#I need junji ito friends tell me why no one I talk to gets it sigh

[fizzycarbon]

Oh Souichi would soooo think he looks cool with the smoke on his eyelids. He’s just so loser like that. Is this an excuse to give him eyeshadow? The world may never know…

But dude I so love the duality between our Souichi soda-sonas!! You really hit it on the money because I was going to add lore and maaaybe make an animatic and make him kind like.. turn people into zombies and create tortured life like Frankenstein 🧍🏻

Rats! My plans have been foiled again!!! /j

Also for the black magic aspect- I thought of him being very sick with his immune system due to the toxins and smoke he’s surrounded by 24/7 and I was like.. what if he uses black magic to make himself live longer?? It works! But he’s suffering on the inside. Literally. Like it’s literally just a prolonged dying process. Also he takes the life force of the people he made into zombies. Heh… He gets their life span, and they get to be his minions! It’s a win!!!

I probably should clarify that I added this Souichi to be in an earlier timeline. It’s steampunk-ish so I was like- I’m gonna make his time 1931, when the Frankenstein movie was made. I should also do more research about the film too..

God- every Souichi fan has to agree that he’s just so boy failure. The Edna part 😭 that’s literally him.

Also about the animatic.. I was already cooking up a Souichi one that’s still in the beta phase. It was for my Fantasy!Souichi au, but that can wait. Time to pull my art knowledge outta my butt and grind on ibis paint.

Sorry my paragraphs are all over the place- I have horrible memory and I am not gonna go back and forth to organize it!! But now we have to make Souichi megamind content dude.. He’s so edgy like that it’s insane. YES I’m giving him two outfits!! What are y’all gonna do about it?? I’m going to list all the functions of his gear, why he has a ‘working’ outfit and a ‘study’ one, attempt to draw a background of his work bench, ect.

I also loved the self-proclaimed Doctor Souichi you did so much. He’s so egotistical like that. Again, the duality between our designs is just chefs kiss. OMG this reminds me of Bill Cipher-sonas.. I love it!

His cape being impractical but he refuses to take it off. He’s so diva /hj

Imagine Cyborg Cider finds Souichi in his evil lair and slips on a chemical spill while trying to apprehend him. Souichi laughs his ass off but just ends up in a coughing fit from all the smoke and Cyborg is like “🧍🏻” . That or like you said, he just can’t see for dog crap. His own lair is his demise- that’s why he sends out his poor minions while he’s in his basement dweller era.

This is the longest I’ve drawn consecutively. I got BIG motivation..

His sodasona is mostly done? I think? I’ll debate on whether or not to do lineart.

@olde-scratch wanted to see my version so here it is ‼️

(Hope the ping doesn’t bother)

Omg wth I need to fix his shoulder bye

[d1d11818]

I’ll be honest I fell off my bed while trying to read your responses. Not anyone’s fault but my own obv but it was really funny and I felt the need to share. Ow :[

This is also going to sound weird but I really like the way you think about things, 1818. I was going to have a whole like, paragraph about some inane stuff on like altruism and anthropology but it’s not interesting so. Anyway, I think you’re already doing really well on the ‘being a good person’ front, from the very limited amount of time I’ve known you (Does this count as knowing? I don’t mean to overstep.)

I cannot say I wasn’t a tiny bit worried but I was also mostly confident you knew what the game sort of entailed. :,]

I really really like horror as a genre as well! I’ve been watching a lot of ‘horror’ movies, though I don’t think I’ve actually really been scared by any thusfar. Which is bumming me out because I WANT to be scared. I’m not sure if you’re much of a movie person though, so I won’t suggest anything, but if you’ve got a favorite I would totally love to add it to my list!

- 🐠 (I’m fine with any, really, but my favorites are they / them and a set of neos but I’m always nervous to tell people that.)

- Oh come now, I'm not so funny you have to fall over.

- Ha!

- In all seriousness, do be more careful.

- Human bodies are remarkably weak.

- I'd hate to see you struggling with pain.

- As much as I can see, anyway.

- I'm pleasantly surprised you think that way.

- You're right, it is weird to find my way of thinking likeable.

- It is not a common opinion.

- Most people consider it a betrayal to my beginnings as a human.

- Even if I was like this back then, too.

- They always seem to ignore that fact.

- I think the notion of 'you need empathy to be likeable' is absurd.

- It refuses to take into consideration those who struggle with it, while denying that claim in response.

- But anyway.

- We're all a little weird here, aren't we?

- There's no shame in that, but rather pride.

- I'm speaking in a powerful and reassuring way to hide my overwhelming reaction to a compliment.

- I... do not get much praise.

- As for the inane paragraph, you have personally captured my interest.

- Although I doubt my colleague will be as patient about it.

- Moving on.

- I'll stop rambling, so D1d1 gets a chance to talk.

- Never fear about overstepping, my friend.

- I'm just grateful for the company.

- Distancing myself can get a bit...

- ... lonely.

-----------------------------------------------

- My turn, edgelord!

- And in response to the plant post, 1818, I'm not a moron!! I'm just intellectually challenged.

- I love horror movies!! But I definitely relate to your struggle. The concept of fear is kind of null with me. I don't know why. I've tried challenging it but nothing works! My system just constantly reminds me that they're fake, and I can't find myself frightened by that.

- The closest I've ever come to fear is more discomfort, and that came curtesy of Junji Ito. Is that the right curtesy? Courtesy? It feels incorrect either way. Anyway, the discomfort came less from thinking the situations could be achieved, but more where the ideas came from. The thoughts of such realities sprouting in a mind I can't even comprehend is uncomfortable to me, and I don't know why!

- That balloon one especially... I got awful uncanny valley with that one.

- My favourite horror film though, is probably Trick r Treat! I think it's fun!

- Also feel free to share your neos if and when you're comfortable! We support those here! :D

- Look! I made a tiny face! :D :D :D

[icy-hxt]

can you tell me what you think about the kids at 1a?

hi anon, I'm sorry that I took so long to answer this, when I saw your ask I felt really lazy, because there's too many people in the class lol

this is going to be a long post, since we have 20 characters to cover, so I'm putting it under the cut

okay, first of all I want to say that I don't hate any of the kids at 1a besides mineta, BUT, I do have a feeling of indifference towards at least half of them and do dislike some, I always thought that the story would been benefited if there were less people in the classes, since hori would've been able to develop them better, so don't expect me to talk a lot about everyone. also, don't take everything that I say too seriously, this is not a character analysis, I'm just doing it for fun.

anyway, the order that I'm using to list them is their seating arrangement in the class, so let's start

yuga aoyama: I already said this here before but I really like aoyama, he's ridiculous in the best way possible, he feels like a character that horikoshi took away from ouran high school club or something. since the chapter where he and deku became friends were released I felt like he deserved more screentime, because his backstory about him thinking of himself as different than the other kids in the class because of his quirk being "defective" is really interesting, I always wanted to see more of his friendship with deku and he overcoming his fears (since he was shown to be easily frightened)

mina ashido: I LOVE mina, I think that her design is so cool and her personality is really likable, when we had the kirishima flashback and we saw her protecting her friends from machia even though she was scared too was the moment that I decided that we deserved to see more of her in the story, I really liked to see she having a bigger role for a female character in a shonen, I wasn't too bad in the war but I still want more

tsuyu asui: okay, this is going to be controversial because I feel like everyone likes her, but I feel really indifferent towards her, maybe I was influenced by one of my friends that really doesn't like her but since that scene where she says that going to rescue bakugo is the same as acting like villains I started to not care about her all that much, and yes, I know that she admitted that she was wrong and everything but yeah, I don't really click with her personality (but I don't hate her, please don't be mad at me kdbdgsusj)

tenya iida: ah, what a respectable little man iida is, I really like him, I think that the way that he take everything so seriously is hilarious, like him acting super dramatically in their exams to be as similar as possible to his vision of what a villain is. I really like how he grew since the stain arc and how he decided to be a hero that prioritizes the safety of others in detriment to fighting the villains. I'm really happy that he became the focus of the story lately and that he was the one who could hold deku's hand, I want him to have a bigger role in the story for now, maybe even encountering with stain again and showing to him that he's now a great hero

ochaco uraraka: I love her personality, she's really cute, and her fight with bakugo at the beginning of the story was a highlight to me back then, but, I feel like her character became too much attached to deku after aoyama made her realize that she likes him, almost felt like her personality was gone and her only defining feature was having a crush on him, anyway, thank god that apparently she's going to have importance right now in the story because she's too much of a cool character to become just the romance interest for the male lead

mashirao ojiro: denki playing with his tail is cute, I think that is funny how horikoshi always describes him as the plain one, it was cool when he refused to participate in the sports festival because he didn't felt like he deserved

denki kaminari: oh this sweet dumbass, I love him, he's so funny and cute, I think that is that funniest thing how he just decided to call bakugo "kacchan" and is super overly friendly with him and bakugo just lets him, I actually don't think that he's "stupid" as part of the fandom seems to think, I strongly believe that people can be smart in their own ways, maybe he's not the brightest in math for example but he already showed to be able to come up with strategies, I feel like denki has a lot of anxiety inside of him because of his quirk, but i also feel like he's really genuine in trying to be a hero, overall I really like him, he's really sweet

eijiro kirishima: this swee- I mean, super manly man is amazing, I feel like kirishima is for bnha what rock lee was for naruto, I really really really like him, I love his personality and I love even more his backstory, he's really a great person and he deserves all the love that he get from the fandom, I hope that we're going to see even more of him in the future

koji koda: he's adorable, his voice is really adorable the japanese dub, his quirk is like a disney princess

rikido sato: he bakes, I like cakes and pies, we would've been best friends

mezo shoji: since I saw that hori said that he uses his mask because people are afraid of him I'm impatiently waiting for his face to be shown, and if he doesn't look like a junji ito monster or something I'm going to be pretty disappointed, anyway, I like his personality, he was really cool at the forest arc (I clearly don't remember the arcs names, I'm sorry lol), and I feel like he could have a bigger role in the story if hori finally decides to address the prejudice against people with mutant quirks

kyoka jiro: she kind of reminds me of a girl that used to bully me in middle school because of the way that she treats denki but I still like her lol I liked how she learned that is okay liking to sing and music in general and being a hero at the same time, because after all a lot of people were saved by music and/or their favorite artists, but since I find her quirk so cool I wanted to she her fighting more

hanta sero: he's funny, even funnier than denki, he has a really relatable sense of humor and I love him for that, his quirk is really cool, but I feel kind of bad for him because deku now has practically the same one and he's not the only spiderman in the story anymore (his quirk being similar to spiderman was actually what made me like him in the first place because peter is my favorite hero ever)

fumikage tokoyami: my 12yo emo self shakes inside of me every time that I see him, anyway, I really like him, how would I not? he has a bird head, he's nice without being overly friendly and dark shadow is really cute, I don't really remember everything that happened in the war but I remember him saying to hawks that he believes in him, so I really wanted to see him frustrated at his mentor because of what he did to twice please horikoshi address the consequences of twice's death, I'm tired of waiting

shoto todoroki: ah my angel, shoto was the reason why I started reading the manga back in 2015, I knew that he was going to be my favorite just by seeing his character design. I love shoto, I want him to become the happiest person in the world because he really deserves it, I know that everyone thinks that deku is what an ideal hero looks like but o me it is shoto, he's kind, sweet, forgiving, has a heart made of gold and is just genuinely a good person, I could talk about him for a whole week without pause and still find more things to compliment about him so let's move on before I write over 10000 words about how much I love him

tooru hagakure: she... exists...

katsuki bakugo: while shoto is my favorite, I have to admit that bakugo has the best character development in the hero side of the story, I used to hate him at the beginning of the series but now I love him, a lot, he shows that horikoshi knows how to write a compelling redemption arc if he planned it since the beginning, I love that he started only having "fight" points at the entrance exam for ua to now having his first priority at saving people, bakugo is other that I could talk about for hours so let's move on

izuku midoriya: I like deku when he's not putting his nose at the todofam business, he's a good kid who needs some self esteem urgently, the way that he never seemed to care about his own well being always made me nervous, even though I never felt like he was in real danger, he's the mc for a reason, to summarize: I like him personality wise but some of the narrative choices that hori made for him are not my favorites

minoru mineta: I don't care, I hope for him to vanish from existence

momo yaoyorozu: she's the stereotypical anime girl with glasses (but without glasses in this case), I like her personality, she's really cute, her quirk is neat and she's super smart but, everytime that she puts her hero costume on... I feel super uncomfortable... this is not her fault of course but I think that I would like her even more if she was less sexualized

I could write more if I take more time to think, but I'm not going to do that today, if you want to know my opinion about other characters or something more specific about the kids feel free to send me other ask

also, I'm sorry if there's any atrocious grammar mistakes on this, I didn't reviewed the text and wrote just what I had in my head in the moment at four am

[fabulizemag]

10 Horror Manga To Read For Your Halloween Weekend

New Post has been published on https://fabulizemag.com/horror-manga-for-halloween/

10 Horror Manga To Read For Your Halloween Weekend

Horror manga is a different kind of scary. I mean sure, we’ve seen vampires and ghosts, but if you’ve never seen a horror anime, you won’t be prepared for the detailed gore new horror manga has. I rarely watch horror movies, but I love horror anime and manga. I can’t fully explain why it’s much easier for me to consume, but it is. The only thing that stops me from reading a lot more manga are titles with a lot of violence towards women and fan service. I know that those are common in manga and I try not to recommend many of those because that’s not what I would normally read.

I think overall, horror manga is more sadistic and provocative than western horror as it not only illustrates monsters, but there is also a hidden philosophy in a lot of horror manga that insinuates that humans are the real monsters. A lot of the manga I recommend below aren’t exactly new; however, they are new to paperback. That means you have an opportunity to start a new series from the beginning and not have to worry about missing manga chapters. I’ve also included a manga that is a standalone title, which is a rare find with these types of books. I personally prefer reading in volumes and if you like having a good chunk of content in one book, you will enjoy these selections.

PET SHOP OF HORRORS: TOKYO, VOL. 1 BY MATSURI AKINO This serialized manga takes a different approach to classic fairytale stories and uses pets. However, some of the pets look similar to humans and buyers must adhere to a contract if they decided to buy. The horror begins when the buyers ignore the warnings of the pet shop owner.

REMINA BY JUNJI ITO

If you are looking for some outer space sci-fi horror, this manga is for you. This story starts off with a wormhole that births a mysterious planet. A doctor discovers the planet and names it Remina, which is also his daughter’s name. As this planet evolves, it destroys anything it wants in its path. And guess what planet is up next? You guessed it: Earth. You can preorder this book now, as it’s set to be available in paperback this December.

RASETU VOL. 1 BY CHIKA SHIOMI More paranormal than straight horror, this spin-off of Yuraracenters a heroine named Rasetu who is a witty and sassy exorcist working at an exorcism agency. She loves cakes, capturing ghosts, and doesn’t turn down a good fight. Things get complicated when Yako, who has powers himself, needs her and her agency’s help with a possessed book.

THE WITCH AND THE BEAST 1 BY KOUSUKE SATAKE If you like horror but you want a more of a fairytale setting, then you should give this manga a try. Set in a steampunk world, you meet a shy guy who has a mysterious coffin strapped to his back. His unlikely companion is a bloodthirsty girl with long fangs and a mean violent streak. They are determined to work together to overthrow a witch who suddenly has their town’s people under her control.

UROTSUKIDOJI: LEGEND OF THE OVERFIEND, VOLUME 1 BY TOSHIO MAEDA Ready for some erotica horror? Well, if you are into monster and tentacle sex, here it is. Yes, it is hentai and a disturbing piece of manga, but that’s what makes it horrifying. Every 3,000 years the Chojin emerges in human form to try to bring man, demon, and beast together. This manga also has a lot of sexual descriptions in it. The paperback will be available in November.

ALICE IN MURDERLAND, VOL. 1 BY KAORI YUKI Stella is part of a wealthy and elite family in Japan, and once a month she has to leave school early to have a tea party with them. However, the tea party is different this time around because her mother (the queen) tells her and her siblings only one of them will be the next leader of the family. In order for her parents to determine who is next in line as a successor, they challenge her and her siblings to kill one another for the throne. I rarely turn down a retelling of classic tales, especially ones that are filled with blood, guts, and gore, and you’ll find this is a doozy.

MANGA YOKAI STORIES: GHOSTLY TALES FROM JAPAN (SEVEN MANGA GHOST STORIES) BY SEAN MICHAEL WILSON, LAFCADIO HEARN, INKO AI TAKITA If you prefer an anthology type read, this manga is just for you. Most manga is serialized and some readers might not want to invest time reading a number of volumes. This manga is a collection of seven horror stories. Unlike the previous manga listed here, the humans in these stories are given a range of emotions besides being scared—believe it or not, some are even happy in these stories.

CIRQUE DU FREAK: THE MANGA, VOL. 1 BY DARREN SHAN AND TAKAHIRO ARAI When you combine evil creatures of the night, vampires, and the circus, you get a scary tale of friendship and gore. Darren (not to be confused with the author) comes across a vampire who is a circus performer, and that’s when things get bloody. In an effort to save his friend, Darren has to make a deathly decision that will change his entire life. This manga is, again, bloody, and it has a killer cliffhanger.

BLUE EXORCIST, VOL. 1 BY KAZUE KATO Rin has spent most of his life living with a famous exorcist named Father Fujimoto. When the two have a falling out, Father confesses that Rin has the blood of Satan in his veins. Rin decides that he wants to defeat Satan and in doing so he must become an exorcist himself. He enrolls in a school to hone his craft but soon discovers that a lot of spells he needs to do involves drawing his own blood. If Rin draws his own blood, he turns into a demon and will reveal his true identity to others.

D. GRAY-MAN, VOL. 1 BY KATSURA HOSHINO Allen Walker is an exorcist with a special arm that can be used as a weapon to fight off demons. He was picked by a divine group called the Innocence to fight the demon Akuma. However, the real villain is Millennium Earl who is turning people’s souls in these demons. If you have cyberpunk and goth needs alongside horror this is the manga for you. You’ll love the talking umbrella and the Victorian vibe.

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[dropintomanga]

Junji Ito Was Right - Get Some Sleep

Earlier this year, Junji Ito, probably the most well-known horror mangaka today, was at Toronto Comic Art Festival to meet and greet fans of his works. He talked about a bunch of things and one of his remarks made a big splash on the internet - which was about sleep.

Ito said that everyone should get enough sleep and that the best ideas come to you when you do sleep well.

Now as I’m personally going through a case of either sleep apnea or insomnia or maybe both, he has a damn good point.

Around spring of this year, my pet finch of 12 years died. Seeing his dead body bought me down to my knees and I was struggling to figure out what to do with him. I thought about cremation and then I learned how expensive it is to cremate a pet in New York City. Cremating a dog in my area costs $230 USD. My bird would cost probably $60. I wish I could have buried him, but the urban landscape of NYC doesn’t have good space for such a things compared to other parts of the U.S. I had to throw him away in the trash as I discussed the issue with my family. 

Since that incident, my sleep hygiene slowly fell off the map. I started waking up in the middle of the night after a dream. I didn’t think much of it at the start of it all. Then one night around August 2019, I woke up after a sudden dream and couldn’t go back to sleep. That’s when the constant waking became a problem. I rushed to see a neurologist who freaked me out, went to an ENT, and then to some sleep physician who suggested a sleep study (which I haven’t done yet).

In-between all of this, I’ve been struggling to look for answers on how to cope with my fractured sleep. Even though I keep my sleep schedule, the frequent wakings began to distract me. My head was racing, my heart was aching, and I just wanted to cry. 

I had two horrible dreams. One was about seeing children being used in some news report to draw attention to some tragedy. One of the child was shown crying, but their face was scary. I had some control and said it was fake news as in real life, I’m wary of how media outlets try to target our raw emotions with children to get views.

The 2nd nightmare involved a man who killed someone in front of my place. He killed that person with some electric powers. My dad said “I saw everything” and the killer decided to rush to my door. I locked the door right away, Then I woke up.

There was one good dream I had through all of this. I even wrote it all down on a journal. I was with some Asian girls who were all into anime and also my best friend. We all hung out in the Bay Area checking out anime-themed events. I was in a cosplay contest and beat a female cosplayer who was a bit of a drama queen. I asked one of the girls on how I managed to win and she said that I showed more genuine heart than my rival. I told the girls that we would have to part and they sounded sad. It had to be done as I woke up shortly thereafter.

That dream was wonderful because it meshed a lot of things I loved about life.

And I wonder how any of this frequent dreaming is any good. What I want to say is that sleep is important for anyone who has mental health issues. We’ve all been down that road where we think about what happened that hurt us and it seems like the road never ends. It keeps us up all day and night. Bad sleep can lead to depression and anxiety or magnifies them to a huge degree. 

I started to force myself to sleep. I kept asking myself “Why can’t I go to sleep?” I was telling myself to sleep because I need it. All that led to me just jumpy and my brain treating my bed like it was a chair to sit on, not a place to sleep. Please don’t treat sleep like it’s a job. I know it’s not easy as it feels like there’s so much to do with the limited time we have. I do think we have to change our perception of time and that’s another topic altogether.

Anyway, I’ve been doing research on sleep disorders for the sake of my mental health. I realize how crazy it is that people worship the idea of sleep being a problem. They equate rest with laziness when that’s not the truth. There’s also problems on the other side of the spectrum. People who want to emphasize good sleep talk about what happens when you don’t. They shout things like you will get cancer/diabetes/etc. Not getting enough sleep does do harm, but how does using a fright tactic really help anyone?

I know late night anime and gaming are big parts in some fans’ lives and will tell them to “go do you.” In fact, maybe they can help with sleep problems. There was one fun story I read in my research from a book called Sleepyhead where someone with cataplexy, a huge problem associated with narcolepsy where your body just crumbles from experiencing heavy emotion of any kind, actually does a pseudo-Dragon Ball Z Super Saiyan transformation method to deal with sudden cataplectic seizures. He closes his eyes, breathes in, yells and roles his eyeballs to the point of being dilated. The man also emphasized on keeping your ears open. He’s noted to be a unique person who had the ability to withstand and stop cataplexy when it strikes him.

Right now for me, I’m still trying to figure out what my sleep problem is. I’ve tried a bunch of things to some success and failure. I wonder if there’s more to the situation as I learned that some parts of my body might be flawed and my home environment may not exactly be the most comfortable. I don’t feel too compelled to blog because I’m scared I’m losing my memory due to lack of sleep. I do realize that my fears might be stretching it a bit as I’m writing this right now.

So please, if you’re working really hard to get ahead in life and sacrificing sleep for it, it’s not worth it or should I say, it’s worth not sacrificing sleep as you’ll get the much-needed energy of a young shonen protagonist who wants to move ahead as much you do. If you all have sleep problems and/or advice to share, feel free to share!

[pryngols]

“A story was a form of telepathy. By means of inking symbols onto a page, she was able to send thoughts and feelings from her mind to her reader’s. It was a magical process, so commonplace that no one stopped to wonder at it.” ― Ian McEwan, Atonement

2019 favorites shortlist

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2020 has been kind to you so far. As promised, here I am with my 2019 wrap-up. As you can tell from the above photo I had a tough time coming up with a strict Top 10 favorites. From my initial list of 40 I was able to narrow it down to 24, then down to just 10. It was really challenging but lots of fun, too. I am happy to report that I have been successful with my 2019 reading goals: 1) to read diverse authors and genre, 2) to reach my Goodreads goal of 100 books 3) to build my Netgalley profile and 4) to join blog tours.

I am a mood reader so this will be a diverse list. As a friend of mine once said, one can never know what I’ll be reading next. I hope you connect with some of my favorite books, too. Without further ado– presenting my Top 10 Favorite Reads of 2019, in no particular order:

  My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier – was absolutely stunning, the perfect mix of romantic gothic mystery. It’s a tragic but beautiful tribute to the female charm and power.

    Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff – a hypnotizing tale of a unique marriage between two very intense forces.  This book is on point about everything that a marriage is and is not. Though I found the first part a bit dragging at times, the second half of the book simply took my breath away. There is no love story like Lotto and Mathilde.

  This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone is a short but intense scifi read that leaves you wanting more. It’s an epistolary romance that surprised me with an unexpected level of passion.

  Everything Under by Daisy Johnson – as I have discussed on a previous post, this book is a heady meditation on language and memory, as we follow the story of a mother and daughter living on a boat by a river. It’s an intoxicating mix of folklore, contemporary and magical realism.

  In Cold Blood by Truman Capote – This book is more than your average crime thriller, not only because it is based on a true story, but because it is a lengthy meditation on a nation’s culture of violence, the insufficiency of justice systems, and explores the reader’s limits for empathy. ⁣

  Atonement by Ian McEwan –  is perhaps the saddest love story ever told. It’s simply beautiful, heartbreaking and unforgettable. The best thing about it is how the author used the form and structure of the novel to get his message across. Remarkable.

  Solanin (Solanin #1-2) by Inio Asano – though not as polished and sophisticated as some of Asano’s popular novels, this one has become my favorite among his works. The raw emotions and simplicity of style made the story not only more relatable but also showcased the artist’s storytelling prowess, without his usual embellisments.

  The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank – I honestly felt like I had a wonderful friend in Anne Frank while I was reading her writing, and it is such a privilege to be able to do so. These are thoughts of a brilliant young girl, way ahead of her time. I devoured all her entries as though I was the one who needs comfort, and not she. Though I knew how it all ends, I was not prepared with the amount of tears I shed on the last few pages.

  Miracle Creek by Angie Kim – is the book that surprised me the most this year. It is an intricate and soulful tale that will challenge the way we see humanity: its relationships, its sense of justice, and the consequences of our actions no matter how big or small. I talked about this in length here.

  The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson –  I love the build up of tension, the quiet sadness and the terror of human loneliness. It is one of those rare short stories collections wherein all of the stories are equally great, or at least wonderfully curated to make the whole thing a cohesive masterpiece. I talked more about this book here.

  Of course I just can’t limit my favorites to just 10 (I’m so sorry!) I still have a lot more to recommend, so here are some of the honorable mentions:

CRIME/THRILLERS

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Twisted by Steve Cavanagh

FANTASY 

Castle in the Air (Howl’s Moving Castle #2) by Diana Wynne Jones

A Hat Full of Sky (Discworld #32) by Terry Pratchett

GRAPHIC NOVELS 

Patience by Daniel Clowes

Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection by Junji Ito

Sleepwalk and Other Stories by Adrian Tomine

QUIET BLOCKBUSTERS – These titles are not so popular, and they are not action-packed or exciting or thrilling, but I love them for being beautifully and skillfully written, with exceptional insight to the human psyche.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

A Separation by Katie Kitamura

Rosalind by Judith Deborah

WORTH THE HYPE 

Illuminae series (The Illuminae Files) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

HARD TO READ FAVORITES – These titles are some of my most loved reads this year, and they did not make the Top 10 list only because they were not as effortlessly enjoyable as the others, and have taken me a lot longer to read. But they are definitely more than worth it.

The Vorrh (The Vorrh Trilogy #1) by Brian Catling

Fire & Blood (A Targaryen History #1) by George R.R. Martin

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

  Below are some screenshots from my favorite bookish tracking app/community Goodreads. If you are also a member there, let’s connect! Add me here.

  Some interesting statistics!

  I have read a total of 151 books. 151! My personal best. ⁣ ⁣ 2020’s goal is to actually read less. As much as I love reading, I think last year has been more of a therapy for me, a sort of escape from reality. 2019 is the worst year of the decade for me and my mental health. So I’d like to DO more this year. I’m hoping to do online courses, go back to running, travel, more projects!! Wish me luck.

I remember how when I first started my bookstagram and this book blog, one of my main reasons for doing so is that I wanted to have a platform where I can talk about books. Before all this, when I finish a book I just mark it as “Read” on Goodreads and then move on. I am somehow left with a feeling of loss because I knew I might eventually forget how or why I loved a certain novel. Currently, I am at least comforted by the fact that I now belong to a community that celebrates the same passion for reading, that always welcomes me when I have all sorts of book hangover. I can now say farewell (see you later!) with ease to these stories, and most importantly–I don’t feel so alone anymore.

All I am trying to say is thank you for being here and for tolerating my bookish obsession. Being a part of the bookish and blogging communities has not only motivated me to read more, but has also encouraged me to do more of what I love. I have learned how to be comfortable with my own thoughts, and to be more open to other’s as well.

⁣I appreciate each and every one of you. Care to share some of your 2020 goals, bookish or not? Let’s chat in the comments! 🥂⁣

    Princess & Pages Year in Books 2019 “A story was a form of telepathy. By means of inking symbols onto a page, she was able to send thoughts and feelings from her mind to her reader's.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Grimms Notes 1 | Spec Ops Asuka 1 - 2 | Boogiepop 3 | Price of Smiles 2 - 3 | Kaguya-sama 1 | Mob Psycho II 2 | Morose Mononokean II 2 - 3 | Shield Hero 2 | My Roommate is a Cat 2 | Girly Air Force 1

Grimms Notes 1

Somehow, from the opening shot having an easy-to-draw-and-animate non-very-threatening monster, I can tell this is a game adaption.

…Likwise, when I have complaints about the birds in the OP being CG, you know this is an anime.

I think this “handing down the role of Red Riding Hood” thing is interesting. However, the humour Tao was going for at the time…was so not me.

I think all Tao said was that it was dangerous (in the audio). I think the subber was trying to insert a Zelda meme…what an evil agenda…(partially joking)

“…scary black thing…” – Do you mean the monster? If you mean the wolf monster and not the other clawed creature from the beginning of the episode, then that’s not black. That’s purple.

I think Brain’s Base is trying to make Red look creepy with her dead ahead stare, but…as much as I don’t like a fisheye lens, we could really use some right now.

Okayyyyyyyyyy…I knew anime could make anything a weapon, but a bookmark? That’s stretching credulity a bit. How is that badass??? C’mon, even healing was – kinda – badass in Merc Storia because it had a purpose. A bookmark is just used for keeping your place in a book. Unless it’s one of those metal ones that falls out of books all the time, they don’t hurt flies.

Seriously, doesn’t Goliath get defeated by David??? In better news, I thought Tao was vaguely hot, but Robin Hood…ooh…

I have no idea why Alice’s weapon is a sword, btw.

Waitttttt…wuh? “I’ll show you how to be a real lady”???? *eyes of skepticism* At least the other ones make sense and aren’t as gendered – but notably Cinderella is a healer when they could’ve done something cooler, like the Little Mermaid or something (to tie into siren mythology).

Obviously Evil Villain is Obvious. Nothing new to see here.

Well…that was mildly unsatisfying…

Spec Ops Asuka 1

For some reason, I call Magical Girl Special Operations Asuka “Spec Ops Asuka”. Well, at least it makes sense…*shrugs*

Karambit. Surprisingly, it’s a weapon I’ve never heard of before…

Exposition dumps have never been this clunky before! Oof!

Whiskey Charlie? Like…WC? Toilet??? (I’m not sure everyone will get that joke, but okay.)

I’d probably translate the episode title to “Comeback of the Magical Girl”. It starts with a relative clause, so it should be that way in English too.

The ol’ transfer student cliché. *sigh* Anime, anime, anime…why you do dis to me? Not that I mind it, I wouldn’t be so deep if I weren’t…

What’s the name of Nozo-chan’s friend again???

“Franz on the Waves” seems to be a play on “Kafka on the Shore”.

Le sigh…I get the feeling this was written by a dude to satisfy male fantasies by pretending to use girl power as a symbol.

Seriously though, if you thought Sailor Moon was bad at keeping identities…Asuka has it worse. I mean, Rapture Asuka = Asuka Ootori. It’s really obvious in English…

A thug man with a metal hand drinking tea from a tiny cup…now there’s a real source of humour!

(Trigger warning: prostitution discussion) - “…whoring yourself out.” – Err…that’s definitely not what I expected to see in an anime like this. I haven’t shied away from Shield Hero, but this I did a really big double take on for all the wrong reasons. Even with Sayoko to hold Nozo-chan back, I still think Nozo’s being really, really insensitive here.

Okay…the rules of long hair state you must pull your hair out from towels. They missed a good opportunity to do that shoujo sparkle thing with that, y’know, even if to create mood whiplash.

There is something to be said about bystander effect here, I think, and how people award proactivity rather than being passive...especially with magical girls and those other kinds of people who act as “heroes” during times of crisis.

Oh, of course, terrorism. Because we want our magical girls political now…*le sigh*

“Live your life for the sake of those who died.” – This reminds me of the situation with cian-aemilian all over again. I’m pretty sure I’ve said something of a similar nature in the past due to it. Update: my exact quote was “…what can the living do but keep those who have gone in their memory?”

…and of course, people who watch magical girls from afar use drones, because that’s going to outdate this show in a good 10 – 20 years. *le sigh*

Well, colour me impressed. I was about to jump ship due to the shoddy quality, but I think that quote at the end felt like a dig at me personally in the best (yet worst) way possible.  I did laugh a tonne at how stupid the gore looked, though, which might be a problem…

Boogiepop 3

Is it just me, or has Echoes cleaned up now enough to be kinda…hot?

Waittttt…which of them is “Niitoki-kun”? Sorry, I just don’t think I’m 100% comprehending all the names being flung about here. Update: Niitoki is the class prez gal.

Somehow I knew he was going to stab Echoes with the pen, but I was still slightly surprised to see it happen.

Hmm…that episode was a lot more impressive than the last two. Things actually made sense, now that we know the background of them,

Price of Smiles 2

I see 2D mechs. They may be stationary, but I’m still impressed…they’re basically a dying breed these days.

Why do these mechs have shields, anyway?

I like how the twins poked fun at Joshua’s “passion and will” thing.

Oh no…judging from their reaction…did Joshua die???

End of episode segment…keep watching.

Kaguya-sama 1

This is my final premiere…so I’d better make this count. I read somewhere the narrator was overpowering and read the first volume of manga, but otherwise that’s all I know about this.

I think that shot that replays in the OP is part of one chapter of the manga.

Tori…Tottori…geddit? Oh, never mind.

20th Century Fox, much?

The weed was a good touch. I don’t remember that being in the manga. (No, I’m not talking about that weed…which you can smoke…)

“Who’s Hayasaka?” you ask. Good question. Even I didn’t know, so I had to ask Google. Hayasaka…is Kaguya’s valet! If you know that, then you can laugh about it!

If you want a sausage octopus, just go ask your team of chefs for one, Kaguya!

Mob Psycho II 2

I’m pretty sure Ura Sunday is where Mob Psycho is serialised…

Is this the real Junji Ito adaption (LOL)?

Mononokean II 2

Why is Ashiya good at finding metal objects anyway? (If there is an explanation…) It’s only metal items and not anything else, right?

So the Justice is this frumpy purple-haired dude? I think I outgrew this kind of dude once I got over Urushihara…

There are CGI tadpoles, but they’re kinda hard to see against the 2D background…

Come to think of it, Abeno may be the master of the Mononokean, but it seems he reports directly to the Legislator. Is there a guy/youkai like that for the Justice (and presumably the other dude) as well?

Moja falling into the water was too adorable!

Oh great (LOL), the Legislator is basically baiting Abeno with “that’s not water!” from Grand Blue…

I just realised Abeno’s so big in comparison to Ashiya…n-not that I mind of course…(lel)

Aoi? Who dat? Update: Oh yeah…that guy (?) was the first master of the Mononokean. Sorry, I may have watched the 1st series twice, but that was at the start of 2017.

Shield Hero 2

“…is diseased and has a mental disorder.” – Well, I thought it honestly couldn’t get any worse, between slavery and rape accusations. It just did. Again, I don’t condone this stuff, but a story’s a story, no matter how depraved.

Seeing a story about the pits of despair naturally means you can see people get better – I think that’s why we need to have both stories that are light and fluffy + dark and dreary.

I see Naofumi keeps a Balloon (<- how I’ll refer to balloon monsters from now on) at his side all the time now, LOL. By the way, when he bought that ball, I honestly thought he was going to offer Raphtalia a Balloon instead of getting her a proper ball…

Update: Not sure if Naofumi’s inability to taste stuff is because of the betrayal or because of the fact he changed worlds…or maybe even something else?

My Roommate is a Cat 2

I see Bliss wallpaper...either someone has good taste in default wallpapers or a very outdated computer!

Is it alright to feed cats bread…? I’ve never fed a cat.

They say pets are like their owners, huh? Subaru is very much like the cat.

Wait, why are all the pets that are out and about do-Update: Forget I asked. There are some cats outside as well…

I’ve never seen a Japanese word processor with genkouyooshi to type into vertically, come to think of it.

Talking to cats is fine and dandy, I think, assuming they understand you as well. Anyways, I think Subaru got the name “Haru” from “sunny” (hare).

Ah! Kitty too cute!...I wish that could be a review, but sadly…it can’t be.

Post-credits segment…keep going.

Oh, that post-credits segment was so good, even if it did need some explaining to an audience that only knows English!

Update: I read the character bios from the official site, and turns out Haru is a girl.

Girly Air Force 1

I’ve seen mixed opinions about this (as in, read too many impressions on it and they don’t neatly go one way or another), so I’m taking the plunge while I still have time to.

You can tell your protagonist is great when the first word he says is “S***!”

EGG? “Defective girl”? I know I’m watching something with a lot of context here…but seriously, this was definitely made for dudes. Jusssssssssssst saying.

See? What did I say? After your first kiss, it’s only a matter of time before-erhem. I’ll stop ranting now.

So…what languages does Minghua know, exactly?

Wait, so what was Kei doing in China? Better question! (sings in a teasing voice “Eloping, eloping, Kei was eloping!”)

As much as I think free tuition is a good thing…I’m with Minghua. Don’t go risking your life when you just escaped for your life not too long ago.

*sigh* Kei, Kei, Kei…what do you think you’re doing?

…and I LOL. I LOL so hard at how they tossed Kei into the boot but laid down Minghua like a baby.

But seriously, why the name “Daughter”???

Egao no Daika 3

I found and heard Huey! I can leave this show if I wanted to now…

The fact people are red or blue, and sometimes you can’t tell which is which, is powerful colour symbolism.

Spec Ops Asuka 2

Well…that (perception magic) explains one of my questions from last time.

I kep thinking that Sayako is the sort of girl who would become a magical girl…in the traditional sense.

Pigeon fight! The fight I never knew I needed…kind of.

I’ve watched enough anime to know the new transfer student is Kurumi…geez.

Mononokean II 3

For some reason, I didn’t realise this until most of the episode had gone…but Egen is a tengu, right?

Make sure you watch closely for the “like him [Ashiya]” bit…it’s funny when you find out.

I find it the most surprising that Abeno is calling himself an idiot…hmm.

[victeux]

Tagged By: @carnivorarium​ like MONTHS ago peace,, Tagging: wanna do it? do it just do it

MUN-RELATED

Name: Cano. that’s it Nickname: CANO Age: 18 Faceclaim: whatever random icon i have, Pronouns: she/her Height: 5′5″ i ain’t short i ain’t tall Birthday: September 2nd Aesthetic: AnythI fucking LOVE Hello Kitty but at the same time that dank Junji Ito aesthetic you feel me??? Last song you listened to: Catgroove by Parov Stelar Favorite Muse You’ve Written: shockingly my fav muse to WRITE is Kasa i mean what a cute horrible child??? she’s fun to write

MUSE-RELATED

What inspired you to take on the muse you’re posting about?: Hm well she’s originally from an old RP group I was involved in for a long time, so when I decided to make this blog it was just obvious that I was going to put her on it. She’s easy for my to write, she’s almost always awake and ready to party. A nice muse to have when the rest are all angsty assholes that may or may not want to participate every day.

What are your favorite aspects about them?: I love how loving she is. Like, I hardly tell people this because of how intimidating it can be, but do you know how quickly she considers people friends and loves them and cares about them? After three threads, she is probably to that point. It’s probably a mix of her being lonely and her craving attention, but either way her amount of love is just insane. Also, as mentioned, how easily she comes to me as a muse. Her unnecessary bravery is pretty funny to me too, I guess I like it since it makes it to where she can have a thread with almost any kind of muse? A monster? Yeah, she’d chat. A literal demon God or whatever? Chat like it’s a normal Wednesday. She’s just so easy to throw at any muse, she doesn’t have any issues talking to anyone.

What are your least favorite aspects about them?: CAN SHE STOP BEING SUCH AN ANNOYING PERSON PLEASE??? Like, she can talk to anyone, but you know what else she can do? TALK THEIR EARS OFF AND MAKE THEM HATE HER. THIS IS WHY YOU DON’T HAVE ThAT MANY FRIENDS. How she doesn’t care for herself as much as she should pisses me off sometimes, because she seriously places herself so low on the “worth” scale as compared to those she considers her friends. Another thing is how horny she is on some days, like seriously honey you’re CUTE no one wants to fuck you, sorry go back to your corner of CUTE and NOT-FUCKABLE PEOPLE. Out of all of my OCs, she is the horniest. But she’s not fuckable. She just. DOES NOT UNDERSTAND.

Biggest inspiration for writing them: Anything. If I had to choose something, it’d be anything that makes her excited. Like. Some Youtube videos? She’ll see something she likes and she is UP. She’s just inspired by everything.

Favorite types of threads with them: Threads in which she can talk a lot and not have to shut up are pretty fun to me. But, on the other hand, THREADS WHERE SHE HAS GOTTEN HERSELF INTO ACTUAL TROUBLE AND DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO GET OUT OF IT HAVE MY HEART. No one ever wants to hurt her, and that is SO FRUSTRATING because I just. I know this sounds horrible, but her getting hurt is 10/10 My Aesthetic. She’s never been hurt on this blog. She has NEVER been physically harmed on purpose in any way that I can remember on this blog. WHY??? I HAVE NO CLUE. I WANNA MAKE IT HAPPEN THOUGH. The closest she’s ever gotten to getting hurt was with a vampire, but even then SOMEHOW she didn’t get hurt. HOW. HOW WOMAN HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO NOT GET HURT. I think she just talks until people get sick of it and leave? I don’t know. But that’s a thread that would really butter my eggroll.

Biggest struggle with them: WHY DOES SHE DO SO MUCH SHIT AND EXCEPT NOTHING TO HAPPEN TO HER. THAT’S WHY I WANT HER TO GET HURT ONE DAY, BECAUSE MAYBE THEN SHE’D REALIZE THAT HER ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES. Not that she ever does anything bad, I don’t think she necessarily would DESERVE to get hurt. That’s me being a horrible mun. But the fact that she does so much, she knowingly talks to dangerous people, she knowingly talks to monsters and vampires and werewolves and serial killers and gods and aliens, but she doesn’t get hurt? The fact that she doesn’t realize how dangerous it is and, even worse, that she doesn’t realize how much she’s worth is just so frustrating. Contrary to popular belief, I do love her, and I’ll hurt with her if she’s ever hurt, but GOD DAMN someone needs to hurt her so she may stop and think about not talking to that shady woman in the forest with the nasty sharp teeth and scaley skin. The worst thing about it is that if she DID get hurt, she would think it was deserved and she did something wrong to have it happen to her. And she actually does in canon, which leads to the big issue. It’s so FRUSTRATING OH MY GOD.

[olde-scratch]

the amount of detail youre putting into this....... my version was definitely designed to be some poorly thought out 2000s live action monster-of-the-day show villain, yours reads like a 2020s reboot (IN A GOOD WAY)

wait omg consider... we each take the same animatic idea for dokushi (like creating a villain to fight ciderman) and we both chose like dif songs and made our own animatics for it......... like im not saying it would be done in a timely manner but what if yk. what if.

black magic keeping him going after so long..... while i fully doubt that the showrunners would care enough to go too deep into him, imagine all the fans that would write angst fics of him based on this??? like holy shit i might have to write myself something like this because of how cool this would be. i love writing fake forums and stuff so imagine if i just. yk. learned some HTML and formatted something like that. idk. maybe. im not gonna do it girl im just thinkin about it im not gonna do it 😐 (< this is the face of someone who is going to do it)

also i see you with the chronic lung disease and i raise you: ive been doing research on chronic lung issues for an atla fic and while that character ended up having asthma. chronic lung issues 👀

i dont think theres a single souichi fan that's deluded themself into believing he's cool (unless they're fucking weird about him but those people don't exist in my world <3)

it almost feels like an insult to megamind to compare dokushi/souichi to him but in all fairness, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can offer greatness.

dont remind me of all the ciphersonas </3 i made my own when i was like 12-13 and made a custom mc skin and everything before i lost access to that account so now its just always there HAUNTING me.

FUCKIN BASEMENT DWELLER SOUICHI LMAO. imagine that his parents (not misako and shuji but like knockoff misako and shuji) live in a perfectly normal house aboveground and they invite ciderman in thinking he's shiera's buddy meanwhile he's in their basement (which is already uncommon in Japanese homes i think) running their electric bill ragged...... he's not a teenager or anything he just cant be bothered to move out (and i think it would be funny if dokushi was really fond of his parents, hed prob still be defensive like souichi but yk. comedy.)

also HEY NO FAIR YOU DONT GET TO BEAT ME TO THE PUNCH FOR MAKING A SOUICHI ANIMATIC 😡 THIS IS TREASON. now i gotta find a song for him how DARE you.

This is the longest I’ve drawn consecutively. I got BIG motivation..

His sodasona is mostly done? I think? I’ll debate on whether or not to do lineart.

@olde-scratch wanted to see my version so here it is ‼️

(Hope the ping doesn’t bother)

Omg wth I need to fix his shoulder bye