#can you tell i thoroughly enjoy worldbuilding

[gffa]

Do you have a favorite reference/visual guide in the Star Wars fandom? If so, why is it your favorite and are there any info bits you enjoy reading?

Far and away the best guide book that Star Wars put out was Star Wars Propaganda: A History of Persuasive Art in the Galaxy.

Before I read this book, I don't know that I was that excited for it, but I found it thoroughly fascinating to read because it was such a great idea and it was pulled off beautifully--it's an in-world book of essays about the history of the galaxy and the use of art used to sway both sides of the various conflicts. So it tells the history of the galaxy, from the prequels to the sequels, through characters within the universe, while also being halfway a poster book of really fantastic political-style art pieces.

My favorite was the Republic vs Separatists sections (I am a prequels bitch after all) but the Empire vs Rebellion art pieces and the commentary and history that went with them were fantastic. This is one of the few books I recommend in physical form if you can afford it at all, because the pieces look nice in digital form (I have both), but a little photoshoppy to my eye. But holding this book in my hands I could see it was very much designed to be a print book, they look so much better there. You can see some more examples of the posters here or, if you want to know just how much I loved this book and some examples of why it hit me so hard, I have an essay here that explains more about what it's like. My other favorite guides are two other in-universe books: - Star Wars: Scum and Villainy: Case Files on the Galaxy's Most Notorious has great art, great in-world character notes, great tidbits about the worldbuilding, and even our only glimpse at a possible IN UNIVERSE CALENDAR SYSTEM - Star Wars Galactic Maps: An Illustrated Atlas of the Star Wars Universe has great art, fun in-world character notes, and is just really, really fun look at what a guidebook from inside the GFFA would look like.

[litnerdwrites]

"You shouldn't criticise/analyse SJM's characters/worldbuilding because it just isn't that deep." Is a take I see a lot when someone analyses or criticises SJM, and while I get where you're coming from, I do have a couple of issues with this take.

First of all, it's important to be able to criticise all media, even your your favourites, no matter how good or bad they are. Media of all formats is a product of it's time and goes a long way into helping us learn about the sociopolitical climate of the time it was written, from the past, present or future. As a result, no piece of media can be considered 'perfect' or without points to criticise, and analysing it can give us perspective on issues we may not even realise exist. This is true for most, if not all media, from books to news channels to music or tv shows.

If you don't want to analyse or criticise it though, that's fine. Just ignore posts and videos of people who do, since there's no use in telling them that they're wasting their time. Some people enjoy criticising/analysing the media they consume, but if you don't, then just let them be.

Now, here's the bigger issue I have with this take. It might really not be that deep to you, but it might really be that deep for other people. Especially since SJM books have a pretty young fanbase. The books are YA, and are advertised as being for ages 12 and up.

Many kids, young girls mostly, that read, even just the first book, are shown Feyre forgiving Rhys at the end of the book after SA-ing her for three months or Feyre getting back with Tamlin after he watched her get tortured for three months, and romanticise it. Then there's the second book, where she ends up with Rhysand despite what he did, and even lets him do it again at the CON.

Nesta is pressured by Elain and Feyre to let her use their home for something incredibly dangerous despite her very reasonable concerns, only to then be insulted by Feyre's friends for a situation he wasn't even there for, only for some romance to between them to be hinted at. In Acowar she's further pressured by her sister, and strangers who hate her, to put her healing and coping from her trauma aside to push her clear boundaries to help her sister even more despite her and her friends not having a great track record of holding up their ends of deals from Nesta's experience.

And don't even get me started on the train wreck that was ACOFAS- ACOSF. If these actions and behaviours were acknowledged as being toxic or wrong, that would be fine, somewhat. However, the narrative paints these characters and behaviour in a positive light, despite the fact they aren't. For young readers to look at this, and to idolise these characters and their behaviours, thinking that it's what they want in a partner, is disturbing.

It's fine to not want to critique or thoroughly analyse a book, but discrediting people who do, especially if they're pointing out harmful behaviour being perpetuated in said books, is not. Ignoring the harmful behaviour these books perpetuate is making you a part of the problem, and I truly hope that your view on this behaviour would change if it was coming from a living person instead of a fictional one. Be it towards you or somebody you know.

[quincywillows]

a scattered and overall supportive review of percy jackson season 1

let me just say first of all, it's extremely fun to be enthused about a tv show like this again. the adaptation isn't perfect, but it's a lot of fun, and you can tell there's plenty of heart and good intention behind what they're doing. i'm very much enjoying tuning in every couple of episodes and catching up -- and avoiding the relentless commentary of the internet while i do so lol.

but now it's time for MY commentary!! to preface, i was a huge fan of the books when i was younger, am a stalwart long-term advocate of the original five books as some of the best children's lit of our lifetime, but i also enjoyed the films a decade ago for what they were and think people (including cough rick cough) are way too harsh about them. justice for logan lerman. anyway

i'm not going to do like a play-by-play, but in summary, here are my takeaways from the first season -- what i thought worked, what did not, and things i'm optimistic about going into the future seasons.

the good

for an adaptation of the original series (which, to be fair, i have not reread in years), i felt this was honest and faithful. there were tweaks, obviously, but none that took me too out of it or felt irredeemable. there was a lot to like about this show, so i want to start right from the top with my highest highs.

the worldbuilding / production design. i absolutely loved getting to see how they imagined certain iconic characters, locations, and sequences from the books. it was so exciting to get to see camp halfblood for the first time on screen (at least, in this adaption) -- that moment in episode two definitely felt like a turning point where we picked up from the somewhat laggy pilot episode. i especially loved the design of mount olympus, aspects of the underworld (hades and his upside down castle were baller, though how did percy and grover get up there lol; and i absolutely loved the choice for asphodel and the ghosts being rooted like trees, i never would've thought of that myself but it was so chilling and unique... just wish i could see it better through the terrible lighting, but we'll come back to that), and of course, camp. even down to the small details, like the camp beads... it's just very cool to see it come to life.

the casting. i wasn't sure about some of the casting when the news was breaking, but i'm very happy to have been pleasantly surprised all around (and have majorly avoided people bitching about every single thing). there wasn't any role where i felt like someone was horribly miscast, and you could tell that everyone involved really wanted to be there and committed. i thought the casting of the gods was especially inspired at times. some of the highlights for me personally:

adam copeland as ares. i had no idea he was apparently a wrestler turned actor until my sister told me, but i thought he was absolutely spectacular. very charismatic, with just the right amount of cringefail that ares needed. i found him thoroughly enjoyable in all his scenes.

lance reddick as zeus. having just played horizon zero dawn recently, oh my lorde was this an inspired choice. he was absolutely brilliant. i'm so so sad about his passing, i don't know how they're going to recapture his performance, but i have faith now that they'll find a way.

timothy omundson as hephaestus. i love that they took a softer, more mad scientist approach to his role than like ugly basement blacksmith vibes... i just thought it was really refreshing. his scene with annabeth, where we got so much humanity from him in such a short span of time, was one of my favorite scenes of the season.

jason mantzoukas as dionysus. i mean. what else can be said. obvious choice, but he was so fun lol. i hope they give him more to do next season.

other standouts beyond the main youth cast for me were jay duplass as hades (his brief appearance in 107 was thoroughly enjoyable) and dior goodjohn as clarisse (she was by far the acting standout of the first couple episodes to me). also very happy to see jessica kennedy parker and sinclair from the 100 get work, lol.

walker as percy jackson. it was really wonderful watching walker grow as an actor even just through the first eight episodes. the difference from 101 to 108 is almost night and day. you can tell how much he cares about the project and percy as a character, and he upped his game with every episode. i cannot wait to see what he turns out in the coming seasons. to be fair, i thought all of the youth cast did a decent job, and i'm giving them a lot of leeway and room to grow since they are literally child actors -- it takes time to hone your craft, and im optimistic they're all going to do a great job as the series goes on. but walker was, definitively and thankfully as the protagonist, the standout.

charlie bushnell as luke. i was so excited when i heard he got cast because i loved him in diary of a future president, and he did not disappoint. i kind of wish he had more to do, but all of that was forgiven in the finale when he had his final confrontation with percy. oh, the acting popped off then -- i can't wait for him to get to chew up the scenery more in the coming seasons.

grover and percy's friendship. it was so sweet to see this come alive, and i thought walker and aryan had excellent natural chemistry together. they were so endearing, and i really believed their friendship basically from the start (them swapping their sandwich fillings is a tiny detail from the pilot that has stuck with me since; i just loved that choice so much). they definitely provided a lot of my favorite moments in the season, and i think evoked the most genuine "aw wow" moments from me.

percy's relationship with sally. since sally was, understandably, absent from the original novel, it was awesome to get the flashbacks here that allowed us to more deeply understand their bond. i thought walker and virginia did a great job with this, and the young actor who played little percy also did a surprisingly great job (he was actually one of the stronger youth actors in the pilot imo lol). you totally understood why percy was doing everything he was, because that mother-son bond felt believable. big shout-out to the absolutely baller line "i am sally jackson's son." one of the first writing moments where i was like oh snap!

the music. a good score really can't be understated, and this one did not disappoint. did just what it needed to do. i also loved the closing title sequence and the art direction there with the epic music -- just such a nice touch that i'm so glad they included.

some of the writing. i'll get more into some of my qualms with the writing below, but there were definitely some great moments that deserve their flowers. i thought they did a great job weaving in some early themes without being heavy-handed about it (percy having to define who he is for himself, mostly). there were some genuinely funny moments that made me laugh out loud, including "i am impertinent," annabeth's "i'm multitalented," and the entire exchange on the road side when the trio to ares are like no... we're fine... ahaha bye... oh and percy trying to drive the taxi out of the garage at the casino was absolutely hysterical.

pivotal scenes hitting their mark. when the show needed to deliver, i thought they really delivered. i absolutely loved the staging and acting in the final luke and percy confrontation -- the lighting of the fireworks was such a cinematic touch. percy's arrival at olympus and scene with zeus was also a big standout. i loved a lot of the st. louis arch episode, and thought the hephaestus golden chair sequence was really well done. overall, the episodes i thought were strongest were without a doubt 104, 105, and 108.

expansion where expansion was welcome. one of my favorite aspects of the series is how it's giving more nuance to the monsters and "villains" of the books. i loved that we got a little more motivation for alecto beyond evil -- that she clearly wanted to accomplish her own mission and retrieve the helm, whether out of loyalty or fear. i loved how medusa got much more depth and humanity, that we're sort of reexamining the fairness of how myths are told rather than just taking it all at face value. i'm really looking forward to seeing how that continues in the next seasons.

the decent

percy and annabeth. to be fair, i think my issue with this is more on the fan reaction than the show itself. i think the show is doing a decent, if somewhat awkwardly paced job, of building their friendship and offering small little hints of what could blossom in the future in classic youth awkward ways -- unexpected hugs, banter, etc. i think walker and leah are both doing a good job, and i look forward to seeing how it develops. but my god, people on the internet are really jumping the shark so hard here. i can't handle seeing more "uwu percy is in love" posts when it's like. y'all. THEY ARE 12. THEY JUST MET. LET THEM ORGANICALLY BECOME FRIENDS FIRST... i just hope the creators don't feed into that and also jump the shark. like yes, we all know where this is going, but can't we enjoy the actual journey to get there instead of forcing what isn't there yet? in any case, on the positive side, some of the moments between them i really enjoyed: the conversation on the train when grover was asleep, the hephaestus chair sequence, annabeth giving him her camp beads before going to olympus (that was a slay... that was a legendary slow burn start moment worth hyping up), the way percy smiled at her in their last scene... that's the good stuff. let's not rush through what we're getting folks. the water is fine.

lin manuel as hermes. here is the thing. i thought lin did a good job. i thought his casting was apt, and fun, and he did a great balance of hermes charisma and like, a darker edge. it's just... the thing about lin manuel is that he's lin manuel. and this is coming from someone who likes him, but it's like he shows up on screen and i'm just like. hey it's lin manuel. it's a bit of a "takes you out of the moment" stunt casting, but i'm not mad about it. i wouldn't call it a bad thing. hopefully it'll wear off (though i doubt it). i guess i'm just deciding that hermes is just lin manuel, which honestly, would kind of track.

the youth acting. mentioned this above, but again, some of that early delivery was rough. but i am giving a lot of grace, and i think they've already improved plenty in the first eight episodes. i felt the same way about shadowhunters back in the day when i thought kat mcnmara was hard to watch in season 1, but by season 3 she was my absolute favorite cast member and came so far. i have no doubt these kiddos will do the same. so very much looking forward to that.

the not so great

the pacing. this was definitely the weakest part of the story writing wise. it wasn't irredeemable, but it did hinder the first half of the show (which didn't lock in for me until about 104, when the stakes truly shot up at st. louis). and that also affected how dynamics and plot points were able to unravel. the biggest victim of this...

the luke reveal. from the start, i was worried about this. since luke was only really in episode 2, i had doubts about whether the reveal of his betrayal would be at all satisfying or earned. i don't know that i can speak on it for sure, since i knew what was going to happen as someone who read the books, but i still feel we should have gotten more of those luke-and-percy-bonding scenes and convos earlier in the series rather than tacked onto the finale as flashbacks. it worked there, but i think it could've been better. thankfully, all of that didn't hinder the delivery of the finale confrontation, which as i said, was a standout moment for me.

the fight scenes. with rare exception, i was pretty underwhelmed with many of the monster battles and confrontations this season. given that's such a huge gimmick of the novels, i hope they're able to revisit and polish up the pacing of these in the future... i just felt that scenes like the museum clash with dodds were so rushed and anticlimactic. or not even confrontations at all, like the scene with crusty. we got a bit more of this at the back half of the season, in the sword fights with ares and luke, but i wanted more of that epic feeling throughout. i'm hoping it's maybe just a budget concern and that it'll improve in the coming seasons -- especially as the bosses get bigger and the stakes get higher -- but i'm not sure i'm optimistic just yet.

some of the dialogue. it was... wooden, to say the least. i think the worst moments of this were when they were trying to force Kid Bants -- which just felt stilted in the earlier episodes -- and whenever they were explaining greek myths point blank to the audience. there were moments it worked, but many where it didn't, and i hope they flesh out how to better info dump in the future episodes. i didn't mind the change of having percy be more familiar with the myths and thus more aware, but they could afford to finesse how they relay that information to us in the audience without basically reading from wikipedia in percy's voice.

the ugly

oh my god i can't see. i can't SEE. this show went to the teen wolf academy of employing one lightbulb and it's actually criminal. there were so many scenes where i really wanted to see what was happening because the stakes were high or the scenery was so pivotal -- the entry into the underworld for the first time, the vastness of medusa's basement of stone, THE FIELDS OF ASPHODEL -- but the lighting was so god awful i legitimately couldn't see a thing. in asphodel i literally could barely see the trio's expressions, it was that bad / flat. the audience is smart, we understand it's dark out. we can suspend our disbelief so you can add some visibility to this thing. i was turning up my brightness constantly but it wouldn't go any higher. please, disney execs, rick, anyone -- GET ANOTHER LIGHTBULB. i'm losing key immersive aspects of the show to this and it's a bummer. when they were walking through waterland for the first time and annabeth was like "wow can you believe this craftsmanship" i was like i don't know, girl, I CAN'T SEE ANY OF IT. begging on my knees that they fix this next season.

well, that ended up longer than expected, but oh my gods it is so nice to be writing paragraphs about a tv show again. all in all, i'd say 7.5/10 from me in this first season. there's so much to be keen for here, and i'm really happy with how it's going so far.

friends and fellow demigods, what did we all think?

[leonstamatis]

I read your swordcrossed lesbians fic without reading the book at all so I have to ask: tell me more about the lesbians!

oh, you are so brave jbnkjbngkjn. thank you for taking the time to read it and to reach out -- that's so incredibly kind of you! i'm happy to talk about the girls, but i AM gonna put it under a cut so as not to spoil anyone who may want to read the book but hasn't gotten around to it yet.

so uh. swordcrossed is a fantasy romance novel set in a port-side city called glassport. it's vaguely historical, there are other towns and cities and politics and such at play, but none of that matters. the main thrust of the book is that mattinesh jay, the heir to a wool and textiles house, is engaged to sofia cooper, the youngest child of an up and coming house that works in wines and liquors.

matti needs to marry sofia because her family has money that can save his from collapsing entirely. sofia needs to marry matti because his family name carries respect and historical value, as his house is much more established than hers.

the book itself is about mattinesh (matti) and luca piere and their time together as matti attempts to 1) save his family from financial ruin 2) marry himself off 3) actually ruin his own wedding instead. it's a great time! i thoroughly enjoyed it! that being said, i think sofia cooper, as the other side to matti's coin, is INCREDIBLY compelling and i wanted to see SO much more of her than we got to. hence, the fic.

(side note: the jay family, as a house devoted to wool and textiles, follows the rites and rituals of the goddess huna. she oversees such things. the cooper family, working in alcohol, worships maha, the god of wine and agriculture. that's not super important beyond fun worldbuilding, but if you're wondering why those names pop up in the fic, that's why!)

sofia is rumored to be in love with another man, adrean vane. he's a songwriter, and he wrote a song about her that went the ye-olden equivalent of viral called "wildflower under the glass," so everyone -- matti and his family included -- is pretty sure she loves and actually wants to marry adrean, and this whole marriage is against her wishes. (it is not. she fucking hates adrean. he's a tool.)

sofia's story, as far as i've been able to deduce from the book, is: she knew she had to marry someone for her family's sake. she had this guy hanging around who was harassing and, essentially, all but stalking her, and he managed to convince the entire town that they were secretly in love this entire time.

she never, at any point, had the ability to control either her narrative or her future. any opportunity to do so -- whether through falling in love with someone else, pursuing a career that interested her, or literally just telling a guy to fuck off -- was cut off at the pass by needing to remain desirable marriage material. she could do that, and she did it, and it wasn't great for her but she's very stubborn and determined. as long as matti knows where she stands, and as long as she knows where he stands, the two of them can make this damn thing work.

(and then matti goes and falls in love with someone else, and starts sleeping with him while sofia is planning their goddamn wedding, which. man. that one sucks, matti, i have to say. you could've handled the whole thing better.)

anyway. mayanesh is matti's younger sister. she's pretty commonly referred to as the "rose oil" in any situation, because she's great at smoothing ruffled feathers and making people feel comfortable and welcome. matti loves her! they're two years apart, they look very similar, and maya is one of the only people matti actually confides in about anything he's thinking or feeling. which means she is one of the first people to know both that he is not happy about the impending marriage AND that he's falling for someone else.

as the person who is universally recognized as The One Who Makes Everyone Happy, she sees that her brother isn't going to put his whole heart into marrying this beautiful girl. so she goes about helping sofia to plan the wedding instead. it's taking something off matti's very full plate, it's making sofia feel supported and welcomed to the family, win-win!

it is very clear from quite early on that it's not... completely winning, though, because no matter how it shakes out, maya loses. if the wedding is called off, her family enters financial ruin; if it goes ahead, the woman she loves marries someone else. her brother, no less, so they'll be living under the same roof with no way to actually develop the relationship the way she wants. poor girl.

there's another layer here, too, which is that maya quickly becomes a confidant for sofia, as well. so she not only knows that sofia isn't entirely happy with this marriage, she knows that sofia has never had the chance to pick the things that would make her happy. whatever happens to sofia, it's always something she is tied up in, rather than something she wants. so obviously maya isn't going to run up to her and say, "well, i have feelings for you too, so there!" because sofia wouldn't want another person forcing her into the role of the love interest.

except that sofia already knows that she loves maya, and that she can't marry maya, and is so caught up in all the other shit that she has very little idea that maya feels the same way. i don't blame her; she has an obsessive creep following her around AND an unfaithful fiance. one crisis at a time, ykwim?

you might be asking, what does maya get out of this? great q. the book doesn't tell us that much. sofia is beautiful, sure, and sofia is from a wealthy family, and she is smart and she is capable. great. but why does she fit so well with maya?

this is all conjecture. but. i personally think it would be pretty difficult to be the one who is not the heir to the house, whose opinion isn't often consulted, and whose job is primarily to "make everyone happy." that's a ROUGH lot in life. and one of the things we get to see from sofia is that she listens. she asks questions and she learns.

she does pick up the hand signals from maya, and she appreciates maya's skills in planning, attitude management and design. she appreciates maya's knowledge, her creativity, her kindness. after her entire life spent being the one who exists to make other people feel good about themselves, it's probably pretty damn nice to have someone look at you and admire things no one else has even seen before.

anyway. the fic is canon compliant, in so much as it can be. when the wedding comes around, adrean vane challenges for sofia's hand and loses. then, at luca's urging, maya challenges for sofia's hand and. wins!

after some quick clarification, it is confirmed that maya isn't just challenging the marriage to keep it from going forward. she does, in fact, want to take her brother's place. sofia is elated about this, her parents approve, jay house still welcomes her and matti is free to be with someone he actually loves -- and so is sofia! thank fucking god, am i right.

i definitely had to flesh out a lot of sofia's relationships with her own family members, and i had to figure out her dynamic in the day-to-day with maya a little bit more. but the general broad strokes, and the idea behind them falling in love, for me, is that sofia finally found someone who respected her boundaries AND loved her enough to make her happy, no matter what that looked like. and maya found someone who saw her and listened to her and appreciated her, and would give back anything she gave in equal measure. and that's pretty cool.

tl;dr goddamn i loved the girls. they compel me.

[buddys-ramblings]

I’m just gonna name some of the things I’m interested in, hopefully to prevent the posts over here getting too stale

Key:

Red = hyperfixation

Orange = knowledgeable interest

Green = regular interest

Blue = non-knowledgeable interest

Object Shows - Love these things to death. I even have my own (hypothetical) one. Just, no spoilers for any non-BFDI, non-II, non-ONE shows, please.

Smash Bros. - How fast the hours I have on this game went from 20 to 180 should tell you something.

Nintendo in general - I love Nintendo. I always have and I probably always will.

Worldbuilding - I’ve been doing this in such a specific way for so long that I just feel kind of empty without a world in my head. Hopefully at least one of mine can become an actual piece of media. Though, I have my other blog for this, so don’t expect too much of it over here.

Writing - As in, creating fictional stories. Any other kind of writing is 👎 in my opinion. And my creative writing is kind of garbage, so don’t expect me to make it public and tell you about it anytime soon.

Pokémon - Ah, yes, the longest of Buddy’s known hyperfixations at four years straight, five years total. How much I care for the electric rat varies from day to day, but I’m pretty sure I’ll always like the franchise.

The Legend of Zelda - Or more specifically, the Breath of the Wild subseries. I beat BOTW in four months, which is a record time for me. I’ve beat the Wind, Water, and Lightning Temples in Tears of the Kingdom, but nothing beyond that, so no spoilers, please.

My Singing Monsters - Ah, yes, the fourth longest of Buddy’s hyperfixations, at 16 months. Though I’m not hyperfixated on it anymore, I still try to log in every day and the occasional song gets stuck in my head.

Plushies - I like the idea of owning plushies, but I feel like I’m wasting money on them because I never do anything with them.

Bugsnax - I really like this game, I totally recommend it if you’ve got a spare 30 bucks.

Minecraft - Ah, yes, the third longest of Buddy’s interests at two years. I like Minecraft and everything, but I kinda stopped keeping track of updates around after the Nether Update. Remember when Update Aquatic was the new cool thing? Good times.

SCP Foundation - I used to be annoyingly obsessed with this fictional organization a few years ago, but now I’m less interested. I’m trying to get back into it, though.

Digimon - Ah, yes, the second longest of Buddy’s hyperfixations at three years straight, four years total. As much as I love this franchise, I’ll be the first to admit that I know nothing about it. I only finished the first season of the anime (which I don’t remember because it was years ago) I watched and thoroughly enjoyed, but didn’t finish, seasons two and three, and I lost interest in season four when I saw that the Digi-Destined didn’t get partner Digimon. I also finished Fusion (which I also don’t remember because it was more years ago).

Splatoon - I’ve only ever played the smallest amount of Splatoon 1, but I’m hoping to rectify that this September. Hopefully there’s just as much, if not more time in between Splatoon 3 and 4 than there was between 2 and 3.

Fire Emblem - I started gaining interest when I realized that I knew literally nothing about Fire Emblem, especially compared to the other 1st party Nintendo games. I’m specifically interested in the 3DS games and more specifically in Fates; yes, that Fire Emblem Fates. The one with Corrin in it. The anime swordsman that nobody likes.

[carsonian]

Cap-IM Rec Week: Wonderous Wednesday

@cap-ironman, happy Wednesday:

"do you fondue?" by calciseptine (@calciseptinefic)

Tony has done crazy things in the name of food, but falling in love with Steve Rogers really takes the cake.

The layers to this... the layers... it's a stack of pancakes. I know you thought I was gonna say onion but NO. Pancakes. Delicious, fluffy pancakes. Just like in the fic!

"front row seats" series by Annie D (scaramouche) (@no-gorms)

A Steve/Tony series that follows one of the branching timelines set up by Avengers: Endgame.

This is the ADCU: Annie D Cinematic Universe, and buddy? It's everything you could ever want. Shenanigans are shenaning. Reader experience is RAW serotonin shots over knowing who interloper "Grant" is. So much rubbing hands together all villainous and going "ha ha ha" at the antics. Annie D made sure the whole circus came together for this one, and boy oh boy is it a hoot!

"such a devotion of the heart" by drunkonwriting (@queenerdloser)

Persuasion AU. Tony is a disillusioned heir on the outs with his wealthy, spend-thrift father, trying to finish his master's degree so he can work on engineering instead of joining the House of Lords. When he has to return home to prepare his family house to be rented, he doesn’t expect the new tenants to be Bucky Barnes and his new wife - old friends of Tony’s spurned ex-fiancé, Captain Steve Rogers. Tony, still heart-broken over their falling out, has no intention of meeting Captain Rogers again if he can help it. Captain Rogers has other plans.

WIP and an AWESOMELY written WIP. The worldbuilding is rich and chunky and filled with delicious little nuggets. Every character slots into perfect place. Alllll the Persuasian AUs please and thank you.

"we pick ourselves undone" by laramara (@commandersteverogers)

It might appear that award-winning surgeon Tony Stark, the head of neurosurgery at Shield Hospital, well and truly has his life together. Now if he could only figure out how to tell people that his father, world class neurosurgeon Howard Stark, is locked away in a nursing home with Alzheimer’s, devise a way to get Chief Fury off his back for good, and work out what the hell he’s going to do about the weird on-again-off-again thing he has going with the head of cardio, he’d finally have everything sorted.

I've recced this before so I won't go into it too much here but rest assured it's a BANGING good time.

"You Gave Me A Home" by Moonrose001

Since Registration passed on and Sentinels started guarding the streets instead of superheroes, the USA has come to resemble Dystopia more than an united country. A young group of masked teenagers are fighting back the undemocratic and unconstitutional ways, lead by Captain America. And Steve Rogers is a handsome, but awkward student leading a double life. He is also head and heels in love with Tony Stark, the son of the government's arms dealer.

I read this soooo long ago, before I got into Steve/Tony, and I couldn't locate it for the longest motherfucking time! So happy to have found it again and to be able to recommend it because boy oh boy is this a ride, and golly gee, if the view at the peak ain't the best one you ever seen! This is the apex of what fanfiction can be--someone with genuinely fascinating ideas taking the best of one universe and implanting it into a new one. I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed this.

"Ad Astra per Aspera" by MonstrousRegiment and Pangea

It’s safe to say most people get off on the wrong foot with Tony Stark, but it’s also safe to say Steve Rogers makes a conscious effort to get along with everyone, and people might think one tendency compensates the other one and equilibrium is achieved. A neutral ground. That’s not what happens. Or, the story of how Tony Stark and Steve Rogers met and fell in love. A space opera with a lot of cursing, a lot of drinking, and a little bit of singing.

SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE! What more needs to be said? Yeah, that's what I thought.

And that's all the wonder I got this Wednesday!

Go forth: SteveTony lovers, fuckers, ambassadors, champions, perverts, freaks, losers, dreamers, legends! Read, re-read, kudo, comment, spread legs and spread love.

[tiny-wooden-robot-fics]

Against the Tide - Twelve

Rating: Explicit Pairing(s): Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez x Original Female Character, Silvio Ricci x Original Female Character Characters: Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez (Bleach), Silvio Ricci (Ikemen Prince), Olivia DuBois (Original Female Character of Color) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergent, Pirates and Princes, Slow Burn, Action/Adventure, Worldbuilding, Angst, Some Subtle Racism, Sexual Tension, Political Subplot

Previous Chapter: Eleven | Next Chapter: Thirteen

Summary:

Barnes is goading her again, and she knows it. Still, she can't completely keep her temper from flaring up as she purses her lips to keep the words on her tongue from spilling out. Instead, she takes a deep breath and tries to collect her thoughts.

"I'm not sure you know me well enough to make those sorts of accusations," she says after a moment of tense silence. "In fact, I don't think you know much about me at all. How can you, when you haven't even bothered to try learning anything about me?"

"I know everything I need to."

Read on AO3

As she follows Jarron Barnes to what she assumes will be the galley, Olivia quietly observes her surroundings. The Sea Queen is a large vessel, almost as large as the Hellcat , and she wonders who the owner of it was before Barnes inherited it. 

Barnes notices her quiet observation and smiles. “Are you impressed?” 

“With your theft of this vessel?” Olivia raises her eyebrows. “Should I be?” 

“I’m wounded.” Barnes feigns offense. “How do you know I stole this?” 

The rolling of her eyes is the only answer he gets, and they continue walking in silence for a while. As suspected, they reach the galley shortly. “You may not admit to being impressed,” Barnes starts with a knowing smirk, “but you do have to admit that this galley is probably one of the nicest ones you’ve ever seen.”

“I’ll concede that,” Olivia offers with a shrug. “I’m sure this nice galley’s actual owner enjoyed it, too.” She pauses, looking at him shrewdly. “What happened to this ship’s Captain?” 

“You’re looking at him.” 

“Cut the bullshit, Jarron. I know you stole this ship, and pretending otherwise doesn’t make me want to trust you.” 

He looks away from her briefly. When he looks back, he offers her a grin. “Alright. Yes, I stole this ship. All in the name of a good cause, but yes… it’s stolen.”

“And her Captain?” 

Barnes shrugs. “The last time I saw him, he wasn’t dead.” 

“You may live to regret that if he ever catches up with you,” Olivia murmurs. 

“Well, I suppose so,” he agrees. “But that’s the least of my concerns right now.” 

--

The young man in the galley has been sneaking looks at Olivia for some time now. 

It doesn’t bother her. His glances seem to be motivated purely by curiosity, and she feels none of the covert malice she used to feel during her early days at the Sundance . 

When she feels him look at her again she turns to face him, offering him a friendly smile. “I’m Olivia,” she starts. “Olivia DuBois.” 

She isn’t sure what’s more amusing: the way her words seem to startle him, or the way he seems absolutely scandalized that she’s spoken to him at all. He blinks his bright green eyes at her, then looks over his shoulder as though he is expecting someone else to be the target of her introduction. 

“That’s Masami,” Jarron Barnes tells her. “He came with the ship.” 

Puzzled, Olivia shakes her head. “‘Came with the ship’?” She addresses the young man in question. “You mean you were part of the crew when this guy stole the ship?” 

Masami nods. 

“Don’t let his standoffish behavior get you down.” Barnes laughs. “Masami is afraid of women, you see.” 

“I’m not afraid of them,” Masami huffs indignantly. “I’m just not used to seeing them on pirate ships.”

“Lady DuBois here isn’t your average woman. She could probably kick the asses of more than half the guys you’ve worked with in your lifetime. I know she kicked a couple of my guys’ asses.” 

“I would’ve done it more thoroughly if you hadn’t had them gang up on me like cowards,” Olivia snaps. “That was a dirty trick, by the way, and one I still haven’t forgotten or forgiven you for.” She turns back to face Masami. “Don’t believe everything he tells you about me… but he’s right when he implies that I’m less ladylike than the women you’re probably thinking of.” 

“Well,” he says thoughtfully. “There’s something new.” 

She offers him a smile. “And if you ever want to hear about some of the asses I’ve kicked, just ask me anytime.” 

He doesn’t seem sure what to say to that, but Olivia notices that his body language is less standoffish than it was before. She watches him, observing the way he seems to melt into the background. Even with just the three of them occupying the galley, his presence is muted. 

Intrigued, she waits until breakfast has been set in front of her and Barnes before she speaks. “Have you eaten?” She asks, her question directed at Masami. 

This catches him completely off-guard. “No,” he answers, his mouth seeming to furnish the response before his brain has had a chance to clear it. 

“Why don’t you join us?”

Now there are two men looking at her in surprise. Olivia turns to Barnes. “Unless you have objections,” she starts, offering him a sly grin. “Though I can’t imagine why you would.” 

If Barnes is annoyed, he doesn’t show it. “Do what you want,” he shrugs, digging into his own food with no preamble. 

She looks back at Masami, who seems to be contemplating her invitation. She’s patient while he mulls it over silently and tries not to smile too widely when he fixes food for himself. He doesn’t join them, exactly. Instead, he seats himself in a corner of the galley - still visible, but slightly removed. This doesn’t surprise Olivia, as he seems wholly reserved. 

What does surprise her is when he speaks first. “You’re from Vora.” He poses it as a statement, not a question. 

“I am,” Olivia confirms with a nod. “My family left the island for Clario twenty years ago. I haven’t been back since.” She glances quickly at Jarron Barnes. “Although that’s about to change.”

“How are you feeling about that?” Masami asks. “Going home, I mean.” 

“But is it, though?” Before Olivia can answer the question Masami has posed, Barnes speaks up. “You just said you haven’t lived there in twenty years - how could it possibly be home for you?” 

“It’s possible to have more than one home,” Olivia answers, not taking whatever bait he’s trying to goad her with. “The place I’m from will always be home. Currently, Clario is home because that’s where I live. Should that ever change - whether that means going back to Vora permanently or going elsewhere - the place I end up next can also be home. And to answer your question,” she goes on, turning to face Masami, “I… have mixed emotions.”

“Does that have anything to do with the fact that you’ve been running from your political responsibilities all this time?” 

Barnes is goading her again, and she knows it. Still, she can’t keep her temper from flaring up completely even as she purses her lips to keep the words on her tongue from spilling out. Instead, she takes a deep breath and tries to collect her thoughts. 

“I’m not sure you know me well enough to make those sorts of accusations,” she says after a moment of tense silence. “In fact, I don’t think you know much about me at all. How can you, when you haven’t even bothered to try learning anything about me?” 

“I know everything I need to.” 

“That’s an assumption, asshole, and a wildly inaccurate one,” she shouts back angrily.

Masami is starting to look uncomfortable as his gaze shifts between the two. Out of the corner of her eye, Olivia notices his body language change again - this time he’s tensed up, almost as if in preparation to flee at any moment. She lets out a sigh, turning her attention back to him. 

“I’m sorry for raising my voice. Mr. Barnes and I are in clear disagreement about a lot of things,” she explains quietly. “But I think the one thing we would agree on is the fact that neither of us wants to see the people of Vora suffering.” She glances back at Barnes. “At least, I assume he feels that way, too.” 

“What happened?” Masami asks. “Between Clario and Vora, I mean.”

It’s a good question, and Olivia watches Barnes’ face as she contemplates the answer herself. “Well?” She raises her eyebrows after it becomes apparent that Barnes is keeping his silence. “You’ve had so much to say about everything else - I’m sure you have just as much to say on this.” 

“The short story is that years ago, Vora was an independent island. We have resources there that Clario wanted access to, but we didn’t yet have the technology needed to refine them and sell them to Clario as they wanted them. A war broke out because the two countries couldn’t come to an agreement about how those resources should be allocated. The bigger, stronger, and more technologically advanced nation overpowered the smaller one to get access to those resources at their leisure.

“That’s where she comes in,” Barnes goes on, motioning to Olivia. “Her father was the Prime Minister of Vora at the time, and his solution to stopping the war and invasion of resources was to cede control of Vora’s government to Clario. That came with the caveat of him and his family moving to Clario with the eventual intention of uniting the countries by marriage.”

“Marriage?” Masami repeats quietly. “Your marriage,” he surmises after a moment, addressing Olivia.

“Yes,” she confirms with a sigh. “I was a child at the time, and the intention was my betrothal to the Crown Prince of Clario.” 

“That’s a lot of pressure to put on a child.” His words are quiet, as though he’s speaking to himself. Olivia looks at him in surprise. “Oh!” He exclaims, his face reddening as he realizes what he’s said was audible. “I just meant… laying the fate of two nations on a pair of kids is a bit much, isn’t it?”

“I don’t think anyone’s ever acknowledged that before,” Olivia replies, her voice tight. “Thank you.” 

“Look… I’m not saying any of what happened in the past was right,” Barnes asserts. “I can’t speak to the decisions that were made before I was old enough to understand any of this. But you know how much Clario takes from us,” he continues. “Is it so wrong for me to want that to stop?” 

“Don’t pretend as if Vora isn’t being properly compensated for the resources Clario takes now,” Olivia sighs. “And you know that a lot of those resources actually end up back in Vora’s infrastructure.” 

“Then why take them in the first place?” 

“You know why. You had the same history lessons I did,” Olivia reminds him. “You just admitted it yourself - it was initially meant to be a partnership. Vora had the natural resources, but lacked the technology or the manpower to refine those resources into usable materials. 

“I don’t disagree with you about the fact that Clario got greedy,” she goes on. “And I also don’t disagree that the whole system should probably be revisited in light of Vora’s technological advancements over the past decade.” 

“That surprises me,” he mutters. “I thought for sure you’d be ready to defend your precious Clario tooth and nail.” 

His words annoy her. “I’m not unreasonable, Jarron. And I’m not the one ready to start another war if I don’t get my way,” she adds pointedly. 

For some reason, her irritation seems to amuse him. “You really don’t hold back, do you?” 

“Why should I?” She retorts. “You clearly don’t expect me to, and I have no reason to.” 

For a moment, they’ve both forgotten that Masami is there until he snorts quietly with laughter. 

Barnes looks at him. “She’s right,” he concedes. “And it’s true what I said - I used to hear stories about her when I was younger… about how she wore men’s clothing and could thoroughly best in a fistfight any boy this side of the Yarmouth.” 

Olivia gapes at him. “Who told you these stories?” 

“Old Lady Hudson,” he answers with a laugh. 

“What?” His words surprise her. “You know her?” 

“She was my governess,” he explains. At the look of shock on her face, he laughs again. “Oh, what? You thought I was some uncultured swine? Some filthy commoner?” 

“Despite your efforts to hide it, I knew the moment you opened your mouth that you’d had a formal education,” she replies, unruffled by his mild accusation and derogatory words. “My surprise comes solely from the fact that there were dozens of governesses available on our small island, yet you and I just coincidentally ended up with the same one.” 

“Hmph.” He looks disappointed that the source of her surprise isn’t what he was expecting it to be. “Well, I know all about you and the Prince, too.” 

Once again, Masami looks between them as if he’s watching some sort of sporting match. He doesn’t ask any questions - he knows that his curiosity will be satisfied in time if he simply listens and observes. 

Barnes’ words stick a knife between her ribs - she has been trying her best not to think of Silvio at all. “I’m not sure what you mean,” she replies, hoping she’s successfully managed a neutral facial expression. 

“Bull shit,” Barnes smirks. “You need to work on keeping your emotions off of your face, you know that?” He leans forward. “So… who jilted who?” 

“Why are you assuming anyone got jilted?” 

“Because you aren’t together,” he answers with a shrug. “Yours was a betrothal of political convenience, but it’s obvious you feel something for him. Your face when I mentioned him told me that. And,” he adds slyly, “I happen to know you were a frequent visitor to his room at the inn.” 

For the second time in as many minutes, Olivia finds herself shocked. This time, she is better able to mask it. “How do you know that?” She asks, as nonchalantly as she can.  

Looking pleased with himself, Barnes smiles. “I have eyes and ears there,” he tells her. 

Olivia thinks of the pretty barmaid - the one Silvio called his ‘information source.’ But if she listens to others for me, I’m sure she listens to me for others, he’d said. She wonders how many of the others fall into that category: claiming to serve as information sources for Silvio when they’re really collecting information about Silvio on behalf of someone else. 

“Not that I have to explain anything to you, but we were working together to find you,” she tells him. “Of course whatever eyes and ears you have at the inn would’ve witnessed us together a lot. And you do realize,” she goes on, “that whatever you’ve paid that person for information, he’ll pay them much more if he really wants it… right?” 

“Oh, I’m counting on it,” Barnes nods. “But it doesn’t matter. My plans won’t change. Besides, we’re talking about you here.” 

“No,” Olivia sighs. “We’re not sitting here solely for the purpose of you trying to analyze feelings that aren’t there.” 

“Here’s what I think,” he goes on, as though she hasn’t spoken at all. “I think you’re torn between two things.” 

Refusing to humor him with any sort of response, she casts a quick glance at Masami. The young man is still in the corner of the galley, his presence barely noticeable. She wonders what he makes of what Barnes is saying, but keeps quiet.

Her silence serves no purpose. “The first thing is a man you really love, one who comes with the kind of life you hate.” He looks her up and down. “If all I’ve heard about you is true, you don’t strike me as the type that would enjoy being a Princess. I’d say you’re better suited to the life you’ve got - it looks good on you.” He offers the words as though he’s paid her some kind of high praise. “I could see you being a pirate’s lass. But that’s the problem, isn’t it? You love the pirate, too… just not as much as you love the prince.” 

He leans forward, his smile mocking. “So what’s a girl to do? Does she go with the man she loves more, taking the risk of getting stuck in a life she’ll hate? Or does she settle for a lesser love, knowing it comes with the sort of life she’s suited best for?” 

Olivia studies him silently. After a moment, she smiles. “You sure are a smug, self-righteous bastard,” she starts. “And for someone who doesn’t even seem to have a plan for his grandiose ambitions, you sure are wasting a lot of time digging into my life and making wild assumptions about feelings and events you have no knowledge of.” 

Barnes sits back in his chair, looking at her shrewdly. “Hm,” he muses. “Maybe your poker face is better than I thought.” 

“Or maybe,” Olivia starts with a shrug, “you were just wrong about everything you theorized. I’m sure coming up with all of that must have exhausted your mental energy, but I’m sorry to say you’ve legitimately wasted your time. My life isn’t nearly as interesting as you’re making it out to be.” 

“And there you go with that scary look on your face again,” he chuckles. “Alright then. Keep your secrets. I suppose that’s a woman’s prerogative, right?” 

She doesn’t bother to answer him as she stands from the table and leaves the two men in each other’s company.

--

“Do you think we’ll catch up with him?” 

Daisy asks the question quietly. The Captain seems to have been silently contemplating something, and she feels a little guilty for interrupting whatever has him so deep in thought. 

Grimmjow turns to look at her, a wry smile on his face. “Don’t tell me you’re sellin’ the Hellcat short now, too,” he jokes. 

She grins back at him. “Of course not.” 

“Good.” He looks forward again, his eyes on the horizon. “We’ll catch up to him,” he says confidently. “One way or the other.” 

Daisy glances at his profile. “Lady Olivia will be glad to see you, I know.” 

He chuckles, but there’s very little humor in it. “Dunno about that, seein’ as she never woulda been where she was if she wasn’t lookin’ after me.” 

“She will,” Daisy rebuts firmly. “And she wouldn’t want you to blame yourself. I’m sure of that.” 

Grimmjow looks over at her. “You really believe that,” he says slowly. 

“I do.” 

“Nice of you to say, but she might feel different.” 

“Then we’ll just have to hurry and find her,” Daisy smiles. “So she can tell you herself.”

“Hurry and find her, huh?” He laughs again. “Yeah. Won’t argue with you there.” 

--

On the seventeenth morning, Olivia wakes to more activity than usual on the Sea Queen. 

She goes up on deck to find Jarron Barnes there, his face twisted in what appears to be  irritation. “What’s wrong with you?” She asks, amused. His expression makes him look a little like a toddler having a tantrum. 

He says nothing, choosing instead to simply point at something off in the distance. 

Olivia draws in a sharp breath. “The Hellcat,” she manages, when she catches sight of the white wildcat painted on teal sails. 

“What I’d like to know is how he caught up with us so quickly,” Barnes mutters. “The Sea Queen is uncatchable once she’s rolling in the water.”

What she knows - and chooses to keep to herself - is that Captain Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez is one of the few seafarers bold enough to traverse the sea during the night. It makes her worry; she knows that as much as he trusts his crew, he would never leave the fate of the Hellcat to anyone’s hands but his own unless it was absolutely necessary. Who knows how long he’s been at it day and night? He must be exhausted. She turns to Barnes. “Well? What now?” 

“This isn’t a setback,” he snaps. “As I told you before, I expected them to come after us.” 

“You were thinking they wouldn’t catch up to us until we reached Vora,” Olivia points out. “Now that you’re here on the open water and they’re practically breathing down our necks, I have a proposition for you.”

“Whatever it is, I’m sure I won’t like it.” 

She smiles knowingly. “But it can’t hurt you to hear it, can it?” 

He glares at her. “You look pretty sure of yourself for someone who probably doesn’t realize that the Sea Queen is packing some pretty big cannons.” 

It makes her hesitate, but only for a moment. “I’m fairly certain that if you start out by firing him, he’s going to fire back at you,” she states reasonably. She knows well that neither Silvio nor Grimmjow would ever fire at another vessel so long as they knew she was onboard it, but Barnes doesn’t need to know it’s a bluff. “And his are probably just as big as yours - if not bigger.” 

Barnes grunts but doesn’t refute her point. He knows she’s right on the last part at least. “Then speak, if you really have something to say.”

“Let them catch up to us,” Olivia suggests. “You and I board the Hellcat. Not as hostages, but as diplomatic representatives of our respective countries,” she adds, at his look of incredulity. 

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” 

“It means just what I’ve said,” she shrugs. “You claim to speak for the people of Vora. You say that there are a lot of Vora’s citizens who agree with your point of view. And while I don’t agree with your methods, you make some valid points about Vora’s ability to govern itself and manage its own taxes, trade, and resource allocation. So come to Clario with me,” she implores him. “Present your case before the King of Clario and the former Prime Minister of Vora.” 

He gapes at her. “You can’t be serious.” 

“I don’t think there was anything humorous in what I said.” 

“You actually think I’m dumb enough to walk into what is probably a really nasty trap on that ship over there?” 

Olivia frowns. “What kind of person do you take me for?” 

“I don’t know. You could have some sort of arrangement with them. The kind that has me ending up with a sword sticking out of my chest.” 

Exasperated, she throws her hands up. “How the hell would I have made an arrangement with them, Jarron? Your people kidnapped me from Baiz in the dead of night. I wasn’t even sure the crew of the Hellcat would be able to figure out what had happened to me. I’ve been your prisoner since then. So I ask you again, how the hell would I have made an arrangement with them?” 

Unconvinced, he shakes his head. “It doesn’t change my answer. If anybody’s boarding anybody, it’s gonna be one of them coming over here. I’m not letting my guard down.” 

She narrows her eyes. “Oh? And then what?”

“Then I have two hostages, and we make our way to Vora.” 

“That doesn’t make sense,” she insists, frustrated. “Not that I don’t want to go to Vora just as much as you do---”

“Clearly you don’t,” he interjects. “We’re seventeen days into a twenty-one day journey, and you want to turn all the way around and go back to Clario. I thought you said you loved Vora.” 

“I do,” she sighs. “I’m just trying to keep the bloodshed to a minimum.” 

“No,” he replies stubbornly. “We continue on.” 

“Will you at least let them catch up to us so they know I’m alright?” 

He seems to consider her question for a moment, thinking silently. ��Fine,” he finally acquiesces. “But after that, we go on to Vora.”

Previous Chapter: Eleven | Next Chapter: Thirteen

[semper-legens]

37. Starter Villain, by John Scalzi

Owned: No, library Page count: 262 My summary: Charlie is a substitute teacher. Recently divorced, no money, and his only companion is his cat. When his estranged billionaire uncle dies, it's barely on his radar. Until, that is, he gets a mysterious request to attend his uncle's funeral, and assassins show up to stab his corpse. Now he's embroiled in the world of villainy, and there's no going back. Not while the dolphins are striking, at least... My rating: 4/5 My commentary:

I can't actually remember why I reserved this book. I think it was something I saw online and thought could be fun - a story about a man who suddenly inherits his reclusive uncle's business, only to find out that said uncle was a villain by trade and owns a volcano lair on a private island. What's not to love there? This kind of genre isn't usually my bag, but I came away from this book more enamoured than I thought I was going to be. Sentient cats, unionised dolphins, the secret lives of the wealthy and evil…there was a lot going on here, and I thoroughly enjoyed it all.

Our protagonist is Charlie, a thirty two year old admitted loser working as a substitute teacher after a divorce and falling out of his career as a business journalist. He's affable, snarky, largely in over his head, but warm-hearted and very likeable. Sure, he's a bit of a standard protagonist for this sort of genre, but when he starts actively taking charge and making decisions towards the midpoint of the book, he shows a lot of vibrancy and wit. And he's got his human sides, too. He's genuinely caring to Hera, his cat, he makes concessions to the striking dolphins that get them to listen to him and the company, and he cares about human life and about the downtrodden underclass. When he's in a burning hotel, he goes back for Hera. When confronted with the idea of killing a CIA agent, he's vehemently against it. And when the time comes for a supervillain showdown, he's careful to evacuate the civilians and minimise damage as much as he can. He cares, and that endeared me to him.

So yeah, about those cats and dolphins and such. The worldbuilding for this book is very much James Bond levels of villainy. Charlie's uncle engineered cats and dolphins with a human level of intelligence to use as spies and agents. The reality of this is that they're still treated like animals, which is unfair and unethical for a sapient species, and the book doesn't shy away from that! What was interesting was that, for all the book uses Bond gadgets and similar such nonsense, it was all in a realistic enough way that I could totally buy that this is just what rich men do behind the scenes. Are you telling me that you can't see Elon Musk with a Bond villain business and a volcano island? Exactly.

The plot in and of itself…like I said, this genre isn't really my thing, but it kept me engaged throughout. There's conspiracies within conspiracies regarding the secret league of villains that Charlie's uncle belonged to, and he's been thrust in at the deep end. The various villains are broke and need access to a cache of stolen artworks Charlie's uncle had on the island - Charlie's happy to give them over, as they were stolen by the Nazis and he wants nothing to do with them, but he has to outmaneuver the others who definitely want him dead over it. While also, you know, not enabling horrible rich men any more than they already are. In the words of the prophets, the plot starts coming and it doesn't stop coming, but I think that's to the book's benefit - keeps the action going and keeps the tension very well, while also managing to have enough downtime to properly humanise and characterise its characters. I had fun, and I'd definitely recommend it!

Next up, something from real life - a defector's tale.

[arminsumi]

@ your latest reblog about smut being fast food.. I'm not a follower for long BUT I happen to be on here for 10+ years and let me tell you: there's nothing more boring than a fic that's simply about smut. If I read a fic and the writer doesn't even put in the effort to make it at least sound as if that certain character would say xyz then I'll just skip lmao.

I appreciate thoroughly checked works.. characters being spot on and some good worldbuilding. I'm so sick of boring fics that you can literally apply to ANY character and it "works".

If a writer is able to really indulge into a character, their past, what they've been through and so on.. that's what makes me interested in a fic. It should fit the character and you shouldn't be able to copy paste the same work with a different character. I really like your fics that don't include smut at all such as "photograph" that made my heart sink let me tell you. The way it was so innocent and it all came down to Satoru crying and sobbing I can totally see him being heartbroken bc of something like this and he'd totally do it in silence too.

I know I'm just one of a few but please don't be discouraged by clown fics that are full of notes but don't even contain a proper plot. It seems unfair and it is bc most readers are just horny and who am I to blame lol. I also love smut but you know what's even better? If you can imagine that character saying these things, if the scenery makes sense if their relationship makes sense..

I appreciate writers that still care about the little things. Please don't stop putting in the effort because it seems like nobody is truly liking your fluffy fics.. I do and I also love heart wrenching angst and other fics.

I hope you're feeling a lil better now.. had to get that off my chest 🩷

omg 😭💗

thank u so much for taking the time to write this, it's rlly reassuring and so sweet of u!!

i've been a bit self-conscious of my works lately because i see paragraph smut getting great feedback and then thought-out plots being lost in the tumblr void.

so i start scrutinizing my own work like ok maybe this wasn't as good as i thought?? did i structure it wrong?? is the flow bad??

i rlly try hard to ensure quality and do thorough editing and carefully write dialogues.

because i personally hate reading stuff and thinking "yeahhhh they'd never say that lol" bc it just breaks the immersion.

fanfic is a special type of reading experience, because the reader is usually self-inserting into the world and daydreaming about the scenario.

and also regarding smut, sometimes i hate writing full smut scenes or writing extremely satisfying sex. because in real life it's not like that, and i'd like to show relationship development like maybe character A says ok let's stop for now or maybe they don't go too far or maybe they're dissatisfied.

but i fear that writing about realistic, emotional sexual interactions with angst and (fluffy ones with short smut and long aftercare/after scenes) will not be well-received or enjoyed. it would greatly help plotlines of some of my angst fics, like the one where satoru loves the reader but she absolutely doesn't, but they "try" make it work and it falls apart because she feels emotionless during intimacy with him (but not with suguru, and she can't fall for him bc yk... tight-knit friend group problems 😔)

idk but it's alright bc i have my own personal rules of writing that i try to stick to, and i'm trying not to let notes or feedback deter me. i always hide in Kerouac's books when i lose sight of truthful writing lol

anyways thank u for ur motivational words they are stored in my heart hehe 💗👍

[protagonistheavy]

Dungeon Menshi is in that fandom-culture position where there's very few people with outwardly bad takes about the show to shit on, so folks from the fandom go around picking apart people who praise the show, but don't praise it in the "right way."

Dungeon Menshi gets a lot of praise for "not being like other anime" and I get how to someone who maybe spends every day watching every new anime that comes out for the past 20 years, that can seem like a harsh/annoying criticisms against an entire category of animation, but like... lets be real, Dungeon Menshi clearly stands out from the pack, especially for a fantasy anime. No, it isn't "subverting" expectations -- I do think people use "subversion" incorrectly to describe any media they happen to like within a genre they otherwise don't like -- but its themes, pacing, characters, plot, and world building are all very unique when you look at what the other most popular fantasy anime tend to be.

Like, why are people trying to pretend we aren't currently in a vast ocean of derivative isekai fantasy stories lol? It's funny how anime fans will laugh and joke about isekai being such an overused trope nowadays, but then lock the fuck in whenever that point is presented as a genuine criticism lol. So many fantasy series are isekai or isekai-adjacent; I even had a friend who thought Dungeon Menshi was an isekai because they just assumed a popular fantasy anime would involve that.

And when presented with this criticism, anime fans will quickly tell you, "oh there's PLENTY of other anime out there! you just need to expand your view and find the good ones! you're just choosing to watch all the bad trashy anime!" And then what anime do they point you to? Well more often than not, they DON'T point you anywhere -- they're just speaking out of their ass -- but when they do drop a few titles to look into, those titles end up being objectively obscure -- series that no fair person would use as some example of standard conventional modern anime. Like yeah dude, I get it, anime like Kids on the Slope exists, there's tons of titles out there about all tons of different topics and that don't involve overwhelming fanservice or cliche tropes, but for each of these obscure titles from five-to-twenty years ago you can find, there's like five Konosubas actively being produced with active fandoms because these shows actually have market and fan appeal lol. It's just so annoying that we're all supposed to not criticize anime at any point because, well, there's one series within the haystack that isn't sick with fanservice and objectification and pedo appeal, so it's wrong to judge the industry/fan culture. Lol.

Dungeon Menshi doesn't just stand out for avoiding these types of tropes, it stands out for doing that and also being an exciting plot that's popular and has audience appeal. So few series within the fantasy genre of anime have accomplished this sort of story, where worldbuilding goes beyond why elves have huge tits or why the loli is actually 1000 years old, but also manages to not be a downright boring story, that still captivates a wide array of people with genuine fun and fantasy. It shouldn't be so startling to people that Dungeon Menshi would get this praise when the climate for fantasy anime has become so stale and repetitive; it isn't a problem that some folks "have only watched just one anime," and trying to frame it like that just... really reeks of trying to deflect the very real and justified criticisms anime at large deserves, criticisms that both the fan culture and the industry have had against them for decades.

in other words, it's impressive that some Dungeon Menshi fans have so little to be upset about that they have to go and find other people thoroughly enjoying the series to designate as the "bad fans" to get upset about.

[kivaember]

37. Promote one of your own “deep cut” fics (an underrated one, or one that never got as much traction as you think it deserves!). What do you like about it?

48. What’s the last fic you read? Do you recommend it?

💜💜💜

37. Promote one of your own “deep cut” fics (an underrated one, or one that never got as much traction as you think it deserves!). What do you like about it?

man i've written so many fic and in armored core fandom i feel like my fics get quite a bit of traction considering how small the fandom is. i mean averaging between 40 kudos on those fics is pretty impressive!

But I suppose (strictly sticking to my current fandom of AC6) I would like some of my Walt/Mich and Flatwell/O'Keeffe to get more traction, even though I'm aware they're fringe ships compared to the likes of viv621. But it's fine I'll write for like the five people who like those fics so we can all go insane together haha

I will say I'm very surprised that the rusty/freud fic (or viviv as i'm gonna call their shipname lmao) got as much attention as i did since i think i'm the only one?? who's written that?? it is a good ship though. consumed my brain with ideas for it. hope i'll inspire other people too with that.

48. What’s the last fic you read? Do you recommend it?

Oh man with this question I'm gonna do more than one. Let's see top five I've read recently are:

helping the world via murder, a guide by your local reformed terrorist by RK7200 which is a Jujutsu Kaisen/Naruto crossover. I'm totally blind to JJK but the premise intrigued me to try it and man, it's a good read and you can easily get by with very minimal JJK knowledge so long as you're savvy with your Naruto lore. Tl;dr Obito after dying revives as a curse in JJK world, and sends Gojo down the conspiracy rabbit hole thinking Obito is evidence of a big cover up in the Jujutsu world. Hilarious misunderstandings by all.

2. Mana by Eiruwei, an OC/Shisui Naruto fic that is amazingly written and I thoroughly enjoyed it, esp with how the person wrote their OC and explored their relationship with the Uchiha and Shisui. Really recommend giving it a read.

3. never gonna give you up by owlings, which is a Rusty-centric fic on trying to figure out who O'Keeffe's "babygirl" is (and being traumatised when he learns the answer is Flatwell). Genuinely made me laugh a lot and is very well-written, so please check it out.

4. SATOKO by quantumghosts, which is an OC-insert fic for Naruto and this is also amazingly written. Tl;dr an OC is isekai'd into Naruto as a female Naruto, and it does incredibly worldbuilding and character development between the characters, and Satoko really distinguishes herself as 'Naruto'. Really recommend this read.

5. Letters to Monsters by beccadbuss, this is yet another OC in Naruto fic, and it focuses on an OC and their relationship with the Bijuu before they're sealed away. Has a lot of focus on literature and the lessons they impart on people, and how sometimes an open hand and a willingness to understand achieves more than brute force. Genuinely an amazing read and I recommend!

6. Fire Rebirth by Blackbirdo, as a bonus sixth entry because I remembered it and it is genuinely fucking hilarious. Zuko is reincarnated as Itachi in Naruto and I read it if only because the summary read:

"To Zuko's great relief, his new family were not part of a cult. Instead they seemed to be rather normal; they were well-mannered, cultured, fire-breathing people who were very assured of their own superiority, and had a family history of insanity."

Seriously recommend it if you want a bit of silliness with a dash of "Zuko is somehow the only sane person here, incredibly, sort of".

Right, well! Those are my fanfic recommendations! You can tell I love OCs and people shipping OCs with canon characters and crossovers because yes, it results in many glorious stories tbh.

Thanks for the questions!

[gffa]

Buncha scattered thoughts about trying out some different TV shows and whether or not I’d recommend them so far: - The Last of Us, with only a basic understanding of the plot of the games, I’m otherwise going in basically blind on this one and I’ve been enjoying the HBO adaptation a ton so far!  Very much at the top of the “if you’re looking for a show to binge and don’t mind horror and sad stories, TO WATCH” list!  The chemistry of the characters and the stunning scenery and well-paced scenes makes it thoroughly watchable. - Shrinking, I’ll give pretty much anything Bill Lawrence produces a shot (Scrubs, Cougar Town, Ted Lasso) and I’m charmed from the first episode.  You’ll always get fun banter and funny dialogue, but I’m already engaged with the characters because he has a way of writing snarky characters who still have a ton of heart.  The therapist’s hot mess of a life is offset by how genuinely he cares about his patients, openly and honestly.  I am a sucker for people who banter but aren’t afraid to put their heart on their sleeve. - The Light in the Hall, which I can’t talk about without spoiling the ending, but I wound up disappointed by this one.  The story is fairly predictable and the acting is top-notch, but I was frustrated by [redacted] being the only [redacted] and of course they end up being the murderer, all in service of making a woobie out of the [redacted].  It left a bad taste in what was otherwise a strong show. - Poker Face, I am not Rian Johnson’s biggest fan, but I like his work a lot more when he seems to be writing a love letter to a genre that he wants to pay homage to, to build a tribute to it, rather than subvert it.  I like that it’s quirky but keeps a lid on the amount of it, it feels like it’s having fun with the concept of this version of Columbo, and it knows that you’re here to watch Natasha Lyonne do her thing and it loves watching Natasha Lyonne do her thing, too. - His Dark Materials, which I love the adaptation, having never read the books it still feels like you can tell they were adapted with love and it works as a coherent storyline.  The actors are incredible, each of them are great on their own, but then having fantastic chemistry with each other, and I’m very taken with the themes of the story, around religion and knowledge and free will and independent thought.  Sprinkle in that the main character gets to be an angry, often messy, often very loud about her feelings character, and I’m in. - The Price of Glee, I went into this one hoping that it would at least be something of a tell-all about what went on behind the scenes, because I bet that would be fucking wild, given what we already know.  But after the first episode and skimming the later ones, it seems to be focused more on (as the title suggests) how much it cost these people to be part of it.  Which, you know, fair.  But not quite what I was looking for, so I’ve set it aside for now. - The Owl House, 10/10 no notes.  It’s been so satisfying to see a lot of character arcs come to fruition, even if the season has been massively truncated.  Luz’s struggle between which world she wants to stay in, the maturation of her relationship with Amity, the reconnection with her mother, all of that is fantastic.  The acknowledgement of Willow’s feelings and the support she gets from her friends, Hunter’s willingness to open up about his own feelings, also so much good.  Worldbuilding bits and pieces with the Collector and that I’m already engaged with wanting that poor kid to have better influences, yeah, that’s the stuff. - Three Pines, which I mostly picked up because I like Alfred Molina and he is indeed very charismatic and warm in this series, which has some pretty scenery and a very cozy feeling.  I’ve never read the books this is based on, but it feels like the show very much knew that it wanted to be a charming little murder mystery series with a connective throughline and it was exactly that.  I wouldn’t call it light-hearted, it has some lovely emotional weight, it has characters who very openly care about others, but I would still say it was a very warm show. - Avenue 5, which got off to a bit of a rocky start in its second season for me, but by the end of it, I was enjoying the absolute flaming trainwreck the whole thing is and how, when you lean into the chaos along with the show, it’s pretty hilarious.  I love the characters and I want to know where it’s going from here, I’m going to be so pissed if HBO doesn’t renew it for a third season. - The Sex Lives of College Girls, I enjoyed the first season of the show enough to binge the whole thing and I liked the girls’ friendships with each other and it felt like there was a lot of heart here.  I don’t know what happened with the second season, if it’s me or the show but nothing felt like it was clicking anymore and I finally had to drop it.  First season is adorable, totally worth watching as a stand-alone show!  Second season, idk maybe others liked it more than I did! - Criminal Mind Evolution, I was willing to pick this show back up again because I still have fondness for the actors and the characters, but after two episodes I had to rage quit.  The writing just isn’t working for me, its leaning into everything I grew to be frustrated with or outright hate about the original and even a character like Garcia’s warmth feels forced and unearned.  Dropped and will not be going back.

[hallowed-nebulae]

I am very curious about the worldbuilding you have around the Foretellers within Tempest-verse and silver drips from aching hands! What was the inspiration behind that? Any fun facts you can tell us about them?

i have calc hw and a forum for intro to film due so i may not be able to answer this the most thoroughly but i will do my best

okay so my initial thought for the foretellers were: "how can i make them people but Off". i don't remember the actual initial thought but like that's the vibes. they have only one body fluid that acts as blood, tears, etc etc. i figured, if we have creatures with only a heart (heartless, pureblood), a body and soul (greater nobodies/lesser nobodies) and a body and heart (corpses. a body without a soul is a corpse) i figured we should have something for a soul and a heart. thus we have the Foretellers technically being formless

uhhh lemme pull up my specbio real quick

they don't have organs! most organs at least. they've got a brain and such, but anything else isn't needed so their "bodies" don't have them. that said, if they can fit something in their mouth then they can eat it (since a Foreteller's body will just kinda absorb it until it's dust or such).

they're made of Only light and thus darkness sickens them and Nothingness outright kills them. the only way they can survive the nobody-ifying process is if they have a host they're latched onto (like luxu with braig's body).

in tempests verse (less sure of silver drips, been a hot sec), the master of masters made Foretellers in order to try and artificially create Reginae (a type of god who are born from dead beings that are reborn into their divinity). unfortunatelly you cannot make a reginae, it's up to Fate and Miracles (the two inherent forces within that reality), so MoM failed and that's why the Foretellers are kinda fucked up. too divine to be normal but not divine enough to be divine. their hearts feel all Off, and their keyblades feel that way too if you were to hold one. exceptions are if you're bequeathed a Foreteller's keyblade bc then it sorta fits into your heart's personal little resonance so that you're not discomforted by it.

(brain is an exception since, within tempests verse and silver drips, he's luxu's twin and thus their hearts' resonances are similar enough that No Name does not adjust. unfortunately this means brain does somewhat experience the Effects of holding a piece of a not-god in his heart, without that bit of filter to protect it. alas)

foretellers are INCREDIBLY possessive of what's theirs. they also tend to adopt. the unions were formed by the Foretellers just, adopting large droves of children who were yet-to-be-claimed. Foretellers also have a little heirarchy, so they'll fight Foretellers of an equal or lower standing in case of dispute over territory, but if a Foreteller of higher standing takes something then they won't do anything about it. i don't have this heirarchy worked out but it's within the larger divine heirarchy that exists, which will get elaborated on at some point

Foretellers are fun bc they're one of the first bits of alucinari i made, but now they tie in to a lot of my fun little interconnected multiverse of aus for various fandoms. so much lore on Miracles and gods and such is gonna be revealed in my crystal verse eventually (lore and rambles and stuff on my characters for that is located at @crystal-verse ; k'pheli himself is Miracles, aka the Shattered God, so there's lore there by necessity)

anyways this went off on a tangent but i hope it was at least entertaining to you! i don't know exactly how i got here but i am enjoying my worldbuilding. v fun.

(for those who know ffxiv: a Foreteller is more similar to a Lightwarden than an Ascian, but also more similar to a Reginae than a Lightwarden. Unlike Vauthry, a Foreteller could claim to be divine and be somewhat correct, rather than entirely uncorrect.)

[nat-seal-well]

I really do thoroughly enjoys redacteds magic system, like they all have magic but X can use x magic better than Y, shifters still have magic, FREELANCERS!!! its so fun and im mad its 100% going to influence my magic system

The magic system and worldbuilding is really, really neat! That was one of the main things that got me hooked on these stories :) And the cool thing is that the magic in the Redacted universe has traces that remind me of magic systems in other stories I like. Just little similarities.

And—if you don’t mind be going on a little bit of a ramble, I promise there’s a point I’m trying to make—that’s one of the things I love most about stories.

Every one has parts taken from others, borrowed and put together in different ways to create something new. My writing style is a combination of all the authors I’ve read and admired, woven together with my own voice, to make it what it is. It’s a nod of respect to the storytellers who have come before me, and really I think that’s how it goes for everyone who shares theirs, and it’s beautiful. I would not write the way I do if it weren’t for the books I have read and loved.

We’ve always been telling stories to each other, for as long as we’ve been able to as a species. It’s such an important part of what makes people people. (I could go on about the myths and stories and legends tied to the Pleiades constellation, for example.) To tell a story of any kind, or in any shape or medium, is to partake in one of the oldest crafts we’ve carried with us right up until now. And will carry on into the future. When you strip them down to the bare bones, it’s the same one, told over and over and over again but what makes each one beautiful and unique is the fact that all the people who tell it make it their own.

When I was a kid, one of my favorite teachers told my class, “If the story you want to tell sounds like one that’s already been told before, don’t let it stop you. Because no one else will ever be able to write exactly the way you do.”

Your writing voice and your style are like fingerprints. It is something uniquely your own, a combination of traits you’ve liked and borrowed from those who come before you, and your own way of weaving them together. And it is such a human thing, and seeing other people be inspired to share their own stories is so exciting!

All of this is just a very long-winded way to say, I think it’s awesome that you like his magic system and it having an influence on your own, or you borrowing the bits you like, is not a bad thing at all. That’s how stories have always worked. The most important thing is that you remember to use your own voice to tell it. Because no one else will be able to tell a story the way you do, not ever.

[qserasera]

I was tagged by @ncfan-1 for this meme (thanks!!). The rules of the meme are as follows: Post the first lines of your ten most recent fanfics and then tag ten people. If you’ve written less then ten, just go for what you have written.

tagging @swankitty @blackidyll @defeateddetectives @javert @futuresoon if you feel like it

decided to categorize ‘recent’ as writing from within the last year hahaha :D

1. so sings the chimes, aleatoric Genshin Impact; Scaramouche (The Wanderer)-centric

"My daughter wishes to learn to play the koto," the older man says.

He clears away an empty bowl and a set of cups, taking them behind the counter of the izakaya stall. Behind the softly wafting steam, his face is cut in sharp lines, like ones etched in a woodblock by an artisan's hand. But the gentle fondness in his eyes as he speaks of his daughter softens the look of what must have been a once-prideful youth.

"Oh? Is that right, Shibata-san? How time catches up upon us like a tiger! How old is she now—six? Seven?"

The answering reply is from Malek, a regular at Shibata-san's stall—though he has the thin look common to many scholars of the Akademiya, there is a suggestion of strength in the set of his shoulders, in the expertly tied knots of the bags to his hip, the sheathed dagger at his belt.

i think i generally don’t prefer just like. Jumping right into a scene from the main pov character hahah. this was a fun bit of easing into the rest of the fic in a sideways way through some slight worldbuilding painting---the koto mention was a choice as one of the intentional threads of something that reminds the Wanderer of Inazuma (something something he cut himself off from his home but can’t help longing for it regardless when he gets reminders of it :)) 2. these sunlit days our hands engrave Zhongli/Childe, slight sideways AU for Genshin Impact

In a certain kingdom, there lived a boy in a village. He seemed no different from any other boy his age—half-wild and restless, a fledgling eagle not yet full-grown; and yet, still made tame enough by affection to return to his family's humble home by nightfall, where warm smiles and warm words were doled out in equal measure. One winter night—one dark and hollow as an iron pot on a cold hearth—he did not return.

a somewhat fairytale beginning for what does really end up as a fairytale type fic :DDD i think i like the phrasing of ‘a fledgling eagle not full-grown’ for a young childe  3. on a high peak, sentiments sweet Zhongli/Childe, canon-compliant-ish Genshin Impact

Light shimmers before the eye, like heated oil over a wok. Through the air, the humming of cicadas seems to drown out the usual talk and bustle of the city by a hundredfold.

Outside on the second-floor balconies, waiters lean their elbows against the railings, a spare towel held against the sweat on their foreheads, their pose thoroughly languorous. Children walk with their families, tugging on their parents' hands while whining for sweet dessert soups from nearby food stalls—for the flavors of shaved ice and sour plums, or mung beans chilled and sweetened with sugar.

what do i even say here---more scenic intros i guess :DD 4. willow pond, locked in smoke Ayato/Thoma (heavily implied), Genshin Impact

"A pity," the man mutters, as one of his fingers traces a half moon on the tabletop around his tea cup. "The first flush of tea this year is not quite as promising as I expected."

"Shimada-sama is too humble," Ayato replies. "There is an undeniable charm, is there not, to enjoying the first bounties of nature in shincha such as this? A reminder perhaps, of mortal power and frailty both—that not even things grown from our hands will always remain in our control."

u can tell that. i loveee social intrigue in my fandoms and also in my fic, especially for ayato :)))) (his trailer was soooo cool with the mention of assassins Aghhhhhhh). i wasn’t sure if ayato’s lines were hitting a more pretentious note than not, but i like how it ended up

5. after the hundredth night of waiting Zhongli/Childe, Genshin Impact

Childe's gaze is drawn to Zhongli's gloves. The creature resting between his palms is a small, delicate thing. Barely bigger than the bulb of an ice flower, feathers green-blue in the firelight. Qing 青—the color of spring, as Zhongli had once explained to Childe, a stem of qingxin clasped between his fingertips, their buds still veiled in pale green. 

the bird fic......this was more of an extended metaphor but i really do like this beginning and also the seasonal appropriateness of it

6. a poem, halfwritten Zhongli/Childe, Genshin Impact

  Zhongli lowers his cup to the table, sliding it over to rest besides its partnering wine pitcher. Both equally empty, though the taste of the wine leaves a pleasant sweetness on his tongue. 

zhongli is just elegantly drinking here. he’s so cool *chinhands*

[ridley-was-a-cat]

What I Watched This Week – 6/25-7/8

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - There are multiple ways to watch this series, and I went with the chronological order because that was how Crunchyroll had the episodes ordered. This is one of those series I watched less because I liked it or was interested in the idea behind it, and more because it's sort of foundational or often referenced. On paper, a whole show about a self-centered girl making the entire world revolve around her didn't appeal to me, and after watching this series, it still didn't really entertain me too much. Admittedly, the idea behind it is creative and fairly interesting, and I enjoyed watching all the side characters running damage control, but I never stopped wanting someone to just crack her across the face and tell her to grow the hell up. 7/10

House of Five Leaves - I've been wanting to watch this series for a while now, as I don't think there is a Manglobe anime I haven't enjoyed, and I really enjoyed ACCA 13, which is by the same author. I can imagine that the art style was divisive for people, but I really enjoyed the way it looked. The faces were expressive, and the overall vibe of the art felt like an Edo era woodcut print. The story followed a somewhat naïve young ronin down on his luck who gets involved with a mysterious man who heads up a kidnapping ring and unravels the mystery behind him. It was just a thoroughly satisfying little vignette about a man's troubled past and complicated present. 8/10

Ōoku: The Inner Chambers - Despite this winning awards from feminist science fiction organizations, few things interest me less than gender plague stories, so I didn't initially intend to watch this. Curiosity got the best of me though, and I'm glad it did, because it engaged with the topic thoughtfully and had me riveted throughout. The plague in this instance is a deadly pox that attacks young men, eventually bringing the male population to a quarter of the female, leading to a wide variety of challenges and changes for Edo era Japan. The story mostly focuses on the inner palace and the men gathered there to serve the female shogun, as the concubine system of the previous generations flips genders. Despite being a shoujo, this is a fairly violent story of upheaval that spends a lot of time dealing with the way a gender imbalance would change sexual politics, and works that question out through many scenes of sexual assault and sexual coercion, from the first episode straight through to the end. Sexual violence is as central to the theme of this story as war violence is to Vinland Saga, and it engages the idea just as intentionally. 8/10

All Saints Street - This technically isn't anime, since it's a Chinese donghua, but it's on Crunchyroll and MAL and has a Japanese dub, so I'm including it here. The Japanese release that I watched condensed the original 36 5-minute episodes into 6 standard-length episodes, and had a top-notch cast of the voice actors you often hear in comedy anime. The skits center on a young demon guy who moves into a shared house in the human world with a variety of supernatural roommates and the silly little situations they get into. The worldbuilding was fairly creative, the characters were amusingly relatable, and the character designs were adorable. This was just a fun and short comedy series.  7/10