#and those are even more difficult to find than English recs
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oldtvandcomics · 1 year ago
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Happy Queer Media Monday!
Today: Nous Sommes la Poussière by Plume D. Serves
I found a book.
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[Nous Sommes la Poussière as seen in the queer bookshop in Paris, with the shop's recommendation still attached]
Nous Sommes la Poussière is a French novel written by LGBT+ and autistic activist Plume D. Serves. It is a magic realism story about people affected by a disabling condition that causes electric dust to gather around them. As a form of “treatment”, they are made to wear special chains with a magnet that absorbs the dust before it can become a visible cloud, which end up doing more harm than good. The main character, Elias, is one of these people. (She is also a lesbian.) The book follows her from the moment that she really started to feel disabled over years of struggle with both her disability and her fight for social acceptance, until the activist group succeeds in repelling the very restrictive law forcing them to wear the chains. While doing so, it touches on many aspects of life with an invisible disability.
I feel like I’ve never seen my exact life experience as a disabled person this well reflected in any story. Plume D. Serves doesn’t shy away from the complexities and the nuances of being disabled and of the disabled community, or the way it intersects with other marginalized identities. I also appreciated how the thing that brings change in this book is relentless, determined community organizing.
Nous Sommes la Poussière is written in French by a French author, and has not yet been translated to any other languages.
I have done a review about it in French, if that is a version you’d prefer. Also, here is Plume D. Serves’ webpage.
Queer Media Monday is an action I started to talk about some important and/or interesting parts of our queer heritage, that people, especially young people who are only just beginning to discover the wealth of stories out there, should be aware of. Please feel free to join in on the fun and make your own posts about things you personally find important!
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atthebell · 13 days ago
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do you know any good free spanish courses out there? im doing some of the busuu course bc it helped me quite a bit w pt but it seems to lean somewhat towards eu spanish than latin american spanish which is what im going for (sorry im sure you've already answered this, you were just the first person i thought of that learned esp as a foreign language)
in terms of busuu, ill add that their portuguese also leaned a bit towards european portuguese at times (which was part of why i stopped using it-- also bc the focus on travel vocab was not helpful for me personally)
for spanish, i learned it in school growing up, so unfortunately i don't have a ton of recommendations for self-study/online free courses. i have some stuff in my language learning tag that might help, but i don't have any personal experience with those methods since i learned it in a fairly straightforward academic setting and also by proxy of living in sd. i know some of the resources ive reblogged before do have some solid testimonies from folks, and if anyone else has recommendations, feel free to send them.
i will say that in terms of language learning in an academic setting, i do personally find that kind of structure helpful, especially in terms of accountability, but i think any method that involves consistent practice and some level of immersion (this can mean talking to native speakers or consuming a lot of media in your target language) is beneficial regardless. i got a really strong basis for language learning across the board (vocabulary for certain things, understanding roots and parts of speech, etc.) partially through having a really strong foundation in english and through how i initially learned spanish, and in my opinion it's made every language ive learned since far easier than it would have been otherwise. i was lucky that i really enjoy language learning and have always had an interest in it and my teachers were pretty solid most of the time and helped to create that foundation. ill add here that a lot of u.s. americans (and from what ive seen, plenty of other english speakers) don't learn certain terms that describe language functions and that makes it more difficult to learn any other languages-- my first spanish teacher had to teach us all what a preterite was, for example, and i still don't know most tense names in english, only in spanish 😭
i would suggest finding at least one textbook to use alongside any other methods (there are free ones linked in my tag) so that you have some clear direction and explanation of concepts, in case that isn't present in other resources.
also my biggest rec is always to find something you really enjoy and take part in it in your target language; if that means music, there is no shortage of music in spanish, if it means tv shows or movies or even setting whatever game you're playing in spanish, you can do that. i always recommend, once you get to a certain level, trying to read a book you've read before in your target language-- that means you'll be pretty familiar with the english and will make reading through it easier, plus you'll pick up new vocab for things you're familiar with already. and of course there's always watching streams. if you want to learn how to swear possibly more than anyone else on this planet, you can watch roier 🩷 please don't talk to strangers like how he talks though 😭 ill never forget foolish calling rubius a pendejo and him being like does he fucking hate me...
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gacktfan69 · 5 months ago
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Band rec (/band introduction)
ZRGN
I'm sorry idk how to make posts look pretty yet but anyway here are ZRGN/zarigani (meaning crawfish)
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On the left is Satsuki, he does the guitar, backing vocals, and he's a professional video editor so he edits their mvs! On the right is Hyoga, the vocalist and bassist. They had a different vocalist previously but he left, not sure why.
ZRGN is iryou and misshitsu kei, their songs are quite fun to listen to they have a unique sound, I recommend. Also, both Hyoga and Satsuki speak English, Satsuki even majored in english in college.
Here are the songs I recommend to start with!
They released an album this april which include re-arranged versions of the above songs so I recommend listening to those after you listen to the original versions
This song shares a name w the album! Their most recent on spotify.
Satsuki is also selling cheki on booth/buyee, I think they're still up. I'm waiting for mine to arrive, they're all signed, he even tried reaching out to everyone who ordered so he can write their names on the cheki but there were some issues because buyee is difficult, but its sweet regardless. I actually spoke to him over insta regarding the cheki and he seemed really sweet and friendly!
Please give them a listen! They are more active on Twitter than instagram I think, so you can try find them there!
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itsstraykids · 1 year ago
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hello! hope ur doing well! i love reading ur answers and getting to know more abt u sm! its just amazing how days go by so quickly and busily like u blink and suddenly its 4 of them passed already! apologies! unlike u, im still infant-level fan to kpop (got pulled by skz) and being as hyperfocused on skz as i was, dont know any other kpop groups like i do skz sadly, but i do love music! i love shinee's stuff sm!!! and my best friend really likes xdinary heroes so im getting into them too! and txt just have some of the funnest bsides so their discography gets scoured too lmao. i just dont know any grps members or anything well, but yeah! like u said, lots of good music raining down. i will never understand ppl's bias against non native language songs-esp when they like english stuff and its not their mother tongue!-bcs kpop has such a range. so many interesting sounds, artists and genres!! from past year ive really found myself drawn to soft-ish(?) k-indie/rock a lot! u asked for newer artists (ik so less abt bands. this is a personal failure</3) some of my favorites i think are: lee go do, mingginyu, nerd connection! akmu, heo hoy kyung, se seo neon, etc etc just lots of solo lowkey artists and songs lmao. there's smth abt the lapping continuity of soft sounds and forming of language like that which enthralls me a lot. i really adore loud and wonderful girl group songs as well!! i listen to girl groups a whole lot more than bgs which is surprising bcs i love skz, but their immaculate energy and style! really love aespa, rv, loona! stayc, twice, billie, izone and others! do u listen to lucy the band? their stuff's really fun as well! i rambled sm lmao but yeah. music is so exciting in so many aspects its amazing. i love listening to a lot of languages and genres too! mostly bcs my brain's engagement is a pinball game and i am keeping it amused with fifty different things at the same time. which is why i just have a lot of recs for songs but none for artists bcs i collect and find interesting stuff but get obsessed easily, which makes it difficult to get into every artist particularly. would love to trade playlists or songs once this secret santa is over if ud be comfortable with that! (no pressure genuinely!) thank u for reading and indulging me! its funny how everything is still so busy even tho we here dont celebrate christmas that extensively like the west at all (asian!) holidays are holidays tho i guess lmao. hope u have lots of fun sweets and gifts well wishes and rest and reprieve!! stay safe!!
ps- top 3 artists?? that i found and fell in love with so bad this year?? would be youra! yukika and ahn ye eun! and now i dont know how much any of the artists song would be up your alley but im vibrating to recommend them to everybody so bad but id recommend mimi, raww from youra; neon 1989, soul lady, pit-a-pet (or any! she's amazing) from yukika; and burn like a star, full bloom, night flower, moon during the day or any! (im just. obsessed with her voice and how she likes doing her music smm) from ahn ye eun! u dont even have to listen to these if u dont want to, i just wanted to share lmao. do u have some particular artists whose sound u adore to unseeming degrees? also! fav japanese artists(if any)? ! im always on lookout for new music!! have a good day!!!
hi!! sorry again for answering this so late, like you said, the days go by in a flash lmao. thank you so much for those recommendations, i'm excited to check them out!! once i have the time 😅 i think after christmas i’ll be doing a lot of chilling and art + new music will be perfect. i totally feel you on collecting songs over artists usually, i do the same because i find good songs randomly from cafes, movies, spotify recommended, etc. and just put them all into a playlist, lol. i would LOVE to trade playlists with you. anything you recommend will be much appreciated. i really need more indie recs and good gg songs, i only really know mamamoo but i think they’re great. i’ve heard some singles from the other groups you mentioned that i like a lot too but i don’t know any of their b-sides.
oh wow you’re located in asia? that’s very cool, is it hot there right now or are you more in the north? i’m in california so we don’t get very “wintery” vibes even in december, but it has been raining a bit which is really nice and refreshing. also, today is my birthday! so we had a really great banana cake my family made, and they also made an incredible brunch. we’re going ice skating in a little bit and then having a bonfire on the beach in the evening. hope you’re having a good day as well! merry christmas if you celebrate 🎅🎄✨💝
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edenalieth · 3 years ago
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do us apart
Pairing: Changbin x Y/N
Genre: heavy angst, fluff, apocalypse!au
Warnings: swearing, gun shot, panic attack, mention of death, it’s the apocalypse so yea….
Words count: 3.1K
Summary: Keeping your heads low, you and Changbin sprinted toward the exit. « Don’t stop running! » he screamed. Your lover gave you a quick glance and you noticed that he was just as terrified as you were. You still could hear the hideous noises coming from the train station, noises you believe you would only hear in horror movies or hell… It was the reality you were in. An apocalyptic one.
A.N: hi! here is a little song rec for this fic: next to you by john vincent III  and dance with me by beebadoobee. english isn’t my first language so i apologize for the mistakes. as always, any comments or sharing are always appreciated (´。• ω •。`) hope you will enjoy it! - cami, 220220
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Your bodies were stuck against each other, people were pushing from every sides, making it difficult to move. Screams and cries could be heard. You could barely see what was going on, too focused on your breath, trying to calm down. Your boyfriend was holding your hand tightly, not wanting to let you go or else it would be almost impossible to find you, lost in that crowd of desperate people. He tip toed, to see if there was any chance for you to jump on the train. Unfortunately more than a hundred of families, elders, kids, and so on were waiting, always pushing and screaming at the station employees. 
One of them turned on the megaphone he was holding on his hand. A piercing sound made the crowd silent, every single soul hoping to hear some good news. 
« Listen! It’s no use to push! This train only has 280 places… Young kids along with their mothers will go first, please make a line or we will not open the gates! » said the man. The silence became thicker. You knew what it meant, you and Changbin didn’t have a single chance… Too many people were standing in front of you to even try to sneak on the steel machine. Your throat became drier, if it was even possible. Your mind was becoming empty, just looking at the grey ground, where all of you were just like those insects, crawling. 
« What about us then ? We don’t get a chance to live ? Don’t you have other trains ? » a sudden yell of a middle-aged man broke the silence. Whispers started to grow louder. Two days ago, an official statement of the government was broadcasted on national tv. Some bunkers were available but, obviously, the amount of places was limited and far too small for the thousands of people of each cities and neighbors. A total of ten bunkers were listed, eight could welcome five thousands people and the two others had a capacity of ten thousands. Not even all the kids would be able to go in there… And then there was the rich ones, politicians, high graded soldiers getting a vip tickets for those concrete fortresses. This was the kind of society you were living in. 
The same employee turned on the megaphone again. 
« We hear your pleadings but… » his voice started to crack, his knuckles were so white that we could wonder if blood was still running through his veins. « It’s the last train which will depart from this city. » 
You knew it. You and Changbin had to try even if you knew it was a lost cause. He looked at you, his jaw clenched, his eyes full of despair. Seeing your own reflection into his deep brown eyes, your expression was mirroring his. 
The crowd was now rumbling. More yells and protests started to burst, people were pushing harder, trying to make the barriers fall. Your bodies were compressed to the point you thought your ribcage was about to break. This meant nothing good and the situation was too tensed. 
« We have to go back, now » urged your lover. You nodded, unable to make a single sound. Intertwining your fingers to make your grip stronger, you turned around, trying to reach the station exit. You were moving forward slowly but it wasn’t as difficult as you thought it would, people were too greedy to steal your spot to not let you pass. You heard the sound of some metal falling on the ground. The barriers were down. 
BANG! BANG! 
« What the fuck! ». Swearing, Changbin immediately put a hand over your head, making you bow to avoid the gun shots you just heard. Your ears were ringing, your hands shaking uncontrollably as your breath was becoming erratic. « Shhh, I’m here babe, I’m here… » said the black haired boy, trying to soothe you. You were still walking, almost crouching, toward the exit. You could see the doors opened right in front of you, few people separating you from your escape. 
After a few seconds, a different voice was heard through the speaker. A soldier warning the crowd to make a line or more people would be endangered despite their ages. It didn’t help, it was just adding some fuel to the fire. 
For the next minutes, only your instincts guided you. The gun shots were incessant, babies and kids were screaming, crying, along with adults. 
« Y/N! Run! » 
Keeping your heads low, you and Changbin sprinted to the exit. « Don’t stop running! » he screamed. Your lover gave you a quick glance and you noticed that he was just as terrified as you were. You still could hear the hideous noises coming from the train station, noises you believe you would only hear in horror movies or hell… It was the reality you were in. An apocalyptic one. 
Weaving on the empty streets, the sounds of your footsteps were echoing against the gigantic skyscrapers and buildings. Your lungs were burning and that’s when you come to a halt to your runaway. You were far enough to be safe now. Changbin immediately stopped. You let go his hand, putting both of yours on your knees to catch your breath and support yourself from falling. The boy looked at you, he could feel tears threatening to fall any time, but he needed to hold them back a bit longer. For you. For him. Fuck. What you both just witnessed was terrible. A shooting. It was human’s true nature, uh ? And it was probably your last day in that sick world. At this thought, Changbin had to bite his lips harshly to not break into tears. You still hadn’t move from your hunched position. Coming closer, he put his warm hands on your cheeks. He felt the wetness of them as you were silently crying. 
« Look at me… Baby. Please ». You didn’t want him to see how broken you were. You knew he felt the same but tried his best not to show it. That’s how he was, thinking about the ones he loves first, being so selfless. Complying to his request, you faced him. His chin was trembling, his eyes were full of panic as he was trying to keep his composure. 
« We will stay together ok ? No matter what. I will never leave you behind. » 
«  I know Changbin, I know » you wrapped your arms around his torso as he gave you a peck on your forehead. You stayed in each others arms for a few minutes before he took your hand in his. 
« We should get going. Let’s find some water and food first. » 
You nodded, following your boyfriend. 
The silence on the streets was burdensome. You could hear some things falling on the concrete sometimes, some tv running in abandoned houses. Birds weren’t chirping anymore. They flew away a while ago, even before scientists knew that an enormous comet was about to fall on earth and destroy almost every lives on it. Where would you ask ? You didn’t know. Animals had this survival instinct humans barely had. They would probably find the safest place if there was one.
Around a corner, you found a small grocery store. Your race had made you thirsty and water was very much needed. The dark haired boy looked through the glass of the window. There was not a single soul in sight. He gestured you to come with him, pushed the door, a bell sound welcoming you. 
« Hello ? » he asked, scanning the surroundings. No answer. 
« Ok, I will go grab a bag and take some supplies to spend the day. You get the water, seems good for you ? ». 
« Yea, no problem, I will be right there » you said, pointing at the drinks area. He gave you a small smile that you returned and turned around. There wasn’t a lot of bottles left. After the announcement, people rushed to get some stock of food and water, in hope of surviving. You kneeled down to get a bottle stored at the end of the rack. As your fingertips were skimming over the bottle cap, you felt something hard against the back of your head. 
« Don’t move ». A man was standing behind you. Your heart started to beat faster. Was this a damn joke ? You escaped a place just to get in an other ambush. Putting your hands in the air, you tried to face the man, but he pushed the thing harder on your head. 
«  I said don’t move! » he yelled. You heard some steps rushing in your direction. 
«  He has a weapon! » you warned. The steps stopped before starting again, slower this time. 
« What ? You’re with someone ? » the guy seemed more and more panicked. Just a wrong move on the trigger and you would be dead. 
« Come on mate, let her go ». Your lover was here. You could only see his shadow on the floor. Looked like his hands were up as well. The tip of the gun finally moved. The stranger didn’t know where to point it at. Changbin continued. 
« We just want some food and water for the day… It’s not as if it was the end of the world, right ? » he scoffed at his own sarcastic joke. Apparently, he was the only one to. You finally managed to turn around and see what was going on. 
The man was probably in his forties, holding a shotgun in his hands, aiming at your significant other. They were looking intensely at each other, when the man finally dropped his weapon. He let himself fall on the ground, sobbing. 
« Y-you right… We’re going to d-d-… » the word couldn’t even go through his lips. Grabbing his scalp, his breath loud and quick. He was probably having a panic attack. Who could blame him ? 
Taking advantage of the weak state of the stranger, Changbin helped you to get on your feet, the water bottles secured into your arms. 
« We’re leaving now. Take care of you man. » you both waited for a second, to ensure your security, before going out. Your pace quickly sped up. Your boyfriend tripped over some garbage on the ground, losing his balance before you caught his forearm. 
«  You ok ? » you asked, eyes looking every inch of his body to know if he was hurt. 
« I am, don’t worry, just keep going » he spat, worried about the possibility of the shop owner loosing his damn mind. For what seemed to be the nth time of the day, here you were, running. 
Bang! 
The sound was distant but you know what it meant. You looked at Changbin who simply replied that you couldn’t have saved him. Nobody could. Humanity was doomed. 
Roaming around the road, few cars were abandoned, most people took theirs to try to reach the cities owning a bunker as soon as possible. Your significant other saw a possibility for you to, maybe, have one last car trip. He tried to open the car doors. Some were locked, some opened but no keys on it. When finally he found one. 
« Y/N look! », for the first time of the day he seemed excited. He put the backpack you got at the grocery store on the ground, took place on the driver seat and turned on the engine, pushing on the accelerator with one of his feet. The motor was making some strange sounds. 
« Come on » he mumbled. A low sound, which sounded like victory, could be heard. « Yes! » he jumped out of the car to throw his bag on the back seats. His sudden serotonin burst was pretty contagious and you couldn’t help but laugh at the scene. He sped up to open the car door for you. 
« Mademoiselle » he said while bowing reverently. You thanked him, giggling. Where did he learn that word ? It didn’t matter honestly. As long as you were together, nothing mattered. 
« Babe, why don’t we go to our favorite place ? It might be the last time we see it. » offered the black haired boy, a sour taste lacing the joyful tone of his voice. 
« It’s one and half an hour from here though». Would you make it one time ? Wasn’t it more reasonable to just found a nice place around here, to enjoy your last day ? Because it surely was the last. Trying to reach one of the bunkers was out of option, too far away and, seen what happened at the train station, too dangerous. 
« Yes, when we respect speed limits » he answered with a smirk. Changbin wanted both of you to enjoy this time to the fullest. You returned his smile and buckled your seatbelt. 
The road was desert. Indeed, it was easier to not respect the speed limits. You had turned on the car radio, singing all the songs you knew, screaming through the opened windows. It felt like freedom. However, the song was cut short as you heard the government official sound resonating. Your smiles faded away in a blink of an eye, catching all of your attention. 
« Dear inhabitants of XXXX, nine out of the ten available bunkers are now full. » 
« Already ? » you thought out loud, astonished by how fast it was. You glimpsed at your lover. His grip on the steering wheel was firm, his knuckles white, jaw clenched as his gaze was focused on the road unveiling in front of his eyes. Your heart broke at the sight of it. You put what you hoped to be a comforting hand on the back of his head, caressing his hair lovingly. He gave in into your touch, taking a deep breath as the politician’s speech was still going on. 
« According to the scientist, the comet’s impact should happen- ». Before you could hear anything else, Changbin turned the radio off. The mood became gloomy. 
Resting your head on his shoulder, you were thinking about everything you did together. All the good and bad times, those memories engraved in your soul so deeply that you could never forget them.
« Remember that time I broke your computer and tried to fix it ? » you asked him. 
« Uh ? Why suddenly ? ». He seemed confused by your question. 
« I thought you would be furious. I saw your face turning white when I showed it to you but you didn’t yell at me. You just said that it was too old anyway and wanted to buy a new one. You always put the others’ happiness before your own. I wanted to thank you for that. » 
Your words were sincere, he could feel it. He took one of your hand in his and gave a gentle kiss to it. 
« It’s better to enjoy the time we have with our loved ones rather than fighting over small and useless things , right ? » he whispered in a deep voice. You nodded, tightening your grip on his hand. 
The trees siding the road were becoming sparse. At the horizon, you could now see it. The deep blue of the sea spreading far, far away until it became one with the sky. You and Changbin loved to come here. This place was full of memories and the only one able to soothe your wounded and desperate hearts.
It only took you fifty minutes to get there and you were glad you accepted to come here. He parked the car. You stay in for a moment, staring at the sea. Your boyfriend was the first one to go out, stretching his sore body. Joining him, you also grabbed the food and drinks in the backpack. 
« Let’s eat, shall we ? » you asked, softly smiling. He agreed. You both sat on the sand, eating in silence, unable to truly enjoy your last dish. The little happiness you had before was now gone.
« I should have propose to you » he blurted out. You almost choked at his declaration. He kept going. 
« I wish I had seen you wearing a beautiful wedding gown, seen you carrying our babies, seen you aging by my side. I wanted it all. » his voice cracked. Gathering all the strength you had, you answered him.
« You would have been a wonderful husband and father, Seo Changbin. » 
He looked at you, his eyes filled with tears. It was hard to swallow, your throat so tight that you wondered how you could even breath. 
« I love you Y/N and I will love you in our next live, and the next ones. Always. » 
You half laughed, half sobbed. « I love you too, I will love you till death do us apart ».
He cupped your face and crashed his lips on yours. The kiss was full of passion and distress. You could feel a salty taste on your tongue. His tears or yours ? Probably both. You stopped to catch your breath, noses brushing against each others. His eyes were red, lost, helpless. You stood up, giving him a hand to join you. He grabbed it and put the other one on your waist. Wrapping your arms around his neck, you started slow dancing to an inexistent music, kissing softly in between your sobs. Murmuring some « I love you » and « I will always be with you ». 
While you were dancing, the twilight started covering the world of its dark blue coat. Stars shining like little diamonds. As the universe was watching you, you kept talking about your good memories, holding hands, hugging each other. It was unfair. You didn’t deserve this. However, it couldn’t be helped. 
This is when you saw it. The comet. A white bright line tearing the sky into two distinct parts. It was far bigger than a simple shooting star. You could see the rocky aspect of it. You were both hypnotized by it, like moths being attracted by the street lights. At this moment, you could tell that there was some beauty in death. Coming back to your senses, as if time had stopped for a minute, you both jumped into each other arms, holding yourselves with such strength that you thought your bodies were about to make one. 
A thud echoing from afar. Air started to vibrate. 
« Changbin! » you squeaked. He knew. He had known what was going to happen for days but still hoped you could have a chance to survive. He could see his reflection in your eyes. Tears falling uncontrollably as he was trying to memorize every single one of your face feature. His hands were shaking. 
A jolt made you loose your balance, almost making you fall on your knees. One last hug. One last « I love you ». 
« Let’s meet again, my love » he whispered with a faint smile. 
« I will always find you, Changbin. » 
One last kiss. 
Your world vanishing into nothingness.   
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jjungkookislife · 3 years ago
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Quarterly Fic Recs 2021 #2
Hello! I’m back with another rec list! Here are fics I’ve read, loved and thoroughly enjoyed in the second quarter of 2021! They are all very wonderful fics! Each story has its own genre, warnings (and are mostly 18+), so please take that into consideration before reading. If any authors would like me to untag them, please let me know. Enjoy!
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Yoongi
before i leave you @hollyhomburg
summary: Yoongi Disappears- leaving behind a shattered pack. 8 months later, Jimin finds Yoongi in an H-mart of all places.
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Hoseok
heart-on @junghelioseok
summary: my boss is always telling me how perfect her son would be for me and she promises he’s coming to the next holiday party and don’t worry he’s heard all about me too and ALSO there’s this dude i slept with once a couple of months ago and sometimes he still sends me dick pics when i ask him to at 3 in the morning cause seriously dude’s got a good dick
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Jungkook
charmolypi @njssi
summary: Work and pleasure should never be combined — or so the saying goes. But you were never really one to follow the rules in their entirety and neither were the ones around you. Love, lust, interest. Five people. In the workplace. What could go wrong? Everyone just wants to get something, after all.
when you least expect it @johobi
summary: You’re in love with your childhood friend, Taehyung. The problem is, you treasure your friendship with him far too much to ever risk losing it. Oh, and he’s quite the Casanova. At your wits’ end with feelings you can no longer hide as diligently as you once did, you ask him to set you up with someone, anyone, in a last ditch attempt to avoid a heartbreaking conversation.
wherever there is you @jeonstudios
summary: you’ve been drinking, haven’t you?
instant gratification @dovechim
fuckboi@jungkook x cheerleader!reader
haze @yyooni
summary: So you’ve fucked the biggest fuck boy on campus. It’s a one and done. One night stand. A wham bam thank you ma’am. So why does it happen again?
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OT7/Multiple Members
because i’m yours @minniepetals
summary: you should have known they’d never let you go after gathering the courage to ask for a kiss
blazed @ironicarmy
summary: Your friends try to cheer you up during Christmastime, but things go south once Hoseok appears with a mysterious brown bag.
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Seokjin
one step @cutechim
summary:  attending an ex’s wedding is never easy, but you might just have the perfect remedy—if you can pluck up the courage to take it.
platonic @joheunsaram
summary: Finding a new method for stress relief, you rope in your bestfriend/fwb to try it out with you.
show me yours and i’ll show you mine @ktheist
summary: you’re a horny bunny yet kim seokjin always seems to manage to slide out of your grasps like a fox every time.
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Yoongi
before i leave you pt. 7 @/hollyhomburg
summary: Pack omega kim Seokjin knows how to handle things when they go south (or alternatively you get triggered, Yoongi has a panic attack, and it’s a good thing the pack is there to help)
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Hoseok
risky business @yoonjinkooked
summary: The person who invented smart glass office walls knew what they were doing. Your secretary fucks you stupid in the office.
snapshot @xjoonchildx
summary: after a day at the beach, hoseok has some surprises in store for his longtime love
keep me warm @ppersonna
summary: camping is always a great time when you’re with your friends, but even better with your boyfriend, hoseok.
it’s you @jinpanman
summary: An accidental confession throws your years-long friendship with Hoseok into disarray.
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Namjoon
love bytes @stutterfly
summary: It’s been a year since you first met Kim Namjoon, the passionate, talented English professor at the local campus. He’s always been clumsy and aloof, but he’s on a whole new level in terms of “technologically incapable.” One call to IT was all it took to pull you into his life, and with it a whole string of friendships full of flirtatious banter and undying support.
Your dating situation has been drier than the Sahara for years now, and you’ve wasted too many lonely nights drinking alone, so you try your hand at Tinder. But you’re not getting any bites. When the group finds out, they are more than willing to help–even Namjoon, though he finds it increasingly difficult to deny that he’s hopelessly smitten. You consider their opinions on potential Tinder dates while fighting off feelings you never knew were brewing for the caring soul who becomes the home you never had.
out of my league @/ppersona
summary: Kim Namjoon was never supposed to find out about your years-long hopeless crush on him. And he most definitely was not supposed to find out about it in front of all your coworkers in a company-wide meeting.
so this is love @jinpanman
summary: “So this is the miracle that I’ve been dreaming of. So this is love.”
problem solved @sugasbabiie
summary: Namjoon helps you with more than math problems tonight.
love is @hxseok-honee
summary: they say that love is supposed to transcend time and space and that it knows no limits. but putting an ocean and thousands of miles between two people won’t make things any easier, will it? 
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Jimin
potent pink @dntaewithluv
summary: The first time you see Park Jimin you’re instantly entranced by him. And it turns out he lives in the apartment next to the one you’re moving into, so even better he’s your hot neighbor. When the previous tenant confesses to you that he was the best hook up she ever had, you’re that much more intrigued. The first time you meet him, however, you’re deciding immediately that you hate him and want to stay as far away from him as possible. Jimin is determined to be a constant in your life though, and he definitely is that. Both a constant flirt and a constant pain in your ass. Is a ruined second impression enough to prevent you from ever giving him a second chance?
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Taehyung
hush, yeah? @kithtaehyung
summary: the innocent accident that started it all
unfinished business @/dntaewithluv
summary: Besides wanting to catch up with some old friends, there’s only one reason you found yourself agreeing to attend your 10 year high school reunion. The boy you were in love with back then is going to be there, and you’re determined to finally make your move. Except, unfortunately, it turns out that Kim Seokjin is very much happily married. Kim Taehyung, however, is very much single and feels like he has something to prove to you after you turned him down all those years ago. One night is all it takes to make you realize you made the biggest mistake of your life.
under the covers @jessikahathaway
spy!au
darling @bloomsuga
summary: “go to sleep, darling.”
as endless as the stars ^
summary: he waited 160 years to meet you again, and now that he has, he’s not letting go. or: “i love you as deep as the ocean and as endless as the stars”
dirty dishes @jaysdimples
summary: when your boyfriend can’t seem to keep his hands to himself so he stirs up a little trouble in the kitchen while everyone else is a few feet away in the next room
devotion @/sweetbunnykook
summary: You and Taehyung were inseparable once. When you come back to your hometown after three years, fate pulls you back to him. And this time, Taehyung won’t ever keep his eyes off of you.
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Jungkook
commercial break; twelve @1kook
summary: Anyway, if it was up to Jungkook, Kim Doyeon would not be a member of the Engagement Ring Committee.
tease @adonis-koo
summary:You came with the intentions of your best friend landing a job as a stripper. You never meant to catch the eyes of the king stripper of the establishment- Jeon Jungkook, yourself. With what was supposed to be a harmless way of paying off college debt faster you find yourself falling into a very odd and passionate relationship with your new mentor. Between infidelity, passion and jealousy there’s never a dull moment at Cherry Bomb.
jock!jk @angelguk
summary: going raw with jock jk
evolution of a lover’s heart @jeonstudios
summary: the rules are simple: first one to take the virginity wins.
euphoria @btssavedmylifeblr
summary: At the end of your life, you are given one day to live again with the man you loved. A lifetime’s love story told in a single day.
idealizations concerning real life relations @venusiangguk
summary: jungkook loves to be loved, but he doesn’t love in return.
relax @itsbuffsanta
summary: jk is antsy after the concert, so you help him relax.
employee of the month @/dntaewithluv
summary: Sometimes it truly amazes you how much of an idiot your boyfriend can be. But you also find it impossible to say no to him. Even when it involves letting him fuck you at his work on the same day that he gets awarded employee of the month…
ego 08 @suga-kookiemonster
summary: what’s a girl to do when her sweet, innocent baby lab partner isn’t quite so sweet and innocent? well, he’s a grown-ass man, and you’re about to learn that the hard way.
only you 10 @sweetbunnykook 
summary: Jeon Jungkook, your wedding photographer, helps you escape on your big day upon learning about a secret your groom-to-be kept hidden. You soon fall for this young, passionate photographer. However, you underestimated just how much he was willing to reciprocate that love. Maybe, you think, he’s loving you just a little too much.  
lunchbox lovers @jiminrings
stem major!koo x cold senior!y/n
crunchyroll & rail @/1kook
summary: Never mind the fact you really like Sailor Moon, or that you really want to pay attention to every little detail; the moment becomes Jungkook and his big smile and his red cheeks and the tiny box he produces from within his pocket.
only for you @jikookiekosmos
summary: It’s the night before your wedding and you should be happy…but a fight with your fiancé leaves you second guessing everything. A visit from the blue-haired boy of your dreams is just what you need to make it right.
lillies @dewykth
summary: “… white lines, pretty baby, tattoos, don’t know what they mean, they’re special just for you…”
bluekooberry @kimtaehyunq
summary: Your adoring boyfriend, Jungkook, surprises you with a brand new hairstyle before your trip to visit him for the weekend. He’s excited to see you, feed you, and give you exactly what you want.
bad reputation @noteguk
summary: in which you have to deal with some strange emotions for the first time.
not yet @bratkook
summary: jungkook feels the pang of guilt in his gut when you spot your recent ex out with his new girl, and what better way to make the jerk hurt than to have him believe you were now dating him, the neighbor he had been insecure about your whole relationship
incoming: elite chatboy @kookingtae
summary: welcome to Elite Chatroom, a sex chat company with a wide variety of services such as text messaging, phone call, and video chat. you signed up online for the most basic text service plan not knowing what to expect, but you certainly didn’t think you’d end up actually liking the man behind the screen.
ineffable @euphoria-vmin7
summary: your best friend Jeon Jeongguk has always been amazing and deserved the best, so you’ve hid your love for him. But unbeknowsnt to you, there may be feelings that could change everything between you two…
touch @gardentulips
summary: when you tease and please one another
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Multiple Members
friendly fire @kpopfanfictrash
summary: The dynamic: Hoseok; your friend and previous fuck buddy. Jungkook; Hoseok’s roommate and subject of your massive crush. The scene: determined not to drunk-gush about your crush any more (to his face), you decide to seclude yourself from all campus parties. Until, of course, Hoseok guilts you into a favor. Things spiral from there.
the boys are back in town @/dntaewithluv
summary: Getting stood up by your date definitely hadn’t been on your agenda for the evening. Also definitely not on your agenda: bumping into Park Jimin and Jeon Jungkook. Together. On the same exact night. It’s been a while since you’ve seen your two best friends, as well as lovers on multiple occasions, from your high school and college days. A chance meeting, some drinks, and a trip down memory lane is all it takes to reignite the attraction between the three of you. Old habits die hard, but these two? They just might be the death of you.
ruin you @taegularities
summary: “His eyes hold unfathomable darkness that lures you in, captures your very soul, steals any air you are trying to draw. And you know without a doubt that you’re on the path to utter and irrevocable ruination.”
ruin you (once more) ^
summary: Taehyung and Jungkook can’t keep their hands off you. Not even in the elevator.
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Seokjin
kairos @luffles424
summary: When your financial aid falls through for your last year of school, you fear you’ll have to drop out and postpone your degree. Until Taehyung gives you a suggestion to make a lot of money, quick. His idea can’t possibly end well, can it?
appetence @luffles424
summary: appetence (n.) - an eager desire, an instinctive inclination; an attraction or a natural bondIt’s time for Seokjin’s rut. Are either of you prepared for this step?
tiny lights, tiny lies @ggukcangetit
summary: you aren’t sure when exactly your best friend’s brother went from being an oddly annoying set of broad shoulders to the shoulders you frequently fell asleep against.
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Yoongi
the little things @kimtaehyunq
summary: When the present isn’t exactly enough for you right now, Yoongi is here for you through it all. He makes sure you know you aren’t alone and that it’s ok to feel alone.
cyberslut @kimnjss
summary:  he has no idea who you are… up front, you’re sweet and innocent - but in reality you’re the exact opposite. running your own nsfw account, where your favorite topic is his hands.
yoongi drabble @joonsgalore
life guard au
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Hoseok
benefits @cutechim
summary: you and hoseok have taken the ‘friends’ out of friends with benefits, but exclusivity has its own perks.
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Namjoon
namjoon drabble @lovetrivia
summary: You’re a hot girl on Twitch and Namjoon is an absolute simp.
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Jimin
baby fever @writtenwhalien
summary: Jimin wants another baby, and much to your delight, he’s determined to give you one.
jimin drabble @/1kook
best friend au
small hands jimin drabble @lavishedinjimin
established relationship au
silk and lace @sunshyngal
summary: Min Nara is the newly dumped fiance to the Crown prince of Korea, Park Jimin. She’s not overtly upset , because at least now she can live her life without the pressure of the monarchy hanging over her head. Besides , Nara has a very dirty little secret. While she spends the day as the perfect high society girl with an impeccable pedigree , her nights are filled with lacy lingerie and webcams.  Ignored by the man she’s meant to marry, she revels in the greedy lust of strangers on the internet. It’s her way of saying ‘fuck you’ to a system that sees her as nothing but a toy, molded for the future King. Park Jimin doesn’t know the first thing about his supposed fiancee. And he has no intention of learning either. He knows just what debutante girls are like and he has no patience for the kind. Besides, his girlfriend of three years, the elegant and independent Irene is everything he would ever want in a wife . Or is she?Because in the secrecy of his office , after the day’s work is done , Park Jimin has a very scintillating vice that he likes to indulge in : the beautiful camgirl who calls herself the Temptress. Jimin can’t get enough of the girl’s lush thighs wrapped in silk, the pretty pink of her nipples in see through bralettes and the glittering temptation of the jeweled plugs she likes to stuff herself full with.Jimin thinks she embodies  everything he can never allow himself to have as a Prince : filth, sin and decadence , all wrapped up in Silk and Lace.
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Taehyung
nip it in the bud @opaljm
summary: You’re not sure how you ended up here, but maybe a shitty ex and a horrible breakup had a hand in what placed you in front of the tattoo parlor. It was already a nerve-wracking experience, but what you never expected was seeing that the owner and artist giving you nipple piercings was your older brother’s best friend you hadn’t seen in ages. to make things even worse, he got fucking hotter.
taehyung drabble @joonsgalore
sugar daddy au
peanut @jungxk
summary: the making of peanut.
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Jungkook
pretty kitty @venusiangguk
summary: you’re jk’s baby, his toy, and now his pretty little pet.
heavy metal @hisunshiine
summary: You come home from a trip to find your fuckbuddy has a… hole-y surprise.
devour @bloomsuga
summary: my sweet angel… i am going to devour you
grain of sand @jungkookiebus
summary: Blind since the age of 18 from a genetic disorder, Jungkook walked through life as if he never lost it, but on one fateful day seven years ago he literally almost runs into you. He fell in love nearly immediately. Fast forward to the present and it’s just another day in your quiet life with him by your side.
under the oak tree @mingoyeob
summary: as the eldest daughter of a duke, it’s your duty to marry at your father’s will. yet you didn’t expect to be marrying jeon jungkook, a knight of low status, especially when he departs for an expedition without another word after your first night. when he comes back three years later, this time as a renowned hero, how will you be able to face him and how will things change between you and your new husband?
jungkook drabble @1kook
dilf!jk
commercial break: thirteen ^
summary: Because for as much shit as you let him get away with, Jungkook is certain you’ll draw the line today.
sh. @wwilloww
summary: How could you say no to a month away in the mountains with your friends after six months of grueling quarantine?
jungkook drabble @lavishedinjimin
daddy!jk
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OT7/Multiple Members
the end @jimlingss
summary: It’s been a habit of yours to vent in the form of love letters. There’s six in total. They’re kept secret, hidden in your closet. But on your 30th birthday, what you least expect is for each letter to become reality. All done by the whacky ghost of Christmas future trying to grant your birthday wish.
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bonbonbunny · 3 years ago
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Do u have any good lady's isekai falls-in-love-with-a-prince-from-a-novel type webcomic recommendation? I read 2 and now im hooked
Do I EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Most of these I find on Webtoon. If you join webtoon and read regularly, you'll see them suggesting more things you might like, and new stuff on the main page, and you'll discover more and more of them, too. 💖
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Happily Ever Afterwards - The heroine is reborn AFTER the epilogue of her fave novel, after her favorite character has been exiled from the kingdom due to the story’s events (he’s a tragic, sympathetic character).  She sets about traveling to the cold, difficult kingdom of his exile to try to convince him to marry her, so that she can give him the happiness he deserves to have after all of the sad events from the book!  This comic is SOOOOO sweet, cute, and fluffy-fluff! ☁️
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The First Night With the Duke - Starts out with a lot of comedy, but has gotten much more serious as the chapters have progressed, with some intense scenes that I haven’t been crazy about.  The heroine completely derails the plot of the novel by being born as a random, unnamed side-character who accidentally seduces the male lead, and no romance between him and the actual female lead ever even has the chance to happen. 😅
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The Matchmaking Baby Princess - The heroine is born as a tiny baby princess, who uses her super cute charm to influence the characters around her so that things turn out better for them than the way the novel goes.  This one is still fairly new, so the episodes haven’t shown a whole lot about how she derails the story yet, but, it is REALLLY CUUUUUTE!!  And has very beautiful scenes of palatial gardens and such.  Also obviously the heroine herself is not the one that the romance happens to lol.
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His Majesty's Proposal - This one is a bit similar to The First Night With the Duke, with a rando side character getting proposed to by the prince after spending a night with him.  A fun twist with this one is that the heroine is reincarnated from a crotchety old woman in her previous life, so she uses all kinds of old person slang (like calling people “whippersnappers” and stuff like that lol) and is kind of rude and grumpy lol.
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Every Rose Has a Death Flag - Pretty typical isekai where the heroine is reincarnated as the villainess and knows that all of her ends are bad ends, so she tries to remove herself from the attentions of the prince and the other main characters, but through the process ends up endearing herself to them instead.  Good stuff without any weird quirks or gimmicks. 👌
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Tricked into Becoming the Heroine's Stepmother - The protagonist is actually one of the AUTHORS of this novel, so she is familiar with exactly what will be happening to all of the characters!  She is reincarnated as a rando townsperson though, and doesn’t have much influence, until she appeals to the prince and just spills the fact that she’s the author and knows everything that’s going to happen to the princess (his daughter) in the future lol?!  And he believes her??  And employs her to his household in order to prevent any of the princess’ suffering???  Also did I mention that the princess is the most adorable little toddler ever, with fluffy hair like a chestnut? 😭😭
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The Male Lead's Girl Friend - Again, the heroine is reborn as the villainess of the story, and attempts to distance herself from the male lead as much as she can (endearing herself to him in the process).  Some of the interesting quirks here are that she ships the male and female lead SUPER HARD, and is trying everything she can to hook them up together, but they both only seem to fall for her harder with every attempt. 😄 There is also a cool school/academy setting to this one to set it apart from the others with similar plots, as well as BIG YURI VIBES between the protagonist and the female lead.
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How to Survive a Romance Fantasy - This is the most comedy-intensive of everything on this list.  In fact, it just kept getting sillier as its chapters went on, and I actually dropped it from my reading list because it wasn’t making me laugh as hard anymore as it was in the beginning.. 😅 In this one, three normal-world folks are reborn in the fantasy world, as the heroine, the prince, and the villainess, and ALL THREE of them hate it and want nothing to do with the plot, so they run away as far from the plot as they can, and are also keeping their identities as the main characters secret from one another.  It is very, very silly.
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Non-Webtoon Webcomics
These have not been officially picked up & translated.  To read them in English, you will have to find them online where they are posted by fan translators.
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The Villainess is a Marionette - This is for real probably my very favorite comic on this whole list, and can you believe how beautiful the art style is???  The tone of this one is totally different from any of the others here.  The protagonist is reborn as a malicious villainess with particularly cruel endings in her future, and she sets about to avoid them by using her power, influence, and wiles to manipulate the royal intrigue happening around her.  She’s... RELATIVELY kinder than the original villainess was in the story, and several characters that were her enemies in the original story are endeared to her now, but she’s still got her claws sunk into the royal family’s shady dealings.  This is a “bad boss b*tch” kind of heroine lol, and it’s super satisfying to see her come out ahead of the other villains with her crazy 4D chess manipulations.
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Sincerely: I Became a Duke's Maid - A super snuggly, sweet, and fluffy story where the protagonist is reborn as a maid during the tragic antihero’s childhood.  He is afflicted with a painful curse, and the protagonist, knowing that only more pain is ahead for him, does her best to befriend him and make his youth a little bit lighter.
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Who Made Me A Princess - Yet again, a tragic end awaits this princess that the protagonist is reborn as in her childhood, so she uses her cute charm to change the king’s attitude toward her (he was neglectful in the original story).  Some interesting original-plot-derails happen in this one, where her innate magic power is much stronger than it’s supposed to be, and she needs the help of a magical pet creature and a very handsome wizard to sustain her life in this world.
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Seduce the Villain's Father - This one wins the award for having the most hilarious title in this list. 😆 It’s much cuter and lighter than it sounds!!  This protagonist derails the original plot by allowing herself to be kidnapped by the villain’s kingdom instead of the intended character (her sister).  She is reborn among characters the generation before the events of the novel, so the villain himself isn’t here yet - but his handsome dad is!  And if she can convince him not to marry the woman that would become the villain’s mother, then the storyline is saved!  Probably!
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Special mention:
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My Next Life as a Villainess: All Roads Lead to Doom! - This anime is probably the main “reincarnated as the villainess” isekai that introduced most of us to this concept. 😅 I’ve linked to where you can watch the anime for free on Crunchyroll, but there is also a manga if you’d prefer to read it!  While there are many, many comics that use this plot hook, this is the only one that made it to anime form, so it’s like, required watching!
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To close this long list up, all of these recs are JUST ISEKAI!!!!  If I were recommending my favorite webcomics in general, there could also be Cursed Princess Club, The Remarried Empress, The Princess’ Jewels, and Men of the Harem in this list...
There are so, so many comics with beautiful art styles featuring gorgeous princesses, it’s crazy!! 😭😭 I could for real spend my whole life reading them probably?? 👌👌  Those millions of women that read romance novels about dukes falling in love with noble women are suddenly extremely relatable.
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csykora · 3 years ago
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hi! i'm sorry to bother you, i was wondering if you could rec a few books on the russian 5 / soviet hockey in general? language does not matter, english or russian is fine (pref. english so i can throw them at friends but either work). your posts are the best thing on this site.
Thank you, that’s a great question! I go back to first-person accounts for stories about the players themselves and use a lot of non-book materials for facts like tournaments and statistics, so most of the these will be autobiographies, but there are a couple more general books too.
Please let me know which if any of them you read and what you and your friends think!
I'd recommend anybody start with Igor Larionov’s 1990 book, “Larionov” (originally written in English, but I believe also available in Russian).
It’s a fast read (150 pages). You can dive in, spend an hour with your new best friend Igor in the bathroom at a party listening to him spilling his feelings and relationship drama, and get up to speed on what/who you need to know.
Igor at that age is funny, insecure, over the top, and telling (sometimes on purpose, sometimes not) about his pain. There are bits that might make you want to hold up a finger and ask if he’s sure a conversation went down like that or if maybe his friends remember some things differently--those are some of the bits that made me look for more books.
He writes more on the psychological weight of his experiences, but does discuss some of the physical abuses (more of that is in Fetisov’s book, which I’ll get to below.) It’s one of the most intimate portraits of Viktor Tikhonov—Larionov admits to taking notes on his coach just like his coach did on him. In that sense, it is radically different than the books and articles I’ve read by North Americans.
(Note that he talks about disordered eating, from the perspective of someone who at that time believed this was positive. The passages where he describes his own and his teammates’ diets can be difficult to read. Consider reading Alyonka Larionova’s essay in the Athletic after; it’s not an easy read either, but I found it reminded me there’s the possibility of change and healng even for older people from generational trauma.)
Then try either:
Home Game, Ken Dryden, 1989 (English), the chapter “No Final Victories”
A lot of Canadian men have read Ken Dryden books and thought, ’if I’m looking down anyway, why not navel-gaze about the meaning of life and measure my dick?’ This is, I think, not his fault. He’s writing from a very Canadian perspective, but he’s quite good at writing about that perspective and its gaps.
In this chapter he talks about what Canadian players or the public thought they knew about the Soviets between the 70s and ’89. It lays out a thorough, engaging play-by-play of how Larionov, Fetisov, and others worked toward leaving, and is a nice balance for the raw Igor experience.
This is one of the most popular all-time hockey books, so it’s worth looking for it in your library if you want to just read that chapter.
or
The Russian Five, Keith Gave, 2018, about 300 pages
I like the heart behind this book. There’s good information in it. Keith Gave wrote short, quick, newspaper and radio sports-news for 15 years—he has a deep knowledge of the Red Wings not just on the ice but as an organization, a very interesting personal adventure story, and a sort of eagerness to understand and empathize with the Russian players.
It’s his first time doing historical research or writing a book, so I do think he has trouble telling the things you need to know in the order you need to know them in order to care about them, if you don’t already have a good sense of the timeline.
Hard to find but keep an eye out for:
The Red Machine, Lawrence Martin, 1990
A much longer discussion of Soviet hockey focused on the national team from the early twentieth century to 1989. Has more context, vignettes, and details on the backstory of the ’70s/early 80s team and life at the Soviet training compound than many other books in English.
It’s widely cited by other books but it’s out of print and a bit rare—I think I might have just bought the only copy that was up for sale this year, so I’ll post about it in more detail when I can!
Russian options:
Овертайм, Slava Fetisov, 1998, reprinted in 2016 (Russian), about 400 pages
This is where the really rough details are. Fetisov writes about his childhood, life in CSKA, and leaving. He mostly talks about his own life, rather than saying much about other players, but includes lots of little details about daily life and how it was intertwined with his friends. He has time to get a lot more detailed about the physical strain of training than Larionov’s book, including injuries, players who died in training, the deaths of his brother and injury of Konstantiov in car accidents, and the corporal punishments and other violence, including the time he alleges Tikhonov arranged to have him tortured by police.
I think his writing is very evocative and enjoyable to read, so that helps, at least.
(It’s a bit hard to find, but if you have access to a Russian library or second-hand store, keep an eye out. It was re-released as part of a series in 2016, which is after he talked with Alexei Kasatonov and became official BFFs again, so I don’t know if the text was updated at that point.)
Tretiak: the Legend, Vladislav Tretiak, 1987 (originally written in Russian, but widely available in English!)
This one’s very interesting to think about the psychology/culture of Soviet players. Tretiak writes heartbreakingly about his own personal experiences, especially his relationships with older players and his relief at retirement. But there are also a lot of ‘missing’ details that probably reflect how he wrote it before Larionov publicly discredited the system—he only writes quite vague positive things about Coach Tikhonov, which are completely different from how he speaks now.
Хоккей в моем сердце, Boris Mikhailov, reprinted 2016 (Russian)
I will never come up with a book title as good as Boris Mikhailov’s ‘Hockey In My Heart’.
Mikhailov is very witty and sharp. While he doesn’t tend to talk about the details of his conflicts with Tikhonov, he has great little stories about lots of the people in Soviet hockey. He also played and coached in St. Petersburg and smaller regions as well as Moscow, so he has some interesting information on the contrasts.
Viktor Tikhonov: Life in the name of hockey by Tatiana Tikhonova
Sasha Mogilny once commented that the only people who could stand Tikhonov were his wife and his dog, “and I don’t know how they do.” Would you like to read his wife’s book of pictures of him with the dog? Would you like to read about how she thinks Tatiana Mikhailova is a bitch, which immediately makes Mikhailova seem cool as hell? Try this book.
Xрустальные люди/ Crystal People, Stanislav Gridasov
A detailed portrait of the hockey community in Saratov (where the young Boris Mikhailov played before CSKA). Completely different than the rich Moscow system, it seems like a great counterpoint, showing the regional tensions in the Soviet Union. I was just recently tipped off to this, but you can find excerpts of in English in Bruce Berglund’s new 2020 book The Fastest Game in the World: Hockey and the Globalization of Sports, which itself looks pretty good.
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coolnerdyandalone · 5 years ago
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on FIMQ deleting her content and COVID-19 (and a gratuitous larry fic rec)
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@freddiesmyqueen first of all queen i hope you’re doing ok although i know some shit must have gone down for you to delete/private list all your videos and i hope you know that the larry community supports you always. Also your talent is TRULY unmatched in the world of video editing - no one makes edits quite like you and that’s why your loss impacts the community so profoundly. 
secondly, i know at least i was hoping to turn to rewatching all of FIMQ’s videos while i’m being quarantined due to the coronavirus. and i’m willing to bet that i’m not the only one. this is a scary time and for people like me who feel profoundly alone right now, the only way for me to calm my nerves and fears is by reverting to the content and community that helped me feel not so alone when i was in middle and high school. For me, that looks like watching FIMQ videos and reading my favorite larry fanfics (which i will also link below).  because of this i thought it might be helpful to repost some links that were posted by @bluemoonlarryandkaylor for a signal boost (if my teeny-tiny account can be called a signal boost). 
link to a google drive with FIMQ videos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ONwfLOd_IYvAL5OUDqDb_LLgQsDpd9il
link to an acct with some FIMQ re-uploads: https://www.youtube.com/user/Joana3961/videos
link to FIMQ vids with spanish subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIouodFhArMkQhOHxv2t2NgxTwl6KvXAT
and now if you want to look at some good old fashioned larry fics that are my ABSOLUTE faves and could 100% be actual novels/movies, keep reading:
And Then A Bit** by @infinitelymint aka the best fanfic ever written (basically larry fakes a relationship for publicity with each other and it could be cannon if you really wanted to hope upon hopes): https://archiveofourown.org/works/1415272/chapters/2972746 (159k)
“We’d like to give the fans what they want.” Magee states, placing his hand on the table in front of him and leaning forward. “We want to give them Larry Stylinson.”
Or, take a parallel universe where Louis and Harry were never together, mix in a two year hiatus and an impending comeback, pour in a dash of lost fans, two tablespoons of strong friendship and a Modest! employee with a good idea. Add a squeeze of pretending to be a couple, lots of kisses and a tattoo or two. Stir. Serve: the mother of all publicity stunts.
(aka Harry and Louis fake a relationship for publicity. Eventually it becomes a lot less fake and a lot more real.)
Escapade** by @haydolce aka the Jack McQueen fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4034197/chapters/9071932 (146k)
In the grand scheme of things, finding a date for a wedding should be no problem for Louis Tomlinson. He's rich. He's handsome. He's reasonably well behaved. But when the wedding is for his lifelong best friend (and former boyfriend), and is happening in under a month, finding a date for the ceremony and accompanying festivities becomes more of an adventure than he ever could have planned for.
California Sold** by @isthatyoularry​ : https://archiveofourown.org/works/5157680/chapters/11877494 (123k)
Notoriously closeted boyband member Harry Styles is famous on a global scale, meanwhile Louis, as his best friend, is back home in Manchester, living the typical life of a 24 year old. When Harry needs Louis with him in LA, a publicity stunt gone wrong changes their friendship forever.
A fake-relationship AU between two lifelong best friends.
Bring Your Body Baby (I Could Bring You Fame) by @theboyfriendstagram : https://archiveofourown.org/works/4263903/chapters/9652944 (84k)
Eighteen year old Harry Styles just graduated high school and landed a summer job as a waterboy for his favorite football team. His job description is simple: be ready to hand water and towels to players if needed. That didn’t seem to include Louis Tomlinson though, a twenty-three year old, recently transferred Paris Saint-German player, who seems to like making Harry’s job much more difficult than it has to be.
OR  
A self-indulgent AU that takes place over the summer of 2015. 18 year old Harry hates pining after people he can't have, and 23 year old footballer Louis loves flirting with people even though it never means anything.
Pull Me Under** by @zarah5 : https://archiveofourown.org/works/870766/chapters/1672104 (140k)
AU. As the first British footballer to come out at the prime of his career, it helps that Louis Tomlinson is in a long-term, committed relationship. Even if that relationship is fake. (Featuring Niall as Louis' favourite teammate, Liam as Louis' agent, and Zayn as Liam's boyfriend, who just happens to be good friends with one Harry Styles.) 
You You You** by @isthatyoularry : https://archiveofourown.org/works/846690/chapters/1617212 (137k)
“Infamous boybander leaves club together with unknown,” read the headline. Underneath were pictures of a boy with dark curls, green eyes and very tight pants. They both studied the article for a moment, reading it through quickly. “Is that…?” Louis frowned. That guy almost looked exactly like... "HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" "Louis," Niall said, looking absolutely fucked over. "You just fucked the most wanted guy on earth. You just fucked Harry Styles of One Direction."
Or, the one where Harry and Louis meet at a club and Louis takes Harry home, only for him to realize that the boy who just made him breakfast half naked is Harry Styles from One Direction.
Like an Endless Summer by @horsegirlharry : https://archiveofourown.org/works/11365494/chapters/25442085 (87k)
“You just wanna go fawn over Styles as soon as possible,” Zayn grumbles.
“I do not. Plus, he probably got ugly this year. Eighteen is an awkward time...I bet he’s got acne and one of those terrible fuckboy haircuts all the hipsters are getting these days, with the shaved sides? Just watch, the first year we’re gonna get any time together is gonna be the first year I don’t have a stupid crush on him.”
---
Or, Louis is a riding instructor at a summer camp, and Harry is a fellow counselor who he’s been successfully managing his crush on for the last two summers. That is, until Harry shows up this year leveled up and lethal, and all Louis’s formerly perfected veneer of nonchalance melts like a popsicle in the sun.
Three French Hems by @100percentsassy and @gloriaandrews : https://archiveofourown.org/works/3064493 (20k)
In which Louis is a designer at Burberry and Harry spends December wearing Lanvin… and Lanvin… and Lanvin.
The Dead of July aka the Marvel Fic by @whimsicule  : https://archiveofourown.org/works/3594570/chapters/7928520 (117k)
Being an Avenger means continuing to be Captain America and smiling and being honorable for the public and Harry does his best. But it doesn’t give him time to figure out who he is supposed to be once he takes off his uniform and puts the shield to the side. Just being Harry had always involved Louis, and Harry fears he doesn’t know how to exist without him.
or: Harry is Captain America, and Louis’ been dead for 70 years.
Gods & Monsters by  @mizzwilde : https://archiveofourown.org/works/2090982/chapters/4550871 (201k)
The instructions were simple: seduce and destroy Harry Styles. Not once did they discuss the option of Louis actually falling in love. So, naturally, that's exactly what he did.
Love is a Rebellious Bird aka LIARB aka the orchestra fic aka dont hum bolero by @100percentsassy and @gloriaandrews : https://archiveofourown.org/works/1162438/chapters/2362331 (135k)
AU in which the boys still make music. Louis is the concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra, Harry is the New! and Exciting! interim conductor/ex-cello prodigy who "has made Mozart cool again" according to Esquire Magazine (Louis hates him immediately, which is definitely why he internet stalked him in his dark bedroom late at night that one time), and Niall is the best. Zayn and Liam are around too.
Don't hum Bolero.
My English Love Affair** by @isthatyoularry​ : https://archiveofourown.org/works/1873962 (19k)
The thing about sleeping with a member of a famous indie band is that the inevitability of having a song written about you is most likely a hundred percent. The second thing is that in the end, nobody's supposed to find out it's about you.
The one where Harry writes a song about his English love affair and Louis sleeps with someone in White Eskimo and all he gets is a stupid song written about him.
Soft Hands, Fast Feet, Can’t Lose by @haydolce : https://archiveofourown.org/works/5799241/chapters/13366498 (113k)
American Uni AU. Harry Styles is a frat boy football star from the wealthy Styles Family athletic dynasty. A celebrity among football fans, he knows how to play, he knows how to party, and he knows how to fuck (all of which is well known among his legion of admirers).
Louis Tomlinson is a student and an athlete, but his similarities to Harry end there. Intelligent, focused, independent, and completely uninterested in Harry’s charms, Louis is an anomaly in a world ruled by football.
A bet about the pair, who might be more similar than they originally thought, brings them together. Shakespeare, ballet, Disney, football, library chats, running, accidental spooning, Daredevil and Domino’s Pizza all blend into one big friendship Frappucino, but who will win in the end?
Wild and Unruly aka the Cowboy fic by @100percentsassy and @gloriaandrews : https://archiveofourown.org/works/2723093/chapters/6099611 (124k)
Harry is a cowboy sitting on the biggest oil reservoir in Wyoming, and Louis is the paralegal assigned to pressure him into selling his land.
For As Long As I Can Remember (It’s Been December)** by @greenfeelings​ : https://archiveofourown.org/works/15051122/chapters/34892210 (128k)
After recovering from a severe accident that causes Harry to lose his memory of three years, he moves to London to start his life over as a star chef. Little does he know that when he falls in love with Louis at first sight, it’s not the first time they meet.
Featuring an unintentional game of hot and cold, Harry chasing memories that won’t come back, Louis burying himself in work to try and forget what he can’t forget, Liam being torn between two of his best friends, Zayn as a moral compass and Niall saving the day with good music and brutal honesty.
the boys of fall** aka the american football fic by @godgavemelou​ : https://archiveofourown.org/works/5443037 (21k)
“And everyone, this is Harry Styles. He’s going to be our starting quarterback this year.”
Louis looks at him, the tall and lanky Harry Styles, and takes it all in. He’s got hair to his shoulders that curls at the ends, tattoos all down his arms, and a bright smile on his face as the team cheers him on. He’s lean and fit, and absolutely beautiful, and Louis hates him to the core.
OR an american football au where the boys play for the university of tennessee, and harry and louis quite hate each other.
** indicates that the fic is a log-in required fic, but if you want the pdf i can send it to you
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literarion · 3 years ago
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hello literarion!
I hope it's okay I'm sending you a massage, I'm a big fan!
I just finished listening to your interview with VerdantVulpus and when you said podficers doesn’t get a lot of recognition or attention I felt like I have to write to you.
You should know how much your work means to me. I'm truly don’t understand how can it be that podfics don’t get the appreciation they deserve. So I wanted you to know that I listened to almost everything you recorded, and you are a real artist and the best podficer I've heard! The way you make the voices is incredible. I love the voices you do for A and C so much, but its much more than that. It's the way you emphasize emotions, the little voices like the laughs and sighs and all the non verbal sounds that makes it so good. I find myself waiting for the chapters everyday, and get excited when I get the alerts its on. Your podfics makes me happy and cheers me when I'm sad. I honestly prefer it over reading most of the time, because I like that I can listen while doing other things or to relax before going to sleep. And now that I have a baby, it’s much more difficult to find the time to read, so your podfics are even more important to me. I thought you should know that there are people out there that love your work and wait for it (and a little bit scared that you'll get tired soon because WOW the amount of effort it probably requires). My favorite podfics of yours are obviously the trouble with…, the bodyguard, it was always you, and many of the shorter ones you did. And I got super excited for the new summer and naro you're doing because it's one of my favorite fics!
You also asked for opinion about the concept of the interviews, and I LOVE it. I always want to know more about the authors and the 'behind the scenes' of the fanfics I love. I would like to know what inspired the idea of the fic, what is their favorite part, how they see the characters and what is the main massage they tried to transfer… I'm also always wondering who are those people that I read so much of their works, so if they feel comfortable, they can tell us about themselves and what made them write fanfics and particularly GO fanfics.  And I would like to listen to an interview with you and learn what made you start recording and keep doing it, why GO, what does a fic have to include (or can't include) for you to record it, and what are your plans for the future.
Sorry I wrote so much, hope its okay (and english is not my native language so I hope I don't have too many mistakes).
Thank you for everything!
Maya
Thank you ever so much, Maya! This ask has not only made my day, but really my entire week! ❤
It makes me so, so happy to read about what my podfics mean for you, which ones you enjoy the most, and what situations you listen to them in! I, too, listen to podcasts while doing virtually anything that allows audio input without distracting me (I do have quite the squirrel brain, and multitasking is not my strong suit)!
I can assure you that I'm not going to stop making podfics anytime soon. Quite the opposite. I have scheduled things I want to make all the day to March 2023, and that is just what I already actively work on. I am certain that podfics are here to stay - other than pretty much every hobby I ever had, apart from reading - there's a theme there! I just find it so utterly rewarding to spend my time making things that are there to stay, that people listen to for years to come, and that have some little positive effect in the world. You can't get that from playing games or stitching, or whatever else I might spend my free time on! (Also, always, always feel free to throw me recs for things to pod! I can't make promises, but I do look at all of them!)
Your comments on the interviews are super helpful, and I've just lifted a few of those for the next one I'm going to record tomorrow. And maybe I'll see if one of my podfic friends would be up for returning the favour and interviewing me, because I would LOVE to talk about all your questions for me, too! But it'd be a novel if I tried to do that here. :D
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omoi-no-hoka · 5 years ago
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Hello! I'm sorry if this has been asked before, but how do you become proficient at handling conversations in Japanese/handling grammar very well? I read your post on the JLPT, and it addressed issues I have been tip toe-ing around--indeed, passive actions such as listening or reading are easier than the active ones. How did you go about that? Did you write a bunch of sentences daily? Did you have a conversation partner? What would you rec. to someone who lives outside Japan? Thank you!
This is an excellent question, and one that I get asked a lot irl by Japanese people in particular. Let’s talk about gaining fluency and the ways we can go about it!
How to Gain Fluency in Japanese (and Other Languages)
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Speaking Fluency versus Accuracy
Language proficiency is divided into two separate categories:
Fluency: Although there are no widely agreed-upon definitions or measures of language fluency, someone is typically said to be fluent if their use of the language appears fluid, or natural, coherent, and easy as opposed to slow, halting use. In other words, fluency is often described as the ability to produce language on demand and be understood.
Accuracy: Correctness of language use, especially grammatical correctness and word choice.
By the above definitions, a “fluent” speaker may make grammatical mistakes, but they can speak without having to stop and think too much about conjugations, word choice, etc.
An “accurate” speaker can speak with nearly zero grammatical/word choice mistakes. However, the speed of their utterances isn’t generally taken into account, so it could take an “accurate” person twice as long to articulate the same idea as a “fluent” person. 
Ideally, you need to strike a good balance between these two qualities when speaking. I have a boss, God bless him, who is 100% fluency and 0% accuracy and…man is it hard to understand what he’s saying sometimes, but he can generally get his point across just barely. I have another coworker who is 100% accuracy and takes about 3 minutes to form a sentence because he wants it to be perfect. 
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How to Increase Speaking/Writing Accuracy
First, let’s talk about the easiest thing to improve, which is accuracy. It’s also (in my opinion) the least fun thing to improve, because it means grammar books and vocabulary memorization. 
You can only use a language accurately if you know what is correct and what is incorrect, and you can only learn that by studying grammar and vocabulary (or if you’re a native speaker and picked it up innately, you lucky bastard).
So here’s some things you can do to increase your accuracy:
For example, if you’re having a hard time using the passive, you need to review that part of your textbook and find some exercises to drill it into your head. 
Say the correct thing aloud. Lots. Sometimes I just walk around my apartment and narrate everything I see/do like a crazy person, but that’s good practice. 
Write example sentences using the grammar you’re struggling with and say them aloud too. 
There’s a bunch of cool apps that connect you with native speakers that can help correct you too! I used to use HelloTalk, I think. 
If you’re a creative soul, when I was studying for the JLPT, I took 1 grammar point and 5 vocabulary words from my JLPT study books and used them to write a 2-page short story about the adventures of ネギ, a stray black cat that smelled like green onions because she napped in an onion field. Then I had a Japanese friend check it over for me and mark mistakes. I hand-wrote them to improve my abysmal handwriting at the same time. It was really fun! I sometimes think about doing it again just for funsies.
When someone corrects you, don’t feel like your entire life is over and you’re a failure and you’ll never get it right haha. I’ve seen people fall into that hopeless mindset, and that’s just nonsense. It’s a good opportunity for learning and nothing more! Say the correct thing you’ve just been taught out loud, then write it down if you can. And, if possible, find a chance to use it in conversation asap.
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How to Increase Speaking/Writing Fluency
Now this is the hard one. Especially for those learners who do not have native speakers nearby. 
I’m going to be dead honest with you. I started formally studying Japanese at uni, and I had a Japanese roommate/best friend since year one. I had a 4.0 GPA in my Japanese classes (and only my Japanese classes lol) because I was and still am a MEGA NERD about it. 
...But it wasn’t until I studied abroad in Japan my 4th year of uni that I gained fluency. 
There are a lot of things that can hold us back from fluency. An interesting thing I’ve noted is that Foreign Language is perhaps the only subject in which a student’s personality can directly affect their progress. To gain fluency, you have to go forth and speak, but if you are naturally a shy person, that is going to hinder you. If you are the kind of person who takes mistakes/failures poorly, you will be less likely to take risks and try to say harder sentences. In contrast, you can get full marks in math regardless of the above personality traits. 
I’m not saying that you have to be an outgoing explosion of a human being in order to gain fluency. But what I am saying is that you have to be willing to seek out conversations, and you have to be willing to take chances. Get out of your comfort zone. Use that new word you picked up the other day. Try to explain something that is difficult for you. 
My problem was that, while I lived with a native speaker who would have happily taught me anything I asked, her English proficiency was much higher than my Japanese proficiency. And when I struggled to say something in Japanese, I’d fall back onto English. And when she told me something I didn’t understand in Japanese, she’d repeat it in English instead of Japanese, because that was easier for us both. The same thing happened when I was in Japanese class as well. I always had the assurance that I could fall back on English.
But when I elected to study abroad in Japan for 3 months, I knew that this was my big chance. So on the host family form in the “other requests” area, I wrote that I specifically wanted a host family that could not speak English. I was setting fire to my crutches, and I was scared but excited to see them burn. 
By the end of my three months in Japan, I had gone from “Chotto matte kudasai” and needing a minute to form my reply, to “Okay, yeah I see that movie too and I liked the action scenes, but I didn’t care for the story little.” (I’ve underlined mistakes that I would have made in Japanese, to show you that I sacrificed some accuracy to obtain higher fluency.)
So, in short, the easiest and quickest way to increase your spoken fluency is to throw away all the crutches you can and use the language as much as possible. Every single day. Even if you’re just having an imaginary conversation with yourself! And like I said, there are a bunch of cool apps that connect you with Japanese people who want to learn English and you can do language exchanges with them. I had a lot of fun with those in the past. 
As for increasing writing fluency...well. That’s a tough question with Japanese, because I can type Japanese at like 100 wpm, but my Japanese handwriting fluency is at a 10/100. I can read and type at the level of a native Japanese high school student, but I can only write the kanji that 7 year old can write. That’s no exaggeration.
The big reason for that dichotomy is that my work is paper-free. 100% of my work is done on screen, so about the only time I have to write out something is when I’m filling out a form, which includes my name (katakana), address, and maybe occupation. 
If you want to increase your Japanese handwriting speed, just keep on writing. Write those little short stories about ネギ like I did, or find some writing prompts (I just started a side-blog with writing prompts yesterday btw) or keep a little diary. Make opportunities to write. 
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How to Have Nice Handwriting in Japanese
Okay, full disclaimer: I am the absolute LAST person qualified to talk about this, because I have awful handwriting in Japanese. 
Unless you have prior experience with a different language that uses kanji, or you lack the keen eye of an artist, you will likely struggle to develop neat handwriting. 
Personally, I really like using this app called Japanese Kanji Sensei. It’s on Android (not sure about iOS), and if you pay just a few bucks you can make your own kanji sets and stuff. Anyways, it will show you how to write the characters prettily. It gives you a good frame of reference for what nice, pencil/pen-written characters (versus calligraphy characters). It has hiragana and katakana on it too!
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I get a stylus and write out the characters on this app for the muscle memory, so my hands remember the sensation of writing a certain character. (The muscle memory is different if you only use your fingertip.) This muscle memory and repetition is how Japanese people learn how to internalize kanji as well. I really enjoy and recommend this app. I’m sure that there are others out there like it too.
Summary
TL;DR: Review your textbooks, take risks, use every resource available or make your own, and just have fun with it! 💗
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ducavalentinos · 4 years ago
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How would you rate Sabatini's biography on Cesare? I love it, but I wondered if you had any other (English) recommendations? Also take a shot everyone Sabatini interrupts his narrative to talk about how hot Cesare was sfhttjjggj
I think as far as Cesare bios goes, I’d rate his biography 7/10. I have conflicted feelings with Sabatini’s work, because I love his writing style, his sense of humour is great, it matched mine right away, and he has such a genius way of pointing out the hypocrisy and double standards applied to the Borgia family. He cleverly shows how much of the Borgia myths and general accusations thrown their way are connected to politics (shocker!) and to their Spaniard, and less nobly origins. Not to mention how he exposes the historical bias against Cesare, and general dishonesty with him, from primary sources to modern historians such as Gregorovius, that paragraph Sabatini wrote about him was truly a moment in the Borgia historical literature for me, I'm glad he said it. I just wish he hadn't fallen so hard for the Machiavellian Prince archetype about Cesare. The more I re-read his work, the more it becomes clear to me he took Machiavelli’s writings about Cesare at face value, fell in love with the image presented by him, and then proceeded (whether consciously or unconsciously) to apply this interpretation, one that has its limitations and flaws on their own, to all the facets of Cesare’s character, and all the other aspects of his life lol, which resulted in this too strict, robot-like persona. There is no nuance, no deepth to Cesare’s Sabatini, he exists only as the stoic, unscrupulous, unfeeling Machiavellian Prince. It’s a mistake I see being made time and again by most of Cesare’s biographers, many who follow Sabatini too blindly, or just Borgia biographers in general tbh, but Sabatini’s bio acutely illustrates this particular issue better than the other bios I’ve read I think, (with the exception perhaps of Beuf’s “work”, who somehow managed to outdone Sabatini in this Machiavellian presentation of Cesare, taking it to new extremes with super dramatic and misleading writing, for the most part). And you know, I always get the impression Sabatini had his own conflicted feelings in regards to The Prince, and its clear-headed, pragmatic politics. He seemed to admired it and feel repulsed by it at the time. And those mixed feelings sometimes ended up leaking into his view and writing about Cesare and some historical events, and what he believed had happened (e.g., the take of Urbino), and I find that very interesting. In any case, the point is: Sabatini’s Cesare is unrealistic, and it constantly enters into conflict with what Sabatini also presents as evidence for his history. I mean, he insists throughout the book in reaffirming Cesare was a utter egoist, cold man. Only moved by his ambition and thirst for power. He was incapable of kindness, or of being considerate with others, of feeling compassion, without ulterior motives involved. All of his actions were always calculated to only serve his own interests. Everyone around him were pawns to be used and discarded when they were no longer of any use to him. We are to believe he was a cynic, a block of ice, essentially. We are also to believe he never had genuine emotional bonds with anyone, much less with women. Women were interchangeble to him. Sabatini was convinced he was a man incapable of having a sentimental side, of loving or of having any connection with them beyond the physical aspect. But then, in between chapters, sometimes pages, he also tell us how Cesare seems to have deeply grieved the death of his cousin, Giovanni Borgia, whom he refers as Mio Fatre in his letters. He gives an honest, if quick, account about the marriage and relationship between Cesare and Charlotte d’Albret, in which Cesare’s obvious feelings for her can be seen, as well as his kindness and respect towards her. Sabatini admits the evidence shows they may well have loved each other, and that when leaving Charlotte in charge of all his affairs in France, as the governor and administrator of his lands and lorships there, as well as his heiress in case of his death, Cesare shows “his esteem of her and the confidence he reposed in her mental qualities.” And of Cesare’s policies and behavior as its ruler in the Romagna, it reaches a point where his mere self-interest doesn’t quite alone explain his relationship with this romagnese subjects and many of his decisions. It undermines Sabatini’s claim that it was for show and for his political gain. Last but not least, what is one supposed to make of the hypothesis he posits to the what I like to call, the Dorotea affair? This event is the peak of his contradiction and his mental gymnastics, because to be sure, his hypothesis is not far-fetched. I will concede I thought it was the first I read his bio. But over the years, between carefully separating fiction from history and reading other sources, then going back to his bio, I recognized his hypothesis is one of the plausible ones, certainly more plausible than the official sensationalistic narrative of Cesare simply abducting the innocent maiden Dorotea out on a whim, to satisfy his lust, (the fact Borgia scholars  are still repeating this narrative with a straight face is beyond my comprehension), I can see Cesare doing what he proposes, it def. aligns better with my understanding of him, and all the historical material I’ve read about him and his times, however, this hypothesis is completely irreconcilable with Sabatini’s Cesare. So, he says one thing, then he says another that’s incompatible with the first thing he said, and then proceeds to show evidence that either puts into doubt or confirms the opposite of his characterization of Cesare. And that’s only considering the historical info he dedided to include in his bio. If he had included some of the info Alvisi presents in his Duca di Romagna, a work he must have checked out, if not read it all, given one of the languages he spoke was Italian, and Alvisi’s bio is the best and most authoritative historical work made to date about Cesare and his life, I believe he would have struggled a lot more than he did. It just seems like he enters into a trap of his own making. Turning an already difficult task more difficult than it needs to be, honestly. Ironically, his stance is as messy and contradictory as the aforementioned Gregorovius in his Lucrezia Borgia, where you also have two Cesare(s): the one he sees and wants to present versus the one that emerges from the his own writing at times and historical material he himself exposes it. Overall, his work frustrates on some fronts, and I think it could have been better. It has its faults, some the typical faults/vices fond in Borgia biographies, others very much his own, but nevertheless I have a fondness for his bio which I do not share with others bios on Cesare, or the Borgia family. It is the only bio in the English language I find myself reading again and again, and the one I would put it first as better, or more decent, in this language about Cesare. I admire his honesty, and his bravery in challenging a little bit of Cesare’s dark legend, and the baseless accusations attached to his name. I appreciate what he tried to do, the very least of what I expect from a serious historian when dealing with figures as infamous in popular imagination as Cesare and Rodrigo Borgia. There is no denying his work was one of the main works which advanced Cesare’s historical literature, and the approach to his figure. Moving slightly from the literary, colorful, villain-like character of the Italian Renaissance, towards starting to be more seriously studied as a historical figure properly. And oh my god, yes, interrupting the narrative to talk about how hot Cesare was. It’s funny you mentioned that, because I don’t remember him doing that so much (time for a re-read!), but that's one of the characteristics of the Borgian/Cesarean historical literature heh. I’m yet to read a bio where authors do not feel the need to take a moment to talk about how hot he was, some even a poetic way lol, it’s so amusing, and always the one thing I know I will agree with them, if nothing else. Also, I think Borgia bios have huge potential for drinking games! Like: take a shot of tequila every time Cesare gets badmouthed for no reason, or baselessly asserted guilty of questionable murders, fratricide, rape, and abduction. Or when Juan and Cesare envied and hated each other narrative is repeated. Or when Guicciardini, Sanuto, Cappello and Giustinian are uncritically used as credible sources for Rodrigo and Cesare. Every time Lucrezia gets painted as the Good Borgia, the pretty, passive doll who was the helpless victim of the terrible Borgia men. Or when authors get uncomfortably shippy with the Cesare/Lucrezia relationship resulting in exaggerated claims such as: Lucrezia was Cesare’s only exception, or they were unusually close as siblings, etc. And of course, whenever Cesare’s hotness and allure has to be talked about dsjdsjsj, the list is long, and I think it will get you drunk very quickly. I know I couldn’t keep up back when I was reading Sacerdote’s bio, and I was drinking wine so. As for recs in the English language, I would say Woodward’s bio has its value in terms of sources and historical documents. I also think his analysis about politics, about Cesare’s goverment in the Romagna, and also concerning the conclave of 1503 are generally good. His last five, four chapters are the best ones imo, so if you are interested in these points I mentioned, it might be worth checking out. I would just open a caveat saying that as far as a biography about the person of Cesare Borgia is concerned, it is weak and to be read with a grain of salt. I was mostly unimpressive by his work on that front, and I thought about quitting time and again. He likes presenting himself as the impartial historian, (a big red flag that only makes me twice as cautious when reading any historical work) writing in a mostly sober tone, but of course like all scholars, all people, he has his bias, and they do come to surface from time to time. He displays an peculiar antipathy and ill will towards Cesare at times, which leads to harsh, confusing, unsubstantiated claims about his character and some of the events about his life. In contrast, you can see he is more benevolent and fair towards Rodrigo Borgia, and a constant thought I had while reading his bio was that he obviously chose the wrong Borgia to write a bio on. Had he chose Rodrigo as his Borgia subject, I believe we would have had a pretty good bio about him and his papacy.
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mallowstep · 4 years ago
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I’m thinking about writing a short OC piece about Windclan and I’d love to see your notes about its culture and the hymns you’ve written so far, everything you’ve done for Windclan appreciation month has really inspired me :)
hello anon!
alright, first things first: please send me ur piece when ur done if you're comfortable doing so! i will publish it from you, or if you don't want to be associated with it in Any Way, i will also just read it and add it to the queue with no indication why it's there. or if you don't want me to share it at all, i'd still like to read it.
as for your ask,
hymns?
i'm working on it. however, underneath the read more, i'll include a few snippets for u.
culture
alright, i'm just going to post links with some commentary as i go. feel free to ask any more questions you have.
windclan (search) | windclan (tag) | wcam tag | five clans (narrative essays)
i would link the elders den, but there's no windclan stories in there ATM.
moving on, i'm just going to go through posts in reverse chronological order.
tallstar taking a mate admittedly, this is more about cats and sexuality than windclan, but i provide the commentary that windclan...has a particular view on sexuality and fluidity. one thing i haven't explored but should is the role visiting cats have in windclan.
whoops that's a code word, my plug for solacefruit has been activated. okay, as you may be aware, based on the fact that i have a whole tag for it, i'm obsessed with solacefruit. now, i love everything they do, but i would like to point you particularly to "make a mighty sound" for a fantastic exploration of this idea.
i don't want to spoil anything, but i do think windclan, and maybe cats as a whole, but windclan has a certain view towards relationships that very much breaks them into pieces. i'm a "love is a verb" person, so the idea that you can grow to love someone romantically by going through the actions of love makes sense. not to say you will, but you can.
(to be clear i'm not out advocating for arranged marriages just saying that they can work, they're not destined to be bad, and there's a difference between forced marriage and arranged marriage.)
anyway.
this was a lot of words to say, cats do not have a human (and particularly, western/american) understanding of relationships, which makes analyzing them in those terms difficult.
early hymn talk i'll probably say more below, but it is here.
general ibtwicm notes might get you into the headspace for some of my choices in ibtwicm.
i don't have a ton to say because this pretty much all holds, but uh, yeah.
poetry and language this isn't strictly about windclan, but it does explain some of what i think about when writing hymns.
obviously, i'm writing english translations, but these general themes are what i have in mind. it's also part of why i say i don't think i'll ever release a "full hymnal" for windclan, because i don't know if my weak worldbuilding heart could take it if i only had translations.
names part two very much not about windclan, but just some thoughts on names. as i've said before, i support all names and worldbuilding equally, but if you want my thoughts on names, go buckwild.
clan culture fic rec list just stuff i think does a good job, if you want other sources of inspiration.
general clan culture notes this is really old, but it mostly holds.
i've obviously expanded a lot on windclan since i wrote it, so shrug? idk man.
alright, i'm going to move into hymn discussion below the cut, but best of luck! and i hope u have a good time. it makes my brain shut down to read that i inspired you, straight up got brain juice pouring out of my ears, but i'm really, really happy to hear that.
windclan holds a special place in my heart. (i know my oc avatar is from skyclan shhh it's because of the backstory he sees ghosts.) but i grew up in this super sporty household as a lil asthmatic klutz, and running was a sport i couldn't mess up, so of course windclan appealed to me.
they're actually third on my list of favorite clans, but they. it's a special place in my heart that they hold, especially after reading dawn of the clans and moth flight's vision, where i got an asthmatic cat and an adhd cat, both in windclan.
god i should reread dotc it's good.
alright, here's the deal on hymns: i am not going to fight to get duets to post correctly. there's a 0% chance i can in tumblr's wonky ass new editor with no markdown, not to mention how difficult it would have been in the old editor. so i'm going to talk a lil about what i've got, and post some stanzas that i think don't get explored a lot in ibtwicm.
we're discussing these in the order that they go in. a reminder that these are all sections of one epic poem. that said, i don't know where the gaps are. like, i don't know what's between these, if that makes sense.
the wind
the wind, the very first hymn. this is an ode to, well, windclan. it's a song about everything that makes them them. it's filled with poetry about the wind, about the seasons, and it's just...well, it's a bit of a genesis, in a way.
The wind — like the rain, like the river — calls the name of each star in its breath. The wind — like the earth, like the stone — anchors us to our home. The wind — like the sun, like the sky — is knowable only by name.
i wanted to share this stanza because the last line doesn't show up in ibtwicm (at least so far, i cut the reference), and it really, really, makes a difference imo.
anyway, windclan is basically tying the wind in with every other fundamental part of their life here.
they are the wind, and that's that.
the hare
okay, this one has a line that comes up a lot in ch1, but i already talked about that, so instead, i'm going to talk about this stanza
Speak of the earth and the dens, and you will be answered: By the call of the howling gales, the open earth singing in response. But speak of that which grows above, of the grass and field, And you will be answered by the softness of the buds and the roots.
okay, we get deadfoot thinking about this when he's talking to yellowfang.
i like this stanza because it really tells us what the hare is about. now, hares are not something windclan catches. hares are huge, y'all, there's no way they take one down. i take liberties with ecology, but not that many.
(i.e., a team of cats definitely could take one down, but i know too much, and would prefer letting team hunting stay a plot thing, and not fundamentally alter the environment in the way it would.)
now anyway, all of these hymns come from the time of the tunnelers. and the point of this is, even though the work of tunnelers and moor runners is disconnected, they fundamentally affect each other.
a moor runner must trust the hollows of the earth beneath them won't collapse, and a tunneler must trust that the prey they chase up will be caught.
it's all very symbiotic and is, well, in a way, a love poem. plus i really like the line "the open earth singing in response"
of the warrens
so this has one line, one you might not even know is a hymn, in ch1, but i'll share the whole stanza.
And as for the subject of fallow fields: Fallowed fields make for hungry prey, Yet hungry prey makes desperate rabbits, Who leap into our claws.
and ig my big point is, the hymns are a cultural artifact. just like many of the rules in the old testament have to do with hygiene things being codified into religion, this whole hymn is about hunting advice.
the moon on the river
okay, out of all the hymns, this is the most complete, and because ashfoot and deadfoot sing it together, and deadfoot discusses it, i only have one stanza to share.
Under the coldness, you shine back at me, And I do everything to keep the clouds from threatening you.
now, this poem is about love, grief, and being separated. it's a particular kind of grief, and windclan discourages grief, so this is one of only a few ways to really, fully express it.
and this section, in particular, is about love in times of hardship.
i don't have. a lot to say here. but the way hardship changes how you love someone can be particular and intense.
(temporarily, this happens sometime before "Spare for my chosen few / All I have is given towards the distant ground.")
the gorse in the wind
oh shit! i have so fucking much to say okay first.
the series title does not come from this hymn.
second, this is a challenging hymn okay. fuck. i have so much to say. where to start so! moors are actually relatively wet. think british countryside, not, like, a cool desert.
this is something i always knew? i read the secret garden a lot as a kid. but. i've seen stuff about moors being dry, and it's just one of those things that really...starts to eat under your skin. anyway.
okay, so. gorse is a dry plant. it does not like rain. it grows in sandy soil, etc etc, and yet. aside from everything we know about gorse and warriors, it also grows in this moor. because i say so.
okay, so. so so so. the lines quotes here are really deceptive, and i bet no one understood why, and that makes me just a little sad, but i couldn't find a good way to explain it in text, so uh, yeah, anyway. there's an exchange between ashfoot and deadfoot: "THE GORSE: You called me the heather and I grew stronger. / THE WIND: I called you the heather and brought rain for you to grow."
so...so do you see? do you see the point? it's about communication, needs, challenging each other. fadskj;l i love this. okay, so. the point is that heather is fragile, soft, pretty, and gorse is the opposite. the part of the wind is trying to be kind and complimentary, but the gorse is saying, fuck that, you are not being kind to me by undercutting my strength.
anyway, this passage is sung by the gorse:
In what good company have I set down roots, That even through snow fall I flower. You called me the heather and yet I've weathered, Far more than your sweet-named love.
so uh, yeah, this adds context. gorse! gorse is a hardy plant that continues to flower basically all season round. it's cool. it's cool. gorse is super cool. fuuuck y'all it's such a small thing and i've contained talking about it until now, but now it's too much. the floodgates are open, and i thought about this small detail too much.
okay. deep breath. gorse is a really easy plant to grow, but it's still adapted for dry environments. so the "even through snow fall I flower" part is a little tongue in cheek: gorse itself will flower in the cold, but snow is a type of precipitation, which as we've covered, is not gorse friendly.
then we have some rhyming and puns in the next line, and finally, "yet I've weathered, / Far more than your sweet-named love." like. yes. love as a form of softness is not necessarily helpful.
i mean, consider the damaging "soft trans boi" problem. same energy.
right. okay. so we've got all that? now if you remember, this is sung when deadfoot thinks ashpaw doesn't respect him, and ashpaw says she'll sing with him if she can sing the gorse, so in essence, she's telling him...not to back off, per se, but that...she is the "hard part" of the relationship. like, okay, i refuse to even bring up gender roles in human relationships, but uh, her point is very much, "i am the gorse, and you are the wind," and it's a very monumental moment.
it's anchored, i believe, in the other scenes, but this is a small thing that matters a lot to me.
like a lot.
okay, now that i've talked about like four lines for the length of this entire post, moving on.
the heather and earth
okay, this is the last hymn i have in concrete terms, and i cut a bit of it from the latest chapter, so yeah. it's also, uh, okay everything i have for it is only a line or two, but i wanted to share this closing line (sung together):
Sing a song of forgiveness, of growing together, and we will make madness, And madness from hence will everything beautiful grow.
and i just like these lines. they got cut, it was initially part of an exchange between ashfoot and deadfoot, but i can't share the part of it they talk about, because i'm reusing it for a later chapter and i'll 100% spoil shit if i try to talk about it.
but these lines? mmm they speak to me.
i don't have a ton to say about them, but i just. i like it.
if we apply the same ecology discussion from the gorse and the wind, we see heather is a plant that grows in acidic, infertile soil, and heath (which is not the same as a heather, but also kind of is) is a defining quality of heathland, which is...i'm not kidding, it's hot discourse about the difference between moorland and heathland.
i'm not getting involved, but my point is, if the gorse in the wind is a hymn about finding a working relationship, about mutual respect, etc., then the heather and earth is a hymn about working well together in a terrible situation.
god.
uh, wow! can you tell i like plants? because while parts of my ecology are dubious (see: everything regarding the rabbits in ch1), the plants part are well thought out. this shit is carefully detailed metaphor.
and that's why i won't be releasing a full hymnal. it's hard to as on top of this as i want to be. i'm not kidding, writing even four lines of a hymn usually takes me about twenty minutes, because i pull up a lot of research about how things work, how they interact with each other, etc., and then there's wordsmithing, cat worldview filter, etc.
but i hope this overview of what i've got is a good insight into my general thoughts. and i will eventually release more and more of the hymns i've got written.
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boylebingo · 3 years ago
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fic writers tag
@montygreen​ tagged me in this ages ago but I have been having the nuttiest couple of weeks so it took me a hot sec to get to this, but I do appreciate it and if you somehow don’t already follow leila on here, you should go do that rn
now down to business :) 
1) How many works do you have on AO3? only 3 at the moment! 
2) What’s your total AO3 word count? 45238 as of today 
3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they? just never have i ever! although i’m sure there are a few unfinished, never-published, years-old stories from assorted fandoms from when I was younger floating around in the void somewhere
4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
haha well I’ve only got 3 published, but the number one spot goes to vanilla ice cream, which makes sense since it’s the only one i’ve actually finished so far 🙈
5) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?
none of them? i feel like the reason i often read fic is because there is some unresolved canon-angst that i want someone else to resolve so while i definitely have points of tension, all of my stories tend to end (or are planned to end) happy  
6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?
i think vanilla ice cream will still probably be the fluffiest bc of that epilogue i decided to write last minute, even once i finish all the others. but they’re all pretty happy 🥰
7) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?
not so far, though i try to make it a habit to never say never. I think its one of those things that’s really difficult to write well and I’m just not sure it’s in my skillset to do so. but who knows? maybe one day! 
8) Do you write smut? If so what kind?
see above haha. it’s pretty much the exact same answer :) 
9) Do you respond to comments, why or why not? 
I really try to answer all of them, although I know I missed a bunch while I was on a sorta unplanned writing hiatus. It’s only been a year of me posting anything I’ve written and it still genuinely baffles me that people not only read but also enjoy the things I put out there into the world, so every “thank you for reading” is from the heart for me and it’s so worth taking the two seconds to make my appreciation known. 
10. Have you ever received hate on a fic?
no, thankfully! i think part of that is just i haven’t been around that long haha
11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?
i don’t... think so? 
12) Have you ever had a fic translated?
no but how cool is that? i wasn’t even really aware that was a thing that could happen! 
13) Have you ever co-written a fic before?
no! but if anyone wants to feel free to hmu 👀 i am super busy rn but i would love to eventually cuz so many of the folks who write for this show are so talented
14) What’s your all time favorite ship?
oh gosh. all time is really, really hard. obvi for NHIE i’ve fully boarded the ben/devi train, but some other all time TV faves of mine are ben/leslie from parks&rec, david/patrick from schitts creek, and josh/donna from the west wing. you might be able to tell i love a rivals to lovers moment from some of these lol 💀 but there are so many that i love for different reasons it’s like picking a favorite child lmao
15) What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?
I do have plans to finish the 2 remaining fics up on ao3, but I will admit, the rosy dot over the i of loving was... ambitious, and not exactly well thought out when I started it. so it may be a while. i haven’t started much else new since those 3 went up, since i’ve been trying to finish what i’ve started. but i have had this ben/devi idea rattling around in my brain ever since i read the book “the unhoneymooners” that I am just not sure i’ll ever quite get around to. 
16) What are your writing strengths?
i like to think i’m pretty good at writing dialogue! in college, i took a creative writing class for playwriting, where it was drilled into our head that you want to get as much of the story as humanly possible out through words, rather than actions. basically my professors argument was that any stage direction could be ignored by a director if the action/object/setting/etc. wasn’t directly referred to in lines said by a character. so if it was important to you, we should make someone talk about it! i think because of that my narration tends to be a little sparser (but hopefully that’s to the benefit of the dialogue!!)
oh, and i also took a class in humor writing and got an A, so.... 👀
17) What are your writing weaknesses?
i think i could be a lot better at coming up with themes/symbols/metaphors/etc. Having not really planned out the WIPs on AO3 now, this was hard to do, so I guess that also goes hand in hand with my time management haha. But yeah I find it a little difficult to have those sorts of literary devices in longer works (i used to write a lot more poetry and it was a little easier for me in that format so i have faith that i can get better).
18) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?
i only fluently speak english and you do not want to see me butcher french or german, let alone a language I’ve never taken courses in. so it’s a hard no for me personally haha. that said if you know more than another language, first of all i’m jealous, and second of all, go for it! 
19) What was the first fandom you wrote for?
i don’t really know! like i said i used to write things without publishing them anywhere, so it’s hard to remember. maybe harry potter, when I was like 10? i feel like i probably wrote the same self-insert hogwarts moment that literally every 10 year old in the late-aughts was writing haha
i know for sure there was a b99 fic that was almost published on ao3 back in like season 2 or 3? that’s why my username is what it is 😊
20) What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?
i’m really proud of finishing vanilla ice cream. buuuut i am also really proud of the poems in the rosy dot over the i of loving and i think if i ever finish that one, it will be my favorite for pushing me out of my writing comfort zone.  
Tagging: fellow benvi advocate and @gross-vishwakumar and anyone else who would like to answer that hasn’t already been tagged by someone else cuz i know i got to this a bit late lol 🙈
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hlcreators · 4 years ago
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AUTHOR REC:  star_k / @perfectdagger​
Be sure to show some love and leave kudos and a comment! 
And let it kill you (19k)
"Love is either a human construct or it can be real. But either it is real, or you make it so."
Louis doesn't believe in fate, but rather in choice. There's nothing romantic about being stripped out of his own.
Find what you love (26k)
“My Dear,
Find what you love and let it kill you. Let it drain you of your all. Let it cling onto your back and weigh you down into eventual nothingness. Let it kill you and let it devour your remains. For all things will kill you, both slowly and fastly, but it's much better to be killed by a lover."
Or, Harry learns 16 years is a lifetime to be in love with someone else.
Santa Claus is from Turkey (11k)
Saint Nicholas was born in Patara, making Santa Claus actually from Turkey.
This bit of information has nothing to do with this fic, but somehow manages to tell you everything that matters about it: it's Christmas time and there's a turkey and a lot of mishappenings.
It also makes absolute no sense at all, but just roll with it.
a rose surrounded by thorns (3.3k)
There were nine levels of hell in Dante’s vision. Distantly, Louis wondered in which one you’d go for getting off on rimming the demon who ate your soul.
Nice day for a pizza wedding (12k)
There’s a layer of total surrealness to have your own name denied by a stranger, while said stranger has your cock in their hands.
Harry was glad he was in the sort of situation he knew exactly how that felt.
Or, a story about how Harry, 18 year old Tumblr and photography enthusiast, ended up enjoying his birthday with the pizza boy, in a night filled with pizza, his faithful camera and the doubt of how to correct someone you were flirting with that he got Harry's name wrong.
He only had Niall to blame.
Tell The World We Finally Got It Right (56k)
Louis snorted. “Nice try but I have to work, you sneaky little bastard.” Louis kissed Harry quickly with the intention of it being the last time as he also squeezed their hands together before letting go. “Seriously, go. I…” Louis hesitated a second, not really sure what to say as his final goodbye to Harry. “I’ll be waiting for you.” He settle on that, because that was a promise he knew he would be holding on to.
“Can’t wait. I love you,” Harry said, just as he had said that to Louis over the weekend many times. He finally let go of him and kissed Louis on the cheek, smiling brightly at him before he opened the door and got out of the car.
Louis would also hold onto those three words until the weekend came along.
Part 4 of the Mistletoes & Wrackspurts series, or the year when Louis and Harry finally decided to give themselves a try, (re)falling in love and making memories for a life time.
Harry’s Journal to self-discovery (24k)
Moving away from home is always difficult, especially when you come from a small city like Holmes Chapel and chooses to study English in London.
It proves to be even more difficult to Harry when she doesn’t feel like she fits anywhere but sitting on a park bench, watching The Girl move around like she’s the most fascinating being on the planet.
And to Harry, she kind of is. Too bad she doesn’t know why (yet).
High-five of your love (12k)
Reason #24: Because you forgot to buy a birthday present
Or, the fic where Louis is a mess of a woman, who's so busy looking for a job to help pay rent she manages to forget her almost-wife's birthday present.
She makes do in the end, anyway. She always does.
supposedly, this is steph's gift (from last year lmao) (4.6k)
this is the supernatural au nobody asked for. basically we headcanon HARD that louis is a fox so i started to write this.
so: louis is a fox familiar. harry is a witch. louis is traveling around the country trying to look for a witch good enough to bond with, harry is the witch dumb enough to help niall on his cases. they fall in love, even if witch/familiar relationships are frowned upon.
also liam is a hunter of generations and niall is the sheriff (not really) who shouldn't be meddling with witchcraft but he does anyway.
Pride and Prejudice AU that never was (7k)
Basically the p&p no one asked for and that i got too lazy to finish. or as i like to call it "louizzie hates harrcy, but they hate bang a lot anyway".
You can’t blame gravity (for falling in love) (28k)
“You know,” she’d always start, “I never understood why these chick flicks are so addictive.” She’d give a small laugh into her cup, hot steam warming her face, the living room in their hometown house lit only by the television, both of them cozy under blankets while the girls slept in their bedrooms. “You’re never, you know, that smooth while talking to the one you really want. When you like the person you’re dating you’re actually quite a mess, flustered and clumsy all around. You can’t control it.”
Or five times Marcel fell, and one time Louis did it (plus an extra one).
If You Ever Wanna Be In Love (119k)
“Finally! I mean, hi again… surprise?” Lottie had almost an innocent expression, but Louis wouldn’t be fooled by that.
Harry Styles was looking at him, nervously biting his lip, waving long fingers with different rings on them at him. “Hi?”
It had been more than three years since they last saw each other and there was Harry Styles at his fucking door again. Louis was fucked.
Part 3 of the Mistletoes & Wrackspurts series, or the one when a Holiday season together might be just what a wizard and a muggle with a too complicated past between them need to find each other again.
Butterflies (3k)
”Just a touch on the shoulder I’m passing out Wish I could of told her I’m freaking out For I have been poisoned by butterflies I have been stared blankly by those eyes What don’t kill only makes us stronger, well I guess I’m stronger now Roll with whatever flows or comes my way I always say”
(Butterflies - Hudson Taylor)
Love Is On The Radio (35k)
“So Louis, who’s the lucky person that will not only get to see Arsenal and Manchester United facing each other, but will also possibly become your girlfriend… or boyfriend? I mean, that’s a good catch, to ask someone out like this on the radio. It will be hard to say no after this.”
“It’s, hm, his name is…” Oh boy, Harry was about to pass out, he couldn’t bear to hear what Louis would say. Susie was looking at him, worried eyes watching him from the till as she noticed that Harry had simply abandoned his cupcake duties. “Harry. Harry Styles.”
To win a pair of tickets to watch Manchester United playing, Louis may have possibly lied to Nick Grimshaw on the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show, asking Harry, his best friend, to be his boyfriend. Problem is - Harry has always been in love with Louis and so, this Valentine’s he’s gonna see his dreams come true, with a tiny bit of a twist, in order to watch the football team they have loved together since they were kids.
Sick of Losing Soulmates (I Like You) (7.6k)
Time and hearts will wear us thin So which path will you take, ‘cause we both know a break Does exactly what it says on the tin
‘Cause I’m sick of losing soulmates, so where do we begin I can finally see, you’re as fucked up as me So how do we win?
//
I hope I’m not stuck on your waiting list Because I dream of you in colors that don’t exist And I think it’s high time for you to know I like you I like you I like you And I hope you like me too
Part 2 of the Mistletoes & Wrackspurts series, or the interlude in which 3 years apart seems to be nothing and too much at the same time.
Every Little Thing He Does Is Magic (92k)
There were only a few things Louis didn’t believe in. You could include in that list the Easter bunny, the tooth fairy, and also Father Christmas. Having four little sisters, though, he had to pretend that all of them were real for the sake of keeping their imagination alive.
Surprisingly, there was one thing, that not until his oldest little sister turned 11 did Louis believe in and did he think would actually be real: magic.
Louis’ sister was a witch and everything he knew would never be the same again.
Part 1 of the Mistletoes & Wrackspurts series, or the Hogwarts AU where Louis is a muggle, Lottie finds out she is a witch and Harry is Lottie’s wizard friend from Hogwarts, with a lot of magic, letters, owl cuddles and crushes on boys from different worlds.
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blouisparadise · 5 years ago
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Upon request, here is a rec list of fics where Harry and Louis fight or argue over the course of the fic. While there is at least a small argument between them in the vast majority of fics, we tried to narrow this list down to include fics where there’s either a larger fight or a bunch of smaller ones. Happy reading!
1) Forever, Uninterrupted | Explicit | 8578 words
Harry finds a mysterious picture in Louis' bag one night and drives himself crazy over it. It's definitely not what he thinks. An excuse to write Harry in rut, because there's already so many heat fics out there.
2) Poppies In May | Explicit | 9457 words
And maybe he deserves it, Louis thinks bitterly. His hand curls around the fence tightly, and he feels like if he lets go he’ll slid onto the cold ground and never fucking get up again. Maybe standing here, staring at Harry’s hunched over, retreating back is what he deserves.
3) 3B Neighbor | Explicit | 10407 words
A mysterious neighbour keeps slipping the worst sort of notes under Harry's door.
4) Rather This Than Live Without You | Explicit | 10715 words
Harry decides to give it all up. Louis refuses to be left behind.
5) We Should Get Jerseys | Mature | 12147 words
Harry is a hockey player, and Louis is his slightly melodramatic boyfriend.
6) No Bleeding Hearts | Explicit | 12651 words
“I’m going to come out,” Louis says abruptly. His grip on the controller is tight, knuckles whitening. He doesn’t look at Harry when he says it.
“What?” Harry says. Louis sucks in a breath through his teeth.
“When we re-negotiate our contracts. I’m going to come out.” Harry fumbles with the controller and manages to set it down on coffee table without cracking it in half.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Harry says. Louis is still pointedly not looking at him.
“I’m not having this argument with you again, Harry,” Louis tells him. He leans forward and deposits his own controller on the table beside Harry’s before standing up. “I’m gonna go to the hotel.”
7) Know You Got That Thing (That I Like) | Explicit | 15798 words
Note: This fic has a BH mention.
In all the ways he thought about their reunion going, watching Louis finger himself open was not on the list.
8) Wait For Me (To Come Home) | Explicit |  16066 words
A future fic of time stamps where Louis finally comes to grips with a love he'd denied for too long.
9) My English Love Affair | Explicit | 19198 words
The thing about sleeping with a member of a famous indie band is that the inevitability of having a song written about you is most likely a hundred percent. The second thing is that in the end, nobody's supposed to find out it's about you.
The one where Harry writes a song about his English love affair and Louis sleeps with someone in White Eskimo and all he gets is a stupid song written about him.
10) Dance Like Warriors On A Battlefield | Explicit | 20083 words
Down in the arena, the triumphant gladiator places his foot on the back of the loser, holding him there as he waits for instruction on his next move. Kill or let live. It’s barbaric, really, the bloodlust involved in this sport. Louis is pretty sure that if it wasn’t for his distaste for the killing there would be a lot more blood soaking that sand.
As it is, his father rarely gives the kill order anymore. He gives the order to let the loser live. Louis rolls his eyes, turning away. He doesn’t miss the way the gladiator’s eyes linger on him.
11) Up To No Good | Explicit | 26525 words | Sequel #1 | Sequel #2
Harry doesn’t think of himself as a womanizer, not at all. Sure, he enjoys sex, enjoys how women feel underneath him, and by some people’s standards he has sex with quite a lot of people, but that’s no reason to tell him that he can’t have a female PA anymore.
It’s especially no excuse for giving him a male PA who’s possibly the most gorgeous boy in the world who won’t even let Harry look at him for too long.
Sometimes Harry hates his life.
12) All The Lights are Full Of Colour | Explicit | 26727 words
So, fast-forwarding eight years from the day Harry met Louis, he is now a twenty-seven year old owner of one of the most up-and-coming eating establishments on the London restaurant scene, father of two wonderful boys and… separated from his husband. Now, that last part definitely was never a part of the original plan.
13) Time Out | Explicit | 27539 words
Harry and Louis are perfect for each other.
Everybody knows it.
They know it, their friends know it, everybody knows it.
That's why Zayn, Liam and Niall won't let them get away with breaking up.
No chance in hell.
14) Carnelian | Explicit | 30631 words
Louis finds himself donating blood to the most beautiful being he’s ever seen.
15) Where The Lights Are Beautiful | Mature | 31170 words | Sequel
The accidental bonding a/b/o fic. 
16) Close To Nowhere | Explicit | 34589 words
Louis and Harry are psychics who kind of hate each other. They go to Tennessee to investigate a haunting.
17) No Matter Where You Are (No Matter How Far) | Explicit | 35799 words
An Everest AU where Louis sets out to climb the tallest mountain on the world and meets a curly-haired guy named Harry who worms his way into Louis’s life. It’s not long before reaching the summit becomes the least of Louis’s worries. 
18) The Things I’d Do To Wake Up Next To You | Mature | 36019 words
AU. Harry wakes up to a pregnant Louis Tomlinson and a wedding band on his finger.
19) Bloodsport | Explicit | 40283 words
“You know how our next game is against the Cardinals, right? You remember how vicious those guys can get. I wanted us to come up with some plays, maybe work on a block from the left--” Louis stops when he hears a chuckle. He doesn’t think he’s said anything particularly funny, so he turns to Harry, waiting for an explanation. "‘S funny, ‘s all.” Harry throws his finished bottle somewhere near the other discarded ones. “This is the first time you’re talking to me in eight months, and it’s still about football.”
20) The Sweetest Incantation | Explicit | 40598 words
Harry is a witch who's still working on developing his powers and Louis is a werecat who falls into his life and turns it upside down. 
21) Falling Into Place | Explicit | 40754 words
Louis and Harry spend nine years apart but inevitably find their way back to each other.                        
22) Another Hazy May | Explicit | 41043 words
Louis is a terrible poet and Harry lives in the now and they have six weeks to fall in love but, really, it only takes six seconds. Bookshop meets military meets summer romance AU ft. Malboros, the Backstreet Boys, and underrated literary devices.
23) Show Me Life Like I’ve Never Seen | Mature | 42953 words
Louis never expected to leave the small art studio three blocks down from his job with anything besides the painting he caught a glimpse of and simply couldn't forget.
24) Can I Not Like You For A While? | Explicit | 43346 words
Louis Tomlinson is awful. Harry is just as difficult, and they’re both terrible to each other. It makes being in the same acapella group together quite complicated. 
25) Just A Feeling | Explicit | 43977 words
Note: This fic is a sequel to this fic.
The first time that Harry thinks about marriage in relation to Louis, he’s eighteen years old, standing in the middle of a crowded frat house, six drinks down and another in his hand.
It’s not the first time that he’s laid eyes on Louis. It’s not even the second time, or the third time, but Harry doesn’t believe in denying what his brain is trying to tell him, and his brain has been telling him that Louis might be the prettiest person in the world ever since that first fateful meeting, when Harry hadn’t been able to stop looking and Louis had ‘accidentally’ spilled his tea all over Harry’s lap in retaliation.
26) Love's Truest Language | Explicit | 48193 words
“I don't want your flowers.” Louis chided before directing all of his attention to the arrangement in front of him. Harry laughed under his breath as he stood to his full height, “Who said anything about them being for you, love?”
27) Tug-Of-War | Explicit | 55475 words
Louis' husband dies suddenly and he is left with nothing. Well, not really nothing. He has Harry. And a St. Bernard puppy named Link, whom his late husband left behind for him. Louis takes care of Link and Harry takes care of Louis. Everything is okay until suddenly, it isn't. 
28) Into The Midnight Sun | Explicit | 63523 words
It's 1983, Harry embarks on his first world tour and Louis is a budding actor in LA. Life spent apart isn't easily adjustable, but somehow they make it work.
29) Why Can't It Be Like That | Explicit | 63567 words
A fashion AU with a royal twist, where Louis doesn't need a stylist, Harry's thrilled to have a real life Barbie doll, and they're both very wrong about each other.
30) Perfect Storm | Explicit | 80230 words
What do you do when your best friend asks you and your (now) ex to be the best men at his destination wedding? You can either tell him the truth, tell him you’re not together anymore, and deal with the consequences, or you can pretend you’re still together and roll with it, just pray you don’t spiral. Fake it ‘til you make it. You know, for the sake of the wedding. Harry and Louis choose the latter.   
31) Pinkies Never Lie | Explicit | 83615 words | Sequel
AU in which Louis hates his job and loves Harry, Harry just wants a distraction, everyone else wants them to get their shit together, and Louis learns the hard way that new beginnings are only possible when something ends.
32) I Want You So Much (But I Hate Your Guts) | Mature | 83648 words
AU in which Louis gets accepted to play for the Manchester University Alpha-Beta Football Team. The only problem: Louis is actually an Omega. He is determined to make it big in the football world, though, and he can't do that bound to an Omega team. With the help of a faked doctor's certificate and some pretty strong suppressants he is ready to fight for his dream. That Harry Styles (Alpha, second year and youngest football captain of the A-B team in ages) doesn't seem to like him complicates matters, though.
33) Electing Strange Perfections | Explicit | 84757 words
Back for the summer from university, 19-year-old Louis is faced with a massive problem: their new gardener is quite possibly the most gorgeous man he's ever met. Over the course of the summer, Louis and a 25-year-old Harry will learn that love can be found where you least expect it.
34) For Reasons Wretched and Divine | Explicit | 94655 words
Ten years ago, Harry Styles was just a nerdy kid with one friend and a debilitating crush on the captain of his school’s football team. He thought the stars were smiling down on him the day he and Louis Tomlinson were paired for their end-of-term Literature project. But because Harry’s life is decidedly not a fairytale, the budding friendship quickly leads to the least happy ending of all time. Now, Harry Styles is a household name. Barely twenty-seven with two Grammy nominations to his name, the singer-songwriter is poised to take the music industry by storm with his highly anticipated third album. So, what happens when the best producer in the business is also the only person Harry’s vowed never to speak to again?    
35) Blue Ice | Mature | 102967 words
An AU where Louis finds himself in a marriage he didn't bargain for. 
36) A Taste Of Desire | Explicit | 104414 words
A Victorian ABO where Harry is the owner of the most successful cotton mill in Manchester, and Louis is an opinionated social activist about to disrupt Harry’s world.
37) Tainted Saints And Velvet Vices | Mature | 126056 words
A self-fulfilling Hogwarts AU in which Louis is new to seventh year and Harry is the resident devil-may-care Slytherin set to make his entire experience a living misery. Due to less than favourable circumstances they're forced to forge an unwilling, tentative relationship for their own survival. Repressed emotions, decidedly unromantic ballroom dancing, Triwizard Tournament tasks, creative jinxes and twilight flying above the Forbidden Forest ensue.
38) All I Want | Mature | 289307 words
When Harry and Louis got together it wasn’t under the best circumstances. Louis was taken by another. But go figure that the way they ended up together is the very same way it ended. And Harry left Louis. He left him with a lot more than he thought. A story about how people’s misconceptions almost destroyed a love that went beyond measure.
Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.
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