#I own the hardcover of the volume one

[sing-me-under]

Now that I’m finally catching up on reading the comics with Damian, I think I must admit that he’s probably my favorite bat boy. I want to hug him. He deserves a hug. Stephanie is still my favorite bat all around, but Stephanie AND Damian together just makes me very happy.

[reimenaashelyee]

TCM 10th Anniversary

I haven't been very online and posting much art as of late, due to a surprising number of OBLIGATIONS (teaching gigs, job-hunting and catching up with lots of other comics work, which includes what I am gonna talk about in this post) and some disillusionment about posting art on platforms.

Some of you are gonna be shocked by this but 2026 is going to mark 10 years since I posted the first page of The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiniyya on my webcomic's website. This is a pretty big meaningful event to me -- TCM is my first ever completed graphic novel and the reason why I am able to have a comics career now. So obviously I want to celebrate it big and wrap my journey with TCM with a nice fancy extravagant bow.

I've been wanting to do a full FINAL remaster of all of 600 pages of the comic. Not so much revamping the art because I already did a lot of art fixes for the hardcover print editions, and I am still pretty chill about how everything looks! More like updating the lettering (again), correcting colours, fixing the dialogue and strengthening the themes between books, and presenting the entire two-book series at the best it could be. I learned a lot about the realities/logistics of publishing and making comics since I finished TCM, so I'm excited to be redeeming the webcomic sins of my naive past self and update TCM to the current standard of the rest of my author catalogue.

Right now I'm about 3/4 of the way of remastering the 600 pages. So close!! But I want to talk about the stuff I've already done for it!

Everything's under the cut if you are keen to hear me yap.

First thing I did for the remaster is a complete revamp of the title design. I designed the original in late 2015 - early 2016 when the webcomic began to form and never changed it. But the 10th anniversary means I can pull all the stops and go wild, especially now that I have improved in terms of design and all the skills needed to make a historical comic.

The old title was meant to evoke Ottoman calligraphic brushscript without being too cheesy. I carried this over in the new one - I still don't want it to be cheesy and I'd prefer to evoke the feel rather than the look of Ottoman/Arabic calligraphy, since the Eastern calligraphic arts (by this I mean non-Latin script. i.e China and Japan are also equally sophisticated) is no joke and I'd prefer not to attempt replicating linguistic brushstokes and patterns for Aesthetique. Not to mention Latin letters don't lend themselves to Eastern calligraphy very well.

Luckily, Latin calligraphy already exists. I wanted to include more of the 18th century English stylings of the comic into the title, and for this I looked at English Roundhand/Copperplate and the French Ronde. Lots of curlicues and flourish. The outcome is this more condensed almost stamp-like design.

The second thing I did is the book cover. I am not really sure what the final cover will look like as it's dependent on whether I get a publisher for this edition of TCM - but I've made a mockup for now!

The 10th anniversary cover has more of the Ottoman carpet influence compared to the previous covers for TCM. I'm thinking of weaving in the Rococo S-and-C leaf scrolls and other motifs into the cover too. We will see!

The third thing I did is update as many of the Turkish marbled pages as possible.

So Volume I has a fair number of marbled backgrounds - but I didn't have a lot of resources back then, so I drew all of those pages digitally. It's not authentic, per se, but it worked.

As part of the remastering, I want to emphasise the imperfect, hand-drawn, there's-a-person-behind-this feel of TCM. Not to say the personnage wasn't there before, but I wanted MORE of that, especially given the AI nonsense that's happening for the past 2 years.

So this time I went to a Turkish marbled pages workshop, taught by an ebru master (shoutout to Eslem at Anatolia Art Studio), to make my own pages ... the traditional way!

I made 6 prints, and they will be appearing in some shape or form in the final remaster. The first image at the top of this post - which is the title page - is one of those prints! The marbled pages aren't perfect - there is so much technical skill involved in transferring the prints from plastic container to paper, and I bunged that part up too much lol - but that fits the point of TCM as a project? It's all me, it's all the artist's handiwork, and it's imperfect, but that's what allows the love to show.

The fourth and final thing I will be yapping about is the actual remastering work.

Top is the 10th anniversary 2025 remaster. Bottom is 2016 version.

The differences are not that extravagant - any tweaks I am doing, including the relettering, is for consistency and clarity.

Mainly I just wanted to fix the colour sins I committed in the past. In 2016 I didn't have any idea what printing a comic entails and would require - so I naively coloured everything in RGB... and failed to consider how dark colours will print in a CMYK space and on paper... and there are a lot of DARK COLOUR SCENES!!!

Top is the 2025 fix. Bottom is the original.

You can imagine how poorly the original printed on paper. :)

It took me a month and a half to work on Volume I, as I had to reletter everything and implement so many colour fixes. Luckily Volume II has been easy, and with any luck I will be done with this project in March.

I am considering rerunning the webcomic at some point! Sound off if you want to reread TCM again. :3c

[despairat6oclock]

flustered james x male reader ? 👉👈

You gave me too much freedom with this anon....MWAHAHAHA

Falling for Fiction

Synopsis: two book lovers get their own dose of their favorite type of fiction.

masc! Reader x James Marriott

Word Count: 773

Contains: fluff

Warnings: my dream meet-cute.

[m.list]

The weather held a chill that nipped at your nose and sung in your ears. The slight breeze whistling through your hair.

It was the brightest time of day, and you took advantage of the additional add of warmth. Walking to the bookstore right not too far from your flat.

It wasn't a big franchised store. A single mom-and-pop pop-up that has been around longer than you'd even lived in the area.

The store wasn't big in capacity either. The isle only spread enough for one person at a time to comfortably gaze at the beautiful array of stories offered.

You had called earlier, the old lady at the front knowing you by name. Your favorite romance author had just released a new addition to your favorite series, and you just needed to get your hands on it. Even though you would devour its contents by dinner time tonight.

Although, it didn't seem you were the only one. Reaching up, index finger tilting the book’s spine back. A warm, soft hand develops your own. Eyes widening as you look up to another man towering over you; the same flustered look as yours dawning on his features.

Black wired glasses perched on his nose, chocolate hair waved around his forehead and a beautiful flushed smile that enhanced his features with a beautiful light.

A sly smile caresses your lips, your finger sliding down the book's spine as you lean against the bookcase with crossed arms.

“Trying to have your own little meet-cute?”

You tease the gorgeous man, who looks down at his feet as his arms fall to his sides.

“I thought you were reaching for the book besides it.”

“Volume four? I already read it six months ago when it came out.”

You flaunt, head leaning against the hardcover books as the pink cover you both desire looms over you both.

Head lifting as he gazes over your form, a more shy smile lifting the edges of his mouth.

“You're a fan of the series?"

“Obviously, so I clearly deserve-”

The man cuts you off, lips lifting into a teasing grin.

“I met her before.”

“What!”

You exulted, a laugh bubbling at your throat.

“Yeah,” he proudly smiled. “So I obviously deserve it more.”

“What's your name anyways?”

You inquired, rolling your shoulders as you more fully against the shelf.

“James.”

“Y/N.”

You followed, analyzing more about the man in front of you.

James wore a tan overcoat, white turtleneck peeking out along with some forest green trousers. It was like he was a walking Pinterest board of the perfect guy in a bookshop like this one.

“The coffee here's great, you know.”

You hint, looking back up at him. The book above you momentarily forgotten.

“Really?”

James tints his head, arms mimicking yours as he crosses them.

“You've never had it?”

“I'm new to the area, first time here.”

An embarrassing giggle leaves your body before you bite your lip.

“What's your favorite story?”

James wondered, more out loud than he intended. Internally, his mind is searching for every answer to categorize you.

“Like in general? I love a good lovelorn, star-crossed lovers trope.”

“You're a masochist”

James guffawed, before fixing his tone with an awkward tone.

“Just a little.”

You replied, a dose of suggestiveness in your voice that sprinkled James' cheeks with pink.

Reaching over you, James grabs the book you both were here for. Gently flipping and caressing the pages.

“So, are you from the area, then?”

James inquires, his palm laying flat at one of the open pages.

“Yeah”

You hum with amused eyes, your interest peaked with what this man might suggest.

“Maybe you can show me around the best parts of town,”

He starts, slipping the front cover of the book shut with a final look before softly grabbing one of your hands and molding it around the book.

“And maybe I can borrow it after you're done.”

He finishes with a nod, a bright glowing blushed dusting his cheeks before he turns and walks out of the crowded aisle before you could get a word out.

When your mind finishes processing what had just occurred, you jolt up. Searching for James with no avail.

So, you continue your mission to the front count with a slight lump and jump in your heart.

It wasn't until you were curled up on your couch, coffee on the table. Frost dancing designs on your balcony glass door. A record scratching symphonies softly in the back when those few digits scratched and black pen fall out the cover of your new book. James' name at the very top.

[sweater-daddiesdumbdork]

So I have been down the rabbit whole that is doom scrolling and I came across a bunch of booktok bf trends and girls asking there man to try them. Backwards hat lean in the door way growl those kinds of things.

Does Honey ever ask Curtis to recreate an innocent scene from a book like that? Does she ask for a not so innocent scene like the mask from read your book?

It has me curious… How would Curtis respond and how flustered does it leave Honey not only to ask but then have him do it?

I love this couple so much thank you for sharing them with us! They are such a Comfort!!!

Curtis x Honey Drabble

Warnings- Suggestive. This is an 18+ Only Blog.

Your fingers thrummed against your book, the cover a tantalizing display of danger and desire. And that was just the damn cover, the rest of the inside...

If you weren't a seasoned pro at reading smut in public, this would have made you blush. But instead, it made you think of other things, things that made you feel a bit heated, squirming in your seat on the couch while you studied, Curtis sitting in his reading chair not too far away.

His reading glasses on meant that his focus was currently on his own book, the heavy hardcover easily held in his hand as if it weighed nothing.

Curtis's comfy grey sweats and a tank that showed off his muscled shoulders and upper arms, offering peeks of his tattoos while also letting his chain hang free where he normally confined it in his shirt, were thoroughly distracting, though. As well as the vibration of your phone next to you.

You knew what it was. You, Claude, Yona and Ella had been in a four way group chat sending each other reels and tiktoks all week. Booktok was becoming the highlight dominating the conversation lately.

Maybe it's just been to long for me since I've been laid, but this does something to me. Ella wrote with an attached video. You were sure to keep the volume down, but watched it a couple of times. "The ladies sending you wholesome ideas again?" The sudden sound of Curtis's voice made you glance up at him over the phone, a knowing look with a grin making you bite your bottom lip, smirking a bit. You've shown him a few, the two of you testing the idea of maybe playing one of them out together.

"Nope..." You flung the phone aside without elaborating and pushed yourself to a stand, hand outstretched for his. "But I can teach you what they have sent me." Your fingers wiggled enticingly, and he grasped your hand and pulled you instead into his lap, wrapping you in his arms while he nuzzled your neck with his beard.

"You gonna give me a lesson, Miss Y/L/N? I always had a thing for the teacher." He nipped the little sensitive spot that had you feeling flushed before he eased you up, easily keeping you wrapped in his arms while letting you lead him where you want him to go, right to the floor to celeing bookcase lining the livingroom wall.

"Then you are going to love this Curtis." You placed your back to the bookcase and tugged him to stand in front of you. "Okay so-" You grasped his wrist and lifted it just over your head and made him lean his forearm against the shelf. "So... normally this is done in the doorway, like you leaning in against it and pinning me in place, but... I like the bookshelf better." You tilted your head to look up at him, biting your lip again at the position it had you two in. "And that's all there really is to it."

"Hmm, seems simple enough." His other hand skimmed up the side of your thigh to rest against your waist, where he squeezed assuredly. "But I feel like we can do better, Pretty Girl." His mouth ghosted against yours before stepping away.

"Can I record it? Just for us?" You flashed your phone, and Curtis held out his hand for it, which you didn't hesitate to let slide into his palm.

"Of course, Pretty Girl, you know I wanna watch it later." He got it angled just right and before you knew it Curtis was stalking towards you, suddenly feeling bigger and slightly intimidating in a way that made you feel hot and bothered, your steps slightly staggered back, your head tilting back to look up at him till he was in your space, his hand quickly snaking around to your back to keep you from bumping to hard against the shelves but his other one leaning over your head, bringing him over you and leaning in closer.

With his hand at the small of your back, he could pull your lower body in against his while he continued to lean in closer, his forehead leaning to yours. Lips finding yours, his kiss turned addictive as you fell into it, letting him give as much as he wanted before pulling away. "So something like this, Pretty Girl?"

"Y-yeah." You blinked up at him and let your hands run up his firm chest before exhaling with a grin. "Just like that." He stepped away again, and you moved past him for your phone when a hand grasped the back of your neck, swinging you back into place. Once more, your back hit the bookshelf, a bit harder this time with a surprised oof sound, and he once more leaned his arm over your head, claiming the space with his presence. This time his hand against the back of your neck lifted your head up, tilting your face till he could place a truly breathtaking kiss on you. His tongue claimed yours, and a sultry moan escaped, that he inhaled. His taunt body was pressed against yours, hot and solid against your soft curves.

Your hands fisted into his shirt for something to hold onto, completely forgetting the game you two were playing. You arched into him for more till his fingers delved into the hair close to your scalp, tugging enough to break you apart from him, both of you panting.

You knew you must have looked disheveled, totally caught by surprise. Wide-eyed, you looked up at him, seeing a sense of accomplishment flashing in his blue eyes, the tips of his ears a bright red, and you knew if you were to see the back of his neck, a blush would be creeping up it. "That was an A-plus effort, Curtis." You whispered, giggling as you let your grip loosen, but damned it he was done, cause his hands fit on the back of your thighs, lifting you so your legs immediately wrapped around his waist and his chest pressed against yours to pin you to the book shelf, both of you eye level.

You could also feel how hard he was pressing against your core, which you couldn't resist rocking yourself against him. A deep rumbling groan escaped him, his gaze turning dark and wanting. "I feel like extra credit is needed. How about I make you come like this Pretty Girl?"

*************************************************************

I love these videos and have often pictured them recording themselves doing the challenges. Curtis is always happy to get his Honey all flustered for him, plus seeing you happy is such a turn-on for him.

And as far as masked games, oh, absolutely. A game of cat and mouse might be in order for them, chase through the house, or maybe through the woods? Curtis can bring a mask on a camping trip Im gonna send them on.

Oof, what kind of mask do you see Curtis wearing?

I think that Honey would be so much more open to asking for these kinds of moments with Curtis, as he encourages them. I have mentioned before that Curtis makes a point to read Honey's books as well. Not all of them, but if he sees her taking a special interest in one, he is sure to check it out for himself.

It will always make her flustered, but it will get easier to ask for it. The results? Either giggling at the silliness or turned on and unable to keep their hands off one another. The best times is when it's both those reactions at once.

Thank you so much for your ask! It makes me so happy to see other people want them to have these moments for Curtis and Honey as much as I do.

[cripplecharacters]

i'm debating giving one of my OCs strabismus exotropia. the work/story is YA SFF. part of my reasoning is he's one of two characters in the group who's the Brains, his specialty being history and languages, and his magic relates to mind reading and telekinesis, and i know too often characters with eye differences are portrayed as the opposite of smart. one of his big hobbies is reading and i know strabismus can affect it bc of focus/headaches, so i thought maybe reading/being fluent in braille could help him engage in his hobby when actual reading is getting on his nerves / refer to his amblyopic eye as his "permanent side eye" as he can be quite critical of others sometimes. his personality is being smug but normally right and very sure of himself (though not without his insecurities), he's seen as a bit of a Pretty Boy (handsome), and is the youngest of his group of friends so they do look out for and protect him a bit more. is there anything else i should look out for, or any way i may be playing into tropes i'm unaware of? he's also queer (gay) and brown (pakistani coded) if that helps any provide context, and has an antagonistic bickering but genuine friendship with another boy (the other brains) that eventually develops into a romance

Hello!

In general, this sounds like a perfectly fine character concept and there's nothing about his personality/portrayal that's immediately jumping out at me. He sounds like a well rounded character, which is something I'm very glad to see!

One thing I would like to mention is that, while braille may be a useful tool for him at times, it's not likely to be a feasible solution for his day-to-day life.

Braille books aren't like regular printed books, there are quite a few differences that make them much more difficult to use:

Size:

Braille books aren't easy to carry around. With the possible exception of some smaller children's books, most are pretty thick and VERY heavy. In fact, many braille books are split up into several separate volumes for this reason.

To put the difference into perspective, let's look at The Fellowship of the Ring (The first Lord of the Rings book).

A standard printed copy generally weighs around 1.5 lbs, give or take a bit if it's a hardcover. A braille copy of the same book weighs over 15 lbs.

This printed copy has 432 pages including pages for spacing, author's notes, etc. The braille copy has 873, not including any non-text pages.

The physical dimensions of braille vs printed books also differs greatly. While a printed copy of The Fellowship of the Ring may easily fit in a small bag or even a pocket, the braille copy is around the size of a standard three ring binder (In terms of length and width at least).

This is all to say that taking a braille book with him out on the go wouldn't exactly be a simple task and, because of how braille is read, reading on the bus or on a park bench or anywhere that isn't a flat surface without disruption wouldn't be a possibility.

Cost:

Aside from the problems with physically reading and using braille books, it's also very difficult to acquire them in the first place. Braille books are EXPENSIVE.

Depending on the availability of the book, the size, and the popularity, a single braille novel can go for anywhere from 50$ to well over 300$ (In Canadian dollars).

The hardcover printed copy of The Fellowship of the Ring mentioned before costs around 25$ (Again, in Canadian dollars). The braille version ranges from around 150$ to 225$ depending on the type of braille.

And if your character wants to request a less popular book, it can still be pretty expensive. There's a wide range of factors that can affect the cost and it varies so wildly that it's hard to get a reliable estimate but they could be looking at anywhere between 5$ - 50$ per page.

Although some libraries may have braille books and there are several virtual libraries for the blind with braille books, it can still get very pricey for them to build up their own collection.

Availability:

In part because of this cost, there is a very low availability of braille titles compared to printed titles.

If your character is into more popular books like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or some of the classics, they'll have little issues finding a copy.

Beyond that, unfortunately, they'd be out of luck. If a book isn't incredibly well known, it's a very slim chance of there being a braille version. Likewise, there's also very low chances of finding more recent releases.

Even one of my old favourites, The Perks of Being a Wallflower -- which was written around ten years ago and is fairly popular, doesn't have any braille copies.

While it is possible to get a book printed in braille for yourself, the costs of it can get quite high (As shown above) and it's not generally an option that people go for.

Durability:

The last point I want to make is that braille books don't last as long as printed books. Although braille is read with a light touch, the braille does get worn down over time.

Library books in particular are an unfortunate victim to this. Because so many different people are borrowing the books, they often get worn down much quicker. This can be because of new braille readers using a harsher touch when reading or it could be because of improper storage, either from the readers or from the library itself. It's less likely that somebody will notice when the braille is worn down.

The braille itself isn't the only concern. A lot of braille books are bound differently than printed books are and often use plastic for the bindings, which requires more care than the usual bindings of printed books. I've included an example of what a braille book may look like below.

[Image Description: A braille copy of The Fellowship of the Ring. It is open to a tactile map of Middle Earth. The binding is made of small, circular pieces of plastic, similar to a notebook of sorts. End ID.]

Now, this all isn't to say that he can't use braille books -- these are just some things to consider. And if you do choose to go in a different direction, may I suggest audio books?

Audio books have a wider availability than braille books do and are much less costly. There's also the added benefit of being able to take them pretty much everywhere with you, as long as you have one or two downloaded to your phone.

You could also go with having a balance of the two. Maybe your character uses audio books with his headphones or earbuds during the day and reads his braille books at home so he can give his ears a break from his headphones/earbuds.

Another option is large print books or e-books that allow you to adjust the font size, which could make it easier for your character to read them. There are also other strategies that he could use when reading regular printed books, such as covering an eye or using a bookmark to sort of box in the lines as he reads.

As one quick final note: Reading braille is actual reading! Braille is just another language with a different -- not lesser! -- method of reading it.

Hopefully some of this information helps! If you're interested in knowing more about the specifics of braille books, Blind In Mind's Braille Bookstore has a lot of great resources and their copy of The Fellowship of the Ring is the one I've been referencing.

Cheers,

~ Mod Icarus

[prokopetz]

I have a pinned post for my games in development, but it doesn't really describe what they're about, and apparently this is something we're doing today, so:

My games in development, in rough order of priority:

(Note: all of these have public playtest drafts behind the links.)

Eat God

A game about weird little anarchist muppets with reality-warping powers themed after classic Looney Tunes gags wandering around a classic sword-and-sorcery fantasy setting stirring up trouble. Roughly 50% character creation rules by volume, with provisions for randomising every part of it; the linked draft, above, includes an online character generator if you want to play with it. The mechanics are a sort of elaborated spiritual successor to Costume Fairy Adventures, a game whose development I headed up about a decade ago.

Current status: actively writing, hopefully zeroing in on a feature-complete playtest draft within the next month or two.

Tiny Frog Wizards

One of my customarily literal titles, this is a game where you play as wizards who are tiny frogs. Features elaborate semi-freeform rules for casting spells, lots of big stupid random tables for when spells go off the rails, and absolutely no mechanics for anything that isn't casting a spell; it's a very focused sort of game. Narratively, it's a game about being an overpowered little twerp sticking your nose into other people's problems and offering solutions no-one asked for. Portions of the rules crib shamelessly from @jennamoran's Nobilis 3rd Edition, for which I offer acknowledgement but no apologies.

Current status: development of the text has been set aside for the moment to work on visual identity, with an eye toward crowdfunding an expanded hardcover edition later in the year.

Space Gerbils

A tactical mecha combat game with a very silly twist: the entirety of the tactical positioning occurs inside the mecha, because the game's premise is basically "what if instead of the Big Reveal at the end of Metroid (1986) being that Samus Aran is secretly a girl, Samus Aran was secretly 3–5 small gerbil-like creatures operating a person-size mech suit?" Players engage in positional jockeying and resource management to determine which stations they're crewing within the suit, which is boiled down to a single roll of the dice to determine what happens outside the suit. Includes papercraft minifigs.

Current status: essentially feature-complete, apart from some character creation options and a planned random mission generator; this will likely be the next game I crowdfund after Tiny Frog Wizards.

Indie RPG Prompt Generator [working title]

Essentially a joke that got out of hand, this is a big set of random tables of common indie RPG tropes that you can roll on to generate a description of a hypothetical game, complete with specific rules toys and setting beats. I probably could have finished this up already, but I decided to include examples of each rolled element, which turned into this big hairy research project I'm not able to give adequate attention to right now. If you've got a game of your own that you think would be a good fit for a presently unfilled example slot, please, let me know!

Current status: plugging away at it in bits and pieces as I'm able.

Three Raccoons in a Trenchcoat

This is an anthology consisting of three minigames: the eponymous Three Raccoons in a Trenchcoat, which is self-explanatory; Unfamiliar, in which you play as uncooperative wizards' familiars; and System Crash, in which you play as malfunctioning robots. More a series of formal experiments in character creation and group composition than proper full-featured games, all share the same core mechanics, with milieu-specific addons of varying practicality; for example, System Crash has specific rules for which senses each player is allowed to use when asking the GM for information, because it's completely possible to have a group in which only one of the robots can see. Large portions of Unfamiliar were later re-used in Eat God, above.

Current status: I have a list of notes as long as your arm on planned changes to integrate into the text, and I'm confident I'll get around to doing so one of these years.

Gone to Hell

Literally a Doom (2016) pastiche as a Belonging Outside Belonging game, which is just as silly an idea as it sounds; grown out of an earlier 24-hour RPG called Doomguy. The central conceit is that there's only a single player character, with players taking turns assuming the role of the Slayer, while everyone else takes ownership of the various hostile factions comprising the game's conspiratorial twelve-car pileup of a plot. Lots of pontificating about the implicit power structures of tabletop RPG groups. This one probably needs a full rewrite in order to lend a bit more formal structure to the "one player character, many GMs" conceit than out-of-the-box BOB offers.

Current status: I have not looked at this game in three years, which is actually a really long time for me.

Rotate Bird

Another of my "is this a formal experiment or a real game" titles, this one revolves around constructing characters out of abstract symbols, which are interpreted during play to retroactively define what your character is actually capable of doing. Even the title seen above is an interpretive approximation; strictly speaking, the game is called 🔄🐦. Possibly the most shitposty game I've ever written, which is saying something, but based on playtest feedback it seems functional.

Current status: the only reason this is listed as lower in priority than Gone to Hell is because I genuinely don't know what to do with it. It's probably publishable, with some cleanup editing and graphic design, but it feels like there's something missing. I'm open to suggestions!

Get in the Fucking Robot

A pamphlet-size, competitive, GMless title that's at least as much a board game as it is a tabletop RPG, this one is about a bunch of dysfunctional candidate mecha pilots competing to be the first to pilot the titular giant robot. The game is played under misère conditions: while each character's IC goal is to pilot the robot, each player's OOC goal is to avoid that fate, with the player whose character actually Gets in the Fucking Robot being accounted the loser.

Current status: playtesting suggests the current framework of play doesn't actually work – like, at all – so this one needs to go all the way back to the drawing board; I don't feel like doing that any time soon, which puts it squarely at the bottom of the list.

[planettamama]

Sgt. Frog Censorship & Differences Volumes 1 & 2

We begin our adventure here! But why 2 volume? Simply, Volume 1 had very alterations (NO CENSORSHIP), all done in the first TokyoPop Release. Real "Authentc" TP

Let's Begin!

For standard printing differences

TokyoPop originally used HOLOGRAPHIC COVERS (and special hardcover versions for libraries). This would change later

Color pages are black and white in almost TokyoPop releases. Forums claim English color versions exist and scans online have them but I've never seen it in real life

Now a weird one. TokyoPop changed a reference to Obake no Q-Taro (an early manga by Doraemon creator Fujiko Fujio. Official English name "Q the Spook" as of a rare 1971 English version only availible in Japan) to 80's cartoon "The Real Ghostbusters.

Luckily, Volume 1 got a fan translation before TokyoPop got the license so I can compare IN ENGLISH

the Japanese text around Keroro still has the stylized Q. Whoops

This fan translation also includes the full color pages and is more readily availible online than the TokyoPop version if your region doesn't have the ViZ website

I always loved early color manga

ONTO VOLUME 2!!

Here we already have 3 VERSIONS!!!

The original uncut Japanese release

The Early English TokyoPop releases with some censorship, and

The far more censored ViZ Reprints (which according to forums, were done by TokyoPop's reprints as early as 2005. Mainly on SOME non-holographic paperback copies. Late releases anyway)

FIRST EDIT!!!

Immediately in Chapter 11 (Page 14), TokyoPop initally let Natsumi's chest uncensored. However by the later publication by ViZ, it's drawn over

The next edit is even earlier in the 4th page of Chapter 12!

TokyoPop covered up Angol Moa's panties in all versions so I'll be using the high quality digital ViZ scan. This won't be the last time they do this but I'm gonna remind you that as of Volumes 1-3. NATSUMI's underwear is never altered. Smooth moves, TokyoPop...

CHAPTER 16! Another Late Stage Natsumi chest edit. This time only her nipples instead of her entire chest (i thought we only censored female nipples cause of boobs). One again, only from ViZ and super late TokyoPop

That's the end of lewdness but as a bonus, one more thing is cut from ALL ENGLISH RELEASES

Evidently, some sort of cross promotion for a manga TokyoPop doesn't own. I don't actually know what this is.

That's all for now!! Ciao

[dk-thrive]

I take a book off the shelf, not to read the whole thing, but just to touch it or open it at random

I LIKE TO let my eyes wander across the spines of the books in my library. It’s a way of taking stock of everything that’s in them, everything I’ve already read and what I have yet to read, and what I will read again when I feel like it, on this comfortable island where we have settled down… Here, like faces of loyal friends, are the hardcover spines, the presences that span our two lives and our two places, the two times, then and now, the education I didn’t have when I should have and now can finally give myself, what I never read and what I read so long ago and so absentmindedly that it left no mark on me: Melville, Faulkner, Conrad, the solemn males; Chekhov and Henry James, Cecilia’s favorites; and the brave women, Dickinson, Woolf, Carson McCullers, Flannery O’Connor, the volume of her short stories I signed and dated on Cecilia’s birthday; an edition of Lolita from the early sixties she gave me on one of my own. I take a book off the shelf, not to read the whole thing, but just to touch it or open it at random, or to see if there’s a purchase date and dedication, hoping to find among its pages material signs of our life back then, the two tickets to a concert or a movie, the bill from the restaurant where we had just eaten, each thing with its forgotten evidentiary precision: April 6, 2012, Cecilia was at a João Gilberto concert at Carnegie Hall; the dry cleaning receipt listing the pieces of clothing we picked up on November 14, 2006, served to mark the page where there was a passage we both loved in a story by Alice Munro.

— Antonio Muñoz Molina, Your Step on the Stairs. Trans. by Curtis Bauer. (Other Press, April 8, 2025)

[glasratz]

There are a lot of posts going around about people proclaiming their love for bookshops. Well, it's time I that I say what I have to:

I really hate bookshops.

In my area, most of them are owned by one of three or four chains. The franchises of all three look almost identical and it's almost impossible to tell which one you're at once you are inside. I think they might even all belong to the same company. There's not a grain of individuality to them. I suspect that even the tiny mound of "staff picks" is curated by staff at the main office.

They are all set up in the same way: Bookshelves line the walls, but everywhere else in the store that are just tables with stacks of books. This way, you see a lot of covers at once and realize that they too lack individuality. Every book on the crime table looks the same, as does every book on the romance table. Most of it seems to be AI generated recently. This makes it way harder to pick out an interesting title then from a shelf.

Fantasy has grown over the last decades, so it usually has a wall shelf and one or more tables. Those are mostly filled with young and new adult literature and one copy of the Lord of the Rings triology. Some years the space was still mostly taken up by A Song of Ice and Fire, which has ten (10!) volumes in the horrible German translation. (This fact alone tells you a lot about the German book market. Horrible translations and spreading things out over as many volumes as possible goes way back.)

The Sci Fi section is one of the saddest of every shop. It's hardly ever a full shelf and contains whatever has been turned into a movie recently. Only the medicine section with its dangerous woo is sadder. There might be a tiny shelf somewhere where you can get classics. Recently they seem to get publised as hardcovers more and more, since it's more expensive.

Furthermore, a growing part of every shop is dedicated to useless tat. Stuff that seems to come right from Wish or Temu, the cuter the better, with a 200% markup.

I loath entering one of these. They are infuriating and depressing. You are instantly presented with everything that is wrong about the book market in Germany.

And what about used book shops? Those are usually only around in bigger towns and mostly fall into two categories: Pretentious and Oxfam. Expect to pay almost full price in the first kind and triple the price for anything unusual. I've even been to one that had no price tags on anything. If you wanted to buy something, the owner checked for how much it was sold online. Great thanks!

All in all I know exactly one good book shop and that's a 50 minute drive plus walking approximately 20 minutes away. And that one is always so full it's no fun either.

[chibivesicle]

Current manga[ish] reading list in no particular order

Neighborhood Story (Gokinjo Monogatari) by Ai Yawaza - I now own up to volume 3 of the English release of the manga. The four volume set is based on what I believe was the 10th Anniversary reprint of the manga in Japan. The French edition also follows the four book format but I think the German sticks to the original seven. I have the original tankobon editions for volumes 1-3 where when you line them up, it creates a long dinner table with the entire cast.

I read the entire manga in the early 2010s via scans and had spent the late 90s to that point praying for an official release after Paradise Kiss was printed by Tokyopop. The series was old enough that in the late 90s early 2000s no one was out there doing the line by line translations that I used to use to read manga. I read all of Wish that way with the original manga and the speech bubble guide. e.g. page 12 panel 5 Overall impressions - this was a white whale for me - I likely bought the original manga when I was sixteen or seventeen based on the art style alone. I would say it falls into your standard dramatic shoujo manga with high school students but the lives of ones in counter-culture, outside the norms of usual expectations. When I read the scans I enjoyed it and while it was nothing mind blowing it is a rewarding read. The various individuals sporting alternative fashions is one of my favorite aspects of it. You have a MC who leans mostly towards mod style (Twiggy from the 1960s) with a strong vintage twist, punk, lolita, generic 90s alternative dude, preppy and your designer brand girl.

I look forward to getting volume 4 and completing the set, just it will be likely 28 years later than I would have wanted. The Rose of Versailles by Riyoko Ikeda - I sprung hard for the recent English hardcover editions. One of my friends lent me her roommates 2 volume tankobon set of this series in 2000, but it too lacked a good translation to find online and read along to it. I watched the anime in 2014 and bought the DVD box set. Of course, I couldn't say no to this classic shoujo manga. I'm through the first three volumes and slowly working my way through it. Seeing that I already watched the anime, nothing in it is overall surprising.

I have noticed that early on the level of gay is pretty high and this current "twist" of Andre getting closer to Oscar is much stronger than I felt in the anime. The entire loss of Rosalie and her fawning over Oscar was a disappointment, also toned down in the anime. There is a lot more questioning with Oscar's character as to who she is, what she desires and how to fit into her world. I really wish it pressed those questions more but alas, I'm really starting to feel the Oscar x Andre pressure ramping up. In the anime I felt like it sort of came out of nowhere and in the manga it is more like - okay Rosalie's crush was cute but real adult relationships need a man. lols. Even with my different opinion on the manga compared to the anime, I cannot stress how owning such a fundamental manga series is. I don't think I'll ever attempt a meta on this - more than enough already exists about this with how long it has been around. Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama - An impulse purchase at The Comic Swap on Allen Street. I'm pretty sure some of the individual volumes of X and other early 2000s manga were on the shelf when I was in university.

I'd heard some good murmurs about this manga and a friend kept recommending it. I can't explain how blown away I was this series. The art style is amazing with little use of screen tones and the emphasis on line art. With the author's previous work for DC and Marvel it shows but in all the good ways as far a composition and again that line art. And we haven't even gotten to the story itself! I have read through volume 3 and the pacing is excellent. It doesn't info dump how magic works and the world building is natural and unforced. It already has brought up great questions about who controls knowledge, disability vs accommodation, dealing with trauma, what is your purpose in life/goals. It has the right amount of whimsy that you feel cozy but at the same time you know when shit is serious.

What I feel the most is that Witch Hat Atelier is intentional with everything in it. It is a carefully constructed story and comes together naturally with a good balance of young pupils and adults. And the character designs! Oh my goodness, I love them all.

The Apothecary Diaries by Natsu Hyuuga - Can't skip my gal Mao Mao. I mean I cosplayed as her back in April because how frequently do you get a pragmatic female lead with deadpan humor and is a scientist who likes plants? I also watched the first season of the anime loving every moment of it and how it really shines with its focus on women navigating a world not made to really benefit them. I decided to read the original light novel instead of the manga based on the light novel. I think by time I finish volume 2 I will have caught up to season 1 and hopefully, pull ahead of the eventual second season which comes in 2025, I think.

Out of all the titles, this one is likely my biggest guilty pleasure as a plant biologist; Mao Mao as a character has a lot of common scientist traits which make her very relatable and fun to see in any sort of media. Her obliviousness to certain things not because she doesn't have an eye for details but because she can't be bothered is realistic but rarely given to a female character in most forms of media regardless of cultural context.

Will I dive into the rest of these series for a meta? I'm honestly not sure. I may do a "quick" review of Gokinjo Monogatari when I complete volume 4 but it isn't the sort of manga that feeds into deep critical analysis. It is a coming of age story about artistic kids and looks cool.

I'd likely be more inclined to tackle Witch Hat Atelier but sometimes I just want to read something and not deep dive into it even if it intellectually feeds my curiosity. My current plan is to catch up on the manga and I'm relying on my county library to read volumes 4-13. If I really like it, I'll probably become a sucker and buy it at some point but I need to be a little more mindful of my manga purchases for the sake of my overflowing bookshelves. I took one of those surveys about how much manga you own and I wasn't expecting to clock in at almost 200 volumes when I've given away/sold/donated them from time to time.

I've got some thoughts on Kekkai Sensen but I'm waiting for the next chapter to drop since it ended on a cliff hanger with that plot twist where the "Count" from previous statements in the manga was not some old frumpy classic Dracula like Blood Breed but instead in a teenage form as Edgar. I liked the twist since I was suspicious of his character but didn't think he might have been the true mastermind of things. But we'd be lazy readers if we'd forgotten that Blood Breeds can easily shapeshift as demonstrated with Girika and Tonio. I will always give her ultimate cougar cred testing out her boy toy before committing to making him a Blood Breed instead of snacking on him.

[it-was-funeral-grey]

Moving nowhere (Al Haitham x F!Reader)

Masterlist Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

Summary: you’re finally back home, so things should be back to normal, right?

Warnings: reader's parents (mother and father), anxious reader, a scream, blood, death (not F!reader or al haitham)

Word count: <3.4k

Inspired by: -

Author's note: i'm back! i'm thinking of setting up a writing schedule, and make writing a habit again.

Please give criticism! Also, if i missed any warnings, do tell me so i can add them!

Up until a month ago, owning books for personal use was against the Akademiya's rules. So, things like storybooks and guidebooks weren't a thing that most people grew up with. Books were considered items only used by Akademiya students or teachers (and record keepers)- untouchable and unnecessary for the common folk. Who needed books, anyway? The Akasha Terminal had everything, after all.

Oh, but you were different. And so much better off for it, so you'd like to believe.

Your mother was a trader- a rather adventurous one, at that. Instead of trading by Port Ormos, waiting for business to come her way, she'd set sail with her wares to the seven nations. And when she came home, she brought back all sorts of souvenirs.

One day, after a particularly long trip to Liyue, she came home carrying a mysterious brown squarish thing. 

"They call this a book," your mother had told you, gently placing the item in your hands as she closed the door behind her. "Open it and take a look!"

Taking the item from your mother, you slowly turned it in your hands, running a finger along its unbound side- the concaved, pressed pages bound by leather. 

"Records of... Jun- no, Jui-"

"Records of Jueyun," your mother corrected. "It's a storybook."

"What's that?"

"Why don't you open it?"

You cautiously pulled the hardcover and were greeted by pages upon pages of writing. But these writings were different from the passages you had to read at the village school. 

Words- both new and familiar, were placed together in ways you have never seen before, creating beautiful pictures in your mind. 

"...The merciful Geo Archon granted their request and made them as such. The end."

"Wait! That's it?!" you exclaim, desperately trying to find another page to turn. But all there was the brown, empty book cover. "That's all?"

"This is only the first volume," Your mother chuckled, patting your head gently as she took the book back. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'll try to bring the next one another time, alright?"

"...Alright, but can I keep it?" you reached out, trying to take the book.

There was a pause from your mother as she pulled the book away from your reaching hands.

"Pleaseee?"

"Only if you promise to keep this a secret, alright?" Your mother squatted to your eye level, her tone serious. "You have to keep this book a secret, ok? No one can know that we have this."

"Yes! I will!" 

"Alright, now go put the book at the bottom of your toy box. And then let's go help Daddy cook some dinner!"

At that time, your enthusiasm distracted you from the seriousness in your mother's tone. As a young child, you didn't think about why you weren't allowed to tell anyone about your new possession- or why your mother had removed her Akasha Terminal when she spoke of the book. All you could think of were brave stone beasts and a magical land called "Liyue".

As tough as it was, you managed to keep the secret until the Matra barged into your home many years later (though the Personal Books Act was abolished by then). In those years, however, your obsession with books only grew- and was wholly encouraged by your parents. You learned how to read and to learn through reading. As a result, the Akasha Terminal you had received from the Akademiya when you turned 18 had been useless to you- what could it tell you that your precious books could not? The information you wanted was sometimes beyond what your credentials allowed you anyway. Besides, you loved the process of reading and reading and reading even more before you finally found what you wanted to know. What was the point of having information beamed into your mind when you could learn that and way more through books and research? 

"The world doesn't just consist of Sumeru," your mother had told you two years later on the day you moved out with your secret massive (and illegal) collection of books. "Go, look further than Vimara Village. Explore! Your books can only tell you so much."

"I know, Mum," your voice strains as you place a crate packed with books shrouded in cloth into your new home. In the interest of saving money, you hadn't moved far- just about a kilometre from your parents' house. It's a little bigger than your family home, which means more places for you to store (hide) your books. "But Liyue's Law School is expensive, and I want to save up as much as I can for it."

"You're an intelligent young woman," your father dusts off his hands. "I'm sure there are bursaries and scholarships that you can apply for. And if money is an issue-"

"Thank you, Dad, but it's fine. I want to be able to go there using my own money- if I don't learn to save and make my own Mora, when will I ever learn how to?"

"We understand, dear," your mother sighs, looking at you. "We just don't want you to waste your youth away toiling away when you could go to Liyue and learn and enjoy yourself now. You'll have all the time in Teyvat to work when you're older."

"And what I want is for the two of you to enjoy your retirement and explore Teyvat," you smile at your mother. "Don't worry about me! I'll learn lots from the work experience! It's like you always say, Mum..."

"Book learning alone is not enough to cultivate intelligence. All those scholars from the Akademiya are prime examples."  

If you're being honest, you don't want to leave your house. But if you don't head out now, you'll miss the only opportunity to buy groceries from Bahram until tomorrow morning. You don't think the onion (half an onion- Al Haitham ate the other half) from yesterday can sustain you till then.

You shut the door again, sighing as you stretched your sprained ankle. It doesn't hurt as much as yesterday, thankfully. But your stomach does, as it growls yet again.

One more minute. One more minute, and you'll head out.

You stare at your feet as you clutch your door handle, pulling it slightly open again. 60, 59, 58…

Your heart pounds. For some reason, the sounds outside your door seem sharper now. You hear every footstep, every laugh, every shuffle-

40, 39, 38…

There are people outside. So, so many people.

The moment you step out, you know you'll be under fire. Everyone thinks you had kidnapped the Acting Grand Sage, after all.

What are they saying about you now?

30, 29, 28…

Your reputation is probably in shambles right now. Getting arrested was pretty much social suicide. Falsely accused or not, it doesn't matter. The village gossipers don't care.

Maybe it's better to stay at home. No one can see you here. You can't hear the things they'll say about you here.

They'll all stare at you if you go out. Angry, disgusted stares. All pointed at you.

20, 19, 18…

Yeah. Home doesn't sound too bad. Food? Technically, paper is made from trees, yes? And trees are kind of like vegetables. You'll have a damn healthy diet if you eat your books. Thankfully, you have no shortage of them.

10, 9, 8…

Yep. Home is where the heart is, and your bookshelf can be your new food pantry.

5, 4, 3…

You remove your hand from the handle. One light push and your door will close- shutting you from the world.

You'll be safe.

You'll be alone.

You place your hand back on the handle, ready to push.

2, 1-

But just as you are about to push, fingers wrap around the edge of the open door and push back against you, forcing the door wide open.

Zero.

Al Haitham was supposed to head back immediately after settling things with Dilawar. That was the plan. He had no time to waste hanging around anywhere other than his office.

That was the plan. 

Thanks to her directions, he managed to find Dilawar's house not long after he left her home. He had pounded on the man's door relentlessly till he opened up.

And when he finally did, Al Haitham went off.

Al Haitham had let him know the full extent of his frustrations regarding the lack of response to his letters. And let Dilawar know how appalled he was when he came to the port to find it completely deserted- how could he, the main trade supervisor, let that happen?

"But Acting Grand Sage Al Haitham, be reasonable! There was nothing for the workers to do-"

"It is one thing to cut down on staff. It is a whole other thing to call it quits the moment things go south and lay everyone off," Al Haitham ranted. "I sent the first letter three months ago a day after the Port Ormos crash. The fact that I heard nothing back- and that I found that letter completely unread and on your desk alongside the others in your office shows that you immediately abandoned your post," Al Haithan sighed heavily. "According to the reports I received, merchant ships were still coming in when the Wikala Funduq shut down. Trade could have still gone on- however inefficiently- had you and Ms Gauhar not caved."

It wasn't like Al Haitham to go on and on like this about things that have already happened and cannot be changed. But he can't help it. The Port Ormos issue has been one of his biggest headaches that has been going on for three months now. And all because two flimsy trade supervisors can't do their job right the moment their Akasha Terminals couldn't help them. The reason for the Port Ormos Crash was internal- which made him all the more upset.

By the time Al Haitham finished dealing with Dilawar, night had fallen. He was exhausted- but not so much that he would have taken Dilawar's guest room. All he wants is to recharge in peace. Alone. In silence.

Turning the noise cancellation on his earpieces, he slowly walked out of Dilawar's house and turned towards the village dock. But just as he looked ahead to see where he was going, he saw something glowing softly below in the distance.

Squinting his eyes, Al Haitham took a step forward- what in Teyvat is that? Now that he thinks about it, won't this direction head towards her home? All he'll have to do is take the slope back down, and she'll be right there.

Ah, wait. That is her home- and if he focuses hard enough, he can see that whatever is glowing is coming from her home. The pieces start to click- it's candlelight. She's lighting candles around her home. The Matra destroyed everything- even her lanterns. 

Peering over the ledge, Al Haitham silently observes a single, flickering orange orb float from one end of her home to another- slowly illuminating room by room in a gentle glow. It's so much easier on the eye than the other houses with obnoxiously bright white lanterns.

Through the now backlit curtains, he sees her silhouette- and he watches her as she blows out the candle in her hand. He watches her graceful movements as she slowly makes her way across the room, running her hands along what he recalls to be one of her bookshelves- the one where she told him to place her law books. 

She runs a finger slowly down the spine of one of her books, and Al Haitham feels a shiver go down his- snapping him out of whatever trance he was stuck in. 

Archons, he must be exhausted. What is he, a creep? Staring at someone in their own home??

Gathering himself, he looks around. It's 15-minute walk back to the dock. With no guarantee that there's anyone still awake to take him back to Sumeru City.

Might as well spend the night here. The more he entertained the thought, the more appealing it sounded.

Oh, whatever, Al Haitham caves. He's too tired, and the ambience is too comfortable to resist. Finding what seems to be a nice tree, he settles himself down, leaning his head against the solid wooden bark as he watches the gentle glow of the distant candlelights lull him to sleep. 

And if his eyes ever drifted to the woman still picking out a book to read? Well, that'll be a secret between him and imaginary Kaveh (unfortunately).

"Are you alright?"

Out of anyone who you thought would bust into your house today, he wasn't one of them. You were expecting more of an angry mob- or one of those angry-Acting-Grand-Sage-fanatic that had missed the notice that you were innocent and was going to kill you in revenge for kidnapping the Acting Grand Sage (yeah, you've read too many Mondstadt romance novels).

"Al Haitham?" you stabilise yourself, taking a step towards him. "What are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?"

"Ah, of course," you say, realising at that moment that the now fully open door left you fully exposed to the outside world. "Come on in!" You invite, before promptly shutting the door behind him.

He's carrying something, you notice as you turn back to face him. Alongside his overnight bag, he's got a paper bag filled with stuff.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes," he replies calmly, looking around your home- his eyes lingering along a candlestand attached to your wall. "I just came by to pass you these," he hands over the paper bag to you. "Some groceries."

"Oh, you shouldn't have-"

"If I haven't, would you have gone out to get them yourself?" Al Haitham interrupts. "I saw you hover your door for over an hour."

"Ah, you saw that," you respond sheepishly. 

"I did. You opened the door just to close it every time."

"Well..."

"What are you afraid of?" Al Haitham cocks his head towards the door. "Your neighbours?"

When you don't reply, Al Haitham sighs.

"How's your ankle?" He changes the subject, motioning for you to sit on the couch.

"It's much better than yesterday! Just a bit of aching, but I'm fine," you reply hastily, grateful for the subject change. You don't want to talk about what could be awaiting you outside your door.

"That's good," Al Haitham sits opposite you, glancing at the book you've left on the armrest. "'Sumeru Law 203". I'm impressed you managed to get ahold of an Akademiya textbook."

"Oh!" Now this, you want to want to talk about. You've never had anyone to enthuse with about your book collection before. "I bought it from an Akademiya student passing by Port Ormos a couple of years ago! He kept saying that he wanted to quit and was throwing a whole fit at the docks!" you chuckle, remembering the scene. You had tried to calm him and encourage him, but it seemed his mind was made up, so you offered to buy the book from him. It took quite a bit of convincing since it was very illegal for Akademiya-associated individuals to sell their books to non-Akademiya individuals. But when you showed the student that you were willing to pay quite the sum, his determination wavered and eventually gave in.

"You're very lucky the Matra found you after the Personal Book Act was abolished," Al Haitham looks at your packed bookshelves as he flips to a page in the textbook. "All these books would have given you... at least a fifteen-year sentence- and your textbooks," he gives the one he holds a little shake in your direction while glancing at you, "would have been a separate sentence- easily ten years per book and-"

"The sentences would have been ordered to run consecutively, not concurrently," you finish his line. He looks up from the book, and you think he almost looks impressed. "I have seven Akademiya textbooks. In total, I would have sat in jail for no less than eighty-five years."

"...That's right."

"I could have spent an entire lifetime behind bars."

"You could have."

"Do you think I was stupid, then? To take a risk just to read books when I could have asked the Akasha Terminal and have all the knowledge beamed into my head instead?"

Al Haitham shuts the book gently and hands it back to you. His response is almost immediate.

"No. If anything, I think you are all the more brilliant for doing so."

Al Haitham spends the rest of the morning chatting with her about books. He gave his honest comments on those he had read before and took note of the ones she recommended. It was refreshing, to say the least.

This was the first time he'd ever spoken to someone so enthusiastic about reading. Any reader he had come across before this were all Akademiya students- who mostly did read begrudgingly just so they could say they fulfilled their book annotation coursework in the House of Daena. The only other person who even had the slightest chance of matching her current enthusiasm was Kaveh- and he didn't even like reading as much as he liked spewing out his opinions in whatever architecture book he was annotating.

But her- she enjoyed it, reading. She liked getting confused by the words, and looking them up in a (Al Haitham hardly gets surprised by anything, but this did) actual, paper dictionary. She likes jumping back pages to re-read that one sentence she did not understand, but they referenced it later so she has to. She liked finding out that one book said this, and the other said that- so she could think about both and try to figure out which made more sense to her.

The effort. The focus. The occasional paper cut. She loved all of it.

It was a whole experience watching her talk about what she had read. Hearing what she thought about it- telling her what he thought about it- pushing each other's horizons just that little bit further.

He loved it.

"I mean, I think it's valid for Risha to think like that," she states, pointing out a passage in a novel. They had moved on from non-fiction to fiction- from the bookshelf near the main door to the one at the back wall. "But her reaction wasn't justified- Ona doesn't deserve that at all! She didn't know!"

"I agree," Al Haitham prepares to rebut. "But-"

A shrill scream pierces through the calm atmosphere, and she nearly falls out of her seat.

"What happened?!"

"It sounds like it's coming from the houses above," Al Haitham hears a flurry of footsteps leading towards the slope. "Let's go."

By the time you reach the top of the slope, you're not far behind Al Haitham. Panting, you look up. Everyone's gathered around Mr Dilawar's house- and is someone crying?

"Get behind me," Al Haitham whispers to you. "Is your ankle-"

"My ankle's fine. I'm just- just out of shape," you pant. "That's Mr Dilawar's house."

"I met him there yesterday," Al Haitham slowly pushes past the crowd. "I stayed with him till the late evening, before I-"

"What-"

You've suddenly spun around, facing away from the house.

"Al Haitham?! What are you-" You turn your head to face back, but he blocks your vision with a quick step.

"How comfortable are you with blood?"

"Blood? What do you mean-"

"Human blood. In large quantities."

A shiver goes down your spine.

"Al Haitham, what happened to Mr Dilawar?"

Just as Al Haitham was about to reply, a loud voice from the house yelled at the crowd to give way. You step aside, guided by Al Haitham, as a makeshift stretcher quickly carries something covered by a red-stained tarp away from his house. The smell is unmistakable- it's blood.

You turn to face the house, and this time Al Haitham doesn't block you. You're instantly greeted by a world of red- which you're sure extends further into his house if only you have the guts to check. 

"Who was the last person to see him?" A man sobs- Mr Azmas. "That must be who killed my brother! Find him now! Get the Matra!"

"I met him there yesterday," Al Haitham had pushed past the crowd. "I stayed with him till the late evening, before I-"

You have a bad feeling about this. A shiver, now threatening to break into full-blown trembling threatens to take over your body as you turn to face the green-clad man slowly.

"Al Haitham, what happened with Mr Dilawar?"

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[loopy777]

1/2 I got the paperback version too. I always wanted the hardcover version, but that one came with ridiculously high shipping costs D: Anyway, that's a vast collection you got there. There's some stuff I didn't even know existed, like the unofficial water tribe volumes. From a quick google search, it looks like a fancomic about Zhao? Was it popular back in the day? Then you have stuff I wouldn't have expected you to own, like the Zuko graphic novel, or as I like to call it, the atla manga xD

The 'Water Tribe' comic is, technically, a fan-comic about Zhao, but what distinguishes it is that it's written and drawn by a storyboard artist who actually worked on both AtLA and LoK, and did official comics for AtLA. It's been contradicted by Zhao's cameo in LoK, but the look and feel are IMO the closest you can get to the original animated series, so it goes on the shelf with my official Avatar comics.

I actually got it signed at the same time as the Zuko graphic novel, as Johane Matte and Benjamin Wilgus were sharing a table at NYCC. I had brought my own copy of Zuko's Story and purchased the Zhao comic there, but Wilgus got confused and thought I had purchased everything just then. So the original note hopes that I will enjoy it. But then Matte clarified the matter after I started walking away, so I was called back by Wilgus to get a post-script added with a correction to hoping I enjoyed it. So that's something unique.

Also, I forgot to mention before that Wilgus did a sketch of Cartoon Zuko in it, which is pretty much how everyone was treating the comic at the time- an AtLA prequel manga that for some reason had Zuko and Iroh drawn incorrectly but that's easy to ignore. XD

As for the manga itself, I think it has its ups and down, most of the ups being the bit with the Guru you're going to mention in your second part. It's not something I would recommend to anyone but the serious collector. ;)

Continued:

2/2 I remember liking the interactions between Zuko and the guru in that one. But the thing that surprised me the most was your signed copy of the comics. You mean to tell me that you willingly asked your archnemesis Gene Yang for his autograph? Are you truly Loopy777? xD Regarding the Avatar Legends game, can't you play with your brother? Or is he not an atla fan?

Hey, Yang was sharing the table with Hicks. I may not like his comics, but it would have been super awkward to just bring books for her to sign when most of the line had beloved copies of American Born Chinese with them! XD For the record, I think ABC lives up to the hype, and in fact I've loved all of Yang's original graphic novels that I've read. So I was able to have some pleasant conversations while waiting in that line.

However, one of the people waiting in line with me offered to get the rest of my Yang comics signed for me since she just had a couple of books for each author. I declined, saying I'd be happy just getting the first volumes signed since for me it's more about supporting the author and getting a nice thing for my collection. I did not say I didn't care that much about it that I wanted to bother someone else. XD

But yeah, here's the proof.

As for Avatar Legends, my brother and I find it hard to align our schedules enough for what would have to be a several-hour session, and he's never been much of a serious role-player. It would probably also be kind of weird just to play one-on-one, rather than in a group, as this system especially seems to be about collaborative storytelling. But yes, he's a fan of the original AtLA cartoon, although that hasn't extended to any of the expanded material or even LoK. For him, it's a show he enjoyed, not an obsession. Which is probably a much healthier mental state for this franchise. :P

[b-else-writes]

The Great CLAMP Re-Read Part 10: Magic Knight Rayearth

Part 1 (RG Veda) | Part 2 (Man of Many Faces) | Part 3 (Tokyo Babylon) | Part 4 (Duklyon) | Part 5 (Clamp Detectives)| Part 6 (Shirahime)| Part 7 (X)| Part 8 (Chunhyang)|Part 9 (Miyuki-chan)| Part 11 (The One I Love)

In 1991, Sailor Moon was launched in the magazine Nakayoshi, aimed at younger girls. It kicked off an era of fantasy and magical girl-oriented manga, and CLAMP were scouted to publish their own in Nakayoshi. Rayearth is very dear to me as my very first CLAMP story, as the anime aired in my country in my kindergarten years. Released in two parts, Part 1 ran from 1993 to 1995 in 3 volumes, followed by Part 2 from 1995 to 1996, again in 3 volumes. It spawned a two season anime, an OVA, multiple video games, a forthcoming new anime, and countless merch. I purchased the 25th anniversary release, a lovely hardcover version that allowed me to appreciate and reflect on a childhood love as an adult.

I've discussed how X ended CLAMP's 90s run, both in art style and thematic content, but I do think Magic Knight Rayearth was the beginning of that end. The mega-hit cemented their rising star, and proved that CLAMP's favourite themes could be meaningfully applied to a younger audience they'd never reached before. While Rayearth does not entirely stick the landing, it cannot be overstated its impact on the magical girl genre as it deconstructs and reconstructs ideas of girlish purity, innocence, and power systems in a thematically brilliant combination of philosophy, fantasy, and video game tropes. Some imagery from Rayearth has remained with me forever, a testament to its emotional impact. Heavy spoilers!

Synopsis: Three colour-coded Tokyo middle schoolers are summoned to the world of Cefiro, where the strength of your heart's will can shape yourself and the world. Princess Emeraude is Cefiro's Pillar, spending all her days praying for Cefiro's peace. But the priest Zagato has kidnapped Emeraude, and Cefiro is crumbling. The trio, revealed to be the Magic Knights of legend, must journey and level-up, video-game style, to unlock the mashin and save Cefiro. But all is not as it seems about Emeraude's kidnapping - and should the happiness of a world rely on the prayers of one single girl? Who will pray for that girl's happiness? Can such a world be truly beautiful?

The Story: Initially, Magic Knight Rayearth feels charming but a bit rote - especially in 2024, with a glut of bad isekai out there. Cefiro isn't a terribly fully-realised world and we never meet its ordinary citizens - though the pace means we don't really notice. Hikaru and Emeraude embody the classic pure-hearted shojo, who valiantly fight against the evil adult sexuality the likes of Alcyone and Zagato. Yet, the rote nature of the girls' fantasy video-game quest is precisely part of Part 1's entire deception: Princess Emeraude is not a child, but an adult woman trapped in the confines of the Pillar System that demands she remain a sexless little girl and pray for the happiness of others, instead of her own. The Magic Knights exist to kill the Pillar, following their pre-scripted roles to the one of the most haunting moments in manga where they have no choice but to kill Emeraude.

Its such a brilliant deconstruction of magical girl tropes that usually valorize girlish innocence, where everything can be overcome by the purity of one's heart, and fantasy RPGs, of a perfect princess and an evil dragon. The Magic Knights never consider Emeraude's humanity or free will, only her relation to her society, playing the video game only to realise the entire system is broken and at its heart, Omelas-style, lies a suffering child. Its bone-chilling as the girls celebrate that they've saved Cefiro by killing Zagato, unaware Emeraude is losing her mind. Its not to say Part 1 doesn't have some structural narrative issues: its pacing, while relentless (I could not stop reading Vol 3 in particular) can feel uneven (the Forest drags, while Ascot's turn is too fast and cheesy), the prat falls get tedious as an adult reader, and its meta-narrative of formula to critique formula is better understood on second readings. Still, I loved so much of what Part 1 ambitiously tries to do on a thematic and structural level and it is a gripping read.

Part 2, CLAMP admits, was written very quickly because it was not expected to happen - and personally, I think Part 1 is much stronger than Part 2. Part 2 tries to meaningfully address the trauma the girls have experienced ("the weapons I made became instruments for your suffering" from Presea was one I had to write down), but it does gloss over the culpability and tragedy of Part 1 - I hated that Emeraude was happy in death to placate the girls. A lot of stuff feels retconned in, and the lack of driving narrative means the story treads water in unnecessarily long bits with Fahren and Chizeta and the Magic Knights are mostly reactive. I also cannot take god Mokona seriously.

Still, I enjoyed Part 2 for the strong arcs of characters like Eagle, Hikaru, and Umi, and the conversations about whether a world built on the suffering of another can really be beautiful. Despite how silly god Mokona is, I do think the ending is a fantastic answer to Part 1: the only way to save Cefiro is to break the entire system and rebuild it again where everyone must, together, make society worth living in. Hikaru becomes the new Pillar not because of her purity - indeed that self-sacrificing Christ-like behaviour is what gets Emeraude in trouble in the first place - but because of her earthly refusal to accept anyone else sacrificing themselves for others AND her belief that we have to trust and try to make society better. It's a very mature look at empathy and compassion and individual vs. collective happiness, handled for children to understand, and its lush, badass, and emotional to watch Hikaru save Eagle in the process. Yes, its cheesy and sloppily paced (it is for 12 year olds and I do have to remind myself of that), but damn if it didn't move me. As I keep saying, CLAMP has never written a character I've loathed!

Despite its inconsistent quality, I do think it is good to read both Parts 1 and 2 for how they overall deconstruct and reconstruct magical girl manga in a way that moves away from rote roles of purity and self-sacrifice that bog down the genre, in a story that is overall fun and deeply emotional.

The Themes: I can absolutely see how Rayearth was written concurrently with X (Mokona tossing aside Earth for its corruption). But these same themes of what makes life, and the world, worth living, are taken in fascinating new ways. Here, CLAMP's favourite concept of "destiny vs. free will" explores destiny not as a divine system but a societal enforced structure. Emeraude believes she's fated to only pray and thus her loving Zagato destroys everything, but this is the result of her accepting that the system is infallible and unchangeable. She is the Christ-figure maiden trapped in the world tree to support it, but who needs redemption not from the divine Eagle, but the earthly Hikaru, who teaches self-love. Nobody in Cefiro (or beyond) can conceptualize a Pillar-less world. The people of Cefiro accept the game's logic and play it, but - as CLAMP loves to remind - we are individuals and our choices have meaning and power.

And this leads to a really interesting theme of whether peace bought too dearly is even worth it - is collective happiness more important than individual happiness? Happiness, CLAMP does remind us, is different for every person, but comes out on the side that individual suffering suffuses the whole system. Self-sacrifice - like in X! - does nothing but lead to suffering from the people who love you and holds no glory. And who can't love a story that tells little children that we have to find a way to live that allows us all to be happy?

There's also a really interesting gender dynamic that I rarely see discussed by fans that I find fascinating. Shojo is infused with pure-hearted innocent heroines who face off against "phallic mothers", that is, adult women who embody sexuality and power in contrast to acceptable female roles (there's a lot of very interesting discussion on whether shojo is actually feminist that I feel bypasses Western audiences). At first, Rayearth seems to follow these tropes - the girls and Emeraude are shojos, while characters like Alcyone (a sexually mature woman who is characterized as evil for loving Zagato when he doesn't love her) are phallic mothers.

Yet the finale twists this - Emeraude is another phallic mother whose "selfish" love for Zagato has transformed her into an adult woman that must be killed. And killed she is, as shojo tropes demand, but no happy ending comes. Emeraude was not selfish, but human, and failed by a system that demanded this of her. Part 2 never lives up to the potential set up by Part 1 - Hikaru remains a shojo who can't recognize Lantis is confessing to her - but it was something I really enjoyed chewing over in Part 1.

The Characters: While the girls might seem typical at the start, CLAMP has a real charm for making cliche work for them. Fuu is much quirkier than the shy meganekko trope, and Umi. Umi was the stand-out for me as the most dynamic of the bunch, with such a wonderful character arc across all 6 volumes from bratty rich girl to compassionate, brave warrior. It is she who recognizes the world isn't beautiful and her own naivete, she who finds inspiration from her friends to like herself more, she who grows up! The supporting cast is equally charming, and I loved the tragedy of Emeraude and Zagato.

While Lantis is a fine Yasha-style giant guy, I really adored Eagle by the end and his relation to Hikaru and Emeraude. Hikaru is s a highly static character, but her deep self-love and determination are impossible not to love. There's something just so compelling about his mirror of Emeraude and especially Hikaru, who frees them both by absolving them of their self-denying divinity. Their entire arc is a beautiful reaffirmation that we are humans who deserve to live and find meaning in that. I would say the character I cared for the least was probably Ferio, who never shows either comedic charm (Caldina, Ascot) or inner depth. But he appears so minimally that I can wave aside that he's a boring, paper-thin love interest.

The Art: I'm in two minds when it comes to Rayearth. There are some truly stunning moments in the artwork and visual motifs. The very idea of making an Art Nouveau magical girls in a fantasy RPG world led to so many incredible creative design choices (though Hikaru's skirt in her final armour bothers me. Metal and fabric don't fall like that). The silent two page spread where the girls murder Emeraude will likely haunt me for the rest of my life. Emeraude's hair pearls transforming into her crystallized tears is such a brilliant twist on the established visual motif. There's a lot of highly inventive panelwork that lushly moves between the real world and contemplative spaces.

On the other hand, because Cefiro is not the real world, CLAMP could not use their trick of scanned photo backgrounds. The result is a distinctive lack of backgrounds that were especially frustrating because I felt like I had no idea what these fantasy spaces look like - and RG Veda never had this problem! There's one particular hand-drawn Tokyo background that looks horrendous in how sketchy it is. Rayearth definitely reflects CLAMP's burnout period in that there are definitely more corners cut, like with the constant chibi scenes (very classically 90s, but not something I've ever enjoyed) and heavy use of screentone to mask lack of background. It's still visually stunning, but it's definitely not their drawing peak. Would I still frame some of these pages? Absolutely.

Questionable Elements: Presea makes an off-colour Native American joke. The designs of the Chizeta and Fahren characters lean heavily into cultural stereotyping of the "Orient" - they at least are real characters in the story, but they really irritated me for quite a long time in the story because of how glaring this is. Especially when Aska says white-ish, blue eyed blonde Emeraude is a "true princess". It makes the epilogue's (very good) moral of "we were all made different so we can learn from one another" fall a bit flat if CLAMP themselves made no effort to actually learn from people unlike them.

Overall: While Part 2 of Rayearth never quite lives up to the potential set by Part 1, the entire series overall is such a refreshing take on the magical girl genre, even 30 years on. Its meta-narrative and postmodern reflections on the genre and its blend of magical girl tropes, philosophy, fantasy and JRPGs, and unique and timeless visual influences has led to a series that has withstood the test of time - and many of its peers that similarly attempted to be the "next Sailor Moon". I think, unlike them, Magic Knight Rayearth has such a strong CLAMP fingerprint upon it - it is their humanist and occult-flavoured take upon the genre, and for that it affirms the value of individual human life, each one, and our choices, in being necessary to create a society that will last, not divine action.

It is a story about stories, making it fascinatingly ahead of the curve. And while its child audience means that it lacks subtlety and nuance in many ways (and frankly Nanase Ohkawa has the subtlety of a brick in her writing in general), I can't deny how much it has remained with me all these years and I find something new to love in it each time. It warrants being one of CLAMP's hits for these reasons, by taking apart the genre set up by Sailor Moon to say it is not pure-hearted divine princesses who will save the world, but our selfish human love that will fight off entropy, every time.

[crispy-crust]

top 10 yuris

usually i would answer these asks in a jokinG manner but you've asked me about a topic i am extremely passionate about so prepare for a massive text post

addinG a cut here because this post is larGeee and i don't want it cloGGinG up any dashes

NUMBER 10: hatbow!

at number 10 due to the extreme lack of canon interaction but the fact it's here at all despite how little of it exists is a testament to how much these two have rotted in my brain. Go play a hat in time it's so cute and so fun i wish there was more content of these two

NUMBER 9: kimona!

ah kimona. how i wish there was more actual canon content of these two. this shit made volume 5 for me it's the reason volume 5 is the only volume i own of the hardcovers (for now). there is undeniable tension between these two i refuse to believe bryan lee o'malley wrote this without the intention of makinG it seem romantic. and as a friend once said "they two bad bitches n they kissin each other 🔥🔥🔥🔥"

NUMBER 8: ROSEMARY

iconic in every sense of the word these two are special to me. i have to include them here purely due to how influential they were it's awesome not much else to add here as this isn't one of the ships i'm severely brainrotted about i just think they're neat!

NUMBER 7: lumity!

i used to be biG into these two they're wonderful and it was Great seeinG somethinG like this on modern television. shoutout dressinG up and travelinG toGether (iykyk)

NUMBER 6: weblena

now we're GettinG into brainrot territory. the showrunners said somethinG alonG the lines of "webby won't Get a romantic interest because the show isn't about romance" and i Go "what the fuck are you talkinG about we already had a romantic subplot with her and lena that was clearly the point of all of that" there is a scene in season 1 where webby calls lena a "beautiful idiot" and then looks at her like this

TELL ME THAT ISN'T gAY! YOU CAN'T BECAUSE IT'S gAY AS SHIT THESE TWO ARE SO FRUITY TOgETHER DUCKTALES 2017 I LOVE YOU FOR EVERYTHINg BUT I WISH YOU ALLOWED THESE TWO TO HAPPEN

number 5: sashanne!

much can be said about this ship and the anGst behind it and all that. i'm huGe on sashannarcy as a whole and i considered addinG that ship to this list but i thouGht talkinG about the dynamics of the pairs would be more interestinG sashanne is a stronG case of missed potential to me, a lot could have been done to make their dynamic a lot more compellinG even more-so than it already is and a lot could have been chanGed about the way they handled sasha's "redemption arc" in season 3. season 3 as a whole is a mess that i have many opinions on but that's for another day. despite all the flaws and missed potential this ship still aches me in the best way possible. they were 13 years old at the time of amphibia and they had to deal with ALL OF THAT. at aGe 13 sasha elizabeth waybriGht attempted actual honest to God suicide due to a fiGht she had with anne while lean on me was playinG in the backGround and the world was forever chanGed. amphibia was so held back by so much and the amount of missed potential in it (especially in season 3) kills me but despite all of that this relationship shined throuGh as one of if not the best part of the show for many people. Good shit!

NUMBER 4: lapidot!

NOW WE'RE gETTINg TO THE gOOD SHIT how come even in media that has explicit queerness everywhere i always tend to Gravitate towards the dubiously canon clearly more than friends who were done dirty by their lack of screentime toGether? lapidot is a lot for so many reasons and i'm very much not alone in beinG abnormal about these two. IN FACT REBECCA SUgAR HERSELF DREW HUMANSTUCK ART OF THEM! AND THE OFFICIAL CARTOON NETWORK SOCIALS HAVE RECOgNIZED THIS SHIP MULTIPLE TIMES!! the way these two Grow to be comfortable around each other and learn to live in this new stranGe place toGether is so charminG and so Gut wrenchinG when you're rewatchinG the show and know what's cominG. in the episode where peridot learns to bubble stuff for the first time she sends the bubble off and when she asks steven where it'll Go he says "home" AND THEN IT CUTS TO LAPISSSSSS. SHE THINKS OF LAPIS AS HER HOMEEEEEEE DON'T EVEN FUCKINg gET ME STARTED ON DISTANT SHORE I ACTUALLY SOBBED SO FUCKINg HARD WHILE WATCHINg THAT SCENE IT'S UNREAL they were done so dirty with their reunion as well what do you mean all we Got was a "hey" I NEED TO SEE TEARS AS THEY MAKE OUT DAMN IT!! these two are imperfect and they stumble throuGh this whole life thinG a lot and there are many ups and downs to their relationship but that's what makes it compellinG that's what makes it so Good and damn it at the end they made it back to each other... if we ever Get more official su content and these two aren't canonized in it i will end up on the news

NUMBER 3: stephcass!

yea what did you expect of course this was Gonna be here these two are everythinG to me and every day that passes by where they aren't canon is a day i am in physical pain their dynamic throuGhout batGirl 2000 Gives me life and the anGst that comes from it is delicious the obvious queerbait in batGirls doesn't help this at all. they knew what they were doinG and you can't convince me otherwise these Girls and their relationship persevered despite all the editorial nonsense that tried to split them up and each time they came back stronGer than ever they have such undeniable chemistry and they're universally loved as a pairinG come on dc you would be actually stupid not to put them toGether come on everyone already clocked them like 2 decades aGo

NUMBER 2: junerezi!

dear lord this pairinG has had an affect on me. you really do Go into the epiloGues expectinG roxyGen and then end up on the other side screaminG and clawinG at the walls in the name of junerezi i was hooked on them before i even read meat! the little crumbs in candy were so dense and so impactful to me their dynamic is so incredibly fun to read and their scenes in meat are so painful and so powerful they are the reason i own the epiloGues physically i need beyond canon to be done already so i can see the end of this plotline throuGh i need them back toGether you don't understand june's death in meat while in terezi's arms actually made me feel numb irl for like a week i wish people would Give the epiloGues a chance because they're actually really damn Good and the junerezi is sooooo delicious i cry so hard i usidgfbuiydboguiszdghbfuijdsbvgfyihsdfobuijgbf[9usapigbvfuidjbsfuijdb

NUMBER 1: MARCANNE

spoiler warninG for amphibia

i don't talk about these two often on here, not as much as i'd like at least. but marcy wu as a character and this ship specifically literally chanGed me as a person. there is a reason i still call marcy my favorite character in fiction despite havinG read stories i consider to be much better than amphibia since. and this may sound stupid but i Genuinely do not know if i would be alive today were it not for marcy i started amphibia at a very rouGh time in my life and the character of marcy and the lenGths she went to for anne hit me so incredibly hard due to that imaGine with me for a second that you are 13 years old. a child Genius! everyone around you recoGnizes you as someone who will be incredibly successful later in life you have 2 people who are incredibly important to you. they mean everythinG to you you would Give the world for them and yet those two people cannot be bothered enouGh to enGaGe with you about your favorite movie or your interests in General

marcy Gave up her entire life back on earth just to be able to exist around anne and sasha. she had everythinG GoinG for her earth was her home she Got Good Grades her future looked briGht she was studyinG for the SAT from aGe 13 and earth was where all of her interests were. everythinG she knew. and she Gave that up for anne and sasha. do you know how deeply you have to care about someone to be willinG to do that? do you know how stronG your love for them has to be? cut to true colors. this episode ruined me i won't even Get into the confession scene. i have that scene memorized by heart and i start to tear up whenever i think of it i Genuinely don't think i can handle talkinG about it the stabbinG scene however.

once aGain i remind you this is a 13 year old. imaGine beinG 13 and usinG what you think may be your very last words ever to apoloGize to someone. someone you so deeply care about. you are dyinG in front of them and all you can think to say in that moment is sorry. because you believe they hate your Guts at that moment. could you imaGine GoinG throuGh that?

could you imaGine then wakinG up realizinG you're alive only to be Greeted by niGhtmarish hallucinations of your worst fear. and what's your worst fear in that moment? your friends hatinG you. them leavinG you behind after all that you went throuGh to stay close to them

the first thinG she said when she woke up was "sashy...? anne..??" SHE WAS DREAMINg OF THEMMMM

AND THEN WHEN SHE'S TAKEN OVER BY THE CORE HER FANTASY IS gETTINg TO EXPLORE NEW FANTASTICAL WORLDS ALONgSIDE ANNE AND SASHA!!! ALL SHE WANTS TO DO IS SPEND TIME WITH THE PEOPLE CLOSEST TO HER this is quickly turninG into an essay about just marcy so let me try and Get into some of the more liGhthearted aspects every sinGle scene we see of marcy and anne throuGhout their time toGether in season 2 is the Gayest shit i've seen in my whole life. them sobbinG and huGGinG each other after beinG reunited... anne boopinG marcy and tappinG her on the head later in the episode.. anne tryinG to impress marcy by actinG smart... marcy STANDINg STILL IN ONE SPOT UNTIL THE SUN WENT DOWN IN A DAY AT THE AQUARIUM AFTER ANNE LEFT TO gO WITH THE PLANTARS. ANNE BLUSHINg AT MARCY'S INFODUMP IN NEW WARTWOOD. THEIR ANTICS IN THE SLEEPOVER EPISODE. THE PROCESS OF ANNE gETTINg HER NEW ARMOR AT THE END OF SEASON 2 AND THE WAY MARCY LOOKS AT HER AFTER SHE DECIDESSSS

as previously stated this ship is extremely influential to me and i would not be the same person today without it. i don't even know if i would be here today without it. so i would like to close this post off by sayinG thank you amphibia. thank you matt braly. and most of all thank you marcy wu <3 you are a treasure that i will cherish for the rest of my life nothinG will ever compare to you

[7ndipity]

Serendipity pt.2: 8months, 2 weeks, 6 days ago

Namjoon x Reader

Summary: A recap of how Joon and Y/n met.

Word Count: 1.4k

Warnings: swearing,

A/N: Yay, we finally got part 2! I don’t have a ton to say yet as we’re still just getting started, but I hope you like it!

Masterlist Serendipity m.list

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

8 months, 2 weeks, 6 days ago

(Namjoon)

May

Namjoon eased his way carefully through the cramped aisles of the little book shop, the faint scent of worn paperbacks and hardcovers and quiet 90s music a comforting escape from the buzz of the streets outside.

He had wandered in while trying to find a gift for a friend’s birthday, but had quickly gotten distracted as he scanned the titles, lured into adding a few more volumes to his ever expanding to be read shelf at home.

Stepping back to get a better view of one of the higher shelves, he startled as he accidentally collided with another person, stepping on their foot and making them drop the books they were holding.

“Shit, I am so sorry! Are you okay?!” He asked, catching hold of the stand of art prints he nearly sent toppling over as he staggered back.

“I’m fine.” You said with a laugh, quieting as you caught the disapproving eye of the older woman behind the counter. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m good.” He replied, finally stilling long enough to take in your features, staring for slightly too long before catching himself. “Uh, here, let me help you with those”

He quickly knelt to gather up the items you’d dropped, trying to shake himself out of his sudden flustered state.

“Oh,” He frowned as he gingerly lifted a particularly tattered volume, the spine nearly split down the center. “I think I owe you a new book.” He said apologetically.

“It was already kinda like that, that’s why I wanted it.” You said taking it from him.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I like finding old books that need a little love and patching them up, gives ‘em character.” You explained, adding it back to your stack.

He glanced at the cover again. “Jane Eyre?”

“Mhm, It’s one of my favorites.” You said.

“I’ve never read it.” He admitted.

“Really? Well then, here.” You handed the worn copy to him.

“But I thought you wanted it?” He asked, looking at you.

“I was just getting it because it looked like it needed a home, but I think I found it one with you.” You said grinning at him.

He returned your smile. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” You replied, turning to make your way to the counter.

“Wait!” He said, struck with a sudden idea, ducking back around one of the shelves before returning with another book in hand, passing it to you. “Here.”

“Murakami?” You asked, glancing up at him curiously.

“Mhm.” He nodded. “You gave me one of your favorites, let me return the favor.”

“Cute, I like that.” You grinned. “Thank you.”

“Namjoon.” He offered.

“Thank you, Namjoon.”

The two of you made your way to the counter together, reluctant to let your conversation end.

“So, what are you doing after this?” He asked.

“Nothing, why?”

“I was just wondering if you might wanna get a coffee or something?” He offered, hopeful.

You glanced at him, contemplating for a second before nodding. “Okay.”

...

“Wait so, what’s your name?” He asked as you walked along.

“Hmm,” You thought, locking him in with a mischievous smirk. “Guess.”

“What?” He laughed. “Why?”

“I don’t know, just guess.” You replied, biting back a chuckle of your own at his bemused expression.

“Okay, fine.” He turned to face you, studying you for a long moment before drawing a blank.

“Cass?” He offered weakly.

You couldn’t hold in the snort of laughter that slipped out. “Cass?!”

“What? I’m not good at these kinds of games!” He laughed as well.

“Nope, we’re going with Cass, I like it.”

...

“Okay, let me try again.” He sat back, studying you for a moment. Your eyes follow him curiously, a small grin playing at your lips.

You had been sitting together in the corner of the tiny coffee shop for the better part of two hours now, conversation flowing easily between the two of you, talking about everything from work to family to dreams, repeatedly returning to the little guessing game you had created.

“Well?” You asked, shaking him out of his trance.

“Oh, um, I think you have at least one sister?”

“Nope.” You shook your head, making him sigh in defeat. “But people say my roommate and I look like sisters, so I’ll give you half a point.”

“Agh, why am I so bad at this?” He complained, letting his hands fall onto the table with a thud.

“You’re overthinking it.” You chuckled. “You gotta go with your gut feeling and not question it.”

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” He admitted.

“Why?”

“Because I would've kissed you like three times by now.”

You leaned back in your seat, brows raised in surprise at his sudden forwardness.

“Alright, my turn. You said, redirecting the conversation. “I think… you’re in a relationship.”

He shrugged. “Kinda.”

“What is kinda?”

He sighed. “She moved out, took all of her stuff back to her old place, but I’m still her date for her parents anniversary party.”

“Sounds like a soft breakup.”

“It’s happened before, a couple times. I leave, she leaves, but somehow we always just…?”

“Keep coming back?” You finish for him.

“Yeah.” He nodded.

You shrugged. “Could be fate?”

“I don’t believe in that kind of stuff.” He shook his head.

“Why not?”

“Because doesn’t it kinda defeat the purpose of life?” He asked. “If everything is predestined, then what’s the point of trying?”

“I don’t think that’s how it works.” You stirred your drink as you tried to explain. “I think the universe gives us little signs or signals towards things that can be helpful or useful to us, but how we follow those clues is totally up to us.”

He nodded, but didn’t comment, thinking.

You studied him for a moment before speaking again “I think you’re a good boyfriend.” You said kindly.

“I’m not so sure about that.” He responded quietly.

“I am.”

“Why?”

“Because you would’ve kissed me like three times by now.” You said plainly, making him flush red. “Alright, Favorite word?”

…

It was dark by the time you stepped back out onto the now artificially lit streets, having stayed at the cafe until it had emptied and the staff had to tell you it was near closing time.

“You know, maybe you should give me your number, just in case?” Namjoon said as you walked.

“In case of what?” You looked at him quizzically.

“I don’t know, life.” He said. “I had a really great time with you, I don’t want to leave it up to fate to find you again.”

“That’s not a bad idea actually.” You said.

“What is?”

“Letting fate help figure out if we’re supposed to meet again.”

He gaped at you. “You can’t be serious.”

“Why not?” You asked. “I said earlier that you needed to trust your gut more, this will be a good exercise!”

“You’re insane.” He said, shaking his head at you in disbelief.

“How about this,” You said, fishing into your shopping bag from earlier. “We take the books we picked for each other, and once we’ve read them, we’ll write our names and info in them, and then sell them to a used bookstore and see if we can find them.”

“Which store?”

You grinned.

“You’re not gonna tell me, this is ridiculous!” He exclaimed. “I just had one of the best evenings of my life and you want to leave it up to chance?!”

“Yes.” You chuckled. “If it’s fate, we’ll find each other again.”

“That’s not how it works though!” He insisted. “You’re not even living here full time yet, you think fate’s just gonna drop you in my lap again like today?”

“Yes, you just have to trust it.” You said. “Besides, I think the chances of us running into each other again are pretty high.”

Namjoon wanted to argue with you more, but he could see that you wouldn’t move on this.

“Fine.” He said reluctantly.

“Okay.” You smiled at him. “Then we’ll say bye for now?”

He nodded, still not believing he was going along with this.

You turned to walk away, only going a few yards before turning back to him.

“By the way,” You called, making his head whip back up quickly. “My name’s Y/n, not Cass.” You said, turning and ducking across the busy street, quickly getting lost from his sight in the crowd.

...

January

8 months, 2 weeks, 6 days.

That’s how long it’d been since he made what he fears was the biggest mistake of his life, letting you walk away.

He stared out the window of the cafe, at the same table that you’d shared that evening, the January chill seeming to color the air a faint gray-blue, hoping against his own previous skepticism that fate might give second chances.

[lovewash3d-doll]

💐💜My Reading & Writing Hot Takes💜💐

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vintage leather-bound > hardcover > paperback

fantasy with romance > romantasy

libraries > buying new books

short books > long books

stand-alones > series

focus on strong plot > focus on character

I do judge books by their covers & titles

classics, gothic literature, & historical fantasy are the best genres

💐Why?💐…

I refuse to buy paperbacks and have a vendetta against them! I hate how quickly they crease and get damaged; you can’t read a paperback, front to back, without it looking like you ran it over with a car. I personally like my books looking pretty on my shelves and it’s so much more sustainable to buy hardcover. I LOVE going to old bookstores to collect leather-bound books!

A little harsh but… Romantasy is the least substantial book genre and is honestly an insult to literature. Can we please leave this genre behind? It should stay on Wattpad and not be something I find on book store shelves. Books should be thought-provoking and have an actual message instead of being messy, being based on the same five tropes, and having no plot other than intimacy. I love hints of romance in books and that’s why fantasies WITH romance are the best. You get an interesting plot and world plus romance that adds to or even complicates the events. In my opinion, a single relationship is not enough to be considered as the plot of a story, and slow-burns and secondary romance plots are way more rewarding!

As a library worker myself, I recommend using your local resources instead of buying new books! To keep libraries around, we have to use them! It’s more sustainable and with book prices nowadays, a LOT cheaper. I’ve probably saved a couple hundred dollars just this year! Library cards are free and most libraries don’t have a check-out limit and allow you to renew books up to several months (as long as no one places a hold)! Libraries also offer free ebook access!

Shorter books are infinitely better than long books! If you need more than 300 pages to tell a story, it better be the best, most intricate and thoughtful novel I’ve ever read or you need to seriously cut down your word count. I’m tired of reading awful books with 400+ pages of pure nothingness that so slowly paced and have so many unnecessary, useless scenes. Editors seriously need to start cracking down on this. If a scene or part of the story doesn’t contribute to the plot or character development, cut it! It shouldn’t take 200 pages to just set-up a story and another 50 for anything important to actually happen. I’ve found even in my own writing that cutting down my stories significantly makes them more concise, clear, and intentional. Don’t drown readers in words! Leave some space for thought and for the digestion of your writing! I think most readers prefer a short but wonderful book compared to a long and “meh” one.

As I get older, I prefer stand-alone novels to series. Series are great, especially when you really enjoy the world and characters. But, honestly, they’re sometimes unnecessary and a bore. Not every book needs to be a series, just as every movie doesn’t need a sequel, and sometimes stories are best left “one and done.” I find it a little frustrating when I need to read six novels to see how a story’s problem is resolved and reach a satisfying ending. I sometimes even get annoyed by a duology because seriously, if you only have enough material for another book, stuff it into the first! I think the ability for stand-alones to resolve their overbearing conflicts in just one volume makes them more compelling and a lot easier to digest. I love series but I don’t want to discover that every single book on my 200 book-long reading list is part of a 10 book series…

I’ve recently noticed than more and more modern books have weaker plots and I beg any writer to please learn basic, classical story structure! Regardless of what interesting characters, atmosphere, or world you may have created, your story will fall through without a strong plot. Plots make the story. In fact, they are the story. The most excellent books are strong in all areas but the framework of plots is so essential that it should be focused on more! I would prefer a book with a strong plot and mediocre world-building to one with scraps of a conflict and some veryelaborate world.

It’s just marketing! Covers and titles are important! Sorry for the book prejudice but I refuse to buy ugly books and will always pick up the most interesting, cool-titled novels on the shelf. I like having a pretty bookshelf and books that don’t look appealing… probably aren’t. I’ve definitely been catfished by a book before but I’ll at least buy the prettiest edition of a book I’ve heard is good. So, if you want good sales, get a good cover artist!

The classics, gothic literature, & historical fantasy are the best genres— at least in my opinion and I strongly recommend you read them! Not only do you look ten times smarter, but you can’t go wrong with a classic. It’s very powerful how such an old book can transcend time in meaning and still be relevant to today’s world! We were still humans thousands of years ago and some issues never simply vanish. My favorite branch of classics is Gothic Literature! Think of melodrama but romantically dark and haunting. My favorites are Jane Eyre, the Turn of a Screw, Northenger Abbey, and practically anything by Henry James! They’re both beautiful is meaning and imagery! Another genre that I’ve been gladly noticing more and more of is historical fantasy : when elements of the past, or our world in the past, is mixed in with magic. Pretty dresses, a blast to the past, and magic is a great combo! It’s also very creative and leaves a lot of space for originality!

I’ve love to hear what you think!

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XOXO,

lovewashed doll💐💜