#are there any good steampunk stories? I know of some westerns that are good

[sluggybunny]

My inner turmoil is me insisting I hate steampunk and westerns but I always find myself drawn to them regardless

[betawooper]

Hi, how are you?? If its not too much trouble, I have two questions 1. How do you get motivation to write your fic (which is amazing, btw!!) because I am trying to write a fic of my own but I can't seem to find the motivation to actually sit down and write it out, even though I am super interested in it. 2. If its not too much, do you have any tips on outlining a story?? I'm not very good at planning lol Hope you have a great day!! I love your art and your KNY Plot Rewrite!!

Hiiiiii thank you for the ask!

1.

Honestly dedicating a certain portion of my day just to write has been super helpful. I tend to feel most motivated in the morning so I just write then and just keep dabbling in it.

I do this weird technique where I write with white text on a white background so I don't focus too much on the mistakes. If you find yourself getting overwhelmed, just changing the font color so you can't see what you're typing breaks that anxiety. Drastic, but it works.

I also write on my phone when I'm feeling particularly unmotivated?

Here's a vod of me doing exactly that for Ch 53 (the video quality is very crunchy, forgive me):

I usually use a lot of ADHD strategies to get myself into the mood lol.

2.

It seriously depends on what kind of story you want to write, but I'm assuming you mean novel/longfic type of stuff with a fleshed out story and a whole cast of characters? That's the assumption I'm going under while writing out my next tips.

What is your main theme? Or genre rather. Is it humor? Romance? Tragedy? A combination? Knowing the overall tone that your story will be in helps a lot in the development of the characters, since each character should fit into that theme in some way. In KNY, the main theme of the story is tragedy, and this affects literally everything, from the backstories for all the characters to the literal worldbuilding in the form of Demons (victims of circumstance, cruelty of the world, that kind of thing).

Once that's down, start small. Just figure out your main character, their motivation, their character arc, and what you want them to realize by the end of the story. Can just be as simple as:

main character (Tanjirou)

wants to live a normal life and go back to the way it used to be

ideally, he should realize there is no going back and he has to move on so he doesnt get left behind? oh ye his sister could represent the constantly changing state of the world and his negative reaction to her changes expresses his inability to let go of his past

*note to self, develop sister character more

Don't think about other characters unless they will actually help the main character get closer to the ideal end you have for them, like I did with Nezuko in the above example. Don't want to overwhelm yourself, you know?

From here, you can start developing stuff. Thinking of concepts. If you're anything like me, you've probably already come up with something your story focuses on like "oh yeah there's magic and shit, and they have to take down the government with it" because I like magic and shit. What kind of setting do you want your story to be in? Post-apocalyptic utopia? Dystopia? Steampunk fantasy? 1920s Japan in the midst of rapid westernization? Is this based in a specific region of the real world or are you making up a whole new world for this?

Once you get the basics down, write down story beats. It can be a similar list as before like:

idk ig nezuko becomes a demon and loses her memory

the two meet a super strong swordsman to kinda show the reader the concept of demon slayers AND the highest ranking people from the get go (oh, think of a name for this rank, maybe pillars? bc pillars of hope and shit lol im a genius)

oh shit, you write hashira in 9 strokes? maybe we could have 9 pillars ooooh that would be pog

tanjirou and nezuko have an argument about tanjirou's Problems bc he refuses to talk about anything that bothers him

uhhhhh fight a demon

fight a Strong demon (what the hell am i gonna call these, just do that later)

oh hold on theres gotta be a training montage bc swordfighting takes time to develop

i should add an examination right? yeah like naruto ok put that into the consideration jar

broooo omg what if [insert plot twist here] happened? ive gotta put that in holy shit-

Doesn't even have to be in order. Just let your mind flow. If you have more characters at this point, think about how you want their arcs to end and all that like you did for the main character, then slap those beats into the massive list of story beats.

From here, you can sort stuff out. Then zero in on a specific arc/plot development and build around that. How much you should develop the story depends on how many characters you have and how long you want the story to be. KNY has a fairly large cast and is meant to be serialized, so Gotouge really needed to spend a lot of time thinking about this stuff (and you and I know that didn't end up working out too well lmao, they tried their best though).

Biggest tip is to take your time. You can't create a world in one day, especially if you want to be respectful to the other cultures and stuff you want to portray. Research stuff, look up writing inspiration blogs, all that, just take your time.

Also lemme know if you want to know how I specifically outline stuff in chapters to prepare for writing because its a little different from what people normally do? Idk what people normally do but its certainly not the way how I do it and this post is long enough already.

(Thank you for the compliments btw, good luck on your own story!)

[lucky-sevens]

so, you’ve heard about the mechanisms, but have no idea what they are or how to get into them?

the mechanisms are a steampunk folk concept band! if you’re familiar with the decemberists, some of the stuff david bowie has done, or steam powered giraffe, it’s a bit like that- each album tells a story! (the albums are all tragic space operas, with the added bonus of being very queer!)

the bit where it starts to get complicated is the band itself. they’re all playing characters, and they do their shows in character! so, basically, the narration on the albums isn’t omniscient- it’s being narrated by the mechanisms, who have opinions about the story and tend to get involved in it at some point. to differentiate them from the actual band, i’m going to refer to them as ‘the crew of the aurora’!

further details under the cut! (edit: added some links!)

the albums

they have 4 main albums, which you can listen to on spotify, bandcamp and youtube! just look them up, there's a youtube account called TheVoidSings that does lyric videos + album playlists, as well as the mechanisms official account! in addition, they are all linked at the end of this post.

(note: the albums are all tragedies, and there’s some pretty intense stuff that can happen- i wouldn’t let that steer you away from it as they are very good and well done, but if you tend to like lighter or happier stories, be a bit careful going in? a lot of queer characters tend to die- because 1. everyone dies and 2. everyone is queer- which, while it’s not bury your gays, i know some people like to avoid.)

album descriptions

-once upon a time (in space)- based on european fairy tales! stars snow white and her attempt to rebel against the evil king cole and his intergalactic empire and rescue her sister, rose red! also has a lesbian romance at the center! 

-ulysses dies at dawn- based on greek mythology! stars four 'suitors'- orpheus, oedipus, ariadne, and hercules- trying to break into ulysses/odysseus' secret vault on a job for the olympians, an elite mob family with a stranglehold over the planet it takes place on 

-high noon over camelot- a steampunk western based on arthurian legend! features poly arthur, guinevere, and lancelot on a quest for the G.R.A.I.L, the control center of the abandoned space station they're trapped on 

-the bifrost incident- based on norse mythology! a locked room mystery around what happened to the ratatosk express, a train that disappeared eighty years ago with all of the asgardian ruling class on board. this album is also rock, versus the earlier ones which were folkpunk. 

you can listen to them in any order (i've summarized them in order of release), but you should listen to the album of your choice in order/all the way through! (my personal favorite is high noon over camelot!)

the crew

the crew of the aurora is a group of nine queer space pirates! they’re all immortal, mostly because of dr carmilla, a morally ambiguous, very lonely lesbian vampire who has a slight problem with experimenting on dying children. they all have a mechanical part of some kind- for example, ashes o’reilly has mechanical lungs, because they originally died from smoke inhalation. that part is called their mechanism, and it’s what’s keeping them immortal! (also, their immortality works by having them come back from death, rather than being unable to be harmed. this can result in them doing really stupid shit, dying, and then just coming back. they murder each other a lot to bond) there’s a lot of found family vibes, which is quite nice! in general, despite being tragic figures themself, they add an air of humor to the albums with their banter and the like!

each of the crew has their own backstory, mostly from quite different genres! if you’d like a fairly comprehensive version of all their backstory songs, i’d recommend this recorded show and if you’d like just an assessment of their general vibes/a good intro to everything, i’d suggest looking up ‘the ignomious demise of dr plitchard’ (one of their stand-alone songs)

bonus content

recorded gigs- there are quite a few out there, and i’d highly recommend listening to them, because the shows were the original way the media was supposed to be! there’s a ton of in character banter, they’re all in costume, all that! 

death to the mechanisms- the mechanisms’ last show! it has a very bittersweet vibe, but there’s also incredible lighting, as well as proper recordings of tales to be told and drunk space pirate (the songs they play at the beginning and end of each show!) there’s also a lot of lore there that’s nice to know, including what it says on the tin: how they all, eventually, die. note- there’s a stream and an audio version. the stream is choppy and cuts out a lot, and the audio version is nice and clean, but the stream is still nice to watch because of the lighting and the visual jokes.

tales to be told volumes one and two- compilations of all their standalone songs! some of them fit with albums, and some of them are their own retellings that work on their own! this is also where all the backstory songs are compiled, though i’d recommend watching the recorded show i linked instead as that has the relevant exposition. 

frankenstein- a standalone, 10 minute album on youtube about the story of victoria frankenstein and the rogue ai she created.

dr. carmilla albums (exhumed and [un]plugged + ageha prototype edition, available on bandcamp)- songs telling the backstory of doctor carmilla, the mechanisms’ creator! they’re in a different style than the rest- think girl in red. lots of yearning lesbian music vibes. 

mechanisms fiction- this is on their website! has a lot of very interesting lore and character things, and i’d highly recommend reading all of it! it’s also very well written. personally, i’d recommend ulysses and narcissus go to the seaside, the quickest draw, archive footage, and bedtime story for the writing, and ever after, the story of the toy soldier, who killed dr carmilla, and ghost in the machine for lore!

resources

links to almost all the mechanisms content out there!

album links

once upon a time in space- spotify/bandcamp/youtube

ulysses dies at dawn- spotify/bandcamp/youtube

high noon over camelot- spotify/bandcamp/youtube

the bifrost incident- spotify/bandcamp/youtube

bonus content

tales to be told, volume 1- spotify/bandcamp/youtube

tales to be told, volume 2- spotify/bandcamp/youtube

frankenstein- spotify/bandcamp/youtube

mechanisms ‘supplementals’ (songs not in the albums, alternative versions, etc)- youtube

exhumed and (un)plugged- bandcamp/youtube

ageha (prototype edition)- bandcamp/youtube

mechanisms fiction

additional short story

tumblr (mostly an inactive blog for the band to post about shows they were doing, but features some in-character posts)

twitter (ditto)

---

gig compilation post

fiction compilation post

blog compilation post

deep lore post

fanfiction recommendations list

[gamer2002]

Arcane – Review2002

I had a total blast with League of Legends’ Netflix series, and all I knew about that game was it being a MOBA that exists.

You probably have read a lot of glowing reviews about the prequel League of Legends series. Six years in production, this series is visually a 10/10 spectacle that focuses on few of game’s playable characters (from like 150), particularly on sisters Vi and Powder, the latter being destined to become the crazy anarchist Jinx. Their conflict is set in Piltover, which is divided on upper and lower city. The second main plotline focuses on Jayce, a young inventor from the upper city, that wants to improve lives of people by discovering how to harness the power of magic through science.

Let’s say already this is hands down the best video game adaptation ever, maybe excluding some visual novel adaptations that I didn’t watch. But when it comes to adaptations of mainstream video games, Arcane is the undisputed king. Sure, it is a prequel, but LoL is the same type of game like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat or Overwatch – basic premise first, character designs next, any serious thoughts about lore and story only after a commercial success. Who cares today that Raiden was going to destroy the Earth, upon his possible victory over Shang Tsung? Neither you should care about things that Arcane changes in LoL lore, actually good writers are in charge now. My past most favorite video game adaptation was the adaptation of Super Robot Taisen OG2, but even that was a title that was by fans for fans, not for general audience. Thanks to its stellar world-building, Arcane is new audience friendly and to enjoy it you don’t need to know anything about League of Legends (MOBAs are not my type of game, so initially I didn’t even know about Jinx).

But Arcane isn’t just a groundbreaking video game adaptation. It’s a groundbreaking western animation that has a chance to change the landscape of the industry, and introduce to the mainstream Seinen-like type of animation. It’s a full-fledged steampunk fantasy title that touches such motives as corruption and price of technological progress, and how it impacts society and human relationships. It’s the kind of series that they tried to make with Legend of Korra, but without hack writers. When mainstream producers on the west think you can’t sell to its audience serious and mature story, without making a live action version of it, which results in butchering anime and Disney, Arcane proves them wrong by demonstrating how animation is enhancing such stories.

Arcane hits a perfect mix of being idealistic, like Disney and Avatar the Last Aribender, and gritty, like good seasons of Game of Thrones. One of major characters is a three foot tall talking animal forefather figure, this is flat-out Kingdom Hearts stuff. The series is also filled with moments of idealism and actions sequences that you can find in any enjoyable, albeit cliché, series. Only this series isn’t cliché. It can for a moment play things straight, and do everything exactly what AtLA would have done in a given situation… but moment later everything suddenly goes shit, because the most brutally realistic thing happens – something that would have happened in a good season of GoT. Finale of the episode three is the perfect example of that. It is a classic scenario where the brave inexperienced youth has to prove its worth, by saving their older mentor from his personal arch-nemesis. And it plays out that way, beat by beat, until suddenly everything turns into something else.

This is why Arcane works so well. When the series is happy, it’s colorful. When the series is bright, it’s filled with wonder. When the series is being idealistic, it’s with utmost sincerity. And when you watch action sequences, they are awesome. Because it’s an animation, where things can be exaggerated in such a way, and it doesn’t look out of place. Because it’s an animation, you let yourself to be tricked, you lose yourself in the moment, you forget you are watching a series that has opened itself with little children seeing war crimes. And then the series reminds you what you’re watching. It reminds you that you are watching a tragedy where genuine good intentions can turn completely horribly. This series plays this trick over and over again, and it always works out. When Disney movies have dark moments, like death of Mufasa, they serve to set up the triumphal victory of its heroes. In Arcane, light set ups the impending darkness of its foregone conclusion. When Disney is an animated classic comedy, Arcane is an animated classic tragedy. That’s how it gets you. It’s not an innovative story, many of its themes and character ideas were already done elsewhere. But it’s an incredibly well told story, that takes full advantage of its medium and, nowadays, really does aim higher than others.

On technical level, I’ve already said the series is 10/10 visually. Characters are constantly moving, including their expressions. Cinematography is great, directing is on point and action scenes are kickass, oftentimes stylish. And everything looks good. If the series wasn’t so good written, you still would be able to watch it for the stellar spectacle alone. Music also is good, but can be sometimes weaker.

So, how do I rate it? When I give game or a story 9/10, I say it is great. It means that it has accomplishes something great (my past 9/10 accomplished a great finale to a just enjoyable silly series), and it’s generally flawless. But when do I give 10/10? When do I call something a masterpiece? When it not only fulfills all requirement for a 9/10 title, but is also groundbreaking. When they can change the medium. And I do believe that Arcane can change western animation. Its success can show executors that you don’t have to butcher stories that work better in animation, by turning them into less suited live action. And it also shows how mature stories can be told in animation. This is why I believe Arcane earns 10/10.

However. I’d give this series 9/10, if it was anime, not western animation. And it isn’t only because anime do have more examples of good Seinens. Arcane does have flaws, although most amount to nitpicks. Even the biggest flaw I see just makes me shake my head with slight disappointment. But it’s a flaw that is related to the main tragedy, and it takes time and opportunity away from touching its true core. It’s also an example of shoehorned representation taking away from otherwise great writing, while also being an example of a plain bad writing excused by its representation. More in the spoiler section.

Just imagine either as a dude  

Caitlyn and Vi oh-so-subtle lesbian romance subplot is the weakest part of the series. If you don’t see it that way, you would have, if they were a heterosexual pair.

I didn’t read into LoL lore to check how close they are. From the barebones I get, female commissioner Gordon hired a female Batman. If Arcane took this angle and showed them respecting one another due to their differences mutually complementing them, it would be much better. If they want to develop them into a pair, that’s a material for Season 2. If they wanted to tease it more explicitly, they could have Jinx talking about knowing her sister’s tastes.

The series does establish why Vi and Cait get along better, with Vi proving herself useful to Cait’s investigation, and Cait saving Vi’s life, and then Vi saving Cait. That’s a solid foundation for bonds of friendship, upon which you can build your lesbian romance. You don’t skip straight to romance, especially when you establish neither as being into girls until their meeting. Before meeting Vi, Caitlin was romancing with Jayce. As for Vi, she was too preoccupied with her sister and getting street creed to swing either way. But sudden lesbians find out they are into each other, but things don’t work so well, and they must split. The tragedy of oil and water! Give me a break with this rushed forced nonsense.

This romance is detrimental to characters, not just Vi and Cait, but also Jinx. But let’s first focus on the pair, by demonstrating why they suck. And we can do that by imagining either as a dude.

So, Caitlyn and Vittan. The naïve proper lady policewoman, and male cynical former leader of a teenage gang, in search of his unwillingly abandoned younger sister. Caitlyn was previously romanced by Jayce, but she didn’t like a man of science and success that tried to be overly protective of her, so she found somebody who is more rough on her. He screws with her, tricks her into pretending to be a prostitute, but at least helps her to advance with her investigation. He gets stupidly injured and keeps important secrets from her, but she saves his life. Then he saves her from his sister, but remains an impulsive man that prefers to do own thing, because using Cait’s mother’s connections didn’t work. Though he still used what he has learned from her, to talk her friend Jayce into helping him out with his vendetta against Silco, behind her back. Vittan is quite an asshole, but Cait is set up to choose him over Jayce.

So, Caito and Vi. The naïve proper gentle policeman, and female cynical former leader of a teenage gang, in search of her unwillingly abandoned younger sister. Vi is driven by her guilt and knows that her sister does awful things now, but prefers to believe she does it for the sake of self-survival. She initially can’t stand Caito, so she tries to mess with him, and then finally gets rid of him. She does it in the simplest way possible, by leaving the horny man with a prostitute. Sure, Caito ends up saving her when she messes up on her own. But that blockhead not only withholds that his true aim is a stolen technology, but also ruins her reunion with her sister. Vi thinks she still has to find her sister that is under bad influence, but chooses to save Caito instead. Caito drags her to a place that turns out to be his bedroom, because for some suspicious reason he didn’t want to use main doors. Supposedly, Caito has in the council a friend with the opposite gender. And between said friend, the prostitute from the club, and Vi, Caito sure likes jumping the flower. When Vi decides to stop working with Caito, he suddenly asks “what about us?”, really quickly escalating the relationship between them. That dude sure is stupid and lustful. And maybe it’s still wrong to kill him on Jinx’s request, but somehow Vi acts all heartbroken over it and is meant to eat up his dull advances.

Lesbians in media. Isn’t it insulting for women, to write them as shut-ins that rebel against their parents and escape from them, after stealing everything valuable they have, over a piece of juvenile punk-star genitalia? Apparently not, if said piece of genitalia is a vagina – Gone Home got critically acclaimed this way. Go figure.

Anyway, the badness of this romance is also detrimental to Jinx’s character, so let’s move onto that…

Lost focus on how the monster was created

Jinx can hate Caitlyn and be hallucinating things about her, but that whole jealously over a girlfriend (or even a boyfriend, if that was the case) is distracting the viewer from the core of Arcane’s main tragedy – Jinx is Vi’s creation, Silco only accelerated what Vi had put into Powder.

And it’s a great tragedy. Powder is a result of outside influence (looking at the crows and reading into the lore, there is possibly an even more dreadful influence over her), same as Vi. They both share a tragic past and live in a harsh world. Even when Vander helped them, both with preparing them to face their harsh reality, and also ensuring some peaceful order in it.

But Vi was driven by her anger towards Piltover and its enforcers. Again, perfectly understandable, they were responsible for the situation in undercity and death of her parents. This is why Vi wanted renown and street creed. This is why she had her fuck the police attitude. This is why she was willing to rob a man that has done nothing wrong to them (and actually was nice to her little friend), just because he was from the upper city. And Vi put all that into Powder, made her idolize her being eager to prove herself (robbing Piltover without consulting Vander) and rebelliously independent (withholding stolen crystals from him). She encouraged her to her learn shooting at people. She approved of her learning to make bombs. All so Powder would make her happy by demonstrating her usefulness to her cause against Piltover.

Jinx is made out of all of those things. As a kid, Powder knew no right no wrong, but what she has picked up from her sister. And Vi’s first act character arc was learning to realize that actions have consequences, that picking a fight with Piltover will result in confrontation, which very possibly will result in Powder losing her life. Vi has learned her lesson, which is why she decided to sacrifice herself to Piltover. But things happened, Vander needed saving, Vi had no time explain her newfound worries to Powder, and then everything went downhill. Silco picked up Powder and encouraged her towards the exact same direction Vi had, just without any restraint.

Really, nails grenade. Powder always was desperate to prove her worth, even if by killing somebody. Vi was both stuck in the past and blind about past signs of Jinx forming herself.

And that could be the focus of Jinx’s obsession over Caitlyn. She was literally an enforcer of Piltover’s will, her and her sister’s natural enemy. And she intended to prevent Jinx from giving the lower city an edge over the upper city. And Vi was helping her now? Sure, anything useful to reunite with her sister. If that’s the case, Vi shouldn’t have a problem with killing the stupid enforcer woman, once she outlives her usefulness. Oh, Vi is hesitant, because the enforcer has saved her life? Suddenly not into wronging any upper city twit? Suddenly it matters when they are alright? What has changed, since we had robbed her nice to us boyfriend and blew up his apartment? Why don’t you love me when I only follow your example, Vi? Why did you want me to learn how to shoot at people and blow them up, Vi!? Did you tell her the things you were happy with me doing as a kid?! Hey, my sister’s girlfriend! Tell me – did I go insane, or was she the insane one in the first place!?!

The final song of the series begins with the words “I am the monster you created”. This is the intended core of Arcane’s beautiful tragedy between Vi and Jinx – the supposed heroic sister is responsible for her villainous sister, nobody else. Vi has failed Powder, and was constantly failing her since the beginning. Now only Jinx remains, Vi’s creation.

Nonetheless, Arcane has still done a groundbreaking job with Jinx. The show has picked up a Harley Quinn knockout, le crazy wacky girl, and has done tremendous job with turning her into something better. There is no shame anymore in Jinx being based on another character, like there never was any shame in Batman being based on Zorro. Jinx is now her own tragic figure – an unfortunate confused girl that has been corrupted by wrongs of her world, turned into a living reckoning against it. She has outgrown the wacky psychiatrist that ended up being manipulated by the Joker.

And that’s a testament to Arcane’s stellar, even if leaving a room for improvement, writing.

[moonagedaydreamohyeah]

Please, I must know more about the cowboy steampunk werewolf fic!

Aaaaahhgr I’m actually really happy you picked that one, cause it’s kind of different how that came to be and I haven’t been sure if it was ever become a full story!

Okay so, one of my squares for the Bucky Barnes (or Steve Rogers I’m not completely sure and if I go and check it out I will get distracted and forget to answer lol) was “Steampunk”. And I was like, ‘huh, I’m maybe not gonna be able to write that one’, bc it occurred to me that I actually wasn’t sure what exactly that was? But, at that time I thought I was make at least something for each square (lol, the nativity😅) so I went and googled it. And the whole sci-fi meets Victorian era England and goggles and high hats and wheels looked awesome, but didn’t really strike any inspiration - it just seemed like something I wasn’t going to be able to pull off. But Then!! I read that a smaller branch of steampunk is set in a Western setting, and that fantasy, along the lines of mythical creatures such as werewolves could also be steampunk, especially if combined with some technology that seemed far too progressed compared to everything else in the era it was set

And I have a special interest for US (the map, history and nature mainly), so I thought 🤔🤔 that might work out for me! And so my brain went running:D

Sorry this is getting long lol, which is basically bc I haven’t written much of anything other than notes yet, but I’ll try to paint a picture of what I imagined:

So, the whole ‘Victorian dress’-premise of course made me imagine Bucky in a dress! In the picture in my mind he was standing in one of those kinda showy Victorian dresses outside a building in a small western village - you know, mud, horse carriages and outlaws and taverns and the whole shebang - and it was dark. I started to imagine that he was standing outside a brothel, and worked there. Sassy and confident, but with no memory from before maybe some odd number of years ago and back.

So, Steve comes into the picture like this: A man walks up to Bucky outside the brothel, looking rugged and dirty and not in good shape. Bucky does not feel like dealing with some unwashed drunk who is probably the type of outlaw who lives in the run and gets into fights and is just ugh to keep for the kind of company that Bucky is offering. He does pity him a little though, cause he doesn’t look dangerous, just disgusting and maybe like he either brings one of or all of the three no-no’s: disease, bad smell, or trouble. So Bucky, assuming the man is here for a good time, declines him before he van even ask: “you won’t be getting any services from me, looking like that sir,” with a pitying and kind of disgusted expression on his face.

(The man is, of course, Steve, and he has been looking for Bucky for years since he disappeared from their tribe) “Bucky?!” The man says, a look of recognition in his face.

Bucky is starting to feel nervous now - is this guy crazy, on top of everything else? “Who the hell is Bucky?” He demands. “You certainly won’t find any ‘Bucky’ here, mister. You better just be on your way,” Bucky says, in the hopes of getting rid of this man as quick as possible.

Okay so, here goes: Steve is a werewolf😳 Bucky is too, but he doesn’t actually know that, cause he has been prevented from shifting and maybe also heats ever since his memory loss. Steve has been searching for him. That night, he tries to convince him that actually, he is Bucky, and so on, and says some things about Bucky that he couldn’t possibly know if he wasn’t telling the truth. And so he can’t let the experience go, and he goes looking for Steve. They flee the village when Bucky is somewhat convinced and Steve is recovered, and Steve leads him to what seems to just be a small shed in the mountains.

The shed is, of course, inhabited my one Tony Stark, who is the sci-fi technology guy. From the building, they enter some sort of escalator, that leads them to a secret valley in the mountains. The view is spectacular! Snow covered, mountains, constructions build into the nature, but also untamed. They still have along walk from then on, and it’s in the middle of winter still.

I haven’t gotten much further than that in my imagination, but the secret valley belong to the werewolves, where they may be different tribes, and Bucky is finally led home and slowly begins to recover his memory and his true nature and stuff, along with other, hopefully exciting plot points and adventures!

Wheew, SORRY for this long answer, omg I haven’t thought this much about it, and I actually ended up kind of drafting some thoughts to answer your ask! So thank you so much!!!🥰 (I hope you don’t feel tremendously bored reading all this😫😅)

I’ve really been doubting whether I had enough to go off of or if I was good enough a writer yet to take it on as a project, as it would require a pretty Hugh word count, lots of plot and world building, but having you take interest and answering this ask, actually encouraged me to think of it as more of an ‘actual-wip-that-might-turn-into-something-someday’:D ❤️

<a href=“https://moonagedaydreamohyeah.tumblr.com/post/664938278909329408/wip-tag-game”>ask me about one of my WIP’s if you want!</a>

Just adding some photos I found on google hehehehehehe🙃

[waxcylindersonata]

I’m really bad at paying attention when I’m reading, and I kinda don’t know much about the mechanisms, but I really wanna. Is there any way you could like give me some info about them. Obviously you don’t have to lol, I’m just really lost tryna figure out what the hell they are.

YES THEY'RE SO GOOD OKAY

This may get a bit long, feel free to skip around!

So they're a concept band, sort of! They all play characters on stage, and those characters play characters within the story albums! Their main characters are "immortal" space pirates aboard the starship Aurora! Here's the main set of characters:

Jonny d'Ville (the first mate, his mechanism is his heart)

Gunpowder Tim (the gunner, his mechanism is his eyes)

Drumbot Brian (the pilot, his mechanism is everything except his heart)

The Toy Soldier (officially listed as their mascot, its mechanism is everything except its voice)

Ashes O'Reilly (the quartermaster, their mechanism is their lungs)

Raphaella la Cognizi (the science officer, her mechanism is her wings)

Ivy Alexandria (the archivist, her mechanism isn't listed on the abouts)

Marius von Raum (the medic, his mechanism is his arm)

Nastya Rasputina (the engineer, her mechanism is her blood)

There's also Doctor Carmilla, she made them all "immortal" (and gave them their mechanisms and whatnot), but she's not around for much of the canon because Reasons hdjdkek

If you want to start with character backstories, here's a list of Mechanisms who have backstory songs (with links to those songs!):

Jonny – "One Eyed Jacks", "Homesick"

Nastya – "Cyberian Demons"

Tim – "Gunpowder Tim vs. the Moon Kaiser" (this one also has a little TS backstory too!)

Ashes – "Lucky Sevens"

Brian – "Lost in the Cosmos"

Kofi Young, the person who played Marius, is working on an album as well that will have backstory for his character! It's not out at the time of this post, but it's worth mentioning!

Now, if you want to get into the main story albums, they go in this order (I'll be using these as links to playlists with lyric videos made by @tentiredcats, who has done so much for this fandom I swear):

Once Upon a Time (in Space) – think fairy tales but with a dark twist that's also very sci-fi AND THERE'S LESBIANS

Ulysses Dies at Dawn – Greek mythology but also very steampunk and has SO MANY VIBES (I believe on fybutches I've shared a couple songs from this album, it's my fave for so many reasons)

High Noon Over Camelot – THE ARTHURIAN LEGEND BUT MAKE IT A SPACE WESTERN AND ALSO THERE'S CAMELOT'S FAVE POLYCULE BEING ABSOLUTE ICONS

The Bifrost Incident – Norse mythology but sci-fi/steampunk and it WILL make you cry and there's lesbians again and they WILL make you cry (and imo this album is peak Mechs singing skill)

Death to the Mechanisms – it's maybe a stretch to consider this a story album as it's mostly a combo of songs from the other albums (it's also an audio recording of the DTTM live show!), but it does bring a close to the story of the band as a whole, as well as detailing their deaths (no forgiveness for how they did TS hmph)

And then there's the fiction! The Mechanisms' official website has a whole host of fiction that didn't make it into the songs, which you can find here!

Okay, I tried not to make this suuuper in-depth, so I hope it works well as a kind of intro to the band! Lmk if you have any more questions!!

[sadmages]

Hi! So, I'm deep into TMA (no regrets!) and I'm curious about other projects Jonny is involved in. I've seen your posts on The Mechanism and am all - oh! what's this!?! So I want to ask! I know close to nothing about them x) I know it's a band but they made like story-oriented stuff?? What genre they are? You can simply lay it all on me, I'm really curious but don't know if would like it? Where to best listen? Where to start? Are there some useful/must-see websites or info? (sry it's so long x)

*cracks knuckles* Oh boy time to gush about the Mechs!!!!! I'm relatively new to the Mechs too so I don't know everything about them and what I do might not be 100% correct, but here's my knowledge! (Also sorry if this gets super fckn long ajdbsjs)

So! First off the Mechs are a bunch of immortal steampunk space pirates who roam space in search of stories they can tell and then perform them!

Their website describes them as 'Storytelling Musical Cabaret' which sort of describes it??? Basically they take well known tales (like fairy tales or Greek mythology) and then put a more sci-fi or space twist on it! For genre I think they take a lot of influence from folk music?? But I wouldn't describe it as purely folk there's a lot of different genres/no genres at all/many genres at once.

Every album tells a story (except the Tales to be Told albums they're more loose songs) and you need to listen to the tracks in order or you'll have no clue what's going on skdhsjdb

As for albums theres (in order of release):

One Upon a Time in Space (fairytales in space also there's lesbians)

Ulysses Dies at Dawn (Greek mythology in space but also it's like a noir mystery)

High Noon over Camelot (the Arthurian legend in space but also it's a western and also Arthur Guinevere and Lancelot are in a poly relationship)

The Bifrost Incident ( Norse mythology in space but also it's a closed room murder mystery on a train and once again there are lesbians :) )

You can start with any of these albums you'd like! You can listen in order of release or start with the one that seems most interesting to you

After that Id recommend the Tales to be Told albums (they have backstory songs of some of the Mechs and songs that fit in the universe of some of the albums but didn't fit in that grander story)

They also recently released a recording of Death to the Mechanisms which u should save for last and emotionally prepare yourself for

All the albums are on their bandcamp and all of em except Tales to be Told v1 and Dttm are on Spotify!

Their website has info on the individual members and also some fiction about the crew or the album universes which is fun to dive into after and there are some live recordings of their shows on YouTube where u get a good feel for the crew :3

Okay that was my infodump ajshsj I'd say just listen to the albums and see if it's your thing! If any of these things sparked your interest then I think it will be! They're very fun and a lot of their songs are just really catchy and good and they give me a lot of emotions

AGAIN SORRY THIS IS SO LONG but I hope it helped and pwease don't hesitate to ask more if u need to!!!

[bluekaddis]

Today is 11/11 which marks 101 years of Poland regaining independence and I thought it is a perfect time to publish a post that I’ve been working on for a while. 

Ferelden from Polish Perspective aka Why We Can Relate to Dog Lords So Much. 

This is a sort of compilation of my own thoughts I had while playing the games and various talks with my Polish friends. It is not supposed to force any ideas or teach others how to interpret the game. I just thought it could be entertaining for anyone interested in history and culture. I was trying not to elaborate too much on the subject here but it still ended up being A Very Long Post TM. To make this post a little neater to read, I divided this post into 4 sections:

1. History

2. Fashion and Food

3. Politics

4. Relationships with Other Countries

I will be very happy if you find a minute or two to read some of my points. If you have any additional questions or comments feel free to leave me a message :)

And once again - enormous thanks to @aeducanka​ for proofreading. I would be a poor mess without you. 

DISCLAIMERS

1. Yes, I know that Ferelden is based mostly on Anglo-Saxon England and I have no problem with that. True, I may be a little disappointed that the game includes references to so many European cultures and countries (France, Byzantine Empire, Venice, Roma culture etc.) and yet practically ignores Central and Eastern Europe completely, BUT this post is not meant to be a “Where is my representation?!” rant. If I wanted a game with Slavic culture vibes, I could always play the Witcher trilogy again. We are doing alright. 

2. I am in no way an academic specialist on culture or history, even these of my own country. I did some research, but most of facts and figures can be easily found on wikipedia. You can treat this as just some observations and headcanons of a 29 y/o Polish woman, who has grown up and lives in Poland. 

3. The main focus of this post is Poland in different moments of history. However, when talking about fashion and political system I will mostly refer to Polish culture between the 16th and 18th century. During that time Poland and Lithuania formed a dual state known as The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. So, whenever I refer to this particular period, I will use the term “Commonwealth” instead of “Poland”. 

PART 1 – HISTORY

The country’s name origin

Ferelden means „fertile valley” in Alamarri tongue [WoT vol. 1], Poland most probably comes from the Slavic word „pole” meaning „field”. They both refer to land that can be cultivated.

History of unification

Ferelden lands were divided between many tribes until they were unified by Calenhad Theirin. He fought and defeated other Alamarri tribes’ leaders, proclaimed Andrastianism as the new official religion of his kingdom and started the Theirin dynasty.  

A similar story can be told about Mieszko I of Poland – the leader of the Polans tribe (one of many Slavic tribes of that time) who, by means of war and diplomacy, united many Slavic tribes and created the Polish country in 965. In the same year he was baptised, abandoning native paganism in favour of Christianity. Mieszko started the Piast dynasty which ruled Poland for over 400 years. He never officially became a king, though – his son, Bolesław, was crowned king in 1025.

Also, Ferelden is a relatively young country compared to countries like Orlais or Tevinter. Even if Poland has over 1000 years of history as a country, it has to be noted that some Western European countries have a longer history (eg. the Carolingian Empire or the Visigothic Kingdom). Polish lands have also never been a part of the Roman Empire. 

Fun fact – the half-legendary sword of the first king of Poland, Szczerbiec, was stolen by Prussian troops during their invasion on Poland in 1795. Calenhad’s sword, Nemetos,was lost during the Orlesian invasion on Ferelden [WoT vol. 1].

Ostagar

Now, I will tell you a story. It is about a young king (in his twenties), a little reckless, wanting to be the leader who stood against the great invading threat to his country, a little blinded by the perspective of glorious victory. Just before the battle one of his allied forces betrayed him and did not provide the promised aid. The enemy army was too strong, too large. The king’s army was defeated, the king was killed in battle and his body was taken by the enemy. The king did not have children and his younger brother had succeeded him.

No, I’m not talking about Cailan, this is the story of Władysław III of Poland.

PART 2 – FASHION AND FOOD

Fashion

All cultures in Thedas have their own style and fashion. Ferelden is supposed to be this “We like fur and warm fabrics” culture, opposite to the extravagant Orlesian style. However, I have few problems with how Fereldan fashion is shown in the game.

1. It is too early-medieval looking. I know, it is a fantasy, you can mix ancient Egypt with steampunk and nobody should care. But we see, from cultural and technological perspective, that Thedas in Dragon Age is more renaissance/baroque than your typical medieval. Heck, some elements, like the infamous Formal Attire, look like clothes from 18th or even 19th century! In comparison, outfits like Arms of Mac Tir or Robes of the Pretender (though good looking) look like something from the Vikings era.

2.  We do not see many good looking Fereldan outfits in the games. I like Alistair’s royal outfit and some of Fereldan armors and clothes from DA:2 but remember this?

Or this?

Yeah, Dog Lords can do better :/

And that’s why I like to headcanon Fereldan fashion as something more resembling the Commonwealth fashion between the 16th and 18th century. It was an interesting mix of European and Asian influences and I think it would work perfectly with canon Ferelden because:

1. People LOVED fur elements in their clothing. Fur lining on coats, fur caps decorated with feathers, pelts of wild carnivores (lions, wolves, bears, etc.) on armour  - fur was everywhere.

2. It is simple but regal. The quality of materials and patterns were more important than volume and the number of layers. A typical male noble outfit consisted of a long garment (żupan), a long, ornate sash, one of two types of cloak (delia or kontusz) and a fur cap decorated with feathers and jewels. If you compare it with the baroque fashion from France it is less extravagant and more practical. No wigs, no flounces, no man tights. 

Compare these two dudes – the older one is dressed Commonwealth style, the younger – in French style. 

The Deluge, 1974

Of course some wealthy noblemen who spent a lot of time in France or other Western countries tended to adapt their style, but from what I know it was not that common. Women, on the other hand, tended to dress more similar to their Western counterparts (especially when they wanted to look fashionable) but their everyday dresses were not that much elaborate. They also wore kontusz (though the female version was shorter) and fur caps when outside. 

Below I post some more costumes to better illustrate my point. They all come from Polish movie adaptations of H. Sienkiewicz’s novels (I looove both the books and the movies).

With Fire and Sword, 1999

The Deluge, 1974

Fire in the Steppe, 1968

And I could not NOT to mention the wonderful interpretation of Fereldan armor and clothing for my OCs drawn by @ankalime​ - I still can’t get over how beautiful they look :3

Food

From what we know, Fereldan food is very similar to traditional English cuisine (lamb and pea anyone?), HOWEVER, I can totally see some traditional Polish dishes on Fereldan tables. Let us look at this part of Alistair’s banter with Leliana:

“Now here in Ferelden, we do things right. We take our ingredients, throw them into the largest pot we can find, and cook them for as long as possible until everything is a uniform grey color. As soon as it looks completely bland and unappetizing, that's when I know it's done.”

Dishes like bigos, flaki or goulash (mostly associated with Hungary but also present in various forms in Slavic countries) totally fit this description. Tasty and hearty but I know some foreigners see them as totally unappetizing :P

Poland is also culturally more into beer than wine  (high five, British Isles!), so Fereldan ale fits this image, too.

PART 3. POLITICS

When I first played DA:O and heard about choosing the new queen/king on Landsmeet I was like “omg, they have wolna elekcja!”

The canon Ferelden is a feudal country, however, there seems to be less focus on the king's absolute power – instead, the nobles can choose the king they like, the hierarchy inside this particular social class is also less striking than one can expect. 

And this brings me to the concept of Golden Liberty. (I will quote Wikipedia here, I am not that smart to explain this well in English on my own).

The Golden Liberty was a unique political system of the Commonwealth – a mixture of monarchy, oligarchy and democracy. The most distinctive elements of that systems were:

- All nobles regardless of rank or economic status, were considered to have equal legal rights (and you did not have to own a town or two to be considered a noble – a large part of the nobility owned nothing more than a farm, often little different from a peasant's dwelling, and some did not even have that much). The rights were, for example:

-  Neminem captivabimus ("We shall not arrest anyone without a court verdict").  

- right to vote – every nobleman, whether rich or poor, could vote. Of course if someone was rich, they could bribe others to gain more political influence, but it is the same as today. 

- religious freedom – unlike many other European countries of the time, people in Commonwealth were legally free to follow any religion. The Commonwealth became a common refuge for people who were persecuted for religion in their homelands. The religious freedom was not restricted to nobility but to all social classes. 

- rokosz - the right to form a legal rebellion against a king who violated nobility freedoms.

- the monarchy was elective, not hereditary, and the king was elected by the nobility. That “democracy” was not, of course, perfect, as only male noblemen had the right to vote and elect the king. However, it was still between 10-15% of the population who could vote. In comparison, “in 1831 in France only about 1% of the population had the right to vote”

The Landsmeet in DA:O is basically the free election (well, maybe minus the duel :D) and I would say the Fereldan nobility does not feel obliged to be obedient 100% of the time. 

PART 4. RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES

Orlesian occupation

We know from the game that Orlais invaded Ferelden in 8:24 Blessed and occupied it for decades. The Fereldan forces were rebelling against the occupant and finally, under the command of Maric Theirin, they won their freedom.

Again, it is a huge topic, so to summarize: Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth suffered a similar fate in 1795 as it was conquered and divided between Habsburg Austria, the Kingdom of Prussia and the Russian Empire. For 123 years Poles have been trying to regain their country, have started several uprisings and lost many lives in their fight for independence. Finally, at the end of WW1, independent Poland reappeared on the map of the world. Then came the WW2, probably the most tragic event in Polish history – the cities were razed to the ground, a vast part of national heritage destroyed or stolen, and over 6 million people (1/5 of the pre-war population) were killed.

So yeah, a country invaded and occupied for decades by its neighbour sounds way too familiar to be ignored. 

Ferelden in the eyes of Orlesians

The Fereldans are a puzzle. As a people, they are one bad day away from reverting to barbarism. (...) They are the coarse, wilful, dirty, disorganized people [DA:O Codex Entry: Culture of Ferelden].

Yeah... this, unfortunately, sounds familiar. I fear that the stereotype of a drunk, stupid, poor, thieving Poles (and other Slavic nations), which originated from WW2 propaganda, is somehow still alive in the West. I will not dive deeper in this subject because I want to believe my followers have their own brain cells and I do not need to explain how hurtful and offensive those stereotypes are.

My point is – I could identify easily with a fantasy country that is located east from the “centre of culture and civilisation” and is unfairly believed to be more barbaric.

So – for all two of you who bothered to read the whole thing - thanks for coming to my TED talk.I really appreciate the time you spent here :)

[soopersara]

So I tried sitting down and watching LoK again and yeah...I couldn’t get through it lol, idk if it’s an avatar thing but Korra was kind of entitled and selfish. But Kyoshi exists so it might be because of aang lol, hated what they did to katara’s character, I loved mako and Bolin tho. Kind of wished they had never met Korra 😬 do you have any opinions on the characters from lok?

I don’t have many strong opinions on LOK in general. I didn’t plan on ever watching it, but after I introduced my then-roommate to ATLA, she insisted on watching LOK too, and I was just kind of... there. I remember being baffled from the start because the world felt entirely different, and yet LOK happens within the lifetime of characters from the original series. And without actually seeing the progression in technology, making a leap from ATLA’s time period to LOK’s feels artificial to me. Not to mention the westernization of the world - how did we go from a low-technology Asian-influenced world to steampunk 1920s New York? I’m not saying that it couldn’t have happened (although where in-universe did the westernization come from?), but since I didn’t see the progression, I don’t buy it. I might have given it a pass if so much of the original Gaang wasn’t still alive, but uh... they were. Actually, I think the whole show would have benefitted from leaving the original Gaang out entirely and allowing Korra and the new characters to exist independently, but I guess having the old Gaang make appearances was good for marketing? Maybe? I don’t know. Either way, bringing in the characters from the original series lends LOK to more comparisons with ATLA, and many of those comparisons aren’t exactly favorable.

And this is a matter of personal taste, not an objective criticism of the show, but the pro-bending bored me to death. I hate stories centered around sports. I just do. I hate them. I’m not particularly athletic, I’ve never enjoyed participating in sports, I have no interest in watching them in real life, much less watching fictional stories that make a sport (real or fictional) a central part of the plot. I’m fine with the idea of bending being turned into a sport on a conceptual level, but make me watch it, and I’ll be bored out of my mind and look for LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE to do. 

So between the changes to the way the world felt and the pro-bending, I was barely paying attention to LOK. I think I liked Bolin? Mako was... there. I wasn’t fond of Korra, but then I wasn’t fond of Sokka or Zuko until later in ATLA, so maybe I could have liked her after some additional development and growth, but that didn’t seem to happen, and frankly, I just didn’t care enough about anything else in the show to finish it and find out. So by probably the third episode, while my then-roommate was still trying to watch, I was completely tuned out. Pretty sure I fell asleep in the middle of some episodes and I didn’t bother to ask what I missed, because I had so many other things I’d rather be doing. I caught bits and pieces of the show up through... probably the end of season 2? But nothing caught my interest enough to make me tune back in, and my then-roommate gave up on the show too. 

So basically, LOK failed to catch my interest in the first few episodes, and I’ve been blissfully ignoring its existence ever since. Guess it just goes to show that as much as I appreciate cool visuals, it’s the worldbuilding and writing that really hooks me, and LOK just... didn’t have what I was looking for. The worldbuilding would have been fine if it existed independent of ATLA, but the writing wasn’t great, and I’m more than happy to pretend none of it ever happened. Even at the cost of losing characters who probably did have unrealized potential.

[fabulizemag]

10 Horror Manga To Read For Your Halloween Weekend

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

10 Horror Manga To Read For Your Halloween Weekend

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

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

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

REMINA BY JUNJI ITO

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We receive a commission through Amazon for any products that are purchased using links from Fabulize to Amazon for qualifying purchases.

8

[zakthefiend]

My Eldar Headcanons

(BEFORE YOU READ THIS, KNOW I’M RELATIVELY NEW TO THE HOBBY AND HAVE ONLY RECENTLY BEGUN READING THE BOOKS AND CODEX. These are just some silly thoughts I had on the enigmatic but prideful race of space elves in 40k. All five factions!)

Aeldari as a whole:

There’s no LGBT organization since there never was a need for one. Due to the extended lifespans and being practically the oldest continuing race(besides necrons and orkz), they pretty much don’t care about sexuality. Gay, straight, bi, pan, ace, doesn’t matter to them one bit!

This also includes genders identification. They live for over a millennia, they have the time to not care about something that really isn’t bothersome.

Martial arts and duels are the most popular past time for any Aeldari. The sight of weapons clashing and fists flying has been a favored past time for them.

Philosophy and deep thinking is an natural quality they all share. You will not find a race better at poetic thought than the Aeldari.

The pride they still cling too is not unfounded. They are still the only ones to have wraithbone technology, they are the most psychically powerful species, have mastered the art of war beyond Millennia, and had the entire galaxy in the palms of their hands. They also still hold influence for a majority of the webway.

Ynnari are both a blessing and a curse to the eyes of the elves. One hand, they could lead them to a new era of salvation. Other hand, doom their species to complete and utter destruction. It’s a gamble, and this species is very adamant of taking any anymore.

Asuryani(Craftworld Eldar):

Not one Craftworld is the same as the other. Sure the core idea of Asuryani are the same, but years drifting in the void has added much more different traditions and practices. Biel-Tan, the most militaristic of the Craftworlds, probably have a heavy support to the military and has the most willing fighters in the Craftworld. Saim-hann meanwhile, probably prefer to race and show off their speed however way they can.

There are still festivities and celebrations on the Craftworlds, their just not as big as grand as say a Drukhari party. To avoid Slaanesh, excess in anything is restrained as possible, and you can enjoy yourself as long as you don’t have TOO much fun. They try to find the balance between the two, but end up constricting it’s people to tightly.

Those who follow the path of a warrior are treated similarly to celebrities. This has caused many who want fame and recognition to go down the paths. You can imagine how much they change after actually going through with it. These same new bloods are given another chance to leave. They don’t allow those simply seeking fame and admiration instead of duty.

When Asuryani want to have sex, they have a special circlet that dampens the psychic presence they have to Tau levels of existence. It takes time to get used to, so it’s more common for insemination to be used instead. Still, the child cannot be brought in until the spirit stone has been prepared.

Minor Craftworlds(Craftworlds half the size of average Craftworlds) are much more likely to be raided, attacked, or pillaged. Those same ones are found going through the Webway more, escorted by Corsairs, or cutting deals with the Imperium than the usual ones. Don’t be fooled! They are still powerful vessels that would require some serious firepower to take out!

Asuryani are the most adamant on joining Yvrainne and her crusade. They’re goal is to survive, and joining the Ynnari is something they just risk. Only the exodites are more refusing.

Drukhari(Dark Eldar):

You know Victorian England? That’s the Drukhari. Except add metal music too. They believe in being the most upstanding individual in the most blatantly corrupt society. By being the absolute worst individuals imaginable.

Bondage resembling the movie hellraiser in public? Sure! Holding hands and showing affections? SCANDALOUS!

They are the true remnants of the Aeldari empire. Despite your opinion, they are the ones with the most technology from their empire, they were a legitimate faction in the empire, and they still follow customs from the empire. Since they are the ones that remember the customs(their cult customs) had done.

A kabal, coven, and cult will support each other just as much as they are willing to try and kill each other. They can’t outright since each faction has something that is incredibly precious to the Drukhari. Coven: Biological and Scientific manipulation, Cults: Entertainment and scout knowledge(A wych cult were the first to discover the Tyranids for the Drukhari), and Kabals: Military and order. 

Cults, Kabals, and Covens bring in slaves but never the same type. Wyches will take as many type of species as they can, Kabals LOVE to take high ranking individuals to play with, and Covens will find the strongest just to fuck with.

They still believe in their gods, but not as much as the others might. Khaine being popular with the wyches, but the others tend to do their own things instead of listening or wasting time on serving a dead god.

Nobles still exist, but their power and influence have diminished almost entirely. Very few even retain some aspects of their previous power.

Despite the daemonic incursions, infighting, chaos warbands, imperial might, and Tyranid invasions, the Drukhari are the most likely to outlast the other Eldars.

Corsairs(Pirate Eldar):

The most likely type of eldar to meet. As well as the most honest of their kin, since as long as you don’t cross them you’ll be fine. Human relationships are better... but only as much as you can expect from the xenophobic Imperium.

They have seen the most of the galaxy, and yet, they have barely found the entirety of the galaxy’s secrets. 

They were the first Eldars to discover the Tyranids that enter the galaxy, but it was only in hushed whispers and rumors. Originally just some species of space whales or a new kind of daemon than what the galaxy will soon learn.

They are by fat, the best fliers and maneuvers in the galaxy. No other species can match their speed and agility as they fly across the stars. You need to get to somewhere quickly and safely? Get a corsair!

They are the bulk of Yvraine’s fleet and soldiers. After all, everything is coming to the end... why not go out swinging?

Adventurers, pirates, mercenaries, their whatever they need to be when it comes to the job. Mon’keigh, Tau, Asuryani, even Drukhari, if there’s adventure and excitement(and a bit of coin never hurt anyone), they’ll be sure to do it!

Exodites(Tribal Eldar):

The only level of tech their willing to go to is basic black powder. No steampunk or western style eldar, Your more likely to find Neolithic to Medieval Exodites with them.

Everything is done with the bare minimum and done quietly to avoid the humans from discovering them. They’ve adapted to their own worlds, such as traveling silently by trees in dense forests or moving under the sands in dune worlds.

They do keep an advanced transmitter so to get help from a Craftworld or a passing by Corsair fleet if the world is too far gone to be habitable or they’ve been incredibly compromised. Look to what Vulkan did to the last Exodites on a planet for a better understanding...

Hit and run tactics, guerrilla warfare, scouting, and guides through death worlds, Exodites are widely used by other Aeldari in search through forgotten ruins or lost cities all decayed to almost dust. They avoid them as they were what brought their fall, and will allow the others to repeat the same lesson that they clearly haven’t learned.

Some have dinosaurs, others have large birds of prey, kraken sized squids, and pretty much any other beast of burden to aid them. Dinosaurs are just more well known because every species can agree that dinos are cool.

Harlequin(Clown Eldar):

When you see one running, probably best to run with that one. They’re never too far from showing a performance or from danger either! Expect a surprise no matter what the outcome!

The only eldar that are given passage anywhere due to how strange yet entrancing they are. Their arrival means a play will begin! However, what play that will be, entertainment or for bloodshed, is only found out too late. Be weary around them!

They speak in rhymes and poetry. This also includes anecdotes, haiku, hand gestures, charades(really good at those), or with tarot cards. The meaning being shrouded by mystery that only few have managed to figure out BEFORE it was executed...

If you haven’t guessed yet, they’re the most mysterious of the eldars. WHICH IS SAYING SOMETHING WITH ALL THIS SHROUDED MYSTERY FOR THEIR ENTIRE RACE! Sorry, got my gripe at how much more lore there is for Space Marines than... well anyone else really. To the topic! It is said they also reside in the webways like the Drukhari, but in more remote regions that not even they know!

The most flexible species in the galaxy. While much can be thanked by the gravity belt around their waist, they can still bend and flex in ways that could break your mind! Great for distractions, no denial there!

Their also the best dancers, play performers, artists, story tellers, and the most colorfully dressed Eldars as well! They could do an entire play of the Horus Heresy to PERFECT detail, but choose not to since humans wouldn’t like the thought of their god being a massive dick. They also purposely screw up a part in a play so not to give Slaanesh power from their performance. Only their god, Cegorach, may have their energy.

[dragonclaw29]

Top Ten Anime

Its that time of year again. The time of year I post my anime review list for my personal picks for the best anime of all time. You can disagree with me if you want, you’ll be wrong, but you can. As per usual I will give a brief synopsis of each anime when I get to them in the list. Prepare to see many of the ones that were on last year but there have been a few new additions. Now without further adieu let us begin. 

Number 10 Azumanga Daioh

It's cute it’s funny it’s Azumanga Daioh. Follow the tale of a group of high school girls who may be missing a few screws as they adventure through their daily lives. This show is one of comedy and laughs. It sticks close to the core of what makes it fun and doesn’t through you for a curve. By far my favorite comedy Anime of all time. If you really enjoy it check out the manga as well it is a blast. Not much to say about this one so moving right along.

Number 9 Black Lagoon

Black Lagoon is a staple of the three B’s of anime those being Boobs, Bullets, and Businessman. What happens when a young salary worker is forced into a mercenary band of Americans? Well, you get Black Lagoon. An action anime through and through. Every episode is tackling some new problem. Some of these problems are entertaining like neo-nazis on a boat but others will tug at your heartstrings. One of the few anime that can keep a light-hearted tone then switch to a different genre within seconds and make it work. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get into anime. 

Number 8 Death Parade

Everybody put your hands up! God dang does this opening rock. I mean its completely misleading but the song is such a jammer that it doesn’t matter. Ever wonder what happens when you die, do you rise to heaven or be banished to Hell? Well, the characters in Death Parade will try to help answer that problem. By playing the games found in their bar people will expose their darkest secrets and I do mean darkest.  Not for the faint of heart but worth a watch. If you want to see a heartwarming touching show that also has some heavy philosophical concepts Death parade is right for you. Has one of the best scenes in all of anime near the end. I will amendment I was balling like a baby during parts of this show. 

Number 7 Trigun

Trigun the space western that tells the tale of the most wanted man who ever existed. What did the man do to become so wanted, especially when all the guy seems to do is tumble his way through life? Well, I’m not telling you but its fun figuring it out. A great show with some stand-up comedy. Like Black-Lagoon the tone of each episode can vary greatly but its never not enjoyable. This is a show where the plot sneaks up on you and by the time your in the thick of it you’ll be eating everything up. One of the only anime to have a pair of insurance girls as main characters so that's a plus. If you liked Cowboy Bebop you love Trigun. 

Number 6 Future Diary

Future Diary is the show that really got me into anime. I remember watching this for the first time and staying up until four in the morning to binge it even though I said I was only going to watch two episodes. This show put me through the wringer and I loved every second of it. Future Diary has great character creation and has a way to make you stop and look at how people can break. Beautiful animation and great fight scenes future diary also is the origin of the modern Yandere. This show will always have a special place in my heart. 

Number 5 Last Exile 

This show is so good and has such wonderful world building I don’t know where to start. The basic premise is steampunk world but it is much much more than that. Last Exile creates a massive narrative that leaves you sitting on the edge of your seat. The budget for this show was crap so they made up for it by telling an awesome story. So much happens in this show it almost feels like three shows despite only being a twenty-six episode series. The characters are dynamic and fell real. The situations they find themselves in are interesting and everything comes together in the end in one massive finally. 

Number 4 Berserk (Original 1990′s version and theatrical releases)

I’m going, to be honest with you these shows exist to get you into the manga. Also, Mirua finish the god damn manga already its been thirty years. Anywho the berserk anime before 2017 are all lovely. My recommendation is to watch the one that came out in 97 first then watch the three movies that cover the same time period. The anime goes into more depth into the story while the movies give berserk the awesome animation it deserves. The story is dark and bleak sometimes oppressively so but the plot and characters will have you blitzing through every moment. Berserk is good enough to be taught in a writing class for its nature, and I to this day wait patiently for each manga chapter to come out. All I can say is push through the darkness struggler. 

Number 3 Serial Experiments Lain

Award for best pajamas in an Anime goes to this show as well as the reward for making one of the most confusing convoluted shows to watch. Every scene in this show means something. The narrative is one that hits the ground at 90mph and doesn’t stop. Through every twist and turn, more questions are raised and the answers never seem to come. In order to truly enjoy Lain one will have to watch the show multiple times and even then you may be missing large aspects of the show. People have hundreds of theories with each theory seeming reasonable or sound. My recommendation watch this show with an open mind and theorize as you go. Don’t go online looking for answers you won’t find ones that suite your ideas. When you finish then you can look around but truth be told the theory you come up with might be as factual as any of the other ones. 

Number 2 Madoka Magica

What does it mean to love someone? Does it mean doing whatever it takes to save them no matter what the cost is? Does love come from self-sacrifice or is it something greater still? Madoka Magica will have you pondering this and more as you go through the episodes. This show has the best art in an anime I have ever seen. Each character has their own unique ark that plays into the central plot line. Each villain has their own unique style that shows up when the girls are facing them. Even typing about this show is making me gush about how good it is. I strongly recommend this to everyone and anyone. This is an anime where I can honestly not think of a single flaw in it. 

Number 1 Tie Evangelion & Haibane Renmei 

Before you get mad at me, yes I know I’m cheating but I honestly can’t rank either of these below the number 1 spot. Both of these shows have changed the way I look at the world. Evangelion made me look at myself in an entirely new way and Haibane makes me cry justing talking about it. I honestly love both of these shows even though each has a budget of two dollars. Evangelion tells the tale of a group of children who are tasked with defending humanity. Each child will be tested in that task with. Haibane tells the tale of a girl finding her place in the world and learning to help others. Both shows are brilliant pieces that I will never forget. I am being vague about both of them on purpose in order not to spoil anything but definitely give both of these a watch some time. Also, a tip when you go to watch Evangelion watch it in this order ep1-24 then End of Eva ep25-26 then the rebuilds. 

Well, that's it another year completed another list uploaded. If anyone has questions feel free to message me and I am more than happy to talk. Lets hope for a great 2019!

[readsky]

June 2020 Reads - Minireviews

5 books this month, including a BIG one. June was a bit slower; I am still not back in work and the weather was pretty terrible, so I didn’t get out much. Lockdown rules have been relaxed a bit, so we’ve had a few friends round that we haven’t seen since Feb. Was nice to just have a few drinks and play some card games (Exciting!). Now, to the mini-reviews!

The Eye of the World (Robert Jordan) I wasn’t planning on reading this, but one of my friends has been telling me to read it for years now. I’ve heard all the “it’s just LOTR fan fic/rip-off”, so I put it off since there’s always so much more original content on my reading list. Then I randomly found it in a charity shop for £2. I took it as a sign that I should read it, and I’m really glad I did! A group of young lads discover that they are being targeted by some very scary and dangerous folk, and set off on a quest with a warrior and a powerful female warrior-mage to find out why the forces of darkness are rising and why they are so interested in them. Are there a ton of LOTR parallels? Yes. Does it feel like Robert Jordan just wanted to be a modern-day Tolkien? Yup. But did I care? No. I recently started reading The Lord of the Rings (I reviewed The Fellowship of the Ring a few months ago), and god damn is that shit a slog. It took me MONTHS to read The Fellowship. I think the only way I could sum up The Fellowship is “dense, whilst simultaneously lacking in detail”. I finished TEOTW in exactly 2 weeks, and while it is dense, the story flowed well, most of the characters are interesting, there’s some badass ladies and there’s enough genuinely well-developed mystery surrounding the characters that I’m very keen to keep reading (although 14 x 800 page books is a lot of reading time to devote to one series, but we’ll see how it goes!). So, was TEOTW special or unique? Nope, but I found it an easy and entertaining read despite its size, and it was different enough from LOTR to keep me interested. Very good. 4/5

Broken Stars: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation (Translated by Ken Liu) I’ve already used a bit of my blog to wax lyrical about how great Ken Liu is. And I’m going to do it again! He’s great! What a guy! In this follow up to Invisible Planets, Ken has picked 16 more short sci-fi stories (and some with fantasy elements) written by some wonderful Chinese authors and again translated them for English speakers. This is just as strong a collection of stories as the ones picked for Invisible Planets and just as varied in their ideas and themes. Particular highlights include Baoshu’s What Has Passed Shall in Kinder Light Appear which is a kind of historical fiction where time for the characters progresses linearly, but major world events such as the Second World War and the Chinese Cultural Revolution are happening in reverse. This instalment also includes some more fun stories, such as Fei Dao’s The Robot Who Liked To Tell Tall Tales which is a really cute story about a King known as the biggest bullshitter in the kingdom, but doesn’t want to die with that reputation, so sends a robot out into the world with the mission to become a bigger bullshitter than the King. And finally, Ma Boyong’s The First Emperor’s Games is a short and fun read that will delight anyone with an interest in video games. I enjoyed every minute of this book and hope Ken will continue to bring Chinese sci-fi to western readers. 5/5

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Laini Taylor) This was another charity shop find (50p!). Looked like fantasy (judging book by its cover, I know!) and then saw that Patrick Rothfuss had given it a glowing review. Turns out it was well deserved. Karou is an art student studying in Prague and seems relatively normal to her friends. However, she moonlights as an assistant to demonic beings who brought her up after she was orphaned, collecting teeth for a purpose she does not yet know. After a chance encounter with an angel, she finally finds out the truth. This is a beautifully written book. The writing is so visual, and it was extremely easy to picture the characters and their surroundings. The way the author describes Prague made me want to jump on the next plane and go. If I were any good at drawing, I would probably have had a go at creating some fan art. My only gripe would be that I’m not a fan of over-the-top, unobtainable, supernatural type romance, and the last half of this book is exactly that. However, once you start to realise what an important element this is to story, you do start to forgive it. Fast-paced and beautifully written. 4/5

The Book Thief (Markus Zusak) I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, so this was different for me. Since I mainly read fantasy, there’s always a certain “epic-ness” to everything I read. The Book Thief is not epic, but that doesn’t detract from this beautiful story based on some of the most tragic events of the last 100 years. The story follows Liesel, a young girl who is forced to live with foster parents after her own are taken to a Nazi concentration camp during WW2 for being identified as communists. This is a story of her growing up in a poor town just outside Munich and the stories of the people she meets along the way (and her growing obsession with stealing books). But to give it a bit of quirkiness, the story is narrated by Death himself. This was probably my favourite aspect of this story, as it gave an “alternative” view of Death. Death is extremely thoughtful and talks in a manner of helping people “cross-over”. I imagine that the author didn’t have the stereotypical black cloak and scythe combo that we usually picture Death to look like. The vast array of characters makes this book an endearing one and it is one I will not soon forget. 4/5

Senlin Ascends (Josiah Bancroft) I would have to put this into my most unexpected reads category. I’m finding it hard to compare to anything. Thomas Senlin is a school headmaster and all-round fuddy-duddy. He keeps to himself and never gets into any trouble. When he eventually marries Marya, a beautiful, fun, and upstanding young woman, eyebrows are raised. They decide to spend their honeymoon visiting The Tower of Babel, a marvel of modern-day engineering with unique societies on every floor. A tower so tall, no one can see the top and no one can actually confirm how high it is. Senlin has learned everything he knows about The Tower of Babel from a visitor’s guide that describes it as a utopia; the pinnacle of modern and civilised society. However, when they arrive Senlin immediately loses Marya in the dense crowds just outside the tower and he quickly learns that this place is as far from utopia as it gets. This is extremely unique science fiction with steampunk elements throughout, and follows the change in Senlin’s personality and outlook as he ascends through the tower, desperately trying to find his wife. I will admit to feeling a bit deflated about this book about halfway through. The lack of strong and/or independent female characters had me worrying and it seemed to be turning into a “save the damsel in distress story”. However, I was breathing a sigh of relief as I approached the conclusion of the book. Not every female character was a victim! Phew! Overall, a great start to this series and I’m looking forward to reading the second book. 4/5

[theradioghost]

what books did u get ? i rly need to get back into reading more now school is over

oh man. so I’ll give you what I bought & then I’m also gonna throw in some similar books that I have already read just because I can actually vouch for the quality of those

(brief note that my main qualifications when I was looking for books, besides not wanting YA, was that 1. they were not about straight cis white men and/or 2. they had particular appeal to one of the areas of sf&f that I have a particular fondness for and/or 3. they cost under five bucks. so there’s a lot of diverse lit, and a lot of novellas, and a lot of urban fantasy wizards who are also detectives/rebellious angels and or demons/necromancy/dragons/stuff that is explictly Lovecraftian adaptations but takes the piss out of Lovecraft/anything on this list/anything published by Tor)

new books that I have read:

(coming back to update this as I get through these books)

the Lovelace & Wick series by Jennifer Rainey – this is the Demon Husbands one I’ve been yelling about. Two gentleman demons in love – a Faustian tempter and a bringer of catastrophes – are growing increasingly dissatisfied with the work they do for hell, while also being forced to contend with new and dangerous enemies. Set in a vaguely-steampunk 1890s Massachusetts. Also includes monster-hunting steampunk scientist lesbian wives.

Deadline by Stephanie Ahn – fourteen months after a disastrous failed ritual, disgraced blood witch Harrietta Lee gets offered a ridiculously lucrative job quietly recovering a stolen artifact for a young member of a powerful magical family, and promptly finds out that this is too good to be true. Also she keeps meeting scary, hot women. Instantly the only wisecracking urban fantasy PI named Harry that my heart has any room for. (This one’s a bit Spicier than my usual fare but the author actually includes a list of content warnings including page numbers at the front of each book, which you can view with the preview option on the Amazon page.)

Hammers on Bone by Cassandra Khaw – A kid hires London PI John Persons to kill his stepfather. The first catch is that the stepfather is a Lovecraftian horror. The second catch is that Persons is too. This is like, the noir-est horror I’ve ever read and that’s something I am very into. 

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark – An urban fantasy police procedural set in an alternate 1912 Cairo, in which two government officials are sent to deal with a strange, malevolent spirit in the midst of political upheaval as Egypt’s women demand universal suffrage. There’s a free short story prequel to this on tor.com called “A Dead Djinn in Cairo“ that’s worth reading first.

Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone – high fantasy with a black protagonist, in which Tara Abernathy, a disgraced magic user and rookie associate in an internationally renowned necromancy firm, is assigned to resurrect a city’s murdered patron fire god – but first, with the help of a chain-smoking priest and a vampire-addicted servant of Justice Herself, she has to track down his killer.

River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey – in an alternate history where the 1910 “Hippo Bill” passed, Winslow Remington Houndstooth, an ex-rancher out for revenge, is hired to travel north with a ragtag crew – a con artist and pickpocket, a demolitions expert with a proclivity for poisoning, the most dangerous contract killer in the country, and the very man who ruined his life – and take on the dangers of the massive swamp that was once the Mississippi river, a place ruled over by deadly feral hippos and a homicidal riverboat gambling king.

or, essentially, a swamp-based heist Western with a cast including a British-East Asian bisexual man, a black nb person, an unashamedly fat woman, and a pregnant Latina lesbian, and also their pet hippos. Listen just go ahead and get the version with both stories in it

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh – Tobias has lived in the woods as long as anyone can remember; long enough that the nearby town tells stories of the Green Man, the spirit-king of the forest, who dwells in the trees. These stories are truer, and far more dangerous, than anyone but Tobias knows – so when friendly, handsome, curious Henry Silver buys up the neighboring Greenhollow Hall and starts investigating the local folklore, Tobias will have to decide whether to sacrifice the only life he has known for centuries, or the first person he has loved in all that time.

not-new books that I have read:

idk if you don’t know about the Wayfarers series, the first of which is The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, but it is an absolutely stellar bit of sci-fi very much based around ideas of found family and discovering your own identity and place in the universe and love and compassion and stories based around sweet slice-of-life stuff in a scifi universe with lots of fun aliens and it is so very queer and so very heartwarming and all three books (which each have different casts, although the characters in all three are connected to one another and sort of cameo across all the books) are fantastic.

Urban Dragon by J.W. Troemner – Dragons are supposed to be ruthless, unpredictable, deadly, selfish creatures. So why is it that Rosa Hernandez seems to be able to keep her best friend Arkay in check? How did Arkay, a shape-changing dragon with lightning at her command, end up being found alone and starving and with no memory of her past by a homeless woman? And as evidence mounts that someone is hunting down supernatural beings, who can they trust? (I stumbled across this while looking for urban fantasy on TV Tropes and BOY am I glad I did. Good if you like close friendships between queer women or the enemies-to-lovers trope)

The Merry Spinster by Daniel Mallory Ortberg – of course I was going to read Daniel Ortberg’s short story collection, are you kidding me. Not “””darker””” fairy tale retellings, but fairy tales as often very surreal, psychological horror. Read this if you want to totally ruin “The Velveteen Rabbit” for yourself.

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker – historical fantasy set in the early-20th-century Orthodox Jewish and Middle Eastern immigrant communities of NYC, about the strange friendship that springs up between a bitter jinn trapped in a mortal body and a masterless golem living among humans. and it gave me feelings.

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle – a retelling of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story “The Horror at Red Hook” from the perspective of a black man. One of the better pieces of horror I have ever read.

Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff – a very different take on a similar concept to The Ballad of Black Tom, wherein a mid-century black Midwestern family find themselves mixed up in the plans of a bunch of cultists and set out to disentangle themselves from this whole cosmic-horror mess. Apparently Jordan Peele is adapting this into a TV show, so I’m stoked for that.

new books that I have not read:

(& also a couple that are just books I want, and some that I just haven’t read yet but got free from the Tor monthly ebook club, which is very much worth joining)

Armed in Her Fashion by Kate Heartfield– I’m just going to let the official blurb speak for this one because there is absolutely no way I could improve on it

The Black God’s Drums by P. Djeli Clark – New Orleans-based steampunk fantasy about an airship captain and a stowaway who talks to orishas.

Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef by Cassandra Khaw – Apparently several authors have written standalone works in this series, and Cassandra Khaw’s aren’t chronologically the first, but I love Cassandra Khaw and “chef for ghouls and pencil-pusher for the Ten Chinese Hells is forced to solve an inter-pantheon murder mystery” just sounds so good to me.

Bones and Bourbon by Dorian Graves – Cursed half-huldra PI is forced to help out his little brother and the demon who shares his body, and then everything goes wrong. Feat. carnivorous unicorns.

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova – reluctant bruja attempts to rid herself of her magic and instead plunges her entire family into magical trouble. YA.

Robbergirl by S. T. Gibson – WLW retelling of The Snow Queen from the perspective of the bandit princess. YA.

Passing Strange by Ellen Klages – slightly-fantastical historical lesbian noir novella set in the burgeoning 1940s gay club scene in San Francisco.

The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang – admittedly caught my eye because the cover art reminded me of Moribito, which I adore. East-Asian-inspired epic fantasy which I believe has a nonbinary protagonist.

Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire – I’ve been neglecting getting around to October Daye way, way too long considering how much I love Seanan McGuire and urban fantasy, but my mom started reading this and that pushed me over the edge because damn it, yes I want to read her take on the Wizard Detective genre that I have such a weakness for.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson – this was recommended to me in a Tumblr post listing interesting, diverse fantasy, and I’ve been into high fantasy political intrigue lately.

The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg – came across this in a Twitter thread about fantasy worlds with unconventional and interesting magic systems. A newly graduated student of magic is bitter about being sent to learn paper-crafting magic rather than working with metal, until Murder Stuff Happens. YA.

Miranda in Milan by Katharine Duckett – queer fantasy sequel to The Tempest, with Miranda as protagonist.

Witchmark by C. L. Polk – post-WWI gaslamp fantasy MLM romance about a male witch in hiding, working as a doctor; the reviews seem to indicate people think it’s more ‘delightful’ than ‘literary’ but apparently it is pretty fucking delightful.

In the Vanisher’s Palace by Aliette de Bodard– East Asian WLW retelling of Beauty and the Beast and also one of them is a dragon.

Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys – another one of the rash of new Lovecraft adaptations that are turning perspectives around, this being one where the citizens of Innsmouth are the protagonists. Also has a really good short story prequel you can read for free on tor.com.

also I just feel like mentioning that I’m stupidly excited for Gideon the Ninth by Tamsin Muir to come out this fall because the review they’ve decided to put at the top of every blurb is “Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space!” (not my exclamation mark) and I don’t know how anyone could more perfectly craft something to my tastes.

[alschain]

I honestly can't post more random shit on twitter so here's where I'll store my garbage brain reading magi comic

- I SHIP TOTO AND MORGIANA how dare you sink my ship with only like 2 chapters

- finally reached them plot beyond anime adaptation and first thing we learn, someone need to water spray Alibaba's horny ass

- Yunan and Sinbad bicker back and forth...? Must be exes (nod) also Yunan you fucking twink

- but he's an intellectual twink I approve

- kou empire being a commentary on ancient china (even china today) and it's ideology of unification by not accepting diversity but promoting a single culture language and customs that are it's own is not a critique of communism rather colonialism....thank you

- maybe it's too quick to judge but good grief I hate people like koumei the most :( being able to rationalize and institutionalize violation of human rights is a lot scarier than any crazy loony. And it honestly is some 1984 shit going on here

- oh.............................

- Ithnan is a gay baby

- so the story of alma toran, shares the same core idea of Jesus Christ Superstar (jokes aside the discussion of power and divinity is really fucking beautiful

- It is incredibly distracting however that in a magical world deeply rooted in Arabic culture, people have names like Solomon or Sheba or Ugo that the ultimate villain is just called, David. Like some guy from work

- final chapter of the arc looping back to aladdin wishing to be friend with ugo....It's fucking poetic, it's fucking beautiful. The whole alma toran story obviously isn't telling us that Solomon's will is just good, or that he did everything right. Just like he once did, aladdin is now questioning the world's principal and all acting from the base desire of happiness. I don't think my sleep deprived mind grasped or made sense of everything going on here but damn, this is good shit

- I read shonen to feel good about myself and the world because they get cool powers and unconditional friends and most importantly through trial and error they actually win. But damn is it suffocating to read magi (but in a good way), nihilism, existentialism, philosophies I contemplate all day every day being presented in such a way is really, idk, making me sad, just like the real world

- Hakuryuu and Judar's fight against Arba is so fucking good..............and my god all these motherfuckers from Kou are scary. But I just want to hug these two sad boys, which is not saying that I think their thinking is rights or makes sense it's just...you can't blame them, and bitch I relate. Being unable to escape a loop of hate and anger for so long and so much that you internalized it to become something much worse.......and that makes you doubt even more about yourself and the people around you. Which is why therapy is important, at least for me lol.

- SERIOUSLY WHAT IS THIS FUCKING FIGHT????? WHY??????????? WHY ARE THEY DOING THIS TO EACH OTHER IT'S SO MISERABLE I CANT-

- Aladdin's expression.......INSTANT TEARS

- he's so pure I'm crying

- Sinbad you actual SON OF A BITCH

- SINBADDDD WHAT THE FUCK YOU ARE WHO?????? And putting Sinbad' adventures in his younger days into perspective it's just fucking tragic, if you have to be a piece of shit fine but what about the good people and their good intentions..............

- FUCK I knew one of them is going to die out of the fucking blue and I know I said I hated koumei but, FUCK

- jfc it's so............miserable....................

- human justice change, and as long as we are able to question it, the world would be a better place, and we are able to move forward, to have meaning. I want to hug Hakuryuu until he can't breath.

- oh no kougyoku.......come here that's right Sinbad is a piece of shit

- wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait WHAT

- she..!!! he......!!!!!!! Can she do it to literally anyone furthermore does, does like Ja'far know about......him???!?!????!?!!!????

- damn the opening chapter of the final arc is so beautifully done it's fucking art.

- To think that I was so obsessed with Yunan when I was like 13 first watching Magi anime...he's actually just a sad twink

- they got cars???? They got phones????? They got fucking planes??????? I've only ever seen fantasy + technology as in steampunk but this shit, it's purely magical, and it makes sense holy shit

- the gags in Magi are one of the greatest I swear they are so random

- this is...genius, it's not a conflict of communism and capitalism but rather the culture rooted in Eastern and Western civilizations and the different difficulties they face stepping into this new world.......these two economic system aren't inherently eastern and western either, it's just, cultures, and the conflict created thus.

- and Alibaba are you our socialism icon??

- no wait wtf alibaba WHAT fucking plan is this that's not how, that's not how it works. To introduce a concept previously foreign to the population is not to domesticated it like that...? It suggests that....people can't change, culture can't change, Idk it's kinda worrying. But I do understand, as a temporary measure :/

- ALIBABA. YOU. GREAT. HUMAN. BEING.

- fuck capitalism and monopoly fuck you Sinbad

- this is the scariest shit I've ever seen good grief arba can you not

- I'm going to say it while I still can without being creepy since technically I'm still a teen? Aladdin how is he hot af now

- now that I think more about it Hakuryuu's redemption happens so naturally, it makes me so happy to see the struggle for truth and happiness is achieved through one's reflection, coming to terms with mistakes. Again this shit is fucking beautiful.

- Alibaba Keanu Reeves Saluja ("no, you're amazing"

- YUNANNNNNNNNN NOOOOOOOO

- I fucking love Yunan I just really like this character ever since the first time I watched magi for some strange reason and NOW NOOOOOOOO WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BOY

- Hakuryuu could be in a infomercial about insects repellant by now things would be much easier if you know his arms could stop getting bit/stung by snake/scorpion

- "can I have an Apple now Mr driver" ALADDIN YOU BIG FLIRT I WILL DIE WITH THIS SHIP and damn his change is even more oblivious put next to Alibaba

- crybaby Hakuryuu.....they all changed but hasn't at the same time I'm crying

- is Hakuryuu me?????????? Crying all night after getting wasted

- two minutes after I said I'll die with the ship....the ship died, bye everybody

- just kidding Alibaba and Mor as so sweet it's just I really ship Aladdin and alibaba....I get more and more estranged feeling as I keep reading because it's not silly, feel-good adventures anymore, "少年漫" 里面的 "少年感" 被渐渐冲淡了因为真实世界比魔法对决宏大多了. I mean, it doesn't seem real that Alibaba and Mor are getting married, I still see them as hot headed companions that are teens going for their dreams against a whole unkind world, it just doesn't seem real. But not in remotely any bad way, it's me who hasn't grown up, I guess.

- that said you guys can really just start with, a relationship? Ya know???? "Lets become husband and wife" I can't take this it's too fast lmao

- NO STOP PUTTING ALADDIN AND KOUGYOKU TOGETHER I DONT LIKE IT (they are both lovely people I just don't like it#!!!!!!! They had zero chemistry#!!#!!#!!!!!!!! It's weird!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I refuse everyone's getting fucking married!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- stop.......being..........so.............full of yourself, sinbad

- what, the, fuck, is, going, on

- what

- the

- fuck

-Sinbad

[bnhafantasybigbang]

Wolf’s Fantasy Notes: Punk Fantasy

Hello all! I am back again with Punk fantasy. This one has a decent wealth of subcultures. So I decided to focus on some of the more popular ones that I know of! If anyone knows of others, please let us know in the comments!

Punk Fantasy

This is another fascinating category! Part of what makes it interesting is the same thing that makes it interesting is the same thing that makes it hard to define. Punk is usually created through what if scenarios that focus on a point in history, the present, or even the future that later lead to alternate universes shaped by the changes. In general terms, Punk often refers to the myriad of subculture genres that pop up in literature. This covers all forms of literature from action to romance to horror, even!

So some of the Punk types I wanna talk about today are: Steam, Cyber, and Diesel!

So first up on my list of potential fic fodder: Steampunk

Steampunk is probably one of of the punk genres that most people are familiar with. Usually carrying either a Victorian or Wild West flair there are airships running on steam instead of planes alongside cog and steam cyborgs/robots. Metallic prosthetic limbs made of gears! Top hats and feathers and brooches made of clock parts! Also, don’t leave your aviator googles at home! 

In simple terms, Steampunk is basically a what if scenario that joins the bridge between fantasy and sci fi (I will do a post on sci fi-fantasy as well). What if steam powered technology had flourished rather than being outrun by coal and electricity? What would the world look like and how would it run?

There are several examples of this, some blatant and some not so blatant.

Anime: Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle

While both definitely incorporate heaps of magic and mystery, the background tells a bit of a different story.

In Spirited Away, the bath house Chihiro becomes trapped in relies on magic as well as the water and steam that Kamaji provides. Pulley systems and the moving parts of the building rely on it the most.

In Howl’s Moving Castle, again the background has airships and some robotics, but it is far more subtle.

Television: Firefly

This short lived but well loved show featured a crew on an airship and is flagship when discussing steampunk.

Western Animation: Hullabaloo

Is an upcoming animated series about the daughter of an inventor that is set in a steampunk universe! Their website has more info.

Literature:

Works by Gail Carriger

For adults there is her Soulless series about a female assassin traversing a Victorian steampunk landscape that is not only inhabited by humans but vampires, werewolves, and other paranormal creatures.

For the younger crowd, there is her Finishing School series set in the same universe as Soulless. It focuses on a flagship school that trains female assassins like the main character in Soulless!

The Vampire Empire series by Clay and Susan Griffith

A princess has to team up with a vampire to save her people from their mortal enemies the vampires. It is based in a steampunk environment.

Next on the list: Cyberpunk

Cyberpunk can be thought of as the opposite of Steampunk. Where the inspiration for steam is taken from the past, cyberpunk heralds from the future. Steampunk is usually full of exploration and adventure, and a dash of hope for the future. Cyberpunk is usually bleak, bad end future dystopias. Steampunk usually encompasses vast worlds that are remakes of our own. Cyber usually takes place in the future with virtual reality being the setting rather than the real world. Although there are several that do take place beyond it.

Some popular examples are The Matrix series, The Fifth Element, Looper, and Blade Runner for movies. Ender’s Game, Time Cop, and Ready Player One for literature, although all three have film versions.

A recent serial example, would be Altered Carbon. It was a novel that was recently developed as a series for Netflix! It is wonderful series that explores what happens to humanity when they become practically immortal by being recorded onto discs that can be changed from one body to another. It is made for a mature audience, so viewer discretion is advisable.

Lastly: Dieselpunk

Dieselpunk can be thought of as the offspring of steam and cyberpunk if it had fuel running in its veins. This aesthetic is grungy and brutal like cyberpunk usually existing during a dystopic time period as well. However, it focuses on the real world and the environment created by it. Technology itself maybe dying out or still in its infancy during these stories. So, virtual reality and space settings are usually not present. Dieselpunk is also very present as in tied to the present time. They usually take place in dire circumstances like a war.

A couple of examples would be Mad Maxx and Death Race in terms of movies. Snowpiercer would be another.   

Again, please let us know of any other good examples to include in these categories if you know of any!

Functioning as an aesthetic and/or a genre

Another interesting thing about most punk cultures is that they are often considered sub-genres. This often means they can function as an aesthetic rather than a stand alone universe or story type like we typically think of with genres. They often serve to spice up a narrative rather than support it. But they can be used to support one, too.

What do I mean?

Let’s take Spirited Away as an example of punk as an aesthetic.

In Spirited Away, the story is about Chihiro having to save her parents after they stumble into the spirit realm and get turned into pigs. It is a standard hero’s journey story set in a fantasy world with its own ecosystems, politics, etc, etc.  If we want to classify it, we would call it a pseudo-iseikai of the high fantasy variety. See my post on high fantasy for more info.

Steam comes into play only when the story reaches the bathhouse. It is necessary there as a distinguishing element. It is meant to show how human’s modern industrialization is vastly different from the nature harmonious steam and simple physics driven bath house that the spirits have.

Outside of that, steampunk is not important… that idea is no longer important.

How can this be applied to your story?

-Distinguishing cultures or kingdoms

Perhaps give your dragon kingdom a diesel/iron punk feel while your fairy kingdom is more steampunkish in line with their connection to nature

-Use them as a basis for creating other kinds of power sources or culture

-Use them as obstacles to your character’s goals

They find an abandoned ship but it runs on a special fuel that only the dieselpunk dragon race you made can make

Now for a punk genre example.

In Altered Carbon, mentioned in my blurb about cyberpunk, the main character is a newly “spun up” prisoner (they took his chip and put it in a new body after he was “detained” for 200 years in chip form). He was released to investigate a murder. While he does so, we are given glimpses into his original life. Now this story is clearly a sci-fi murder mystery with a hint of romance and other messy human pathos. But it can easily be called a cyberpunk murder mystery, too!

Now what makes this different than Spirited Away? The cyberpunk elements are tightly woven into not only the setting but the culture and the people… and that makes all the difference.

They have their own terminology that is clearly linked to the cyberpunk nature of the story. Spun up is one such term. Another is sleeves. Sleeves, like sleeves on clothing? What makes this so special? In this universe human bodies are referred to as sleeves! This is because when a body dies the “human consciousness” is not lost it is literally backed up on a chip. This chip is located between two vertebrae in the neck and can be reinserted into another sleeve (body)! There is a whole industry built on creating all kinds of sleeves!

In other words, it shapes the very fabric of your story as a whole.

Let’s take the dragon example from before. Instead of your characters just needing the fuel to power a wrecked ship… the ship is theirs and they are actually water transport personnel that move water across a barren wasteland that has been stripped of all its natural resources. There are few places that have electricity or clean water. Your MC has to get this water to their hometown, a shanty village that is in dire straits, their final stop after a few months of running routes. The Dragon kingdom is one of the few kingdoms that can provide fuel and other necessities in this area. Dragons and humans don’t get along. But it is a confrontation that has to be had.

In this scenario, the crumbling society and scarceness that comes with dieselpunk is woven into your character’s and universe’s story. The Dragons have the upper hand because they have what other characters don’t but need. You can play with terminology and how things are made. Perhaps the fuel is made from their blood and scales diluted in some simple oil that the few tree species in the area give off in huge amounts. The ships are cobbled together shells running on simple combustion engines that work with that special fuel.   

Long story short, if you want to use the different punk genres as aesthetics sprinkle it in every now and again. But if you want this to be the backbone of your story… your story’s genre then make sure you treat it like a character. Or at least make it intrinsic to the story you are telling.

Have any questions about making use of punk genres or something you would like me to answer about fantasy in general? Hit me up in my ask box here!

See you soon and sorry for being late (again)! Next time we start talking about some of the more broad yet niche sections of fantasy starting with Dark Fantasy!

~Admin Wolf