#i think i need to reread the comics i miss my best friend :(

[aenhanse]

now more than ever, the people (me) yearn for a college set spider-man show

[illicien]

What drew you to winterbaron as a ship? What kind of content do you read? Is it different from the kind of content you write? Would you like to rec a few winterbaron works? My friend is into the ship and I'm trying to see if it's something I might like but all the fics they've recked me are kind of the same in tone so I'm looking for others opinions for some variety.

Hmm! I've sort of answered some of this in the past so sorry to my moots getting this rehash.

A friend of mine dragged me into WinterBaron (kicking and screaming!!!) rather simply, actually, though what kept me here was the more grand implications of her simple origins. I'm kind of a sucker for a true power bottom, and fanart my friend kept sending me implied the fandom saw Zemo as such, and I was at least a little bit intrigued there. Enough to take a deeper look, at least.

The better discovery wasn't that the fandom had decided he was a power bottom, but that there was a strong push and pull of power in their dynamic. Bucky has all the physical power between them, it's a big thing, he's strong as hell. On the other hand, Zemo is just a guy, and yet despite that Bucky should logically have all the power between them, Zemo's intelligence and knowledge tend to leave him with an edge. That continues to be the fascinating concept about Zemo to me, but that's a different matter.

So for me, it's the manipulation, the push and pull of power, it's Bucky trying to break free of being the Winter Soldier and Zemo trying to decide if Bucky's just like every other super soldier. But it's also about understanding that Zemo knows Bucky in ways most people alive don't. He knows and understands Bucky's history as the Winter Soldier both through his research, and as a man who did horrific things on behalf of his country. And that thought can sometimes lead to softer moments of understanding, I think, that can be enjoyable in fic.

As for content I read vs write: I generally gravitate towards dark fic with these two, though there's plenty of really good stuff that isn't. There are some excellent explorations of kink in the fandom for them which is refreshing. I don't really write them as dark as I read them, since I enjoy writing the power dynamics more than the overt manipulation, but if you're looking for more tonal variety I'm sure I can make some recommendations! (Under the cut!)

** Please make sure you read all of the tags thoroughly. What I enjoy in fiction may not be to your taste, and I respect that, but the best I can do is to link to the site with the tags. 💜

Recs (under 20k words)

Just A Little More by @six-demon-bag epitomizes a lot of what I've said above, and if I didn't start out with it on the list here I'd be doing myself a disservice for how often I reread this.

Bucky goes into a painful rut and Zemo seizes the opportunity to sink newer, more subtle hooks into him.

Breathless by @zsparz is one I like to return to whenever I'm looking to feel sad but don't have a lot of time to read. I can't explain why this one hits me so hard but holy smokes does it make me weepy. Sparz is great at making me cry, though, so like - anyway.

The water kept rising. Bucky could hold his breath a long time underwater, and he remembered vividly how he’d acquired that knowledge. Sam might find him in time.

But Zemo would be long dead by then.

Past Indiscretions by @sagegarnish makes me laugh, genuinely. The whole idea of it brings me a lot of joy, and the execution is delightful.

Bucky and Zemo are trapped in 1941.

Unfortunately Bucky's past self is the only one who might know where the missing Pym Particles are that they need to get home.

When young!Bucky pulls Zemo into an alley, Bucky is forced to watch as a drunken forgotten night from his past becomes a lot clearer.

Recs (20k+ words)

That Which You Fear by @spintwinwb is a trilogy that starts off feeling like an AU and turns into something really fascinating imo. Lots of extra goodies here for comics fans, too.

Instead of freeing the people of Westview, Wanda pushed out across multiverses to get her brother back, and the entire world was caught in the crossfire. Cast in a new, peaceful life in upstate New York in a world with mutants, no Avengers, and no HYDRA, Bucky Barnes struggles to reconcile memories and dreams that no longer make sense with what he thinks he knows about himself.

One Two Many by @six-demon-bag is sweet and fun and complicated, and I really did try not to double-up on authors here but agh. What am I supposed to do??

Bucky and Zemo meet on an anonymous dating app and find a deep connection in each other. In the meantime, they grow closer in person without realizing they’re falling in love online too.

Too Good To Be True by AnadoraBlack is really one of those fics where the tropes are used so well, imo. A very enjoyable read.

Bucky wakes up with no recollection of where he is, how he found himself there, and what the heck is going on. There's also a ring on his finger, and time lost. What the living FUCK?!

The Original Sin by @zsparz because I might as well completely fail at the "only one per author" in spectacular fashion. This sits here because it sits on a very peculiar line between canon and AU and just... like I said. Sparz makes me cry. This isn't a departure from that fact.

Bucky and Zemo keep meeting over the course of several lifetimes. Zemo remembers everything. Bucky doesn’t, but there’s an eerie impression of familiarity he can’t shake — an old pain he can’t explain, with roots too deep for him to reach.

AU Recs

Removing Bucky and Zemo from the context of their complicated history in the MCU can highlight different aspects of their characters that are really interesting to explore, as someone who finds their unique characters quite interesting as well, though I also know it isn't for everyone. Neither of these recs are short so if you don't mind an AU, set some time aside for these ones.

It Started Out With a Curse by Thorny is a fun AU I never really expected to find in this fandom. I personally have a history of writing in fantasy settings so this one has a special place in my heart.

What happens when the King and Queen of a human kingdom slight a powerful fae Lord known only as "The Baron"?

Enter a world of FairyTale/Fantasy Shenanigans as Prince James navigates his deadly curse and his confusing feelings for one (seemingly) cold and untouchable fae Lord. Meanwhile, something sinister is afoot trying to gouge a rift between the feywilds and the human kingdoms...

A Gentleman and a Scholar by EternalBeta is a no powers exploration of their dynamic that's... Beautiful. It also tackles a lot of things about kink that it feels like most fic and stories generally seem to ignore. There's also an amazing sequel series.

(this series doesn't have an easy summary available so I uh... I'll give it a go here: college student Bucky has a thing for his professor, and a whole series of bad decisions behind him. The trouble is, Bucky is impatient, and Professor Zemo doesn't fuck students. So Bucky better hurry up and graduate.)

Many of the writers above have at least a few WinterBaron fics, and I do highly recommend checking out their collections. Sparz and Six-Demon in particular have some really widely varied concepts and stories they tackle, and if you're curious at all I'd also recommend checking out Sholio who has some excellent Sam/Bucky/Zemo fics! I didn't toss recs here because they weren't the heart of the ask, but I gobbled those up easily for some very sweet treaties.

[dchuntress]

I’m so glad you’re getting into steph she is such a great character do be warned though all of her comics will make you hate chuck dixion and batman but as a helena fan you probably already hate them. Also what are your thoughts on helena w’s run on the JSA vs helena b’s time on the JLA very similarly in conception but both go in very different ways?

thank you for this ask!! 🩵

me too, stephanie has been on my radar for quite a while and i already rank her #1 on my batfam list, it's just that i have fixated more on the huntresses and i personally find it more fun to read comics for characters rather than some chronological sequence

ah yeah, chuck dixon is one of the infamous names i heard for both of them, but i will be honest, whenever i'm reading, i try to let the work speak for itself and not come into it with a negative bias, you know? and that's honestly why i take a lot of time with comics because i reread them several times to understand characters better; the first impression, then a second more thorough approach, then read reviews or tumblr analysis posts and then again read the comics, reread for fun, reread to find a specific panel for a meme or reference, reread it when i myself feel that it was shitty characterisation, etc etc. i've been doing that for the huntresses and marvel's dazzler, and i'm ready to do that trial and error for miss brown!!

and good question!! it's definitely an interesting parallel between them, but it makes a lot of sense.

helena wayne wanted to join the jsa on her own accord, in the pre-crisis comics she worked for it without using batman's name and earned herself a place in the team, she enjoyed working with the team, karen starr has been her long-term best friend, helena has even displayed leadership skills in the jsa quite a few times and she leans more towards a traditional superhero imo, she is morally grey and a bit of a lone-wolf yes, but her peers do not treat her like a loose cannon for it —

and that's the thing with helena bertinelli, she leans more towards vigilante than traditional superhero, she has always been a lone-wolf, she has always had a tough reputation and plenty of conflicts and clashes with her fellow heroes, she cares more about protecting people and less about superheroics - which is why you'll see that she wants to help out as a teacher - and the worst part, in my opinion, is other characters' treatment of helena; very few people make an effort to understand helena and treat her like an equal, like a potential friend, just normally like dinah lance had done. with the justice league specifically, batman practically manipulated helena into joining the team so that she would be less harsh in her methods, and she got fired anyway. that is not to say that hel b is incompetent — not at all, in contrast, she has stayed at the birds of prey for quite a long while even with all of the emotional conflicts, she was loyal and dedicated, and she was even named field leader. it shows that in the right environment and with the right people, bertinelli can definitely thrive in a team

i think this shows a number of things; that the two huntresses are completely distinct and come from different worlds, their batmans are different, and they both have different preferences and needs. again! i'm not an expert and this is what i subjectively have gotten out of reading both the huntresses' comics, and i'm always open to different viewpoints

do feel free to share your thoughts with me!!

[writingquestionsanswered]

How do I actually finish a final draft? I'm working completely independently on a comic book and I'm at the point where I know what needs to be fixed, but it just feels so tedious to go in and edit once again because I feel like if I don't reread it completely, I'll miss something. I feel like I've reread it so many times I'm bored by it and can't actually finish the final draft, especially for *just* issue 1. I've tried writing other issues but it just feels like procrastination. help what do

Struggling to Complete Final Edit

Final edits can be the toughest, because you're SO CLOSE to being finished, and you've been through it so many times, you just want to be done with it.

First, I think you have to take a step back and really consider whether one more read through is really that necessary. Unfortunately, that's a game you can play until the end of time, so at some point you have say enough is enough. I've you've already read through it a few times and know what needs to be fixed, I think you have to give yourself permission to just go in and make the necessary changes without completely re-reading. Another thing you can try is making the changes, then going back and re-reading and doing any final touch-ups as you go.

Some things to try to make another read-through bearable: -- Step away for a bit. It sounds like you've already done this, but it's worth repeating for others. Even if it's just for a day or two, setting it aside can give you a much-needed breather and help you come back to it with fresh eyes.

-- Read it out loud. This can actually be very helpful in allowing you to spot issues you didn't catch in previous reads. Try pretending you're doing a reading for fans or performing the audiobook.

-- Change the font color. This is another trick that can help errors stand out more, but like reading it out loud, it's also just an easy way to make it feel new and fresh to your eyes which can cut back on the tedium a bit.

-- Read it in an unusual place. It's best to find someplace that's comfortable and reasonably free from distractions, but also not someplace where you'll feel too cozy and feel sleepy. Just moving to another room in your home can help, or you might try sitting outside (such as a porch, patio, or backyard--just watch out for rain!) If you're able to, try a library, bookstore, or cafe. Public areas like parks, picnic areas, scenic views/trailheads, etc. are good options--just be sure to be safe.

-- Take turns reading it with a trusted friend or family member. If there's someone you trust to read it, who would enjoy reading it and has the time/ability to help out, try making a little party of it and taking turns reading it. If you can get together, you can put out some fun food and drink, sit at a table or on the couch and take turns reading pages or scenes. If you can't get together, you can encourage them to get some snacks and do it as a video call or phone call--just don't forget to send them a copy to read from.

-- Last but not least, if none of these work for you, you'll just have to brute force it. As with all jobs we don't want to do, remember that the thought of doing the work is always worse than actually doing it. Once you get going and find a rhythm, you'll probably find it's not nearly as bad as you expected. Try setting up rewards for yourself along the way, like allowing yourself to have a favorite meal when you get to the halfway point, and going to see a movie you're looking forward to once you get to the end. You can even do smaller rewards like having a bowl of ice cream after you've worked on it for an hour each night. Whatever works! In the end, you just have to remember you've put a lot of work into this project, and you're so close to being done, it's worth it to keep going!

I hope something her will work for you!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[milimeters-morales]

me rambling under the cut

one of the least bad/most annoying side effects of atsv is how much it fucks over my thinking process when i’m trying to write a more realistic way of miles meeting up with people and friends from other worlds while being a student + spider-man + having a family that likes to spend time together, esp since i like to throw some comic characters into the mix. like it seems easy right? open a portal and go say hi. except you have to still plan ahead, because i have the times set different (for example peter is 30 minutes ahead and pavitr is an entire 12 hours), everyone has lives outside of being a vigilante (though gwen and margo give me the most freedom with this), and sometimes people just don’t wanna hang! don’t get me started on the portal itself, which you need to find a hidden spot to open and then take a few seconds to go through, to another side that you aren’t sure of the exact location. did you see the way the portal to pavitr’s world had Miles? and the way the go-home-machine sent gwen flying? of course, those are two diff types of portals, & there’s a workaround to everything, but it’s still a lot to consider and it just results in me taking forever to actually get shit down on paper. oh my god and the subtle tells of shit being resolved after btsv (bc i am not dealing with that) making the characters seem too ooc when they technically aren’t. bc it could happen. i’m always losing the idgaf war i love details i love hypotheticals and i love hidden meanings

another thing that isn’t canon and is just me making it harder for myself is me adding in anxiety and autism and a weird learned social behavior into the mix for miles. sure, guys and girls hang out. sure, they can be just friends. but he’s a guy who LIKED gwen and his parents don’t have the best first impression but are generally okay with her, and he’s at the age where all his girl friends will be teased as possible girlfriends by damn near everyone he knows. so it’s reasonable for him to not be around her while also around other people who don’t know the two of them like that, because dealing with that shit is exhausting AND embarrassing, stuff we both know Miles doesn’t like even if he can move on pretty quickly. so i expect him to sorta be like “nahhh… my cousins are here and… look let’s just hang out next time pleaseeee” and here’s where the anxiety and autism come in. miles (atsv) is not the type to care about how people view him based on his friends, and autism will result in him missing a lot of social cues but it’s kinda obvious to me that he doesnt miss the more romantic ones when it comes to gwen and how people view them together. this doesn’t help though because he doesn’t know what the do about it! he KNOWS the right thing: don’t let others get to you and work your shit out with gwen the way you know is right. but the anxiety makes him overthink about how gwen views all this (which i don’t actually go into detail that much about bc this is miles’s POV) because she means so much to him. and of course the whole “do i actually like her or is this just really deep connection or” from autism sometimes making it hard to define your feelings and a relationship, and anxiety making it a scary minefield to traverse if you wanna bring it up with said person. and don’t forget the awareness that the anxiety is making everything seem way worse than what it is, which Miles has and is so fed up by.

It all comes off as Miles eventually getting annoyed and tired of Gwen, which you know she did not take well. anyways…. throw all of this in with being a highschool student with a busy schedule and you’ve got miles’s main source of problems . too many friends and too many mental disorders and not enough time . i’m rereading this post and realizing none of it makes sense and kind of meandered .

[donteattheappleshook]

Happy Birthday @The-DarkDragonfly!!

Happiest of birthdays @the-darkdragonfly ​ to one of my best friends! I’m so glad that the fandom brought us together and while your birthday fic isn’t finished, I thought it would share some of my favorite fics of YOURS! 

You are such a talented writer and such a wonderful person and if anyone hasn’t read these fics they are incorrect and need to fix it immediately)

This was very hard to narrow down because everything your write is perfect but I gave it my best shot! 

The Ripple Effect

Of course I had to start with the fic that brought us together. This story, omg this story. Every time I read it I’m filled with an irrational anger at how unbelievably beautiful your prose is and what an ubelievable talent you have for creating atmosphere and building relationships between characters. The way you write this fic is magical, there’s no other word for it. It weaves through time and perspectives, dialogue and imagery and emotion and my heart just shatters every time I read about these two adorable broken idiots fixing each other and falling in love. And omg your little snippets of everyday life are so imaginative and hilarious and are so perfectly in character and somehow both incredibly specific and relatable. I could read a hundred million fics of just filler scenes (which I know you also have -Missing Moments)I will forever think of this fic when I watch the CS movie and wish that we’d gotten this instead. 

Tempest

I hadn’t started this one when you were writing the first version but when you started on the rewrite omg I have jumped onboard and along for the ride the entire way with this adorable wonderful fic. I will say it now, I don’t usually like Captain Duckling but this story is so wonderfully written that you’ve managed to make me obsessed with your version of them. The dynamic between them is just beautiful and so honest and pure and they’re both just so. stupid. and I love them and will protect them with my whole heart. I adore the way that you don’t always give us all the moments of their relationship at once and just let us see it develop and then jump back and forth through time to give us scenes we’re already invested in and dying for. I love this fic and I’m fully aware that you’re gonna hurt me with it but I’m 100% here for it. And also - WILLIAM!!! My beautiful, sad, sassy, loveable William. I will never get enough of him and how you write him in this fic. He is the ultimate bestie and comic relief watching his mom and dad try to get their shit together and fall in love and I would die for him. 

The Wreck of our Hearts

My birthday fic!!! This one is gonna be short because I get emotional just thinking about this story. You took my favorite Hook, Deckhand Hook, and mixed him with my other favorite, Silver Hook, and you’ve created a monster that no other Killian will ever live up to. Just an ultra sad broken man who still loves Emma so damn much and can I keep typing through my tears? I don’t know but I do know I’m gonna go reread through them. 

People, please, if you haven’t, go read it. If you have, go read it again. 

PS: If you ever wanted to revisit this universe or this character I’m not saying I’d be mad... 

Old Times' Sake - A Captain Swan Tale 

I don’t care if it’s July. This Christmas fic can be read any damn time of the year and it will destroy me and put me back together again every time. You’ve done it again! Taken my sad broken little babies and put them together and made them whole. This story is SO short (seriously I had to go back and check the word count because I couldn’t believe it) but it somehow has such a rich backstory woven in for both Emma and Killian, both their families and their relationship and oh man you know I’m a sucker for “what do you mean, feelings? this is just boning (LIES)” and you did it so perfectly here. This wasn’t my Christmas present but I’ve decided to claim it as such because it’s my favorite Christmas fic of all time (again, a genre I don’t like that you’ve somehow managed to make me adore - very rude. stop doing that. but also don’t. ever.) 

Sill Love Songs

You KNOW I had to end with this one right? My very own birthday fic and omg I will forever be grateful to have you in my life for writing me this fic (and many other reasons but the point stands). This story is Hilarious. Like I was giggling and laughing out loud throughout because, you guessed it, William Fucking Scarlet. All I asked for was CS's love story told in the POV of his inappropriate wedding toast and GIRL. You delivered. He’s so absolutely perfect in this story. His interactions with Killian make me die (when he propositions him in the kitchen I thought I would straight up perish) and his interactions with Emma are equally hilarious but also so so soft and beautiful underneath it all. I did not expect to be hit in the chest with a mactruck of emotion in what I expected to be an aptly named silly little fic but of course I should have because everything you write carries so many layers of human emotion and you’re characters are so REAL and beautiful and flawed in such a true to life way. I don’t know where or how you developped such an amazing talent or if you were just born with it but I will selfishly devour and demand more of everything that you write with it.

I’m also just saying that the sequel doesn’t HAVE to be a birthday fic... I have a 2/3rds birthday coming up in August..... 

Happy birthday bestie!

Thank you so much for everything that you write and for being such an amazing person in my life. I hope you have a wonderful birthday long weekend and a fantastic year! 

And please add your tag list so they can all get a reminder of these amazing fics!

[theultimatenonbinarynerd]

March 2024 Reading Wrap Up

The Calendar

Another incredible reading month and I'm so glad I managed to keep my streak this time despite still recovering from illness. It's been a scifi packed month and I absolutely will do my best to fix that next month. I'm one of those people who want to do their best to diversify their TBR. I'd also dub this the Aftermath month as I decided to reread Aftermath to prep for reading Life Debt. And despite the still obvious flaws im so grateful I decided to give Chuck Wending a second chance.

The biggest excitement of this month is that I'm proud to announce that after three agonising months I finally finished Black Spire. When I re-read it in the future I can absolutely assure you that the read will be shorter. I don't know what happened it just took absolutely ages to read. It was a fairly decent novel and I adored the themes of Rebellion and Resistance. I just wish the other characters were fleshed out more as Vi and Archex are the only ones that are. 10th of March was the best day ever as I was just so glad to be finally rid of this side read as I have a whole block of other side reads I wanted to get too.

The High Republic comics are an absolute delight and I definitely want to get more of them in the future but they're still not my focus. The High Republic Adventures Vol.1 was incredible, I borrowed it off my brother and was really excited to read it and it was incredible. Lula and Zeen are an absolute power couple. The story telling was super enriching and fun. I definitely want to get my hands on Vol.2 sometime as I've also weirdly already read Vol.2. After I've read Fallen Star I definitely will need to re-read Vol. 3. I'm not suprised it took five days as that's normally how long comics usually take for me.

And then to finish off my side reads I managed to miraculously finish Vol.5 of the Animal Crossing New Horizons Manga. Vol.5 was really good and I loved how it incoperated the final 2.0 update and the dlc. Especially since Dark seems to be my reading mood preference I always love to incoperate a few lighthearted reads in there to save my shattered heart cos lord I need it, need it massively. This series is awesome and i'm happy it's gone on to have nine volumes but im definitely only sticking to eight of them thank you.

Then we have of course the Doctor Who Big Finish audio dramas. I'm very close to the end of The Eighth Doctor Adventures Series 1 now and have really enjoyed the series. It's gotten me deeply into Big Finish. Phobos and No More Lies were very fun and easy listens. I think unless it's a box set I'm definitely gonna be able to listen to single Big Finish stories in one day as you can tell by the calendar.

March has been fun but I really wish I'd read more than scifi and I hope April will be the chance to improve upon that.

March Stats

I'm using all my stats and log templates from LEEBEE_READS from now on as their all beautiful especially this flowery March theme. I've also got the hang of using it better so it looks neater. So here's a breakdown of all my stats for March from left to right.

I "read" 6 books in total this month. Four physical books and two big finish audio dramas. I didn't expect to read as much as I did in February due to missing my support group and getting another FNAF book off my friend but I shouldn't have been as I still have a lot of side reads I need to get through. Pages was good too as I didn't think I'd reach 1000 pages but I did. This March I read 1047 pages only 47 more than March 2023. I don't care about beating records but I still find that quite the achievement. For listening it went as well, I managed to listen to 2.43 hours. A number that will go up as I listen to the longer audios. We'll see what April brings but I'm very proud of myself.

Genre was very scifi this month. The only none scifi book I read was the Animal Crossing Manga which just cracks me up. Scifi is an amazing genre and I've love all the scifi stories I've listened too and read but I feel like it doesn't hurt now and then to go outside of the box. After hopefully getting to Brotherhood I have 3 none Star Wars books to help break this spell which should hopefully balance out the stats. So my genre's ended up being very simple with only Scifi, Fantasy, Video Games, Manga and Graphic Novel. 5 Scifi listens and reads is just mind blowing its definitely helped me understand and figure out what my favourite genre indeed is. With what I have planned for April I'm very curious how my genres will look.

Mainly reads like I said last time is budging as I'm into very adventurous books that are dark and also have mystery. I also still adore 300-499 page books and that's never gonna change but we'll see.

March was a very interesting month for moods as last year I only logged three moods but this year I've managed to log eight moods. Through out my reads and listens I've managed to pick up the moods, Adventurous, Tense, Mysterious, Lighthearted, Hopefully, Funny, Dark and Challenging which is in my opinion the most impressive streak of moods so far. Adventurous is always gonna take the top spot but im really happy at how balanced this chart is. I read a pretty Dark Comic in terms of The High Republic Adventures Vol.1 and then balanced it out with Vol.5 of The Animal Crossing manga series. People may want to read all dark reading month but I still think it's super important to balance things out with lighthearted stuff as Dark books are dark for a reason as they can be super heavy. Really curious about how April's stats will turnout.

Finally the Star Ratings which shocked me as for the first time ever I remembered quarter star ratings existed and rated too reads/listens 4.25 stars. In the future I'm definitely gonna try remember quarter star ratings and be more critical about how I rate books. I had two 4 star rated reads one being a re-read, two 4.25 star reads/listens as both were good but had flaws which meant it didn't quite deserve 4.5 or 5 stars and one 5 star read. That resulted in and average rating of 4.33 stars. Which is the same average rating I got a year ago. Haven't got an average rating below 4 yet but we'll see what happens.

Overall a very good month for stats I'm very intrigued to see what April shall bring.

Reads/Listens

Looking at this lineup is hilarious and amusing for me because you can tell the Animal Crossing Manga is the odd one of the group. It's giving and Peggy 🤣. I'm still proud of the lineup but I'm disbelief at how much sci-fi I've consumed.

Phobos and No More Lies were really good listens I'm super impressed at how talented the Big Finish team are. The Eighth Doctor Adventures Series 1 was definitely the best place to start as from Blood Of The Daleks it's only gotten better. I enjoyed both stories due to how experimental they were. No More Lies hit me right in the feels once the explanation for the timeloop was revealed and Phobos gobsmacked me at how dark it got. Judging on my journey I think I might enjoy the stories with orginal villians more.

I deserve a medal for how long it took me to read Black Spire I'm absolutely gobsmacked that it took me 42 days to finish this book especially since some of the chapters were short. Sure I took breaks so I could read my main reads and recover from being ill and it sending me into a reading slump. I did enjoy this book for the most part it was just a drag to get through. I'd still recommend it as it's themes are really deep and relevant for today. I loved the characters of Vi and Archex and definitely want to get my hands on the Phasma Audiobook so I can understand the story better. Good birthday present.

Oh the High Republic is my comfort franchise and I love it. I never planned on picking up the comics but when an opportunity presents yourself you take it. Very much enjoyed this volume and loved the themes of found family. Considering Zeen is queer it was very purposefully metaphorical that her friend betrayed her and disowned her after she had to out herself as a force user to save people. I also think it fleshes out the Nihil recruitment process and shows how easy it is to turn to the wrong people. I hope in the future I can get to reading Vol.2 but I'll definitely be re-reading Vol.3 of the High Republic Adventures that's for sure. Vol.1 was a delightful read and hit me right in the feels its well deserving of 5 stars.

Aftermath after mistakingly picking up the book as my first Star Wars read I was absolutely done with this novel. I knew I'd have to continue the Trilogy as a completionist but I was absolutely done with Aftermath as far as I was concerned. Having completely forgotten the events of the book though I knew it would be best to Reread Aftermath before I dug my teeth into Life Debt so I did and it helped a lot. Reading alongside Marc Thompsons narration on audio gave the book so much of the life it needed. It was a much more pleasant experience on Reread. I thought I'd hate it even more but the rating did not change. Infact it got me in the mood for reading Life Debt. Glad I gave Chuck Wending a second chance and I hope Empires End is even better than this book.

Finally Animal Crossing. One of my favourite video games and I think this manga series has not only faithfully adapted what made New Horizons charming but also actually added personality and life into the npcs and villagers. Vol.5 was a welcome suprise as I didn't think they'd add the 2.0 update and dlc into the series but its a very nice and welcome suprise. This manga series is just a nice breath of fresh air and I can't wait to get my hands on Vol. 6, Vol.7 and Vol.8. I seriously haven't enjoyed an entry in the series this much since Vol.2. Rumba does a wonderful job.

Conclusion

After the end of February's reading took a down turn I'm proud I managed to pick myself back up again. March was very interesting and I'm glad even if mainly Sci-fi that I managed to read and listen to a good bunch of stuff. I'm very optimistic for April and think it'll be just as good. I do know that the Calendar is for sure gonna be interesting.

If you want to see my full reviews for the audios and books featured in this post you can find me on The Storygraph and Goodreads.

Goodreads: Melody Soundy

Storygraph: melsage1823

Well this has been March's reading wrap up until next time...

-Melody-

They/Them

[insertsickusername13]

WROTE THIS IN LIKE AN HOUR IGNORING A BIG ASSIGNMENT I HAVE DUE TONIGHT SO GTG BUT HERE IT IS, THIS FIC WAS THE ORIGINAL CONCEPT FOR I CAN'T MISS YOU (the fic i wrote that we do NOT speak of that was embarrassing) THAT GOT LOST ALONG THE WAY I DID NOT REREAD IT SO IF THERE'S GRAMMAR MISTAKES SORRY

word count: 2036

Rich heard from friends that Jake had spent almost every waking moment in the hospital while Rich had been in his coma. According to them, Jake had been worried sick. He talked about Rich constantly, asked about him repeatedly, paid hospital bills, and brought flowers and gifts every other day. 

They also tried to tell him that Jake being incessantly clingy ever since Rich had woken was natural, that it was kind.

Rich was pretty sure it was a trick. There was no way Jake, who had everything and lost everything, could forgive Rich in a heartbeat. Rich knew Jake was perfect from day one, admired every inch of him before Jake even knew Rich's name, but this was too far. This was unnatural, the self-destructive part of Jake taking over rather than an angelic act of kindness. 

"It's okay," Rich said for the umpteenth, "If you need time or space, or—"

"Rich," Jake said, smiling down at him, "I promise. I forgive you."

Rich studied him, searching his face for the lies in his words. He was just the same as Rich had left him: soft lips that formed soft smiles, light freckles like stardust from the heavens, a thin line between his eyebrows from all the times he scowled down at his homework, frustrated that he couldn't be perfect first try.

"Are you s—"

Jake grabbed Rich's unbandaged hand and squeezed gently. The touch had Rich seeing stars. 

"Yes. A hundred percent. More than that. A thousand. A million. Whatever it takes to convince you."

Rich looked down at their hands, his cheeks matching his faded-out streak.

"So," Jake said slowly, as if he was explaining something to a toddler, "I really, really do want you to move in with me, okay?"

He squeezed Rich’s hand again, and when he pulled back there was a key pressed into Rich's palm, cold and metal and real. 

Rich couldn't talk. He nodded rapidly like a lovestruck girl who'd just been proposed to and cried into Jake's varsity jacket when he got to see their apartment for the first time. 

It was too easy.

Setting up Rich's new room was too easy. Making dinner together was too easy. They'd gone from friends to nothing to roommates as if nothing had ever happened—there should have been some difficulty. Some adapting. But when Jake hugged Rich from behind, using Rich as a makeshift cane while his real one leaned against the kitchen island and whispered, "You're the best thing to ever happen to me," Rich was suddenly forced to forget that life could ever be too easy.

Friends to lovers was the same as friends to roommates. Rich confessed to Jake on the couch and Jake dragged them to the shower, turned on the water, and kissed him amidst the steam. 

"What the fuck?" Rich said, smiling so hard the conviction in his words was lost to sugar-like giddiness. 

"I'm not giving you some lame-ass first kiss. Hence: kiss in the rain."

"We're in a shower."

"You're a buzzkill."

"You're an idiot."

"You're a dick."

"Suck my dick."

Jake gave him an ingenuous smile and, like an overeager virgin, promptly stuck his hand in Rich's pants.

Rich didn't think about anything being too easy as Jake took him to dinner a week later, or pecked him on the cheek while walking down the school hallways, or left bruises on his neck in the quieter parts of the library. He only reveled in the feeling of being loved, of having everything he'd never dreamed of without voices screaming in his head and electricity shooting up his spine.

Jake was safety. Being wrapped in his arms was like having everything else erased and blurred into unimportant lines of text, a book Rich no longer had to participate in. He wasn't a determined main character, a traumatized side character, or a comic-relief love interest. He was only Jake's, and everything was perfect that way.

Until some terrifying climax started hovering on the horizon and Rich lost the privilege of living in just the rising action. 

Jake held on too tight. Stayed up too late. Talked too long. He filled every moment of silence with desultory rambling, never giving Rich the chance to ask are you okay?

The terror of losing Jake lived in every molecule of air Rich breathed. There was no SQUIP in his mind to tell him when he was messing up anymore. Every word Rich said could have only been making it worse and he'd have no idea.

He stayed up late overthinking every interaction with Jake, searching for the exact moment he'd fucked up. It must've been something terrible. Earth-shattering. If Jake could forgive him for Halloween but not this, it must've been something so purely unholy even the devil wouldn't know what to say at the sight of it.

Rich stared at the wall in front of him, sorting through memory after memory clumsily; messily; desperately.

"Are you awake?" Jake whispered, voice thick with unshed tears. The noise was sudden and jarring. But, as Rich was learning, if he spoke he might only make it worse. If he gave any indication that he was awake then Jake might force them to talk until everything they'd mended shattered.

Rich stayed perfectly still. He kept his breathing level. He just wanted one more night of Jake holding him, his nose pressed against Rich's spine as he got as close as he could. One more night.

"I miss you," Jake continued. The way he said it, like the moon and stars above were telling him not to, made the words sound thick with shame despite the seemingly innocent, even benign, implications behind them. "I miss you so fucking much and I—I... I'm so sorry."

He burrowed his face into Rich's shirt to muffle a quiet sob. Rich felt Jake's words like acid in his mouth.

"It's not fair. It's not, it's not." Jake pulled back just long enough to gasp in a breath of air before pressing his face against Rich again. His hands were shaking and clutching Rich's torso hard enough to leave bruises.

"I love you. I love you so fucking much it's going to kill me, and—and it's you, I swear it's you, I love you."

Chloe. Christine. Madeline. Penelope. Jackie. Helen. 

Rich trusted Jake with his soul, but the guilt in his voice and stature had the name of every girl Jake had slept with bobbing to the surface. Kayley. Aurora. Nina.

"But—" Rich's heart stopped. “—but...before. The squip. He—fuck."

Jake wrenched himself away, ripping his arms from around Rich to wrap them around himself protectively.

"Fuck. I feel so fucking naive. It was manipulation. I know that."

His words were getting louder, edging on yelling now that Rich wasn't there to muffle the sound. Still, Rich kept his breathing steady. He was asleep. He wasn't hearing this... this... what? Confession? Break-up speech? He was going to puke if he thought about what this could all be leading up to for a second longer.

"And…and he wasn't real. And it was just a robot catering to my every need and want, but fuck, he was my best friend. And you're so different now, and I love you for it. I love you like this. I can't do this, because I've got you right here, I do, I love you, but I lost my best fucking friend, and everyone's acting like I'm supposed to be fine with it and I just—I can't—"

Oh. Jake missed squipped Rich.

Rich's eyes were wide open, staring blankly at the wall in front of him. Jake was behind him, sitting upright with his hands tangled in his hair. Rich could hear his breathing, echoey and raw, heaved in and out with the desperation of a madman. 

"Fuck. Fuck. You should've just killed me. You should've locked me in my bedroom and watched me die. Put me out of my fucking misery instead of letting fate torture me like this."

Rich had to put a hand over his mouth to stop a sob from escaping. Jake was too lost in his rant to notice, leaning back against the wall with his head tilted back to glare at the ceiling. 

Rich could feel the remnants of the SQUIP scraping at the back of his skull, begging to be let out with a new, desperate fervor that Rich was sure he was feeding into. At that moment, with his eyes squeezed shut and his hand over his mouth to hide his crying, he wanted it back in his mind, if only to erase this night from his memory. If only to make Jake happy. 

"I love you," Jake whispered. He sounded empty now, his anger placated by the catharsis of confessing to the dark. "I love you so fucking much and I can feel myself pushing you away and I can feel you letting me and for the love of all things good and holy, you have to stop me before I ruin the best thing to ever happen to me just because I'm a fucking coward who can't move on from some robot."

Rich didn't want to stop him. Rich agreed. He missed who he was. He missed the easy confidence, the straight-As. The sauntering down the hallways and having everyone bend to his will just because they liked him. He understood what Jake missed. He missed it too.

"Please, please. I can't do this anymore. I can't miss you like I do when you're right in front of me—"

"We both miss him,” Rich whispered, “It's okay."

For a moment, Rich was convinced Jake had ceased to exist. That he'd simply evaporated. He didn't speak, didn't move, didn't breathe. It sounded like his heart had stopped in his chest. 

But then, slowly, his voice trembling, Jake choked out, "...Rich?"

Rich rolled over, unashamed of the tears on his cheeks.

"Yeah?" he replied, sounding casual compared to the destruction tearing through every neuron inside him.

"How long have you…?"

He didn't even need to finish his question to know the answer. He stared down at Rich through the darkness, eyes glistening with tears that matched Rich's. 

"I'm sorry," he breathed, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it. I was just rambling, I swear, I didn't... I didn't..."

Rich shook his head. The lump in his throat hurt too much to talk, so he was forced to simply sit up and throw his arms around Jake's neck. Jake didn't hug him back, instead hovering helplessly, his hands up in the air like he was surrendering. 

"You love me?" Rich rasped. 

"With all my heart. I swear, I swear it, okay? I hate myself for—"

Rich shook his head against Jake's neck. "No, no, it's okay. You love me, but he was different. Fuck, he was so easy. He could just...he was so much better than me."

As if he'd never not been hugging Rich, Jake's palms were suddenly pressed against Rich's shoulder blades, warm and safe.

"That's not true," he said, "I only fell in love with you."

"But he made everything so simple. I miss it so much, Jake. He could just talk and everyone was happy and teachers loved him and his grades were perfect and he always knew what to say to make you feel better."

Jake nodded at that, still holding onto Rich like the floor was disappearing underneath them and opening up into the empty void of space. 

"He was never scared," Jake offered quietly.

"He was confident."

"Suave."

"Always knew how to charm a girl."

"He could actually act, unlike some people."

Rich let out a small, watery laugh, and whispered, "He could actually beat you at chess."

Jake hummed and pressed a soft kiss against Rich's hair. 

"Yeah, he could. But do you wanna know a secret?"

"What?"

Jake lifted Rich's head from his shoulder to look him in the eye. He looked exhausted, red-eyed, and scared. There were tear stains on his cheeks and that determined line between his eyebrows. He ran a finger over Rich's cheekbone and smiled.

"I may miss him a little, but I always liked him better when he was drunk."

[carriagelamp]

Weirdly enough, I often find myself reading less in the summer, since I have more time than I do during the rest of the year to do other things. Also artfight has been eating up more than a bit of my free time! But here’s a collection a graphic novels I sat around on the hammock reading, and some novels I finished up...

(Everyone go read All Systems Red, holy crow guys)

A Whale of the Wild

The “sequel” to A Wolf Called Wander, though it doesn’t actually connect to the previous novel except in the stylistic/thematic sense. A Whale of the Wild is very much a standalone novel. And a pretty decent one! Personally, I think I liked Wolf more, but this one was a pleasant, informative read, with just the right amount of crushing dread sprinkled in. It’s about a young orca called Vega who is learning to become a new wayfinder for her pod but who still has a lot to learn, especially in an ocean that is becoming increasingly hostile to orcas and the other sealife that live alongside humans. When a devastating earthquake hits, Vega and her little brother find themselves separated from their family, lost in a now horrifyingly unfamiliar environment, and fighting starvation as the salmon that sustain them become more and more unreliable. It’s a desperate fight for survival as they search for food and their missing family. This book is written for a middle grade level, and does a really good job of putting the current environmental crisis into an animal’s perspective while giving the readers something to hope for.

The Adventure Zone: The Crystal Kingdom

Every July I eagerly anticipate the next Adventure Zone graphic novel. This one is for their fourth arc, The Crystal Kingdom, in which Magnus, Taako, and Merle respond to a SOS from a floating laboratory that is gradually being consumed by crystals and which threatens the entire world should it fall into the ocean. Carey Pietsch’s art continues to be absolutely fantastic, so beautifully and hilariously expressive, and this one delivers some great Merle moments, lots of Carey Fangbattle, and, of course, Kravtiz. Kravitz, my beloved…

Anyway, I obviously always recommend these. If you’ve never gotten into The Adventure Zone, I totally recommend either trying these graphic novels — or even better, just go listen to the podcast because it really is both hilarious and creates a shockingly good and heart-wrenching story by the end.

All Systems Red

I’ve seen The Murderbot Diaries on my dash occasionally, and it always looked interesting, but a friend’s recommendation finally compelled me to read the first novella of the series. And holy shit y’all. Absolutely the best book I’ve read this month, it’s amazing. Mind-blowingly good. Also, if you’re like me and want a good audiobook, it’s a nice three-hour listen, very chill!

Anyway, All Systems Red is about a Security Unit, an artificially created being that’s part-organic part-mechanical and all-company-owned-and-controlled. However, self-named “Murderbot” has managed to hack into the system that suppresses its own will, and is now coasting along, doing the least amount of work its job requires not to be noticed, while preferring to spend all its time watching the hours and hours of soap operas it has downloaded into its brain. And it’s a tolerable if somewhat dull life, until the science team that it's currently rented to is attacked and the whole mission goes pear-shaped. Suddenly Murderbot has to scramble to keep its humans alive… while its humans scramble with the realization that their “SecUnit” isn’t actually a mindless robot like they had all believed...

This story is both gripping and hilariously funny. Murderbot has such a unique voice and perspective and it’s an absolute pleasure to follow its story. I reallly need to read the next book...

Asterix and the Banquet

A classic. I was startled when I realized I hadn’t actually read this Asterix story… but hell I’m not gonna complain, it lets me read one of the originals for the first time again! In this Asterix volume, the Indomitable Gauls and the Romans end up arranging a bet — the Romans intend to keep them under siege, trapped in their village, while Asterix is confident that he can easily evade them… and will prove it by going on a tour around all of Gaul, collecting iconic foods from each region in order to return and put on a fine banquet. So we get a fantastic adventure in which Asterix and Obelix run all over the country, pursued the whole way, while making cheerful stops at the various eateries along the way. Also the first book Dogmatix shows up in! All around, a wonderful read, fun like all the best Asterix comics are.

Beauty Pop v4

A less impressive graphic novel. The first Beauty Pop is one of my guilty pleasure manga because… it really is pretty stupid but in the best possible ways. I mean, the whole thing is framed around hairstyling battles, like a shojo sports manga without the sports. It’s bonkers. Unfortunately, the series does not really manage to hold up, and it really begins to feel repetitive and dragging as it continues… as a lot of series like this do. *shrug* Unsurprising but still kinda disappointing I suppose. The building three-way romantic tension is mildly interesting if for no other reason than the main character Does Not Notice and Does Not Care about any of it, which is amusing and refreshing.

FRNCK v5

Now this series only gets better and better as it goes. This is the first book of the second arc, and somehow the danger just seems to be ramping up and up and up. The cavefamily have lost their home… as well as Léonard and Gargouille. Heartbroken, shocked, and angry, Franck is the one who ends up shouldering the blame for their presumed deaths as the others mourn. Things only get worse when Franck finds himself separated from the family, and in the territory of another tribe, this one hostile and cannibalistic...

Haikyuu v5

I continue to read this series because it continues to be charming… though it is beginning to feel, maybe, just a little repetitive. Kind of an inevitability with sports manga. But so far it continues to be good enough to overcome that. I’m not sure what I can say about this series that I haven’t already, so I’ll simply say it continues to be one of the most impressive sports manga I’ve read, and the author does a fantastic job of creating engaging characters, fleshed out teams, and really compelling relationships. I do genuinely adore all the main members of Crows, along with a number of characters from the rival teams as well. And of course it has some kickass volleyball scenes that are just drawn so dramatically they can’t help but take your breath away a little.

M*A*S*H Goes To Maine

Meh. The original book of the series was actually quite good in my opinion. This one… considerably less so. The first part I enjoyed more, since it was about Hawkeye, Trapper, Duke, and Oliver Jones trying to set up the FinestKind Clinic and Fishmarket in Crabapple Cove (which… is just the best premise I could have ever asked for). However, the book spends most of its time describing the quirky lives and times of other people living in the area and I… just… don’t care. It was funny at times but… I just don’t care. I wanted to hear more about the main cast. Also I found this book felt more racist and misogynistic than the first which also put me off :/ Wouldn’t bother if I were you. Go read the first book instead, or better yet just watch the TV show which is an obvious banger.

My Heart’s in the Highlands

I have had this on my “currently reading” list for so long but I’m officially giving up. It’s a really good book in theory but my god I can���t get over the pacing.

It’s about Lady Jane, a woman studying medicine in Edinburgh in 1888, and who suddenly finds herself back in the Highlands in the 13th century. Lost and confused, Jane is now at the mercy Clan Donald’s hospitality while she tries to adjust to this new world and hunts for her broken time machine. Fortunately, this hospitality include a burgeoning friendship with a red-haired warrior woman, Ainslie nic Dòmhnaill, who opens Jane’s eyes to the way the world could be.

Listen. It drives me nuts. This book should be completely up my alley, it has everything I like — IT HAS ALL OF ITS HISTORICAL FOOTNOTES CITED AT THE BACK, LITTLE EXTRA DETAILS ABOUT EVERY CHAPTER. THAT’S MY SHIT RIGHT THERE. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LIKE BEING ABLE TO GO OVER HISTORICAL DETAILS?? AND WELL RESEARCHED FOOTNOTES?? And yet it doesn’t. Fucking. Work for me. It has a kickass Scottish warrior lady as a love interest! It has a badass lady doctor! It has fish-out-of-water culture shock! But it also has a completely meandering plot, no sense of building tension, and a romance that just happens out of nowhere and feels completely unearned and uninteresting.

I would genuinely just rather read Outlander again, which I know has its own host of problems, but at least Outlander felt exciting and interesting and tense and funny. The romance built in fits and starts, it was complicated, and kept me interested. That book had me hooked (and has me hooked every time I reread it) whereas this book I’ve been sadly picking at for months like its a plate of overcooked spinach. This felt like an attempt at a queer, historically accurate knockoff which I would normally be super into but which just could not stick the landing.

Moomin on the Riviera

My first time actually reading anything from the Moomin canon. I have zero idea how to feel about it! It certainly is as feral as I’ve heard described! Overall, I think I enjoyed it but it sure made me feel strange emotions I didn’t know existed. I’m not even going to try to describe it. Read it if you want a batshit insane anti-capitalist comic.

Surviving the City

This was good in some areas, less good in others. It had a very interesting indigenous perspective on life in the modern city, the foster system, and The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women issue, which I’ve never seen handled in a book before. Something about the pacing did not completely click with me and I found myself getting easily distracted, but it’s definitely worth the read just to experience it and look at the issues it deals with through the characters’ (and author’s) eyes. It did give me a lot to think about and wrestle with, which is sometimes the best thing a book can give you.

Torchwood: Pack Animals

A really fun read, more so than I had ever expected! If you like Torchwood and want more stories about the team before everything goes to shit, this is perfect for that. It includes the entire cast, an interest mystery to be unravelled, lots of slavering monsters, Rhys being really wonderful and sweet (which I didn’t know I wanted until I read this book), and all the humour I expect from Torchwood. I had to send a lot of quotes to my long-suffering girlfriend who a) does not watch this show but b) needs to tolerate it because I find it too funny to keep to myself. It was good enough to make me go out another book of the series since this was the only one my library carried.

[liesonthefloordramatically]

A wild 2021 recap post appears!

Stuff I made this year:

Fiction: The only fic I posted this year was the wildly underrated a flower blooming, in reverse.  Y’all, I know a reverse chronology genfic about C-PTSD is a hard sell but, like, it’s good??  Anyway, go tell a genfic author that you love their fic for me.

Playlists: Some favorites: Camp Howling Ground (a soundtrack for our first Sleepaway campaign), Styx (a playlist for my player character in my second Sleepaway campaign), Stop calling me, Josh (a playlist for when Josh won’t stop calling you), sonic landscapes: pandemic video games edition (sometimes you just need some background listening).  I actually made more than this, but I keep forgetting to post them.  Oh well.

RPGs: Finally finished and posted Speak Through Me!  Play my weird little game about mediated spirit possession!  I’m also super proud of The Extra Camper, which has some of the most evocative horror writing I’ve done?

Knitting: made two shawls and two scarves and am currently finishing the torso of baby’s first sweater!

Other stuff: Baby’s first edited volume chapter got published!  Finished two dissertation chapters with a third on the way!  Presented at a conference!  Guest lectured maybe too many times!  Taught the best class ever!  Somehow managed to survive year two of the pandemic!

Media I enjoyed this year:

Books: Fiction recs for this year are The Thread That Binds by Cedar McCloud (genuinely made me cry) and Piranesi by Suzanna Clarke.  Non-fiction recs are Healing Labor by Gabrielle Koch and Jesus Loves Japan by Suma Ikeuchi.  The latter, especially, is SO readable and lovely, I’m really in awe.  Also not my first time reading them, but I reread both The Underland Chronicles and The Bartimaeus Trilogy this year and they frickin’ SLAP; teen Queenie had such good taste but also rereading them was truly the mortifying ordeal of being known.

RPGs: I really enjoyed Our Traveling Home, Oh Maker!, and The Quiet Year.  Honorable mentions to Pilgrimage to the Center of the Earth and Alice Is Missing.  Also ran really good campaigns of Sleepaway and Blades in the Dark (although I’d played both before).

Video games: In no particular order: Outer Wilds, Persona 3 Portable, Deltarune, Hades, Tales of Berseria.  Outer Wilds and Persona 3 Portable have both permanently occupied space in my brain--sometimes I think about them and just stare into the middle distance.  I have a narrative type, okay??

Manga/comics: I think JJL was the only thing I read this year...

Fanfic: Okay, time for the regularly scheduled wall of text.  In no particular order: Come Together (JJBA:VA), what is living is burning and none of this will bring disaster (JJBA:SDC), Firefly (P3P), this river runs to you (MDZS), Eleuseos (JJBA:SDC), Why Worry (JJBA:SBR), best friends forever (MDZS), from yesterday comes tomorrow (JJBA), and RE: thesis defense issue (FAQ: The "Snake Fight" Portion Of Your Thesis Defense).  Special nods to The Best Worst Case Scenario (My Hero Academia) and Sleeping Lessons (Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty) for being fics for source material I know little to nothing about that were still emotionally engrossing enough to make this list.

Films: literally have not watched a single movie since January 2020.  Might be time to retire this category.  >.>

TV: TGCF and Stone Ocean!

Podcasts:  Continued listening to a bonkers number of podcasts.  Some highlights: In Strange Woods (I have listened to this all the way through twice and cried both times), The Strange Case of Starship Iris, Old Gods of Appalachia, and Keeping It 101: A Killjoy’s Introduction to Religion.  Special nod to Keep It Steady, which only has one episode so far, but I have already listened to it twice.

Music: Apparently my top song of the year was Dessa’s “Life on Land,” which is unsurprising to me.  Spotify won’t let me view my full Wrapped because it’s only available for mobile users (boo), but my guess is that Yorushika is my top artist of the year.  It was another weird year for listening--I was commuting the last four months of the year (so started listening to albums again), but then wound up either listening to older stuff I already had or podcasts.  And then on my desktop it was a combination of listening to playlists or chaos looping a single song for weeks on end.  For example, “Magnolia” was apparently my second most listened song this year, which can almost certainly be blamed on a combination of it being on my playlist for a flower blooming AND looping it for a couple of weeks while I edited my diss.

Anyway, あけおめ！！！ 良いお年を！！！

[rebloged-content]

Recommended Sanders Sides creators

Marry Christmas, everyone! And a wonderful December day to all of you who don’t celebrate Christmas, too. Let’s be honest right off the bat, though: I’m only using the date as an excuse to do this list anyways.

So. Throughout the time I’ve spent as a part of this wonderful corner of the sanders sides fandom over here on tumblr, I’ve often found a new creator and wished I’d found them sooner. It kind of makes me wonder who else I might miss. If you do to, here are a few creators I’d love for you to check out. You’ll probably recognize some of the names, if not all, but maybe you’ll find a new favorite creator here?

And to the creators in question, I really love your content. If you’ve made it onto this list, you’ve definitely cause one or two sleepless nights of reading for me, because who needs sleep if I can have this, right? XD Whatever you’ll find written next to your name is the impression you’ve left on me and… Well, just know that you’ve made some days of my life at least a little happier, all of you. And I hope to repay the favor by telling you how much I appreciate you releasing your content into this world… Well, repay the favor at least a little, I suppose.

Let’s begin, then, shall we?

@5am-the-foxing-hour Because this? This is who you go to if you want to read good Janus-content. You are in a mood to read sympathetic Janus? Wanna see the danger noodle just casually interact with other sides? Go to their short stories. I mean, “the cult”? Prime example of how to tell a story with impact in just a few words. 8 paragraphs, but boy did I read that one on repeat. Or “water spray bottle”, this one is fun, short and will make you laugh. An energy drink for the fander heart, so to say.

Then there’s their mafia-au, “there’s more in me than precious metals”. Six are out so far, and I adore every single word of every single part of this. Protective Remus, sassy Janus, angst, comedy relief, destruction, Roman-Remus-sibling-rivalry, braincell Logan, survival instinct Virgil, working together over a common enemy… This fic has it all, believe me. Take your time and read it, because you will read the entire thing in one go once you start. At least I did, and I didn’t even notice.

And their advent writings? Those had me squealing and jumping around in a way I will deny if anyone ever sees it. I don’t even know what else to say, they are fucking fantastic and that’s that.

So, yeah. Go check them out, before I start fangirling about them even more. You know my personal favorites now, so just go there. You won’t regret it.

Next up is @coconut-cluster. Ah, yes, Lexi. Lexi, whose uni-AU started as self indulgent and has become the loceit story on tumblr. We all know her, or at least most of us do, and we all love her too. And while I also drop everything I do at any point of time I possibly can once I realize the uni-au has any form of new addition, there are a lot of other fics created by her that you should check out as well.

Did you, for example, ever want a sappy prinxiety one-shot with the sappiness only being implied, a mutual understanding of “we’re-not-saying-we-care-but-we-both-know-we-do” born from joking reassurances and a not-a-date-nope-only-a-break? While that may seem to be a tall order, that is exactly what “before the sun goes down” is. Plus there’s ice cream. Or maybe you’re more of a logince fan? Do you want a fic where Roman isn’t the prince but serves His Highness? Do you like sincere talks while you’re procrastinating showing your face to the subjects you don’t really want to rule over? In that case, you really should read “Viva la Vida”. Careful, though, this one is so sweet you’ll probably get a toothache… There also is an analogical fic that I’ve enjoyed very much: “Cracks in the Ceiling”. I love it, because it’s just calm. Fears creeping up on you, thrown away by a trusted friend with a few words, just by being there and playing into the metaphors you head created this time around. It’s calm, and there’s not really a climax or anything, but it doesn’t need one. Because it’s just a glance into everyday life. It’s beautiful in its own right, really.

What I’m saying is, Lexi has a lot more wonderful stories to tell than the uni-au. It’s the most popular one, sure, and it’s one of her best works. But you really should check out her other fics as well. Lexi herself once said that she writs fics she’d like to read. I would figure it’s because of this, but her stories are mostly things you don’t really find anywhere else. Dynamics, stories, world building, all of those are aspects you may find somewhere else. But Lexi is just one of those people who see what they miss in a fandom and create it themselves, and among these creators Lexi is my favorite. She just has that certain skill that makes that approach to writing result in the most enjoyable reading experiences. Lexi’s fics are special, because they’re different, because they are authentic and you can feel that when you’re reading her work.

@djpurple3 is another talented individual I want to talk about. I have to confess, DJ is, as far as original content goes, almost exclusively locked in my brain with the fiction “I just keep loosing my beat”. 23 Chapters so far, one better than the last. It’s a bitter-sweet story following Remus and his children, after the bitch of a mother has been brought behind bars. Abusive piece of shit. Yeah, I don’t like her much. But the story is so full of love and support, everyone trying their best, everyone seeing how much the others deserve the world and wishing they could give it to them… Roman and Remus have a sibling-dynamic I would die for here, too. Patton is just the most adorable friend to Deceit - here Damion - Virgil is a precious bean, Logan is cute and the teacher we all wish he’d had ourselves and… god, I could keep gushing about this fic forever. I’ll stop now, though, before I’ll start spoiler things. Wouldn’t want to do that, especially since I really, really, really want more people to give this a go. It’s not underrated, I just think everyone who doesn’t is missing out by a lot, so… Go over there and read DJ’s fic right fucking now, if you haven’t already read it at least once. Thank you.

@delimeful​, our wonderful lime-friend with a cute cat making a terrifying face in his header. First of all, there is the WIBAR universe, short for “Watch it burn and rust”. 5 chapters in act one, 4 intermissions (one of those with three chapters), one chapter of act two, as well as three extras and an au of this au called “the end of being alone”, and I’ve lost count of how many nights I spent reading those instead of sleeping like I should. (Or interacting with family. Or being productive. Or… It’s really a good story, okay?!) WIBAR is a deathworlder au. So a space au in which humans are regarded as dangerous deathworlders who can survive on a deathworld like earth. In other words, Virgil is the only human, and boy does that scare everyone around him. And the best part? You can feel the development, the shift in mentality regarding Virgil, feel the moment approach in which he isn’t a threat but a companion instead.

And, apart from the fic that inspired me enough to start writing “TINND!R?” over on my writing blog, there are a lot more amazing fics to read on lime’s blog. He wrote “How easy you are to need”, for example. It’s soft, it pulls at just the right heartstrings, it’s achingly hopeful and, god, the ending still has me in tears, even after the fifth - ? sixth? something among those lines - reread. This one’s a werewolf au, actually. Virgil is the werewolf, Logan, Patton and Roman are the humans.

Do you want yourself some of that pre-AA dynamic? I’d recommend “to taste your beating heart”. In this, Virgil gets separated from the rest of his group of vampire hunters and gets turned into a vampire himself, loosing his memories. And he’s “Anx” now, not “Virgil”, goddamnit! He isn’t their friend anymore, why don’t they understand that? Well, probably because they can still see Virgil’s old habits shining through. There’s a lot of tension, a lot of angst and a whole lot of frustration involved in this.

He also wrote some amazing one-shots. They’re mostly so well written that I’m almost sad not to be waiting on a continuation. There’s “the littlest mermaid”, in which Virgil goes to investigate a noise, finding a scared, tiny mermaid in need of help. In “community gardens” we have Remus being Remus, gaining the interest and friendship of the forest’s giant Logan. “Magical mutualism” tells the tale of a witch and a demon making a pact beneficial to both parties and opening the doors neither could have gone beyond alone. The way we’re all confused about our ships not actually having set sail yet comes to a hight in Virgil in regards to his friends in “amateur matchmakers”. And this is the point at witch I stop talking before I actually recommend every single one of lime’s fics instead of just my favorites as I had planed because I started to gush too much… XD

Let’s move on to @muppenthings​. Mupp is an amazing artist and she created a giant mermaid au. There’s this one orca who’s just… We love her, but I actually don’t think she’s the brightest. I really, really love her, though. Virgil himself is being a little protective over his human friends and casually so. I love this comic series for the art style, but I also love the way it makes me crack a laugh at least once per work. Or appeal to my mother-instincts, if it’s about baby Virgil. Too cute for his own good, I tell ya! And the facial expressions! The detail, the jokes, everything about this is wonderful. You should at least take a look.

@whenisitenoughtrees​. Cat got me with “This cup of yours tastes holy (This lie is dead)”. “A slow voice on a wave of phase” was next, later “Infinity and beyond”, “we are not alone in the dark with out demons” and “changing of the guard”. And then, suddenly, the night was over. I’ve read almost all of the fics in one go, and I’ve been semi-frequently visiting her master post ever since. When “There’s an endless road to rediscover” came out just a little while back, that lead to me re-reading through almost the entire list. I don’t regret it, my plans for that weekend would like to disagree.

These six fics I mentioned here are, by no means, the only ones I enjoyed. Those are just the ones I’ve found myself opening up again and again in sleepless nights. Those are the ones that pop up in my head and have me smiling to myself in the middle of god-knows-whatever-I’ve-been-doing-at-the-time.

Angst, fluff, hurt-comfort, you’ll find everything in that list. And something I’ve grown to like about Cat’s fics even more than anything else is the quick change between feeling perplexed, a startled laugh at certain wordings (you’ll know what I’m talking about when you see it) and apprehension. These fics will have you at the edge of you seat, swooping you away on an emotional roller coaster. And, god, the way Cat writes from Remus’ perspective? The introductions of her stories and the way she redirects to the main topic after going into detail on something? I saved a few paragraphs as screenshots on my phone because I love them and I want to read them again when I’m down. I just… Cat’s great.

Next up is @eliemo. Because Elias Virgil is the royalty of Virgil angst. From the touch-starved Virgil we’ve all had a head cannon of at one point in “Heart of Ice”, over ace Virgil panicking over telling his boyfriends that he his ace and didn’t think to tell them before in “Love our way” to so, so much more.

Mostly EV follows the story arc of an underlying feeling of dread at the beginning, which slowly grows into panic, exploding in a storm of angst and concludes in everyone, or at least whoever is around, coming to the rescue and helping to calm down, with the end being the hope for getting better in the future. They always manage to convey the confusion, fear or just the general thought process so well that you can’t help but get absorbed in the story. They know exactly what to say and what to leave between the lines to get the maximum effect. And, your heart will definitely be shattered after their angst. Still, the way the sides comfort each other and support each other so well every time is just… I love their stories, a lot.

I want to make two more suggestions if you want to check out this creator. A Janus angst fic, which can only be described as “ouch” you’ll find under the name “snake bite”. It hurts in the best way possible, because Janus gets the comfort he deserves.

The other suggestion gets a lot darker. It’s about Virgil having been abused by the “others” before he got accepted into the light side. The others are shocked to find out what has gone on behind their backs and they help Virgil in every way they can to recover. Of cause it’s a rocky path, though. This would be “Learned Behavior”. The series/au has twelve stories so far, one of which has two parts. You’ll find the master post for this pinned to the top on their blog.

If you like angst, you should also give @maybedefinitely404​ a look. Ly has a soulmate-au going, in which they use the concept of “you hear the music your soulmate listens to”. "Music in my head” is a prinxiety fic, but the two of them have yet to meet. Four chapters and two mini-fics in. The reason I mentioned angst is because in this - spoiler alert for the first few chapters here - , Virgil gets put through conversion therapy. Luckily Janus and Logan are better foster parents than the ones who did that to him.

They also have a master list for all their soulmate stories, featuring different ships. Apparently they participated in soulmate month, if I understood that correctly. And to be honest, that was how I even found their account. I absolutely adore their anxceit fic, which takes place in a human au. It’s starting off pretty sad, but the bonding moments are absolutely wonderful. It’s a lovely story, and the ending is one of the best ones I’ve yet to read. Their logince fic took my breath away, too. A flower shop/tattoo artist au, and Logan is the tattoo artist. Stunning writing, wonderful world building, just the right amount of backstory to have everything make sense without overwhelming/drowning the reader in unnecessary details. Their moxceit fiction… Well, this one had me in tears within the first few paragraphs. It’s terrible and you feel for Janus, whose perspective this is written from. The ending, though… Gods! The ending was so indescribably cute. To be honest, all of the soulmate stories are great, these three are just my personal favorites.

Concerning their one shots, you’ll probably have to figure it out on your own concerning this. I haven’t been able to read all of them yet, as sad as that makes me. Definitely palling on doing it in the future, though. I did read two of them, though. “Pippity poppity” really was amusing, and I am so looking forward to the second part of “The Boy who sings next door”. The way they write the dynamics between the sides? I live for that.

Another creator I would like to recommend is @maybe-im-tired.They don’t have a master post, as far as I could see, but they only post their content anyways, so… “Can’t take my eyes off of you” is my favorite out of their fics so far. I mean, the way they managed to fit the sheer chaos that is intrulogical into this one short fic is amazing. And you could take about two thirds of what Remus said and put it up on your wall as out-of-contexts-quotes. Don’t worry, he says them out of context anyways, and they will definitely make you laugh. 

The series of short stories for the human au that starts with “Glowing stars” is another au by them that you will almost certainly like. We have Logan and Virgil as kids (about 7 I think), Remus and Patton as single parents, Roman as the most adoring uncle, Emile as babysitter and Remy as his amazing partner. Remus is a great father, wonderfully chaotic as well. And a teacher! Imagine that, Remus as your teacher... He’s great with kids though, as long as they aren’t entitled villains come to make his precious Virgil feel bad, that is.

They also wrote a bunch of “random one shots”. They are all amazing, but my favorite has to be this one. It’s a logince one, once again human au. Patton may or may not tell his big brother’s crush about the feelings he wasn’t prepared to share yet. You know, as small kids do. It’s soft, it will make you smile as much as Logan does, and I love Remus in it. I generally like how they write Remus, okay? I know how much I’ve said it, but I’m not even exaggerating. They always write him differently, and all versions they write him as are so, so lovable and just… I wanna hug the life out of all Remus versions they wrote, okay? Take a look, you’ll know why.

Anyways. Let’s continue with @figurative-siren-song. This is the last account I’ve followed and I’m still sad about it having taken me this long to find them. Little salty, to be honest. (I’ll stick to they/them because they said just not to use she/her, and, well… consistency, you know? Don’t have much, so I have to get what I can XD). When I finally did find them, I went through their entire master list (at least all of the ships with characters I actually know. I’m kinda bad with the shorts characters, so I usually just… avoid them? Idk. Personal preference, I guess), and, well… I would honestly recommend every single fic on that list. They call themself “Repair Fluff King™️” and they deserve that title. But when they warn you that a fic will be angsty, it will be angsty.

I found them through the anxceit fic “A Deal”. Well, through an animatic by their friend on youtube that had linked the fic, but details. I’ve been reading this fic up and down again and again. It’s just so good! And when they talk in the second part and Janus explains why he proposed that deal. Or in the continuation, which i can’t talk about because I will probably spoiler things! So wholesome!

 Also, their losleepxeity fic “We’re worth it”. So soft! The nicknames, the plot, the everything. It’s softer than clouds look, and we all know that means something.

But, really. Everyone will find something for them by this creator. So many ships, all incredibly well written, and soft and fluffy without getting boring in the slightest. It’s as energizing as coffee, actually. And, let’s be honest, this whole fandom drowns itself in angst most of the time. Take a break from that, repair your broken hearts with goof fluffy content that you’ll want to read over and over again. Go check this creator out. You will love them. 

Last but not least… @myfriendsasthesides​ A blog by a creator who just takes the wonderfully chaotic dynamics of a friend group and using that to give us content of incorrect sides quotes. Maybe it doesn’t fit with me going on and on about fics here. I don’t care. Follow them and turn on those notifications, please, because seeing even one post of theirs on your dashboard will make your day. It’s funny, it’s absurd, it’s chaotic, it’s making you jealous of them for having friends like that. Believe me, you will want to see those posts. It’s just… the random shots of serotonin and dopamine out generation needs really fucking desperately 100% of the time. 

That’s it with the list! Eleven creators I absolutely adore, and I’m sorry I was babbling so much all the way through, but… Well, actually I’m not sorry. And actually, half of the reason I even made this post is to tell them how much I love them and fangirl about them a bit. So… Yeah. Well.I love you guys and hope you’ll have a wonderful day! And to everyone else reading this: I hope this helped you ind some new creators you can enjoy. And a good day to you too, of cause.

Sincerely, Joy 🖤

(@joylessnightsky/@sanders-sides-fic)

[dornish-queen]

Pedro Pascal - La Vanguardia

With Javier Peña's mustache as his hallmark, the 'Narcos' and 'Game of Thrones' actor is filming in Budapest with Nicolas Cage and Paco León

Pascal, cultured, seductive and reflective, repeats as Loewe's ambassador for its Solo Mercurio perfume and is a model for 'Magazine Lifestyle'

SYLVIA MARTI   12/13/2020 06:00

 Casual striped jacket, tousled hair, exquisite punctuality, and a room in Budapest. There is something about this man, generous in smiles and answers, great talkative, attractive without clichés. Pedro Pascal, 45 years old and face success. He shot The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent in the Hungarian capital with Nicolas Cage and Paco León, who apparently encouraged the show a lot; We see him without seeing him in the Star Wars universe as a galactic bounty hunter in The Mandalorian and he is Maxwell Lord, the eighties villain of Wonder Woman 1984 , perhaps the only blockbuster that, if nothing goes wrong, will make us happy Christmas.

Session in Budapest The Chilean actor shoots 'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent' in the Hungarian capital with Nicolas Cage and Paco León

(full article and photos under the cut)

Chilean by birth, his family left the country fleeing the Pinochet dictatorship when he was a baby. Brief passage through Denmark and new life in San Antonio (Texas). Normal when speaking in your mother tongue some words in English slip through. Think before answering a question without losing spontaneity or being afraid of silence. An art. 

There is still Javier Peña's mustache, which catapulted him to fame from Narcos , and you can recognize that little point of joyous irony of Prince Oberyn Martell, who almost ended the Mountain in Game of Thrones . Two roles that have opened doors that he has managed to keep safe from slamming doors and have allowed him to skip the toll of stereotyped roles. Today Pascal, well trained in theater and loved by the cameras, can do whatever he wants. Even dedicating a Saturday to star in a fashion shoot and speak exclusively for Lifetsyle Magazine .

"Nobody knows me but everyone thinks they know me," he said when he debuted as the face of Solo Loewe perfume. Introduce yourself with four words.”

I do not define myself only by them, but I am contradictory, faithful, loyal, sensitive and, at times, a bit geek.

What would surprise me about you if you knew him better?

That although I live life and enjoy family, friends and social connections a lot, I have a lonely point. I like having my space and the option of staying a day at home in a relaxed and cocoon plan .

“Even though I live life and really enjoy family, friends and social connections, I have a lonely point.”

With Covid-19, many of us are already a little tired of staying at home ...

Yes, now that I don't have much choice to go out, I'm afraid of not being able to go back to the theater, to a party, to a dinner with many people ... I really regret those times that, instead of going out, I stayed at home.

Which character has left the most impression on you?

I miss Peña, from Narcos . It was my first leading role, the first time I had time to develop the character, create his energy, his style ... They gave me a lot of freedom to shape it, even if it was based on a real person. I was able to work on it, make it my own, create the tone, invent and deepen.

Do you easily get rid of them when filming is over?

When I was younger I was very clear that they had to be left at work, that the character had to be separated from the person. I thought that with age it would get easier and easier but, surprisingly, the opposite happens to me: it gets harder and harder. Energy cannot always be organized the way we would like and I have to admit that I take some of my characters home with me.

Have you incorporated any of their phrases into your life?

Maxwell Lord has a very attractive in Wonder Woman 1984 : "Everything is fine, but it could be better."

Very eighties. Like the one Gordon Gekko said on Wall Street (1987): "If you want a friend, buy yourself a dog." Have we advanced or are we already for the fourth pet?

We have come a long way. I am very inspired by young people, their strength to face in an original way that win, win and win system that reached a monstrous level in the eighties. Today's young people go deeper into the need to respect a planet in which we all live together and the obligation to take care of it.

“Young people inspire me, they deepen the need to respect a planet and the obligation to care for it.”

I see you optimistic ...

I am a realistic and hard-working optimist. My first impression is that the glass is half empty, I have to find arguments to see it half full.

Is it true that you drew the comic strips to interact with them as a method to immerse yourself in your character in 'Wonder Woman 1984'?

I made a book with images from the eighties and sixties, comic book drawings, papers, erasers, colored pencils, markers and vignettes to better understand what it was to be a man of that decade, how his attitude was forged ... It was a way to focus to live up to what Patty (Jenkins, the director) asked for, which was a lot, and not lose sight of it. I'm a horrible cartoonist, but I had to do something practical to study, understand, and develop the character.

What does a script or a role have to have to get their attention?

Sense of humor. Even if it is a drama, a hero, a villain ... Humor immediately hooks me.

A good shield to go through life ...

The best. It is the most important thing to survive.

Do you remember the last time you laughed out loud?

Paco León immediately came to mind. When he's on set, here in Budapest, we are all happier and we laugh a lot. The entire production loves it. It has made filming more fun.

“When Paco León is on set, here in Budapest, we are all happier and we laugh a lot”

 What fascinates you most about the Star Wars universe?

Nostalgia, the huge audience it has, the ability to reach so many people. It reflects our childlike imagination without limits. Create more and more worlds with all kinds of people and species. He is capable of casting the universe

What is your definition of success?

Have a healthy relationship with yourself. Nothing matters if you don't love yourself.

What would you have done if you had not succeeded as an actor? Did you have a plan B?

No. Perhaps the only thing that could have been useful to others is acting as a literature teacher, as a counselor or advisor for people who need help ... I am a bit of a therapist with my friends. And it must work, because they come back. I have a lot of common sense.

What is elegance to you? Has your relationship with Loewe influenced the way you dress?

In that of elegance I am a student, I am learning. I wear what is comfortable but I also have very finite taste and, when motivated, I really like to express myself with style. And when it comes to style, Loewe is on top of everything.

Something material that would save from a fire.

A book. I always have one on hand. Now I am rereading The Magic Mountain , by Thomas Mann. Literature is one of my passions. It is an extension of life. The problem would be to choose only one, there are so many! My identity is made by inspirations from authors, actors, dancers, the art world, the sea ... There is no self without the influence of all the things that inspire me.

“The sea is what I like the most in life. I have respect, curiosity and love for him on a religious level.”

The sea…

It's what I like the most in life. I have respect, curiosity and love for him on a religious level.

If he gets lost, I know where to look for him.

On a boat in the middle of the sea, on an island, on the beach in Chile ... Everything related to water. One of the first smells I remember, although I don't know if it's too attractive, is the chlorine in the pool.

What is your fastest way to disconnect?

Losing your mobile phone. I fell down the stairs in Dubrovnik and at first it was like, "Oh noooo." But then I thought, "Well, a week without him." I had a certain feeling of liberation. Not having to be aware of e-mails, messages ... I find it very strong that people communicate even through a direct message from Instagram. I refuse.

Now that you quote them, how are you getting along with the networks? (He has 1.5 million followers on Intagram)

I am quite active, I use it when I have a good time, but also to express myself and to give my opinion.

“I will say goodbye to the year with a kiss and raising the middle finger. He has treated me well but the collective suffering and fear this year….”

What is your favorite word?

Oxymoron. I like its meaning and its sound

Who would you like to shut up, as you did in the first Loewe Solo ad?

Personally, I would love to shut up that heavy, bad voice, the imp that we all have in our heads. That it's nice to have him and that, and I know he will never go away, but it would be nice if he shut up sometimes. Collectively I think we would all like to shut up one person.

Trump?

I suppose.

What have you learned from this rare year?

That you cannot live without human contact. For me the deep and simple connections with my friends and family is the only thing that matters.

How will you fire him?

With a kiss and raising the middle finger. He has treated me very well but the collective suffering and fear this year….

*article translated with google chrome. Source of article*

[summoner-chan]

Sorry, I guess I should have been more specific, I WAS talking about Darius lol. Aight then last two questions: Shiro and Durga.

And don't worry about the long winded responses, I love it when people feel comfortable enough talking about themselves, and I can, like, feel their excitement as I read. :)

I tend to worry about how much I talk since that experience with someone on discord (the same server as those two passive aggressive peeps) asked me to not to post a wall (what they meant is that not send a long ass one whole paragraph of words) because I was talking a long time to type and send-

Mind you, my phone was lagging at the time there was a lot of typos happening without my control so I had to retype them. I remember it being something they asked what's about that art I drew?

Other than that, they were pretty mean, maybe because they were part of the admin teams of the discord or they're just a natural born dick :/ and I mean by natural born dick when someone just said good criticism and everyone who's friend with that person just-

y'know bit his head off saying things like "lmaooo nobody needs that shit critism 🤪. Look at this guy shitting on (username) 😂😂" and there's them going all "I don't need your damn critism, I don't fucking care. I ask critism when I want to and I didn't ask for yours so you can stfu" like okay....no need to offended by that... And I found the critism on the spot though? I couldn't see your linework from all those shading-

Anyways, I'm being off topic so let's hop to the Housamo Ask Game!✨✨

[Shiro]

Favorite book or favourite book series? Oof, truth to be told, I'm more to a manga/comic book reader 😂😂 but I do enjoy reading books once awhile!! I only own two horror light novels which are in my native language so I'll try to translate their title??

The very first book I had was Kakak Kemboja (Kemboja in English is Frangipani) which translates to Big Sis Kemboja/Sister Kemboja (not in a Nun way-) and it was about a young boy meeting one of the tenants in the old apartment he lived in.

After losing his father and his house, he and his mother was forced out by the late father's mother and brother who planned to make their house into a homestay. This caused the young boy to stay at the apartment alone while his mother was working to bits but don't be sad, Big Sis will always be there for you

Spoiler, Big Sis is actually a ghost 👻

In Asian culture, Frangipani is one of the notorious for having it's scent being related to ghosts. If you're alone and you smell something fragrant, it's best to get out of there as fast as you can along with to not comment about the scent on the spot. I tend to smell fragrant things (doesn't help that I can see things ksjdjwkdje) even in my own house so I just- Yeet myself from that place

The second book is Somniphobia which is the Fear of Sleeping. It's about an office guy who likes to read scary and horror books at night until morning which causes him to get late for work most of the time. He was starting to get bored since he's already read all of the books he owned and nothing seems to catch his eye until his old friend suggested him a book, Somniphobia. Little did he know, the more he read the book, the less sleep he had. To be specific, he's started to develop Somniphobia himself. .

I only read light novels because once I bought the book, I immediately read it, to the point I finish it one day which just frustrates me to no end. I read super fast and everything just gets crammed to my head and I'd have to reread again to make things sensible kskskksksdj

I'm not a manic like my big sis though, she has two shelfs full from her novels. Her favorite book series is the Clockwork series, the Shadowhunter series which is written by Cassandra Clare and she almost have the full set now- 😂

[Durga]

To be sentimental or to not be sentimental-

Well then I'm going to the sentimental path skksksks

I'd actually want my family get back together again but you know, I can never take in another man who's not even my biological father to begin with after what I went through with said man

Having to cope without having a dad for 2 years now is sad but it happened, I know it's not my fault even though another part of me insists that I should have done better. I cry so easily whenever there's things that reminds me of him, I can't handle scenes where a man is lying in bed in the hospital, I can't handle seeing fathers being very affectionate to their children and I can't handle going to hospitals again

Thinking about marriages is what hits me the most because in my religion, the bride's father will be the officiant for the wedding, handing his daughter over to the groom's care so to say. That doesn't mean that I won't be able to get married without having a father to be the officiant but rather the officiant will be replaced by the bride's brother or uncle (brother of the father) and if there none, a court religious officer will be the officiant

It's just that thinking how lucky your eldest sister (from the first wife of my late dad + divorced) was able to have your late dad as the officiant of her wedding then when it was only you and your four sisters (two from the same mom while the other two is from the second wife), the chance was already gone. I won't see my late dad at my own wedding, only having it being replaced by my brother or uncle. It's not the same, it won't ever be the same because he's not there to see his grandkids or will he have the opportunity to be called grandpa

It just hurts knowing that he won't be there to be a part of the big parts of my life

But it happened and there's nothing I could change, I'm already quite happy and grateful to have mu late dad's wife and her family taking care of me and my two sisters despite there are times when we've fought but nonetheless grateful

I don't have my biological mom with me at the time since she was forced to stay in her own home country due to her citizenship, I dearly miss her but...due to personal reasons, I can't help but hate her from time to time. She does the wrong things and it scarred me badly, hence why I am unable to give her my blessings for her to get married

That's all I could say since if I were to say more, things would get pretty long and it's just me ranting out :P

Thank you for sending in ask in!! Feel free to send anymore like usual~

[awed-frog]

jonathan stroud interview

Lucca Comics 2020

[Here is the link, but I don’t know how it works and if you can rewatch the event...it was a weird streaming interview, they lost a lot of time with the translation but the questions were interesting. I’m sorry I missed the part with Licia Troisi, but I was busy writing down Stroud’s answers and I couldn’t possibly do both.

Stroud appeared at his home (?); his study is 90% books - most of them looked part of a series, probably a demon hunting encyclopedia or something - and 10% weird artefacts, like a pharaoh’s bust.

Troisi and Stroud were interviewed by YA expert and editor Chiara Codecà.]

Where do your stories come from?

I start with a little scene between two characters, or a piece of dialogue. For The Bartimaeus Sequence, it was about a boy magician and a djinn, and the confrontation between them; the energy of the book comes from this initial confrontation. For Lockwood & Co, I had a boy and a girl coming to a house in London, knocking at the door...they had swords, were there to fight ghosts. I knew nothing about the story and who those guys were, but I loved the energy and wrote the story from there. 

Fantasy books always start with tiny acorns. As a writer you have to get excited by what you're doing...many times I try writing something and it has no life, but when I find a tiny scene that has life, I get excited, I think "I will stay with this and see if I can build it into something bigger".

Methods of working? 

I need to have discipline and write a certain number of words every day. I need a roadmap and to know where I'm going, but when I start it's very bad, there is no detailed structure at all, just a series of loose ideas and themes. Often I'll improvise for quite a while, write 50 or 60 pages of scenes, trying, and nothing really works...But I am looking for the story, for the right atmosphere, eventually a structure emerges and then I'll follow it and write chronologically. But that early bit is just about hunting and searching. I wish it wasn't like this because it's really slow! For the current book, I needed 2 years of work! It's a slow process for me. 

It is a mechanism, a complicated mechanism. Sometimes you start with a little piece on the inside, which works, you know it works, it's characters or a scene, you know it's good and a useful piece of technology, but at that point you need to figure out what goes on the outside. Often I have to take time to figure out how the bigger machine works from the tiny piece of engine I already have: what machine does this belong to? It's like you have to figure out what the car looks like, its purpose and colour and everything. That comes later for me.

Role of your previous life as an editor?

Being an editor is a noble profession, and an important one! For me it was essential to begin like this because it taught me how to look at text, how not to be afraid of changing and manoeuvring, playing with text. Not being frightened of these things is important. As a writer you have to learn not to be frightened of the blank page and of change. As an editor you become more relaxed about that. Now, as a writer, I spend time on things, if it doesn't work, I change it, move it; I'm happy to play with it, and I think being relaxed about that is a great skill to learn.

(Licia Troisi mentions she's a fan and is also a fan of The Name of the Rose, which she read more than 20 times)

It's what we all aspire to as writers, we want to create something that's like a home, a welcoming house, where people can come in and they're your guests, you make them feel comfortable. As a child I read The Name of the Rose, of course, but also detective stories in general, they're interesting...I read Sherlock Holmes when I was 10, those books have that same quality, you enter this world, and it's complete and beautiful. When you're inside you think it's a special, cozy place, I reread them very often since. When I write I try to consciously imagine that effect on me: as a writer you try to bring a warmth. You have terrible things happening, murders and ghosts, but you want to have a warmth also, which the reader will sense. It's an important quality.

Any news on the new book?

I have it here, it’s almost finished, here is the manuscript: The Outlaws: Scarlett and Browne, it's really thick! It's about the same length as a Lockwood book. It's a fantasy, a new series. The original idea was to do a British western, so it's set in a version of England in the future: many strange things have happened, it's a different place, more dangerous, like the wild West in some way, but British. There are monsters and cannibals but also our heroes: our heroine is Scarlett McCain, she's an outlaw, robs the little town dotting the wilderness. She's tough and formidable, and she meets a young boy called Albert, who seems a little foolish and weak, she gets crossed with him a lot but he may be more interesting than she thought.

It will be out in the UK in the spring 2021.

How are you coping with the pandemic and has it leaked into your work?

It's an interesting one...For me I think I'm lucky with my existence, I'm able to carry on working, I'm so much more fortunate than many others. I carried on working, my children are running around the house but it's not a problem. For the work...I've been working on this book for two years, and as I was writing this year I realized it has echoes of the current situation - but I had been working on it even before the pandemic. One connection is that the world of Scarlett and Brown is a very chaotic and challenging world; many people kind of hide themselves away, shut their doors, don't want to engage with the world at all. My heroes are two very different people, but both have a positivity to them, they're not afraid to embrace the world and these changes. And as I was writing, this was important to me: the world has horrible things to it, but you have to face up to them even if it's hard.

Imaginary worlds: you have to set rules, but do you always abide by them? Have you broken any rules?

You try not to, it's a bad mistake to break rules. For a very small but annoying one, with The Bartimaeus Sequence...the 1st book is always the most difficult to write, you're inventing and figuring out the rules...and there is mention of a computer, just once, a magician using a computer, and it's not an important detail, but later, when I understood my world better, I understood how ludicrous it was! These guys use magic, they can use it for everything, so they never...their technology has not advanced in the way it is in our world. I was very angry at this foolish mistake. It's very hard to accept tiny errors. This is why the new book it has taken me two years, I was struggling to understand the world, change things around. I hope the 2nd book will be quicker!

(Comment from the audience) Discovering a new book for the first time, there's nothing like it.

Yes, it's what we're all looking for, both as a writer and a reader.

Writers who inspire you? Any recs for our listeners? Advice for new writers?

Licia is wise, she's a sage, I agree with her tips (ie, read everything, in multiple genres, and write stuff you enjoy writing, not in view of publication). You have to write for pleasure, absolutely, it's the fundamental thing; if you get it right you will pass that pleasure on to other people. Like Licia, I like to play with genres, so as a reader I have to try everything...I always liked fantasy, Ursula K. LeGuin and others, but I read everything...At the moment I'm reading George Orwell, and he talks about politics, literature, truth, and whether it's possible to be a writer in a moment democracy is under attack. It's a very important read, and he's on my mind a lot.

What is the book you got most emotional to write?

The 3rd book in The Bartimaeus Sequence, Ptolemy's Gate, has carried the most emotional weight for me. It's the ending, it brings the story of Nathaniel and Kitty to a close, so I was anxious to get it right, I was very concerned about the ending. But once it was on the page, I had this great feeling of emotional release, I knew this was the best ending I could do and I was very proud of it.

How do you approach a character? The depth of feeling you manage is amazing.

Writing a character is like getting to know a new friend. You need to like them, to be interested in them, to slowly uncover who they are. Initially I know what they look like, maybe a couple of other things, but as I write, I slowly discover their inner lives, their secrets, their flaws, their sense of humour...it takes me a long time to find those things, but you need to find them. These are people you're going to work with for years. It's a constant discovery, you need to treat them like friends.

[volucris-liga]

Okay, the book came out in February so it’s been long enough that i assume anyone who cares about spoilers for Pathfinder’s Quest has already obtained Pathfinder’s Quest, and i have a lot of Excited Thoughts to share so I’m rereading the last chapter and writing some notes. I’ll still put it under a Read More in case anyone is still avoiding spoilers for it, but I figured it’s safe to post now at least.

The majority of this post is probably gonna be about Ash.

This post is also probably very long.

Anyway. Let’s go:

First of all, the Project Iris story stuff starts in 2658. Since the current year is 2733 (maybe 2734 by now? idk) and Horizon came back 87 years after she was left at the black hole, that means she disappeared in 2646-ish. So this is around 12 years after Horizon was lost.

Since the last chapter mentions that Project Iris had been around for 15 years, I went back to Horizon’s chapter to confirm that it was already technically Project Iris before she left (it was, yes), and found this bit: 

“Lilian set me up with a laboratory on Olympus to test my theories and find a solution to the crisis. I brought my whole family there… I miss them.” 

She specifically is talking about more people than just her son. I’m so curious about who Newton’s father is lol, and why it’s only Newton that we see in her Story From the Outlands and the rest of her lore.

Okay now I’m finding more stuff in Horizon’s chapter, i’m glad i went back to reread this too.

“Years and years went by with nothing. Financiers were getting impatient; Lilian was kind about it, but I knew even she was doubting in me. My own assistant thought I was failing.” 

Whiiich means before they discovered Branthium, Reid already had sort of an antagonistic thing toward Horizon and didn’t trust that she could succeed at the project (though, as seen shortly, Horizon didn’t realize how bad it was). I’m guessing she was resentful that Horizon was getting all the recognition for the project and she was always seen as her assistant, not an equal scientist on the project. 

And then there’s this bit:

Horizon: “My assistant, Dr. Reid, joined me on my mission.” Path: “The one who thought she was better than you?” Horizon: “Aye. Didn’t know it then, though. She was a good friend. We were close. Came to dinner with my family. Even babysat my son a few times. That’s why it’s so hard to ken what happened…”

Oof. I’ll come back to this point later; there’s some stuff about Newton in the last chapter that’s important. 

As a side note, I think Horizon didn’t know a lot of the people in Project Iris, and most of them were recruited after she was already gone -- she’s not able to tell Pathfinder much about the group that actually solved the energy crisis. 

Anyway, moving on. I appreciate that Reid’s first name is Ashleigh, lol, makes sense why she’s called Ash as a simulacrum later.

I really like that even in this storyline there’s connections to the other legends -- Wattson’s grandmother, Amélie Paquette, and Gibraltar’s grandfather, Aleki Gibraltar, are both on the team. There’s a bunch of other scientists as well, but as far as I can tell they’re all new for this lore with no prior connections. 

There’s a scene where yet another experiment with refined Branthium fails, and Reid calls out Amélie for it -- “Your plan was wrong from the start. I pointed that out, must have been, twenty times?” Reid is clearly quick to judge others’ ideas and shut people down (and has been all along, like when she thought Horizon would fail before the discovery of Branthium). Reid and Amélie also reeeeeaaallly don’t get along. 

There’s this exchange:

‘“Excuse me? And what have you done, Reid?” Paquette pressed, moving face to face with Reid. “Besides stand by and critique our every move while ze rest of us do all ze work. Is zis how you treated Somers?”  “You’re not half the scientist she was.” Reid smirked.’

Even though she was resentful of Horizon, enough so to betray her, she did apparently respect her more than she does the rest of this group, which i think is interesting. She also just… really hates Amélie.

And then there’s Newton!!! aaaaa!!! I love that he’s an intern for the group now that he’s a teenager. And his personality is adorable. 

Newton finds something that none of the rest of them saw, which is that someone needs to be in the refinery to continuously recalibrate the process. Which is impossible. Aaaand then it’s Reid, of all people, who comes up with the idea to reprogram a MRVN robot to do it. Which is painfully ironic, given what happens later.

While they’re trying to figure out how to actually do the MRVN thing, Reid mentions that she has contacts at Hammond Robotics. I’m assuming Hammond are the ones who eventually rebuild her as a simulacrum (though for all I know that’s been confirmed somewhere and I’ve forgotten. I have trouble keeping all the corporations and factions straight in my head, and i’ve barely played any Titanfall, rip). They’re definitely the ones who made Revenant (which has already happened by this point in the lore). 

All the scientists putting part of their personality into Pathfinder is just so good. Especially cause of Newton; I love that it’s Newton’s influence that has Path being so friendly to everyone. Please give us in-game voicelines between Horizon and Pathfinder next season, now that Pathfinder knows Newton was one of his creators.

Aaaand here we go, stuff about Newton. Reid obviously helped raise him after his mom was gone. I wonder if she ever felt guilty about what she did to Horizon? A few interactions that Hurt:

‘Paquette paused and looked at the MRVN. “He’s our fail-safe.”  “Whatever… I’ve got other work to do. Let me know when you’re done fooling around,” Reid huffed as she stormed out of the lab.  “Should I go after her?” asked Newton. “She seems sad.”’

-

‘“A lot of what I have to offer is what my mom had, and I think most of that’s already in here, but there’s one thing that was always important to Mom: she loved her friends. It’s important to me, too. You’re all my friends. But especially you, Dr. Reid.” Newton looked over at her. “You were always there for my mom. Just like this MRVN is going to be there for the Outlands.” Reid did her best to smile, but it ended up as more of a quick nod.  “Thanks,” she said hesitantly.’

I appreciate that Amélie is suspicious of what happened to Horizon. Like, Reid managed to fool most people, but not everyone.

‘As Stay started to pack up the tools, Paquette joined her. “I’m assuming you added some precautions to ze program in case anything was to ‘appen,” she whispered. “He can’t be hacked, if that’s what you’re askin’, P,” Stay assured her as she packed away a welder. “Zat’s not what I’m talking about.” Paquette’s expression showed a deep look of concern and hesitation. “You really don’t trust her, do you?” “Do you? Somers was ze best astrophysicist in ze entire Frontier. It doesn’t make any sense what happened to her. Ze stories don’t add up. I just want to make sure we cover all our bases.”’

More of Ash’s voicelines from the Broken Ghost quest! I thiiiiink this is almost all of them covered now, if not all?

Path says “Who doesn’t like ice cream? Every kid likes ice cream!” when he first wakes up.

Delgado says “All roads lead to Branthium!”

Reid herself says “Fail-safe, fail-safe, who’s got the fail-safe?” during the whole big Thing at the end.

When Reid betrays everyone to try to divert the first Branthium shipment through the Phase Runner to the IMC, both she and Newton disappear from the party first. And she and Amélie have this conversation:

“I knew it. I knew it from ze start. You killed her, didn’t you?” “I did nothing.” “Yeah, right. You killed Somers. You put yourself before every innocent life in ze Outlands.” “Innocent life? Please. The Outlands are filled with nothing but war and greed. No one cares for anyone but themselves. I’m just playing the game.” “Have you told zat to Newton? Where is he?” “He’s not a part of this. Not anymore. I took care of him. Right now, it’s just us.”

So Newton’s fate is a bit uncertain. I’m guessing she got him out of there to save him, actually, which I think is really interesting. 

Anyway, Reid then cuts off Amélie’s hand with a sword cause deactivating the lockdown requires two of the scientists to authorize it. Which I guess explains why Amélie’s arm is in a sling in Pathfinder’s Story From the Outlands video. 

Pathfinder had managed to get out, so Amélie’s able to set the lab to self-destruct with his help. Path’s able to fight the mercenaries and Reid and get to the Phase Runner. And then there’s this that Reid says to Pathfinder:

“No one is your friend. You’re a machine. Nobody cares about machines. Nobody loves machines. You’re no different than that Phase Runner. You’re a MRVN. We use you and turn you off when we’re done. You’re nothing.”

There’s probably a lot she has to work through when she ends up as a simulacrum, oof. 

She almost stops Path, but then gets stabbed in the back with her own sword by Amélie, which is fitting. The mercenaries Reid was working with are attacking so it’s basically impossible for the scientists to escape, but Pathfinder’s able to program the Phase Runner to send the Branthium to all the various Outlands planets instead. And, at their request, to send himself through as well before the self-destruct (and he then eventually wakes up with amnesia). aaaaaa this is so sad

“I don’t want to say goodbye. You’re my friends. I’d be sad without my friends.” “You’ll never be without us. You’ll never be alone.”

I’m assuming that after the explosion, Reid’s body was found and turned into Ash. Also everything about the season 6 comics is so ironic now help. After Hammond Robotics get what they need from her after the Legends find her head, she’s just left behind somewhere deactivated, and Pathfinder finds and rebuilds her. And she has no memory (until Blisk shows up, anyway). So like, it was her idea to create him, and then he completely ruins her plans which leads to her death, and then he saves her life later. Great. When she had no memory and was living with him he called her his girlfriend and everything, he’s gonna be so sad when he finds out who she is, rip.

There’s this bit of dialogue in the intro conversation for the chapter:

Path: “I can’t be weak and the person who killed the people who saved the Outlands.” Blisk: “Heh. Very true, mate. That’s why it wasn’t you.” Path: “Are you sure? How do you know?” Blisk: “Pretty damn sure, because I know ‘em.” Path: “You know my creator?” Blisk: “I know who killed your creator. Or, well… creators.”

This implies that Blisk is fully aware of Ash’s history. Makes sense, and I assumed as much anyway, but given the season 6 comics that means he also absolutely knows that Pathfinder knew Ash and he’s purposefully not telling Pathfinder that Reid and Ash are the same person.

There’s also this part at the end of the chapter:

Blisk: “Oi! One more thing… Did you ever find…? Eh. Forget it.” Path: “What? Did I ever find what?” Blisk: “Actually, I, uh…” Path: “Tell me! Is there more to the story than what was on the chip?” Blisk: “Just one small detail. But why don’t you turn that recorder off. This one’s just between us, eh?” Path: “Okay. You’ll tell me after I turn it off--”

Now, my first thought when first reading this was that it was gonna be about Ash. But I’m sure it’s not, cause in Pathfinder’s last log entry after that he’s very happy and optimistic about finding his creators, and he would have been affected by finding out that Reid was the same person as his missing ‘girlfriend.’ Sooooo I’m still 1) very curious about what Blisk talked about after the recording and 2) very excited for whenever Path finds out the truth about Ash.

On a related note, I am so ready for Horizon finding out about Ash. And to a lesser extent, if Wattson finds out about her grandmother’s role in what happened and her history with Ash (also Gibraltar about his grandfather, but anyway). I’m assuming Ash would know they’re related to her former team, since she’s working for Blisk and likely would know all the basic info about all the legends, including real full names. So Ash interacting with Wattson would be interesting, especially at a point where Ash knows who she is but Wattson doesn’t know about Ash’s history.

Also depending on how things develop with Ash and the other Legends, it’s interesting to think about Loba’s perspective, since it’s technically her fault Ash is back at all. I wanna see a conversation between her and Horizon cause Horizon wasn’t around for the Broken Ghost stuff. Plus, Loba agreed to get everyone to go get the components that turned out to be Ash’s head because in exchange she’d be given the location of Revenant’s source code. With Loba later deciding to send the source code away as revenge instead of killing Revenant, her need for revenge on him is definitely gonna come back to bite her later, now that Revenant’s resolved to destroy everything she loves (maybe he goes after Bangalore?). Horizon’s still definitely very angry at Reid, probably even more so if/when she finds out what Reid did to the Project Iris team, and when she finds out Reid is Ash, well… both she and Loba certainly have strong vendettas against the two simulacrums lol. It’d be neat, though unlikely, if there’s a plotline where Loba ends up facing consequences from the Revenant thing and then because of her own experience she convinces Horizon not to go too far trying to get revenge on Ash.

Oh right there’s also the question of Newton’s messages to Horizon near the end of season 7. He’s still a little kid in those, even in the last one where a future Horizon who got back to him has sent a message to herself. And obviously, that didn’t happen -- Newton’s there, as a teenage intern for Project Iris, and the characters mention his mom being dead multiple times. Soooo then what’s the deal with the messages? I’m thinking there are three options: 1) Horizon eventually going back in time creates an alternate timeline/dimension 2) those messages are for/from a Horizon and Newton in another dimension entirely (look, the Phase Runner is weird, Wraith’s tech is weird, etc.) oooorrrr 3) the messages were faked somehow and are connected to Ash -- some of her voicelines in the Broken Ghost quest were the codes for those messages. 

In conclusion: a a a a a a a a a a

[lady-griffin]

Do you prefer the light novels, manga or anime of Hamefura overall? I'm curious because there are slight differences between them that you've highlighted before. On a side note, I enjoy your analysis and I hope you are doing well!

Thank you!! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed my analysis of Hamefura 😊

That means a lot to me!

Sorry, for the delay – but it takes me a while to gather my thoughts and write out them out and then organize them coherently.

Potential Spoilers Below. 

I would say that I’ve enjoyed the Manga the most and therefore I prefer it. If I only had a choice between one of them, it would be the Manga.

However, I still really like and greatly enjoy the Light Novels and Anime and all three together form my overall experience and enjoyment of the story. 

All three have their strengths and weaknesses and things I like and dislike.

Manga

The Manga has a huge benefit of being a visual medium. There’s a lot more show, than tell in comparison to the Light Novel. Which is always better for a story, in my opinion.

Don’t get me wrong, I love reading books, but I feel like the Light Novels don’t really succeed in helping to visualize the story. Though maybe that’s because I’ve already been exposed to the story, through the Manga and the first few episodes of the anime before I started reading them.

The overall pacing in the Manga is a lot smoother in comparison to the other two. I think it has the best flow out of the three.

The Manga has done a very good job of not only adapting the story, but improving upon it.

The humor is also excellent in the Manga. By far the best. Truly superb.

Some of the humor or scenes of Katarina’s density in the Light Novels comes across as a bit awkward and forced, to the point that I’m pulled out of the story. 

While in the Manga those same scenes feel a whole lot more natural and don’t disconnect me from my reading of the story.

While the Anime certainly has its own funny scenes, some of the scenes in the manga were a whole lot funnier than they have been in the Anime.

Largely, I think, due to the exaggeration and separation of panels, that focus on a specific detail or motion of a character. One of the best examples is what I’m going to call the Shaded Expression.

Though, in the most recent episode when Katarina’s mother confronts Katarina about her field at school – the Shaded Expressions between those two were very good. 

That being said, I think there’s something funnier about the Manga highlighting and emphasizing physical motions and actions. 

Take for instant, the same scene above but in the Manga - it’s immensely funnier (to me).

Just look at this fantastic entrance by Duchess Claes. 

That extra bit of exaggeration and emphasis really sells the humor. 

The Hamefura Manga really excels at leaving enough to the reader’s imagination, but still focuses enough on the details and emphasizing what’s important that the reader is never lost. 

Which lots of panel-comic based stories can easily fail at. I think getting that balance just right is a lot harder than people think, so it’s always impressive when it’s done well.

Basically, the Manga is excellent. 

I’ve reread the Manga multiple times as of now and I have yet to grow tired or bored of it.

In fact, I’m still noticing new details. When the characters return to school for the fall/winter, Katarina is wearing a fall/winter version of her outfit, with long sleeves. I never noticed that before, so that was a fun. 

Now, I do think the Manga has focused on some details from the Light Novels that aren’t really that important. The number of panels dedicated to Katarina preparing for school, do seem like a lot, for instance. And I wonder if the Manga should’ve focused on another scene or aspect of the story.

While I can understand why certain scenes from the Light Novels  were cut, some are quite disappointing.

The best one I can think of, is the after-birthday party gathering with Katarina’s friends. It’s the end of the First Light Novel. It’s just an excellent scene the showcases the group’s dynamic to a wonderful and hilarious degree and it’s a shame we didn’t get to see it either in the Manga or Anime.

Also, while we get to see inside the other characters’ minds from time-to-time and the Manga has expanded upon Katarina’s very limited first person POV from the initial story, we still miss out on the inner mechanisms of the other characters.

Perhaps separate from that or because of it, the group dynamics don’t seem as strong in the Manga, in comparison to the Light Novel. 

In the manga, Keith is really Geordo’s most present and consistent rival, which leaves out Mary who plays a prominent role as Geordo’s detractor and rival as well. Similarly, the whole group operates on preventing Geordo and Katarina getting closer. Which is a very funny dynamic, that the Manga unfortunately leaves out.

So, while I do prefer the Manga, it’s not without its flaws. Especially in regards to what it chose to keep and throw away  from the Light Novels.

That being said, I have greatly enjoyed the Manga and highly recommend it to anyone.

Light Novels

The Light Novels, in some areas have more detail and context, that gives the story more life and texture. Which makes me glad that I read the Manga first, because from my perspective I’m not losing detail/scenes, but gaining them (with this “extra” material).  

While they’re not always important details to the story, they often help with the world-building. Though I don’t blame the Manga for cutting out some scenes or details, because they aren’t necessary and or can hinder the flow.

So, I think in that way both the Light Novels and Manga provide a fuller story together.

One obvious benefit of the Light Novels, is that we have the inclusion of the POVs from other characters – which are great.

The Manga does give us glimpses into the other characters, but that’s just what they are – glimpses.  

The Light Novelz explores the other characters a lot more and overall a lot deeper in comparison -- even though each character really only gets 1-2 chapters of their POV in the first two Light Novels altogether. 

Geordo’s thoughts during his first meeting/introduction with Katarina are much more “Black-Hearted” than I thought they were from the Manga or Anime, based on his outward appearance alone. 

So, the Light Novel (from my perspective) gives new depth and perspective on Geordo, that I wasn’t even aware existed. 

After reading his POV, it makes a whole lot more sense that he’s described as a Black-hearted Prince. I now have a much clearer view on who Geordo is and because of that – the difference in how he is with Katarina, from before and after he met her, to how he thinks and feels about her alone is a lot a more substantial.

Furthermore, the extra look into each character before and after they meet Katarina and befriend her is just everything.

While the manga and anime don’t shy away from the angst of their backstories, the Light Novel explores it to a genuinely sadder degree - Maria, Alan, Sophia and Anne’s stories have a lot more depth to them in the Light Novels.

Anne’s POV also has her perception and take on everyone’s feelings for Katarina. Which is really nice and just adds on another dimension to the harem.

We also get to see how other people actually perceive Katarina. And while this was already pretty obvious, Katarina’s projections on how other people think of her are WAY OFF.

That I’ve greatly enjoyed. Because while Katarina is certainly a dense, goofball – that’s not how people first view her nor is it how they only perceive her.

I’ve really liked that, because it’s concrete evidence that Katarina’s perception of herself runs negative and she’s not a reliable narrator when it comes to herself.

And there are a few scenes omitted from the Manga, that are really fun and enjoyable. And give a greater look into the group’s dynamic and make it actually feel like they have been a group of friends (/rivals) for years.

For instance, at the end of the first two Light Novels, Katarina and her friends gathered together in her field. We get to see them slightly competing with each other and trying to get some of Katarina’s attention, with her being none the wiser.

But the Light Novels aren’t exactly perfect – there are inconsistencies (that while small) bothered me.

One example: on one-page Katarina says that Maria’s hometown is far away from the capital, but then basically in the following page, she says it’s not that far away from the capital.

It’s also very odd to me that some characters don’t receive names.

Maria’s mother and the girl who people thought was going to be Geordo’s fiancée before Katarina came along.

Neither is a major character, but it’s weird that Katarina just think of the latter as ‘that girl’ not Celeste Thorne or some other name.

A lot of the world-building issues that exist in the Manga and Anime, clearly stem from the Light-Novels. And while the focus is obviously on Katarina and her friends and the reverse-harem dynamic, it’s still a problem.

Also, in the Light Novels it’s a very close 1st Person POV. Which for the most part is done well, but it can easily feel off and forced at times. 

It’s clear that the POV is a very restricted to 1st Person. 

So, it’s odd that we get full on conversations from other characters (that do add to the story and are needed) from Katarina’s POV – and yet somehow she has no idea what they’re talking about or even what they are saying…and it just makes her feel way too dense.

I know the Manga, does the same thing with Katarina not realizing what people are talking about - but because the Manga’s POV is a lot less limited, it feels more organic. 

We can see a conversation that’s happening around Katarina, that she’s not paying attention to or following or having her own internal dialogue alongiside it – so it makes sense that while we the audience clearly know what’s happening with the conversation, Katarina doesn’t.

That being said. I’ve greatly enjoyed the Light Novels and getting a new perspective on the story and a more in-depth look into the other characters.

Anime

I think the anime excels at bridging the Light Novel scenes and Manga scenes together in a coherent way.

One example, in the 1st Light Novel in Alan’s POV we have Geordo state that Katarina is his fiancée. We don’t have that scene in the Manga, but instead of giving us the exact scene from the Light Novel, we do get a similar one in a slightly different context in the Anime.

The Anime is adding its own twist – which I appreciate.

And given some of the trailers and pictures of future episodes, it seems like there will be more content in the anime, than I initially thought. Scenes not only from the Manga, but also the Light Novel, and of course scenes that seem unique to the anime itself.

Which is really fun and I’m looking forward to seeing them. So, in that way I think the anime has a unique advantage.

I know the story from the Manga, I got a deeper look into the story from the Light Novel (to varying degrees) and now I get to see what the Anime has decided to do with all of that.

So far, I have liked the extra stuff the anime has added.

-- The Orientation Assembly, where we have Geordo noticing Katarina not paying attention and Geordo inviting her over.  

-- Meeting Katarina before she regains her memories.

-- The name and language of the country – Sorcier. Seeing the unique language of the country.

-- See Katarina being very aware of Maria before they even meet.

-- Sophia and Mary’s types of magic are established (which were never included, at least not in the Manga).

And so on.

Overall, I would say the anime really does well with combining the Light Novels and the Manga together. The best example up to this point, would be the most recent episode – “I Visited The Heroine’s Parents’ House”

While, the two chapters are right next to each other in the manga. 

I thought the episode did a very good job of combining Katarina and Maria becoming proper friends and the Claes Siblings visiting Maria during Summer Vacation + Maria and her mother’s POVs from the Light Novels + unique anime scenes.

Unique Anime Scenes - We see the adult women talking about Maria being ‘famous and special’ and that at first doesn’t seem like a bad thing (though it is) but then we get the addition of the two girls whispering to one another and then them asking Keith and Katarina’s about who Maria’s real father is.

Similar, to how the Manga is more show than tell over the Light Novel – the anime is following that progression. Being the most show and less tell. Which, again, is much better for a story in my opinion.

While I could be wrong, given the most recent episode (I visited...) plus the pictures from future episodes and the trailer – it seems safe to assume that Katarina’s Summer Adventures with her friends from the Manga/Light Novel will be intersperse in her school life in the Anime.

And I can see that pacing being a lot smoother, because it’s more spread out, thus, giving us more time with each character and Katarina’s relationship with them.

I also think the anime has establish its own comedic flow and I have laughed at their scenes. 

So, while, I don’t think the anime has had a 100% success rate in adapting the comedic aspects of the Manga to animation, when it does its own scenes or its own way of showcasing a scene, it can work to its own advantage.

Also, the voice acting. 

Maaya Uchida as Katarina Claes was an excellent choice. I think she’s doing a fantastic job with Katarina, to the point while the others are not bad in the slightest, I feel like the perfect match up of Maaua Uchida and Katarina Claes just outshines them.

My main criticism is that the anime has struggled in finding its own footing and pacing. Now I think that has improved a lot in the past two episodes – which yay!!, but it’s still been a problem for me. 

It also makes me a bit concern, since, according the Wikipedia there are only 12 episodes and were basically half way through them. So, there’s that.

However, I have greatly enjoyed watching the anime so far. And the first episode was good enough to make me immediately want to read the manga - so very well done on their part. 

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Overall,  I would say that all the three – Manga, Light Novels, Anime – benefit from the other two existing. Each one by itself, I think while is sufficient enough, still suffers. They all help to fill in the spots that the others are lacking in.

Which is great! I’ve enjoyed having all three. Because together I think they form the true Hamefura story, which I’ve loved.

So, check out all three if you can.