#i need more good recs to give

[cheddar-baby]

Hi there cheery baby, I've read Barthes & Sontag's books on photography. Any suggestions on who I should read next?

What Do Pictures Want? The Lives and Loves of Images by W. J. T. Mitchell

Criticizing Photographs: An Introduction to Understanding Images by Terry Barrett

Not specifically photo theory but

The Queer Art of Failure

by Jack Halberstam

I havent made it through this one yet fully cause it was a tough read but what i have read and parsed was really good stuff

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. By Walter Benjamin

[muffinlance]

Hey fic rec time! I didn't do these often so you KNOW it's good

If you like Star Wars and Mandos and falling in love with character dynamics you'll never be able to find again because OP just smooshed together things that never existed before

May I introduce you to:

Mando'jekai jedi by Anonymous

Yes Anonymous come out here OP so I can put you in a little jar and provide you optimal writing enrichment and maybe shake you a little to see how you work

Author Summary:

Feemor saves a random Mandalorian and earns himself the position of Jedi watchman for the sector. Now if only the mandos would stop hunting him so that he can investigate this terrorist cell in peace.

Jaster really wants to talk to the jedi who slapped the darksaber into his hands before running off. Now if only the haat'ade could track him down.

My Summary:

Feemor Gives Mandalorians a Life-Changing Field Trip (No They Cannot Exit This Ride): The Fic

The writing is so smooth the humor is HIGH-LARIOUS the angst is wrapped up in the humor which is wrapped up in outsider POV

It's like you went to Fic Restaurant and the waiter slapped the menu out of your hand and said "I've got the good shit" and you were too terrified to protest that actually you were just here for a little hurt/comfort fix-it fic but when they came back

Oh damn

Oh that is the good shit

Anyway click this it's the good shit

[winteriron-trash]

rdj the (whitewashed) electric boogaloo

This is a reminder to everyone who's excited about RDJ's casting as Doctor Doom that this casting is whitewashing. Victor Von Doom is a Romani character and has been a Romani character since his introduction in the 1960s. (Fantastic Four Annual #2 [1964]) Not only that, but his Roma identity and the persecution he and his family faced due to it is integral to his character, it is what forms his identity. (Books of Doom by Ed Brubaker) Even if on the off chance this casting is meant to not be Victor but instead be some variant of Tony or whomever else becoming Doctor Doom, it is damaging to the character to rob him of that important cultural background. Doctor Doom does not exist without that history. Fans have been pushing hard to cast Doom as a Romani actor for years, especially since the MCU has whitewashed other Romani characters. (Wanda, Pietro, etc) This casting is not a celebration moment, it's fucking heartbreaking that the MCU repeatedly ignores the important and nuanced cultural backstories of characters.

I know I can't change anybody's mind on whether or not you want to be excited about RDJ's return to the MCU. But I do think at the very least you should be mad that the MCU is baiting us all and destroying nuanced and interesting characters for the sake of self-referential easter eggs and nostalgia bait. Because that's what it is. Feel how you'd like to feel about RDJ's return, but personally, this is soul-sucking. I had such a deep love for the MCU as a teenager, it was obviously something incredibly formative to me, especially Tony Stark. This isn't recreating what I fell in love with the MCU for. This is turning a well-planned and artistic storyline of adaptations into cheap cash grabs and fan service. Because, I think we're past the point of being able to call the MCU an adaptation of anything. They can use existing characters' names and powers, but to say they're being properly adapted is laughable.

This is not an adaptation of Doctor Doom. This is RDJ the Electric Boogaloo because Marvel's fear of losing the interest of dedicated MCU fans overrides their willingness to tell stories that are genuine to the characters. I don't know what there is to be excited about that. The MCU has lost its authenticity and aside from a few projects, feels heartless. Every movie is a copy of a copy. This announcement isn't something celebratory, it feels like a death knell of a cinematic universe that's so desperate to cling to relevancy it's resorting to nostalgia for a character/actor who hasn't even been dead for a decade. We're not getting anything new, we're just rinsing and repeating the same song and dance.

I get it. I love Tony Stark, his death destroyed me and I to this day, rue the ending he got in Endgame. It misunderstood his arc and it robbed him of a satisfying conclusion. But the solution to that isn't dragging the corpse out of the grave five years later to whitewash an existing character with rich and interesting nuance, just to forcibly tie his existence in the MCU to Tony. Whether he is a variant or not. Why would you want someone else's fave's legacy to be destroyed simply so your fave's legacy can go on? Hell, if we were really all so hellbent on the return of RDJ and/or Tony to the MCU, we have the multiverse for a reason. There were other ways to do it that didn't whitewash and ruin someone else. This just. Isn't something to be happy about.

[c1trvswurld]

The type of radioactive yeehan I need doesn't exist on ao3 I'm so doomed

[purplecatghostposts]

i'm asking a few people, do you have any tmnt fanfic recs for short stories? like 5000 words or less? i love to read turtle fics but my attention span is pretty low. thank you so much if you do and even if you don't!

I absolutely have some, yeah!! Wasn’t sure what iteration you wanted so I went for a mix of ROTTMNT and TMNT2012, but if you want anything from the 2007 movie, 2003 show, or the Bayverse movies, just ask and I can grab those as well!

The Disappearance of Donatello’s Eyebrow By Monobrobe- ROTTMNT, just under 900 words! A short, silly story of the brothers being brothers! Donnie losing his mind is very funny-

You And The End Of The World By Catatonicatnap- ROTTMNT Movie, this one has a couple character studies, all under 2k! Written in second person and very well done!

And I Appreciate How You Raised Me By Moogsthewriter- TMNT 2012, Mikey wants to give Leo a card for Mother’s Day and gets a little help in doing it! Veryyyy sweet! 1.2k words!

December 13th: There Is A Place For You Here By Angelmichelangelo- TMNT 2012, Splinter learns to care for four baby turtles! So so SO sweet, I love them a lot!! Just over 2k words!

Swept Away By Chaos_Breeds- ROTTMNT, April and Donnie get into a bad spot when the sewer floods but it pays for your best friend to be an aquatic turtle! Excellent Hurt/Comfort and a great look into their friendship!! Just under 2k words!

An Act Of Yokai Kindness By BiographyDivider- ROTTMNT, Splinter takes the Turtle Tots to the Library! Splinter’s struggle in parenting four kids alone and the kindness of the librarian is so <3333!!! Love this fic! 2.8k words!

Recording (A Reminder Of What We Almost Lost) By Starlight_Artemis- ROTTMNT Movie, Donnie hears a recording of what went down in the Prison Dimension. Short and sweet Hurt/Comfort!! Leo gets a hug <3 900 words!

Family We Choose By Taizi- TMNT 2012, Casey and Mikey get into a tight spot but they got family so they’re gonna be okay. Loveeee the characterization in this one, plus some good ol’ Casey & Mikey friendship!! 2.5k words!

Sometimes I Can Still Hear His Voice By Catatonicatnap- ROTTMNT Movie, Casey, April, and Splinter call the turtles but haven’t realized Leo is okay yet. Honestly one of my favorite ROTTMNT fics in general, it’s canon in my heart <3 2.3k words!

Calling An Uber After The Apocalypse By MagicalSpaceDragon- ROTTMNT Movie, the boys need a ride back home so they call an Uber. Both silly and sweet <3 600 words!

So If Chocolate Is Bad For Dogs Does That Mean It’s Bad For The Mad Dogs (And Other Questions About What Turtles Can Eat) By Catatonicatnap- ROTTMNT, April brings some chocolate for the boys to enjoy only for all of them to stop and think about whether or not they can eat it. Absolutely FANTASTIC dynamics and a great fic! 2.8k words!

Let You Down By Windify- TMNT 2012, Leo tells his brothers what he saw while on the Fear Spores. Delightful Hurt/Comfort and heals my heart <3 2k words!

Anddd that’s what I got for now! There’s probably some others but these are the ones I remember enjoying the most! Hope you find some you like, happy reading!!

[sharknark]

⬇️rant about a really good hengren (reverse renheng) fic i read. link at the bottom give it a whirl

i've never read a fic so well-catered to my tastes before in my life and the best part is that i was so caught off guard by how good it was cuz the tags and summary had me like "right this is some omegaverse-esque, rawr XD mating shit"

but from the very first paragraph i realized it wasn't just ao3-typical possessive mating shit it was (dare i say) IN CHARACTER possessive mating shit. underappreciated dan feng lore is the two hearts shit, duty expects him to smother his own empathy and perform cruelty obediently (and that being in his dragon form literally numbs his empathy towards mortals) but then it's flipped around and he's criticized for being too heartless

there aren't a great many english fics that take advantage of the 'numbed empathy' thing, so this fic using that to explore the toxic codependency that drove dan feng to making yingxing immortal in the first place is so!

dan feng's dragon heart prioritizing it's own indulgence and power, his human heart screaming against it for empathy and restraint, but both hearts united in this possessive adoration of yingxing... dan feng is possessive to the point of harming his partner, forcing them to take his affection, inherently contradictive to the protective impulse to see the other unhurt.

dan feng makes yingxing immortal in a really sketchy operation, despite knowing that yingxing is literally defined by his pride in being a short-life. he wants yingxing to be with him so badly that he does the one thing that would hurt yingxing the most, too blinded by possession, this sickly overbearing affection, to empathetically respect yingxing's death.

yingxing lived cramming every second he could into his craft and his goals precisely because he has so much less time than all the immortal species around him, but when he's forced into immortality, his hands are scarred and ruined past the point of ever crafting again. he suddenly has so much time, all this time he would've cherished as a mortal, but is totally useless to him now that his purpose for living and passion is gone.

so there being a scene in this fic where dan feng is moping "yingxing doesn't wanna fuck because he's glued to his workshop", being followed up with a scene of dan heng fucking blade while kissing his scarred hand and crying that he's "so sorry", yeah no shit asshole, his dragon heart got what it wanted, blade has all the time in the world to fuck and nothing competing for his now limitless attention and no one's happy about it.

as arrogant about being a short-life as yingxing was, it really is compensation for the discrimination he faced for it. other immortals looked down on him, so having dan feng, THE top dog, be so deeply enamored with him stirred his own toxic codependent urges. he was so desperate to have dan feng's eternal regard that he's willing to die for him (as in the sedition), his death being the force cementing his place in dan feng's heart forever.

so the fic having yingxing ruminate on this, that he had hoped for dan feng to love him even centuries after he inevitably died, only for the fic to end with:

yeah yingxing... you left an impression... he made you immortal.... everyone's upset by this

(that's what makes dan heng forgetting blade was ever yingxing to begin with all the more painful because, you went and turned him immortal and when it backfired horrifically you went on and fucking forgot, bitch i'd be pissed to the point of centuries long bloody pursuit of vengeance too.)

here's the fic go read it and leave kudos and a comment, technically porn but i got so invested in the character study that part barely registered. also yeah if you hadn't realized already super dead-dove:

blah blah "renheng is toxic" sorry that's why i like it

[gravesung]

feeling a little bit weird and lonely tonight @_@ catch me on disco if u need me! ✌🏼

[bookwyrminspiration]

Do you have any recommendations for books that are similar to acod?

Unfortunately, not really. I and others are on the hunt for them, though!

Primary one so far is The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir--the style of "fuck you knowing who the hell the mc/narrator is is a privilege not a right" is strong there. Similar in how drastically different events/understanding is at the beginning vs the end. Delightful science fantasy story. like acod you WILL be confused

On a related note: this is a list of books similar to TLT, so by extension you may find something there worth reading/similar to acod?

And I have yet to read him for myself, so this might be off, but I've heard good things about Ken Liu's books? About the plot and character complexity. Personally have been meaning to start the Dandelion Dynasty

Also if you're willing to branch out of books, I know I rec it a lot, but Black Sails (to me) has a similar vibe. It's not fantasy, but the layers to every action, the secrecy, the reveals, the character depth and how everyone overlaps and clashes with each other. Very compelling

I wish I could give you more! since acod i've been wanting to find more like it, but it is a process--we will get there, though!

[hella1975]

just watched liverleaf! i will never be the same

[theokusgallery]

Since you have a lot of opinions about Sunflower fics, do you have any recommendations :p? I do generally agree with you about the derth of good works on them - kind of hoping for something I've maybe slept on.

Okay, I'll try,

First of all — I want everyone, and I mean everyone to read Coda for a Crestfallen Caitiff by MercuriallyApathetic, who also wrote The Strange Summer of Sunny Whatshisface (still one of my favorite longfics to this day but a lot more lighthearted). Coda is a masterpiece, it makes me insane, it is criminally underrated, I want to inhale its essence, and when I first read it it gave me a panic attack and a mental breakdown that lasted three straight days (/pos). Definitely read the tags and prepare yourself mentally but JESUS CHRIST I need everyone to read it. Please. You will regret it for a few hours but it is... an experience. To me at least. And to the two people I recommended it to who gave me feedback.

Then there's sunflower seeds in the rearview mirror by @andrewwtca which remains probably my favorite multichapter OMORI fic of all time (you might spot my essay-comments in the later chapters, I love this fic so much. I didn't end up writing one for the last chapter but man did it hit me hard). Very intriguing with a captivating style and an unreliable narrator mechanic that I am absolutely in love with. Everything by that author is excellent.

We have, of course, literally everything by BetweenDisorders. Arsenic is partly inspired by one of their fics ! (you know the one.) Their characterization of both Sunny and Basil (but especially Basil, because I'm gay) makes me froth at the mouth. Their style is very recognizable and honestly one of the best I've ever seen. But more generally, they have really original and intriguing ideas (like communication, in which Basil and Sunny are two computers... Did I mention how I'm a sucker for original/unique plots and premises enough yet) and everything they do is something you've never seen before. It's amazing.

Note to Self: Don't Be Gay in Faraway Town by witheredahlia is also very, very good. It's a lot lighter, but it still made my gay little heart ache, because I'm a sucker for misunderstandings done correctly (fight me).

Detective Sunny by Det_Sun is genuinely one of the most creative, fascinating OMORI fics I've seen, and also way too underrated. It's an excellent read, and there's a bunch of ideas in it that you know go deeper than what is shown, and it makes my brain go at the speed of lights. Many many thoughts about this one. (Side note: I fucking love it when there's unexplored ideas in fics. Makes my brain go brrr. Not everything has to be shown and when I see hints of "behind the scene" thoughts and character background that isn't discussed much but still implied, my brain becomes a feral animal. I don't know if that makes sense...)

[graff-aganda]

being weird and obsessive about music is all fun and games until you're the only one being weird and obsessive about the music in question

[kingdomoftyto]

Everyone go buy A Glitch in Time right this very second or I swear to GOD

[shit-zu]

I need a fantasy book about a 30 year old with rich as hell lore. I need the world building to be so detailed that I have to check the wiki to even attempt to understand it. I’m tired of these YA novels that have the kind of lore and world building I want but then deliver me the same teenager packaged slightly differently every time. I wanna read about a 30 year old sucking and fucking their way through perilous situations. I feel like I don’t even know where to start searching for that

[deluludiaz]

me anytime i find a politically charged 300k+ historical fiction fic of one of my ships

[quevadilla]

damn no one wants them huh

[leightum]

Leighton x Alicia Fic Recs (part 1)

(she might be) the love of my life  Leighton likes their other arrangement that started recently: a private — aside from amongst her roommates ever since they got caught in a very compromising position that included Leighton on her knees in their tiny kitchenette and Alicia sitting on the counter — and consensual form of relief that’s just meant to fill that touch-starved loneliness that began to set in at the end of the first quarter. Honestly, she doesn’t just like it. She loves it. It’s everything she’s been needing. (Or, a friends with benefits au.)

i wanna be your girlfriend “Oh, you have a girlfriend,” Alicia says quietly, the corners of her lips turning up while Leighton’s eyes widen, panic evident. “Yeah— I mean—” she stutters, an unfamiliar uncertainty in her voice. Oddly, she can’t breathe, and every ounce of her usual confidence has melted away, replaced by a strange… fullness that she can only equate to the time she swallowed too much pool water as a kid and her brother fished her out. “I don’t know… Do I?” (Or, the moments after Leighton and Alicia officially become girlfriends.)

the sex lives of alicia and leighton (series) what it says on the tin. a variety of different smut fics for our favorite lesbians &lt;;3.

tough girls on the mend “Yeah,” Leighton says, oddly touched, “I’m trying—I’m not trying to actively hide it anymore—I just—I don’t want it to define me.” “Leighton,” Bela says, hand finding Leighton’s. Leighton braces herself for some sappy both my parents are present in my life shit. But Bela looks straight into her eyes and says, “no matter who you fuck, you will always be defined, first and foremost, as a huge cunt.” __ Leighton comes out. Several times. It's annoying.

it started with a whisper (and that was when I kissed her) The first time she holds Alicia’s hand in public, they run right into all three of her roommates. Bela, Whitney and Kimberly all know, Leighton had told them earlier that week, but it’s still a startling experience, seeing someone she knows while she’s taking such a big step. or Five times Leighton unintentionally comes out, and one time she comes out on purpose.

give it to your sister (your sister’s stronger) Leighton Murray is born two weeks early. She arrives at the tail end of summer, when the days are still long and the sun sits high with its importance, and she spends a week and a half in the NICU due to underdeveloped lungs. They monitor her breath, ready to give her an aid, but she doesn’t need it, making her chest rise and fall all on her own while she learns to open her eyes and grasp tightly onto the end of her blanket. “Sometimes, babies are just resilient,” the nurse explains to Henry and Michelle before they take her home. The point is, Leighton has always been strong. (Or, a Leighton character study.)

you are the one (i have been waiting for) 1. is this the end of all the endings? 2. my broken bones are mending. 3. you fancy me, not fancy stuff. 4. all at once this is enough. (Or, a Leighton and Alicia ficlet told in these four parts.)

Nobody But You What happened after the frat party at the end of Season two? Leighton took Alicia on a date, that’s what. Then they made up. In the back of a car.