#heard it is a fun romp?? >“3

[ejunkiet]

>:3 local LGBTQ+ bookstore had a signed copy of this book, I am HYPED.

[da-birb-writes-sometimes]

How You Turn My Word; Chapter 2

The day continues, and this time you find yourself in an entire new world... a world called The Underground.

Character; Lilia Vanrouge

Content; Gender-neutral reader, more shenanigans, reader isn't happy

Content Warning; Intoxication (Lilia), swearing

Word Count; 2.7 K

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 |

Don't put my work into AI; I'll make sure you end up in the Bog of Eternal Stench.

Lilia’s night was not going according to plan and he was mentally cursing himself over it.

Thing Lilia did not plan for #1; he got lost. To be fair though, many a thing had drastically changed since the last time he romped around the mortal realm. A few hundred years would do that though. Humans now seemed to live in tall metal boxes rather than the humble cottages of ages past. 

Thing Lilia did not plan for #2; a red flower deceiving him and containing something akin to liquor. So he was flying around lost while under the influence, which only worsened his situation. (Lilia did not know it, but the red flower was in fact a hummingbird feeder with sugar water which had been left out in the sun for too long and had fermented. Make sure to change your hummingbird feeder often on hot days so you don’t cause a nectar-loving friend to fly while wasted) 

Thing Lilia did not plan for #3; getting himself stuff in one of those tall metal boxes, and he was now stuck inside some cursed metal labyrinth. At least it was not iron or silver, as it did not burn, apparently, humans no longer fortified their abodes with those metals. Perhaps the times have changed for the better?

But Lilia finally escaped the infernal metal labyrinth, perhaps luck was finally on his side tonight after all! He bumped around a few corners. My my, what a small hovel. Perhaps things have not changed all that much from the last time I was here… But Lilia was rudely pulled from his thoughts when something swatted him clean out of the air. And the culprit? A rather rotund grey cat with large blue eyes, which was now carrying Lilia into its lair, most likely to play with him for a bit before deciding that it had had it’s fun and ultimately put him out of his misery.

His night went from a jolly and somewhat embarrassing tale he would regale about at the local tavern, to a bedtime story parents would tell their children about the dangers of going places that you really shouldn’t. Should he get out of this sticky situation Lilia would not live this incident down. 

The cat placed Lilia in a collection of socks and then sauntered off, calling out at the top of its lungs. Great, it's getting company for supper, and I’m the appetizer. How lovely. But Lilia knew he would have a better chance of getting out of this situation if he stayed calm and waited for an opportunity to escape. Even while tipsy, he could keep his cool.

And the feline was back and yanked Lilia out of the sock hole. Cracking open his one eye he saw that the cat did not come back with its hungry friends, but rather, a human. That was both good news and bad news. Good news; he most likely was not going to be eaten tonight! Yippee! Bad news; the last time he was in bat-form in a human’s abode, he was chased around with a torch, which he really did not want to go through again. So his best course of action was to play dead in this situation.

When the human left the room though, he took his chance and took flight once again, trying to find a way out. The cat was trying to catch him again, but Lilia knew of its tricks this time and dodged every swipe it sent his way.

But he was pulled out of his thoughts when the human screeched at the cat, “YOU CAUGHT A FUCKING BAT?!” 

Oh yeah, they did not sound happy, not at all, but it seemed to be directed more at their feline companion rather than him.

As he was busy flapping around, trying to find an escape but to no avail, he also heard the human whispering to him. “Don’t fly towards my head, bat. I’m just trying to get you back outside. You’re a nice bat, right? Nice bat, nice bat.”

Were he not preoccupied and in a better state of mind, Lilia would have been amused by this. Currently, though he was occupied with trying not to be eaten and finding a way out of this cursed place. He was not in a laughing mood. All Lilia wanted to do was get back home, pass out in his bed but he would also be happy with his sofa as well, and pretend that this was nothing more than a bad dream after a night spent tavern hopping. Dealing with a horrid hangover would be better than this… and he was most likely going to have one of those anyways. Tonight really wasn’t Lilia’s night, not at all.

Then the human grabbed the cat, and Lilia was finally left alone. The window was open, but he didn’t know that, as his mind was too preoccupied with you know, not dying, that he hadn’t noticed that the human had opened it for him. So where did Lilia go? Well, he went back into the metal labyrinth (air duct), and fumbled around until he tired himself out. It wasn’t the most ideal of spots to crash for the night, but it was better than going back and possibly being eaten, Lilia would rather avoid that. So this was going to be his bed for the night, a lonely quiet corner of the air duct system, where he could hopefully wake up sober tomorrow. But he yearned for his warm quilts that awaited for him back at home, back in Faerie, or as some call it, the Underground.

Lilia wasn’t even supposed to be in the mortal realm in the first place, but curiosity had won him over, and he even ignored the travel advisory that was in place. Some crow fae had travelled there about a century or so ago and had yet to return back, hence a travel advisory. But yet here he was in the mortal realm, tiny, drunk, and utterly lost. His bad decisions could be looked into further detail once he got some shut-eye. So he wrapped himself in his wings and passed out in the corner of the air vent. Hopefully, when he woke up he could turn this disastrous day around.

…

Upon waking up, Lilia groaned — or rather, in this case, squeaked — and stretched his wings out. So the wretched metal maze and last night's fiasco was not some liquor-hazed dream; how lovely. Utterly delightful.

At least the strange maze echoed sound quite well, so he knew what exits to avoid. Not that one, he could hear a dog barking, and the feline encounter was enough for him. No, not that one either, he could hear children screaming.

Finally, he came to an opening, there was some quiet chatter, but it was far enough away where Lilia felt comfortable enough to explore this potential escape route. 

Why does this look familiar? AM I BACK IN THE BUILDING?! Yes, yes he was. At least there was no sign of the ca–

“Mrp?” Speak of the devil.

The cat got out of its den and lept at Lilia, who dodged the attack, and the cat pushed some books off a desk. The cat was also screaming at him, and causing an all-around ruckus. Lilia managed to outmaneuver the feline, but soon a brand new human came into the scene.

The new human took one look at Lilia and backpedalled out of the room. But the human had just created another escape route for him, and Lilia flew, well, like a bat straight out of hell for it. Too bad the next room contained two more humans, including the one he had encountered from last night… maybe they would be nice again and spare him for trespassing on their small abode?

In the midst of the chaos, the human from last night knocked him out of the air with a broom. Okay, that hurt little Beastie. But that swing and the crash landing into a table caused Lilia to shift back into his human form, which also caused sparkles to happen. Did humans still think magic was evil? Well, he was about to find out.

Everyone remained silent, and after the sheer noise of the chaos, it was deafening, even the cat was quiet. And Lilia stared at the human that had knocked him out of the air, you. And you were staring straight back at him, looking utterly baffled. Well, this is awkward… I think I have overstayed my welcome… 

Lilia snapped his fingers, and he started to disappear into sparkles yet again, this time going home since he wasn’t able to use his magic when stuck in bat form. And it was happening without a pinch, but you seemed to trip on thin air and crash landed on his feet, disappearing with him; a stowaway coming to Faerie. 

… Well this is no good now, is it?

…

…

…

 When the green sparkles subsided, you found yourself sitting in some sort of bog, and the water had made it into your mouth by some twist of fate. While you were busy spitting the bog water out of your mouth, the stranger was standing by the bank, dry, without any sulfuric-tasting water in his mouth, and looking better for wear.

Pulling yourself out of the bog water — eugh, you smelled like eggs now, great — you pointed an accusatory finger at him, water dripping from the end. “Where,” you spat out some extra bog water from your mouth, “am I? And why does it reak of eggs?!” You would have looked and sounded more imposing, but you were sopping wet, covered in mud, and spitting out coughs trying to get the bad taste out of your mouth; which wasn’t really commanding any sort of respect.

The stranger, Lilia, snorted before letting out a cough, trying to hide his amusement very poorly. He waved his hand, green sparkles surrounded you and you were now dry, still covered in mud, but dry. “Faerie, although some call it the Underground.”

You opened your mouth, but he wagged his finger at you. “And before you blame me for bringing you here, you have no one to blame for this but yourself!” Despite the cheeriness, there was something cold and off putting in his eyes, like he was calculating something. But that moment passed, and the almost annoying cheerful facade came back in full. “As for the smell? That so happens to be The Bog of Eternal Stench!”

“Like eternal eternal?” You really didn’t need to smell like rotten eggs for the rest of your days.

The stranger just chuckled, “Fret not, Beastie, I decided to return the favour, since your feline friend decided not to eat me. But it is indeed ‘eternal eternal’ if you don’t have the means to get rid of it.”

Beastie? “Uh, okay.” not the most eloquent of things to say, but really, could anyone blame you? You just fell through some kind of portal, magic(?) was real, and oh yeah, so were fae/faeries or whatever the hell they called themselves. So ‘Uh, okay’ was perfectly fine in this situation.

Mr. Sparkles — if he was going to call you Beastie, he deserved a dumb nickname — just gave you a smile, exposing the barest hint of his fangs; despite his small frame, he was still dangerous, and the hairs on the back of your neck stood on end. It was as if he was assessing you, to see if you would be worth the trouble to help. You didn’t know if either option would be good by the way his magenta eyes twinkled with mischief.

He let out a huff and started walking away, and you followed. “I wouldn’t recommend following me, Beastie,” he hummed, and you tripped over a rock, vines keeping you to the moss. “The court would not take kindly to you.” 

You glared at him and tried ripping the vines off of your feet, but they didn’t budge. “And why should I listen to you?” 

Mr. Sparkles booped you on the nose, “Well, it would ensure that you made it out of here alive, which I believe you would find beneficial and all.” 

Obnoxious prick. But he did have a point, you would rather make it back home alive rather than fucking around and finding out (aka dying). “So what? Are you going to just leave me here? No welcome brochure? Thanks.” 

You were being sarcastic, since it was either sarcasm or having a full-on existential crisis, since hey, magic wasn’t real in your world! Dimension? Galaxy? Where the fuck was this place?! How the hell did you end up here?!

“Hmm good point…” he snapped his fingers and there was now a book sitting in your lap. “This should suffice, do be warned though, Beastie, I may call on you later to return the favour. For now though,” he started to turn into green sparkles, “toodaloo!~” And he turned into a bat, flying off into the sunset, leaving you alone at the edge of the swamp with the only things to your name being the clothes on your back and a book in your lap.

How to Survive the Underground; For Humans! … Did he just give you this world’s equivalent of a For Dummies book? What the fuck? Was this kind of sick joke to him?

…

…

Once some of your ire had subsided, you decided to sit down on a boulder and read a bit of the book while there was still some sunlight out, but it was dipping into the horizon fast.

How to Survive the Underground; For Humans! By Yelworc Erid Preface …… i - iv Chapter 1; Surviving Your First Night…… 1 - 10 Chapter 2; Edible Food for Humans …… 11 - 31 Chapter 3; The Basics of Fae Etiquette …… 32 - 35 3.1; Species Specifics …… 36 - 146 3.2; Government Specifics …… 147 - 169 Chapter 4; Help! I Have Been Indentured to a Fae! …… 170 - 200 Chapter 5; Adjusting to Fae Social Life …… 201 - 224 Chapter 6; Transmittable Illnesses & Diseases …… 225 - 261 Chapter 7; Fae Courting Practices …… 262 - 264 7.1; Species Specifications …… 265 - 366 7.2; Government Specifications …… 367 - 389 7.3; Accepting a Courting Proposal …… 390 - 393 7.4; Refusing a Courting Proposal …… 394 - 401 Chapter 8; How to Handle Fae Children …… 402 - 452 Chapter 9; How to Leave the Underground … 453 Chapter 10; Adjusting to Life in the Underground …… 454 - 482 Acknowledgments …… 483 - 485

Looking back up to the horizon, you quickly turned the pages to Chapter 1; Surviving Your First Night.

“If you are unable to find yourself some suitable shelter, one should find themselves safe by camping out in a rowan tree. These trees can easily be found by their vermillion clusters of berries. They keep away all native species of the Underground,” you read out loud, turning your attention to the trees nearby, searching for those berries. “Rowan tree, rowan tree–”

A loud screech coming from the undergrowth only pushed you further. 

Nope, I do not want to find out what THAT was! Nope! NoPe! NOPE! 

Finally, you found a tall enough tree and you hauled your ass up it like there was a fire below you, and you were up in the canopy, far enough up that nothing could reach you, but also high enough where you needed to be careful, since you didn’t want to meet an early death because you made a wrong move. But for now, you were safe.

“Nice try buddy,” you muttered to yourself, trying to get comfy. Wood wasn’t the comfiest thing in the world, but you weren’t really in the position to be complaining. “I am not on the menu.”

The screech came again, this time closer; yeah, you weren’t sleeping tonight. The sun was now beyond the horizon, and there was no moon, the only light coming from the stars above; it was very pretty, but you could see jack shit. This was going to be a long night… and not a fun one, since you could also see the glowing eyes of unknown creatures which were, quite frankly, freaky as fuck. So yeah, no sleep for you.

“This fucking sucks,” you grumbled, and a chittering from the bog seemed to mock you. “This really fucking sucks.”

…

…

…

…

Tags; @busycloudy, @eynnwwyjth, @identity-theft-101, @ithseem, @krenenbaker, @lucid-stories, @ryker-writes, @twistwonderlanddevotee, @xxoomiii

~~~~~~~

Author's Note; This chapter is shorter, but it felt natural to end the chapter like this. This chapter, and the previous one, were both rewrites of an old WIP, so from here on out I don't have to rewrite! YIPPEE!!! Rewriting takes me forever, so we shall see what I come up with next.

If you liked this, do check out my masterlist for more content!

[liesmyth]

Books of the month!!!

(for the past 3 months) (forgot to do this for February and March so they're all here)

April

Bring Up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel — MORE blorbo Thomas Cromwell! Unreliable narrator tortured evil meow meow goes VROOM!! Genuinely hilarious on top of it. More thots. Fave read of 2024 so far. READ IT.

Dimenticare Berlinguer: La sinistra italiana e la tradizione comunista, Miriam Mafai — Essays on Italian political history. Probably not relevant to tumblr's interests. Very relevant to mine.

Mademoiselle de Maupin, Théophile Gautier — Gender! 1835s epistolary novel with Gender and crossdressing and musings on the value of Beauty! I loved this but it's rambly in a period-typical way. The Italian translation has very witty pretty prose; no idea about the original French, but I've heard the English translation isn't great.

The Angel of Indian Lake, Stephen Graham Jones — Third book of a trilogy. Do rec only if you love Jade Daniels as much as I do. Otherwise, it might get a bit confusing. I DO enthusiastically rec the first book in the trilogy, My Heart Is a Chainsaw, so you will all come to love Jade Daniels as much as I do. You're welcome.

The Manicurist's Daughter, Susan Lieu — A memoir about grief and families and the immigrant experience (Vietnam to west coast US). It's not usually my wheelhouse but I appreciated so many things about it, especially because of the audiobook version. Nonspoilery goodreads review here.

March

Bride, Ali Hazelwood — I don't like werewolf tropes enough to have enjoyed this. Fun romp if you like mates and knots.

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families, Philip Gourevitch — Nonfiction; a partial account of the Rwandan genocide. (I say partial bc I think it lacks context if you, like me, don't know much about the topic going in.) Very poignant, unfortunately remains relevant; do NOT go for the audiobook version because it's dull as dirt.

Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel — The book that blorbifies Thomas Cromwell and it's also laugh-out-loud funny. Do yourself a favour and read it.

February

Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronthe — somehow I'd never actually read this in English before? Absolute banger. The first half remains superior.

American Elsewhere, Robert Jackson Bennett — I have screamed about this on tumblr before. COSMIC HORRORS TAKE OVER NEW MEXICO TOWN! Do rec.

Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier — Amazing incredibly showstopping etc.

Clarkesworld, Issue 209 — Love me some cool sff short stories. Standouts: Lonely Ghosts (Meghan Feldman); The Enceladus South Pole Base Named after V.I. Lenin (Zohar Jacobs); Why Don't We Just Kill the Kid In the Omelas Hole (Isabel J Kim)

january books || let's be goodreads friends! here

[void-ink-studios]

Oh Glob, He's Been Kidnapped

A silly romp through Ooo, with a touch of bitter sweet at the end. I hope you enjoy y'all!

A few sidenotes:

I've started picturing the Organizer's voice like Agent 47's handler, Diana Burnwood, in the new Hitman games. No idea why, just felt like it fit her.

Random thought that might end up as it's own post, but I find the idea funny if Scarab's species had no real concept of gender, and Scarab just accepted he/him pronouns because that's what everyone in the pantheon used for him and he just shrugged and accepted it.

Next time, as suggested by @scumbkat I think it's about time Scarab gained his own Nightmare aspect.

Fun fact, this was the instalment to push this series over 100 pages in the google doc.

Word Count: 2,500

Of all things Scarab had expected on this "field trip" (as Prismo put it) to the land of Ooo, this was not one of them.

Where in Glob's name did Prismo go?

Seriously, Scarab had turned his back for, like, maybe 10 seconds. And when he turned back, the human shaped mage Prismo was disguised as was just... up and gone.

At first he thought he had wondered off to another shop in market or something, but Scarab had scoured this place top to bottom at least 3 times, and no sign of the Wishmaster anywhere.

He climbed the tallest stall he could find, earning him some choice curses, and nothing.

It wasn't as if Scarab was nervous or anything. Prismo was a god. One of the most powerful in the multiverse. Just because he was currently human shaped did not make him as vulnerable as one.

But, well, this trip was kind of off the books. If Prismo got his body killed somewhere, they'd have the Organizer to answer to, and Scarab was not particularly looking for a scolding next time she visited for tea.

"Prism!" He called the fake name the Wishmaster had given himself, trying to shout over the chaotic crowd. "Prism, where did you go? We're supposed to be heading back soon! Prism!"

All that got him was annoyed looked from the people trying to pass by him.

Great.

"Hey, big knight dude" a voice called. Scarab momentarily forgot what he looked like, confused at this address. But, yes, he recalled now. He looked much more like a knight, his shell conveniently passing for armor with a bit more flair. He turned in search for the voice. "Over here, man!"

A human. Or, Scarab was pretty sure he was human, he looked enough like Prismo's body to be somewhat confident. He was tall, muscular, with a mess of blond hair spilling out the back of his hat. A mechanical arm waved him over.

Scarab shook off his frantic edges, striding over with an air of confidence.

"Yes, can I help you?"

"You need help, man? Heard to yelling for someone, and I saw you pacing around the place. What's going on?"

"Oh, I seem to have lost my traveling companion. I turned my back for a few seconds, and poof, gone."

"What's he look like?"

Scarab examined the human a little closer. Big smile, sword on the hip, an attitude similar to a happily suicidal puppy. Hmm.

"And how do I know you don't have something to do with his disappearance?"

"Nah man, I'm super good! I'm the hero in these parts."

Scarab decided that, if worst came to worst, he could take him.

"...I'll choose to believe you for now, hero. Short stature, brown skin, long curly gray hair and beard, most garish pink wizard robes possible? Enough jewelry to be mistaken for a treasure chest? Old?"

"Hmmm..."

"Hey, didn't we see someone like that walking around with those weirdo wizards" a new voice chimed in. Scarab's head snapped to the new comer, spotting a... dog? Rainicorn? Both? She didn't have discernable eyes, but very long almost platinum blond hair that had been fashioned into a hammock in the tree.

The hero thought for a second.

"Oh yeah, that's right Junior! Man, I knew those creeps were trouble!"

"You know these characters?"

"They're quick to sniff around anyone with a hint of magic junk" Junior supplied. "Tried cutting my hair for rainbow powers of whatever."

"What for?"

"We're not sure" the hero sighed. "They keep harassing wizards and stuff, but no one's really gone with them before. You guys new here?"

"You could say that, yes. We're passing through."

"Man, sorry about that. But, if they dragged your bud away, I think I know where they went!"

Scarab released a long-suffering sigh, rubbing his hand under his helmet.

"Glob, Prism, of course, of course you'd get yourself accidentally kidnapped the second I turn my back."

"You don't sound to worried" Junior said.

"I'm not. Prism is more than capable of taking care of himself. But, it is... inconvenient. He probably thinks this is an adventure or some nonsense."

"Hey man, anything can be an adventure! Even kidnappings. C'mon, we'll find him together. What's your name, stranger?"

"Ruby Knight is fine. And you?"

"I'm Finn! And this little lady is Jake Jr. but I just call her Junior."

Scarab was thankful for both his helmet and remarkable poise. If either failed him, he might've started choking on air.

Finn. This was... Prismo's Finn. He finally noticed the tattoo on his chest, a smiling dog cradled in forget-me-nots. Of course. Of course he'd happen to run into the one human Prismo might know.

And... Jake Jr. A daughter, most certainly. Did Prismo know? Most likely, Jake had to have told him if they were as close as he believed, but he made know indication of having ever met her.

Okay... Okay, this is fine, probably. And, it's not like he had much choice right now.

"A pleasure to meet you, Finn the hero. Let's go find my idiot wizard friend, shall we?"

"Alright, let's do this! Adventure time!"

And with that, the human went charging off in a direction through the market. Junior seemed unsurprised, casually standing up.

"We should probably try to keep up. Can't let him have all the fun to himself."

Scarab nodded, quickly catching up and keeping pace with Finn.

"Hey, dude, I don't see a lot of new knights around here! Which princess you work for?"

"None of them. Technically, I work for Prism, but I am my own agent."

"Ooooh, I remember meeting a few of those. They were jerks, way to into their own armor. One followed me around, like all day, trying to embarrass me. You seem cool though."

"A knight obsessed with armor is a lousy knight indeed. I've met a fair share who seem to think the weapons and costumes are replacements for skill."

"I know, right? I got skills though, skills to pay the bills. At least, that's what Marcy and PB say."

Scarab found himself relaxing at least a little bit as he followed this human hero.

"...How you know your buddy would be fine? You sounded really sure about it."

"He's one of the best mages I've ever met. He is more than capable of helping himself if he feels his in actual danger. Problem is he is very bad at telling what is and isn't dangerous."

"Man, that sounds like me. I once jumped into a dungeon without backup, got my ass kicked. By a cat. And another knight, the Bucket Knight. Scarier than he sounds."

Scarab didn't talk to mortals very often, but this he felt was a good one.

One of the fun ones.

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

"Ooooh, what's this do?"

Prismo, meanwhile, was having the time of his life. When three dudes in black cloaks put an arm around his shoulder and offered magic beyond belief, well, he was hooked.

No, Prismo was not an idiot. Everything in there was very clearly cursed, destined to attach or leech or possess the user the second they walked out of the spooky tent with it.

But, no harm if he didn't leave with it.

"That, sir, will amplify your powers into a brilliant burst. You'd be untouchable."

Prismo could tell the goons were getting impatient. He knew he looked like a fat, easy target with his jewelry and demeanor, but he was much trickier than most assumed.

Money's paws were fun, after all.

He could hear them whisper.

"He gonna buy anything or just waste our time?"

"Patience, brother. We'll have him soon enough."

"Can't we just stab him and be done with it?"

"Quiet!"

Prismo chuckled to himself, standing up straight. Scarab had probably noticed he was gone by now, he should probably go back before he split his shell.

"Well guys, this was nice, but I think I should be going now. Lots of neat stuff you got here, but I don't think I'm interested."

He turned with a big smile to see three hooded goons who looked like they wanted to rip him apart.

"...Now?"

"Now."

Two of them surged forward to hold Prismo's wrists, dragging him to a very fancy looking chair.

"Woah, friends, what's the harsh treatment for?"

"Oh shut up, old man. We listened to you prattle on about nonsense for the past hour! We're bleeding you dry of magic, with or without your cooperation!"

Prismo was suddenly very aware of a knife to his neck as he was strapped down.

"Fellas, fellas, you don't wanna do this" he crooned.

"Oh, trust me, it's no trouble, you doddering old fool. It's our pleasure."

"No, no, that's not what I mean. My bud, he's probably looking for me. Not the kind of guy you want to get on the bad side. So just let me go and we pretend none of this ever happened, right?"

"We're not scared of some over dressed, pompous knight! We're wizards, wizards rule fool! Kin, get the bowl, it's gonna get messy."

Prismo rolled his eyes.

Well, this went poorly quickly. He was not gonna hear the end of this when Scarab showed up.

"Yeah, wizards rule, but guys, I'm telling ya, he's not someone you underestimate. I keep him around for a reason, you know?"

"Oh just shut up already! Whatever pitiful little magic you've got won't be worth more than you finally shutting up!"

"Wow, harsh dude."

There was a cold blade against his neck again, making him squeak a little. Okay, he might have to break himself out of this one...

"Uh, guys-"

BANG

There was a loud, grinding bang outside the tent, a yell, and suddenly light.

Everyone groaned at the sudden harsh light, but Prismo smiled at the glittering red armor.

"Prism! You Glob forsaken idiot, you better be here!"

"Ruby, hun, I seem to be in a bit of a pickle."

Prismo giggled a little at the utterly exhausted groan Scarab let out. There was a scream, a warm splatter, and a thud. The knife wasn't on his neck anymore, now kicked far away across the floor.

"Man, this is some serious dark junk." Prismo's eyes widened. He craned his neck, spotting the long blond hair and robotic arm. Oh Glob.

"These are definitely cursed, Finn. Like, the aura in here is toxic."

Jake Jr....

Oh Glob dammit. Don't cry, don't cry...

"Prism, dear, are you okay?"

Prismo blinked, trying to shake away the tears, smiling at Scarab's helmet covered face.

"Yeah, I'm okay, no biggie!"

He felt the straps around his wrists loosen, then him get tugged into Scarab's chest.

"I'm okay, I'm okay Ruby, promise. Sorry for wandering off, I know I'm not gonna hear the end of this, I know..."

Finn seemed to stop moving, slowly turning his head toward Prismo.

"Wait a second..."

Prismo took a deep breath, slowly emerging from Scarab's chest to face him.

"Oh my Glob..."

Prismo expected a lot of things could potentially happen. Yelling about being in Ooo, maybe anger for not being able to bring Jake back, maybe even annoyance for having to save him again.

But he did not expect a hug. A big bear one, that lifted him off the ground, feet dangling an undignified foot and a half off the grass.

"PRISMO!"

Finn laughed as he swung the Wishmaster around, now hugging back both out of respect for the hug, and to not go flying if the human's grip slipped.

"Wait, is that... like Prismo Prismo? As in Prismo the Almighty Wishmaster that dad kept gushing over, that Prismo?"

"The one and only! Man, I didn't know you could leave the Time Room! I'd have invited you on adventures a long time ago!"

"This is a new thing, first time on Ooo, I promise. Finn, you're kind of crushing my ribs here."

Finn carried him outside before finally placing him back on his feet.

"Prism, hm?"

"We didn't wanna attract too much attention. So, disguises!"

"So, wait, then who's that" Junior asked, pointing her thumb toward Scarab. "Is this guy some poor schmuck you hired, or something else?"

Prismo collected himself a moment before holding Scarab's hand in his own. "This is Scarab. He's a coworker of mine and... well, my partner." He placed a soft kiss on one of Scarab's knuckles.

"And you're lucky for it" Scarab sighed. "Who else would I run halfway across a city for?"

"Oh, rad, good for you, man. I know we haven't talked much since... well, we haven't talked much. But, y'know, it's good to see you okay and stuff. And that you've got someone looking out for you."

Junior seemed to be deep in thought for a moment, before she strolled up and tapped Prismo's shoulder.

"I'm uh... I'm Jake Junior." She extended her hand in an offer to shake. "Dad... Dad liked talking about you. It's nice to meet you."

Prismo's smile wobbled, but it was wide. He tried to rub the tears from his eyes, but soon gave up and accepted the hand shake.

"It's nice to finally meet you too. Jake... Man, every other sentence was him bragging about one of you. He really loved you guys a lot."

Junior had a sad smile on her face, nervously rubbing the back of her head.

"Pris, now that I know you can come here, we gotta go on a proper adventure sometime, yeah? And, like, a proper one, not one where you just get kidnapped but some shifty wizard dudes."

"Seriously, they're like, the shiftiest guys I've ever seen and you just... went along with them? No questions asked?"

Prismo giggled nervously as he felt everyone's mildly judgmental stare on him.

"I don't know, it just looked... interesting. Not like they could actually hurt me or anything."

"That might be the case, but if you got discorporated, you would get to me the one to explain to the Organizer why we were walking around with unauthorized bodies."

"Hey, you didn't need to come with me!"

"Clearly, I did."

Prismo groaned, half embarrassed, half strangely happy at the day's turn of events.

He looked at Finn, and noticed the same sad smile Scarab often described the Wishmaster having. "Hey, Finn? If you... wanna hang out, in the Time Room, I can give you my number, or something... I'd like to see you. Same to you, Junior. You and any of your siblings are welcome to the domain of the Almighty Prismo."

Finn slapped him on the back, firmly gripping his shoulder.

"C'mon. Let's head to the Candy Kingdom, there's a bar, drinks are on me."

The two gods walked behind the mortals. Prismo could feel Scarab looking at him, a question trying to push past his mandibles. The Wishmaster didn't answer. He opted instead to tuck his hand into Scarab's and walk in comfortable silence, listening to these two mortals talk.

Maybe things would continue to be better.

Maybe Prismo's heart could take this.

[youngerfrankenstein]

Ranking the I, Robot Stories

9. Escape!

One of the two stories that didn’t make the anthology I initially read and I can understand why. It’s not a BAD story necessarily, but it’s not a particularly interesting puzzle or a particularly satisfying answer. A couple of fun scenes though. It’s just okay.

8. Catch That Rabbit

The other one I hadn’t read but I do think this one’s a better story with a better punchline. Don’t think I have that much to say about this one beyond I get it Dave.

7. Runaround

Goofy little story this one! Not super clever or anything but a fun romp with “how are we going to sober up this robot before we fry to death?” As the driving question.

6. Liar!

This is probably the turning point where we get to stories I really like. Even with the dumb sexist nonsense. The concept of a robot with psychic abilities trying SO hard not to hurt any feelings or crush any dreams doing more harm and ultimately just breaking down from the impossibility of its situation is just a neat concept. Poor Herbie :( Also I love you Susan but what the fuck?

5. Robbie

IT’S CUTE OKAY?!

4. Evidence

Pretty much what it says, laying out the evidence? Is Stephen Byerley a robot? …I mean I don’t know. I actually really like that the answer is never given (maybe it was elsewhere I dunno) because the point is more that it doesn’t matter. Kind of a clever little game of cat-and-mouse and I enjoy it.

3. Little Lost Robot

Probably the best of the anthology in terms of the puzzle. Again something of a battle of wits with growing tension and stakes. I like watching our protagonists puzzle things out against an incredibly clever robot.

2. Reason

I really, really like this one. Robot finds religion. Because it is, after all, reasonable. And who ever heard of two humans being able to create something clearly more useful than themselves. Just really enjoy it from a philosophical perspective. People, and robots apparently, tend to think they are reasoning beings when… more often than not it’s not quite true. After all one can reason out anything they want.

The Evitable Conflict

But I do think the book saved its best for last. On one hand just laying out how the world is functioning in the world of this set of stories, but also slowly uncovering a strange and sinister truth. Or is it sinister? Personally I am sometimes a fan of a story giving you an strange scenario but leaving it up to the reader if it is a good or a bad thing. Because honestly I wouldn’t be sure.

[ofliterarynature]

APRIL 2024 WRAP UP

[loved liked ok nope dnf (reread) bookclub*]

Death in the Spires • Heartstopper Vol 4 • Heartstopper Vol 3 • To Marry an English Lord • The True Queen • (Heartstopper Vol 2) • Fun Home* • (Arabella of Mars) • I’m Glad My Mom Died • (Sorcerer to the Crown) • And Then There Were None • Vassa in the Night • Queen of the Night • The Other Significant Others • Most Ardently • The Reformatory • The Book of Love

Read: 14 (10 audio, 4 print, 3 DNF)

The Other Significant Others (5 stars)- I've been anticipating this one ever since I first heard about it and it didn't disappoint! Not only does it tell the stories of people in close, non-traditional relationships, it also talks about marriage, raising kids, and aging, and it was all incredible. I've recommended this in the tags of so many posts and I need y'all to read it.

Queen of the Night (3 stars) - I've heard this glowingly recommended. I liked the author's story in the Sword, Stone, Table anthology. The events in the book are incredible! I should have been fascinated! But I was so bored! Part of it was that the mystery/thriller element in the description - someone has written an opera based on the main character's scandalous secret past, who could it be? - was extremely oversold, most of the book is recounting said past events, and we don't really dive into the present mystery until the very end. I've read similarly slow books so I don't know why I didn't like this, but I wish I'd dnf'd it. I'd recommend you try The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland instead.

Vassa in the Night (4 stars) - this one surprised me! It's YA, I've heard pretty mixed reviews, and it's been sitting on my shelf for a while - starting it, the VERy in-your-face YAness almost threw me off but I'm very glad I stuck through it. I live for magic and fairy tales being dumped into modern times, and the really smart thing about this book is that it keeps a very tight focus (no space for the larger worldbuilding to fall apart lol). We've got a morally-grey magical doll companion who's a kleptomaniac and will eat you out of house and home, Baba-Yaga and her 24-hour convenience store on chicken feet, her disembodied hand assistants, weird guy on a motorcycle, and oh yeah, if they catch you stealing they'll put your head on display (and they're not above framing you to do it). Yes this is perfectly normal, why do you ask? I'm not saying it's perfect, but I had such a good time!

And Then There Were None (4 stars) - my first real attempt at Christie! I did enjoy listening to this, enough that I think I'll try some other Christie, but it wasn't entirely to my taste. I prefer having a detective figure in the story to follow, and the "reveal" after was disappointing.

Sorcerer to the Crown (3.5 stars) - this was a reread, and I definitely liked it a lot less for some reason this time? Maybe it was changing formats, but I love a historical fantasy romp and this should have been right up my alley! The True Queen (4 stars) was much more enjoyable, so maybe it was the characters, maybe it was the rereading itself. I think this might be my sign to call it quits with Zen Cho.

I'm Glad My Mom Died (4 stars) - this isn't really one I think I'd have ever picked for myself even though it got popular, except that my book-club friend recommended it. I'm finding that I'm not really one for memoirs, but despite the heartbreaking contents this was very easy to read - largely chronological with short chapters, and the author is clearly aware that things were bad even when her younger self did not. I accidentally started this when I was also reading Fun Home, so that was a lot of bad-parent-memoir at the same time, oops.

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic (4 stars) - I've been eying this one for a while and am glad to have gotten it on the list for book club! Deeply fascinating, if not always an easy read - the subject on one hand, but the density of the pages, the differences between the comic panels and the narration outside them, and the jumping through time that memoirs do sometimes made events hard to follow. I admit my favorite parts were seeing the different queer books Bechdel slipped into her illustrations (one that I'm reading right now even!).

Arabella of Mars (4.5 stars) - Y'all, we are sleeping on this book, I had so much fun! Here's to girls dressing as boys, sailing ships, steampunk space travel, and vibes straight from early sci-fi adventure novels. I can't believe I forgot about this and am just glad I picked up a copy at the library sale to make myself reread it. I do apologize for thinking this was YA (which it isn't), but further thoughts on that and the rest of the series will have to wait for next month.

Heartstopper Vol 2-4 (5/5/4 stars) - finally! I read part of the comic online ages ago, and read Vol 1 for book club the other month, but I finally got started on the rest of the series. I had definitely read through Vol 2 previously, but everything else was new to me. I had a good time, but Vol 4 was a bit of a(n expected!) downer, and the time jump in the middle ruined the flow a bit for me. I do have Vol 5 in my hands currently, and if I didn't have so many other things to do I'd be tempted to do a big Alice Oseman re/read.

To Marry an English Lord (4 stars) - I encountered this at not one, but TWO unrelated book sales before I caved and bought it. I enjoyed it! It's mostly a sort of overview/reference covering the period around the Gilded Age - the New York upper crust, the European Aristocracy, and the various societal events that lead to a pattern of marital exchange. Did I skim the bits where it just listed name after name after name? Yes, but! Highly recommend to anyone reading romances or general fiction set in the period, I really wish I'd read this before trying The Age of Innocence! (its also very funny how occasionally it makes references that make it very obvious it was written in the 80's lol). Pairs incredibly well with another book I bought at the same sale, The Divorce Colony by April White.

Death in the Spires (3.5 stars) - I love KJ Charles, but I've often felt that her plots and romances can sometimes be at odds - so I was very excited when she said she'd written a mystery! But I'm lukewarm about it at best. The campus novel portions were fascinating, and I'd have loved more of them. But Jem as our narrator just wasn't engaging for most of the book. I wouldn't say it's his fault necessarily, but he's not really a good detective, there are either no clues or they're just going in circles, and the promised attempts on his life just aren't happening. Once we hit the 2/3 mark, where we're on campus, have more characters together, and they're talking - that's when things got good! Maybe this will be be better on a reread, but for now my hopes are for some good fanfic. Would recommend more to the dark academia people rather than mystery fans.

DNF

Most Ardently (20%) - the vibes were very much, "here's my blorbos, I'm putting them in a Pride and Prejudice AU." Which is great, if that's what you want! It was not what I wanted alas. Biggest cons, the de-ageing of the characters and the generally modern YA/queerness. Pros, they did keep all of the other Bennet sisters! I was so tempted to keep reading just to see how Oliver and Darcy got together, but I knew I wasn't going to enjoy myself. Would have loved to see this presented as an original work rather than an adaptation, or as something hewing closer to the original tone and period of the novel.

The Reformatory (43%) - this was good, really! It's just that I'm only so-so on horror on my best days, and both story lines were sad and dark and depressing. I could have probably handled one or the other, but I wasn't really having a good time (that's not the right phrasing exactly, but you know what I mean). I had other things I wanted to read and it was a long book.

The Book of Love (6%) - I've heard multiple people sing the praises of Kelly Link, so while I wasn't really drawn by the description, I thought I'd give it a shot! I did, and it still didn't draw me in. Maybe I'll give it a try again someday, but I think I'll try her short fiction first.

[welcometothejianghu]

i need you to know i've started the blood of youth based on your rec (just finished episode 5 🥹) and 1. it is so much fun 2. how can ONE former prince be SO bitchy, i love him so much??? (i have been liveblogging to a friend and i just call him "xiao bitch" and send photos of the tv where he looks especially beautiful, i have sent a lot of photos) 3. as a person who watches a lot of anime and goes "oh i know that voice actors" it's fun to be at the point in my cdrama experiences that i am starting to be able to hear the different dub actors XD

Oh, thank you for telling me this! It makes me so happy to hear when people start things based on my recs. My little tail is wagging!

My prince is a bitch and I love him so much~

I think this was really the first show I watched where the dub cast wasn't just one or two voices I'd heard before, but a whole slew of them. Xiao Se is Zhou Zishu. Wuxin is Qi Tiezui. Sikong Qianluo is Wen Qing. Tang Lian is Xiao Jingrui. The Emperor is the emperor in, like, everything. My ear for voices isn't great, and even I was like, wait a minute, that monk sounds like Ba Ye! As though I needed another reason to fall instantly in love with that beautiful bald man.

For the rest of you who want to get in on this nonsense, here's the Blood of Youth rec post, which I think makes a pretty fun case for why you should try this out. It's a colorful adventure romp with some loveable (and some hateable!) characters, and it makes me happy.

[la-muerta]

tag game

tagged by @cheetahing 🥰

3 ships you like: Dihua (Mysterious Lotus Casebook), Malec (Shadowhunters), ??? that's all I'm fannish about right now

First ship ever: Ranma/Akane from Ranma Nibun no Ichi lol

Last song you heard: Beijing opera version of 女儿情 by Zhao Yongxin (Shunyao's bandmate from MIC)... to be honest I've been playing it on loop ad nauseam because it's currently stuck in my head lol

Favourite childhood book: definitely the Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper

Currently reading: I've been trying to read 吉祥纹莲花楼 but the characters are different enough that I'm struggling a little to concentrate.

Currently watching: halfway through 念念无明 which is a fun romp so far!

Currently consuming: water

Currently craving: ??? ice lol

No pressure tagging: @greentealycheejelly @demy85 @sfjessii and anyone else who wants to play!

[frauleinandry]

a persona 3 reload review

uuuuuuh so i was meant to post this like... two weeks ago, but then real life hit me in the head like a frying pan. now that i've had the time to edit this though, here are my thoughts on p3re! this is also a minato route review, as i played kotone's in P3P (i know it's not his canon name, but i don't want to use makoto due to P5 confusion).

on the whole, reload is a fantastic game. the gameplay easily rivals P5R, and surpasses it in some aspects. the new content is typically great. i also enjoyed minato as a character (well, as much of a character as persona protagonists are anyway), though that leads me to the main gripe i had with reload...

... and that's the lack of kotone's social links. to be precise, two of her social links, the absence of which greatly hurts the overall story.

don't get me wrong, i'd still rank reload a solid 8/10, but it could have been a 10/10 with the addition of those two links (plus one other spoiler thing), and I think that's a shame.

my in depth analysis is under the cut - note, it's very much not spoiler free.

okay, so, i'm gonna split this into 3.5 segments - the good, the mixed, and the bad (you'll find out what the 0.5 is later).

1. the good:

minato - while i'm still a kotone girlie at heart, he's not a bad protagonist at all! his dialogue options have a very distinct personality to them unlike joker and yu, and his character arc is one of the best of all of the persona main leads. an aloof, apathetic boy who learns to love the world/his friends so much he's willing to die for them... it's good!

koromaru - minor, but worth mentioning. you can pat him, and it's so cute. in fact, everything about him is perfect. from his all-out attack screen, to his animations, to... well, everything. no joke, if I needed to sell this game to a non-persona fan, i'd use him as the main draw.

hangout events - while I think being able to chat to everyone in the dorm already made SEES one of the more developed casts, having additional scenes really helped flesh out the party members who are less prominent in the plot (fuuka, pre-january aigis, ken). more things to do at night is also great, given there was nothing to do in the evening after maxing your social stats in the older versions. the perks they give you are great too, but i'll talk about that more later.

voice acting - not gonna lie, i generally don't like the persona dubs, and normally always play with the JP audio. given reload features some of my favourite voice actors though and was basically fully voiced, i decided to give it a chance this time. and i don't regret it! while some actors are definitely stronger than others, none of them were actively jarring, and quite frankly, they hard carried a lot of the social links. kudos to the cast!

strega - while they could have gone a bit further with it (jin needed a linked episode for sure), takaya finally got the development he sorely needed, and his and jin's final battles were actually interesting, instead of being annoying distractions from nyx. in fact, i'd say takaya's new content is easily the best of the new reload exclusive material. in portable, he made no impression on me whatsoever, but now, he finally gets to be the anti!minato he deserves to be.

1.5. the tartarus (aka good part 2, electric boogaloo):

i have so many things to gush about in terms of the new combat/exploration system, i decided it needed its own section! the glow-up tartarus got was massive. i was pretty disappointed when i heard they were keeping it randomly generated, but somehow, atlus pulled it off! i'll talk about individual things below.

collectables/monad doors - one issue with OG tartarus is that it's monotonous. breakable collectables make it much more entertaining to romp through though, as smashing things is Fun. the monad doors interspersed throughout are another good addition - if you want a break from roaming, you can challenge them, but if not, that's fine!

floor layout - another thing that makes tartatus more fresh to explore is that the HD graphics really make the differences between the blocks pop out. the generally smaller floors with more unique layouts really helps too.

shifting - it's baton pass, though without the ridiculous power/sp bonuses that made baton pass a little bit too gamebreaking in persona 5. in other words, perfect!

theurgy - out of all the battle-specific improvements, theurgy and the personality traits have got to be my favourites. showtimes were fun, but too random/gimmicky to be that useful, and ultimate skills tended to fluctuate between being absolutely gamebreaking or too SP intensive to be worth using. blending them into one feature with a content-specific gauge fixes all the problems with them while keeping everything that made showtimes/ultimate skills good.

ambush mechanics - this was one of the things i was most worried about before playing reload. ambushing in P5 is fun, but ambushing in the other persona games...? not so much. reload manages to fix this though by making the shadows less sensitive, which makes the early game a lot better, and but introducing dash-ambushes once the floors get bigger. if the persona 6 ambush system works like this, i'll be happy.

navigator skills - fuuka being retooled to work more like a playable character was an A+++ decision. making her skills player-activated but with an SP cost is so much more immersive than randomly getting a stat boost/enemy info.

unfortunately, while i think most of the tartarus additions were great, there were a few new mechanics which weren't... dreadful, per say, but could have been implemented better.

great clocks - they're better than nothing, but quite frankly, i would have preferred it if benched units got 50% exp instead. they incentivise you to drop two units for a period of time, which is annoying, given i want to use everyone on my first playthrough. late game, great clocks are also a pain to summon, for reasons i'll talk about below.

twilight fragments - i think they're a neat idea in theory, but they need to be easier/more reliable to farm. once you finish off the bulk of your social links/elizabeth's requests, replenishing them becomes a nightmare, which is annoying because you need them for great clocks.

2. the mixed:

while reload did a lot of things right, as per above, there were some things that didn't quite hit the mark.

linked episodes - i'm gonna be blunt. anyone who thinks these are better than social links is smoking something. one thing i like about party member social links is that it gives them a subplot outside of the main story, focusing more on their mundane struggles as opposed to their supernatural ones. half of the linked episodes just develop the main plot more though (and really should have just been included in it), meaning the linked episode exclusive subplots are underbaked.

another problem is that some of the linked episodes are just... kinda badly written. ryoji's completely lacks his existential dread, akihiko's comes off as a poor attempt to make his arena behaviour less OOC, while shinjiro's... it feels like persona 5 writing, in the worst way possible. it's like atlus completely forgot that subtext is a thing that's Good, actually.

while I have been fairly critical of them so far though, there are a couple of linked episodes i liked. koromaru's actually worked with the format, given he's a dog, but the real winner here was takaya. i loved all of his. if linked episodes appear again, i'd rather they be locked to antagonists like him.

art direction- i'll say right now - the UI is fabulous, the model shaders are great, and tartarus looks fantastic. the environmental design on the whole though is a bit iffy - a lot of the environments didn't translate to the super HD very well, and the lighting sucks in general. i needed to turn down the brightness it was so eye-searing. the animation of the 2D cutscenes is also pretty mediocre, and while the 3D cutscenes tend to look better, they're held back by some of the character models looking a bit goofy (mitsuru's is probably the biggest offender). i also think they were too scared of making the sprites 'ugly', and therefore on the whole they're slightly less emotive than the ones in the older versions of the game, which is a pity.

3. the bad:

minato's social links - the vast majority of the minato-exclusive social links are just flat-out not great. serious props to the voice actors here, since they hard carried them. quite frankly, they're just... bland, except for maya's and suemitsu's, which. uh. have problems. on the topic of social links, while i'm happy the romance isn't mandatory anymore, i don't like how half the girls explicitly confess to you. i much prefer the more subtle vibes of the P5/P4 romantic options, as yeah, most of them can lead naturally into romance, but they don't make the MC feel like a harem anime protagonist (derogatory). it kinda brings to mind this twitter post; sometimes, subtlety is simply better.

the absence of shinji and ryoji's social links - i can live without saori, rio, and most of the new and improved SEES member social links, but this is where i draw the line. while shinji dying is better storytelling, just like with chidori, having the option to save him is also important. lock it behind new game plus, yes... but keep it. also, him priming kotone to support akihiko one he's gone is far better than him just flat-out telling minato that he's dying. ryoji's missing social link though is infinitely worse. where is his slowly mounting horror as he starts poking holes in his backstory? his desperation to validate that he's actually real? that he exists?! like yeah, it's nice that the linked episode doubled down on his bisexuality, but i'd rather keep the psychological breakdown aspects of it, y'know?

the difficulty - i started playing reload normal - the level i'd typically use for a blind run of a persona game - aaaaand swapped to hard the second i unlocked theurgy. even then though, the game was a cakewalk until january hit. while i love theurgy, the game is absolutely not scaled around it, especially since you can charge/concentrate them. doing that, you can easily rack up thousands of damage without even going ham with fusion. unfortunately, reload is just... really easy.

the plot's too faithful to the original - while reload added new content, it pretty much left the story untouched outside of the beach scene. that's... not good, as persona 3's narrative had some pretty big problems. the biggest issue is the unchanged pacing - the strega storyline really needed to start a month earlier, and ryoji needed an extra month to integrate with the characters due to his lack of social link. this is one of the things i'm explicitly docking a point for - reload still doesn't kick off until the yakushima arc, which is well over a third into the game.

despite my criticisms, i do want to note that my experience with reload was predominately positive. it's (extremely) sad that you still need to play portable to experience the full persona 3 story, but p3re is still a fantastic game, and has a lot of gameplay features i'd be delighted to see in persona 6.

that's all i've got to say for now - until next time!

[ladyloveandjustice]

My Top Seven Anime I Watched in 2022

Here are the best of the best, alongside a few bonus good, good anime. Please note that I’m only including premieres I actually watched in 2022, and there are a few ones I haven’t gotten to yet. I only started watching Bocchi the Rock! this month (and I’m enjoying it) and I’ve heard good things about Raven of the Inner Palace, so I’m planning on checking that out.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury

Suletta Mercury arrives at her new school with a mech named Aerial and a checklist of friendship milestones she wants to achieve after being homeschooled for years- only to immediately get involved in giant robot duels and engaged to a prickly heiress. Unbeknownst to Suletta, she’s a tool in her mother’s revenge scheme against the terrible corporation that destroyed their family, and things will only get more complicated. Sometimes a fun romp, sometimes an action-filled thriller, and saving its best twist for the very end, this might just be the anime of the year for me. The romance between the two girls at the heart of the series always has you rooting for it, it introduces you to some great kids (and a ton of cool ladies) and as a bonus, it’s wonderfully inclusive. The only think holding me back is the fact it’s not over yet! I’m praying the second season keeps up the good work.

Read my full review here.

Spy x Family

The smash hit about a spy dad, assassin mom, and telepath child who all form a ‘fake’ family- but will they develop real familial feelings? Cute, funny, nicely animated and full of wacky fights and missions, it needs no introduction. It’s just a good time! The second season isn’t quite as strong as the first, but it’s fun to watch throughout and there’s more good material coming!

Read my full reviews here and here.

Akiba Maid War

A fun genre mashup that depicts early 2000’s maid cafes engaged in violent battles over territory (similar to yakuza movies). Features a lot of outrageous comedy and the world’s most loveable terrifying murder maid in Ranko. One of my favorites of the year.

Read my full review here.

Kaguya-sama: Love is War Season 3

The romantic comedy offers some slick animation and bombastic humor as always, while featuring some truly satisfying relationship development.

Read my full review here.

Mob Psycho 100 Season 3

The final season of one of the best anime of the last decade, it offers a perfect resolution to the offbeat relationship of young psychic Mob and his con-man mentor Reigen, while making a strong final statement on the series’ themes of power, identity, self-acceptance and deception.

Read my full review here.

The Executioner and Her Way of Life

In Menou’s world, kids dropping in from Japan and gaining incredible superpowers is a common occurrence. This rarely ends well, so it’s Menou’s job to murder these teens before they can become threats. But her latest target, Akari, has powers that make her unkillable- and she has feelings for Menou! What’s an assassin to do? A darker take on the isekai formula, the show is uneven in parts, but it’s a fun ride and most importantly, full of flawed, murderous women getting in cool fights and having romantic attention for each other. I gotta love it. The world has a ton of potential, so I hope this yuri action romp will get a follow up someday.

Read my full review here.

Birdie Wing: Golf Girls’ Story

A tough teenager is embroiled in an illegal golf ring run by the mafia- you heard me- and while navigating ridiculous obstacles and dirty tactics, she becomes smitten with a rival Japanese golfer named Aoi and wants nothing more than to see her again…

I debated on whether to include this because the second season is really going to dictate how I feel about it, but it made a hell of an impression, so I had to. After all, in the first episode alone, Eve hits a golf ball through a moving train while up against someone in a clown mask. A gloriously stupid and ludicrous take on golf that only anime could do, Birdie Wing makes the most of its low budget to give a unforgettable experience. Just please don’t do a “Eve and Aoi are secretly sisters” twist in Season 2.

Read my full review here.

Bonus anime I really enjoyed:

Aharen-san wa Hakaranai (Aharen is Impossible to Understand) is a very adorable, funny anime about two ridiculous kids finding each other and has a nice trans-positive treatment of one character,

 Shikimori’s not Just a Cutie (review here) is a cute anime about a soft-hearted boy and a very cool girl who date,

Ya Boy Kongming! is an anime about famous military strategist from the Three Kingdoms era suddenly finding himself in modern Japan. He comes across a talented but unknown singer and decided to put his gift for strategy to use in managing her singing career and helping her to the top. This is just plain fun, and has a really sweet (and shippable) female friendship at it’s core by the end.

And finally, Sasaki and Miyano (review here) is a slow paced but sweet romance between two boys.

[bluntforcefem]

hiiii atti! do you perhaps recs for good videos or seasons to watch for etho content maybe

i do!! i have always been a bigger fan of his solo / team canada content though so unfortunately i will not be much help in the hermitcraft department BUT. i will do my best

obligatory "etho's decked out runs are incredibly impressive and entertaining" post. episodes 14-20 of his hermitcraft s9 (they all have the phase names) are just a blast

hermitcraft s8e3 is also fun. he builds a moss farm

his most recent solo world tour episode is from around 3 years back, episode 550, and it's a really good video to watch if you want a taste of what his let's play is like + the kind of projects he works on in it. also it's fun & i revisit it a lot

sky factory 2.5 & captive minecraft 4 are both extremely fun team canada romps if you want some goofy bullshit! captive minecraft 4 is... much shorter albeit i'm not ENTIRELY sure they ever finished the map

the first five & very last episode of project ozone 2 are delightful for very different reasons

(note: tumblr decided to delete the links off the last two points because it hates me but they are VERY easily findable playlists on etho's channel)

lastly: i've heard really good things abt etho's double life series in particular AND secret life, but my deepest secret is that i haven't actually watched any of them yet. passing on the recommendation from the ethogirls i follow

[agentnico]

The Instigators (2024) review

Just a regular day in Boston.

Plot: Rory and Cobby are unlikely partners thrown together for a heist. However, when it goes awry, they team up to outrun police, backward bureaucrats, and a vengeful crime boss.

I feel kind of sorry for director Doug Liman. Guy was screwed by Amazon who promised to give his Road House remake earlier this year a theatrical release only to dump it straight to Prime Video to the director’s dismay, and now he’s had the same treatment again twice in a row courtesy of Apple TV+ with The Instigators. Dude must be fuming! That being said, from what I’ve heard about Road House, it sounded like that was a fun action flick. Same can’t be said for The Instigators, as this definitely feels like a straight-to-streaming release.

That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of talent behind and front of camera. As aforementioned, Doug Liman directs (by the way if you haven’t seen his film American Made with Tom Cruise, do yourself a favour, just saying), and we have the good will of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as producers, and then Damon again and Casey Affleck (who wrote the script) leading this Boston buddy action romp. Look, on its own merit The Instigators is a perfectly watchable ridiculous heist movie, with some semi-decent action sequences, a charming comedic energy from its two leads and a surprisingly stacked cast. I’m not even kidding, we have appearances from Hong Chau, Alfred Molina, Michael Stuhlbarg, Toby Jones, Paul Walter Hauser, Ving Rhames and Ron Perlman! Evidently the Affleck’s called in a heck of a lot of favours, as this set gives the Deadpool & Wolverine cameos a run for their money! I do admit though that most of the cast are wasted and appear for maybe a scene or two if that, so most of them were in all likelihood there for an easy pay-check. And I don’t blame them - Apple has a lot of money that it evidently doesn’t know what to do with.

The issue with The Instigators is simply how normal it is. This is the most generic by-the-numbers heist-gone-wrong film you can possibly imagine, with lazy jokes, uninspired set pieces and the whole thing feels so repetitive as we’ve seen it before. It’s such a shame as again, one naturally goes into this with a certain level of expectation due to the talent involved, but the end product is nothing more than a shoulder shrugger. I didn’t even think Matt Damon did that well - his line delivery felt lazy and he looked bored throughout. Casey Affleck is a bit more fun and probably is the reason for some of the laughs. I guess we’re so accustomed to him playing serious roles that it’s nice to see him relaxed and spread his comedic chops a little.

Though they have been killing in the television medium, Apple have struggled with their original films, as aside from Martin Scorsese’s The Killers of the Flower Moon, and I also have a soft-spot for that Tetris movie as for some reason tetrominos are my jam, but aside from those the movies from Apple haven’t really struck a spark. Shame really. Oh well, they’ve still given us Ted Lasso so can’t hate on them too much now.

Overall score: 3/10

[lowkeyed1]

11, 15, 22, 28

Velvet Fist, Iron Glove

or the full Q&A if you want 😉

ooh... thanks for the ask <3 Velvet Fist, Iron Glove is my take on a Willow 2022 AU where the Gales never came the night before the wedding and Kit and Graydon had to go through with it... but the secret Graydon is harboring is a little different, too: he's a trans man. It evolved from exploring Kit and Graydon finding they had more in common than they thought and developing a relationship to involving Jade... and Boorman... and Airk now as well. It's a WIP, so I'm not done growing the Greater Tir Asleen Polycule yet! Not to mention it's developed something of a plot involving Zivian's evil doings and machinations, a kidnapping, the Elora Danan reveal, all kinds of fun stuff... 11. What was the most challenging aspect of writing it? I think the biggest challenge is similar to polyamory in real life! It's hard to have so many relationships going on and give them all the time and depth they deserve. Plus since I'm jumping POV a lot I really have to delve into the feelings of each person about everything that's going on and make sure it all feels grounded and true to them and the situations. 15. Talk about the characters’ struggles & how you decided on those. Hm. Well, for Kit I felt like her struggle to be seen and heard for herself was similar to Graydon's. It seemed to me that if they had a chance to get to know each other, they would realize that and be mutually supportive, and grow together. Onward from that, it seemed to me that Kit's desire to be in control and be seen as valuable would lead to her discovering a predilection for domming; meanwhile given Graydon's more constrained mien in his family he would find some relief in letting go of control. Of course, things evolve... as Kit begins to feel safer and more secure she finds she can give up a little control, and as Graydon sees that need in her he can take control at times because he sees how much she needs a break. Kit still tends to struggle in areas where she can't control things and that manifests in moods and outbursts. Graydon struggles with his father's machinations and his own ever-present horniness, lol. I can't say I really consciously decided on most of that, it just felt like it came organically as a result of studying their canonical characterization. I'm operating on vibes here, baby! 22. What is something you learned about yourself as a writer from the experience? Hoo boy. You would ask that one, lol. What have I learned from writing a vast pornographic romp about domination, submission, coercion, humiliation, and edging? ....Things. We shall say I have learned things about myself for sure, lol. I also learned that even if I don't really know where the plot is going, if I start writing something will happen anyway and it's usually fine. It's given me more confidence to just pick a direction and go -- usually what hangs me up is having too many choices and possibilities and knowing when I pick one that limits or cuts off the rest. But I can always write another story with the path not taken :) 28. Write a new summary for the fic, but badly. "Graydon Does Tir Asleen: You Won't Believe The Things That Make This Boy Horny" I really need to get back to writing this one... Now that I've talked about it I miss it T_T I don't think I'm gonna do the whole QnA but bonus: 19. While editing, did you kill any darlings? What were they? My first take on the scene where Graydon admits he's attracted to Boorman really cracked me up, but it didn't fit with how I eventually decided it should go. I've always been a little sad it had to be cut so I'm delighted to share it now: -----

"Kit. I'm in trouble. I think I have a crush on Thraxus." "....Your squire?" she looked at him, her eyebrows raised. He stopped, completely thrown off his next sentence. "Yes, my squire. Are there a lot of guys named Thraxus in Tir Asleen? Because I had the impression it was an uncommon name." "No, no... he's the only one. It's just..." "What?" "Well, when you said you liked boys I thought you meant, you know. Boys like you." "...I don't think there are a lot of boys like me in Tir Asleen, either." "No, idiot. I mean, like... softer boys."

[deb79ful]

Have you heard of OBAKEIDORO? It's a neat little game on both Switch and Steam, with one player being the monster trying to capture 3 human players before time runs out. (Don't worry, the monsters don't intend to hurt them... supposedly.) It's currently celebrating its 4th anniversary!

Me and my friends got introduced to this game when it was available for a Nintendo Switch game trial, and after it was over we liked the game so much that we decided to buy it and keep playing. Even with the three of us needing a CPU to fill the final human slot, it's stupid fun to just romp around and try and outwit each other.

In case you're curious as to who the characters in the pictures are, look below.

Alex: One of two starting humans, the other being his sister Alisa. He's even-tempered, and his favorite book is "Punishments Around the World."

Patches: The starting monster, a cemetery-dwelling ghost with a fondness for jumping out of walls and making children scream.

Sharlie: A cat working as a shop clerk. Although only hired to help out, he plots to take the owner's place (The owner being the one behind the game of OBAKEIDORO in the first place).

Baphomeeko: A demon child who loves books, and sneakily borrowed a book on magic from the library. Her dream is to become a mighty demon like her dad.

Googly: The first 'human' you'll likely unlock, and Alisa's favorite toy. He jumps at the slightest sound, but will face any monster to defend the twins he belongs to.

Sharlie's a purchasable 'human', while Baphomeeko's locked behind an event, but she isn't too hard to unlock when her event does come around. Naturally, there's lots more in the game right now than just these five, and if you want to try the game yourself it's currently on sale on Switch for 50% off! Not sponsored, but it is a fun little game to open on a lazy afternoon.

[jackwolfes]

14, 19, and 20 for the fanfic ask game <3

[Q's] thanks friend 🥰

14. (For authors) Post a line of dialogue from one of your WIPs without context.

Quietly, Wylan laughs. “I snuck out. I’m meant to be practising the flute.”

Jesper lifts an eyebrow. “You play the flute.”

“Quite well.”

“Just quite well? No wonder you aren’t married yet. I hear it’s only the very best flutists—”

“Flautists.”

“— that catch the finest Ladies’ eyes.”

Wylan snorts. “Ghezen, I must be trying too hard. How bad do I have to play to put them off?”

19. What’s your favorite character headcanon?

Idk if this is a headcanon but I really like the idea of the "sweaty romp with a tutor" having been a rumour about Alys, not Wylan (which is pretty heavily implied anyway) BUT Wylan also having fucked around with a tutor??? And it coming out that there's this rumour and him being like "oh god oh no I thought no one knew" and when someone asks if he really did sleep with bajan Wylan's like. "What.". (And tied to that I also love "secretly has only kissed one person barely with tongue" Jesper, who has markedly less experience than he says he does)

20. Do you have a favorite fanfic or author? If so, tag them/post a link and share the love!

HELLO HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE ROADTRIP FIC YET

It's by an anon author so sadly cannot tag them in but the concept is, trans Wylan with a teen pregnancy and Jesper driving him across the country to help. It's ongoing and just. God. It's beautifully written, it's devastatingly emotional, it's so FUN and so INTRIGUING and I adore it! So much!

Also honourable mention to this pynch fic by vesna about cabeswater giving Adam a psychic link to Ronan's horny horny thoughts

[shejustcalledmeafish]

hiii have you listened to the recent big finish Torchwood dramas with Owen in them? thinking of getting back into them and i'm an owen girlie but they're kind of expensive so i was hoping to get an opinion before i shelled out!

Oh ho ho Owenpinions time (thank u for asking) luckily for you I’m behind on audios but not so behind that I haven’t heard all the Owen audios (there actually hasn’t been a new Owen audio since 2021 damn, burn too good for bf /lh)

Anyway I will just give my quick and dirty thoughts on them all because why not, I know you said recent ones but fuck it

Corpse Day: the first of the audios with Andy, super fucked up so definitely check a trigger list before listening (the Torchwood eu site is great for that) but it’s really good!

The Last Beacon: BEST REALLY GOOD SUPER RECOMMEND, it’s relatively light-hearted and is just an excellent character piece for both Ianto and Owen

The Hope: with Andy again, creepy but not as bad as corpse day, honestly a lot of the details escape me, but the general vibes are really good, a solid listen

Iceberg: his first solo, lovely, goes into some of his doctor history and has a good monster and supporting character, I did quite like it

The Three Monkeys: it’s misleading to call this a romcom with Andy but only a little bit, definitely his lightest audio, very fun romp

Lease of Life: another solo, bangs, more mold from bf, spooky again but like good spooky of course, I really liked the ending

Gooseberry: okay. Fourth one with Andy. Pretty good but also depending how invested you are in owandy, might fuck you up. I still recommend because I actually like the choices made in the ending (everyone else is waiting for goss to fix it lmao)

Believe: don’t do it for Owen, his sections are boring at best and squicky at worst

TLDR: all his monthlies are genuinely some of the most good and solid audios, don’t bother with believe

I know this doesn’t really help you narrow it down lmao I realize that I rated them all quite affectionately (hilarious considering Owen is actually my least favorite of the main team)

Anyway, thanks for asking, please feel free to ask any follow up questions, this was fun :3