#i've written pretty long on the monster thing already so i didn't think it was worth expanding /

[gaylordscooter]

Log of the Multiverse: Fresh

I've done some research lately on that parasite. In order to help someone.

Y'see Fresh is an interesting outcode to say the least. No one knows what his original universe was like. No one knows where he came from.

Not even Ink! Or at least, every time I ask him he conveniently forgets the answer even though he swears he knew a second ago.

Well, I can't blame him for having a faulty memory when mine's pretty shabby too.

But I digress.

He also kidnaps people. that's probably the first thing i should state.

So yeah, someone was kidnapped. Specifically Cross's best bud, Epic. A shame too, he was just rescued from the cusp of death in his universe. He didn't get to spend much time at the hub (see entry on Cross and XChara) before he went missing.

We don't know HOW Fresh weaseled his way into the hub, the code of the universe is set up in a way that repels him like a magnet of the same charge as him. The only ones that could've tampered with that code would be Cross himself (unlikely), Error (who doesn't even know where or what the hub is), and...

i'm getting off topic again!

So however he got in, he did, and then he found Epic and none of us had the time to warn him about who Fresh is and what he does. I'd assume they hit it off pretty well. They'd probably be great friends if it wasn't for the fact Fresh's entire personality is fabricated to lure people in.

As for Where monsters (mainly of the skeleton kind. mainly of the sans kind.) end up after Fresh nabs them, well i shouldn't leave you in suspense should i?

yeah that would be mean.

who would do that in their own log? i mean, i'm the only one reading it.

so really i'm not keeping anyone in suspense because i already know.

[there is a stupidly wide margin here]

yup.

That was stupid.

Anyway, he takes you to some warehouse in the antivoid where he holds this endless rave. How do I know this? Ink told me during one of his fights with Error they somehow strayed so far away from Error's place in the antivoid that they found Fresh's territory. Ink said the fight ended there because the sight and sound of it made Error crash. Ink took a peak through one of the windows and saw the place PACKED with sanses all of them wearing shades just like Fresh. The music and strobe lights could be heard from miles away you'd think it was a GREAT party.

you'd probably notice all the dust after it's too late.

Wowzers so dramatic.

I Havent Said Or Written That Word in Sooo Long

that almost felt weird to write. whatever

So anyway, recap. no one knows where fresh comes from, he kidnaps people and takes them to an endless rave where you dance until you literally drop and epic is currently at said rave.

yeahhhh.

AS FOR MY RESEARCH! "no one knows where fresh comes from" TOSS THAT OUT THE WINDOW. ME!! I KNOW!!

He's actually

from a completely generic undertale universe

You might think "what? that doesn't sound right."

Which Yeah I Guess So If You're A Party Pooper Sure. Technically He's From An Alternate Timeline. Asshole.

"ok so how did a sans become that 90's freak?" Wrong. Incorrect. The sans of that universe is fine and dandy we had coffee together last week (true) (real).

Actually Fresh is

DRAMATIC PAUSE!

I'm killing you aren't i? absolutely annoying you?

you probably already know actually. SIGH

He's a memoryhead. I know! It threw me for a loop too. And it only made things MORE confusing considering. well no one knows the deal with memoryheads. not even alphyses.

They're. amalgamates? but. What monsters did they come from? They didn't come from Any recognizable monsters.

Now as for what's up with the flowers Fresh uses—Which I Totally Forgot To Mention In This Entry. ehhh whatever you probably already read that one. .. Did i include the flowers part. i forgot how much i explained there i was kinda occupied watering my flower. s. my flowers my potted flowers that i Keep In my room. and water with Water and not any other liquid.

the flowers are different from fresh's flowers unrelated. unrelated flowers to any s. keletons

I'm still trying to figure out what is up with the flowers but my guessFOR NO REASON IN PARTICULAR is that said memoryhead managed to mmmmmerge?? melt? how do i phrase this. merge. with a flowey. maybe. potentially

i mean ive never seen a rafflesia flowey ever but hey the multiverse is huge. (not endless though. ink's told me he's seen the edge of the multiverse he looked very perturbed at the revelation)

not that ive seen many floweys.

AUDIBLE COUGH WRITTEN ON PAPER

Man i totally just dropped the "fresh is a memoryhead from an undertale alternate timeline actually" bomb on you and didn't let you sit with it huh.

I'm sorry to say that's as far as my research got. He's a memoryhead. Potentially merged with some sort of flowey. So what now?

well i have a lot of questions. like you do probably

How did the memoryhead escape their universe in the first place? Who in that amalgamate is in control? the flowey? the memoryhead (what monsters are in the memoryhead anyway?) how did that happen? Why the hell does it pretend to be from the 90's.

why does it need so many hosts. what IS the main host's body and why is it so tall? SIX feet really? compensating much? what the hell would an amalgamate need to compensate for. nevermind.

Hang on pause. the song that just came on goes hard i need to save it to my playlist.

...

Yes?? I listen to music while writing these sometimes? Duh? Get off my back?

"you're being sassier than normal" am i? (am i.) well maybe i just learned something

about myself. learned more about myself

I might loop this song actually. it's that good. do you do that? do you find a song that's so good you just loop it and wrench every note out of it until it sounds awful to you?

[mosylufanfic]

Answer the Questions and Tag 5 Fanfic Authors

Tagged by @rifle-yes, the fool

1. How did you get into writing fanfiction?

See answer #3 below, but the short version is that I started writing and posting stories at the Derbyshire Writer's Guild, a Jane Austen fanfic site. And it's all been downhill from there.

2. How many fandoms have you written in?

Oh boy. Hang on. This is a hard one because multiple of my fandoms are like, within a larger fandom? So there's a good amount under the Star Wars umbrella, and a bunch of Jane Austen, and a lot of DCTV. Going back and counting the major fandoms (the ones I remember being really into and doing several fics for, as opposed to just one or two to scratch an itch), I think it's seven. If you do count the one-offs, it's more like 12 or 15. Look, I've been on many fic sites and I'm still trying to get off my ass and archive everything on AO3. It's hard!

3. How many years have you been writing fanfiction?

Pretty much since forever? I remember writing Little Mermaid fic in fourth grade, although I didn't really have that word for it at the time. And there was an epic (and epically bad) Star Wars sequel that I worked on for years in my tweens. I started posting fic online at 19 when I realized that was a thing I could do (see #1). So in terms of writing fic that I shared with other fans, 24 years.

4. Do you read or write more fanfiction?

Definitely read, although there are times where it's a close run thing.

5. What is one way you’ve improved as a writer?

I think my worldbuilding has improved over the years. I never did it on purpose, but I see a definite uptick in how deeply I think about the worlds I'm writing in and the various implications of that for the characters.

6. What’s the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

Oh so many things! I freaking love research. I think the most morbid (and mathiest) was trying to estimate how much air a man had available in a 10x10 space buried underground.

7. What’s your favorite type of comment to receive on your work?

This is like asking what kind of cake is best, but I do love the ones that pick up on something I didn't even realize about the story. I had one recently that pointed out a shift in language that signaled deeper and more focused intimacy in the course of a smut scene. And I was like, ". . . huh. Well, I'll be. That sure did happen."

8. What’s the most fringe trope/topic you write about?

I think probably the Space!Paperwork in Lost & Found was the fringiest thing I've ever done.

9. What is the hardest type of story for you to write?

Oh, man, longfics. I often come up with an idea and I just know from the shape of it that it's going to be a a monster. And then I have to decide if I want to go through all the work of plotting and writing thousands and tens of thousands of words. That's why I have so many one-shots that are basically "pilot episodes" for longfics that will never be written.

10. What is the easiest type?

Modern AUs, especially high school AUs. There's so much there that's already known to the readers that I can just laser-focus on the part that's interesting to me.

11. Where do you do your writing? What platform? When?

I do a lot of my writing on Gdocs. I know they're the devil, but I might be settled down to work on four or five different machines throughout the course of my day, and half that time is on the public floor where I have to look available to help people. So to me, it's better to be able to quickly sign into a website and tap out that quick scene than to try and hide my phone under the desk and write on that horrible little keyboard. (I'll do that too, but only when I have no other option.)

Longfics get ported into Scrivener when they get too unwieldy for Gdocs, but I'm still more likely to write scenes in Gdocs and paste them into the Scrivener file when I'm done.

12. What is something you’ve been too nervous/intimidated to write, but would love to write one day?

Probably some of the longfics that are knocking around in my brain, especially the ones that concern areas of the Star Wars canon that I never really got into.

13. What made you choose your username?

It's a nickname my mom used to call me when I was a teenager, and when I was picking my AIM screen name in college, that's what I went with. Actually, I had another one first that was objectively cooler, but I forgot the password to that account and either I was too dumb to reset it or there wasn't functionality for that. So mosylu it was. I also decided at the time that it would be my Internet Identity, and it still is.

Tagging @andorerso, @hedgiwithapen, @incognitajones, @colleybri, and @youareiron-andyouarestrong

[nyaagolor]

Pre-Story ZeroTrio

I have this extremely elaborate explanation rotating in my brain all the time about how the ZeroTrio's relationships change over time, but I've never properly written it out or posted it here. I got inspired recently tho, so I'll be writing it out in a series of posts bc it's Extremely Long. Anyway, figured I would start out with the pre-game-timeline. Under the cut so as to not clog the dash :)

Nemona and Arven

The two of them not only lived nearby but were also the only kids their age in the neighborhood-- they didn’t really have anyone other than each other to play with. I think Arven found Nemona a little overbearing while she found him a lil snippy, but they got closer as time went on just due to proximity and also because Nemona’s parents were very strict on her and her manners, so playing with Arven was the only time she really got to be herself. With Nemona wanting to be herself and Arven just wanting someone to pay attention to him, they ended up getting over their initial apprehensions and being besties in the way only 6 year olds can be. Nemona helped Arven teach his Maschiff different battle strategies and they just had a lot of fun running around in the grass together.

Uuuuuuunfortunatley, this got worse as they got older. Nemona’s parents were convinced that bc of her chronic illness she couldn’t go into battling and encouraged her to be a pokemon professor. They encouraged her to talk to Sada/Turo, which she did in earnest. She had a lot of talent for someone so young, so the professors actually gave her the time of day because they were interested in her battling prowess. For someone like Arven who was ignored and neglected emotionally (one parent walked out, the other was absorbed in work, etc) he immediately got jealous of any time that Nemona was "taking from him" and shifted a lot of the blame of his parents’ absence onto her. He was a kid, and the thought of his parents being the problem or having such clear flaws wasn’t smth he could handle so he subconsciously shifted the blame onto his friend, as that was a far easier pill to swallow

Then the professor came home with the ‘raidon and things got worse. Arven had already started to distance himself from his neighbor (because she's pushy and annoying, he told himself), but now he had the 'raidon to take care of and just didn't have time to play. Nemona was constantly hounding them, wanting a strong opponent to battle, but Arven was pretty clear about wanting to keep her and the 'raidon far away from each other

Somehow, she always found a way to sneak to the back of the lighthouse to try and join when the ‘raidon and Arven were playing outside (she was absolutely a lonely kid and had too much time on her hands so she legit just wandered around Poco Path waiting for them). They did manage to play for a while, having a few good meetings and play fights before Nemona properly challenged the ‘raidon for a battle

Unlike Arven, though, Nemona has a pretty bad sense of emotions and body language and wasn’t really picking up on the fact that the ‘raidon was going a little too far and that she was in increasing danger until it was too late. The raidon is a bit like a giant puppy, so the play fighting turned into play Biting and before anyone realized what was happening, the ‘raidon had locked its jaws around Nemona’s arm. It wasn’t hard, but Arven only saw this beast his parents said explicitly to keep safe attacking someone and tried to tear the raidon off her. He only succeeded in startling it, causing it to clamp down at Nemona’s arm and lash out at Arven, clawing him in the face and blinding him in one eye (the one he now covers with his bangs. (Neither of these injuries heal because the raidon is a paradox pokemon and the injuries caused by them don’t obey traditional laws of spacetime).

The screams attract the professor, who realizes their specialist little monster just mauled the kid of the most powerful people in the region. Nemona’s parents are mortified. They never saw what attacked her and admittedly Nemona didn’t remember either, blocking most of the memories out, but it’s enough, and the professors understand that if they want the 'raidon safe they need to leave Now. So in true professor fashion, they book it out of there that night, leaving Arven behind without a word

Arven becomes so bitter and resentful towards her, blaming her for his parent’s disappearance because he doesn’t know what else to do, and the two of them don’t really speak again. Nemona tries to go over to see him, but each time she’s ignored– Arven barely leaves the lighthouse anyway

They end up growing up and becoming distant, with Arven stagnating due to trauma and his home situation while Nemona excels. Watching her succeed, Arven is reminded of all his failings and his missing parent and ends up projecting all his self hate and insecurities onto her (she is not aware of this). To top it all off, Nemona’s lackluster social skills come in clutch a second time when Arven emerges from Area Zero, a lil roughed up and horrified about the damage to Mabosstiff. Nemona sees him and excitedly asks him for a battle, getting a little pushy until he eventually snaps and says some things to her that he is Not Proud Of.

Nemona hasn’t really been talked back to like that in years, as everyone feels she’s too nice to really be told off, and learns to avoid her snippy rude neighbor thereafter. It’s not until the game that they speak again, since Arven is actively avoiding Nemona bc of how she triggers his insecurities by existing and Nemona knows enough to give him a wide berth lest he snaps at her like last time. He strongly dislikes her, tho it’s more misplaced angst and self hate, while she doesn’t explicitly dislike him but thinks he’s kinda mean

Penny and Arven

Arven is in the same boat as many of the exchange students, where he mostly stays at the academy during breaks if he can help it because it gives him access to the cafeteria and a heater and all the other amenities their professor parent didn’t bother with for the lighthouse. Plus he hates being in the lighthouse alone. And at one point, after their parents manage to miss Christmas without so much as a phone call, Arven starts ranting as he walks down the hallway, eventually slumping against a door and muttering his woes to the empty space

He’s surprised when his phone buzzes and starts reading out texts– there’s no number attached, almost like someone just started speaking through his phone. According to the mystery messenger, there’s a person who lives on the other side of the door, and she heard everything. She offers him a bit of stilted understanding, and while she isn’t exactly the best at comforting, Arven feels a massive weight off his shoulders at the prospect of someone– anyone– listening to him. So he rants and raves because Someone is listening, Finally. He explains to her that he’s a good cook and leaves a sandwich at her doorstep before he leaves as a thank-you

And thus begins their fun little game. The mystery messenger is always in her room, too shy to speak or meet him face to face but always holed up inside, ready to listen. Arven shows up at random, venting and ranting and always packing sandwiches for her because he knows she'll always be there and loves his sandwiches. She reveals a little about herself too, about her anxieties and poor diet and everything else, and so Arven just keeps coming and leaving snacks

She learns that Maschiff actually likes jam better than peanut butter and he finds out the name of her favorite anime. He realizes she likes sweets better than savory stuff and she realizes he’s really good at remembering little details. So they chat, not knowing the other’s name or face, and become something close to friends

Then one day Arven comes and chats with his friend, but his phone isn’t buzzing like usual, it's just quiet. He keeps talking though, because his friend said she gets tired sometimes, until he has nothing left to say and the sandwich he brought starts to get soggy. He leaves it by her doorstep and goes back to his room. It’s gone the next day, so he feels more emboldened and tries again

He talks to her for hours, always coming back despite the silence– because at least if she’s taking the sandwiches he knows she’s listening. Eventually, he tells her he's going down to Area Zero. She says nothing, but he feels like this is finally time, but returns with Mabosstiff hurt and no idea what to do. So he just goes to his friend and slumps against her door and cries. He asks her what to do next, but predictably, she's silent on the matter. He says he can wait, so he sits with his back to her door until he eventually falls asleep, a sandwich for her in his hand

It’s a janitor that wakes him up. She asks Arven if he’s the one who has been leaving the sandwiches by the door. Arven says yes, and the janitor looks mildly annoyed– you know I’ve been cleaning those up each night, right? she asks. Arven tries to explain they’re for the girl that lives there, but the janitor is confused. No one lives in that dorm anymore. The occupant moved out in a hurry. It suddenly dawns on Arven that he’s been venting and crying and pouring his heart out to an empty dorm for weeks because whoever this “friend” was didn’t have the courtesy to say goodbye

Arven leaves, feeling more betrayed than ever and absolutely positive that being vulnerable in front of others only gets you hurt, and so the two of them never see each other again– until they do, but they don’t know it :3c

Nemona and Penny

They don’t know each other before the game starts. They know OF each other, but Nemona is too one-track-mind-ed and Penny is too intimidated by her for either of them to reach out to the other

[strangerthings4theories]

Honestly, I truly believe, amongst all the other batshit theories that everyone has made about Season 4, that there was supposed to be more about the Russian prison in Kamchatka but for some reason, whether COVID-19 related or not, they couldn't do it.

You pointed out that the part of that prison we see in Season 3 doesn't match & never matches with the ones we see in see in Season 4.

All of this never comes back & there is no explanation why. And what we saw in Season 4 & what it made it out to be was so small compared to what we see here... I even find it hard to believe that even with the amount of power the Upside Down has, including it's creatures, it was able to take down an entire facility of that size especially since it seemed like the creatures where locked only in a specific place. (And again, given the rules of ST, there should have been a gate open in Russia for a long period of time, for what they were doing to work but this is never brought up at any point...)

Hopper couldn't have possibly been the American because we saw in Season 4 that he was somewhere else before getting to this specific base & he never goes to that specific part of the prison. It wouldn't make sense for him to be there, go somewhere else then come back. Plus we don't get any real reason why he wasn't given to the Demogorgon during that Season 3 scene.

Whether it was Billy or someone else, this just doesn't make any sense that there wasn't supposed to be more to it.

I'm choosing to be optimistic here but since we barely know how the Russians know about the UD & what they want to do with it, including the logistics of how they were able to pull off what they pulled off in S3, I'm thinking that we are going to go back to it in Season 5 because if not, this is the weirdest & most incoherent side plot in history.

No no you're totally right though. And I'm glad someone else feels this way.

The Russia plotline still doesn't make sense to me. Not in the slightest. I'd go so far as to say I'm not sure why the story even went to Russia. Absolutely nothing happened there to justify the setting. Hopper didn't need a Big Damn Hero moment because he's already had several, and everyone knew Hopper and Joyce would get together. There were no surprises, no revelations that made me think, "Omg this is why the story took us here." It was actually... um... pretty boring???

As someone who's gone over S1-3 with a fine toothed comb, that was a genuinely shocking thing to see. With every other plotline in the show, I've been able to say, "Oh this is what they were trying to accomplish with that." Not so with Russia. It's a mess that doesn't really achieve anything narratively or thematically.

And it just happens to be the plotline that, up until the last two episodes of S4, seemed to be prepping us for Billy's return.

Hell, even episode 8 went in that direction at first. When Hopper found the adolescent Demogorgon writhing in pain on an operating table, I legit freaked out! It was the perfect foreshadowing for him finding Billy - the teenage boy who's been written off as a monster, but actually deserves our compassion. Seriously, I couldn't have written it better.

And then we got... nothing? Nothing at all?

Lol nahhhhhh. Shit ain't right. I'd sooner believe they got screwed over because the pandemic took away their access to Dacre.

[tempests-bards-and-birds]

dainsleif archon quest spoilers

ok so. my thoughts are basically:

in general it felt a bit short and anticlimactic and i think that that's in part because we didn't get to see the fight between dain and the abyss sibling but i guess both that and dain's motivations for wanting to see them are things that we'll have to find out later

if we go by the twin's logic of memory of things that happened in caribert's realm of consciousness disappearing along with caribert then surely we shouldn't have any memory of our conversation with caribert as well as the one with our sibling? but we still do? forcing a memory wipe of our conversation with them feels a little too much like plot convenience because of that inconsistency but Whatever

i enjoyed how they tied up caribert's story and gave it a proper resolution (i also feel like the whole theme of having to give up your "right" to exist in the world both for the ambitions of others and yourself is something that's definitely going to be repeated, if it hasn't been already)

the lore-drop from dain about the five sinners from khaenri'ah was pretty nice (knowing that surtalogi was one of them opens up some interesting questions about what exactly he might have trained/be training skirk for)

rhinedottir being one of them really wasn't much of a surprise considering that she was allegedly the one to create the riftwolves along with various other monsters that may have contributed to the cataclysm but it's still nice to know

that whole thing about the sinner actually being dain's brother... i sense some major incoming family trauma on that front (dain is gonna be in for the time of his Life i just know it <3)

the chat with our sibling was nice ig even if it did feel a little out of place - the whole thing about the sea of flowers probably references this one from the travail teaser

our twin makes a comment about how long ago we apparently told them that we "wanted to find a place in the universe where that flower was in full bloom" which implies that these flowers (which are almost definitely inteyvats) exist outside of teyvat (something something about how the primordial one came to teyvat from another world and brought stuff like the flowers with them idk)

i. yeah i've lost my train of thought

oh yeah. the message that caribert left for atossa (the one that's written in one of the sumeru scripts) says:

"Farewell Atossa. I apologize for making you know me unwillingly; still, I don't wish you to forget me."

[vicekillx]

UPDATE: 2024

Usually I make these kinds of post around New Years, but this year I didn't really have anything to say. But now we're a month in and I definitely do.

I feel…different, this year. In a good way, I think. I feel like I'm tired of being complacent and riding coattails. This month has been a whirlwind of getting my shit in line. So far I:

handled two serious family crises smoothly and picked myself back up quickly from both

called my health insurance (phone calls have historically been an hours-long meltdown-inducing debacle for me) twice to switch my PCP because the previous one was consistently booked 3-6 months out and she just forgot to mention the inhaler I pulled out of my bag to show her at my first appointment so I couldn't get a refill on it or my nebulizer when I had COVID; that's been getting put off since August of last year

made an appointment with said new PCP for Feb 1, and I'm hoping they'll be able to refer me to a dentist and optometrist because I desperately need both

got back into therapy with an autism/ADHD specialist who can help me manage those specifically after my previous therapist didn't understand why I couldn't just Do It™; also have assessments lined up for both to get diagnoses

pay more attention to my health in general, including diet and exercise. I'm already down about 10 lb

restructured my planner to include a mood tracker and sleep tracker, and have been better about staying on top of it

got Trello up and running and so far it's working really well for me

have been doing my house chores more consistently, namely cleaning litter boxes and taking care of my snakes and tarantulas (roommates have been picking up my slack but they shouldn't have to, they're my animals)

am able to work more consistently on my designated work days; before it was a lot of chipping away and putting things off rather than sitting down and making actually decent progress

am finally starting a tattoo sleeve I've wanted for a very, very long time as a belated birthday gift to myself

am consistently filling stream sketch slots, which means I can actually make money and pay my bills on-time (and a huge, huge thank you to everyone who signs up, I'm pretty sure this is the primary reason I've been able to pull myself out of the hole. Financial stability is a hell of a drug)

This year I wanna try really hard to keep the train moving along this track. If things keep going the way they are, I could potentially make some pretty big changes in the not so distant future. Some things I'm brainstorming:

UnholyFans

merch other than stickers (seriously I have so many designs in mind, I just haven't had the drive to work on them or the upfront capital to order inventory)

more monster/demon adoptables

I would really like to collab with some other artists, it's been too fuckin long

website restructure

picking up my side business (I did literally zero pieces for it last year oof), ideally with a rebrand

get back into conventions and try some new crowds: reptile/exotic expos, tattoo conventions, oddities expos, sex conventions, BDSM groups…

push the stream setup to be more professional

rekindling the spark for my personal stories and headworld projects

more I have written down somewhere but can't think of off the top of my head

And to be clear, I'm optimistic, but also a realist. I know from experience that shit changes and I could hit a massive depressive slump in a month or two and be back to where I was for most of last year. I'm still not going to promise anything I'm not confident I can deliver. However, that doesn't mean I shouldn't try.

I already got sidetracked with this post, so I'm gonna make a second to get to my original point and I'll come back and add a link to this one when I do. But suffice to say I want to try - again - to breathe some kind of life back into my SubscribeStar. I have some ideas in mind, but I want to hear yall's opinions on it too.

Watch this space ♥

[cheeto-flavoured-pasta]

An (Albeit Late) Writeblr Intro

I'm seeing all the Writeblr introduction posts going around and I'm starting to realize that, damn, I should have started my blog that way. But I didn't, so I might as well post my intro a while after I've written and reblogged other things, because it's the least I can do.

So, with that out of the way: excuse my fuck-ups, and here's a really late Writeblr intro…

______________________________________________

Hi! I don't think anyone wants to type out my long username whenever they're referring to me, so just call me 'A.' (He/him). I've been lurking on Tumblr for a while and I figured I'd actually get up and make a blog for writing. I don't exactly have any particular focus outside of just "random crap that relates to writing in any way, shape, or form" so I could be putting up memes, drabbles I wrote, excerpts from my WIPs, writing memes, etc. etc. I'll make other blogs if I wanna focus in on one specific writing aspect later, but for now, I'm keeping things general. 

My current major WIP as of now is APS (stands for 'A Powerful Secret' but I usually just call it the acronym since it sounds cooler). It's a sci-fi dystopia trilogy centering around the idea of superhumans being discovered by an already-corrupt government. There's also a spinoff I want to work on, but that's way off into the future. I'm currently working on B2 of the trilogy; it's currently in the first draft. Considering that this series is still a major work-in-progress, I might not be able to post anything about it until a bit later.

I do have plenty of other side projects that I most certainly want to share on here, since I feel more confident posting those first (when I get back to writing them, of course). Some of these side-WIPs include: 

The Devil On My Shoulder: A fiction centering around a depressed college-aged student, and how his life changes when a demon is kicked out from hell and comes crashing right into his home. 

This is probably the story I'm most excited to work on, given that I've mapped out all the twists and turns in my head already, and all I need to do is write it.

ATM (placeholder title): A story — possibly a series — revolving around a civilization that relies heavily on elemental magic which takes the form of specific jewelry (ex: elemental rings, necklaces, wristbands, etc.). It's often used to fight back against the monsters that invaded the world decades ago. The source of the creatures is something that nobody knows, but the protagonist, Nadeline, is dead set on finding out. 

This story may take a longer while to write, considering that it's a high-fantasy type of story, which is a genre I don't write often but want to write more of.

Don't Leave: (That may or may not be a placeholder title; it depends). A novel that focuses on the town of Bayholde, which forbids anyone from traveling outside of it and has closed itself off from the world almost entirely. Kaguya, a young man who is fed up with being trapped inside, makes his escape from Bayholde one night just to see what lies in the outside world. What he finds is most certainly not pretty.

______________________________________________

You can bet I'll be posting at least something related to the first or third WIP sometime soon. In the meantime, though, I'll probably fill up the blog with all the other things I mentioned before: drabbles, excerpts, memes, maybe the occasional writing prompt/idea if I feel like it. 

I really look forward to seeing what the rest of Writeblr brings, along with reading everyone else's works/WIPs! :)

— A.

[owlsong74]

thoughts and opinions on the D23 parks announcements under the cut. it's pretty long and rambly, and written as much to get my own thoughts in order as to share them. That said, would gladly hear others' opinions.

(edit: this was written before monday's news, and I've soured on the announcements related to the upper left corner of MK since then)

TLDR: It's more good than bad. A few good things I'm genuinely excited for, and some bad things tempering them. The bad things would have hurt a lot 10 years ago, but Disney is getting predictable in their faults, and we didn't get the worst possible outcomes, so whatever.

The Good

New nighttime parade MK -- genuinely good news, and it looks lovely

Coco DCA -- happy to see this! very cute. I like the sound of focusing on animatronics and use of music. I'm glad its not going to Epcot as was rumored, so we can still have the Three Caballeros there, and enjoy a new, unique dark ride in California. may tip the scales in favor of me wanting to go to DCA every DL trip again alongside Ariel/Monsters/Cars for the dark ride goodness. Basically no notes. Just want to know location and more details.

Lion King Flume, WDS paris -- very weird that they announced that it would be based on the original movie while the concept art very clearly shows the "live action" version. maybe a recent change? It's a good change if so. (Although still very unprofessional to show a Live Action concept art when it probably could've been edited to show the Animated characters within hours of the event.)

This is the resort's first water ride and is badly needed both on that front and as another attraction in WDS' sad lineup.

Will be excited to see more art for this, based on the original movie this time, and especially of interior scenes-- imagine a dark ride version for "I just can't wait to be king"!

A surrounding land was announced with shops/restaurants and I'm curious how they plan on pulling that off, given the humanless, naturalistic setting and relatively less-anthropomorphized characters.

Good idea for park and resort and looking forward to it!

Mostly good with complicating thoughts

Pandora DCA -- as someone who has seen neither of the Avatar movies, but enjoyed Pandora in Florida, I'm looking forward to this, but with less excitement than Coco.

I do like atmospheric boat rides and this looks more impressive than the one in Florida, which I already enjoyed. It seems to be based on the Pirates tech in Shanghai, which will be cool to have stateside. I hope some of the monsters are animatronics.

This addition basically confirms that the California theme for the park is dead, but I really gave up on that several years ago; this was just the final nail in the coffin. DCA is an Everything Park, and that's fine. Whatever. Making it a dumping ground for whatever movie franchise Disney wants to promote in its parks acts as a buffer for the more historical and foundational park, Disneyland. In addition, the California theme was also never uniformly executed well, which makes its watering down much less painful than the watering down of Epcot or Animal Kingdom's themes.

I'm hoping this is slated for the Disneyland Forward land, but I'm hearing it may take over Hollywoodland as well. I'd personally miss the Monsters Inc dark ride and be nostalgic for things like the Animation building or stupid backlot puns, but I don't think there's any reasonable argument that this wouldn't be an upgrade.

Tropical Americas DAK-- the way they described it makes it sound like it should fit in well with other areas of the park, matching Africa and Asia better than Dinoland did, and more generally that the Imagineers are putting a lot of thought into its design. I'm glad Indy is not a carbon copy of the one in California, and the Encanto dark ride sounds cute.

On a more meta level, I'm glad they are still designing and building themed lands that have more than one IP applicable to them, and even the opportunity/necessity for original elements.

I'm personally sorry to lose Dinosaur. It was my favorite attraction on my first trip to Florida as a pre-teen and I love the dinosaurs and kooky premise. That said, we've thought it was going to close for years now, so I've had time to come to terms with it.

It still sucks that they are doing replacements instead of building real expansions when they have the space for it and DAK needs all the capacity it can get. I also hope someday the animal-themed park may feature non-avian dinosaurs again. Overall though, I was happily surprised with how they seem to be handling this.

One remaining question: where are the animal exhibits...?? Isn't this park primarily supposed to be about seeing animals?

Monsters Inc roller coaster DHS -- This has been a rumor on the internet ever since I was a child in the 00s watching Screamscape.net and Disney park fan forums like a hawk. It's a no-brainer and it'll be a fun addition to DHS.

Hoping they're killing the Animation Courtyard for this and not Muppets. Muppet*Vision 3-D isn't an E ticket by any means but it was one of the last major Muppet projects that Jim Henson himself worked on, and has already been evicted from DCA. It's a cute show and one of the better 4D shows at the parks. Its loss would be felt.

VillainsLand MK - YES. This has also been rumored since forever. Again, at least since the early-mid 00s when I first got online. We got basically no details on this, but the art looks cool, and the concept alone is an immediate sell! Very excited for this!

Two reasons why this is in this tier instead of the "good" tier:

1. We don't have any details. Like, for a detail-dry panel, somehow we got even less info for this than for everything else. trying to reserve judgement until we know more.

2. If this is going behind Big Thunder, that means the Cars attractions might be going in a much worse location within Frontierland, which will hurt MK's thematic integrity and atmosphere pretty hard. Admittedly, this is mostly Cars' problem, but it did temper my excitement for this pretty badly during the announcement itself. If we're lucky, both projects are beyond the railroad tracks, even if they shorten the River à la California.

i dont care

all the marvel stuff. Like Pandora, I'm not very familiar with the source material. unlike Pandora, I haven't been impressed with Disney's offerings so far (with the caveat that I haven't gone on Rewind yet, which does sound better than the DCA attractions).

If they blow my socks off, cool! Awesome! If not, whatever. I'm glad others are having fun, and unlike in the past, this time they aren't replacing anything I care about.

Non-parade nightime shows. I'm sure they'll be fine. I don't love Disney Animation sing-along format shows (especially outside of Fantasmic, where a lot of the interest comes in the form of props, actors, the use of the big river ships, and the dragon). However, I realize this is very much a me thing, and their mere existence doesn't bother me.

cruises and fortnite. I'm not the audience for these things and I don't even understand why fortnite costume announcements were part of this panel.

...huh?

Great Moments with Mr. Disney or whatever DL -- It's mere existence vexes me, but more out of an intolerance for corporate worship of the man than anything to do with my theme park opinions.

I wonder if they'll also update the Lincoln figure to match him in tech? That would be neat, at least. Keeping Abe updated to the latest Animatronics tech is a long-kept tradition, and the last update was back in 2009.

If nothing else, we'll probably get some banger memes out of it.

bad

Cars in Frontierland MK -- ?????????????? why are we doing this. are we really sacrificing the thematic integrity of the land, and for the sake of the Cars franchise, of all things?

I only hope that this is in the area behind Big Thunder. If it's back there, it may feel like a modern sub-land separate from the more traditional "Western" sections, with a transitional area in-between. It would even follow the already-established pattern of moving forward in time as you walk from Liberty Square through Frontierland. The Cars ride itself could even be cute and better than DCA's if handled well.

However, it doesn't seem like we are so lucky.

The announcement of Villainsland and the rumors of Tom Sawyer Island closure make it seem more likely to be taking over the Rivers of America, at least the back half of it.

Edit, with the new Monday announcement:

It's not only taking over part of the river, it's taking over the front half, with the back half probably being used by Villains. This is the stupidest, most short-sighted decision I think I've seen Disney take in a long time.

MK's river is very nice, especially at night, and the TSI is absolutely delightful, if simple, and a good place to beat the crowds and concrete found in the rest of the park. Neither are E-ticket extravaganzas, but they aren't meant to be, offering a different kind of low-key attraction, and adding a lot of atmosphere to MK.

That atmosphere also includes placemaking for the three E-tickets in the area: Haunted Mansion, Tiana, and Big Thunder. All three will be negatively impacted by this change.

These things might not sound like much, but they add up and make the Disney parks what they are, and why they are loved.

It'd be a huge shame to lose such an asset to the park, especially one that still a nearly untouched example of classic WED imagineering, between the sightlines, the river gags, the island caves, the riverboat, and everything else.

(And this not even reiterating the fact that Cars does not "fit" comfortably inside the bounds of the historically based lands around the river, which I already mentioned in my initial paragraphs.)

This decision is not easily reversible and wrecks the entire balance and design of the entire northwest corner of the park, all for the sake of selling cars merch. It's times like this where I wonder why I even bother being a fan of these places. Or, for that matter, of themed design in general.

Why can't this be its own separate land from Frontierland, as with Cars Land in DCA? Why not in DHS, which badly needs more capacity and already houses other difficult-to-fit-elsewhere Pixar movies like Toy Story, Monsters Inc, and even Cars already?

/edit

I don't know. I hope the rides are fun, at least.

what we didn't see

Literally anything not based on a pre-established property would have been nice to see. Can we literally do nothing original anymore in these parks? Are the parks always going to be tied to movies from now on, like at Uni?

Where's this generation's Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain, Spaceship Earth, Sindbad, Country Bears, Soarin' Over California, Expedition Everest, Test Track, Etc Etc Etc? Let Imagineers create their own stories and experiences for us to fall in love with! Have some trust in the medium!

I'm of course not totally against rides being based on movies or TV. Indiana Jones, Snow White, Tower of Terror, and Rise of the Resistance are some of my favorite attractions, period. But it's disappointing as someone who got interested in Disney in general through the parks, and not the other way around, to see them do nothing but tie-ins.

It also makes it harder to defend themed design as an art-form unto itself when the industry leader in the US, and in many ways the main innovator in the medium for multiple decades, only seems to treat its parks as a merchandising and marketing arm for its film and tv properties and little else.

/fin rant

We also didn't see the announcement for a new Tomorrowland for Disneyland, which was heavily rumored. It's disappointing to see the land stagnate for another decade, but tbh, I would be happy to let the current moment pass before they completely redo this land again.

It certainly needs the help. Literally anything would be better for the Carousel Theater's plot of land or the Magic Eye Theater than what currently exists-- even if it's not my cup of tea, it'd be a use for dead space in a park short on expansion land. Autopia needs electric vehicles at a minimum (although I'd love to see some new, cool theming or landscaping along the track as well), the Peoplemover tracks either need to be reused or torn down, Astro Orbiter needs to be moved to open up the entrance bottleneck, and tbh Star Tours is outmoded by the new Star Wars land.

However, I don't trust them not to pave over the Submarine Lagoon, and this is important enough to me to let the husk of Innoventions rot for another decade in exchange.

I would honestly be fine if Disneyland and Disneyland Paris (the castle park from the second generation of Imagineers) were largely untouched until winds have changed in favor of a bit of respect for what already exists, original works, and coherent non-single-franchise-specific lands again. Luckily we have DCA and WDS, whose needs are still more urgent anyway.

Finally, we also didn't see the constantly rumored Imagination Pavilion update. Imo, this is fine for the same reason. Figment and Dreamfinder deserve better than an Inside Out reskin.

However, as far as Epcot goes, it would have been nice to get the Play Pavilion and Mary Poppins ride back on the docket. It's also weird we got a mention of Test Track 3.0 but no new details or art.

Conclusion

This panel could have been way worse than it was, and I'm excited for some of the new attractions.

The disappointments were more of the same-old things I've started to expect with Disney parks, with nothing original, and the continued disintegration of park-level (DCA, to a lesser extent DAK) and land-level (Frontierland) themes.

However, the things announced look to be quality in isolation if nothing else, and they're unique to their respective parks, which is a good change from copying everything verbatim from one coast to another. I'm genuinely excited for the Coco boat ride, Lion King Flume, Villains land, and new nighttime parade, and cautiously optimistic for much of the rest.

The downsides felt like nothing near the disappointments of the past, where they announced rides I didn't care about to replace classics that didn't deserve to die, and made the offputting decision to put Star Wars Land in Disneyland instead of saving it for a 3rd park or keeping it unique to Florida.

(Although, frankly, Cars for Frontierland might be worse than SWGE in DL, and the difference is simply that I'm used to disappointment now. Edit: with Monday's announcement, I'm sure of this. SWGE is a lop-sided, unbalanced, out-of-scale addition to Disneyland, but at least it leaves the original park largely intact, and feels like a Separate Thing beyond the bounds of the berm/railroad)

Overall, not a bad showing.

[the-cookie-of-doom]

Interested in your answers for 17 and 19 of the choose violence ask game, if you'd like to share them! Thank you :)

I was halfway through answering when I realized I totally misread the ask game. It is... not intended to be as dark as I made my answers, I think... oh well! I'm sticking to my guns. Anyone who's read my stuff knows this is a dead dove household lol

17. There should be more of this kind of fic/art

Oh man I'm about to Reveal Myself, but... I think KP as a whole could really use more noncon/dubcon, but KimChay especially (and Kim specifically). I read a fic a looong time ago when I first entered the fandom, it was like 400 words, and I'm not gonna name it in case the author doesn't want to be attached to it, but it was so good. Essentially Chay is very enthusiastic in the smut and Kin can't bring himself to say no, and I just!!! That is the good shit to me. I feel like especially post-reconciliation, Kim is exactly the kind of person that would overcompensate for breaking Chay's heart by giving him everything he wants. (i may be writing a fic about this already, called Stress Relief. That may or may not ever be posted. That may or may not be based on my own personal trauma. Anyway.) On a lighter note! I want to see more AUs! I'm a bit spoiled coming from the TW fandom, which is like. One of the most prolific fandoms on Ao3. But mannn, I want to see KimChay writers branch out and get absolutely unhinged with their AUs!

19. You're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

Lets be real. My first answer was non-con. There's really not a lot I'm ashamed about lol. I mean I've got like 3 different tentacle monster fics in the works, I've got a Wuju Bakery fic that's 90% slime and oviposition (technically still up for debate. Eggpreg?). I'm all in on the things I like, and don't care/think much about the things I don't. I think I've been in fandom long enough, and gotten old enough, that I just... don't have time to waste on being awkward anymore. Lose your shame! Cast off your shackles! That said I used to think rimming was really gross and I don't like it irl but there are some people who just write it like. unf. Hot damn. I'm a little mad at @ae-azile for that one chapter of Progression 👀

Also not mad/ashamed/horrified, but I was surprised at how much I love reading autistic Kim and writing trans!Kim. For the first one I think the writers in this fandom do an excellent and convincing job at characterizing him (esp @kimkhimhant my beloved <3) without infantilizing him, which... happens a lot with autistic characters. Like, the writing is so spot on that I didn't even question in, I pretty much immediately assimilated that into my mental rolodex of headcanons. 10/10 A+ effort for everyone around.

The trans!Kim aspect is also really fun. I'd never really written trans characters before, but this past year, and the past couple of months especially, I've been really struggling with my own gender and identity. So writing about that through Kim has been really therapeutic. (Adding to my first answer, we need more trans!Kim!) Although... I do hope that the particular way I've chosen to explore his gender in Dystocia is.. taken gracefully. Since it does revolve around Kim having a very traumatic pregnancy (and a lot of other trauma in general), which I know can be triggering for people. Whenever I eventually post that monster of a fic I'm just going to liberally tag it with all the things and hope for the best lol.

I think Dystocia and Stress Relief are two fics that I'm incredibly nervous to post, both because of how personally significant they are to me in a way most of my fics aren't, and because they're both very dark, which IDK if that's something people really want to see from KimChay (esp in Stress Relief).

Anyway! This is a lot wordier and darker than it probably needed to be, and IDK if it's what you were looking for dear anon, but thank you for the ask!

[magicalyaku]

I had vacation and tooth surgery and thus a lot of time to be lazy! <3 A chunk of it I spent listening to the narrations of some creepypasta series. Though, honestly, I'm not sure they can be called that? They're more episodic paranormal stories. Yes, there's monsters running around and dangerous, maybe scary stuff going on, but they're also incredibly wholesome and soo sweet and very queer! So if you're into that, go look for the stories written by @02321 on r/nosleep and Youtube! My Name's Skyler, I'm a Freelance P.I. narrated by Baron Landred (the title on r/nosleep is I Work as a P.I and a Government Agent approached me to help with a case) and I Deliver Mail to Cryptids narrated by Animas. (And also a bunch of stories more set in the same universe of the Silver King.)

Now back to our regular books! We have 4 princes, 2 kings and 1 queen this month!

Banshee Blues (Nina Blazon): I'm in the editing process of my latest novel, which I'm writing in German, so I felt I should read a German, non-translated book for once. This was the only one in my pile but it is from my favourite German author, so all was well. I have a lot to thank her for. The first novel read from her was Der Dunkle Kuss der Sterne (The Stars' Dark Kiss) and that was the first time I liked first-person viewpoint! Her next book had split POV and different tenses and I had to admit it was done well. Banshee Blues was not quite up to par with her previous works but it went a few new directions than usual which was nice as well. It tried very hard to lead you astray with what's going on and who is evil and who isn't. And while I liked how things turned out between the two leads it would have been monumental to have them stay platonic.

The Fallen King's Penitent Soldier (Tales of the High Court 5) (Megan Derr): Sigh, it's been a ride. I had a good time with the whole series. I love the worldbuilding, really. But it is alright to end it here, while it's still good, you know. In a way, these five stories are all built very similar: Being kidnapped by bad guys, running from the bad guys or running after the bad guys for the first half and afterwards waiting to let other people sort it out. There's probably a limited amount of iterations you can go through while still be interesting. But for these five volumes it was fun! As for book 5 by itself, I think it's a good thing it comes so late in the series. Because it really takes its time. There's a lot introspection going on for the two protagonists which is okay because they go through a lot but it's also very long and sometimes not much else happens. I liked the two of them, I liked how religion was handled, I liked how it went full circle back to Allen's story. I liked the series. Good times. :)

Prince & Knight (Daniel Haack & Stevie Lewis): I wanted this for the pretty pictures. But apparently the universe didn't want me to? I ordered this last year already, but the package went on an odyssee through several cities without ever arriving at my home. I ordered it again this year and … the same thing happened?! 8D The odyssee was shorter this time, mind you, but … why again?! I tried a third time and ordered it for pick up at a local bookstore and that finally worked. Geez! It's a children's picture book so the story is as basic as it goes. Is it goo for children? I wouldn't know. The dragon doesn't die and it's very sweet and very pretty.

In all seinen Farben (Boy Queen) (George Lester): I had some exhausting weeks at work and thought I could use something inspirational. Something about finding your own way and shine. Which happens in this book but there's also a lot of drama going on and I was not prepared for the rock-bottom-hit in the beginning. xD I mean, it was written in the blurb but I've owned the book for a year why should I reread the blurb … I know nothing about drag or make-up or anything in that direction (I did watch like 15 minutes of the drag show at Comic Con Stuttgart last year but that hardly counts), so it was charming and interesting to read about.

We Could Be so Good (Cat Sebastian): I have to apologise to everyone on the waitlist for this at my library because I could have read it faster but … once I realised what sort of direction the 70% drama might take I had a tough time reading on. They were so happy and it was nice and I just did not want to suffer! I did assume, since the book goes out of its way to address how all queer books published during the mid of the last century would have to end badly (and the protagonist outright refusing to read them therefore), it would probably take a turn for a happy ending. That was the only hope that kept me going. If I had known any of the author's other work I maybe wouldn't have worried so much, because it's written in her bio already that she'll only write happy endings?! Well … So for anyone else fearing the drama of a book set in 1959: No queer person was harmed in this book! (Nothing major anyway.) I like the book, though! Enjoyed reading it. Nick and Andy are both sweet. But that fear did something to me, took me a while to recover. :'D

Prince & Assasssin (Perilous Courts 1) (Tavia Lark): I needed something simple for my fragile heart and it seems gay fantasy is my comfort read now in the same way my mom reads stuff named like "The Little Bakery at XYZ Street". And what should I tell you, yeah, there're men who are tenderly and not so tenderly intimate with each other, yeah yeah, but there's also giant talking cats! Giant talking cats! Also, I really like the author's writing style. It's so smooth! I started reading and didn't want to put it down anymore because it read so smoothly! The book itself was so much better than I had expected (which was basically nothing). It won't blow you off your feet but it's pretty enjoyable and surprisingly wholesome. Also the worldbuilding felt just right. I'm looking forward to reading the next volumes soon!

King of Immortal Tithe (Darkmourn 2) (Ben Alderson): Did I buy the expensive hardcover just because I like the illustration more than the one of the paperback? Why hello, that's me. So this is the second fae book I read this year. It's apparently a universal truth now that fae men are the most beautiful and well endowed beings on earth and beyond. Not that I mind, you do you, but why does fae anatomy work the same as humans' actually? Anyway, this is a stand-alone in a series of stories all set within the same universe. I like that concept. Hunting for pieces of lore is fun. Arlo is a feisty character so following him was enjoyable. The switch from enemy to lovers was kinda sudden like … I can see why but personally it still felt sudden. Also Faenir calling Arlo constantly Darling was not my taste but you know, if it's just that, I can overlook it. The twist at the end had me barking out evil laughter (which means approval). I did hold back reading the final chapter until I read the first volume as not to spoil any more! (While they are stand-alones the previous story is referenced in this one.)

Lord of Eternal Night (Darkmourn 1) (Ben Alderson): "He was so tall and his hands were so large and his length was so great and so thick my fingers couldn't touch reaching around it. He was not just a man, he was a god!" I laughed. That's not a literal quote, but a good summary. Yeah. I laughed. And while praising one guy he was also dissing his former lover, the baker's son, for not being as large. Not the poor lad's fault, no need to get mean! Should have known at that point already who was the true evil mastermind. :'P. But in all fairness, there is a little more going on in the story. And well, these books know very well what kind of fantasy they're catering. There's a short guy, a little crafty and feisty, not too weak, and the very tall, very beautiful guy who everyone says is evil, but turns out he isn't so evil, he just has a tragic past, he also falls very hard for the protagonist and oops, maybe he does have some capacity for evil. I did like how the story subverted who's good and who's bad like three times. Otherwise, it's not really complex. But I'm kinda into the ending.

Alpha of Mortal Flesh (Darkmourn 3) (Ben Alderson): The third installment in the series, they've been getting more elaborate with each volume. So instead of the 2 and 3 half characters we had in the first one, there's actually a whole cast in here with motivations and backstories. That was nice. The writing style, however, is still as … trying as hard as in the beginning. It's not bad, mind you, I commend it for trying to use the full range of the English language, but there's a lot of words, making everything longer than needed, and sometimes their choice is really weird. Example: "My tongue broke free. It slithered from the confines of my mouth." But it's just a normal human tongue licking something eagerly yet still very normally! And, they're indie books, yeah, but I do wish all three books would have gone through another round of editing. The unnecessary repetitions and errors made me suffer a little. And while I got a little bored and impatient at the end I do like the story and what it's trying to do. Just that it was trying too hard in some aspects of the writing and not hard enough in others.

That's it for July! Apparently, August will be library month again. My TBR bookshelf disapproves but duh. Let's go and have fun. :P

[rallamajoop]

Hi I absolutely love your fics, they are very well written and I feel like you totally understand the characters! If you are okay with NSFW asks, do you see Ethan as a top or a bottom? I personally like to see him as a very bossy power bottom! He already spent so many years being the top (assuming Mia didn't peg him lmao) I like the idea of Ethan being wrecked lmao.

Happy with NSFW asks, but this almost seems like a non-question! Pushy-bottom!Ethan is basically the whole fandom consensus, and I'm all for it (if you couldn't tell from, well, everything I've posted so far*). You can certainly make a case for other takes, but Ethan's whole story is basically him being thrown into horrific situations he's in no way prepared for, but which he still mostly rolls with by getting mouthier the longer things go on, until I'm just here going, Ethan, ETHAN! DO NOT TAUNT THE CREEPY FISH-MAN, ETHAN, what are you doing omg- (Seriously, it's great!) The whole world wants to top poor Ethan (bareback without lube), and it does not care much for informed consent, so it's a good thing I can see him being into that.

At the risk of going all PSA though, I feel kind of obligated to point out that being 'the top' isn't all about who-penetrates-who. It's not even necessarily who's physically on top (though that can certainly help), nearly so much as it's about who's calling the shots. So Mia could have topped with Ethan even without strap-ons involved, and I see no reason why Ethan wouldn't have been into that (heck, it's even a minor plot point in Two-Finger Salute). It seems pretty in-character for Mia too.

But I'm not here to say Ethan's always got to be the pushy bottom. I can see him pushing a lot less in relationships where there's more trust, I've read some very interesting mould-monster-top!Ethan fic, and I'm always up for some switching. I can see Heisenberg really getting into lying back and inviting a slightly-stunned Ethan to give him a good hard pounding once in a while, just for one ‒ variety is the spice of smut (if not also life as well).

* Well, certainly in One More Happy Ending, at least. Two-Finger Salute is more Ethan being confused and aroused by the discovery he wants to bottom to things that could have him for breakfast, but then he does spend most of the action trying to let Heisenberg know he's not going to just roll over and take it, so. Ethan in Medical Log isn't really in a position to do much pushing, on account of being restrained and gagged, but, look, he had to be gagged, or no power on earth would have made him shut up long enough for Heisenberg to get on with the (ahem) Very Important Scientific Work he was doing, so I think the point stands. The man has a tsundere streak I do not think we can blame him for.

[davidmariottecomics]

Week 86 - 8/28/23 - A BLUE BEETLE MOVIE???

Hi there, 

It probably isn't news as it's a pretty popular film in theaters right now, but there's a Blue Beetle movie out! And it's a lot of fun! 

If you didn't know, Ted Kord, the second Blue Beetle, is my favorite superhero. There's a pretty good joke in the new movie about the difference between Ted and Batman, and not to step on the punchline, but it boils down to Ted knows how to laugh. He's a character frequently written to have a sense of humor, to know a good joke, and to be the dramatic superheroic straightman when it counts. He is not exactly an everyman--he's a genius, he dresses up in a silly costume, and he's rich--but in a lot of ways, he's just a guy trying to do the right thing because he can. 

And he casts a long shadow over the new movie, which is about Jaime Reyes--fantastically played by the dreamy Xolo Maridueña--who I don't love quite as much as Ted, but who I think is himself a great and important character. He's a very different hero. He's got a sense of humor, he's got a good heart, but his relationship with his family, with his friends, with the scarab, and with the Blue Beetle legacy allows him to be something totally apart from Ted. The movie takes a lot of liberties--it's part Spider-Man, part Ant-Man, part Green Lantern (though... honestly probably better than the past few recent film adaptations of those characters)--but it doesn't run from the truth of who Jaime is as a character, which I think makes it all the better. The best superhero movie projects don't try to be just an adaptation, but to take what makes the hero great, understand it, and share it in a way that makes them more accessible and loom larger as a hero. 

I don't want to spoil anything, but there was one extremely stupid part that made me tear up (out of just finally getting to see a thing on-screen and knowing there's some practical version of it out there and honestly, a little bit jealousy). If you see me, or want to reach out and ask about it, I'll gladly tell you. 

But there's a Blue Beetle movie. And even though I saw it and really quite liked it... I kinda still can't believe it. 

Next week: No blog on the website/newsletter! There is a Patreon post scheduled if you need your fix, going out to all backers at $5 or more a month! But I'm outta town and will see you when I return. 

What I enjoyed this week: Blank Check (Podcast), Yu-Gi-Oh: Duel Links (Video Game), Craig of the Creek (Cartoon), Honkai Star Rail (Video game), My Adventures with Superman (Cartoon), The Broken Room by Peter Clines (Book), Dumbing of Age (Webcomic), Solve This Murder (Podcast), The Venture Bros: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart (Movie--which my pal Phil Murphy worked on!), Kaiju No. 8 (Manga), Kaguya-Sama: Love is War (Manga), Blue Beetle (Movie--duh), Oldboy (Movie), Witch Watch (Manga), Becca playing a little more Persona 5, Tangled (Movie), Jurassic Park (Movie), D.E.B.S. (Movie) 

New Releases this week (8/23/2023): Godzilla Monsters & Protectors: All Hail the King TPB (Editor--on the latter half)

Final Order Cut-Off next week (8/28/2023--last day to get your preorders in): Sonic the Hedgehog #65

New Releases next week (8/30/2023): Godzilla Rivals: Vs. SpaceGodzilla (Supervising Editor) Sonic the Hedgehog: Endless Summer (A very silly credit) Sonic the Hedgehog: Scrapnik Island TPB (Editor) 

Announcements: Becca is at Cartoon-a Palooza in Temecula on 9/15 & 9/16. It's a cool free all-ages little con, so come on out and see them!

Wanna support me? Consider joining my Patreon! I've got a bunch of cool stuff coming up and already on there. As well as some silly stuff like a tour of my desk, so you can see where the comics magic happens! I've got a bunch of stuff scheduled for September already and there'll always be more! 

I have a webstore! It does look like I'm going to get a small supplement to my Beast Wars Vol. 3 stock, which is nice, but most everything else, I am not going to have more of anytime soon! Maybe give it a look! 

I've still got a few things on my eBay, if you're looking for stuff! But obviously, anything that would get shipped out won't until I'm back!  Pic of the Week: It was National Cinema Day yesterday, which is why Becca and I went to Blue Beetle ($4 tickets to the movies!). But they had to work, so I went and saw a second film, the 20th anniversary screening of Park Chan-wook's Oldboy. And the theater that was showing Oldboy had a special Cinema Day deal on the Blue Beetle backback popcorn bucket, so I did pick it up because that with a popcorn and a drink was still significantly cheaper than the bucket usually is by itself. So here's a photo of Becca modeling it. 

[templegate]

While I've seen plenty of criticisms of Outlast for ableism/stigmatizing mental illness (because your enemies are murder-happy asylum inmates), I honestly beg to differ—at least for the most part. For one thing, only a handful of inmates actually attack you. Most of the other patients there are either in shock or just trying to lay low and stay alive through all the chaos going on around them. Even the more proactive of the non-combatant characters, such as the pyro you encounter in the kitchen, are just trying to get out—and their desperation is made to be pretty relatable. Even the boss characters like Chris Walker and Eddie Gluskin were victims of the asylum. For crying out loud, the Whistleblower DLC opens with Eddie getting dragged into the morphogenic engine kicking and screaming and begging for help—it's what solidifies Waylon Park's determination to take down Murkoff. Even when you find Eddie's files later on and see that, yes, he was already a murderer before he wound up in Mount Massive, that also comes with notes about the sexual abuse he experienced as a child and his denial of it. It doesn't excuse his actions—of course it doesn't—but it shows that he didn't become the way he is from nothing. Furthermore, the entire Mount Massive arc focuses so heavily on the theme of abuse of power. The patients are enduring horrific experimentation at the hands of people like Blair and Trager, and that is what sets up the rest of the story. The people running the show are the catalysts for all hell breaking loose—not the patients, who are instead victims of a system that is exploiting them by pushing them past their mental and physical limits, and has no qualms about treating them as replaceable test subjects. They are already sick people thrust into terrifying circumstances. Some of them were already dangerous to begin with, but most of them were not. They were all in a place that was supposed to help them cope with their conditions and rehabilitate, but instead were exploited and had their issues exacerbated by being traumatized further, and that's part of what makes Outlast terrifying.  So yeah, the portrayal of mentally ill people in Outlast isn't phenomenal, sure, but it goes beyond making all the patients out to be horrible monsters. Most of them are just trying to stay out of all the awful shit going on and stay alive without completely breaking down. The games still makes you feel for those people after you see how desperate and terrified a lot of them are, due mainly because of the abuses they have suffered from the people who were supposed to help them.

Anon this is so fascinating cause I agree with you sm. I think all of this stuff is true. From the way I see it Outlast is an attempt to subvert all the other mental asylum horror stories. Which I think adds all this complexity you're talking about. But while I do think it's more nuanced and better written than contemporaries, I don't think they did a good enough job. The "evil asylum" trope is inherently ableist, and stigmatizing. And I do agree the main source of long term horror in the series is from the incredible abuse the patients suffer- it cannot be ignored that the majority of scary moments aren't from the abuse, but from the patients acting violent and "crazy". And yeah it makes sense why they're violent and "crazy" that doesn't change the fact that the average joe schmoe is gonna go through the game and take away the message that mentally ill people are violent, and scary, and mental health facilities are bad and scary. Which- as someone who's been to a psych ward- I find to be a very bad message. They have their issues but stigmatizing them makes it worse. I think Red Barrels realized this, and for the Whistleblower made more of an effort to emphasize the abuse as a front line horror. Jeremy Blaire, the Walrider, The Morphogenic Engine, etc etc. Although the complaints I have still stand. Overall I agree with you that Outlast is a nuanced portrayal of this trope. That point about how not all of the patients are violent, is one of my favorite parts of Outlast. How they're still humans. And that creates some really great moments, like Someones Playing Piano. But as I've said before I still think it's inadequate I really want people to realize that Outlast being a story about systemic abuse where innocent people are victimized, and Outlast relies on ableism to get it's scares- are two statements that can coexist. I think at this point I should just write a paper about outlast

[violetjedisylveon]

Claws & Fangs Ch 1 - The Intruder, The Bat And The Wolf

Summary: Kaeden heads home from a long day of work and finds someone has broken into her house looking for something, the intruder attacks her with a massive bat creature. She gets saved by a massive orange wolf.

Words count: 1.5k

Warnings: an animal attacks and tried to kill Kaeden, I don't think I went into too much detail but I went into it a bit so I'll put this as a warning 🛑, so blood and violence ant attack.

A/N: Werewolf witch Ahsoka and Vampire Kaeden lets gooo!

This idea came to me so quickly I'm pretty sure it possessed me to get itself written. Happy Halloween everyone!

Enjoy my new Kaesoka au fic! I've got like three or four of them now. It's not a problem.

Claws & Fangs AU Masterpost

________________________________________________________________________________

Kaeden Larte had horrible luck.

The worst luck in the entire world? Yeah probably.

First, her parents die when she's fifteen and her little sister is twelve.

Then, after getting a job she could actually hold down as a farmer, rumors start to circulate about her parents, specifically her mother, a scholar and a woman of medicine.

The rumors were that she was a witch or vile sorceress, cause her garden always looked so nice and was never attacked by animals. That was serious nonsense, she had taught Kaeden how to grow plants properly and she knew how to keep the wild life away.

Besides she was already dead so what did it matter?

Third, the witch rumor had the Empire come in and conduct a search of her house, they found nothing and left it. Didn't stop the leering or cruel taunts she got from the townspeople when she went into work. Five years later and she was still being called a witch spawn.

Fourth, her most recent stroke of bad luck, there was an owl hanging around her house poking at her plants.

The stupid little bird kept trying to take from her garden, the damn thing was extra interested in her healing herbs and oddly, her sister's garlic. Miara liked to cook in her free time, she worked at a bakery too.

She frequently found herself waking up in the middle of the night to the cursed being raiding her garden and she had to chase it off multiple times, it just kept coming back.

Oh, and then there was her worst luck ever:

Some crazy madman was breaking into her house, she heard the window shatter as she approached her home.

It was late at night and Miara was staying in town with her "friend" Omega, who had insisted it wouldn't be safe for her to go out at night alone. A clear ploy to get more time alone together before she had to go leave again, but Kaeden hadn't pushed her sister.

Kaeden always felt safer at home and had gone anyway.

She was really wishing she had stayed with Miara right now.

She could see the invader through the window, they were dressed in all black, and had a sword or gun or both at their waist.

They suddenly spun around and fixed glowing red eyes on her.

Her blood froze.

The intruder stalked towards her.

Her brain screamed at her to do something, but her body was fully frozen with fear.

A curious coo snared her attention away from the imposing threat.

The thieving owl was sitting on the fence, a clump of herbs in its talons. It cooed at her and took off.

Kaeden made the decision to chase after it right before the glass broke.

She bolted after the owl as fast as she could, though she had a growing feeling she wouldn't be able to escape her pursuer.

The stupid owl lead her into the forest, the dark forests that most people didn't dare go into because of stories about monsters that dwelled within. It was probably just wolves, or at least that's what Kaeden hoped as she blindly followed a bird.

Oh gods, she was going to die, wasn't she?

The owl took a sharp turn and just vanished into thin air. Her heart pounded against her chest and the blood roared in her ears as she frantically looked around for anything she might be able to defend herself with or some way out of this horrifying nightmare.

Something heavy landed in the trees, she heard the wood creak and groan with the weight.

She spun around.

The intruder turned attacker and probably her murderer if she was being honest.

The ominous eyes glowed dangerously.

Kaeden dared to look up.

That was a massive mistake.

A massive bat… thing was perched in the tree, hungry yellow eyes looking down at her.

Kaeden cursed her horrible luck.

Her pursuer whistled a single sharp note. 🛑

The beast snarled and threw itself from the treetops down onto her.

It slammed into her with enough force to slam her to the ground. The air was knocked out of her chest.

Pain bloomed all over her body, the bat's razor sharp claws slicing up her skin.

Clawed wings cut thin, deep lacerations on her arms when she raised them in a feeble attempt to protect herself. She somehow managed to push the bat up away from her throat.

It snarled madly, savagely slashing at anything within reach in its rabid attempt to kill her.

It snarled and hissed in her face, baring its sharp fangs at her.

She screamed and kicked its underbelly. Her feeble attempt to survive only served to piss it off.

It screeched and thrust its head down.

Its jaws slammed down on her neck. White hot pain exploded in her neck. She screamed at the needle sharp teeth piercing her skin.

Her blood got hot, it was burning in her veins, the fire spread rapidly from her neck to her toes.

She cried out, her entire body was boiling!

Just when she thought it was all over for her, that she'd die here in this forest and never be found, that her little sister would be alone, never knowing what really happened to her, a fearsome yowl erupted from somewhere in the chaos and in a blur of fur, the violent beast was ripped off of her.

Kaeden screamed, the beast's teeth tore her skin as it was thrown into a nearby tree.

She instinctively covered her neck wound to stem the bleeding, but that was hardly going to do her much good with her injuries or the fire in her veins. Gods, the fire in her veins made her want to die right there!

It was all she could do to apply weak pressure to her wound and stare up.

Oh.

The owl was back.

It was perched in a branch above her.

Something growled.

Something big.

Kaeden, to her own surprise, managed to prop herself up enough to see what had saved her.

A massive, truly massive wolf with burnt orange fur and stripes going down its back stood in front of her, growling at the bat, which now looked so small next to the wolf.

The bat was reasonably afraid of the impossibly huge wolf, it cowered at the wolf's presence.

The wolf growled, low and threatening, at the beast and keeper.

The beastmaster grunted and both vanished in a puff of black smoke.

The wolf relaxed slightly but stayed alert, ears swiveling to catch any sound of a follow-up attack.

Kaeden jolted away when someone touched her head.

A hooded figure was sitting behind her, they gently lifted her head to rest on their lap and checked her pulse. Their face was concealed by a mask.

Their fingers trailed along the fresh, raw wounds, she would have objected but the fire in her body made her numb to any pain their touch caused. Suddenly the carefully investigating fingers stilled then pressed in on a particularly painful wound, the sensation of white fire burned in her neck, she screamed bloody murder.

"Ahsoka!" The hooded figure shouted.

The wolf stalked over to her, it was so much bigger than she thought it had been when it was looking down at her. Through the corner of her eye, she saw the hooded figure point out something. The wolf's lip curled up with the hint of a snarl.

It leaned in close, she could feel its hot, wet breath on her neck. It sniffed whatever was so interesting to these strangers.

Idly, Kaeden wondered if this hooded stranger was the same thing as the one who attacked her, they both had animals doing their bidding.

"What do you feel?"

She barely registered the words in her dazed, quickly bleeding out state, the stranger pressed her wound lightly. Kaeden couldn't even hold back the very undignified cry that ripped itself from her throat.

" …fire…" she choked out.

She could taste blood in the back of her mouth as the stranger and their beast exchanged a look.

She let her eyes close, she was getting colder and more exhausted as the moments passed, somewhere in her hazy mind, she recognized it as a symptom of blood loss, that she was going to die soon. She'd lost too much blood.

Something warm and damp pressed against her nose. She blinked open her eyes.

The wolf was standing over her, nose to nose while brilliantly blue gray eyes stared deep into hers.

There was something so human in those glowing eyes, Kaeden felt safe with this massive, deadly beast.

It was probably her dying brain.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of you."

She assumed that meant they'd take her body back home, to let her sister know what had happened.

Kaeden hummed absently, the wolf's eyes were so bright and so blue, she couldn't look away even as death pulled at her.

All she saw when the darkness overtook her was that brilliant blue.

________________________________________________________________________________

This idea is really fun and I think it possessed me cause I already got a chapter 2 started… gays are my jam and so are bats and wolfs.

I've got art ideas folks!

It's spooky season so I give you gay spookies.

Happy Kaesoka week everyone!

I hope you all have a good day, whatever that is for you!

VJS Out!

[xbuster]

Pardon me if this is jumping the gun and you planned to do this after your cutie honey viewing, but what's your general opinion/take on the tone of the series as a whole? I've heard a lot of mixed stuff, ranging from it being sexual in a tasteless and often concerning way to it being a fun, cute erotica series. From your gifs especially a-go-go it's making me want to watch it and to me itooks like a fun time, but I wanted a little insight form someone who's viewed the series a whole and recently too

Well, I haven't viewed the series as a whole yet since I haven't finished the original anime (though I'm around halfway through so my opinion on it is pretty decided), Flash (and it's movie), or The Live, (and a couple manga like the seemingly unimportant sequel written by Go Nagai and some spin-offs) but my opinion on the franchise from all that I've seen has been all over the place and I simultaneously loathe and love it. This is because that both of what you've heard about it is right. It is tasteless and gross and it is cute ecchi (I can't say it ever really becomes erotica but Re: Cutie Honey got very close). It really depends on what you read and watch. I'll tell you my opinion on each entry of the Cutie Honey franchise I've consumed so far and whether I think it's worth checking out.

Go Nagai's original Cutie Honey manga: This is where it all started. It's also the worst part of Cutie Honey and it's not even close. My opinion of Go Nagai is very low. Of his big hits, I've read Cutie Honey and Devilman, but I've also read a few of his other works and of all of them, I've only enjoyed Devilman (I am planning on reading Mazinger Z eventually too though). The rest is all atrocious. Go Nagai is a terrible mangaka. It's actually amazing that I really loved Devilman because I had bought Cutie Honey thinking that I would love a magical girl manga written by the man who could create something as unique an experience as Devilman and it ended up being one of the worst things I've read. Almost all the fan service comes from sexually assaulting Honey, it's very uncomfortable to read. The plot isn't very interesting until like halfway through volume 2, but by that point the story is already almost over. There's a reason it was cancelled. No, it's not worth reading, but unfortunately it did shape how most Cutie Honey adaptations were structured so reading it does set you up to understand the many references the other manga and anime will make to it. It's up to you if you want to actually read that, but it's only 2 volumes long so it's a quick read at least.

The first Cutie Honey anime from 1973: This is what made Cutie Honey into an icon. It ignored almost everything from the manga to make it into something enjoyable, mostly just borrowing characters, enemies, and abilities from the manga while focusing on making an enjoyable monster of the week show. Fan service is often, but fairly light, so it's not as uncomfortable as it was in the manga. Honey actually has a personality in the anime. In the manga, she was kind of incompetent and whiny with nothing really interesting about her. In the anime, she's witty, funny, and really skilled at dealing with her enemies. This means she's fun to watch when she's posing as a civilian because she'll charm you with her personality and she's fun to watch as a fighter because the action scenes are well composed and she has many ways to fight Panther Claw. The manga didn't feel like it took advantage of her ability to transform at all, despite that being her main draw. The anime introduces a ton of different forms, with new ones being introduced each episode. The first episode introduced her main 5 forms outside of her identity as Honey Kisaragi and Cutie Honey and has a fight scene with every single transformation. This was a great way of showcasing her abilities as a fighter. It was honestly really impressive. This anime is a must-watch, it lays the foundation for what other good adaptations would borrow from.

Hideaki Anno's live action Cutie Honey movie: This was the first thing I had seen with the name Cutie Honey on it that I actually enjoyed. Its relationship to previous versions of Cutie Honey is thin, really just using the general idea of the character of Cutie Honey and the names of some other characters from the manga. The roles these characters fill are almost completely different from their original incarnations except for maybe on or two surface level similarities. This actually works in its favor because of how bad the original manga was. Anno's vision is fresh and the plot is engaging. It has some problems, like Honey's characterization not being very good, and some of the lighter moments being a bit boring, but whenever Panther Claw appears it becomes very fun with really unique fight choreography and special effects you could only see from a team that worked on Gainax anime. There's some fan service, but it wasn't as ecchi as the manga and anime. It's not a must-watch, but it is worth your time and serves as the groundwork for the next two entries.

Cutie Honey a Go Go!: This manga is very loosely based on the screenplay for Hideaki Anno's movie. There are common elements that both share, but it's ultimately a very original story when compared to the movie. It's also pretty fun. It's a lot more focused on the character of Natsuko Aki, with Honey not even being involved much until a few chapters in. It's a fresh idea to follow a character who isn't Honey, but I really like how Honey was portrayed in this manga and while I did like Natsuko, I still probably would have preferred to see more of Honey. But like Go Nagai's original, this manga was sadly cancelled with volume 2 and ends on a cliffhanger reminiscent of the original. It's a fun read, but you won't get a complete story. The art breathes new life into Honey and while I wished there was more, I still enjoyed my time with it. It was also the closest to being as ecchi as the original manga, but it's actually fun with it and it never made me uncomfortable to see Honey suddenly get naked.

Re: Cutie Honey: This is the horniest Cutie Honey anime I have seen and it's amazing for it. Gainax knew how to do fan service and since this was an OVA and not a TV anime, they were allowed to go all out with it. Instead of feeling like Honey was constantly getting assaulted, the scenes where her clothes are shredded or characters are suddenly naked feels more playful, and at times erotic (especially episode 2 when she has an intimate moment with a certain character). This anime is very clearly based off Hideaki Anno's movie. Like all the characters from the movie appear in the OVA, they have similar roles and similar design philosophies, but most of their characterization and arcs are different and that helps elevate it over the movie. Honey isn't as naive and annoying, she's more like the Honey from the original anime. Witty and funny, playful and sexy. She's a competent fighter and fun to watch in any situation. It's not at all like Nagai's original vision and that's what makes it so good. Definitely a must-watch.

Cutie Honey Universe: Probably the most disappointing entry on this list. It's started off interesting. It looked to be the closest adaptation of Nagai's manga while distancing itself from the main elements of what made the manga so bad. It was a TV anime, so it wasn't very explicit, but the Blu-ray release uncensored it. But it still wasn't on the level of ecchi you would see in Re or even a Go Go. Unfortunately, it was still trying to somewhat adapt Nagai's manga and that really held it back when Universe would decide to recreate scenes from the manga. While they weren't as bad as the original, these scenes still weren't very good most of the time. The characters of Junpei and Danbei were dialed back in the 1973 anime, but they're far more annoying in this. Even the original parts of the plot (of which there are a LOT) weren't good. Like at all. By the midpoint I had gotten so bored that I put it on hold for half a year and when I got back to watching it, it was just bad. It was not a good anime and I wouldn't recommend it unless you really just want to watch everything Cutie Honey. The character designs were so 2010's anime with barely any originality, it would get really bright sometimes and wash out the details in the art for no reason, and most of the actual animation wasn't very good. And not in a charming way like the 1973 anime. I don't know, there were some things I liked but they would usually go to waste. It was just really disappointing because I think there was potential. It was also the only series to not use the iconic theme song.

tl;dr definitely watch 1973 and Re: Cute Honey, they're fantastic. Watch the Anno movie before Re if you want to see what Re borrows from it, but you don't need to. Read a Go Go if you like any of the three I just mentioned because it's also fun. If you really want to know what Cutie Honey was intended to be, read the original manga first, but definitely avoid it if you don't care. Universe isn't as bad as the original manga, but it's also not really worth watching for any reason besides just wanting to watch all Cutie Honey anime because it was honestly pretty boring.

Hope that helps!

[llycaons]

the only reason I went in the first place was to find the monster baru cormorant but they only had traitor, so I went back to the manga section and found that mdzs and tgcf are now classified under 'light novels', which is still under the umbrella of manga, but at least more accurate to what they actually are.

I don't consider them 'light novels' because they didn't originally come with pictures, they're for adults, and they're pretty long so there's no real reason not to just classify them as novels but since they're a fairly new type of book coming in I guess the store just did its best. they wouldn't really fit into romance and it's not like there's a danmei section in barnes and noble (though they could honestly just make one). that's an issue of just lumping all manga together too since like, berserk is a very different genre of story than pokemon

...actually I'm really curious as to the decision behind adding images. does seven seas do that for all its novels?

anyway. I read a little of one of the extras (very, very poorly written porn) and got some pics for mdzs 4 and 5 (including gc transer!), and one from tgcf 6. warning for gore and mentions of rape and pedophilia kink

tgcf: 6 (or 5?)

might have already posted this one but: AH! really evocative

I was more interested in the mdzs illustrations, but I prefer the style for tgcf. I think it's less generic and more appealing, and easier to tell characters apart and see their personalities. anyway, here's the gc transfer from mdzs 5:

for such a significant event, I've never seen actual art of it or even very many descriptions of it. a bold choice to illustrate it, because I feel that a lot of the horror lies in it being unseen. regardless, this looks agonizing

I found a few more passages of wwx being sleepy and lwj comforting him after being stabbed by jl, which was actually kind of sweet, and then the tree-falling scene, which is one of my favorites from the book

but they translated wwx's thought process different in this version. in the exr version there was this neat little worldplay implying that wwx fell in love in the act of falling from the tree and getting caught, and I don't think this translation captured it as well. I didn't think to get a pic :/ but anyway that's a sweet scene

out of curiosity I flipped back to the extras bit and saw the line where wwx asks to be raped and lwj being like 'what?' and decided im not reading that one, but I did skim the 'dawn til dusk' extra and thought it was fine?

I mean, the porn was really bad. I've read a lot of fanfic for these characters at this point and I shit you not, almost every one was better than this...oddly phrased and entirely too technical sex scene. there is almost no chemistry or sense of actual intimacy with them, or even pleasure? I've included a pic because I didn't want to be the only one who read the line 'he highly suspected he would be screwed in the same position all night'

also I'm not in the habit of tearing into the minutae of these scenes anymore but this just doesn't sound very pleasant? like lwj is supposed to be a really considerate partner but this is definitely the second time in this book that wwx says he's been fucked for over an hour and he's physically really beat up or sore and he does something about it. which isn't like, the worst thing in the world but it's weird idk it seems to go against lwj's characterization. then again I've skipped most of the sex scenes so maybe they negotiated it beforehand. I can't even tell with this book they just do shit sometimes and it's not commented on

BUT. besides the sex scene their other dynamic was pretty nice. wwx rolls in from a night hunt covered in dirt and lwj doesn't even mind when he goes to collapse in the bed, and afterwards lwj encourages him to take care of himself and wwx helps him grade the kids' homework

also we learn that lwj doesn't make the kids do handstands for making mistakes on papers, which seems like a low bar but it's still nice to see he's demonstrably different than his uncle in things besides how he sees wwx

I do think this novel has merit and there are many scenes in it I really like, but I you'll never get to me to say the sex scenes are in any way enjoyable or worth reading lmao, even the fully consensual ones without any rape or pedophilia kink. also I still think the cover art for all of the novels is kind of bad :/

I stopped by barnes and noble to check in on the mxtx book situation and I have some more pics to post once I get home