemists Apathy Introductory Post

I don't know if you would call this a mega post but I do plan on making one of those in the future. This is moreso a follow up to the post I posted earlier today as well as last night at like twelve in the morning. It's now ten pm and I hope this doesn't take too long. I guess it is also a reiteration as well but it's more in depth.

Ever since I was a wee lad, and by wee lad I mean 9 years old, I have been pretty much obsessed with Fnaf, sure, there was a point where I stopped paying attention to the franchise (Fnaf 4 and World times were tough for me) but I always bounced back and have been loving the franchise since. I soon became a writer around my teenage years and have improved greatly, but have always been afraid of showing off my work to the world. (I pray to god my lost media stays lost I'm sorry no one needs to suffer that cringe). But I have made countless AU's, countless stories of Fnaf and as of recent, huge thanks to my friends on discord (who might not see this post but if they do I hope they know who they are) as well as my therapist, I have started to dip my toes into sharing my works with the interwebs and the people on it. I dipped my toes in sharing one of my works on Deviantart (lmao) and ArchiveOfYourOwn. I thought I would do the same thing here but I've been tinkering away with an AU idea that I think we would be really interesting to share, even if there is some controversial stuff added. Well... I don't know if it's controversial or not until the general public decides but it is mostly considered controversial.

This AU encompasses all Five Nights At Freddy's games, including spin-offs. Books and the movie are not included within this AU, aside from The Week Before. So everything here in this list will be in this AU:

Five Nights At Freddy's Five Nights At Freddy's 2 Five Nights At Freddy's 3 Five Nights At Freddy's 4 Five Nights At Freddy's World Five Nights At Freddy's Sister Location Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator Freddy In Space 2 Five Nights At Freddy's VR: Help Wanted Five Nights At Freddy's AR: Special Delivery Five Nights At Freddy's Security Breach Five Nights At Freddy's Security Breach: Ruin Freddy In Space 3 Five Laps At Freddy's Five Nights At Freddy's: Into The Pit Five Nights At Freddy's: The Week Before (Book) Five Nights At Freddy's: Secret Of The Mimic

Now that's the main series including the spin-offs, here is what you can look forward to for the Fanverse side of things... which I could have included in the list since they are also official spin-offs but whatever:

Five Nights At Candy's Five Nights At Candy's 2 Five Nights At Candy's 3 Five Nights At Candy's 4 FNAC Fur Popgoes Evergreen Popgoes Arcade: The Dead Forest & The Machinist myPopgoes! The Joy Of Creation Five Nights At Freddy's: Plus

Yeah, the last one is a controversial one. I was always a little interested in Plus, even if it kinda was a spite game. I think I found an interesting way to add it in while also paying homage to other types of games that followed a similar format, that being a remake of Fnaf 1.

While we will only focus on these games, to pay homage to other fangames I grew up with, there may be dedicated posts for certain fangames where I get to talk about them for my AU as well as maybe teach you some information about these games you never knew... or maybe you never heard of them until now, I'm not sure how many people know about Six Horror's at all lmao. Here is a small list of what you can expect!:

Five Nights At Treasure Island The Return To Freddy's Fazbear's Return Jolly Dormitabis

These are just some of the fangames that you will be able to see, some may be controversial, I'm expecting some heads to be lifted when they see "Dormitabis". It might ring a few alarms but trust me, I'm not Blackout and I never will be. And if you don't know who that is or what the heck a Dormitabis means, you sweet innocent child don't look it up. ANYWAY, how about some actual information about your AU, huh Jess?

The AU does feel a little closer to the Fnaf story so if someone is looking for some dramatic retelling where it's so different and Freddy is blue and Foxy is replaced by Chipper except he's not and Chipper is replaced in lore by a snake or something, I deeply apologize. You got your favorite human characters as well as your favorite animatronic characters. There's enough there I feel to differentiate them from canon like the children outside of Susie having, well, depth. William is not a caring father and there are slight, and I mean, ever so slight hints of Willry, but I have never been a fan of Willry so if anyone out there is looking for Willry, you may see it every once in a blue moon but it's not happening. Ships will be a thing though, either straight up in the tags, possibly hinted, or shown in writing.

A diverse cast of characters. You got your straight white people, you got your cis people, but you also have trans people (like me :3), as well as black, asian, gays, lesbians, non binary's, and much more that I think I would be here forever trying to list what there is and what characters are what. Safe to say, there's a lot going on. I have done a lot of research to make sure I'm not stereotyping or hurting anyone's feelings.

Wholesome moments but remember, this is a horror AU. I'll make sure there is a balance between horror and wholesomeness. That way, you can have your sillies being silly, your ships being in love, but at the same time, you can also have your BLOODSHED! YOUR ANIMATRONICS SHOVING PEOPLE INTO SUITS! YOUR DEMONS ESCAPING FROM THE UNDERWORLD! So yeah, look out for all that.

A mega post... eventually. I plan on having a mega post so that way things can be easily accessible for anyone. I also plan on having one of my best friends brother draw some art for me... maybe. I'm sick right now and can't come up with a good decision (I'm coughing up a lung while writing this) and I'm really picky about the artstyle of this AU.

References! Enough said, some characters from the books may be taken and given a new purpose, other characters may be one off.

Animatronic characters having enough screentime as the human characters. I always found it weird how most AU's never talked about the animatronics themselves, mostly the Afton's or the Emily's. Well this AU will be giving characters (hopefully) equal screentime. So if you like other characters outside of the main two families, are tired of good ol coffee shop slop Alive AU's, or just want to see the animatronics do cool horror or fun stuff, this is the AU for you.

The Alchemists will have an apathy. This is just a fun jab at my best friend, I stole the name from a canceled project. Be happy it wasn't Twisted Truth... wait-

Character profiles, art, and writing works! All three will hopefully be here for the AU, just to make things interesting. Writing works will mostly encapsulate short stories, maybe sometimes be connected to one another but will mostly be their own thing each time, tackling many different corners of the AU. I will make sure to tell you what is a sequel story and what is not.

The Fnaf cast is still here :D

There we go, a better introduction post. Hopefully when I feel better I will probably post some stuff about the AU. I do plan on going on a small vacation soon so I'll try to get to a master post and such as soon as I can. That's all, take care!

[sewer-sermon]

who wants to hear some fucked up crackpot headcanons. TOO LATE IM SHARING THEM NOW BOY!

some of these ive definitely already said before but they're going on here for the sake of categorization anyways. cw for uhhh body horror, parasites, emeto, cannibalism and necrosis, all the fun stuff you'd imagine go along with this

•after a certain point in dissonance overexposure his face literally just Melted Off. Gone. it's mostly just bandages, exposed muscle & scar tissue under there now which is why he kept the helmet on fulltime & wears a mask. he also used to have bleach blonde hair which he lost pretty much completely along with the face WHOOPS!

•speaking of that plague mask DOES NOT COME OFF! like, it's literally part of him at this point. it fused to his skin after a while of him constantly wearing it & then his skull grew out underneath it to fit it so that is quite literally just his face now. it's made of metal but he still has sensation in it like it's skin! it'll still bleed if you lash him across it hard enough. (if you decked him good enough in the center of the beak you would PROBABLY hear the disconcerting crunch of bone.) THIS IS ALSO THANKS TO DISSONANCE! HURRAY DISSONANCE!!!!

•his old anti-dissonance helmet also had some dull feeling in it, mostly towards the end of his career, though it was never able to get to the level of attachment that his current mask now has <3

•post-nexus he is constantly losing teeth and growing new ones in like a shark and it hurts like fuck and he basically has to teathe on shit like a dog sometimes to alleviate it. also in this vein his bite is INFECTIOUS like that's a given for any person but i think his especially would quite literally BURN from the very get. he has a super nasty bite bc his lips are just jagged metal so it can rip and tear like shit. coincidentally he is definitely not above biting people in combat and probably might even if he's already armed. Just for fun!

•actually in general i think he fights like a wild goddamn animal. he doesn't like guns (re: sucks dick at using them) and only likes melee bc it's *honorable" and Blades Pretty but he is QUICK o resort to biting, kicking, clawing, etc etc and he's damn good at it too. he's probably impaled someone through the head on that beak of his before. i would LOVE to animate how i imagine him to fight in the good ol fashioned style of Madness Combat: The Series About Animated Violence bc it's SUPER vivid to me

•his mouth will seal over & will have to rip itself open if he goes a while without using it. he's pretty much completely numb to it by now after so many times but it definitely catches other people off guard when he smiles or something of that nature i think

•hes super drooly. weird mouth situation and it's honestly probably a good mix of blood from his tooth situation/mouth constantly tearing itself apart

•i honestly dont think i even need to say this but he smells. Bad. like. as bad as youd anticipate a sewer zombie to smell, yk. it kind of sucks bc he USED to be like hyperaware of his own hygiene but after the facemelter incident that kinda gradually declined until he was. just okay enough with it to Live In The Sewers. sometimes he will have moments of self awareness where he can feel every inch of grime on his body and it makes him SICK TO HIS STOMACH so he tries his absolute best not to pay any mind to it

•after being enmeshed he is so full of maggots and flies and mold... and other such detritivores YUM!!! he lost a lot of feeling in his extremities bc a lot of nerves died off so he barely notices but sometimes he will catch one crawling up his shirt or something & hold it and maybe talk to it a little bit and admire it.....he likes bugs idt he minds to be frank <3 (well. he does and doesn't. similar deal to the general hygiene yk? really not much to be done about it anymore and if he thinks about it too hard he WILL freak out so it's best not to!)

•the fact that i color his saliva/internals that bright ass green is not just stylization for fun I do legit think this boy has glowstick blood. something to do with constantly handling other people's S-3LFs during enmeshment. i think he quite literally has fragments of countless people's souls stuck in his system & they often manifest as hallucinating random voices/people

•hes so stupid proud of himself for managing to come back as a zed and also. Inwardly a little horrified by it. his body definitely isn't up to full function like it used to be (it was already kinda deteriorating due to dissonance poisoning so ERM!) & if he isn't careful about when he eats he WILL just dull back into blind hunger and attack & eat the nearest person he can get his paws on! it's kinda scary to black out and lose control of yourself like that over something you almost never think about being a huge issue.... OF COURSE. not that he'd ever TELL anyone it scares him. GOD FORBID HE ADMIT HIS LINE OF SCIENCE IS KIND OF FUCKED UP!!!!

•he was also a cannibal before becoming a zed so the whole fact that he eats people now isn't really an issue and didn't . really change lol. NOT WHEN HE WAS A SCIENTIST but like. post nexus he Absolutely resorted to cannibalism almost concerningly quickly. HMM!

•he definitely makes stuff out of people bones too. you can't look at him and tell me he doesn't

•he's specifically become a swamp zed and sometimes he WILL have to physically hold himself back from throwing up as a stress/defensive response

•however, BECAUSE he's a swamp zed he's adapted to be semi-aquatic by now so he can hold his breath for a pretty good while & he's a REAL good swimmer! he has webbed paws and a strong ass salamander tail for this purpose

•he has very vivid nightmares almost every night and tries to avoid sleeping as much as possible due to this. this was something that started while he was still working for nexus due to dissonance exposure but it just got worse and worse and became ESPECIALLY bad following phobos's death. he'll push himself days and even weeks on end without sleeping until he quite literally passes out...

uhmmm probably forgot some i intended to add here but OH WELL! this post is already gigantic i can just make another one. I HAVE THOUGHTS!

[unproduciblesmackdown]

a decade later sure i'll put it into Text Post "tumblr user claims: plausibly may feasibly" form, starting with these classic screenshots i still have saved

this being dialogue from 2015's always watching: a marble hornets story, which is like hey this is a pretty well produced indie venture & you can sure like sit through it even if you then never watch it again b/c it's still kind of overly on the beaten path & "i'm not sure this choice is justified in much of anything" (see: bizarrely omnipresent thread of a love triangle just to be There; typical Mental Patient(tm) Harbinger; several real marked More Is Less instances arguably) that is still a better time than other random horror material i've seen & hated vs. only mostly been underwhelmed by but in an Overall Shrug way alone. yeah imdb's 4.7 out of 10 seems fair enough if you consider like 5 stars truly middle of the road solid if forgettable vs that anything < 7 stars is for [Bad!] or whatever

anyways the main character is named milo & indeed the creator(s) / actors / writers troy joseph & tim were involved in the production at all: tim at least by being the first step in doug jones's casting by reaching out directly (online), but troy & joseph also via Some writing, like in that slender game sequel also: not the Primary creators / writers, but still officially involved in the creative process at all. & i knew of them & they knew of me by this time & in a [source: dude just trust me] style of way, i, a tumblr user, am like "i think milo alwayswatching Could be named after me, milo unproduciblesmackdown. lol." b/c also like yeah i can take it on the chin if it's a coincidence, which is also likely. great name & it's just not being used enough in fictional & nonfictional people's names. you might also be aware that some role in tribetweIve is named milo (maybe the main guy. i never watched it) so you might also speculate it's named after that guy, which seems plausible also, But: afaik there are no other similar plausible shoutouts at all, to that series or to emh which was just as majorly like One Of Those 3 Biggest Online Series. may or may not add a grain of salt to take it with. like my own "of course, there's a grain of salt in 'milo just like me milo, and Uncoincidentally?' b/c how wouldn't there be. a name people have"

the dude just trust me argument: distilling it down to "i went to their first convention & then the same one the next year, & in these experiences i Know they knew of me from that + also online, where people knew my name was milo as well" and "it seems feasible enough it's an easter egg Not Coincidence that i first knew this character's name happened to also be milo b/c someone who experienced a clip sent me an ask about it, so they assumed it was a possible actual connection too lol." and, of course, it might be a fun coincidence after all. but i'm still like "yeah no it Could be a funny little shoutout to me specifically for real" and mean it and, again, i can endure it if i'm completely wrong. b/c who could care, and also b/c it's so funny that the character is a guy who basically just is like "i am going to have a bad attitude. b/c of the insistent tiresome love triangle thing. well now I'm insistently tiresome" and fucking everything up but like, sure. exasperating epic fail protagonists

the only relevance i think it has besides "to me, b/c i can go haha yeah. that might be like: just like me!!" is that it's Also plausible b/c yeah marble hornets Is the kind of series that might go "this could be an easter egg about some queer autistic tumblr user we know about" lmao, its Inherent Queerness both re: the material and in the creators' knowledge like yep that's how our Appreciators skew! like it's low stakes to be like [lol, Me. perhaps] b/c it's obviously of zero importance like it adds no info, i'm just some rando queer fan from back in the day, but it's this potential Fun Fact that's funny to know & it's about "yeah like they knew i was trans back then too & that it was like, amidst the MH Fans, like nobody's cishet man (shaggy rogers voice)" Gay Rights!

[terminaxshowtime]

For this post;

Top 5 Mp100 arcs

Top 5 fandoms from mutuals (you can or can't be in them, doesn't matter)

Top 5 Genshin Impact Locations

OK!! I'll do these in separate reblogs, esp since it'll take me a while to do the last one cause I wanna find images.

Top 5 MP100 arcs (WARNING- SPOILERS!!)

5. Teruki Hanazawa arc, the reveal of ???% and just the general conflicting morals between the 2 were really great.... looking back on it now it's crazy to me how that was what Teru used to be like, now he's just so much more of a protagonist than he ever intended to be.... anyways, loved the humor, loved the story, and the art was wonderful as always!!

4. World Domination arc, while it might have been pretty similar to your stereotypical Shonen at times, the way it was done was great and didn't feel too overused. Honestly, Reigen, Dimple and of course Serizawa felt like the MVPS, plus my boy Mob, and his feelings and the fight with Toichiro were great... it was also nice to see all the other characters from the past participating! Shoutout to the Teru vs Shimazaki fight because that was AWESOME and the animation for the anime version was SO GOOD.

3. Divine Tree arc. During the whole arc, I felt this increasing sense of dread, and honestly I found myself crying during multiple parts near the end of it. I adored the development of Dimple along with Teru and Mob's fight, there was just something about this arc that made me go AAAAH. Art beautiful and made me terrified. Story great. Also I cried like a bitch at Dimple's death despite having already been spoiled he was going to die, and then not die.

2. ???% Arc, I could NOT have thought of a more perfect ending to the series. I reread the manga version and I will admit it was better than the anime, especially with the Shigeo-Mob dialogue. I was so terrified during this whole thing and the characterisation of Shigeo was perfect. Highlights would probably be the thing with Teru because oh my GOD the CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! THE HORROR ON HIS FACE! I LOVE MY BOY! as well as of course the shigeo mob interactions, accept yourself boy! But of course, my favourite part was... Reigen. Firstly oh my god, the taking off shoes... I've listened to Rolling Girl enough times to know what that means... but then also the way he speaks and the helplessness he feels? And Shigeo just rejecting him.... but then my fucking boy DIMPLE JUST COMES BACK AND POSSESSES HIM?? I SCREAMED DESPITE ALREADY KNOWING HE WAS ALIVE. THE ANIMATION IN THE ANIME AT THIS PART WAS SO GOOD. And Reigen's Confession of his lies and how he's a fraud... just... God I cried so much. Shigeo's shock that he admits it snapping him out of the ???% state was incredible. I love my boys. I love this arc.

1. Mogami arc enough said okay everyone pack up your bags and go home. listen I don't even know what to say anymore it's just the mogami arc. sorry ???% arc I love you and honestly you're almost tied with mogami arc but I just. the manga mogami arc broke me ok? OK go home now

[master-of-47-dudes]

I'm playing Bloodborne now so-

Okay: I'll actually admit, when it comes to the Souls games? I don't actually know what the fuck is going on, I'm just this guy:

BUT since I just played the Prime games beforehand I want to talk about something I love about the Souls games; that being the inspiration they take from the Metroid Prime Series in terms of design philosophy, level design, and world building.

Sure, there’s a lot more obvious inspirations in play with the Souls games. The Gothic horror stylings of Castlevania as well as the RPG mechanics of SOTN-style Castlevania is a big one, European fantasy as a whole (iirc Miyazaki is a huge European fantasy nerd), Berserk, and some other stuff I'm not as familiar with are the clear inspirations in terms of themes and style of the games. The gameplay and combat is notably 3D Zelda inspired, albeit taking everything that OOT pioneered and making it slower and more deliberate while placing a higher emphasis on using your movement and dodging.

So where does Metroid Prime come in?

Well, the most obvious place to start is in pointing out the map of Dark Souls 1: Heavily interconnected, looping around on itself with an emphasis on finding and unlocking shortcuts that further connect the areas you explore to the rest of the world.

You are given a few distinct goals, but not the path to get there. The world, through various barriers, naturally leads you down the critical path.

In Metroid Prime, this is accomplished with an abundance of locked doors and ability gates. Through some ingenuity by the player (and heavily frowned upon by the devs), you can do some tricks to break out of the critical path in order to take different paths, such as grabbing Space Jump first.

In Dark Souls, while locked doors do play a part in the path, the idea of the player being able to break from the "intended path" is intentionally expanded upon; Weapon level, and your soul level form the largest combined "ability gate" in the early game but player skill can overcome both, a few early keys can be bought or alternate, harder routes can be found around doors while still breaking from "intended" progression. And the Master Key you can start with as a gift opens up even more routes to take!

This 3D Metroidvania-esque world design heavy in backtracking and in linking all of the world together was pioneered by Metroid Prime and used to incredible effect in Dark Souls. But that isn't the only similarity.

Isolation is used to great effect in the Souls games; while you have a handful of allies and shopkeepers, the world at large is entirely hostile to your presence. Many of your alliances are temporary or fleeting, several NPCs untrustworthy, and many friends you make slowly losing their battles with the world over the course of the game as you end up more alone than you started.

The world tells its story as well, both in the gorgeously detailed environments as well as the small scraps of information you can glean from everything you pick up; while you may not have a scan visor, the items enemies drop can similarly give you information about their place in the larger world and it can all be put together to form an incomplete picture of what happened, why you're here, and what you're really doing.

Huge bosses that take up most of the screen are the norm, your only places of respite being your save points, etc. Etc.

I could go on. It's just neat to talk about tbh.

Anyway the funny thing I noticed is that the changes in world design philosophy in the numbered Dark Souls games mirror the changes in world design philosophy in the Metroid Prime games too, going from:

1. An interconnected and backtracking heavy world that winds around on itself

2. A central hub branching out in multiple directions to progress through, with each branch terminating in a dead end

3. A linear progression of areas where each area is to be fully or mostly explored to the end before moving on to the next one.

It's kind of funny.

[charlesemersonwinchesteriii]

for the 'why wouldn't date them'

charles, hawkeye, trapper

and i think you might be into twin peaks? if so, dale cooper and donna hayward

whichever ones you want to do :)

Ahhhhhh omg thank you for all of these I want to do them ALL but let's go backwards.

Donna Hayward

Ok so the thing is I AM into Twin Peaks but it's been a while since I've seen it and I tried to watch The Return but I was too stupit to understand much less enjoy it :( sowwy. So I would be dating my own flawed incomplete interpretation of a person, really. Typical Twin Peaks. 

Anyways I love Donna! I think we have similar personalities and stuff. In all brutal honesty I think if I were in her situation with a friend like Laura I’d have done similar things. Also yeah maybe her actions did lead a man to suicide but that was NOT her fault. I think the only three things that would prevent an attempt at a relationship here are 

1) The obvious. Her taste in men = atrocious. In all the rest of these hypotheticals where the character is already canonically in a relationship or has feelings for another character I’m just like yeah the more the merrier but if Donna insists on inviting her insufferable ass boyfriend into the mix I could NOT fucking do it I’m sorry. 

2) This girl is not ready for a relationship yet after All That god damn. But then again neither am I so maybe that balances out. We would need to spend some time as support group buddies just hugging and crying a lot before even considering a date. 

3) It is unlikely we would ever interact as I am never setting foot in that town ever in my life are you kidding me. Donna is super pretty in both her incarnations but I’m sorry I don’t think any pussy pops severely enough for me to risk going to fucking doorknob hell or some shit.

Dale Cooper

Ignore everything I said in that last paragraph. I change my mind. I forgot my beautiful autism creature husband is here. I would risk it all for a date with Dale Cooper and so would all who know and perceive the truth. AND he’s got two hot girlfriends with him at least one of whom is ALSO an autism creature??? Sign me the FUCK up for this polycule IMMEDIATELY. “Oh but OP what about the horrors” I don’t even fucking care it’s fine. Dale can have little an evil doppelganger. As a treat.

Still there are some problems:

1) Dale is an FBI agent and Harry is a cop. Booooooo!!!! But maybe if Annie and Caroline and I unionize we can force them to quit their jobs. 

2) Unclear if I would be forced to join the Black Lodge Horror Vision Rotation along with Annie and Caroline. Boring and time consuming task and unlike Laura you don’t even get to do a Big Scream.

3) I personally actually don’t like pie or coffee at all :( I’m sorry babygirl I understand if this is a deal breaker. 

Trapper McIntyre 

You know that “golden retriever boyfriend” joke? Trapper is like THE golden retriever boyfriend to me. Which I mean as an absolute compliment! Golden retrievers are friendly, helpful, adorable, lovable dogs. I am always up to pet a golden retriever.

But the thing is, I would never get one myself. They’re just a bit too big, bit too much energy, bit too messy, and anyways I prefer cats. No hate, no judgment, just a series of tiny preferences. Not into jocks, not into casual no-strings-attached type relationships, not super into kids, you know how it is. Boring and petty answer but I just feel like this adorable happy-go-lucky goldie deserves the PERFECT forever home and obviously he’s one of the most popular of all the dogs at the Mashblr shelter so I know he’ll get adopted super fast. So I can turn my attention to the miserable ass overbred old cat in the corner <3

Hawkeye Pierce

Oh, Hawkeye. I just don’t think so. Idk what’s wrong with me but I have to work to see Hawkeye as like. A dateable entity in my mind. He’s our little scrunkly! It’d be weird to date a scrunkly. BUT maybe I’ve just been overexposed to him purely by dint of being in the fandom he’s the main character of, because objectively I DO find Mr. Alda’s portrayal of him in certain scenes to be Attractive (TM), and seeing clips of his charisma and charm and humor and all that good handsome stuff is literally what got me to check out the show in the first place! Man. What happened. Hmm. 

I think one issue is that scenes where he’s explicitly trying to be Romantic and/or Seductive have just never done it for me. Like comparing Hawkeye’s lovey scenes with Kyung Soon to Charles’ with Martine, there’s no contest in how they make me feel. To me, Hawkeye is honestly at his most appealing when he’s radiating Friend Energy, which is why his casual relationships actually work really well IMO; you feel like he’s truly a great pal to the nurses he hooks up with. This is also, I think, one of Piercintyre’s great strengths as a ship, because Hawkeye and Trapper both have amazing Friend Energy and then their natural compatibility makes that bleed seamlessly into sweet romantic vibes. And to be clear I would LOVE to be in a Friends To Lovers relationship too but unfortunately I am cringely obsessed with loveydovey romance in a way I’m not sure Hawkeye is even capable of. Plus there’s also just the fact that I’m a shy waiting til marriage person and I suck at banter and yeah it’s just not working. In conclusion neither Hawkeye nor Trapper should date me they should date each other!! But we knew that :P

THAT CUNT

There are 10000000 reasons not to date Charles. But I will be doing it anyways ^_^ Peace and love on planet earth <3

Anyways I’m not bringing up his Problematicness as a reason here because I didn’t bring it up for anyone else and nobody noticed, so why should it be any different with him. Like no obviously I would not date this dumbfuck racist but I also would not date a guy who thinks it’s a funny prank to make a woman think she’s being sexually assaulted. I also for that matter would not date a guy who works with the dumbfuck racist and is like aw, ya know what, he’s not that bad really :) the second they have a chance to have a bonding moment. I guess I have decided to be a buzzkill about that forever now btw sorry :( oh well 

But ok no real talk I would Not date Charles unless one very specific condition is met, which is that I have whatever magic stardust they sprinkled on his single-episode love interests before they put them in the story that made him be utterly besotted with them, because more than any other character on the show, it seems, the difference between Regular Charles and Charles In Love is so hysterically huge??? Like fuck. My dudes. We’ve done it. We found the one villain who actually does do a complete 180 and starts trying to act right as soon as a girl takes pity on him enough to look at him twice. (Disclaimer: I haven’t seen Ain’t Love Grand yet I’m sorryyyyyyyy) He’s so ~romantic~ and it’s like catnip to me unfortunately. :\ The total opposite of what I said about Hawkeye up there. Offers a girl his stupid little teacup and recites poetry at her. Unbelievable. Did anyone ever think about the fact that maybe I would like to be offered a teacup and recited poetry at. No. You all only think about yourselves.  

Like even though objectively the way he nukes his relationship with Martine was hurtful to both of them, he’s so Tender the whole time it’s insane. She turned him into her pauvre petit miaou miaou overnight. I want that power so fucking bad I NEED that power so fucking bad. Say it with me everyone. I Could Fix Him. (”But OP Martine and Donna DIDN’T fix him he still left them both and never mentioned them again?” Yes but don’t worry they were just loosening the lid on his jar a little bit. I’ll get him open you’ll see. He’s gonna be soooo well trained when I’m done I’ll make him apologize to Maxwell and everything. He won’t even need the shock collar after a few weeks.)

But yeah if I have to like, try to appeal to him on my own it’s not fucking happening. I have no desire to hear the equivalent of a DOS deepfake hologram that has become evil due to being trained on text scraped from youtube comments tell me I’m ugly and stupid, which is exactly what would happen. Up til now I’ve sidestepped the issue that I do not think any of these people would give me the time of day (except Maxwell who would take pity on me probably because he is sososo Good) but I cannot ignore how much Charles just would Not like me. I don’t know how the selfshipper community does it they’re braver than any fucking US marine over there fr. Charles would look at me like I was a gross little bug on the ground and I can’t escape it. Oh well. Who needs him. Where’s your sister you dipshit I’m about to GET IT

[the-hydrangea-witch]

I should probably do a proper introduction to Tales From Under the Bay huh. Well instead of that I'm writing this from my phone at 2 am

Anyways there's like 3 books* and none of the titles are official

I should clarify the genre I think it's SUPERNATURAL HORROR

Book 1: Tales From Under the Bay: Creiltiaa

After the death of Celia's mother, Andie, a fan of Andie's book series A Guide For the Soon-To-Be Survivors approached Celia with sinister fascination, seemingly knowing of her condition that causes her to blip in and out of alternate, but nearly identical, realities at random. What's odd to Celia is that her mother never had a book series by that name; it seemingly came into existence after her death, and as she finds pages of it, she not only learns about her mother's past, but dives into a supernatural rabbit hole. Ideally she would love to explore the supernatural world with her childhood best friend Adelaide, but she gets fucken killed like 2 chapters in because she tried to summon what she thought was a demon and was stopped by some loser guy, oopsies sorry girlie. Also also there's a ton of other short stories intermingled within this book detailing other supernatural events that Celia is not directly a part of, showing the past, present, and distant future, such as the birth of the god Phthisis V AKA Hope, the death of the Internet as if it were a manmade deity, and the apocalyptic event known as the Great Wind. We also get to see chapters that are entirely just journal entries of celia rambling about her theories about the multiverse and notes on everything they've encountered, poor girl is a mess

Book 2: Tales From Under the Bay: Dusty Grove Road

After the disappearance of her twin brother Artie, Alice Kelley goes to the neighborhood he lived in and where he was last seen. This is a prequel to Creiltiaa, where Alice is a character very similar to Celia in that they are both researchers of the supernatural. This story, however, explores a much smaller area ((especially because Alice isn't running from the police)) known as Dusty Grove Road, which is mentioned multiple times in Creiltiaa as something of a Hotspot for supernatural events. The street itself is paved with living flesh, and every house and building has a story to tell. Spoiler alert this is the one time a character ever has something close to a good ending

Book 3: Tales From Under the Bay: The Pin

Long after the Great Wind, humankind moved entirely underground, with no memory left of there ever being a sky. Everyone (according to the main characters) lives in a singular, unfathomably and impossibly large structure they call The Pin, made up of an unknown number of layers that at the current time serve as independent states of sorts. This story follows the main four characters Bauble, Folly, Cassette, and Stairwell, with honorable mentions of Vehicle, Choir, Ambience, and Infrared, among others, as they enter the reality-bending corridors of The Pin known as The Arteries, where they encounter a shit ton of spooky things and like they might die they might survive who knows, they sure as hell are probably not finding the sky though (and good thing, too, because they're all adamantly opposed to the very idea of it, so seeing it would probably fry their brains)

anyways please ask questions (IF YOU WANT TO) this is my entire life blood and soul rn besides my fantasy story but I'm bad at condensing things